《The Card Apprentice》


 Chapter 1: Making a Living from Cards

    Chapter 1: Making a Living from Cards


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Fine blue lines flowed smoothly from the ordinary pen-nib which glided easily over the light grey surface of the card. The light blue shadings spread over the palm-sized card so that an ever more perfectly beautiful complex and mysterious pattern emerged from its continuous glide.


    Chen Mu''s gaze was utterly absorbed in staring at this card. His breathing was very light, as though he were wary of startling something. The only thing moving on his motionless right arm was his wrist which had the supple and boneless flexibility of a snake. A fine arc appeared on the surface of the card. The agile pen-nib would layer these on, each terminating in a quick sharp hook, as though the nib were a knife point. The pattern on the card lit up, and then quickly dimmed to its normal state.


    Chen Mu casually placed it in the pile of cards to one side of the desk in a smooth and natural movement, without any break in his pace. Finishing this card, his face took on its usual studied concentration. He was still ten short from his day''s quota, having finished only fifteen cards. He was making one-star power-cards, which comprised the most basic grade of power-card. Those were the most widely used and most rapidly consumed cards at that time.


    The room went suddenly dark.


    "Damn! The power''s used up again." Grumbling, Chen Mu deftly pulled a power-card from the pile with his left hand, and then pressed it lightly to his right arm causing a bright beam to shine from the instrument he wore on his wrist. With the help of that beam, Chen Mu carefully and deliberately walked to the corner. The room was such a mess, and he didn''t want to knock anything over carelessly. In a cubby on the wall of the room was a meter-box, below which was a slot. Chen Mu stuck the card into the slot.


    As soon as the power-card was inserted into the slot, the room lit up again, and the display on the meter showed one-hundred. He hadn''t thought that the power would be used up and saw that he''d have to add another card to the day''s assignment. Returning to his desk, Chen Mu promptly threw himself back into his work. His entire livelihood depended on this most basic card. After he''d finally learned how to make these cards three years ago, he''d never broken his output of 25 cards for even one day.


    Chen Mu''s room was quite small at not even forty square meters. There was only a single worn work table in it. Apart from the table which was relatively clean, the rest of the room was piled with mountains of debris everywhere. All kinds of stuff ¨C from piles of old books to every sort of raw material ¨C was scattered about.


    Chen Mu had been living in this plain and simple place for the entire three years. It was subsidized housing, specifically furnished by the federal government. One only needed to pay 150 Oudi a month to live in a small apartment like that. There really wasn''t anyplace so cheap as that anymore for a poor person like Chen Mu. He didn''t consider the place to be bad at all for himself, since he''d seen even a four-person family stuffed into the same sized place.


    Chen Mu had finally finished the day''s work by five in the afternoon ¨C twenty-five power-cards. He carefully counted the quantity of cards, and then counted them a second time. Only when he was certain that he hadn''t made some mistake with the count did he carefully put them into the card-pocket of his clothes.


    The night life was already slowly building up when he walked out onto the street, where the gaudy lights encouraged people to hang out. Shuttles would pass by from time to time, flashing out from all the streets and shooting dazzling flames out their tails, leaving a fiery arc in their trail. Chen Mu pulled in his coat a bit and lifted his face to the sky. A chill was descending; it looked as though winter was on its way. Without giving much thought to it, he felt the passing of time. Chen Mu was sorting out in his head how winter heating would use up more funds.


    Although he''d been taking that route for three years, each time he passed in front of the rear gate to the Eastern Wei Academy, a certain nameless melancholy would sneak up on him, watching the chummy scholars coming and going. Pulling himself together, Chen Mu picked up his steps, and walked toward a small shop to the side of the Academy, called the "Eastern Wei General Store." There must have been at least twenty such shops with similar names all around the Eastern Wei Academy. Across three years, Chen Mu would frequent this shop every day without fail, no matter the weather. The thing was, he didn''t go to shop for stuff; he went to sell stuff.


    As soon as he entered, the shopkeeper perked up and called out, "Good Old Mu has arrived!"


    "Hey, Uncle Hua," he responded to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper Uncle Hua was an old man in his fifties, the years having left their indelible marks on his body. He was finely wrinkled with greying locks, and he wore old reading glasses.


    "Here are today''s goods." Chen Mu carefully pulled out stack of power-cards from his breast pocket, and dealt them out in front of the shopkeeper, "twenty-five."


    Uncle Hua took the cards from Chen Mu, glanced at them, and then casually put them on the shelf, laughing, "It''s a good thing I have Old Mu to send me cards every day. Otherwise I''d be running out of goods."


    Chen Mu smiled diffidently but didn''t respond. He knew that Uncle Hua was joking with him. The one-star power-card was the most basic power-card, but it was the most quickly consumed card. Anyhow, here by the Eastern Wei Academy it would be hard not to sell twenty-five power-cards.


    Uncle Hua also understood Chen Mu''s nature, and asked straight out without wasting any words, "Does Old Mu want cash or trade?"


    "Trade," Chen Mu shot back, and then produced the light green ledger card which he had prepared earlier for Uncle Hua to see. After they settled-up, and after bidding farewell to Uncle Hua, he turned around to leave.


    Uncle Hua abruptly called after Chen Mu, "Hang on a minute Old Mu."


    Chen Mu stopped and turned back around with a little surprise and looked at Uncle Hua, "What''s up, Uncle Hua?"


    Uncle Hua pulled a light-yellow slip of paper from the drawer and smiled slyly at Chen Mu. "I almost forgot. This is an audit ticket for the card master training class, passed along yesterday by my dealer when we were restocking. It would be a waste to leave it here. You take it, Old Mu."


    Looking into the kindly old face of Uncle Hua, Chen Mu couldn''t help being touched. He well knew how much help this old man in front of him had given him those few years. If it weren''t for him, the life he was then living would never have been attainable.


    Three years earlier when he had just learned how to make power-cards, he would go all over to peddle them, although he seldom generated inquiries from anyone. There weren''t any businesses which wanted to make a purchase. Since the demand for one-star power-cards was so huge, the businesses preferred to take in large quantities at a time, where the most that Chen Mu could produce in a day was thirty. For the businesses, those odd scraps didn''t make up more than a fraction of their goals.


    Luckily, he came across Uncle Hua. Uncle Hua agreed to accept his power-cards, but the price per card was one hundred and three Oudi, which was two Oudi lower than the wholesale market price. Despite that, Chen Mu was still eternally grateful toward Uncle Hua.


    Four years earlier when Chen Mu was still a street punk with no fixed address, he once ran into a card master on the brink of death. He used five months'' worth of his own accumulated provisions to save that card master, which gave him seven more days of life. During these seven days, he mastered a few techniques for the making of one-star power-cards. The card master didn''t leave anything behind after he died. Chen Mu buried him in a barren field out of town. To that day, he still didn''t know the card master''s name, but from that time on his fortunes began to change.


    He spent a year putting his effort into temporary work, doing six different temp jobs during this time. He was twelve. He also put aside a little bit of money that year ¨C some thousand Oudi. He took the whole thousand and spent it on the raw materials he would need for the power-cards. That card master had always told him that the wholesale market price for a single one-star power-card was 105 Oudi with the equivalent retail price at 110. His production costs were only 98 Oudi.


    Every card master could produce one-star power-cards, but there were few who could tell any difference in value among them. And even if they could tell, there were almost none who paid attention. The one-star power-card was one of the simplest. It had already realized industrial production. Even if you were a top-grade card master, the most you could make in a day would be twenty or thirty power-cards; a pitifully small output. Furthermore, as far as card masters were concerned, even if a sum equal to the profit margin were to drop to the ground, they wouldn''t be inclined to pick it up. But that bit of money was enough to fill Chen Mu''s belly.


    By the time he first succeeded in making eight cards, he had lost nearly two hundred Oudi. That actually gave him hope, but he hadn''t considered that he would be blocked when it came to selling the cards. The businesses didn''t have the slightest interest in the meager quantities of power-cards in his hand. After running around for a whole day and not eating, he walked into Uncle Hua''s shop at eight in the evening. Both of his legs were shaking as he entered. After a day without a grain of rice, he was pretty much on the edge of blacking out.


    Even though a price of 103 Oudi was lower than the 105 Oudi wholesale price, Chen Mu still felt suffused in joy. He sold off all the power-cards in his hand, and bought the cheapest food. Then he bought raw materials for the power-cards with what was left over.


    Chen Mu''s life finally stabilized after that.


    Twenty-five power-cards every day, without interruption.


    Three years passed like that. Within those three years, he made only a single type of power-card ¨C the one-star power-card. By the second year, he''d already managed his costs down to 97 Oudi. Even though it was only a difference of one Oudi, that was enormously encouraging for him. Apart from making the power-cards, he spent his time investigating how to reduce his costs.


    Finally, in the third year, the costs of the power-cards had been managed down to 95 Oudi, leaving 8 Oudi profit. His daily take thus stabilized at 200 Oudi, which was a figure he couldn''t have imagined three years earlier. Having 6,000 Oudi coming in each month would already enable him to lead a normal life, though he was still living in the 150 Oudi supported housing, as always.


    So, the revitalized Chen Mu smiled toward Uncle Hua: "Thank you Uncle Hua!" he said, taking the audit ticket and carefully placing it into the power-card breast pocket.


    Card master trainings were just then one of the most packed of the training classes. They were putting out the most incomparably outlandish advertisements, just like this audit ticket, which said something like, ''Credentials Recognized by the Eastern Wei Academy,''''Presented in person under the authority of the most senior and highly ranked card-masters from Eastern Wei Academy,'' and so forth. Chen Mu was perfectly clear about what was actually going on underneath. The only thing that constituted a relationship between the organizers of these trainings and the Eastern Wei Academy was that this group had to pay some expenses for each class, as consideration for them to maintain this nominally "jointly conducted" designation.


    Chen Mu still planned to sit in on this training to see what they actually talked about. Card-making was one of the most complex subjects of study. While he had never given up his self-study all those years, he had little to show for it until just the last year, when he finally understood what it was basically all about. His fundamentals were really lacking. Across ten years as a street punk, he had never gotten any education or culture.


    For someone who lacked the most basic foundation from his youth, wanting to teach oneself card-making was to heap difficulty on difficulty. It was widely understood to be an incredibly abstruse field. Still, he didn''t doubt his own native ability. That card master had praised his talent that year when he had been able to learn how to make a one-star-grade power-card in the space of a week, on the strength of memory alone.


    From then on, he would always find some time to grind through that knowledge no matter how exhausted he was by his work. He put aside any lofty goals.


    After saying goodbye to Uncle Hua, Chen Mu walked South along a little alleyway. It was Friday, but he still had a bit of work to do.


    Passing along two streets, he walked for maybe twenty minutes and came to a place where there was a worn-out second-hand card buy-back station.


    "Eh, shop mate, you''re here." The one calling him was a shriveled looking baldy, called Darky. He was the proprietor of the buy-back station. Every Friday evening Chen Mu would do three hours of part-time work there.


    Chen Mu gave a little nod to Darky, maintaining a vaguely dull look on his face.


    Darky had already gotten used to that look of Chen Mu. When Chen Mu first came looking for temp work, Darky had refused him. The buy-back station had been started by his father, and it had always been run by one person. When he took it over, he ran it single-handed in the same way. Darky certainly couldn''t come up with the wages to hire anyone.


    But once Chen Mu said he didn''t need any wages, Darky agreed. Chen Mu was still rewarded, though. He was generally able to pick a few cards to take with him as his compensation.


    Chen Mu was also sometimes able to pick out a few not-quite-used-up power-cards from the trash pile. When Darky did the accounting, what he saved in expenses this way added up to quite a bit of money each month. Still, he inevitably became curious about that taciturn Chen Mu, as in, how did that knucklehead know that those cards still had power?


    Anyhow, from then on, he would beam with wide eyes each time he saw Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu squatted down to sort the worn-out cards in the pile. There were quite a few types. There were power-cards, goods cards, representational cards, there were even some relatively rare plant and animal cards. It was just that, without exception, they were all useless. What Chen Mu wanted to accomplish was just to classify them.


    The work progressed rapidly. It was evident that he was quite familiar with the work.


    Chen Mu rummaged through them, tossing a card over to Darky. "Yo, this card can still be used a bit." The two-star-grade card still had at least half its power. Chen Mu couldn''t figure out at all why the original owner of this card would waste it like that. The capacity of a two-star-grade power-card was a thousand, which was to say that there was about five-hundred left in it.


    "He he, thank you little old Chen." Looking at the two-star card in his hand, Darky eagerly ran beaming and bouncing over to the meter and stuck in the card. When he saw the reading light up at 523, Darky smiled to the point of bursting.


    Chen Mu paid no attention. He was entirely focused heart and mind on continuing to sort. Although some worn out middle-grade cards could still show up ¨C like three-star or four-star cards ¨C and their likelihood of showing up was rather high, as far as he was concerned, they still had no value. The only thing he was interested in for then was the one-star-grade power-card.


    His three-year card-making career had given him his own understanding of that kind of common and low-grade card. There wasn''t only one way to make a one-star power-card, and Chen Mu had already gathered up twelve differently composed one-star power-cards that way.


    Chen Mu learned quite a bit from each of those differently designed one-star power-cards. It was because he had borrowed a few techniques from them that he could then succeed in reducing the cost of making the one-star power-cards down to 95 Oudi. But that kind of good fortune wouldn''t happen every day. He had only gathered up those twelve up until then.


    But that day''s luck seemed pretty good.


    Looking at the one-star power-card in his hand and judging from the lines composed on its surface, this was another differently constructed sort of one-star power-card, which Chen Mu had never encountered before.


    He put it to the side, and continued to sort through the pile. There were really too many of the one-star power-cards, but Chen Mu patiently examined each one. He was fast, and so he practically only needed to swipe his hand over those one-star power-cards to be able to tell if they were something he wanted.


    That was all because of his familiarity with the one-star power-card. This kind of familiarity came from ceaselessly making them over the course of three years. Without looking, and on the basis of feel alone, he could tell if a card was truly a one-star power-card, and if it was a type he''d already seen. Really, he was too familiar with them and all of their particulars.


    His fingers suddenly froze as they were swiping over a card.


    That card . . .

 Chapter 2: Mysterious Cards

    Chapter 2: Mysterious Cards


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu''s heart skipped a beat. He deftly pulled out a one-star power-card from the bunch and brought it up to his face to examine it more closely.


    Judging from the pattern on the surface, there was nothing unusual about it. It utilized the currently most common and widespread "box" pattern. Still, Chen Mu sensed something slightly different with that card.


    The weight . . . he compared the card with normal one-stars to see if it might be a bit heavier. Having made several tens of thousands of one-star power-cards, Chen Mu had become well-versed early on in their weight, never mind how their composition determined their usage. As long as it was a one-star power-card, its card weight would never go beyond a certain specific range.


    That card''s weight was clearly not within that range.


    Closing his eyes, Chen Mu very lightly and carefully felt the imprint on the surface of the card with his thumb and forefinger, which was slightly raised.


    The pattern was exceedingly light and very superficial. That feeling . . . it felt like . . . Chen Mu scowled to remember the familiar-seeming feeling.


    He got it! Chen Mu''s eyes suddenly lit up. It seemed to be the result of being imprinted on the back of some sort of comparatively light-textured material.


    But that couldn''t be right. Chen Mu had an even bigger misgiving came. From what he could tell by feel, the material that this one-star power-card was made of was quite hard. It felt thick and heavy in his hand. According to ordinary principles, the composition of the surface imprint should really feel stronger.


    How could it feel the way it did? How strange!


    Examining the power-card in his hand once more, Chen Mu still couldn''t discover what could actually cause that strange phenomenon. There was nothing wrong with the composition; judging from the elegance and fluidity of the strokes, it was certainly to the standard of grand master grade. Given the skill he had across three years making one-star power-cards, there was no way he could draw out such fine contours as that.


    That puzzled Chen Mu even more. To talk about a grand master grade one-star power-card was very strange in itself. What sort of grand master card maker would even be likely to make a one-star power-card? It would be more normal if the card in his hand were a five-star power-card.


    Thinking it over, Chen Mu then put the rather strange card together with the one-star power-card he''d found which had a new composition.


    Chen Mu finally heaved a sigh of relief at completing his work.


    He felt a little beat from the bout of rapt concentration.


    "I''ll take these two cards with me," Chen Mu waved the two one-star power-cards at Darky.


    "No problem. No problem," Darky said happily. His reward for the day was not at all small. Chen Mu had helped him find five power cards that day that hadn''t been used up. He gave a quick smile, cocked up one side.


    In Darky''s mind, that knucklehead Chen Mu was quite odd. You could tell at a glance from what he wore that he was from a poor family. A poor kid like that would surely never let any chance to economize pass him by. Those not-quite used up power-cards in his hand meant a good bit of money in Darky''s eyes! Yet Chen Mu strangely showed no interest in those not-exhausted power-cards but was instead quite interested in one-star power-cards, even though they were all used up.


    That was naturally only something he wondered about, and not something he made too much of. If Chen Mu were more ordinary, then those power-cards Darky had would never have fallen into his hands. It was all money!


    He was smilingly sending off Chen Mu while congratulating himself on his own foresight,


    By the time Chen Mu got home, it was already ten at night. Gulping something down, he was anxious to take out the two power-cards he''d gotten that day, to study them.


    The first one-star power-card lit up Chen Mu''s eyes.


    It was a composition he''d never seen before; a complex set of tracings made up of light blue lines covering the entire surface of the card. That one-star power-card was the size of a playing card, while having a slightly more limber feel, and a glossy surface. But if you were to rub it gently, you could feel a slight raised quality to the imprint.


    Most people would go bleary-eyed looking at that sort of complicated design, not knowing where to start.


    Chen Mu, however, was looking with bright eyes. Across three years, he would gaze every day at that type of design. Although the compositions weren''t like what he was looking at just then, the degree of complexity was about the same. He had built up quite a bit of experience from those twelve kinds of innovative compositions that he had found in Darky''s store.


    To scrutinize the pattern of a card''s composition and more easily understand it, you would have to find where the pen first touched, and what its first stroke was, and then follow the tracings ever more deeply.


    While a one-star power-card was certainly complex, it was actually the simplest of all the cards. Despite that, it still took three hours before Chen Mu really made sense of each pen stroke''s usage. But if he wanted to make a one-star power-card like that one, he would still need a ton of practice. That wasn''t his intention, though. A ton of practice would consume a ton of material. Although he had some savings, it still wasn''t enough by that time to allow him such extravagance.


    The most important thing was that he''d already calculated that making that kind of innovative power-card would increase his costs a little, compared to the cost of the cards he was then making. It wasn''t his style to spend a lot of money to practice on some meaningless innovation. Still, that power-card had some things he could borrow from. Maybe he could incorporate the compressed circular structure into his own power-card compositions.


    While Chen Mu pondered, his fingers had slid over to another one-star power-card, and his gaze fell onto the second power-card that he''d just gotten.


    There was nothing remarkable about the style of that one-star power-card. It was the most common and wide-spread standard style used in one-star power-cards just then. Still, the stokes on this card''s surface caught Chen Mu''s attention. The lines were elegant and fluid, showing extremely skillful penmanship. Every arc turned smoothly and fully, with the penmanship of a grand master.


    This card looked rather old-fashioned. One could tell that it had a certain vintage, seeming to be the early work of some grand master. But what had first caught his attention wasn''t those two things, but rather its heft and thickness.


    This old-fashioned one-star power-card was one tenth again as heavy as the normal power-card. The basic weight of a one-star power-card was extremely light, such that one tenth would be hard to feel. But Chen Mu had so much experience making one-star power-cards that he felt the difference as soon as he picked it up. Same with the thickness, which was a little greater than an ordinary one-star power-card.


    That was the main reason the card had caught Chen Mu''s interest. The one-star power-card was the earliest card to appear, as well as the most commonly used. The specified standards were drawn up right at the outset. There hadn''t been any variation from those initially stipulated standards for composition and materials right up until that time.


    How could a one-star power-card produced by a grand master show that kind of variation?


    Could it be . . .


    Chen Mu naturally connected that to the way the material felt. Could that unknown grand master have found a new material for the one-star power-card? To make his living, Chen Mu had always focused on how to reduce his costs. That one-star power-card really got his attention.


    Pulling the power-card out from the apparatus, the room went immediately dark.


    After some hesitation, Chen Mu gritted his teeth and took that strange one-star power-card in his hand and stuck it into the apparatus.


    Hey! No light. The room was still dark, without a bit of light.


    Chen Mu stared. How could there be no light?


    Impossible! That was the first thought that came to Chen Mu''s mind. The card showed no signs of use, and what''s more Chen Mu could tell at a glance when a card had used up its energy. He could guarantee that although the power-card was old-fashioned, it was still an unused power-card.


    And the composition of the card was flawless. There weren''t any errors. Even compared to the one-star power-cards Chen Mu would make himself, it stood out quite a bit. There was absolutely no basis to assume that the card had been damaged.


    But the actual case just then was that it wouldn''t supply the slightest bit of power whatsoever.


    Putting back his own power-card into the power apparatus, the room lit up again. There was nothing wrong with the power apparatus, so he immediately external that external variable.


    So where did the problem come from?


    Chen Mu carefully examined the power-card under the light.


    Smoothing the card, a conjecture suddenly emerged to Chen Mu''s mind. Could it be that this it had been disabled?


    A grand master making a disabled one-star power-card? There''s no great probability for that sort of thing, Chen Mu muttered to himself.


    Carefully eliminating all the variables one by one, the composition and drawing technique were correct, there was no trace of its having been used, and no indication of the wear and tear of power. But it still wouldn''t supply any power.


    What about the materials? Chen Mu''s mind flashed, and he suddenly thought of the rather thick feel of it. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it could be something related to the materials.


    Chen Mu put the edge of the card under the light. Looking carefully, he finally found what was strange about it. The not-quite millimeter thick card''s edge had two extremely light-colored dividing lines. The card had surprisingly been composed from three types of material that had been fused together. Because the materials were so close in color, it would have been very difficult to discern if he hadn''t examined it closely.


    A failed experiment? That would seem the most likely possibility. Some years ago, some grand master was trying to make an improvement to the one-star-power-card, and failed. But it was unclear how the failed experiment could survive, to be discovered so unexpectedly by Chen Mu.


    It still seemed the most likely guess.


    Chen Mu felt a little discouraged. If that was really the case, then the disabled card didn''t have the slightest value.


    His fingers then felt something odd as he unconsciously rubbed the edge of the card lightly,


    Chen Mu quickly put the card in front of his eyes again. He didn''t know if it was because of its age, but the card''s edge had started to delaminate. Chen Mu suddenly got a little bit curious about the disabled card in which he had just lost interest. If it really conformed to his speculation, and that grand master had determined that fusing three materials could advance the one-star power-card, then Chen Mu would have to soberly reconsider his own level. He was afraid his level wasn''t even up to that of ordinary novices. He had never gotten any formal training in card-making.


    But he did still believe in himself a little, and he was sure that it was a one-star power-card. He had studied the one-star power-card right from the beginning and was as familiar as anyone could get with it. After the last time he''d done some fine tuning, there hadn''t been any breakthroughs until then. Now that card that day had given him another revelation. Since he''d had no breakthroughs with the composition, why not experiment with the materials?


    With that thought, Chen Mu renewed his interest in the experimental card''s material. Although the experimental card was disabled, without a doubt it had come from a grand master''s pen. So, of course, he wouldn''t be equal to every aspect of knowledge that went into it. But because he had such a propensity to borrow, Chen Mu planned to carefully research the three-layer laminated material.


    Very carefully opening that outermost laminate that had already started to peel off, Chen Mu couldn''t help feeling some regret. No matter how sturdy the material was, it would have been hard to maintain its original luster given the erosion of time.


    But after Chen Mu had completely removed the outer membrane, he was utterly astonished. His eyes locked onto the card as if struck by lightning, dumb as wood and clay.


    On the midnight-black face of the card, he counted hundreds and thousands of silver threads as fine as hair, which covered the face of the card like spider webs. They looked utterly chaotic. But a minute section stood out where there appeared a gracefully turned arc in a tightly knit structure, which was complex to an unfathomable depth.


    Since the strands of silver were as fine as hair, it took some effort to make them out with the naked eye. They seemed more like the capillaries in a human body, generating the illusion of a kind of flowing silver.


    What is this? A card? Chen Mu unconsciously muttered to himself, with his brain dormant.


    As much as ten minutes went by before he recovered from his muddled state and rubbed his eyes hard, to convince himself that he wasn''t seeing things.


    His speculation then went off in an entirely different direction. Whatever kind of failed experiment it had been, it was plainly a card that had gone through some camouflaging process. From Chen Mu''s limited experience, he naturally couldn''t tell what kind of card it was. To tell the truth, the card''s degree of complexity far exceeded Chen Mu''s understanding. He had never even conceived of such meticulous inscription or such superlative craft, much less had he seen it.


    At the card buy-back shop he had seen plenty of high-grade cards among which ¨C despite having been discarded ¨C he had never seen a card so complex and fine as this one.


    What kind of card was it after all? Chen Mu''s curiosity surged beyond anything he had ever known.

 Chapter 3: Training Class

    Chapter 3: Training Class


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Five hundred years before, when the originator of card theory, Rosenberg, first proposed his card theory, he also succeeded in making the first card. From that point forward, all sorts of cards proliferated across five-hundred-plus years of development. Before then, primitive card prototypes would show up in great quantities among all kinds of religions. They were considered to have a kind of unnatural power. To that day, some religions still maintained quite a few card masters and card artisans of a very high skill level. While their insights might have surpassed those of the Rosenberg era, what they passed on remains more mysterious and secretive than enlightening.


    In the same sense, Rosenberg''s stratospheric breakthrough was to destroy the mysterious aura which surrounded the card system. He systematically studied and explicated the card''s structure, and moreover invented several cards. For example, the standard design of today''s power-card was first proposed by Rosenberg. He utterly destroyed the mysterious aura enshrouding the physical card. The study of cards also then became a new academic subject.


    About three hundred years ago, there was a card master named Heiner Van Sant, who took card development into a new golden age. The year that Heiner Van Sant was born was coincidentally two hundred years after Rosenberg had officially proposed his card theory. It was as though those two greatest card masters across some five hundred years were echoing one another.


    The period when Heiner Van Sant was alive was a period when heroes emerged. During that hundred-year period, countless cards were invented by genius card masters. Heiner Van Sant was equally famous with Rosenberg as a great card master. As many as ninety-seven sorts of cards were invented under his direction. It was during that time that so many great card masters emerged who later became famous, such as Luo Qie, Chemosich, and others.


    After so many years of development, contemporary card study had long since become quite different from that of five hundred years before. The entire discipline had become more painstaking, with many branches, and with research going into much more depth.


    After the Mohadi domain normalized relations with the The House of a Hundred Depths, the card theory of the Heavenly Federation was promulgated to these two domains. They were both remarkable peoples for the speed of their assimilation, but because of the unique qualities of each realm, the theory developed according to the unique theoretical adaptations of each realm. Thus, the card-theory ecology was enriched and enlarged, leading to ever more new cards. It was such a brilliant and glorious period; a period when countless individuals were urged forward in their profound striving.


    Following that continual development of the card theory system, and the appearance of all sorts of strange cards, it became more and more difficult to distinguish among the card types. There was still no authoritative way to classify them.


    Still, if one wanted to know what a particular card did, the simplest and most direct way would be to use it.


    Using cards required some apparatus, and as it happens such devices were also invented by Rosenberg and perfected by Heiner Van Sant. While the current apparatus was being made more and more elaborate, and there were more and more supplementary functions such as the flashlight on Chen Mu''s apparatus, the fundamentals hadn''t changed in the slightest.


    From the outside, the apparatus is a rectangular box with three encircling bands, which could be fastened to the arm. There was a card slot on the top, for making use of the cards. At minimum, each device had two card slots. The higher the grade of the card apparatus, the more slots there would be. Among the two slots, one was for the basic power-card, while the other slot would be for whatever the user wanted to use it for. Which is to say that the apparatus was a device to use a power-card together with a different card, with the power-card energizing the other card, thus realizing its intended use.


    Naturally, Chen Mu''s apparatus was unlikely to be any sort of high-grade product, since two-hundred-some Oudi wouldn''t buy that. Given that sort of utilitarian-grade apparatus, Chen Mu had used very few among the vast array of goods.


    Without any hesitation, Chen Mu slid the card into the slot of his apparatus and pulled out an unused power-card to slide into the bottom slot. Taking a deep breath, Chen Mu immediately pressed the power button on the face of the apparatus.


    "Crap!"


    A row of characters quickly appeared to Chen Mu on a translucent screen.


    "This power-card does not comply with the specifications. Please use a three-star or higher power-card."


    A three-star power card! Or even higher! The stunned Chen Mu had already determined that the card was a thoroughly high-grade card. In general, the higher the grade of the card, the higher the grade of the required power-card, with the power-consumption rate also increasing. Chen Mu already had that much common sense.


    But Chen Mu had some hardship. He didn''t have a three-star power-card on hand, and if he wanted to know what sort of card this really was he would have to go buy one. But the price of a three-star power-card was definitely not a small figure.


    The capacity of a one-star power-card was a hundred power units. A two-star power-card was a thousand power units, while the capacity of a three-star power-card went up to ten thousand power units.


    The suggested retail price of a one-star power-card was 110 Oudi, which was about 1 Oudi per power unit. The price of a two-star card was 1250 Oudi, or about 1.25 Oudi per power unit. The price of a three-star power-card went up to 15,000 Oudi, which averaged out to 1.5 Oudi per power unit.


    This was why the usage of the one-star card was so widespread. After all, the poor were still the most numerous people in that world.


    He had generally lived frugally for those three years. Working day and night entirely for his sustenance, he had made just 80,000 Oudi in total. He was extremely hesitant to think that he could pull out 15,000 Oudi going forward. Having experienced the life of a street punk since he was small, he gave money more weight than most people, since he knew that it was the most basic thing in life.


    He hesitated for quite a while, ultimately overcoming his urge by his reason. Chen Mu decided to give it some time. He didn''t throw out the two pieces of film that had been stuck over the cards either but saved them instead.


    His days resumed their normal serenity again, except that he had acquired a new habit: He couldn''t resist fidgeting with the card. Every time he examined that card, he would become immersed in its complex and meticulous composition.


    But life went on, and he wasn''t accomplishing nothing during that time. He successfully incorporated the circular compression pattern from that differently-composed one-star power-card into his own composition. That enabled him to reduce his costs to produce a one-star power-card by another 2 Oudi, which is to say that his daily take was increased by 50 Oudi.


    You could say that the composition of the one-star power-cards he was making by then had already moved quite a bit away from the standard composition, though that would be hard to tell without careful examination. But who would be likely to examine so closely any one-star power-card that they had just bought?


    He pulled out the audit-ticket that Uncle Shu had given him last time. According to its date, the class was that day.


    The training was being held in a large building to the side of Eastern Wei Academy. Chen Mu had originally thought that there wouldn''t be many people in attendance. He hadn''t expected the clamor that he found upon entering the classroom. It was all young men and women seated inside. When young people are together, they naturally form-up in groups, laughing and cursing happily, several to a group, having so awfully much fun.


    Chen Mu casually sat down in a seat by the windows. Living so many years as a street punk had given Chen Mu good insight about peoples'' appearances. Glancing over the room, it was plain to him that those people had fairly ordinary family backgrounds. If a family had money, why would they send their children to that kind of low-grade training? Eastern Wei Academy would be the place to send them.


    Looking out the window, there was only a wall to separate them from the Eastern Wei Academy. From his vantage, the Eastern Wei Academy playing fields were clearly visible. With neat and clean uniforms, and brimming with smug grins of urbane greeting, the manner for the scholars at Eastern Wei Academy was to be heads-up and bright-eyed.


    Chen Mu experienced a few moments of unaccounted discomfort, feeling a kind of bitterness slowly building up. Pulling his gaze back, Chen Mu sat blankly for a while, and then, getting his spirit back, he couldn''t help laughing.


    What had become of him? Three years earlier, he probably wouldn''t have dreamed that he could live as he was. What could he be dissatisfied with now? He scolded himself inwardly that he should be content with what he had and that he was extremely lucky.


    Getting past this, Chen Mu once again let his gaze fall toward Eastern Wei Academy, still having some admiration as he did so, though he was then unusually placid.


    Just at that moment, the instructor walked into the classroom, and the classroom directly quieted down.


    The instructor was a twenty-something young man named Gu Ming. He was of average looks, but with an extraordinarily mobile mouth. He opened with a harangue about how he was a directly-related disciple of Professor Gu Ziling from Eastern Wei Academy, and how he had a cooperative relationship with Eastern Wei Academy, and how when everyone had completed their studies and the time came to look for work, that would be a trivial matter, and so forth. It wasn''t taken as boastful cheerleading, but directly brightened the attention paid by the gang of students below him.


    Chen Mu nevertheless listened with furrowed brow. From his life as a street punk, what he had come to understand about the ways of the world was far more sophisticated than those young men and women. From his point of view, the instructor seemed more like a charlatan than a card master.


    This bout of boasting wasted half the morning.


    The other half of the morning caused Chen Mu to lose all hope. That Gu Ming''s delivery was completely rote recitation. Chen Mu had been teaching himself all along for three years. He''d looked over no fewer than a hundred or so foundational works. He knew a few of them inside and out to the extent that he knew that what Gu Ming was reciting back was volume four of the work edited by Wang Jing, and used by all the academies: A Survey of the Theoretical Foundations of Card Theory.


    He''d gone through that one no fewer than ten times, but because he was lacking too much in his fundamentals, there were quite a few spots where the meaning wasn''t so clear to him.


    So, he pulled himself together right away and paid attention to the lecture.

 Chapter 4: Zuo Tingyi

    Chapter 4: Zuo Tingyi


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Gu Ming wasn''t'' very accomplished, and he was also most certainly not any disciple of Professor Gu Ziling. But he did have some relation to Professor Gu Ziling of the Eastern Wei Academy; he was his nephew. He was relying on that connection to use Gu Ziling''s name in organizing the class. Gu Ziling knew about what his nephew was doing, but it wasn''t anything uncommon, and it had no effect on him to help give his nephew a leg up from time to time.


    Gu Ming''s didn''t have any significant accomplishments, but he did know how to talk. He had a special knack for misleading people. Of course, it''s not OK to recite back a book, though there was so much content to his bibliography that as long as he always added a little content it could be OK. He well understood what sort of goods the students attending this class were, and so he had quickly hit upon his strategy.


    He lectured on the simple and the basic at great length ¨C to a painstaking extreme ¨C taking half the day lecturing on the most basic theory, and giving derivation after derivation. He covered those having a high degree of difficulty with a sentence.


    It might seem to a layperson that the teacher''s content was rather detailed and rich, while an expert would scoff upon hearing him, and find him to be a fool.


    But Chen Mu listened with utter absorption. His fundamentals were so deficient that he would sometimes come across something he didn''t understand, and he wouldn''t even know which book to search in or where to go for the book. Suffering without a guide for those three years, Chen Mu''s progress was extremely slow. In the eyes of a card master, those basics were a matter of course, and he would think that nobody needed such a detailed introduction. Gu Ming''s exhaustive lecturing on the basic content was actually much to Chen Mu''s liking, as many things that he had previously puzzled over without understanding them were finally becoming clear.


    From then on, Chen Mu did not miss a single one of Gu Ming''s classes. Theory and practice complement one another and must be advanced together. For three straight years, Chen Mu had been relying on his own blind carving and polishing to attempt to improve on the one-star power-card. But that had given him plenty of experience. Now with both sides complementing one another, he progressed more quickly.


    Where there had been a few places where he felt foggy, his grasp of the architecture of the one-star power-card was becoming more clear day by day.


    "OK, this session''s classes with be complete after the next class. Oh, I have a piece of good news to tell everyone. Since this class is being jointly conducted with Eastern Wei Academy, we can participate in the annual Eastern Wei Academy advanced studies exam. After you leave, everyone make a card and bring it to me next time. If any among you is selected, there''s a good possibility of being singled out to enter Eastern Wei Academy for advanced studies!"


    Although there wasn''t much substance in his belly, because he was a skilled talker, and had some charm and wit about him, his relations with the students were not at all bad.


    The next day, everyone handed up the cards that they had made. What Chen Mu turned over was a one-star power-card.


    Eastern Wei Academy''s so-called advanced studies exam was specifically organized to target jointly conducted specialized training classes. Its purpose was to provide students who stood out from the crowd attending the training classes a chance to proceed to regular study. But, it had gradually become a mere formality those last few years, whether because of the way the classes were being conducted or because of the school. It was not working out at all. It was embarrassing that across thirty years of the advanced studies exam, only two students had ever been selected.


    Gu Ming didn''t take it seriously and was quite clear with himself about those students of his; there was likely not one among them who could make a complete card. And so, he didn''t register the names on the cards, but directly took them cards and wrapped them up inside a paper bag. Oy, tough break, eh? Yeah, but he had to teach three classes!


    After finishing all his classes, Gu Ming ran over to his uncle''s office in the Eastern Wei Academy and casually tossed the three paper bags on the desk, before going out to kick back and have a good time.


    When Gu Ziling returned to his office to see these three paper bags, he couldn''t help furrowing his brow. Gu Ziling was over a half-century old, and his chiseled face had already started to show quite a few wrinkles. Although he knew that it was all a matter for lip service, the formalities must still be gone through. But how would an august professor be left to do that sort of thing?


    Gu Ziling pressed the activation button on his wrist apparatus. Compared to Chen Mu''s, his device was much more refined and exquisite, only as big as the palm of his hand. It had lots of complex designs carved onto its simple silver background. The three bands were made from the naturally polished skin of the Hardy Domain''s sawtooth alligator. There were four card slots on the apparatus. One could tell at a glance that it was worth a considerable amount.


    A translucent screen popped up in front of him activated by the communications card in his apparatus, on which appeared a long list of names. The communications card had been invented just thirty years before, but it was already widely used. There were different grades of communications cards, according to their range beyond line-of-sight. The highest-grade communications cards could accomplish communications across the entire Heavenly Federation without error, but for a price not affordable by ordinary people. For now, what the ordinary resident used was generally a one-star, covering their own city. Gu Ziling wanted a slightly higher grade three-star, to accomplish regional communication.


    Gu Ziling lightly tapped one of the names on the screen with a finger wearing a sapphire ring.


    After perhaps five seconds, the image of a handsome youth appeared on the screen. His somewhat delayed appearance showed a bit of impassivity, and his eyes were somewhat cool.


    "Are you looking for me for something, Professor?" Zuo Tingyi asked respectfully, though with an icy tone.


    Having known the student himself for a long time, Gu Ziling said, "Come to my office for a bit."


    About ten minutes later, Zuo Tingyi arrived at the office.


    "Go through these things." Gu Ziling pointed at the three paper bags on the desk.


    Zuo Tingyi grunted assent and began to sort the cards in the bags. It was evident that Zuo Tingyi didn''t have the slightest bit of impatience, and Gu Ziling nodded his head in satisfaction. Zuo Tingyi was his favorite student. Not only was he talented and smart with excellent grades, but he was also respectful of his teacher, and did his work meticulously. Nearly all the instructors who had taught him were extremely fond of him, and he conducted himself quite well, sending significant gifts for every holiday. He was practically the perfect student in the eyes of all the teachers.


    Zuo Tingyi arranged the cards one by one. These cards were mostly too awful to look at, with errors by the hundreds. Although there was no change in Zuo Tingyi''s expression, internally he was rather grudging. For this kind of trifling matter to fall on his head could really put a fellow in a bad mood.


    "Reject."


    "Reject."


    This card is really off the charts! Such a simple card, surprisingly having no fewer than fifteen errors.


    Another reject!


    Zuo Tingyi''s forehead then wrinkled deeply.


    He''d finally found a presentable card.


    Zuo Tingyi let out a sigh of relief. In ordinary circumstances if a one-star power-card were to appear, he absolutely wouldn''t have given it a glance from whatever he was focused on. But in this circumstance, the insignificant one-star power-card unexpectedly caught his attention.


    After he finished sorting through the three paper bags, there remained only one card in front of Zuo Tingyi. A one-star power-card.


    Zuo Tingyi was just intending to report to Gu Ziling when he thought to take a little precaution to avoid looking like a fool. All those discarded cards gave the normally moderate Zuo Tingyi some lingering concern. Don''t let some little mistake get by that he hadn''t found on the card himself. That loss of face would be a big one.


    He brought the barely rescued one-star power-card cautiously to his face at once.


    Yi!


    He uttered a light oath while his face subtly transformed.

 Chapter 5: A Weird One-star Power-card

    Chapter 5: A Weird One-star Power-card


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Hearing Zuo Tingyi''s mild exclamation, Gu Ziling, whose eyelids had already become heavy, forced his eyes back open, arranged his face and smoothed his hair, and then gave a light cough, finally opening his mouth to say: "What''s up, Tingyi?"


    Zuo Tingyi wasn''t listening, his eyes blankly fixed on the card in his hand.


    Gu Ziling scowled a little, and said with a hint of annoyance: "Tingyi, what''s going on?"


    Zuo Tingyi finally reacted, turning around at once: "Teacher, this card has something weird about it."


    "Weird? What do you mean by weird?" Gu Ziling asked, puzzled.


    Zuo Tingyi promptly moved the card in his hand over to his teacher''s gaze: "It''s this card. This card . . . this card . . . "


    He was considering how to put it.


    What''s up with this guy today? Gu Ziling furrowed his brow. Zuo Tingyi was normally decisive, straightforward in his speech, and never tepid. Gu Ziling said straight out: "Give me a look."


    Gu Ziling was a little skeptical about what kind of weirdness the card had that was worth making a fuss about ¨C a one-star power-card that was being handed to him from Zuo Tingyi ¨C but he still took a look at it.


    "Yi."


    He sat right up. The skepticism on his face vanished immediately, replaced by an unusual gravity.


    "There really is something weird about it," Gu Ziling muttered to himself, his eyes remaining fixed on the one-star power-card in his hand. Even a highly ranked card master from Eastern Wei Academy such as himself couldn''t tell at a glance if there really was or wasn''t anything wrong with that one-star power-card.


    From Gu Ziling''s ample experience, there were quite a few deviations from the standard in the composition of that one-star power-card. He discerned that the card was using the standard as its basis to advance some changes, but were those changes really changes? Or were they mistakes? He felt some consternation, since he''d never seen compositional modifications like those.


    Zuo Tingyi saw Gu Ziling''s perplexity, and couldn''t help reminding him: "Teacher, it would be best if we try it and see if this power-card works."


    Gu Ziling''s eyes flashed. Yes! We need only examine whether or not the card actually works to see if these are errors or not. But there was something in his look which betrayed some earlier misgiving. He gave a little cough: "Eh, Tingyi. You''ve made some great progress, wanting to catch up with me . . . "


    Respectfully, Zuo Tingyi said: "Teacher''s knowledge is as broad as the sea, how could a student compare?"


    Gu Ziling was pleased inside, while what he said was: "You shouldn''t be so modest, those who can compare with you can be counted on one hand."


    "Those are all teachers and instructors, and I''m only a student just now." Zuo Tingyi gave a little bow.


    "Tingyi hasn''t forgotten his teacher''s good graces, so rare, so rare . . ." Having finished their mutual praise, Gu Ziling took on the air of a profound thinker and said: "OK, let''s take a look at this one-star power-card, and find out what''s really special about it."


    Gu Ziling''s card-making lab was fully equipped with every kind of device.


    Although card-making was an abstruse field, there were quite a few who studied it. Among card-masters, there was a lot of polarization, with an extremely large disparity between those with and those without. The lower-grade card-masters were often frustrated in their livelihood; it wasn''t easy for them to make a living. Middle-grade card-masters could get a decent income. But once one became a high-grade card master, one was immediately hot, with the power to attract all sorts of suitors.


    Lower grade card masters could only make one or two-star cards, and at that time, one and two-star cards had basically become industrial products. That was the main reason it was so hard for lower-grade card masters to make a living. Grade-three and above cards could only be made by a card master, which was why mid and high-grade card masters were so hot.


    In order to attract those high-grade card masters to teach at Eastern Wei Academy, they provided some generous conditions. Not only was the salary and status superior, the research funding and so-forth could make a person red-eyed with envy. So, Gu Ziling had his own private card-making lab, supplied with every sort of equipment, all paid for and provided by Eastern Wei Academy.


    What he was then using was a card analysis device, a kind of powerful professional-grade apparatus. It was complicated to operate, and only card masters would technically be able to purchase and learn how to use it. But its capability was tops, able to analyze the card material, composition, when it was made, and so forth. Of course, it was exceedingly expensive.


    "It really is a new type of composition." Having seen the final analytical report and paying no mind to the dumbfounded look of Zuo Tingyi, Gu Ziling went into deep thought. He had a lot more knowledge and experience than Zuo Tingyi, so of course he knew that there were quite a few different types apart from the style of the standard composition.


    The analytical report was extremely detailed. There was no deviation from the standard one-star power-card in the quality of material and power capacity of this one-star power-card. Apart from the style of its etched composition, there was no optimization at all.


    There is no value to this! Gu Ziling thought, shaking his head, He was a bit discouraged. Having wasted half a day, he still hadn''t gotten anything of any value. How could a high stature card-master like him be likely to consider that the optimization with this card was not about its capability, but rather about its cost of production.


    From his point of view, to rack one''s brains trying to optimize the production costs of a one-star power-card was in itself a strange notion!


    Casually tossing the card to the side, Gu Ziling didn''t intend to waste any more time on the matter. An august high-grade card-master''s time was quite valuable!


    In the same way, Zuo Tingyi hadn''t considered that the card might have been optimized for the cost of production. He was from a prosperous family, and thought money was dirty. How could he imagine that there were people likely to make the optimization of production costs for a hundred-some-Oudi one-star power-card their money-making plan! As a matter of fact, he had never used a power-card lower than three-star.


    But still to have even one complete card from among those three paper bags, after going through so many rejects and discards, Zuo Tingyi had some rather good feelings about the maker of the card. He had originally considered helping him participate in the advancement test, but he didn''t expect that after searching for half the day he still wouldn''t be able to find out who the maker of this card was. He would have to leave the matter unsettled.


    There was no change in Chen Mu''s circumstance. He continued to make one-star power-cards every day as always. But because of his gains from the recent training session, he made rapid progress with his studies. The most direct manifestation was the penmanship of his etching on the power-cards, which had become much smoother and fuller. In his rough estimation, that meant a three percent increase in the efficiency of his one-star power-cards.


    Since one-star power-cards were basically low-capacity, how would anyone notice any result from that three percent improvement?

 Chapter 6: Perception

    Chapter 6: Perception


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu would sometimes think of that card in his drawer, with its vastly complicated lines like the starry sky on a black background. But whenever he considered the cost of a three-star power-card rising to 15,000 Oudi, his mind cooled right off. Fiddling with the card had already become his daily habit. Just then, he casually put that card on the table.


    Chen Mu was full of curiosity about the silver-threaded card with the black background, but he was still restraining himself, and hadn''t gone out to buy a three-star power-card. It was after carrying on like that that he came to a decision after some careful deliberation. Aside from the factor of the three-star power-card, the other factor was finally his own basic reason for making this decision.


    His foundation fell short, extremely short; so short that he still wasn''t up to the level of ordinary low-grade card-masters. It wouldn''t help his development very much to waste all his time on that card. Without a strong foundation, the higher he went, the more dangerous it would get, and the more restricted he would be. He certainly didn''t understand grand principles, but he did still understand the simple truths of the life of the street punk.


    For those past several days, he''d been immersed in the thrill of his rapid progress. He had never stopped pondering over the course of many years, even though a few crucial issues that he didn''t know how to solve were blocking his progress. But after he pulled out those corks, the gushers were a thrill ¨C simply incomparable!


    He considered himself already able to try making a one-star fantasy card.


    Fantasy cards were the traditional specialty of the Heavenly Federation. The fantasy card was where the original creator of card theory, Rosenberg, had the most expertise. The first stage of the fantasy card was illusion. The higher stage was to model things. Beginner fantasy cards weren''t actually very useful. They could only put out some illusory images. Although those illusions were life-like, they were still only a kind of image, and had no way to cause harm to people, as experienced people could tell at a glance.


    The power of high-grade fantasy cards was in fact quite scary. They could excite the energy of a power card, and by passing it through permutations and combinations, they could imitate an actual thing such as a representation of high-grade weaponry, or still more, a specialty weapon for card artisans. That sort of fantasy card was more often called a fantasy skill card. In general, when ordinary people talked about a fantasy card, they were basically referring to the low-level fantasy card.


    There was a big difference between the making of a fantasy card and the making of a power-card. For a power-card, a card master could make one as long as he understood its composition, and had the requisite technique for inscribing on the card.. But a fantasy card was completely different. It required that the card-master have a certain perception. This so-called perception was the link-force between the card master and the power.


    Power and the properties of matter were at the very core of what the card master must grasp.


    Perception could be improved by going through some methodology, which was the required course of study for all card-masters. Within contemporary card master assessments, perception was one of the most important and basic of the capabilities, divided into exceedingly stringent grades.


    Of course, perception was not something only needed by card-masters. There were a few professions, such as card artisan ¨C or professional card users ¨C who had the same requirements regarding perception.


    But during the period when the card system was initially being developed ¨C which was during the time of Rosenberg ¨C the profession of the card artisan didn''t exist. Card masters at that time acted as the card-maker and were also the people most familiar with using the cards. In every sense, they had the ability to implement what they understood regarding how to use the cards, or how to operate them. At that time, when the card masters were the most numerous, they were both embellishing and making cards, while they had card-skills as well.


    Right up until three hundred years before, at the time of Heiner Van Sant, the number of card-masters had been expanding for two hundred years. The sum of categories had already attained a quite significant number. This also caused many more cards to be able to circulate into the hands of people beyond the card-masters. As the card system became more and more complicated, the knowledge that the card-masters had to master as compared to the time of Rosenberg became excessive. Card-masters then began gradually to concentrate more and more on research and study.


    It was beginning at that time that there arose a new profession ¨C that of the card artisan. These were specialized personnel who make use of the cards. Since they were the ones who threw all of their energy into exploiting the cards'' formidable powers to the limit, they made far and away more awesome use of the card as compared to the card-makers. There are limits to a person''s energy. Since card-masters who studied card-making, and then also used the cards weren''t often able to achieve good success in either aspect, over the course of time there evolved the two professions, which differentiated more and more until they became as distinct as the Jing and the Wei Rivers.


    But among those, there were also deviants, such as Heiner Van Sant. While he was a genius card-master, he was also one of the top card artisans of that period. He was to become the last recorded generalist card-master.


    Up to the contemporary period, card-masters and card-artisans had differing emphases regarding the sharpening of perception. Most card-masters emphasized perception of power, whereas card-artisans emphasized how to control the power.


    There were several ways to train perception, but the characteristic that they had in common was that they all required media. Media had different characteristic ways to directly influence perception, and the characteristic of the perception would also directly influence the cards that the card-master made. And then the characteristics of the card would also directly influence the card artisan who used the card.


    So, in many places among different schools, card-masters and card artisans often co-existed. Those card artisans used cards from their own school, and since what they implemented was the same sort of perception, they could often bring out the most formidable power from the card.


    Like the famously brilliant Bitter Solitude Temple. With every kind of core card that they made, if someone hadn''t come from the Bitter Solitude Temple they would be practically unable to use them. and even if they could, they would be incapable of the card''s most awesome power.


    There were more card artisans than card-masters. Naturally, no more need be said about how respected the card-masters were. But the precondition was that you needed to get into at least the higher grades and above.


    The card artisan was much more flexible than the card-master ¨C private security guards, explorers, mercenaries . . . or, like those card artisans who were skilled in controlling the water-shuttle cards, and who could move about effortlessly underwater, they made the best candidates to explore and survey the sea bottom. Card artisans who were good at controlling the search cards were also essential personnel to maintain law and order everywhere. They were also essential on every expedition.


    There were all sorts of card types, and the card artisans who used them came in every oddball shape and size as well.

 Chapter 7: Card Variations

    Chapter 7: Card Variations


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The card master who made cards needed to act at the same time as the maintenance person. In general, very few ordinary cards could be taken in for repair, since it was very easy to reduce that card''s performance while it. The costs were also very high. But if it was a rare and valuable card, it was quite possible that one might be able to afford one without there being any market for it; there would be no place to go if one wanted to buy it. If it were damaged, one would have to take it in for repair.


    Chen Mu''s perception was very low. That card master that one year had never taught him how to train his perception. Although specialized training materials were well defined, and Chen Mu had started training early-on according to the prescribed methods, his results up to then had been quite meager.


    But Chen Mu didn''t feel so bad as he thought about it, since of course, high grade materials were the mainstays circulating on the market. And the only way to elevate perception for a card master was to penetrate to the most core secrets. And who would selflessly reveal those secrets in that ruthlessly competitive contemporary society?


    There were a lot of ways to improve perception, including many that were well-known. Each of the five flourishing districts of the Heavenly Federation had its own famously brilliant branch of card-mastery.


    But in the five flourishing districts, card masters and card artisans were not split up, with both card masters and card artisans often within the same school. The Bitter Solitude Temple in the Fanasi District was one which used the mind as the media following a grueling regimen to train the heart-centered media to reach their goal of heightened perception.


    There were five academies among the five flourishing districts: the Northern Reaches Districts'' Desert Camp, the Repository of Classics in the Upper Gan District, the Star Court in the Heterodox Brilliance District, the Moon Frost Island in the Heavenly Drum Village District, and the Bitter Solitude Temple in the Fanasi District. If one added the Comprehensive Federation Academy in the capital, there were then those six most famous large Academies across the whole of the Heavenly Federation.


    The Heavenly Federation had five flourishing districts altogether, plus twenty-two ordinary regions. Chen Mu lived in Eastern Shang-Wei City, which was a city in one of the ordinary residential regions of the Eastern Reaches District. One could move freely among the ordinary residential districts, but it wasn''t so easy to establish a residence in the five flourishing districts, unless one had a specific professional-grade skill, or above. The conditions in the flourishing districts were considerably better than those in the ordinary residential districts, and it was the life-long dream of many people to live in one of the five flourishing districts.


    Short tourist visits were not prohibited.


    While it wasn''t clear where the Eastern Wei Academy would fall in the rankings, it had a rather good name in its own district. Unfortunately, Chen Mu had no chance to study in even that Academy. What he practiced was the most superficial method, and his native ability was severely limited. So, across two years of practice, his progress had always been quite minimal.


    But Chen Mu surprisingly was not discouraged, and he persevered in his training. His method of training was a common way to address the demands of the medium, which could be applied to things from everyday life as one might wish. Chen Mu used what he was most familiar with, one of his one-star power-cards. The power-card which he had been using to train his perception had already gone through a remarkable transformation. It had become more detailed and crystal clear. The card seemed to have a very mysterious connection with him, though even he couldn''t say clearly what kind of connection it was.


    Thanks to his lengthy and unstinting efforts, although it was still lowly, his perception was almost sufficient to make a one or two-star fantasy card.


    He had memorized the composition of the fantasy card countless times, having steeped himself in it, and having committed it by heart early on. So, he then tried to make his first one-star fantasy card.


    Dang! The nib on the pen was wrong, and the first card was wrecked.


    The second card was also a failure.


    The third card was a failure.


    * * *


    Sweat started to bead-up on Chen Mu''s brow, as he finally realized what the differences really were between making a fantasy card and making a power-card.


    There were two parts as far as materials are concerned: the card-material and the card ink. The card material is the carrier that supported the ink, while the ink was used to inscribe the card''s composition. The makeup of the ink was very complicated, and its preparation was part of each card master''s basic course of study.


    Making fantasy cards was not a simple matter of inscription with the pen, but rather it required that one use the power of perception to make the card ink and the card material agree with one another. In that way, one could greatly step up the level of difficulty to which one could produce.


    Chen Mu already found it difficult to hold it together. His perception was poor at the outset, and it had only just gotten to where he could make one or two-star fantasy cards. That bout of continuous production had already exhausted his spirit.


    He felt more tired than when making twenty-five one-star power-cards!


    His head was so tired that in a state of unconsciousness, Chen Mu leaned over the table and fell asleep ¨Ca very deep sleep that time.


    Out the window, the sky was full of stars. The weather was getting cold, and the constellations which filled the sky made a person feel somewhat desolate. The glow from the constellations was dreary, as it came in through the open window, and fell on the surface of the table where Chen Mu was bent over, asleep.


    That mysterious card was lying peacefully on a corner of the table; by happenstance bathing in the faint starlight.


    The room had a very calm aspect, with only the light rhythm of Chen Mu''s slight snoring. The finely intertwined silver threads as fine as silk on the surface of the card suddenly started to brighten a little, while the black card-stock increasingly appeared more profoundly pure and deep.


    Gradually, some parts of the silver thread started to darken, dulling to the point where it would almost be difficult to detect them, and then the silky fine silver thread composition on the surface of the card began to undergo some new transformation.


    Many of the silver threads were unaffected at the places where they intersected, and on the contrary continued to brighten.


    Those transformations went on for ten minutes.


    The face of the card had already undergone a complete transformation. All of the incomparably complex silver threads had disappeared, leaving behind innumerable silver bright spots, looking like stars filling up the night sky.


    When Chen Mu woke up, it was already five hours later. He had been awakened by the evening chill coming in through the window. Rubbing his sleepy eyes, forcefully shaking his head, and still in a sleepy daze, Chen Mu stood up forthrightly, wanting to shake off the profound sleepiness still in his body.


    He took in a deep breath, whose chill air woke him up more quickly. Out of the corner of his eye, something flitted from the tabletop. His body went suddenly rigid, as though it had abruptly changed into a clay figure. He stood there motionless.


    After fully five minutes, he came back to life. Having come back to life, the first thing he did was to pinch his arm. Although he hardly ever dreamed, this had to be a dream, or so he thought. The pain coming from his arm told him otherwise; that the scene in front of him was no dream.


    That mysterious card had already become unrecognizable. The innumerable silver threads on the surface of the card could no longer be seen, and what remained were differently-sized scattered silver spots, without any pattern. If he could tell that it was a high-grade card before, its appearance now told him that he was incapable of making any determination.


    The card''s transformation utterly surpassed Chen Mu''s understanding. He stared somewhat blankly at the card in the palm of his hand.

 Chapter 8: A Predicament

    Chapter 8: A Predicament


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu''s heart skipped a beat, as he deftly picked up the card with his fingers and inserted it into the slot of the device on his wrist.


    "Crap!" The readout on the face of the card was still the same as before.


    So, what kind of transformation did this card undergo? Chen Mu''s curious mind abruptly became fierce beyond measure. He hated not being able impulsively to go out right away and buy a three-star power-card.


    Impulses are the devil! Impulses are the devil! Chen Mu was muttering to himself, reminding himself that this was not a small figure. After a lot of effort, he finally restrained himself with great difficulty. An ordinary person would likely be unable to restrain himself and would have gone out to buy a three-star power-card. But Chen Mu had steely resolve and had never slipped up in his restraint.


    After he had slowly chilled off, he got his clarity back. The most important responsibility in front of him at that time was to learn how to make the fantasy card. That would be a qualitative leap for him. Although it basically wasn''t any kind of wish that he couldn''t achieve, Chen Mu had been fumbling along all by himself so assiduously and for so long, that he had already looked forward to that day for a long, long time.


    At that moment, he couldn''t let himself be distracted by anything else. That hope was the reason he hadn''t been willing to touch his savings. He didn''t really know how much longer he would fumble about, or how much material he would use up, so he bitterly held back, and didn''t buy a three-star power-card.


    Although that card was mysterious, making a fantasy card had been Chen Mu''s dream for a few years. Ever since he was a little street punk, when he would see those ever-shifting bright-colored fantasy card advertisements outside the shops, they would frequently hold him in their thrall. At such times he would always be able to forget his own tattered clothes which couldn''t even keep out the cold.


    As far as keeping warm was concerned, he was already completely able to satisfy his needs. If it weren''t for that dream, he wouldn''t be studying card-theory so conscientiously. It was only the power-card which had enabled him to persist in his current existence, and to tell the truth, he was very satisfied with his current existence.


    He wasn''t a very ambitious person. His childhood dreams were mostly simple and ordinary ¨C to be able to eat his fill, dress warmly, have a place to live ¨C and he had already achieved all of those. The only remaining thing that was still lodged in his memory was the multicolored fantasy card advertisements twinkling in the winter nights.


    Hu! Chen Mu forcefully exhaled all the air from his chest, and lightly put the mysterious card into the drawer. Until he had learned how to make a fantasy card, he would absolutely not try to decipher the riddle of that mysterious card.


    Looking at the pile of wasted cards on the table, Chen Mu sat back down without a word. He had long since gotten used to failure. He had been fumbling along by himself all along. Failure was his daily bread. If he were to become discouraged by defeat, he would never have gotten so far.


    Try harder! Chen Mu inwardly clenched his fist.


    Seven days went by.


    Chen Mu couldn''t hide the exhaustion in his face. His eyes were completely bloodshot. In front of him were piled up innumerable cards, without one having a completed composition on its face. They were all rejects. He had been attempting to make fantasy cards without stopping for seven days, without a single success.


    He somehow couldn''t let his perception control the pen in his hand. He could very clearly sense the intense nature embodied within the card-ink flowing from the pen nib, but he certainly had no way to use perception to control those liquids; to make them and the card get along together. The pen nib, filled to overflowing with liquid, was like a wild horse, which wouldn''t listen to commands.


    Chen Mu''s perception was always low, and when it would sometimes torment him, he had no choice but to rest and wait for his perception to recover. For seven days, every day and every night, he would draft fantasy cards, without succeeding with any of them. The blow to his confidence made him much more tired than the weariness of his body and spirit.


    What was he doing wrong, after all?


    Chen Mu clawed at his unkempt hair with frustration.


    He sat dejected in his chair, lost in thought as he stared at the piles of rejected cards. For these few days, what had gotten used up wasn''t only Chen Mu''s energy, but also a great quantity of money. The most important part of that was the expense for materials. Even though it was a one-star fantasy card, he had already wasted almost ten-thousand Oudi.


    His flimsy pathetic savings wouldn''t bear that sort of torment any more. Chen Mu smiled bitterly to himself.


    Standing up, and opening the window, the beautiful bright sun shone on his face. The warmth on his face made him squint contentedly. No matter what, take a rest!


    Walking along the sunshine suffused street, Chen Mu, who was in an utterly miserable frame of mind because he had failed to make a fantasy card, unwittingly loosened up. Cloudless sunny weather was also among the favorites of the street punk, because you didn''t have to worry about the cold. You didn''t have to worry about quietly losing your life amid the cold wind.


    Humming a little folk-tune, with his hands clasped behind the back of his head, Chen Mu strolled along according to his whim.


    Without meaning to, he had walked to the area of the main gate to Eastern Wei Academy.


    He himself had never entered Eastern Wei Academy to look around. Already cheered up, Chen Mu unwittingly walked right over toward Eastern Wei Academy.


    Eastern Wei Academy didn''t have any restriction at all on the entry of non-Academy personnel. Because of the beauty of the scenery, and since there were so many historic sites, there were quite a few people who went there to amuse themselves. Every year, Eastern Wei Academy profited to no small figure from those sightseers. So, every time the school''s board met, they would always vigorously tidy up the Academy''s environs, which became one of the Eastern Wei Academy''s distinguishing features. Although Eastern Wei Academy didn''t have the actual strength to move forward in the rankings above the hundred or so federation academies ahead of it, it was selected among the top ten "most beautiful academies of the federation" every year. That also made the people of Eastern Shang-Wei City proud.


    As he walked into Eastern Wei Academy, he saw several groups of tourists. Students and scholars could easily be told apart; the scholars always wore neat and tidy school uniforms. But no matter where Chen Mu went, he always stood out like a sore thumb.


    With disheveled and bushy hair, wrinkled and filthy clothes, shuffling along in a pair of sandals, topped off by a face that hadn''t been washed in a few days, he looked very much like a beggar.


    Mixed up and despite the looks of the people around him, Chen Mu calmly lay down on the grass. During childhood as a street punk, he had grown accustomed to the warmth and cold of the world. He had also grown immune early on to those looks of disgust and disdain. Sitting on the ground and then lying down came naturally for him. The surrounding people all detoured around him one after the other, even more certain that he was a beggar


    Chen Mu didn''t pay attention to any of that. He lay on the grass, squinting his eyes and basking in the sun. The sun shining on his body made him lazy. It was really so comfortable that he didn''t want to move at all.


    Just then someone''s voice penetrated his ear.

 Chapter 9: Making Contact

    Chapter 9: Making Contact


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "Sweetie, why do you look so miserable? What trouble do you have to tell your sister? Don''t keep it all inside!" it was a female voice.


    Gentle and sweet, a lovely sound. Chen Mu couldn''t help the assessment, but he had no intention of opening his eyes. This sort of thing no longer held any attraction for him.


    He had once had experience with a similarly gorgeous woman, who ruthlessly stomped his street punk companion with her high heels, over and over again, all the while hurling abuse at him. He had never imagined that such a lovely voice could hurl what he considered to be the foulest language on the planet at that time. And the only reason for it was that his companion had carelessly soiled her high heels while begging for food.


    His companion was only six at that time, while he was eight. Without thinking, he hurled himself at her without the slightest hesitation, wanting to knock that beautiful woman away. Unfortunately, he was too young. The result of this all was that two people were left with numerous little pockmark bruises. That little street punk buddy of his left him that winter. That winter was too cold, and he never woke up again.


    Ever since then, whenever he heard the sweet sound of a female voice, he couldn''t help calling up that scene.


    Chen Mu pursed his brow very slightly, and then shortly eased it, telling himself not to let his good mood get wrecked by the sound.


    But the sound of the two-people chatting wouldn''t stop piercing his ear.


    "I don''t know what is the matter, sis, I just can''t seem to make that blue-skinned rabbit fantasy card. I''ve tried it so many times, and it never works. And my perception is the best in the class. I''m the only one in the whole class who hasn''t been able to make a fantasy card. The cranky voice sounded so disheartened.


    It was a little girl. Chen Mu didn''t need to open his eyes to be able to guess the girl''s age, which was certainly not more than twelve.


    "Talk to sis, sweetie, what do you feel when you''re making the card?" her older sister asked patiently.


    "Oh, I can''t really tell, it''s just that I feel that the pen in my hand won''t take orders. I have the composition clearly in mind, but when I go to make it, I can''t finish it."


    Lying on the grass, Chen Mu''s eyes popped open. Although his back was to these two sisters, his ears stood right up, not wanting to miss a word. That little girl''s issue was identical to his!


    "Don''t worry sweetie, a one-star fantasy card is simple, and you''re so smart you can certainly succeed, sweetheart." The older sister was encouraging her sister at first, and then she started to point out the main points: "Sweetie, you haven''t made a card before, and although your perception is good, you don''t have enough experience, which is common enough. Many of the teachers aren''t very clear on this point. We don''t use perception to control the materials getting along, but rather we encourage the alliance. It''s like an introduction, but it''s really just guidance. And for the transformation toward alliance to really happen, it still depends on the nature of the materials themselves. Do you understand, sweetie?"


    It was as though a thunder-bolt went off in Chen Mu''s head, followed by the flash of light. Guidance . . . guidance . . . guidance, all along that was what had been going on. All of the issues seemed suddenly to resolve themselves in that instant.


    By the time Chen Mu got up, there was no longer any trace of those two sisters. He didn''t even realize that while those two sisters had been gone for over an hour, he had remained at that place pondering freely for over an hour.


    He impatiently broke out running ¨C it would be great if he had his own flying card, so he could fly back!


    He rushed madly the whole way, and nearly crashed through the door. He sat at the table as soon as he had entered the room, and threw himself into making a one-star fantasy card. His heart was flush with confidence, and he had a sense that this time he would certainly succeed!


    Drawing in a deep breath to settle his excitement, Chen Mu calmed himself down little by little.


    After waiting for a calm mind, he took out a blank card and placed it in front of him, while lightly taking up the pen with his right hand.


    Without any hesitation, the penpoint fell onto the card-face.


    Clearly and smoothly, the pen nib ¨C so full of perception and as thin as a hair ¨C slid along as though on the smoothest ice, without the slightest impediment.


    He completed the entire composition in a single go, without the slightest feeling of roughness or difficulty. The feeling was splendid!


    Pleased, he put the completed card down in front of him to look it over. Chen Mu''s heart was brimming with the feeling of accomplishment. The affairs of this world were indeed endlessly wonderful, but now having broken through a layer of window-paper, he''d arrived at a different realm.


    He put this completed card into the slot of the apparatus and pushed the activation button.


    A glowing ball the size of his fist floated in space in front of Chen Mu''s face, warmly emitting soft white rays of light. Chen Mu opened his fingers with excitement, and lightly touched the glowing sphere. It was as though they were penetrating air and hadn''t penetrated the glowing sphere. This glowing sphere was but an illusion, which is to say, an image. It certainly wasn''t substantial. That was the characteristic of the low-grade fantasy card, where a high-grade fantasy card could use the power to simulate actual things. That was the essential difference between low-level and high-level fantasy cards.


    The success of the one-star fantasy card let those tightly wound bow-strings of Chen Mu loosen up. They''d been about to burst! Those few days of working day and night had brought Chen Mu''s health to the verge of a dangerous state. The loosening up immediately left Chen Mu submerged in an endless sleepiness.


    That bout of sleeping lasted through two days and nights, until in the end he was simply awakened by hunger.


    After waking up, Chen Mu went searching haphazardly for something to fill his belly.


    Used to sitting in front of his desk, Chen Mu felt a little dazed. Having worked straight through on his most important problem, Chen Mu had already pulled off the accomplishment of a one-star fantasy card. To continue working now toward the development of the one-star fantasy card was a knotty problem. It was slow work, requiring that he work night and day on end before realizing any results.


    Making fantasy cards had always been Chen Mu''s desire. Now his dream had been realized! He felt a little bit at a loss, though. Two-star fantasy card? There was really no difference in the principles involved in the making of a two-star fantasy card and a one-star fantasy card. As far as he was concerned, that wouldn''t be any trouble.


    Chen Mu had momentarily lost his goal. For so long now, the one-star card had seemed so very far away in his eyes, and he had struggled all along for this one desire. He had never considered what he should study after learning how to make a one-star fantasy card.


    Forget it. He still had to get through each day. So, he''d continue making one-star power-cards. Since he''d spent a lot of money during that period, and his savings had been seriously shrunken, he would now have to replenish them.


    Picking up a card, Chen Mu was just thinking about starting to make a one-star power-card when he suddenly thought about that mysterious card.


    The pen stopped in mid-air.


    That mysterious card seemed to have some exotic magic. He couldn''t get it out of his mind.


    Putting the pen down, Chen Mu took the card out of the drawer. The silver composition on its face, as fine as intricate as a spider''s web, had long since faded away, so that now on the pure black card, there were innumerable small and large, dark and bright, silver dots. Whenever Chen Mu looked at the card, he always had the sense of a vast illusion.


    Vast . . . that feeling was really strange. Chen Mu laughed at himself.

 Chapter 10: An Enigma

    Chapter 10: An Enigma


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Fifteen thousand Oudi! Looking at that strange, strange card, Chen Mu couldn''t make up his mind. No longer having the constraint of his long-term desire to make a one-star fantasy card, an intense curiosity had taken hold of him. The scales in his heart were rapidly beginning to tilt toward that card.


    It happened! Chen Mu was fiercely resolved. At the worst he will have wasted several more months'' time to earn it back.


    Chen Mu firmly resolved never to hesitate again, and he went out to buy the three-star power-card. Chen Mu''s state of mind was already completely different from the last time, when he went out to bask in the sun.


    There were shuttles everywhere in the sky, and you could faintly hear the jet stream shooting from their tails. The price of a shuttle wasn''t cheap, so they were naturally not something that someone like Chen Mu would be able to buy. The core component of a shuttle was a card that could produce a high-velocity jet stream. The high-velocity jet stream that it produced would pass through a special structure inside the shuttle, thereby creating a tremendous thrust. Those card artisans having superlative powers fundamentally didn''t need shuttles, since they could nimbly manipulate those sorts of jet stream cards to achieve their goal of flight, but with more speed and maneuverability.


    Not being able to buy a shuttle, and having no way to manipulate a jet-stream card, Chen Mu could only stride along on his two legs to go forward, as always.


    One needed to go to a relatively high-class shop to buy a three-star power-card, since after all they weren''t bargain items. This was Chen Mu''s first time entering such a high-class shop, with floors so bright and shiny that they reflected your image, and with a rejuvenating fragrance throughout the shop.


    Inside a glass case, every sort of high-grade card was arrayed on red felt. Below each card were detailed specifications for the card.


    Dressed in neat uniforms, the beautiful and elegant card-salesgirls smiled with artful elegance, gentle and charming.


    "Good day. May I ask what it is that you require?" The card salesgirl didn''t have the slightest contempt for Chen Mu because of any sloppiness, since they all maintained exceedingly refined professional cultivation. They had grown used to seeing all aspects of society. So many people who didn''t look like much were likely there to put thousands on a single play. Not all the rich people care so much about what they wear. People who don''t pay attention to their appearance ¨C people of learning enthralled by research ¨C were more and more common.


    "Three-star power-card." Chen Ming didn''t waste any words.


    A sure-enough rich person! The card salesgirl rejoiced internally. A three-star power-card was 15,000 Oudi. She''d reached her sales-quota for the day!


    Chen Mu was never sloppy in his work. Once he''d decided to buy, he wouldn''t have any other thought, and was very forthright in paying, which made that card-salesgirl more certain that the man in front of her was a rich individual.


    "Would the gentleman require anything further? As the city''s most comprehensive card shop, we have anything you might need here. If we don''t have the card that you need, we can help you to place an order, and deliver it to the high-grade card-masters with whom we have a professional relationship, for them to custom make one for you." The card salesgirl was lit up in her enthusiasm, and spared nothing in the pitch.


    The dazzling array of every sort of high-grade card almost blinded Chen Mu. He swallowed inwardly. He shook his head, "No need. You don''t have the card I need here."


    Walking out of the card shop, the cold air outside made Chen Mu''s brain sober up. He stood stupidly for a long time, and then burst out laughing despite himself. Evidently, his resistance fell short. Those cards dazzled him. But he threw the unrealistic thoughts to the back of his head, and thought about that mysterious card that was still in his house. His mind warmed right up, and his intense curiosity impelled him to break into a run.


    Chen Mu ran madly the whole way, opened the door panting, and entered the room.


    Questions about the mysterious card swirled around in his mind. It had undergone extremely realistic camouflaging processes. What sort of card would need to camouflage itself like that? What was the point of its camouflage? But those two camouflage films had the compositional style of a grand master, and so who could the grand master with such a such a fine hand be, after all?


    Without exception those matters would provoke anyone''s curiosity, but they weren''t the most peculiar thing. The most peculiar thing about the card was that it had undergone a complete transformation in its composition, turning earth into sky on its face, all during the course of one night!


    Chen Mu had never heard about any sort of card that could change its composition like that. Once a card''s composition took shape, it became exceptionally set. The alliance among the materials was irreversible. The power of that kind of conjunction was extremely strong, and although there were times when there might be irresistible force, the only thing it would do would be to wear it down little by little. There was never any way to make it take on a different appearance.


    If that card was really someone''s work, then he must have had shocking artistry.


    That enigma made his mind itch intolerably, like a swarm of little insects messing with his head.


    The time had finally come to break open the enigma! Chen Mu was a little excited.


    He picked up the mysterious card on the table, smoothed it gently, and with nimble fingers, put it into the card-slot of the apparatus, immediately putting the three-star power-card into the apparatus'' other card slot.


    He pressed the activation button without any hesitation.


    His surroundings suddenly darkened, as though Chen Mu had arrived at a completely unfamiliar void. What an amazing card! Chen Mu was already stunned beyond words! He had never imagined that a fantasy card could take him to a liminal realm like that. That really was "the real feeling like an illusion!" What a high-grade fantasy card! He''d never imagined that he could come across such a high-grade fantasy card. Although he knew that everything that he was seeing was illusory, Chen Mu''s expression still transformed. The card had utterly detached him from any connection to his actual surroundings.


    In all directions, there was only boundless darkness, as though he were floating alone in an endless void.


    "The first step is to please complete the eighteen actions." Chen Mu suddenly heard an ancient voice at his ear. It was as though it was spoken right into his ear. It wasn''t loud, but it was utterly distinct. Chen Mu couldn''t help turning his head around to look. There was nothing there at all, apart from the same black and empty void.


    Just after the voice, there suddenly appeared eighteen immortal figures, each doing a different action. The figures were somewhat indistinct, but their bodies were perfect. One after the other without stopping, each repeated their own activity. Each one of the eighteen figures did a different activity, with some of them incredibly strange. Suppressing his terror, Chen Mu started carefully to examine the people''s activities, and turned his gaze on one of the images, where there suddenly appeared a large pile of written characters to the side of the body. Chen Mu carefully read the characters at once. These characters were basically a detailed description of the action, along with a few things to pay attention to.


    After he finished reading, Chen Mu attempted to do the activities along with the figures.

 Chapter 11: Healthy Exercise?

    Chapter 11: Healthy Exercise?


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    As a child living the life of a street punk, Chen Mu suffered malnutrition for a little while. Later, after his life took a turn for the better, his health started to become stronger; although judging from his appearance, you wouldn''t say he was well-built. But his health was essentially excellent, and he seldom got sick.


    However, when Chen Mu attempted one of the exercises, he found it to be quite strenuous. It made high demands on his lower body strength, which wasn''t his strong suit. Both of Chen Mu''s legs were aching and as weak as mud after going through it a few times. While he didn''t know if he was really doing the exercises, the soreness that developed in his legs was perfectly real.


    Chen Mu was able to try each of the eighteen actions once, but there were just three that he could do. Each time he did one of the activities according to the standard, that figure would immediately dim. There wouldn''t be any change in the figure if the activity he did wasn''t exactly the same as the figure demonstrated.


    Apart from those changes, no matter how many times Chen Mu suffered through the exercises, there would be no change in the surroundings.


    Suffering the unbearable repetitions had almost completely wiped out Chen Mu''s energy. His biggest problem now was not how to complete the eighteen activities, but how to get out from that fantasy realm!


    He was surrounded by a void, empty of a single thing. There weren''t any other indicators apart from the eighteen figures. Could they be the indicators?


    Chen Mu quickly vetoed the notion, since the eighteen figures were complete illusions. Or was it that he had to finish the eighteen actions? Chen Mu was smiling bitterly, since if that was how it was, he would certainly be miserable. He would have to go through quite a few trials before he could possibly complete them successfully, and it wouldn''t be right away. Break out of the fantasy realm? That wasn''t worth thinking about in such a brilliant fantasy realm. He certainly couldn''t break out by relying on his own power.


    And so where could the key to exit the fantasy realm be? Chen Mu''s forehead was beading up in cold sweat trying to remember all the various legends about high-grade fantasy cards. If there were no way to find the critical key, then his future had only two possibilities. One was that the power-card which supplied the power for that fantasy card would get used up, causing the fantasy realm automatically to terminate. The other was that he could die of thirst or hunger before the power got used up.


    A bead of sweat slid down along the bridge of his nose and finally dripped off into the endless dark void below. But even never having experienced that sort of danger, Chen Mu wasn''t flustered, since it certainly wasn''t the first time in his life that he''d encountered danger. Besides starvation and cold, there were many dangers which went along with being a young street punk. Vicious wandering dogs could be just as fatal to wandering children. Then there were those thoroughly awful and extremely vicious traffickers in people. In their eyes, street kids were like a piece of juicy meat.


    But Chen Mu had never once encountered any danger which made him feel so utterly helpless. In his eyes, that fantasy card represented the highest art of fantasy cards; too high to touch. For a dabbler in card-mastery who had only just mastered the one-star fantasy card, he expected simply to be gazing upward, never being able to go beyond that for his whole life.


    The feeling of danger wasn''t just coming from something outside of him but had also emerged from the deepest reaches of his heart.


    Chen Mu forced himself to calm down. He knew that the goal of the card maker wasn''t likely to be to make the user die while trapped in the fantasy realm. If that were the case, the place ought to have been full of mortal attacks, and not so peaceful as it was. The only possibility was that he had not yet found the key for exiting the fantasy realm.


    Since he hadn''t gone through any sort of orthodox card master training, it obviously didn''t seem practical to consider using his own knowledge to resolve the problem. After pondering a while, Chen Mu decided to use the crude method of the process of elimination. There weren''t many objects in the fantasy realm in any case.


    However . . . just then, almost all the things in the fantasy realm came together by themselves and touched! It was quite clear that it wasn''t in response to anything. What could possibly be going on?


    The figures in the void themselves!


    Chen Mu had a flash of divine insight. Right! I ignored one possibility. Myself! Besides the eighteen figures in the whole fantasy realm, there is myself!


    Chen Mu''s panicked glance fell onto his own wrist. Astonishingly, he could see the apparatus there. Chen Mu almost unconsciously pressed the activation button.


    Phew! The scenery in front of his eyes changed and Chen Mu was back in his familiar room again.


    His legs had gone soft. Heaving a huge sigh of relief, Chen Mu plopped on his butt onto the floor. He was so exhausted he didn''t even feel like shifting his finger.


    He had almost entirely used up his energy attempting those actions. After both his mind and his body had gone through such a rigorous ordeal, his spirits had also become highly enervated.


    Worn out, Chen Mu lay down on the floor and fell asleep.


    Once again, Chen Mu was awakened by hunger! The feeling of waking up hungry was really awful. Chen Mu really loathed feeling starved, which was probably the left-over influence of growing up as a street punk.


    He wasn''t picky about what he ate ¨C he just wanted to fill his belly. He opened the fresh food cupboard, and a blast of cold air hit him in the face. The core of the fresh food cupboard was a cold-air card ¨C capable of refrigeration ¨C to keep the freshness of food items. Its price was low, but the power it consumed each month was not a small amount.


    The fresh food cupboard''s cold-air card, or the hot pot''s heating card, and so forth, were not at all high-grade ¨C not more than one or two stars. But they had become things which people couldn''t do without in their everyday lives. They had all gone into large-scale industrial production, which made their production costs even lower.


    Low-grade card usage had radiated to all aspects of ordinary people''s lives. In the world of cards, there was no disputing who the great masters were; Rosenberg and Heiner Van Sant. As part of the first theory of cards that he proposed, the grand master Rosenberg made the first power-cards and fantasy cards in human history. Heiner Van Sant not only took Rosenberg''s fantasy cards to a level never achieved, he also made other cards which were entirely different from the Rosenberg style.


    These two great masters both climbed to the very peak of the card world.


    However, there was still one who was equally outstanding in that world, who used a different style. He shone forth with incomparably dazzling radiance and was called the ''grand master most approaching the two sages.''


    That was none other than Luo Qi. Luo Qi''s status as a high-grade card master is very dark among the outstanding card masters throughout history. But it was just that kind of card-master who stirred up an unprecedented revolution in the world of cards. He spent his entire lifetime''s energy devoted to integrating cards with the lives of ordinary people. Many cards which bad been too high to reach came into ordinary peoples'' lives because of him.


    Fresh food cupboards, hot pots, shuttle cars . . .


    He was always brimming with matchless wisdom and creativity. He brought about great value from unremarkable one-star and two-star cards. As a result, peoples'' lives underwent earth-shattering changes. That also greatly improved the lives of many low-level card-masters, whose livelihoods had been challenging. It also gave him enormous riches, since he was also wise in the ways of business. His wealth grew like a rolling snowball, and after a few short decades he had become the wealthiest person in the entire Heavenly Federation at that time. Right up until the contemporary period, Luo Qi''s descendants were still among the rich and powerful of the Heavenly Federation. There were so few that they could be counted on one''s fingers.


    Luo Qi was a person brimming with controversy. In the eyes of traditional card-masters, he was the archetype of someone who didn''t attend to his proper duties. His contemporary, Heiner Van Sant, mockingly called him "a jerk who stinks of money from head to toe." While to very many people, he was an out-and-out genius, though an unconventional one. That was also the way Chen Mu''s saw it.


    Breaking through convention is not something everyone can do.


    Chewing on a hard piece of bread, Chen Mu sat at the table and let his gaze fall again on that mysterious card. As of then, that enigmatic card was still an enigma. He still hadn''t found one of the answers he wanted to find. He had originally thought that once he had a three-star power-card, ''the rocks would show as the water receded,'' and he would know after all what sort of card the mysterious card really was. He hadn''t expected that in the end he still wouldn''t know why it was as it was.


    The life-like fantasy realm in the card seemed like a different world, cut off entirely from his surrounding environment. It had really shocked him when he couldn''t find a way out because of that.


    Illusion had actually progressed to that stage!


    Chen Mu felt a little defeated when he thought again about the fantasy card he had made on his own. But his feeling of defeat only lasted a few seconds. Chen Mu believed those who could make any kind of fantasy card were few enough. He felt an immediate boost in his morale. Fantasy cards, the most traditional cards in the Heavenly Federation, were awesome after all!


    As he was chewing on the hard bread, Chen Mu''s mind was full of the eighteen actions, each one unique. They were certainly not methods for attack. Chen Mu was not a card artisan, but street brawls were his daily fare when he was a street punk. He was an old hand with them, so he could tell at a glance that these eighteen moves had no attack nature about them.


    Somehow, the moves looked a little bit like tricks from gymnastics exercises.

 Chapter 12: Copper

    Chapter 12: Copper


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The thought of making such a high-level card just for an exercise routine was so absurd that Chen Mu wanted to slap his own mouth.


    Chen Mu again remembered his own speculation when he had completed those actions himself and the figures darkened. Could that be the first step?


    Right! The first step! That''s what the old voice said at the time, "The first step is to please complete the eighteen actions!" It looked as though there might be some other new mystery behind it.


    He had been scared by the card himself. He had to travel around such a huge bend to become clear about such a simple problem. Chen Mu mocked himself for having only just then cleared up the logic of its thinking.


    Chen Mu had just found another life goal which was to break through to understanding that card''s mystery. The other was to improve his skill with fantasy cards. The fantasy realm in the mysterious card had excited Chen Mu enormously, though it far exceeded his comprehension. To attempt to make a three-star fantasy card wouldn''t be practical in the short term, but he could still make his own fantasy cards more realistic, like the fantasy realm constructed by that mysterious card.


    He would still have to go on making the one-star power-cards every day, which would put him far into the red with his time.


    While munching his hard bread he was arranging his life from then forward.


    Bam! Chen Mu nodded with satisfaction, as he pasted his fresh new plan on the wall, right out of the oven.


    As far as Chen Mu was concerned, his life wouldn''t change a bit. The one thing that pleasantly surprised him was that he had improved his efficiency by half in making the one-star power-cards. He wasn''t sure if that was because of his training to improve his perception, but now when he made one-star power-cards, they came out extraordinarily smoothly, with the hand fulfilling the heart. This then gave him more time to put into the other two items in his plan.


    However, those other two matters would make slow headway. Chen Mu could accomplish only half of those eighteen movements. The demands of these eighteen actions on his inner body ¨C strength, release ¨C all required their own appropriately calibrated responses. However, those few days of exercise also greatly improved his body''s fitness, which could be considered an unintended side-benefit.


    On the matter of the fantasy card, his advances were minimal. Wanting to make fantasy seem real is no trivial matter. All he could do was to relentlessly examine everything around him, over and over again. Chen Mu wasn''t anxious in that regard. He knew that it would be a slow-moving cumulative process where being anxious wouldn''t do him any good.


    Pocketing the one-star power-cards he had made; Chen Mu went over to Uncle Hua''s general store.


    Uncle Hua didn''t look very well, but he was very happy to see Chen Mu, "Old Mu, it''s been a long time since I''ve seen you, what have you been up to lately?" which was immediately followed by a nasty fit of coughing.


    "Is anything the matter?" Chen Mu had a somewhat concerned look, since Uncle Hua was one of the few sincere people in that world. And he cared about Chen Mu.


    Uncle Hua forced a smile and said through his wheezing, "Don''t worry, I may have just caught a cold. Your Uncle Hua is old, but he''s strong. What about you recently? I haven''t seen you sending along your power-cards. I''ve been afraid that something had happened to you."


    Seeing Uncle Hua''s wan look and noting a sour smell which wasn''t coming from him, Chen Mu smiled broadly to say, "I was able to get something done. I stopped for a bit recently while I was learning how to make a fantasy card."


    "Eh? Did you learn to do it?" Uncle Hua became interested.


    Chen Mu nodded his head, "Uh huh, but I only learned how to make one-star and two-star cards."


    "Ha! I''d guessed that Old Mu could surely learn to do it, being so smart and so hard working. You certainly do have a bright future." Uncle Hua was as pleased as though he had heard about his own nephew''s prospects, though the rise in his spirits brought on another bout of coughing.


    Chen Mu didn''t know what to say, as he looked worriedly at Uncle Hua.


    Uncle Hua''s wan face turned ruddy again after he finally stopped coughing, and he smiled, "You have to be very diligent, Old Mu. I''ve always wanted to have a fantasy-card advertising sign. Ah, the best would be to show the remote purple orchid, which was something special from our home town." Uncle Hua''s eyes took on a heavy look of homesickness.


    "Ahh!" Chen Mu nodded vigorously.


    Chen Mu''s heart felt a little heavy after coming out of Uncle Hua''s general store.


    "Blockhead!" Chen Mu heard someone calling him and turned his head around to see an overdressed man running toward him.


    It was Copper, who used to go around with Chen Mu on the street. But then he had been taken in by someone. His relationship with Chen Mu wasn''t bad, and you could say that he was one of Chen Mu''s few friends. The family circumstances of his adoptive father and mother were quite good at that time, and he would look after Chen Mu from time to time. But not long before, his adoptive father and mother had passed away, and he had no choice but to break off his studies and go back to a half-vagrant situation. Chen Mu was naturally dispassionate and taciturn, so substituting a different character "mu" (for wood), Copper called him ''Blockhead.''


    Copper was looking slovenly wearing a gaudy shirt that was too big for him. His hair was a mess, and he wore two giant hoops in his ears. On his feet he was scuffing along in a pair of obviously filthy sandals. His manner of dressing startled Chen Mu.


    He stopped and waited for Copper to come over.


    "Hey, I finally run into you on the street! Have my eyes blurred, or has the world changed?" Copper said with an exaggerated look.


    "I came to sell power-cards." The two of them were quite familiar with one another, and Chen Mu had no intention of indulging in happy talk.


    Copper nodded his head knowingly, since he understood Chen Mu very well, "You coming out for a stroll is like the sun rising in the West."


    "Oh, right, I''ve recently found some work," Copper indicated with a mysterious look.


    "What work?" Chen Mu asked rather interestedly. Copper''s adoptive parents wanted the very best for him, always encouraging him to go to school, which was something Chen Mu yearned for in his dreams. But they hadn''t considered a calamity falling from the sky. Copper''s adoptive parents were killed in a car accident, cutting off all sources of income, so that he had no choice but to cut off his studies. This knucklehead was quite firm about it. Chen Mu knew that a person like Copper had a much fiercer kind of pride than ordinary people did. If it were him, Chen Mu figured that he would do the same as Copper.


    Copper had always diligently looked for work. During those few days, Chen Mu had been immersed in making a fantasy card, and breaking the code of that mysterious card''s world. He didn''t have the leisure to be concerned with anything else.


    "I found some work in a little card-show studio, mainly doing odd jobs for the screenwriters."


    "Card show?" Chen Mu knew what card shows were. A so-called card show would use the moving images that were conjured from the fantasy card to perform a story. How many fantasy cards got used would be determined by the length of the fantasy card story. In general, each card show would need about twenty to fifty fantasy cards. The characters and animals in the card shows would, for the most part, be treated with some exaggeration. They would look extremely cute, making people quite fond of them.


    Card shows had already appeared thirty years before, but they really only started catching on ten years before, as an up and coming new industry.

 Chapter 13: What Sort of Card is this Anyhow?

    Chapter 13: What Sort of Card is this Anyhow?


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu had never expected that Copper could sneak into a card firm, but when he thought about it, he was relieved. That joker had always been nimble about taking care of things, and he also knew how to talk. No matter what, although Chen Mu didn''t understand it, he still had a good deal of confidence in Copper''s strengths.


    "Why are you dressed up this way?" Chen Mu asked a little puzzled, sizing up Copper top to bottom. Copper smiled mischievously and boasted shamelessly: "I am now considered to be a person of the arts, and this is the most popular style in that circle." In a little bit, he put his head together with Chen Mu and quietly said, "I had no choice. If I didn''t dress up like this, I would feel embarrassed saying hello to anyone else."


    "How have you been lately?" Copper asked Chen Mu.


    "Same as before." Chen Mu felt that his life wasn''t any different from before.


    "OK, OK, no more chatting, I have to go to the firm now. Come to my house after a while. I still have three bottles of Sapphire Cloud Running Water left." Their meeting was brief, as was their parting.


    Sapphire Cloud Running Water was kind of icy blue fruit wine, having a light taste. Chen Mu and Copper both loved it. That kind of wine was pricey, but there were some bottles left from Copper''s family, which were bought when his adoptive parents were still alive, and which had been kept until then. Copper would only bring them out when Chen Mu stopped by.


    Chen Mu''s life had started to become simple again, though in his eyes, life never really changed. He kept practicing "healthy gymnastics" every day. He kept making power-cards to keep up his livelihood. His fantasy card making time was all spent on careful examination and analysis. He made fantasy cards every day to train his hand, though he really didn''t have much money to burn. But he still made considerable gains, such as the transformations from light to dark in every aspect of things, how to make the illusion of three dimensions feel more powerful, and so forth. He''d felt his way in.


    It was all very smooth, with the only thing going against his expectations being the "healthy gymnastics." Those eighteen exercises used up an entire three months, and he continued to persevere with the four or so hours of his time that he''d set aside.


    But investment always has returns.


    Chen Mu''s body had become supple. His legs, hand, and torso had all taken on a pliable and tough quality. He could pull off many strange positions. His kind of suppleness wasn''t like the softness of a face; more like a steel cable, with its hardness underneath. His strength was increasing by a substantial margin in the same way.


    Sizing himself up in the mirror, although his naked upper body wasn''t popping with muscle, it was extremely well-proportioned. And all it took was for him to make a little eeeee to exert himself, and the hidden muscles would burst out like taught steel bowstrings, showing themselves with a twang.


    That was the result of his practice during that time. His body satisfied Chen Mu quite a bit, as he had never expected that eighteen actions would have such astonishing results in sculpting his body. His own physique in the mirror made him feel that the hardship was worth it. He didn''t care about how his figure looked, since that kind of playing around wouldn''t feed him. But he was serious about his health. He could clearly feel that being able to control his power with that kind of body allowed him to be much more skilled at what he did, with the hand following the heart. That felt really clear to him when he was making power-cards; his hand was steadier, and nimbler. Among the eighteen movements, there were three which especially trained the fingers'' dexterity.


    Chen Mu was thinking that after completing the "healthy gymnastics," he would train every day.


    Once he could complete the eighteen exercises easily in a single breath, he took his opportunity to enter once again into that mysterious card''s fantasy realm.


    Since his thrilling exit from the fantasy world last time, Chen Mu had not activated that mysterious card again.


    Pressing the activation button, Chen Mu again entered that black and vast void.


    Eighteen figures were still performing those actions the same as the last time.


    With a little anticipation and a little curiosity, Chen Mu took a deep breath.


    His body started to move!


    With a body like a snake, one after the other, the outrageous actions followed Chen Mu''s limbs and body, continuously changing. Every time he completed a movement, a figure would dim.


    He had practiced the set of "healthy gymnastics" until there was no more practicing to do, so he travelled that road in the manner of the fluid ''running cloud flowing water'' style of calligraphy; there wasn''t the slightest halting or sluggishness.


    Chen Mu was full of curiosity about what might happen next.


    After the eighteen figures had all dimmed, the transformation which Chen Mu had been anticipating for so long finally happened!


    Two cards! There were two cards floating in front of Chen Mu''s face, one light blue, and the other tangerine orange. Each was emitting a soft radiance. They were floating in the void, without any support.


    Even experiencing it for the first time, Chen Mu wasn''t at all afraid,. Full of curiosity, he tried to touch one of them. He touched the tangerine orange one. The card was shrouded in a faint aura of dim orange-colored light, gentle and warm.


    A split second after Chen Mu''s finger touched the tangerine orange card, the card suddenly split into two cards. Each one of the tangerine orange cards had a serial number, by happenstance one and two.


    Chen Mu''s spirits were boosted, and feeling a great deal of interest, he immediately touched the tangerine orange card having serial number one.


    "One-star fantasy card making . . . "


    This tangerine orange card was a complete course of study in the making of the one-star fantasy card. There were pictures for every procedure and every particular. As the videos played out they made this dabbler card-master Chen Mu feel as though he''d gotten the most precious treasure.


    One might have said that those eighteen actions were just to make him feel curious, but as far as he was concerned, that one-star fantasy card course of study was nothing other than a priceless treasure.


    So lifelike! All of the details were exactly the same as the real situation. The degree of realism in each of the images that came out from the fantasy card was enough to stupefy anyone.


    When he first broke away from the shocking and awesomely beautiful likenesses, his attention was immediately taken in by the fantasy "course of study" which had played out! He was thirsty and starved to the point of greedily staring at the ever-changing moving fantasy images. What could there possibly be in the whole world to draw him in that would compare with what was in front of his eyes?


    For a long time, he had been painfully fumbling about all by himself. The pain of not having any guide only gave him more clarity. How could he possibly pass up that kind of opportunity?


    He was even worried in case the moving fantasy image would only play once. If he were to miss anything because of some single bit of carelessness, he would surely die of regret.


    The quantity of information that was contained inside the serial-number-one card far surpassed what he could have expected. Not only did it have a complete course of study on the one-star fantasy card, it also had some tricks of the trade for making a fantasy card. Those little tricks made Chen Mu wild with joy. They were enough to enable him to raise the mark on the one-star fantasy cards that he made.


    This world is indeed full of love! Chen Mu murmured to himself.


    Right up until Chen Mu came out from the fantasy play, he still felt as though his mind had become a little dull.


    The two tangerine orange cards were both related to knowledge about one-star fantasy cards. And that light blue card in the fantasy realm was also in the category of a card-making course of study. But Chen Mu had never even heard of that kind of card. It was called a ''token'' card.


    Chen Mu didn''t think it strange; there really were too many cards that he hadn''t heard about.


    He finally calmed down by evening. He was now exceedingly curious about the problem of what that card was really for.


    From the healthy gymnastics in the beginning to the one-star fantasy card-making presentation, it seemed that the two aspects didn''t have any connection to one another.


    An intense curiosity such as he had never had hung in Chen Mu''s mind. He wanted to figure it out. He wanted to figure out all the secrets of that card which was so full of enigmas. Or at the very least, he wanted to know what the goal of the card was.

 Chapter 14: Going Mad

    Chapter 14: Going Mad


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    From the very first healthy gymnastics to the presentation on making one-star fantasy cards which came later, as far as he could tell, the two things didn''t have any relationship.


    Chen Mu had never had such intense curiosity lodged in his mind. He wanted to figure out all the secrets of that enigmatic card; or at the very least, he would like to know the ultimate purpose of this card.


    Now that he had the guidance of the course of study from the card, Chen Mu''s progress making fantasy cards went blazingly fast. The knowledge about cards presented by that course of study vastly widened the scope of Chen Mu''s vision. Aside from the time spent training and making power-cards, he spent much of the rest of his time immersed in the miraculous fantasy realm of that mysterious card.


    He also spent a lot of that time examining the things around him. What the course of study taught was all theoretical knowledge, and one still needed a large amount of practical experience. The first step was observation. How could you make any of those so-called realistic illusions if you didn''t have any concept about connecting them to the appearance of real things. And to make them, what you precisely needed was painstaking observation.


    That was what he must build up to make low-grade fantasy cards.


    All of that had serious repercussions. For example, he couldn''t help staring at the bread in his hand for six or seven minutes while he was munching on it, so that when he returned to his senses, he would already be hungry to the point of stomach cramps.


    When he was closely examining something, it was easy for him to slip into a long period of blankness, which could be called entrancement. Whenever there were times like that, his reactions became very delayed, as though his surroundings were cut off from him.


    One time, he had gone to Copper''s place, and the two of them were chatting while making expressions of extreme appreciation while drinking the Sapphire Cloud Running Water. After drinking for a while, Chen Mu suddenly became silent. Copper called out to him for a long time, getting no response, just seeing him utterly blank and staring at the glass in his hand. Copper turned a deathly white, thinking that something had happened to Chen Mu.


    It is a characteristic of the profession that one burns through a lot of money as a card master. Every time he learns a new card, the card master must go through huge amounts of practice. Chen Mu didn''t have much money on hand at all; not enough for him to burn, like those sons of wealthy families. He could only observe normal things, so that when his preparation was a little more complete, he could reduce what he used up while making fantasy cards.


    Apart from the first time that he had touched the light blue card in the fantasy realm, Chen Mu hadn''t touched the so-called "token card" course of study. It would have been a joke, since the knowledge already laid out in front of him was enough to keep him occupied for a very long time.


    Chen Mu had always restrained himself from biting off more than he could chew.


    Chen Mu treasured every chance he had to make a fantasy card, and attached great importance to it, making dozens of revisions ahead of time to the plans he made. He didn''t omit a single detail. He wouldn''t start until everything had been thought through and was completely ready. If anyone saw him so prudent and careful, they would never imagine that he was only making a trifling one or two-star fantasy card.


    But truth be told, Chen Mu''s methods were effective. He had been able to accomplish a remarkable degree of realism with the illusions emitted from the fantasy cards that he was making at that time. Although he wasn''t satisfied, and any hint of pride would disappear without a trace every time he thought about those illusions from that mysterious card; illusions which could almost be called terrifying.


    Of course, as he knew, the illusions from one or two-star fantasy cards couldn''t be spoken about in the same category with the illusions from high-grade fantasy cards. Prior distinctions between the two categories were not limited to differences regarding coloring, contrast, or shape, but were rather a matter of the gap between the virtual and the real, which wasn''t within the scope of low-grade cards'' capability.


    Since he had no way to make that his work, he focused his skills on the degree of realism.


    He planned to make a fantasy card advertising-poster for Uncle Hua.


    His heart sank as soon as he thought about Uncle Hua. He could see that Uncle Hua''s health was getting worse every day; his cough was becoming more and more violent. And his complexion each day was not as good as the last. Chen Mu had been going out to Uncle Hua''s little shop more frequently those days, sometimes minding the shop and chatting with Uncle Hua. But Chen Mu had always been awkward in his speech, and so it was mostly Uncle Hua talking, and Chen Mu listening.


    One of the reasons that he was progressing with blazing speed during that time was that all along he had been wanting to make an advertising poster for Uncle Hua ¨C a flawlessly perfect billboard ¨C which he hadn''t started because he felt that his power was still insufficient.


    His progress finally made him decide that it was time. There was also the deeply buried worry in his heart about Uncle Hua''s health. So, he made the decision. Another important reason was that he had recently finally made a breakthrough with motion-illusion fantasy card making. That difficult problem had perplexed him for a long time.


    As compared with the still-illusion fantasy card, a circular composition is added to the fantasy card which can emit motion-illusions. But as every card master knows, the degree of difficulty to make the motion-illusion fantasy card is much higher as compared with the still-illusion fantasy card. The most directly observed manifestation of this was the price of the cards. The advertised price of the motion-illusion fantasy card was at least three times that of the still-illusion card.


    A difficult problem, which really puts novices through an ordeal, was how to cause illusions to move; how to make them move smoothly and naturally.


    For example, if the emitted image was a waterfall, many of the illusions put out by novices were like not-quite-cooked silver noodles. While if you really wanted to achieve something true to life, you would need many specifics, like the ripples and folds of water when it flowed, the splashes blooming everywhere, the fine mist which filled the air, and so forth. Only card masters having rich experience could pull this off, although in that regard, many high-level card masters were not up to the level of low-level card masters who specialized in motion-illusions.


    There was a famous saying in the card world ¨C details determine results.


    It was painstaking work, not admitting the least bit of pretense.


    But Chen Mu was very patient, which had something to do with similar encounters during his childhood. It wasn''t a simple matter if a street punk who wanted to get food wasn''t patient enough. Maintaining such patience would be enough to make others bristle, but not for an "adept" in the street punk world like him, who has been able to survive street punk life long-term.


    Observation! Lengthy observation wasn''t dry at all for him.


    His progress was fast; fast enough even to surprise himself. For the first time, he wondered if he might have natural talent for card making.


    The eagle flies, while the rabbit walks, the wind blows while the water flows, the sun rises in the morning and sets at night . . .


    There wasn''t one of the motion fantasy cards that he made which wasn''t exceptionally lively. But those weren''t his most realistic motion fantasy cards; those were of bustling and hasty pedestrians, or cats and dogs wandering in the night . . . those childhood scenes were deeply burned into his mind. He could make them appear almost without thinking. These became among his most treasured riches.


    That day, he planned to make a fantasy card advertising-poster for Uncle Hua. But because it was his first time making a fantasy card billboard, and he didn''t have any experience, Chen Mu planned to stroll about on the street, to learn about what sort of style was used in other people''s fantasy card billboards.

 Chapter 15: Fantasy Card Advertising

    Chapter 15: Fantasy Card Advertising


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    If one wanted to learn about fantasy card advertising, the best place to go was the most bustling commercial street of Eastern Shang-Wei City ¨C Golden Street.


    Golden Street was one of Eastern Shang-Wei City''s most ancient streets. It already existed before Eastern Shang-Wei City was established, and by then it had also become the commercial center for the whole city. Among the forest of buildings along Golden Street, people flowed like the shuttles of looms, and practically all of the top business establishments had one of their stores there. If one were wanting to inspect fantasy cards, that would be the perfect place to be.


    All the stores there, even the small ones, had fantasy card billboards. Especially at night, the beautiful radiance from the fantasy card billboards made it seem like being in a childhood fairy-tale world. Whether locals or tourists from elsewhere, everyone really liked the night scene on Golden Street.


    Still, after thinking carefully about it, Chen Mu was stunned to realize that it was apparently his first time coming to Golden Street.


    One of the local signs along Golden Street prohibited vagrants and beggars from entering. Later, when Chen Mu became enthralled by the study of cards, spending time strolling along the street never made it into his schedule.


    So many people!


    That was his first feeling on entering Golden Street. A tide of people surged, and one had to be careful walking or else it would be easy to bump into someone. He wasn''t so used to that.


    Anyhow, he quickly turned his attention to the fantasy card billboards all around.


    Ample breasts, narrow waists, big butts, clear eyes, white teeth and red lips, words of lust hanging, a seductive look. What made Chen Mu a little puzzled was that he didn''t expect most of the billboards that he saw to show illusions of beautiful women. Those beautiful women were either standing up straight, or bending over in a come-on posture, or had a partly concealed cleavage going along with an enticing look. Truly provocative.


    Whether it was intentional or not, he even saw that quite a few pedestrians would pass their hands through the illusion of the beautiful woman''s breasts when they walked by them.


    Chen Mu was dumbfounded. Could it be that this was what was then popular?


    Continuing to walk ahead, when he came across those advertisements with illusions of beautiful women, as soon as he saw them, Chen Mu passed by. But he quickly discovered that the larger the establishment, the more high-quality the fantasy card advertisements were, with more creativity going into them.


    Like the fantasy card advertisement he was looking at just then. The illusion that it emitted was extremely big, and two stories tall.


    Chen Mu stood dumbly at the door of that store, and completely forgot himself while looking up and not being able to take his eyes off the illusion emitted by the billboard.


    * * *


    As the city''s night-sky descended, the lights on the many tall buildings were splendid.


    A man dressed in black and having a very serious and stern look, stood on the topmost part of a tall building, gazing coldly ahead.


    In a secluded corner of the murky streets, a blind gentleman raised his head as if to observe, his vacant eyes pointing straight into the ends of the heavens where nothing existed.


    The houses were dappled with moonlight. A woman wearing skintight brown leather clothes was gently wiping clean the card in her hand, when she suddenly lifted her head.


    One after the other, whether mature or young and tender, beautiful or ugly, faces flashed into being.


    And at that moment music abruptly intensified. Looking down from the sky, ribbon after ribbon of shadow leapt unceasingly between the buildings. The agility of those people, was nimble in the extreme, and not one of them was without a grave and dignified look on their face. The intensive drumming fading-in at that moment made people''s hearts suddenly tighten still more.


    There were more and more people, all of them running like the wind in the same direction.


    Hong!


    The roar of beast that Chen Mu had never heard before. A simple whistle. Sound quaked to the four corners. A roar as though responding to that sound. A heaven-shattering beastly squeal, equally huge, hit one in the face, assaulting the senses.


    From outside the city, wild animals from all over the fields came charging in frantically like a tsunami.


    Those people running at their limit ran even faster.


    Finally, the two sides crashed together!


    A blazing fiery dragon, a cold clear moon-shaped rippled blade, a glittering meteor shower . . .


    One after the other, they appeared in this space, colorful light and darkness, complicated and indistinct, dazzling peoples'' eyes. Intense collisions, countless rays of light surging, shattering stars, lighting up the night. Fighting so fierce that it nearly took one''s breath away.


    Men in black everywhere, a blazing fiery dragon circling around, dancing in the wind. Whenever it took a battle posture ¨C ready for a mighty dive, sometimes distracted by the sounds of the explosions ¨C it would have the look of a war god.


    And the woman dressed in skintight brown leather clothes quickly and nimbly dodged the wild animals'' attacks. At the same time, with both hands, unceasingly slashing with the steely-blue moon-shaped shaped rippled blade, every strike hitting its mark, the elegance of her grip incomparable.


    The blind man was upright with a bamboo cane, shuttling back and forth like a ghost through the herd of beasts. Every time the bamboo cane lightly tapped on the ground, several hundred floating points of light would appear behind him. When the cane lightly tapped again, those lights would fly off whistling in some certain direction. Penetrating the wild animals, leaving long trails in the night sky like a meteor shower.


    * * *


    There was no doubt that mankind would prevail by the end of the battle. The last close-up was of the cards in the apparatuses in these heroes'' hands. Then that store''s logo ¨C a pair of hoops.


    It was really too captivating and dazzling!


    Chen Mu couldn''t help his mind being full of accolades. He could tell that the billboard wasn''t very high-grade, and had only two-stars. But its content was rich, and the characters and constructions were all extremely life-like. What really drew the accolades were the visuals in the special effects and the extreme intensity of the clashing forces.


    It was a successful billboard; it really drew you in.


    Chen Mu could guess that a billboard like that would be very expensive. Although it wasn''t a very high-grade fantasy card billboard, the degree of difficulty in making it was quite high. Its content was rich, and a one or two-star fantasy card certainly couldn''t hold that much content. It must have included at least five fantasy cards, but their fusion took off seamlessly. If he weren''t a card master, it would be hard to tell.


    That place certainly brought out the capable people! Not everyone could make a two-star fantasy card which could reach those heights, or at least Chen Mu knew that he was a long way off himself. So, his visit would be considered a learning experience.


    * * *


    The Two Hoop salesgirl was baffled. The one standing by the door seemed to be watching the billboard, although he had been standing at the doorway for half an hour. The billboard had been made two years earlier at great expense. At the time of its release it caused a sensation in all of Eastern Shang-Wei City, and her heart was still full of pride. Every day the doorway had been surrounded by layer upon layer of people, all there to see the advertisement. From that year, the store''s business volume began to increase at an astonishing rate.


    But without paying attention to still better advertisements, once it had been out for two years, people started to lose interest in it. The people coming to see it gradually grew fewer and fewer, until there weren''t likely to be any by then. The people on top had originally planned to swap it out, but by that year the card-master who had made it had already died. They also looked for some other famous card-masters, but their results didn''t come close to his. So, they never changed it. What made the young lady so proud was that there was surprisingly still someone interested in the billboard. A rare animal!


    After a while, that strange youth was still blankly watching the billboard. The salesgirl felt that if someone stood there as long as he did it would have an effect on business, and she intended to take the initiative.


    "Hello, may I ask what it is you would like to buy?"


    Chen Mu came back to his senses and shook his head. "I don''t need anything." He understood the salesgirl''s meaning and turned around and left without saying anything.

 Chapter 16: News

    Chapter 16: News


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Ever since seeing the Two-Hoop card-store fantasy card billboard, Chen Mu lost interest in other fantasy card billboards. He was a little unclear as to why they fell so short, since a few of them were on storefronts that weren''t any smaller than the card-store he''d just been at.


    But Chen Mu had gained a lot, at the very least having learned about what could be called a real fantasy card advertisement. In his eyes, those billboards depicting hot women weren''t really advertising fantasy cards.


    He was learning, but reality was cruel.


    Chen Mu had no way at that time to make anything which was up to the same standards as that fantasy card billboard. He still planned to make a fantasy card billboard for Uncle Hua, though of course it wouldn''t be one of those hottie billboards.


    After strolling a bit, he had already mostly finished his mental plan for making the billboard for Uncle Hua. All that was left now was to make it; he probably needed three days to finish it.


    * * *


    "Tingyi." A loud and clear voice sounded from behind Zuo Tingyi. He stopped to turn around and look, where a tall young fellow was chasing after him, running like the wind. This was his good friend, Hong Tao.


    "Haha! I''ve finally caught up with you, you rascal!" Hong Tao took a sudden stride forward and hooked Zuo Tingyi around the neck with his arm. The skinny Zuo Tingyi was immediately pulled forward in a stumble.


    "Easy! Careful with my appearance!" Zuo Tingyi said in a low voice, knitting his brows with annoyance.


    With a look of utter indifference on his face, Hong Tao said, "Come on! Whatever your appearance, I say you are a sham. One word: fake!"


    Hong Tao was 1.8 meters tall, with a trim and fine figure, fully filling out the school uniform, in addition to being handsome and open, brimming with a sunny smile, and very popular in the school. Add to that his having a straightforward and chivalrous temperament, it all made him one of the most estimable people in the school.


    Zuo Tingyi''s figure looked rather wimpy in comparison, though the buttoned-up school uniform made him seem a little more elegant and graceful. And given that card-masters have a unique intellectual refinement, he was more popular among women than Hong Tao.


    "Article ninety-one of the Eastern Wei Academy code: ''students should pay attention to their appearance when out in public.''"


    "Article sixteen of the Eastern Wei Academy dress code: ''on days when classes are in session, students must be dressed in the school uniform to enter the school, and the outfit must be neat and clean, particularly with regard to the collar, buttoning up, and such matters.''"


    Zuo Tingyi stood back up with his ironed school uniform, expressionless, and recited the characters one by one, with his gaze falling onto Hong Tao''s wide-open collar.


    "Alright, alright, I surrender!" Hong Tao begged forgiveness at once. Once Zuo Tingyi had joined the school''s disciplinary office, he became the first student in the history of the school who was able fluently to recite all seven hundred and twenty-two articles of the school code by heart, no matter how long or short. He wasn''t afraid of Zuo Tingyi hauling him in for discipline, but rather of his droning recitation!


    "Hey, look, isn''t that Xin Yi?" Hong Tao looked quickly, to change the subject..


    Not far away was a girl with a pink clip stuck in her hair, with two little dogs following her. In one hand she was holding a popsicle, while in the other she had a glossy Taoist magazine.


    Zuo Tingyi''s expression went back to normal, and as he lifted his foot to start walking forward, Hong Tao jumped to keep up with him so the two could walk along side by side. Zuo Tingyi made a sound while pointing with his head, "Are you interested in her?"


    "That''s over with." Hong Tao shook his head right away: "I wouldn''t dare ¨C do you know who her brother is? The chief of Eastern Shang-Wei City guard. Haha, last time when ''Allah'' Gong wanted to get her attention, it resulted in him being taken right over to the guard office, where he sat staring for five whole hours, reportedly emerging as a shadow of himself." Hong Tao clucked in wonder.


    "Well, he deserved it." Zuo Tingyi disdainfully said through his nose. He had always felt quite disdainful toward ''Allah'' Gong''s kind of rich playboy. Zuo Tingyi came from a prestigious family, while although ''Allah'' Gong''s father was a rich and powerful person, he was ''nouveau-riche'' in the eyes of an honorable family like Zuo Tingyi''s. But the guy was discreet and had never committed any offenses in front of Zuo Tingyi.


    "Have you heard that the Star Academy has someone who wants to come to our school for a while?" Hong Tao asked to sound him out.


    Zuo Tingyi looked at him somewhat astonished. "You get your news quite quickly!" Because of the teachers'' affection for him, Zuo Tingyi was basically one step ahead in knowing the important news of the school. And because of his position in the disciplinary office ¨C which was involved in all aspects of the school administration ¨C he was a lot better-informed than most students.


    "Hehe, so I do." Hong Tao boasted, following with a resentful look, "You''re not being a very nice guy, withholding such a big piece of news as this."


    Zuo Tingyi explained, "I only just heard a short while ago as well. The school is demanding that we ruthlessly clamp down on school discipline, to keep up our appearances in front of outsiders."


    "How long will it be? What should we do while they''re here?"


    "Over a month, and I''m also not clear on why they are coming, just that it''s something to do with an exchange."


    "And how strong would you say the students from Star Academy really are? They''re really raising expectations!" Some passion flashed in Hong Tao''s eyes, then he abruptly leaned his head in: "Tingyi, are you thinking of going to Star Academy?"


    Zuo Tingyi stopped, cocked his head and pondered for a while, then shook his head saying: "I don''t know, since although Star Academy has slipped a little these last few years, it''s still one of the six leading academies. Its foundations are so deep that they are beyond comparison with ordinary schools. But anyhow, their coming this time has nothing to do with recruiting students."


    "Possibly. From my point of view, nine times out of ten it has something to do with recruitment. It''s already been many years since Star Academy has pursued any exchanges with other schools. If it isn''t about enrollments, then what is it about?" Hong Tao took a little exception. If it was really the way he thought it was, then it was a big opportunity for him. Zuo Tingyi understood his good friend''s strengths. Hong Tao''s true strengths were a lot greater than the ones he normally showed.


    "Then why would they pick our school?" Zuo Tingyi got right to the heart of the matter, ''drawing blood on the first prick.''


    Yes, if it''s because of enrollment, then why would Star Academy pick Eastern Wei Academy? There are far and away more schools that are much stronger than Eastern Wei Academy, and they had never come around to Eastern Wei Academy.


    "Hmmmm" Hong Tao was at a loss for words.


    "I don''t know if those coming this time are students from the inner academy or students from the outer academy." Zuo Tingyi said very slowly.


    "It had better be the inner academy. The outer academy is far less interesting." Hong Tao tossed his earlier question to the side, catching the drift of what Zuo Tingyi was saying.


    Zuo Tingyi looked at Hong Tao derisively, "I''m only afraid that the students from the outer academy won''t be able to match the so-called ''aces'' from our school." He enunciated the words "so-called ''aces''" very distinctly, mouthing them one at a time.


    Hong Tao gave a couple of forced dry laughs, "Tingyi, this is all your ambition to rise to someone else''s level, and to put out my prestigious fire."

 Chapter 17: A Late Billboard

    Chapter 17: A Late Billboard


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Star Academy was one of the six great academies of the Heavenly Federation, having a long history. Its founder, Heiner Van Sant, was a huge name. This was the reason that it had never dropped from the ranks of the six great academies, although in recent years, Star Academy had fallen and was by then at the very bottom of the list.


    Star Academy''s decline was directly related to its organizational structure.


    It had ''internal academy'' and ''external academy'' divisions. Each year at a set time, the school selected a few whose achievements and talents were both outstanding, to enter the internal academy to study. And so, the internal academy was the most central place. Among everyone who had been able to graduate from the Internal Star Academy ¨C no matter whether as a card master or as a card artisan ¨C not a single one hadn''t become some personage who had left behind a multilayered historical trail.


    Not only were the requirements to enter the Star Academy internal academy exceedingly rigorous, getting out was also not easy. It had already been a full ten years that no-one had been able to graduate from the Star Academy internal academy, which was the most important reason that Star Academy had declined. And from the other five academies among the six great academies ¨C not to mention from the great hall of the Comprehensive Federation Academy, which was like the sun in the heavens ¨C one or two shockingly talented, absolutely stunning personages were sure to appear after spending two or three years in those sparsely populated temples of suffering and isolation for students.


    Only the Star Academy hadn''t had one person able to walk out from the internal academy for a whole ten years.


    The situation at Star Academy for those few years has been to depend on those outer academy students to prop it up; struggling just to barely sustain themselves while facing that awkward phase.


    But it was evident that Star Academy still considered the students from its outer academy to be stronger than students from ordinary schools. This was as Zuo Tingyi had said, even while he was being incessantly mocked by his good friend, who had set his own sights over the top as well.


    * * *


    It had been seven days already since the day when Chen Mu went to Golden Street, and the fantasy card billboard that he had been making for Uncle Hua was finally finished.


    Chen Mu was quite pleased with the finished product.


    A translucent white color appeared on the card, coming from the specially tanned bark of a thousand towering trees. On half of the palm-sized card, a subtle remote purple composition took shape from an elegant and complex design. The confident resolve in Chen Mu''s pen strokes was already quite mature, making his lines fluent and smooth.


    A remote purple orchid as tall as a man, blue-green leaves, slender and tall flower stems, soft milky white flowers faintly swaying. Every ten seconds, the orchid blossom would spray out some colorful scattered light, which would boil like a mist in brilliant flowing colors, gradually taking the form of four glowing words: "Uncle Hua''s General Store"


    The remote-purple-orchid would only reveal its brilliance at night, which was the only time it would bloom.


    Apart from this remote purple orchid fantasy card billboard, Chen Mu also made another fantasy card within five days'' time.


    That card was made to imitate that incredibly brilliant fantasy card advertisement that he had seen that day at the Two-Hoop card-store. Although since Chen Mu''s capability fell so far short from that of the maker of that card, he didn''t have any way at that time to imitate such a complex fantasy card advertisement.


    Chen Mu only imitated one part from it in his fantasy card. Among the images emitted from that fantasy card, the fiery dragon was what aroused Chen Mu''s interest as it circled that grave and stern man in black.


    Gorgeous and blazing, representing strength and power, if it were a three-star fiery dragon fantasy card, it would rank among the mid-grade battle cards. Under the manipulation of a card artisan, not only would it be able to radiate astonishing heat, it would also have explosive properties, and be both nimble and mighty. That was what so many card artisans who were into battles loved the most. He totally had the ability to make an imitation of the fiery dragon.


    This fantasy card that Chen Mu made in imitation was related to such a fiery dragon card, but his was only a one-star card. To put it another way, this wasn''t a real fiery dragon card, but rather a fiery dragon illusion-card. The card could emit an extremely life-like illusion of a scarlet-flame dragon, but this illusion was made up of nothing more than rays of light, having no destructive power whatsoever.


    But one must say that the illusion of the fiery dragon emitted by the fantasy card that he had made was incredibly life-like.


    The both real and fantastic seeming body of the lifelike fiery dragon, took the form of layer upon layer of seething and churning flames. Once it was emitted, it would wheel and dance in the sky with shocking drive, constantly shedding deep red fiery sparks, and seeming to choose whom to bite.


    That advertisement from the Two-Hoop card store had really made an impression on Chen Mu. Before then, he had never imagined that illusions could be so surprisingly complex. His flaming dragon fantasy card was the result of Chen Mu''s momentary impulse.


    Still, this matter cleared up for him how very far away he still was from the level of the card master who made the advertisement for the Two-Hoop card shop.


    Carrying the advertising fantasy card he had made for Uncle Hua, Chen Mu''s mood improved a little. There were only a very few things that he wanted to accomplish in his very ordinary life, and that was one of them. Today he had finally finished it, and the pleasantly surprised expression of Uncle Hua appeared in his mind, as he would look upon seeing the advertising illusion emitted by card. He was full of anticipation.


    He was practically running to Uncle Hua''s general store.


    The securely closed entrance made Chen Mu''s heart thump. An unformed premonition arose in him.


    He ran at once to a nearby shop to look for a shopkeeper: "Hello, why hasn''t your neighbor Uncle Hua opened his shop?"


    "Who knows, it''s already been quite a few days that he hasn''t come!" The shopkeeper raised his head and shot a quick glance at Chen Mu, giving him a cursory response.


    Chen Mu was dispirited and beside himself when he went back home. Afterward, he would make a trip to Uncle Hua''s general store nearly every day, and each time he would return hopeless. Once the doors had been closed on Uncle Hua''s shop, they never opened again.


    He also tried going around to all the shopkeepers in the area to inquire about where Uncle Hua lived, but not a single shopkeeper knew.


    Chen Mu knew that Uncle Hua could have taken the final step in his life. And of course, when Uncle Hua was coughing incessantly, he already had a vague premonition.


    That brought him down into a melancholy mood for much of the time.


    Several years of peaceful life had made him something of a stranger to death.


    The passing away of Uncle Hua had a huge impact on Chen Mu, and he himself could not say clearly what kind of impact it was. But he exercised as though his life depended on it, running through those ''healthy gymnastics'' that he had learned from that mysterious fantasy card. Now, the situation was entirely different from when he went through the exercises before.


    He trained every day and every night, entirely forgetting the time. Every day, he would keep going until he was tired to the verge of death, and yet he wouldn''t stop, pushing himself to suffer like some tyrannical coach, not wanting to give himself the slightest break. He was afraid; afraid that he would think of Uncle Hua, afraid that he would think about these earlier matters.


    He wanted to keep himself busy!


    Apart from shopping for daily essentials, he never left the house. He practiced the exercise gymnastics each day without stopping. And he ceaselessly practiced making fantasy cards. He also began to get some sense of what the token cards were about. But it was still only a sense, and always only basic. But the token cards'' complexity made him feel exhausted.


    This was all new to him; he had never even imagined this realm.


    While Chen Mu was training so arduously, something big happened in Eastern Shang-Wei City.

 Chapter 18: Copper’s Grievance

    Chapter 18: Copper¡¯s Grievance


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Star Academy abruptly announced that it was going to conduct student exchange activities with Eastern Wei Academy. In small Eastern Shang-Wei City, that was very big news.


    And who was the Star Academy? Well, it was one of the great academies, with a much longer history than the Great Hall of the Comprehensive Federation Academy, which currently had the best reputation. Its founder, Heiner Van Sant, stood shoulder to shoulder with the father of card theory.


    Every bit of the Star Academy''s former glory was dug up, so that in short while, it was as though the Star Academy had become the pride of all the inhabitants of Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    Eastern Wei Academy was also lifted by this tide. Each one of the students was now walking tall, in lively spirits.


    Everyone was talking about why Star Academy had come to Eastern Wei Academy. It was not so long before that ordinary people could only gaze up toward the Star Academy, and suddenly it was coming to Eastern Wei Academy! Many of the residents of Eastern Shang-Wei City scoffed on first hearing teh news, bluntly calling it fake news.


    The environment of Eastern Shang-Wei City seemed to become clean and orderly overnight. No trash and no vagrants were to be seen on the streets anymore. Workers were everywhere painting the walls, with orders coming down from the mayor, personally.


    The number of visitors to Eastern Wei Academy surged. Lots of people were extremely curious about whatever it was that made the Star Academy so fond of this obscure school. Within a week after Star Academy made this announcement, the amount of correspondence Eastern Wei Academy was receiving from other schools about student exchanges increased a hundred-fold.


    Of course, Chen Mu didn''t know any of that, since he hadn''t been out of the house for quite a while. But even if he did know, he probably wouldn''t think it had anything to do with him.


    Training every day, as always.


    He didn''t know why he was that way himself, and he didn''t want to know. He only knew that he didn''t want to stop. While he was undergoing this somewhat masochistic training and studying, he was making quite rapid progress.


    Chen Mu felt that it was like he was dreaming. It was a dream that was both very long and very short, and when he woke up after a while he felt like a stranger to himself.


    He felt full of strength all over. He could now easily pick up heavy things with one hand, which had previously required two hands. Apart from that, his perception had become a lot sharper. Bursting with strength, his supple tough nature was rising all around. By comparison, his muscles hadn''t grown much at all.


    What he found inconceivable was that his body was already supple enough that he could practically bend in any way at will, which made him think of the acrobats in an acrobatic troupe. They were so flexible that they could slowly change direction in a narrow tube, and those were all twelve or thirteen-year-old girls. Girls by nature are much more remarkable than boys in their flexibility, and that was the age at which their bodies were the supplest.


    What about him? Already sixteen years old, and he was a man.


    Of course, in Chen Mu''s eyes, there was no difference between a boy and a man, or at the very least it had been that way for him.


    Although Chen Mu was making startling progress with this training, he still felt a little dispirited, as before. This progress didn''t provide him any pleasant surprises. The way he was now, it seemed that he had lost any curiosity toward anything, except for that mysterious card.


    He was still only practicing and studying blindly, mechanically, habitually. But his brain had already started to resume pondering. He wasn''t reflecting on anything like the meaning of life. As far as he was concerned, that was too remote. But the death of Uncle Hua affected him a lot, and sometimes a deep sigh of regret would involuntarily slip out, although he would quickly put these thoughts ¨C which he considered superfluous moodiness ¨C out of his mind.


    Dead people have already died, and the living want to live on, as always.


    Living is practical, and he wasn''t used to mixing in those so-called ''meaning of life reflections'' as part of it. What he was thinking about now was the most basic of problems; living.


    For Chen Mu, the death of Uncle Hua wasn''t only about someone who cared about him having departed from him forever, it also meant that from then on he would have to find a new buyer for the one-star power cards that he made. That was a big problem ¨C a very big problem ¨C and if it didn''t get resolved then as far he was concerned everything was illusion, and nothing was real. He had better resolve the problem quickly.


    Just then Copper showed up.


    As soon as Copper came in, he went directly onto Chen Mu''s bed, his mouth incessantly grumbling. "Ah, very comfortable, it all tires me out. Blockhead, this hard bed of yours seems to have become comfortable."


    Chen Mu didn''t understand him. He got up to pour a glass of water for him, "What brings you here today?"


    "I missed you." Copper was talking irrelevant nonsense. He shortly put on a look of suffering, and then mindlessly let slip a huge sigh. "Life is really f**king difficult these days."


    As soon as he heard this, Chen Mu knew that this knucklehead almost certainly suffered some grievance ¨C or had worked way too hard ¨C and had come there to get it off his mind. Chen Mu was clear about what he needed to do, which was to do nothing, and calmly listen.


    After a while, Copper suddenly sat up, his face expressing hatred of the whole world, "Blockhead, what do you think? These f**king ways of the world. I work myself to death, wasting so much of my strength, and that devil quietly, without so much as a word, blocks my credit. Ha! What sort of a general manager is he, all dressed up and posturing like that?"


    After Copper gave his enraged account, Chen Mu finally understood the whole story:


    When Copper was young, he was always ready to work hard. Getting into this card show firm, he very quickly familiarized himself with its internal networks. On top of his native intelligence, from studying at school for a few years he had started to attempt to write some scripts himself. But those ambitious activities of his were discovered by the general manager. The general manager heaped praise, and then after praising him for a bit, made some promise on the spot that if he was able to produce a good script, he would promote him to official screenwriter.


    Having hopes, Copper poured out his pains day and night, using up his heart''s blood, and finally writing a script that he felt satisfied with. When he gave it to the general manager to look over, the general manager was very pleasantly surprised, and immediately brought out the clapper-board on the spot, and began to produce according to that script.


    Seeing that his heart''s blood was being taken seriously, Copper was happier than anyone, and looked forward to the card show''s release more than anyone. But what he hadn''t thought of was that waiting until after the card show was finished, and moreover had entered the marketplace . . . He only then found out to his surprise that the general director''s name showed up as the card show''s screenwriter. It was as though he had been hit by lightning on the spot, and for the rest of the day he hadn''t recovered.


    When he furiously went looking for the general manager, the general manager tossed him 50,000 Oudi with a cold smile, and didn''t say a thing about promoting him to be the official screenwriter. And moreover, he let it be known that if he said anything stupid outside, he would be driven out of the company.


    What made Copper both proud and depressed was that this card show had leapt to popularity, and had already become the sales leader. And that general director had become a hot personality in the card show world thanks to that card show. It seems that all of Copper''s rage and strength had been sucked out of him after he finished telling the story, and he fell back onto the bed, despondent. Chen Mu listened calmly, making no expression, though in reality, whether it was him or Copper, he had seen many many more unjust matters than that. Except that Copper had thrown too much of his heart''s blood into his script, which was why he was so stirred up. But reasonably, he and Chen Mu had never considered that there was any real justice in the world.


    "How is your card study going?" Copper asked Chen Mu dispiritedly, after a long time.

 Chapter 19: As Soon as You Get Up, Make a Card Show!

    Chapter 19: As Soon as You Get Up, Make a Card Show!


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu shook his head, "I haven''t done a thing for a while." During this ''while'', he was working hard digesting basic theory about the token card.


    "So, what have you been busy with these few days?" It seemed to Copper that he had heard something utterly inconceivable. He sat up and looked at Chen Mu. He understood his friend well. He didn''t goof off, which is to say that he didn''t even have the concept of playing in his head. In Copper''s head, Chen Mu seemed like someone who had never known fatigue, had never known being fed up, who put his heart and soul into making progress in his study of fantasy cards, while basically falling well short in any efforts to make progress toward having a good youth.


    Yet today he heard Chen Mu unexpectedly say that there had been a time during which he didn''t touch a fantasy card. How would that not make him surprised?


    Chen Mu was silent and didn''t say a thing. He didn''t know how to explain what had happened.


    Copper knew that Chen Mu''s look clearly said that he didn''t want to talk. If Chen Mu didn''t want to talk, Copper believed that there was basically no one in the world who could pry a word out of him.


    "OK, don''t make that stinky face, if you won''t talk, we''ll drop it. Who cares? So, do you have something you made before? Let me have a look." Copper intentionally lightened up.


    The pair of friends were like that. When they were indignant about something, they couldn''t help venting, and whenever the other one was feeling bad, it was as though they felt bad themselves, and they didn''t want to throw hail on top of snow, to make a bad situation worse, or a face go bitter.


    Chen Mu tossed a fantasy card to Copper, "Here, this one."


    "Hey, why don''t I get some of the big wigs from the card show world to come and check out the fantasy cards you made? Let me tell you, I have a poison eye and when I tear something apart, people go away broken hearted." Copper was both showing off and thrown for a loop getting the fantasy card that Chen Mu had tossed him.


    "Ha, the historic moment has finally arrived . . . " Copper kept talking while clumsily putting the fantasy card into the slot of his own apparatus.


    Seeing Copper''s clumsy action, Chen Mu couldn''t quite bear to watch. He was puzzled. Hadn''t this guy always been extremely coordinated?


    He couldn''t tell if what was going on with him now was related to coordination, agility, strength, or his eyesight, but compared to before, it was like he was a different person. But he then quickly decided that Copper''s clumsiness didn''t make sense. It wasn''t that Copper had become clumsy, but rather that his level of expectation had become higher, though he himself hasn''t realized it.


    Copper pressed the activation button.


    A huge monster floated into being suddenly, nearly filling the whole room. It was a dragon! A fiery dragon! Its long body circled and danced in the air, staring right into him with those deep red eyes, as though it wanted to penetrate to his very soul. A cold shiver went right up Copper''s spine.


    "Oh Mama!!" Copper''s eyes rolled up into his head, and he fainted.


    Chen Mu looked speechlessly at the fainted Copper. It had never occurred to him that a one-star fantasy card could scare a person ¨C literally ¨C out of his wits.


    He went over bedside Copper, and turned off the apparatus, ''done!''. The terrifying flame-blasting dragon immediately vanished from the air.


    Chen Mu didn''t rouse Copper but sat down beside him. Too bad he didn''t have any Sapphire Cloud Running Water. Chen Mu felt a little regret. He sat calmly, indulging his own thoughts and feelings. Tranquil and without regret, Chen Mu was really no different from a blockhead.


    Copper slowly revived after more than ten minutes.


    As soon as he came to, another wave went up his spine. He looked around, with some traces of fear still on his face. "Blockhead, did you just see that? What kind of a thing was that?"


    "Mmm, I saw it." The expression on Chen Mu''s face didn''t change a bit. "That was a flame blasting dragon, derived from a three-star battle-style fantasy card."


    "Whoa! Three-star battle card?" The expression on Copper''s face suddenly went blank. After ten seconds, he suddenly turned his head, and dumbfoundedly asked. "When did you become a card artisan?"


    "I haven''t, that''s a one-star fantasy card, and that fiery dragon is nothing but an illusion, without any power to cause harm." Chen Mu explained, although since the card he had made himself had gone so far as to make someone pass out, he was feeling a little proud of himself.


    "Illusion?" Copper stared blankly for a while, after which he shook out his head, hard. "Impossible. How could there be such sharp illusion? Don''t mess with me, Blockhead. You know what I do? I make card plays! Every day, all I do is engage with illusions. I can tell at a glance if something is an illusion. That was certainly no illusion!" Copper came to his verdict with an extremely categorical tone.


    "When did you become a card artisan? You have three-star cards? The cost of playing with those is not cheap, eh?" Copper looked dubious.


    Chen Mu didn''t feel like explaining but walked over to Copper''s side and turned on his wrist apparatus again.


    "Grab it and find out!" Chen Mu tossed out the phrase.


    That vividly lifelike fiery dragon appeared once again.


    Copper still jumped, but he was a lot calmer than the last time, except that his calf was quaking. He took a look at Chen Mu, to see if he seemed like he was kidding, and then Copper timidly reached out his hand to touch this huge dragon.


    What he grabbed was air.


    "Yi!" Copper was dumbstruck by the feeling of nothingness in his waving hand. It really was an illusion. And so, he let his heart which was in his throat go back down. Once he had relaxed again, he built up a heavy interest in this fiery dragon illusion. He walked all around the fire-blasting dragon illusion, with clucks of admiration coming out of his mouth from time to time.


    "Good Lord! It really looks like it; no difference at all from the real thing! I had no idea that your skill had gotten so far, Old Mu, you blockhead. It really terrified me!" Copper was really excited and couldn''t stop talking.


    Not really caring so much about Copper''s praise, Chen Mu responded with a sigh, and lay down on the bed.


    Copper watched for a full ten minutes, and then, very reluctant to let it go, pulled out the fantasy card. He turned around, with his face still full of delight.


    "I have an idea, Blockhead!" In Chen Mu''s eyes, Copper was still in state of excitement.


    Chen Mu responded slowly, "What is your idea?"


    "Why don''t we make a card play?" Copper moved closer and looked at Chen Mu with anticipation.


    Chen Mu looked carefully at Copper, and saw that he was serious; he didn''t seem to be making a joke. After thinking a while, he opened his mouth, "Copper, I don''t know a thing about card plays, I wouldn''t be able to make one."


    Copper wasn''t a bit discouraged, "Blockhead, being able to make your one-star fantasy card come so far, card images are not going to be a problem for you. I believe that it wouldn''t take you very long to learn about card plays. It would be much simpler than what you''ve done with this fiery dragon illusion from a one-star fantasy card. I can do the marketing and the screenwriting, and all you need to do is the card images. I''ve been muddling along for quite a while in this place, and I know its ways very well. Blockhead, you have this strength! I do too! We should collaborate!" Copper''s words came out with intense self-confidence.


    Chen Mu lowered his head to think. Ever since Uncle Hua''s passing, he hadn''t had any source of income. Perhaps making card-plays wasn''t such a bad choice . . .

 Chapter 20: And What is Card Play?

    Chapter 20: And What is Card Play?


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Copper gritted his teeth, "Blockhead, I know what you''re thinking. You really can do this! Believe me! When have I ever tricked you? That 50,000 Oudi can be our startup capital. I intend to put it all in. Old Mu, you blockhead, why do you hesitate? Let''s go!"


    Copper''s had a fanatical expression.


    They looked at each other for a long time, and then with some hesitancy, Chen Mu nodded, "OK, I''ll try it."


    "Yeah!" Copper looked just like a kid, and jumped up. Seeing Copper so jubilant, a little smile formed in the corner of Chen Mu''s mouth.


    And so, the two of them immediately started to do the math.


    Fifty thousand Oudi wasn''t really very much for a card-play. Chen Mu also threw in his savings, and they eventually swept together 100,000 Oudi.


    But it was still too little for a card show, so the two of them decided to make a ''short'' card play.


    Copper would wrack his brain on the screenplay, where all Copper demanded from Chen Mu was that he figure out just what kind of thing a card play really was.


    As it happened, Copper knew that there would be a lecture the next day about card plays at Eastern Wei Academy. The two planned to go see it.


    Copper was sporting two dark circles under his eyes when he arrived at Chen Mu''s place at sunrise the next day. He was so excited the evening before that he couldn''t sleep. When he saw Chen Mu, he yawned to the sky, weak and worn out.


    "Why so many people?" Chen Mu was curious. The number of sightseers in Eastern Wei Academy had multiplied considerably from normal, with people everywhere.


    "It couldn''t still be about Star Academy coming. Those bunches of people have eaten their fill. Having nothing else to do, they''ve just come out to join the fun." Copper was yawning while he talked.


    Chen Mu was surprised, "Star Academy is coming to Eastern Wei Academy?"


    "No way! How could you not know this huge piece of news!" Copper looked at Chen Mu''s expression and felt as though he were looking at someone from outer space. "Hey, same old Blockhead!"


    Star Academy is coming to Eastern Wei Academy. Chen Mu was still digesting the news. In both Chen Mu''s and Copper''s eyes, Eastern Wei Academy was an extremely sacred place. But if Eastern Wei Academy were paired against Star Academy, no one would pay any more attention to its existence. In the eyes of ordinary people, the six great academies seemed like the realm of legends and fairy tales.


    Three years before, a boy from Eastern Shang-Wei City was selected for entry to another of the six great academies, The Repository of Classics. It caused quite a sensation all over Eastern Shang-Wei City at the time, and that boy was received personally by the mayor.


    The six great academies had quite stringent selection processes, and their principal recruitment targets were residents in the five large flourishing districts, plus the capital. The admissions requirements for residents of the twenty-two ordinary residential districts were much more severe. If someone from one of the ordinary residential districts was able to enter one of the six great academies to pursue studies, that was a clear indication that they had extremely outstanding talent.


    The six great academies were so elevated that they had always had discriminatory policies against the ordinary residential districts. Now that they had taken the initiative to come to Eastern Wei Academy, how would that not make anyone feel a little curious?


    It appeared that Eastern Wei Academy was about to enter a period of rapid development. Chen Mu wondered to himself about how many benefits Eastern Wei Academy could obtain by taking advantage of the situation. Their name recognition would go way up, and the advantages were too many to count in every other aspect.


    After getting through his initial shock, Chen Mu resumed his impassivity. It really was stunning news, but it didn''t have much to do with him. Not only wasn''t he an Eastern Wei Academy student, but he also wouldn''t get any benefit because of it. It wouldn''t have any effect on his life.


    Among the mountains and seas of humanity ¨C the vast throngs ¨C Chen Mu and Copper stubbornly carved out their own warpath. Chen Mu was fine. His training during that recent time had made his health a lot more robust, so he wasn''t squandering much effort. To look at him, Copper cut a much sorrier figure. He was panting and gasping, and his clothes were completely wrinkled, with his shoes showing footprints on top of scuffmarks. Copper couldn''t keep his clothes neat. He stuck out his neck looking all around.


    "Over here, over here!" Not far away, someone was waving their arms.


    Copper was pleased, and immediately led Chen Mu to squeeze over in that direction.


    "Ai yo! Mamma Mia, your school has really developed. After a while you won''t be able to squeeze in." Copper grumbled.


    In front of Chen Mu was a student wearing a school uniform, though he looked a little shifty-eyed, was of small stature, and didn''t look like a very good person. "Ha ha, so it has. I hear that this year''s revenues are soaring, and the school is considering whether to cancel next year''s tuition." He said with satisfaction.


    "Alright, alright, don''t brag in front of us." It looked as though Copper was very familiar with him, as he offhandedly introduced Chen Mu. "This is my brother Chen Mu." And then turning to Chen Mu, "This is my friend, named Lao Shu, but everyone calls him "Rat." He''s the boss around here."


    There were large numbers of curious people sitting all around. It was Chen Mu''s first time in an Eastern Wei Academy classroom. Most of the people were students, but Chen Mu still found a few other ''fish in troubled water'' like him. The atmosphere in the classroom was very relaxed, with students casually discussing which recent card shows were worth seeing.


    A female student went up to the lectern, and things below started to quiet down right away.


    "Everyone quiet down. What we are showing today is the recently acclaimed ''A Summer Day''s Talk.'' As soon as this card play hit the market, it became hugely popular, with an outstanding narrative, and well-done character portrayals. You could say that this is the recent card play most worth paying attention to."


    Chen Mu suddenly discovered that Copper, sitting next to him, had a pained look on his face, and his two hands on the seat were trembling.


    Startled, Chen Mu then understood in a flash, and asked in a quiet voice, "Is it yours?"


    "Mmmm." Copper was biting his lip, and looked a little scary.


    Sighing, Chen Mu didn''t say any more, and turned his attention to the card play that was about to be shown. It was his first time to see a card play, and he couldn''t help his strong feeling about the novelty of it.


    Any apparatus could be used to emit card plays, but there were already devices on the market specifically made to show card plays. The one emitting the card show in the classroom then was like that, emitting illusions that were more clear, with a specialized sound card slot for creating remarkable sound effects.


    The card show finally finished a half hour later.


    "This is what a card show is?" Chen Mu asked Copper with a little disbelief.


    Copper had already returned to normal, and he understood what Chen Mu was thinking about, and laughed lightly, "Yep, have some faith now."


    This is really what card shows are like! Chen Mu didn''t know what he should say. While he was watching, whether objects or characters, none were realistic, and all must have gone through a certain exaggeration and simplification process. As for the degree of difficulty, the card show fell a long way short of the fiery dragon illusion card that Chen Mu had made, never mind that Two-Hoop card store''s billboard.


    Although he didn''t know if the card play''s production level would be considered good or bad among card plays, Chen Mu felt that the most brilliant part was still this card play''s story. He had to say that there was no need to doubt Copper''s talent in that regard. Even a cold and wooden person like Chen Mu was enchanted by it.


    Chen Mu felt that the results would certainly have been even better if it had been made with more realism.


    Don''t think about it anymore. If they did that, the production costs would be astronomical. In a flash he thought, so that''s why card plays all use these simplified and exaggerated illusions.


    He certainly didn''t know if that was only one of the reasons. But if one wanted to make card plays with characters who were the same as real people, not only would the production costs go way up, the degree of difficulty would go up as well. Card masters who had the skill to get to that point were scarce.


    Immediately following, they re-broadcast some old classic card-shows.

 Chapter 21: Allah Gong

    Chapter 21: Allah Gong


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Hong Tao was slouched in the back row. He glanced at Zuo Tingyi who was sitting ramrod straight next to him, and said in amazement, "So, when did you start liking card shows?"


    "Liking?" Zuo Tingyi shook his head, "I don''t like them."


    "But I see that you''re engrossed in it." Hong Tao said with an odd look on his face.


    With buttoned down front and sitting upright, Zuo Tingyi said indifferently, "You can''t only employ your skills to make your work look good, but if don''t have the skills to make your work look good, then your work will not be done well either, nine times out of ten."


    "What a sham!" Hong Tao yawned disdainfully. "In any case, I''m tired. I say, if you aren''t busy, you come to watch some card show, and if you like it then you buy one for yourself, and that''s that. You might just come here to join in the fun."


    "When we look at problems, we can''t just look at the surface. . . "


    Hong Tao interrupted him, and said impatiently, "Louder, say it a little louder!"


    "I came for her." Zuo Tingyi was very calm.


    "Her? Which ''her?''" Hong Tao looked like he didn''t understand.


    Zuo Tingyi looked over toward the corner of the classroom, "Man Siying."


    Hong Tao had an expression as though he''d turned to stone. It was a whole half-minute before he came back to his wits, as though he had heard a piece of shocking news. "Man Siying? My heavens! Since when have you hooked up with her? I say, Tingyi, this just isn''t right, making me suffer in the dark, not even showing a hint. But then how could a stone man like you ever get it right . . .?"


    Zuo Tingyi wasn''t paying attention to Hong Tao, but turned back to say, "I heard it said that ''Allah'' Gong is interested in her."


    Hong Tao choked on that phrase, then after a long time, he slowly clipped off a question, "How did you know?"


    Hong Tao suddenly realized that the way Zuo Tingyi was looking at him was as though he were looking at an idiot. Then he realized that his question really was was stupid. Zuo Tingyi was one of only two students in the school''s student disciplinary office ¨C he had a lot of real authority in his hands, and news travels fast. Apart from the chief ringleader of the Taoist eight-trigrams society, Ceng Qiyi, he could probably be counted as having the sharpest ears in the entire school.


    "What does that have to do with you?" Hong Tao was a little nonplussed looking at his good friend, sizing him up from top to bottom in a glance. "You''re looking, but it''s like you don''t see the person coming at you on the road with a knife."


    Sitting upright with proper collar, Zuo Ting Yi closed the book in his hand with a bang. The book, called An Overview of Card Theory, was as thick as a brick. Then he said with deadly severity, "According to what the school has recently decided, in order to welcome the exchange delegation from Star Academy when they arrive, any kind of inharmonious incident is forbidden from taking place on campus. Someone like me who is a key member of the disciplinary office, however unworthy, most certainly can''t sit on the sidelines as a spectator."


    Taking in Hong Tao''s stunned expression, Zuo Tingyi added on some more, "What''s important is that this school has given me a share of the responsibility." His expression was a little impatient, though he quickly returned to normal, "In light of ''Allah'' Gong''s recent activities, I''ve decided personally to monitor how things develop in his tracks."


    "It''s always been like this," Hong Tao said dully, "why are you trying to pull me into this boring matter?"


    Zuo Tingyi shot Hong Tao a look, and then spat out two words, "hit man."


    The academic atmosphere at Eastern Wei Academy was open. Ordinarily, the school placed almost no restrictions on the students. Also, the students at the school were wealthy and respectable, and the school also didn''t wish to cause them offense. So, if there was a dispute between students, for the most part they opened one eye and closed the other, and in the end the students themselves sorted it out. The students were also unlikely to put the blame on the school. All of that could lead to some issues with public order within the school.


    The reason Zuo Tingyi was able to enter the disciplinary office was partly because the teachers were very fond of him, but more directly because of his very powerful family background. The disciplinary office was basically where student offenses were taken, and since Zuo Tingyi was also a card master, the value of his power was incalculable.


    But he was also a vicious person, and when he went home and personally asked for five top-notch card artisans from his old man, the extraordinary thing was that his mild-mannered father actually got completely behind the idea. Bringing along those five top-notch card artisans, Zuo Tingyi charged back again to the school to implement his grand rectification, and to put discipline back in shape with blood and steel. He struck hard against practically all the recalcitrant tough cases at that time. There was no lack of princelings among them, but what backed these princelings up wasn''t as tough as his family, and anyhow they wouldn''t be able to contend with the five card artisans under his command.


    After a while, the behavioral atmosphere at Eastern Wei Academy made the school very happy, and the school administration thoroughly supported Zuo Tingyi.


    And it was just while going through that fantastic tale that Zuo Tingyi established a notorious name for himself. From then on, those playboys saw that it wasn''t like a mouse seeing a cat anymore. And now that the teachers in the disciplinary office were rather afraid of Zuo Tingyi, he no longer needed to draw on the terrifying power of those five card artisans.


    The other student in the disciplinary office was Ceng Xinyi, but she wasn''t at all interested in the work of the disciplinary office, but instead was completely caught up in the Taoist eight trigrams.


    ''Allah'' Gong was the famous playboy of the school who left a trail of mischief behind him. But because of the grade-A wealth in his family, very few people could contend with him. And he had always been clever, so that in general, he didn''t run into the school''s barbed patches. The school had two sorts of people who couldn''t be touched; one sort was those whose backgrounds were as solid as his, and the other were those who had exceptional native strength, like Hong Tao.


    ''Allah'' Gong especially took advantage of those without any particular family background; students who were comfortably well-off, like Man Siying. He was surrounded by a crowd of similarly well-off scions, not one of whom wasn''t the image of a playboy.


    The school didn''t want any kind of negative news at that sensitive time. So Zuo Tingyi put his measures into action as soon as he got any news.


    Coincidentally, Chen Mu and Copper were sitting behind him.


    From the front of the classroom, there came the sound of a girl screaming, "What are you doing, you creep!"


    That was followed by the sound of the crowds'' mocking laughter.


    "Heya! Beautiful woman, don''t speak so recklessly. Creep? Am I creeping you out?"


    A creepy glib slimy voice responded, and from all around him came cruel laughter that wouldn''t stop at anything. The one speaking was none other than ''Allah'' Gong. ''Allah Gong with a round head, fat face, and it looked like he''d gotten a fat belly, and short fat legs; overall looking like a person made of all different sized balls. His two little eyes looked so boorish.


    "You . . . " The girl''s angry face turned bright red, and she didn''t know what to say.


    This episode disturbed the peace in the classroom, and quite a few students respectfully filed out.


    Chen Mu was a little dumbfounded.


    That voice . . .

 Chapter 22: The Little Slacker has a Lot of Power (1)

    Chapter 22: The Little Slacker has a Lot of Power (1)


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    When he was on the grass at Eastern Wei Academy that sunny day, it was that voice which had come from behind him. It had reminding him of being stymied by that fantasy card. He still remembered that voice very clearly, having helped himself to much deeper detail than what was in that mysterious card.


    His gaze turned in that direction of a sudden.


    The group around ''Allah'' Gong slowly stood up one by one, looking at Ma Siying with malicious intent.


    By that time, most of those who had been in the classroom had left, with only a few remaining.


    Just then, someone next to ''Allah'' Gong noticed Zuo Tingyi and Hong Tao sitting toward the last row. His face instantly changed color and he tugged at ''Allah'' Gong.


    ''Allah'' Gong also noticed Zuo Tingyi, and his face also changed. He''d heard of Zuo Tingyi since entering the school, and so he''d been avoiding any conflict with him. He hadn''t imagined that he would finally run into it.


    Pa! The loud sound a book being shut.


    Zuo Tingyi stood up without any expression on his face, "I am Zuo Tingyi from the disciplinary office. Your behavior has already violated the school regulation manual articles one hundred seventeen, forty-nine, and one-hundred forty-two. And you have violated the first article of the ''Eastern Wei Academy Exigent Temporary Regulations'' issued three days ago. And the ninth and the thirty-second. The circumstances are serious. Please each of you come with me for a trip to the disciplinary office."


    Judging from the identical involuntary changes which came about on everyone''s face, Zuo Tingyi''s notoriety had become known to everyone at Eastern Wei Academy, without exception.


    ''Allah'' Gong had an ugly look on his face, but cowed by Zuo Tingyi''s notoriety, he still politely said, "Big brother Zuo, this is an overstatement. We are all sure to see a lot of one another, so there''s no need to take this so seriously."


    Zuo Tingyi didn''t pay him any mind, and as before his face was expressionless, "No need to speak, accompany me to the disciplinary office."


    Copper tugged at Chen Mu next to him and gave him a look to indicate that they''d better leave. The two of them had seen enough of that sort of thing to know that it would be better to be safe than sorry. It wouldn''t be worth their while to wade through that pool of muddy water, although as far as Copper could tell, neither side was likely to be good guys.


    Like a block of wood, Chen Mu didn''t move. That left Copper dumbfounded. What kind of wrong medicine did this guy take today? As far as he knew, Chen Mu couldn''t be full of any sort of chivalrous sensibility. If anyone had gone through a few years of the life they''d lived in their youths, and was still full of chivalry, they were either a fool or very ambitious. Chen Mu was neither of those things. But Chen Mu was out of character that day, which confused Copper. Anyway, since Chen Mu wasn''t moving, Copper naturally maneuvered right along with him. This didn''t really require any thought; no matter if it was Copper or Chen Mu, either would do the same.


    ''Allah'' Gong''s face suddenly turned really ugly, since it had never occurred to him that Zuo Tingyi wouldn''t even grant him that little bit of face. But it was obvious that Zuo Tingyi was coming after him. He was used to rampaging around the school and coming to this step had already given Zuo Tingyi a whole lot of face.


    "Talking like this, isn''t school-mate Zuo even intending to give me this little bit of face ¨C this respect ¨C anymore?"''Allah'' Gong''s face chilled, and his voice became blood-curdling. As soon as his voice dropped, the running dog lackeys all around him stood up one by one, and their expressions were not good.


    "Yo, look at this fellow, so brazen to not even fear death, ho ho." Hong Tao stood up very slowly, ridiculing with perfect ambiguity, while it looked like he was casually touching the apparatus on his right wrist with his left hand, without forgetting to jeer at Zuo Tingyi, "I say Tingyi, nobody else is really buying what you''re selling. Has your upstanding reputation been ruined by going this far?"


    Hong Tao was also a well-known person at the school, although his name recognition naturally would never achieve the scope of Zuo Tingyi''s, and what was more, his name depended on his strength. As a commanding person in the card master department of Eastern Wei Academy, Zuo Tingyi''s strength was bottomless. It was said that he was already spoken about alongside professional card masters.


    And now you could see that those weren''t empty rumors.


    A card artisan next to ''Allah'' Gong saw the position of Hong Tao''s left hand, and his face changed slightly to take on a grave look. That guy must have been at least over thirty, and one look at him would be enough to know he wasn''t a student. Most likely ''Allah'' Gong''s old man understood that his precious son was likely to stir up trouble out there, so he dispatched a strong body-guard to protect him. That sort of thing was common among the princelings and the ''big girls'', and the school kept mostly silent about it.


    Hong Tao gave a smile that wasn''t a smile seeing the card artisan, while between the fingers of his left hand, two fire-red little dragons where walking around in lively fashion. These two small dragons were only as thick as a thumb, though the scales on their bodies were clearly visible.


    That card artisan suddenly became very wary of the two little dragons, and made ready for attack. Seven fly-green glowing points appeared at his side, floating around his body like seven fireflies.


    It was Chen Mu''s first time to see a card artisan battle, and so he was very curious. The little dragon in Hong Tao''s hand must have been like a shrunken version of the one he''d made, while those glowing firefly dots around the card artisan only numbered seven and were a long way from the way that blind person waved his hand in that advertisement, making a wild multicolored meteor shower.


    Hong Tao''s eyes suddenly flashed, and electricity shot from one of the little dragons when his right index finger tapped once.


    So fast! Chen Mu''s heart stopped, watching as a spectator. Because of his practicing those exercise gymnastics, his reaction time was quite a bit quicker than before. But facing that kind of speed, he guessed he would never be able to dodge it.


    That card artisan was also no slacker; three glowing dots shot over to the little dragon, filling half the space with their trails, leaving three beautiful traces on Chen Mu''s irises.


    An extremely sharp boom suddenly pricked everyone''s ears with pain. When the two collided, the destructive energy released an intense shock wave.


    Chen Mu then felt as though he''d been pushed, almost unable to stand up. Needless to say, everyone else in the room was unsteady as well.


    But as the two didn''t intend go any further, the situation had gone back to a standoff.


    Not understanding it, Chen Mu gave a flash of envy watching the battle.


    Inside the empty formal classroom, apart from the standoff, Chen Mu and Copper stood out very conspicuously.


    "These two friends look a little bit unfamiliar. I wonder, in which department are they aces?"''Allah'' Gong said, abruptly turning around and looking at Chen Mu and Copper with a slight smile. Not knowing those two guys'' backgrounds, keeping down the mistakes improved the chances of winning. It seemed like a good strategy.


    Chen Mu said nothing as though he had heard nothing, while Copper was also keeping his mouth tightly shut.


    ''Allah'' Gong immediately pulled back the smiling expression on his face, getting angry. If Zuo Tingyi and Hong Tao weren''t buying what he was selling, he felt that was normal, since after all, their families were impressively widely known. But those two guys ¨C as was clear from what they were wearing ¨C . . . he knew that their families had no background. But who went so far as to act heroic in front of him? That enraged him.


    He gave a look at the two underlings at his side.

 Chapter 23: The Little Slacker has a Lot of Power (2)

    Chapter 23: The Little Slacker has a Lot of Power (2)


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Seeing ''Allah'' Gong''s behavior, Zuo Tingyi calmly said, "It looks like you would like to try something."


    "Hey, Big brother has a thundering reputation, but your little brother really doesn''t want to go to the disciplinary office. Let''s just accept my apology this time."''Allah'' Gong smiled hypocritically, with his face smiling and nothing else.


    Zuo Tingyi didn''t say anything, but moved back a step, his face as calm as ever and without expression, except that a dark cold look flashed in his eyes.


    Hong Tao was also complaining at that time, since ''Allah'' Gong had an amazing fellow at his side, not a bit weaker than himself. Hong Tao knew from that challenge just then that he had bumped into a top gun. Card artisans all trained their perception ¨C the fiercer the card artisan, the more elevated was his perception ¨C which also gave them similarly extraordinary intuition and sensitivity. For instance, the card artisans from the Bitter Solitude Temple, who were said to be the most earth-shattering in that regard. They could tell an awful lot about his strength just by looking at their adversary.


    The Bitter Solitude Temple had the fewest students among the six great academies, and so one seldom ran into them, which made it difficult to judge the veracity of the rumor. But the card artisan at the side of ''Allah'' Gong really gave Hong Tao a feeling of great strength and danger. Although their recent encounter was momentary, it was quite enough for him to make that judgement.


    Yet because of that, he also didn''t have the energy to consider any of the other people who were there. He wasn''t worried about Zuo Tingyi in any case, since there was likely no-one in the school who would dare to let Zuo Tingyi be harmed. He believed that although ''Allah'' Gong had a lot of guts, he would know who was the fiercer between them. So Zuo Tingyi wasn''t budging. What Hong Tao was worried about were those two students ¨C and Man Siying ¨C who were in the classroom.


    Though Hong Tao was caught up in that fierce card artisan, the crowd of princelings also had the numerical advantage. And as for those two unfamiliar students, he was afraid of how high his power might reach as soon as he saw that physique.


    Chen Mu took a step forward, putting Man Siying behind him to protect her, while grabbing a wooden stool with his other hand.


    The hints were not lost on Copper, who picked up a chair while maintaining his composure.


    The life of a street punk is cruel, and for those who can live through it, it would be a tale as tall as ''The Arabian Nights'' to say they had never been in a fight. Whether one on one or in a gang brawl, the two of them were long familiar with the scene. Street slackers and little hooligans were all opponents that the two had experienced. They had rich experience in that regard.


    The atmosphere became intensely fierce as soon as the two picked up the chairs.


    Biting his lip, Copper''s looked ferocious. Although Chen Mu hadn''t changed a bit, the cold look in his eyes had the same effect.


    Without a word, the two were utterly in synch.


    He who strikes first takes the advantage.


    In the middle of a fight among punks, there was basically no banter. Chen Mu held up the seat in his hand and charged.


    Bam. Just then a very precise blow hit someone on the head.


    The wooden chair was busted up in an instant, leaving only the leg in Chen Mu''s hand and countless splinters scattered all around. The one who got hit had never imagined that his adversary would make such a surprise attack without even the opportunity for any taunting. That left no defense whatsoever, and the blow was decisive that time.


    With his head spurting blood, the man screamed, his eyes rolled up, and he fell backwards.


    While no one had reacted, Copper gave out a yell and shook the chair in his hand, not to be outdone.


    Pow. There was another muffled sound, accompanied by a blood curdling scream. It looked as though one of the oiled and powdered princelings had opened a multicolored soy-sauce shop on his face. He was covering his face and struggling on the ground in pain.


    Apart from Chen Mu and Copper, everyone else on the scene gasped.


    Even Zuo Tingyi couldn''t help his throat gulping down swallow after swallow. The basically competitive background among those families led to competition about the wealth among them, with the fighting done by those below them. So, they would never have seen such a bloody and vicious scene.


    Everyone could be seen backing up in step with one another.


    At the same time, Chen Mu suddenly heard a girl''s ear-splitting scream from behind him. Man Siying was panic-stricken seeing what was happening in front of her.


    From a different vantage, Chen Mu and Copper hadn''t moved, the two of them cool under pressure. They put down the broken legs, each picking up another chair.


    Copper felt scornful of the gang which clearly outnumbered them, never thinking they would be a gang of ducklings. If he knew that there was a card artisan in their midst who could extinguish them with a wave of the hand, he absolutely would have turned pale and grabbed Chen Mu and gone running for the hills.


    The two of them fully understood the main points of fighting, and this time their expressions were still more calm, as though they had done something pretty ordinary. That made the gang around ''Allah'' Gong feel that the two were vicious, and they all at once turned cowardly.


    "What, no takers?" Copper raised his eyebrows, raising the chair in his right hand, and thumping it on the table. Dong! That made the intimidated group jump.


    These two guys are crazy! There wasn''t a one of those on the scene who wasn''t thinking that. When they thought about the ruthlessness of what they''d just done, especially to that princeling who got the pat in the face, it was as though they''d felt it themselves. Almost everyone was feeling as though their face was itching as it never had, and they scratched at it with their hands, only to discover that it was beads of sweat.


    Saying nothing, Chen Mu stepped forward.


    Whoa, ''Allah'' Gong''s gang all stepped back. The only one who didn''t step back was that card artisan. He wasn''t looking at Chen Mu and Copper just then. His attention was focused on Hong Tao. In his eyes, those two clearly had nothing more than the moves of street punks. The really dangerous one was Hong Tao!


    He was the one worth paying attention to.


    The card artisan had some regret, since he hadn''t clearly seen through to Hong Tao''s depth. He hadn''t used his full strength just then, which meant that the two of them had fallen into a defensive position. As far as he could tell, his most powerful adversary was still Hong Tao, and by what he could pin down, Hong Tao wouldn''t likely dare to do anything drastic. In that case, having the most people could be the decisive position.


    He had somehow never considered that such a gang of people would be at a disadvantage facing two little slackers.


    Sure enough, they were a gang of good-for-nothings.


    Just then there was nothing he could do about it. Just like Hong Tao, he also wouldn''t dare to act lightly. He already knew that his adversary wasn''t inferior to him from those blows exchanged just then. If the two of them were to battle, he couldn''t control his power in such a small space, where although the shock waves from the collisions might not injure either himself or Hong Tao, he wouldn''t be able to keep his little master out of harm''s way.


    All his attention was focused on Hong Tao then, without any of it aimed at anyone else.


    But at the same time, he was surprised by the viciousness of what this Chen Mu and his partner had done. He hadn''t been protecting that young master for a day yet, but he considered himself to know Eastern Wei Academy like the back of his hand. He understood the students extremely well. Normally, when he saw the students getting into a contest, it would be all dodging hands and feet, each afraid of hurting their classmate as well as themselves. He always felt disdainful toward that, since as all experienced real fighters like himself knew, that kind of showy boxing can become dangerous very quickly. He had no use for it.


    That was also the first time he''d ever seen a student so vicious at Eastern Wei Academy. What really got his attention was the quick and agile energy between them, of a sort that would only be developed after going through a few bouts.


    Chen Mu had already started to break apart the chair in his hand. In the middle of his recent moves, he felt that the chair hadn''t been very useful.


    Putting his left leg on the chair, he broke it apart with his two hands. Pow! The backrest was separated from the chair. Chen Mu tested it and nodded his head in satisfaction. He could clearly sense that he would have a lot more power in his two hands than before.


    His behavior caused all those already nervous people to look a little worse, and among the princelings in the group, there were quite a few pairs of legs that had started to tremble.

 Chapter 24: The Little Slacker has a Lot of Power (3)

    Chapter 24: The Little Slacker has a Lot of Power (3)


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    ''Allah'' Gong''s bodyguard let out a sigh of relief in his mind. Those others were going to lose this time. He could face several dozens of that kind of slacker adversary alone, and it would still be relaxed and smooth. Yet what he hadn''t thought of was that the final factor determining who would win that time lay with those two slackers.


    Chen Mu was both a little excited and a little taken aback, since he could tell that this bout was going to be different from what had gone on before. That feeling of controlling his power from his core was especially sharp.


    What was taking him aback was a different matter.


    In the moment when he had just wielded the chair, the movement of his adversary was sluggish in his eyes, just like slow motion. He almost didn''t have to concentrate, and could easily hit that unlucky student. He''d never had such a feeling ¨C very strong, but it seemed to have come suddenly, and then left without any sign; with just a blink of his eyes, the world in front of him had returned to normal.


    If he hadn''t considered that it was an academy, and that guy was a student and not some slacker, Chen Mu could have killed him with that blow just then.


    He and Copper had been graced with an understanding of practical cruelty for a long time, and as those who have been out in the world all knew, you never want to give your adversary any opportunities.


    It seemed . . . those few days of training seemed to have become a little bit useful. Chen Mu was also a little bit unsettled, and a little bit uncertain. He could feel that his control of his strength had become more accurate and smoother. If he was then as he had been before, there was no way that he could be so on-target.


    That world which had suddenly become so sluggish and slow would always last only a split second, but Chen Mu was already deeply fascinated by it.


    He was excited, without the slightest bit of fear. He then wished that those people would bring it on and let him reenter that magical world.


    Seeing the look in Chen Mu and Copper''s eyes, a look of dread flashed across ''Allah'' Gong''s eyes.


    Those two people weren''t like Zuo Tingyi.


    No matter if an even bigger conflict came up, no bodily harm could come to either him or to Zuo Tingyi. What they could lose would only be the power they controlled, which was also one of the unwritten rules of Eastern Wei Academy. Last time when there were rumors about him being taken in to the garrison office by Ceng Xinyi''s older brother, and getting all that kind of abuse, it was all about something that had never really happened. He was just given a warning by Ceng Xinyi''s older brother and that was it.


    That was probably characteristic of conflicts among the princelings.


    After they grew up they might become life-long enemies, such that it wouldn''t be ''you die and then I forget.'' But at that time, when they hadn''t yet become completely independent, they would have to maintain their restraint, which was a characteristic of the society of the entire Heavenly Federation.


    No one had ever given ''Allah'' Gong the feeling he had just then. He believed that in only a few more minutes, whether everyone else had been knocked flat or if they had run off, those two ruthless devils would still smash the chair into him without the slightest hesitation. He couldn''t help gazing at that bodyguard of his, but it didn''t give him any more hope. That bodyguard and Hong Tao were both like two fighting cocks just then, staring at one another.


    When he thought about that dear friend who''d just been knocked down and was still on the ground struggling in pain, it tore ''Allah'' Gong''s heart out. His body was still bowed like a shrimp, and he''d been calling out miserably without stopping,


    ''Allah'' Gong swallowed hard, with his forehead filling with sweat.


    A brave and true man doesn''t take the present loss, but quickly balances it in his heart. Although the disciplinary office was scary, for him, apart from losing face, he wasn''t likely to experience any material harm from it. But it was different there; his gaze flashed over to the wooden chair in Chen Mu''s hand.


    Looking carefully at the two, one was dressed garishly. All the shiny baubles on his body were cheap, but from the sharp radiance flashing from his eyes, you could tell that he was a rather clever person. The other looked more ordinary. He was of normal height with normal clothes, which, in the privileged eyes of ''Allah'' Gong, were really a totally coarse kind of clothing. There wasn''t anything to get your attention in the way he looked; if he were in a crowd, you would never notice him.


    If nothing were out of the ordinary, ''Allah'' Gong would normally not have given a second look, but some real fear rose up in him that time, since he felt he couldn''t see through to that person. Nothing was happening with what he could see outwardly. Coming from a family of merchants, he had an excellent endowment regarding close observation, and he was also quite good with his intuition about things you couldn''t see, but what he hadn''t ever considered was that today he would run into someone he couldn''t read at all.


    He decided to stand off temporarily.


    "OK, I''ll go to the discipline office." Those words from ''Allah'' Gong made the gang of pals at his side heave a collective sigh of relief.


    The matter having been resolved that way, Chen Mu and Copper were the first to leave, and no one dared to block them. Zuo Tingyi thought to call after them, seeing as the two were leaving without a goodbye, but both he and Hong Tao looked uncomfortable.


    The looks on Zuo Tingyi and Hong Tao''s faces were naturally not within the realm of what Chen Mu was thinking about. Copper was originally going to make some greeting, since after all even a blind person could see that those two were influential people at Eastern Wei Academy. The comradery of fighting shoulder to shoulder that day should have made the two sides into friends and could have some positive impact on subsequent developments.


    But looking at Chen Mu, he kept his mouth shut, although he regretted it.


    Later, Copper had very quickly put any regret to the back of his mind, as he excitedly said, "Hey, we fought well today, bullying back the cowards . . . very nice!" But then he immediately realized a problem, asking, "Blockhead, did you take the wrong medicine today? What made you want to get into someone else''s business? This is definitely not your style."


    "That girl helped me out once." Chen Mu''s response was simple.


    "Ah." Copper was startled, and then quickly became interested, "I say, you''ve never gotten into other peoples'' business, so why did you make a move today? Come on, do tell, ha ha, what kind of help did that girlie give you? I do see that no one seemed to know you, not even making any word of greeting."


    "It has to do with card making." Chen Mu had that little bit to say about that day''s circumstances.


    "Oh, so today was an obligation," Copper suddenly got it.


    The two street punks had well understood the ups and downs of people since being little, never really getting any help from anyone. So, when they did get help, they really treasured it. Even though the person had helped Chen Mu without realizing it herself, Chen Mu still felt obligated to return the favor, and was honor-bound to take his stand that day. They weren''t thinking of any utility from the favor in the end, but they did feel that they needed to take their stand on obligation, and so they stepped up with courage. It was just his simple and honest heart which made Chen Mu do what he did.


    This might be laughable to ordinary people, but with Chen Mu ¨C and with Copper who''d encountered the same ways ¨C it would be understandable.


    For Chen Mu and Copper, it really was a minor episode. No circumstance which would have the two of them fighting was likely to come up in Chen Mu''s mind. When it came to that girl and the matter of human emotions, everyone was the same. But with them it was still more about the ways of their world: Don''t covet anything, don''t have high hopes, live first, and when it comes to grievances and gratitude, if you have the ability to reciprocate, then reciprocate, but if you don''t then keep it calmly to yourself.


    They didn''t know that ''Allah'' Gong and Zuo Tingyi had already been turning the school upside down without finding the two of them during that time.


    Chen Mu and Copper were in the middle of throwing their lives into making a card show. This didn''t only contain Copper''s longings, but it also contained Chen Mu''s life.

 Chapter 25: The Discussion

    Chapter 25: The Discussion


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The financial capital within reach that they could squander was pitifully small, and so they had to wrack their brains. Their card play couldn''t be very long, but it had to draw people in, which as far as Copper was concerned was a rather difficult challenge. He wrote and he wrote, and he revised and he revised.


    Although he hadn''t started the work of card making, Chen Mu hadn''t let up either, as he was already making all kinds of changes to the design in his head. Although the card play wouldn''t be complex, increasing its expressive power was still a knotty problem. Their biggest problem was that they didn''t have any spare money handy for him to experiment.


    Which is to say that Chen Mu needed to reduce the frequency of failed attempts, to reduce the costs of production. His interest in reducing costs very clearly far surpassed what of any of those who had knowledge about high-level cards would be eager for. For those two poor wretches, the costs of production were life.


    Copper''s script was finally finished just on the day that the Star Academy exchange delegation arrived at Eastern Wei Academy. So, when all the people of Eastern Shang-Wei City were emptying its streets to take a look at the majestic Star Academy from among the six great academies, Chen Mu and Copper were shut up in the room discussing the script.


    The two had opened up a rather animated discussion.


    Chen Mu wanted Copper to tell him in detail what results he hoped to achieve point by point, such as the lighting angles, the background, the clothing, the characters'' expressions at such and such a time, among many examples.


    The more Chen Mu asked, the more concrete he became, and the more detailed, getting into things that Copper had overlooked, and which he brought up. Copper had never engaged in that kind of battle, which made him fret no end. But he also knew that for Chen Mu to economize, he must be detailed and complete.


    Across two weeks, the two were in discussion the whole time. Where the original script had just a few thin pages of screenplay, they had piled on a thick pad of rough drafts. It was full of the written results of the two discussing for two weeks.


    The two of them had bloodshot eyes, while their spirits still seemed pretty good.


    After two weeks of discussion, Chen Mu had the entire story cooked into his core. Not only that, but he had nearly every scene ¨C and every detail in every scene ¨C already clear in his mind.


    What they needed just then was not to get right to work, but to get some rest.


    The two of them slept through two days and two nights.


    The two soundly sleeping people didn''t know that while they were shut-in discussing, the exchange delegation from Star Academy had already moved in to Eastern Wei Academy. Star Academy''s exchange activity, which granted inconceivable prestige, got the attention of the entire Heavenly Federation. And what had originally been confined to the exchange activities between Star Academy and the Eastern Wei Academy, had already become a grand occasion for all Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    Wang Ze was the student representative from the Star Academy. He was very thin and tall, having a long face with somewhat sunken eyes, which were extremely penetrating. He was a third-year student from the external academy of the Star Academy. At Star Academy, if a student from the external academy hadn''t gained entry to the inner academy, they could graduate in four years. Although Wang Ze, who was to become a card artisan, had strengths which tended toward the ordinary, he was worldly and well-informed on the human/machine interface, so the school appointed him to be the student representative that time.


    You could see that Star Academy was placing a lot of importance on the exchange activity. Apart from forth-year students who were preparing for their graduation exams, there were all sorts of other third-year students, among whom were quite a few aces.


    The responsible student on the Eastern Wei Academy side was Zuo Tingyi.


    "Has fellow-student Wang gotten used to being here?" Seeing Wang Ze, Zuo Tingyi politely asked how he was doing. Theirs was a basically student-organized exchange delegation, expecting to be there for two months. The two schools didn''t make any hard demands on the students, who could pretty much do as they pleased.


    Wang Ze really appreciated his urbane junior colleague from Eastern Wei Academy. Wang Ze came from a distinguished family, and so he had a good feeling about the style which Zuo Tingyi exuded. "May I trouble my junior colleague? Your distinguished school''s consideration in looking after us so meticulously makes me afraid that when we return to our school we will no longer be at home."


    "My fellow student is too generous. Oh, there will be several students from your honorable school who will participate in the field work organized by the third year "F" section. Given that, I''m afraid we won''t have enough supervising teachers." Zuo Tingyi said a little bit hesitantly.


    The Heavenly Federation had five large flourishing districts, twenty-two ordinary residential districts, plus the capital, making twenty-eight altogether. Those twenty-eight districts didn''t share a border among them, and nearly every district was independent of the others. Using the Eastern Reaches District in which Eastern Shang-Wei City was situated as an example, beyond it was all unbroken forest, which was the most ancient and wild area. That was the realm of other kinds of life, which were in control of it. They were powerful, deadly dangerous, and extremely populous. In the history of the establishment of the Heavenly Federation, the opening up of each district was established on the blood of uncounted ancestors.


    Outside the Heavenly Federation was all wilderness, which included a dense ancient forest, a dry Gobi desert, and ranks of cloud-piercing mountains. But what would it be like if you were to go through the wilderness, enter the forests, cross the deserts, or climb the mountains, walking ever outward? No one knows, since every year there might be countless explorers who go out, but so far no one had returned.


    There were really too many dangers in the open country. There were countless varieties of huge and strong creatures ¨C pets of nature ¨C that even the very top card artisans of all mankind couldn''t contend with.


    But the open country was also a treasure-trove, with rich produce and those precious fur pelts from the wild beasts, which were all sufficient to cause greedy mankind to rush in headlong regardless of danger. Practically all the materials needed to make the high-grade cards which were so incomparably precious in peoples'' eyes, came from the dangerous open country. They came from the bodies of powerful and huge creatures caught there.


    And then there was the discovery of the transit windows and the ash stratum which caused all of the Heavenly Federation to go into a period of mad exploration. It was in the year 2910 that mankind discovered the first transit window in the open country, and soon thereafter the related ash stratum was discovered. The transit window was the entrance to the road which connects to other regions. The ash stratum was then the underground passage which connected two transit windows. It was said that there was a world dripping with ash in the ash stratum, which was how it got its name. Immediately thereafter the first new realm was discovered, which was the current Mohadi Realm. The one who discovered it ¨C Yang Sen ¨C was successful, and gained honor and wealth.


    The Heavenly Federation publicized the exploration activities and allowed private exploration. After searching out a new realm, the private explorer could achieve a lot of rights, such as being able to earn a stake in tax revenue when two parties entered into commercial trade. Or the discoverer could achieve trade priority and other similar sorts of priority, although the priorities couldn''t develop so far as the transfer or selling of ownership. When the policies went into effect, several consortiums invested in expeditionary teams, like mushrooms popping up after the rain. And ever since then, card artisans followed on the development of card theory, leading to more and more martial power manifesting itself, with talent showing up in other martial careers as well, making it the number one profession. And then society''s need for more card artisans stimulated still more rapid development of card theory.


    The outer reaches had become the heaven for numberless risk takers, while in the same way becoming the hell for numberless other risk takers who were buried there.

 Chapter 26: The First Card Play (1)

    Chapter 26: The First Card Play (1)


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Eastern Shang-Wei City was in the boundary lands of the Eastern Reaches district, and outside the city was all wilderness. Every once in a while, Eastern Wei Academy would organize students to go out into the open country to do combat-related training. But in order to guarantee student safety, many teachers would have to accompany them. Although they didn''t go deep into the wilderness, the school stipulated strict protective measures to avoid unnecessary danger,


    That time, since some students from Star Academy wanted to participate in the combat training, and since they hadn''t prepared ahead of time, there weren''t enough supervising teachers. But those willful Star Academy students were extremely persistent, which put Eastern Wei Academy into a bit of a dilemma. If the Star Academy students who were at Eastern Wei Academy were put into any danger, the consequences would be unthinkable. So Zuo Tingyi ran over without delay to talk it over with Wang Ze, hoping he could restrain those few Star Academy students.


    Wang Ze immediately understood what Zuo Tingyi was getting at. He gave a dry smile, and said in a detached way, "My junior classmate doesn''t need to worry about them. Earlier before I left, the president of the Academy made it clear that if anything should happen, our school would naturally take responsibility. Many of my school''s students have ways to protect themselves, which is all the more reason not to worry."


    Although the tone was mild, there was no mistaking the self-confidence with which he spoke. Zuo Tingyi was taken aback, yet also relieved. Those others were Star Academy students after all, and they must have many ways to get things done.


    Nodding, Zuo Tingyi said goodbye to Wang Ze, and left to do some work consulting with each of the two sides.


    Watching Zuo Tingyi''s back as he moved far away, Wang Ze got a little lost in thought. He was responsible for all the relevant matters regarding the exchange and the responsibility on his shoulders was heavy. Looking all around him, his expression became a little complicated, though it promptly returned to normal.


    When he thought of the glory of his alma mater''s former times and how it had fallen recently, Wang Ze felt his blood boil, and he resolved deep in his heart to handle things well that time.


    * * *


    As soon as he woke up, Chen Mu felt bright and clear in spirit and qi. He ate a little something and then began to arrange the drafts on the table.


    After a while, Copper also very lazily woke up.


    "You woke up." Chen Mu didn''t lift his head, while his hand was arranging drafts.


    Copper replied with a grunt, stood up and stretched, and languidly gave a couple of groans before turning around, "Blockhead, aren''t we going to buy supplies today?"


    "Mmm, I was just wanting to talk with you about that."


    Outside the store, Copper''s look was steely grey, and his face muscles were twitching. He squeezed out a few words from between his teeth, "We really got robbed!" His whole face was pained by how few Oudis were left in his hand.


    Chen Mu didn''t understand Copper. He was now completely immersed in a kind of satisfaction. Everything that was inside the bag that he carried in his hand was card material, and card-ink concocting materials. He had never possessed so many materials.


    Returning home, Chen Mu got rid of Copper. He needed quiet when he was making cards, and he thought that keeping Copper quiet was about as easy as wanting a mute to open his mouth and talk.


    Looking at the mountain of materials in front of him, Chen Mu suddenly felt a kind of elation in his bones that he''d never felt before. Although the things at hand were only raw materials, that didn''t inhibit his passion for card making.


    Chen Mu didn''t immediately get to work. Although every detail of the story was already seared into his mind, he still had to transform every detail of the story into every design on the card. And there weren''t abundant materials at hand, so every mistake he could avoid would save a lot of money.


    Chen Mu never considered himself to be more talented at card making than others, but he did sometimes think that what he made stood out more than what others made.


    That was because he was sufficiently diligent! In order to economize, he had no choice but to desperately stuff the card composition into his brain. In that way, not only would he be saving a lot of money, but he would also be able to become still more familiar with how a card master composed a card.


    That was all the work of preparation.


    A little chen stone, silk heart juice, combined with a comparable amount of blue ink paste, cook for ten minutes over a small flame until the chen stone is completely dissolved and the card ink that has been concocted is slightly viscous, then while stirring with a paddle, bright blue ripples spiral out around and around, and there is a spicy astringent smell. When Chen Mu looked up, he didn''t look like a card master, but instead looked more like a storybook wizard.


    Chen Mu had already completely memorized the story which they had called "Chance Encounter."


    Without waiting for the card ink to cool, he quickly grabbed a blank card, and picked up a penknife-style pen with his right hand, anointing it lightly in some card ink. The penknife fell to the card without the slightest hesitation.


    The pen moved like a snaking dragon, flowing like water, without the slightest pause in the motion. The ink flowed off along the pen nib onto the blank card, still holding a few calories of heat, and radiant with a light glow under the control of Chen Mu''s perception.


    Chen Mu''s gaze was concentrated, without the slightest urgency to his expression.


    Chen Mu had learned this from the fantasy mirror in that mysterious card: If you take advantage of the time when the ink is warm when you start drawing, the drafting style will be soft and fluid, and the marriage between the ink and the card surface will reach a higher level, thus perfecting the resulting fantasy card.


    But from the time it is ready until it cools, there were only about two minutes. Which is to say that Chen Mu must finish making the entire card within two minutes. This is also why Chen Mu planned out and projected the entire composition of the card over and over.


    He had long since cooked every detail of the card''s composition into his brain. And the steadiness of the hand which had drawn innumerable one-star power-cards didn''t fall the least bit short of the precision of the finest mechanical instrument.


    But compared with what could be considered his finely tempered hand, Chen Mu''s wielding of perception fell short by quite a bit.


    Still, what made him really happy was that up until then, he hadn''t made any careless mistakes.


    A pattern looking like a rose-blossom slowly spread out little by little from the pen nib, becoming more and more complex, with every line of the resulting design radiant with a faint glow, pulsating as though it were breathing.


    The expression on Chen Mu''s face was still concentrated, and showed no urgency, but the beads of sweat seeping out from his forehead made it quite evident that it was no easy work.


    Even though he had made so many preparations, he had neglected a critical issue, which was the wielding of perception! He was so focused on how to become totally conversant with the composition, that he had overlooked that issue.


    His breathing started to become a little disordered, and wielding his perception was using up nearly all of his energy, in particular because he wasn''t advanced with that sort of perception. And also because among those who wield it, not many talk about it. He felt things getting more and more strenuous. Although the feeling coming from the pen nib was still smooth and fluid, and although the entire composition still floated freely up in his memory, he had already started to feel as though he was falling short of what he wished for.


    The radiance of the pattern on the card started to darken.


    If the radiance from the pattern were to vanish before the card was completed, then that card would be completely wasted.


    The tendons on his forehead were popping, his rough breath was scorching hot in his nose, the beads of sweat changed from small dew drops into a stream. The only thing that hadn''t undergone any change was the pen in Chen Mu''s hand.


    Being drained of perception made Chen Mu extremely uncomfortable, but he already had no choice.

 Chapter 27: The First Card Play (2)

    Chapter 27: The First Card Play (2)


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Clenching his teeth with his eyes wide open, Chen Mu''s normally clear eyes were all red. Chen Mu was using up the last of his energy to mobilize the last trace of perception, while still keeping the motion of his hand as gentle as could be, like the brushing of a light breeze.


    A light hook, and then the pen nib brought out a wonderful and very fine arc. There was a shimmering glow which would be difficult to perceive with the naked eye. Then a turn of the wrist, suddenly forceful, but restrained by overwhelming power. The last trace of Chen Mu''s perception was that same overwhelming power pressing down into the card.


    The whole card surface suddenly exploded with radiance ¨C where before there was only a slight flash from the glimmering surface of the card ¨C and then returned to normal, becoming a fantasy card which didn''t look like there was anything special about it. Only the afterimage of that last explosive flash remained on Chen Mu''s irises.


    And then Chen Mu was paralyzed leaning back in the chair, his whole body soaked, breathing roughly, and with a flash of joy in his eyes.


    Success! He had succeeded!


    Although the process had been hair raising, he had succeeded!


    This was the most complicated fantasy card he had ever made, using up his perception far beyond what he had expected, but he had still succeeded. A kind of joy that would be impossible to describe filled up his chest.


    He picked up the card with his somewhat limp hand, and although he had memorized the card design early on, he still felt the mystery and power that the card represented.


    For the whole day, Chen Mu was in a state of extreme excitement. He couldn''t stop putting the card into the apparatus again and again to watch, not getting tired of it after a hundred times.


    But by the next day, when he had calmed down, Chen Mu couldn''t help reflecting on the situation he had gotten into the day before. He knew that luck was an extremely important factor in his success. If he were called back to do it today, he would have only a fifty percent chance of grasping that success again.


    A probability of fifty percent was really too low, since it implied extremely scary losses. And just then, he and Copper had no way to bear such losses.


    All of a sudden, he remembered that fiery dragon fantasy card that he had made, which had come out to a degree of exquisiteness far surpassing that fantasy card, and it was far less stressful to make. Why was that? In general, the level of difficulty with that fiery dragon fantasy card was higher, but his experience was exactly the opposite. He remembered very clearly that although there were some small difficulties while he was making the fiery dragon fantasy card, it was pretty calm overall.


    He broke through after careful analysis. For the card just then, although the demands on illusory fidelity were simple, the demands on dynamic fidelity were extremely high, which was why it had been so excruciating for him to make.


    Dynamic state . . . dynamic state . . .


    Chen Mu sank into deep thought, tapping his index finger on the table.


    Very abruptly, Chen Mu remembered the other card that had been demonstrated while inside that mysterious fantasy card ¨C the token card. He had only skimmed through the knowledge related to the token card, stopping after he got some sense of it, since his energy was all focused on fantasy cards. But one of the phrases used inside left him with a deep impression ¨C that the so called ''token'' was dynamic computation.


    The phrase flashed through his mind like a bolt of electricity. He had a vague sense that the sort of token card that he had never heard of could solve this problem.


    The sudden realization gave him a jolt, and without any hesitation he immediately reentered the card''s fantasy realm.


    His time inside that time was two days and one night, so that when he came out from the mysterious card''s fantasy realm, his eyes were sunken, his lips were chapped, and his body was so limp that he couldn''t summon a trace of energy. Two days and a night without a drop of water, yet there was not even the slightest wilting of his spirit. The radiance bursting from his eyes was as though he had just picked up some sort of rare treasure.


    He was so excited and had so much energy that he wished he could get to work immediately. But the messed-up condition of his body made him have to eat and rest first.


    Although he was resting, his brain hadn''t stopped. His brain was swirling with his desperate attempts to digest what he had brought back from those days in the card, while his mouth was gobbling down a roll below his awareness.


    No one could understand Chen Mu''s elation then, a joy much stronger than when he''d learned how to make power-cards. He had been young then, with limits to his knowledge and experience, and he didn''t know what kind of impact knowing how to make power cards was going to have on his life. Whereas he now knew perfectly clearly how that type of card ¨C designated as a "token card"¨C was going to turn his future upside down.


    For the next three days, Chen Mu threw himself into his work. He didn''t pay any attention to the outside world, and if Copper showed up, he''d get thrown out.


    There was only one thing in his eyes, and that was his own new conception.


    * * *


    Hong Tao looked at the classmates at his side, and then he looked at those few Star Academy students, and couldn''t help thinking that school really was a great school! While the Eastern Wei Academy students were basically all on foot, the Star Academy students were floating freely in midair.


    Although Hong Tao could also fly, he asked himself if it could be as effortless as it was for those Star Academy students. Flying required a jet stream card; as did the shuttle cars that could be purchased on the market, whose most basic core was the jet stream card. The body of a shuttle car made it easy for them to take off and fly, while a person''s body shape was not so suitable for flight. So, if you wanted to fly by means of the jet stream card alone, you would need extremely advanced skills at manipulating it. The higher the level of the jet stream card, the more powerful its jet stream, and the more demanding were the corresponding manipulative skills. Not only that, but you would still need terrific balance.


    What the Eastern Wei Academy students generally used was the lightweight card. The lightweight card was a simplified jet stream card, which could emit a specific downward flow, to lighten the load on the legs. It was very convenient and simple to use, and could greatly increase walking speed, while saving energy for the person using it.


    But an ace didn''t generally stoop to using that kind of card. A high-grade jet stream card was extremely powerful, and their flight speed could exceed that of a shuttle, while still being much nimbler.


    Hong Tao could tell at a glance that the jet stream cards being used by the Star Academy students were above three stars at the least. He could use a three-star jet stream card at his ability level, though he wasn''t sufficiently adept at it. While the Eastern Wei Academy students were watching the Star Academy students with envy, the scene on the ground was giving the supervising teachers a bad taste.


    A young person''s temperament inevitably has some real strengths, so that even though they knew that their counterparts were much better than they were, they still mustered their strength and moved on. The group quickly increased their forward speed, and when they saw what was happening the teachers leading them didn''t stop it.


    They were about to enter the dangerous realm. At that time, the supervising teachers ordered everyone to stop and rest, and to gather up their strength. Most of those within the Eastern Wei Academy team were panting, having used up quite a bit of their strength in their recent charge. Card artisans don''t really have much advantage when it comes to physical strength.


    On the other hand, the Star Academy students all looked relaxed, and were breathing calmly.


    Even though they felt a little embarrassed by the loss of face, the supervising teachers were very clear about the dangers they were facing, and no matter what, they had to guarantee the safety of those scholars.


    There was a certain glasses-wearing student among the Star Academy students who suddenly turned around, and lifted his right hand with all five fingers extended.


    A fist-sized moon-white wavy blade appeared floating above his palm, bowed like the moon. Then the student lightly sent if forward with his hand as an icy needle flashed from behind his glasses.


    The speed with which that moon-curved rippled blade disappeared was like an arrow shot from a bow. It tore through the air whistling, and shot into a thicket about three hundred meters distant.

 Chapter 28: The First Card Play (3)

    Chapter 28: The First Card Play (3)


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The moon-shaped rippled blade didn''t meet with any obstructions while sinking into the thicket.


    While the group of people were in the midst of astonishment, not knowing what was going on, there was suddenly a dramatic quaking at that place in the thicket, and a blue-green python as thick as a leg was writhing in pain on the ground, leaving a trail of blood from its seven-inch nest-hole.


    Each of the Eastern Wei Academy students stared dumbly, not able to believe that they were looking at a big writhing python, and even the Eastern Wei Academy teachers showed fear on their faces.


    But the most stunned was certainly Hong Tao. Hong Tao had always thought of himself very highly, but he then knew that there were men beyond men. He could see very clearly that there wasn''t only one trail of blood, but that the moon-shaped rippled blade had pierced right through the entire snake, leaving two symmetrical blood trails.


    Are the six great academies really that powerful? Hong Tao''s heart was in turmoil, as always. The Star Academy was the lowest ranked among the six great academies, and yet they were like that. Whichever student might come forward, their skills would be as terrifying as this!


    That Star Academy student seemed as though he had done some trivial thing not worth talking about, just lightly pushing up his glasses.


    * * *


    Ten completed cards were laid out in front of Chen Mu, with serial numbers on their corners, from one to ten. His face shone with satisfaction, since what could be a more beautiful result? He had not only succeeded in making the card-play, but he had compressed the originally projected thirty cards down to ten cards, and so the production costs wouldn''t go beyond a third of what they would have been.


    Together with having completed the card show, he was also pleased with what he had gained for himself. He had become keenly interested in the magical token card. Being able to compress the content of thirty fantasy cards down to ten was enough to prove the magic of the token card, and yet among the ten cards he had already finished, there wasn''t one token card. They were all fantasy cards. In reality, although he had already gotten to a very high place regarding the use of the specialized token card from the knowledge he had learned from inside that mysterious card, what Chen Mu was studying at that time could only be considered "token" knowledge.


    If a little foundational understanding could have those results, it made Chen Mu very eager. If he could really make use of a complete token card at some time, what amazing results might that produce?


    Copper was looking at Chen Mu as though he were from outer space. "Blockhead, how did you make these?"


    "That could be very complicated to explain," Chen Mu was drinking water and cautioning at the same time.


    "Forget it." Copper quickly took back his words, since he really understood Chen Mu. In his eyes, Chen Mu was a fanatical and passionate lover of card techniques. If even he says it''s pretty complicated, then as far as he was concerned, it was certainly inscrutable. And it was somewhat painful to listen to Chen Mu talk so seriously about something about which Copper himself knew absolutely nothing.


    He didn''t actually care about technical-level questions. What he was interested in was the quality of the card play.


    "Excellent, Excellent!" Copper was all golly-gee-whiz, his two huge metal earrings swinging back and forth, his whole face full of satisfaction, "This card play is the best I''ve seen. Blockhead, your technique is fantastic! Of course, we don''t need to mention the screenplay." He didn''t feel that he was exaggerating. No matter whether from the design aspect or from the story, the card play was impeccable.


    Realistic-style depictions, sensible rendering of light and dark and a suspenseful story, and then add to that how compact and smooth it was; those all made the card play very appealing.


    He suddenly stood up, and with his hands raised to the sky, and a face full of arrogance said, "Wee ha! We two men among men, Copper and Mu, our time in the world of card play has arrived!"


    Seeing Copper so excited, Chen Mu was also very happy, but he still had to remind him, "Now you have to think about how we are going to sell these. Oh, and there is still the sound card problem." Sound cards had to be ordered from a specialist, since Chen Mu couldn''t make them.


    "Ha ha, just give me all those problems." Copper looked like he had a card up his sleeve.


    The two of them went to work immediately. Chen Mu made card plays using all of the remaining material, while Copper went out to order sound cards, and to sell all of the cards. The two of them could be considered penniless, and if they didn''t sell the card shows they would immediately face a situation of no rice to put into their wok.


    Chen Mu''s work had to be a lot faster than Copper''s. But once he had the experience of making the first set, he was able to turn them out really fast. Until later, he didn''t know whether it was that he was taking advantage of his perception more, but the progress was significant, and it made Chen Mu more relaxed. By that time, he could produce all ten cards in a set in a single day. Later, he was able to make five sets a day.


    The production costs for each set were 3,000 Oudi, averaging two hundred per card, plus the sound cards, which were the most expensive part at 800 Oudi per card, and then a 200 Oudi packing fee to make the card-play set look elegant and beautiful. Chen Mu felt that a card play would sell for 4,300, which would give them a chunk of change. He hadn''t realized that Copper had a different idea; he''d set the price at 10,000 per set. This floored Chen Mu, who doubted they could sell them at that price. Copper said that was the market price. Could the card play industry really be so profitable? He also hadn''t realized that his card play would have only ten fantasy cards, when in general a card play would have thirty to fifty, making their profits that much higher.


    The other thing that he hadn''t realized was that during the first week, Copper had sold five sets. Doing the math, the two of them made 35,000 Oudi in one week, which made Chen Mu speechlessly excited.


    . . . that you could actually sell something which couldn''t be worn or eaten for this kind of money.


    The second week, Copper sold ten sets, for a clear profit of 70,000.


    Chen Mu really didn''t understand, "Where did you find so many suckers?"


    Copper looked derisively at Chen Mu, "I have been shut up in this hole for so long, without having the chance to meet even a few people. Do you think that everyone is like the two of us poor devils? Don''t you understand that everyone else is chasing after spiritual satisfaction. In their eyes 10,000 Oudi is the price of a meal. And what''s more, the kind of romance in ''Chance Encounter'' is the medicine which satisfies the spirit for the young women in those wealthy families. We called it right. Don''t people say that no matter what happens, you can''t put a price on spirit? If we sell too cheaply, won''t that be like disrespecting their spiritual world?"


    Chen Mu said nothing.


    After the initial excitement, Chen Mu quickly got used to it, until by the end it had become entirely a matter of numbers. Two months later, they had sold one hundred and fifty sets of "Chance Encounter" from their inventory, which figured out to making nearly one million Oudi. Divided equally, that made 500,000 Oudi apiece.


    The two of them had never seen so much money, and after a while they could only look at one another dumbfounded.


    "I . . . We are rich!" Copper was excited beyond words; his two eyes shining like gold.


    Unlike his usual calm, Chen Mu was also very excited. That 500,000 Oudi could guarantee his living for a long time. But he also knew that a smooth life demands money.


    A sales volume of one hundred fifty was very satisfying to Copper, and naturally Chen Mu had nothing more to add. By Copper''s estimation, that would be about it for sales, since after all the two of them were not a firm, and they had no channels.


    "Blockhead, I''m going to take a vacation," the calmed-down Copper threw out suddenly.

 Chapter 29: Grand Revelations (1)

    Chapter 29: Grand Revelations (1)


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu nodded with understanding, since no-one knew as clearly as he did what Copper had been dreaming about since he was little.


    "Why don''t we both go?" Copper asked tentatively.


    Chen Mu shook his head, "I plan to stay home, since there are many things I still haven''t cleared up."


    There was nothing Copper could do with a fanatic like Chen Mu, except to say disdainfully, "Boring old Blockhead!"


    With Copper out of the way, Chen Mu didn''t have to produce card plays, but could focus completely on researching what was in that mysterious card.


    At the same time, among the women at Eastern Wei Academy, "Chance Encounter" was surging ever more intensely. No matter who had the card play, there would immediately be countless others coming to borrow it, and without even giving it back to the original owner, they would immediately lend it out to another friend.


    "Chance Encounter" touched countless peoples'' hearts among both male and female owners, while countless women were brought to tears by the twists and turns of the story.


    Just as "Close Encounter" had become the product most in demand at Eastern Wei Academy, the female scholars discovered to their shock that they could no longer buy it. And the card-selling shops were even more frantic with such profits in front of their eyes, and yet no sign of that young fellow wearing the two large hoop earrings. The shopkeepers were lit up with their eagerness, without being able to do a thing about it.


    If they really couldn''t buy it, those female students might as well embark on the twisting path of saving the nation!


    There was no lack of card aces at Eastern Wei Academy, who were already being begged by many of the female students to help them to copy "Chance Encounter." In a school which was a place where spring hormones were surging, words from beautiful women were more effective than what a teacher might say. Those card aces normally so cut off from social interaction, were too excited to control themselves and wanted to cry out their bursting feelings to the heavens, ''Our time has finally arrived!''


    A few female students were more than willing to offer up their genuine card play copies.


    At that time, piracy was definitely a highly technical activity, and they could only make guesses from the design on the card. But very quickly each of the Eastern Wei Academy card aces were stunned, one by one. Judging from the designs on the cards, they would be considered only one-star fantasy cards. Given that among the Eastern Academy card aces were some who had gone so far as to be able to make three-star fantasy cards, it would be reasonable to assume that there wouldn''t be any trouble with such a low-level card.


    But the strange thing was that although by the look of the designs on them, the cards weren''t very complicated, they would fail each time they tried to make one. Once or twice is one thing, but going up as high as seventy or eighty tries like that would really try someone''s patience.


    Strange, very strange!


    The young card masters were looking at one another in utter despair. Could it be that the first time the beautiful girls sought their help, they would end up failing?


    The student leader of the card making department said through clenched teeth, "Brothers, let''s get on this! If we''re not able to do this, how can we call ourselves men!" In front of him pair after pair of eyes shot through with red were unwilling to give up, and couldn''t restrain themselves from lustily screaming through hoarse throats.


    All the eyes on campus were focused on that, since they couldn''t afford to have lost whoever it was. The best students from every section from every class-year in the card making department organized themselves, and were all united in mounting the most concerted battle in the history of Eastern Wei Academy.


    The East Wind Blows, and the Battle Drums Beat, but they couldn''t break the "Chance Encounter" and they couldn''t make the beauties blush.


    The most powerful lineup of students, using the standard research models and taking advantage of Eastern Wei Academy''s most advanced instruments, conducted a thorough analysis to crack "Chance Encounter."


    Of course, Chen Mu didn''t know that the card play that he had made had made such a disturbance at Eastern Wei Academy. It would never have occurred to him that people would actually want to devote so much valuable time and energy to such an uninteresting matter.


    For those few days, he was entirely immersed in his studies. Having ample money on hand gave him the conditions to practice some card making, and just then he was learning how to make two-star power cards. Two-star power cards had the capacity to store 1,000 Oudi of power, with the cost of production only about 800 Oudi, while their price was 1,200 Oudi. Chen Mu had only then discovered that the higher the quality of the card, the more profit he could make from it.


    The knowledge about the token cards in that mysterious card was neither voluminous nor too complicated, and so there was nothing to stop him from studying it fanatically.


    Because he practiced more often during that time, Chen Mu penetrated quickly into card making such that he was no longer the same person that he had been a few months previous. Apart from the study of card making, his body was also a lot better than before. He persevered in practicing those exercise gymnastics, and the results were striking. Gone was any trace of the skinny and weak look of former days.


    Only if he took his clothes off his well-proportioned body would you see the muscles showing up and disappearing. He could easily pick up three times as much weight as he used to with his hands. But what was the most inconceivable to him was the extent to which he had become more limber and lithe.


    It surpassed his understanding how he could accomplish that when he should already have been beyond the age of peak flexibility.


    In the whole set of eighteen actions among those exercise gymnastics, the ones he liked best were the movements to train his hands; especially the fingers, since the flexibility of his fingers was the most important for card making.


    Chen Mu was extremely satisfied with his life just then. With no need to worry about money any time soon, having things to learn, and materials to practice card making with, and with his body getting better and better, what could he have to be dissatisfied about?


    Making two-star power cards wasn''t any problem at all. Since he''d originally assumed that he would have to practice a few times, he never imagined that he could succeed on the first try.


    * * *


    On the campus Hong Tao ran into Zuo Tingyi and Wang Ze. He nodded at Wang Ze and wished him good day, and then his eyes fell again on Zuo Tingyi and he couldn''t help himself from laughingly asking him, "Aren''t you participating in that crackathon?" Crackathons had become huge at Eastern Wei Academy, and were lately the hottest topic on campus. Since what Zuo Tingyi studied was card making, Hong Tao asked him about it, though the tone of ridicule was stepped up a few notches.


    Showing no emotion, Zuo Tingyi said, "I''m very busy."


    He really was very busy, since his biggest job at the time was being responsible for the connection with Star Academy, which also meant that a lot of his time those days was basically devoted to Wang Ze. Of course, he was also so notorious that no one came to him.


    Off to one side, Wang Ze laughed lightly, "I''ve heard about this crackathon too. I wonder what kind of progress they''ve made." Unfortunately, the exchange was made up completely of card artisans, otherwise classmates from the card making department would certainly be participating, since what better way could there be to bridge the gap between them and the Eastern Wei Academy students?

 Chapter 30: Grand Revelations (2)

    Chapter 30: Grand Revelations (2)


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Hong Tao shook his head, "Apparently they essentially haven''t made any progress."


    Zuo Tingyi said coldly, "Based on their strength, the probability of success is about nil."


    ''Why do you say that?" Wang Ze couldn''t help asking. After those few days getting along, he was starting to understand Zuo Tingyi''s temperament. He knew that he was extremely serious in his attitude toward anything regarding the handling of cards. Hong Tao knew him even better, and he was also astonished at Zuo Tingyi.


    Zuo Tingyi didn''t know what he thought, and his expression was a little odd, "I''ve studied that card play set, and it''s not as simple as it looks on its surface."


    Hong Tao and Wang Ze looked at one another in dismay, and then turned toward him in unison waiting for the next step in the explanation.


    "The person who made this card play is quite clever. He''s made some changes to the fantasy card composition, and I still haven''t figured out how these changes to the composition are used. But I can conjecture that it''s very likely that they are for blocking other people from copying." Zuo Tingyi hesitated for a bit, and then continued, "What I said is a conjecture, and doesn''t exclude other possibilities. Although no matter how you say it, this card master is at a very high level." He paused for a moment, and said again more emphatically, "Extremely high!"


    A name flashed through his mind: Blockhead! The names of the card master and the scriptwriter were written on the card play. Blockhead and Copper, those two names reverberated all through the Eastern Wei Academy female student sector. Zuo Tingyi had no interest in the playwright Copper, but he was full of curiosity about the card master Blockhead.


    Hong Tao and Wang Ze were quite surprised, since that was their first time ever hearing Zuo Tingyi give anyone such a high evaluation.


    Hong Tao stammered out, "It doesn''t seem likely. Isn''t it said that this card play set is all first-level fantasy cards? If he''s so awesome, then where did his awesomeness go?"


    Zuo Tingyi''s gaze as he looked at Hong Tao was as though he were looking at an idiot, "I don''t discuss card making affairs with card making idiots." Hong Tao made a gesture to Wang Ze, which meant for him to come over.


    Wang Ze mumbled "I''m not very familiar with card making either, although I''ve heard people say that those who can judge a card master''s level don''t consider what the star level of the card is, but rather his understanding of the principles of card making, and his understanding of energy."


    Hong Tao nodded his head as though he both understood and didn''t understand, and blurted out, "isn''t that the same as with card artisans, that one doesn''t look at how high the level of the card is that he''s using, but rather one should look at how he wields the card, and controls its energy?"


    "That''s what I mean." Wang Ze very deliberately nodded his head, taking a look at Hong Tao, "Big brother Tao, you just need to be a little more flexible on your solid foundation, make a few more tries, and then you''ll certainly be able to get further ahead."


    Wang Ze and Hong Tao had long since become very familiar with one another. Hong Tao hadn''t yet seen what Wang Ze''s real strength was like, but on that day of field combat, those Star Academy students were extremely respectful toward him.


    Hong Tao listened to what Wang Ze had to say, remembered it, and was enlightened by it.


    Chen Mu likely had no idea that the card he made could have so many people studying it, nor certainly giving it such a high evaluation. The so-called changes to the card were not actually any kind of anti-piracy structure, but were rather a way to use the "token." He just put together what he knew about the "token" with the fantasy card, which is why the card play set had only ten fantasy cards. In general, a similar length story would probably need thirty fantasy cards.


    Having tasted the sweetness, Chen Mu quickly felt more interested in knowledge related to the token card, and constantly blended token card knowledge into his fantasy card making. He found out that token card composition could greatly increase the efficiency of dynamic fantasy cards, while toward still fantasy cards it didn''t provide much help. In making the same image with two cards, the one having the token card composition consumed much less perception than the ordinary fantasy card.


    But most of his energy was being spent on that mysterious card.


    Finished? Is this already finished? Chen Mu was more or less haphazardly watching the illusion already in front of him, and unconsciously had already finished watching all of the fundamentals about the token card.


    When he had finished watching the last sentence, the fantasy realm which had been stable all along suddenly changed. It was a void as always, but the two cards which represented the fantasy card and the token card had both completely vanished.


    In front of him were twelve grey cards - dark grey - and one could vaguely make out the design on their surface, but if one wanted to look closely one would get nothing.


    Chen Mu tried to touch one of the cards, since he had used the method last time to touch-off the fantasy card and the token card.


    "Quasi water environment fantasy card. Required level; one star. Simulated water environment, can utilize a power card below three-star to energize it. The specific parameters are as follows:"


    Chen Mu watched dumbly.


    What kind of a fantasy card is a quasi water-environment fantasy card? From the above requirements, it should be able to simulate an environment in the water, but how could there be such a fantasy card? Maybe it was his own ignorance, Chen Mu comforted himself.


    The detailed parameters which came before immediately allowed Chen Mu to understand the scheme of that mysterious card. It required him to make the twelve cards!


    That was certainly the way it was! To prove it, Chen Mu touched each and every one.


    Each of the cards was very strange, not only in ways that Chen Mu hadn''t heard about, but in ways that he had never even thought about. And the requirements that had been indicated above were just bizarre. It was as though there were some swordfish fantasy card, and there were not only extremely stringent requirements regarding the swordfish''s speed, it also demanded that the trajectory of their movements accord with extremely complicated rules. Shedding any light on that formula made his scalp tingle.


    After touching the twelve cards, Chen Mu couldn''t help sucking in a breath of cold air.


    Although he could understand what the cards were for, it was certain that not one of the cards would be easy to make, and that the degree of difficulty in making them was extremely high. Although most of them were still in the category of one-star or two-star fantasy cards, still, so far, Chen Mu didn''t have a clue.


    Among the twelve cards, eleven were fantasy cards, with the remaining one being a token card; it was fully and completely a token card.


    Was he really expected to make those twelve cards? Chen Mu tasted something bitter in his mouth as he stared blankly at the twelve dark grey cards.


    Cost was the second idea which appeared in his mind. The costs required for those twelve cards . . .


    The bitter astringent taste in Chen Mu''s mouth got a little heavier. He was afraid that even if he dropped in all the money he had, it would still not be enough. After finally having enough cash on hand to live comfortably for a few days, never mind the heartache from spending so much, it would be a complete joke.


    But in his heart, there was still this faint anticipation, if only . . . if only he could really make those twelve cards . . .


    Having those fantasy cards with the bizarre requirements, what was most important was that there was only a single dedicated token card among the twelve cards! For those few days, what Chen Mu had been feeling the most was the power of the token card. He had only been using the token card techniques in the composition of the fantasy cards to get such great results as he had. And that dedicated token card? He didn''t dare imagine!


    It was just that kind of anticipation, or one might call it curiosity, which made Chen Mu decide in the end.


    All in! Chen Mu gritted his teeth and steeled his heart.

 Chapter 31: Grand Revelations (3)

    Chapter 31: Grand Revelations (3)


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The "Chance Encounter" cracking group had expanded from its original fifteen members to thirty, with a lot of upper classmen from the card making departing joining the fun. But so far, the work of cracking hadn''t made any progress. No one had ever thought that a one-star fantasy card could so thoroughly stymie nearly all the aces in the group from the Eastern Wei Academy card making department. Some among them had even already gone through the mid-grade card master certification.


    Still, not every student from the card making department was likely to buy those so-called ''beautiful woman'' chits. And some of those scholars were among the most capable types, but after all in this world, there are those who avoid even the most basic oil and salt.


    At Eastern Wei Academy, one would often hear someone scoffing at that so called cracking group.


    Zuo Tingyi was carefully examining the fantasy card in front of him. He had gotten the set from his younger sister two weeks ago, and for these two weeks, he had spent all of his spare time on the card play. He too was very curious about why it couldn''t be cracked.


    In any case, reality can be singularly ruthless, and until then he hadn''t had even the slightest hint of any breakthrough. That was quite a blow to him, since as compared to the other students, he had always had the very best education. There were an astounding number of card masters under his family''s influence, some of whom were far more accomplished than the so-called professors at Eastern Wei Academy. Under their influence, his accomplishment was far beyond that among any of his age peers.


    The thing was, that given his status and family background, he had never had to pass any real-world tests.


    Zuo Tingyi had a haughty temperament, which would easily get stirred up whenever he faced a setback.


    And the card play set in front of him obviously met all those conditions.


    Being so unexpectedly at his wits end for so long facing a set of one-star fantasy cards made him feel extremely unhappy. Clearly, one very important reason for that was that he didn''t want to use any instruments to analyze it because his sister so utterly treasured the card-play set. His family had a card lab for his exclusive use, which was provided with considerably more advanced equipment than the school card-making lab. But using those instruments to analyze a card could easily damage it.


    Even so, he had realized that if he didn''t use any instruments, then he would never be able to penetrate the mysteries within.


    The differences from normal cards in those cards'' composition didn''t go beyond five percent, and he believed that what distinguished the card play set was contained within that five percent.


    The image of an innocent little girl floated into his mind, and his eyes shone with a wisp of tenderness. But Zuo Tingyi stifled a bitter smile, since he was afraid that his little sister would just have to play with herself for a little while.


    And so his look very quickly became resolute, and his expression resumed its icy cool. He picked up the card play on the desk and walked smartly into his own lab.


    Zuo Tingyi''s card making lab was probably over two hundred seventy square meters, and inside was every sort of precision instrument. There was usually no-one other than himself near there, especially not his little sister, and they never set foot in the lab.


    He opened the fantasy card analytical apparatus, which was used exclusively to analyze fantasy cards, even though it was generally only used to analyze high-grade fantasy cards. Before that time, the lowest level card analyzed by it was a three-star fantasy card. That would be its first time to analyze a one-star fantasy card; moreover, it was probably the first time that type of equipment had ever been used to analyze such a low-level card.


    Zuo Tingyi wasn''t taking the card play lightly because of its extremely low level; on the contrary, he had to say that his attitude was the most rigorous it had ever been. It was the embodiment of extraordinary power for a one-star fantasy card to employ a composition that he didn''t understand.


    Sitting properly at the console, Zuo Tingyi opened the fantasy card analytical apparatus, which was about as tall as a person. At its core was a very high-grade specialized probe card. That sort of probe card went as high as five-stars on the scale, plus the very specialized nature of the probe which was very different from the ordinary probe cards. That was also why that piece of fantasy card analytical apparatus was so very expensive.


    In all of the Heavenly Federation, there were only three firms who could manufacture fantasy card analytical apparatus like that, and all required a special order before you could make the purchase.


    One after the other, red lights flashed, showing that the analyzer was in the process of probing through every bit of the composition of the fantasy card, piece by piece without stopping.


    The results of the analysis would be displayed on the attached fantasy card monitor.


    All sorts of metrics were dancing endlessly on the screen in front of Zuo Tingyi. He was concentrating all his attention on those data flying by on it, whose meaning was baked into Zuo Tingyi''s brain. From what he was seeing then, nothing out of the ordinary had appeared.


    When the pulsing of the data started to slow down, Zuo Tingyi''s heart beat became a little more urgent. From his experience, he knew that the analytical apparatus was about to probe into some structures that he didn''t understand.


    He didn''t dare to blink, being afraid to miss some little detail. He felt his mouth going dry, and then quickly responded with some unmentionable phrases of self-mockery. It would be laughable to feel so nervous because of a one-star fantasy card. He powered down his ever more quickly beating heart, slowed his breathing, and stared at the screen.


    Drip, drip, drip, and then suddenly an ear-piercing alarm went off.


    Not good. Zuo Tingyi''s expression changed as he went over in front of the analytical apparatus.


    He was already too late. Right in front of him, coming from the fantasy card that had been put into the apparatus, were swirls of blue smoke. The fantasy card had obviously been destroyed, with its composition having undergone unrecoverable damage.


    He suddenly smelled an utterly different sort of burning smell. Turning around, he saw a kind of white smoke billowing out from a crack in the analytical apparatus.


    Zuo Tingyi''s face immediately darkened.


    * * *


    Looking at the pile of material in front of him, Chen Mu felt an involuntary rush of satisfaction. Could he not be satisfied? He''d spent the entire 500,000 Oudi to acquire those materials, throwing in all of the profits from the card play. He had returned once more to his normal penniless state.


    Among the material was a diminutively small portion which was all material he had never dared to think about before. The price for this small measure of material would simply leave people speechless from what he knew, accounting for at least over 400,000 of the 500,000.


    Chen Mu had his doubts that he could complete the twelve cards, given their degree of difficulty. But he had thrown himself into it with no turning back, and he knew that if he could resolve all of the issues involved in making the twelve cards, he would go way up the ladder of card making ability.

 Chapter 32: Grand Revelations (4)

    Chapter 32: Grand Revelations (4)


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The idea was beautiful, but reality was cruel, and the road would be twisty.


    Without talking about that token card, he had never even heard of any of those other eleven one-star fantasy cards, which would be a huge challenge for him. But still Chen Mu didn''t feel the difficulty. On the contrary, he felt very happy. He would be focusing all of his attention on making those few cards.


    Expecting Copper to return, he imagined that it would not be so easy then to concentrate on his research like he was.


    * * *


    The students who were passing by diverted their paths upon seeing Zuo Tingyi''s nasty face as he was returning to school. Just then he heard a small group of students in a discussion.


    "Have you heard that the cracking group broke several pieces of the school equipment yesterday?"


    "Cracking group? You mean those cracking that something like "Chance Encounter" thing?"


    "That''s the gang! Considering themselves to have such ability, ha! Wanting to crack someone else''s card play, what a bunch of fun!"


    The one speaking was the exemplar of schadenfreude; taking pleasure in the suffering of others.


    "How many pieces of equipment? Aren''t they all experienced? How could they break the equipment?" asked another who couldn''t restrain himself.


    The one who first brought it up made the hand gesture for seven, with a mysterious face.


    "Seven pieces?" The people around him were shocked. "How could that be? Seven pieces of equipment? How could that even happen, can you tell me brothers?"


    The one spreading the news got everyone''s attention, rather pleased with himself, "I''m not too clear on the details, but it''s definitely the case that damages on seven pieces of equipment were submitted. Some friends of mine were among that cracking group, and yesterday they came wailing to me with the bad news."


    "Seven pieces, yikes, they''ll owe a lot of money this time!"


    "A lot more than a lot of money, there was a lot of really expensive high-grade equipment among those. Someone calculated that among the thirty people, each one of them would have two million Oudi loaded on their backs. This brother held onto me crying all night, wailing inconsolably." The one talking was shaking his head, as if mourning a death. "His two years'' spending money was all wiped out."


    Everyone sighed.


    Walking behind them, Zuo Tingyi''s mouth curled into a sneer, not being sure if he felt like he was getting even, but his expression did brighten up a bit. What he wrote off for that piece of analytical equipment was twenty million Oudi.


    He wasn''t distressed about the money though, being more concerned with his feeling of frustration. He felt as though he''d been slapped in the face, which hurt his pride more than anything else.


    That damned card play! He was gnashing his teeth and cursing inwardly.


    * * *


    "I''m back." Copper blew into the room shouting and dragging along packages of all sizes. He''d brought them all for Chen Mu, mostly containing things to eat.


    "I wonder what this guy has been doing in here these past few days." Copper was muttering to himself while pushing open Chen Mu''s door.


    Crash! Came the sound of a large pile of stuff falling over.


    The whole room was piled everywhere with all sorts of things which looked bizarre to him, and beneath his feet were still more things scattered all over the place. He surmised that this was the stuff he''d just knocked over.


    A pair of eyes brimming with anger came up from behind all the stuff. The fire coming out of those eyes made Copper quake.


    "I . . . I . . . I came through the wrong door." His voice faded and he dropped the large package that he was carrying, as he turned right around stretching a stride and fled.


    He didn''t come back to Chen Mu''s place until around nightfall.


    Once again, he pushed open the door to enter, and it looked as though he had come to some stranger''s house. Everything was as clean as new, and all the things that had been scattered about were now already sorted out and stacked in the corners.


    Chen Mu was just then bent over putting things in order, and didn''t raise his head, but asked with a very calm tone, "You''re back?"


    Seeing that Chen Mu wasn''t angry, Copper was immediately all smiles, "Yep, yep, it wasn''t that I missed you, I just came back." Then he plopped his butt down on the couch, and the old couch squeaked in protest for a little while.


    "Where did you go? Did you have fun?" Chen Mu asked with curiosity. He had never left Eastern Shang-Wei City and knew very little about the rest of the world.


    "If was fantastic!" When it was brought up, Copper became obviously excited. "I went to Fana City in the Fanasi District, where those Cisirio Falls are a wonder of the human world. If you haven''t seen it with your own eyes, you really don''t have any way to imagine what kind of a scene several hundred waterfalls of all sizes gathered together and arrayed in front of you would look like."


    It would look like several hundred really big silver soup noodles? Chen Mu thought for a while without coming up with anything, and then in full agreement said, "There is certainly no way to imagine it."


    "Do you know what the most famous building complex in the Fanasi District is?" Copper asked enticingly.


    "I don''t know." Chen Mu said very directly, shaking his head.


    Copper''s face quickly took on a disdainful look, "I know you don''t know, tut tut, that''s right, how would a blockhead like you even have any spiritual pursuits? It''s one of the most glorious masterpieces in the history of mankind, the Bitter Solitude Temple Group."


    "The Bitter Solitude Temple?" Chen Mu asked not understanding, "The Bitter Solitude Temple that is one of the six?"


    "You have no culture." Even Copper''s look of contempt was too contemptuously lazy even to show, "That Bitter Solitude place isn''t just the Bitter Solitude Temple, but upwards of a thousand continuous temples and shrines, which together comprise the Bitter Solitude Temple Group. The Bitter Solitude Temple is only the most representative temple, when actually there are several of the temples among the whole group whose history is much older than it."


    "Oh." Chen Mu said with a quizzical look of understanding while not understanding, to prevent Copper coming closer to explain any further.


    Copper and Chen Mu were obviously two very different people, wanting and liking very different things, but the two of them trusted one another, and accommodated one another.


    "What have you been busy with at home these last few days?" Copper looked all around, the fleeting glimpse from when he''d pushed open the door had made a deep impression on him.


    "Making cards." Chen Mu handed Copper a glass of water.


    "Any results?" Copper asked interestedly as he took the water.


    Chen Mu shook his head, "Not yet. There are a lot of complications." For these past few days he had used up all his energy to make just one among the twelve cards, but he had consumed a third of the materials. He estimated that what was left would never be enough to make all twelve cards.


    "I can''t help you with that." Copper shrugged his shoulders, and got up and said, "I''m going to see how our card show sales are doing and see if we can sell one or two more sets.


    "You are so right!"


    Chen Mu stood right up, with a look as if to say that he was ready to sell a thousand sets right away, suddenly driven crazy by money. "Card making sure does use up money. It''s all about money."

 Chapter 33: A Conjecture?

    Chapter 33: A Conjecture?


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Stunned to see the excited Chen Mu, Copper poked some fun, "I hardly see you so positive as this," then clucking his cheek, "Is it a girl?" although he immediately felt the absurdity of talking like that, "You blockhead, I guess there isn''t any girl who would look at you."


    The ridiculous smile that Chen Mu gave Copper showed that he didn''t mind. Girls? He had never considered it. He knew that he and Copper had the same attitude on that point. How would a couple of poor kids like them ever attract any girls'' favor?


    Although Chen Mu was anxious to be able to sell the play right away, he still hadn''t gotten into the situation with Copper, and Copper could handle those things himself.


    After not more than a half hour, Copper returned and before he even entered the door was heard to excitedly shout, "Blockhead, Blockhead! Get to work! Get to work! Ha! We''ve hit it again!"


    As soon as Copper got to those small shops, he was surrounded by the shopkeepers who had been anxiously waiting for him.


    Card plays, they need the card play! They were waving money at him, all of them hoarse!


    Chen Mu already knew the ropes when it came to making "Chance Encounter," and he very deftly picked up some materials and immediately went to work.


    He brought some special energy to the card making that time, since in his eyes, those unfinished card plays all looked like heaps upon heaps of raw materials ready to go. Hey, this pen stroke would mean a chunk of chen stone, and with a little more, haha, some yellow worm meal . . .


    Under the light, Chen Mu''s two eyes were really dazed, struggling to finish the cards in front of him. Behind him, Copper was drinking Blue Cloud Flowing Water, and languidly humming a folk tune, dignified as a supervisor.


    They had ordered a large quantity of materials that time, and from all those one hundred sets, their profits would be a full 750,000, which worked out to each of them splitting out over 350,000.


    Oh happy life! Copper raised a bottle of Blue Cloud Flowing Water, and sipped a mouthful with satisfaction, glancing at Chen Mu bent over his scribbling with his heart swelled in happiness.


    Selling two hundred sets to one school far surpassed his estimates. The world sure is full of rich people! But he also knew that kind of volume would soon peak, and so he decided that after selling off those hundred sets, they wouldn''t make any more of "Chance Encounter."


    As long as they could maintain the high demand for "Chance Encounter" by limiting the supply, and as long as they kept up the quality, when the next installment came out, they won''t have any trouble with sales.


    It looked as though the time had come to prepare the next episode, Copper pensively contemplated as he drank the Blue Cloud Flowing Water.


    * * *


    Zuo Tingyi was watching yet another smoking apparatus and card play, and could only sigh. He had just bought the current test sample of "Chance Encounter." As of then, the price for a set had gone up to 25,000, and based on what some shopkeepers were saying, the producers had already announced that it would be the final release. The prices would skyrocket from the stimulus of that announcement.


    As far as the fanatical female students were concerned, one hundred sets were too few to even mention, and the price that Zuo Tingyi would now pay for the "Chance Encounter" that he had acquired was already 30,000 Oudi. Although as far as he was concerned, that was still small change not even worth mentioning. Never mind 30,000, even if it were 300,000 he would buy it without any hesitation. He had also bought an extra copy for his younger sister, to make up for the "Chance Encounter" of hers that he had destroyed.


    Due to the timely appearance of those 100 sets of "Chance Encounter," on top of the matter of that destruction of the school''s equipment, the school''s crestfallen cracking group dissolved. The affair had become the most sensational piece of news of the year at Eastern Wei Academy.


    But Zuo Tingyi hadn''t given up.


    He couldn''t believe that he could be stumped by a trifling one-star fantasy card. Although that last incident when his equipment was destroyed left him feeling helpless, he was evidently not planning to let it go for that. It was humiliating that someone who could make a three-star fantasy card couldn''t decipher a one-star fantasy card.


    He would have dropped it if his adversary were some respected master, but he hadn''t even heard of this insignificant adversary''s vulgar name. "Blockhead!"


    Zuo Tingyi''s face which had always been handsome and bright was now furrowed like a prune.


    Was this really a one-star fantasy card? He couldn''t make any sense of how this little one-star fantasy card could have such destructive power. He had already written off eleven pieces of equipment from his lab, bringing his losses beyond one hundred and fifty million Oudi. Those one-star fantasy cards were like a crack troop of hyper sensitive creatures who would fight to the death when they felt threatened.


    That really was a diabolical fantasy card!


    It had already exceeded anything that he could understand, and he had gotten to the place where he deemed it necessary to look for help. There were still quite a few outstanding card masters in his household, and they must be able to give him some help deciphering its profound secrets.


    Zuo Tingyi took the remaining few one-star fantasy cards and made ready to go in search of some top card master. Still, while his card making skills weren''t the most fabulous, he was without a doubt the most learned and erudite in the household.


    As he was leaving the lab, a servant who had promptly run over was already waiting outside.


    "Young master, the master would like to see you in his library."


    Zuo Tingyi was surprised. The library? That was where his father received important people, and Zuo Tingyi had rarely been allowed inside. It seemed that it must be some very important matter for his father to seek him out like that.


    Zuo Tingyi arranged his clothes and drew a breath outside the library, before knocking on its door.


    "Come in." came the deep voice from within.


    Pushing open the door, Zuo Tingyi entered the library.


    "You''ve come." Zuo Tianlin didn''t change his expression, with only a slight lift to the furrows on his brow to show some fleeting tender feelings. Zuo Tianlin had a grave look and imposing bearing, sitting there as staid as a small mountain, with an imperturbable manner.


    "Yes, father." Zuo Tingyi dipped his head in respect. Although he only had a glimpse, his father''s greying temples caught his attention, and for no reason, his heart soured a bit.


    Zuo Tianlin was sitting in front of the library desk, and sizing up his son, and only opened his mouth after a while. "Star Academy has begun an exchange with your school."


    "Yes, it''s already been two months since their arrival." Zuo Tingyi answered factually, thinking it a little strange, while knowing that his father would have more to say.


    Zuo Tianlin seemed to be pondering some issue. After a few minutes, he lifted his head and asked, "What do you think about this matter?"


    Although Zuo Tingyi was still inexperienced, he was quite intelligent, and his father''s manner of questioning got his attention.


    Zuo Tianlin''s gaze remained brightly on his son.


    Zuo Tingyi then understood that there was must be some sort of story there, and after consideration said, "Given the strength of Star Academy''s position, it is certainly somewhat unusual for them to initiate an exchange with our school." He snapped his head up showing some apprehension on his face. "What father is saying . . . they have an agenda? But . . . what does Eastern Wei Academy have that would merit such a plot?"

 Chapter 34: A New Plan

    Chapter 34: A New Plan


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Zuo Tianlin was obviously very pleased with his son''s response, and there was a flash of appreciation in his fierce eyes, "From top to bottom, there is probably no-one at Eastern Wei Academy as clear about this as we are. If it were a different somewhat better school, I wouldn''t be surprised, but it feels fishy when it''s one of the six."


    Seeing that Zuo Tingyi looked as though he didn''t quite understand, he waved his hand to indicate that he had more to say.


    "You still don''t understand what those six great ones stand for." Zuo Tianlin was saying as he looked at his son. "The six, to all appearances are nothing more than places of learning, even if extremely high-level places of learning. I believe this is also what you think."


    "That isn''t the case, then?" Zuo Tingyi asked in amazement.


    "Ha ha, that''s because you don''t understand the six. Wait until you sit in my place, and you will then be clear that the six are some kind of six colossuses! They are not only six schools anymore, they have monumental consortia behind them. These consortia have complicated roots which go back several hundred years, and the relations among them are intricate and complex, with many that even they themselves can''t articulate."


    Staring at Zuo Tingyi, Zuo Tianlin very carefully said, "Don''t look at them as six schools, but look at them as six great powers; floodgates.


    Watching the visibly moved Zuo Tingyi arching his shoulders, Zuo Tianlin smiled lightly, "Does that seem incredible to you?"


    Zuo Tingyi nodded.


    "Mmm" Zuo Tianlin grunted coldly, "There are many more incredible things than this. Don''t look at any of the six as though their glamorous appearance would deserve people''s respect, since their methods are sometimes much dirtier and more extreme than ours. They have underhandedly done many sordid things to be able to get to where they are now. Although Star Academy isn''t revealing its true colors just now and has been looking a little worn out these few years, how could the foundations that they have laid down across so many years be matched by any other school?"


    Zuo Tingyi was mute, while inwardly, his world seemed to have been turned upside down of a sudden. In that instant there appeared quite a few moments of utter loss.


    "After such a long period of inactivity, Star Academy suddenly makes a big move? There is certainly something behind this. If I haven''t guessed wrongly, what we are seeing now is the turning point in their resurgence." Zuo Tianlin''s gaze was full of wisdom.


    Zuo Tingyi stared at his father in surprise. The jolt he had gotten from that day''s news was really too much.


    Looking at Zuo Tingyi''s expression, Zuo Tianlin relaxed his countenance, "Don''t worry. Although I don''t know why Star Academy has come, I think that their coming this time is just their first outpost, with the real forces yet to come."


    Zuo Tingyi left his father''s library in a state of terror, having completely forgotten about those few one-star fantasy cards still in his pocket. His mind was full of what his father had just said.


    In every young persons'' heart, the six are the most sacred of the sacred places, and it wasn''t any different for Zuo Tingyi. Unfortunately, the admissions requirements for the six were a lot more stringent than anyone could imagine. Even someone like Zuo Tingyi who had such a genius-style youth at Eastern Wei Academy, would have no way to be admitted. And on that point, the power and influence of the Zuo family would be of no help to him.


    So suddenly, those things he held sacred in his heart had been subverted ¨C no matter who it might have happened to, they would have been utterly flummoxed.


    * * *


    Chen Mu and Copper rented a different house, on the insistence of Copper. Since making the card play, Copper had enjoyed hanging out at Chen Mu''s place. Adding to that the pile of raw materials, Chen Mu''s paltry little place had become obviously cramped. Their new place was in the small town of Burlington, to the northeast of Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    Eastern Shang-Wei City didn''t simply refer to a city, but rather to a municipal district encompassing many small towns scattered about, having Eastern Shang-Wei City proper as their center.


    Burlington''s rent was a lot cheaper than the city proper, and two people could easily rent a large set of rooms. Naturally, nothing made Chen Mu happier than having a workplace to make his cards. Even though the card making room was extremely simple, he was still quite pleased.


    Once they had fixed everything up, the two of them sat on the floor looking at the house which was as clean as new, and smiled at each other.


    "Blockhead, now we have to get the new card play ready. I''ve already thought-out most of the screenplay." Copper said with heroic vanity.


    Chen Mu grunted a sound of agreement, and then asked, "What is the new card play called?"


    "The Legend of Master Shi!" Copper pronounced loftily, while Chen Mu remained at a loss to his side.


    There were still a lot of details to flesh out in Copper''s screenplay, which gave Chen Mu some time. He''d already finished three of the necessary twelve fantasy cards, and those three were hardly smooth sailing. On the contrary, Chen Mu didn''t know how many mistakes and how much of his scalp he''d clawed off on them. And moreover, he''d used up about 400,000 in materials for only those three fantasy cards. Still, Chen Mu had gained a lot in comparison with the difficulties and waste of before.


    The complexity of the three fantasy cards far exceeded that advertising he had seen at the Two Hoops card store that time on Golden Street. Before that time, he would absolutely never have dared to imagine that he could make those fantasy cards, while he was full of confidence by then. He knew that he could certainly finish the twelve cards, even if it would use up more time.


    He felt that he had just about touched the true core of the one-star fantasy card.


    But as compared with his soaring card making abilities, any advance to his perception was simply at a snail''s pace. Given his current perception, he could only make one-star fantasy cards, and would have some difficulty to even make a two-star fantasy card.


    He was quite helpless up against the issues with perception. It wasn''t his diligence, but rather that he didn''t have a smooth training routine. Since it wasn''t something he could resolve by diligence, he didn''t think it was worth thinking about any further. Chen Mu''s attitude was very calm at that time; even given that his perception hadn''t progressed at all, he could depend on his fantasy card making abilities to get rid of any worries about his living.


    After finishing the first three cards, he increased his speed quite a bit for the other nine cards, on the power of accumulated experience. Theory and experience are always the two most powerful weapons.


    "OK, here''s the script, read it and then we''ll discuss it." Copper was looking a little haggard as he ran to Chen Mu''s room, but his spirits were extraordinarily exuberant.


    Taking the script, Chen Mu carefully looked it over.


    Chen Mu''s first thought was that "The Legend of Master Shi" was a long story.


    "This story will take many many fantasy cards!" Chen Mu cautioned Copper.


    Copper laughed, "Relax, I didn''t say we make it all at once. First we''ll make the first installment."


    "We can do that?" Chen Mu looked surprised.


    "You have no culture! This is called a serial!" Copper looked disdainfully at Chen Mu, and then followed on with a very satisfied look, "Don''t worry, I''ll leave some suspense at the end of each installment, making them crave the next one, and carry that on through the third, the fourth, . . . " Copper spread his hands to the heavens and with a face full of self-satisfaction, "And thus we will thrive!"

 Chapter 35: The Master Shi Card-Play

    Chapter 35: The Master Shi Card-Play


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    That also announced to Chen Mu that he should put down the fantasy card that he was making. Making money was the most important thing then, and there was still time for those other fantasy cards.


    * * *


    Zuo Tingyi ran into Wang Ze at the school, along with several of the exchange students from Star Academy. Everyone was familiar with Zuo Tingyi, and called out their greetings.


    Seeing Zuo Tingyi made Wang Ze very happy, "Just as I''ve been anxiously looking for someone, Tingyi is delivered to my door!"


    Zuo Tingyi was a little surprised to see how they were dressed, "Are you planning to go somewhere?"


    Wang Ze smiled brightly, "Yep! We''ve gotten so busy at school that a few of us decided to wander around in the open area, but we haven''t found anyone who knows the way yet. Brother Tao seems to have a date with some girl student today, and without any time left I have to grab someone." A few of the people around him chuckled.


    Zuo Tingyi certainly wouldn''t have found anything suspicious about this if his father hadn''t had that talk with him, but hearing what Wang Ze said just then brought those things to mind.


    Showing some hesitancy on his face, "Those outlands are dangerous. I''m something of a weakling. I wonder if you''d like me to bring along some card artisans?"


    One of the scholars beside Wang Ze interjected, "Tingyi needn''t worry. Although we can''t be considered aces, we aren''t lacking in strength compared to ordinary card artisans, and we would naturally assure your safety." Although he talked mildly, what he said displayed so much heroic self confidence that it made one look askance. Zuo Tingyi knew that scholar, whose name was Ou Jiang.


    "Since that''s how it is, then I will entrust my safety to you." Zuo Tingyi responded with the same equanimity.


    Once they were on their way, they were all using jet stream cards to fly. Wang Ze was leading Zuo Tingyi by the hand, and even though he was carrying an extra person, there was no sign of any strain. Zuo Tingyi felt inwardly startled that those scholars from Star Academy were really so extraordinary with their power after all, with not a one having only ordinary skill.


    They flew in perfect formation, looking after one another, with no hint of any of them being either rash or unseasoned. They all had the expression of calm veterans. Any one of them pulled at random could have been put alongside the very best of those from the Eastern Wei Academy.


    Taking point was Yin Jiuchen, very genteel in his bearing, wearing glasses, and looking like a very proper student. And yet he was fierce in his fighting ability. When Hong Tao brought him up last time, he still wasn''t quite sure. But now seeing him with his own eyes he was stunned.


    Yin Jiuchen had a very placid expression, flying at the front of the entire team, continuously brandishing the moon-white rippled blade in his unoccupied right hand.


    Up until then, they hadn''t run into even any slight resistance, and by rough estimate, they had already gone perhaps 300 kilometers from Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    Zuo Tingyi noticed that one of the students was continually recording with a topographical card. As though noticing Zuo Tingyi''s suspicion, Wang Ze laughingly explained, "From the first year that we entered school, a professor demanded that every time we visit any place, me must always record the topography of that place."


    Zuo Tingyi''s look turned into a cry of admiration, "That is certainly a good habit!" while sneering inwardly, now finding every move these Star Academy exchange students made to be extremely suspicious. Taking the measure of the surrounding terrain, Zuo Tingyi suggested, "Let''s take a break, the ferocious wild beasts will become more numerous up ahead, and we can''t be too careful.


    Wang Ze nodded his head with pleasure, "Tingyi is the most familiar with this place, and we will do whatever you suggest."


    The group rested for a bit before resuming their penetration. But before long, Wang Ze suggested that they turn back, which took Zuo Tingyi completely by surprise.


    Could he have gotten this all wrong?


    * * *


    "Copper, are you sure that these Iron Men are going to be well received?" Chen Mu was skeptically referring to the cloddish Iron Men in the first scene of the "Legend of Master Shi" card play, which as far as he was concerned didn''t have the slightest bit of aesthetic appeal.


    Copper''s expression became full of aspiration, and he said from his sleep, "Don''t you know that every boy dreams of a flight to the stars . . .?"


    Chen Mu''s hairs stood on end, as he hurriedly interrupted Copper, "Oh, then if you think it''s OK, it''s OK, and I''ll believe you." And then followed with, "I''ve finished a hundred sets, will you be going into the city this afternoon?"


    Coming back to his senses, Copper nodded, "Right, the sooner we sell them, the sooner we can get the money. Will you be going with me?"


    "I''d like to go buy some materials, since the supplies in the house are almost gone."


    The town of Burlington was quite a distance from the city proper, but for 30 Oudi apiece, they could take the shuttle bus, which would take about two hours to get there.


    Once they arrived in the city, each of them went separate ways. Copper wanted to market the card plays, while Chen Mu wanted to shop for materials, himself.


    While some card making materials were already being artificially cultivated, by far most of them still needed to be brought in from the open areas. Since the beginning when cards were invented, most of their materials have been minerals and moving flora. At that time, one of the most important and difficult issues involved the methods for artificial cultivation, and also which kinds of artificially cultivated materials could substitute for natural materials.


    If you were to say that industrial production was blocking one important course toward the popularization of cards, then raw materials was the bottleneck which dominated industrial production. Even though one day the issue would be resolved, the industrial production of cards was undoubtedly still the raving from someone''s dreams. But the pattern could be seen from the one-star power card, where many kinds of the raw materials needed for one-star power cards had entered large-scale artificial cultivation, which had then led to the complete industrialization of one-star power card production.


    This also caused the price point of a one-star power card to fall, whereas previously the price of a one-star power card was not affordable to ordinary people.


    There were quite a few supply stores in Eastern Shang-Wei City. Chen Mu was familiar with their ins and outs, and quickly bought all the materials he needed.


    He had originally been thinking that he would return as soon as he bought up the materials, but he suddenly thought of Uncle Hua''s shop. That suddenly appearing notion seemed to have a lot of power, and Chen Mu''s two legs were walking toward Uncle Hua''s little shop without any direction from him.


    As he got closer and closer to Uncle Hua''s shop, Chen Mu''s heart started to tighten up for no reason. Uncle Hua was already gone, and so what was he nervous about? Chen Mu chided himself and made a few jokes at his own expense, but that didn''t seem to make any difference.


    His heart was pounding more and more anxiously, seeming ready to jump out of his throat.


    Up ahead was the last turn, and once he passed that corner, he would be able to see Uncle Hua''s shop.


    Walking ahead mindlessly with his thoughts blank, Chen Mu had no idea what he was doing.


    When he saw the shop, which had been closed all along, he suddenly came back to his senses, and he sighed inwardly with a bitter taste filling his mouth.


    Which of his nerve wires were crossed today? Smiling bitterly to himself, Chen Mu thought he would leave when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a very striking caption outside the shop next to Uncle Hua''s.


    ''The first episode of Blockhead''s new production "the Legend of Master Shi" has arrived. Hurry if you want to buy it.''

 Chapter 36: A Former Enemy

    Chapter 36: A Former Enemy


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Seeing people constantly coming and going from that store, Chen Mu''s recently darkened thoughts brightened right up. Copper sure was fast enough, he chuckled to himself, since Copper had been to the store.


    As soon as he entered the store, he found out how nearly packed with people it was, mainly women.


    "Shopkeeper, last time I came here to buy "Chance Encounter," and couldn''t buy it, and this time I gave you a call, but you still haven''t put a set aside for me. What is the meaning of this?" The woman speaking was tall with a piercing voice, and you knew she was trouble as soon as you saw her.


    All the girls who hadn''t made their purchase immediately joined in the jeering.


    The shopkeeper''s face was all puckered up, wondering why they had to get all riled up blaming this small store keeper, when all the girls who could attend Eastern Wei Academy came from such wealthy families.


    "Young ladies, you certainly can''t blame this old guy! That fellow who delivered the goods only dropped-off twenty sets. Who knew that as soon as a young lady saw them, she would grab ten sets in a breath. This old man didn''t have a chance to utter a word, before half the goods on hand were gone! Then, as you young ladies have all seen, this old man hasn''t run across any more card plays, with the remaining ten sets having already disappeared." The proprietor rushed to apologize.


    "I don''t care! I''ll sue you if I can''t buy the card play today, grrrr . . ." those terribly charming ladies had gotten into a temper without any reasonable argument.


    At the doorway, Chen Mu was confused. Was the thing that was being sold there really the card play that he and Copper had produced?


    Could the card play have been selling to that extent?


    By the time he walked out of the store, Chen Mu''s head was buzzing.


    All that for a card play? Walking along, he still felt baffled, although when he put all his doubts behind him, he was naturally really excited! Seeing what he and Copper had made become as successful as that felt more like a joke than a real accomplishment.


    But sure enough what made him still more happy was that it seemed as though their income would rise quite a bit.


    So many more supplies, Chen Mu sighed to himself.


    He thought that he should first go back home and get to work, and then after making another set and getting some more money, he could buy some more materials. Chen Mu''s pace quickened as he wanted to get back early.


    He suddenly felt something change. Turning his head around a little, he saw a figure on the road dodge away.


    Chen Mu''s mind had already cooled down from his excitement. He had only had a glance just then, and although he couldn''t make out what sort of person the figure behind him was, the way that he had dodged was enough to give him some idea.


    Do I look like some sort of fat cat? Chen Mu thought it a little strange given the way that he was dressed, since he certainly wouldn''t attract the attention of any pickpocket. Who could that be? It didn''t seem that he had riled anyone lately.


    Wrong! He suddenly remembered that day at the classroom in Eastern Wei Academy.


    After walking ahead a few more steps, he pretended to look back casually, and found the person still following him. Chen Mu could dimly make out that he was that guy that he''d brandished the chair at that day.


    Was he looking for trouble with him? Chen Mu smiled coldly to himself and picked up his walking speed right away.


    When faced with that sort of situation, one doesn''t want to give any opportunity to the opponent. Otherwise you could get messed up.


    The person behind him was in the process of activating his communications card, but seeing Chen Mu speed up, he hurried to keep up without contacting anyone else.


    Who knows how much Chen Mu''s physical conditioning had improved since before, but you could feel it by the pace of his footsteps just then. His strides were huge and fast, and the person behind him had to nearly start jogging to keep up.


    Chen Mu zig-zagged through the secluded alleyways which were as difficult to navigate as a maze. If it weren''t for his experience as a young street punk, he would have quickly gotten lost in them, though not being so familiar with the area, he might as well have been lost.


    "Stop!" The person behind him was gasping, and knowing that he certainly couldn''t go on like that, he blurted out the command to stop.


    Chen Mu wasn''t listening and picked up his speed.


    "Running away? It''s not that easy!" the person behind him shouted icily.


    Looking back, he could see that guy pressing the activation key of his apparatus.


    Chen Mu''s heart sank in an instant. Could that guy be a card artisan? No, he didn''t remember any very fierce types from among that gang of jerks last time.


    "Ha ha, the young master didn''t bring along his fight-card from last time, which gave you two fools such an advantage. This time I''m going to give you a taste of some hurt." That guy was laughing maliciously, while a light blue arrow-bolt formed in front of him.


    He was a card artisan after all! With nothing else to do about it, Chen Mu started weaving around on foot.


    Zap! A ray of light blue light grazed his left arm, and then hit the wall with a bang, splashing gravel shards everywhere, and leaving a pockmark on the wall.


    A trail of blood appeared on Chen Mu''s left arm, and he smelled the fresh blood.


    With any fear seeming to have been dissolved away by that smell of blood, Chen Mu''s eyes became suddenly cold and hard. Without waiting for his adversary to let the second arrow-bolt loose, he charged the boy.


    Once he got close, he would have a chance at victory. Coming on like a cheetah with a monkey''s body, he planned to make use of his superior speed to mess up his adversary''s attack-rhythm.


    While the arrow-bolt had about the same destructive power as the bricks hurled in a street brawl, it was a lot faster, and much harder to evade.


    Protecting his face with both his hands, he dodged his way closer to his adversary. It was an effective way to dodge at bricks thrown during a street brawl, where as long as you weren''t hit in the skull, you wouldn''t lose your life.


    His opponent laughed maliciously, as though mocking his over-estimate of his own strength. The second arrow bolt screamed toward Chen Mu.


    Pow! There was a burst of pain from Chen Mu''s left arm, where the second arrow bolt had hit the arm that was protecting his face.


    His opponent was trying to kill him. That realization made Chen Mu''s mind go suddenly off-the-rails wild. Gritting his teeth and not uttering a cry, he sprang toward his adversary with terrifying speed as though his legs were coiled.


    Having gone through all those exercise gymnastics, Chen Mu''s body had terrifying explosive power.


    His opponent had clearly never imagined that Chen Mu wasn''t afraid of even arrow-bolts, as his eyes flashed some uncontrolled confusion. Whether or not it was because of that, the third arrow bolt skewed a little and didn''t hit Chen Mu.


    From between the two arms that were guarding his face, he could see Chen Mu''s savagely murderous face. It was especially those two eyes which were as ruthless as an enraged lion.


    The third arrow bolt going astray sent the boy into a confusion. He clearly had no real experience fighting, and already intimidated by Chen Mu''s death-defying charge, he became entirely flustered as the distance between them shrank.

 Chapter 37: Wounded

    Chapter 37: Wounded


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Twenty-five meters!


    Chen Mu suddenly pushed the button on the apparatus strapped to his left wrist with the right hand that was protecting his face.


    Zing!


    A huge deep-red fiery dragon suddenly appeared between Chen Mu and that boy, with that massive dragon head just about stuck to that boy''s face. The dragon''s two eyes were as cold as ice, as though they would drill into a person''s heart, while billows of flame were swirling around the dragon''s body. It seemed to have the power to reach the heavens and cover the earth, and nearly pinned him so that he couldn''t move.


    Dear God, what is this? The blood drained completely out of his face, and his eyes had a look of terror.


    He surmised that this huge creature in front of him was the high-grade fiery dragon simulacrum from a three-star fight-card ¨C the ''red eyed fiery dragon.''


    Without waiting for him to recover from his shock, a hand suddenly stretched out from the midst of the fiery dragon and grabbed him by the neck. The only thing that he felt was his neck constricting as though the hand were a steel ring, and he nearly couldn''t breathe.


    He dazedly saw a figure walking out from the red-eyed fiery dragon''s head, steadily coming up to him. Wasn''t this that cringing little punk that he''d just hit?


    Suddenly, the frightening red-eyed fiery dragon dissolved into thin air as though it had never appeared.


    Without waiting for him to react, a strong power suddenly hit his neck, pushing his skull back with a whack, the pain coming from the back of his head drowning him like a tide.


    Looking at his adversary already knocked out and fallen on the ground, Chen Mu didn''t have any trace of compassion in his eyes, since he knew that if he hadn''t given the proper response just then, there was the extreme possibility that there would be a dead man there now.


    During this period, chaos was everywhere. Living among the bottom reaches, Chen Mu didn''t often have that sort of profound experience, since unless you were rich and powerful, no one cared whether you lived or died. The public security of Eastern Shang-Wei City had become pretty good, but the garrison in that area was still only nominal.


    As the fierce cruelty melted away from Chen Mu''s eyes, and he looked again at the man in his hands, he saw that he had already stopped breathing. He felt a little frightened, since his power shouldn''t have been that strong. He looked closer and saw that the back of this guy''s head had just smashed against the wall.


    Chen Mu thought it might be possible that his strength was enhanced in the emergency as compared to normal.


    Even though his hands had just been soaked in the life of a person, Chen Mu wasn''t afraid. He had experienced all sorts of brawls when he was a young street punk, where a mortal wound was an occurrence that was a little bit too common. Just then, his adversary had given no consideration to his life, and so he didn''t feel any psychological burden.


    He straightened up the scene a little bit, without moving a single thing on the person''s body. He knew that taking the smallest advantage would leave a trail of clues, which was a situation he''d seen quite a few times.


    Although it was his first time running into that kind of situation, Chen Mu wasn''t flustered. During the course of the entire procedure, he was always paying attention to any sounds around him. Only after he had straightened everything up ¨C especially any trace of his own blood ¨C was he satisfied to leave.


    He didn''t know who the person was, and he didn''t know what kind of family he had behind him. But if he were to die that way, he felt undecided. If he didn''t die, that might cause more trouble, being afraid that this family might use all of its power to dig him out.


    Chen Mu knew himself very clearly. He was just a little punk, and it would be rougher for his adversary to casually pull a hair. If things came to that he would have no chance for survival.


    He carefully bound up the wound on his arm and used his clothes to pull it up to his shoulder. It was fortunate that he didn''t run into anybody when he came out of the alleyways. He didn''t go home right away but wandered around outside dazed for a little while before going back home.


    Copper cried out when he saw Chen Mu, "I''d thought you had come home earlier, never imagining that I would get here first." Though after he saw Chen Mu''s face and appearance, he was shocked. "Blockhead, what happened?"


    Chen Mu''s face was a little pallid, but as though nothing had happened, "I ran into a little trouble."


    Copper''s nose twitched, and his brow wrinkled up, "Are you injured?" He opened up the clothes over Chen Mu''s left shoulder where the inside was already soaked with blood.


    "You had some hard brush-up?" Copper carefully removed the cloth which had been binding Chen Mu''s wound, and cleaned the wound anew to avoid more serious consequences later. Given that the two had rich experiences getting hurt, they were familiar with how to treat wounds.


    In a situation without anesthetics, cleaning a wound was a very painful affair. Chen Mu clamped his lips shut and didn''t make a sound through his clenched teeth. Beads of sweat the size of soy beans dripped down, and his face turned still more pale.


    Taking an admiring look at Chen Mu, Copper sped up his hands'' movements a little bit. If it were he that had been injured, he was afraid that not only those nearby would have heard the howls. In Copper''s mind, Chen Mu really did seem like a block of wood sometimes, raw and harsh.


    Bound with a new bandage, and having burned the blood-soaked clothes, Copper didn''t leave the slightest bit of evidence.


    I think you''d better rest for a while and go out less often." Copper muttered to himself. "I''ll go out and buy the materials myself." He knew Chen Mu''s temperament very well. He would absolutely never be bullied, and he guessed that the other person was a lot worse off.


    Chen Mu nodded and sighed. He certainly needed to keep out of sight for a while.


    "It seems as though ''The Legend of Master Shi'' is selling pretty well." Chen Mu couldn''t help saying when he remembered the scene he''d witnessed.


    "Ha, but of course!" Copper got excited as soon as they were talking about the card play, and with a look of self-satisfaction, "You''re not considering who made it. Hey, you haven''t found out, today when I went to those shops, I was surrounded by all the shopkeepers. Everyone was dying to get every card play I had, so hey, I had to divide them up a little bit apiece. We have to hurry up and make them, hey, this time we can really make a bundle!"


    But Copper''s expression became hesitant, "Blockhead, your wound . . ."


    Chen Mu shook his head, "It doesn''t matter, my right hand is enough."


    "Health is the most important thing, and we won''t only be making this particular card play. The money will be endless." Copper couldn''t help giving this advice.


    "Mmmm, I know." Chen Mu nodded, while he suddenly remembered that mysterious card, which heated his mind right up. If he hadn''t been practicing those exercise gymnastics all along, then he was afraid that he would have certainly been finished over there.


    The strength had burst out of him that day, so that even he was astounded when he thought about it.


    But thinking carefully, he realized that luck made the biggest contribution to his being able to go on living. If his adversary had only a little bit more experience, and if he hadn''t been practicing those exercise gymnastics, and if he hadn''t brought along his fiery dragon fantasy card that day . . .


    The result could have been entirely opposite.


    Card artisans really are awesome! That jerk that he''d run into was a pure rookie, but even still he''d taken a serious hit.


    Too bad that it was far far too remote for him to be a card artisan . . .

 Chapter 38: Copper’s Conjecture

    Chapter 38: Copper¡¯s Conjecture


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu shook out his head, to keep himself from thinking about those things.


    Chen Mu really didn''t know who the person was that he''d killed, and he really didn''t want to know what sort of background he came from.


    But the affair was making huge waves in Eastern Shang-Wei City. And how could it avoid enraging the higher reaches of Eastern Shang-Wei City for that kind of unexpected street violence among the students at Eastern Wei Academy to have occurred during the exchange with the Star Academy? Everyone at Eastern Wei Academy was in a state of anxiety, and the administration passed strict restrictions on scholars coming and going.


    The Eastern Shang-Wei City garrison was feeling the most pressure of any of them. What puzzled them the most was that there wasn''t a single clue on the scene. The most crucial piece was that there was nothing missing among the person''s belongings, including the Red Star Stone pendant still hanging on his neck as always, which was worth over 800,000 Oudi. It was clearly not done for the money.


    Considering it a revenge killing created still more difficulties for the garrison, since they had discovered that the guy was a trouble-maker in the Academy, having committed who knows how many bad deeds, and whose enemies numbered in the dozens if not hundreds. And among those were some whose identity checks weren''t so simple either, making them not dare to reach out.


    The victim''s injuries were also very strange. From the wounds on his neck you could see that he must have died having his skull cracked on the wall after being grabbed by the neck. But before dying, he had used arrow bolts from a fight-card, making it apparent that his adversary must have been someone tough, with unusual power. A person''s cranium is quite hard, and it requires pretty good strength to smash it.


    In the city-wide investigation opened by the garrison, Chen Mu was eliminated in the first round with his pallid face, and frail, genteel looks.


    Chen Mu and Copper were feeling really enthusiastic about how well the sales volume of the card play "The Legend of Master Shi" was doing. Because of the strict restrictions on students leaving, most of the students were dutifully remaining on campus. They were inevitably looking for things to pass the time with. Having started circulating among the female students, "The Legend of Master Shi" would also land in a male-student''s hands every once in a while.


    The male students were all grabbed by its vast starry reaches and its glorious battles, as well as by the Iron Man called Shining Armor, among the ranks of all sorts of strange characters. The "Master Shi" card play immediately surged over the campus of Eastern Wei Academy like a wind storm sweeping through. The Star Academy students were especially enthusiastic about "Master Shi." The shops around the school were practically bursting every day, though it was still very difficult to buy. After a while, a set of "The Legend of Master Shi" made it onto their projection system, making the names of ''Mu and Cop'' extremely influential all over the Eastern Wei Academy.


    There was no shortage of people looking up high for the card maker, but none of them ever caught on to how shrewd and slippery that card-seller was, and they never considered him. The shopkeepers were equally ignorant.


    Faced with that kind of demand, Chen Mu spent almost all of his time making the card play, as they didn''t have the ability or funds to engage a factory to make the card play for them. Chen Mu didn''t really know if he had the ability to continue such large-scale production under the current conditions.


    Still, he had developed great proficiency, and even his pathetic perception was being deployed so that his hand followed his heart more and more. Given such a huge market, all that the two of them could do was to watch, without any way to satisfy the demands. Fortunately, the two of them had good attitudes, and wanting another set''s profit was a matter of mind-set, and so they could be considered satisfied.


    Once Chen Mu had completed three hundred sets, he was too tired to move. The two of them together decided to call it quits on that first episode, since the money would never stop growing. Three hundred sets had given them quite a plug of money.


    The ''content'' of that first episode of "The Legend of Master Shi" was much richer than that of "Chance Encounter," and the price was quite a bit higher as well. One set was 20,000 Oudi, which made it rather higher than other card plays on the market. That was also Copper''s way of thinking, that since they couldn''t meet the market demand, just raise the price, and make it into a boutique-grade item.


    Chen Mu knew nothing about those matters; he only knew that the two of them could make still more money. Although the production costs were increasing, on average the net profit from a set ran to 12,000, more or less. From three hundred sets, the two of them could make 3,600,000 Oudi, which would be enough for them to buy a house in the city proper.


    If they were to throw in 800,000 for the production costs of the next episode, Chen Mu''s take would be 1,400,000.


    Copper suddenly realized something, "Blockhead, it seems that you have spent all of what we made last time."


    "All gone."


    Copper couldn''t help rolling his eyes, "I remember when you spent money so fugally. How have you become so wild?" He furrowed his brow, "You spent it all on making cards?"


    Seeing Chen Mu nod, he couldn''t help scolding him, "I say Blockhead, you should consider saving some money, since buying a house and getting nicely married cost money. Ha ha, think about it! To live a life having your own house with a wife wouldn''t be so bad! Isn''t that our dream life?"


    Chen Mu remained mute, and didn''t say a thing. If it . . . if it weren''t for that mysterious card, his ideals and Coppers wouldn''t be any different.


    But . . .


    Seeing Chen Mu''s expression, Copper understood a little better, and sighed as he sat up straight, "Ai, suit yourself, since you and I are different. At your current card making ability, finding work is a simple matter. But I still suggest that you save a little money, since I''m afraid we can''t be making card plays forever."


    "Why not?" Chen Mu lifted his head to ask dubiously.


    Copper laughed coldly, and wiped away his usual frivolity, "Blockhead, if you weren''t cooped up in here all the time, you might be feeling even more pressure. Why am I only selling the card plays at Eastern Wei Academy? Ha ha, on the one hand it''s because the market is sufficient for us. But on the other, I don''t want to get the attention of those large card firms."


    Chen Mu also started to have a more serious expression. even though Copper looked topsy-turvy most of the time, he was actually a smart fellow.


    "They haven''t found out yet, but once they do, ho ho, they are likely to do something about it. Blockhead, you don''t know how advanced your skills are, ha ha, being able to compress thirty fantasy cards down to ten. We''re like candy in their eyes, and when the time comes we have only two paths, one is to be useful to them, while the other would be to find some bigger backer. Can you choose among those two paths?" Copper turned around to face Chen Mu.


    "I can''t." Chen Mu''s response was very calm, but very resolute. He still had doubts, wondering if it could be that the token card was not so widely used?


    "Haha! We''re brothers after all!" Copper smiled broadly, "I can''t choose either. Hey, I think we can see through that gang, and so I plan to finish ''Master Shi'' and call it quits. We should be able to get enough spending money from this card play."


    Chen Mu finally understood why Capper was so careful when he went out to sell the card plays.


    The two of them looked at each other and smiled.

 Chapter 39: The Twelve-Card Simple Water World

    Chapter 39: The Twelve-Card Simple Water World


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Starting on that day, Copper was busy with the second installment of the "Legend of Master Shi" card play, which finally gave Chen Mu a little break.


    He had finished three of the twelve cards, leaving nine cards, among which was the token card. Still, the more he used the token card, the more proficient he had gotten with it. By that time, although his perception hadn''t gotten obviously better, based on his deployment of it you couldn''t say it had stood still.


    Chen Mu didn''t use up too much time to smoothly complete the remaining eight one-star fantasy cards.


    And now there was only that one dedicated token card remaining.


    It had to be said that the token card was a very magical card. The token card can only be used together with other cards, since it had absolutely no value on its own. In that regard, it was like a person''s brain, which plays a central role, but doesn''t have any use all by itself.


    That was Chen Mu''s first attempt at making a dedicated token card. It was only on the point of starting to make it that he realized that "token" was a very deep field of study. The preceding eleven one-star fantasy cards had already seemed quite complicated to him, but when he was facing the composition of the token card, he finally realized that the two were on totally different levels. That naturally had something to do with his familiarity with fantasy cards and the strangeness of the token card, with which he''d had no prior connection.


    When he was in the process of completing them all, he had entered into the mysterious card no fewer than twenty times to refresh his study of token cards.


    Whenever he ran into an issue that he couldn''t resolve, he would simply enter into the mysterious card to look for related content. Still, there were some matters about which he didn''t even find any answers, but as long as there was related information, there was still the possibility to extract some little refinement from it by wracking his brain.


    Chen Mu felt like he was entering a battlefield, and in front of him were fortresses that he had to breach one by one. Once he started, he would be tearing out his hair each time that he ran into a question he couldn''t resolve. Later, he calmed down; so long as he kept patiently trying from all different directions to breach the fortresses, there was no rush.


    After twenty days on end of calibrating and recalibrating, Chen Mu finally completed that token card.


    If front of him, there was a pure black card laying peacefully on the desk. The whole card face was lacquered matt black, seeming to have gone through a sand blasting, which was the result of being dipped into the matt-wash. That kind of extremely expensive liquid used up fully 100,000 Oudi of Chen Mu''s money, and was normally only used in making cards that were three-star grade and above.


    On the pure black card, a slick bright black composition flashed an intoxicating glow. The compositions were very level, and would show reflections if put in front of the eye.


    Once he''d finished the token card, Chen Mu fell in love with it. Just as an artist''s appreciation of an art work and its beauty is not the same as that of ordinary people, so is the love of a card maker for the look of his cards.


    Holding the twelve cards in his hand, Chen Mu entered into the fantasy realm of that mysterious card.


    The outlines of the twelve fantasy cards appeared before Chen Mu''s eyes, floating in front of him, each one dark and flat.


    Chen Mu arranged the twelve cards in order in the dark grey card-stand in front of him. Whenever he put up a card, the dark grey cards would suddenly blossom with light, immediately turning their dark grey into a flash, and slowly rotating in front of Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu knew that the bright cards were no longer simulations, but were the real cards that he had just brought in.


    That made him marvel still more at the mysterious card, which emitted illusions that were like the real becoming illusory, until he couldn''t tell any longer what was real and what was illusion.


    Chen Mu was a little nervous. He saw that his conjecture was not wrong, but what would come after . . .


    After he''d placed all twelve cards, Chen Mu''s heart jumped up into his throat.


    There was no dazzling light, no alarming crescendo, while everything happened so quickly, so silently. In a twinkle, Chen Mu seemed to have entered a different world.


    A great force closed in on him from all directions, making him feel as though he were suffocating. A slow but forceful pressure suddenly developed until he couldn''t stand it, then feeling as though he''d been shoved, he jerked forward and staggered a few paces.


    This is . . .


    Innocently looking ahead, Chen Mu was stunned.


    Water! He was actually in water! Beside him all sorts of swordfish were swimming back and forth, seeming to be in midair. They were slow and graceful, sometimes whizzing into a crowd, sometimes scattering like a field of snow.


    But those swordfish were a little too ugly! Chen Mu was inwardly overtaken by a cold sweat. He''d been paying too much attention to the parameters of the swordfish, and didn''t apply any skill to their appearance. That caused the swordfish to be very ugly, all as flat as shuttles, with triangular heads, triangular bodies, triangular fins, triangular tails . . .


    Those swordfish were very much all assembled from all different sizes of triangles. Chen Mu felt unaccountably ashamed to have made such a swordfish illusion.


    "Welcome to the simple water world!"


    It had already been a long time since Chen Mu had heard that hoarse old voice. He now knew that he had succeeded! He had succeeded in penetrating another layer deeper into that mysterious card.


    Water world! All along it was a water world! Looking at the constantly lightly pressurized and not fully transparent environment all around him sparkling like crystal, Chen Mu finally realized what was going on. He finally understood the use of those parameters in that strange fantasy card.


    It was really like a fairy tale world! Weeds were swaying back and forth like hair, while the school of swordfish was frolicking, and bizarrely formed reefs were on the bottom, with a milky white giant clam reposing on top of them.


    Even though it was an illusion, Chen Mu couldn''t help being moved by what he had created.


    He reveled in it for a while, and then Chen Mu came back to his senses. It was very clear to him that the person who created the mysterious card had certainly not made the water world out of boredom. Moreover, he remembered very clearly what that old voice had said, "Welcome to the simple water world." This construction of ''simple water world'' couldn''t help but make him want to improve upon it. Since there was a simple water world, shouldn''t there also be a complex one?


    What was in front of him wasn''t entirely clear, but Chen Mu knew that not everything would be as easy as that. He was already bowing down and worshiping the maker of the card. In his eyes, such supreme artistry was like a rank of stars he could never reach, so mysterious, and so enchanting.


    Chen Mu looked for openings all around him. He was extremely curious about what would be next. Another exercise gymnastics? A new way to make cards?


    Just then, the milky white giant clam slowly opened up, revealing a fine seam. A beam of light shot out from inside. It condensed into a bright spot in front of Chen Mu, and then immediately scattered in every direction, turning into a bright screen.

 Chapter 40: Enjoying Agony

    Chapter 40: Enjoying Agony


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "A Method for Training Perception"


    The caption made Chen Mu feel as though lightning had struck him dumb as a wooden chicken in that instant. Perception! My God, a method for training perception! Chen Mu felt as though he''d been engulfed by wild joy, and was tightly wrapped in a wellbeing which reached the heavens and covered the earth.


    His hand was trembling uncontrollably, and his brain was raging and buzzing as though something had exploded inside him.


    After who knows how long, Chen Mu felt as though he were slowly coming out from a dream, though he still felt as though he were walking on clouds, and couldn''t help mocking himself that he was a complete novice who knew nothing of the world.


    It was no wonder that Chen Mu was so wild with joy, because ever since he had learned to make one-star fantasy cards, perception had become the biggest bottleneck in his way. Too bad that all the things which circulated on the market were of low quality, and that the costs of the somewhat better materials were completely unaffordable.


    All the most advanced training methods were in the hands of the six great academies, and Chen Mu didn''t have the endowments to get into those six. And although there were some pretty good training methods among some smaller schools, none of them would be considered great. And you would have to be either a directly descended disciple or pay a lot of really high tuition to have them imparted to you.


    And not every student could study the "two step breathing method," which was the hallmark of the Eastern Wei Academy.


    Chen Mu did his very best to decipher with his dazed brain word by word and literally what was written out in front of him.


    Chen Mu could tell from the first two sentences that the method that was being described there was many times more advanced than anything he had purchased in the fancy shops.


    As though dying of thirst, he gulped down every word that was written. He put everything else to the back of his mind, not even noticing the pressure of the water.


    As soon as he had finished reading everything, Chen Mu realized that he had never come across anything like that perception training method. Chen Mu mused to himself what a good stunt it was to bury the unnamed method in history.


    The perception training methods recorded on the screen were extraordinary. Even though Chen Mu hadn''t really seen other methods, what he considered to be extraordinary was that all of the training was to be done in the water. Once he had scanned the entire process, even with his paltry knowledge, he knew that the method in front of him didn''t have the slightest relationship to any of the more moderate methods.


    Being underwater put one in a singular environment, where a person''s body bore pressure from all around. And the pressure increased the deeper one was submerged. And, one''s movements were sluggish underwater. The method took advantage of the harsh underwater environment to stimulate human potential.


    While in general the training of perception requires a peaceful environment, it would be very difficult to maintain a calm state in the simple water world where there were all sorts of currents.


    All perceptual training required some medium, and the medium which Chen Mu had used up until then was the one-star power cards that he had created himself. While the medium in that training method was water. The water that was all around Chen Mu!


    The core of the method lay in using the pressure as a stimulus with water as the medium, complemented by special breathing.


    Someone else might have hesitated when facing such a fierce training method, while Chen Mu didn''t have the slightest hesitation. From his point of view, based on what he would get in return, the degree of danger wasn''t even worth talking about. The risk of getting killed as a little punk outside was far greater.


    But Chen Mu wasn''t an impulsive person, and he didn''t begin until he had carefully read all the precautions.


    Still, the training didn''t get off to a smooth sail, with Chen Mu''s first try ending in failure. This was a common thing in his experience, since he had never considered himself more talented than others. Everything he had learned to that point was gained from innumerable failures.


    He was already accustomed to failure, and to finding patterns from his failures.


    He spent an entire three days before finding his perception. The world underwater was very strange to him, and it was no easy thing to maintain his calm state. Maintaining one''s calm while being immersed in the crystal clarity of the so-called ''simple water world'' environment wasn''t easy. There were constant invisible currents, not to mention their transmission of all that energy.


    To everyone''s understanding, perception was a mysterious thing. Only by deploying perception can one connect with power, and those with greatly enhanced perception can even control the shape and composition of energy.


    The most basic principle of the entire card system began with amorphous energy.


    It was as with the power card, where the source of power was contained within the substance of the ink. Taking advantage of perception together with the composition of the card, one could cause the power contained within that substance to be emitted. The kind of energy coming from a power card was the most basic kind of power, not having any set composition, and in a steady state. The composition of the one-star power card was the simplest, and it doesn''t really require any involvement with perception, while the two star and above power cards all required the involvement of perception for them to develop correspondingly.


    The higher the level of the card, the greater the requirement for perception, which wasn''t only a matter of its power level, but also of the accuracy of the perception. That was one of the fundamental reasons that mid and high-grade cards had not yet been able to realize large-scale industrial production.


    In the hands of a card artisan, the formless basic energy could be structured and organized to create all different kinds of energy. Those sorts of energy might be mild or fierce; sharp or blazing hot.


    This all then evolved into the various current schools of card artisans.


    There were then three components which pervade all cards from start to finish: power, perception, and composition.


    One could see that perception was critical for both card artisans and card masters, neither of whom could do without it.


    Chen Mu had achieved some calm by stretching out his breathing. And by emitting some perception little by little, he felt himself suffused by a light white glow.


    A sudden current disturbed his perception, nearly breaking the fine connection between Chen Mu and his perception. He had to use all of his strength to carefully bring his perception back under his control to prevent it from being disordered by the currents. Those currents seemed strangely to know Chen Mu''s limits, pressing him each time to the extreme of what he could stand.


    This was really a kind of torture. Chen Mu had always thought of himself as tough and resolute, but he was being tortured to the point of spitting blood. It got to where each time he was about to enter the water world, he would breathe deeply, and then taking a huge breath through gritted teeth, would steel himself as though he were going into battle.


    He would have to learn to enjoy such suffering!

 Chapter 41: A Few Seconds Every Hour

    Chapter 41: A Few Seconds Every Hour


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The screenplay for the second installment of Copper''s "Legend of Master Shi" was finally finished, which meant that Chen Mu had to spend most of his time making the card play.


    Although he basically didn''t know how high the level of the perceptual training recorded on this mysterious card was, Chen Mu clearly felt that his perception had made tremendous progress those last few days.


    Where did the card come from? This was constantly the biggest question on Chen Mu''s mind. No one''s name was on this mysterious perceptual training method, where the only thing written was simply ''A Method for Training Perception.''


    The best thing which came from being able to improve his perception was that he could make more fantasy cards in a day. With his daily output now already doubled as the result of only one month of that perceptual training method, how could he not be overjoyed?


    With the encouragement of such practical results, he became even more attentive to his training. He even kept up with his training while he was making the card play.


    The sales for the second installment of "The Legend of Master Shi" were so good that Copper once again raised the price, since they still couldn''t meet the demand. Chen Mu wasn''t thinking of anything other than making the card play, and wasn''t wasting any attention on those matters, being hardly concerned at all. And all his thoughts were devoted to perceptual training.


    Because of improvements to his perception, Chen Mu no longer needed to take advantage of the ''token'' structure to keep up with his quota of one-star fantasy cards. The two of them together decided to use the traditional card making composition. Although their costs would increase, it was more secure since they avoided the bothersome attention of others.


    During that period in his perceptual training, the first stage was to extend the scope his perception to the standard five meters. Chen Mu could only make three meters by then.


    The first stage of training wasn''t very complicated, but it really taxed a person''s determination. Chen Mu privately gave the stage his personal name: ''Extreme Training.''


    If he didn''t take go to the extreme each time he trained, there would basically be no results. There was no room for shortcuts in the training.


    From its foundation, perception was a wonderful ability derived from a persons'' spirit. So, one result of that ''extreme training'' was that the brain would be in terrible pain after each session. Each nerve fiber was as taught as a drum head, and every slightest breath of air on grass around him was like a loud explosion in Chen Mu''s brain.


    Under those conditions, never mind doing anything else, he wasn''t even sleeping. While he was waiting for normalcy to return, every hour to Chen Mu was like an hour in hell. He wasn''t thinking of any other methods than just to endure.


    Chen Mu was basically counting the seconds during that brief period.


    Strange to say that the aftereffects come right on time, like clockwork. Chen Mu didn''t know why that was, but he had become used to it. There were really too many inexplicable aspects of that mysterious card. For example, eleven among those twelve cards that he made were logically one-star fantasy cards, but then why was this "Simple Water World" not just a virtual image?


    Chen Mu made a mental record whenever he encountered inexplicable problems. He was clear that it was a matter of his perceptual ability not having gotten there yet.


    He stretched his bones lightly, as he was keeping up with his exercise gymnastics, since good things required persistence.


    It was just then that Copper returned. He had already become used to seeing Chen Mu in the middle of doing his strange movements, so he plopped onto the sofa, and asked about the thing he was waving in his hand.


    "Are you interested in a low-grade fantasy card club, Blockhead?"


    Chen Mu wasn''t paying him any attention, since although the movement was much more familiar than before, it had to be completed in a breath, so that once he talked, the qi would slacken, and it would be easy to be injured.


    In general, even when he was doing the movements with half his attention, he would still rather frequently look right through Copper. Copper wasn''t bothered by that, since if Chen Mu were to open his mouth to say something, that would pretty much blow Copper''s mind.


    Having finished the set, Chen Mu''s body was damp with sweat, although very comfortable. Taking what was in Copper''s hand, he asked as he looked at it, "Low-grade fantasy card club? What do they do?"


    Copper sat up, and took the joke, "I''d heard of this club, but I think it would be more useful to you. I saw them on the street soliciting members, and so I simply got an application for you."


    "What does that mean?" Chen Mu was curious to ask. Although Copper didn''t normally look like much, when it came to important matters, he was very prudent. And he also had much more social competency than Chen Mu. If he said that something was useful, then it most certainly was.


    Copper explained, "The low-grade fantasy card club hasn''t been going for very long, maybe around five years. But it is well known in card play circles. The members they attract are all good at making low-grade fantasy cards, with no shortage of aces among them. Low-grade fantasy cards are mostly used in card plays and advertisements. According to what I know, some of the club''s membership are relatively famous advertising fantasy card masters, or card play makers. They communicate regularly, not only to talk about what they have learned, but also about what is happening in some industry."


    He raised his head to see if Chen Mu was really listening, and then continued, "Although I don''t know much about card making, I still think that I should spend more time communicating with others. And this could really help with your card making ability."


    "And besides," Copper added a bit more, "given your experience, it will be easy for you to stand on your two feet. This is also an avenue for when you need to make a living in the future. It''s never a bad thing to have a few different avenues."


    Nodding and showing his appreciation for what Copper was saying, Chen Mu asked, "How do I get in?"


    "You just need to make a one-star fantasy card. Or you could just bring along that fiery dragon fantasy card. But you don''t want to make something to get too much attention, since it wouldn''t be good to ask for trouble." Copper reminded Chen Mu.


    "Oh, then I''ll make a new one."


    Chen Mu went right to work, since to say was to do for him. He finished a new one-star fantasy card. This fantasy card could emit a goldfish illusion, with exquisite life-like detail, having movements full of the native responsiveness of living goldfish. Based on the remarks that Copper had made, Chen Mu paid special attention to making sure that the characteristics of the card made no use of the ''token'' composition.


    Copper helped Chen Mu fill out the form properly and send it off together with the goldfish fantasy card.


    * * *


    Zuo Tingyi had been very busy lately. Demands at the disciplinary office had become much more severe because of all that had been happening at the school. That guy who was killed had always hung around with ''Allah'' Gong, but with the sudden violence ''Allah'' Gong''s gang felt insecure. Even using all their power to investigate the matter they didn''t make any progress.


    And that student who had gotten killed had always been up to something, and had made a lot of enemies, making it unlikely that anyone would want to investigate.


    But the cooling down of the ordinary activities of those arrogant jerks in the school was one good effect of the affair. So, Zuo Tingyi could pay more attention to those around Wang Ze.


    Wang Ze and his group were going to the outer reaches quite often recently, frequently dragging Hong Tao along as their guide. Hong Tao was a card artisan and was much more familiar than Zuo Tingyi with the surrounding topography.


    Zuo Tingyi could always very easily find out where they went each time, straight from Hong Tao''s mouth.


    He was still more convinced that his father''s surmise was correct. They really did have an agenda! The area surrounding Eastern Shang-Wei City was all colored red on the map. These red regions were everyplace that Wang Ze and his group went each time, and they just about surrounded Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    Wang Ze''s group had been snooping around in just about every part of Eastern Shang-Wei City''s surroundings.


    What did they plan to do? Zuo Tingyi was full of suspicions.

 Chapter 42: The Low-Grade Fantasy Card Club

    Chapter 42: The Low-Grade Fantasy Card Club


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Having gradually gotten used to the strange environment, Chen Mu could already move about rather freely in the simple water world. It was especially the water pressure. The first time that he gone there, he felt as though he were about to be squished open by the terrifying water pressure.


    Under those conditions, he reduced his breathing rate to once every minute, which was not a very simple matter. Still, Chen Mu did it. A nice side-benefit of adopting the deep breathing was that he could greatly reduce his heart rate, and easily enter into deep meditation.


    By that time, Chen Mu could enter the deep meditative state rather easily, requiring only about two minutes.


    Even better, it was only a ''Simple Water World,'' and never mind breathing, if it were real, it could kill you!


    He didn''t have enough experience to really know how far his perceptual strength had grown. He only knew that with his current perception he could sustain a whole day''s worth of card play making without becoming exhausted.


    Still, he wasn''t yet able to extend the scope of his perception to five meters. He had no way to make his perception extend the last half meter beyond the four and a half that he could achieve. It was as though he would lose touch with his perception if he were to extend it any further.


    Chen Mu surmised to himself that it shouldn''t be a matter of the strength of his perception, but since there was nothing recorded in that mysterious card, he could only muddle along by himself.


    He wasn''t really worried about it, since his current perception was enough for him to do quite a few things which he would never have imagined doing before, such as learn a few different cards; like jet stream cards, or heating cards, or fog cards and so forth.


    The classification of cards was a headache for everyone, whether in the Heavenly Federation, or the House of a Hundred Depths, or the Mohadi Region. For a lot of the cards, it was very difficult to put them into some certain category.


    The first one that Chen Mu learned was the heating card, which was one of the most commonly used cards. A hot pot was a utensil that every household needed. At its core was the simple heating card. It was also among the cards carried by any card artisan who wanted to go frequently to the outer reaches, where the heating card was also one of the essential cards. It would enable them to eat hot food under any conditions, without having to look for tinder to start a fire. It was also used for heating when it got cold.


    What had once been the arcane language of card makers then seemed understandable at a glance. Chen Mu got on top of it very quickly, and using only two days, he had already made his first one-star heating card. And by the third day his one-star heating card had already become quite perfect, with a much better power-utilization rate. Chen Mu straight away opened his hot pot and replaced the heating card with the one he had made himself. It worked well as soon as he tried it, so that even Copper was amazed.


    That made Chen Mu immediately fascinated with transforming all of the things in his house. The fresh food cupboard''s cooling card, the lighting card . . . he even excavated the one-star jet stream card which he had originally thought so useless, and made it useful. Although the jet stream from a one-star card wasn''t very powerful, it was perfect for a cooling breeze.


    Wherever a card was being used in the house, Chen Mu would be able to find a book about it, and do it himself. After he had satisfied himself with what he could make, Chen Mu bought a large quantity of books such that his house became mostly materials and books. Chen Mu benefitted greatly from the foundational knowledge that he had learned from that mysterious card, especially regarding the principles it expounded upon. For these few days, he was no longer only dealing with fantasy cards, since in principle those weren''t essentially any different.


    It was all thanks to the mysterious card that he was able to get to work so quickly.


    Knock knock knock, sounded someone at the door.


    "May I inquire if Mr. Chen Mu is at home? I have a delivery for you to sign for."


    Chen Mu was taken aback. That was the first time he had received anything other than bills.


    Opening the letter, it was a blue bordered white card, about a half a palm in size, looking like hand-crafted ivory, and feeling very fine.


    Low-Grade Fantasy Card Club Membership Card.


    On its surface were several ancient script characters, which it took Chen Mu a while to decipher. On the top right corner of the card was a very faintly glowing number, showing the number ''zero.'' And on the lower left corner a code was engraved in shadow.


    "Don''t consider this to be some high-class material." Copper said in a roundabout way after looking up to see, "This membership card isn''t worth anything. What is worth something are your contributions, which are now at zero, and even if you carelessly threw it on the street, no-one would pick it up."


    "Contribution level?" What use is that?" Chen Mu wasn''t just asking, since he felt a little ashamed, having thought just then that this card was rather valuable.


    Copper stretched himself lazily before saying, "This is the method that the club has adopted to encourage people. Haven''t you realized how low the threshold for entry to this club is? To select those with real ability, anyone who has an interest in the club''s business makes a contribution in order to have a say." Seeing that Chen Mu was looking at him helplessly, Copper shrugged off any responsibility, "Don''t look at me. I only know so much. Take a look for yourself tomorrow. Why would you ask an outsider like me?"


    Low-Grade Fantasy Card Club


    It was Chen Mu''s first time going there, and he was unconsciously sizing up the building. Just having such a tall building in a central location of Eastern Shang-Wei City was enough to make the club''s power clear. What drew Chen Mu''s attention most was the exquisite fantasy card illusions floating outside the building''s walls, which were constantly transforming, sometimes covering the sky with cold ice and snow, and sometimes filling the eye with green droplets.


    It was more than a person could take in, and there was some helpless surprise in Chen Mu''s shining eyes. With their realism, he couldn''t help comparing those constantly transforming illusions with that advertisement he had seen that time at the Two Hoop card shop. Of course, that was not the first thought which passed through Chen Mu''s mind. His first thought was to wonder how much it would be worth to be able to make a fantasy card which put out such an exquisite illusion?


    So, this really was a place of hidden talent, crouching tigers and hidden dragons. He didn''t know who had made those fantasy cards, but whoever could make illusions as realistic as the ones emitted there was really some kind of fantastic person. Considering his own current ability, it would be hard for Chen Mu to do it.


    Restraining his curiosity, Chen Mu stepped into the big building.


    The scene around him completely transformed as soon as he entered the building.


    In front of him was all dark, with only constellations filling the sky, making unexplainable movements, as though he had suddenly set foot into a starry cosmos. All around his body was an endless void in all directions, with unquantifiable constellations as vast as the seas, until even the ground under his feet didn''t feel real. What a shock it was! Having never experienced a scene like that, Chen Mu''s eyes were suddenly shining with incomparable wonder.


    "Welcome to the low-grade fantasy card club," came a very soft female voice from behind Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu quickly regained his senses, and turned around to look, where there was a professionally-dressed pretty woman with short hair standing behind him.


    "This is the ''evolution of the constellations'' fantasy card, which is said to be the work of the great master Chemosich, who had extremely deep accomplishment in the study of the stars. It later fell into the hands of the club president, who decided to place it here. Everyone who sees it for the first time is startled by it." She hid her chuckling in a charming manner.

 Chapter 43: Low-Grade?

    Chapter 43: Low-Grade?


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    It suddenly came to him ¨C''originally the work of Chernosich.'' Such powerful emanation was not something an ordinary person would be able to produce after all. With such a rare opportunity to experience the work of a great master so closely, Chen Mu couldn''t help examining it more closely. Still, it was quite obvious that being able to study the stars to such abstruse depths was naturally not something that a nobody like him could appreciate.


    The instant after looking, with his eyes dazzled, Chen Mu could only give up.


    The short haired girl looked very familiar with Chen Mu''s response, and chuckled without disturbing him, only opening her mouth when Chen Mu had rubbed his eyes, "Could you please show your membership card?"


    "Oh." Chen Mu hurriedly pulled out his membership card.


    Glancing at it after she received it, and showing a smile on her face, "I think this must be your first time coming, would you like me to give you some introduction?"


    "OK." Chen Mu nodded, without any courtesy.


    The girl leaned and extended her right hand in a gesture of welcome.


    "We will both look around and give you an introduction at the same time." The girl paused for a little while, and continued, "This is your membership card, which can contain information about you. You may choose to go to the archives section to complete the information ¨C for example your likeness ¨C so that no-one else can use your membership card. This is not required, and if you don''t wish to, that won''t affect your usage."


    "The purpose of this club is to fully expose the various uses of the low-grade fantasy card, enabling them to be used more broadly in our lives. To accomplish this, we have adopted a point system. The number on the top right corner of your card displays the value of your contributions, which are the points. There are many ways to earn points; for instance, the club might set up some public works projects, which won''t pay much, but you can get the appropriate points.


    "For example, just now we are working together with a school to help them make instructional fantasy cards. Since this is considered to be a public works project, you wouldn''t be able to earn any money, but we have the point rewards. And naturally we provide the materials.


    "There are quite a few other members of the club who are likely to issue requests for help when they run into a problem that they can''t resolve. If you can help them to resolve these issues, you can earn the points that they have put up for it. In general, the points for giving out helpful information like this are rather high, while at the same time they have a rather high level of difficulty.


    "If you run into a problem that you can''t resolve for a while, you can seek help in the same way.


    "Of course, there are other ways to earn points, though they aren''t seen so often, such as winning some prize for your card making, where we would give you points according to how influential the award is, in the same way.


    "Over here each month we sell some comparatively rare materials or cards, which can only be purchased with points. This is the club''s way to reward your enthusiastic participation in club activities.


    "Generally speaking, we hold meetings every week, in which you may choose to participate or not. You would earn a small number of points for participation. You could meet quite a few like minded card-masters, and share with them what you have learned about card making.


    "And of course if you come up with something fantastic without having the funds, the club might provide some help. We have a devoted review group, and when we make sure that your plan is reasonable, and can be made operational, we would provide financial assistance in a cooperative fashion."


    While the short-haired girl kept up her torrent of introductions, Chen Mu was dumbstruck, never having come across that kind of thing.


    When Chen Mu entered the big hall, he came to a stop.


    There weren''t very many people in the hall, even though its area was huge and majestic like a small public square.


    But what made Chen Mu stop wasn''t the broad empty hall, but rather the flashing screens in the hall, and the continuously floating illusions of captions.


    When the whole great hall was divided by thousands of large and small translucent screens, that kind of sensory impact was enough to blind a person.


    Seeing how transfixed Chen Mu was, the short-haired girl smiled gently, since this wasn''t her first time seeing that kind of expression. Probably only a completely crazy person like the president of the club would ever have come up with that kind of layout.


    Still, she didn''t forget her duties, and kept making introductions to him, "These screens are the information portals here, where you can find information to suit your interests. Requests for help might also be scrolling along on the top. The technology used by the screens is quite advanced ¨C bi-directional fantasy card techniques. By taking advantage of the specialized pens to the side of the screen, you can enter content on the screens, and realize two-way transmission of information."


    "The entire great hall is divided into three parts. Our position right now is in the information dissemination section.


    "Aside from this, there is the display area where you can see demonstrations of the latest fantasy card products. Over thirty fantasy card game consoles are on display this time. This layout amazes people, and we''ve started pushing it toward the marketplace. I myself believe that it will quickly become popular across the Heavenly Federation."


    Her speech was full of pride.


    "The other section is the trading area, where all kinds of materials are on sale; basic materials and cards can all be purchased using Oudi, but only points can be used to acquire comparatively rare and precious materials. If you have some work, you can also sell it here on consignment. This is also the only section opened to non-members.


    "You can look around as you please, hang around anywhere, and if you have any questions, come and find me. I''ll always be in the hall of stellar evolution. Right now, I''ll have to excuse myself for a while." The short-haired girl always kept a professional smile on her face.


    Dumbly looking at the huge great hall with its multicolored flashing screens of all sizes, all floating in midair with their translucent illusions, Chen Mu had a little sense of not knowing where to start.


    Going over in front of the nearest screen, Chen Mu watched the words scrolling by on top of the screen carefully.


    "How to use low-grade fantasy cards to change people''s localized characteristics, to achieve the illusion of being in the place of your counterpart."


    Having looked around only haphazardly, Chen Mu was still attracted to that idea.


    This notion was really intriguing. It wanted to use illusions on the outline of the face and some small areas to make changes, in order to achieve the result of swapping heads and faces. For example, to use shadows in the eye socket, to give them something of a sunken feel. Or by putting some fleshy illusions on the nose, to make it look more prominent. If you were to do this cleverly, you could give someone the sense of being an entirely different person.


    Chen Mu was really taken aback by the notion, and that in those days there really were so many sorts of strong people.


    But just then the line of thinking ran into some difficulty: how do you make the illusions stick to the face?


    Because, no matter how the person who came up with this idea changed things, even the slightest movement would easily dislocate the illusion.


    Looking at the time that it was put up, it was a brand-new proposal. Chen Mu thought it over, and without hesitation wrote his answer on the screen; "Fasten the meter to glasses or to a hat."


    While the words were flashing, the screen followed up by reminded him to input his membership card number. After he entered his membership card number, the answer he''d entered streamed away.

 Chapter 44: A New Discovery

    Chapter 44: A New Discovery


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Since getting back from the club, Chen Mu had been very excited. He experienced so very many astonishing and ingenious ideas which expanded his outlook. Before then he hadn''t had any exchanges with other card masters. He had always been shut up alone studying by himself, trying things by himself, and muddling along when he failed by himself. Even though he later had that mysterious card, there wasn''t ever really any change with his situation.


    It was his first taste of the joys of communicating with others.


    That first time having come face to face with the ideas of so many card masters kept Chen Mu in a state of excitement. He spent a whole day in the great hall as though he were intoxicated, grasping other peoples'' ideas and trying to answer other peoples'' questions.


    By the end he didn''t remember clearly how many questions he had really tried to crack, but what discouraged him was that most of them ended in failure.


    By the time he had gotten home, he was dying of exhaustion, but his state of excitement kept him from sleeping. Copper wasn''t home, and he didn''t know where he had gone off to play. Compared with Chen Mu''s squatting at home, Copper couldn''t really be considered well-behaved, and frequently stayed out all night.


    Suddenly remembering that he hadn''t done his perceptual training that day, Chen Mu promptly got up. Having rested a little just then, he felt that his strength had been somewhat restored enough to enter the simple water world. Although it was perceptual training, in the simple water world he wouldn''t be able to do anything without strength.


    The soft water enveloped him, and without knowing if it was because of the cool water, Chen Mu''s excited state gradually calmed down. He quickly entered a deep meditative state.


    He perception spread out in the water around him like water flowing, and he could feel every little ripple within the scope of his perception.


    Taking long breaths, he was calm in the middle of agitation.


    When Chen Mu came back from his mental calm, he had a wry smile. His perceptual training had hit a bottleneck where four and a half meters was like a chasm in front of him with no way to get beyond.


    Chen Mu became a little upset, as rarely happened.


    He raised his head and looked around at the crystal clear simple water world, as beautiful and charming as a childhood fairy-tale world. The triangle swordfish cruised about in large schools, free and easy. The water grass not far away swayed slowly and regularly.


    Chen Mu stood silently, and after a long while, suddenly laughed at himself, since what did he have to be dissatisfied about? Especially now that he had a lot better fortune than most people. After he''d worked it out, the furrow in his brow disappeared.


    With a little smile and with peace in his heart, Chen Mu moved about freely in the simple water world.


    Which is to say that having been busy all along with perceptual training, he had never really wandered around in that strange fairy-tale water world.


    Chen Mu was already pretty used to the underwater currents, and his perception was spread all around his body by him, so that he could respond in time whenever there was a ripple. Step by step, although it wasn''t fast, it was steady.


    Not far away the thicket of water grass was green and lovely, and Chen Mu couldn''t stop himself from walking toward it.


    Having walked over in front of the thicket of water grass, and while Chen Mu was preparing to examine it closely, two strands of water grass suddenly curled around his ankles like a clever snake. Chen Mu only felt his calf tighten and his feet get unstable.


    What happened? Chen Mu was taken aback, and given his null level of biological knowledge, he naturally couldn''t recognize what kind of water grass that was.


    "Start of the unwinding game. The first level, water grass quantity two, low difficulty. Requirements: get free within three minutes, no reward for completion."


    Hearing that old voice suddenly by his ear froze Chen Mu, though his reaction passed quickly. Unwinding game? There are actually games in here? He quickly became interested.


    But what he had heard most clearly was the final phrase, ''no reward for completion.''


    He felt a little bit as though the phrase had some dark truth in it which was worth scrutinizing.


    ''no reward for completion . . . no reward for completion.''


    His eyes suddenly lit up, as he broke through to something in his mind. If the game basically didn''t have any rewards, then it definitely wouldn''t have added-in that language. Since the phrase was there, there were then just two possibilities.


    One was issues with the levels, where the level was too low to have any rewards. If that possibility was the right one, it would imply that he would have to raise the level of his play to be able to get a reward.


    Another possibility was that the unwinding game was a game without rewards, and following that speculation, there should still be some kind of game with rewards there. Which is to say that there should be more than one type of game in the simple water world.


    What could make Chen Mu more excited than to be saturated with explorations of the unknown? He looked at the clump of green water grass with bright eyes, looking like a hungry wolf staring at its prey.


    * * *


    A middle-aged man was sitting at his desk in the office of the low-grade fantasy card club, looking pensively at the screen in front of him with his chin in his hand.


    Knock knock knock. Someone at the door. Without lifting his head, this middle-aged man said, "Come in." and continued to stare at the screen in front of him.


    A short haired woman holding a pile of materials in her hand pushed open the door and came in.


    "Director, these are the materials you wanted. The statistical results haven''t come out yet, but we were able to make a rough estimation that he reviewed one hundred and three requests for help, and responded to thirty-nine. Among those, thirty have already been validated, while we are temporarily unable to get information about the other nine. That is to say that he earned at least four hundred and two points today. That meets the conditions for entering the high-grade group." She gave her report competently.


    "Scoop up over for hundred points in one day?" the middle-aged man looked awed. "Have you found out where he came from?"


    "We know that his name is Chen Mu, from the profile. His age is probably in a range between sixteen and nineteen. We don''t have any other information." The short haired girl thought about it, and added something more, "It just so happens that I admitted him today."


    "Oh." The middle-aged man become suddenly interested, "tell me about your sense of this person.


    After thinking for a bit, the short-haired woman said, "Very young, a little reserved, doesn''t like to talk, and it must be his first time coming, since he was very unfamiliar with this place. I felt that he must be a techno-addict card master."


    "That''s good! Very good! It''s been a long while since a card master with such deep accomplishments with one-star fantasy cards has shown up. I think we should pay attention to cultivating him." The middle-aged man''s face showed a satisfied expression, and then after pondering a bit, said "Send him an invitation. Invite him to participate in the next two-way meeting of the advanced group. Afterward, you''ll be responsible to check him out."


    "Yes, sir!" the short-haired girl bowed in response.

 Chapter 45: The Unwinding Game

    Chapter 45: The Unwinding Game


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    To tell the truth, the unwinding game wasn''t really any fun. The demands on explosive strength from the game were high, since you could only free yourself from the windings of grass if you had powerful burst strength. The crux of the problem was that it was in water; never mind strength, it wasn''t easy even to stand still there.


    Chen Mu was very suspicious that the person who made the card had deliberately added the word ''rewards'' just to lure people in. Otherwise he was afraid that almost no-one would persist in playing such a dull game.


    Over and over, he gave out bursts of strength, which really used up his energy. He was already out of breath after a few rounds. This was the result after he had so vastly improved his conditioning after practicing those exercise gymnastics. If it were before that, he wouldn''t have been able to free himself even from the lowest-grade strands of water grass.


    He didn''t know what kind of water grass it was, but it was extremely firm, strong and flexibly tough.


    After spending three days and using up all of his energy, Chen Mu was finally able to free himself from the two strands of grass. He had finally found a little perception which could writhe like a fish in the water, which would then greatly reduce the resistance of the water. Just as he was benefitting from his discovery, he was able to free himself from the bindings of those two strands of water grass.


    Chen Mu was excited by his little discovery. He couldn''t stop trying all sorts of strange postures to feel the changes in the resistance of the water.


    In all his trials, Chen Mu realized that the most surprisingly useful thing to bring into play was perception. The discovery surprised him. If he weren''t in the middle of perceptual training which required him to extend his perception all around his body, he would absolutely never have considered that method.


    By then, he had fully realized the benefits of the approach, and could sense any slightest change in the currents all around him.


    He had gotten the trick to deploying power in the water according to those tiny changes, and was thus able to free himself from the entwining of the water grass.


    But his excitement didn''t last for very long. When four strands of water grass wound around him, no matter how much strength he used, there was no way to break free of it. The only thing he could do was to sit still for ten minutes, when the water grass would fall away of itself. Otherwise, breathing would have been an issue.


    Chen Mu had no choice but to let his own perception refine his sense of the changes in the current, try out more movements, and build up his burst strength. Apart from his daily perceptual training, he was always struggling with that water grass.


    Chen Mu kept persisting in what was such a dull game. Every little discovery inspired him to exert himself even more.


    While he was in the middle of struggling with the water grass, he received the invitation from the club, inviting him to participate in some sort of bi-directional meeting the next week.


    Copper was surprised to see such an invitation envelope and looked at Chen Mu as though he were looking at a man from outer space, "Have they made a mistake? How could it be so quick? A two-way meeting with the advanced group? Don''t tell me you really are some kind of f**king genius!"


    "Genius? Do I look like it?" Chen Mu looked at Copper in all innocence.


    "You sure are! The more I say it the more I think you are!" Copper nodded his head to express his approval. "Still, after going just once you can sleaze your way into the advanced group? This is really a bit too much!"


    "Could they have sent it by mistake?" Hearing Copper talk like that made him feel a little skeptical.


    Copper nodded, and then said ponderously, "That''s my sense too, since that''s the highest probability. Do you have the four hundred plus contribution points that are required to enter the advanced group?"


    Chen Mu shook his head, "No" He didn''t have to pull it out to know that the contribution points on his membership card were still zero, since he remembered it very clearly.


    "So, this was a mistake." Copper said firmly, following on with a pitying look at Chen Mu, and pronouncing in an exaggerated manner, "Blockhead, if you were to go, someone would say to you ''excuse me sir, we''ve made a mistake'' and then you''d return crestfallen. Gee, how embarrassing." He clucked his cheek.


    "You''re right!" Chen Mu thought about it, and came to his final verdict. He tossed the invitation into the trash can, and turned back into the room to continue his struggle with the water grass.


    "These days people are so sloppy with their work that they make this kind of mistake?" Copper mumbled to himself, as he turned back into the room to continue his struggle with the script for "The Legend of Master Shi."


    * * *


    The short haired girl was a little bit nervous standing at the entrance to the low-grade fantasy card club''s advanced group two-way meeting.


    "How could he not have arrived? Could it be that the invitation wasn''t delivered?" she murmured. The advanced group two-way meeting is very influential in Eastern Shang-Wei City, and we''ve never experienced someone deliberately not attending.


    If a low-grade card master''s work was really good, would he be treated comparably with a high-grade card master, or would he fall far behind? But they maintained close relations with the industry, where the club would act as the go-between.


    "Hasn''t he arrived yet, Miss Feng?" A guy snuck up behind the short haired girl, looking like a thief, with his nose inclining toward her white powdered neck to sniff it.


    The short-haired girl gave him a look, "Are you looking to die, An Xiaoyou? Do you dare to eat grandma''s tofu?"


    An Xiaoyou laughed, "Talking like that, and with your natural beauty, what man wouldn''t be moved by you, Miss Feng? Mine was merely an instinctual response, ahh, it''s just that my body moves more quickly than my thoughts. If I''m not careful, I''ll speed past a car, ha ha!"


    He wrung his hands and said with a somewhat dubious voice, "Now don''t play with me Miss Feng, is that guy Chen Mu really coming today?"


    "He should be." Lan Feng''s tone was a little uncertain.


    "Alright, alright!" His face a little bit flushed with excitement, An Xiaoyou said smacking his lips, "This fellow is really too much. How could he have thought of such a simple but clever notion to attach the instrument to the hat or the glasses? I really want to meet this ace!"


    Lan Feng returned a contemptuous look, and said unhappily, "Just you? Has anyone else swept up four hundred points in a day? This is the first time since the club was established that this has happened. Go and give someone else a lift."


    An Xiaoyou''s expression dulled, as he stammered along incoherently, "One day, one day . . . a four-hundred-point sweep . . . "


    "What? You don''t believe it?" Lan Feng''s expression was also a little odd, "Hmmm, I''m telling you, I checked it myself." She deliberately struck the dumbly staring An Xiaoyou on the shoulder after she finished saying that, "Go and find another master to worship while you''re still young."


    * * *


    Four strands of water grass. Even though there wasn''t any reward, Chen Mu was no longer thinking of rewards, since he felt that his own gains were more real than any reward. The skill to deploy strength in the water, and the deployment of perception, were both fascinating.


    And the most amazing thing was that the entirely new way to use his perception surprisingly also stimulated the reach of his perception. By giving a long pause to his perception, he discovered a hint of its increase.


    And even though it was only a hint, it was sufficient for Chen Mu to go enthusiastically all in with his struggle against the water grass.

 Chapter 46: Star Academy Centennial

    Chapter 46: Star Academy Centennial


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    With his simple and yet full life, making progress every day, that sort of happiness really made Chen Mu delirious.


    Following the story as it developed step by step, the price for the "Legend of Master Shi" got higher and higher the more it was cooked. Copper had already stopped showing himself in public, and put out the card play on the open consignment market, from where its popularity would later spread. The shopkeepers and students would rush over in droves to the open consignment market to camp out when they got the news. They improved the safety factor by quite a bit that way, since it was nearly impossible to find any sellers in the consignment market. And what was most important was that the method of marketing could greatly increase the price. Neither Copper nor Chen Mu ever thought that they were making too much.


    Regarding the manipulation of perception, Chen Mu was already flexible beyond compare, which led directly to a large increase in his productivity. That enabled them to complete three hundred card plays in a very short period of time, until Copper was calling him the card-making machine.


    After he had finished making the card play, Chen Mu was still diving headlong into the simple water world, and struggling with the water grass. By then he was able to free himself from the entwining of eight stands of water grass. Even he felt the quickness of his bursts to be amazing, nothing short of a cheetah. In particular, his bursting speed was as fast as lightning within three meters, with his body exceeding the speed of his mind.


    The scope of his perception had already extended to four and nine tenths meters, leaving only a tenth of a meter. But this tenth of a meter seemed unattainable, with never a fraction shorter. Having gone through a lot of introspection last time, he set his attitude straight, and didn''t worry. It was only an unwinding game having no shred of urgency.


    What good would worrying do? He would do what he could do, and the results would be for the best. But if it were really like that, the results were not likely to satisfy him, or to be more clear, that wasn''t his kind of result.


    * * *


    "Have you already finished it?" Wang Ze asked to a room full of Star Academy exchange students. According to timing, they should return soon to the Star Academy, but they had sought out the administration of Eastern Wei Academy to request an extension on the time for the exchange. Eastern Wei Academy was naturally very welcoming and immediately agreed.


    Yin Chenjiu pushed up his glasses and nodded, "All finished. It''s already been sent to the school. I think it''s been received for a while now." and then immediately asked with a little hesitancy, "Team Leader, what are we really looking for? Which is to say, what are we doing? To tell the truth, I feel like this school is really too ordinary, and the students are too weak. Staying here doesn''t have any value."


    Other students showed expressions of deep sympathy. They were all outstanding students, for whom doing this kind of meaningless activity was hard to take.


    The look in Wang Ze''s eyes sharpened precipitously, as he said in a deep voice, "I know you have your suspicions, but this is not something you should ask about. You should understand that we didn''t come here to hike and swim and sightsee."


    Just then the apparatus on his wrist suddenly sounded, and he saw that it was the president of the Academy. The president was calling him now about the information they''d only just sent? Could he have found something?


    Taking a deep breath, he took the communication. The president whispered a few words, and the normally calm Wang Ze''s face suddenly lit up with joy. After the communication was completed, Wang Ze told the long awaited news that he had gotten from the president.


    The exchange student dorm immediately broke into cheers such that the Eastern Wei Academy students who were passing by turned their heads showing looks of astonishment.


    The year 3485 in the orthodox calendar was destined to be a glorious year for Star Academy. Celebrated for their conservative ways, the Star Academy was changing its tactics, and was starting to move out from the Star Academy. This little known Eastern Wei Academy had made it into peoples'' sights because of the Star Academy.


    It had also been that fall that there was that other big event which had caused a stir in the entire federation, and that time too the leading role was played by Star Academy.


    After ten years, the Star Academy finally had someone coming out from the inner academy. Once that news was out, it was like the latest blockbuster, causing a shock such as the federation had never experienced. For ten straight days, the news was all about the affair. The stock of any companies which touched the Star Academy at all shot wildly up.


    Everyone knew that the Star Academy which had been asleep for ten years had finally awakened.


    But as soon as the news was out, the Star Academy toned it down immediately. No matter how people had heard about it, no-one could find out who the genius was ¨C who was the only one to come out from the Star Academy''s inner academy for ten years. There were even some people who suspected that the news was fake, but the faces of the Star Academy students all full of excitement, proved that the matter hadn''t been fabricated. The Star Academy that had already been mystical and outstanding in people''s minds, became still more mystical.


    Very soon, as though pressured by Star Academy, the other five of the six great schools all responded. No matter whether it was the always radical Desert Camp, or the ever-moderate Central Repository of Classics and the Comprehensive Federation Academy, or even the almost isolated Bitter Solitude Temple in the outer reaches, or Moon Frost Island, they all put out a series of responses.


    There was an endless stream of activity, while the one thing which remained the same was their high tone.


    The vying for power among the six made the behavior of the other schools surprisingly consistent. They were all looking on with a cold eye, all still unqualified to enter that muddy water.


    The one who benefitted the most from the affair was Eastern Wei Academy. They were originally nothing more than an ordinary school, but their reputation had made a splash, since the Star Academy was known by so many people.


    Still, this had utterly no meaning for Chen Mu and Copper. Chen Mu was drilling into the simple water world with his whole being, while Copper was in the middle of his headaches with the next installment of the "Legend of Master Shi" script. Although Copper thumbed his nose at the world, when he was writing the script he wasn''t a bit lax.


    Chen Mu''s entire body was wrapped in water grass, looking remarkably like a green coconut. This was already his final trial, with nearly all the water grass in his vicinity wound around him, binding him tightly. Under those conditions, you wouldn''t say he was trying to free himself, since even to bend a finger was not a simple matter.


    Chen Mu had already failed three hundred and fifty-two times at that final trial, but he had almost gotten free the last time. Who knew that at the final juncture he would heave a sigh of relief and fall short by a basketful.


    He rested for a half hour to restore his energy, and then was about to enter the three hundred and fifty third attempt at the final trial.


    With his two legs firmly planted, and his body slightly bowed, because there was too much water grass on his body, he basically couldn''t see the arc of his spine.


    He gave a sudden burst of power to his feet, shooting forward abruptly, and watched himself plant his head in the dirt. Then Chen Mu suddenly straightened his body and shot up like a spring, like the head of a snake, while his lower back snapped backwards.


    Chen Mu''s waist and backbone were like a fully sprung spring, incredibly pliable, while his two feet were still firmly in the sand, with his two legs bent forward and his back leaning back, incomparably weird. Then in that small space, the power of the water grass was suddenly weakened by quite a bit, finally giving Chen Mu the slightest bit of space.


    Holding back his groan, Chen Mu finally released his hands, while his back, which had been bowed like a fully extended spring, sprang forward like a flash of lightening.


    A bow, a crook, and a spring, the abrupt release of energy was terrifying, and at the same time, Chen Mu''s two legs were also releasing energy. How could the water grass stay bound? Most of the water grass was released in that way by Chen Mu, who continued to writhe strangely like a fish, shedding the few remaining strands of water grass which remained on his body.


    This burst of energy was really fierce, and Chen Mu had no way to control it when his whole body shot up like an arrow, and landed head first in a sandbar.


    Without waiting for him to extricate his skull from the sandbar, that old voice sounded by his ear.

 Chapter 47: Go Ahead!

    Chapter 47: Go Ahead!


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "The unwinding game is over. Reward: the skills to operate and make the tailless shuttle card."


    The tailless shuttle card was a three-star battle card, which could release a spinning-power shuttle. It''s tail would constantly evaporate into motive power to give it more and more flight speed, and it was called the tailless shuttle because of its great power.


    The splendid scene of the battle between those two from that day in the Eastern Wei Academy classroom appeared before Chen Mu''s eyes. His mind lit up while a notion which had been in its deepest recesses floated up; could he really become a card artisan?


    Once the idea came to him, he couldn''t get rid of it.


    After carefully considering the detailed specifications for the production methods of the tailless shuttle card, Chen Mu affirmed that he could actually make the card.


    So, the question now was should he or shouldn''t he actually make it?


    Although a three-star card was only one level higher than a two-star card, it was several times more expensive to make. And a battle card was a lot more expensive than an ordinary card. Even the lowest level three-star battle card still had a staggering price.


    Chen Mu spent half a day working it out, and reached the conclusion that if he wanted to make that tailless shuttle card, he would have to throw in nearly his entire income for the whole time, leaving him a balance of only 20,000 Oudi.


    Wiping some cold sweat off his brow, Chen Mu had never spent so much money in one bout. He couldn''t really figure out if card artisans were all so rich. Given that a single three-star fantasy card would cost two million Oudi, then how many people could become card artisans?


    If he were to decide to make it, it would take all of his assets, which was also what was making him hesitant.


    To make it or not?


    Chen Mu was battling it out in his mind. For three days running, he had no way to sleep for his tossing and turning.


    Copper sensed the difference right away, and asked straight out, "Blockhead, what''s up? Why am I always feeling that you are distracted recently? Are you sick? What''s the matter?"


    Chen Mu was still for a while, and then asked back without having answered, "Tell me Copper, If . . . ¨C and I''m saying ''if''¨C you were facing a choice, and it wasn''t a choice you needed to make, but it required you to spend all of your money, what would you do?"


    "Choice?" Copper looked at Chen Mu suspiciously, "What are you considering now?"


    Chen Mu stayed silent.


    Looking at Chen Mu''s expression, Copper knew he wasn''t going to say anything, so after thinking about it, Copper asked, "Would this decision change your life? Which is to say, is it very important to you? Is it your dream?"


    "I think so." Chen Mu was a little hesitant ¡­ to him, ideals seemed far away. His dreams before had always been to be a little better off, so what were his dreams now that his life had gotten better?


    "So do it!" Copper answered decisively.


    Chen Mu was stunned, since he had never imagined that Copper would respond with such certainty.


    Copper didn''t know what he was thinking of, but he slowly said, "Blockhead, we are both little people, we can eat our fill, we have a place to live, so we''re already satisfied. If those were our dreams before, then we''ve realized them."


    Chen Mu was listening earnestly.


    "People need dreams. Blockhead, if there''s nothing to give you pause, then you''ve already failed. Could things be worse than before? Could they be worse than before we were making card plays? Let alone the fact that we are still making card plays. We''ve gotten everything we have now by depending on our own efforts, and we were never afraid from the very beginning! We will never again be those two poor wretches worried about something to eat. The people we are now can afford this!"


    "Blockhead, Go ahead!"


    "So!" Chen Mu''s confused eyes became clear again, and he resolutely nodded.


    Having decided, he got right into gear. Without any hesitation, he went out to buy everything on the list. In particular, he went to the card shops to find that a routine three-star battle card cost less than three to five hundred thousand. While this tailless shuttle card would use up two million to make, which filled Chen Mu with anticipation toward it.


    With money flowing like water, he came back with a huge pile of materials, but he had run into some difficulty.


    There were a few kinds of materials that he couldn''t buy. It was hard for Chen Mu to understand the issue, since how it could be that materials for a three-star battle card weren''t available? Never mind three-star, what about four and five-star, which he should also be able to buy.


    But Chen Mu had run around to every materials shop in the whole of Eastern Shang-Wei City, and without exception he couldn''t find the materials. This messed with Chen Mu, since if he didn''t have those few kinds of materials, then the huge sums of money that he had spent to get his materials was all in vain.


    Just when he was at his wits'' end, he remembered the low-grade fantasy card club. Didn''t they have a trading area? Chen Mu decided to try his luck there.


    Chen Mu had only just entered the great hall when he was discovered by the idle Lan Feng. Her eyes lit up, since this young man was what the director wanted her to pay attention to.


    Keeping her professional smile, she gathered herself up to go and greet him, "It''s been a long time since you''ve come, Mr. Chen."


    "Mmmm." Chen Mu responded.


    "Didn''t Mr. Chen receive the invitation letter for the last two-way meeting? It disappointed a lot of people that we didn''t see you there." Lan Feng said while pretending a casual laugh.


    "Invitation letter?" Chen Mu was taken aback, "Wasn''t that sent by mistake? Doesn''t your advanced group require four hundred points?"


    Lan Feng''s expression stiffened, as she didn''t know what to say. Could that really be the reason . . .?


    Barely able to force a smile, "Mr. Chen is really funny! Since you resolved so many requests for help last time, you have already earned over four hundred points. That one time you topped a month for the advanced group members."


    "Oh." Chen Mu turned right around since his feet hadn''t stopped moving, and went directly toward the trading area.


    Lan Feng hurried to follow when she saw this, "Mr. Chen has come for . . ."


    "To buy!" Chen Mu didn''t look back, but strode ahead.


    Dammit, can''t you walk a little slower? This old lady can''t keep up! Lan Feng followed behind him, breaking into a jog, cursing through her clenched teeth, but said very sweetly, "What would Mr. Chen like to buy? Members of the advanced group have a very high purchase limit!"


    This phrase finally got Chen Mu''s attention, "Ah, very good!" He sped up a bit, dying to get to the treading area.


    Lan Feng''s inward cursing turned a little happier, and while she was helpless to keep up, the clacking of her stringy high heels fell on the floor like rain.


    Chen Mu finally arrived at the trading area, and looked all around at a loss, since it was his first time coming there. Behind him, Lan Feng was panting with her two hands on her two knees.


    "What would Mr. Chen like to buy?" Lan Feng finally asked after she calmed and saw Chen Mu''s bewildered expression, and popped out a laugh, having dissipated her anger from just then.

 Chapter 48: Point Sweeps

    Chapter 48: Point Sweeps


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu handed over the list in his hand.


    Lan Feng''s heart rate started to race when she took the list and looked it over carefully. Trying to keep her excitement in check, she probed a little, "These are all high-grade materials! I''m afraid they can only be used by high-grade card masters. Is it possible that Mr. Chen is a high-grade card master?


    Is it possible that this guy is really a fat cat?


    No wonder Lan Feng was so agitated. The high-grade card masters in Eastern Shang-Wei City could be counted on one''s fingers. And what''s more, in the whole club, only the president had that designation. Even the director was only a mid-grade card master.


    Chen Mu was rather astonished. The materials on the list were both rare and unpopular, and even the shopkeepers who specialized in the business of making materials weren''t able to recognize them all. And yet this woman recognizes them? Still her speculation that he was a high-grade card master was simply preposterous.


    "No." Chen Mu shook his head definitively, and then asked her right away, "Do you have these materials on sale here?"


    Lan Feng became more enthusiastic, and hastily said, "First I''ll help you by asking around, so that you can avoid searching item by item." By that time her heart''s flowers were blooming, and she was elated. No matter if Chen Mu was a high-grade card master or not, it was certain that he was a card master whose strength stood out.


    She activated the communications card on her wrist, and a verdict came back a moment later. Chen Mu was watching Lan Feng, waiting for the result.


    "I just inquired on your behalf, and we just happen to have all of the materials you require here in the club. Since you are a member of the advanced group, you have the right to buy them. But . . ." Lan Feng gave Chen Mu a look, and promptly said, "But if you want to buy all of the materials on the list, you need eight hundred points, and just now you have only four hundred and fifty-three points. Which is to say that you would still need three hundred and forty-seven points."


    Lan Feng was secretly praising the president for how awesome he was! Because the materials were rather precious, she specifically consulted with the president to get his opinion. After learning about the incident with Chen Mu, he had showed an unusual level of interest in him. The program in front of the president just then could really use a card master with outstanding ability.


    Taking a carefully tactful and solicitous tone, Lan Feng opened her mouth, "Being still short by three hundred and forty-seven points, if you were to do one or two large programs . . ."


    Without waiting for her to finish, Chen Mu cut her short, "Still short three hundred and forty-seven points? I can buy them if I have eight hundred points?"


    "Yes!" Lan Feng said brightly, "If you get three hundred and forty-seven points, you can buy them at any time. Of course, that would be provided that no other club member would want to buy them today, in which case we wouldn''t be able to stop them.


    Collecting three hundred and forty-seven points in one day was easier said than done! Not having quite thought it through, she wondered how much the president really needed the person''s help. Indeed, she had never seen the points for some responsibility ever exceed two hundred. And then as soon as he opened his mouth, the president was talking over three hundred points, and he didn''t seem like a generous person, no matter how she looked at it!


    Still, she believed that the person she was facing would jump into this hole without any hesitation. Unless he were to participate in that kind of large-scale duty, how else would he be able to gather up over three hundred points in such a short time? And what''s more, she had already checked up that Chen Mu didn''t have any acquaintances in the group, and so if he were thinking of borrowing, he wouldn''t have any place to borrow from.


    Unless her counterpart didn''t really want those materials!


    In her eyes, she was one hundred percent certain that this young fellow was yearning for those kinds of materials.


    "Oh." Chen Mu grunted his response and turned around to leave.


    That completely unexpected move by Chen Mu left Lan Feng stopped dead, with her brain yet to respond.


    By the time she did respond, Chen Mu was already ten meters away.


    "Mr. Chen, Mr. Chen!" She rushed to catch up, and nervously said, "Don''t you want these materials anymore?"


    "Why wouldn''t I want them?" Chen Mu looked at Lan Feng full of incredulity.


    Lan Feng felt her brain getting more confused, and said somewhat incoherently, "Then you . . . you, now are . . .?"


    "Earning points!" Without turned back, Chen Mu shot off his ''well of course'' response.


    Chen Mu got to the large hall and sat down in front of one of the screens, where he looked at the long string of requests, and then finally exhaled, picked up the light-screen pen, and started browsing from the beginning.


    The first . . . the second . . .


    All that could be seen was Chen Mu sometimes frowning and sometimes writing furiously. He had already entered into a state without self-awareness and didn''t notice the expression of marvel on Yan Feng''s face behind him.


    But still, the great hall was full of hubbub like a tea house at the time, and crowded with excited looking people. From time to time, someone would activate their communications card.


    "Old Wang, come to the club quickly. Come quickly!"


    "What''s going on here? That''s a surprise¡­" The person on the other end was clearly a little out of it.


    "Ha ha, do you still remember that guy who swept up all the points that last time?" The one speaking smiled mysteriously.


    "Swept the points? Oh, you''re talking about that weirdo who crazily swept up over four hundred points?" Old Wang came right back to his senses, and his voice got a lot louder.


    "That''s the one! Wonder to behold, the guy is back again today! He''s in the great hall just now, aren''t you going to come, Old Wang? The question you posted last time about the circular composition was already resolved by that guy! Check this out, see if the results are right. A few of our buddies are waiting"


    "What? I''ll be there right away!" Old Wang quickly ended the communication and climbed right into his shuttle and flew off to the club.


    Two hours had passed, and Chen Mu had already succeeded in resolving twelve problems, which is to say that he had already gotten eighty-five points. But to look at him he didn''t have any intention of stopping.


    Staring in concentration at the screen, his brain whirring, none of the problems were simple. It was a good thing that his theoretical knowledge was rather strong, and that he had all that rich experience making card plays. Moreover, he now realized that the crux was in making those twelve cards.


    Eleven of those twelve cards were low-level fantasy cards, but the complexity and difficulty of those eleven cards could be called incredible.


    Chen Mu didn''t know how much time he''d spent thinking and how many hard problems he''d had to overcome before he could make those twelve cards. But he was using all of that hard mental work now to be able to resolve all those other people''s requests for help.


    ''Low-grade'' fantasy card refers to one or two-star fantasy cards, and although the degree of difficulty to make them was not high, the learning they embodied was still very deep. And the usage of low-level fantasy cards was ever expanding at that time, as was their refinement, moving the direction for development more and more toward specialized requirements. In that regard, high-level card masters were not even close to those low-level card masters.


    Chen Mu''s behavior last time hadn''t attracted people''s attention. But they were astounded to discover afterwards that one person had surprisingly made a mad sweep of over four hundred points, having resolved several dozen requests for help. This kind of thing had never happened since the establishment of the club.


    The first question on most people''s minds was what kind of person could be so formidable?


    Unfortunately, this legendary point sweeper disappeared from the scene after that. No matter who the object of their attention was, if he weren''t an ace he was certainly a genius to have been able to sweep four hundred points in a day, which got him the respect of everyone in the club.


    Chen Mu didn''t know that the person who had posted the third request that he was just then working on was in the club at the same time. This card master had just gotten Chen Mu''s proposed solution and was overjoyed to find out that the responder was that point sweeper called Chen Mu.


    He was trembling with excitement just then, and after he had finally calmed himself down, he hurriedly spread the news. Unlike Chen Mu, he was a three-year old-timer, who know everyone in the club.


    The news propagated in an instant, until it had filled the entire hall, and even quite a few who were at home dropped whatever they were doing to rush over.


    And so, everyone was scanning the hall to find out which one was the point sweeper.


    Very quickly, they targeted Chen Mu. For one thing, Chen Mu was unfamiliar, and there wasn''t anyone who knew his name. For another, Lan Feng stood behind him like his attendant, with an expression of astonishment on her face, which was enough for them to guess who Chen Mu was.


    Some bold sorts gathered around, even though everyone felt that would be a little presumptuous.


    Those who hadn''t gathered then started to itch unbearably, as though they were being scratched by hundreds of claws and they couldn''t help gathering there as well.


    More and more people were gathering like that until there was a large crowd around Chen Mu. But they weren''t making any noise, with each of them holding their breath, staring in a trance at the screen in front of that youth.


    At first Lan Feng took fright at the state of affairs, but then she smiled wryly to herself that the scene had already made the smug calculations of the president come to naught. From her statistical results, Chen Mu was quickly approaching two hundred points. If he kept up the trend, never mind three hundred points, even making four hundred wouldn''t cover it.


    Seeing the fixed looks of so many card masters behind her, she had to step aside. She called the president''s communication card, and gave him a quick introduction to the situation, and after some sounds of assent, her expression returned to normal.


    According to later calculations, that day listed the largest number of members ever recorded for any one day in the last two years. After a while, even a drop of water wouldn''t have been able to squeeze through those surrounding Chen Mu. Late arriving card masters were impatiently hopping up and down outside, while those who had posted requests for help were hurriedly running over to screens to see if their requests had been resolved.


    A few other very intelligent card masters were rushing to take advantage of that chance to have some of their own long-held conundrums resolved. Right away, the number of requests for help shot up crazily, with no end in sight.


    Those card masters whose questions had been answered were full of admiration and handed over their points without any hesitation.


    Chen Mu was sweeping up points much faster than the last time. Since so many of his requesters were basically all on-scene, all he had to do was respond and then after the requester confirmed its correctness he would immediately pay over the points.


    This naturally sped things up, but Chen Mu wasn''t paying any attention. What he was actually thinking had nothing to do with three or four hundred points. He was thinking that since the last time took him an entire day to reach four hundred points, he would have to spend a similar amount of time this time.


    Based on that, he was paying no attention to his points, but only concentrating on his responses.


    Lan Feng was dumbfounded by the watertight crowd, and could see that the skill she''d deployed to get out to make her report to the president wasn''t going to get her back in.


    Just then someone called out behind her "Lan Feng . . . Lan Feng . . ."


    Turning around to look, she saw An Xiaoyou running in her direction huffing and puffing.


    Without waiting for Lan Feng to open her mouth, An Xiaoyou couldn''t wait to ask, "Miss Lan, hasn''t Chen Mu come today, where is he, where is he?"


    Lan Feng murmured, "Um, over there."


    An Xiaoyou was taken aback by the watertight crowd, and mumbled, "how could this crowd be quicker than me?" after saying that, he showed a death defying look, and through gritted teeth said, "damn, that little master can put things together," and squeezed into the crowd.


    Seeing that, Lan Feng followed behind An Xiaoyou, and some people ahead of them made way. If she didn''t take such initiative, she wouldn''t be Lan Feng!


    With the strength of nine oxen and two tigers ¨C straining to their limit ¨C and suffering countless glares and raised eyebrows, An Xiaoyou and Lan Feng finally got through.


    Several hundred people formed a strangely quiet dense mass, where An Xiaoyou was reluctant to open his mouth. Goodness gracious, it would be a bad day for him if he were to annoy that gang of uncles!


    But once he turned his gaze to the screen, he couldn''t take it away.


    Lan Feng admired the look of concentration she saw on Chen Mu. Leaving aside his actual strength, very few people could keep up his level of concentration. But that time . . . to be able to maintain such concentration for several hours was using up energy and brain power in quantities she could only imagine.


    "Would you like something to eat?" Lan Feng went over to Chen Mu and thoughtfully whispered.


    "You also take care of food here?" Chen Mu asked unconsciously without taking his gaze off the screen.


    Lan Feng suddenly didn''t know whether to cry or laugh, but just gave a hmmmm, while going on to ask, "would you like to eat a little something?" But don''t be too picky, since while the club''s kitchen has some high-grade stuff, there aren''t many kinds.


    "Water, steamed buns" Chen Mu''s gaze had still not left the screen.


    Without knowing why, when she heard Chen Mu''s response, Lan Feng was startled and turned up her nose, making a little sound, and retreated to An Xiaoyou''s side.


    Lan Feng gave An Xiaoyou a little slap on the skull, startling him. About to shout out a curse, he quickly retracted it seeing that it was Lan Feng, and then said smilingly, "Does Lan Feng need something?"


    Lan Feng faced outside and mumbled, "Go and bring back some steamed buns and water."


    An Xiaoyou puckered up his face looking at that dense crowd behind him, "No way, Lan Feng. Are you trying to get me killed? Boohoo, you would never see your little wanderer again. . ."


    Lan Feng arched her eyebrows and opened her eyes wide, "Are you going or not?"


    "Look, this . . . this . . ." Hating to let go of the screen he was watching, he couldn''t get anything out.


    "If you do it, I''ll introduce you to Chen Mu, OK?" Lan Feng tossed out the bait.


    An Xiaoyou''s eye''s lit up, "Really?" And then he proudly pushed out his not so impressive chest, "Don''t worry Lan Feng, never mind steamed buns, I''ll even marry them to dumplings and bring you back the offspring." He then turned around and squeezed back through the crowd with unstoppable momentum and will.

 Chapter 49: Bai Zheyuan

    Chapter 49: Bai Zheyuan


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu felt that if he were to gather up all of the problems he''d completed while he was doing them, it would seem that he could compile a "One-Star Fantasy Card Problem Set" volume. Chen Mu only chose to do the ones which were unusual, and which addressed a variety of aspects. Some of them he couldn''t even understand, and he would have no choice but to skip those.


    Some day if he had the time, it wouldn''t be a bad way to pass the time to come down there specifically to solve problems.


    "For you." Came a woman''s voice from beside him, when a bottle of water and some steamed buns appeared in front of him.


    Chen Mu was surprised at first, though that was followed by his neglected hunger bursting right back out.


    "Thanks." Chen Mu wasn''t looking to see who it was, and wolfed it all down.


    Five steamed buns and a bottle of water gone in two minutes made An Xiaoyou, who was to the side, a little jumpy. Wow, a strong person was really a strong person. Even eating steamed buns, he was that much stronger than most people.


    Lan Feng was also dumbfounded, wondering if steamed buns were all that tasty. They didn''t have any condiments, no side dishes, no jam . . .


    Ah, if only there were two more, it would be perfect, Chen Mu was feeling as he rubbed his belly which would take seven rolls to fill. But he quickly put that pointless thought to the back of his mind.


    Time was precious. Just then that woman had said very clearly that she could only guarantee that the materials would be there for the day. If he couldn''t earn enough points that day, then who knows from which back door he could get these materials. And all those materials he had already spent two million on would have been bought in vain.


    No way! Whatever happened, he would have to earn enough points today! Chen Mu wiped his mouth, and turned his gaze back to the screen in front of him.


    Tall, with a snow-white suit and snow-white shoes, and wearing a glistening silver necktie which sparkled delicately in the lights, there was only one person who dressed like that in the entire low-grade fantasy card club, full stop. With a handsome face that could nearly crush all the women, refined enough to drive all the pretty girls crazy, always lightly smiling, and with deep charming eyes, he carried himself with cultivation and refinement, full of the charm of a mature man.


    This, then, was the current president of the low-grade fantasy card club, Bai Zheyuan.


    To speak of him invoked the stuff of legends. He was already a high-grade card master at thirty-two, where in the whole of the Heavenly Federation there weren''t many who had achieved that kind of honor. According to the strict demands of his father, he was brought up to have impeccable grace since he was very young. That made him into the most dazzling man in Eastern Shang-Wei City, and the lover of many pretty girls'' dreams.


    Of course, if that''s all it was, it would hardly be the stuff of legends.


    To become a super-hot high-grade card master, and then unexpectedly to set up the low-grade fantasy card club. . .


    . . . Who does he think he is, the famous Master Luo Qi?


    At that time, jokes about people waiting to have a sighting had become the hot topic among the high society of Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    Bai Zheyuan had an irrefutable way to keep everyone''s mouth shut. The low-grade fantasy card club had put out eleven fantasy card products during its first year, each one extremely successful, which made the low-grade fantasy card club of great economic benefit.


    By the second year, they had launched twenty-five fantasy card products, which catapulted the low-level fantasy card club into one of the most powerful firms in Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    Bai Zhenyuan himself had been selected as one of the top ten most influential people in the Heavenly Federation that year.


    The loose structure of the low-level fantasy card club gave it an exuberant vitality for them to encourage the creative uses of low-grade fantasy cards. Add to that their terrific ability to forecast the market, and you have that huge and vibrant club.


    It had been a long while since Bai Zhenyuan had been there himself, since he''d found that if he were to show himself in the club, things would become a little chaotic.


    But today he wanted to see for himself if that young fellow called Chen Mu was really as awesome as Lan Feng said he was.


    Were all the kids those days as incredible at daring to earn points that way? Bai Zheyuan sighed; it had been a long time since he had engaged in any specific technical research on one-star fantasy cards. He was a high-grade card master after all, and couldn''t really use up his life on low-grade fantasy cards.


    But he was hoping that someone actually well-versed in low-grade fantasy cards would appear, since they needed a technical director, and many people had already brought up that kind of request with him. For the first two years, he had taken the responsibilities of technical direction upon himself.


    Now that most of his time was spent on his own research and the overall direction of the club, he naturally couldn''t pay attention to those matters.


    And then there was that program on his hands.


    Hey, why is the club so quiet today? Bai Zheyuan looked a little surprised, and without any hesitation, lifted his feet and walked inside.


    Once he got to the great hall, he was struck dead!


    A dense mass of hundreds was crowded around a large-scale glowing screen, lifting their faces and staring at it, motionless. Time seemed to have stood still in there, where there wasn''t a sound, and all of those card masters looked like clay figures.


    In that calm and nearly suffocating scene, there was only a crowd of people around a large-scale screen where numbers and words jumped noiselessly, sometimes quickly and sometimes with nothing happening for a long time.


    Bai Zheyuan gulped unconsciously.


    What is actually going on with these people?


    His gaze followed the lifted gaze of everyone else, falling on that screen in the great hall which wouldn''t otherwise have attracted any attention.


    The more he watched, the more astounded he was. His understanding of energy rules was much more advanced than those card masters, and he could tell as soon as it was posted whether Chen Mu''s response was right or not.


    Correct . . . correct . . . all correct . . .


    Bai Zheyuan''s sense of astonishment grew greater and greater. This was his first time ever running into a low-grade card master with such penetrating understanding.


    The low-grade card master fell far short of the high-grade card master with regard to the rules of recognizing and understanding energy, which really stood in the way of the low-grade card master''s advancement. It was easy for them to feel helpless in the way of comparatively crucial issues. So why would any high-grade card master like him be interested in a low-grade card master?


    That this young fellow surrounded by a crowd of people was not a high-grade card master was evident to Bai Zheyuan from his knowledge of the rules of energy. Chen Mu''s familiarity with the rules of energy was still at a relatively basic state, but he had never heard of such a freak who could touch the core of the energy rules from that kind of knowledge.


    Bai Zheyuan could hardly contain himself.

 Chapter 50: An Invitation

    Chapter 50: An Invitation


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu came out from his trance, and checked on his points. One thousand three hundred points. The number baffled him somewhat, wondering how there could be so many. He shook out his head to make sure he wasn''t seeing things and then finally relaxed.


    Ah, now I can buy those materials! That was the first thing on his mind.


    He had been sitting for quite a while, and his legs had gotten numb, so he struggled somewhat to get up, then looking around a little, he was startled.


    How could there be so many people? He looked quizzically toward Lan Feng, who was chuckling, "Mr. Chen is too magical, you have really rocked the club this time."


    "Oh." Chen Mu responded, although his face still looked a little uncertain. He sure didn''t intend to get tangled up in the matter, and he asked Lan Feng directly, "I''ve already reached my eight hundred points, so can I buy the materials?"


    "No problem! We''ve already prepared them for you," Lan Feng said brightly, but she looked over the dense crowd, and showed some consternation, "but it looks like it will be a little while before we can get out."


    "No need, come with me." Chen Mu grabbed Lan Feng by the hand, and plunged his body into the crowd.


    If even those strong and tough water weeds in the simple water world couldn''t stop Chen Mu''s burst strength, then how could those card masters without the strength to bind a chicken?


    He looked like a swimming fish, drilling and bending and then bursting out of the crowd pulling along a stunned Lan Feng.


    Just as Bai Zheyuan was trying to think of a way in, two people suddenly drilled their way out from the crowd. Looking closer, he could see that it was Lan Feng and a young fellow he didn''t recognize. Bai Zheyuan''s heart jumped, and he quickly went over to welcome him.


    "Lan-Lan, is this Mr. Chen Mu?" Bai Zheyuan asked before getting over in front of the two of them.


    Lan Feng looked up in surprise to see Bai Zheyuan, having come in person. She promptly nodded, "Unhuh, this is Mr. Chen Mu. Mr. Chen, this is the clubs highest officer, president Bai Zheyuan." Lan Feng made ready to leave after making the quick introductions, since she didn''t have to be present for the chatting between them, and she was still going to help Chen Mu by delivering the materials.


    She was really quite astonished, since she had never seen the president so solicitous, being always tepid toward anything, and he had never been so eager as she saw him that day.


    "Materials!" Chen Mu reminded her.


    Bai Zheyuan smiled warmly and said, "Mr Chen needn''t worry, Miss Lan-Lan has already gone to get them, and will bring them back in a short while."


    Chen Mu gave an ''oh'' without saying anything.


    Bai Zheyuan didn''t make anything of that, and said with a sunny face, "Mr. Chen''s card making ability is really amazing. What I saw this time was quite admirable, and I couldn''t wait to meet Mr. Chen. I didn''t know that Mr. Chen had such massive magic, ha ha, Mr. Chen is the very first in history to have been able to fascinate them to such an extent!" Bai Zheyuan''s tone was very even, enunciating each word clearly, with extreme affability, even to the extent of flattery.


    Given his status, anyone else would be giddy to hear him talk that way.


    But for one thing, Chen Mu didn''t know who Bai Zheyuan was, having buried himself in making one-star power cards, and making fantasy cards was only something from within a year if he were to work it out. He knew less about the world of card making than he did about the food markets. For another thing, he had never been very interested in that kind of empty talk, and his mind was completely occupied with those materials of his.


    Chen Mu was so distracted that the didn''t really hear anything that Bai Zheyuan was saying.


    Having a lot of self-restraint, the smile on Bai Zheyuan''s face remained natural, and he deftly realized the error of his manner of speaking. Then catching Lan Feng walking his way out of the corner of his eye, he smilingly said, "Here comes the fruit of Mr. Chen''s labor!"


    Lan Feng was carrying a metal-bound case, which she very politely presented to Chen Mu with both hands, "Since the black string algae and the cloudy gum have to be kept at a low temperature, we used a cryogenic case." Inside the cryogenic case was a cold-producing card, which could maintain the inside of the case at a steady low temperature.


    Chen Mu took and opened the box, and a chill hit him in the face as he opened it. The material inside which looked like a roll of black hair was the black string algae, where there were also a few pieces of translucent amber-like cloudy gum, which would become gummy if it weren''t kept at a low temperature, and lose its potency if it weren''t used right away.


    There were also a few other materials scattered about inside, and taking stock, nothing was missing. Chen Mu was very satisfied, although he was exhausted. Still, his spirits seemed high during such excitement.


    Seeing Chen Mu so satisfied to receive the cryogenic case, Bai Zheyuan deepened his smile a bit. This was a very pure and simple person in Bai Zheyuan''s estimation, the kind of person most suited to technical things.


    "Ah, may I take the liberty to ask what kind of work Mr. Chen is engaged in." Once he had gotten to know Chen Mu''s temperament, he immediately changed his tactics to simply ask questions very directly.


    "I don''t have any work." Chen Mu didn''t lift his head, reverently taking the case. Those were the most high-grade materials he had ever come in contact with until that point.


    Bai Zheyuan was secretly overjoyed, and with some difficulty hiding his eagerness, "Then I wonder if Mr. Chen might be interested to take on the responsibility of the position of technical director in our head office?" adding, "Of course, I believe that our proposed conditions would demonstrate our sincerity."


    To the side, Lan Feng quickly stifled a gasp, hurriedly covering her mouth with her right hand, to keep herself from making any sound.


    Technical Director! What kind of position is that? Her immediate superior ¨C the director ¨C was two levels below the level of the technical director. As far as she knew, the president himself had taken the position of technical director for the past two years.


    Was it possible that the youth was already awesome enough to take on the responsibilities as technical director? She couldn''t quite believe her eyes and ears. For their great president who had always been celebrated for his wisdom, to bring forward such an absurd-seeming proposal inside the office and mean it . . .


    She was afraid it would scandalize the office! Lan Feng''s appearance changed.


    "What does a technical director do?" asked Chen Mu, making Lan Feng nearly fall over.


    There was no change to the expression on Bai Zheyuan''s face, and smiling as always, he said, "Oh, it''s actually very simple, pretty much like what you were doing today. And the work load isn''t that high, with only a few dozen questions a year."


    "Oh, problem solving." Chen Mu looked as though he understood. While to the side, Lan Feng''s face was black, of course a technical director would answer technical problems as part of his technical work. . .


    The smile on Bai Zheyuan''s face broadened, as he nodded his agreement, "Actually very simple, just doing problems. What do you think? Are you interested?

 Chapter 51: The Tailless Shuttle Card

    Chapter 51: The Tailless Shuttle Card


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    If it was really just doing problems, Chen Mu actually thought he could accept, though he immediately thought of Copper and the "Legend of Master Shi," which had still not been completed. So, he was afraid he would not be able to do these problems for a little while. Even though Chen Mu really didn''t know what a technical director actually did, the one talking to him was sincere toward him, which was very rare. Copper had always said that when they finished the "Legend of Master Shi," they would quit, so he still had to consider the question of work.


    As far as Chen Mu was then concerned, money was not just for living any more. If he wanted to analyze that mysterious card still further, it would be impossible without the support of a large amount of money. Spending over two million on a tailless shuttle card wasn''t just in the name of burning money.


    Chen Mu showed some consternation on his face.


    Seeing that, Bai Zheyuan''s heart sank, and he immediately followed with, "If Mr. Chen has any issues, bring them up for us to resolve. We will resolve them immediately, and if we can''t resolve them right away, we will make every effort to come up with a solution."


    Thinking it over, Chen Mu could only say, "I''m afraid it won''t work for a little while yet, since I still have something else I have to do."


    "And how much time might Mr. Chen require to take care of these matters?" Bai Zheyuan asked without changing his tone. He could tell from what Chen Mu said that he really did have something he needed to do and wasn''t just making excuses.


    "I''m not sure yet." Chen Mu shook his head, "probably about half a year."


    The smile on Bai Zheyuan''s face didn''t diminish at all, "No problem, no problem, assuming that Mr. Chen will be coming here often, when you have taken care of these matters, please come look for me as you please." After he finished what he was saying, he took out a white name card, and gave it to Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu took the card and carefully put it into his pocket. In his eyes, it could be his meal ticket later on.


    Bai Zheyuan looked on for a long while after seeing Chen Mu take the cryogenic case and leave the club.


    "Can he really handle being the technical director, Mr. President?" Lan Feng stammered, having felt all along that the president was being a little rash in making such a quick decision on the technical director selection.


    "Well, he has the ability." Although Bai Zheyuan spoke very lightly, he was extremely decisive. Then he said to Lan Feng, "Stay in daily touch with him, and if he needs to draw out any materials, make it as convenient as possible. We certainly can''t let such talent slip by." By the time he had finished speaking, although the president''s tone remained mild, Lan Feng could detect a note of severity.


    "Yes, sir!" Lan Feng responded promptly.


    "Your work lately has been quite good. The group will not be ungenerous to those who make contributions to the group. Starting today, you will become Wang Hao''s assistant." As Bai Zheyuan''s voice faded, it lost none of its dignity.


    "I am grateful for the president''s cultivation!" Lan Feng was bursting with joy; Wang Hao was the current director.


    "Well done." Bai Zheyuan was looking at the crowd still gathered around that large screen, and nodded toward Lan Feng as he turned around and left the club.


    Although Chen Mu could start to make the tailless shuttle card, he didn''t get right to work, but kept deliberating. His deliberations weren''t only about the steps in making the card, they were also about its composition principles. Given his current abilities, it wasn''t practical for him to completely understand the principles of the tailless shuttle card, but Chen Mu was still determined to make it.


    Although it looked as though he wasn''t being diligent, Chen Mu didn''t see it that way. As far as he could tell he wasn''t only greatly increasing the chances to successfully make the card, he could also gain more knowledge, killing two birds with one stone. He had always considered principles to be the most fundamental thing.


    After two weeks of refinement, and having committed everything he''d learned to memory, Chen Mu finally decided to begin.


    The first thing was to compound the card ink. That was quite a crucial step. He needed to concoct three different kinds of ink for that over two million in materials, each of them having different effects.


    In card making, the degree of difficulty to make a card would go up by increasing multiples the more kinds of card ink were involved in making a card. The characteristics of each ink influenced one another. Different kinds of ink had different cooling periods, which would change after intersecting with other card inks . . .


    Each of those factors would all influence the final result for the card.


    Never mind not having ever made a card using three different kinds of ink, Chen Mu had never made a card which required even two kinds of ink before then. The things inside the mysterious card really did seem to give off a strange smell. Generally speaking, a three-star card would require two kinds of card ink at most, while the ones that required three kinds of card ink were all four or five-star cards.


    Still, he didn''t need to consider the problem any further. What he wanted to do now was to make the tailless shuttle card.


    The prerequisites for a card master were to do the work of sufficient preparation, to have a calm mind, and to have a precise and skilled pair of hands.


    Chen Mu''s work in preparation to make even the card plays was already outrageously meticulous, letting alone being still more so for that card then.


    All the materials had gone through their preliminary processing and had been precisely weighed. In front of Chen Mu were three different colored piles of powder. First, he put the pile of dull-green colored powder into a bottle, and added some of the blue alfonse fluid. In an instant the turbid green liquid in the bottle rapidly changed with a speed discernable to the naked eye, until five seconds later what was left was just a kind of slightly viscous transparent golden liquid.


    Chen Mu immediately put the bottle in the heating furnace, which was a special purpose card master furnace whose heating card would concentrate its heat output on a specific region where the heat distribution would be extremely uniform.


    In twelve seconds, the golden liquid in the bottle quickly deepened to become a brilliant orange. Chen Mu put the medium blade pen that he had already gotten ready earlier into the bottle, allowing it to draw enough card ink. The bottle never left the furnace for the entire process.


    After a half minute, Chen Mu took the medium blade pen out of the card ink while in front of him was a blank white card that he had already prepared earlier.


    Chen Mu''s pen didn''t hesitate at all as it fell, and the nib touched the blank white card in an instant, where the brilliant orange card ink turned into a dark golden color. A trail of smooth and full dark golden lines wound out from the pen nib, with Chen Mu''s perception firmly latched onto the interface between the card and the ink, where what had been a slight white glow was transformed by the dark golden lines into a golden halo.


    Chen Mu''s every movement was extremely accurate, and his sight was sharply focused.


    After two hours, this tailless shuttle card was finally finished.


    During the short time while this tailless shuttle card was being completed, the dark golden glow from its surface was pulsing as though it were breathing. The light finally dissipated after that was repeated three times,.


    A card full of a complex dark golden composition sat peacefully on the table, and if one were to look closely, two even finer silvery and light brown compositions would appear, scattered across the face of the whole card beneath the dazzling dark golden glow.


    The tailless shuttle card had been made successfully!

 Chapter 52: Glittering Shuttle Moves

    Chapter 52: Glittering Shuttle Moves


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu''s mind was full of agitation. It was his first battle card, and up until then, his first three-star card. The whole composition process had gone so unexpectedly smoothly that it had made him wonder whether this wasn''t really the unreal feeling of a dream.


    The demands on a card master''s perception to make a three-star card were very steep, and according to the current uniform rating system, the minimum required perceptual rating was four or above.


    Had he already exceeded level four? Chen Mu didn''t quite dare to believe it. Four stars was a threshold; no matter if it was a card master or a card artisan, it was the first threshold. To have gotten past level four meant that you were no longer a novice.


    Chen Mu himself felt that he hadn''t been held back at all because of problems with perception, throughout the process of composition.


    Perceptual issues were then quickly tossed aside by him, while he was entirely entranced to look at the tailless shuttle card in his hand. Precise and complex textures had come from Chen Mu''s delicate smooth pen strokes, like an exquisite brush painting, rigorous and vivid.


    It was his most successful work up until then.


    After fondling it for ten full minutes, he finally put the tailless shuttle card into his apparatus, where he had earlier placed a three-star power card.


    This was certainly not that fiery dragon fantasy card. This was a genuine three-star battle card.


    He had mentally gone through the introduction and usage tips for the tailless shuttle card inside that mysterious card, and had fully memorized everything. Chen Mu took a deep breath, and then immediately pushed the activation button.


    He had finally gotten to that point!


    Without any misgivings, he latched his perception onto the apparatus.


    No matter what kind of battle card, once it was put into an active state, its native composition would cause it to emit some energy shape. The power of the energy form was predetermined, but still those card artisans with exceptional strength could transform it, making its composition still more perfect and powerful.


    Different card artisans had different interpretations of power, and so the transformations they made were all different, which also then formed the different schools of card artisanship.


    Chen Mu raised his right hand, and a light white glow slowly flowed from the apparatus, until it nearly covered his entire palm.


    As his heart paused, Chen Mu turned off the lights in the room. The white rays of light were more distinct in the darkened room, looking like a kind of viscous fluid as they slowly flowed in his hand.


    He could sense the fluid motion, whose energy was warm and without any destructive power. He didn''t feel any discomfort from this power now enveloping his hand.


    After a moment of careful internalization, Chen Mu very carefully nudged the tailless shuttle card in the apparatus.


    With a light buzz, the power which had been diffused evenly across his whole palm started to concentrate on his index finger! With so much power now concentrated on his fore-finger, the light rays took on the qualities of a substance. The power that was under the control of the tailless shuttle card started to undergo some changes, becoming gradually transparent while even more substantial, making it look as though Chen Mu''s index finger was wearing a transparent crystalline shuttle tube.


    It looked more and more beautiful, which usually meant more lethal, a thought which came unbidden to Chen Mu. The crystalline-looking power tube was spinning at a very high speed, to an extent that his perception had no way to even guess its speed.


    It spun faster and faster, which according to the introduction to the tailless shuttle card in that mysterious card meant that it was getting more and more powerful. But at the same time, it would be getting more dangerous. If it spun beyond the limits of what you could control by your perception, then it would blow off the top of your finger.


    And then congratulations, there wouldn''t even be any bones left to your entire palm. This was certainly no calm harmless game.


    Chen Mu wouldn''t dare to let it go any faster, which would be too dangerous.


    He pointed his right index finger to an empty spot on the wall, and that crystalline power tube darted out like an arrow from a bow.


    Wuwuwu, the tailless shuttle card whizzing through midair made a strange sort of whistle, with a low vibration underneath.


    Pow, it left a finger-sized hole in the wall, which penetrated all the way through! Chen Mu raced over to the hole, and got up close to look, but he had no idea where that tailless shuttle had flown off to. Closely examining the small hole that it had left, he was trembling to discover that the sides of the hole were as smooth as if they had been polished.


    Poking in his finger, it fit like a kiss.


    Holy cow, if it had hit a person, wouldn''t it shoot right through? Chen Mu had already secretly determined never to use it in a fight until he had gotten to the point of being able to manipulate it to accord perfectly with his mind.


    Thinking back on the process just then, Chen Mu realized that his own perception hadn''t played a very big role. That must have been an issue with proficiency level. The process of the power concentrating from his whole palm to his index finger, and then becoming a clear power tube had been too quick, to the point that he couldn''t make any response, not even talking about deploying his perception to modify the composition.


    Chen Mu thought to himself that it looked like he would have to practice a lot more. But he was confused about where to practice. It certainly wouldn''t work at home, and it would be too dangerous to go to the outer reaches. Although he had a battle card in his hands, he still wasn''t so bold as to consider himself able to carry on any activities by himself in the outer reaches.


    So where could he go to practice? Chen Mu had a sudden flash, and had gotten an idea.


    * * *


    Zuo Tingyi had just come out from his father''s library. His father was very concerned with the whereabouts of Wang Ze and his group. Although he still wasn''t clear about what their goal was, Zuo Tingyi had already determined that their objective was in the outer reaches.


    Given that a powerful dragon can''t crush a snake in its own precincts ¨C and compared to the Star Academy, the Zuo Household could only be considered an unqualified power ¨C they were still the greatest power in Eastern Shang-Wei City. They''d been operating there for hundreds of years, and had a web of connections that was interconnected and complex, which could be said to be very deeply rooted.


    Zuo Tianlin immediately assembled a large group of people to pretend to be ordinary card-artisan adventurers, and formed them into small groups to start searching in all the areas of the outer reaches around Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    The Zuo household had never thought that the tiger should get all the food, and even while they could never contend against the great Star Academy, they still expected to divide out a bowl of soup.


    As Zuo Tingyi was getting ready to return to his own rooms, he ran into Mei Da.


    Zuo Tingyi promptly saluted, "Teacher, why have you come?" Mei Da was a high-level card master, and he was also Zuo Tingyi''s private instructor, and highly esteemed by him.

 Chapter 53: Mei Da

    Chapter 53: Mei Da


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Mei Da looked about sixty-some years old, with a face full of wrinkles and his hair and beard all white. He had somewhat cloudy glasses, but was still very amiable looking. He wore loose casual clothes, rather far from the formal dress of Zuo Tingyi''s kind.


    "It''s Tingyi, how have you been lately?" Mei Da laughingly said toward Zuo Tingyi, "Your father really wanted me to come here for a while, so how could I refuse." Mei Da and Zuo Tianlin had known one another for over twenty years, and their relationship had gone far beyond ordinary friendship. Mei Da was very fond of Zuo Tingyi, and had emptied his pockets to teach him, and never kept anything from him.


    "Wonderful! Then I can once again hear your expansive instruction!" His joy was palpable in his words.


    Mei Da smiled brightly, and then asked with concern, "How have your studies been lately? Have you run into any difficulties?"


    "There hasn''t been any trouble with my school work." Then Zuo Tingyi remembered that so called ''apparatus killer'' card play, "Chance Encounter," and quickly added, "But I did recently acquire some strange cards. I used all my equipment wanting to analyze them. The strange thing was that no matter which piece of analytical equipment, it would turn to scrap as soon as it analyzed the card."


    "Oh, that''s still going on?" Mei Da asked with a lot of interest, "Are those cards still around? Let me have a look."


    Zuo Tingyi took Mei Da to his lab at once.


    Mei Da closely examined some of the one-star fantasy cards from the "Chance Encounter" card play, and his face turned gradually grave. Zuo Tingyi didn''t dare ask him anything until he had put the card down, "Teacher, were you able to find any clues?"


    "These one-star fantasy cards have a very special composition inside, and I have no way just now to make any precise determination." Mei Da was speaking very circumspectly. Zuo Tingyi knew his teacher very well, and usually when the teacher used that tone, it was clear that the teacher wasn''t sure either.


    "What about your damaged equipment?" Mei Da suddenly asked.


    Zuo Tingyi pointed to the corner, "Over there."


    "Ha ha, by their look, these one-star fantasy cards have a lot of destructive power!" Mei Da said laughingly while he was smoothing his beard.


    Zuo Tingyi also laughed, "Some classmates in our school also suffered a disaster." And then he told him a little about how they had wanted to crack those fantasy cards at the beginning, and then afterward the matter of the two million apiece restitution. Then he talked about how he''d destroyed his little sister''s card play and the fuss he had caused.


    Mei Da got a kick out of it all.


    "I''ll first look at what basically happened to these machines." Seeing Zuo Tingyi''s look of not understanding, Mei Da explained, "since we have no way to use the equipment to analyze them now, we can analyze the machines, to find out why they were actually destroyed, and we can then infer what kind of damage this kind of fantasy card is actually capable of."


    Zuo Tingyi immediately understood what the teacher was talking about, and thought with admiration at once; why hadn''t he thought of that himself?


    Of course, this sort of ''coolie'' work was going to have to be done by Zuo Tingyi himself. Mei Da pointed out those things that Zuo Tingyi should be paying attention to, as well as explaining to him the function of each part within the apparatus, which benefitted Zuo Tingyi greatly.


    The huge analytic machine was dismembered piece by piece like that, until the most core component, the probe card, was in Mei Da''s hand.


    This probe card had been half fried, which changed its appearance beyond recognition. Mei Da put this probe card in front of his eyes, on the one hand examining it closely while on the other explaining to his beloved disciple, "The body of this probe card uses white wen mineral powder and set-cliff powder, which after mixing is added into the high-strength fibers from a red-star snake-skin and then press-formed with cold moon gum. A characteristic of this card is that it is very hard, with good adhesion, and having another particular quality of being able to sustain high temperatures."


    "So how could it be burned up like this?" Zuo Tingyi said with incomprehension.


    Mei Da laughed, "So-called ''withstand high temperatures'' is a relative concept. If the temperature exceeds its limits, it will burn just the same."


    "So, what you mean is that it produced temperatures beyond its own critical point?"


    "Correct!" Mei Da continued, "Although I''m not so clear about how to make this probe card, I know a thing or two about its principles. It can put out a lot of subtle energy to penetrate into the card being analyzed, and can determine its composition from the feedback energy. This is the principle of most analytical equipment."


    Seeing Zuo Tingyi''s adoring look, Mei Da laughed involuntarily, "Ha ha, these are not such abstruse principles, just broaden your reading a little and it will be easy to find out. But you''re still young now, and not yet suited for such messy things"


    Zuo Tingyi looked a little crestfallen.


    Mei Da''s gaze returned to the burnt probe card, and he muttered, "The reason for this card burning was certainly that it had exceeded its critical point. But under what conditions would the temperature go up?"


    Seeing his teacher''s look of ponderous concentration, Zuo Tingyi didn''t dare to interrupt him.


    After a whole half hour, Mei Da finally emerged from his pondering, and his two eyes gradually regained their clarity. Seeing Zuo Tingyi''s concerned look, Mei Da shook his head, and said diffidently, "I''m old, and my spirit won''t carry me. I can''t see clearly what''s going on here. I''ll have to consider it carefully and tell you as soon as I have come up with something."


    Zuo Tingyi felt some regret. He shouldn''t have given his teacher that problem. He couldn''t help but to tactfully advise, "Teacher, put this problem aside, and consider it again when you have the time."


    "Ha ha, don''t worry so much. Although I''m old, it''s still way too early to die. You shouldn''t worry so much." Mei Da laughed.


    Zuo Tingyi pondered it after he had sent Professor Mei Da back home. Professor Mei Da wasn''t only a high-grade card master, but his knowledge and experience far exceeded that of most high-grade card masters. Even he had no way to come to any conclusion about the card. What could leave him without any ideas?


    Could it be a new sect? Or someone who''d come up with something new?


    He thought for half a day and came up with nothing. Then Zuo Tingyi was suddenly slapping himself on the skull. Why hadn''t he been thinking of looking into the card master who''d made the card play? If he could find the person, wouldn''t that resolve all the questions? Since he''d been able to buy the card play, and with the Zuo family purchasing power, he was absolutely certain that he could dig up the card master.


    He immediately found the house manager and gave him the problem. Specialized matters should be managed by specialists.


    He was full of curiosity about the guy who could make such an awesome card.

 Chapter 54: Copper’s Good News

    Chapter 54: Copper¡¯s Good News


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Most every city had a card artisan training arena, which was one of the most important installations of the public infrastructure. Card artisan training could be pretty dangerous, and if precautions weren''t taken, it could involve people gathered around, causing unnecessary casualties. The training arena was a very strictly and carefully segregated area to make it convenient for card artisans to undertake every kind of specialized training.


    Apart from the drilling grounds and the specialized training grounds which were strictly limited to the card artisan classification, other areas were open to anyone.


    Even the small town of Burlington had a small-scale training arena, which naturally had only the most basic training conditions.


    Chen Mu just then was in the basic training area. Those so-called basic training grounds were actually just an empty building, with nothing inside it. Apart from the walls which were made of pretty good material, there was no other equipment, with even the floor being rough and full of potholes.


    It was indeed a "basic" training space, but even that run-down place was 50 Oudi an hour, which wasn''t any different from robbery. Chen Mu couldn''t help cursing to himself over and over about the training arena.


    But he hadn''t found a better place by that time, and he didn''t dare go out to the outer areas. In those days, there still wasn''t any free lunch. Chen Mu grudgingly handed over 150 Oudi to reserve three hours, and he had already determined to use those three hours thoroughly.


    He wasn''t used to wasting money.


    He could carry out all sorts of training there without concern, and didn''t have to worry about breaking anything or hurting other people. Activating his apparatus, the crystalline tailless shuttle appeared again on his index finger. Having a little bit more experience that time, he could internalize more things.


    The tailless shuttle on his finger spun faster and faster, with enough speed to make a person''s heart race, even making Chen Mu''s heart speed up. He knew that if he was slightly careless, there was an excellent probability of blowing away his right hand.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help feeling frightened and worried about the tailless shuttle shooting out from the virtual tip of his index finger like a bolt of electricity and leaving a little hole in the ground.


    Hu. Letting out a long breath, Chen mu couldn''t help mocking himself that he was actually still a coward. He hadn''t yet quite clearly realized by that time that being a card artisan was a profession which carried a high degree of risk, wondering how it was that wave after wave of so many people still wanted to dive into it.


    Still, this thought only rolled around in his mind for a little before it disappeared. He didn''t want to waste any time thinking about that issue, since he''d had to spend 150 Oudi to get those three hours.


    Chen Mu''s life had always been quite regular. Even now that he had the tailless shuttle card, his life hadn''t changed that much. Apart from spending some time each week at the training arena, the rest of his time hadn''t changed at all from before.


    According to the requirements from that mysterious card, he would have to be able freely to control the speed of the tailless shuttle card''s spinning before he would be deemed to have passed the first qualification. This wasn''t a simple matter, as far as he was concerned.


    There was one other place that he would go to, which was the low-grade fantasy card club, where Lan Feng would accompany him every time. Chen Mu had become the most welcome and respected person in the entire club. Most of them had witnessed that crazy point sweep with their own eyes that day, with An Xiaoyou the most fanatical among them.


    Although it was fine to have Lan Feng by his side, An Xiaoyou wouldn''t dare to become too familiar. In any case, Chen Mu would never be together with An Xiaoyou by himself. That would really be too scary! If a woman was too familiar with you, you could still feel comfortable, but if a man looks at you with bright eyes, then . . .


    Lan Feng was carrying out the wishes of the president, deliberately drawing Chen Mu in, and naturally providing him with many conveniences, such as allowing him to bring a friend along to participate in the high-level interactive meetings, where he would often bring Copper along. Later on, the others would become much more familiar with Copper than they were with Chen Mu.


    Copper was very commercially minded, which made Lan Feng treat him with increasing respect. There were always a lot of delegates at the interactive meetings, and as for picking, or whom to pick, Chen Mu handed it all off to Copper. After a while he would basically no longer participate in the interactive meetings, simply delegating everything to Copper, such that Copper wasn''t any less powerful than he was.


    A very peculiar tacit understanding took shape in the club, that as long as Chen Mu had delegated something, no one else could steal it. And that any time he finished a work they could all use any and all means possible and come at the work from any direction to learn from it. Acting as his spokesperson every time, Copper would get a pile of delegated requests.


    Chen Mu was a person who didn''t ever want to cause any trouble, and gradually everyone slowly started to understand his temperament, and tried very deliberately not to bother him.


    "What are you doing? Do you want to go today? You''ll just have to go yourself." Chen Mu gave Copper a strange look. Copper was insisting on dragging him along to the club that day, which was really not like Copper at all. It had already been a while since Chen Mu had gone to the club.


    Copper laughed, "Today is a super huge interactive meeting, the biggest one ever in history!"


    "Not interested! Just go!" Chen Mu shook his head, and was about to leave.


    "Don''t!" Copper grabbed Chen Mu''s arm, and fawningly smiled, "Come on, go, go, just this one time!"


    Chen Mu looked suspiciously at Copper with both eyes, and directly said, "What do you mean by trying to persuade me?" He had the deep sense that there was some reason that Copper was being that way.


    Copper immediately became a little bit embarrassed, and stammered for a while.


    "You''re having an affair!" Copper said with complete certainty, staring at Copper with an electric gaze.


    Not being able to take Chen Mu''s gaze any more, he became candid, "I promised Lan Feng that you would be there tonight. You''re basically the headliner of the club, and it''s not like you''re going anywhere!" and he continued to push, "Those coming tonight are all heavy weights, like the Aminia Company of the Zuo family, and its old rival, the Victoria Group from the Pei household.


    "Are the two of you together?" Chen Mu cut Cooper off.


    "Mmm." Copper grunted almost too lightly to hear, and then went on to explain loudly, "You wouldn''t say we are together, it''s just that . . ."


    "How long?" Chen Mu cut Copper off again.


    "What the heck is that look in your eyes tonight, guy?" Copper muttered to himself, and then responded, "The past couple of months."


    "After ''The Legend of Master Shi'' is finished, do you intend to go to the club?" Chen Mu asked.


    "You are getting more and more astute, guy!" Copper looked overly surprised, "you even guessed this on the nose!"


    Chen Mu gave Copper a disdainful look, "Who is more clear than me about your character?" He was very happy with Copper from the bottom of his heart, having always thought that Copper was smarter than him, just missing opportunities is all! If he had only had the chance, he could certainly have done things better than anyone!


    "Sure!" Copper said in a cheeky way. "But I should be able to go to the commercial department, then President Bai comes looking for me, and I say yes." Copper was representing Chen Mu just then, having been selected as his delegate. The commercial talents which emerged made everyone take another look. Bai Zheyuan, who had originally only been interested in Chen Mu, didn''t realize that there would be additional benefits, and was overjoyed to throw in this olive branch.


    It pleased him to the bottom of his heart to hear what Chen Mu had said, and he was very moved.


    Seeing that Chen Mu seemed to want to say something, Copper quickly offered up, "What are your instructions?"


    Chen Mu flicked his hand downward, and both heroically and bravely and very resolutely and decisively said, "Take her!"

 Chapter 55: Interactive Meetings

    Chapter 55: Interactive Meetings


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Low-grade fantasy card clubs had greatly proliferated these last few years, as some people also started to realize the potential business opportunities they held in store, and got into them willy-nilly. But they were not nearly so well organized as this low-grade fantasy card club, and were well behind in their experience. For the time being, no matter where they came from, they wouldn¡¯t be any threat to this low-grade fantasy card club.


    Chen Mu showing up at the club shocked a lot of people, since he hadn¡¯t been there for quite a while. The older members had started to give the incoming members vivid accounts of that time when Chen Mu so heroically swept the points.


    He had already been recognized as the one having the most extensive accomplishments in low-grade fantasy card research, apart from the president. Even those having the designation as mid-grade card masters wouldn¡¯t be able to put on airs in front of Chen Mu around that place.


    Those with actual strength always earn other peoples¡¯ esteem more easily.


    "Mr. Chen, it¡¯s been a long time since you¡¯ve come!" An Xiaoyou¡¯s voice was full of pleasant surprise, the brilliant gaze from his two eyes making Chen Mu a little jumpy. Still, the look on Chen Mu¡¯s face didn¡¯t change a bit.


    The figure of Lan Feng showed up not far away, and like a fly smelling honey Copper dropped any loyalty to Chen Mu and stuck himself to her.


    Seeing this scene, Chen Mu laughed mutely in spite of himself; from the bottom of his heart, never wanting to stand in the way of Copper¡¯s happiness. As far as their kinds of people were concerned, romance was really too extravagant.


    Chen Mu was very happy that Copper was able to find his own lover. There was no difference between the two of them in this regard, except that Copper knew how to talk, and he buried himself deeper.


    Love was not what you thought it was.


    Wondering how he could as easily abandon An Xiaoyou, Chen Mu immediately paid attention to other things, making it tough for An Xiaoyou to snag any opportunity.


    "Mr. Chen, I¡¯ve run into a problem. . . "


    "Regarding the application of the recursive composition, why . . . "


    "If you want to realize color superposition . . . "


    A string of questions came pouring down from the skies, practically crushing Chen Mu. But glancing at the just then so tender and sweet as honey Copper, the otherwise unoccupied Chen Mu began to respond to the questions one by one.


    Making the tailless shuttle card had expanded Chen Mu¡¯s outlook by more than a little bit. The difference between two-star and three-star far exceeded what ordinary people might imagine. This was an improvement in his essential understanding of the principles, where previously, although he could resolve whatever problems came up with a one-star fantasy card, he would have had a hard time to explain them on the basis of principles, whereas he had now seen the light all at once, and quite a few things which had been unclear, had also become clear all at once.


    He¡¯d had an inkling about this from the card play "The Legend of Master Shi" that he was making just then. Although he wasn¡¯t using the ¡®token¡¯ techniques, at the same time he could revise the underlying basic composition, to make it tighter.


    "The Legend of Master Shi" was already to its mid-point, and there hadn¡¯t been any change to Copper¡¯s concern with it. The price for "The Legend of Master Shi" card play hadn¡¯t dropped, and was still much higher than similar card-plays.


    But pirated copies which looked like "The Legend of Master Shi" had started to show up on the market; since Chen Mu wasn¡¯t using the ¡®token¡¯ skills, it had become very easy for other people to crack. Fortunately, the genuine "Legend of Master Shi card play still had quite a following. As far as the students from Eastern Wei Academy were concerned, money was never the problem, where being able to find something you really liked was the hard part.


    Only when they really weren¡¯t able to buy the real card play would they be likely to consider buying a cracked version of "The Legend of Master Shi."


    But Chen Mu didn¡¯t need to give himself any headaches about these matters. "The Legend of Master Shi" had been making money all along, and if you added on what had been delegated to him where almost all the projects were very profitable, he could be estimated to be making a fortune during this time.


    But Chen Mu was still feeling pressure; intense pressure!


    His perception just then was all attached to the cards, and all of it was money burning stuff. And you didn¡¯t need to mention card making, where Chen Mu had paid out two million on this tailless shuttle card. What he hadn¡¯t considered was how much money it was costing to learn how to operate the tailless shuttle card. While the arena fees could be considered small change, the big hit was in the consumption of power cards.


    Although Chen Mu had already reckoned with the immense power of the tailless shuttle card, he hadn¡¯t gone through the actual experience with how much power it would consume, which was much more than he¡¯d imagined.


    The cost of a single three-star power-card was 15,000 Oudi, and he basically used up a three-star power card every time he spent three hours training! If this wasn¡¯t burning money, then what was?


    If it wasn¡¯t for the his recently making so much money, he would have thrown this tailless shuttle card into the deepest corner of his drawer without any regret. But still he could watch his wallet getting rapidly thinner with his bare eyes.


    According to the description inside that mysterious card, there were three kinds of qualifications from bottom to top with the tailless shuttle card. Chen Mu was still only struggling with the first form.


    He hadn¡¯t told anyone about this matter of the tailless shuttle card, and not even Copper knew about it. He thought that if Copper were to know, he would certainly put a stop to this extravagant ¡®money burning¡¯ activity.


    The actual reason that Chen Mu almost hadn¡¯t been going to the club at all was that his calendar was too full. The gymnastic exercises, training his perception, learning how to operate the tailless shuttle card, learning all kinds of knowledge regarding cards, making the card play and completing his commissions . . .


    These things occupied just about all of his time, and he knew that if he were to study still more, it would always be good for him. He might not always be able to see these benefits, but he would be able to realize them once they had developed to a certain point. And it would be a shame for him if he didn¡¯t cherish these things that he was lucky to have gotten.


    And he didn¡¯t know whether or not it was because of An Xiaoyou¡¯s provocation, but Chen Mu¡¯s thinking was very clear that day, his responses were quick, which also made An Xiaoyou¡¯s gaze more adoring.


    The interactive meeting soon began, and Chen Mu let out a sigh of relief, and immediately said farewell to the reluctant An Xiaoyou.


    This so-called interactive meeting was actually a commissioned conference. A few companies or groups would post commissions here, and the card masters could choose the projects they preferred, while the commissioning companies could also select the card masters they liked best, and so it was called a two-way meeting.


    Chen Mu and Copper were sitting below, while above them were groups and companies, who would elaborate on their company¡¯s projects, and when everyone was finished with their elaborations, the card masters could look for the projects which most interested them.


    The first group to elaborate was Aminia, which was under the Zuo household. The Zuo household was the most influential in Eastern Shang-Wei City, with a few dozen companies under their banner, with the Aminia group a quite conspicuous firm; mainly engaged in the apparel business. Sitting to one side in a manner befitting their relative positions, was their most important competitor, the Victoria Group. The Victoria Group was a property of the Pei household. The Zuo household was number one, and the Pei household was number two, and the two groups also displayed the disparity. Aminia always put pressure on the Victoria Group, while the Victoria Group was always biting into Aminia, on the one hand to stabilize their number two position, and on the other to keep the pressure on Aminia.


    Copper was quietly giving the background of each company down below, knowing that Chen Mu had absolutely no understanding about such things.


    "The unveiling of our company¡¯s apparel lineup for this year will be held in two months, and we have therefore invited the superstar here in front of you, Miss Tan Yumin to be our honored guest." The one speaking was a formally dressed man. A glance at the name placard in front of him showed that his name was Wu Tuan.


    Copper was speaking softly into his ear, introducing Wu Tuan¡¯s background; Chen Mu had to admire Coppers ample preparation, even to the point of letting him hear the kind of grapevine-news that Wu Tuan could be the illegitimate child of the patriarch of the Zuo Household, Zuo Tianlin.


    Wu Tuan looked very young, probably about thirty, with a lean face. His gestures showed a strong self-confidence, and he had very clear enunciation, with a calm and confident look.


    "I¡¯ve come today hoping to find a card master whose strength stands out from the rest. We require exceptional lighting effects for our opening, and so we have specifically invited the famous creative director of the Weier Card Play Company, Hua Wei. We believe that everyone has seen the card play "A Summer Day¡¯s Talk" for which Mr. Hua Wei was the screenwriter. Director Hua Wei will take on the overall direction of the opening, and we now require one or two outstanding card masters. The terms that we have provided are to give each card master five million Oudi in remuneration!" Wu Tuan held out five fingers, looking down with a smile on his face.


    There was a sudden uproar below the platform, since in the entire profession, five million Oudi in compensation would absolutely be considered sky-high!


    Looking at the chaotic group of card masters buzzing below, Wu Tuan looked down from his commanding position, with a kind of satisfaction welling up in his chest. He had spent a lot of energy to get this responsibility, and if he could handle it well, it would have great benefit toward his advancement in the family. But if not, if would cause some trouble for him. The seriousness of the internal Zuo family battles went further than anyone else might imagine. No one would dare to provoke Zuo Tingyi, but the rivalry among the later generations had never ended. Otherwise, would he have ever issued this call for card masters?


    Chen Mu was surprised, "A Summer Day¡¯s Talk?" Wasn¡¯t that . . .


    His look immediately turned to Copper at his side.


    Copper showed no expression on his face, but he had a slight twitch on his cheek, and he had a death grip on the back of his chair, popping out his veins.

 Chapter 56: Surrounded by Peaks on a Winding Road

    Chapter 56: Surrounded by Peaks on a Winding Road


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The scene was pandemonium. The bombshell that the Aminia Group had tossed out clearly knocked dizzy the mixed but generally not so well-off crowd of low-grade card masters. The rest of the company leads were just then looking at Wu Tuan with a mixture of admiration and jealousy, since they all knew that they were destined to fall into a supporting role that day.


    The lead for the Victoria Company, Pei Hang, was also feeling very unfortunate. His experience was much richer than that of Wu Tuan, and he knew that those there were the most professional low-level card masters if you were considering the ability levels of low-grade card masters. The card masters among the firms may have been able to make higher level fantasy cards, but if you wanted to make the most gorgeous, dazzling, and inexpensive fantasy card, that place was the best choice.


    What he hadn''t considered was that Aminia, which had never come there looking for partners, would have run over this time to put forth such a terrifyingly high offer. Aminia might make a lot of noise with their wealth, but even they couldn''t have that kind of budget.


    But he could imagine why he would be so ruthlessly crushed by his mortal rival like that. He had already decided to wait until he could meet personally with the director of the low-grade fantasy card club, Wang Hao, with whom he had a pretty good personal relationship. He would have to seek his help to recommend one or two good card masters this time. Wang Hao was sitting in a corner of the stage, quietly discussing things with Lan Feng.


    Wu Tuan was raising his voice just then on the stage to stress again, "The best! We only want the best!" This immediately started to calm down the meeting place, which had gotten noisy.


    Silence, a little bit of silence, until it was deadly still.


    From the platform, Wu Tuan found that the gazes of all the card masters below were gathering on one person.


    Sitting right in the middle was an unattractive youth.


    Could it be that the youth was the most awesome card master there? Wu Tuan was a little disappointed, since he wouldn''t have been spending five million if he weren''t inviting someone dependable. His chest tightened.


    WuTuan didn''t let his discouragement show on his face. On the contrary, he maintained his smile, "And is this gentleman the most awesome card master here?"


    The looks on all the other company leads looking at Wang Tuan shifted. They could tell his style of operation from what he said, which was to get results by any means necessary.


    He was afraid that this young fellow would have a hard time, since with what he''d said he didn''t know how many people''s jealousy he had provoked below, and he presumed that someone would jump up right away. But those guys all had a lot of ability, and they could guess what Wu Tuan was going to do next.


    The rather large venue remained quiet, without anyone saying anything. For things to become so spooky-quiet on an occasion like that was unspeakably weird.


    What was so strange about everyone''s gaze concentrating on that one young person was that he was keeping such an unperturbed look, without any hint of embarrassment.


    Pei Hang flashed a look of surprise, as he had never seen that youth before! He understood that the significance of that kind of silence was that all of the card masters in the room had already consented to the words "most awesome card master" which had come from Wu Tuan''s mouth.


    No matter the profession, the person who would be crowned ''best'' was generally a well-known ace, and if his crowning was recognized by all, it would really illustrate the person''s ability. He could see from the situation in front of them that the youth had a lot of prestige in the club.


    Too bad that the guy was going to be recruited by Aminia. Really too bad. Pei Hang sighed to himself, with his thin looking face, elegant demeanor, and his two lively eyes. Despite his inward sigh, his face maintained its unruffled faint smile.


    His gaze fell on Chen Mu. He couldn''t quite understand how such a furry-headed kid could make such an impression on so many low-grade card masters.


    Wu Tuan responded quickly, since he also immediately understood what that kind of silence implied.


    "And I wonder whether this gentleman would be interested to join this project of ours?"


    Wu Tuan was sufficiently convinced that it would be trivial. Whether by prestige or price, there was no other firm who could compete with them. The insignia of the Zuo family was golden in Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    For him to throw such weight on behalf of the Zuo household into what was merely a low-grade card master, and looking around at all the other firms'' leads, he was feeling pretty awesome just then. His glance deliberately lingered on Pei Hang from the Victoria Group for a moment.


    Pei Hang didn''t evade his glance, but paid tribute with grace.


    Under everyone''s view, Chen Mu slowly stood up and very simply refused, "Me? Not interested!"


    This caused a brief exclamation in the room, since Chen Mu''s response hadn''t been expected by anyone.


    Wu Tuan''s face turned abruptly grey just as Pei Hang''s gaze hit him, having never imagined that anyone would be so unexpectedly indiscreet. His plight had all at once turned awkward, and he caught a glimpse of Pei Hang turning up his mouth in a sarcastic sneer from the corner of his eye.


    Damn! He was furious. That damned kid, preventing him from coming down from the stage in front of so many people!


    He dropped his gaze, and the smile that he had maintained the whole time turned stiff. But he knew that it wasn''t the time to attack, and he managed to squeeze out a smile, "Could it be that the gentleman is not sufficiently pleased with our offer?"


    Chen Mu remained calm under everyone''s gaze, and he looked at Pei Hang, and said very evenly, "Is the Victoria Group''s opening also in two months?"


    Overjoyed, while still maintaining his composure such that only a sharp eye could notice the excitement, he stood up, "Correct! Our opening is also in two months." He paused to glance at Wu Tuan''s ashen face, and added, "It''s the same day as Aminia''s!" Which turned Wu Tuan''s expression a little uglier.


    Pei Hang signaled a salute to Chen Mu, "I don''t know if the gentleman would want to accept our company''s commission, since at two million Oudi, our compensation might not be considered so high."


    Chen Mu paused a bit, and nodded, "I''ll accept the commission, although I have a requirement!"


    Requirement? Everyone in the room perked up their ears, wanting to know what Chen Mu''s so-called ''requirement'' was. They didn''t understand why Chen Mu would not accept a five million Oudi commission, but would accept a two-million Oudi commission. And it was never wise to so publicly offend the Zuo family.


    Pei Hang was thrilled, and quickly said, "If the gentleman has any requirements, don''t hesitate to ask."

 Chapter 57: Chen Mu’s Proposal

    Chapter 57: Chen Mu¡¯s Proposal


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu then grabbed Copper and pulled him up out of his seat, saying, "I require that he acts as the head producer for this project."


    The buzz of discussion immediately surged in the room; they had been surrounded by wave after wave of peaks on a winding road, making it hard for anyone to keep up. No one had imagined that Chen Mu would drag Copper in.


    Copper''s eyes widened, and he looked at the calm Chen Mu waiting for him to respond as though he''d been struck, while his nose started tickling with emotion. He lowered his head, so no-one could see his expression.


    "Him?" Pei Hang hadn''t expected that, "And this gentleman is . . . "?


    His gaze drifted over to the director of the low-grade fantasy card club, Wang Hao, to get his attention. He didn''t expect him to nod so vigorously!


    Could it be another star?


    Now it was Wu Tuan''s turn to sneer. Although he hadn''t been doing this kind of work for long, he knew the importance of a head producer to the overall project. That was why he had specifically rushed over to the Weier Card Play Company to dig out their creative director Hua Wei at such a high price. The look on his face relaxed quite a bit, as he looked on with detachment from the sidelines to see how Pei Hang would come down from the platform.


    Pei Hang couldn''t help but show his indecision. He had been doing this kind of work for many years already, having gained what would be called rich experience, and he well understood the importance of a head producer. Even though he had seen Wang Hao give him the nod, he didn''t want to fool around with such an important issue.


    Shrewd as he''d always been, Pei Hang quickly devised a bargain, "If you recommend this gentleman, then he presumably has superior qualities. Let''s say that if this gentleman can produce an outstanding production script within three days, then there won''t be any problem whatsoever."


    The meaning of what Pei Hang had said was self-evident, that if the production which ''Blockhead'' proposed wasn''t sufficiently outstanding, then he would rather not bring Chen Mu in.


    While Chen Mu was about to check with Copper about ''within three days,'' Copper jerked up his head to firmly say, "OK, I''ll have a production script within three days."


    Hua Wei was sitting behind Wu Tuan. The serial misfortunes of the day had really opened his eyes, and he looked on with pleasure since in any case, they didn''t have anything to do with him. After Copper lifted his head, he suddenly felt that this person looked a little familiar, though he couldn''t remember where he had seen him right away.


    Copper looked like a completely different person. He''d tossed away those two huge hoop earrings, and the clothes he was wearing weren''t so flamboyant. What he wore had become much simpler under Chen Mu''s influence, making him rather pleasant to look at. He also looked more self-confident, having nothing of that down and out look from before.


    No wonder Hua Wei hadn''t recognized Copper at first glance.


    Copper''s response was a relief to Pei Hang. If the other party couldn''t produce an outstanding production script, all the steps he had been taking would by no means be ruined by some card master.


    That two-way meeting must have had the most mishaps ever for any two-way meeting.


    Nobody was unhappier than the Aminia group, where no one had actually accepted any offers, since they''d been so overambitious at the outset. It was acknowledged by all the members that Chen Mu was the most outstanding card master in the entire low-grade fantasy card club, and since Chen Mu had refused, Aminia wasn''t going to say that they needed the second most awesome, or the third most awesome card master.


    In their minds there would always be only one most awesome card master there, and that was Chen Mu!


    Wu Tuan''s face was now strangely off-color, and there was no place for him to vent.


    Without waiting for the meeting to end, Pei Hang couldn''t keep from finding Wang Hao, and asking him straight out, "what did you mean by nodding your head just now?"


    Laughing, Wang Hao handed Pei Hang a glass of water, and said, "What else than to say yes! I say, you were really in the spotlight today, robbing Wu Tuan''s face, although I''m still not clear about why Chen Mu was suddenly so interested in you all."


    "Chen Mu? That guy who stood up first? He''s awesome?" Pei Hang asked in curiosity.


    "Ah, so being able to sweep eight hundred points in a day isn''t awesome?" Wang Hao looked sideways at Pei Hang.


    "Eight hundred points?" Pei Hang gave a shrug, "This guy is so tough? I really don''t see it." Though he''d gotten interested, and quickly added, "Come on, tell me."


    At that point many across the floor were watching the two vulgar uncles huddling behind the glass, looking a little shady, which got the people wondering.


    After hearing Wang Hao give an account of Chen Mu, Pei Hang clucked his cheek in admiration, "So he''s an inhuman freak. Kids these days, one fiercer than the next! Ai, and yes, what about that young fellow that Chen Mu recommended afterward? You nodded at me, and so he''s also awesome?"


    "I''m telling you, those two have caught the eye of the president, and Chen Mu will soon take on responsibilities as technical director in the office. And as for Copper, he''ll be transferred to the commercial office. There''s really no telling what''s in that guy''s head!" Wang Hao couldn''t help showing his feelings when he thought about those two.


    Pei Hang was still more surprised, "Your President Bai is interested in these two mop headed kids?"


    "He is!" It''s been a long time since our old don has personally promoted anyone." Wang Hao said casually.


    "Hey, why didn''t you say so? If I had known, I would have immediately made the offer!" A look of regret lingered on Pei Hang''s face. He''d dealt with Bai Zheyuan and knew his vision. Those two certainly had real ability to be able to win his support and appreciation.


    Seeing Pei Hang''s expression, Wang Hao laughed, and then quickly straightened himself out, "Old Pei, I must remind you to take good care of these two. The people at the Zuo household are accustomed to having their way, so don''t let anything happen, since I wouldn''t have any way to explain it to the president. If you are shorthanded, then I''ll come myself."


    Looking certain, Pei Hang said, "Don''t worry, while the Zuo household is surely powerful, our Pei household is no pushover.


    "Good." Wang Hao''s expression loosened up a bit.


    As they were walking out of the club, Chen Mu was watching the long-silent Copper, and he couldn''t help asking, "Copper, is three days enough time?"


    "Yes! Blockhead, stop worrying!" Copper lifted his head and smiled with an exaggerated look, "You scared me out of my wits today, guy! With no warning, this is what you pull off? You really freaked out this little coward, buddy!"


    Chen Mu responded calmly, "Fake!"


    "Ha ha, so I am! Who are we? We''re the Cop and Block dudes!" Copper spread his two hands to the sky in lofty pride.


    Chen Mu avoided looking at him, as he said honestly, "It''s a little hard to take when you tell the truth!"


    The two of them goofed off for a bit, when Copper said a little anxiously, "We really offended the Zuo family this time, so we''ll have to be careful!"


    "Mmmm!" Chen Mu responded heavily, as he''d been having those same thoughts since refusing Wu Tuan and hadn''t come up with any simple solutions. Those powerhouses hadn''t slowed down with the dirty deeds they had always done in the dark.


    It seemed that they would have to go out less often for a while, and Chen Mu thought to himself that he''d better put off the tailless shuttle card practice.

 Chapter 58: A Mishap

    Chapter 58: A Mishap


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Taking just an evening, Copper produced the production plan. He spent a whole morning introducing it to Chen Mu, and then went out the door to the low-grade fantasy card club. When Chen Mu asked if he wanted him to come along, Copper directly gave him a blank look.


    Being alone in the house, Chen Mu began his daily training, and finished it all without any urgency; from the exercise gymnastics to the perceptual training.


    As compared to perception whose improvements didn''t manifest themselves, doing the gymnastic exercises made his body look better and better. While there wasn''t any increase to his muscle mass, the toughening of his sinews built up a lot of power, and his excellent flexibility made his moves nimbler.


    Perception made his six senses still more keen, so no slightest stirring or movement of air could escape his perception. But what Chen Mu felt had developed the most wasn''t those things, but rather his ability to withstand pain, since there was no relief from pain while he was training his perception. It could be said that he passed every day in an abyss of water and burning fire.


    Being able to see himself get stronger little by little, even though full of pain, he had to grit his teeth and bear it.


    His childhood experience made him realize the difficulty of survival, and the importance of strength. What was a little pain compared to those things?


    * * *


    "Young Master!" The household manager stood very respectfully in front of Zuo Tingyi. He had already been serving the Zuo household for thirty years altogether, and while Zuo Tingyi was extremely polite with him, he always remembered never to overstep his position as household manager regardless.


    Zuo Tingyi took his eyes off his book, and seeing that it was the household manager, betrayed an inquiring look.


    "There have been some results in the matter of that thorough investigation you asked for last time." The household manager chose his words carefully.


    "Oh." Zuo Tingyi put down the book from his hands, and now showing a look of interest, asked, "Do tell."


    Taking a look at Zuo Tingyi without moving his head, the household manger said carefully, "We haven''t found out who they are, as it''s been a long time since they''ve shown their faces at any of the shops. According to what those shopkeepers said, it was evident that the one selling the card play was being very careful, and showed up with a different look every time. They don''t remember so well what he looked like.


    "How could that be?" Zuo Tingyi frowned, "Their card play is still on sale."


    "We''ve already confirmed that while their card play is still being sold, they had long ago switched to selling the card play on consignment." The household manager explained.


    "Consignment?" Zuo Tingyi murmured, "Why is this guy being so careful?"


    It was very unusual for such an ace to make a card play on his own. Was he short of money? How could he be short of money with those kinds of skills? And how much money could you make selling card plays?


    "I''ve made sure that we''ve received all of the card plays that they''ve put on sale, and we discovered that starting with the third installment of "The Legend of Master Shi," there is a sharp difference from what came before. All of the cracked copies of "The Legend of Master Shi" have only the content from the third installment on." The household manager methodically reported, "We did an assessment of the market value of "The Legend of Master Shi," and find that it is an investment-grade project. Are you thinking of investing in it, young master?"


    "Invest?" Zuo Tingyi shook his head, "No. Keep up the investigation until you find out who is the author of this card play, and everything about him; the more detail the better."


    "Yes, sir!" Although the housemaster was still a little uncertain, he would still loyally carry out Zuo Tingyi''s orders.


    Zuo Tingyi remained lost in thought after the household manager left.


    * * *


    Two Star Academy students were just then in in the outer reaches, maybe seven hundred kilometers away from Eastern Shang-Wei City. The beasts all around were more and more fierce, and they had to be very careful.


    In the impenetrable jungle overgrown with vines, where the air was saturated with humidity, the two of them were on guard, since you could die very quickly if you didn''t stay alert in that kind of place. Both of their scores on the ''sneaking through the jungle'' curriculum were extremely high, and they possessed sufficient self-confidence.


    The two of them were experienced aces, perfectly synchronized in their looking out for one another.


    Suddenly, the two of them shared a look, and the vigilance in their eyes deepened. Their footsteps lightened, and the apparatuses on their wrists were in an active state, ready to launch an assault at will.


    A few minutes later, two blood curdling mournful screams roused up all the birds in the jungle.


    * * *


    Chen Mu was leaning over the desk to read Copper''s planning book, which he finished after a half hour of careful reading. This planning book had already been checked over by Pei Hang, which is to say that starting now, Copper was already the head producer for the event.


    "This is difficult!" Chen Mu was muttering to himself, as he gave his response.


    "How about it, can you handle it?" Copper looked at Chen Mu a little nervously since the demands on a card master in his plan were extremely high. It was because of his belief in Chen Mu that he had proposed such a plan. If Chen Mu felt that it was unachievable, then the plan would be declared a failure.


    "There shouldn''t be any problem!" Chen Mu said after thinking about it. He knew how important the opportunity was for Copper. Provided that his plan could be pulled off successfully, then he could use the results of that success for a lot of benefit later. The Victoria Group wasn''t an ordinary firm. The insignia of the Pei household was nearly equal to that of the Zuo family in Eastern Shang-Wei City. If he could successfully pull off such an important event, he would become the most burning-hot producer in all of Eastern Shang-Wei City in a single leap.


    Chen Mu had always considered Copper to be extremely talented, wanting only an opportunity. With such an opportunity now in front of him, how could he not help with all his strength?


    Having the experience of making two card plays, they were already well familiar with working together. The two of them immediately entered detailed discussions, where Chen Mu might raise his own doubts, and Copper would give an explanation, or revise the plan.


    * * *


    Wang Ze was looking at the two corpses in front of him with an ashen face. They had been found in the outer reaches. All of the Star Academy students had mournful faces for the two students who had been together with them two days earlier to have died so suddenly in the outer reaches. Their two faces still had the look of terror on them, as though they had seen something horrifying as they were facing death.


    The whole room was shrouded in a mournful atmosphere. Having still not returned three days after having been sent out, they had a bad premonition and they all went searching. They hadn''t imagined that they would find the two peoples'' corpses in the end.


    Wang Ze and the others did a brief examination, and apart from discovering two tiny holes, they saw no other wounds. It looked as though they must have been poisoned, although Wang Ze and the others had no way to make an accurate conjecture.


    "What will we do?" A student next to Wang Ze asked in a low voice. Although they were both outstanding, they were still basically students, and they would inevitably be unprepared for running into life and death problems.


    Wang Ze gritted his teeth and said, "Send them back to the school immediately, and ask for reinforcements. Tell outsiders that they have returned to the school. We definitely have to keep this matter secret, since it would make a lot of trouble if it were to leak out."


    Those few people all looked at each other, and then nodded one by one to signal that they''d understood. They were certainly in the middle of carrying out responsibilities and were not on vacation.

 Chapter 59: Swordfish – Challenge?

    Chapter 59: Swordfish ¨C Challenge?


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    For the Victoria opening in two months, Chen Mu and Copper had sufficient time to carry out everything that they had put forward in their plan. Not only did they have the full support of Pei Hang, but the low-grade fantasy card club also gave them quite a bit of help.


    That enabled Chen Mu to make rapid progress with his work, and he was able to finish all the fantasy cards that Copper required after spending just two weeks. After seeing the results from the fantasy cards that Chen Mu had produced, Copper couldn''t stop praising him.


    While Chen Mu''s work was complete, Copper''s work was far from finished. Being a head producer meant that you had to communicate and coordinate with all the other personnel for the event. He would only ever be seen working dawn to dusk, so busy that he never knew what time it was.


    Chen Mu was very worried about Copper''s safety at first, but when he later discovered that there was someone protecting Copper under cover, he stopped worrying.


    As a matter of fact, that was his first unintentional discovery. Although he''d only gotten a glimpse of that card artisan, he had still discovered him. The acuity of his perception by that time was completely beyond anything he could have imagined before.


    In the same way, he also discovered that someone was protecting himself under cover. Although he didn''t know the person''s actual strength, he looked quite professional. Chen Mu was made a little uncomfortable, since he wasn''t about to carry on his training interests while someone else was spying. So, he could only stay at home all day.


    But that made him idle.


    No matter the training, it was never the more the better. For example, with perceptual training, Chen Mu had discovered that the results after about three hours were the best, but beyond that amount of time, the results would diminish. It was the same with the exercise gymnastics, where if the time were extended, all the muscles in his body would become fatigued.


    Given the added time, his mind and body had nothing else to do. Copper hadn''t yet given him the next installment of the "Legend of Master Shi" card play. So right away after finding himself so idle, he wanted to know what to do with the rest of his time.


    In his boredom, he thought of the simple water world. Since there''d been that unwinding game, could there be other games? As soon as the thought came into his head, he got his interest back.


    Apart from his daily perceptual training which required that it be done in the water world, it had already been quite a while since he''d done any exploring there.


    As soon as he entered the simple water world, the familiar pressure quickly tightened around him. He''d long become used to that, with his strange twists and swings, and he leapt forward like a swimming fish jumping. The loose soft sand-layer had no effect on him half swimming and half walking, like walking on flat ground.


    That was a skill that he''d learned from the unwinding game, and he discovered that it was quite suited to moving along in the water. That was also the only use he''d found for the skill until then. But thinking about that tailless shuttle card, he realized that spending all that energy was worth it.


    He admonished himself that one shouldn''t be too greedy in life.


    With the water grass in the unwinding game, and the giant clam showing the perceptual training methods, what else did the simple water world have in store?


    His gaze finally fell onto the school of swordfish swimming about.


    A school of triangular swordfish. He was ashamed every time he thought of the designation. The look of those red triangular swordfish wouldn''t draw any compliments, but their cleverly moving forms still had that trajectory which would be hard for anyone to improve, and it bestowed on them the breath of life. This also made Chen Mu''s admiration for the person who made that card a little bit deeper.


    There were probably a few hundred in the school of swordfish, and it was pretty magnificent to see them swim about.


    It was Chen Mu''s objective to test his theory that there were no useless objects in the simple water world. And why were those swordfish so attention-getting?


    Chen Mu tried getting closer to the school of swordfish, but it seemed that they could sense his presence as soon as he got a certain distance away.


    Then the few hundred fish which had been merrily swimming along suddenly became still and lined up their bodies. Those swordfish all lined up in ranks, with all of their red triangular little heads aimed at Chen Mu!


    At the same time, there were a few hundred pairs of angular fish eyes staring, and Chen Mu was bathed in cold sweat.


    In a leap, a sword fish broke away from the formation, and came charging toward Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu was startled, and twisted his body and dodged to the side, quickly dodging the swordfish''s attack.


    Without waiting for him to have time to rejoice, another swordfish came charging over. The thing that Chen Mu was regretting just then was that he''d made these swordfish skulls sharp triangles. It would have been a lot better if he''d made them rounded! Round bubble fish wouldn''t hurt so much running into his body!


    But those swordfish manifestly didn''t intend to let him slowly regret. Having just dodged one, another swordfish came charging over.


    A school of swordfish staring like a tiger at its prey took up the rear guard, while each of the ones charging came aggressively. Even though Chen Mu had a lot of guts, he was a little frightened in his heart.


    He was becoming flustered, since although he''d developed the skills of deploying power in the water, compared to those underwater creatures, he was as awkward as a duckling who didn''t know the water at all.


    After holding up for seven or eight seconds, he couldn''t stand it any longer.


    His left arm hurt, and without waiting for him to cry out, and in that little bit of time, he was poked about seven or eight times over his whole body.


    Even the Chen Mu who could always endure being wounded without anesthetics had changed his complexion.


    Pain! The pain of being stuck to the bone! After only just thinking about how his ability to endure pain had gone up so much, it only just then dawned on him what could really be called pain!


    It seemed as though a whole lot of very fine swimming wires were boring in through his skin to his bones in that instant.


    Chen Mu''s face was twisted in pain, but he still knew that if he didn''t make any response, he might be poked dead by that school of swordfish. Wrong, he would be killed by the pain!


    He stepped his right foot heavily into the sand, and his body bent backwards, seeming as flexible as though it had no bones. He made a few consecutive twists, which made his body look like it had waves, and then he shot out.


    "Swordfish Seven, Challenge Failed." The familiar hoary old voice as though it were annotating Chen Mu''s behavior.


    Even the water grass couldn''t hold, winding around him against his full strength, not even to talk about the little swordfish. Like an arrow from a bowstring, he''d whizzed out from the midst of all those surrounding swordfish.


    He retreated about ten meters before stopping.


    The swordfish didn''t pursue, and so he let out his breath. With a little lingering trepidation, he turned back to watch that school of swordfish swimming about. They had once again returned to their usual disposition of swimming about, not paying attention to the jumpy Chen Mu, who was scared like a bird hearing bowstrings.


    Too much pain! Chen Mu''s body was still in pain, and his whole face twitched in fear.


    There was a plot in there after all! He had just heard it very clearly when that hoary old voice had said "Challenge Failed."


    It was just that . . . this kind of game . . . could likely kill!


    He couldn''t understand how those triangular swordfish poking his body could be so painful. If he had found something dangerous in the mysterious card, Chen Mu would certainly not be surprised.


    From the start he had never considered it to be a card without any danger.


    But he decided to put the issue to the side for a while, since what he was thinking about just then was a different sort of problem. What was this school of swordfish doing?


    "Challenge Failed! Swordfish Seven."


    What was the message in those four words?

 Chapter 60: Have You Started?

    Chapter 60: Have You Started?


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The part that was different from the last game was that this time that old guy had used the word "challenge."''Game'' and ''challenge'' were certainly not the same. It would be worth deliberating on what the difference was between the two of them.


    And "Swordfish Seven." This could mean ''level,'' or it could mean ''degree of difficulty for the challenge.''


    He reviewed every detail from his most recent time.


    When he got closer, the school of swordfish stopped. Which is to say that the swordfish perception had a certain range. Only if you were to enter the scope of their perception would it set off the so-called ''challenge.''


    They were no longer a school then. When it started there was only one swordfish charging toward him. And after he dodged it, the second swordfish came charging, which he also avoided, then the third swordfish . . .


    Until he was being stabbed by the pointy swordfish heads.


    All the elements came together, and Chen Mu was finally forming the general concept in his mind. This was a challenge, a dodge and evade kind of challenge, which should be a swordfish-attack dodging game. The first time there was only one swordfish, and if you dodged that, the second swordfish would come charging . . . until there was no way for you to stand it, and you manage to escape from the range of the swordfishes'' perception.


    If this was the way it really was, then theoretically there should be two ways to end the challenge. One would be to stick it out until you have dodged all of the swordfish assaults. The other would be to grit one''s teeth and endure, suffering intensive pain.


    Of course, the second way might be only theoretical, since Chen Mu didn''t believe that there was anyone who could sustain that kind of pain. It was his nature to persevere, and his perceptual training had also given him a great advantage. Even so, he couldn''t withstand that kind of pain.


    As Chen Mu saw it, the crux of the matter was that it was too dangerous.


    He didn''t come up with his inferences about the dangers by baseless imagination; they were really there. After he get out of the simple water world, he found that there were seven or eight small red welts over his body, which would be faintly painful if he pressed on them.


    What was the maker of that mysterious card trying to do? Chen Mu was baffled every time he thought about that question. Although he had dug out a few of the things in the card, he had never found a clue to that mystery.


    What a nerve-wracking thing it was!


    * * *


    Star Academy


    A white haired old man, a middle-aged man, and a young woman, were standing side by side. In front of them, two corpses were laid out side by side, the corpses that Wang Ze had shockingly sent back.


    "Can you tell how they died?" asked the white haired old man.


    The one who answered was the young woman, her face very stern, "It was an assassin from the House of a Hundred Depths. They were killed with at least a grade six black-tu-vine poison sting. The adversary was highly skilled." She had flowing long hair, black clothes from head to toe, and stood stock still, looking off into the distance like a pale lotus bud.


    The middle-aged man''s face changed color, "How did you hear of those black bugs under the Hundred Depths? Could that news have been leaked?" He had a square face, quite dignified, except for looking shocked at the time.


    The white-haired man shook his head, "We still don''t know all the particulars." Looking at the two corpses, he sighed, "I''m afraid that quite a few people will have become suspicious by now. The situation is becoming more and more complicated."


    After thinking a while, he looked at that young woman, "The strength of those with Wang Ze there is a little thin. You go this time and see what you find and then decide." Then he turned to the middle-aged man, "Gather up some people and go with her. I''m afraid it''s no longer practical to take advantage of secrecy, and open battles are likely to become more frequent." The young woman looking on was silent.


    The middle-aged man asked, "Should I choose students or teachers?"


    "Students, mostly from the inner academy, but pick a few from the outer academy, and be sure those few are bold and cautious, but worldly." The young woman suddenly opened her mouth.


    "That''s the way it will be." The white haired old man said categorically.


    "Yes sir, I''ll take care of it." The middle aged immediately bowed.


    "Be careful. You''ll certainly run into some aces from the other academies this time, haha, don''t be too concerned, this can be considered your tempering trial." The white haired old man turned smilingly toward the young woman, and said . . .


    "Don''t worry Madame President."


    This was not any ordinary day, and it was the start of a simmering undercurrent within the Heavenly Federation.


    * * *


    Zuo Tingyi arrived at Mei Da''s place. He had rushed over, having just gotten the news that Professor Mei Da had taken ill.


    Professor Mei Da was lying in bed, and the situation was visibly not good. His eyes were sunken, his face thin and pale, and he looked a lot older. Zuo Tingyi took it very badly. Professor Mei Da had started imparting knowledge about card making since he was small, and the two had gone far beyond the ordinary teacher-student relationship.


    Finding the doctor, he asked in a low voice, "What is the situation?"


    The doctor shook his head, "Not very good."


    "What really happened?" Zuo Tingyi looked very badly off. Professor Mei Da had taken good care of himself, and was quite hale and hearty, how could he have taken so ill like this?


    The Doctor answered carefully, "Master Mei Da had been in constant deep thought for a while, and it seems that there was some problem lodged in his mind. He was in an anxious state, which led to a physical imbalance. Master Mei Da was studying so intensively that he wasn''t paying attention to the changes to his health, which led to a rapid deterioration. As you know, his age . . ."


    Zuo Tingyi hadn''t heard the last part. His gaze had fallen onto the desk.


    There was a half-burned card, and a few "Chance Encounter" card plays. A malevolent fire of sudden rage burst forth in Zuo Tingyi''s chest, as he turned his head and returned to Professor Mei Da''s room.


    * * *


    He went straight to find the household manager, and said to his face, "I don''t care how you do it, but you must find this f***king card master, do you understand?"


    Seeing his young master''s ashen face, the household manager replied hurriedly, "Yes, sir!"


    All of the Zuo family communication channels started to open up, but the household manager regretted the news that he got. They still had no way to trace out any clues, as their adversary was clearly very shrewd and hadn''t left any valuable clues at all. Finally, someone came up with an idea to simply go to the consignment market and squat there.


    That plan needed a lot of manpower, which wasn''t really a problem for the Zuo household. The household manager knew very well that although the young master was normally very mild and urbane and spoke well, once he was enraged, things would get ugly for them.


    Zuo Tingyi''s position in the Zuo household was second only to his father, Zuo Tianlin, and he was the only Zuo family heir. At that point, no-one could compete with him.


    Each day a large crew of guys in disguises would spread into every corner of the consignment market. According to prior timing, the best time would be when the next installment of "The Legend of Master Shi" was released.


    But their adversary seemed to know that there were snares waiting above and below, and never appeared. The gang of guys were all watching anxiously until they had clawed thorough their scalps, one by one raising their bile until the corners of their mouths had blisters.


    How could they know that Copper at that time was embroiled in the Victoria event, and basically didn''t have the time to write the screenplay.


    And Chen Mu was working over his own stuff.

 Chapter 61: Fly in the Sky, and Escape through the Ground

    Chapter 61: Fly in the Sky, and Escape through the Ground


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Not having anything else to distract his attention, Chen Mu''s full attention was focused on the swordfish battle challenge. But the situation with the swordfish battle challenge was not the same as what he''d run into before, since the challenge was quite dangerous. That could be seen from his first experience which had left seven or eight red welts, which hadn''t gone away yet, and which were slightly painful every time he pressed them.


    Chen Mu wasn''t going to dare to go in and try it again willy-nilly. Even so, Chen Mu had no thoughts of beating the drums of retreat. No way! He could slowly exert himself. Where there was danger, he could choose the relatively safe way. Doing nothing was the most messed-up choice.


    That mysterious card was really hard to make sense of. From the exercise gymnastics that he started with, through the low-grade fantasy card making, then the perceptual training, and again the unwinding game, the making and operation of the tailless shuttle card, and now the swordfish battle challenge.


    The exercise gymnastics improved his health. Each of the low-grade card making, perceptual training, and tailless shuttle card making could return a lot of knowledge related to being a card master. And the operation of the tailless shuttle card was in the domain of the card artisan.


    What the unwinding game trained was probably his burst strength and the skill to deploy power under water, but what use was that? And what domain did the swordfish battle challenge belong to?


    It really cracked his brain!


    And Chen Mu guessed that what would set off the next set of conditions should be to extend the scope of his perception to five meters, where his current record was four and nine tenths, falling short by a hair.


    There was nothing he could do about his perception not budging. But in his mind, he had another conjecture, that perhaps those unwinding game, tailless shuttle card and swordfish battle challenges had some relationship with perceptual training.


    That idea of his got its start with the unwinding game, where he discovered that while he was in the game, his perception got a good deal of training; his perception that hadn''t changed at all for so long got a distinct boost. The tailless shuttle later had the same results, which is what gave Chen Mu the idea.


    Of course, this was just a guess on his part, which he had no way to confirm.


    But how could he improve his dodging and evading ability? That made him feel that he didn''t know where to start.


    It suddenly sounded like there was some commotion out the window. Chen Mu was startled awake from his frowning thoughts. There was the downside to having six acute senses; no matter how slight the commotion, it was easy to be startled.


    Chen Mu stood in front of the window, opened it a crack, and gazed out.


    A dull thud came from someplace not far from his house, where a man seemed to have gotten a blow that stopped him dead, and his back had struck the wall with a thud. Blood was coming out of the side of his mouth, and he had an expression of agony. While he was on the ground struggling, a screen shot up in front of him, on which were some characters. He had activated his communications card and was certainly going to call for help!


    Pow ¨C a snapping sound ¨C a blue ray of light precisely hit the apparatus on this man''s wrist, which was blown apart in an instant. Two men wearing face guards came out from around the corner, and the body of one of them was surrounded by several beams of blue light. These looked like snakes, as they coiled back and forth.


    Chen Mu''s heart immediately sank, and his face turned white. He recognized that man who''d been knocked down, who was the card artisan that had been protecting him under cover!


    So, those people . . .


    Too late to think, Chen Mu made the quick decision to get to the back of the room as fast as possible, without being able to take anything from the house.


    He felt his heart beat speed up, peng, peng, peng, souding like the footsteps of those two, desperately chasing after him. While his throat had gone dry, he was actually strangely calm, knowing that any slightest carelessness could get him killed.


    There was a window in the back of the room, and he had to jump out of it. At that time, Chen Mu was paying no attention to how stunningly quick his sprint speed was!


    Getting to the window, he quickly scanned to find that no-one was there. Having to disregard the fact that it was on the second floor, he jumped headlong out the window. He landed in an instant, and flowed into a roll, to eliminate the powerful impact.


    This vicinity was all residential, and he was very familiar with that part of it. He bolted madly along the foot of the wall as soon as he crawled up.


    Card artisans! The one under cover protecting him had been a card artisan. Although he didn''t know what grade the one protecting him was, one thing he could be sure of was that he was quite a bit more formidable than he was himself. If even that card artisan could be killed at the hands of two people, would there be any way for him to survive?


    Without knowing if it was because his life was endangered, the speed of his running that day was stunning fast. He''d already zig-zagged past quite a few alleyways in the blink of an eye, which allowed him to loosen up a little. Tracking him through the crowded residential district would not be an easy thing to accomplish.


    But he was scared out of his wits when he turned around to look!


    The two card artisans were flying in midair, scanning all around for Chen Mu''s form.


    Damn! Card artisans can fly! How could he have forgotten that obstacle? Chen Mu quickly hugged the foot of the wall, shrinking in, trying to cover his form in that position.


    A thought suddenly arose in his mind that if he were to use the tailless shuttle card, could he shoot those two jerks out of the sky? But he immediately pushed that idea to the back of his mind, since there were two adversaries, and he could only shoot down one of them, which would certainly give up his position. Once he revealed his position, the result was easy to imagine. His adversaries were professional card artisans, not comparable to the half-baked goods that he was. There were a hundred different ways that they could kill him if they wanted to.


    From the air, the two card artisans were advancing methodically in stages, searching every spot, not rushed or nervous, and you could tell on sight that they were old hands. Veterans!


    Chen Mu''s heart was still pounding violently. He had never in his whole life faced such a dangerous moment. To look at his fighting the hooligans when he was young from that perspective, it was simply a child playing house.


    These two are certainly from the Zuo household! The Zuo household were no angels after all.


    As Chen Mu was nervously watching the two press relentlessly near, he tried to shrink his body into a ball, to minimize the chance of being found. But staying put was not a great idea. There would be no escape once they were looking down at his current position from the sky.


    No good! He couldn''t sit there waiting to be killed! Chen Mu''s gaze quickly scanned all around, while his mind was churning. His fiercely pounding heart wasn''t making him panic; his mind was as sober as ever.


    His gaze suddenly landed on a place not far away, and a surge of exaltation rose in his heart.


    About ten meters in front of him, there was a small drainpipe opening! He wanted to slap himself upside his skull. Why hadn''t he thought of that?


    If they were flying in the sky, then we escape through the ground.


    He believed that those adversaries would never be able to hold onto him if he were able to get into the drainpipe.


    With a cat''s waist, Chen Mu followed the foot of the wall, and arrived at the opening to the drain-pipe with the speed of a civet.


    Chen Mu easily opened the unwieldy cover. It was pitch dark inside, and a blast of foul-smelling air rushed out.


    Chen Mu lightly and softly dropped down in without a frown, and replaced the drain hole cover behind him to its original position. He watched the sky through its grid.


    After a few seconds, the two card artisans appeared in his field of vision. They were probably about fifty meters away from his face, and he could clearly see their bodies.


    In the dark, there was a stark change to Chen Mu''s expression, and one could imagine how intense his mental struggles were just then. Very quickly his gaze firmed up. He quickly activated the apparatus on his wrist, having already decided that he would fight back!

 Chapter 62: The Ways of the Shuttle

    Chapter 62: The Ways of the Shuttle


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    In the dark drainpipe, the dim rays from the apparatus spread over all of Chen Mu''s right hand, swirling toward his right index finger where they concentrated like a shark smelling blood.


    A crystalline long tube-shaped shuttle appeared on Chen Mu''s right index finger, emitting a light halo, dazzling and beautiful. The more it spun, the faster it went, giving out a low hum as it got to its top speed.


    This would be Chen Mu''s first time using it for battle. He was strangely not the least bit nervous, with his eyes fixed on his adversary, and his right index finger poised at an opening in the grate.


    He knew that he had only one chance, and that he wouldn''t have time to see what he''d done.


    Without knowing if it was because of the stimulation, his state of mind was the most excellent that it had ever been. The tube on his finger had never felt so much under his mind''s control, as he calmed down his urgent breath in that moment. Every particular from inside that mysterious card about controlling the tailless shuttle card was clear in his mind as never before.


    He made continuous fine adjustments using his perception, as the spinning of the tailless shuttle tube grew faster and faster.


    The two card artisans in midair had no idea that they had been turned from predator to prey.


    Now! Chen Mu''s eyes narrowed, as his index finger pointed to some spot in the sky.


    Sheeeooo, the tailless shuttle shot like a spark from the grid of the drainpipe cover, and Chen Mu dropped his head and started madly bolting with all his energy, with no chance to see the result.


    Fifty meters was really nothing for the tailless shuttle! The two card artisans detected it almost the instant Chen Mu let the shuttle loose.


    Their faces changed color instantly, as who knows how many multiples quicker the two card artisans'' reaction times were than Chen Mu''s. The one with the quickest response was the card artisan who hadn''t been targeted.


    That card artisan had plenty of self-confidence as three beams of blue light immediately welcomed the shot. That type of ''ultimate blue snake line'' battle card had alarming power, with its snake-like beam able to penetrate fifty centimeters of steel plate. What was more important was that the card of his was steeped in eight years of gongfu!


    The tailless shuttle in midair let out a soul-sucking howl, with an inaudible low vibration from the spinning tube. But what was most astonishing wasn''t the wailing it gave in flight. It was that the shortening of the shuttle body was visible to the naked eye as its speed surged, getting faster and faster as it approached!


    The three snake lines pounced on nothingness, as pow, a dazzling blue ball of fireworks emerged from the collision.


    That card artisan lowered his head to see a bloody wound the size of a thumb. You couldn''t see his expression since he was wearing a face guard, but you could still see the strange expression revealed by his two eyes, seeming panic stricken and in disbelief.


    Whump, he was planting down from the sky at the same time. Just as he was about to pound into the ground, the other card artisan, who made a rapid dive the instant he came to his senses from the shock, caught his companion. But by the time he caught him, he was no longer breathing. There was a finger sized wound over his heart, from which large surges of blood kept spewing out.


    "Brother Yu, Brother Yu! Open your eyes, I beg you! Brother Yu . . . you said that you weren''t quite proficient with the ''ultimate blue snake line'' and that I would still have to bring you along further . . ." There was panic and terror in the big warrior''s voice, as he kept calling out ''brother Yu'' as though he were crazy, to which brother Yu made no response. Until he was hoarse and the big warrior could take it no longer, his voice lost in pain, he kept holding brother Yu, his tears gushing like a spring.


    Chen Mu was plunging along with one foot high and one low, in a place where the stench would make anyone vomit; where startled rats could be seen everywhere, along with an occasional snake. When he was a child, he would often hide in the drainpipes, and that long dormant and distant memory suddenly came back to life.


    It was hard to tell direction in the drainpipes, and with all its branches, you would lose the way if you were even a little careless. It was a good thing that Chen Mu was experienced and could keep running in the same direction.


    The small town of Burlington was a lot smaller-scale than Eastern Shang-Wei City proper, and its drainage system was naturally quite inferior. Chen Mu had to crawl in a few places, at which times he would have to ignore the filthy water that he was crawling ahead through.


    He didn''t know whether that shuttle just then had hit its mark in the end, though this matter had already been put to the back of his mind, since he still had to push himself to run a little farther before he could emerge from the drainage pipes. But he had already determined that he would be safe in a short while.


    As it became a little safer, he couldn''t help thinking of Copper.


    He could only hope just then that the Pei household had discovered that one of their men had already died. This would put them on the alert, making Copper correspondingly safer.


    But he couldn''t worry about Copper just then, having quite a few difficulties that he would have to resolve still ahead of him, such as where to exit the drainpipes. And how would he get in touch with Copper and the others, and so forth.


    He''d already been racing for about half an hour, and according to his speed, he was probably just about through the whole of the small town of Burlington. Just then there was a little light ahead, which must be an exit. Chen Mu decided to take a look.


    It was indeed an outlet, and he seemed to have come to the end of Burlington''s drainage system. The pipe that he was in just then continued on to the surface, which made it clear that he had already gotten to the discharge outlet.


    As he drilled out through the discharge outlet, the bright sun made him squint.


    It was the outer reaches. He had actually gotten to the outer reaches!


    Chen Mu didn''t know whether he was lucky or unlucky. It was lucky that he must have already lost those two deadly card artisans who were chasing him. But it was unlucky that it was the outer reaches.


    The outer reaches were a dangerous and overgrown place. Only those card artisans with battle strength would dare to go out of the city. If convoys wanted to go, they would hire large numbers of card artisans to protect them.


    A wry smile came up from the corner of Chen Mu''s mouth. But there was still the problem of how to get in touch with Copper from that place where birds wouldn''t shit. Unlike a big city, Burlington didn''t have many card artisans, and he hadn''t heard of them producing any. So, the card artisans for that kind of activity would be pitifully few. The probability of running into a card artisan out there was rather small.


    It was Chen Mu''s first time to the outer reaches, and he looked all around. He couldn''t help being amazed. The air there was a lot fresher, especially as far as Chen Mu was concerned, who had just emerged from the drainage pipes.


    As he walked along casually for a while, Chen Mu started to feel a little more genial under the sunshine.


    Under his feet at that time was all soft grass, where about three hundred meters in front of him was a dense forest. There were trees everywhere with some so large that it would take a few people to encircle them, such as would never be seen in the city.


    According to lore, the middle of the jungle was always full of danger, but it also held countless treasures. From what he knew, the most precious materials needed for card making mostly had to be captured from the dense forests.


    That made him curious, and he couldn''t stop himself from walking slowly toward the jungle.

 Chapter 63: Demons, Demons

    Chapter 63: Demons, Demons


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The closer he got to the jungle, the more he felt the air dampen, but it was very different from the dampness in the drain pipes. This moist air was full of a smell of freshness, which made a person relaxed and carefree. Chen Mu''s spirits were lifted.


    Just as Chen Mu was being intoxicated by the novelty of the dense forest, something dark and black plunged out from the jungle, coming straight for him!


    It was too fast! The long dark thing grabbed his ankle before he could respond. At almost the same time, a strong force came up through his ankle and he quickly lost his stability, as he fell to the ground with a thump.


    Was there a snake?


    Chen Mu''s mind tensed, but things were happening so fast that before he could fight back he had lost his balance. Once his ankle was bound, Chen Mu was dragged toward the jungle by a tremendous force.


    His spine was ground hot with pain from the grassy land, and he saw that he was getting closer and closer to the dense bushes. Chen Mu quickly drew himself up into a ball. The fine thorns which covered the undergrowth froze his heart in fright, but the series of misfortunes had come on too quickly, leaving him no space for any fear.


    He automatically took some protective measures but couldn''t use the tailless shuttle card to fight back, which showed how far he was from being a qualified card artisan.


    In an instant, the branches of the shrubbery left dozens of crisscrossing trails of blood on his arms that were protecting his body, bringing on another bout of burning pain. That pain made Chen Mu suck in a cold breath of air.


    Although he didn''t know what it really was, it must have been some sort of snake-like creature, judging from the feeling coming from his leg, or it could have been the touch of a monster''s hand.


    Among his pathetically small general knowledge, Chen Mu didn''t have a single piece of information about the creatures in the jungle. The only thing he could think of was the only thing he knew about, which was a snake.


    Such great strength! Although he didn''t know what kind of creature it was, he couldn''t help being fascinated. But it wasn''t a very good thing that was happening to him, where he might very likely get eaten up.


    He was abruptly dragged into the jungle like a bag of sand.


    There was no longer any trace of that fresh humid air, which had been replaced by the smell of rotting leaves blowing in his face. The branches that were hitting Chen Mu right in the face made it impossible for him to open his eyes. But perhaps because too many things had happened that day, he wasn''t even feeling unfortunate and his mind was surprisingly sharp.


    He relaxed his body and curled up into a ball, so that he could reduce the area for injuries by some large margin. He still suffered plenty like that, the dense underbrush being so covered in fine thorns that he was stabbed full of cuts and bruises.


    If it were Copper, that knucklehead would be afraid of ruining his face he guessed miserably. That was the kind of thing which leapt into Chen Mu''s mind, so that he might have something to smile about.


    Chen Mu realized that his chance had come when it seemed that there was some loosening around his ankle.


    Without any hesitation, he exerted force from his waist and abdomen, so that his whole body shot up. That thing on his ankle also seemed to sense it, and it tightened. It wanted to tighten!


    The feeling was too familiar.


    From his gut, Chen Mu was thanking that person who''d made the mysterious card over and over. That unwinding game had saved his life!


    A bow, a bend, and a shot, and his body exerted tremendous burst strength which suddenly exploded, while at the same time his ankles which were being bound left and right twisted in a flash, and all the sudden burst of power from his body was transmitted to his left ankle. After the twist and the flash, and because of the power that was between his ankle and that thing winding around his leg, it blew apart!


    Pow, came the loud sound of cracking as Chen Mu felt his ankle lighten, thrilled that the thing had been burst open. Chen Mu was finally able to see clearly what it actually looked like. Surprisingly, it was a black vine the thickness of a thumb.


    Could it be that even the vines were dangerous in the jungle? Chen Mu''s heart was racing wildly, as he suddenly felt the threats lurking on every side and couldn''t wait to get out of that dangerous place.


    "Hey!" The sound of a woman''s whisper came from deep in the jungle.


    Chen Mu was stupefied. There''s someone there? But his legs didn''t slow in the slightest. He couldn''t be concerned just then about whether or not someone was there. He would think about that after he got out from that dangerous jungle.


    A warbling voice suddenly came from behind him, and as soon as Chen Mu turned his head to look, he saw that black vine drilling out from the thick underbrush like a snake, and its target was shockingly him!


    It was too fast!


    This vine hadn''t given up its ghost! Chen Mu tried to imagine what kind of monster it was. Had even vegetation gotten so fierce by then?


    Without having anything left to preserve, he summoned even the strength from his milk-drinking days, and then without any regard for the thorny bushes, he plunged in willy-nilly, hoping to lose that terrifying vine.


    As though it were looking only for Chen Mu, it trailed after him, unimaginably flexible, and as fast as lightning.


    Chen Mu''s left ankle was bound again!


    Damn!


    Chen Mu stepped on the vine with his right foot, and like the last time, his left foot followed the recipe, and pow! Another cracking sound, as the tight windings around Chen Mu''s left ankle were blown apart.


    But without waiting for Chen Mu to run away another time, the black vine that he was stepping on suddenly drilled ahead like a slippery freak, and the end of the vine shot up suddenly like a snake''s head, abruptly winding around Chen Mu''s waist.


    That time, the vine had moved even faster! It was so fast that Chen Mu didn''t have time to blink; who knows how many times faster than the last time.


    Chen Mu was horrified to find that his waist was feeling more power than he''d ever felt before, and he was suddenly blocked from flying out with that the move he had just been able to use.


    More underbrush, more desperately protecting his face, more hot pain, but that time was a lot worse than the last, with Chen Mu having no chance to protect himself. Even his clothes were torn to shreds by the thorns that time, their tatters setting off the lines of blood.


    The immortal feeling of ''riding the clouds and mounting the mist'' was messed up!


    Chen Mu was dizzy watching the ground sway back and forth from at least ten meters away. He had been hung up. Who knows how many times stronger and more pliable the vine was than those water weeds in the simple water world. He was now being pulled in so hard by the black vine that his waist was about to snap.


    A person dressed all in black walked out below him. It was a woman wearing body-tight black clothes which revealed every feature of her figure. Even Chen Mu who had never had any concept of a woman knew that it was some kind of demonic body. He guessed that it was the woman whose voice he''d just heard.


    But as soon as he saw that face, he couldn''t help sighing with regret that it really was a demon!


    Her face looked like it was covered with some sort of crusty shell, with flesh visible in only a few places through the bumps and hollows, where the five sensory organs could be vaguely made out. Even her belly was covered with the scabby shell, oozing pus in a few places and looking terrifying.


    Chen Mu gulped hard, while he wondered what that woman was actually thinking of doing.

 Chapter 64: Weird

    Chapter 64: Weird


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The demonic woman looked up to see Chen Mu half in the air, while Chen Mu was feeling his waist loosening and his whole body falling. Without waiting for him to call out, it tightened again on his waist to stop him still in the air, leaving him close enough to almost touch that demonic woman.


    Good opportunity! Chen Mu looked forward with bright eyes. He only had to grab the woman and seize the initiative which had fallen into his hands.


    But, it was very evident that his adversary''s reactions were quicker than his, and she had methods that were hard to predict.


    Chen Mu''s two hands and two legs were suddenly bound, and his bound hands and feet started to come together in one place, until his body was quickly bent into a bow facing down! It didn''t occur to him that the weird black vine would know when to bind up his hands and feet.


    The part of the vine that was binding him at the waist loosened up suddenly and slowly slipped open. The black vine sticking to his body gradually took on a slippery feeling, which made his hair stand on end all over.


    The thing that was the most inconceivable was that he didn''t see any actions from the demonic woman who was directing the black vine. That kind of unconventional phenomena made him feel a repeated chill from the bottom of his heart. He wouldn''t have felt so nervous even if he thought he was facing some high-level card artisan, since what he was facing then was something he didn''t understand at all.


    Chen Mu at his most basic was an ordinary person, or at least he thought he was.


    His two hands and two feet were bound behind him, tied into a loop and hanging, which made him look like a pig ready to have its chest cut open.


    Unfortunately, his perception wasn''t strong enough! If his perception were sufficiently strong, he would absolutely be able to activate his apparatus just by using his perception, without using his hands, which would have given him a slim chance for survival. But that was a little far from where he was right then. He''d lost any countermeasures.


    It had been a bad day! Just when he had thought that he had escaped into the blue, he fell back into the tiger''s mouth.


    The demonic woman was very close to Chen Mu''s face, but she didn''t seem interested in his face, and was pulling off the ''cloth-strip shirt'' from his body.


    She, what is she thinking of doing!


    Chen Mu''s face had turned a little white. He was bold enough, but that business was not included in his boldness. Looking at the horrifying face of that demonic woman, he felt his stomach churning.


    The demonic woman stuck out her finger. She was wearing extremely thin black gloves on both of her hands. She lightly stroked Chen Mu''s chest a few times with her black fingers. And then she closely examined the muscle on his arm, his calf, and his abdomen.


    "Who are you? Why have you grabbed me? What are you thinking of doing?" Chen Mu asked in a deepened voice.


    The demonic woman wasn''t paying any attention to him, as though she hadn''t heard.


    Suddenly, the demonic woman stopped what she was doing with her hands, and tilted her head to hear. Seeing that, Chen Mu also quickly listened very closely, his hearing now much more acute than before. But apart from some sound of wind, and the occasional rustle of leaves, he didn''t hear any other stirrings.


    Was she being deliberately deceitful? Chen Mu looked skeptically at the demonic woman, wondering if her hearing could be better than even his which had already gotten to a pretty scary place.


    Chen Mu suddenly found his body in free fall, though he didn''t call out, but looked calm. Although he didn''t understand his adversary''s objective, he believed that she would have killed him earlier if she''d wanted to kill him, and he absolutely wouldn''t have gotten so far.


    Without waiting for him to hit the ground, the remaining vine quickly unrolled toward Chen Mu, and wrapped him up like a dumpling in the blink of an eye, covering even his mouth, so he couldn''t make a sound.


    The demonic woman lightly cradled Chen Mu, and started running deeply into the jungle.


    Opening his eyes wide, Chen Mu was shocked. The demonic woman''s speed was extremely fast, and her body was nimble. The burst power of her pair of legs was stunning, and her balance was strong to some unimaginable extent, as she was able to leap forward through the gaps among the tree trunks. She had lightly picked up Chen Mu in her hands as though he were nothing.


    Chen Mu, on the contrary, was occasionally whipped head-on by tree branches on his face.


    The demonic woman suddenly stopped, and listened again carefully for a while. That time, Chen Mu could barely hear what sounded like peoples'' voices not far away, but unfortunately, his mouth was bound tight.


    He saw the demonic woman pull out a light green card about the size of a book of matches. The pattern on the front of the card was made up of a group of light green lines.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help paying more attention to the demonic woman. What was this? A card? Could she be a card master? He casually glanced at her wrist, where there wasn''t any apparatus!


    No way! Chen Mu was surprised. He sensed a fluctuation in the demonic woman''s perception. Chen Mu would never have been able to get to that point with his original strength. But they were so close together.


    Although there were stark differences between her perception and his, he was still one hundred percent certain that the little fluctuation just then was perception.


    That light green-faced card in her hand suddenly disappeared. It disappeared right before his eyes! Chen Mu didn''t blink during the whole process.


    Could there actually be supernatural events in this world? Chen Mu was sweating in his mind.


    The demonic woman put Chen Mu down on the ground, freeing her other hand. Laying on the ground, Chen Mu was watching her every move without moving his eyes, for fear of missing some detail.


    The demonic woman''s left hand pulled out a very fine light-colored thread from the middle finger of her right hand. This green thread was as fine as a hair. Never mind being in the forest, if anything were ever put in front of your eyes, you might not see it if you didn''t pay attention. Chen Mu paid attention that time, to the middle finger of the demonic woman''s right hand. He didn''t know when a thick roll of fine green thread had been added there.


    Looking all around at a glance, the demonic woman carefully took the thread drawn from her middle finger and tied it to the base of a tree. When she had tightened it, she turned around, and suddenly fired with her middle finger toward the place where Chen Mu was.


    Sheeoouu! Chen Mu felt only a green shadow flash before his eyes. After he came back to his senses, he was surprised to find that a fine green thread had been stretched straight in front of his face, just five centimeters from the tip of his nose. The thread was stretched perfectly straight, and if you looked very closely, there were tiny rays of light flowing, too small to notice.


    You would certainly not notice that kind of arrangement in the jungle.


    The demonic woman looked as though she hadn''t planned to stop there, and she set it up in several other places as well, which were unfortunately behind Chen Mu''s back.


    After having finished that part, the demonic woman picked Chen Mu back up, and jumped away.


    She was going toward where there had been the sound of people. Chen Mu quickly determined the direction as the sound from that group of people grew more clear in his ears.


    She is luring them! Chen Mu quickly understood the demonic woman''s intention.


    Sure enough, things developed exactly as Chen Mu had anticipated.


    "Who is it?""Who is it?" Several abrupt shouts, and then people were rushing in their direction.


    Xiu, xiu, xiu, Several wavy blades shot from behind the shrubbery with amazing momentum.


    The demonic woman picked up Chen Mu and turned around to run. Her face had no expression during the entire process. Even the look in her eyes didn''t change at all. This gave Chen Mu the impression that she had done this same sort of thing many times before.


    "Over there, I see him!""Quick, go after him!"


    That group of people had evidently discovered the demonic woman, and were immediately giving chase.


    The demonic woman''s speed time wasn''t so fast that time, just a little bit faster than the ones chasing her. Chen Mu really admired the demonic woman''s inner qualities. While wavy blades would come whizzing from behind, the demonic woman was doing the work of luring without any urgency, as though these wavy blades didn''t exist.


    So here we are! Chen Mu called out in his mind at the place that the demonic woman had just prepared. He stared with his eyes wide open, wanting to see what the arrangements the demonic woman had just made were actually going to do.


    But the demonic woman wasn''t going to let him be, as she picked him up with one hand and quickly re-entered the bushes.

 Chapter 65: Taking Care of Business?

    Chapter 65: Taking Care of Business?


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The demonic woman stopped her feet and dove into the bushes to hide, grabbing Chen Mu with one hand. He couldn''t tell what that black suit on her body was made from, but the thorns on the branches of the bushes weren''t able to prick through it. They were hard on Chen Mu, though. By that time, every inch of his body was already scratched up, and those fine thorns ruthlessly and frequently ravaged him.


    They were about three hundred meters away from the site that the demonic woman had just set up, and she was hiding stock still, like a cold blooded wild animal waiting for its prey to enter its ambush zone.


    "Yo! dammit, what is this?" Blood curdling screams and shouts of alarm came one after the other.


    The demonic woman had no change to her look, and maintained the same posture, like a lifeless stone statue. Chen Mu couldn''t maintain that sort of calm look, and his face was pretty messed up.


    Three minutes later, all the sounds returned to silence.


    Those people had all died! Chen Mu''s heart sank to its lowest place, wondering if he would be following in their footsteps. His childhood existence made him not so afraid of death, as though he were constantly fighting against it, struggling to stay alive and keep going.


    He hadn''t thought that his life would come to a screeching halt after it had just gotten better. All of his struggles and all of his dreams would be coming to an end.


    Chen Mu wasn''t at all saddened by that kind of fate, feeling only a cool grief, very very cool.


    The demonic woman was as soundless and nimble as a cheetah, even still carrying Chen Mu bound into a bundle.


    They sure were dead!


    What Chen Mu hadn''t expected was that those peoples'' dead forms weren''t horrible, but on the contrary could even be called peaceful. Some of the corpses were still smiling, as though they were in a very happy state on the brink of death.


    If one were to say that things had been cool, then that was bone-chilling. Too strange, and too terrifyingly creepy.


    Chen Mu was a little bit confused to watch the demonic woman put her hand on one of the corpses, and then pull out one of those very fine light green threads from within it. It was not noticeably the slightest bit wet with any blood.


    Chen Mu looked in dread at that fine light green thread, never having imagined that this unremarkable fine thread was such a horrifying killing instrument. The scene of its being drawn out bit by bit from the corpse really tested what a person could bear.


    The thread was quickly wound around the demonic lady''s middle finger.


    Chen Mu suddenly sensed another very slight fluctuation in energy. At almost the same time, the fine silken thread that was wound around the demonic woman''s middle finger went back to being a card, without any sign that it would do so; it was that card with the green colored fine composition of lines that he had seen before.


    Could this be some new technique?


    The inconceivable transformation made Chen Mu extremely curious, while his sense of curiosity also greatly reduced his dread. There is actually a card in this world which doesn''t need any apparatus to be used!


    And he was really curious by then about who that demonic woman really was. What were the principles on which that card of hers was based?


    The demonic woman fumbled about with the rest of the corpses for a while. Not seeing any signs of harm on their bodies, Chen Mu didn''t know how those people had actually died. He also didn''t know what the demonic woman was doing, since he couldn''t see her from his angle.


    If one didn''t use any apparatus, then what method would you use? Chen Mu was wondering.


    While Chen Mu was mulling over that arcana, the demonic woman had already gotten up.


    She picked up Chen Mu and ran deep into the jungle.


    Since he hadn''t been killed at once, Chen Mu sighed in relief. But the feeling of being carried was really messed up, and he was so shaken up that all the bitterness went right out of him. While seeming to really like those dense jungles, the demonic woman just kept drilling in.


    They travelled for nearly a day and a night. After every little while, she would feed Chen Mu something that was a little like a red sea sponge. It was always a small piece, which had a very mild flavor. Chen Mu surmised that the red sea sponge must be what the demonic woman used in the outer reaches to appease her hunger.


    Chen Mu finally relaxed when it looked as though he wasn''t likely to be killed. While he had always thought that the demonic woman wasn''t really thinking of killing him, his speculation was shaken by the cold blooded and bizarre ways that she would subdue him. He didn''t really decide that he wasn''t likely to die until after she fed him the red sea sponges.


    Chen Mu had already lost any idea about where he was, since a day and a night of jostling had made him somewhat lose his mind.


    When the demonic woman finally stopped, she wasn''t even breathing hard after a day and a night of continuous running while carrying a man by her hand! She casually tossed Chen Mu to the place. His energy was really low, and his face pallid.


    The demonic woman finally released the black vine that he had been wrapped in. By that time, his body really looked horrible, showing line after line of bright red binding marks, and covered in fine cuts and bruises; even his face was all scratched up.


    Chen Mu got back some of his energy after resting for several hours.


    "What do you really intend to do?" Chen Mu asked listlessly.


    "Who. . . are you?" the demonic woman labored to answer.


    This was the first that Chen Mu had heard the demonic woman''s voice so close-up. Her enunciation was very awkward, a word at a time. That amused him a little, with even three-year olds being more fluent than she was. But as soon as he caught her look, he obediently swallowed the laugh that was coming from his mouth.


    Cold. Bone chilling. The look that the demonic woman was giving Chen Mu was very cold, raising all his hair. He''d had the wrong idea all along. He was only prey.


    "Chen Mu, card master." Having calmed down, Chen Mu was completely cooperative.


    The demonic woman shook her head, "Card Master? Don''t look like!" She still spoke awkwardly, but she was staring at him like a snake, trying to capture any change in his expression.


    "Don''t look like? Why?" Chen Mu was a little surprised by what the demonic woman had said. It was really a good thing that he was a card master, since although he''d been surprised, he remained unperturbed.


    "Strength, flesh!"


    Although the demonic woman''s speech could be a little confusing, Chen Mu could still understand what she was trying to say. What the demonic woman wanted to say was that he was very strong, with very strong muscles.


    "I really am a card master." Seeing some improvement in the atmosphere between them, Chen Mu couldn''t help probing, "Why did you grab me?"


    "Taking care of business. Success, live. Fail, die."


    The demonic woman''s gaze was indifferent, ice cold without any warmth. Chen Mu knew that she wasn''t joking with him.

 Chapter 66: The Investigation

    Chapter 66: The Investigation


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Zuo Tianlin gave Wu Tuan a slap in the face, instantly leaving five bright red finger marks on his face.


    "I really never thought that my own kind could be so worthless." Zuo Tianlin sneered, "We''ve talked about this over and over. Obvious matters need to be dealt with using obvious methods."


    Although Wu Tuan was listening respectfully with is head bowed, he didn''t look very convinced.


    Zuo Tianlin took a look at Wu Tuan, and said very carefully, "Do you think I''m grieving over a card artisan? Wrong! I''m angry about your vindictiveness, your narrow mindedness, and that you will never amount to anything. You fall very short of Tingyi."


    Wu Tuan calmly squeezed out through his gritted teeth, "Of course. He is named for your kind."


    Zuo Tianlin flicked his eyes, and lifted his hand to give Wu Tuan another slap. But seeing Wu Tuan sticking up his neck in that stubborn way stung his heart, and he let his hand fall.


    Zuo Tianlin growled, "To be a superior person, you must have the attitude of a superior person. Look at what you''ve done this time. Is there anything superior about that? The death of Yu Xin is no great problem, the issue is that this was not worth dying for. Not only has no good come from it, we''ve also made an enemy. What do you think makes me the angriest? This was utterly unnecessary! We had no need to invite this kind of enemy! We''re not afraid of having enemies, but it''s stupid to make enemies over such a small matter!"


    Seeing Wu Tuan as stubborn as ever, he grew quickly impatient, and waved him away with his hand, "Go away."


    After Wu Tuan had left, Zuo Tianlin opened his communicator, "Send in Ming Hui."


    Ming Hui was wearing gold wire-frame glasses, looking very cultivated, with a rather scholarly air.


    "Have you found out who killed Yu Xin?" Zuo Tianlin asked calmly. Yu Xin had superb strength, and although it was a sneak attack, his adversary would have to be considered quite powerful to have managed to have killed him that time.


    "His name is Chen Mu, a street punk when he was small, who used to make his living by making power cards. When his only buyer ''Uncle Hua'' passed away, he stopped making one-star power cards. Since then, he''s been committed to making low grade fantasy cards. This has been determined based on his purchase records. He later lived together with ''Raymond,'' and started to make the card plays "Chance Encounter" and "The Legend of Master Shi." Not long ago, he joined the low-grade fantasy card club, where he demonstrated deep accomplishment with low-grade fantasy cards, earning the appreciation of Bai Zheyuan, and where he will soon serve as technical director."


    Zuo Tianlin showed some consternation, "He''s Bai Zheyuan''s man?"


    "As far as we can tell at the moment, he is!" Ming Hui answered with a sneer.


    Zuo Tianlin flew into a rage, "This piece of trash! What a f***king mess! Have Wu Tuan grounded for three months. No, five months!" His chest was heaving, being obviously agitated. Bai Zheyuan was among those who might be of any concern to him in Eastern Shang-Wei City. Among all his shortcomings, that one would be hard to make good on.


    "Yes, sir!" Ming Hui responded, then pushed up his gold wireframe glasses, saying calmly, "That''s not the end of it! The first few of the card plays "Chance Encounter" and "The Legend of Master Shi" made by Chen Mu used a very distinctive technique, which we still have no way to crack. While young master Tingyi was the first to discover this, we had never been able to find out who the card maker was. We only discovered this clue after investigating Chen Mu this time."


    "Could you be a little more clear." Zuo Tianlin frowned in dissatisfaction.


    Ming Hui calmly looked straight at Zuo Tianlin, and raised his voice to say, "This is to say that Chen Mu is holding in his hands a kind of technique that is so advanced that none of us has any way to decipher it. This is a genius. Unfortunately, we have a grudge against a genius, and still more unfortunately, he''s still alive!"


    "Damn!" The ever calm Zuo Tianlin let out a loud curse, while his chest heaved ever more violently.


    "There''s more bad news." Ming Hui''s voice remained cool, "Even though his killing of Yu Xin was a sneak attack, we have found that he had rented the basic training room at the training arena for just two months. Of course, no one could have gotten the skills to kill Yu Xin with only two months of training. He was essentially able to kill Yu Xin because he was using an incredible battle card. According to Daniel''s description, what our adversary shot had some kind of fine tube-type attack power, whose most unique quality was that its tail would continually dissipate, causing its speed to surge. We went through all the data, and didn''t find any card like it. Yu Xin''s chest was pierced right through, precisely at the heart."


    Zuo Tianlin''s expression had calmed.


    "To summarize, we have become enemies with a genius low-grade card master who uses an exceedingly powerful battle card as a novice card artisan." Ming Hui summed it up.


    "Really stupid!" Zuo Tianlin seemed to be evaluating an entirely different matter.


    "Certainly." Ming Hui raised his eyebrows in agreement.


    "Ground Wu Tuan for ten months"


    "OK."


    "Oh, right, find that guy. It''s still relatively easy to kill a genius before he grows up." Zuo Tianlin said faintly.


    "What about Bai Zheyuan?" Ming Hui asked with an inquisitive look.


    "I''ll give him a call, but I''m afraid there will be some blood this time." Zuo Tianlin looked unperturbed.


    * * *


    Chen Mu frowned, a little puzzled, "Finding me is taking care of business? What do I have that would help you?" He could be forgiven for not getting it, since as far as he could tell, the demonic woman''s power exceeded his by several hundred-fold. In that time when power was respect, he certainly didn''t have the ability to accomplish what she couldn''t accomplish.


    "Enter city." The demonic woman said awkwardly.


    "Enter city?" Chen Mu was a little uncertain, but he had a sudden epiphany. He hadn''t been paying attention to the demonic woman''s accent. He blurted out, "You''re not from the Federation." Apart from the Federation, it could only be the House of a Hundred Depths or the Mohadi Realm. Remembering all kinds of legends about those two mysterious places, he could more or less guess where she came from.


    The House of a Hundred Depths was a place full of darkness, rather like the manner of the demonic woman.


    The chill concentrated in the demonic woman''s two eyes looking at Chen Mu.


    "OK, I''ll take you into the city." Chen Mu promised, having no room to choose, though he still sneered, "I have to tell you first that there are people who want to kill me."


    Sizing up Chen Mu, the demonic woman very directly said, "You. Too weak."


    "Indeed." Chen Mu nodded, He had fully understood just how weak he was by then. He could be killed by practically any card artisan.


    "Go!" Said the demonic woman.


    "Where to?" Chen Mu asked.


    His response was the black vine again, and Chen Mu was wrapped up before he could resist.

 Chapter 67: Entering the City

    Chapter 67: Entering the City


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Outside of Eastern Shang-Wei City, Chen Mu couldn''t help asking, "Are we going to go in looking like this?" The demonic woman had done some strange things with his face, immediately changing his appearance to someone else. He was still young, but he bore no relation to the way he looked before.


    He now had a sallow face, which looked a little sickly, with sunken eyes. The demonic woman had put some kind of yellow fruit into Chen Mu''s mouth to produce the look. The waxy yellow wasn''t something applied on the surface, but was reflected on his whole body, which was all now the same kind of waxy yellow. But Chen Mu didn''t feel any discomfort, and his body hadn''t been harmed.


    That kind of shape changing technique was amazing. That creation of An Xiaoyou''s would be considered the dregs in comparison, without any practical value.


    "I am mute." The demonic woman used an awkward pronunciation which made Chen Mu want to laugh."


    Chen Mu discovered that the demonic woman was very familiar with the region outside the city, and didn''t need to rely on any map card. She could accurately discern the direction even while in the dense jungle.


    She''d carried Chen Mu from the outer reaches beyond the town of Burlington, to the outskirts of Eastern Shang-Wei City proper. During the whole route, Chen Mu hadn''t once seen her stopping to check the direction.


    Luckily, he had become rather used to the demonic woman''s toughness.


    Chen Mu was made a little uncomfortable by his changed face, though he quickly overcame it.


    He didn''t know when the demonic woman had changed her clothes, though Chen Mu maliciously guessed that it might be something that she peeled of from some card artisan she had killed. Her face had also changed, as he only just found out. The scabby shell on her face was also some sort of disguise.


    The face she changed into was very plain, with a mild appearance. Chen Mu surmised that that wasn''t her real appearance either. She was now walking at Chen Mu''s side, looking like a timid little sister. She was very cute hanging onto his shirttail, which made Chen Mu''s face feel like twitching.


    That feeling was upside down!


    The two of them entered the city gate, and nothing happened. They were extremely inconspicuous, and so naturally nobody paid any attention to them. Meanwhile, the Zuo household people were madly searching for Chen Mu in the jungles near Burlington.


    An issue suddenly occurred to Chen Mu as they were walking along the streets of Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    He had left his money card at home, not having taken it in his hurry. Now he was penniless, and he wasn''t counting on the demonic woman.


    Would you count on a person from the House of a Hundred Depths carrying Heavenly Federation Oudis on her person? Such a gal would almost certainly be a smuggler.


    "I don''t have any money on me." Chen Mu said to her, looking around to make sure nobody was there.


    While still hanging onto Chen Mu''s shirttail, the demonic lady said without lifting her eyelids, "Kill person? Make Money?"


    A cold sweat came out on Chen Mu. It was a good thing that he had gotten her questioning tone, or he wouldn''t have been able to take it. It wasn''t that he hadn''t seen blood. Last time some playboy had died in his hands. But every time he heard the demonic woman being so casual about killing people, her disrespect for human life gave him a chill.


    They were just passing a restaurant above which was hanging a sign which said, "Handy man and dishwasher wanted, 850 Oudi per week, food and rent included."


    Rubbing his stomach which hadn''t eaten for quite a few days, Chen Mu resolutely took her into the shop.


    "Shopkeeper, are you looking for a handyman?" Chen Mu asked. Having a rich experience with short-term work, he wasn''t at all timid.


    The fat woman sized him up, and asked suspiciously, "You must be sick, with that color in your face."


    Chen Mu didn''t know whether to laugh or cry, but seeing that there was a sack of rice to the side, he walked over and picked it up. Putting it down he said, "Is there such a sick person?"


    "Oh. You''re not a weakling. Good handyman material." The shopkeeper lady was clearly very satisfied with Chen Mu''s strength, and was just looking at the demonic woman tugging at his shirttail, "Who is she?"


    "My little sister." Chen Mu said naturally, "She''s the dishwasher. We''ll split the money, if you include the food and rent." The demonic woman behind him looked as though she didn''t have any opinion on the matter, and so lacking any sudden moves on her part, he put his suspended mind back into his belly.


    "OK, of course the money is all yours if you do a good job." The woman said readily.


    Chen Mu said nothing further, and went to work. He knew very well what he should do. Although he was a handyman, that meant that he would do whatever was needed. The more nimble with the work, the more pleasing you would be to the boss. The demonic lady was then dragged into the kitchen to wash the dishes, now looking all docile and obedient.


    Clucking her cheek, "I really hadn''t thought the you two siblings were good work material. Your sister is really quick on her feet. She''ll be able to handle what it took three people to do before. She''s even more capable than you." The proprietress praised them endlessly, and then lamented, "Too bad that such a nice young lady has lost her voice."


    The place where they were to live was a small loft among the piles of goods. Chen Mu didn''t dare stand up in such a cramped space. The would both have to sleep on the floor, where the beds were side by side. Fortunately, the loft had a skylight, since otherwise it would have been quite stuffy.


    Chen Mu lay down to sleep after a day of exhaustion, not worried that the demonic woman would do him any harm. Worry wouldn''t have done any good in any case. In her eyes, he didn''t have the ability to fight back.


    Chen Mu started dreaming right away after disposing of that thought, and he slept very soundly, loosened up after having gone through days in a high state of agitation.


    As soon as he woke up, Chen Mu opened his eyes to find the demonic woman back in her black body suit.


    Chen Mu quickly closed his eyes, since although he knew that the demonic woman wasn''t going to harm him for the time being, he obviously didn''t need to offend her that way.


    "Did you go out last night?" Chen Mu couldn''t help asking, having just caught a glimpse of the half-closed skylight.


    The demonic woman didn''t pay any attention to him, and changed her clothes and went to sleep.


    Seeing how it was, Chen Mu naturally knew how to keep his mouth shut.


    After sleeping about an hour more, the proprietress was calling them from below, and a new day was starting.


    Pour the tea, pour the water, serve the food, deliver the food, carry the bags and lift the goods, Chen Mu did everything. But it wasn''t bothering him, wanting that kind of peaceful life to go on for a while. He was thirsty for it after having just gone through so many scenes of life and death.


    He didn''t dare to get in contact with Copper, not knowing what the situation was with him. And moreover, he had a murderous demon with him, and didn''t want Copper to be hurt because of him.


    By evening, Chen Mu didn''t go right to bed. That kind of life was very relaxing for him, given his current strength. So that day wasn''t so tiring as the day before!


    "What are the Big Six? What is the Star Academy?" The demonic woman had suddenly opened her mouth.

 Chapter 68: About Killing People

    Chapter 68: About Killing People


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu''s face dropped, but as he was turning around to respond he saw that she was asking herself.


    How could a Hundred Depths person who didn''t even know how to speak clearly know about the big six and the Star Academy? She must have heard something when she went out last night. The big six and the Star Academy were a popular topic for conversation, and there was a real possibility she would have heard it.


    "The Six Big are the most famous academies in the Heavenly Federation, and the Star Academy is one of those . . ." Chen Mu laid out everything he knew about the six big academies. He already knew the best attitude to keep in front of the demonic woman.


    The resiliency of people is a great thing! He was thinking of the person he''d been before, who wouldn''t say anything for half a day ¨C who was called ''Blockhead''¨C now endlessly explaining all sorts of questions about common knowledge as though he were a kindergarten teacher. He figured that after going through the experience, if he were still alive, his eloquence would have advanced quite a bit!


    It was a good thing that the demonic woman wasn''t interrupting, but was just listening calmly showing a look of deep thought from time to time.


    Even though Chen Mu felt that his talking was much better than it had been, his introductions were quite dry. But the demonic woman seemed to take all those words to heart as though they''d come from the sky. Before two minutes were up, Chen Mu had exhausted everything he knew. Chen Mu had paid attention when her eyes lit up when he mentioned that the founder of the Star Academy was Heiner Van Sant.


    Heiner Van Sant was so awesome after all that even people from the Hundred Depths would know his name.


    "The Six Giants," the demonic lady asked abruptly.


    Chen Mu thought it over, and nodded, "Mmmm." Although his understanding about the six wasn''t very deep, when the demonic woman said that, he had more of an image. Which of the big six wasn''t a colossus?


    "Star Academy is one of the six giants?" She asked again.


    Chen Mu continued to nod his head, "mmmm."


    "Star Academy, never go out?" she asked.


    "mmmm." Chen Mu nodded.


    "Now they come here?" the demonic woman continued to ask.


    "mmmm. " Chen Mu nodded again.


    "Why?" she asked.


    Chen Mu finally shook his head, "I don''t know." There were a lot of people who weren''t too clear about that. Even Copper, who was an extremely intelligent person, didn''t know, so how would he know? And futhermore, he hadn''t put any energy toward the matter.


    The demonic woman finally stopped talking. She only showed a thoughtful expression which she maintained until Chen Mu had gone to sleep.


    Once he woke up, the demonic woman didn''t look as she had the last time. But Chen Mu didn''t know if she had gone out or not.


    After getting up and washing and gargling, he remembered that it had been a while that he hadn''t practiced the exercise gymnastics. He was utterly destroying the life ahead of him. He was suddenly missing that daily immersion in the card; the days soaking in the simple water world. He had brought that mysterious card along with him, but he really didn''t have any place to do it.


    Before the shopkeeper had woken up, when it was still early to go out, Chen Mu did the exercises again.


    After having done a set, Chen Mu felt more comfortable.


    "What is it you''re doing?" The demonic woman''s speech was a lot more fluent than it had been.


    "Exercise gymnastics." Chen Mu answered.


    "Good for your health, but too mild." She laid bare the shortcomings of the exercise gymnastics in a word.


    Suddenly remembering the incredible balance and burst strength that the demonic woman had in the jungle that day, Chen Mu had a mind to learn, "What should I be doing?"


    Looking at Chen Mu, she thought for a second, and said, "tonight."


    * * *


    Walking in the campus of the Eastern Wei Academy, Yin Chenjiu took a look, and seeing that no one was around, said in a low voice to Wang Ze, "Old Ze, it seems as though there are more people in the outer reaches recently."


    "Mmmm, that''s for sure." Wang Ze had a tranquil expression.


    "A lot of people from the Zuo household, as well as some card artisans of uncertain origins, all very strong. I''ve heard that there have already been some conflicts." Yin Chenjiu was sincerely concerned.


    "Mmmm, but there''s no need to worry, everyone should stay calm, we''ll keep a low profile for a while, and cancel our activities. After a few days, some reinforcements will have come from the school to help." Wang Ze was sedate.


    Yin Chenjiu perked up, "Excellent!" He immediately realized that his voice had gotten too loud, and lowered it, "Who is coming this time?"


    "Her!" There was also a hint of excitement in Wang Ze''s voice.


    Yin Chenjiu''s eye''s widened and his voice trembled, "Is it really her?"


    "Mmmm." Wang Ze pronounced heavily.


    * * *


    In the evening up in the loft, Chen Mu and the demonic woman were sitting cross legged opposite one another.


    "What can you do?" she asked.


    Chen Mu thought it over, and said "Make cards, and control them a little.


    "Used for killing people." She asked tranquilly.


    Chen Mu''s heart jumped, while he kept a calm look. He''d been provoked that way a few times, and knew how to keep a tranquil expression. After some thought, he raised his right hand and activated the apparatus.


    In the darkness the brilliant undulations flowed slowly toward his right hand, and then quickly coalesced into the tailless shuttle. The crystalline tailless shuttle emitted a soft hum as it started spinning quickly on his index finger. Seeing the half-opened skylight, Chen Mu pointed his finger toward the opening.


    The tailless shuttle shot out like an electric spark!


    The strange squeal appeared again, and then as suddenly went dead.


    Not thirty centimeters from the skylight, a glittering fragmentary light slowly scattered down, bewitching in the dark. Chen Mu opened his eyes wide, and looked despondently at the skylight.


    How could that be?


    A stalk of the black vine appeared on the demonic woman''s hand. The tailless shuttle had just been knocked right to pieces by that piece of black vine. Chen Mu hadn''t seen when the vine had appeared, or how it had appeared, or how it had knocked the shuttle apart faster than lightning.


    The demonic woman lowered her head to look at the tip of the black vine which had just knocked apart the tailless shuttle, but the top of the vine had also been frayed into several forks.


    "It''s very powerful." The demonic woman said critically, "but too slow."


    Without waiting for Chen Mu to dip his head in agreement, she came out with a series of analytical data, "Preparation time, three point two seconds, enough for someone to kill you more than twenty times." The demonic woman seemed pretty interested in that kind of talk, and she said much more than she usually did.


    "So, what should I do?" Chen Mu had to ask.


    "Practice." She answered very simply.


    Chen Mu let out a smirk, since training with the tailless shuttle card required a three-star power card or above, and he was now penniless, so what would he practice with? And with the situation so unclear, he wouldn''t dare go rashly back to the low-grade fantasy card club.


    "Killing people is very simple. Speed and skill." She shot a look at the apparatus on Chen Mu''s wrist, "This thing of yours is too complicated."


    Everything went blurry for Chen Mu, as he was lightly stung in the neck, while the demonic woman sat there not having moved.


    Chen Mu rubbed his neck, and there was impressively a trail of blood on his hand.


    "How should I practice?" Chen Mu suddenly asked.

 Chapter 69: No Choice

    Chapter 69: No Choice


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Star Academy''s second student exchange session had finally arrived! But the Eastern Wei Academy scholars who had been through the excitement of the first time weren''t making such a big fuss about it then. That was except for the strong students and teachers, like Hong Tao, who were really amazed, since the students from Star Academy were then quite a bit stronger than the first time, almost every one of immeasurable strength.


    "Qing Qing is here!" There was some affection in the way that Wang Ze welcomed her, along with a hint of respect. Yin Chenjiu and the rest alongside him had adoring faces, slightly bowing, giving those who didn''t know the impression that they were welcoming their lead teacher.


    "I am grateful for such hard-working student leaders to have taken such trouble." The person who spoke with such clear simple elegance was a girl with long hair. She had an average face, which gave off an air of elegance, and she wore a long turquoise dress which conveyed a kind of unspoken serenity. All her movements were like a spring breeze, gentle and calm.


    Wang Ze emerged from his initial silence to reply with a wry smile, "Qing Qing is more and more charming. Even I can''t stand it." Seeing the crowd behind her, Wang Ze sighed, "It looks like the president of the academy has spared no expense this time."


    Qing Qing pursed her lips in a chuckle without saying anything.


    Outsiders had no idea how strict the division was at Star Academy between the inner academy and the outer academy, while everyone there understood it well, and greeted her in appropriate fashion.


    Most of those there to receive her that time were Star Academy exchange students, along with a few Eastern Wei Academy professors, as well as Hong Tao and Zuo Tingyi.


    Wang Ze introduced those from Eastern Wei Academy. When he introduced Zuo Tingyi, Qing Qing smiled, "Student leader Tingyi comes from the Zuo family. No wonder I''ve been sensing that aristocratic aura, which I will learn from."


    Zuo Tingyi responded, "Young classmate Qing Qing is too flattering. We are only the lords of a remote region, and nothing to do with aristocracy. Our young classmate Qing Qing is really the one who has escaped the ordinary!" What Zuo Tingyi said wasn''t just self-effacement, since although the Zuo household was very influential in Eastern Shang-Wei City, it wasn''t even ranked across the Federation, and would naturally not be considered aristocracy.


    Star Academy produced the people of real quality. Although that Qing Qing in front of him didn''t have a notable name, who knows how many sons of the aristocracy she has surpassed with her elegance and tranquility.


    But no matter if it was Zuo Tingyi''s bearing or his other aspects, he was quite outstanding. He had gotten the attention of the Star Academy students, who rather admired him. Zuo Tingyi always returned the favor when they all smiled at him.


    Qing Qing smiled lightly, "Perhaps some time when the student leader is free, you could show Qing Qing the beautiful sites of Eastern Shang Wei City."


    That simple warm smile gave some pause to Zuo Tingyi who was quite used to beautiful women, but after a while he politely bowed to say, "I am ready to be at your service."


    The rest of the group was already used to that kind of thing, and didn''t think anything of it.


    * * *


    "You are too scrawny and easy to kill." To Chen Mu''s hearing, the demonic woman''s voice was no longer so awkward, "But you''re still useful, and won''t die for the time being."


    The demonic woman summarized Chen Mu as basically worthless. But it was still a good thing to know how many catties he weighed, and he accepted her manner of letting him know her estimation of his usefulness. It had been a long time since he''d gotten such a pure and artless estimation. There wasn''t anyone in the world other than your mother or father who had any obligation to you.


    If you want something, you have to get it yourself.


    The overhead of the cramped loft was already full of all sorts of stuff, among which Chen Mu was racing back and forth.


    His first day''s obligation was very simple, to run three hundred circuits. The demonic woman''s only demand was that he use all of his strength for each circuit. She was sitting cross-legged in the corner supervising it all. It was very dark in the loft, for which the demonic woman seemed to have an unusual preference. She shut the skylight, but beyond that she stuffed things into any little crack which might let any light in.


    The loft was pitch dark such that you couldn''t see the fingers on your hand. While Chen Mu''s eyes were a whole lot sharper than before, he still couldn''t adapt to that environment.


    The most critical thing was that there wasn''t any order at all to the debris which was strewn around. The first thing that Chen Mu needed to do was to adjust to the dark.


    But from what he could ''see,'' that first step wasn''t going to be easy.


    As soon as Chen Mu moved, he bumped up into a sack of beans, and when he quickly dodged to the side, he tripped over a bag of rice. That continuous knocking over of stuff was stopping his momentum. But if he slowed the slightest bit, that snake-like black vine of the demonic woman would whack him on the back and leave a bloody trail.


    There would be a shocking number of lash marks crisscrossing his back every evening. But he knew that the demonic woman was very precise, and would only bring him to the point of pain that penetrated to his marrow, without breaking his bones.


    Chen Mu had embarked upon a life of working in the day and training hard at night. But he had become remarkably strong, to an extent that even he himself would never have imagined he could hold out for.


    His daytime work could be considered rest, compared to the intensive training in the evenings, and his daily sleep had been compressed into two hours.


    Although he had entered into many different kinds of training, there wasn''t one of them which caused as much transformation as that one did. With his crashing around nearly every night until he was black and blue, it was a good thing that the demonic woman had some salve which had excellent results, or he wouldn''t have been able to go on the next day. Sometimes, he would wonder there in the dark what she really did.


    Assassin? That was the most likely guess. Her dark style and her endless stream of weird moves, plus her indifference to life, all supported it. But as seemingly endless as those all were, that bizarre ointment made her seem more like a doctor.


    Yeah, perhaps a high-grade assassin. They probably understand quite a lot, Chen Mu was thinking.


    Chen Mu''s training was finally starting to improve. He could sense where all of that stuff was, having already started to get accustomed to the dark environment. The most crucial thing there was perception.


    The scope of his perception was still four and nine-tenths meters, but what he needed to train then was his ability to control his body.


    By that time the demonic woman had started to go out frequently every night. It was for a different length of time every night, but the biggest change was that her Federation dialect became more and more fluent.


    But she still didn''t speak very often.


    A month went by without his awareness. Chen Mu could shuttle about easily then among all the debris in the loft so dark that you couldn''t see your five fingers. And his speed was up to the lowest standards set by that demonic woman.


    "You still have a month." The demonic woman suddenly opened her mouth that night.


    "A months'' time?" Chen Mu didn''t quite understand.


    The demonic woman looked coldly at Chen Mu, and said with an icy voice, "You''ll enter Eastern Wei Academy in a month."


    "Impossible!" Chen Mu shook his head, and without waiting for her to ask, he explained, "The Eastern Wei Academy is very hard to get in to."


    "You are a sponsored student." From some unknown place, she came up with a big pile of stuff, "These are your materials. This is money." She handed over a huge pile of money cards, raising a cold sweat on Chen Mu. How many people had this bimbo killed to get so much money?


    The demonic woman had no intention to explain, as she just laid out all the materials in front of Chen Mu.


    "I remember you saying that you are a card master?" she continued.


    Chen Mu answered cautiously, "I know a little."


    "Mmmm. You''ll enter the card making department." Her tone wasn''t leaving any room for opposition.


    "What do you want me to do?" Chen Mu was staring at the demonic woman, when he abruptly blurted out, "Is it the Star Academy?"


    She coldly looked at him without saying anything.


    You''ll only be out twice a week. I''ve already found you a place to live. Here''s the key. If you have any issues, be in touch with the communications card." She handed over the key and the communications card.


    Chen Mu mutely took the communications card and the key, knowing that there wasn''t any room for choice.


    "You''ll have to learn the most basic life-saving skills in a month. You''ll have five days a week when you can depend only on yourself to stay alive."

 Chapter 70: Secret Weapon

    Chapter 70: Secret Weapon


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The next day, the two of them left the restaurant. They had both changed their appearance again. Chen Mu was already trying to adapt to his new role as Yao Ke. Still his little sister, the demonic woman was now Yao Rou.


    She was too awesome, seeming to have in her hands an endless supply of money. Like the villa which rented for 100,000 Oudi a month in which they now lived. It was supplied with every kind of equipment, including a specialized card artisan training studio.


    Chen Mu was in the studio, stripped to the waist, breathing heavily while dripping with sweat. The little fruit that the demonic woman provided was becoming a little useful, as his muscles were a sexy bronzed color, which his real body would never have.


    His disposition had undergone some intense transformation during these days of intensive training.


    His eyesight was still sharper than before, his movements more vigorous, and his whole manner was full of power. None of his mild temperament from before was anywhere to be seen.


    "Keep going." The demonic woman''s voice was icy. By now, she could speak perfectly idiomatic Federation dialect fluently, and was to the point where she could read historical biographies that even Chen Mu found complicated.


    Chen Mu''s expression hadn''t changed, while he tumbled around on the floor. Seen briefly, you would think he was doing something indecent. But those who knew the ropes would understand how reasonable his current movements were.


    The first roll in the middle of a dodge was one of the most common and most effective skills. This ordinary-seeming roll contained a lot of technique, such as how to reduce one''s target area, or how to minimize the inertial bodily injury from a roll during a run at high speed, or how to use one''s core strength for better agility, and so forth.


    "Stop." The demonic woman shouted with a calm expression.


    Chen Mu stood up panting, not saying anything, only taking care of regulating his breath. He was covered in dust, and looked rather embarrassed. From start to finish, he would never complain no matter how things went, since at least he was alive. He knew that his current training could help him to survive dangers, and so he was never lazy, and would drill frequently.


    Although he didn''t have any choice, having a way to continue his stuggle to survive was something worth considering. He had already realized that his mission was certainly dangerous. He didn''t know why Star Academy had really come there, and he didn''t know why the demonic woman was so interested in that gang from the Star Academy.


    But he knew that the collision between the two of them was not likely to be very friendly. He had unfortunately become the demonic woman''s man, and if he wasn''t very careful, he would certainly be the first to suffer.


    So, he very diligently took in every kind of technique that the demonic woman imparted to him, though up until then everything that the demonic woman taught him was about dodging and hiding.


    "There''s not enough time for you to master my killing techniques." She said very directly to Chen Mu. Chen Mu drew in a large breath and kept listening.


    "You know only a very few things apart from the tailless shutter card, which has good power, despite being slow." She continued, "If you run into danger, the first thing you need to do is to hide yourself; hide in the dark. And then use the tailless shuttle card."


    Chen Mu didn''t say anything. He carefully stored away everything she said in his memory. When the time came, that could save his paltry life, since he still didn''t want to die.


    The demonic woman got a case, inside of which was a leather belt, a pair of shoes, and a pair of strange boxing gloves and kneepads. And there was a dried fruit about the size of a jujube pit.


    "Sandwiched in the belt are three poisonous smoke bombs, that will also affect you. They make the hands and feet weak, cause churning in the blood and qi, leaving no power of concentration, and then a rash appears, and finally death. If you don''t drink a half liter of olive oil within an hour, you will die just the same as your victim. Remember; within an hour." She spoke calmly to Chen Mu as though she were narrating some ordinary matter. She continued on by taking out the pair of shoes, signaling for Chen Mu to put them on.


    Chen Mu nimbly swapped out those shoes.


    "The bottoms of these shoes are dressed up with some elastic grass." The demonic woman motioned for Chen Mu to run around a little.


    Carefully testing out what was under his feet, Chen Mu started to run ahead very slowly. Whoa! The sudden speed nearly caused him to lose his balance, and he immediately pushed down on his feet, not knowing how big the bounce-back would be! Chen Mu bounced right back up, watching his head just about bump into the ceiling, which he quickly fended off with his hand, and then he fell back down. He immediately took a roll, to disperse the forces.


    "You''ll have to practice with the elastic grass. Be light on your feet." She added, looking at the embarrassed Chen Mu.


    She continued by taking out the boxing gloves and knee pads, saying, "These four pieces are made from the wall-climbing lotus." After she spoke, she picked up some water that was next to her and sprinkled it on the gloves and knee pads.


    The gloves and knee pads absorbed the moisture like desiccated desert plants in the rain, and they then unfolded. They were dark, with each piece about the size of the palm of a hand. The demonic woman put them on and walked toward the wall.


    What he saw next left Chen Mu dumbstruck. Just like a gecko, the demonic woman was moving about freely on the slick vertical wall. After the brief demonstration, she jumped down.


    She tossed the fist-gloves and kneecaps to Chen Mu, and then tossed out a phrase, "This is very simple, and you can refine it yourself."


    Chen Mu''s gaze fell finally on the dried fruit, and he asked, "What is this."


    "Put it in your mouth," the demonic woman said.


    With a look at the dried fruit, he put it in his mouth as she had told him to.


    "Crunch it."


    Chen Mu hesitated, but he did crunch it. Its outer skin was very thin, and he easily crushed it with his teeth. His mouth quickly filled with a salty taste.


    Something suddenly started to squirm in his mouth, and then it started to come out, crawling all over to cover Chen Mu''s face. After an instant, there was nothing in his mouth, while his face seemed to be covered by a thin membrane. The feeling just then of having something squirming in his mouth had made him want to vomit.


    "This is the fruit of the ghost-faced flower." The demonic woman said coldly, taking him to a mirror to look.


    In the mirror was a strange foul face, piled up in black folded layers, which covered the length of Chen Mu''s face, even wrapping up his neck. There were dark red spots on the surface, which stepped up the terrifying foulness a few notches.


    Every expression that Chen Mu made was distorted on that face, such that he then looked harsh and relentless.


    "It can be used repeatedly. When you''re not using it, take it off and put it into a heavy salt solution, where it will return to its original form." The demonic woman continued her introduction, "The face that appears is different every time. Aside from giving you disguises to take along, it can also be used for protection. It can stand up to damaging forces that aren''t too strong. Remember. Not too strong."


    When she''d finished speaking, she turned around to leave and dropped another phrase without turning back around, "Become familiar with these things these next few days."


    In Chen Mu''s eyes, those things could be said to be magical, especially that ghost-faced flower. Apart from the terrifying feeling of having things squirming in one''s mouth after crunching it, it was magical in all other ways! Chen Mu didn''t mind crunching it over and over again, and then putting it into the heavily salted water again, and watching it return to its original shape.


    He proved that what the demonic woman had said about its being a different face every time was really true. The different ghost faces all gave a completely different feeling, with some creepy and spooky, some terrifying, and some looking quite evil . . .


    What caused him the most suffering was the wall-climbing lotus. He would sometimes climb half-way up, and find his hands and feet in the air, leaving his whole body with only one spot sticking to the wall, which left him hanging in midair. Or sometimes he would go two laps stuck to the wall. Falling from five meters was a common occurrence.


    By comparison with that, the elastic grass shoes were a little easier. Chen Mu only fell fifty or sixty times before mastering their tricks. By the time he had fallen maybe seventy times, he could already make turns while speeding along, pretty much at will. The one thing that he was thankful for was that he had luckily learned how to roll on the ground.


    As for the leather belt, aside from taking out those three smoke bombs and very carefully examining them once, he never dared to touch it again.


    * * *


    Qing Qing and Wang Ze were strolling through the campus. Although Eastern Wei Academy didn''t have a big name, its environment was outstanding, with the whole school a scenic district. And with the recent sealing off of the campus which prevented outsiders from entering, the Eastern Wei Academy could be called secluded and peaceful. The thing that Qing Qing liked to do most each day was to stroll around the campus.


    Many of the Eastern Wei Academy students were familiar to those two top students from the Star Academy, with people always greeting them along the way. Qing Qing had a quiet and soft manner, which wasn''t favored by many of the men in the Eastern Wei Academy, but which many of the women liked very much. And so, there were many more people greeting Qing Qing than Wang Ze.


    Wang Ze paid no attention that that sort of thing, as the two of them were quietly chatting.


    Wang Ze said, "The new round of student recruitment at Eastern Wei Academy will start in a few days."


    "Recruitment?" Qing Qing seemed a little surprised. "They recruit students now?"


    Wang Ze laughingly explained, "Eastern Wei Academy has two recruitment cycles every year, one for each of the spring and fall sessions; now is fall recruitment. Haha, I''ve heard that they''ve raised the threshold quite a bit again for this cycle.


    "It seems as though we''ve given them a lot of help." Qing Qing said languidly.


    "They''re taking sponsorship fees this time, which might soften things," Wang Ze lightly smiled, "and I reckon that there won''t be just a few bugs mixed among them. I''ve seen a lot more glazed eyes recently than I''ve seen before."


    "They should do as they please." Something occurred to Qing Qing which made her sigh inaudibly.


    Wang Ze very deftly sensed something emotionally odd about Qing Qing, and immediately asked thoughtfully, "Is anything the matter, Qing Qing? Aren''t you feeling well?"


    While it might look to outsiders as though they had an inevitably romantic relationship ¨C Wang Ze had suffered quite a bit for this within the Star Academy ¨C in fact, their relationship was quite pure. Wang Ze and Qing Qing had entered Star Academy the same year, though Qing Qing was quite a bit younger than Wang Ze, and he had taken care of her as a little sister all along.


    The relations between the two of them became less frequent once Qing Qing was admitted to the inner academy, later on. Finally, that year, Qing Qing became the first student from the inner academy in ten years to come out, while Wang Ze also became a leader among the students of the outer academy, and had been entrusted by the president with the important task there. They hadn''t become estranged because of this, but had picked up from where they were before.


    Qing Qing smiled broadly, "It''s nothing. I was just thinking that Eastern Shang-Wei City could start to become a little wild." Looking around, she continued, "I don''t know what might start happening on this peaceful campus."


    "Not to worry." Wang Ze smiled lightly, and then full of sincerity, "I have enough trust in our actual strength, and in any case, we still have our Qing Qing here. You are our trump card."


    "Oh? It seems that Qing Qing must also be diligent." Qing Qing flashed a brilliant smile, while Wang Ze burst into laughter, not paying attention to the slight bitterness in Qing Qing''s smile.


    * * *


    Chen Mu stood in front of the Eastern Wei Academy entrance, looking at its large gate that he had gone through so many times, and couldn''t help his strong feelings. He remembered when he had been selling power cards to Uncle Hua, and he was so admiring of the students who could enter the Eastern Wei Academy to study. But his former dreams were being realized in a different manner, and all he felt was regret without the least bit of joy.


    What lay ahead for him? Untold danger! The gate of the great academy had suddenly become a dense jungle in his eyes. Inside were innumerable ferocious beasts, and enemies hiding in dark places. . .


    Chen Mu then abruptly sobered up from his feelings and put himself on guard, wondering what was wrong with him. If you lose your courage now, you''ll certainly die without your whole corpse.


    Steadying himself, and straightening up his mind, he resumed being the chill Chen Mu, striding over to the recruitment office.


    "Hello, this is my sponsorship letter." Chen Mu had walked over in front of an instructor responsible for guiding students who was by the campus gate, and he pulled out the sponsorship letter than had already been prepared. In the new identity that the demonic woman had created for him, he was the son of some nouveau-riche person. That person had died later from some sudden misfortune, leaving behind a fortune for his two children. The good thing about being nouveau-riche was that Chen Mu didn''t have to learn any new etiquette, since no-one would be surprised at any cloddish activity within the scope of their disdain.


    That could be very convenient for him.


    The teacher took his sponsorship letter, and pointed to a pile of people not far away, "Yes, go over there, there will be someone to guide you when the time comes." His manner of speaking was rather disdainful. At Eastern Wei Academy, those who had entered by virtue of high sponsorship fees were often discriminated against by teachers, and by the students who earned high grades.


    It was only those like Zuo Tingyi who came from a good family and who could also rely on their native ability to test-into Eastern Wei Academy, who could earn everyone''s respect.


    Chen Mu walked over to that group of people, as he''d been told. Casually sizing them up, each of the people in that gang was dressed up in fancy and unusual clothes, being very particular about what they wore, all very trendy. All the women were dressed gorgeously, and Chen Mu could smell the strong perfume from a long way off.


    With his six highly acute senses, Chen Mu suddenly rubbed his nose in discomfort, and went off to the side a few steps without thinking.


    He had suddenly attracted some disdainful glares.


    "Where did that clodhopper come from?"


    "Who knows. These days clodhoppers are proliferating like trash. What the hell is he doing?"


    "I just watched him rubbing his nose, hehe, maybe he''s a virgin? What do you think chicken, shall we tune him up?"


    "This yokel? Isn''t that like splashing your old lady with mud?


    Given Chen Mu''s hearing, it was as though he had moved many steps closer, and he heard everything quite clearly. So, he smirked to himself as he tried to withstand his impulse to rub his nose again.


    Chen Mu consoled himself that he could train his patience by suffering through that kind of abuse.


    After about half the day, an instructor finally came over and took them to a classroom. This teacher was named Feng, with the given name of Zi-ang, and he sounded rather mild, though there was some impatience in the way that he looked at the sponsored students. The activities were all rather cursory, with the gang of sponsored students all troublemakers who weren''t paying any attention to him, while just amusing themselves.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help another smirk. He felt that he wasn''t going to get along with the people all around, as he didn''t know how to deal with them. He had no experience in that regard.


    When Professor Feng was announcing the free activity times for the next couple of days, the whole classroom cheered right away. In an instant, the only one left in the classroom was Chen Mu and the sneering Feng Zi-ang who was shaking his head.


    Feng Zi-ang was a little astonished to see Chen Mu there.


    "Teacher, might I ask where my dormitory is?" Chen Mu asked, finding it very strange that those students didn''t seem concerned about where they were living.


    "Oh." Feng Zi-ang became a little flustered juggling the material in his hands, while he asked, "What''s your name?"


    As soon as he saw him, Chen Mu knew that he had almost certainly just become a teacher. He opened his mouth and said, "I''m called Yao Ke."


    "Yao Ke . . . Yao Ke . . . I found you! You''re in B3, banner 2, unit 301. Your key is in the packet of materials which was sent to you." Teacher Feng had quickly found the information.


    "Thank you." Chen Mu left the classroom after he finished talking, leaving a Feng Zi-ang, who was at a loss for words.


    After asking the way, Chen Mu soon found where he lived. He hadn''t anticipated that it would be a suite of rooms for one person, and that it would be fully equipped. But he quickly felt at ease. Although he didn''t know how much the sponsorship fee was, there was presumably still wool on that sheep. For such a gang of playboys, where would they be willing to live if the conditions were poor?


    But it was still OK, since for Chen Mu it was quite a bit more convenient. He carefully locked the door, scanned all around, fixed things up a little, and with the serious sleep deprivation that he''d suffered those few days, he finally couldn''t help falling asleep in a dark corner.


    It was at that moment that he recalled the demonic woman''s words, it will be easier for you to survive in the dark.

 Chapter 71: Fear Looking Back

    Chapter 71: Fear Looking Back


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Once he woke up, it was already broad daylight. Chen Mu stretched and let out a pleasant yawning sound. Those past few days of training day and night, he wasn''t even getting three hours of sleep. That past night was the first time he''d slept well for several months.


    Still, as soon as he''d cleaned up, he immediately started the day''s training.


    He started with the exercise gymnastics. The demonic woman had given them a high evaluation, except that since it was comparatively mild, it wouldn''t be so useful in battle, although it would continually improve a person''s health. Chen Mu kept doing the training without interruption, since no-one knew better than he did what his body was like previously. It was all a credit to these exercise gymnastics that his health was then so good.


    After he''d finished the exercise gymnastics, he started the perceptual training. Since he was snatched by the demonic woman, he''d barely made any progress with his perceptual training, on the one hand because he didn''t have the time, and on the other because he didn''t want to expose that mysterious card in front of the demonic woman. But she didn''t seem to have any interest in his possessions. After she''d given her fairly positive evaluation of the tailless shuttle card, she didn''t even look at anything else.


    When Chen Mu probed her a little, the demonic woman dropped the phrase, "One method is enough for killing people."


    Even in his trembling fear, he had to admire the demonic woman. And he somewhat understood her strengths; not greedily biting off more than you could chew was something everyone could understand. But to be tempted by nice things in front of you while still being able to stay true to yourself was some very powerful self-discipline.


    That was a form of strength.


    From then on, he had set the goal for himself; he certainly wanted to go on living, no matter who the adversary was!


    His training became more targeted, which was a change from before when he would just follow his interests. No matter how hard the struggle, he wouldn''t flinch.


    The reason to restart his perceptual training was very simple. He only had one means to attack, which was the tailless shuttle card.


    He needed to learn to control his perception. He knew that he would have pitifully few or even zero opportunities to act if he ran into danger, but he would still train tirelessly to improve his proficiency. Because once he did get a chance, that would be his only choice.


    Those few days of training had given Chen Mu a lot of benefit, especially some of the skills imparted by the demonic woman. Combined with what he''d learned about releasing power in the unwinding game in the simple water world, he was making rapid progress. When he returned to the simple water world, that was especially obvious. It was a lot easier than before.


    Sitting in the simple water world, he started the dull and agonizing perceptual training.


    He didn''t know if was because of all the suffering of the past few days or what, but the excruciating suffering he''d originally gone through in the perceptual training was now quite a bit lighter.


    It was already noon by the time the perceptual training was done. After a hasty lunch, he dove right back in to the training.


    He''d emptied the living room of his house, while leaving dozens of beverage bottles strewn about. He hadn''t been using any of the professional training guidelines, not wanting to attract anyone''s attention.


    The demonic woman had always said that what gave you away was always in the details.


    High speed running, sudden turns, side rolls, endless quick turns, his movements were getting quicker and quicker. His body was as flexible as a monkey, while the burst strength that he would occasionally show would look like a charged cheetah to most people.


    He didn''t have much time. It would be a lot better if he could train for about a year before being drawn into that business.


    Of course, he quickly got rid of the silly notion. But Chen Mu had discovered that those kinds of thoughts were coming less and less frequently. He smiled wryly to himself that it seemed as though he was starting to get used to that sort of life.


    But he still didn''t know how Copper was doing. Thinking about when it was, the Victoria opening would be in two weeks, and he didn''t know how well-prepared Copper was.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help another wry smile. Whether Copper was dead or alive, he hadn''t found out by now, so how could he be concerned about some opening ceremony. Just hoping that he was safe, he let out a big sigh in his mind.


    Shaking out his head, and putting all those distractions to the back of his mind, he regained his firm focus, and concentrated his whole mind on the training in front of him.


    * * *


    Zuo Tianlin was frowning, "What? You still haven''t found him?" he looked at Ming Hui with some displeasure, and said with an icy voice, "Has it been so long since you''ve seen a knife that you''ve grown rusty?"


    Ming Hui gave a reluctant wry smile, "We''ve already looked everywhere in the town of Burlington, and have searched the drainpipes three times. Based on the clues, we''ve determined that he''s already entered the outer reaches. We''ve combed through all of the outer reaches within three hundred kilometers of the town of Burlington and saw no trace of him. But we accidentally discovered something else in the outer reaches.


    Zuo Tianlin knew that Ming Hui had never wasted words, so since he''d mentioned ''accidental discoveries,'' it must have been something of value, and while his face softened, he said, "What did you discover?"


    "We found about twelve corpses." Ming Hui continued on, after taking a look at Zuo Tianlin, "The way they died was very strange. We didn''t find any wounds on their bodies. From the three bodies that we brought back, we did find that while there was no external harm, their internal organs had been utterly destroyed. We''ve uncovered all their identities; they were free-lance card artisans.


    "What does this have to do with us?" Zuo Tianlin muttered.


    "The time when those card artisans died corresponds very closely with the time that Chen Mu entered the outer reaches, and furthermore, the place where they died is very close to the town of Burlington. We also found some tatters from Chen Mu''s clothes in the vicinity, from which we could establish a distinct connection between the two." Ming Hui flashed a look of wisdom.


    "So, Chen Mu killed them?" Zuo Tianlin couldn''t quite believe that inference.


    Ming Hui shook his head, "There is no way that Chen Mu could have killed those card artisans, given his strength. And the card artisans didn''t have that same kind of hole all the way through like Yu Yin''s wound. Not only that, but the way that the card artisans died was very strange, and we have found no related clues. This was clearly someone else''s doing."


    "What person?"


    "We still don''t know. But judging from the crime scene, where we didn''t find Chen Mu''s corpse, I would surmise that there is a good possibility that he was taken away by the ace who killed these twelve card artisans." Ming Hui said calmly.


    If Chen Mu knew that someone had made such an accurate conjecture without having seen it with his own eyes, he would certainly bow down in praise.


    "Taken away by some ace?" Zuo Tianlin laughed coldly, "Our little genius has run into his lucky star. Let''s see if that raises the level of his threat to us."


    "Looking at the current conditions, that''s the way it is." Ming Hui indiscreetly agreed.


    "What do you think we should do?" Zuo Tianlin looked at Ming Hui a little dissatisfied.


    After some thought, Ming Hui said, "Although he''s a genius, he''s only one person. He could pose a threat to us, but that would be after a few years, or even a dozen or more. But right now, we are looking at a better opportunity. I think that we should put a lot more energy into this."


    What Ming Hui said made Zuo Tianlin do some pondering once again, and after about one or two minutes, he nodded, "What you''re saying is right! We do indeed have the chance to solve a bigger problem with a little effort now. What''s the situation right now? What is the Star Academy up to?"


    "The situation is a little complicated. There''ve been a lot of card artisans who''ve come to Eastern Shang-Wei City recently, and they have plenty of strength. They also seem to have heard some rumors." What Ming Hui said carried a note of concern, which was rarely seen with him. He immediately followed on, saying, "The second group from the Star Academy has arrived, and this time they''re all aces. We''ve already looked into a few of them, who are inner academy aces. It looks as though the rumors weren''t groundless."


    "Eastern Shang-Wei City is going to get disorderly." Zuo Tianlin murmured. The two of them looked at each other, each seeing the anxiety and concern in the other. As far as the Zuo family was concerned, no doubt it was a rare opportunity, but if they were even slightly careless, they could also be crushed to pieces.


    * * *


    Chen Mu was walking slowly in the campus; such high-density training had to increase the burden on his body. If he kept straight-on training like that, Iron Man might not even be able to stand up to him. Just then he was relaxing his muscles.


    Walking along slowly and relaxing, he carefully experienced the acidity in his muscles going up.


    If you wish to bring the control of your body closer to your intuition, you have to understand your body better. This was one of the things that the demonic woman was always saying. Chen Mu well remembered nearly everything she said. Since she never wasted any words, everything she said was bound to be useful.


    Suddenly, the chatting between two girls not far away floated into his ears.


    "Big Sister Qing Qing, have you seen "Chance Encounter?" the sweet voice of a little girl. This girl was wearing a milky white old-fashioned dress, having layers of folds with a lavender lace trim, and she looked like a small princess. She was lovely and innocent looking, provoking adoring pangs. She was also Zuo Tingyi''s little sister, Zuo Tang.


    Qing Qing obviously really liked Zuo Tang, and asked her with a soft chuckle, "What is the ''chance encounter'' that Tang Tang is talking about?"


    "A card play! A very good card play! Big Sister Qing Qing, you have to see it! We can''t buy it anymore around here, and last time my brother ruined a set, although he fortunately later paid me back with one." Zuo Tang was pulling Qing Qing''s arm, remembering what happened the last time, not being able to help pouting like a child, complaining, "He said he was doing some sort of research. What is there to research about card plays. My brother is stupid!"


    Qing Qing thought about her next move, "Could it be that your brother also likes to watch card plays? He doesn''t look like it."


    "How could he like card plays? The only thing he knows is how to do is to head right in to his card making lab every day. He''s never played with me since I was little. Now that I bring it up, it was strange, no one in the whole school was able to crack this card play." Zuo Tang had remembered that crackathon, and was immediately a little bit excited.


    "Ha ha, was it really that awesome?" Looking at Zuo Tan''s genuinely cute look, Qing Qing couldn''t help spoiling her by stroking her little golden head.


    "Really, really! They ruined a lot of equipment, and still didn''t crack it. Even my brother couldn''t do it!" Zuo Tang was afraid Qing Qing didn''t believe her.


    "Even your brother wasn''t able to crack it?" Qing Qing had become a little bit interested. After learning to get along with him for a few days, Qing Qing already knew that Zuo Tingyi was an extremely outstanding young card master. Even though his strength wouldn''t mean much at the Star Academy, it was still going to exceed that of most ordinary card masters.


    Qing Qing was naturally interested in a card play that even he couldn''t crack.


    "Yeah, my big brother didn''t only ruin my card play, he also ruined many pieces of equipment. He wasn''t in a very good mood those few days." Thinking of that, Zuo Tang felt bad for her older brother, "Who knows what whoever made this card play was trying to do!" She continued to talk about what had happened in the school about cracking "Chance Encounter."


    "Does Tang Tang still have "Chance Encounter?" Qing Qing asked with plenty of interest.


    "He he, Big Sister Qing Qing wants to see it too, goody goody, I''ll go and get it." Zuo Tang felt that it would be really fun to be able to share the things that she liked together with Big Sister Qing Qing.


    Nor far away, Chen Mu couldn''t keep the cold sweat from pouring out of his forehead. Maybe Zuo Tang hadn''t been able to hear what the meaning was in what that girl called Qing Qing was saying, but how could Chen Mu not get it?


    It was very clear to him what it was about "Chance Encounter" that could get those peoples'' attention. The ''token'' composition! He only just now found out about the waves that the card play that he had made had been making at Eastern Wei Academy. He suddenly realized that if he hadn''t been chased down, and if he hadn''t run into the demonic woman, then his situation wouldn''t have been any better.


    Wouldn''t it be trivial for them if they wanted to check him out? And unlike for the demonic woman, the mysterious card in his hands would have a fatal attraction for them. An innocent man gets in trouble because of his wealth, and he could easily imagine what his own last act would be.


    It was a good thing that he''d already changed his identity. He suddenly felt himself very lucky. No matter what danger he had run into before, at least he was still alive just then. If those things hadn''t happened to him, there was a good possibility he''d already be dead.


    Qing Qing suddenly turned around, and her gaze caught Chen Mu behind her with her gentle eyes, "Classmate, is something the matter?"


    From the outside, Chen Mu''s situation just then wasn''t good, his forehead was covered in sweat, and he didn''t look well.


    "Oh! Are you sick? Seeing Chen Mu''s face, Zuo Tang was taken aback.


    Chen Mu reluctantly said, "I didn''t sleep well last night, and I might have caught a cold, I''m just out for some air, since I have some discomfort in my chest." He didn''t actually know who the two girls in front of him were. Although he''d heard what they were called, ''Qing Qing'' and ''Tang Tang'' were common enough names as far as he knew, and they didn''t get his attention. He assumed that they were two ordinary classmates, so his expression was unexpectedly calm. If he''d known that the two in front of him were the demonic woman''s targets ¨C Star Academy students ¨C he probably wouldn''t have been able to remain so calm.


    Qing Qing asked with a little concern, "Do you need us to take you to the clinic?" Both her concern and her manner of speaking were just right, not overly familiar, and keeping a certain distance, while still showing concern, making anyone feel comfortable.


    Chen Mu gratefully said, "No need. I''ll be fine after I go back myself and drink some hot water."


    Bidding farewell to the two, he walked directly to where he lived. Thinking back on the dialog between the two girls, Chen Mu suddenly realized! It was very odd just then to hear the dialog between the two of them with that Qing Qing finding what that Tang Tang was saying about some kind of crackathon so unfamiliar. She was obviously not an Eastern Wei Academy student! At that time, it wasn''t only Eastern Wei Academy students who could be inside the school. There were also Star Academy exchange students, as well as the newly recruited students. The manner of that Qing Qing wasn''t at all like a new student, and so her identity was as clear as life.


    A Star Academy exchange student!


    Chen Mu''s back was instantly saturated in cold sweat. Since the second group of Star Academy exchange students had only just arrived, their name list wasn''t among the materials that the demonic woman had given him.


    He then remembered Qing Qing turning around without any provocation. She had certainly discovered something, or perceived something! Was it his heart beat, or a change in his breathing that got her attention?


    Having himself come so unexpectedly close to contact with a Star Academy student, Chen Mu felt like his heart would jump right out, with such a fear looking back, after the fact.


    And the sensitivity expressed by Qing Qing worried him even more. Compared to her, his own already elevated sensory perception would be considered retrograde.


    The Star Academy students were scary after all.


    * * *


    When Qing Qing had returned to the exchange student dormitory, she saw Wang Ze and some others discussing something, and she smiled and said, "And what are you discussing?" Seeing Qing Qing return, the group stopped the discussion one after another.


    Wang Ze explained, "They were just wondering how to find out who the bugs are that are mixed in among the students."


    "So, there are twenty percent more card artisans recruited this year than last. And you can tell on sight that a lot of those guys are aces. With more power than the professors here, it''s not obvious why they would race over here to be students." Said a Star Academy student.


    Qing Qing mildly smiled, and said lightly, "What are you going to do after you find them? Kill them all? Or kick them all out of Eastern Wei Academy? We are also outsiders."


    They all looked at each other, dumbly. They had only just realized that they weren''t students from there, and they were suddenly discouraged.


    Wang Ze saw Qing Qing''s gaze turn his way, and he quickly put up his hand, putting on an innocent look, "I wasn''t participating in the discussion, if you don''t believe me ask Chen Jiu." And then he added a phrase, "I see them unoccupied on top of being idle, and having something to discuss is not so bad."


    Everyone burst out laughing.


    "Bian Yun, come and look at this card play." Qing Qing handed over the card play "Chance Encounter" that Zuo Tang had gotten for her.


    Bian Yun was one of the three top card makers at Star Academy. He came along that time in order to help people resolve card-related issues. If card making was a fine and delicate specialty, Bian Yun was rather gruff. With big brassy eyes, and a steel-wool like bushy beard, his face would be called ferocious. When he talked it was more like droning, but at a low pitch to break your eardrums.


    "Card play? When did Qing Qing get interested in card plays?" Bian Yun was a little puzzled when he took the card play from Qing Qing''s hands.


    But when he took a look, Bian Yun couldn''t stop a shout of surprise.

 Chapter 72: The Sign of the Nouveaux Riche

    Chapter 72: The Sign of the Nouveaux Riche


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "What''s up with that? Can our esteemed card master Bian Yun get freaked out by a card play?" Some people were making fun off to the side; apart from Qing Qing, they would all make fun each other.


    Bian Yun''s expression was getting more and more serious. Any casualness had long disappeared. All his attention was focused on that little card in his hand.


    The joking all around gradually decreased under his influence, and everything calmed down. Now everyone''s gaze was on Bian Yun. Even with the knowledge among them relating to cards, no one could touch Bian Yun.


    Any card that could make Bian Yun so careful wasn''t ordinary goods. What they couldn''t make any sense of was how a one-star fantasy card could be worth studying.


    After several minutes, Bian Yun finally blew out a long sigh. The group which had been holding its curiosity for so long started asking all sorts of questions at once, "Old Bian, is there something weird in there?"


    Holding the card by the corner, Bian Yun put it in the light, and squinted to see its fine details, voicing more of what they had been asking, "This is not a simple card."


    It had never occurred to Qing Qing that even Bian Yun would say it wasn''t simple, which was more than she''d anticipated, and she showed her astonishment for the first time.


    Bian Yun looked at the group''s puzzled faces, and put down the card to explain, "In principle, any one-star fantasy card has been so worked over that it can''t be worked over any further, with everything that could have been changed with its composition having been tried. But this one-star fantasy card has a very strange composition, which I can''t make out."


    What he said was astonishing, and what really made them know it wasn''t simple was the grave look on Bian Yun''s face. It surprised everyone to hear him say that he didn''t understand something.


    "Who has a card play generator?" Bian Yun looked over the group, who each shook their heads. As soon as he''d asked, Bian Yun knew that he was asking the wrong people. Why would that gang be interested in card plays?


    Then Yin Chenjiu stood up and said, "I''ll go borrow one." He headed out the door as soon as he said it. Yin Chenjiu was gentle and delicate. He was one of the most popular people from the first group of exchange students.


    He came back in an instant with a card play generator. Card play generators were a kind of appliance which had appeared those last few years as card plays gradually became more popular. They could project what the card play produced more smoothly and in greater detail, but at the same time, they weren''t cheap. To some extent, they were luxury goods.


    Apart from the card generator, Yin Chenjiu also had a card play set in his hands, saying immediately, "The person I borrowed the card play generator from just happened to be entranced with "Wood-Cop" card plays, and said that this "Legend of Master Shi" is also their work, so I conveniently borrowed it."


    Everyone pitched in to make room. They were all very curious about what was so special with the card play which Bian Yun had said was not simple.


    "Chance Encounter" started playing. Apart from Qing Qing who was the lone girl, those watching were all men.


    By the time it finished playing, quite a few of them hadn''t been able to keep from falling asleep. Asking them to come watch a delicate emotional drama like that was certainly a kind of torture. On the other hand, Qing Qing''s eyes were bright, as she had been rather fascinated.


    "An awesome card master!" Bian Yun gave his own high evaluation.


    "I''ve never seen anything so amazing." One among those who were just opening their sleepy eyes couldn''t help mumbling.


    Bian Yun shook his head, "If it were only exquisite and meticulous, this card play wouldn''t really be anything. The real mystery of this card play is its capacity. In general, the number of cards required to have so many scenes would be way beyond the number for this card play. Which is to say that with this card play set, the number of images emitted by each fantasy card is far far beyond what an ordinary one-star fantasy card could hold. And what you didn''t pay attention to is that the dynamics of the performances were outstanding, among the most smooth-motion performances I have ever seen from a low-grade fantasy card."


    Everyone watching still had an expression of being not quite convinced, and Bian Yun said very seriously, "You shouldn''t look down on low-grade fantasy cards. The lower the grade, the more ripened the composition, making it difficult to think about making any changes. This person has been able to make so many improvements on the one-star fantasy card that it''s terrifying!"


    Everyone sat up, since clearly this term ''terrifying'' provoked them quite a bit. Although they didn''t understand card making to the extent Bian Yun did, they did comprehend the principle.


    Casually turning over in his hands the "Legend of Master Shi" card play that Yin Chenjiu had borrowed, Bian Yun said, "Well, the first two installments also use this composition, but the rest didn''t use it anymore."


    "Old Bian, If they have such awesome ability as you say they do, why would they use it to make card plays?" Yan Chenjiu couldn''t keep from expressing a little doubt.


    "I don''t know, maybe they were just goofing around." Bian Yun shrugged. With his brassy eyes and especially his physique, making that utterly humorless gesture looked hilarious.


    Qing Qing, who had been off to the side quietly listening suddenly interjected, "From what I''ve heard, a lot of people at Eastern Wei Academy wanted to crack this card play set, but instead destroyed quite a few pieces of equipment. Zuo Tingyi had the same situation happen to him."


    "Ruin equipment?" Bian Yun''s cow eyes got even bigger, and he immediately said in a low excited voice, "I''ll have to try."


    He pulled out his card wallet. Like his body, his card wallet was several times bigger than those of ordinary people. It was a good thing that everyone around him was used to it and didn''t find anything strange about it.


    He very gingerly took out a card with a bright red composition on its surface from the wallet and put it into his apparatus. His apparatus was quite a bit bigger than an ordinary person''s, and he''d made it himself. It could accept five cards at the same time, which only a big guy like him would ever use, since if it were used in battle, it was as heavy as a brick.


    "This is an analytical card that I made. It''s ability to probe, ha ha, is rather huge." Bian Yun''s expression was full of pride, as it was one of his most satisfying works.


    He carefully put it into the big apparatus, and then also put "Chance Encounter" into another card slot.


    There was a light rhythmic sound as a bright screen appeared in front of Bian Yun''s face, on which all sorts of wavy lines were jumping about. Bian Yun stared at it closely in rapt attention.


    The speed of the jumping lines suddenly increased. And then they became chaotic, until they became randomly twisted up into a kinky ball.


    The suddenly-occurring change grabbed everyone''s attention.


    "What''s happening, Old Bian?"


    Bian Yun''s forehead had started to sweat a little, and he looked nervous while he stared closely at the screen, not making a sound.


    The lines jumping around on the screen got faster and faster and more and more chaotic when all of a sudden, the screen went dark, disappearing before everyone''s eyes.


    A wisp of blue smoke was coming out of Bian Yun''s huge brick-like apparatus, filling the room with a burnt smell.


    Bian Yun''s face turned pale, and his eyes were dazed. It had hit him rather hard, and while he was certainly distressed about his apparatus and the analytical card, it was definitely the hit to his confidence that was the biggest. It was like two jousting knights, and he had been knocked off this horse.


    By that time everyone knew that the unassuming card play really was that awesome!


    With regard to card theory, the big six were without any doubt way out in front. While the things that they stressed might have differed, when talking about advanced levels, there wasn''t much difference among them. That had always been why card masters coming from the big six were the talent in greatest demand, and someone like Bian Yun who stood out among the outstanding, was still more in the graces of innumerable large firms.


    However, to be ranked among the top three card masters at the Star Academy, and then to be blocked by one little fantasy card, was unimaginable in their eyes. Even the always calm Qing Qing looked astonished.


    There really were many crouching tigers and hidden lions of hidden talent in the world! Qing Qing and Wang Ze looked at one another and both decided in an instant that they must certainly find that person.


    Producer: Blockhead


    What sort of saint was that Blockhead, after all?


    Wang Ze quickly decided, "Chenjiu, you''re the most familiar with them, go right away to find out any news about that Blockhead."


    Taking a look at the dazed Bian Yun, he nodded and turned around through the door.


    Looking at their companions looking at them, everyone was astonished.


    Wang Ze was secretly pleased by the scene. It would let them know that aces were everywhere, and it would be good to sober them up a little, when always keeping their eyes on the top could be dangerous.


    He privately decided that such talent had to be brought over to their side.


    A big reason for The Star Academy''s decline those last few years was problems with the cultivation of talent. As compared with the other schools, Star Academy''s manner of cultivating talent was very harsh, which then led in turn to a longer period of cultivation. A shortage of high level talent had always been one of Star Academy''s biggest issues during those years.


    Wang Ze was very worried about the issue.


    He knew that he had already been fully incorporated into the system of Star Academy, whether it was governance or financial matters. It wasn''t only Wang Ze, but all the students understood the same principle, that provided that the Star Academy could maintain its position, they would then have good lives. It was a matter of if one flourishes, all flourish, and if one loses, then all lose.


    That was also characteristic of the big six. Anyone who was able to enter one of the big six was gifted and intelligent. As soon as they entered, they bore the brand of the big six. After graduation, they could enter any of the profitable firms represented by the Academy. Not only must they study diligently, but when they ran into that sort of ace, they had to go all out to win them over.


    In that way not only would their benefit lead to collective benefit, they would also get rewarded by the firm, which would be beneficial for their future growth in the firm.


    * * *


    Chen Mu didn''t know that the Star Academy students were going around everywhere asking into his whereabouts. He had a lot to manage just then, such as buying a higher-grade apparatus. The apparatus that he now wore was still the original model that he''d used before, and it didn''t accord with his identity as the son of the nouveau riche.


    The demonic woman was very unfamiliar with those apparatus and hadn''t paid any attention to the issue. But it would strike people as unusual to have such a cheap apparatus on his wrist, now that he was high-grade goods.


    Oy, it looked as though he was getting more and more familiar with his role.


    Chen Mu assessed himself from top to bottom again, still feeling that he was a little off.


    The ash-colored casual clothes were just right to complement Chen Mu''s antique bronze skin. On his feet were a pair of dark brown leather hippy shoes, everything of a simple style, without any ornamentation.


    So, what was wrong with it? Chen Mu hadn''t been able to answer that for a long time.


    He''d spent 300,000 Oudi on his clothes, making them the most expensive clothes he''d ever worn. They were all hand-sewn, high grade fabrics . . . but he still remembered those two words among all that the girl had muttered that time.


    He suddenly understood what was wrong.


    These clothes were undoubtedly suitable, especially given Chen Mu''s perfectly ordinary face, and they also set off a certain boldness. But the problem was that he was now a child of the nouveau riche. Would they wear them?


    In that regard, Chen Mu''s taste wasn''t high enough, even though he knew that the clothes he now wore had improved his looks. Looking in the mirror for a while, Chen Mu had an idea.


    He wadded up the collar of the suit and replaced the snow-white shirt with a colorful vest. He also threw his shoes into a corner and replaced them with a pair of training shoes. He rolled up his pants and rolled up the sleeves of his jacket. He left the jacket front open, showing the colorful vest underneath.


    This style-less outfit, immediately made him into a different person. Looking at the details, he didn''t see any flaws, and he went out of the house to try it out.


    Eastern Wei Academy occupied a lot of land, with a complete set of supporting facilities. None of the students there wasn''t well-off, with no shortage of children of the wealthy, so that there were enough luxury shops to dazzle a person. There were even jewelry stores.


    In his strange outfit, Chen Mu would attract people''s strange gazes no matter where he went.


    He didn''t know if it was from the time that he was with the demonic woman, but his skin had gotten a lot thicker. Chen Mu''s looked utterly unperturbed, without the slightest care.


    He even went to the jewelry store and picked out a heavy gold chain, which he put around his neck, along with an emerald inlaid gold ring for his finger. Taking a look, he was already completely and thoroughly a parvenu.


    Some of the salesgirls were chuckling through closed mouths, while Chen Mu willfully kept the same demeanor.


    At the beginning he was actually still a little reserved, but afterward he opened right up. Though he remained as clear as water in his mind, and was uneffected by what was going on around him. He was very clear about his goal, which was now to do things in accord with his identity.


    He embraced his new identity from his heart, since otherwise, it would be too easy to expose himself. Failure was always in the details. While his outward manner wasn''t at all like him, he was one hundred and ten percent Chen Mu in his mind, where it didn''t have the slightest effect.


    Who knew if there were people around him with ideas? He would only have one chance, and if he made the slightest mistake, he would be a dead man!


    He swaggered into the card accessory shop.


    The attendant respectfully came forward, though still showing some ridicule in her eyes, which Chen Mu saw very very clearly. As though he didn''t notice, he asked in a loud voice, "Your apparatus here? What kind do you have for me to take a look at?"


    His voice was loud, and the students around who were in the process of buying things frowned with annoyance. Once they saw what Chen Mu was wearing, they displayed looks of disdain.


    "Would you kindly come this way, sir?" Once she saw the situation, she quickly wanted Chen Mu off to the side.


    "This is this year''s latest Soft Cloud apparatus. Look at how light it is; you won''t even know that you are wearing it. It was designed specifically for battle, and it even has quite a few useful auxiliary functions, not to mention four card slots, which would mean that in addition to the power card, it could deploy three different battle cards at the same time. What is more, it has the most staying power among all the styles. Whether from market feedback or user ratings, it is certainly a very good choice."


    This snow-white apparatus was much more miniature than ordinary apparatus, and its design was very clean, without any decoration. Chen Mu really liked it.


    Still, he firmly stopped that kind of thinking, and pointed to another one on the counter, "I want that one."


    That apparatus was studded with emeralds and rubies, with a luxurious alligator skin band that had a chiseled buckle.


    The girl was hesitant, while Chen Mu pretended to wave impatiently, "That''s the one I want."


    After getting a few power cards, Chen Mu left the card-accessory store. As soon as he left, he couldn''t help an inward wry smile, as it was real agony to spend that much money to buy something he really he didn''t like. While not knowing if he really needed to do things like that, he did know that he wasn''t going to get a second chance.


    Sometimes he even wondered about getting out of Eastern Shang-Wei City if the time were to come. But he believed that the scheming demonic woman would never have omitted such an important point. She would certainly be able to find him!


    This was what Chen Mu had determined, that while he didn''t know what the demonic woman would have to go through to find him, he was certain that she would find him.


    So, he didn''t dare flee, since he didn''t dare to take his own life in the attempt.


    He was suddenly really bothered. He felt that he was like a puppet, held by invisible strings, with no way to escape from the demonic woman''s five-finger mountain! This feeling of powerlessness and helplessness made him extremely irritable.


    He knew that he was in a bad mood, and just wanted to get back early to the dormitory. Perhaps a little high-intensity training to exhaust his spirit and his strength could take away the time to think about those things.


    He sped up his footsteps and walked straight toward his dormitory.


    "Hey, isn''t that the clodhopper?" A high-pitched girl''s voice came from behind him.


    Chen Mu was really annoyed and walked ahead not paying any attention.


    "Ahoy, an old lady calls you and you don''t dare to respond?" The girls voice behind him suddenly raised its pitch.


    Chen Mu continued to pay no attention, only quickening his pace.


    That girl behind him suddenly shouted, "Ya Ya, help me stop this clodhopper!"


    Chen Mu lifted his head to look and saw in front of him an impressively tall young woman staring at him. She smiled charmingly at Chen Mu, "Little bumpkin, aren''t you happy to have provoked this Sister Phoenix?" She opened her two legs after she finished, and held out her arms, to keep Chen Mu from moving forward.


    Chen Mu stopped.


    This young girl called Ya Ya came toward him laughing, while shouting, "Sister Phoenix, is this boy bothering you?"


    Chen Mu calmly looked at Ya Ya, and didn''t say anything. Beneath his calm exterior, he was as irritable as a dry thatched roof that had suddenly been lit up.


    He was just looking at the girl in front of him, his gaze like water.

 Chapter 73: The Seductresses

    Chapter 73: The Seductresses


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The girl called Sister Phoenix caught up huffing and puffing, yelling, "Where do you think you''re going, little fellow?"


    Ya Ya laughed, but she couldn''t figure out how Sister Phoenix could be interested in that parvenu. Still, he could be high-class to be able to dress like that, she laughed to herself.


    Her gaze suddenly turned toward Chen Mu''s wrist apparatus. She abruptly started to laugh, and couldn''t stop once she''d started, just holding her belly and laughing to the point that she couldn''t stand up.


    This kind of tinkling laughter set off an explosion in Chen Mu, who was already on the verge of exploding. As furious as he was, he kept calm, coldly staring down the two in front of him.


    "Ya Ya, what are you laughing at?" Sister Phoenix was a little unclear about what was going on.


    Holding her stomach with one hand, and pointing at the apparatus on his wrist with the other, Ya Ya was still bursting with laughter.


    When Sister Phoenix saw it, she chortled with glee, "Ha ha, clodhopper, you go! Buying a woman''s apparatus, Yee, ha ha!"


    Chen Mu remained unmoved, and asked calmly, "Excuse me?"


    The two girls were bursting out laughing, beside themselves, and not paying attention to Chen Mu.


    Seeing how things were, Chen Mu kept straight on walking without so much as a thank you. Then the two were standing right in front of him. Even though they still couldn''t stop their wild laughter, they were still blocking Chen Mu''s way.


    Chen Mu remained calm, not changing his expression in the slightest, and if anyone had been watching closely, they would have found that his pace hadn''t changed at all.


    The two parties got closer and closer, with Chen Mu having no intention to stop, leaving less than half a meter between them.


    The two girls had started to contain their laughter. They had no fear about that kind of situation, knowing that Chen Mu wouldn''t do anything in front of so many onlookers. Sister Phoenix was deliberately pushing out her nice breasts, and making a provocative expression. Her breasts were still bouncing dramatically from the laughter, and full of allure.


    "Come on if you can, little guy!"


    Chen Mu remained mute, looking indifferent, and not slowing his walk.


    "Ai ya!""Ai ya!" Two delicate cries sounded at the same time, calling the attention of the students all around. Chen Mu had bumped into the two of them, and they had fallen to the ground at the same time, now sitting there with injured looks.


    Chen Mu''s expression hadn''t changed, as he kept going with indifference, with no change to his pace at all. Without really looking, he saw the two girls on the ground.


    "Treating a pretty woman like this is really over the edge, classmate!"


    Although standing up for the weak would be a clich¨¦, the probability of that happening was pretty high, and if the one being saved was a pretty girl, the probability would go straight up another order of magnitude.


    Chen Mu coldly looked at the person blocking his way. He could see from his ID tag that he was a second-year student in the card artisan department.


    Paying him no mind, Chen Mu kept walking ahead. This gallant scholar had spread open his arms, and was looking at Chen Mu with disdain. He was a full head taller than Chen Mu, and his body looked a lot more powerful. He was a seriously muscular man.


    With the one not yielding, and the other not stopping his steps, the two bumped right into one another without any flourish.


    Bam Bam Bam, the gallant male was hit as though by a shuttle car, and bounced off to the side, unsteady on his feet, unable to stop his body, finally plopping to his butt on the ground.


    Right in his stunned gaze, Chen Mu swaggered away. After which no heroes dared come forth to rescue the maidens.


    The muscular man sitting on the ground reacted with a red face through and through, until Chen Mu could no longer be seen.


    Getting back to the dormitory, Chen Mu went directly to the bathroom, and turned on the cold-water faucet.


    After drenching himself with icy cold water, he gradually calmed down and regained his poise.


    Thinking about what he had done that day, he couldn''t help a series of sneers to himself. He really was still too young after all, if that was how easy it was to lose his control. It was too dangerous! He couldn''t help doing some self-examination.


    Poise! He must always remain poised! He kept warning himself over and over.


    Allowing the icy water to cascade over his face, with the drops falling along his body, his thinking also gradually started to become clearer.


    He had been under too much pressure for a while, and he lacked the control to match it. And he was very clear that before he could get used to that kind of pressure, there would certainly be another time when he would lose his control.


    He felt changed by what had happened that day. He didn''t know if it was because he had been infected by the demonic woman recently, but his temperament had gotten a little bit ruthless.


    He didn''t like that at all.


    Chen Mu was restored to normal after he''d finished washing. Drinking some Blue Cloud Flowing Water, he carefully considered whether there was anything improper about his behavior those last few days. You could call what he was doing just then his job. There was no one to guide him about what he should be doing, only having his own incessant self-examination and self-correction. The only thing he could rely on was himself.


    Thinking over his temperament, and then thinking about his current identity, he quickly found some correspondence. Because of his taciturn temperament, if he was to act as a flamboyant parvenu, it would be very easy to seem a little artificial, and reveal some flaw.


    But who said that a son of the nouveau riche had to advertise himself? No, it would be more suited to him to act as an uncommunicative upstart kid, who doesn''t ordinarily like to talk, but who has been contaminated by some of the parvenu vices. And if his temperament was eccentric, what did it matter?


    His thinking quickly became clearer. Seldom speaking also had a good point, that it wouldn''t be so easy to make mistakes, or to reveal flaws.


    He was glad just then to have discovered the problem early, since otherwise, once he''d made an impression in other peoples'' minds, any more changes he might want to make would be too abrupt.


    Having solved a fundamental problem, his mental pressure was relieved quite a bit. Then he remembered his having picked out a lady''s apparatus, which made him not know whether to laugh or cry. Thinking back on it, he only just then realized the meaning of the salesgirl wanting to say something and then stopping herself when he bought the apparatus.


    He''d spent 900,000 Oudi on that card reader, and if he were to just toss it aside it would be too spendthrift. Although it wasn''t his money and he had no need to economize, he still wasn''t used to being so wasteful.


    When he first used it, Chen Mu gritted his teeth, and went ahead and put it on his wrist, though he assumed that it would become a joke. That was how he made a little fun of himself.


    Although the apparatus looked flashy and fake, it was quite a bit higher grade than the one he had before. Giving it a little try, no matter if it was the feel or the responsiveness, it was a lot more powerful than the basic one he used to have.


    It had three card slots, so in addition to the power card and the tailless shuttle card, there was still another slot. He stuck the mysterious card in that one. He''d bought a four-star power card this time, since with the quantity of money that the demonic woman had given him, he didn''t need to economize on those.


    Putting in the tailless shuttle card along with the four-star power card, Chen Mu experimented with activating the tailless shuttle card. The crystalline and clear tailless shuttle once again appeared on his index finger, faster by four tenths of a second! So, the higher grade goods weren''t the same after all, Chen Mu sighed to himself.


    Not ever having had any requirements for the looks of a card reader, he didn''t mind at all that it was a woman''s model since its outstanding performance immediately made him very happy. This was also in line with his usual standard; if it works, then it''s fine!


    * * *


    In the exchange student dormitory there were only the three of them, Wang Ze, Yin Chenjiu and Qing Qing.


    "I''ve only gotten very limited information. Block-Cop were extremely cautious, and didn''t leave any threads. But there was something that I consider to be of value. Both the first card play "Chance Encounter" and the second card play "The Legend of Master Shi," were marketed in a range centered on Eastern Wei Academy." Yin Chenjiu related the information he had heard.


    Qing Qing and Wang Ze both looked contemplative.


    Yin Chenjiu pushed up his glasses, and with his intelligent profile radiating a special kind of intrigue, "I suspect that these Block-Cop are very likely inside Eastern Wei Academy! Or that they are in the vicinity of Eastern Wei Academy; certainly not far from here. I really can''t understand why they would only market the card plays at Eastern Wei Academy otherwise."


    "That''s very possible." Wang Ze nodded his head, endorsing Yin Chenjiu''s conjecture.


    Chen Mu probably hadn''t considered how such marginal matters could so unexpectedly line up like that.


    Yin Chenjiiu wasn''t looking smug because of Wang Ze''s endorsement, on the contrary, he was sneering, "There are still a lot of things I can''t understand. Why did Block-Cop make card plays? And why were they so careful? And why didn''t the later parts of the second card play "The Legend of Master Shi," use this particular composition any more? And further, why did they suddenly cut it off?"


    "Putting aside these questions, Bian Yun''s results still haven''t come out, but it will certainly be an incredible invention. What we have to consider for the moment is how to find Chen Mu." Wang Ze said.


    "What about holding a card making competition." Yin Chenjiu responded quickly, "But the biggest problem will be how to lure him into participating."


    Wang Ze said smilingly, "All we have to do is to ask Bian Yun. That guy will certainly know what it is that card masters like, or what they can''t refuse." Wang Ze then suddenly thought of something, and said, "Keeping tomorrow''s plan as normal, it might be good to look into what''s really up with those bugs."


    The two of them smiled at each other. Qing Qing hadn''t said anything all along, maintaining her contemplative look.


    * * *


    Chen Mu came out again from the simple water world, covered in red welts, and looking terrible. While it was somewhat painful for him to inhale the cold air, he was looking quite excited.


    It was his second swordfish challenge, and although he''d been defeated, he was able to glimpse some hope for winning. The time he''d spent practicing dodging and evading hadn''t been wasted, since he could now hold out until about seventy swordfish were launching an attack at once.


    The swordfish challenge was an extremely dangerous challenge, which was easily seen from all the welts on Chen Mu''s body. He''d been stabbed a few dozen times, and his whole body was covered in welts, which hurt when he touched them. The more you could hold out against the swordfish challenge, the more dangerous it got. It was enough to make Chen Mu''s blood run cold to think about the feeling of a few hundred swordfish stabbing him at the same time.


    There were two important reasons which summed up why he still couldn''t successfully complete the challenge.


    One was that he still wasn''t proficient enough with his dodging and evading skills. In particular, he was still not good enough at being able to fuse his skill with releasing power underwater with the dodging skills that the demonic woman had imparted to him. The other factor was that he still didn''t have enough perceptual power. Four and nine-tenths meters was a blink of the eye as far as the swordfish were concerned. If his perception were to grow just a little bit more powerful, it would not only enlarge the scope of his perception compared to now, but his perception would become much sharper within that scope.


    That evening was very painful for Chen Mu. He didn''t sleep all evening, since as soon as he lay down his whole body felt like he was being stuck with needles, giving him no way to sleep. Even sitting was painful, with his butt having been hit quite a few times. Only the soles of his feet hadn''t been stabbed, and so he could only stand in the dark corner, never knowing how he had ever fallen asleep.


    When he woke up, it was daylight and his red welts had faded somewhat, though it was still faintly painful. Today was the new student convocation, which was a mandatory activity.


    After he''d washed and gargled, he ate a little something and went out the door.


    The campus was already crowded with students who were reading books or doing their exercises everywhere. Looking at them enviously, Chen Mu increased his pace. The new student convocation was in the grand auditorium, and when Chen Mu entered, not very many people were there.


    The numbers started to increase after about half an hour.


    Chen Mu saw Sister Phoenix and Ya Ya, who were in the same class-section with him. Not wanting to cause any trouble, Chen Mu acted as though he hadn''t seen them. The two were surprisingly well-behaved that day. Apart from Sister Phoenix giving him the evil eye, Ya Ya was dodging him with her gaze.


    Chen Mu looked calm, with a level gaze. He simply sat to the side to avoid contact with them. It was just that as soon as he sat down, it was like sitting on a mat of needles, and he had to willfully maintain his calm look.


    It was really torture! Chen Mu only hoped that the convocation would finish early, since sitting in the chair the pain coming from his back and butt was extremely uncomfortable.


    He had to shift his attention to sizing up the students around him. He was sitting to the far left of his class-section''s designated location, and to his left were the freshmen from the card artisan department. Looking them over, Chen Mu was immediately struck by a few.


    Those few were scattered among the students, none of them raising their eyes, but Chen Mu could smell a very subtle danger coming from their bodies. Ever since he ran into the demonic woman, Chen Mu had found his perception to have become quite a bit more sensitive. He didn''t know what it was that gave him the feeling of danger, but he could vaguely feel it.


    In an instant he knew where those people had come from.


    Even a newcomer like the demonic woman was aware of an unusual smell from the Star Academy''s activities, where others were too quick to justify their suspicions. Those people were likely part of a different power.


    He had never been clear about what the Star Academy''s purpose really was. If they were planning something, it should be advanced in secret, and not at such a high-profile activity! This was what puzzled him the most.


    Enough! It wasn''t something he had to think about anyway, since no matter how you looked at it, he was an out-and-out rookie who certainly couldn''t consider himself to be in any position to see the decisive moments clearly.


    Because he had discovered that his gaze was attracting some attention, he pretended to inadvertently take it back. He was inwardly awed at how acute the perception of those guys was.


    Strenuously restraining any idea of wanting to turn around and look some more, Chen Mu carefully and diligently made himself become more natural.


    What he was wearing naturally made everyone who saw him show a look of contempt. The two seats beside him both remained empty, with no-one wanting to sit near him.


    His whole mind was on those card artisan department students not far away. He didn''t know if it was because of some provocation, but his perception was brisk that day, with everything around him very sharp in his mind.


    That kind of perception was amazing!


    Without needing to turn around, he could sense Sister Phoenix and Ya Ya gazing at him from behind. He could even sense when his classmates were taking of their shoes, and how the air was moving next to him.


    Immersed in that world, he hadn''t been paying any attention to the tedious opening speech which had already started at the podium.


    The Star Academy students were sitting not far away from the card artisan department.


    Taking a look at the Eastern Wei Academy President who was endlessly gushing along just then, a student to the side of Wang Ze nodded his head.


    This male student was extremely tall, about two meters, and was quite skinny, with long arms and legs, making him look like a bamboo stalk, and making people feel that he could be blown over by a gust of wind.


    This bamboo-stalk student smiled slightly.


    The apparatus on his lowered right hand abruptly emitted fine white rays of light. Intentionally or not, the Star Academy students had surrounded the bamboo stalk student, blocking that nearly invisible light.


    An approximately fist-sized very fine and light glowing ball was positioned roughly ten centimeters away from his face, and the bamboo stalk student''s faint smile had disappeared from his face, replaced by a grave look. There was a flash of light from under his nearly held-shut eyelids.


    The small white glowing ball suddenly grew with astonishing speed until it filled the entire auditorium in less than a second.


    There was suddenly a series of restrained cold groans bursting out from the card artisan department, where several people had sat straight up in a flurry, looking on guard. This was while most of the students hadn''t sensed a thing; those chatting kept chatting, and those sleeping kept sleeping.


    Some of the teachers on the dais showed a few bursts of light. The President only fluttered his eyelids as he kept talking, continuing his lecture as though he had felt nothing.


    Chen Mu''s coloring made a little change!

 Chapter 74: In an Emergency

    Chapter 74: In an Emergency


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    What was that? Chen Mu suddenly had a feeling of great danger, tightening in on him from all around. He was about to explode from holding off that pervasive feeling of oppression! The perception that he had been extending all around his body seemed to be getting compressed back into him by a tremendous force.


    That sudden bout of oppression had come out of thin air.


    He was struggling to hold up, and didn''t dare to let up. He wasn''t hearing a word of the president''s lecture from the podium. The whole world seemed far away from him, while he kept holding on to his own shred of clarity!


    Just when he felt that he couldn''t hold out any longer, that oppressive feeling disappeared without any sign.


    Chen Mu immediately heaved a great sigh, holding in his shock. What was that just now? That kind of powerful oppressive feeling was terrifying! He''d had a kind of misapprehension just then that in just a moment longer his own perception could have been crushed to pieces by that powerful bout of oppression.


    It would have been difficult even to cry out during that brief period!


    Who was it? Who would dare to behave so recklessly in front of so many professors?


    Chen Mu''s coloring abruptly changed again! What was going on? His perception that had been oppressed beyond its ability to spring back had now suddenly transformed into a restless impulse to leave his body altogether. It seemed as though there existed some kind of deadly attractive force around his body.


    This sucking force was extremely powerful.


    He was still rather poor at controlling his perception, which just then seemed like a cauldron of boiling water that kept endlessly roiling. Chen Mu''s face had turned a deathly pale, as the situation got worse and worse. And he was filled with a sense of powerlessness. It was at though a voice were warning him to ''give up, give up.'' Why not? He was so tired and in so much agony.


    Without his realizing it, he''d almost bitten right through his lip.


    Behind him, Ya Ya had become shocked. She was looking at Chen Mu''s back, where a sweat stain was spreading to the point where Chen Mu''s clothes were saturated and stuck to his body within a minute.


    Finding it strange, Ya Ya poked Sister Phoenix to her side and cried, "Look Sister Phoenix, what''s going on with him?"


    Sister Phoenix took a look, and said blandly, "Who knows. What does that clodhopper have to do with us? He deserves to die as payback for what happened."


    "Could he have gotten sick?" Ya Ya asked with some concern.


    "What does getting sick have to do with us?" Sister Phoenix said disdainfully, "That clodhopper bruised this old lady''s shoulders, so let him die of it. Ya Ya, why are you so worried about this guy?"


    Ya Ya shook her head, "I''m not worried, it''s just that in the end, we''re all classmates."


    "You''re too soft, if you want my opinion." Sister Phoenix then glanced at the president at the podium, and added, "That old guy can really talk!" Then she went back to her nap.


    A thin glowing membrane was under his seat as placid as a mirror. Those people that Chen Mu had just been paying attention to were all looking serious, and a few of them had sweat dripping from their brows.


    Chen Mu''s situation was worse than theirs! He''d used up all his energy, and he still wasn''t able to restrain his turbulent perception, which seemed as though it could leave his body at any time.


    The perception which had been evenly spread around his body was now uneven, and incessantly violently throbbing. No matter how hard he tried to control it, his previously tame perception wasn''t taking any orders.


    Damn! The veins were bursting out on Chen Mu''s forehead, but he still maintained a shred of calm clarity in his mind. This won''t do. If he were to go on like that, his perception would completely collapse, and all the perceptual training that he''d done for so long would be wasted.


    What should I do? What should I do?


    There wasn''t any information regarding it in that mysterious card. He flew though everything that he understood and everything that he knew in his mind, and he couldn''t find a single word.


    This wasn''t good, and he was quickly approaching his limit. Chen Mu''s violently quaking perception made him look awful, but no one was paying attention to the hideous pain that was underneath it.


    Only Ya Ya was paying attention to Chen Mu''s whole back, which was already swimming in sweat. She was about to inquire, but as soon as she started to get up, she became hesitant, and sat back down after a while.


    I sure do have to do something, or the aftermath is going to be awful! He was perfectly clear about what a complete collapse of his perception would mean for him.


    To some degree, perception and power were wondrously different tunes doing the same work. The most important thing they had in common was composition. There was a sharp distinction in the effects produced by the composition of power. The same was true for perception.


    Composition . . . composition . . . this f***king composition!


    Then he thought of the tailless shuttle. That crystal clear endlessly spinning tailless shuttle!


    This was the power-composition that he was most familiar with and understood the best, up until then. He didn''t know the least thing about power compositions other than that one. There was no more time for him to be hesitant, for him to choose; or for him to make any determinations.


    His perception had reached its critical point.


    In that instant, Chen Mu carefully controlled the perception at the most central place in his body, which was also where there was the least throbbing. He very carefully nudged the perception into a spin, afraid that the smallest bit of carelessness could cause the complete collapse of his perception.


    The tailless shuttle card didn''t simply spin, there were many parts to its composition, with each section being very tiny. Each part followed a regulated rotation, and among those there was also regulation. But Chen Mu''s understanding of all of that was still too shallow, and he had no way of knowing what kind of regulation it really was. Or why the shuttle would continue to increase its speed after it had shot off.


    But for right then, he had enough to make use of from what he did know about the tailless shuttle card.


    With his nudging, the perception at his most inner level started to spin little by little. And then it started to spin faster little by little until it was going faster and faster. Then without his awareness, a very small perceptual vortex started to take shape within him.


    Chen Mu put all his energy into that tiny vortex. He needed to control it very cautiously, and he had to control the spinning speed within a certain limit. He was still remembering that the faster the tailless shuttle spun, the more powerful it became, but that also meant that it was less stable.


    Chen Mu had never considered that he might have such explosive stuff ready to go inside of him.


    The spinning of the vortex was increasing little by little, and it started to draw in the perception from the outer levels, spinning them up together. Very quickly, there was more and more of his perception in the vortex, and its drawing power was stronger and stronger. And the speed kept climbing!


    Some kind of inexplicable panic arose within Chen Mu. This was a panic in the face of the unknown, since he didn''t know what might happen if he kept on like this, but he did know that if he kept on he would certainly be in trouble.


    And then knowing that the perceptual vortex was getting gradually huge, he started to lose some control of its speed.


    Like a gigantic whale sucking in a hundred rivers, those previously roiling perceptions were all brought into the perceptual vortex in a moment.


    Chen Mu then discovered that there was a peculiarly composed power distributed around his body. Could this composition be the main culprit for the violent throbbing of his perception?


    Without waiting for it to react, he drew every last bit of his perception into the vortex.


    What happened next surprised him. The rapidly swirling vortex suddenly transformed into some kind of massive repulsive force, bouncing away those strangely composed power structures.


    If someone could crawl under the seat to look, it would seem as though a rock were dropped into Chen Mu''s seat, and ring after ring of nearly imperceptible dense ripples would appear on the thin white glowing membrane, spreading with incredible speed in all directions.


    The lightly glowing micro membrane which had been as smooth as a mirror became chaotic of a sudden. It began to vibrate restlessly and then in a very short time became suddenly violent.


    At the same time, violent vibrations started up in over a dozen places.


    Something then snapped as though a mirror had suddenly been broken into pieces, and that lightly glowing membrane fell into pieces, and the fine power was annihilated into thin air.


    Qing Qing''s expression changed. Without any chance to react, she had heard her bamboo-stalk classmate stifle a grunt, while his face instantly turned a deathly white. The expressions on the other Star Academy students sitting around him had also changed.


    The apparatus crashed broken to the ground from the bamboo-stalk classmate''s wrist, with none of its cards surviving; all mangled beyond recognition.


    Even the ever-placid face of Wang Ze changed its expression.


    Some cold groans came from among the group in the card artisan department, as though they were ridiculing the bamboo-stalk fellow''s overestimation of himself. The Star Academy students around him flew into a rage, poised to rise up. But they restrained themselves when they looked at Qing Qing and Wang Ze.


    Qing Qing quickly put her hand on the bamboo-shoot classmate''s forehead, and said very seriously after a while, "You''ll have to recuperate for about a month, not using your perception during that time."


    "What happened?" Wang Ze asked anxiously. He hadn''t perceived anything, since his power was not up to Qing Qing''s. But he had never imagined that there could be someone who could break through the bamboo-stalk''s consummate skills.


    "We''ve run into an Ace! Such an ace must be in the card artisan department. He suddenly rose up, and those guys saw their advantage and teamed up to destroy the Star Lure. But I''ve already clarified that the card artisan department has eight people, with three in the card making department, and two more in the right corner." The bamboo-shoot guy''s face had recovered some of its color, but everyone could still hear how much effort it was for him to talk.


    Everyone was shocked. They hadn''t imagined that the bamboo-stalk guy could be so injured that it would even be difficult to talk.


    "I don''t know where the ace is; I can''t find his seat." There was still a note of not giving in with what the bamboo-stalk guy said.


    The Star Lure was a special and mysterious skill. In all of the Star Academy, there were only a very few people who could use it well. It was very difficult to make the Star Lure card, and there weren''t very many people at the Star Academy who could make it either. There was an even smaller number of people who specialized in the card. Adding to that that it basically wasn''t a battle card, people hadn''t paid much attention to it.


    But that didn''t mean that they didn''t understand the Star Lure card. On the contrary, they had a great dread of the Star Lure card. It didn''t have any use in harming ordinary people, but it was very dangerous to those who had refined their perceptions.


    Most of the time it was used as a kind of probe card, specifically targeting high level card artisans. Card artisans who were even slightly awesome couldn''t hide from it.


    Given Chen Mu''s basic perceptual strength, the card shouldn''t have harmed him. But the acuity of his perception far surpassed its strength.


    As it happened, even though one''s perception might not be strong enough, if it was sensitive enough, the Star Lure card could cause injury. The bamboo-shoot guy hadn''t anticipated that at all. His basic idea had been to find out how many hidden aces there were, and he never thought he would run into some guy like Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu had put a crack right into the trap emitted by the Star Lure card, and those aces who were in the trap immediately took their opportunity to act together. With ten aces fighting back at once, there was no way that the bamboo-shoot guy wasn''t going to get injured. And because of how fantastic the composition of the Star Lure was, the bamboo-shoot guy was only injured, since with some ten aces acting at the same time, he would have laid down a life that had been pretty good up to then.


    Qing Qing stood up and looked over to the card artisan department.


    She had also felt the reflected waves. She and the bamboo-shoot guy were made of the same stuff, but with her superior power there were a few things that she understood a little better than he did.


    But she wasn''t able to find where that mysterious ace was sitting either, only the general area.


    As she scanned, she unfortunately didn''t discover any suspicious targets.


    Chen Mu had returned to looking normal, having already tightly bound his perceptions within his body. Their spinning had already slowed, and as they slowed he let out a sigh. Once the spinning slowed, there was no longer any danger. But no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn''t return his now spinning perception to its original disposition.


    He didn''t know if that change was good or bad. There was still some fear lingering in his heart, and he didn''t dare disperse his perception around himself.


    What kind of thing was that strangely composed power-body just now anyhow? Having some lingering fear, he leaned back to find that his back was completely soaked. He was still puzzled about why those power bodies so suddenly disappeared.


    He never really considered that he was someone who had just received a lethal blow.


    His color started to return to normal, while he continued to ponder who it could be that had just released such a power-body.


    Pretending to look around for no particular reason, he found that nobody looked any different.


    Chen Mu lingered to wonder if it was possible that no one else had been influenced. How could they not have felt something? Whether in strength or acuity of perception, there were lots of people here better than him there. How could they not have felt something?


    He suddenly felt a chill, as his heart rose into his throat. Who was it really? Could it have been an attack targeted at him?


    It immediately made him very nervous when the idea came into his mind. Was it the Star Academy? Had they discovered him?


    He wouldn''t be too surprised if it came from the Star Academy with that strange method of attack.


    But what tracks had he left? Could it have been her? Chen Mu suddenly remembered that girl named Qing Qing that he ran into that day.


    Chen Mu strove to calm himself down, and to restrain the fear in his heart.


    If the Star Academy had really discovered him, what action would they take? They would definitely have attacked more aggressively. And there was no need for them to be so cautious.


    The more he thought about it the more confused Chen Mu became, and he could only shut his eyes to rest. That was a pretty scary moment just then, and no matter whether it was physical or emotional strength, he had used up too much of it.


    Having closed his eyes, Chen Mu unwittingly fell asleep.


    By chance while she was scanning, Qing Qing''s gaze fell on Chen Mu, who she felt looked a little familiar. Thinking carefully, she remembered the scene that day, and then looking again at how Chen Mu was dressed, she suddenly wanted to laugh. And now seeing Chen Mu snoring away like that, she laughed and moved her gaze away.


    Chen Mu didn''t know how long he had slept, but when he awakened he found that there were only a very few people scattered about the auditorium.


    He walked hurriedly to his dormitory. He was a little anxious about whether that kind of unknown change to his body''s perception would have any adverse effect, whether he''d messed things up this time.


    He frowned as soon as he got to the dormitory. Almost all the lights were lit up, and there was noise all over the place which could be heard from far away. He couldn''t tell how many people were singing at once.


    As soon as he walked into the dorm, his ears were already ringing. He finally understood why the sponsored student dorm was in such a remote location. The veteran teachers were long prepared for them.


    Returning to his own room and closing the door, the sounds of singing were still audible. Only by going into the bathroom could he cut off the sounds. Chen Mu then sat right down in the bathtub, and started to examine his perception.

 Chapter 75: During a Read

    Chapter 75: During a Read


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    His perception was slowly spinning inside him, as though there were a tailless shuttle made of perception taking shape. But when he compared it to that crystalline clear tailless shuttle which was formed by the tailless shuttle card, it seemed more primitive, and coarser. Its surface was pockmarked and uneven, with differing thicknesses.


    His perception had gathered itself autonomously into a shuttle form and didn''t need any push from him to keep slowly twirling. Chen Mu worried about whether that was good or bad, but he was very curious.


    He tried triggering the tailless shuttle card by activating the apparatus on his wrist, and a crystalline clear tailless shuttle card very quickly appeared on his index finger, thrumming merrily away.


    He carefully perceived every detail of the process.


    He did finally discover what was different with his perception compared to previously. Before, his perception was like a gaseous formation; although simple to control, it wouldn''t have been considered very fast. There was a stark difference then. Whenever Chen Mu had some thought, threads of perception as fine as hair would shoot out from the perceptual ''tailless shuttle'' at a very high speed!


    And the connection between Chen Mu and his perception had become much more sensitive, with every thread-like perception that was emitted like a nerve fiber, which gave him the ability to sense very subtle changes.


    Those fine hair-like perceptions would fluidly act as their own communications media, combining the power from a power card with the tailless shuttle card, until he could see the tailless shuttle in front of him.


    It was so fast that Chen Mu had to restrain his ecstasy. He didn''t know how many times faster than before he could manipulate his perception and its speed, but it was extraordinarily natural to manipulate those filaments of perception.


    Chen Mu was now able to fire the tailless shuttle card with twice the frequency as previously. With such unexpected gains how could he not be so unusually happy? And it was all thanks to those fine filaments of perception.


    He kept trying out all sorts of bizarre ways to manipulate the threads of perception, and they always manifested smooth alacrity.


    Having tired himself out, Chen Mu finally stopped his attempts, and gradually calmed himself from his elation.


    He turned to contemplating what had happened during the day.


    The composition of that power-body was extremely strange. Although he''d only gotten a glimpse of it, it had left a deep impression, and he still had some lingering fear from the perils that he had run into that day.


    He had no power to fight back during the entire process, nor even any power to resist. His perception would certainly have collapsed if it weren''t for his fortunately quick-witted modulation of it.


    For card artisans and card masters, that would be a devastating blow. Chen Mu would have become a broken man if his perception had really collapsed.


    He had luckily benefitted from his misfortune that day. But who was it? And why was it only him, when no other people were impacted? Those were the problems.


    He had been so engaged in constraining his own perception that he couldn''t take note of anything around him, so he naturally hadn''t seen the expressions on those who had been so compromised by the Star Lure trap that had been deployed by the bamboo-shoot boy.


    By the time he had returned to normal, the others had also recovered. That had given rise to a misconception that it had all been directed against him.


    Although Chen Mu had been wracking his brain, he still hadn''t found the slightest clue. But if Star Academy had discovered him, there would have been absolutely no need for such covert methods, and Chen Mu didn''t think they would be so scrupulous toward a nameless pawn like him.


    He couldn''t come up with anything no matter how much he thought about it, and so he could only put the matter aside. If Star Academy had discovered him, he couldn''t just escape from Eastern Wei Academy anyhow. If it were between facing the demonic woman and facing Star Academy, he would choose the latter.


    Those jerks sure were partying! The whole building was caught up in it, so he figured he would stay in the bathroom, where he would only faintly hear the noise from outside.


    This gang of trash . . . Chen Mu smirked.


    Bright and early the next day was Chen Mu''s first formal day of class. He sat in the noisy classroom, putting on a nondescript look. Given his reticence, Chen Mu looked like he didn''t belong there, out of tune with his surroundings.


    Not everyone was a brat, and Chen Mu still saw a few students sitting quietly, waiting for the teacher to arrive. But he wondered if they were there because of Star Academy, like him.


    There was still some time before class would begin, and Chen Mu was flipping through the textbook. The demonic woman had selected the card making department for him, which was also the field he was most familiar with. As compared with dodging and evading ¨C or with killing people ¨C it was both the arena he was most familiar with and the one he was the fondest of. Life was full of things one couldn''t do anything about, and one couldn''t always do what one was most fond of.


    Chen Mu was fascinated by what he was reading. The textbook was much more clearly organized than the books that he had been buying. So, going to school had its good points after all.


    He suddenly stuttered his gaze, feeling someone walking toward him, since even in his fascination he kept his guard up. Then looking as though he hadn''t noticed anything, his gaze remained fixed on his textbook.


    A large hand slapped his open book with a bang. Chen Mu raised his eyes to find a very strong-looking male student. He was probably 185 centimeters tall, wearing only a sleeveless jersey, which was completely filled-out by his bulging muscles.


    Chen Mu had even noted that some girl students were secretly taking hungry looks at that powerful masculine body. But what made him the most inwardly cautious was surely the deadly flashes which contained some note of intrigue from those sitting quietly in the corner.


    It looked like those people weren''t so simple after all. His brain was reeling.


    Some of the people in his class section weren''t at all what he''d expected. He just wasn''t sure which ones they were, and the sooner he found out the better. He didn''t want to be left in the dark by others, since he knew from his youth that those cold thugs who came out of the dark were the hardest to guard against.


    Chen Mu looked scared silly to his classmates.


    "I hear you bumped into Sister Phoenix, clodhopper." The guy didn''t sound happy, and he was staring at Chen Mu with a pair of ominous triangular eyes. At the same time Sister Phoenix sat up in her seat, and smugly raised her head in a cold smirk, while Ya Ya to her side had helplessly averted her eyes from what might happen.


    Chen Mu ignored that, his attention still being focused on those people. Two of them were the most suspicious. One of those was a guy wearing a flamboyant shirt, looking all the while as though he were smiling without actually smiling. The other one was sitting in the farthest corner of the room, with a dark look, his eyes half closed all along, with empty seats all around him where no-one would dare sit.


    The boy sitting next to Chen Mu left his seat with a look of fear, and hastily took a different seat.


    "A man is talking to you, little guy, are you deaf?" The muscular boy''s face was darkening, while his other hand was grabbing after Chen Mu.


    That finally cut off Chen Mu''s thinking, and his response was immediate. He grabbed the muscular boys hand with his left hand.


    The guy with the gaudy shirt showed some interest in that move by Chen Mu, while the dark boy in the corner who had his eyes half closed suddenly shot a gaze.


    Seeing the reaction of those two, Chen Mu suddenly had an idea.


    "Hey, the little twerp really wants to resist!" Showing a foul grin, and pushing with all his strength, his other hand came flying toward Chen Mu in a fist.


    Chen Mu fixed his attention in a flash.


    He dodged the fist by moving his head slightly, and by bending at the waist, feinted his whole body into the muscular man''s chest, while his knee flew up into his gut.


    The classroom went silent, as everyone watched open-mouthed while the muscular guy bent over holding his gut with a look of pain, not being able to get a sound from his mouth, and then crashing moments later to the ground.


    The classroom got chaotic then, with screams, excited cheers, and whistles sounding all at once. Quite a few of them had been looking for trouble.


    Chen Mu had noted that while the expressions of those two hadn''t shown much change during what had just happened to him, he could tell from the looks in their eyes that they had seen what was behind his blow. Chen Mu sat down fully composed, as though what had just happened was nothing out of the ordinary. His goal of getting the attention of those two had been accomplished.


    He had originally planned not to call any attention to himself, but he hadn''t expected to run into those two jerks. And when he thought about it, it was already the second muscle-bound guy he''d run into, so he turned his thinking around.


    After his gaze moved off those two, he finally turned it to Sister Phoenix. He considered that what happened with those two muscular guys seemed to have something to do with running into that girl.


    Although he''d revealed something of his objective that day, he couldn''t have a pile of such things happening every day.


    He got up and walked toward Sister Phoenix.


    The classroom immediately quieted down. Some of the hotshots looked excited, wanting to watch the drama unfold.


    Sister Phoenix''s face turned pale, never having considered that Chen Mu would be such a fiery character. She realized that she had done something really stupid that day.


    She started to tremble, watching Chen Mu walking toward her, since his expression was so calm that you couldn''t see any indication of what he''d just done. It was that calm expression which made Sister Phoenix feel so afraid.


    Chen Mu walked up to where Sister Phoenix was seated and stared at her calmly.


    Ya Ya''s face next to her had also turned a little pale, not wanting to see any harm come to Sister Phoenix, and then having turned cowardly, she couldn''t help saying loudly, "What are you going to do?"


    Chen Mu opened his eyelids without opening them, while he was wondering what sort of a lesson to teach the girl.


    "Ho Ho, this classmate shouldn''t be getting so riled up! You can forgive a pretty girl for making some little mistake once in a while! We men have more guts than that!" A cynical voice came from behind him.


    The one speaking was the guy with the colorful shirt, and there was nothing but a smile on his face.


    Seeing Chen Mu look at him, he introduced himself, "I''m called Lin Jiu." And then he gave a word of praise, "The classmate''s moves are pretty good!" His admiring look hit just the right note to make a reticent person like Chen Mu feel comfortable.


    "Yao Ke." Chen Mu very succinctly introduced himself.


    "How about we let this little loss of face stop right here?" Lin Jiu said gracefully, although that gaudy shirt really wrecked his image. Quite a few of the students showed looks of contempt. To talk of face on first meeting, this Lin Jiu must really think he''s something! They were just waiting for Chen Mu to swat the jerk.


    "OK." Chen Mu stated very dryly, upsetting everyone''s expectations.


    Lin Jiu didn''t seem so surprised by that answer, and laughed lightly, "Many thanks to brother Yao! I wonder if you have anything going on tonight, and might like to grab a bite together?"


    Chen Mu thought it over, and nodded, "OK."


    A storm cloud thus dispersed disappointed those students who had been looking forward to some commotion. But having seen Chen Mu so ruthless just then, no one was stupid enough to jump into it.


    That muscular guy was still doubled over on the floor holding his stomach, and every once in a while, twitching. No one looking on could avoid realizing how hard the blow from Chen Mu had been.


    What surprised Chen Mu was that for a half-hour no one had gone to check on him, nor had they said anything about sending him to the hospital. That gang of fancy-pants was cold, thinking nothing of a human life.


    Only Sister Phoenix took a look at that muscular guy who had put himself out for her. Although she had recovered from her shock, she had some choice words for Lin Jiu.


    The punks that Chen Mu used to see were both more tender hearted and more loyal than those people.


    Chen Mu then minded his own business reading, since the book was a lot more attractive to him than those gorgeously decked-out women. What he was reading just then was about the one-star power card that he was so familiar with. It was required reading for every beginning card master.


    He read it with pleasure. Although he could do everything that was in there, the book delved into knowledge regarding principles, including some that he hadn''t thought through so clearly.


    Ever since the transformation of his perception the day before, he had gotten a lot more susceptible to knowledge related to the composition of power. The power released by a power card was the most basic form, without any definite shape, and too mild to cause harm.


    Chen Mu wasn''t ignoring them because they were so basic; on the contrary, he had already decided to spend quite a bit of time on them. It was a rule that the more basic the form, the easier it was to get to the heart of the matter.


    After another half hour, the teacher finally came shuffling in late. The teacher who came that day wasn''t that Fen Zi-ang that Chen Mu had seen the first day but was a middle-aged man of about forty. He was dressed in a suit, and spoke a little vaguely, making it hard for Chen Mu to hear clearly.


    The school didn''t really care so much for the sponsored students.


    During the whole process of starting class, the teacher didn''t pay any attention to that muscular guy on the floor, as though he weren''t there. It was clearly not the first time he had come across that sort of thing.


    The teacher''s ability was actually pretty good, at least as far as Chen Mu could tell. Compared to that Gu Ming that he had run into previously, he was many times more brilliant. That day''s lecture was on one-star power cards. Having accumulated a lot of experience, Chen Mu had strong feelings about what the professor was talking about.


    He had been very weak on basic principles before, and most of the modifications he had ever made to one-star power cards drew on the compositions of others. But now quite a few things that he hadn''t understood previously were suddenly revealed by the path the teacher was lecturing along.


    It was a great feeling! Chen Mu was fascinated. He hadn''t noticed that there were several people quietly watching him.


    The classroom was noisy and chaotic, those sleeping slept and those talking talked, and you could hear the sound of melon seeds being eaten. How could that gang of fancy-pants pay attention to the class, when they just came to goof off.


    Toward the end of the class, the professor looked out over the classroom, and hesitated before speaking, "The school is holding a big low-grade fantasy card competition, with no limits on who can compete. The prize for this competition is unlike anything before!" When he spoke about a prize, there were seldom-seen looks of a little excitement, "First place will receive the famous "success" pen of Kuo Haofeng,


    The students below kept twittering, making no response. Seeing that, the professor couldn''t help sneering and shaking his head, knowing that saying that sort of thing to that gang of trash was like playing the zither for cows. He casually distributed the flyers about the competition.


    He couldn''t see the value of that gang. He picked up his lesson plan and left the classroom, shaking his head. The long impatient students immediately scattered in commotion.


    Chen Mu felt a swell of emotion! Those people don''t know who Kuo Haofeng is. How could they not know!?


    Kuo Haofeng was from a generation of famous pen-making masters who had died fifty years before. He was the most famous pen-making master of the last hundred years, and all his works had been collected. Being able to use one of Kuo Haofeng''s pen sets was the deadliest enticement for any card master!


    Even the ever-calm Chen Mu couldn''t help being excited to hear the news.


    The importance of card-pen making to a card master goes without saying, having the same importance that a battle card would to a battle-oriented card artisan. Chen Mu dared to conclude that the grand competition would certainly cause quite a stir in all of Eastern Wei Academy. None of the students in the card making department would be able to resist that kind of temptation.


    It was a really big deal!


    While Chen Mu was digesting this news, he was looking at the flyer to find the requirements for the competition.


    As he read each of the stipulations, Chen Mu suddenly fell through the ice!

 Chapter 76: Lin Jiu

    Chapter 76: Lin Jiu


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "Hey, let''s go eat." Chen Mu was awakened by Lin Jiu''s words.


    Chen Mu struggled to make his expression more regular, and nodded his head, "OK." Then he got up, and smoothly picked up the flyer and put it into his pocket.


    Seeing what Chen Mu had done, Lin Jiu showed some interest and said, "Are you interested in that?"


    "Could be good." Chen Mu then asked Lin Jiu with a normal expression, "Where shall we eat?"


    "Oh, let''s go to the House of Fragrant Swishes. I''ve heard they have tasty food." Lin Jiu pointed, with a look of familiarity about where he was.


    The House of Fragrant Swishes was an upscale restaurant inside of Eastern Wei Academy which had a classical style. There was a waterfall screening the entry, giving people a feeling of fantasy.


    It felt secluded upon entry, as though it were cut off from the outside by the screen of water. The two of them suddenly saw the garden-style scenery in front of them, with an ancient-looking skylight bringing in the outside light. There was a slight dampness to the air, which gave one''s sprits a boost.


    The layout of the scenery was extremely clever, and even someone as simple as Chen Mu couldn''t help feeling enchanted.


    After some haggling, the waitress took them to a small booth.


    "Eastern Wei Academy is really a great place, I''m really surprised that even this restaurant is at such a high level." Lin Jiu couldn''t avoid some words of praise as soon as he sat down.


    Chen Mu picked up the tea from the table in both hands, and carefully drank some. His expression was calm, while being actually quite nervous, since he didn''t want to be the slightest bit careless.


    Lin Jiu didn''t mind seeing Chen Mu not talking as he drank his tea in a leisurely fashion. He then glanced at Chen Mu and said laughing, "That was a very sharp shot you took today, Brother Yao. It opened my eyes. I had heard that the Yao family card artisan''s close-in fighting was superbly fierce, and seeing it today, I see that it''s not an empty legend!"


    The Yao family? Chen Mu didn''t know what the Yao family from Lin Jiu''s mouth was, but he guessed that Lin Jiu had probably mistook him for someone from that Yao family. He didn''t choose to correct him, but just dipped his head to sip tea.


    "I wonder where in the Yao family Brother Yao stands?" Lin Jiu said with a smile, and then quickly added, "I wonder how you felt yesterday?"


    Chen Mu mentally jerked his head up, and focused his vision like a needle on Lin Jiu, and then finally uttered his first word since entering the House of Fragrant Swishes, "Was it you?"


    Lin Jiu''s heart jumped, as he quickly waved him off, with an expression of not being able to laugh or cry, "How could it be me? My strength hasn''t gotten to the point of being able to use the Star Lure card."


    "Star Lure card?" Chen Mu''s expression softened, as he chewed absent-mindedly.


    "Ha ha, it would be perfectly normal for Brother Yao not to have heard of the Star Lure card. I only just heard about it by coincidence. At the Star Academy, it is quite well-known, though." Lin Jiu went on to show his familiarity, "The Star Lure card can set off the Star Lure trap. It''s said that after the Star Lure card has been mastered to a high level, it can lure people into messing up their perception to the point of collapse. It is very powerful. And the more acute one''s perception, the more easily one could be harmed by the Star Lure Trap. But the Star Lure card training isn''t easy. If you want to train to a high level, you need to have extremely high innate ability. At the Star Academy right now, there are pitifully few scholars who specialize in the Star Lure card. The guy who deployed it yesterday was some kind of ace. With the decline of the Star Academy these last few years, in addition to their being sealed off unto themselves, I''m afraid that only they themselves would know what kinds of aces there are among them. There really are too many awesome things in such an old academy."


    Lin Jiu sounded full of emotion as he was speaking.


    Chen Mu was digesting the information from Lin Jiu, and answered ambiguously, "Certainly awesome."


    "Still, there are generations of aces in this world, and we wouldn''t want to let the Star Academy steal all the thunder." Holding back a cold smile, Lin Jiu said, "With the Star Lure so awesome, could it be broken by anyone? I''m afraid that brother bamboo-stalk has already been seriously injured, ha ha."


    While Lin Jiu was putting on a display of proud laughter, he was paying close attention to the fact that Chen Mu''s expression hadn''t changed at all, which filled him with awe. This person''s emotional self-control has gotten to an extremely powerful place. When did the Yao family produce someone this awesome? His brain was spinning.


    "Oh, there''s even some ace who can contend with the Star Academy?" Chen Mu asked with a lot of curiosity. From what Lin Jiu was saying, the reason that he was able to escape from the Star Lure was probably because that ace had made the move!


    "I''m not clear who it is, but he sure is incredibly skilled. Being able to break the Star Lure card is something we can''t hope to catch up to." Lin Jiu suddenly responded, and then laughed, "Of course we''re not sure about Brother Yao''s strength. I have great expectations for you."


    "I won''t meet them." Chen Mu concluded very succinctly.


    Lin Jiu laughed, while still feeling unconvinced, since the Yao family way was fierce. Outsiders had commented that the Yao family was more than brave, but lacking in ingenuity. But this Yao Ke in front of him looked as hard as a rock. No matter what I say to lure him, he doesn''t respond.


    Chen Mu was also contemplating. While he wasn''t clear where that Lin Jiu had come from, he had no doubt that he had the same objective as himself. Without knowing clearly what forces Lin Jiu belonged to in the end, he was clear as could be on that matter. He had also found out that Lin Jiu was broadly informed, since he had never heard of many of the things which Lin Jiu had talked about.


    Such as the Yao family; and such as the Star Lure card. . .


    Both of them became silent at the same time, and the atmosphere abruptly became strange.


    The two of them quickly finished eating, and parted politely.


    Returning to the dormitory, Chen Mu immediately activated his communications card, which only had one number, that of the demonic woman.


    A glowing screen appeared in front of him, on which the demonic woman''s image appeared.


    "I need to know about the strength of the Yao family''s so-called close-in fighting and about the Star Lure card." Chen Mu directly expressed what he needed help with.


    With indifferent eyes, the demonic woman nodded, "OK."


    That was how the first time communicating with the communications card concluded. As he closed his communicator, Chen Mu immediately remembered that flyer. He pulled it out from his pocket and read its conditions one by one, when he quickly determined what the goal of this so-called fantasy card making competition really was.


    He remembered Qing Qing''s response that day when the little girl called Tang Tang brought up the "Chance Encounter" fantasy cards.


    The requirements on the flyer were simply tailor-made for him. Most of the prizes on the leaflet were for fantasy cards which had the most dynamic moving-image content. Chen Mu was certain that he was their objective, or more precisely, the token-related skills that he had mastered!


    He casually threw the leaflet into the trash can. Although that set of famous pens was precious, what was it when weighed against his life. It was easy enough for him to sort out which weighed more.


    Was the token technique really so attractive to people? Such that even the Star Academy couldn''t escape it? Chen Mu sank into deep thought.


    * * *


    Bai Zheyuan and Wang Hao were chatting privately at the low grade fantasy card club.


    "Have you found out why the Zuo household is in such dread of Chen Mu, wanting him dead, even at the expense of so many conditions." Bai Zheyuan looked imposing.


    "From the intelligence we have in front of us, Yu Xin from the Zuo household was probably killed at Chen Mu''s hand! Chen Mu has an extremely powerful battle card in his hands. Not only that, but it''s said that he is connected with a card play set." Wang Hao said.


    "Card play?" Bai Zheyuan''s frown deepened, "What kind of card play is worth the Zuo family getting into this kind of fight?"


    That''s still unclear." Wang Hao looked somewhat terrified.


    "Continue looking into it." Bai Zheyuan ordered peremptorily.


    "Yes, sir!" Wang Hao immediately responded, turning around to look at Bai Zheyuan''s expression, saying carefully, "Copper hasn''t been in a good frame of mind these days, perhaps dissatisfied with our having no activity."


    "Ai." Bai Zheyuan let out a sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his extended fingers, "This is also something we can''t do anything about. Now isn''t the time to tear into the Zuo household, not to mention that we have no way to refuse the price they have set this time. I''ll find some time to chat with him about the matter."


    Wang Hao bowed in understanding, and then respectfully left Bai Zheyuan''s office. Bai Zheyuan''s expression was uncertain; he seemed to have some pity and some regret.


    * * *


    The demonic woman was very efficient, and Chen Mu very quickly obtained some information about the Yao family. What was strange was that no intelligence was found on the Star Lure card.


    The Yao family was a small clan ¨C a declining card artisan clan ¨C which as of now had very few remaining close-fighting card artisans. Chen Mu hadn''t imagined that Lin Jiu would know so much about such a small clan. This guy really had broad experience.


    There was another piece of information which got his attention. The patriarch of the previous generation of the Yao family had spent five years in the Desert Camp.


    The Desert Camp was in the Northern Reaches, one of the six great academies. They were a well-matched adversary with Star Academy. Compared with the mystery of the Star Academy, people brought up a different feeling about the Desert Camp. Among the five flourishing regions, the Northern Reaches were originally known for their wild folk customs. The people were as fierce as fire, with an extremely martial spirit. The Desert Camp had also been producing large numbers of aces those last few years, with no shortages of capable people.


    It was also said that the internal competition in Desert Camp was extremely intense, and known for its ruthlessness.


    No wonder Lin Jiu might guess that he was from the Yao family. Seeing that, Chen Mu felt a little proud.


    The demonic woman''s methods were pretty amazing to have gotten such a detailed introduction to the Yao family. The Yao family had always followed the style of close-in fighting, being skilled in something called the "fish scale cloak" shelter card, which could cover the body with a protective layer of powerful energy. If you add to that their wrestling practice from an early age, it would be a very troublesome thing once they got close.


    No wonder Lin Jiu might consider him to be from the Yao family. And with the blow he gave that muscular guy today, it must have seemed to him that he must be linked to the Yao family. He can wrestle, he''s named Yao, and he''s interested in the Star Academy. When you combine those together, it led to Lin Jiu making his erroneous determination.


    But there were many card artisans who had wrestling skills. For example, many of those specializing in the fiery dragon, most of whom study some wrestling skills. But those card artisans weren''t so extreme as the Yao family, their wrestling skills being used only as auxiliary methods.


    Lin Jiu probably didn''t know that Chen Mu hadn''t gone beyond street fighting methods, which would never be considered wrestling skills. It was just that with his responsiveness and strength so much better than before, and having gone through so much training, he could achieve terrifying results.


    Closely poring over all the material related to every aspect of the Yao family, it made a good cover identity as far as he was concerned.


    The most important thing was that the Yao family had the Desert Camp in its background, which was quite useful to him. He also considered that it was the most important part for Lin Jiu.


    The things that had come up that day were all as planned.


    He was a rookie who didn''t understand anything. If you let him do his job alone, he would have no idea where to start. But if he were to have an accomplice, and assuming that it was a mutually beneficial alliance, that could help him to get a lot of information. It would be a lot better than searching by himself.


    But there was something very important if he were considering attracting someone else''s attention, and if he were thinking of forming an alliance, which was that he would have to have sufficient power. That was why he had been so harsh that day with his hit.


    He was already very satisfied then about being able to connect with Lin Jiu, as the intelligence he had gained was very important to him. On the one hand he knew that no one had been targeting him the day before, which then let him relax his uptight mind a little. On the other, regarding the Star Lure card and the Yao family, every piece of intelligence was absolutely precious for him at that time.


    Then he thought about that sullen-looking guy that day, wondering where he came from.


    After pondering that for a bit, Chen Mu started his training. He was mindful of what the demonic woman had said, that ''it would be easier for you to survive in the dark.'' He turned off the lights and closed the shades, and began training like a ghost in the dark.


    Chen Mu got up as usual at daybreak the next day, and practiced a set of the exercise gymnastics before going to the classroom.


    There were a few people scattered about in the classroom, since for those dorks who had been partying all night, there was no other possibility except that they were asleep. Lin Jiu gave Chen Mu a smiling greeting, and Chen Mu nodded back.


    Others in the class were watching the look in Chen Mu''s eyes with some trepidation, since his actions the day before had already branded him as a bad guy. He was no stranger to that scene, since whenever punks on the street run into some rough patch, they all had that same look.


    He pretended to look carelessly into the corners, where the sullen boy was sitting quietly.


    Chen Mu was as fascinated as always by the class, not letting himself be bothered by what was on his mind.


    In any case, the demonic woman hadn''t stipulated when he should have what results, so for a rookie like him the more impatient he was the easier it would be to expose his flaws.


    So, Chen Mu just went ahead and paid attention to the class.


    Unlike Lin Jiu, Chen Mu was genuinely enamored with the study of card making, being very interested in the knowledge. He didn''t think that the professor''s lecture was dull at all.


    Sometimes he would have the misapprehension that he was really there to study card making. And whenever he would come back to his senses from his fascination with the class, he couldn''t avoid the bitterness in his heart.


    If . . . If he were truly only an ordinary student, it would be so much better!


    That big fantasy card competition was in full swing like a wildfire. Just as Chen Mu had thought, with such an estimable prize, it had raised a commotion across the campus. It wasn''t only all of the students with ability that participated; even some of those card-making department professors signed on in a flurry.


    But it had nothing to do with him, as Chen Mu had made up his mind to look on passively from the side.


    The weekend soon arrived, which was the two days during the week when the students at Eastern Wei Academy were allowed to leave campus. Looking back at the week, apart from meeting Lin Jiu, he really hadn''t had anything to do with the Star Academy. What he had a lot to do with was knowledge about card making. Aside from listening through the rest of the classes, the teacher had also assigned some exercises which he could finish after his training, though without handing them in.


    Returning to the villa, the demonic woman''s expression was as always. She didn''t ask anything about what he''d gathered at school, and only checked on the results of Chen Mu''s training, pointing out a few mistakes.


    Since she hadn''t asked, Chen Mu was happy to continue his training.


    Chen Mu suddenly opened his eyes at night in the dark corner. At the same time, the door was being pushed gently open.


    "Get up and change your clothes." The demonic woman tossed Chen Mu a black suit.


    Chen Mu immediately changed without asking anything. The demonic woman then tossed him a ghost-faced flower fruit, which Chen Mu caught. He put it in his mouth and bit it hard. When he looked in the mirror, his face was already covered with a strange face-layer. When he looked up, the demonic woman''s face had already been covered with a strange face.


    "Let''s go." The demonic woman grabbed Chen Mu and jumped right out the window.


    Everything in front of him was immediately blurry, and there was the sound of wind in his ears, but after a while Chen Mu gradually adapted to the speed.


    Previously, when he had watched the demonic woman moving, Chen Mu didn''t have any strong feeling. Then he was studying her skills with stealth and cover, and finally understood where her brilliance was. She was like the wisp of a ghost, shuttling back and forth in the shadows. She was always melting into the surroundings, making it hard to notice her. There were quite a few times when they passed right by people walking, but none of them noticed their existence.


    This was what it was like to be grabbed by her.


    The demonic woman was heading toward the outskirts of the city.


    What was she doing taking him to the outer reaches so late at night? Chen Mu couldn''t help wondering.

 Chapter 77: Fright

    Chapter 77: Fright


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu had always thought that the demonic woman was far more familiar with the jungle than she was with the villa they lived in. She was moving ahead at a very high speed, which gave a feeling of power perfectly melded with agility. Although it wasn''t his first time seeing it, Chen Mu couldn''t help marveling. Compared to her, he moved like a clumsy water buffalo.


    The demonic woman suddenly slowed her pace, and her movements became careful. Seeing that, Chen Mu calmed his breathing right away. After his first experience, he had an almost blind faith in her hearing ability.


    The demonic woman moved ahead silently while carrying Chen Mu, like a concealed cheetah stalking its prey. They were both dressed in tight black clothes, and they melted into the deep night of the dense forest. The sounds of bugs made the surroundings feel extremely tranquil.


    The demonic woman''s footsteps were gradually slowing, as was her overall bearing. When they got to a large tree, she climbed its branches like a leopard. Even while carrying Chen Mu her step remained extremely light, and she never made any sound of breathing.


    The branches she was treading were much thicker than Chen Mu''s waist, and she put him down. He also stepped very lightly, not daring to show the slightest effect. It was a good thing that his training had greatly improved his balance by that time, as he stood stock still on the horizontal branch.


    The demonic woman suddenly pointed ahead, indicating that Chen Mu should look.


    Chen Mu quickly looked in silence.


    There were two peoples'' silhouettes not far away. They were fiddling with a map card, seeming to make notations on it.


    Their voices came through faintly.


    "It should be in this direction, but it would be better if we didn''t continue on." This was a male voice.


    "Hmmm, the time is getting short, and we should go back. We''ll come again tomorrow night." The one talking was a girl.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help lingering on that girl''s voice that he''d heard before, when it came to him that it as that girl called Qing Qing. Looking closer, that did look like her body.


    "Who''s there?" Qing Qing suddenly tilted her head, and looked in the direction where Chen Mu and the demonic woman were.


    As fast as lighting, the demonic woman at Chen Mu''s side shot away with a whoosh.


    Qing Qing''s normally placid eyes turned cold and dark, as she called out icily, "You want to run?" Like a wisp of smoke, her whole body suddenly flew in the direction where the demonic woman had shot off to.


    A call reverberated back from the jungle, "There''s still one more, Chenjiu."


    Yin Chenjiu''s eyes which had always seemed to be in a daze, suddenly sharpened looking directly at Chen Mu''s position.


    Chen Mu''s scalp tingled, and without daring to hesitate, he leapt bodily down from the tree and rolled into a run.


    Zing, Zing, Zing.


    Blade after wavy blade came darting like rain from behind him.


    Chen Mu''s color changed in his high state of agitation, as he took a quick roll to the side, not daring to hesitate while these incredibly sharp wavy blades were being shot with a deadliness beyond deadly.


    Chen Mu would be cut to pieces in an instant if he were hit, and he didn''t have any fish-scale cloak card to protect him.


    He turned a different direction, mindless of his body being covered in mud, and ran like mad with all his power, for fear that he would make intimate contact with those wavy blades if he ran any slower.


    An occasional blade would graze him as it flew by, raising his heart into his throat. He was only an ordinary person. Even though he''d done some training with the demonic woman, he was still just an ordinary person. So, when he encountered that kind of situation, his only reaction was fear. Fear of dying!


    He ran wildly like a mad man, not caring that he was drilling through the dense undergrowth.


    Hu Hu Hu, His throat was burning, and his chest was heaving like a case opening and closing, with his hands on his knees. His mind had been a blank up until then.


    It was very calm all about, with even the insects seeming to have sensed the danger, stopping their chirps. Listening to the sound of his rapid breathing, Chen Mu wondered if it was safe. He looked around at a loss. He''d used up all his strength in that pell-mell run. He didn''t really know how long he had run, but when his exhaustion hit, he felt as though he would collapse.


    Seeing that he had shed that scary guy, he calmed. After some thought, he set off again in a new direction, this time progressing very lightly and leaving no trace.


    To even think of flying in the jungle, you would need extremely high skills with controlling the jet stream card to pass through its convolutions. Yin Chenjiu clearly didn''t possess such skills, and he didn''t know how his strength compared with Chen Mu. Watching Chen Mu disappear into the dense jungle, he could only pray that one of his wavy blades had hit his adversary.


    But it didn''t seem that his luck was so good, and the wavy blades had all come up empty. His face was so gloomy that it looked as though it would squeeze the water out. And he didn''t have any sense of how long the two of them had been hiding there.


    "Don''t pursue him, Chenjiu." Qing Qing''s weak voice sounded at his ear.


    Yin Chenjiu turned around quickly, and turned pale in fright when he saw the color of Qing Qing''s face.


    Chen Mu zig-zagged through the forest for half a day, surprisingly maintaining his direction. He couldn''t help rejoicing that he had been blessed by escaping the catastrophe. But without the demonic woman, he could only enter through the city gate.


    He took off the black suit and peeled off the strange face, and put them against his chest, and passed through the gate right in the open.


    As soon as he had entered the city, he ran to the villa.


    He hadn''t brought a key when he left the house, so he had to enter over the wall, which was child''s play for him by that time.


    But when he went through the whole villa, he didn''t find any trace of the demonic woman.


    Could it be that she still hadn''t returned? An ominous premonition arose in Chen Mu''s heart.


    Chen Mu was sitting in the great room sipping some Sapphire Cloud Running Water, waiting for the demonic woman''s return. It was already broad daylight, and she still hadn''t returned.


    His heart started to sink.


    He fell asleep on the couch in the great room. The night''s intense activity had wiped him out, and the Sapphire Cloud Running Water had played some role with its slightly alcoholic content.


    It was already Sunday afternoon by the time Chen Mu opened his eyes. The first thing he did when he got up was to go through all the rooms of the villa, where he found no trace of anyone. He tried connecting to the demonic woman''s communications card, but the ringing came from her room.


    Chen Mu then remembered that she hadn''t had any apparatus with her the night before.


    Could something have happened? Chen Mu''s heart sank ever lower. While he didn''t have any good feelings toward the demonic woman, he believed that letting him enter Eastern Wei Academy without any fear of his running away, she must have had some way to clamp down on him.


    He wasn''t clear about how she might do that, but he did know that it would be some kind of deadly means.


    If the demonic woman had died, then for him . . .


    All of the blood drained from Chen Mu''s face.

 Chapter 78: News So Astonishing

    Chapter 78: News So Astonishing


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu had been waiting for the demonic woman all along and hadn''t had any news. He had passed the weekend in dread and waiting, but just then might as well return to Eastern Wei Academy.


    As soon as he got to the school, he heard some astonishing news.


    "The Star Academy exchange program has ended? They''re preparing to return?" Chen Mu wondered if he had heard wrong during some momentary daze.


    Lin Jiu smirked, "Tough move by Star Academy! Retreating to take advantage like a granny. It was really awesome for anyone who had been paying attention! Such a gang of people came over with them, and they now plan to leave because of a pat on the butt. What''s up with that?"


    Calming himself, Chen Mu felt as though he couldn''t keep up, and asked dumbly, "Where did the news come from?"


    "News? Everyone in the school knows by now. They''re leaving this afternoon, all of them scattering with not one left behind." You could wring the bitter water out of Lin Jiu''s face, "But we''re the unlucky ones, since we can''t stay and we can''t leave. Have they just been toying with us?


    His brain having calmed from its howling, Chen Mu had to admit that the move on Star Academy''s part was beautiful. With all of them leaving, then would those people stay or would they go? It seemed as though those like Lin Jiu were caught in a dilemma.


    Chen Mu didn''t know what their objective was. He guessed that since Star Academy was holding all the threads, they weren''t afraid of others finding out what it had been. Although Eastern Shang-Wei City wasn''t flourishing, its proximity to the outer reaches meant that many card artisans would come and go. Countless card artisan explorers had been up and down the region.


    But now with Star Academy abruptly pulling back all its people, all those who had been staring anxiously after their power had their own objectives pulled out from under them. The only thing that they could do would be to wait until Star Academy might come again. The unluckiest were those like Lin Jiu, who would have to waste their time there, if they didn''t get orders to withdraw.


    Chen Mu felt flushed by a river of bitterness.


    Sneaking into Eastern Wei Academy, having his heart in his mouth being so careful every day, training every day and night. It was like a soldier who had trained and prepared for years to be suddenly told that the world had become peaceful, and the troops would be disbanded. You could imagine the bitter frustration.


    What about him, now that Star Academy was about to leave? Up until then, there had been no sign of the demonic woman, and Chen Mu had to wonder if she had been killed by that girl called Qing Qing. That would be the worst result for him without a doubt! No matter if it was the demonic woman or Qing Qing who remained, both were top aces that he couldn''t begin to approach. Even such inferior greenhorns as Yin Chenjiu sat higher than he could climb, in his eyes.


    He would sometimes speculate about what the situation would really have been like when the demonic woman and Qing Qing engaged in combat. He kept having the feeling that Star Academy''s sudden departure had something to do with the demonic woman.


    The sudden departure of the Star Academy exchange students also sank Eastern Wei Academy into some disorder. And the city had filled with rumors that the honeymoon between the Eastern Wei Academy and Star Academy was over. . .


    Many were speculating willy-nilly why the Star Academy had decided so suddenly to call back all the exchange students. But both Eastern Wei Academy and Star Academy kept silent on the subject. And the removal of the exchange students didn''t only impact Eastern Wei Academy; it was a huge blow to all of Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    In the aftermath, there was a high tide of students quitting Eastern Wei Academy, for which the administration had been unprepared. Lin Jiu was one among those, and he made a special farewell to Chen Mu on the point of leaving. When he heard that Chen Mu still wanted to remain, he gave a sympathetic look. That other sullen fellow had also left, such that now only three fifths of the students remained in the sponsorship class section that Chen Mu was in.


    But Chen Mu couldn''t leave. No. He didn''t dare to leave.


    He didn''t want to fool around with his life while waiting for the demonic woman to return. He could only remain, having nowhere else to go.


    It was a good thing that there was a large quantity of money cards in the villa, which meant that he didn''t have to worry about money for quite a while. He began the life of an ordinary student, with ordinary exercises, which would have been a pretty happy life if it weren''t for the thorn in his heart.


    He didn''t abandon his daily training, not knowing what kinds of situations he might run into later. He would already be dead from the last time in the jungle, if it hadn''t been for his training. That had directly impacted his attitude toward training.


    As the blow from Star Academy''s departure dissipated, Eastern Wei Academy started to return to being peaceful. Chen Mu didn''t have to wear that ridiculous parvenu outfit every day, And the school gate which had been sealed off opened back up. He went right back to living at the villa, though there had still been no word from the demonic woman.


    Aside from her, Chen Mu was also concerned about something else, which was Copper.


    Chen Mu was walking on the street in the evening. Since there had been no sign of the demonic woman, he had no way to get rid of the body disguise. He wondered if he would look that way forever if the demonic woman never appeared.


    Oh, but if the demonic woman never appeared, the most likely result for him would be to kiss his life goodbye, which made the issue not worth thinking about.


    It seemed as though the flourishing night life in Eastern Shang-Wei City had gotten a lot bleaker since the departure of the Star Academy exchange students. Chen Mu took a leisurely walk to the Victoria firm where, just as he was arriving, a crowd was gathering. It was quite evident that the interest that Victoria had been gathering those last few years had gotten very solid.


    The Victoria firm had built an open-air T-shaped platform in front of their entrance.


    Among the crowd, Chen Mu was having a rush of thoughts, and he heaved a sigh in his heart for no reason. His gaze was fixed on the platform, wanting to see how that day''s opening would start. That would enable him to know if Copper was still OK. He hadn''t dared to return to the town of Burlington, since even though he''d changed his appearance, he couldn''t be sure that he would fool everyone.


    The lights suddenly dimmed, and the people gathered hushed to silence.


    Smoke billowed on the T-platform, entirely enshrouding it in an instant. Indistinct rays of light were coming out from the smoke. The sound of a piano wafted in and out of hearing. The crowd below the platform knew that it was about to begin, and all held their breath, to catch the sound of the piano.


    The piano become more distinct, faintly mixed with the sound of water flowing. The piano rang out while the water burbled, becoming more and more clear to the audience, while the smoke also started to clear.


    After the smoke dispersed, the scenery was clearly revealed, and the whole event erupted in stunning sound.


    What unfolded in front of the crowd was a lush green mountain ravine, surrounded by ancient trees which were draped with verdant vines. Right in the middle of the ravine was a brook, clear to the bottom, gurgling away.


    The beautiful scenery lit up in front of the people. Many had become enchanted with it, even though they knew it was illusory. At that moment, several graceful women came slowly out along the flowing stream. They were all wearing differently styled clothes, most of which had a turquoise and plain-white theme, elegant and lovely in a way that harmonized with the scenery without overwhelming it.


    Whether they were picking flowers or playing in the water; just leaning against a rock, or walking barefoot; they gave rise to all sorts of amorous feelings, and set off the elegant clothes in stunning detail.


    Having never seen such a chic fashion opening, the crowd below the platform burst into applause, so excited that they stood up in profusion.


    Chen Mu was smiling. The scene in front of him was all too familiar. The fantasy cards used in the opening were all made by him alone. Some of the content of the dream-like fantasy background groups had even been borrowed from the interpretive star chamber of the low grade fantasy card club, in the form of a set of diamond-studded suits.


    Once he knew that Copper was still alright, he dropped the stone from his heart. He knew that that evening''s opening for Victoria would cause a sensation across Eastern Shang-Wei City. As its head producer, Copper would surely gain a huge reputation because of it.


    Chen Mu was sincerely happy for Copper.


    Behind the scenes of the opening, hearing the applause from in front of the platform, Copper felt uncommonly sad. It was Lan Feng whose hand was on his shoulder. She''d long been thoroughly conquered by Copper''s talent, and the relation between the two of them had solidified. Seeing him so sad, she couldn''t help going over to Copper.


    "It''s nothing." Copper forced out a smile.


    The two of them had already planned to leave Eastern Shang-Wei City. He didn''t have to come that evening, since on-the-spot direction was not his strong suit, and there were others to take care of that. And the Victoria group had long since paid him his compensation.


    He also rebuffed president Bai Zheyuan''s urging him to stay at the low grade fantasy card club. He was disappointed in the president to the point of indignation. He hadn''t considered that the president wouldn''t want to know anything about what had happened with Chen Mu. He even discovered that there were several unidentified people in the vicinity of where he lived.


    It was very clear to Copper that they would absolutely never have been so unscrupulous if their activities hadn''t been approved by the president.


    So, he pushed off the president''s invitation.


    He spent a lot less than Chen Mu did, and when you put the compensation from Victoria on top, he had plenty of money on hand. His only regret was that he couldn''t finish the "Legend of Master Shi" card play together with Chen Mu. Although his biggest regret was that he had ever encouraged Chen Mu to join the low grade fantasy card club.


    If Chen Mu had never joined the club, those things that came after would never have developed, and Blockhead wouldn''t be as he was then, not known to be dead or alive.


    "Let''s go." He gave Lan Feng a smile.


    "Mmmm." Lan Feng tightly clasped Copper''s hand. Their things had been gotten ready earlier, and they could leave the city at their leisure. Lan Feng fully understood Copper''s mood. She couldn''t understand how the usually wise president could have done such a cold thing that time. The kind of outstanding ace who could sweep hundreds of points in a day should be the object of protection no matter what.


    When Chen Mu was half gone from the scene, he felt his enthusiasm wane. Then, just as he was getting ready to leave, he saw a familiar form out of the corner of his eye.


    It was Copper! Chen Mu had nearly called out to him unwittingly, and it was a good thing he realized it and shut his mouth.


    It was certainly Copper, leading along Lan Feng. Copper looked quite beat, no longer showing his former impulsiveness, and he looked older. He was holding Lan Feng''s hand, while carrying a suitcase in his other hand.


    Could they be planning to leave?


    But that was OK. Even though it made Chen Mu melancholy, he still felt that it was a good choice.


    Chen Mu''s gaze was sharpened abruptly. He had noticed two people sneaking up behind Copper and Lan Feng. Both had apparatuses on their wrists, and Chen Mu recognized them as battle-card readers. Those two were card artisans!


    Without making a sound, he had already dropped behind the two.


    In his heightened state, he was extraordinarily nimble in his moves. He took cover in the shadows to the side of the road and was quick like a rabbit and agile like a diving falcon, as he followed closely behind the two. Chen Mu''s silhouette melted into the shadows, and his movements were quick, though they had a weird-looking feel. It really was messed up to be following in the tracks of those two, with their bodies almost completely exposed in the glow from the streetlights.


    Sweeping the environment, Chen Mu ducked within an enclosure wall, bending his body like a cat, while silently passing through a room in a residence. The elastic shoes enabled him to go fully four or five meters in a hop. These were originally made ready for the Star Academy people, and he hadn''t imagined that they could be so useful there.


    Very quickly, Chen Mu picked a good location for an ambush on the rooftop of a residential building, between two water tanks. Pulling out a ghost face flower fruit from his chest, Chen Mu bit it and felt the squirm up his face, while the predatory intentions in his heart kept mounting.


    Copper and Lan Feng first appeared in his field of vision. The two behind them didn''t dare come too close and waited until they crossed an alleyway to come out.


    Chen Mu had already prepared the tailless shuttle on his index finger. His manipulation of it was quite a bit nimbler ever since his perception had transformed.


    He was carefully controlling the speed of the tailless shuttle to where the whirring sound had become inaudible.


    Copper and Lan Feng turned the corner, and the two men behind them immediately followed along the alleyway. Their bearing was extremely cautious, not wanting to startle their targets.


    Zing! A strange shrill shriek tore through the air.


    "Ambush!"


    One of the card artisans immediately activated the apparatus on his wrist, not having been able to revive his partner, having seen a finger-sized small bloody hole through the bridge of his partner''s nose!


    His color changed, as he swung his hand up to fire off the "fiery rain gravel" which he had just prepared toward the site of the ambush.


    Peng! The bright red "fiery rain gravel" hit the two water tanks, which were turned into sieves immediately, being thickly covered in small holes, with water pouring out of them like a fountain.


    The fiery rain gravel was composed of countless very fine high-temperature, high-power pellets, which formed a canopy every time they were fired, like raining fire, and very difficult to defend against. Although it was a mid-grade battle card, it had a high firing frequency, and a lot of power, so it was very popular with card artisans.


    That card artisan had a very quick reaction time, and there was nothing better than the fiery rain gravel for range and accuracy. Its strength was in short-range attacks, so that right after he had fired off the cloud of fiery rain gravel, he threw his whole body in the direction of the ambush.


    As the distance between the two sides shrank, his fiery rain gravel card''s power would really show itself. He was fast, having deep accomplishment with the jet-stream card.


    The roof was already shambles, with water from the tanks spewed all over.


    Copper suddenly stopped, and asked Lan Feng a little uncertainly, "Did you just hear something?"


    Lan Feng shook her head, "No, did you hear something?"


    "Oh, I might have been hearing things. Let''s go." Shaking his head, Copper felt like he was just too tired lately.


    The two of them kept walking ahead, and none of the wrangling in Eastern Shang-Wei City had anything to do with them anymore as they walked away.


    Looking all around while standing on the rooftop, he didn''t see anyone. Could his adversary have jumped? He looked warily in the nearby environs, assuming that he couldn''t have run far in such a short time.


    His load of fiery rain gravel was in vain, then looking like a cloud of fine bright red glowing pellets composed of fire, pulsating ten centimeters from his hand.


    He had been vainly holding the fiery rain gravel as he was approaching his big enemy, prepared to handle any ambush which might appear. But the apparatus on his wrist had turned from dark red into a dim white glow.


    He then activated the probe card in his apparatus.


    That sort of card was extremely sensitive to perception. Within a radius of fifty meters, it could expose his exact position as soon as the enemy deployed perception. Once the probe card got a response, the cloud of fiery rain gravel in his hand would make a shot face-on, leaving his adversary no place to hide.


    It surprised him that the probe card had not detected any activity.


    How could that be? This card artisan changed color.


    His adversary really couldn''t have run very far in such a short period of time. He must be hiding. The probe card was originally for detecting perception. If the adversary had reined in his perception, the card would have no way to find his position.


    But for a card artisan to rein in his perception, would be to throw away his attack power and his defensive power. Releasing perception and activating the apparatus to form an attack all takes time. If you were to be attacked while your perception was reined in, you would die without question.


    Unless there was an extreme mismatch in power, or one party wanted to hide, it was very seldom that anyone would completely rein in their perception during battle.


    The image of his partner with that bloody hole in his forehead appeared to him, chilling his heart. He quickly remembered the wound on their boss Yu Xin''s corpse. It was very similar to the hole in his partner''s forehead that day.


    Could it be the same youth that they had been searching for then? The fiery rain gravel in his hand abruptly scattered, making a little whoosh, as it immediately transformed into countless red sparks annihilated into thin air.


    That didn''t mean that he had relaxed his guard. Once his probe card had been activated, it would immediately launch an attack as soon as his adversary made any strange move


    He activated his communications card and was preparing to report to his superior.

 Chapter 79: A Bitter Battle

    Chapter 79: A Bitter Battle


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Daniel was patrolling in the air above Eastern Shang-Wei City. Ever since big brother Yu was killed, he''d been doing it every day. He knew that it wasn''t doing any good, but he needed to do something, something for brother Yu. He had been cultivated by brother Yu, and all of his skills and his present position were because he''d been boosted by brother Yu.


    Big brother Yu felt closer to him than his own brother, such that his only aspiration then was to avenge him. Nothing else mattered, not girls and not money.


    He really wanted the revenge!


    In the evening''s vast darkness, he was looking down at the light coming from advertisements, which stitched some splendid brilliance through the dark city. The wild mountain range far away lay like a huge beast, silently watching them.


    Daniel really knew how to use his jet-stream card and was able to fly around intuitively at high speed.


    He suddenly heard a very brief sharp whistle from not far away, freezing Daniel''s body in midair. His widened eyes were jumping around as though there were a fire.


    He could never forget that whistle.


    That guy was someplace nearby! He fixed his body, floating in midair, looking relentlessly all around. But because his night vision was too weak, he couldn''t see very clearly.


    Just then the communicator on his wrist sounded.


    It was his report. Could something have happened to them? While he kept looking all around, he took the communication.


    "Boss . . ." the urgent voice in the communicator from his lieutenant cut off mid-stream, followed by the sound of breaking bones.


    He saw a terrifying face in the screen that had popped up. There wasn''t any life in the ashen face, across which were some dark red spots, which made it look still more terrible in the dark of night.


    The face was gone as soon as it flashed, since the communicator screen had disappeared. He knew that the man under him had died.


    Daniel was stunned, but there was no questioning, since he already knew! He''d already seen that murderer who was then on the roof of a residential building maybe five hundred meters distant, where his lieutenant had fallen limp into the guy''s chest.


    His neck had been broken and his skull was flopped over.


    Chen Mu let out his breath, and lightly put the man on the ground. His heart was pounding but compared with the last time that he''d run into danger in the jungle, his performance had been much stronger.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help sneering as he figured that he was now seen as a big player.


    He took a look at the wall-climbing lotus on his hands and knees and couldn''t help praising their magic. He had just used them to stick tightly up under the eaves right under his enemy''s feet, no farther away than the thickness of a board.


    That was how he had hidden right under the enemy''s eyes, watching for his opportunity. He wasn''t familiar with how to fight a card artisan, so his first thought was just to hide. He''d already accomplished his objective with Copper probably already gone from Eastern Shang-Wei City, and he''d wrecked his enemy''s plan. Chen Mu was already satisfied to have such a victory in his first battle.


    He hadn''t expected his adversary to scatter the fiery rain gravel, which let him see an opportunity. He stealthily climbed to the roof, very close to the card artisan''s back. He hadn''t deployed any of his perception, since he knew that card artisans were very sensitive to perception, and they would detect him if he were the slightest bit careless.


    He chose the simplest and most direct method. With his power being so much stronger than before, the move was surprisingly simple.


    It didn''t make Chen Mu the least bit happy to see this card artisan''s slack lifeless eyes. He remembered when he would only kill in self-defense, where he was now willing to take the initiative to kill, without feeling afraid.


    He didn''t touch anything on this card artisan''s body, since he didn''t want to leave any clues.


    He only sought to jump down from the building, when he caught a very slight fluctuation in perception from not far away. Chen Mu immediately turned his head in alarm, while underneath the ghost-faced flower, his face had turned pale.


    As though his feet had been shocked, he didn''t dare to hesitate, and he leapt straight down.


    Just as his feet left the roof, Chen Mu felt a chill on his back. In his searing pain, he curled himself up into a ball while in midair. A dazzling blue ray had perilously grazed his back and dissolved into the air in front of him.


    With the searing pain, he knew he''d been injured. Forcefully suppressing the pain, he opened up like a big bird in midair.


    The ground was coming at him fast, but his brain remained strangely calm. He rolled into a ball the instant he landed and took a roll. Chen Mu couldn''t help a stifled groan as the wound on his back took so much strain.


    But he didn''t dare to pause at all in that instant.


    Without standing up, he flipped off to the right side. That was a move that he''d practiced countless times, and his burst strength was so big that it was as though he''d suddenly bounced up off the ground.


    Pow! Another ray of blue light hit the precise spot where he''d just been, leaving a charred pit the size of a fist, along with wisps of blue smoke.


    Chen Mu''s heart jumped, since if that had hit his body, then that would be where things finished up that day.


    It was a good thing that there was a lot of clutter in the yard, so that he could slide like a snake shuttling among all the stuff. If there hadn''t been those endless blue rays, this wasn''t any different from his daily training.


    The things piled up everywhere were a big obstacle for Daniel up in the air, since every time he thought he was about to hit that damned bastard, it would always come to nothing.


    Chen Mu''s clothes were drenched within a few seconds, since he''d used up all his strength for every dodge during that time, not daring to slack off the slightest bit. It was also during those few seconds that his adversary had shot off several dozens of blue rays, leaving the residential yard blasted beyond recognition.


    He didn''t even have any chance to slow, and moved with one breath for those few seconds.


    All of Chen Mu''s focus was on the dodging, leaving no strength to fight back. Never mind deploying the tailless shuttle, he didn''t even have a fraction of a second to pause, or he''d be torn to shreds by those beautiful and dazzling blue rays.


    He caught a glimpse of a door ahead in his peripheral vision, and without any hesitation, he sprang up from the ground and blasted through the door like a cannonball. It was a warehouse, being used for stacking goods.


    Two shots hit the outside wall of the warehouse with two bangs, leaving two fist sized holes. The remainder of their firepower reflected to the ground, leaving another two pits!


    Chen Mu''s breathing had grown urgent, and his weird masked face was all mud. When the sweat on his back flowed into his wound, it hurt enough to make him suck cold air. But he didn''t have any time just then to bandage himself up.


    Pow Pow! Another two shots went right through the outer wall, but that time they hit sacks in the warehouse with two muffled booms, blowing up two of them.


    Damn! It''s flour! Everything in front of Chen Mu was an expanse of white. He hadn''t realized that those sacks were all filled with flour. The entire room was filled everywhere with flour, and he practically couldn''t see a thing!


    That was no good. He would certainly die if it went on like that. Chen Mu calmly made a judgement about the landscape in front of him. Those things really had no way to stop his adversary''s blue rays. It would be a gamble to stay in that place. While his adversary couldn''t see him, it would also be difficult for him to dodge and evade.


    Besides, going on like he was put him in an absolutely inferior position, and once his adversary had brought reinforcements to surround the place, he wouldn''t be able to escape even with wings.


    This warehouse didn''t have any other doors, nor even a window, so how would he escape? As far as the blue rays were concerned, the outer wall was as fragile as a biscuit, while being plenty solid enough to stop his fist. If he were to use his tailless shuttle card, it would only make a useless hole the size of a finger.


    It looked as though he had to put all his hope on the tailless shuttle card.


    Chen Mu drew a line in his mind and went straight in front of one of the holes blown by the blue rays. He brought his eye to the hole and saw his adversary.


    He knew that person!


    He hadn''t realized until just then that the blue rays he was seeing today were exactly the same as the ones he''d seen that day. In an instant, the predatory desire he felt in his breast was more intense than ever.


    This was the man! If it weren''t for them, he would be living peacefully now, and not worrying every day if he would be alive the next day.


    Chen Mu''s eyes were as cold as ice, as he''d already decided that if he was going to die that day, he wasn''t going to leave that guy behind.


    Weng Weng Weng, a crystalline tubular tailless shuttle appeared on Chen Mu''s index finger. He didn''t have any reservations that time, and the tailless shuttle spun faster and faster, with the weng weng weng sound getting gradually louder.


    Chen Mu didn''t fire it right away, while he kept manipulating it to continue spinning faster. Weng weng weng, it went from deep to high pitched, and then died off until it was entirely peaceful. The terrifying velocity of the tailless shuttle was now spinning insanely.


    The sweat was pouring from his forehead, and Chen Mu was clenching his teeth with deadly perseverance, calculating that one hit would mean success or failure. The more he held off, the more unfavorable it would be for him.


    Pow Pow Pow! Several more blue rays hit to Chen Mu''s side, with the splash of gravel hitting him in the face. He paid no attention to it as he concentrated on the tailless shuttle in his hand. The faster it went, the more power it had, but also the more unstable it became. He didn''t dare let his attention falter.


    His adversary had no way to establish his position and could only incessantly bombard the rather small warehouse with blue rays. The outer wall had been riddled with holes making things precarious.


    Chen Mu slowly raised his right hand, with such a gentle movement that he seemed to be holding some kind of precious treasure that would break if it fell. There was no sadness nor any joy on the face beneath that ghost-face flower, as his expression just then was terrifyingly calm.


    As he saw his adversary, his finger pointed.


    Swish!


    A kind of strange sonic boom abruptly sounded, leaving a long aftereffect. The howling that time was nothing at all like before, as low as thunder at first, and then suddenly as sharp as a needle!


    Daniel''s complexion changed in midair, while the blue rays wavering all around his body increased from five to seven! The seven rays tangled together in the wink of an eye, forming a blue colored light-shield in front of him.


    The tailless shuttle as quick as lighting smashed right into the blue ray light-shield.


    Ping! A cracking sound, like the sound of glass shattering.


    The translucent blue light shield broke into dozens of shards, annihilating all its initial energy into thin air.


    Daniel was looking at his chest in disbelief. He suddenly realized how similar his move was to brother Yu''s last move. A few seconds later, poof! A column of blood was shooting out of his left chest like a fountain.


    At about the same time, inside the warehouse, Chen Mu fell onto his back as he spit out a mouthful of fresh blood.


    He felt a cramp in the pit of his stomach. He felt as though his body had been evacuated. His condition was all messed up, maybe even more than he had anticipated.


    But no matter what, he was still alive! Chen Mu suddenly broke out into a smile, his face all covered in mud.


    He struggled to crawl up, not having the energy to lift a finger by then, though he still used every last bit of his energy to stand up. He had to leave there right away. If he were to wait for his adversary''s partners to get there, he knew he wouldn''t be able to leave. The commotion just then was so huge that Chen Mu believed that someone would catch up quickly.


    Lifting his leaden-heavy legs, Chen Mu was about to leave. But he turned suddenly to in front of the corpse of that card artisan who had been firing off the blue rays, and he groped around the body.


    "It is the Zuo household after all!" Chen Mu muttered to himself, holding in his extreme indignation. His adversary''s identity was on the name card in his hand, which he casually tossed aside, turning around to leave.


    A few minutes later, people started to converge on that place incessantly. Card artisans flew overhead from time to time.


    * * *


    It was nearly four in the morning by the time that Zuo Tianlin was awakened. He looked at the three corpses, and calmly asked, "What happened?"


    Ming Hui was very aware of his master''s temper. If he was in a rage, then everything was fine, where if his face was all calm, he had already become extremely enraged.


    Ming Hui didn''t dare to enrage him just then, and he replied carefully, "Two people had the job to track Copper and Lan Feng, to see if they could find Chen Mu. The test results have come out and the time of their death was before Daniel by . . ."


    "Focus." Zuo Tianlin hadn''t raised his voice, but no one in the room dared to let out their breath.


    Ming Hui couldn''t help sneering, while he quickly gave Zuo Tianlin the response he wanted, "They were killed by Chen Mu! Two of them were killed in the same manner as Yu Xin, while the other was killed by a broken neck."


    "Killed by a broken neck?" Zuo Tianlin''s eyes had widened, as he stared fixedly at Ming Hui.


    Ming Hui''s heart went cold, and he didn''t dare return Zuo Tianlin''s glare, as he said with forced calm, "Yes! From the evidence, it was a standard assassination."


    "Ha!" Zuo Tianlin showed a sarcastic smile from the corner of his mouth, "Assassination methods! It looks as though our little friend is getting more and more awesome, always bringing us pleasant surprises."


    Ming Hui had gone dry in the mouth and throat. People who operated in the dark gave every clan and every power the most headaches, and they were the most despised. Those were the ones they least liked to turn into adversaries. Although they did everything under heavy protection, every year innumerable people of status and position were killed by assassins.


    "If I haven''t guessed wrongly, the one who rescued our little friend from the jungle last time must be an ace assassin." Ming Hui surmised.


    Zuo Tianlin lowered his head, as his expression became unsettled. After fully half a minute, he raised his head again, and said word by slow word, "Find him."


    Ming Hui''s heart skipped a beat, and while his mouth and throat remained dry, said without hesitancy as always, "Yes sir."


    "Good. And Copper?" Zuo Tianlin asked suddenly.


    "They''ve already departed from Eastern Shang-Wei City. It''s not clear where to. We won''t have any way to use him to lure Chen Mu onto the hook. But judging from the scene of yesterday''s battle where we found blood other than ours, Chen Mu must have been wounded, and he must still be in the city!" Ming Hui said analytically.


    "I''ll pay a visit to the garrison tomorrow myself. They may be able to help you. No matter what, you must find him this time!" Zuo Tianlin said it mildly, showing by his tone a strong intolerance for any doubt.


    * * *


    Chen Mu''s current condition was extremely bad. He looked like a sick dog, sprawled face down on the bed, with his upper body bound in bandages. There was a trough of blood on his back, so painful that he felt more dead than alive. But that wasn''t what worried him the most. What worried him most was his perception.


    That last blow had used all of his perception. And while the tailless shuttle hadn''t blown up in his hand, for which he was eternally grateful, his body had become evacuated, and he was missing the tubular perceptual vortex, making him exactly like an ordinary person.


    He was vaguely worried, not knowing how long the condition would continue. Unlike external wounds, his understanding of perception was still at a rudimentary level. And the more he didn''t understand, the more worried he would be.


    He reviewed the day''s battle. Chen Mu felt that the biggest reason for his being alive was luck. When he was stuck in the warehouse, none of the dozens of blue ray shots hit him, which would have to be called good luck.


    And he''d given everything he had that day, dodging, the tailless shuttle, the wall-climbing lotus, the elastic shoes. He''d used practically all his moves.


    Although he was aching all over, Chen Mu felt a hint of pride. No matter how, he had defeated three card artisans that day. That kind of battle success could be considered brilliant. And what was more, one of the three was a mid-grade card artisan.


    Had he really done it? Chen Mu didn''t dare to believe it. Not long before, he was only a youth who could be hunted without being able to fight back, while that day he had killed three card artisans!


    Looking in the mirror at that person all wrapped in bandages, Chen Mu smiled, though behind his smile there was too much bitterness, and too much helplessness.

 Chapter 80: Poverty is Just a Word

    Chapter 80: Poverty is Just a Word


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu stayed home an entire three days to recuperate. It was also his first time to cut a class at Eastern Wei Academy. The injury to his back was a small matter ¨C the big problem was still his perception. It wasn''t until the third evening that he felt some stirring with his perception. That both thrilled him and filled him with concern.


    He still hadn''t found out that there were wanted posters pasted in every corner of the city, on which a picture of his former self was conspicuous. In the declaration, he had been successfully transformed into an impoverished evil insanely murderous criminal, with four lives on his hands, who would kill women and children.


    There hadn''t been that sort of big news event for a long time in Eastern Shang-Wei City. Everyone felt insecure, such that parents wouldn''t dare let their children go out by themselves.


    At the top was posted a large bounty to get the attention of numerous card artisans.


    Chen Mu let out his breath inside the simple water world, as he very carefully cultivated his pitifully tiny perception. The aftermath had been very serious from that last time when he had catalyzed the tailless shuttle with all his power. He was left with only a third of his previous perceptual ability, only a little bit better than it was before those twelve cards.


    But with his injuries a little better, he decided to go to school. Knowing very well how rare his opportunity to study was, he didn''t want to waste his time in bed.


    He saw the posters as soon as he went out the door.


    He strangely felt no indignation, as though he''d coolly seen something without the slightest connection to himself. He calmly walked past the posters, not having had naive thoughts about life for a long time. It wasn''t strange to him that the Zuo household would go to such an extent.


    It was an excellent likeness of the way he used to appear that had been used. The capacity of the Zuo household was clearly adequate such that not only could they uncover everything about the person that he was, but they could also open the channels of the garrison to issue the posters.


    Looking at the bounty on the top of them, he knew that there would be untold numbers of card artisans, as well as criminal types, searching for him like crazy. And having already crowned him as a convicted murderer and killer of women and children, the call was really too sinister. He was like a rat on the street with no place to hide.


    Too bad they probably hadn''t considered that he had become an entirely different person. He sneered to himself, while still cautioning himself to be careful not to reveal any tracks.


    Returning to the classroom, there were only a few students scattered about the room. They all acted as though they hadn''t seen Chen Mu enter the room. Only the classmate called Ya Ya showed some astonishment in her eyes.


    What was the meaning of that astonishment? Chen Mu worked that over in his mind as he sat down. Skipping class was a common occurrence in that class section, but there were some raised eyebrows at Chen Mu, who was normally so diligent about class.


    The teachers had also unconsciously started to pay attention to Chen Mu. After all, he was one of the few students in this class section who was interested in studying. While the teaching level wasn''t too bad, teachers were generally chosen for the sponsorship section because of some issue with their disposition and character.


    They could really get beaten up at the beginning. The lousy behavior of those students would simply cause anyone to bristle. Skipping class, sleeping, chatting, eating every kind of snack . . . there was nothing they hadn''t thought of or wouldn''t dare to do. But just when they were getting discouraged, it was something of a surprise to have someone diligent about attending class every day appear among the students.


    And when they found out that Chen Mu had a pretty good foundation, along with comprehension that wasn''t so messed up, some of their enthusiasm was restored. It felt as surprising as finding an oasis in the desert. Several teachers quickly planned to focus on Chen Mu''s development.


    Chen Mu''s foundation wasn''t really that good. Before he had gotten into more systematic study, he had only gained extremely fragmentary knowledge. Chen Mu immediately felt that he was gaining a lot from the teachers'' earnest instruction.


    He had never blended in with the other students'' affairs, only quietly studying. And the classmates in the section were rather wary of him, in view of the blow he''d previously dealt. Nobody wanted to provoke him. Even sister Phoenix, who was known as everyone''s big sister in the section, became docile every time she saw Chen Mu''s domineering look.


    Chen Mu was very careful to conceal his strength, not wanting to draw anyone''s attention. So, he did all his homework in only a satisfactory manner, which disappointed those teachers who''d placed high hopes in him.


    During the first year of instruction, they would even be taught about making simple three-star fantasy cards.


    Chen Mu quickly realized that the difficulty of making those three-star fantasy cards was far lower as compared with the same kind of three-star tailless shuttle card. When he experimented with making all kinds of three-star fantasy cards, their power was far below that of the tailless shuttle card. Their only good feature was the low cost of their production. But Chen Mu still spent a lot of money on them.


    His life quickly calmed down, and he could devote himself to his studies every day. His perception was also in the process of being restored, although progress was very slow. In two months, it had only been restored to two thirds of its previous level.


    The demonic woman had still not appeared. Chen Mu had already decided to put that matter aside, since it wasn''t helping him to think about it any further, so why bother?


    It was a strain to manipulate the tailless shuttle card given his current perception.


    Although it had been very basic training, he never skipped the training that the demonic woman had given him. That bitter battle had made a principle clear to him, that no matter what the capacity, something will only exert great power if it is used properly.


    But given the situation with his perception, he could only pay attention to other things.


    He had already practiced his dodging and evading to where there was nothing he could do to improve it, and it would be extremely difficult to make any further progress. The demonic woman had not imparted to him the higher-level skills.


    So, for a variety of reasons, he made the swordfish challenge his main objective.


    His perception had shrunk a lot from before, which also forced him to react more quickly. If he wanted to get past the swordfish challenge, he would have to be stronger in demanding control of his physical strength and speeding up his reaction time.


    But the perilousness of the swordfish challenge doomed it from having any means for daily practice.


    After some deep thinking, Chen Mu decided to make a simple section of the simple water world for his daily practice. He dubbed it "swordfish training."


    For him, it was a challenge like none he''d had before. He needed to analyze every function of those twelve cards, and he needed to consider every function of the mysterious card, along with the connections among them and so forth.


    After class, Feng Zi-ang called out to Chen Mu.


    "I''ve looked over all your recent classwork, and it was all completed quite well." Feng Zi-ang was smiling, as this was the only student in the class that he would smile at.


    Seeing that Chen Mu was paying respectful attention, Feng Zi-ang opened up, "Don''t be nervous. I''ve only come to say hello. It''s also getting to be time for the promotion exam. Although it''s still a little early for you, it wouldn''t hurt for you to try it, to get a feel for the promotion exam."


    The so-called promotion exam was the exam to advance from freshman to upperclassman. Chen Mu was a freshman, and if he didn''t take the promotion exam, he would remain a freshman.


    Feng Zi-ang gave him a fantasy card, "This includes a description of all the intermediate card making tracks, as well as the specific requirements for assessment. Take a look when you have the time."


    The freshman year curriculum imparted only foundational instruction, without any difference among the sections. When one got to the intermediate group, subdivisions showed up in the disciplines. You would have to apply for the promotion exam for the branch that you wanted to study. While there were no requirements to submit the application, since the exams were extremely difficult, there weren''t many who could pass them.


    By the intermediate grades, each student wouldn''t only be able to select a single disciplinary track, with many of the stronger students selecting two or three, or even more.


    But as far as a student who''d only been studying for a few months was concerned, it wasn''t practical to take the promotion exam. That was why Feng Zi-an only wanted to give Chen Mu a sense of the exam.


    Chen Mu nodded his understanding as he took the fantasy card.


    He''d run into a lot of trouble making the "swordfish training." Among all the twelve cards there was only one which had any connection to the swordfish training, in addition to the water environment card and the token card, making three cards altogether.


    The difficulty to make those three cards wasn''t so high for Chen Mu by then. And the materials weren''t hard to resolve. His problem just then was how to combine them into an organic whole.


    The mysterious card was the most effective for the simple water world, and he only had one of those.


    Making the three cards again, Chen Mu''s perception was completely different from the last time. There were many aspects which had been murky toward which he had a new experience, and the entire process of making them was as smooth as flowing water, completed in a single breath.


    It taxed Chen Mu''s thinking to know how to combine the three cards into an organic whole. He kept experimenting until he very quickly had to cut off the experimentation, since he was facing a different problem.


    Money!


    Chen Mu was so engrossed in his research during that time and was spending so much on card making, that before he knew it there wasn''t much money left. The money cards were all left behind by the demonic woman, and Chen Mu had very uncourteously spent them all.


    Without money, he had no way to continue his research. And the only thing that he had that was worth any money was the villa.


    Of course, he wouldn''t be able to sell the villa. Although he didn''t mind going back again to live in subsidized housing, that wouldn''t have been the end of his problems. How would the demonic woman find him if he moved? And if he sold the villa, the disguise he was wearing just then would become his perpetual identity.


    Chen Mu went right back to his origins after that time of not needing to worry about money. And he could no longer make money by making fantasy cards, and he couldn''t go to the low grade fantasy card club.


    That really was a nerve wracking problem!

 Chapter 81: Profiteer

    Chapter 81: Profiteer


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Walking along the road, Chen Mu was only thinking about making money. He''d been at it half the day, tearing out his hair as he went over and over the possibilities without coming up with any scheme. It was clearly not what he was good at.


    Did he really have to cut off his experimenting? Chen Mu gave a strong sigh of regret, thinking that if Copper were there with his quick mind, things would be better. Finding a new way to make money wouldn''t have been any trouble.


    Just at that time, Ya Ya was having a big headache, since her shuttle car had broken down. She was dressed in a lively colored tee-shirt, with very short cut-off jeans. Her two long white legs were enough to stop a person''s breath. She was very tall, with an exquisite face, and had long been the object of countless peoples'' longing. Just then she was leaning helplessly on her new Silver Star shuttle car. Sweet car with a beautiful woman, turning the heads of everyone who went by.


    Ya Ya''s eyes suddenly brightened as she saw someone.


    Chen Mu was strolling in her direction.


    "Yao Ke, Yao Ke!" Ya Ya was immediately waving her two hands, as she jumped up and shouted.


    Chen Mu lifted his head, having had his thoughts cut off, and saw Ya Ya desperately waving after him. After taking a quick look, he intended to keep going. The relationship between him and Ya Ya couldn''t be considered very friendly. Quite the opposite, since it seemed there were some little offenses caught up in it.


    Seeing that Chen Mu wasn''t going to pay any attention as he passed by, Ya Ya quickly ran in front of him.


    Her move was exactly the same as the last time, spreading out her legs and extending her arms, blocking Chen Mu from moving ahead.


    "What''s up?" Chen Mu''s accosting her was also strangely identical to the last time.


    "My shuttle car is broken. Can you help me fix it?" Ya Ya put on a begging face, "Otherwise I won''t be able to get to class."


    This had to be some sort of put-on, since she really didn''t care if she went to class or not. Her family wealth was such that there was no need for her to do any hard work related to card making, and so she really didn''t have her mind in school.


    Ever since she''d incurred Chen Mu''s enmity the last time, she''d felt some regret. And Chen Mu''s fiery decisiveness had left a deep impression on her. She''d also realized that Chen Mu was the most diligent and hard-working person in the class section, which was in strong contrast to that parvenu she''d seen at first.


    It felt curious to find such a quiet hard-working person among a gang of trash which made ''eating, drinking and being merry'' their life goal. She''d been looking for a chance to talk with Chen Mu, but he would disappear as soon as class was out, and he hardly spoke at school.


    She''d gotten her opportunity that day. Inwardly delighted, she deepened her begging pout.


    Ya Ya was quite tall, somewhat taller than Chen Mu. When they stood together, he immediately became like the cow-sh*t under fresh flowers, setting off Ya Ya''s charms. And her snow-white legs up against Chen Mu''s sickly yellow skin really exuded deadly temptation.


    Shuttle car? Chen Mu glanced at Ya Ya''s Silver Star, while remembering how Copper had always wanted to buy a shuttle car.


    "I don''t know how to repair it." Chen Mu responded very honestly. Never mind a high-end car like the Silver Star, he could count on his fingers how many time he''d ridden in a public shuttle bus.


    "Help me to take a look at it. I really don''t know what to do!" Ya Ya''s wide eyes made her look like she was about to cry. She didn''t care if Chen Mu knew how to fix cars. She only wanted to take advantage of the chance to tighten the relationship between the two of them. She was really curious about him.


    "If I break it, I''m not going to make good on it." Chen Mu had thought about it and opened his mouth to speak.


    Ya Ya''s face transformed like bright sun after the rain, and the tears and distress that had just filled her eyes flew off into thin air of an instant. She hurriedly nodded her head, "No problem, no problem!"


    The failure rate of shuttle cars had always been a problem, which was why those with some power generally preferred to learn how to directly manipulate the jet-stream card. The core technology of the shuttle car was the jet-stream card. The shuttle car used it to generate a powerful jet-stream for propulsive force, and then with its aerodynamic design, it could fly.


    But there were still too many unsatisfactory aspects which remained for it to be a mature means of transportation. It hadn''t yet gotten solid because of the quality of the basic materials which made the core jet stream card. It gave off a powerful jet stream, which is to say that its propulsive force was very powerful. Despite a lot of protective measures having already been implemented, it was still very easy for its core jet stream card to be damaged or destroyed when used for that sort of powerful propulsion.


    Chen Mu agreed for a very simple reason. He''d gotten a rare opportunity to understand the shuttle car more deeply, and it wouldn''t matter if he broke it.


    Previously, when he''d been together with Copper, Chen Mu had always been experimenting with making all sorts of low grade cards, and he''d taken apart quite a few household appliances like heating pots and fresh food cabinets, with which he had surprisingly little trouble.


    The Silver Star shuttle car sold for upwards of 3,500,000 Oudi on the market and was an out and out high-end car. But since his counterpart had said that it didn''t matter if he broke it, Chen Mu boldly started to take it apart with no great concern.


    A beauty with a sweet car, you knew she was highly privileged on sight, while Chen Mu looked just like a mechanic crawling all over it. There were all sorts of small tools in the trunk, which helped Chen Mu quite a bit.


    When the car had been completely dismantled, he was just pulling the jet-stream card from inside the car.


    There were quite a few differences between that jet-stream card''s specifications and those of ordinary cards. It was as thick as a finger and felt like a square plate in your hand.


    It was a three-star jet stream card, but it had undergone a certain degree of modification compared with an ordinary jet-stream card. The tweaks made its jet stream more concentrated, while dampening its handling quite a bit.


    The problem was visible on the card''s face, where the composition had been damaged.


    The card only needed to be repaired or swapped out with a new one for the shuttle car to restored to flight.


    Chen Mu was confident that all the problems came back to the card.


    "This jet stream card has been damaged. I can restore it, but you''ll have to pay." Chen Mu was looking placidly at Ya Ya.


    Compensation? Ya Ya wondered if she''d heard wrongly, since it was the first time she''d ever run into someone asking for pay to help her.


    "I only have 30,000 Oudi on me." She answered somewhat dubiously, still not having completely reacted.


    "Then it''s 30,000 Oudi."


    "Oh." Ya Ya nodded blankly.


    For Chen Mu, a three-star jet stream card had a pretty complicated composition, and card restoration required high ability. But that day he was able very easily to restore that three-star jet stream card, not knowing if it was because of the money incentive that he was so inspired. He didn''t restore it to its original composition but made some slight modifications.


    Having restored the card, Chen Mu put the shuttle car back together. Ya Ya switched it on, half believing and half doubting, not imagining that it would have actually been fixed.


    "For you." Ya Ya very readily handed over 30,000 Oudi, although Chen Mu''s way of asking for money made her a little uncomfortable. In a somewhat bad mood, Ya Ya started up the shuttle car, and sped off with a strut, without any goodbye to Chen Mu. She still had some of her original interest in him, but the way he asked for compensation had made a big hit on her impression.


    Not paying any attention to Ya Ya, getting 30,000 Oudi made Chen Mu very happy. Although it wasn''t very much, for him 30,000 would somewhat resolve his economic crisis. He had never considered the act of asking for money to be improper. As far as he knew, it was nothing out of the ordinary, or anything to question.


    What had really made him happy wasn''t those 30,000 Oudi, but it was that the matter had given him an entirely new way forward.


    Ya Ya felt more and more uncomfortable after getting back to school. The guy''s character was really messed up to be asking for compensation to help a fellow classmate! She would never have been able to appreciate such a person before. So, when she watched Chen Mu enter the classroom, especially with that gem studded woman''s style apparatus, she thought about that 30,000 Oudi again, and her feeling of disdain was heightened a bit.


    It wasn''t about being poor, but to be so calculating with money was really too profiteering!


    What made her even more indignant was that Chen Mu didn''t even look at her as he was walking into the room, as though the morning''s affair had never even happened.


    As far as Chen Mu was concerned, the matter had already been wrapped up, and time was too precious to waste.


    Concentrating on the professor''s lecture, his eyes flitted from time to time as though he were thinking about something. Those few months had been important for him. His knowledge and the structure of his knowledge had become gradually systematic, and the principles set forth in that mysterious card allowed him to approach the knowledge that he did have from a comparatively higher perspective.


    Without his being aware of it, his understanding of card making had undergone an earth shattering transformation. And amid concentrating on his studies, Chen Mu hadn''t even realized any of it.


    Ya Ya was looking at Chen Mu with a little panic and didn''t know why. Yao Ke''s face was full of concentration, giving out a charm that was hard to describe. It was as though she felt some kind of power from his body, some kind of elevating positive force.


    That was in such powerful contrast with the profiteering man from that morning.


    "Is the little girl mooning?" Sister Phoenix poked her playfully from the side.


    Ya Ya looked at her superciliously, "What sort of rubbish is that? Could this old lady be mooning over that parvenu?" Her supercilious look had ended a million kinds of amorous feelings, crossing out the souls of nearly all of those male students who had been secretly paying attention to her.


    Sister Phoenix chuckled, "You''ve obviously been watching someone all morning."


    "I''m just curious. I don''t quite get this guy." Ya Ya explained about the morning''s affair in a low voice.


    When Ya Ya had finished, she found Sister Phoenix giving her a strange look. Being a little puzzled, she asked "Why are you looking at me like that?"


    Sister Phoenix said in a whisper, "Don''t play with fire. It''s fine to fool around with boys, but don''t ever let them touch your feelings, or else . . ."


    "You''re really strange today, Sister Phoenix!"


    The two of them started back up playing and joking, and the topic quickly drifted off to someplace else.


    Once class was over, Sister Phoenix stole Ya Ya''s shuttle car key, dropping a word, "Hey, let me use your car today." Before the sound died, she''d disappeared.

 Chapter 82: The Way of Wealth

    Chapter 82: The Way of Wealth


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu planned to visit Amay City over the weekend, which was the nearest city to Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    The shuttle train station was crowded. Chen Mu was bored looking at the advertisements being emitted from fantasy cards in the main station. The shuttle train was a convenient way to get to Amay City, only taking about six hours. It was too bad that he didn''t have the capability, since it would be very pleasant to fly through the outer reaches by directly deploying the jet-stream card.


    Since it was Chen Mu''s first time on a long-distance shuttle train, he was enjoying the novelty when he finally got on the train.


    But the feeling of novelty quickly wore off, since the entire trip would be made underground, which is to say that they would be passing underground for six hours. Because there was danger all around in the outer reaches, people thought to put the trains underground. By that time underground transportation was already a very mature technology in the Heavenly Federation, and the underground transportation network extended under all the Heavenly Federation like a spider web.


    Long distance travel was very dull, so out of consideration for the passengers, there was a card play generator every five rows, which would play some entertainment programs so that everyone could pass the time. Card plays were an emerging product that was very popular at that time.


    What was playing just then had been recorded in advance. The technology used by the long-distance shuttle trains was very advanced, so that the images could be emitted simultaneously on all the generators by going through one main card play generator. This was a technology that had been invented at the low grade fantasy card club in Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    "What we are about to introduce is a not very widely circulated card play. Up until now, we still don''t have any information about the producer of the card play. I''m afraid that this card play has only ever been circulated in the very limited vicinity of the Eastern Wei Academy, but we all marvel at the superior quality of its production, and the brilliance of its story, which are far beyond other card plays which have been circulating on the market. Of course, this is only our point of view.


    "It''s worth mentioning that when this card play first went on sale, it quickly bowled over all of Eastern Wei Academy. By now it would be extremely difficult to buy a set for your collection, since there is no one willing to sell. That is how fascinating this card play is. Our own editor had to expend a lot energy to be able to buy just one with great difficulty, at a very high price, which we bring out now for everyone''s enjoyment.


    "Our only regret is that the card play hasn''t been completed. And its mysterious producer seems to have disappeared. It has been reported that some of the students at Eastern Wei Academy are planning to organize a group to complete the rest of the story.


    "Very well, I don''t want to waste any more of your time with these superfluous words. Please enjoy a story which takes place in the vast interstellar reaches, ''The Legend of Master Shi.''"


    The card play generator started to play "The Legend of Master Shi." Chen Mu had all sorts of feelings watching the familiar characters and the familiar story.


    There were cries of admiration in the car from time to time. With over ninety nine percent of the people not having seen the card play, they were all immediately bowled over by it.


    The dark crags outside the car swept by at terrific speed, while the time slowly passed.


    Six hours might be considered short if you called it long or long if you called it short, but in any case the travelers all discovered that by the time the shuttle train had gotten to the station, the card play had not yet finished. Quite of few of the passengers crowded around the shuttle train workers to ask questions about the card play that they were still so engrossed in.


    The producer of the card play, Chen Mu, stepped out into Amay City among all the praise.


    * * *


    Phoenix took a look in her rear-view mirror and saw a dark green shuttle car. She knew the one driving very well, a guy called Wen Tianming who was among those who most disgusted Phoenix. He didn''t look bad, though Phoenix had cruelly spread a nasty nickname for him, "tender until morning," meaning that he was good for one night only, known for being fickle and shallow.


    It was said that he used to be mixed up with ''Allah'' Gong. He was relentlessly chasing Phoenix during that time, when like a piece of sticky candy, she couldn''t get rid of him. Phoenix would curse him to herself endlessly, wondering why that pretty boy couldn''t have been the guy from the school who was killed last time.


    Although Wen Tianming was a kind of pretty boy, he was tremendously skilled as a driver. The two of them had first run into one another because of racing. Since he wasn''t driving his ''green flyer'' shuttle car that time, Phoenix pressed him unwaveringly from behind, and shot past him. It was because of that that he got interested in her.


    Afterward, he would always tease Phoenix after classes let out. Given his shuttle car''s superior performance and high technology, Phoenix hadn''t beaten him once after that. What infuriated Phoenix the most was the self-satisfied expression on the guy, which made her teeth itch.


    Phoenix''s driving skills weren''t really much different from his, but the performance of Wen Tianming''s shuttle car was really too hot, with quick acceleration far surpassing that little Blue Rain Ladybug shuttle car that Phoenix had.


    By happenstance, her shuttle car had some issue that day, so she''d robbed Ya Ya''s key.


    Although the Silver Star was a high-end shuttle car, it wasn''t configured for performance, and its performance wasn''t great. Phoenix was very familiar with the performance of all of the high end shuttle cars, including the Silver Star.


    She assumed that she''d be teased again by this yahoo that day. As soon as she saw that green shuttle car, her mood got messed up and she gave the wheel a turn.


    Whoa! Phoenix was stunned by the Silver Star''s quick turn.


    No way! The Silver Star could never be so responsive! With the force she''d just used, the turning angle should have been about twenty-five degrees. But she''d just made a forty-five-degree turn!


    A forty-five-degree turn wasn''t all that big a deal, since quite a few of the high-end shuttle cars could realize it. But those certainly didn''t include the Silver Star. The Silver Star was positioned for those who weren''t necessarily after the pleasure of driving, but rather more for customers interested in driving comfort. So, it didn''t have outstanding cornering performance.


    Could Ya Ya have made some sort of modifications to her Silver Star? No way! She quickly discarded that notion.


    Was she hallucinating?


    Looking in her rear-view mirror, her quick turn just then had shaken off Wen Tianming, who hadn''t anticipated sufficiently. But he''d quickly changed his direction and was sticking on her again.


    Scanning the forest of buildings ahead of her, Phoenix decided to try it again.


    She shot the wheel hard to the right, and the car made a lightning quick right turn.


    There was a dramatic change in the scenery in front of her, which lit up her gorgeous eyes.


    The Silver Star was tracing an extremely graceful S-shaped trajectory in midair, shuttling between two buildings. A perfect S-shaped glide! The entire process was done in a breath, flowing freely, as quick as lightning, like a silver swallow.


    Of course, Wen Tianming had never expected the Silver Star to make such lively moves, and when he saw the buildings looming ever larger in front of him, he hastily slowed, as he perilously scraped one of the buildings as he flew by, making him break out in a cold sweat.


    Seeing Wen Tianming''s lousy condition in her rear-view mirror, Phoneix whistled with excitement. She didn''t slow her movements, swerving right and left. The cornering performance of that Silver Star hadn''t only outpaced all the Silver Stars, but was pumped as though it had taken drugs, with every turn stunningly smooth and lively, leaving Phoenix dying to use all her cornering skills in driving it.


    Wen Tianming''s shuttle car was quickly lost among the buildings behind the Silver Star.


    So many days of gloom were swept away at once, and Phoenix was feeling fine.


    She called through to Ya Ya''s communications card.


    Ya Ya was complaining as she took the call, "Sister Phoenix, you steal my car, and leave me to take Tang Tang''s car back."


    "Don''t be angry little Ya Ya, come on, sissy will give you a kiss." Phoenix gave her cute smile, and then immediately blurted out, "Ya Ya, have you modified your Silver Star?"


    "Modify?" Ya Ya''s expression was puzzled. She shook her head, "No way! You know that I''ve never been a racer."


    "So, has somebody been messing with your car?" Phoenix asked quickly.


    "Messed with my car?" Ya Ya was confused, and didn''t understand, "The car was broken this morning, and Yao Ke fixed it, and even asked me for thirty thousand Oudi. What''s up, is something wrong?"


    "No, no!" Phoenix quickly shook her head, and smiled, "I''m just asking. OK I can''t talk any more, I have to concentrate on driving." Without waiting for Ya Ya to argue, she hung up the communications card.


    Yao Ke, she was mumbling to herself, while tapping her bright red painted fingers on the steering wheel, as though she were thinking about something.


    * * *


    It was Chen Mu''s first time away from Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    Walking along Amay City''s streets, he wasn''t feeling jittery like a stranger. Looking for another uncle, he arrived at Amay City''s card district. The street was about three and a half kilometers long, and almost all engaged in the card business.


    Walking along the card street, looking at one of the shop signs ahead of him, he walked in.


    It was a card repair shop.


    For most people, cards were like clothes; once they wear out you get a new one, not generally choosing to repair them. But when there was some item of clothing that had some special meaning for the owner or which had become difficult to buy, people might still want to restore them to the way they were.


    It wasn''t a very big shop, and was fitted out in a pretty ordinary fashion.


    "Hello, what can I do for you?" The shopkeeper came up very enthusiastically.


    But he lost his enthusiasm when he heard that Chen Mu was looking for card repair work. But he got his enthusiasm right back when he heard that Chen Mu was an Eastern Wei Academy Student and saw his ID.


    It was generally only a few unqualified beginning card masters who would come around looking for work at those businesses. The Eastern Wei Academy was the highest ranked academy in the area.


    The proprietor immediately pulled out a pile of cards, mostly made up of three-star cards which had been piling up for a while.


    The three-star cards were undoubtedly something of a headache for the shopkeeper. When a three-star card breaks, you need a mid-grade card master to restore it. But what sort of a certified mid-grade card master would ever come to his kind of small shop?


    That had given him a backlog of three-star cards. The shopkeeper was inwardly joyful at his good luck, assuming that the student wanted some spending money. Most of the Eastern Wei Academy students were from relatively well-off families and weren''t short of money. Seeing the gem studded apparatus on Chen Mu''s wrist confirmed his guess once he saw it. His gaze became much more respectful.


    Chen Mu pulled out those cards he felt sure he could repair from the pile, pulling out fifteen in the end.


    "How will the pay be calculated?" Chen Mu asked.


    The shopkeeper looked carefully at Chen Mu, and gnashing his teeth, said "Twenty thousand per card, what do you think?" The price for a three-star card was several hundred thousand and would cost about fifty thousand from a repair shop, with rare cards costing more. But this was just a small shop, and he wasn''t going to make much profit giving Chen Mu those kinds of prices.


    But the proprietor was thinking very clearly, since he wasn''t making anything on the cards just sitting there. Although he wasn''t looking at a lot of profit. If the cards were to be fixed up, he would earn some reputation, making his shop stand out among repair shops in the vicinity.


    A mid-grade card master wouldn''t even consider repairing a card for twenty thousand Oudi.


    "OK." Chen Mu gathered up the cards and said, "I''ll bring them back next weekend."


    "Fine, fine, fine!" The shopkeeper''s face lit up as though he were a blooming flower, and he quickly pulled out an agreement. Chen Mu looked it over carefully, and when he determined that there were no mistakes, signed it.


    It was an idea that had arisen from Chen Mu having restored the three-star jet stream card for Ya Ya that morning. He had already been able to repair a few three-star cards, so here was a way to make some money. The money to repair a one or two-star card was extremely low, probably only up to a couple of hundred Oudi per card, which for him just then would be like trying to put out a fire with a cup of water, and wouldn''t solve any of his problems. So, he set his sights on three-star cards.


    It was too bad that he didn''t have a mid-grade card master certification, since otherwise the pay for restoring a card would be nearly fifty thousand Oudi.


    Chen Mu was very pleased with the trip to Amay City. If he were able to repair fifteen cards a week, that would be three hundred thousand in income. While it wasn''t nearly enough to pay his tuition, it was still the best way he''d been able to come up with.

 Chapter 83: The Mud Fish Jet-Stream Card

    Chapter 83: The Mud Fish Jet-Stream Card


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Since he''d connected with a business, Chen Mu returned to Eastern Shang-Wei City the same day. His original reason for riding the train for six hours to Amay City was that he didn''t want to draw other peoples'' attention. While the Zuo household was powerful in Eastern Shang-Wei City, once out of that city, they didn''t count for much. If it wasn''t for having to wait for the demonic woman, he would have left there before.


    Chen Mu started to work as soon as he got home. Repairing cards was very technical work, and there were a lot of areas where he would have to study while doing. Although he already had the experience of successfully restoring a three-star jet stream card, there were many different types of cards represented among the three-star cards in his hand, which meant that there was a commensurate amount of preparation work.


    If it were earlier, he absolutely wouldn''t have dared to have any thoughts about those things. He considered Eastern Wei Academy to have a structure he''d never seen before. Now that he was there, he could also inquire about all kinds of relevant information.


    He had a lot of homework to do, but he could also gain a lot of knowledge, which was just as important for him. To restore a card, he couldn''t ruin its original version, which is to say that there would be only one chance to do the repair. That also meant that he needed to do still more work in preparation.


    In the hands of those card masters who are proficient in restoring cards, restoring fifteen three-star cards shouldn''t take more than three hours. While for Chen Mu, it would be very difficult to complete the work in a week.


    Chen Mu spent the rest of his weekend on it and didn''t go out at all.


    There was such a variety of three-star cards that even the high-grade card masters couldn''t guarantee that they had made all of them, much less a rookie like Chen Mu.


    * * *


    "What?" Ya Ya stretched her tempting little cherry lips, looking at Sister Phoenix in shock, then shaking her head desperately, "I won''t go, I won''t go! Go by yourself if you want to go! Sister Phoenix, how is he as awesome as you say? I''d speculate that apart from the advanced group, there''s only Tang Tang''s older brother who''s that awesome in our school. Would you like me help you ask Tang Tang?"


    Phoenix exhaled, "I know that Zuo Tingyi is certainly awesome. But that guy never responds to anyone. Lots of people want to go through Tang Tang looking for him to make a card, but they are all rebuffed. Though you have good relations with Tang Tang, it isn''t likely that Zuo Tingyi would agree to it."


    But she immediately looked interested, and deliberately lowered her voice, "this Yao Ke has some skills. Hey! You can''t imagine how your Silver Star executes S-shaped drifts. It''s really too much!"


    "What S-shaped drifts?" Ya Ya didn''t understand, but she was still firmly shaking her head, "If you want to find him, you go yourself, and anyhow, I don''t want to deal with that boorish profiteer any more. Humph, If you want him to make a card, you still don''t know how much he''ll want to extort from you!" She looked furious, clearly still angry about what had happened last time.


    "Ya Ya, I''m begging you!" Phoenix was desperately nodding Ya Ya''s head, and then she gave a forceful pucker on Ya Ya''s cheek with her dripping bright red lips, "If you won''t do it, I''ll sacrifice my feminine charms to you, and kiss you a few times. How about ten? Or maybe twenty?


    For two pretty girls to gesture that way was really too ambiguous, leaving some of the classmates around them gaping and gulping.


    "You''re scaring me!" Ya Ya''s face had turned red, hurriedly asking for mercy, since she really couldn''t take being stared at by everyone. Still, she immediately wondered, "How much money have you got ready, I think that guy will certainly want a lot."


    Phoenix snapped her perfect teeth, "I''ll pay a million Oudi as long as he makes a jet stream card according to my demands!"


    "Are you crazy?" Ya Ya cried out in alarm, "With that kind of money, you''re just about able to buy a Silver Star. And you want to use it to buy a jet-stream card?"


    "I''ll give it to him as long as he can make a jet stream card according to my demands!" Phoenix said through her clenched teeth, "You don''t know how soon I''ll be tortured to death by that sex fiend Wen Tianming!"


    "Sex fiend? Sister Phoenix, aren''t you called the sex fiend''s nemesis?" Ya Ya looked at Sister Phoenix in surprise, clearly not having imagined that anyone could force the feisty Sister Phoenix to that point.


    It was just then that Chen Mu walked into the classroom, and the two of them dropped their voices.


    Chen Mu''s mind was full of every shape and form of three-star card composition, about which there was still a lot that he didn''t quite understand. Those were all problems that he had to solve today, first planning to go to the library. If he still didn''t have any way to resolve them, he''d look for Feng Zi-ang, which was the good thing about having professors around.


    Once class started, Chen Mu put all those issues aside, to concentrate on the lesson. He knew that the structure of his knowledge was still too shallow.


    Once class was over, Chen Mu was getting ready to leave when he sensed someone walking toward him. It was Ya Ya and Phoenix,.


    "I have a business proposition for you, Yao Ke, are you interested?" Ya Ya asked with a cold look, still brooding over what had happened a few days before.


    "What kind of business?" That word got Chen Mu''s attention, and he looked at the two of them.


    "When you repaired my shuttle car last time, did you modify the original composition of the jet stream card?" Ya Ya stared closely at Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu nodded, and calmly asked, "Did it break again?"


    Ya Ya and Phoenix looked at each other, each seeing the shock in the other''s eyes. The very calm-faced Chen Mu was revealing more and more of a kind of mysterious and unpredictable aspect in their eyes.


    "No." Ya Ya quickly shook her head, "Phoenix wants to ask you to make a jet stream card to use in a shuttle car, and she has some specifications for you. Of course, she''ll provide a certain amount of remuneration."


    Phoenix was a little nervous, and quickly said, "Provided you can make it, I''d like to give you a million Oudi."


    A million? Chen Mu was stunned, sighing to himself how really awesome it was that the gang of rich kids burned money! A million to buy a jet stream card for a shuttle car. This was the first he''d heard of that kind of money for such a thing.


    Chen Mu looked at the two a little skeptically, trying to gauge how honest they were about what they were saying.


    Seeing Chen Mu''s expression, Ya Ya was in a bad mood, and stuck out her proud breasts, saying haughtily, "What? Are you afraid we won''t pay?"


    Chen Mu took back his gaze and turned it to Phoenix, "What specifications?"


    Phoenix was immediately overjoyed, and followed up, "Come with me." She led the way, dragging Ya Ya.


    Chen Mu went with them to an instructional building in the Northwest corner of the school, and after looking all around knew that he''d never been there before. There were a lot of students around, their faces all showing excitement and anticipation, and all discussing some topic with one another in low voices that he couldn''t quite hear.


    Phoenix and Ya Ya were attracting everyone''s gaze, while Chen Mu who was walking close behind them looking natural also drew plenty of looks. He didn''t like that feeling of being watched, but he''d have to tough it out for that million and stay behind those two.


    Chen Mu wondered whether they had walked into some sort of repair factory when they entered the instructional building, as there were all sorts of parts piled up in front of him, and the air was filled with a strange smell.


    "This is the distribution center for all the school''s card-appliance societies, and where there is some of the school''s most outstanding talent for such work, with professors sometimes coming here as well to advance their own work." Phoenix was paying attention to the parts on the floor, while introducing it to Chen Mu. Ya Ya was frowning beside her, holding her nose with one hand, while being very careful, lest the oil puddles on the ground stain her valuable shoes.


    "What is a card-appliance?" Chen Mu asked.


    "You don''t know anything about card appliances?" Phoenix looked surprised, but she quickly explained, "It''s just a mechanism for using card technology, for example the shuttle car belongs to the category of card appliance."


    "Oh." Chen Mu nodded his head in understanding.


    "There are a lot of people who like card appliances, and you can see a lot of unusual and strange card appliances here, as well as some interesting competitions. Among the people here are many who aren''t so good in their studies, but who are really gifted in this kind of thing." Phoenix clearly rather admired people who were proficient in the mechanical aspect of cards.


    Chen Mu remained calm, while he was nodding to himself. Although cards were endlessly transforming, they couldn''t do everything in the end, and most of the time, they required some media. The one used most often was the card appliance, such as a shuttle car, or a heating pot. Of course, high-grade fantasy cards could create energy bodies, but those were really too expensive, and their energy consumption was too high, putting them out of reach for ordinary people.


    Back in his time, the great master Luo Qi had chosen this road.


    Even though those students made card appliances which were really ingenious in Chen Mu''s opinion, they weren''t always so useful. Compared with the great master Luo Qi back in the day, they fell very short, as they did compared to the low grade fantasy card club which specialized in low grade fantasy cards.


    Chen Mu had never been interested in things which had no practical value and he''d come this time entirely directed at that million Oudi.


    The basement of the instructional building had been divided into a number of repair shops, which could be rented by any of the societies, for a high price. The first floor was simply a special-purpose card appliance arena, used for the card appliance fanatics to validate their crazy ideas. Of course, you needed to pay if you wanted to use it.


    Chen Mu was listening to Phoenix''s introduction while sighing with emotion. The ability of those Eastern Wei Academy students to scrape money together was a lot stronger than Copper''s.


    Still, to assure safety, after charging a high fee, the school provided pretty good services. For example, these repair shops had all undergone reinforcement, and they had rebuilt the energy supply system.


    Those who liked to play with card appliances were naturally all rich. Thinking about wanting to spend a million Oudi for a jet stream card, it became clear to him that playing with card appliances burned more money than making cards.


    The three of them got to a repair shop, in which were parked a few very cool-shaped shuttle cars.


    "Hey, Hua Hua." Phoenix stood in front of a red shuttle car, calling out in a loud voice.


    A head came out from underneath the shuttle, and because of the angle his head was right under Phoenix''s skirt.


    "Sister Phoenix, you''re wearing black today." The boy made a loud whistle. Ya Ya stepped back in fear.


    Bam! Without a pause, Phoenix stomped on the boy''s face, from where a howling wail suddenly sounded. She ground her feet a couple of times, before she pulled back her foot satisfied.


    "How come you came to see me today, Sister Phoenix? Do you miss me?" This man called Hua Hua was wearing a colorful checked shirt after he took off his work overalls, with the hair style of a bird''s nest, and with his smile making him look somewhat more vulgar, with that footprint on his face being his only striking feature.


    "Yeah, I really missed you." Phoenix gave a charming smile, while her tall slender legs looked like they were about to kick. Hua Hua quickly ran scared off to the side.


    Phoenix looked at the expressionless Chen Mu, quickly putting an end to the slapstick, "My friend plans to help me make a shuttle car jet stream card, and I thought I''d come to ask your opinion. I''m thinking of putting together another shuttle car."


    "Jet stream card?" Hua Hua sized up Chen Mu with a skeptical gaze, "How old is he??"


    "He''s in our section." Seeing Hua Hua''s lip curled up in disdain, Phoenix was a little afraid of offending Chen Mu, and quickly said, "Tell me now what I asked you, and don''t give me any nonsense." Chen Mu''s mood was volatile in Phoenix''s eyes, gloomy and hot.


    Hua Hua shrugged in response, spreading out his hands, "If you say it like that, I have nothing to say." Then his expression became serious, "What type of card do you want?"


    Phoenix thought about the scene that day, freely and pleasantly shuttling through the tall buildings, and blurted out, "A cornering car!"


    "You don''t even race, so what''s with the cornering car?" Hua Hua was astonished. As the name suggested, cornering cars were shuttle cars with great cornering performance. While they displayed remarkable quickness, speed was not generally their strong suit. But shuttle cars generally flew through the air, and as long as they didn''t fly low, they weren''t going to run into many obstacles.


    "For fun!" Phoenix raised an eyebrow.


    "If you want a car for swerves, the demands on the jet-stream card are quite high. There is actually a classic ''mud-fish'' jet-stream card here, but it''s a collector''s item and I can''t give it to you to use. Those were the most suited jet stream card for cornering cars, though it unfortunately can''t be purchased anymore." Hua Hua said with a serious expression.


    The name of this "mud-fish" jet stream card made Chen Mu a little curious, since he couldn''t quite see how the jet stream card could be connected to that kind of creature. He also opened his mouth to say the first thing he''d said since arriving, "Can you get it for me to look at?"


    Phoenix accompanied him, "I had heard of your mudfish card. Get it for us to have a look and broaden our understanding!"


    "Alright." With unexpected alacrity, Hua Hua ran into the storage room of the repair shop, and quickly brought out a card as big as a book, or rather, more like a plate.


    Chen Mu took the card and looked it over meticulously. Hua Hua kept reminding him from beside him, "Be more careful, don''t drop and break it!"


    The jet-stream card had quite a few differences from the one in Ya Ya''s Silver Star shuttle car. The jet stream emitted from the jet stream card in the Silver Star was very concentrated, and only went in one direction. Where the jet stream emitted from that card could come from many different streams, and those could be combined, or they could diverge.


    What made them different was the difference in their compositions. This "mud fish" jet-stream card''s plan was a lot more ingenious, having a much higher degree of difficulty to make. Making a fine count, it could emit seven streams in seven different directions, with each of them able to be regulated in size, This was the first time he''d seen such an ingenious card.

 Chapter 84: A Perfect Replica

    Chapter 84: A Perfect Replica


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    He wasn''t a stranger to the composition of three-star jet stream cards, since he''d modified the Silver Star''s jet stream card. As it happened, his modifications had a lot of similarities with that ''mud fish'' jet stream card, except that its composition was much more ingenious. It had more channels to distribute the flow, and had a much higher degree of difficulty to make. And it could be much more precisely controlled than the one he''d modified. His modifications would be considered very rudimentary in comparison.


    "This ''mud fish'' jet stream card had very limited production, with only thirty having been produced in the entire Heavenly Federation. The one I have is serial number eight. I''ve been looking for someone to make a copy, but there are too few card masters who are proficient in the jet stream card. It''s not that the ones I find don''t understand them, just that they don''t have that kind of ability. There''s never been anyone able to copy it." The sense of what Hua Hua was saying showed some skepticism about Chen Mu''s capability, displaying the arrogance of youth with his bird''s nest hair.


    Phoenix gave Hua Hua a hard look, not wanting him to offend Chen Mu.


    Not the least bit cowed, Hua Hua smiled insolently and said, "Oh yeah, is this your new lover? You must feel strongly about him to defend him like that, which doesn''t seem like your style. If all the handsome guys find out that you''ve been thrown like this, I wonder what they''ll think, ho ho."


    To her side, Ya Ya made a strange face as though she were repressing a laugh, which she finally couldn''t do as she guffawed.


    Phoenix''s face had turned red.


    Hua Hua put on a look of surprise, "Sister Phoenix can actually blush? This big guy must really be a charmer!"


    Looking carefully at Chen Mu, she saw that he was still engrossed in the ''mud fish'' jet stream card and didn''t seem to have heard. Phoenix breathed a sigh of relief, which then turned into a rage.


    She picked up a wrench from the ground and came at Hua Hua with a murderous look.


    Hua Hua jumped away like a monkey, making a strange sound and grabbing Ya Ya, who was convulsed in laughter.


    Chen Mu hadn''t paid any attention to what was going on next to him, with his whole mind immersed in the jet stream card in his hand. Seeing such an ingenious jet stream card was entertainment enough for him. He''d started to derive its composition bit by bit, and bit by bit, he clarified its conception.


    This was how Chen Mu did things. Before he''d entered Eastern Wei Academy, his course of study had been his own solitary explorations. It wasn''t worth much in his eyes to perfectly imitate some other card master''s work. What he needed to study was how an outstanding card master approached a problem, their train of thought, and especially how their conception was manifested on the card.


    The ingenious ideas of the card masters would always cause him to marvel. The ''mud fish'' card in front of him was like that. Although it was a three-star as far as ratings were concerned, the degree of difficulty to make it far surpassed other jet stream cards of the same rating.


    Only one of the cards that Chen Mu had made had exceeded its degree of difficulty: The tailless shuttle card. None of the other cards could compare with it, including those twelve cards from the simple water world.


    Probably only such a large card could contain such a complex composition. As Chen Mu peeled apart its composition layer by layer, he was able to trace back to its foundational composition, which he couldn''t help marveling at.


    There were altogether one hundred and twelve recursive compositions on the card, plus forty-four linked compositions, making it easy to imagine how complicated its overall composition was. Never mind ordinary people, even most card masters would get dizzy looking at such a variegated and complex composition.


    But that wasn''t either the most crucial aspect or the part which most exceeded Chen Mu''s expectations with the whole card. That would be the three junctions. Those three junctions took the form of three triangles covering the face of the card. Their composition wasn''t necessarily complicated and wouldn''t even attract attention, but in Chen Mu''s eyes, it was the most precious hidden gem of the overall composition.


    Those three nodes were the most fundamental aspect of the token composition, and he already had a certain degree of ability with the token. If he hadn''t learned the principles of the token, Chen Mu believed that it would have been the most difficult hurdle with the card.


    The scheme of a jet-stream card was taking shape ever more clearly in Chen Mu''s mind, and those interlocking crisscrossed lines were no longer abstruse and hard to understand.


    Gradually coming out of it, he saw the three jokers, and Chen Mu lightened up from that great yield he''d just realized.


    The three of them stopped when they saw that Chen Mu had raised his head.


    "What do you think?" Phoenix asked nervously.


    "Three days'' time, but I also have to give you a detailed list of materials." Chen Mu answered calmly.


    Hua Hua looked like he had heard a joke, and guffawed with a look of disbelief, "Hunh? Three days? Man, you looked pretty honest at first glance. I never thought you could brag like this! Do you think you''re Zuo Tingyi? Such boasting! Even Zuo Tingyi wouldn''t dare brag about being able to make a ''mud fish'' card in three days! You really do shoot off at the mouth."


    Chen Mu made no reaction to Hua Hua''s questioning of him, and walked away without looking at him, dropping a phrase, "I''ll bring you back the materials list in a little while."


    Phoenix and Ya Ya looked at each other and chased after him.


    Hua Hua whistled as he watched the three leaving, and shook his bird''s nest head, saying to himself, "Three days? Braggarts these days don''t even make a rough draft?"


    The three of them went back to the classroom, which was already empty.


    Finding a pen and paper, Chen Mu sat down and stroked away. After half a minute, he handed Phoenix a piece of paper full of words.


    Phoenix was startled to see so many kinds of materials on the paper, "So many?"


    "I''ll do it whenever you get the materials. Have the million ready." Chen Mu then gathered his things and strolled away under their stunned gaze.


    Once he was on his way, Chen Mu thought back to that ''mud fish'' jet stream card''s composition. Those lines really were as beautiful as a work of art. He''d learned an entirely new way of thinking from that card. If you''re willing to dig deeply among the same level of card, you can find characteristics which rival high grade works.


    High grade jet stream cards may be able to emit powerful jet streams, but if you wanted to make something like the ''mud fish,'' you shouldn''t be concerned with the level.


    Level doesn''t stand for everything!


    That reminded him of the simple water world, where who would have thought that the twelve low-grade cards could have such surprising results.


    But he got a headache whenever he thought about the scheme for the ''simplified'' simple water world that he still couldn''t come up with.


    Apart from that, there were still quite a few such things that he couldn''t quite understand about card restoration, so he didn''t have any time to relax. He looked through every room when he got home, and still didn''t see any sign of the demonic woman. Chen Mu''s originally joyful mood drifted immediately into a fog.


    He ate a simple dinner, and then went on to bury his head in tackling those problems.


    Phoenix walked over as soon as he got to class the next day.


    "I''ve got all the materials; when will you start working?" Her tone was between trust and doubt. Although she had promoted it at first, she couldn''t help being skeptical when Chen Mu had said that he could finish the "mud fish" jet stream card in three days.


    She''d had some apprehension when Chen Mu gave her the list of materials, but she hadn''t considered that she would only have to spend not quite a hundred thousand Oudi to get everything on the detailed list that looked so packed. The cheap prices were a lot lower than she had expected, especially given Ya Ya''s muttering over and over about how stingy Chen Mu was.


    "Oh. I''ll give it to you in three days." Chen Mu looked very natural.


    The "mud fish" jet stream card hadn''t used any precious materials. They were all commonly used ordinary materials. Still, a hundred thousand Oudi worth of materials in one place was an impressive sight. It was a good thing that he had gotten a lot stronger. After he had loaded everything into an old burlap bag that he had gotten from somewhere, he carried it home over his shoulder as though it were nothing.


    Behind him, Phoenix and Ya Ya were struck dumb.


    It would be the biggest card Chen Mu had ever made. And it would still take a lot of processing to condense a burlap sack full of material onto a card.


    It required a lot of very solid basic skill for the hundred and twelve recursive and forty-four linked compositions. That wasn''t any problem for Chen Mu with his many years making one-star power cards, and he could make them even more meticulous there. The three nodes were just as routine, since he''d already learned the fundamentals of the token composition.


    The thing that felt the hardest to him was perception, since his perception still hadn''t been restored to its best. He really had to work hard to adhere completely to the many compositions that were contained in the card.


    His head full of sweat, Chen Mu finally breathed a sigh of relief. There was a completed card in front of him which was identical to that "mud fish" card that he''d just seen.


    His was a perfect replica, except for making Chen Mu feel alarmed about his pitiful perception. If it weren''t for his perception being more sensitive than it had been, and more responsive, he would have had a great deal of difficulty completing such a complicated card, given the current strength of his perception.


    But it was now all finished, and the process had been smooth.


    Chen Mu was rather pleased, looking at the card in front of him.


    Hua Hua, Phoenix and Ya Ya were all rather nervous looking at the appliance simulator in Hua Hua''s shop. This appliance simulator was about the size of a shuttle car, but with a much simpler design, having only the shuttle car''s most basic structure. And it had an adjustable card holder, which enabled inserting different jet stream cards.


    What had been installed just then was the "mud fish" jet stream card that Chen Mu had made. Chen Mu had declined the test activation, in favor of rushing over to the library.


    The simulator in front of them had seven steerable exhaust pipes lined up, which was its most complicated configuration to date. Keeping in mind that while the agility of the shuttle car would increase quite a bit with each additional steerable nozzle, the difficulty of controlling it would increase exponentially.


    Hua Hua''s appliance simulator had originally only had four steerable nozzles, which had been the record for the shuttle cars that he had assembled. Increasing it to seven was completely for the purpose of testing out the "mud fish" card.


    With the seven steerable nozzles activated and nimbly moving in all directions, the whole shop was overrun with jet streams to the point that the three of them nearly couldn''t open their eyes.


    "Wow! Oh God! What am I seeing! ''Mud fish!'' It really is the ''mud fish.''! I must be dreaming . . ." Hua Hua was so excited that he was incoherent, as his eyes were fixed with enchantment on the seven swiveling nozzles of the appliance simulator.


    "Did he succeed?" Ya Ya shouted at Phoenix, who was transfixed by the simulator. The shop was so full of the shriek of the jet streams that if you didn''t yell, you couldn''t hear what anyone was saying.


    Phoenix came out of it nodding her head, saying excitedly, "He succeeded! He really succeeded!"


    Phoenix felt a surge of emotion. She was going to have an incredible cornering car! In her excitement she still had some complicated feelings, though. He really had been an ace all along! She knew that if the word were to get out that there was someone who could successfully make a "mud fish" card, Yao Ke would immediately become the dazzling star of Eastern Wei Academy.


    Being very clear about the reputation of the sponsorship section across campus, it would really be quite dramatic if there were a student who could make that "mud fish" jet stream card coming from that kind of class section.


    Ya Ya had covered her mouth in shock, since she never would have believed that such a stingy devil could actually be a card making ace! Which raised even more doubts in her mind.


    Why was he in the sponsorship class? Reviewing Chen Mu''s ordinary activities, she realized that apart from those couple of hits, Chen Mu''s work was pretty low key, very seldom showing his card making abilities.


    It seemed as though the calm and cool person was a completely different person from the parvenu look that he started with.


    Ya Ya''s face filled with doubt as she went over those things.


    Chen Mu didn''t have time to pay any attention to them, but it pleased him very much when Phoenix easily handed over the million Oudi once the testing was complete. It was very pleasant to deal with a satisfied customer, especially after walking away with a million.


    But he threw himself right back into his other money-making scheme. Compared with making the ''mud fish'' card, restoring three-star cars was still more cumbersome, involving many more problems.


    Still, if it wasn''t always going to be so easy to run into such spendthrift suckers, Chen Mu could comfort himself that he could always do his restoration work.


    Burying his head in the work of card repair, Chen Mu still didn''t understand what it meant that he had been able to make the "mud fish" jet stream card.

 Chapter 85: The Fiery Mayfly

    Chapter 85: The Fiery Mayfly


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu had repaired twelve of the fifteen three-star cards, with the difficulty of the other three too high, especially given the current strength of his perception.


    From the lesson he got last time, he was a lot more careful in his deployment of his perception. Increases in his perception were slow, so he just spent more of his time with learning how to refine his control. He found that the fine threads of perception which emanated from the pillar of his shuttle-shaped perceptual vortex were very suited to fine control. They were sensitive and fine, and they were numerous and linked in countless ways.


    He was already pleased with being able to repair twelve cards. There was no lack of gems among them, and many of them broadened the scope of his vision. One of them was particularly fine, a three-star fantasy card. It had a peculiar composition which was unlike any three-star fantasy card that Chen Mu had ever seen.


    After activation, it could become a spherical energy cloak. It was the first protective fantasy card that Chen Mu had ever seen, though he naturally wouldn''t consider it to be unique because of that. What really surprised him was that it could be controlled by perception to transform its shape, even to the extent of being able to stick it tightly to one''s skin.


    This reminded him of the "fish scale cloak" fantasy card introduced in some of the information that the demonic woman had found out about the Yao clan last time, though he didn''t know if there were any similarities between them.


    Compared with the ordinary "fiery dragon" fantasy card, although it was also a three-star fantasy card, it was a lot more advanced in both its conception and ingenuity.


    Chen Mu felt that his progress had been very fast that week. The "mud fish" jet stream card and those twelve three-star cards had greatly expanded both his horizons and his thinking.


    He calculated that the twelve cards would give him 240,000 Oudi in income.


    He had started to enjoy doing the card repair work. He could learn about all kinds of strange cards, which was just the knowledge he wanted.


    He visited that shop in Amay City again over the weekend. After checking over those twelve cards, the shopkeeper readily paid. Chen Mu didn''t linger and took another fifteen cards and then returned home.


    During the trip, the train was still showing "The Legend of Master Shi."


    * * *


    "Is this Madam Ning? This is the Chang Tai card shop. The card you sent in for repair last time has been repaired. May I ask when you would like to pick it up?"


    "Card? From when?" Madam Ning asked a little baffled. She couldn''t remember when she had sent any sort of card in for repair.


    "Half a year ago, you commissioned us to repair a three-star card for you. The shop has recently been fortunate to have formed an association with a mid-grade card master, and your card has finally been repaired. You may claim it." The proprietor responded very politely, though he did go on and on about that so called mid-grade card master.


    "Oh, I remember!" Madam Ning suddenly remembered that half a year earlier when she was going through her father''s things, she had sent his most treasured card in for repair. She hadn''t had much hope at the time, and her family fortunes were falling, already not up to what they had been. Seeking out a professional card master to do the repair would have been very expensive, so she could only send it to a small shop.


    "What is the fee?" Madam Ning was apprehensive and had clearly been shocked when the shopkeeper had used the words ''mid-grade card master.'' She didn''t have much money on hand, but since it was left behind by her father, she wasn''t willing to sell it.


    "You would pay twenty-five thousand Oudi, according to our agreement." The shopkeeper said full of smiles.


    Madam Ning quickly let out a sigh of relief. Although twenty-five thousand Oudi wasn''t a small figure to her, it was at least within her ability to pay.


    "OK, I''ll pick it up right away." Madam Ning said decisively.


    Madam Ning began to cry seeing her father''s legacy restored to what it had been. She was about thirty years old, and wore a long natural-colored hempen dress. Although her appearance didn''t stand out, she had a demure temperament and gave people a favorable impression. She was a teacher at a basic school. When her father was still alive, he had been a somewhat famous card artisan.


    Ning was a big family name in Amay City. Their ancestors had been the first group of settlers there.


    The shopkeeper became a little flustered seeing Madam Ning cry. But Madam Ning quickly regained her composure and stopped crying, although her voice remained choked up as she quietly thanked the shopkeeper, "I am very grateful to you for this!"


    "Now now, your talking like that puts me to shame. This card has already been here for half a year, not being repaired until today, which makes me feel very apologetic!" The shopkeeper was rubbing his hands and speaking hurriedly.


    He wouldn''t dare to slight the gentle madam he was looking at, although she was dressed plainly, and didn''t look very well off. The shopkeeper was a local and understood more about Madam Ning than most people would.


    "No matter how, I have to thank you!" Madam Ning had burst into a happy look, which left the shopkeeper staring.


    "I wonder if you have contact information for that card master: I would like to thank him personally. "Madam Ning said earnestly.


    * * *


    "Yao Ke!" Chen Mu had been called-after just as class was letting out. When he turned around to look, he saw Phoenix and Ya Ya behind him, and the one calling out to him was Phoenix.


    Chen Mu looked at them without saying anything, waiting for them to say what they had in mind.


    "Do you have some time? That ''mud fish'' card that you made is already in place in the new car that was just completed. Would you like to go see it together?" Phoenix asked forthrightly, while Ya Ya was watching from the side.


    After considering it, Chen Mu also wanted to see what kind of shuttle car had been made from the "mud fish" jet stream card, so he nodded, "OK."


    Arriving again at the basement repair shop, it was quite a bit more boisterous than the desolation of the last time. There were a lot of people around in the shop, all talking excitedly. Many of them were gathered around Hua Hua, who looked very pleased with himself, with his bird''s nest hair unusually eye catching under the lights.


    The keen-sighted Hua Hua immediately saw Chen Mu, which quickly changed his expression. His look of self-satisfaction disappeared immediately, as he struggled to get away from the crowd, eager to get together with Chen Mu.


    "Hey, Big Brother Yao has arrived!" Hua Hua''s tone was full of flattery, diametrically opposite to the disdain the last time. The cool brother in front of him was the ace who had been able to make the "mud fish" jet stream card. The people here all played with technology, typically putting technology first. Chen Mu had earned their praise by the facts.


    Not to mention that for people like Hua Hua, a powerful card master could give them a lot of help.


    Zuo Tingyi would be mentioned if you were talking about card making geniuses. But for people like Zuo Tingyi who had come from such a powerful family, just a plucking a hair would feel like plucking something thicker than their legs, and they would look to see if you were sucking up sufficiently to recognize their worth. Not to mention that with Zuo Tingyi''s illustrious huge name, who would dare go looking for him?


    Chen Mu was paying attention to the shuttle car right in the middle of the shop, covered with a blue tarp, under tight wraps.


    "This is the new car?" Chen Mu tipped his head to ask Hua Hua.


    "Yes, yes!" Hua Hua was hurriedly nodding, his hair flopping like a chicken pecking for rice.


    The were all sizing up Chen Mu, wondering where he''d come from. No one there recognized him, and they weren''t clear about Hua Hua''s attitude toward him.


    They were all whispering about where he''d come from, but no one knew.


    "Hey, Hua Hua, why don''t you introduce this cool guy?" The one speaking was a muscular guy with a head of silver hair.


    The shop then quieted down, and everyone stopped their discussions, all of them concentrating their gaze on Chen Mu and Hua Hua.


    "This Brother Yao is a friend of Phoenix, Spanner, someone who is a card making ace!" Hua Hua proudly introduced him. This muscular silver haired guy was nicknamed ''spanner,'' since he was good at all kinds of troubleshooting, and pretty famous among that circle at Eastern Wei Academy.


    "A card making ace?" Spanner''s expression was cautious. "I wonder what year Yao Ke is, and what section?"


    While there were many card masters at Eastern Wei Academy, there weren''t many who would be called ''aces.'' It was very clear that he wasn''t among those that Spanner hand in mind as card making aces.


    "He''s in the same section with Phoenix!" Hua Hua rushed to answer.


    "Ha Ha!" The quiet shop burst out in laughter. They all knew Phoenix and were very clear about which section she was in. How could the sponsorship section have an ace?


    Phoenix''s expression chilled right off, "What? What is it you''re thinking?"


    Spanner was smiling, "They''re just surprised that your section could have produced an ace." His expression and tone still had a clear ring of disapproval.


    Chen Mu didn''t change his expression among all the laughter. As far as he was concerned, the attitudes of those people had nothing to do with him, and he didn''t have anything to prove to them. And in any case, he had never considered himself to be a card making ace. As far as making the "mud fish" jet stream card, he only thought of that as an ordinary business matter.


    Hua Hua suddenly showed a mocking expression, clucking his cheek, "A card master who can make the ''mud fish'' jet stream card isn''t considered a card making ace?"


    The laughter stopped as soon as he said that.


    "He made the ''mud fish''?" Spanner looked astonished, but even more as though he didn''t believe it.


    Hua Hua rolled his eyes, and said in a bad mood, "Where else do you think this ''mud fish'' card came from?"


    "What if it''s your own?" Spanner quickly asked.


    "I have no intention of selling my "mud fish," which is my lifeblood, and I won''t sell it no matter who wants it." Then Hua Hua puffed up and said, "Sister Phoenix spent a million to entice Brother Yao to help her make one."


    Everyone gasped, it being unclear if that was about the million or about Chen Mu being able to make the "mud fish."


    Spanner gave Chen Mu a look of astonishment. Although a million was a high figure, it wasn''t expensive for making a "mud fish" jet stream card. But he was more surprised that this guy called Yao Ke had the ability to make something so lofty.


    Nearly everyone in that circle knew the reputation of the "mud fish" jet stream card. And they knew why it was so famous, both because it had up to seven directionally controllable jet streams, and because it was so rare. The other important reason was that it was so difficult to make.


    Could this person actually make the "mud fish?"


    Of a sudden, the previously dumb and silent Chen Mu had become inscrutable in everyone''s eyes. And everyone''s gaze went from disdainful to stunned, incredulous, worshipful. . .


    Chen Mu stayed as calm as always, not having the least bit of mood swing from the change in everyone''s attitude.


    "Look at that guy, he has the bearing of an ace after all."


    "That''s right, could he have made "mud fish" without that manner? I was just thinking that he didn''t look like an ordinary person . . . "


    Everyone had opinions, and secretly glanced at Chen Mu from time to time.


    "Alright, everyone quiet down!" Hua Hua spread his hands for everyone to calm down. He had a serious look, completely different from his normal happy-go-lucky self.


    "I don''t know who leaked the news, but since everyone has come, I am very honored." Hua Hua said in a bright voice, "Originally I didn''t think that brother Yao could make the ''mud fish'' either. You guys all know how hard that would be. And I never would have thought that brother Yao really made it. To tell the truth, I''m still dumb."


    Everyone kept their mouths tactfully shut, earnestly listening to what Hua Hua was saying.


    "I only had one idea in my head then, that I didn''t want to disappoint the "mud fish!" To be able to try out "mud fish" is not a simple opportunity!" Hua Hua was getting excited, "So, I blasted through a lot of schemes for this shuttle car of Phoenix''s, until I finally decided on the design!"


    "This shuttle card is called . . ." Hua Hua pulled off the blue tarp.


    "The Fiery Mayfly!"


    A uniquely modeled shuttle car appeared before everyone, with a vertically flat body, and an even flatter tail which could swing very nimbly and looked bigger than the front of the car. The car was a deep red and bright yellow with the two shades melding together in waves, making it look more like roaring flames. Even though it was sitting there quietly, everyone was still immediately taken in by it.


    "Wow!" Phoenix shouted, as she gazed at the shuttle car in disbelief. She fell in love with the incredibly dazzling singular shuttle car as soon as she saw it.


    The repair shop was suddenly boiling with excitement, as the incomparable masterpiece immediately stirred the blood of those shuttle car aficionados.


    They all came forward, stroking it all over. Those like Spanner were pulling at Hua Hua, wanting to discuss some design issues.


    Phoenix''s eyes were shining, feeling as though countless stars were shooting, and she couldn''t resist immediately getting into the shuttle car. Ya Ya was also looking on enviously at her side, since that shuttle car was really too gorgeous!


    Chen Mu was giving it a careful examination, despite his having only a general knowledge of shuttle cars. Apart from its strange shape, he didn''t see anything out of the ordinary with it. He also didn''t understand why those people were so insanely excited. And he didn''t understand why anyone would want to spend over a million for such a thing.


    He quietly got out from the crowd and got ready to leave.


    But he stopped at Hua Hua''s neighboring shop after taking two steps. The head of this shop was probably in Hua Hua''s shop, and the shop was now empty. There were a lot of fantastically shaped objects scattered on the floor.


    One hardly noticeable thing got Chen Mu''s attention.

 Chapter 86: Dual Compostion

    Chapter 86: Dual Compostion


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    It was about thirty centimeters in diameter, likely a plate-shaped pedestal. It didn''t have a very complicated design, just three pieces of interlocking framework. Among all the parts scattered around, it didn''t stand out, though its existence had still caught Chen Mu''s attention.


    Chen Mu was drawn over to it because there were three cards placed on it.


    The three cards were separately placed on the three metal arms, each of which had a card slot. Among the three cards, one was a power card, one was a jet stream card, while another was a three-star fantasy card.


    Since he was involved with cards, Chen Mu had quickly sorted it out. The three-star fantasy card could emit a jujube-pit shaped energy cloak, probably to shield the activity of the pedestal. If it weren''t for his having just restored an energy cloak card, he wouldn''t have recognized what kind of card it was. Still the energy cloak card there in front of him was a lot different from the one he had restored.


    Chen Mu became very interested as he looked the card appliance over carefully. Although he didn''t understand the basic principles of the appliance, he could discern its designer''s idea about the usage of the cards. It was the first time he''d seen a card appliance that could utilize two cards at the same time.


    "Is Brother Yao interested in card appliances too?" A voice came suddenly from behind.


    Chen Mu looked up to see that person who had just been asking about him, the silver-haired muscular guy called Spanner.


    Having just seen all those guys about to give the car a test run, Chen Mu asked without answering, "Why aren''t you watching the trial?"


    Spanner grinned, and said with some disapproval, "Anything Hua Hua makes is certainly pretty good. But real troubleshooting isn''t something you would see in a test run. It would require going through specialized debugging. I''m guessing Phoenix isn''t patient enough for that."


    Thinking of Phoenix''s temperament, Chen Mu concurred, "You got that right."


    "I never would have thought that little brother Yao could copy the ''mud fish.''" Really awesome!" I doubt that even Zuo Tingyi could have succeeded. There really are some crouching tigers and hidden dragons in that sponsorship section!" Spanner was looking at Chen Mu with a great deal of interest, though there was something hidden in what he said.


    Chen Mu was chilled, never having considered that making "mud fish" could give Spanner such ideas.


    "It would be pretty simple for him to do." Chen Mu said casually. He wouldn''t admit how hard it was, since that be the same as calling himself awesome.


    Spanner was startled, since what Chen Mu had just said made it seem that he was very familiar with Zuo Tingyi.


    He was cut off in the middle of chewing over the hidden meaning of what Chen Mu had just said.


    "What is this?" Chen Mu was pointing at the plate shaped pedestal on the ground.


    "This is a flight apparatus that I made. I''m preparing it for a defensive competition, haha, it''s pretty rough, don''t hesitate to give advice, little brother Yao." Although Spanner was big and gruff, when he talked there would be back and forth unlike those types without a brain.


    "Defensive competition?"


    "An activity among the societies, where flight apparatuses fly through a net of firepower, with the last to hit the target winning. It was originally to test the maneuverability of flight apparatuses, and the skills of the contestants. Ho Ho, I''m pretty thick, and I can only come up with dumb ideas.


    "You''re using a fantasy card? An energy cloak?"


    Ha Ha, Little Brother Yao picked it right out. Indeed, I''m thinking why not just add a shield to it, harden its resistance, like going through a loophole." Spanner gave a forthright smile.


    "Good idea." Chen Mu nodded, the scheme could be called powering through ingenuity, but he quickly inquired about his doubts, "How did you solve the problem of using two cards at the same time?"


    "Well . . ." Spanner spread his hands with an embarrassed look, "I spent a lot of time researching this technique . . ."


    "What are your terms!" Chen Mu just cut him off.


    "Ha! Little Brother Yao is pretty quick!" Spanner was smiling, "Although I spent over a million on this fantasy card, its impact is pretty ordinary, I''m hoping maybe little brother Yao can help me make an energy cloak fantasy card, for which I''ll naturally provide the materials. And if you agree, your little brother will immediately present you with everything I''ve learned."


    "OK!" Chen Mu agreed without hesitation.


    "Agreed, then!" Spanner was very happy, "So now let your little brother show Big Brother Yao this dual composition in some detail!"


    Chen Mu was feeling pretty good when he got home. That dual composition of Spanner''s had given him a huge inspiration. He''d been struggling to find a simplified version of the simple water world that was on his mind, and he had finally gotten a glimmer of light.


    What Chen Mu wanted to make then was completely derived from the knowledge that he had digested that day from what he had gleaned from Spanner.


    Chen Mu went back to Amay City on the weekend.


    "An invitation?" Chen Mu asked, finding it strange.


    The shopkeeper hurriedly nodded, "Yep, Madam Ning would like to thank you in person." Seeing that Chen Mu wasn''t interested, he quickly added, "Madam Ning is a very good person, and genuinely from the Ning clan, although she''s been alone for these few years."


    The shopkeeper was reminding Chen Mu who Madam Ning was.


    "Please give Madam Ning my thanks for her kindness." Chen Mu had thought about it, and was still declining, "Restoring cards is my job, with nothing admirable about it. And I have a lot to do recently, and don''t have the time."


    He really did have a lot to do lately.


    Having solved the most difficult issues, he needed to go ahead and make the simplified version of the simple water world. Aside from that, he still owed Spanner an energy cloak fantasy card.


    But in the shopkeeper''s ears, what he was saying sounded inevitably arrogant. The shopkeeper sneered to himself, wondering how he should respond to Madam Ning. But he couldn''t afford to offend the youth in front of him, since there would still be quite a few places where he would have to rely on Chen Mu. Anyhow, given the family backgrounds of the students at Eastern Wei Academy, there was always a high probability of them acting like big shots.


    He brought back another ten three-star cards that time. Even though he had plenty of money on hand, he still didn''t want to treat it lightly. There were too many places where he needed money, and if he were careless he would get nervous about his funds.


    After spending a whole two weeks, Chen Mu finally completed his "Swordfish Training" version. He hadn''t entirely adopted Spanner''s dual composition, but instead put that into a card, which strictly speaking was using a card to replicate the dual composition.


    Chen Mu called this the "dual card." Apart from its ability to enable the simultaneous use of more cards, it had no other function. It was also Chen Mu''s first card which didn''t use any standard compositions, so in a sense it was as though he had invented a new kind of card.


    That didn''t make him self-satisfied at all, since Spanner had invented the dual composition, and he had only compressed it onto a card. In any case, compared with the simple water world that was constructed from that mysterious card, the results from this dual card would just be considered so-so.


    Adding the dual card and the power card, the "Swordfish Training" needed five cards altogether, which also meant that he needed to swap out for a five-slot apparatus.


    He bought an ordinary five-slot apparatus, which cost nearly half a million, which made him wonder if he needed to be researching the structure of these apparatuses.


    This most recent version of the "Swordfish Training" had cost him a whole million up until then. Burning through million after million, he had become numb to the numbers.


    Having inserted the five cards, he activated the apparatus.


    There was an entirely new simplified water world! One that Chen Mu had made by himself. Although this water world was basic and crude, once he''d entered it, Chen Mu was full of a sense of achievement.


    Countless ''bubblefish'' were swimming about in front of him, in great schools. But don''t underestimate the cute bubblefish, since there wasn''t any difference in their speed or agility from the triangular swordfish in the simple water world. The water pressure here was also identical to that of the simple water world.


    But by training here, he didn''t need to be worried about getting injured. Although you''d feel those round-headed bubblefish hitting your body, it wouldn''t be painful, and it wouldn''t leave any bruises.


    If he were to practice his dodging and evading there, Chen Mu felt that he could certainly complete the swordfish challenge in the simple water world. He was very curious about what the reward would be for completing the swordfish challenge.


    He''d added something else to his daily training.


    Still . . . when was the demonic woman going to return? Chen Mu felt a little unsettled, since it had already been quite a few months since the demonic woman had disappeared, and he hadn''t had the slightest bit of news.


    Without her returning, he would just have to go on with this disguised identity, since he had no right to choose.


    When he returned to campus, the news of his having made the "mud fish" had long since spread to his class. All his classmates were looking at him with worshipful admiration, like night and day from their simple fear of him before.


    It was really very interesting. The news that Chen Mu had made the "mud fish" jet stream card had spread most broadly among the sponsorship class section, since those fancy pants were mostly enamored of card appliances and modified cars. So, they understood the value of the "mud fish." Chen Mu was still unknown to the overall campus.


    "Mud fish?" What is that?


    The students who had aspirations looked down on those richies who played with card appliances and shuttle cars, and naturally wouldn''t pay any attention to that kind of news. As far as they were concerned if the sponsorship class were able to produce an ace card master, Eastern Wei Academy would already have become a great institution like the Star Academy.


    Still, the admiring gazes of the students in his class section alerted Chen Mu that there were still wanted posters pasted all over, and if he wasn''t careful he would be on the road to death. He secretly congratulated himself that the energy cloaking fantasy card that he''d made for Spanner hadn''t completely copied the fantasy card from Madam Ning. While the one he made for Spanner was a little more powerful than the ordinary energy cloaking fantasy card, there wasn''t anything too extraordinary about it.


    People kept looking for him during that time, hoping to buy a "mud fish" card. That Fiery Mayfly of Phoenix''s had already become the most celebrated shuttle car among the car mod circle at Eastern Wei Academy. Quite a few of them thought that it was the liveliest shuttle car at Eastern Wei Academy.


    Chen Mu rebuffed all those requests. Although money was important, his life was clearly more important.

 Chapter 87: Eight Million?

    Chapter 87: Eight Million?


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Seeing Zuo Tingyi come home through the door, Zuo Tang came running and skipping toward him and tugged at his wrist.


    "Did you miss me, big brother?" Zuo Tang looked up adorably.


    A little bit of tenderness flashed in Zuo Tingyi''s otherwise cold eyes. It seemed as though those past few days of being worn out had vanished. He smiled lightly, and rubbed Zuo Tang''s little head, saying, "What happened today to make you so happy?"


    I rode in Sister Phoenix''s ''fiery mayfly'' today. What fun! Such a nimble shuttle car, just like a fish, and it''s beautiful!" Zuo Tang was so excited that she was almost jumping.


    Zuo Tingyi didn''t know what the fiery mayfly was, though he could make a guess. Seeing Zuo Tang so happy, those few days of gloom opened into sunshine. "Ha Ha, you like it that much? Would you like your big brother to get you one?"


    "Yeah, yeah!" Zuo Tang looked so happy the she couldn''t wait to fly right up, but she quickly frowned, "But big brother, you can''t buy the fiery mayfly."


    Zuo Tingyi reached out and lightly smoothed Zuo Tang''s frown, laughing, "Where could there be a shuttle car that can''t be bought, how about your more expensive big brother helps you to buy one, OK?"


    "But . . .but . . ." Zuo Tang wanted to say something, but she was cut off by Zuo Tingyi, "Fine, fine, you don''t need to frown! You''ll get stuck that way. Just give this over to your big brother!"


    Just then a servant came forward, "Young Master, the Master has instructed that you are to please come to the library the minute you return."


    "Got it." Zuo Tingyi''s expression resumed its chill, while his right hand affectionately patted Zuo Tang on the head. Then he left to go to his father''s library.


    Seeing Zuo Tingyi thinned down, a hint of tenderness flashed past Zuo Tianlin''s eyes, while his expression remained unruffled as always.


    "You were looking for me?" Zuo Tingyi asked respectfully. As he grew gradually older, he had already begun to take on some of the family responsibilities, since he was to be the patriarch of the next generation.


    "Mmmm, sit down." Zuo Tianlin said mildly.


    Zuo Tingyi sat up very straight with his spine like a ramrod, awaiting his father''s instruction.


    "You''ve made a lot of progress recently." Zuo Tianlin gave rare praise for his most recent work, though seeing him still sitting up so straight, with a calm expression and no least bit of self-satisfaction, he couldn''t help feeling consoled.


    After that slight pause, he continued, "Your time at school will likely be decreasing. I''m getting old, and you will start learning to take on the household affairs. From what I''ve seen, you''re doing very well."


    "Yes." Zuo Tingyi slightly bowed in response.


    "Oh, yes, is there any news about Chen Mu?"


    "Still nothing."


    "Hmmm, then you''d better get busy."


    As he was leaving the library, Zuo Tingyi''s mood returned to being as gloomy as the day outside. It was as though he had a rock pressing on his heart. Although he''d known his fate for a very long time, with the day finally arriving, he still couldn''t feel at ease. It was clear to him that while his father hadn''t had any affairs to discuss when he looked for him, what was behind what he did say was unequivocal; the time had come to part with the school.


    The image of his father looking tired as he said that he had gotten old just now made Zuo Tingyi''s heart sour and filled his mouth with a bitter taste. For the Zuo household, being a card master wasn''t important for the person who would be the patriarch, no matter what. He hadn''t had a choice from the time he was born.


    He suddenly saw Zuo Tang jumping and skipping in the courtyard, playing, which calmed his mood quite a bit. He called through to Hong Tao''s communications card, who had become more useful since guiding Wang Ze from the Star Academy and was now training day and night.


    As soon as Hong Tao took the call, he blurted out, "How long has it been since you''ve been at school you knucklehead? This kind of laziness is over the edge! You''re conduct is unacceptable."


    Zuo Tingyi didn''t show any emotion, "You know what I''ve been doing."


    That stopped Hong Tao from talking, since he certainly knew Zuo Tingyi''s recent situation. But those were the issues which every big household''s offspring had to face, not even considering that Zuo Tingyi had already been designated as the future patriarch of the Zuo clan.


    "I say, you have really been too ruthless in framing that guy Chen Mu! For good or bad, he helped us once." Hong Tao had to change the subject, purposefully making a fuss about nothing. Hong Tao and Zuo Tingyi had recognized Chen Mu immediately when they saw his likeness on the wanted posters. His picking up a stool and lunging that time had left a deep impression.


    Hong Tao didn''t have the slightest thought of coming to Chen Mu''s defense, since it wasn''t worth offending the Zuo family for such a small thing. He was just trying to make a joke of it all talking that way.


    "I''m looking for you to help me with something." Zuo Tingyi hadn''t talked with Hong Tao about this scrape and went directly to his subject.


    "Hong Tao looked baffled, "You have something you want my help with? There sure are a lot of strange things happening today!"


    "Tang Tang likes a shuttle car called the ''fiery mayfly.'' It''s the one Phoenix Lin has, a modified car. Help me to find out who made it and buy one. It doesn''t matter if it''s a little expensive. I haven''t had time to come to school recently." While Zuo Tingyi was calmly talking he was watching Zuo Tang amid her energetic play, not far away.


    "So, it''s our little princess who wants it! No problem! Leave it to me!" Hong Tao was pounding his chest to the heavens, since Zuo Tang had always gotten everyone''s affection, and Hong Tao was the same, always spoiling her.


    Having resolved that issue, Zuo Tingyi pulled back his gaze, and walked steadily forward, still having some business he hadn''t completed.


    * * *


    Hu! Chen Mu was in a sweat, wet as though he''d just been fished out of the water. Though he actually was more or less fished out from the water ¨C the "Swordfish Training," or rather more precisely, it should be called the "Bubblefish Training"¨C was also in the water.


    The strong resistance in the water made Chen Mu struggle enough. As the training time got longer, the feeling was especially clear. Since one had to coordinate one''s whole body''s strength to move in the water, it led to his entire body feeling unusually sore.


    Without the guidance of the demonic woman, he could only fumble along by himself. He blended together the dodging and evading skills that she had taught him with his underwater exertion skills. But judging from what he now saw, he still needed a longer period of effort.


    It was a good thing that he had never thought from the outset that it would be an easy challenge to complete.


    With the demonic woman still not having returned, he lingered for a while gazing out the window in a trance, before going to sleep in the dark.


    The class was very boisterous, everyone seeming to be animatedly discussing some topic. Chen Mu discovered that very rare occurrence as he arrived at the classroom door. For such a gang of rich kids, the probability of diligence so early was really no different from that of the sun coming up in the West.


    When Chen Mu walked into the room, all the voices sank of a sudden, and everything became silent, while everyone''s gaze turned to Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu was a little frightened, checking himself out a little to be sure that he looked normal, with nothing strange about him.


    Chen Mu kept his usual expression under everyone''s gaze, while inwardly he was very much on guard.


    Little by little, Chen Mu''s nerves tensed up, and he would have reacted if there were the tiniest bit of wind moving a blade of grass.


    The air seemed to have congealed, as Chen Mu very cautiously walked, while putting on a calm expression as though nothing were out of the ordinary.


    From the door to his seat was only a few paces, though it seemed strangely endless for Chen Mu in that instant.


    The atmosphere was just too weird!


    A very fine bead of sweat was forming on his back, as he was afraid of being found out.


    The classroom was weirdly silent until he sat down.


    The ones who broke through the silence which was nearly suffocating Chen Mu were Phoenix and Ya Ya.


    The two of them ran over to Chen Mu, and Phoenix very excitedly said, "Yao Ke, you are so awesome!" Ya Ya kept flitting her eyes toward Chen Mu from beside her, as though she thought she saw something unusual on him.


    "What?" Chen Mu asked, deliberately calmly, still not having clarified what was going on.


    "Don''t you know?" Ya Ya was amazed.


    Chen Mu shook his head, "No."


    Looking carefully at Chen Mu''s expression, and feeling that he wasn''t faking, Ya Ya finally said half believing and half doubting, "Spanner won the defensive competition yesterday!"


    "Oh." Hearing that, Chen Mu thought maybe it wasn''t something bad, and he gradually started to relax.


    "You''re not even a little bit excited? How can you not be excited? Ya Ya was looking at Chen Mu as though she were looking at someone from outer space.


    Chen Mu stayed completely silent. It was probably only those poor bored guys who would put on the so-called defensive competition, and then be bored enough to get excited about it.


    "It''s true, it''s true! How can you not be excited?" Phoenix was just as excited, "We watched the defensive competition yesterday. It was terrific! You don''t know how stupid all those guys looked after Spanner won the first prize! Ha Ha, it was great! All the firepower came down on that energy cloak."


    "Oh." Chen Mu responded without emotion. He had completely relaxed, finding that the way they were was because of that matter. So, there wasn''t any danger, and he considered his responses just then to be an overreaction for sure.


    "We only found out afterward that you''re the one who made that energy cloak card that Spanner used. You are too awesome! Spanner was just here looking for you. The winnings for the defensive competition this time were ten million. Adding in the side-bets, Spanner made at least thirty million. According to the rules, he has to split it with you four to one. That''s nearly eight million. I''ve never made that much money." Ya Ya said this full of a little envy, not about the eight million, but because she thought it was pretty amazing that Chen Mu could make that much money.


    "Eight million?" Chen Mu was stunned. The number was probably the biggest amount of money he''d every heard. But he wasn''t greedy about the money; for him to use a three-star fantasy card in exchange for Spanner''s dual composition is what he thought he was earning.


    That gang of people burned money like mad! That was Chen Mu''s second thought.


    But apart from those two thoughts, Chen Mu was restored to normal. No wonder they had just been looking at him so strangely. They were probably blown away by the eight million. That''s what Chen Mu was thinking.

 Chapter 88: A Gloomy Hong Tao

    Chapter 88: A Gloomy Hong Tao


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    This is the one, Hong Tao thought. He''d been asking everywhere before he finally found out who made Phoenix''s shuttle car called the fiery mayfly. He''d come to find that guy called Hua Hua. As far as he was concerned, he really didn''t like that crowd. He always felt that they didn''t do honest work and were always messing around.


    But there was nothing he could do about it, since it was Zuo Tingyi''s request. The two of them were close friends, and Zuo Tingyi had seldom made any requests since that wasn''t his nature. When he did this time, Hong Tao naturally planned to get it done.


    All for a shuttle car! Although he didn''t have as much face to lose as Zuo Tingyi, he didn''t think many people would decline "selling" theirs, even for such a small matter. As far as the money, that was still less of an issue. He absolutely never spared any expense for the Zuo family.


    He was recognized as soon as he entered the instructional building. He was a well-known card genius just like Zuo Tingyi and was also well known in Eastern Wei Academy as a genius card artisan.


    Hua Hua had made a lot of noise recently, since the fiery mayfly had become the best-known shuttle car across the whole school. There was a steady stream of people coming to ask him to build a shuttle car, most of whom had raced over for the fiery mayfly, and among those, most were female students. But he had never imagined that Hong Tao would come looking for him.


    "What do you need from your little brother, big brother Hong?" Hua Hua didn''t dare to put anything on in front of Hong Tao, since he couldn''t compare to him in power, prestige, or class, and he could not afford to offend him.


    "I heard that you made the fiery mayfly." Hong Tao wasn''t beating around the bush, and just asked straight out. No one dared play any tricks in front of him. Ever since "Allah" Gong and his gang had been hauled into the disciplinary office, Zuo Tingyi''s fierce name had shot through the roof, and Hong Tao had been lifted with the tide.


    Hua Hua forced a smile, long knowing that his making the fiery mayfly would entail so many situations, and so he had stopped making it. He''d been in a sorry state for a while, suffering bitterly. People came almost every day looking for him to sell a fiery mayfly, and almost all of them were people he couldn''t afford to offend.


    "I''m afraid Big Brother Hong will be disappointed." Watching Hong Tao''s color darken, Hua Hua hastened to explain, "It''s'' not that your little brother doesn''t want to help, I just don''t have any way! You need a "mud fish" jet stream card to make the fiery mayfly, and although I have one in my collection, it''s already old and can''t be used to make a shuttle car. If I were thinking about making another fiery mayfly shuttle car, the best way would be to make a copy."


    Hong Tao''s color softened a little, "So make a copy."


    The smile on Hua Hua''s face dropped, "There''s something brother Hong may not know. Although this ''mud fish'' card is only a three-star jet-stream card, it is very very difficult to make. There has seldom been anyone able to copy it. "


    "So where did the ''mud fish'' card in Phoenix Lin''s fiery mayfly come from?" Hong Tao didn''t look happy as he asked.


    Hua Hua was on the verge of crying, though he still patiently explained, "Phoenix Lin spent a million to get her classmate to make this one." And after the briefest of pauses, he added, "There were a lot of people looking for him afterward to make a ''mud fish'' jet stream card, and he refused all of them. They were all offering high prices, but he still refused them all."


    "What is his name?" Hong Tao was becoming annoyed. There were plenty of capable card masters in the school who had annoying things about their temperaments, which was particularly evident in the person of Zuo Tingyi.


    "Let me borrow that ''mud fish'' card from your collection." Hong Tao said casually. There were a lot of card making aces in Eastern Wei Academy, and he knew quite a few of them. It would be better to try finding someone than to be hitting a soft nail and getting some polite refusal. But the best idea would be to get Zuo Tingyi to make it himself, since there was no card he couldn''t make. But he quickly put that notion aside after it flashed by, since he would have lost way too much face were he to ask Zuo Tingyi to help.


    Seeing Hua Hua holding out the "mud fish" card with both hands in front of him and looking worse off than if he were about to cry, Hong Tao couldn''t help comforting him, "It''s not like I won''t give it back to you, so why the look?"


    Watching Hong Tao snatch the "mud fish" card away, Hua Hua felt as though his heart had been ripped out. There was no color left in his face below that bird''s nest hair, while he couldn''t stop saying, "gently, gently."


    Hong Tao felt pretty good as turned to walk out of the instructional building, having gotten the "mud fish" card. All the students along the way scurried aside to let him pass.


    Leaving the instructional building, he realized that he still hadn''t thought much about who he might find to make the card. Going through all those he knew; the image of a mild soft person came to his mind.


    Man Siying was an extremely popular and beautiful card master at Eastern Wei Academy. Well, they know her thanks to that bastard ''Allah'' Gong, and she would not be likely to refuse him this request for help.


    Zuo Tingyi had always said that Man Siying had great ability, and Hong Tao had always trusted Zuo Tingyi''s discernment. There were vanishingly few classmates that Zuo Tingyi would call ''pretty good,'' and those that he evaluated as ''great'' could be counted on one''s fingers.


    Hong Tao really thought that it wouldn''t be a problem for Man Siying to make that kind of "mud fish" card.


    Then Chen Mu came to mind unexpectedly. That slacker who had picked up the chair with a ferocious look, and who had become an enemy of the Zuo household.


    He wasn''t from the same world as either himself or Tingyi.


    That made him somewhat uncertain about whether Man Siying would help him. That slacker had lunged out during that fracas to protect Man Siying. Although the Zuo household could fool ordinary people with their tricks, how would someone as sharp as Man Siying not have a clue. And although he had no way to help the little slacker, how could he not harbor some opinions about Zuo Tingyi and about the Zuo family?


    Enough! He''d just have to go and find out. After hemming and hawing, Hong Tao decided to thicken his skin and give it a try.


    * * *


    Spanner had come looking for Chen Mu after class let out.


    His muscular body appeared in the classroom doorway, immediately drawing the smoldering gazes of the female students.


    "Ha Ha! Brother Yao has let me find him!" Spanner''s voice was as gruff as he was, like thunder from the earth.


    He was in front of Chen Mu in two or three strides, nearly cutting off the light with his towering body.


    Several classmates who had watched the defensive competition the day before gathered around when they saw Spanner.


    "Hey, Spanner, you were really too handsome yesterday!"


    "Spanner, you''re so strong, do you have any free time tonight?"


    ". . ."


    Chen Mu gathered up his things, and without looking at Spanner, paddled away with his two hands like a fish, drilling right out through the pile of people.


    After Chen Mu had walked far away, Spanner struggled out of the crowd huffing and puffing to chase after him.


    "Brother Yao, thanks to your energy cloaking card, I won thirty million yesterday. According to the rules, your split is eight million." Spanner said with a very serious expression.


    Chen Mu shook his head, "We made an exchange, and I got your dual composition. I can''t take this eight million." He needed money, but he had never chased after money for its own sake.


    He had firmly implanted in his mind since he was small not to get greedy. Even after killing people, he had never disturbed a thing on their bodies.


    He thought that Spanner''s dual composition was more valuable than that three-star cloaking card in that exchange. He didn''t have the right to any split from whatever Spanner had made after the exchange.


    Being careful was another reason. The pie falling from the sky had put him on guard. While he didn''t know what the so-called rules were, he wondered where in the world such good things would ever happen.


    Just then he was peacefully waiting for the demonic woman to return. If she still hadn''t come back after a few months, Chen Mu intended to leave both Eastern Wei Academy, and Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    The more time that went by, the lower the probability of her return and the higher the probability of his being found out.


    As for the possibility of hidden issues with his body, it would still be better to be anyplace else even if she never did return.


    Spanner was stunned, having never thought that Chen Mu would directly refuse the eight million.


    While eight million wasn''t a fantastic amount for many among them, wasn''t this Yao Ke stingy and greedy? Could he have gotten bad information from Phoenix and Ya Ya?


    But he was clear in his heart that they couldn''t have lied to him, so that was impossible. But how could Yao Ke refuse?


    He didn''t get this Yao Ke. Chen Mu had become mysterious and inscrutable to Spanner.


    Spanner pondered for a moment, and then discreetly said, "Brother Yao doesn''t have to be so on guard. You have become so magnificent with such a high level of card making ability. I am only hoping to gain brother Yao''s friendship, with no other motive."


    Spanner had a big-hearted expression and didn''t seem to be faking. If it were a little earlier, Chen Mu might have agreed right away, but now he was on thin ice every day, trembling with fear and not able to relax in the slightest.


    "I have something to do and I have to leave." Which was the same as refusing.


    Spanner was open and honest, and after a look of disappointment flashed past his eyes, he still gave a forthright smile, "Ha ha, today might be a bit abrupt. Brother Yao should do as he pleases."


    Spanner sank into thought as he watched Chen Mu''s back departing.


    * * *


    Man Siying took the "mud fish" jet stream card from Hong Tao''s hand, which finally allowed him to relax his uptight heart.


    "I can only give it a try. Please forgive me if I can''t do it." Man Siying''s intoxicating voice was soft and fluid.


    "I won''t need to!" Hong Tao said quickly, "With young Siying''s strength, this can''t be any problem."


    Man Siying said indifferently, "If by some luck I''m able to succeed this time, it can be considered the return of a favor from last time."


    What she said made Hong Tao''s expression stiffen, while he forced a smile, "What Miss Siying says hurts my feelings!"


    "That day when you all came to my aid, although I shouldn''t take sides, you all have been too vicious!" Man Siying''s voice had turned cold as she remembered what was in front of her that day, and who had protected her back. She was sad to think that he was probably dead. She well knew the power of the Zuo household, which held up half the sky in Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    Who would care about the death of a little slacker? Zuo Tingyi didn''t care. Hong Tao didn''t care. No-one cared, and she shouldn''t care either. But she knew that she did care. She cared about the one who had protected her, and she cared about his back when he faded away.


    Hong Tao forced a smile, not knowing how to dispute this. Of course, he couldn''t say that it was some sort of personal grudge between the Zuo household and that little slacker, without any relation to him. He would be turned into a scapegoat as quickly as he could turn his head. Hong Tao stammered for a long time without being able to say anything.


    Once Man Siying had come out with that, Hong Tao became gloomy to the point of going crazy. But what slightly calmed him down was that Man Siying had still agreed to make that "mud fish" jet stream card.


    * * *


    Chen Mu had prestige in his class beyond anyone during that time.


    He had made two cards altogether, one which made the fiery mayfly, and the other which had helped Spanner to win thirty million. That kind of achievement was always better than talk. And what had surprised people the most was his refusal of that eight million from Spanner, which puzzled everyone. Nobody was more surprised than Phoenix and Ya Ya, who were baffled every time they looked at Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu wasn''t paying any attention to those disturbances, with his time packed full every day. There was too much training that he had to advance, and every moment was precious.


    And whether or not the likelihood of the demonic woman returning was getting smaller and smaller, Chen Mu was becoming more and more settled in his thinking. The results of his training were striking then, and his perception had finally been restored to its strongest level, being able to extend it four and nine-tenths meters from his body.


    Five meters was his first hurdle, and he had already been pacing back and forth in front of it for a very long time. But with his peace of mind, Chen Mu had felt the glimmer of a breakthrough.


    He had already decided that he would soon leave Eastern Shang-Wei City. If the demonic woman were to find out that he couldn''t wait, the fear in his heart had dissipated after such a long time, and he could already accept whatever might happen very calmly.


    There was nothing about Eastern Shang-Wei City which made him reluctant to leave.


    Once his perception had broken five meters, he would leave. He really didn''t like his life so full of fear every day, and if the demonic woman had really planted something in his body, then he would die having passed his remaining days well, without his heart in his throat the way it was all day at that time.


    Every day, he restored cards, stuck to his training, and even if it was something wrong with his psychology, he felt progress with the swordfish training and with the perceptual training.


    That was a wonderful feeling!


    * * *


    "What? You can''t make it?" Hong Tao had his mouth open, looking at Man Siying in disbelief.


    She nodded, "Jet stream cards aren''t my specialty, and the composition of this jet stream card is unique. I have no way to duplicate it." She had a natural expression, without any embarrassment.


    Looking at Hong Tao''s half-frozen state, Man Siying''s eyes brightened, and she then said with a great deal of interest, ''You said that someone had been able to make this card. I wonder if you can take me to see him? I am very curious to know who was actually able to make this card."

 Chapter 89: Rays of Light and a Warning

    Chapter 89: Rays of Light and a Warning


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    When Hong Tao and Man Siying arrived at Chen Mu''s class section, the whole section exploded. Even Feng Zi-ang was astonished.


    One of them was Eastern Wei Academy''s most famous genius card artisan, and the other was the pretty card master who was so popular. It was hard not to cause a sensation when the two of them together came to the so-called "garbage admissions" sponsorship section.


    But the most dazzling star that day wasn''t the two of them but was that taciturn Yao Ke. The funny picture of him wearing that gem-studded woman''s style apparatus had become increasingly mysterious and exotic to everyone that day.


    After Feng Zi-ang dismissed the class, he didn''t leave the classroom right away, being also curious what Hong Tao and Man Siying were doing by coming there.


    "May I ask if you are my classmate Yao Ke?" Man Siying''s voice was as gentle as a breeze.


    The classmates behind Chen Mu all looked like they were having a good time, and in that instant almost all the pervs in the class had resolved to become hardcore fans of Miss Siying.


    Even Phoenix and Ya Ya were amazed at Man Siying''s appearance and manners.


    "I am." Chen Mu calmly nodded.


    No one could imagine how cool he remained in front of such a gorgeous woman! He recognized Hong Tao, since the battle between him and ''Allah'' Gong''s bodyguard had left a deep impression in his mind. It was the first card artisan battle he had seen.


    He also remembered the relationship between Hong Tao and Zuo Tingyi very clearly. He was on guard and in a state of high anxiety, since if he was the least bit careless the situation could turn very ugly for him. The relationship that Hong Tao had with Zuo Tingyi left Chen Mu without any good feelings toward him.


    On the other hand, he didn''t have much of an impression of Man Siying. When he had stepped forward last time, he thought he had repayed her favor, and her place in his heart quickly dropped to that of any stranger on the street. And he hadn''t been paying any attention to Man Siying''s appearance with what happened that day, and so with the passage of time he didn''t recognize her.


    As soon as Chen Mu had identified himself as Yao Ke, Hong Tao was thrilled, "I hear you can make the ''mud fish'' card!"


    "Mud fish" . . . "Mud fish" . . . It''s always "Mud fish"


    None of the classmates had realized that Hong Tao was also coming for the "mud fish" jet stream card, although they had already gotten used to so many people seeking out Yao Ke to buy the "mud fish" those last few days.


    But . . .


    Their gazes were all on Man Siying, wasn''t that Miss Man Siying? Man Siying was known throughout the school as among the strong group of card masters, and it wasn''t just because of her looks that she was popular among so many of the male students.


    Unless, unless . . . Man Siying couldn''t make the card either!


    The students who had changed their minds so quickly were scared by their guess.


    How could that be? Man Siying was at the forefront of the school''s mid-grade card masters. A card that she couldn''t make would have to be really tough! If that was the case, then wouldn''t Yao Ke''s ability surpass hers?


    As more and more of them reacted, they looked at Chen Mu in disbelief. In that instant, Chen Mu became the focal point of everyone''s gaze, as he had then become the most dazzling person in the room!


    Feng Zi-ang looked at Chen Mu with astonishment. As all the teachers recognized, Yao Ke was the most diligent and the strongest student in the class section. At the same time, Feng Zi-ang also knew that every card master specialized in some category of cards, and it was completely normal for even a truly outstanding card master not to be able even to make certain kinds of low-grade cards.


    But that wasn''t enough to calm him down! He had heard all about Man Siying''s strength. For a card master with that kind of solid foundation, making an ordinary low-grade card should be a cinch. Unless . . . unless this wasn''t an ordinary low-grade card!


    But if that were the case, then how could Yao Ke succeed in making it? With the very basic knowledge that he had and the subjects he had been studying, he could never have gotten to that point. And there wasn''t anything exceptional about his homework. Still, he was seen by many of the teachers as naturally gifted, while still having a serious attitude toward study.


    What was the "mud fish" card after all?


    Feng Zi-ang had doubts in his guts, but that clearly wasn''t a good time to ask about it.


    Hong Tao''s perception was extremely sensitive, and he detected a very tightly repressed vibe of animosity in his adversary. Still, he wasn''t too concerned about it, since it wasn''t the first time he''d run into that kind of situation. As he was pretty well known in the school, ordinary card artisans would often have a little animosity toward him, tinged with jealousy.


    But he was a little surprised, since this adversary was a card master. But it was probably pretty normal for such a strong card master to feel a little dislike for a popular person such as himself, especially from the sponsorship section. Hong Tao felt relieved after he thought about it.


    A look of almost imperceptible surprise flashed in Man Siying''s eyes, as she felt that she had seen this Yao Ke someplace. But carefully scrutinizing his face, she was certain that she hadn''t ever seen him.


    It was also the first time she''d encountered a situation like that, though she didn''t show her surprise. She remained off to the side scrutinizing this classmate called Yao Ke.


    Hong Tao laughed, "I want to buy a fiery mayfly for someone, but Hua Hua doesn''t have a ''mud fish'' jet stream card over there, so I came to find brother Yao. I know that brother Yao isn''t making the ''mud fish card anymore, but I''m still asking brother Yao to sell a little face, and then wherever I am all you have to do is make a sound. Of course, the materials and the cost are no problem.


    As soon as he said that, the classroom filled with the sounds of whispering. Phoenix and Ya Ya were even more surprised, since they understood the gravity of how Hong Tao had expressed himself. If you had that kind of firepower behind you, nobody in the school would dare to offend you.


    No matter where you were, there would always be struggles among people, and nowhere more than at Eastern Wei Academy where basically everyone was the offspring of the wealthy.


    That was why ''Allah'' Gong was so ready to harass Man Siying, who was from an ordinary family. After Zuo Tingyi and Hong Tao had dragged ''Allah'' Gong to the disciplinary office, no-one would dare to flirt with her again.


    Man Siying''s eyes lit up, as she said lightly with a smile, "The ''mud fish'' jet stream card is too difficult for me to make, so I had to come looking for brother Yao."


    All the whispering stopped. What they had guessed was right! The utter shock of it shut their mouths.


    Chen Mu''s mind was racing, as he considered his position. He could tell that Hong Tao hadn''t seen through his disguise, which relieved him slightly.


    Should he or shouldn''t he? Chen Mu thought hard about it, and then quickly decided that he would do it for Hong Tao.


    Although he didn''t like Hong Tao, safety was more important just then, and he didn''t want any unnecessary trouble. If he refused the request, Hong Tao wouldn''t turn hostile on the spot, but he would certainly investigate him. Although the demonic woman had made a series of arrangements, once Hong Tao started looking, quite a few flaws in his story might show up.


    It looked as though he would have to leave from there right away, since Chen Mu already sensed some danger.


    Hong Tao was a little bit surprised to find his adversary as nervous as though he were faced with a powerful enemy, which raised some suspicion again.


    "OK." Chen Mu answered readily, washing away any of Hong Tao''s suspicion with this pleasant surprise. He had only having come for the agreement. He really hated running into those guys with bad tempers who wouldn''t be convinced by either sweet talk or coercion, and he really didn''t want to use force. The best result was to have it so smoothly decided.


    "I am very grateful to brother Yao!" The very happy Hong Tao had erased any suspicion.


    "I have a lot of questions about this ''mud fish'' jet stream card, and I''m wondering if brother Yao might have a little time to give some pointers to his little sister?" Man Siying seemed a little embarrassed to insert this, and she blushed.


    Good Lord, what does that mean? Was she hinting for a date? Miss Man Siying with the reputation of a princess? All of the guys in the class who had become hard core fans of Man Siying were dumbstruck, and the temperature in the classroom shot through the roof.


    Hong Tao looked at Man Siying in surprise, wondering if he had heard wrong.


    Chen Mu shook his head, "I am so sorry, I don''t have the time." In his vigilance Chen Mu''s mind was only able to think of how to get away from there, since he wouldn''t have to respond to Man Siying''s request if he escaped. Adding to that was how many basic ''token'' concepts were in the "mud fish." That made him even more careful, since he wouldn''t dare to share those with anyone else.


    Everyone can deceive themselves, and Hong Tao wasn''t any different. That guy really was stubborn! Hong Tao had been congratulating himself on his good luck, with Yao Ke having just agreed to help him by making the "mud fish." And now Phoenix and Ya Ya were looking at Chen Mu as though he were weird.


    Man Siying hadn''t been either embarrassed or irritated by the refusal, but followed it with, "Please don''t worry brother Yao. I am very quiet and won''t hold up your work."


    Just about everyone in the room froze in that instant.


    Chen Mu was a little curious about why he was getting tangled up with that woman. Then just as he was opening his mouth to decline again, some coughing broke the silence of the classroom.


    The one coughing was Feng Zi-ang, who drew everyone''s gaze by sticking out like that.


    "Now, Yao Ke." Feng Zi-ang spoke in slow careful tones, with a composed expression.


    "Teacher." Chen Mu gave a slight bow.


    "Helping one''s classmates is a character trait that all students should cultivate. Your classmate Man Siying has some questions about the ''mud fish'' jet stream card, and she is asking for your advice. So, the two of you should do some good communicating. Classmate Man has very solid accomplishment with card making which could benefit you greatly. If you mutually communicate, you can mutually progress."


    Feng Zi-ang was a little pleased with himself, having been able to say something today that meant something, which was an accomplishment. He didn''t mind the venom in the other student''s eyes, since in his mind, Yao Ke was the pride of all the teachers, and fundamentally different from all the rest of the fancy pants garbage.


    Since Feng Zi-ang had spoken in front of so many people, Chen Mu had no way to refuse.


    He reluctantly agreed, "Yes, sir."


    "Thank you, teacher." The bashfulness was still not gone from Man Siying''s face, which caused an upwelling of feelings in those watching from all around.


    Chen Mu gathered his things, said goodbye to the teacher, and after nodding to Hong Tao, walked out the door with Man Siying close behind him.


    As soon as they went through the door, the classroom exploded again. All of them were hotly and excitedly talking about that incredible scene that had just happened in front of their eyes.


    They all knew that the affair would have spread through the entire school before tomorrow.


    Chen Mu and Man Siying were walking side by side. He noticed people gazing at them along the way from time to time. That made him frown unconsciously, since the thing he least wanted just then was to draw anyone''s attention.


    He smirked to himself never having thought that everything would go the other way, making him the center of attention. This also hardened his determination to leave. What had happened that day had pushed him into the brightest spotlight, so that even his disguise wasn''t any cover.


    He didn''t belong on stage, being more suited to living out his life in some dark corner, just as the demonic woman had said he must.


    His situation had become precarious enough that he was determined to leave. It didn''t make any difference whether or not the demonic woman had returned, since by remaining there he could be grabbed by the Zuo family at any moment.


    Chen Mu was deep in thought and wasn''t saying anything as the two of them walked along side by side. He hadn''t noticed that Man Siying has deliberately slowed her steps and had fallen behind.


    That was the back! Man Siying kept staring at that back which was always floating up in her mind with such mixed feelings. She had certainly been protected that day behind that back, and she was also looking at it that way.


    "Chen Mu." She very lightly spat out the two words.


    Yao Ke went numb in front of her.


    Chen Mu''s heart immediately jumped into his throat as though he had encountered some deadly beast, and all his hair stood on end. But with so many people walking about, he forcefully repressed the impulses of his hands.


    "Don''t worry, I won''t harm you." Man Siying''s soft voice came from behind him, "You probably don''t remember me. You protected me last time. I don''t know how you became an enemy of the Zuo family, but . . . are you still determined to leave?"


    "Protected you?" Chen Mu''s voice was a little hoarse. To have been so suddenly found out like that, he felt as though he''d been hit over the head. He had no way to remain calm.


    "Ha ha, maybe you forgot. It was a long time ago in the school, when we were watching a card play, don''t you remember? You were brandishing a chair and had a friend with you." Man Siying''s voice was as misty as the clouds as it awakened Chen Mu''s memories.


    "Oh, that was you." Chen Mu hadn''t let down his guard, asking "How did you know who I am?"


    "I thought I had seen you somewhere when I first saw you, but I couldn''t be certain. Just now I became certain when I saw your back." Man Siying''s eyes grew gradually brighter.


    That response was beyond anything Chen Mu could have expected, as he marveled to himself, while still becoming a lot more worried wondering whether Hong Tao had recognized him.

 Chapter 90: The Slightest Difference

    Chapter 90: The Slightest Difference


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Hong Tao was feeling pretty good having discharged his responsibility. Walking along the street, he activated his communications card and called Zuo Tingyi.


    When he saw the serious look on Zuo Tingyi''s face, he had to laugh, "That''s an ugly expression, Tingyi."


    Zuo Tingyi made no response, but said very directly, "If you have something to say, say it."


    "Ha ha." Hong Tao smiled, pleased with himself, "There''s finally a little progress with Tang Tang''s fiery mayfly."


    Zuo Tingyi''s expression softened a little, apparently because of hearing something about Tang Tang, although he added something which really pissed off Hong Tao, "You''ve become a little bit less efficient than you used to be."


    Hong Tao was really angry as he stared at Zuo Tingyi, "If you say it''s so easy, why don''t you do it yourself. Hrumph, I should have known to let you make the ''mud fish'' jet stream card yourself, instead of going through so many people."


    "''Mud fish'' jet stream card?" Zuo Tingyi was dubious.


    "The fiery mayfly requires this jet stream card, but it''s rather difficult to make. I got Man Siying, but she couldn''t make it. Then I had no other way than to go to the young kid who had made the ''mud fish for Phoenix Lin. I hadn''t realized that the sponsorship section would have such an awesome card artisan." Hong Tao sounded as though he thought that inconceivable.


    "Man Siying wasn''t able to make it?" Zuo Tingyi''s expression became earnest right away.


    Hong Tao nodded, "That''s right. I specifically went to Man Siying, since I''d heard from the start that the kid wasn''t making the ''mud fish'' jet stream card anymore."


    "Very young . . . sponsorship class . . ." Zuo Tingyi seemed to be mulling something over.


    "No way!" Hong Tao gave a very sympathetic look, "By rights, isn''t the sponsorship class full of garbage? How could they have such an ace? His ability didn''t seem deficient compared to Man Siying. It seems that he just came this year, since I haven''t seen him before. The guy must have gamed the advancement exam." Then Hong Tao suddenly remembered that he still had Hua Hua''s "mud fish" card. "I can''t talk any more, I have to return the "mud fish" card."


    "You have the mudfish card?" Zuo Tingyi quickly looked up.


    "Yep." But it''s a collector''s item. What? Are you interested in it?" Hong Tao asked a little surprised.


    Zuo Tingyi said immediately, "Send that over to me now!"


    "Now?" Hong Tao looked a little stunned.


    "That''s right. Now!" Zuo Tingyi felt that he had gotten onto something, but he quickly changed his mind, "No, I''ll come to the school. You stay, and I''ll be there right away." He shut off the apparatus as soon as he said it.


    "So much fuss over a card." Hong Tao was grumbling to himself.


    * * *


    Chen Mu and Man Siying weren''t talking, just silently walking along the road. Chen Mu was considering his issues, while Man Siying didn''t know what to think.


    When they were just about to Chen Mu''s villa, Man Siying stopped. Chen Mu''s feet stopped as well, and he looked at her.


    "I''m am really very happy to see you this once. You''d better leave. It''s too dangerous for you to stay here, now that you''ve offended the Zuo family. Go. Leave Eastern Shang-Wei City, and don''t come back. Take good care!" Man Siying was speaking softly and with concern, then she gave a sweet smile, "I''m really grateful for last time!"


    Watching the beautiful girl in front of him, and hearing her good wishes and concern for him, Chen Mu was deeply moved, but didn''t say anything more than to look at her deeply, and nod slightly, "You take good care as well."


    He then quickened his pace and ran toward the villa.


    Watching Chen Mu''s back retreating, there was a little longing in Man Siying''s eyes.


    After about twenty minutes, Zuo Tingyi had found Hong Tao. The two of them were putting their heads together in one of the school''s coffee shops.


    "What''s up with all the rush?" Hong Tao was very much in the dark.


    "The card?" That was Zuo Tingyi''s response. How could he not be interested the card that Man Siying couldn''t make? And that wasn''t even the crucial issue. It had gotten Zuo Tingyi''s attention when Hong Tao was talking about that newly arrived sponsorship student.


    Because of Star Academy having come that year, a lot of people of questionable background and entered Eastern Wei Academy, and most of those chose the sponsorship section!


    They were destabilizing factors as far as Zuo Tingyi was concerned.


    Zuo Tingyi had talked over the affairs of the Star Academy with his father, and they both surmised that the Star Academy wouldn''t have come and made such a stir only to leave and never come back. It was a tactical retreat, and they would certainly be coming back to Eastern Wei Academy. But neither his father or he knew what their objective was.


    There were certainly still people planted at Eastern Wei Academy looking for their opportunity, and those were the ones who needed to be watched. Of course, Zuo Tingyi wasn''t wanting simply to find them, and he wouldn''t be taking any drastic measures. There was no need to stir up the powers behind them at that time, since he wasn''t brain dead like Wu Tuan.


    Staying sharp, safe, and circumspect was more the Zuo family way of dealing with such matters.


    Taking the large "mud fish" card from Hong Tao, Zuo Tingyi was clearly surprised at its heft. He''d received the most traditional orthodox card-making education and didn''t have any interest toward things like shuttle cars. He''d never touched one.


    That was his first time seeing the jet stream card used by the shuttle car, and it was starkly different from the ones that he would normally make. But that shouldn''t be too much of an obstacle for him.


    He began carefully to examine the composition of the "mud fish" jet stream card.


    Hong Tao meanwhile was sipping his drink in a leisurely fashion, since he knew Zuo Tingyi all too well. Once a card had gotten his attention, he could lose track of eating and sleeping while he was examining it. This guy hadn''t looked up at him once for half an hour.


    Munching and sipping, Hong Tao took a look at Zuo Tingyi who was so engrossed and sighed to himself. If Zuo Tingyi hadn''t been born into the Zuo family, he would certainly have made an excellent card master.


    It was a shame . . .


    His closest friend already had no choice but to start abandoning it, leaving his own ideals behind. When he thought of that he had to be grateful for his own good fortune; his parents had always endorsed his choice.


    After an hour, Zuo Tingyi suddenly raised his head, with his usual layer of frostiness.


    "It''s Chen Mu!" His tone was very cold.


    What Zuo Tingyi had said nearly made Hong Tao spit out the drink in his mouth.


    "No way! How could that be Chen Mu, I remember that guy''s face very clearly." Hong Tao couldn''t accept that, as there was no resemblance at all between Yao Ke and Chen Mu.


    "He is Chen Mu!" Zuo Tingyi wasn''t wavering at all, "The peculiar composition of this card is very similar to "Chance Encounter." To know this kind of composition, if it isn''t Chen Mu, then it''s someone very close to him. This is the same technique!" Zuo Tingyi was certain, though he had some hesitancy, since if Chen Mu had other people behind him, that would make it a thornier issue.


    As outstanding as he might be, if Chen Mu was acting alone, then he would be a very limited threat. But if he were subject to some greater power, or if he were to have partners, the threat would go straight up.


    For two powers to do battle would have too many implications and could be too fierce.


    Hong Tao had never doubted Zuo Tingyi''s judgement about cards, and he was a pretty smart fellow himself. He immediately thought of what was strange about Chen Mu, and blurted out his sudden realization, "Yes, it is possible! Why else would he have that animosity toward me? He certainly recognized me. Oh dear, if I didn''t have such sharp perception I would never have sensed it. This guy really has restraint. Ruthless! Oh, and Man Siying was so hot toward him, could she have found him out too?


    Zuo Tingyi made no expression but activated his apparatus ordering those under him to find out everything they could about this Yao Ke character.


    He had never realized that while he was stumbling about searching for Chen Mu, he had lost his best chance to grab him with his careful and prudent behaviors.


    At that time, Chen Mu was already on the shuttle train to Amay City.


    After he parted with Man Siying, Chen Mu hadn''t wasted a second, since he knew he had very little time left, and the sooner he could get out of Eastern Shang-Wei City the higher his probability of staying safe.


    He had quickly sorted out his things when he got back to the villa, since he would never be coming back there. He took all of the money cards and put all of the useful cards on his person. Apart from those, he also brought some of the demonic woman''s medicine.


    When he was practicing his dodging and evading, he would frequently be wounded, and he depended on that medicine, whose effectiveness was outstanding.


    Having so many things, he took the shuttle train to Amay City. While it wasn''t safe, he still didn''t have the ability to travel through the outer reaches.


    Zuo Tingyi had very quickly gotten the information about Yao Ke, including about the villa where he then lived. And they found a lot that was fishy in the information.


    Zuo Tingyi moved quickly, surrounding Chen Mu''s villa with Zuo family card artisans with the greatest dispatch.


    They came up empty.


    This really messed with Zuo Tingyi''s mood. The Zuo family had used up a massive amount of manpower and materials to grab Chen Mu, and had mobilized a vast chain of connections without ever catching him. It was very difficult for him to watch him slip away again right out from under his eyes.


    "Young Master, we''ve found that he boarded the coach to Amay City two hours ago. It shouldn''t have arrived yet, and if we connect with some people in Amay City, we should be in good position." The Zuo household had a lot of intelligence channels in Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    But the normally decisive Zuo Tingyi was hesitant.


    Amay City was the sphere of the Ning household power, and they were more established than the Zuo household, and had more powerful control over Amay City. There were still a few powers in Eastern Shang-Wei City which the Zuo family dreaded. While no-one in Amay City posed any threat to the Ning household.


    With the kind of complete control that the Ning family had, they absolutely wouldn''t tolerate such blatant provocation on their own turf.


    What should he do?

 Chapter 91: To Meet

    Chapter 91: To Meet


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu was thinking deeply as he rode on the shuttle train. The trip was undoubtedly his ultimate danger, especially at the point of getting off. If he could get through it, he wouldn''t be so far from true safety.


    The trip was all underground for six hours from Eastern Shang-Wei City, and the shuttle train couldn''t stop in the middle.


    Chen Mu carefully looked around where he was sitting. He''d already ridden the train quite a few times and was no stranger to it.


    There was a woman of about thirty sitting next to him, wearing pain clothes without any accessories, who looked very kind.


    "The Legend of Master Shi" was still playing in the coach. The workers on the train had made it their standard fare for the train when they found out how well it was received.


    The woman beside him was watching "The Legend of Master Shi" card play with rapt attention. It was clearly her first time seeing it, as she was really taken in. She would sometimes cover her mouth in a gasp, or frown with concern about the fate of the protagonist.


    Looking discreetly all around, he didn''t find anyone suspicious. Since everything was normal Chen Mu could relax a little.


    He closed his eyes. With all the things that had happened in a row that day all giving him a feeling of urgency, it had made him feel worn out. He needed to rest, not knowing if he would run into some situation after a while, when his exhaustion would make his responses slower.


    Suddenly without any warning it seemed as though something were squirming under his skin! Chen Mu was terrified when the feeling spread all over his body, and he opened his eyes.


    Strongly restraining his pounding heart, Chen Mu glanced at the woman next to him who seemed very absorbed and wasn''t paying attention to him.


    He carefully pulled up his sleeve and his face immediately changed.


    A very fine light green thread could be vaguely seen creeping slowly along under his skin. The strange feeling that Chen Mu had just experienced was coming from that squirming. It would have been very difficult to find if he hadn''t been looking so closely, as it was a very fine light green filament as fine as a hair.


    It was that green thread! Chen Mu was hit by a thunderbolt, as he was filled with terror. He would never be able to forget that scene when the demonic woman had drawn that green thread out from the corpse.


    The spirit went out of Chen Mu''s eyes. He didn''t know if the feeling of the green thread creeping had sharpened because of his terror, but it saturated his back with sweat.


    Although Chen Mu had guessed that the demonic woman had certainly done something to his body, he had never thought of the horrifying thread! Compared with that, the slowly-acting poisons that he had been imagining were like harmless snacks. He didn''t understand what the green thread really was. But he knew how deadly it was from his own witness.


    It was squirming! What would it do next? Bore into his veins? Or pierce his heart?


    Despite his mental endurance being stronger than before, he still felt a deep terror and despair.


    Chen Mu would cut himself and impulsively draw that green thread right out. But he quickly discarded the idea. He would have to wait until he was calmer and could do some research.


    The slowly squirming thread seemed to be carelessly hitting Chen Mu''s nerve fibers, and he felt a pain from his skin through to his bones. He couldn''t help a suppressed groan.


    The sound of it startled the woman sitting next to him who was watching the card play. She then quickly pulled herself together and asked with concern, "Is something the matter with this student?" Chen Mu''s age had made it easy for her to assume that he was a student.


    Pain! Chen Mu''s brain was buzzing, and everything around him seemed very far away. He didn''t hear what the woman beside him had said with his whole body in such pain that he would quickly lose any responsiveness at all.


    The pain went through his whole body! It wasn''t only his arm. That light green very fine thread must have been several dozen meters long, enough to cover his whole body.


    The fierce pain had made Chen Mu''s body curl up.


    "Classmate, what wrong with you?" The woman next to Chen Mu had clearly been alarmed by Chen Mu''s appearance of suffering.


    The youth next to her wasn''t making any sound, but his body so curled into a ball was trembling violently. She knew that would only happen under the most extreme suffering.


    She became very worried. There weren''t any doctors on the shuttle train, which would have to wait until they arrived at Amay City. But there were still two hours before getting there. Seeing how the youth looked, he could be in danger at any time.


    This kindly woman bent over, and lightly patted Chen Mu''s back, who had already curled into a ball, hoping to make him feel a little better.


    Very quickly, she felt as though what she was doing was having some results, as his trembling was somewhat relieved. That made her very happy, as she kept patting Chen Mu on his back with her left hand.


    Finally, after half a minute, the youth had started to calm down.


    Chen Mu''s slack eyes started to regain their focus little by little, while the feeling in his body, the sound of the rushing shuttle train, and the talking of the people all around him gradually returned. His sweat soaked clothes were all stuck to his body very uncomfortably.


    If there hadn''t been all that sweat to remind him, Chen Mu wouldn''t have been able to tell if what had just happened was a dream he''d just had while sleeping. The pain had been as overwhelming as a tide, and its departure had been like the wind, leaving without any trace.


    Chen Mu was very warmed by the light patting and the concern and good feelings. He slowly straightened up, and thanked the woman beside him very sincerely, "Thank you madam!"


    "Do you feel a little better? What happened just then? It scared me." The woman asked with concern, since she really had been alarmed by Chen Mu''s look of suffering.


    Chen Mu only said vaguely, "It was nothing, just an old ailment." He had no idea himself, nor any idea about where he could find out about it.


    "Ah!" The woman was surprised, and she looked at Chen Mu sympathetically, "Does it happen often? That must be awful!" She paused, and then said, "I know a few very famous doctors . . . "


    Chen Mu looked at the woman gratefully, but he still cut her off, "It doesn''t matter, it''s really a small problem." Given his special circumstances, he didn''t know what sort of trouble would come from going to a doctor. The weird and unpredictable green thread might make those doctors curious, and for him just then, too much attention would be fatal.


    Chen Mu also believed that ordinary doctors would have a difficult time succeeding to treat him for what the demonic woman had done.


    Seeing Chen Mu so adamant, the woman changed the subject.


    Chen Mu felt very grateful to the kind-hearted woman, and he could feel her concern for him. It was a feeling that he hadn''t had for a very long time.


    Ever since the deadly pursuit from the Zuo household had started, Chen Mu had been increasingly gloomy, and was still more clearly so after running into the demonic woman. Running into danger at every turn had frayed his nerves. Having to be careful always to keep his distance from everyone around him gave him a much colder disposition that he''d ever had.


    If you were to say that he had been living in the depths of a dark abyss, then the woman''s concern was like a ray of sunlight which made Chen Mu feel perfectly warm. In his eyes, she was the most beautiful woman in the world, without any doubt.


    Chen Mu suddenly saw something very familiar hanging from the woman''s neck, and couldn''t help asking, "Madam, could you let me look at that thing you are wearing?"


    "Are you talking about this?" She picked up the card hanging on her chest with her fingers, and seeing Chen Mu nod, she took it off to give it to Chen Mu while smiling lightly, "This is something left to me by my father that I recently had repaired, and now keep with me."


    No wonder he had recognized it, Chen Mu realized as he took it! It was the three-star energy cloaking card that he had recently restored, which contained that composition from which Chen Mu had gotten so much benefit.


    He remembered the shopkeeper saying that the owner of the card was named Madam Ning. Could the one in front of him be Madam Ning?


    Chen Mu asked cautiously, "You are Madam Ning?"


    The woman was stunned, and looked at Chen Mu with wonder, "Do you know me?"


    Chen Mu smiled lightly, while the muscles in his face were a little stiff, making his smile harder to look at than being about to cry, "I restored this card, and the shopkeeper sent along your invitation. I was very rude. I never thought you were Madam Ning."


    Madam Ning covered her red lips in astonishment, "Oh! You are that mid-grade card master? Good Lord, so young and already a mid-grade card master! That is too astonishing!"


    He didn''t know why, but it was very easy to talk with that Madam Ning, having none of that feeling that his heart was in his throat that he always had at school where he always had to be so careful. He shook his head, "I''m no mid-grade card master, just a student at Eastern Wei Academy."


    "But, doesn''t one have to be a mid-grade card master to restore a three-star fantasy card?" Madam Ning had a dubious expression, though she quickly burst into a smile, "No matter what, thank you for repairing what my father left behind. I am truly grateful."


    "You are really too polite. It was my obligation." Chen Mu quickly responded. He didn''t know if it was because he was far away from Eastern Shang-Wei City, but Chen Mu felt very relaxed. Even that kind of polite talk came more easily than it ever had.


    Madam Ning was very happy to have found out that Chen Mu had restored her father''s card, and she very warmly said, "I have always wanted to ask you to eat by way of thanks, but the shopkeeper said you were always rather busy. Running into you today, you should certainly stop for a while at my humble house. You can''t refuse today."


    She was looking expectantly at Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu was thinking that he didn''t want that rare good-hearted woman to get wrapped up in his troubles. He could only smile bitterly, "I''m afraid that today won''t be convenient either, as I have very important obligations. If you have some time next time, I will certainly pay a visit."


    Chen Mu knew that his paying a visit next time was nothing but a lie, since once he was off the train and through his final crisis, he would be leaving Amay City with the greatest possible speed. It was just too close to Eastern Shang-Wei City, and he wouldn''t be safe there.


    Madam Ning could tell that he was evading her, which sharpened the concern in her eyes, knowing that he certainly did have something to do. She said with disappointment, "That really is a pity. But you must certainly come next time."


    The two of them kept chatting for a while, and without their knowing it, the shuttle train had already arrived at the Amay City station.

 Chapter 92: Fishing in Turbid Water

    Chapter 92: Fishing in Turbid Water


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The shuttle train slowly came to rest in the station.


    The sharp-eyed Chen Mu was looking through the window with his eyes tightly focused. He saw a number of suspicious looking people. Although they were mixed in with the crowd, they all seemed to be looking for something.


    Madam Ning had been getting ready to give Chen Mu her home address just as she saw a frightening scene. In the blink of an eye the calm youth in front of her had abruptly swerved into something fierce, with his whole body suffused in peril. His eyes had become as sharp as needles, with his whole being like a sharp dagger hidden in the dark. That reminded her of those forever wooden-faced guys in the clan, who never smiled or uttered a stray word.


    She looked at Chen Mu with uncertainty and disbelief, wondering why she hadn''t realized that she might see such disposition in him. She followed Chen Mu''s gaze out the window, but apart from the surging crowds, she didn''t see anything.


    Was he really a card master? Madam Ning wavered, as she felt her mind in some turmoil.


    Chen Mu''s mind was racing to consider what he should do, when he caught a glimpse of Madam Ning''s frightened look. He blanked before he realized that Madam Ning had sensed his own strangeness. He loosened his expression, and said softly, "Please don''t worry, I won''t hurt you." He had been very moved by that good-hearted woman helping him just then, and he added, "Get off the train fast."


    If there was going to be a conflict, he didn''t want that well-respected woman to be harmed. Madam Ning had never expected Chen Mu to say anything like that, so she was somewhat surprised and hesitated a moment before she quickly parted with Chen Mu and immediately got off the train.


    Chen Mu had spotted seven suspicious looking guys, which was a far lower number than he would have guessed. If he had seen dozens or even a hundred men, he wouldn''t have been surprised, but only seven for such a large platform was rather few.


    Chen Mu was positioned near the number one underground platform, with there being five exits altogether for the convenience of passengers, including tunnels that they would have to pass through.


    Among those seven suspicious looking men, five were defending the area around the exits.


    The danger he was facing didn''t make Chen Mu lose his senses. On the contrary, when he was under the most pressure he would display extraordinary tenacity and calm. Looking at the crowds, a bold plan was taking shape in Chen Mu''s mind.


    He watched as Madam Ning disappeared through the exit, which was when the last bit of Chen Mu''s worry disappeared. After going through so many misadventures, it was getting increasingly rare to find such a tender heart.


    His gaze was turning cold and was as sharp as the edge of a knife.


    He turned up his collar and lowered his head, and quietly blended into the crowd.


    No one had noticed that on the index finger of his right hand hanging down was a crystalline tailless shuttle emitting a lively thrumming sound. He had focused his perception very carefully on the area of his index finger, which was an achievement from that period when his fine control of his perception had so greatly improved.


    Those tendrils of perception were extremely advantageous for such fine control, which would be very hard to detect by any adversary. Its only shortcoming was that the whole process of taking control was five times longer than his fastest shot, but if it were used for a sneak attack, the shortcoming wouldn''t have much impact.


    His gaze was concentrated on the suspicious looking man in position at the second exit, and in silence they had locked onto one another. He knew that the reflexes of that kind of professional card artisan were extremely quick, and that he had a very short time. He didn''t dare to be diverted any slightest bit from his hand, as he pointed his finger to the imaginary spot.


    The man seemed to have felt something as his face changed.


    "Careful!"


    His call was sharply cut off by a strange sharp whistling sound. A finger sized bloody hole appeared on his forehead, while his lips squirmed as though he were trying to say something, and his vision went slowly slack.


    "Ah!"


    "Someone''s been killed!"


    The calls were lost among the shrill cries of terrified women, as the entire platform became chaotic. The terrified people ran madly through the exit tunnels.


    The instant Chen Mu let loose the tailless shuttle, he shrank into the crowd like lightening. He was half squatting in a very strange position and like a fish or like a snake as he drilled obliquely into the crowd. In that sort of situation, ordinary people who were not careful might fall over, which could only have the result of being trampled to death. Chen Mu was like a snake passing through undergrowth, advancing and retreating at will.


    Spending so much time with the swordfish training lately had given him unbelievably quick reflexes, and he could always find some hairsbreadth of time to get through some narrow space, dodging among the trampling feet.


    "Damn!" The guy who was in the lead position couldn''t help cursing. Because of the disturbance in perception, he had immediately spotted Chen Mu the instant he released the tailless shuttle. But Chen Mu had drilled into the crowed without waiting for any reaction.


    People were rushing everywhere, and they hadn''t yet found Chen Mu. They simply hadn''t thought that Chen Mu could be crouching along. Although card artisans might be somewhat stronger than ordinary people, they could be just as easily be trampled to death in that kind of chaotic scene.


    The people ran crazily toward the exit tunnels like a tide of water flooding them, with terror written all over their faces. The five remaining men didn''t dare to block them. Although they were card artisans, and although they deployed powers beyond what ordinary people had, if they didn''t stop themselves from trying to block the tide of people crazed with terror, they would be torn to pieces by those people who were already out of their senses.


    They could only watch as the crowd rolled up everything around it like a surge of water rushing by. They had never thought that Chen Mu would make his moves so brazenly, in the light of day. They had utterly descended into a passive state, and could only watch, trying to find Chen Mu among the crowd without any success.


    The lead card artisan was nailed still in the middle of the crowd, when his expression transformed. Seven of them were after one person, who was supposed to be a novice. To go back with nothing after losing a man would be enough to thoroughly humiliate them in the clan.


    Damn! What kind of an idiot would call him a novice? He was clearly an ace, taking advantage of his surroundings, grasping the timing, without leaving a crack to get through!


    He suddenly felt something wiggling under his feet. He looked down and froze.


    While he had shrunken his body to shuttle through the crowd, Chen Mu really hadn''t seen what was going on around him, though he was staying as alert as he could. But he had never imagined that he might run into the feet of his adversary.


    He saw that the apparatus on the man''s wrist had been activated like a spark from a flint, and that he could fire at will. Without really thinking, Chen Mu shot up from the ground smashing hard into his adversary''s chest.


    This man had been enlightened in an instant and wondered to his endless regret how he could have frozen at such a desperate moment.


    He had just been going to fire when everything went dark.


    Pow! Chen Mu slammed into his chest, using his whole body''s strength! His explosive bursting power which had been enough to free him from the entanglement of the water grass had all crashed into the man''s chest.


    He seemed like he had been hit head-on by a shuttle car coming at him full speed, as he flew up like a sandbag horizontally. All the people in his way fell like dominoes, as he crashed over a wall of people, leaving a clear passage for Chen Mu.


    He lay sprawled on the floor, not making a move, with the apparatus on his right hand cracked open and shooting sparks. All the uncontrolled energy in the apparatus was shooting out rays of light.


    Chen Mu didn''t have time to check, as he rolled his whole body back, and then plunged right back into the crowd like a fish and disappeared.


    Hsiu, hsiu, hsiu! Duo, Duo, Duo!


    Three dark red rays and three wavy blades almost simultaneously hit the spot where Chen Mu had just been.


    "Boss! Boss!" the rest of the card artisans were calling out.


    Bam! A huge explosion was their response. A ball of red churning flame was leaping up from where that card artisan had fallen, ruthlessly swallowing up some of the travelers who couldn''t run.


    The use of power cards was very safe, and they wouldn''t generally explode. But under certain conditions, such as when the energy that was being channeled out had lost its control, an explosion could occur. The power cards used by card artisans were all high capacity power cards, which would have terrifying power if they were to explode.


    The crowd had become even more chaotic, with shrill screams everywhere, as everyone was squeezing toward the exits. If one were to say that Chen Mu just then had triggered the crowds ferment, then the explosion had driven the disturbance to a climax without any doubt.


    Chen Mu didn''t dare to stoop his body that time. There was so much power pressing around him that even standing still was hard to do. If he were to fall over from a lack of caution, Chen Mu was certain that before he could stand up, countless peoples'' feet would have trampled over his body.


    It was all he could do to keep his balance.


    But in that chaotic scene, those five remaining card artisans could also only look out for themselves. They were basically mixed up into the crowd, and with the crowd in such a riot, they couldn''t control their own bodies and could only move with the tide of people. No one could go against it upstream by that time, which wouldn''t have been any different from looking to die.


    Seeing the crowd of terrified travelers near them, they knew that it was less and less likely that they could grab Chen Mu. They were being forced by the crowd through the exit. They wisely chose to protect themselves, as by that time they couldn''t even fly if they wanted to. They were still afraid that their feet would leave the ground, with them squeezed until they lost their balance, and then the inevitable result.


    After getting through the five exits, the crowd had gathered together again, with everyone running desperately forward. The screams in the passageways and the tromping of feet were thunderous. After running a hundred meters, they ran into the travelers exiting from the other platform.


    Everyone was running in a massive panic with astonishing noise and momentum. In their foolishness, some of them knew perfectly well what had happened, while the people running out from the other platform kept running ahead.


    Looking at the pandemonium in the passageways, the five remaining card artisans knew very well that they had lost the action.


    Their adversary was just too cunning, using people as a shield and deliberately creating the pandemonium.


    Of course, one important factor was that they were in Amay City and didn''t dare deploy too many people.


    The Zuo family had always very carefully maintained good relations with their neighboring Ning household. There basically weren''t very many Zuo family people stationed in Amay City, and they had pulled together only a small team that time, so as not to draw the attention of the Ning household.


    They had assumed that their adversary was a novice, and they certainly never thought that Chen Mu''s reaction and response would be so fast and effective. But that wasn''t the only thing which caught them by surprise. Their adversary''s blows had come without any warning. They were all seasoned veterans, and they hadn''t detected any fluctuations within the scope of their perception, and not one of them could tell when their adversary was getting ready to attack. When they discovered that their partners had been locked in, they had only just found out after it was already too late.


    Chen Mu easily walked out of the station. Apart from his clothes being a little wrinkled, he had remained completely clean. He had a natural expression, while his eyes occasionally betrayed his vigilance. The station exit had already become chaotic, with countless people still running out, many with looks of terror, though still more of them were just confused. But none of them slowed their pace.


    Chen Mu was very satisfied with that action of his. The results of the battle were enough to make him proud, having successfully escaped from seven professional card artisans while killing two among them. He still didn''t know that the card artisan that he had smashed down toward the end was the leader of these seven, as well as being the emissary of the Zuo family in Amay City.


    For such a high-ranking card artisan to be killed at the hand of the unknown Chen Mu acting on his own, who knew what those under him must have felt.


    There had already been quite a few highly ranked card artisans killed at Chen Mu''s hands; Yu Xin, Daniel, plus the one just then; already over three. If it had been a battle of one against such impressive adversaries, any among the three could have killed him many times over.


    By then Chen Mu was starting to understand what the demonic woman had said, that while there are many ways to kill a person, some of the simplest ways are the most effective. If he hadn''t used his explosive power just then when he ran into that card artisan but had chosen to use the tailless shuttle card instead, the one dead would certainly be him.


    The reason that the apparatus on that card artisan''s wrist could explode was that the energy from the power card in the apparatus had already gone through the fantasy card to be formed into some particularly composed energy body. But when control was lost afterward, it exploded. Which is to say that the card artisan had used the only measure he had left, which was to shoot.


    And as far as he himself was concerned, if he hadn''t had the impulse to smash as soon as he moved, but had deployed the tailless shuttle card, he would have been many times slower than that card artisan.


    Fortunately, he had enough brute force and chose the most appropriate means, which was crucial.

 Chapter 93: The Ning Household

    Chapter 93: The Ning Household


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu very safely left the station, mixed up in the crowd. The station exit was a ball of confusion, with panicked crowds everywhere, making the scene of thousands upon thousands running out through the exits quite a spectacle. Chen Mu was insignificant among them, with no one paying any attention to him.


    He sighed to himself since he didn''t know how many innocent people might have lost their lives getting mixed up in the chaos. He felt gloomy, not having realized that the situation would become so chaotic. While there would still have been pandemonium, no-one would have been killed If the apparatus hadn''t exploded on that card artisan that he had killed. If the ones killed had been those card artisans, he wouldn''t have felt bad at all, but when it spread to these innocent travelers, he felt very sorry.


    He quickly got rid of all those extraneous thoughts, and strode away, quickly departing from the station exit.


    As soon as he walked into a street, there were warning signs without leaving him any time to react, and he quickly found himself among a bunch of people who quickly surrounded him.


    Catching sight of the activated apparatuses on several of their wrists, which enshrouded him in bars of light from their right hands, Chen Mu immediately chose to cooperate.


    "Brother Dong, this is the guy! I saw it all very clearly, and this is the one. He struck first and then stirred up that huge chaos! Two of the Zuo family men were killed by him. Everyone stay alert, this guy is fierce."


    A short youth had jumped out in the stealthy manner of a thief, pointing at Chen Mu. The others took his reminder and were all poised to face a formidable enemy.


    There were probably seven or eight in the group, all men, with a great range of ages among them. The oldest was about forty or so, having no need to whiten his face. What awed Chen Mu was the wavy blade hovering in midair above his hand.


    The moon-white wavy blade was about half the size of an open hand and was floating calmly above his opened palm. From the start, the wavy blade had been very calmly floating there.


    He was effectively showing off how fully tempered his control of the wavy blade was.


    Still, that middle-aged fellow wasn''t the leader of the group, who was a youth looking to be about seventeen or eighteen, with most of the group being youngsters like that.


    This youth was big and burly, and looked upright; despite his young age, he already had a dignified bearing.


    When he found Chen Mu looking at him, he lifted his eyebrows and said coldly, "Whatever your eminence''s beef is with the Zuo family, it has nothing to do with us. But do you think it would do for you to just leave after instigating such a massive disturbance in Amay City?" He then shouted to the short youth, "Ah Xing, take off his apparatus."


    "Alright!" That short youth looked defiantly at Chen Mu, and swaggered over to him.


    After some brief evaluation, Chen Mu understood the situation, and saw no room for resistance. He would be torn to pieces if he made the slightest move, as he was already firmly locked in by the uninhibited perception of the group.


    He could also see from the expression and movements of the youth that they shouldn''t be underestimated.


    Chen Mu was sneering to himself, having freed himself from one cage without realizing he would be entering the tiger''s jaw.


    Ah Xing had a nimble hand and had removed Chen Mu''s apparatus in the blink of an eye.


    With a slimy look, Ah Xing was about to remove the cards from Chen Mu''s apparatus, when the leader yelled at him to stop, "Ah Xing, there''s been no decision, and you can''t just take other peoples'' things! Hand it over."


    Ah Xing spat and then very honestly handed over Chen Mu''s apparatus to the young leader.


    "Let''s go. We''ll take him back home, where the results will be for the patriarch to decide."


    They all flew up in a line. With the wind rushing in Chen Mu''s ears, this was his first time flying, although he was being carried between two of them.


    The feeling of flight was wonderful, and Chen Mu was thinking that if he stayed alive he would certainly learn to manipulate the jet stream card.


    After flying for about twenty minutes, he was taken to a large manor. It had an old-style garden, in which there were stone carvings that had aged through the years, with many of them moss covered. A long pavilion was winding around a lake, entirely constructed of wood, with pillars that were already grey and obviously just as old.


    The mysterious ancient breeze on Chen Mu''s face filled him with curiosity about all the vegetation that was there.


    "Who is this guy, Ah Dong?"


    This was the most that anyone had asked in the whole trip.


    They were walking along in a long wooden pavilion that was perhaps three hundred meters in length. The pavilion was built against a wall, and had exquisite patterns carved above each of the pillars, with some of them still having their gold leaf, and with the three-hundred-meter wall like a giant painted scroll, having the lively likenesses of many personages painted on it.


    Even someone who didn''t know anything about the market like Chen Mu, understood how expensive such a long pavilion had to have been.


    He kept silent all along the way, still not knowing what they were doing. From what he was seeing along the way, this was obviously a very powerful and wealthy clan, which had a long history.


    "Brother Dong, it''s a good thing you''ve returned early, otherwise you wouldn''t have been able to see your cousin." A man looking like a middle-aged servant had hastened forward when he saw Ning Dong.


    "My cousin has returned?" Ning Dong was quite happy, as he turned around to the rest of them and said, "You may leave, everyone." Then he took Chen Mu by the hand, and chased on ahead, with the rest of them dispersing noisily.


    Ning Dong was excitedly leading Chen Mu into the long pavilion, since his cousin seldom came back to the manor, living a simple life, and preferring to live alone outside.


    "Cousin!" When he saw his cousin sitting on a chair talking to his father, he immediately cast Chen Mu aside, and strode right ahead.


    His father immediately frowned, and said unhappily, "Neither big nor small, does such a big person have no etiquette?"


    "Oh!" Chen Mu heard a familiar voice, and raised his head with difficulty, immediately seeing that the one sitting on the chair was awesomely Madam Ning, who was covering her mouth in astonishment to see Chen Mu there on the ground.


    Seeing Madam Ning''s expression, Ning Dong asked as though something were strange, "You know him, cousin?"


    Madam Ning had quickly resumed her calm, nodding, "Mmmm, he was the one who restored father''s ''hundred changes'' cloak card." Her father was Dong Ning''s grandfather''s younger cousin, the two of them having grown up together since they were little and having very deep feelings toward one another. Madam Ning''s father had died in his prime, while Madam Ning was still small, and she''d passed her childhood in the manor.


    Ning Dong''s father let out a sigh, "Ah Yin, what were you doing looking for some outsider for that, with so many card master aces in the clan. Do you still bear grudges from what happened that year?


    Madam Ning looked indifferent, "I''ve long forgotten what happened that year." Then she quickly turned to Ning Dong, "Ah Dong, what''s going on here?"


    Seeing what his cousin was asking, he hastily told about the scene that had developed in the underground tunnels. Because Madam Ning had something to do which required her to return to the manor, she had come directly there as soon as she left the station and wasn''t aware of what had happened afterward.


    Hearing the horrors portrayed by Ning Dong, the gaze that the kind-hearted Madam Ning had turned to Chen Mu became suddenly disappointed.


    Meeting her gaze, Chen Mu had an impulse to clarify what hadn''t been said just then, but just as the words were coming out of his mouth, he forcibly swallowed them back. He had realized that although he hadn''t killed all those people, it was directly connected with him.


    Still, without knowing why, Chen Me really didn''t want that woman who had shown such concern and goodwill toward him to feel disappointed in him.


    "I''ll leave now." Madam Ning said with a very indifferent tone, even more so than before, "He really did help me to restore what father left behind, and so I, Ah Yin, make this request of you here, not to embarrass him too much."


    Then she rubbed Ning Dong''s head and left.


    On the ground, Chen Mu''s face was ashen, and his brain was buzzing.


    It was night before he was slowly restored to a clear head. All of the tortuous twists and turns in his heart had gradually smoothed to the coolness of silk, while he still felt some bitterness.


    What could he do now? With his hands tied? He sneered at himself to ask.


    His gaze was gradually restored to its previous coolness. Looking all around, he seemed to be in a prison. All his things had been taken from him, and it looked impossible to escape from that prison.


    Unlike the ancient style of the manor, the jail was thoroughly modern. He was already there, and he was safe, and Chen Mu didn''t want to think about it anymore. Perhaps that little bit of concern shown by Madam Ning didn''t really belong to him, he wondered in his daze.


    In his boredom, Chen My restarted his exercise gymnastics, since the jail was too small to do any other training. Three meals a day, sent in by someone at a certain time. The food was quite good, and Chen Mu ate it with great relish.


    He was in the jail for an entire week, when he suddenly saw Ning Dong.


    "Because of my cousin''s request on your behalf, my father isn''t thinking of killing you. And we don''t care about your grudge with the Zuo household. But we have jurisdiction over Amay City. As for the Zuo family, we''ve already sent someone to call them to account. But you''re the instigator, and you must naturally be punished. I am asking you if you would like to do hard labor."


    Ning Dong was looking very gravely at Chen Mu.


    "What do you mean by hard labor?" Chen Mu asked with a calm expression. But it was a different expression than his usual one, since he was inwardly shocked. He could tell from Ning Dong''s tone that it was clearly not the first time that they had taken care of that sort of thing. Could it be that their power extended even to the police garrison in Amay City? The Zuo family in Eastern Shang-Wei City was far from extending that far.


    "Since you could restore the ''hundred changes'' cloak card, you must have pretty good card making ability. So, after you restore two hundred cards, we''ll let you leave. What do you think?" Ning Dong expression was conveying something.


    "OK." Chen Mu agreed without any hesitation, since no matter what, he would get out first before saying anything.


    "Here are your things, it''s all there." Ning Dong gave the sack in his hands to Chen Mu. Seeing the astonishment in Chen Mu''s eyes, he felt self-satisfied, and then said with some pride, "The Ning family would never casually take other people''s things."

 Chapter 94: The Will to Fight

    Chapter 94: The Will to Fight


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Briefly looking through it, everything was there. That let Chen Mu drop the rock from his heart. Nothing was more valuable than that mysterious card he had with him, the true value of which he had slowly begun to understand.


    But then he felt a strong retrospective fear since he hadn''t provided any protection for the mysterious card''s power. Not everyone around was a thief, but if you have something that people want . . . it wasn''t something he had only heard said, but he''d seen it himself quite a few times.


    If . . . if someone were to look closely at the card . . .


    Chen Mu shuddered.


    "What happened?" Ning Dong had sharply paid attention to something strange with Chen Mu.


    "It''s nothing." Chen Mu answered with deliberate calm, while he was secretly awed. He didn''t want to reveal any clues.


    In order to distract his own attention, Chen Mu was sizing up the jail. Its walls were made of incredibly thick stone, alternating between linen and blueish ash-colored, which looked ice cold. Chen Mu had seen that kind of stone, which was extremely hard. The walls were at least over three meters thick, and without some powerful tools, it would be impossible to escape.


    Chen Mu had noticed some barely perceptible cutting marks on the glassy surface of the stones. The traces from the stone cutting weren''t obvious, and were mostly palm-sized, and seemed to be made by a small palm-sized tool.


    Seeing Chen Mu paying attention to these cut marks, Ning Dong explained, "These linen and blue rocks are all made by Ning family children using wavy blades to cut them. Any of them who are learning to use the wavy blades must spend a year at the quarry cutting the stones. Ha ha, these linen-blue stones are very hard by nature, and using a wavy blade to cut them is not an easy thing to do."


    Chen Mu was surprised. Although he had guessed that those stones had been cut with a small tool, he had never imagined that they had been cut using wavy blades. Using palm-sized wavy blades to cut three-meter square huge rocks would have to use up some time. No wonder those children needed to spend a year specifically to be able to cut such even surfaces.


    He sighed with regret for how the clans pass along their old and truly unfathomable traditions. Without any doubt, that kind of training would increase a card artisan''s ability to control the wavy blade. But doing it that way would use up a huge number of power cards, which made it evident that each of these cuts was built on a foundation of money.


    Ning Dong took him through the manor. Once they left it, it was as though they had entered a different world, where Chen Mu finally saw the tall buildings and mansions that he was so familiar with. Shuttle cars were weaving among the buildings and would come across some card artisans flying in midair from time to time. But when they saw the shuttle cars, the card artisans would all salute and give way. At that instant Chen Mu deeply realized how much control the Ning household had over Amay City.


    Their shuttle car finally docked on the roof of a silver-grey tall building in the southwest corner of Amay City. There had been someone waiting for them on the roof.


    Ning Dong and Chen Mu stepped off the shuttle car.


    "Ah Dong, you woke your esteemed elder up bright and early today, and now you make me wait so long, I''ll have to swindle you out of a few this evening so that you can make it up to me!" The man waiting so impatiently for so long charged forward. He had shaved his head bald, with a lean vital face, and long eyes which flashed when he opened them.


    Ning Dong patted the man on the shoulder with his broad hand, and said full of smiles, "Hey, then your abacus has come up empty, since the old man still has something he wants me to take care of, and I have to leave in a little while.


    He then introduced Chen Mu, "This is Ning Peng, who will tell you what you should be doing. As soon as you complete two hundred cards, you''ll be free. But before you finish them you can''t leave this place."


    "I hand him over to you, Ning Peng, I still have something to do, and I have to leave!" Ning Dong then rushed away in the shuttle car.


    "Come with me, little one." Sizing him up with a quick look, Ning Peng led him forward. As Chen Mu scanned around him he immediately concluded that the probability of his escaping successfully from this environment was very small. He immediately discarded that plan and walked along dutifully behind Ning Peng.


    Ning Peng seemed very satisfied by Chen Mu''s cooperation, and reminded him, "You have to carefully control your perception here, or don''t blame me for not alerting you that you would otherwise be killed or maimed by others.


    "Why?" Chen Mu asked, finding it strange.


    "Why?" Ning Peng acted as though he had heard a very amusing question, and he started laughing, but Chen Mu didn''t see any laughter in his eyes.


    "If you deploy your perception to closely examine someone else in here, it is an expression of aggression. Ha ha, you''ll know when the time comes."


    Ning Peng''s expression returned to its chill.


    Chen Mu''s apartment was on the thirty seventh floor. It was a very large apartment, and extremely well-equipped. Chen Mu could see all sorts of card making tools that he had used, as well as quite a few that he had never used. Yet another time, he sighed for how rich and imposing the Ning family was. The amount of money needed for all the equipment in there far exceeded the total amount of money he had ever earned up until then.


    "This will be your house from now on. You will stay here all along before you leave. You can use any of the equipment that is here. If you need to use some higher-grade equipment, you would have to pay contribution points." He then gave Chen Mu a light yellow one-star fantasy card, "There is a detailed description in it, which you should take some time to read and understand."


    As he took the fantasy card, Chen Mu asked, "What are contribution points?"


    "You''ll get it when you see it yourself." Ning Peng said with some impatience, though he quickly added, "The two hundred cards are not included in them. Naturally, we will give you the cards to restore. Of course, you may also apply for a commission, though as soon as you file, you have to complete it, or else you can''t apply for the next card. Do you understand?"


    Without waiting for Chen Mu''s response, Ning Peng waved his hand, "read the details yourself." He then turned to leave, mumbling to himself, "I have to be a damned handmaiden too?"


    The first thing that Chen Mu thought was that the situation couldn''t be called too bad. Looking all around the apartment, Chen Mu smirked to himself that this was the best house he had lived in, up until then.


    The metallic styling of the furnishings was simple and clean, although it didn''t have a warm feeling in the bright white light. Chen Mu knew very little about the qualities of metal, since there wasn''t a high probability of its being used in cards. He only knew that it had excellent physical properties, was easy to process, and was inexpensive.


    It was a model card master house, with all its facilities having been prepared for card masters. Apart from a bedroom and guest room, each of the other rooms were all work spaces.


    Chen Mu very quickly grew to like it. His gaze fell onto the card-making pen rack, where there were all sizes and types of all the pens that you might need, many more than he had known about, and all of a uniformly high quality. There were very pure crystalline containers of all different shapes, which were high grade instruments for the compounding of card ink.


    Chen Mu had long dreamed of being able to use a set of such instruments, but their high price had left it as only a dream.


    He never would have thought that after he had become a prisoner, the dream would become true, which left him not knowing whether to laugh or cry.


    He put that light-yellow card into his own apparatus, and read its "details" very closely.


    He used up more than an hour, before finishing all the "details." He had read them very closely, since every detail could determine his fate. His plight at that time could turn dangerous at any moment.


    Having read the details, he finally understood the meaning of what Ning Pen had been saying.


    The floors in the thirties and forties in the tall building were living spaces for card masters, while those below the thirtieth floor were living spaces for card artisans. Apart from those, there was some residential space for those studying card appliances, as well as for some other people. Each of the residential areas had a perfect commercial area. For example, in the business areas of the card making section, you could purchase any of the materials needed by card masters, though of course that required that you spend contribution points.


    It was actually very similar to the low grade fantasy card club in Eastern Shang-Wei City. Except that this had a much more perfected set of rules, as well as having a larger scope. It wasn''t necessary to spend any contribution points on food or housing here, though spending them was required for everything else.


    Although they had an extremely rigorous registration system, it wasn''t prohibited to go out.


    Of course, that didn''t apply to him. He couldn''t go out, since this was more like house arrest for him.


    The Ning clan had a huge system for the contribution points. It was like a production center with the large volume of products that they required, and so many card masters serving them. And as long as they were led by the Ning household, the card artisans could get corresponding contribution points for all the kinds of materials that they would seek out for the Ning family.


    Theirs was the most dangerous work.


    Chen Mu didn''t know where they got so many card artisans from.


    It was really the survival of the fittest there; only the strongest and most seasoned card artisans would survive and live long. Still, they could make huge returns. From many aspects, they were the same as dependents of the Ning household.


    The grandeur of the Ning household was built on the bodies and bones of so many of those dependent card artisans and card masters.


    If Chen Mu wanted to earn any contribution points, he would have to complete some commissions, which were mostly card repair and card making, or he could get them in trade from others in the building.


    The two hundred cards that he was obligated to make were not included in that, which is to say that he was indentured, and wouldn''t get any returns. But only after he finished those would he be free.


    If the circumstances were more powerful than he was, then he was too weak! Chen Mu suddenly gave rise to a powerful desire such as he had never had.


    Become strong! Only by becoming strong could he live a free and independent life.


    Taking a deep breath, he was filled from head to toe with the will to fight.


    Although he had lost his freedom for a short while, this was doubtless an opportunity for him. Compared with the low grade fantasy card club, this was a higher level, larger, and more perfect platform. By being here, he could become strong much more quickly!

 Chapter 95: Cruel Reality

    Chapter 95: Cruel Reality


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Carefully sticking the two thin camouflaging membranes on the surfaces of the mysterious card, it become nothing more than an ordinary three-star power card. To confuse people, Chen Mu also specifically put a number of three-star power cards into his card wallet. It would be hard to tell which was the real and which was the fake. Using himself as the precedent example, Chen Mu had been rather successful with faking. If you didn''t look very closely, it would be very difficult to pick out the mysterious card from among all the three-star power cards.


    Having finished, Chen Mu breathed a little more easily. He didn''t go right away to get his commissions, but instead immediately conducted a close self-examination. For the last week, there hadn''t been another situation like the one on the shuttle train. That green filament as fine as a hair had disappeared without any trace, and his body looked completely normal.


    Still, Chen Mu really wanted to cut open his arm and draw out that green thread. That was the only solution he could come up with, except that the green thread had suddenly hidden itself, and he was helpless without any sign of it.


    He filled with anxiety. That sudden pain out of nowhere had nearly cut him down. He shuddered to think that it could return at any time.


    Enough. Don''t think about it.


    Chen Mu quickly straightened up his attitude, as he''d been wondering about that for a long time. And when he finally did have to face it, he had found that he wasn''t so frightened as he imagined he would be.


    From many aspects, he had long grown used to a life full of things he couldn''t do anything about and facing things he didn''t know how to navigate.


    He put those issues to the back of his mind, since if he couldn''t do anything about them, then what good would it do to think about them?


    He put all his thought into how to get his freedom. He thought back on that time when Ning Dong had brought up the two hundred cards ¨C with some kind of hidden implication to what he was saying ¨C and he immediately understood that those two hundred cards weren''t going to be a simple matter.


    He was very sober about his own strength; he could only restore three-star cards, and not many kinds of those. He was afraid that three-star would be considered low level with the kind of purchasing power the Ning family had.


    It was lucky that he didn''t need contribution points to eat or live. Chen Mu felt fortunate that whatever happened he wouldn''t starve to death.


    He only saw a few people around when he walked into the commissioning hall. Those were all over forty, and he even saw white haired grey old men. Still, those elders were ruddy with strong voices and imposing spirits, all looking very healthy. They all seemed familiar with one another, as they chatted in low voices in two or three groups.


    For something called a great hall, it wasn''t very big, far smaller than the huge great hall in the low grade fantasy card club. It looked more like a small-scale coffee shop enclosed by glass walls, and with orange chairs neatly arranged, having self-serve beverages to the side.


    Now that he thought about it, Chen Mu had never been to such a high-class place and he was really interested to look around. The old guys sitting around chatting gave Chen Mu a look and went back to talking among themselves.


    According to those details that he''d read, Chen Mu had found the place where he would get his commissions. A pretty girl with short hair and big eyes received him with an enchanting smile. "Hello, may I ask what you require?"


    "I''d like to get some commissions." Chen Mu said.


    "Could I please see your room card?" the pretty girl said very politely.


    Chen Mu pulled out his room card, which was to be his voucher there. On the light-yellow card was the serial number 2008825. The pretty girl skillfully slid his room card into the apparatus in front of her.


    A translucent screen popped up in front of her with a snap.


    As she looked it over, an odd look came over the pretty girl''s face. She said to Chen Mu, "You have a special classification, and you won''t be participating in the professional rating evaluations. You can accept any level of commission, but . . ." She lifted he head to look at Chen Mu, and said sympathetically, "every time you accept a commission, if you don''t complete it, not only don''t you get any compensation, but half of the commission''s compensation will be deducted from your contribution points."


    It seemed as though it was the first time that the pretty girl had run into that kind of situation, as she looked surprised when Chen Mu caught her gaze.


    Chen Mu was stunned, not having thought that he would enjoy such treatment. After his surprise subsided, he was as calm as always. In that kind of situation, most people would be angry or indignant, complaining about how unfair it was. But not Chen Mu. He was very clear from the beginning that there wasn''t any room for choice. Under those circumstances, so-called fairness was just laughable.


    He nodded to show that he understood, and warmly said to the pretty miss, "What do you have in the way of repair commissions?"


    She was taken aback by Chen Mu''s calm, and couldn''t respond in her daze, until she put her head down flustered, and fumbled with her apparatus.


    Chen Mu''s gaze fell onto this apparatus, which must have been a kind of card appliance. It had rows of buttons on it, and the young woman was operating it by pressing on them. There was a row of slots next to the keys, with his room card in the middle one.


    She quickly finished her manipulations, and gestured for him to take a look, motioning for him to follow along on the translucent screen that was floating in midair. She suddenly turned to face Chen Mu, who could clearly see all the commissions written there.


    Chen Mu''s mind went blank looking over the commissions.


    What kind of commissions are these! He''d already gone through a few dozen which all involved four star and above cards. That was quite a blow to Chen Mu, who had only repaired three-star fantasy cards. After looking for a while, he finally found some lower level commissions, among which were three-star card repairs.


    Restoring ten three-star fantasy cards, he would only earn five contribution points, or half a point each. Chen Mu had an urge to vomit blood when he thought about the points needed for materials as specified on that detailed list.


    What could he do with five contribution points?


    It cost one contribution point for each day using the training arena. If you rent it in a package, five points would get you a week at a discount.


    That was only for the use of the site. If you wanted to ask a high-level card artisan to give you some pointers, the fee would be out of sight, with one hour costing twenty points. Which is to say that Chen Mu would have to repair forty three-star cards to get an hour of instruction from a high grade card artisan. How long would it take to restore forty three-star cards? For a greenhorn like Chen Mu, it would probably take a month.


    By comparison, the compensation for the repair of a four-star fantasy card shot straight up, averaging ten points per card. And for those cards whose composition was complicated or obscure, the compensation could get as high as a hundred contribution points.


    For Chen Mu just then, that would be a completely astronomical figure.


    Seeing how it was, it had become urgent to raise his ability level as quickly as possible.


    He suddenly noticed one commission for the repair of a ''hundred changes'' cloak card. He instantly remembered Madam Ning saying that the card he had repaired was a hundred changes cloak card. That gave a shot to his energy, as did the compensation which was seven contribution points.


    With the compensation for an ordinary four-star fantasy card being only ten contribution points, this hundred changes cloak card rising as high as seven made its level of difficulty very clear.


    Since Chen Mu had already restored one, this was an extremely suitable commission for him. He pointed to it and said, "I''ll take this commission."


    "OK." The young woman immediately started to manipulate the apparatus, while that commission on the screen in front of Chen Mu went from a deselected to a selected state. Then the girl turned around to pick up a metallic case with a serial number on it, which was evidently not light-weight based on the girl''s expression as she lifted it.


    There was a card slot on the top of it, and she slid Chen Mu''s room card into it.


    Once the card was inserted, the case popped open, showing a single card placed in it. The girl removed the card and gave it to Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu took a look at it, finding it the same as the one he''d restored for Madam Ning.


    "May I ask if this is your first time here?" This young woman was asking very cautiously, since the classification of the room card of the person in front of her was very odd, not to be able to participate in the professional ranking evaluations and having to pay back for failed commissions. This was the first time she had run into such unreasonable demands.


    Could he have been some kind of apprentice sent by the clan?


    It was probably only the children of the clan who would have such stringent demands. The more she thought about it, the more likely that seemed.


    Chen Mu responded, "It''s my first time."


    The young girl felt that she had guessed correctly, and her smile became still more enchanting, "If it''s your first time, there are a few places which will make your life a little easier. To the right out the door about twenty meters, there is a self-serve materials supermarket, where you can find quite a few ordinary materials for free. This could be rather important for you in the near future. In addition, between the fiftieth and fifty-fourth floors is a library. If you run into any issues, you can go there to look for a solution." After a small pause, the girl continued, "Every Friday afternoon, many card masters freely gather here, and you might exchange some experiences with card making."


    "Thank you!" Chen Mu was truly grateful. What the girl had told him was a big help to him, enabling him to get lost less often.


    "Don''t mention it!" She smiled very sweetly, showing two adorable dimples, "I am called Li Li. Take good care."


    When Chen Mu got to the self-service materials shop that Li Li had mentioned, he found all sorts of materials, among which were more than a few treasures, though enticing as they were, their high contribution points were out of reach for him.


    Finally, Chen Mu could only gather up a large bundle of free materials and slink out the door in front of the derisive looks of the pretty shop attendants.

 Chapter 96: Perception

    Chapter 96: Perception


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    When he got back to his apartment, Chen Mu was thinking about how things were going. From what he''d learned that day, there was a huge difference between low-grade and high-grade. If he were to muddle along with his knowledge as low as it was, then his days would be awful, without any doubt.


    Although Chen Mu had already gotten used to an awful life, he had an unusual fanaticism for cards, and especially for materials. When he saw those precious and rare materials, it nearly took his breath away.


    Without contribution points, those materials were just a fantasy, and he could only look, with no way to use them.


    It would be very difficult to move ahead around there without contribution points. Whether he was asking for instruction or for materials and equipment, it all required points.


    He could tell from the commissions that he''d scanned that day that the cards involved averaged four stars. And he still had to complete those additional two hundred cards. He believed that they would mostly be four-star cards, or even higher.


    It looked as though he was going to be there for a long time, since he still had a long way to go to before he could make four-star cards.


    Leaving aside his house arrest, he really liked it there. Only after coming had he fully realized how shallow his knowledge was, and how frail his power was. But he also found out how much glory and beauty lay in front of him in the wide wide world.


    The two most important obstacles he faced were perception and the structuring of his knowledge.


    His perception had never broken through five meters, which was the deadliest obstacle at that moment. If he couldn''t break through five meters, not only wouldn''t he be able to make four-star cards, he would never be able to move to the next level in the mysterious card. Doing that was very tempting without a doubt.


    He had been stuck at that level for quite a while. And he hadn''t been able to recover from the severe injuries to his perception from when he was battling to protect Copper. Fortunately, he had recently begun to feel some vague signs of a breakthrough.


    The other thing that he needed to improve was the structure of his knowledge, which was very weak. It was only partially strong compared to ordinary card masters, and he didn''t have a solid foundation. And there were many types of three-star cards that he still couldn''t make sense of. If none of them were ordinary, it would be extremely challenging for him there even if they were all three-star cards,


    But at the same time, Chen Mu did have some areas that others couldn''t reach. Because of his understanding of token card theory, when the card was more complicated or ingenious, it was easier for him to discern its underlying structure.


    Then there was his terrific ability to learn, which was also what Copper had admired the most about him. Starting from the most basic and simple one-star power card to his current ability, he had finely honed his self-study techniques.


    Sorting out in his mind what lay ahead of him, Chen Mu quickly grasped his main direction.


    This was really a great place! Chen Mu didn''t know how many times he had felt that. Maybe the free materials at the self-serve materials supermarket didn''t mean anything to everyone else there. They all had very high ability, and they seldom had any opportunity to use them for the cards they made. But those free materials were extremely useful for someone of low ability like Chen Mu. Every card master''s proficiency depended on countless piles of materials.


    It had been a smooth transition from his initial embarrassment to being able to act naturally and not seeming to notice anything. The materials supermarket and the library became his most frequented places. He would make a large quantity of cards each day for practice; his ability to control his perception wasn''t going to come from his understanding but had to be based on countless trials.


    He already had fifty-five contribution points. The difficulty of getting there wasn''t enough for outsiders to talk about, and probably only that girl called Li Li knew. Li Li had already determined that Chen Mu was an offspring of the Ning family, so why would he be there with such low skills, if not to temper them?


    She sometimes took pity on Chen Mu, since he always took the lowest level commissions, and often got hit with deductions. If it were anyone else, they would have given up a long time ago.


    Apart from making cards, Chen Mu hadn''t dropped anything else, whether it was the exercise gymnastics or the swordfish training. He''d made a lot of progress with the swordfish training and had found that his reflexes by then were sometimes quicker than his thoughts. And although he didn''t know if it had anything to do with the water training, he had become much more sensitive to his surroundings from every facet of his body.


    He could sometimes feel every slightest change in air/qi flows. That could sometimes be very inconvenient, especially during sleep when he would be suddenly awakened in the middle of the night because of a small worm crawling by.


    He still slept in a dark corner as always, and he didn''t have to turn on the lights in his apartment any more to be able to see the designs on the cards clearly.


    After he had been tortured by it for a while, he felt that his sleep was between being half awake and awake. All it took was a certain amount of breeze that might stir the grass, and he would be awakened.


    Although things were fine there, he wasn''t in his comfort zone.


    He''d been there three months by then, and his apartment was filled with all kinds of three-star cards. They represented every type of three-star card that he could find, wanting to try each of them at least once. No matter which type of card, they all had a basic standard composition. Even the more special cards were still made based on this standard composition.


    The further along he got with his studies, the more important he felt that the power of token card principles was. Once he thought them through from the angle of token card theory, he would achieve breakthroughs with many of the transformations he couldn''t understand.


    That inevitably puzzled him quite often. With the strong functioning of token cards, and with how advanced token card theory was, there wasn''t any reason to doubt it. But why hadn''t he ever found any knowledge related to it in books? If it had been created by someone before him, then why hadn''t it been passed down?


    Chen Mu knew that if he were to publicize token card theory it would create a sensation such as had never been seen, and he would be pushed into the thick of things, bringing him unimaginable riches and recognition.


    But he didn''t do that, since he knew his worth, and if he were to do it, it could be a calamity for him rather than a blessing. It wasn''t something that belonged to him.


    The mid-sized v-shaped pen in his hand was moving in smooth circles, as though it was doing a small dance on the card. In the dark room, a faint light was glowing from the swirling flow where the pen nib and the card met. Chen Mu was sitting up very straight, with his gaze concentrated, and his right wrist was as nimble as a snake without any bones, pleasing to the eye and the mind.


    He was precisely as accurate as a machine,


    During those three months, he would repeat the same kinds of work dozens of times each day. Whenever his perception would come up empty, he would return to the swordfish training card to drill his perception. The pressure in the swordfish training was exactly the same as that in the simple water world.


    Chen Mu had decided not to return to the simple water world in that mysterious card until he had experienced a breakthrough with his perception.


    The fine filaments of perception were like tentacles winding around the v-shaped pen nib, feeding back to Chen Mu every change between the card ink and the card, so that he could then use his perception to cause the card ink and the card to achieve their fit.


    Then there was a sudden emptiness in him, and the pen started to become a little blocked. Quite a few of the tendrils of perception that were wound around the pen nib had already started to snap.


    Fine beads of sweat started to appear on his forehead, while Chen Mu''s expression hadn''t changed at all, calm as always. He didn''t know how many times he''d already run into that kind of situation, and he wasn''t as panicked as he had been at the beginning.


    The rapid spinning of the shuttle-like vortex of his perception kept shooting out tendrils of perception, which wound around the pen nib. The broken tendrils and the ones newly shot out weren''t very different. And the two of them together formed a kind of clever balance.


    Chen Mu had a thought. Could it be that the existence of the shuttle-style perceptual vortex spin velocity and the perceptual tendrils shooting out were related?


    On the one hand the power maintained the perceptual tendrils which were wound around the pen nib, while on the other, Chen Mu had started to catalyze the shuttle-style perceptual vortex''s rotational speed.


    With the impetus of Chen Mu''s consciousness, the spinning velocity of the shuttle shaped perceptual vortex increased little by little. And as its speed increased, Chen Mu could try getting the shuttle-shaped vortex to shoot out more perceptual tendrils.


    The results were immediately apparent, as Chen Mu felt the pen in his hand become lighter, and the perceptual blockages that had been there disappeared and returned to the smooth perceptions of the past.


    The discovery made Chen Mu overjoyed. Perception had always been puzzling to Chen Mu. Although the mysterious card had presented methods for training perception, there hadn''t been very many elaborations. And at Eastern Wei Academy, where he had been influenced by the lure card, the perception in his body had changed, to become the shuttle-shaped perceptual vortex that he had never heard about.


    That had also immediately made his own perception feel unfamiliar, and then when he had received those heavy blows last time they had made him still more cautious toward his perception. That had been the basic reason that his perception hadn''t been making any progress.


    Then today by coincidence he had finally found the key to unlock the treasure in his own body. That one little try also meant that he had finally broken the mental barrier of not daring to touch his perception.


    He didn''t continue to increase the speed, but instead, he restrained the ecstasy he felt and stopped. He needed to consider it calmly, since he had always believed that while one needs passion to do something, if you wanted to get to the end and find the core, it would always take calm.


    Although he had then already started gradually to get rid of his mental barriers toward perception, he was still more clear that, unlike other things, the sensitivity of perception also carries a certain danger, and he knew he hadn''t made a mistake by being careful.


    He needed a complete and moderate plan to inquire about what secrets his own body''s perception contained.


    There in the dark, Chen Mu''s eyes shone with a moving light.

 Chapter 97: Breakthrough

    Chapter 97: Breakthrough


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The shuttle-shaped perceptual vortex was continually spinning inside Chen Mu, though it was now twice as big as when it had just taken form.


    It was going to be Chen Mu''s thirty-third test of the perception in his body. The test procedures were very detailed. To find out the different characteristics exhibited by the vortex at different rotational speeds, he did all the examinations systematically and in extreme detail.


    From the results in front of him, he had separated the rotational speed of the vortex inside him into three phases; the slow-speed phase, the middle-speed phase, and the high-speed phase. He had also subdivided each of the phases into five sub-levels.


    At that time, he was testing the fifth level of the high-speed phase. At that kind of speed, nearly all the perceptual tendrils had been mobilized, with a count of one hundred thousand being shot from within his body and dispersing into the space all around him. The effect of that was that his six senses had become more acute than they had ever been.


    Those perceptual tendrils extended out to four and nine-tenths meters and then stopped. That was as far as he could extend his perception, having never broken five meters. Those formless perceptual tendrils were floating all around his body, like very tiny tentacles one after another, all extremely sensitive, and up to a certain distance, they could capture extremely fine fluctuations in perception.


    He was already at the limit of the speed which he could control. Judging from the results of the tests in front of him, the higher the speed of the vortex, the more tendrils would be shot out.


    What would happen if he were to continue raising the speed? He was hesitant, since he didn''t know if that might cause some bad reaction. If he increased the speed any further, he would exceed the scope of what he could control.


    That wasn''t his idea of an adventure, so he rushed to gradually slow down the shuttle-shaped perceptual vortex.


    The limit to how far the perceptual tendrils extended was at four and nine tenths meters, with no way to extend it further. That was the issue that had always perplexed him, and he had never been able to determine a reason for the length of those tendrils.


    The rotational speed of the vortex was tied to the number of perceptual tendrils which were shot out. The faster the speed, the more tendrils shot out. The reverse was also true.


    But what influenced the length of the fine perceptual tendrils?


    Without him being aware, the speed of the vortex had slowed down, and then it very quickly approached the lowest speed level. This was an autonomous state, with the perceptual vortex spinning at its slowest. It was the rotational speed which would be maintained in its normal state.


    Chen Mu was suddenly aware that he had ignored a very important question. He had been raising the speed of the vortex all along, but he had never thought to slow it down.


    What kind of change would the shuttle-shaped perceptual vortex undergo if it were slowed? Chen Mu became a little curious.


    The perceptual vortex was soon restored to its previous rotational speed, and Chen Mu began to reverse his control of its rotation. It turned out to be feasible, which pleased Chen Mu as its speed gradually slowed.


    Chen Mu couldn''t be careless as he experienced every little change in the perceptual vortex.


    Within a short period of time Chen Mu was left with probably over a hundred perceptual tendrils scattered about all around him as its speed slowed, and the number of tendrils that were emitted rapidly decreased. Chen Mu tried controlling one of them, wanting to find out what sorts of changes would take place.


    He very quickly concluded that as the number of perceptual tendrils decreased, his power to control them quickly grew.


    He tried making that tendril move forward to a length where previously the perceptual tendril would have already reached its limiting state. The perceptual vortex would then give him a great deal of internal resistance, preventing it from extending any further.


    But that time, the tendril moved! It quickly extended out, without Chen Me sensing any of the drag.


    Chen Mu was struck dumb.


    The rotational speed of the perceptual vortex returned to its original speed after control was relinquished, causing that familiar drag to return, and retracting the perceptual tendril back to four and nine-tenths meters.


    When Chen Mu came back to his senses, the elation on his face was hard to conceal. He was certain that that perceptual tendril just then had broken through five meters!


    He only calmed down after fully ten minutes. He had to do his utmost to restrain his emotions. He started very cautiously to regulate the speed of the perceptual vortex, and the same situation appeared again.


    "Five meters! The scope of his perception had finally broken five meters! He had finally achieved the demands of the mysterious card. It had already been a long time since he had made those twelve cards from the simple water world.


    He didn''t relax but continued his experimentation.


    He very quickly found another rule; the lower the speed of the shuttle-shaped perceptual vortex, the fewer the tendrils that would be emitted, while the distance that those could be extended was greatly increased. Chen Mu also discovered that not only did their distance increase, but in other regards relating to their control, they were much more responsive to him.


    Still, simply slowing down the speed of the vortex also had some dangers. As the speed was gradually reduced, and as it approached a certain limit, there were signs of instability in the perceptual vortex. Chen Mu conjectured that if he were to continue to reduce the speed, the perceptual vortex would very likely collapse.


    Chen Mu also gathered new data, that the furthest he could extend his perceptual tendrils was six and two tenths meters, which was already far beyond the requirement of five meters in the simple water world.


    In the end it was so simple! Chen Mu smiled bitterly, since he had been bothered by that for such a long time, when it was only that he hadn''t thought of it.


    He felt that his understanding of perception had suddenly risen a level, and that he had internalized better control. The shuttle-shaped perceptual vortex in his body also underwent another change, with its initial speed being almost imperceptible, and fluctuating according to Chen Mu''s control.


    Chen Mu could control the speed of the vortex at will, though whenever he approached the upper or lower limits, there would be internal warning signs. It seemed as though the advance of his perception had also made his intuition sharper.


    Breaking through five meters meant that he could trigger the next level in the simple water world. He didn''t know what kind of pleasant surprise the mysterious card had in store for him, but he felt the anticipation.


    He didn''t really know to what level his perception had progressed, since he hadn''t gone through professional evaluation.


    Taking out the mysterious card, and tearing off the disguising membranes, he put it into the apparatus on his wrist. He re-entered the familiar simple water world.


    Without any hesitation, he took the speed of the shuttle-shaped perceptual vortex down to its slowest and sent dozens of perceptual tendrils to six and two-tenths meters in all directions.


    "Congratulations, your perception has broken through five meters." The calm hoarse old voice sounded again in Chen Mu''s ears.


    "You still haven''t finished the swordfish challenge; would you like to enter a round?" This second phrase left Chen Mu stupid, being reminded at this time that he still hadn''t finished the swordfish challenge. Could the swordfish challenge be that important? Would it be gone after one more level?


    He was hesitant.


    Should he or shouldn''t he go to the next level? If his continuous daily hard practice and all of his suffering wasn''t for wanting to see the next level, then what was it for? The opportunity was in front of him at that moment, but it had also given him a reminder that was beyond what he expected. If he chose not to, would there be some irreversible change?


    He couldn''t be careless about any phrase or word that the hoarse old voice had said. That was the most important and most direct clue that the mysterious card had given him. Only if he were to truly analyze the hidden meaning in these words could he make a comparatively precise and beneficial choice.


    He though about it for over ten minutes and decided not to do it.


    What let him breathe a sigh of relief was that apart from the hoarse old voice having disappeared, the simple water world was the same as always, with nothing having changed.


    Only after he had retreated from the simple water world did Chen Mu have some retrospective fear, that if something had undergone an irreversible change he didn''t know how much regret he would feel. But the truly fortunate thing was the that his luck had been good that time, and he had gambled well.


    He only had the swordfish challenge left! Chen Mu''s spirits were high, and he felt full of strength all over.


    He put aside all his work for a while, and aside from the exercise gymnastics and perceptual training which even lightning couldn''t keep him from, all of the rest of his time was spent on the swordfish challenge. It was a good thing he had his swordfish training card, or he would have been seriously wounded dozens of times. That needle-like pain was still fresh in his memory.


    So, he was running around every day without fail in the swordfish training, continually dodging and evading, and he made amazing progress. He hadn''t imagined how crucial perception was!


    The longer his perceptual tendrils were, the farther away he could feel fluctuations; and the more tendrils there were, the more keenly he could feel the changes around him.


    The second point was so important for him! Under conditions where he could maintain the speed of the shuttle-shaped perceptual vortex''s rotations, he could sense the smallest changes in the flow of the water all around him. Whereas he could normally have still felt those, it was far less clear than the current situation.


    The one remaining issue was how to maintain steady control of his perception while running and dodging.


    Could it be that there was a certain connection among all the exercises in the simple water world? Chen Mu had sometimes had that thought.


    If he could only find the goal and the way, it shouldn''t be a terribly difficult issue for Chen Mu. He had enough tenacity and toughness to finish it.


    For the entire fifteen continuous days of swordfish training, whether he was eating or doing other things, Chen Mu was maintaining control of his perception every second.


    The results were very satisfying, and on the fifteenth day he had increased his probability to finish the swordfish challenge to seventy-five percent. For such a complicated challenge, any tiny factor could be the deciding factor. If he wanted to get to one hundred percent, that would basically be impossible for Chen Mu as he was.


    He was already very satisfied with his success.


    He rested an entire day, letting all his body''s functions be restored to their optimal state. Chen Mu was getting ready to enter the simple water world to get on with the swordfish challenge.


    There was a knock on the door just before he took out the mysterious card.

 Chapter 98: The Swordfish’s Reward

    Chapter 98: The Swordfish¡¯s Reward


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu was surprised and gathered up all his things. He looked all around to be sure that there wasn''t anything to attract someone''s attention before opening the door.


    "May I ask if you are Mr. Chen Mu?" Outside the door was a heavily made-up and showily dressed-up pretty woman. Bright red short hair stood on her head like flames, and all her clothes were overstated. She was like all the models around Copper, casual beauties with spitfire dispositions.


    She was a bit taller than him with a body full of curves, and she seemed to be deliberately pushing out her impressive breasts, standing in front of Chen Mu with a stunning presence.


    But Chen Mu didn''t care about her body, as he struggled to keep his calm look to cover up the astonishment he felt. He had never mentioned his name from the start, and now that beautiful woman just opens her mouth and says his name. This could only mean one thing, that they had thoroughly checked into his background.


    "I am." Chen Mu nodded, and then acted natural as he looked her over, "And may I ask who you are?"


    His calm behavior seemed to impress the beauty, as an enchanting and charming smile bloomed on her face. "I am Ning Yan, and I''ll be dedicated to communicating with you from now on."


    "I never would have thought that you actually made ''Chance Encounter'' and ''The Legend of Master Shi.'' You really don''t look like it." Her expression showed some disbelief as the light made her luscious lips glisten, and made her look extremely sexy.


    "I was only responsible to make the cards. My friend did the screenplay." Chen Mu explained. Although Chen Mu had done more of the work, he had always thought that Copper''s screenplay was the core of both card plays.


    "Is that Copper?" Ning Yan obviously have done a lot of work on Chen Mu.


    "Yes." Chen Mu nodded. Since she had already gotten every detail about him, telling everything wasn''t going to create any problems.


    With a little regret, Ning Yan said, "Too bad, everyone really liked ''Chance Encounter'' and ''The Legend of Master Shi.'' I blame the Zuo family, since if it weren''t for them, everyone could see a lot more card plays!" She lifted her eyebrows to mean ''oh well,'' looking sullen, with a pout on her powdered face which gave off a certain flirtatiousness.


    It was a good thing that Chen Mu had always had a strong resistance to beautiful women, and he remained indifferent. On top of that, his low-key house arrest meant that he had to keep up his guard at every moment, not daring to relax. And he wouldn''t be in any mood to be interested in pretty women.


    Ning Yan laughed to look at Chen Mu, "I''d thought the card master who made ''Chance Encounter'' and ''The Legend of Master Shi" would be brilliantly handsome, confident, and dashing. I never imagined that he would be a blockhead. That''s really boring. Ai, too bad someone else couldn''t do this job. No wonder brother Peng was laughing that way!" Then she took out a pile of cards to give to Chen Mu, "These are the cards you must repair, pick out the ones you can restore, and fix as may as you can. This is my communications card number. Just contact me when you''re finished."


    Chen Mu took the cards, and agreed, "OK."


    He''d finally gotten his first assignment, though it was a little late, and a little bit unexpected.


    But then Chen Mu felt a little surprised that he''d taken them.


    "But don''t bother me right now. Wait a little while. I''ve been very busy lately. As a matter of fact, it has something to do with you."


    "Something to do with me?" Chen Mu found that strange.


    "The Zuo household. Ha ha, aren''t they your enemy? They sent someone to us, wanting to ransom you back. Of course, we refused, then afterward, oh my, the two sides went to war." Ning Yan narrated very lightly, as though it were a perfectly ordinary matter.


    A conflict has arisen between the Zuo and Ning households? The sudden news really surprised Chen Mu. He had practically never gone out during that time, and didn''t have any source for news. Still, he resumed his normal calm, since the envy between them had probably been going on for so long. They were looking for some excuse and he fit the bill as the fuse for the conflict between them.


    Chen Mu''s assumption wasn''t very far from what was truly going on, though it was a lot more complicated, and there was a lot more money involved. The activities of the Star Academy could be said to have made a real impression. Among all the surrounding powers, the value of Eastern Shang-Wei City has shot way up, and they were drooling over it.


    So, the most powerful family in Eastern Shang-Wei City ¨C the Zuo household ¨C was the first to feel the brunt.


    The conflict between the two had quickly escalated, involving more and more powers, and the fighting had become more and more chaotic. The first exchange activity of the Star Academy had brought a lot of unrest to Eastern Shang-Wei City, and Chen Mu simply happened to show up at the right time.


    Chen Mu didn''t think any more about it, being sure that it really didn''t have much to do with him. He was more worried about his own situation, and about increasing his strength.


    After Ning Yan left, Chen Mu sat for a while, still digesting the news. He stood up again after about half an hour, looking very relaxed. The more intense the fighting among the powers, they less the Ning family would pay attention to him. For him, that was a really good thing.


    He quickly put the matter to the back of his mind, since he still had an extremely important thing waiting for him to do just then.


    He emptied his mind, struggling to get himself into a kind of entranced state, which could greatly enhance his probability for success. But that state took a while to regulate and wouldn''t have much use in the midst of battle. In the heat of battle, there wouldn''t be any time to slowly regulate anything.


    After about ten minutes, Chen Mu felt that his state had been well regulated. He opened his eyes, stood up, and tried a few light jumps, getting a sense of the strength coming from his feet. He was very satisfied.


    Taking out the mysterious card, he inserted it into his apparatus.


    He re-entered the simple water world, full of confidence. He had a feeling he was going to succeed that time.


    Start the swordfish challenge!


    When Chen Mu moved, his movements were extremely quick. Even while in the water, they had the feel of being as quick as lightning. His familiarity with the swordfish had developed to a pretty scary extent. Right from the start, without any probing, he plunged headlong into the school of swordfish cruising around.


    It was like stirring up a hornet''s nest that time, with all of the swordfish aggressively charging at him.


    The shuttle-shaped perceptual vortex was spinning at a high speed within him, with hundreds of thousands of perceptual tendrils extending out all around his body. That brought his perception of everything around him to a pretty scary place in an instant, with his ability to capture all the changes around himself elevated to the extreme.


    He stuck his toes into the soft sand layer, and then he shot out like a bolt of lightning, with his whole body moving with the changes in the water flow, while continually regulating within a small space. These adjustments didn''t look like they were very quick, but they would frequently let the swordfish who were charging from all directions pass within a hair''s breadth in the moment.


    The most inconceivable thing was that Chen Mu''s entire body was like an eyeball, with not one of swordfish that charged from behind him even touching his clothes.


    If anyone were to have seen it, they would certainly be gape-mouthed with astonishment. Chen Mu''s body had become a phantom, combined with every ripple that arose in the simple water word into a dreamy blur which would be difficult to distinguish.


    Missing every touch, moving away from every contact, without tiring any in his strength, and in the middle of all the fish, his body seemed like an imaginary figure moving like lightning.


    "Congratulations, you have passed the swordfish challenge!"


    The hoarse old voice that Chen Mu had been anticipating for so long finally appeared.


    Right about when the voice fell, all the triangular swordfish disappeared at once, leaving only his chest heaving up and down. Chen Mu was gasping breath after breath. In that very short period just then, he had not only highly concentrated his energy, he had also maintained the high rotational speed of the shuttle-shaped perceptual vortex in his body, and adding to that his unrestrained force, the power of his body and mind had used up shocking amounts of exertion.


    At that moment, the hoarse old voice was like a song from the heavens to Chen Mu''s ear, much more sweet sounding than any beautiful woman''s voice that he had ever heard.


    A round screen suddenly popped out in front of him. This translucent round screen was about the same height as Chen Mu, and a light flow of water could be seen slowly rippling in it.


    "Ways to use perception during close combat"


    The row of words floating in front of Chen Mu made him feel that all of his exertion, and all of the suffering he''d endured for the swordfish challenge were worth it. It was lucky that he hadn''t taken any shortcuts, or the loss would have been huge.


    He was greedily looking at the round screen.


    Light gold words continually flowed by, and Chen Mu watched them mesmerized like a drunken idiot. Written there were extremely detailed introductions about how to use perception in close combat. This was extremely valuable to Chen Mu without any doubt.


    Perception was the crucial factor in the swordfish challenge, and if it weren''t for his maintaining the high speed of his perceptual vortex, he couldn''t have maintained his six senses in such a heightened state, and it would have been impossible to pass the swordfish challenge.


    Now in front of him were still more detailed techniques related to that.


    Chen Mu didn''t know what kind of a saint created had created the card in the end, but all of it had required some research. That was undoubtedly some unique style of fighting. Never mind all the card artisans in all of the Heavenly Federation, even the style of fighting used by the demonic woman that Chen Mu had run into differed widely from it.


    Many of the methods for using perception to enhance close fighting ability raised there greatly broadened his vision. While Chen Mu still had limits to his knowledge, he could still sense their value.


    Not wanting any distraction, Chen Mu read the words over and over again, until they were all etched in his mind.


    There wasn''t a lot written, and there weren''t many specific skills involved. Reading them was like reading about the general nature of things, bringing up many ways of thinking which didn''t necessarily have any corresponding techniques.


    To Chen Mu, it seemed like something half-finished. The one who made the card had clearly not finished it. But it was those things that still shocked Chen Mu the most.


    He didn''t want to miss a word, and he didn''t stand up until he was certain that he had memorized all of it.


    Although he was tired, Chen Mu was in high spirits. The swordfish challenge had given him something so exciting, what would the next round be from that mysterious card?

 Chapter 99: Sensitivity of Perception

    Chapter 99: Sensitivity of Perception


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Taking a deep breath, Chen Mu again extended his perception beyond five meters.


    The simple water world disappeared in the blink of an eye, and there was no longer the water pressure, which also disappeared without a trace. Since it wasn''t what he had grown used to, Chen Mu felt very light.


    All around was vast misty whiteness such that he couldn''t see the fingers on his hands. Chen Mu was stunned blind and couldn''t see anything other than the extremely thick white fog. He couldn''t see anything else there.


    Once his thoughts stirred, Chen Mu caught something indistinctly. It was almost subconscious, as he urged the perceptual vortex to emit the tendrils all around his body.


    Very quickly the shapeless intangible white mist seemed to have been stimulated, and it started to change.


    They seemed like creatures which had suddenly come alive and were hitting him in waves, all in a disordered activity. Without his knowing why, Chen Mu was feeling that the white mist was following some kind of order beyond the realm of human understanding. He snapped his eyes shut and worked hard to catch those white mists.


    He did some regulation which clarified things, and he immediately sensed that the white mists were divided into many strands of very fine turbulence, some of which were crashing into each other, while some were twisting together, and others were slowly permeating one another. . .


    "Test score: perceptual sensitivity index: 35. Good for the first level of training." Chen Mu was startled by the hoarse old voice which suddenly sounded.


    As the voice was fading, the thick white mist could be seen to dissolve all around him at a rate that could be seen by the naked eye, until it was completely gone. Chen Mu once again found himself in a void. Floating in front of him were five differently colored cards.


    He was pleased that the things he had been anticipating for so long had finally appeared. Based on his prior experience, Chen Mu reached out and touched them with his fingers, triggering each of the cards.


    "How to make the folding Yanbo card: required perceptual sensitivity index: 60."


    "Tutorial in mid-grade token card theory: required perceptual sensitivity index: 70."


    "A dynamic demonstration of the seven big power compositions: required perceptual sensitivity index: 80."


    "A method to train perception with a single breath: required perceptual sensitivity index: 90"


    "A model for deriving the composition of power: conditions haven''t been met: no way to trigger."


    This string of information made Chen Mu''s chest tighten, since he couldn''t currently handle any one of them. As he paid attention to what they showed, apart from the last one, the other four cards all raised the same concept: perceptual sensitivity index. Chen Mu had never encountered the concept, which must have been in some other books that he hadn''t run into yet.


    But one result which had just been revealed was that his perceptual sensitivity index was a pitiful 35. According to what those cards had revealed, ten points in the scale were approximately one level. He fell short by 25 from even the folding Yanpo card which had the lowest requirement; more than two levels short.


    Then Chen Mu looked at the last card "A model to derive the composition of power," which was the only one not to bring up the perceptual sensitivity index, but which had simply determined that his conditions weren''t sufficient.


    "Activating the beginning first level perceptual sensitivity training." The hoarse old voice broke Chen Mu''s train of thought.


    Without waiting for any response from Chen Mu, and without asking his opinion, the mysterious card forced him right into the so called beginning first level perceptual sensitivity training.


    The scene in front of him changed again, and lots of very small tadpole-like energy bodies appeared all around Chen Mu, all continually swimming about at high speed. Their movements were extremely lively, and hard to follow.


    Just when he was in that state of confusion, a screen appeared in front of him. What was written on it was very simple, the rules of the training. Chen Mu had to estimate the numbers of those energy bodies which had appeared around him; the shorter his time, the more points he would get.


    Under those conditions, his eyes were completely useless, and he could only use perception.


    After he finished reading, Chen Mu decided to give it a try. He closed his eyes and released his perception with all his energy.


    It was already three hours later when he came out from the mysterious card. Although the perceptual sensitivity training didn''t consume much physical energy, it certainly consumed a lot of mental energy. He had only trained for two hours, and he was feeling as though he couldn''t take any more. Not only did controlling his internal perception consume energy, his brain seemed to have been emptied, which was very hard to take.


    After he had come out, Chen Mu fell into deep thought.


    That round of training seemed entirely strange to him, though after careful exploration, it wasn''t very hard to find the connection to the previous training.


    The principle content in the previous round in the mysterious card had been to train his perception, while this round was about training his perceptual sensitivity. The two of them were obviously connected.


    What really interested Chen Mu were those five cards, with each of them representing a certain topic. Whether it was the mid-grade token card theory, or the folding Yanbo card, all of them left him drooling.


    Knowledge about the structure of power was still a little abstruse for Chen Mu at that time. This was already getting into the most central and essential substance of the card system.


    The round was indeed very difficult! Chen Mu smiled bitterly since he had been tormented to death in that last training, with very little result. Its alternative method for deploying perception was really strange to him.


    He couldn''t trigger a single one of those five cards. And not only that, but the distance between them wasn''t small, which meant that he wouldn''t be able to consider triggering them for a while. The only thing which was useful to him at that time was the reward from the swordfish challenge. Although it didn''t include many specific skills, that card''s outline-style thing was still very valuable.


    He was amazed at the few tips that it did have.


    The one who made this mysterious card was certainly a person of a scholarly cast, enough to make Chen Mu worship him. For example, it was incredible when it mentioned how to maintain the evenness of perception in the heat of some action, and those sorts of techniques. What felt the most inconceivable to him was its mention of using one''s perceptual sensitivity to test out the techniques most suited to one''s strengths.


    If he had seen the outline sooner, he could have easily finished the swordfish challenge. By comparison, while Chen Mu had polished a few small skills from the swordfish training, they were so crude that even he was embarrassed by them.


    What Chen Mu had really not expected was that he still hadn''t found any methods for making four-star cards.


    He had always had high expectations for the mysterious card, hoping to find in it methods and tricks of the trade for making four-star fantasy cards. That would have enabled him to take those four-star card repair commissions. What he hadn''t thought was that there wouldn''t be a single technique related to four-star cards in it.


    That inevitably made Chen Mu feel a little hopeless. Although what was in those five cards was all good, it wasn''t what he most urgently needed just then. What he most needed was knowledge related to four-star cards.


    Going through the cards that Ning Yan had sent him, Chen Mu''s bitter smile deepened. Of course, among the twenty cards in the pile, eighteen were four-star cards, with only two that were three-star.


    More bitter smiles, he might as well go ahead and take out the two three-star cards, since he couldn''t do nothing.


    Although the two three-star cards were rather ingenious, as far as Chen Mu was concerned, they weren''t very complicated, especially since he had the analytical tool of token card theory.


    He quickly restored the two cards, and then the next day first thing he went right to the library.


    Since there wasn''t anything in the mysterious card regarding knowledge about four-star cards, he would have to go a different route to learn it.


    He was very clear about his plight, since even though he had Madam Ning''s request, if he didn''t demonstrate a certain value, his plight could only get worse and worse. No one wanted to cultivate someone who could only eat white rice. On that point, it was the same as everywhere.


    Up until then he had consumed a shocking quantity of materials, even though none of them were valuable. So, would the Ning family send him away agreeably once they''d determined that he had no value?


    That basically wouldn''t happen. Chen Mu understood the brutality of society very clearly.


    It was a good thing that the works relating to cards in this library were extremely complete, and Chen Mu immediately threw himself into them.


    While he was studying four-star cards, he specifically spent some time making a shuttle card. That shuttle card made use of only ordinary materials, while Chen Mu had used practically all of the token theory that he had learned on it.


    The most direct result of that was that while its power was the same as ordinary three-star shuttle cards, its firing frequency had stunning results.


    According to the theory, as long as the card artisan''s perception was strong enough, it could fire off five energy shuttles per second.


    You could imagine that this would make a battle scene look like it were raining shuttles, with the density of the hits giving the enemy no escape. By comparison, the tailless shuttle was as slow as an ox dragging a broken cart. While he had made tremendous progress in the control of the tailless shuttle card, it still required one and two-tenths seconds to fire.


    Still, the lethal power of the tailless shuttle''s hit made it a terrifying weapon.


    Chen Mu called the new shuttle card the "raining shuttles card," and then he sent it to Li Li to sell on consignment, setting the price at thirty contribution points.


    He didn''t'' have any misgivings about using the token card here. On the contrary, it would be better for his plight at that time if he could show his value.


    He didn''t put much stock in the raining shuttles card. By that time his schedule was extremely full. Apart from studying knowledge related to four-star cards in the library, he still moved forward every day with the perceptual sensitivity training. As for the perceptual training and the exercise gymnastics, these were unmovable even by lighting.


    With such a stuffed calendar, he didn''t have any spare time to pay attention to anything else.

 Chapter 100: The Raining Shuttles Card

    Chapter 100: The Raining Shuttles Card


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Algoradicci was looking through the goods listed in the current issue. Each of those in the building could receive a one-star fantasy card each week, within which was a detailed listing of all those things sent for sale on consignment that week. Algoradicci was a card artisan without great ability, but he had a lot of interest in dealing goods.


    He had a good eye, and so he always dredged up good stuff. He bought low and sold high, and although he only dealt in that small market, a lot of fortunes rose and fell there in that building, and he''d grabbed a lot of contribution points for himself.


    He would always be waiting right on schedule for the detailed list to be delivered to his door, so that he could be the first to read it and see if there was anything which really stood out.


    He carefully browsed through each item. The fantasy card was exquisitely made, and it included extremely life-like representations of every one of the goods.


    From what he knew, there were over two thousand card artisans in the building, with another several hundred card masters. On top of those were the ones interested in card appliances, which made quite a number overall. It was actually a really good market, since the ones who could get in to the building were no ordinary people.


    Everything traded there was of the highest quality, making it a really high-end market.


    While their trading volume could be a little smaller, the higher the grade of the goods, the higher the profit on each item.


    To make it into a business, Algoradicci was extremely industrious, more so than he was as a card artisan.


    He mostly followed cards. The card artisans were the largest group in the building, and they were also the biggest consumers. For a card artisan, a powerful card meant that he would have a better probability of survival. While it was now calm on the surface, it was secretly an age of endless conflict, where your martial power dictated your right to speak as well as your position.


    The fanaticism of card artisans toward cards could sometimes develop to a frightening extent.


    Each week there would be a few new cards, since card masters had to sell the cards that they made to get enough points to buy materials, which would then allow them to continue advancing their experimentation.


    His gaze went from one card representation to the next.


    The giant wave chopping card could produce a five-meters in diameter giant round wavy chop, which had startling destructive power, and was sharp beyond compare. But Algoradicci set it aside after he saw the time it would take to activate it. This toy would take fully fifteen seconds before it was activated, and one could imagine that within fifteen seconds, a card artisan could be killed many times over.


    That giant wave chopping card was typical of heavy firepower, only suited to large scale conflict, where if it were a siege, it could put a lot of power into play. But for a single card artisan, its use was too limited.


    The blue polar snake-string card had middling power and was difficult to handle, and it would take a long time to master. But none of the card artisans there were novices, and they had all already become used to the tactics of their own specialty, which they would have had for a long time already.


    They wouldn''t start any significant training with a completely new card. That would use up too much time, not to mention wasting money. It would also upset their existing practices. The only reason one would select another card would be to enrich their own tactics.


    His gaze fell onto a card called the raining shuttles card.


    The card had an intricate design on its surface, which immediately caught Algoradicci''s attention, as he went on to read the description.


    Three stars was a little low, he sighed to himself, seeing that the price was also low. But he still looked further.


    It had middling power, which was more interesting to him.


    He saw the card master''s special emphasis, in the place where the card masters would generally stress the advantages of the cards they made.


    Firing frequency: five shuttles a second. He froze when he saw that line in the scarlet red font.


    Five shuttles a second? Algoradicci rubbed his eyes to be sure they weren''t blurred. And when he looked again at that price of thirty points, he screamed as he shot out of his chair without any hesitation and went out the door like the wind.


    Algoradicci got to the consignment market in a single breath. Li Li was quite familiar with the chubby looking uncle, and laughed to show her two cute dimples, "What''s lit the fire under uncle? Have you set your sights on something good? Don''t be looking for another discount."


    Algoradicci had run into Li Li the first time that he had come to the consignment market, when he was full of sweet talk and hype, stubbornly wanting Li Li to give him a discount. That had pushed the newly arrived Li Li to the brink of tears. That''s how they got to know one another, aside from the fact that Algoradicci would come to the consignment area several times a week. They were already pretty used to one another.


    Algoradicci''s face was hot, which he still refused to explain as he hurriedly asked, "Li Li, take a quick look to see if the card serial number 81782 has been sold."


    Without continuing to give him a hard time, Li Li smilingly said, "Alright, alright, I''ll take a look for you, don''t worry uncle."


    Algoradicci returned from the consignment market to his room with a very satisfied look. He had in his hands the card called raining shuttles. It was a three-star fantasy card.


    Generally speaking, a three-star level card was of limited value, especially at that place.


    But its five shuttles a second firing frequency shot its value through the roof. Algoradicci specially rented a training room to test out its firing speed. And although it didn''t hit the five shuttles a second in the description, it was more than three. This was already a pretty stunning accomplishment for someone who was using it for the first time. He didn''t have the least doubt that if he were to familiarize himself with it for a while, he could get the firing frequency to five shuttles a second. And in the hands of a card artisan who was proficient in the shuttle card, the power of the card would be played to its extreme.


    He really wanted to know what kind of freak had made such a powerful card. But unfortunately, there wasn''t any introduction to the card master in the description of the card.


    This wasn''t an unusual situation, since not every card master wanted to be well-known. Let alone that among the card artisans around there, who didn''t have outstanding power and wasn''t prominent and famous? Those people liked to stay low-key about their activities.


    But he was already quite satisfied with what he''d gotten. At thirty points, that card master clearly didn''t understand its true value. This price was almost like paying nothing.


    He activated the communications card in his apparatus.


    "Hello? Ah Shen?"


    "Fatty, what good stuff do you have now?"


    Looking at the screen in front of him, Algoradicci saw a capable looking middle-aged man. He had a buzz cut, with his stiff hair looking like wires sticking up, and his two narrow eyes giving out a feel of danger. This guy called Ah Shen had already gotten the designation of a high-grade card artisan, whose power stood out even in the whole building.


    Ah Shen had rich experience in actual combat, and what was more important was that he happened to specialize in a type of shuttle card.


    Algoradicci laughed, as he truly was quite fat, which wasn''t often seen among card artisans, so he was often called ''fatty.''


    "I have a shuttle card in my hands, and I wonder if you are interested?


    Ah Shen''s expression became serious, knowing that since this profiteer had come to him, it must be something good. He prudently asked, "How many stars? What card? How is its performance?


    Algoradicci held out three fingers, "It''s a three-star fantasy card."


    "Three star?" Ah Shen looked a little annoyed. For his level of card artisan, the power of a three-star card was a little low. But he believed that if it was something that a profiteer like Algoradicci was interested in, there had to be something special about it, so he waited for him to say more.


    "While the power of this fantasy card is ordinary, its firing speed is stunning; five shuttles per second. I believe that with your ability, the firing frequency might go even higher!"


    "What?" Having been placid all along, Ah Shen finally showed some surprise, and his half squinting narrow eyes finally opened wide, "Five shuttles a second. You didn''t get that wrong?"


    Algoradicci was pleased with himself as he smiled, "I haven''t made any mistake, you''ll know when you''ve tried it."


    "OK, the same place, wait for me." Before the words were finished, Ah Shen couldn''t wait to rush out the door.


    In the number nine training area:


    Pow, pow, pow, pow, pow. A string of light green power shuttles fired continually from Ah Shen''s hand, hitting the distant target with unsurpassed precision. The light coming from the energy was wicked beautiful.


    Ah Shen''s expression froze as he lifted his right hand slowly.


    Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!


    Shuttles fell like rain, row after row of light green brilliant rays covered the heavens and earth overwhelmingly as though they would tear space apart. The sound of them exploding as they hit the target was as dense as the sound of frying beans, which sounded like flutes from heaven in the ears of Algoradicci and Ah Shen.


    "What a card! What a pity!"


    Ah Shen couldn''t help gasping in admiration as he stood there, while still feeling some regret.


    "Yeah, if this were a four-star fantasy card, then it really would be considered something awesome among the awesome." Algoradicci also had some regret. The power of a three-star fantasy card was a lot lower than that of a four-star, and their value was also extremely far apart.


    "Mmmm, I want this card, name your price." Ah Shen very directly asked for the price. While its power was rather small, its stunning firing speed compensated for that shortcoming. And Ah Shen had already calculated that if he were to become more familiar with it for a while, it was very possible that he could increase it''s firing speed still more, to six shuttles per second.


    That was an extremely scary number.


    "A hundred fifty points." Fatty quoted his price without any hesitation.


    "OK." Ah Shen very readily pulled out his room card and brushed it across fatty''s room card. Two separate screens shot up in front of each of them. Ah Shen entered the specified contribution points into his screen, and then confirmed them.


    Seeing his points increase by a hundred and fifty, fatty took his card back with some satisfaction. The reason he''d looked for Ah Shen was to make sure about the card.


    "Don''t forget me the next time there''s something good." Ah Shen said to Algoradicci.


    "No problem." Making a hundred and twenty contribution points in a day was something that made a person happy. But that time Algoradicci was being a sly old fox, as he was considering how he was going to find the card master who had made that card.

 Chapter 101: The Old Line of Work?

    Chapter 101: The Old Line of Work?


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The conflict between the Ning household and the Zuo household was getting more and more intense and was pulling in other powers who were taking advantage, disrupting the connections between Eastern Shang-Wei City and Amay City. The territory between the two cities had already become the most intense part of the conflict, which is where the vicious wild beasts would face those crazy humans, and discreetly give way in the face of their superior power.


    At the outset, the Zuo family was on their heels facing the Ning household, which had prepared early. But the Zuo family had very quickly united with all the powers in Eastern Shang-Wei city, which brought the two sides quickly to a stalemate. The other powers who were trying to get a piece immediately complicated the situation.


    But no matter which side, neither wanted to enrage the government of the Heavenly Federation. So, despite the intensity of the conflict between them, all the fields of battle were selected outside the cities. Neither Eastern Shang-Wei City nor Amay City had been seriously harmed, even though scattered conflicts would be staged from time to time.


    It still wasn''t a very good time for the populations of the two cities. Because the conflict between the two sides was so violent, there was some serious obstruction of materials transportation, and the commodity prices in both cities soared. And things like power cards which were used by both military and civilians rose to outrageously high prices.


    While the state of deadlock seemed comparatively smooth and boring, the ones taking to the battlefield were the aces on both sides.


    They were engaging in incessant small-scale engagements in the intersecting zones of the two cities. Both sides'' troops had already been depleted in similar amounts during that time. And these areas had become the elite proving grounds for both sides, with the ones contesting all being mid and high-grade card artisans.


    The localized conflict had quickly gotten the attention of the entire Heavenly Federation. But the attitude of the Federation government toward it was strange. It didn''t take any appropriate measures apart from giving some insipid warnings.


    But there was no doubt that this conflict had already drawn the eyeballs of quite a number of great powers. The Heavenly Federation had been peaceful for too long, and practically none among the new generation of card artisans had ever experienced a large-scale military campaign. They were all closely watching the conflict, hoping to find within it some way to make use of the methods that those card artisans were using to advance their large-scale war.


    And while the Star Academy had been one of the triggers for the conflict, they seemed to have disappeared from the scene altogether. And the other five among the big six academies were all keeping silent.


    It looked as though, apart from the corners of these two cities, all the rest of the Heavenly Federation was as peaceful as it had been before.


    * * *


    Ning Peng looked a little haggard, and that eye-catching bald head was quite a bit darker. He had just returned from the front lines, whose ferocity far exceeded what he''d imagined.


    The territory in the hundred and fifty kilometers between the two cities had become a veritable card artisan''s blood bath. The Ning family by then was basically losing one or two dozen high-grade card artisans there every day. But their adversaries were paying a correspondingly high price.


    This rate of attrition was difficult even for the Ning family with its hundred-year foundation. By that time, losses among the high-grade card artisans who were direct descendants of the Ning family had already grown to one hundred and seventy-five in the short space of a week. Those card artisans had all gone through dozens of years of Ning family cultivation. Most of them were extremely outstanding offspring of the family.


    Once the front-line command did the tally, it was finally decided to deploy the vassals of the Ning family to participate in the fighting, to reduce the casualties among Ning offspring.


    That was one of Ning Peng''s responsibilities upon returning.


    After he returned, he didn''t go back to the front lines. That was because he had still another responsibility, which was to ensure sufficient three-star and above power cards for the front lines.


    By that stage in the conflict, those taken to the field were all mid and high-grade card artisans, and their need for power cards was naturally much higher than those low-level card artisans who had started there.


    It was a good thing that there were enough card masters around. The first item of business when he got back was the job of releasing large quantities of three-star power cards. What ensued included the use of the commissions model to employ those dependent card artisan vassals, and then send them to the front lines.


    Whether it was a commission to make three-star power cards or the job of employing high level card artisans, the compensation was stunningly high. Especially the mission of the card artisan, whose compensation was so high that it made many card artisans scramble for it.


    * * *


    His last ''raining shuttles'' card had gotten him thirty contribution points, which kept Chen Mu pretty excited for a while. After all, being able to find a way to get contribution points was for him then sufficient for him to be able to survive there.


    But when he had given Ning Yan the two three-star cards that he had restored along with the other eighteen fourth level cards that he hadn''t repaired, she could hardly conceal her contempt, which made him very uncomfortable. But there was nothing he could do about it.


    He had only just come into contact with the theory of fourth level cards, and if he wanted to advance to the ability to repair four-star cards, he still had a long way to go. Not to mention that he was still doing that damned perceptual sensitivity training which was torturing him to the point of wishing he were dead.


    By that time, Chen Mu felt that the one who made the mysterious card was a rather interesting person. He had to acknowledge that the unnamed card master had a pretty accurate grasp of human nature.


    Whenever he would finally pick that fruit that he''d been craving for so long after struggling along with his innumerable trials and tribulations, some other tempting fruit would then appear some distance away. In the end, his incessant forward progress would again be impelled. Even though picking the fruits wasn''t something easy to accomplish, and even though he still had to use up endless amounts of sweat and blood, and even though he still had to cross barrier after barrier before getting what he wanted, it was still a very real lure.


    It was only those with a genuine love for card making ¨C and who had the tenacity and perseverance ¨C who could hold out until the end.


    Chen Mu had felt indebted all along to that mysterious card and the nameless card master who made it. If it weren''t for the card, he might still be making one-star power cards for subsistence. Then his whole life would be spent at the bottom reaches of society.


    It was just his grateful heart which enabled him to remain calm and peaceful no matter the circumstances, instead of resentful. His childhood struggles had developed in him a powerful awareness of crisis, and a consistent focus from which he didn''t dare to slack off.


    The perceptual sensitivity training was a struggle for him. That kind of mind exercise didn''t put any burden on his body, though it had a lot of impact on his spirit. That was especially true so someone like Chen Mu whose perception was already strong, and whose six senses were sensitive.


    Fortunately, he had gradually found some tricks. If he wanted to make his perception more sensitive, then he should try to increase the number of perceptual tendrils. The more perceptual tendrils there were, the more easily sensitive his perception would correspondingly become.


    Increasing the tendrils was related to two things. One was the size of the perceptual vortex, which went along with the strength of his perception. The stronger the perception, the easier it was to divide out more perceptual tendrils. And the other point was that there was a relationship to the speed of rotation of the perceptual vortex. The faster it was, the more tendrils could be divided out.


    The strength of perception would only grow slowly, and Chen Mu couldn''t think of any way around that.


    The speed of the vortex was also a thorny issue for him.


    According to the theory, when his vortex was spinning at its highest speed, that should also be when perception was the most sensitive.


    But the problem was that although he could urge the perceptual vortex to its highest spinning speed, he had no way to maintain it there.


    To maintain the uniform rotational velocity of the vortex, he would have to enter that kind of strange state. And moreover, when the spin of the vortex was at its highest, it was also the most difficult to control.


    This was now his training goal.


    Once the perceptual vortex was spinning at a steady high speed, he could then enter that very strange state. And while in that state, his six senses could achieve a stunning level of sensitivity. The so called perceptual sensitivity training was just helping him to enter that state.


    Chen Mu sometimes couldn''t help but think that if he could enter the state at any time or place, then his own reactions would be greatly enhanced. He guessed that by that time, he would certainly no longer seem human.


    It turned out that a small amount of imagination could greatly enhance the results of the training. But never mind maintaining the perceptual vortex at a high rotational speed ¨C or even speeding it up ¨C he would still have no way to maintain its absolute stability as Chen Mu was just then.


    As for the reward for the swordfish challenge, Chen Mu didn''t have time to practice. He was so busy just then that he was about to be knocked over, always wishing that he could fit two days into one.


    After a week of hard practice, Chen Mu was feeling a little oppressed. So, he went out to where Li Li was, to see if there were any suitable commissions as a way to earn some contribution points.


    Although he didn''t see her very often, Chen Mu had made a deep impression on Li Li. She showed her enchanting pair of dimples, "Mr Chen Mu, are you looking for a commission? The recent commissions are extremely lucrative."


    "What all commissions do you have?" Chen Mu responded, while flipping through the screen.


    "Most of them are commissions for three-star power cards. We provide all the materials for free, and you can get five points for every card you make."


    Chen Mu was taken aback, and didn''t quite believe it, "Five points?" When had contribution points ever been so easy to earn?


    "Yep! Five points. But there are some requirements for this commission. You have to complete it within three days, and the number you must complete can''t be lower than forty cards. If the three-star power cards that you complete within three days exceed forty, then for every ten over that, the compensation for each card increases to six points. In the same way, if you are able to complete seventy cards, you would receive seven contribution points for each card. But if you exceed forty and don''t get to fifty, then it is calculated at the rate of forty." Li Li very neatly explained.


    Forty three-star power cards in three days was pretty tight. He would basically have to spend all of his time making power cards.


    If he were able to get to fifty cards, he could get three hundred contribution points for the commission. While for forty, he would make two hundred.


    This number immediately floored Chen Mu.


    I''ll do it! How could I not with such a great opportunity?


    Power cards just happen to be our specialty!

 Chapter 102: The Fame of the Raining Shuttles

    Chapter 102: The Fame of the Raining Shuttles


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Returning to his apartment with a large package of materials from the self-serve supermarket, Chen Mu immediately buried himself in the hard work.


    There wasn''t any essential difference between the composition of a three-star power card and that of a one-star power card, except that it was more complicated, and more refined.


    Still, completion of a three-star card required the involvement of perception. That wasn''t any complication for Chen Mu by that time.


    His first leap in understanding was making those twelve cards from the simple water world, and his second was making the tailless shuttle card. It had cost him a lot of effort to make that three-star card which had such a high level of difficulty, using up all of his savings to that point. But the benefits he had gotten from it were equally huge, and they raised his sights far more than one level.


    Even up until where he was by then, he had never come across any three-star card as complex as the tailless shuttle card, including many four-star cards which were a long way from being comparable to it. You could say that Chen Mu had become pretty familiar with the three-star fantasy card, though still, if he wanted to design a three-star fantasy card himself, he wouldn''t have any way to ascertain if it was really at the three-star level, with the corresponding level of power.


    He began to arrange the materials.


    The luminous leaf came from the luminous tree. The luminous tree was an extremely beautiful large tree which had broad and thick leaves, some as big as a person''s open hand. During the daytime, there wasn''t anything remarkable about them, but once nighttime fell, its leaves would give off a moon-white fluorescence.


    The whole tree was brilliant with shimmering buds of white, as beautiful as a fantasy. Many wealthy families liked to transplant the luminous tree.


    Just as famous as its beauty was another peculiarity, which was its delicacy. Up until then, the rate of successful transplantation was extremely low, and the rate of successful human cultivation was even lower. If a landscape architect had the experience of transplanting three luminous trees, it would increase his worth many times over.


    The luminous leaf wasn''t the leaf that you could just pick from the luminous tree, but referred to the leaves that had naturally fallen after three years of growth. Compared with leaves that hadn''t fallen and were just picked from the tree, their affinity with energy was much higher.


    That was also an important reason for why the price of three-star power cards couldn''t be decreased. Fortunately, the luminous tree wasn''t rare in the outer reaches. If that weren''t he case the price for the three-star energy cards would be a lot higher.


    The luminous leaf was an excellent agent for joining with energy, and Chen Mu understood its properties quite well. Three luminous leaves ground in a high-quality grinder created a very fine light-green powder.


    Opening the lid of the grinder, Chen Mu smelled a very light and distinctive fragrance, form which he immediately determined that those leaves were of extremely high quality. Among the knowledge introduced in that mysterious card about three-star cards, the explanations about the properties of materials were especially useful and detailed to a scary extent. Sometimes some slight variation in weight would require a specialized instrument to measure.


    By comparison, the coarseness of the materials used by ordinary card masters made them simply spoiled goods to Chen Mu.


    That precise and rigorous approach to dosage control had a big impact on Chen Mu, and no matter what card he was making, he was always very meticulous about his control of proportions with raw materials.


    There was a precious pile of white powder in another container, in which was mixed some very fine sky-blue colored crystals. Those glimmering fine crystals were the main ingredient to make power cards; "billowing sand."


    Billowing sand was a high-energy substance, quite enriched with energy. Most of it was in the form of mineral veins, with each billowing sand vein being priceless.


    Apart from the billowing sand, there were also some other materials, such as water-jade stones, or moon rocks, which could all substitute for billowing sand for making power cards.


    Chen Mu put the luminous leaf powder into the white powder, and slowly and carefully stirred it until it was evenly blended. The appearance of this billowing sand was quite good, with each grain being very pure. If he hadn''t taken the commission, he would have had to pay out contribution points to get the billowing sand.


    It was very difficult to buy that grade of billowing sand outside. Its quality had an important impact on the amount of energy that could be emitted from the three-star power cards made from it.


    The colorless liquid which he carefully dripped into the excellent mixture had been extracted from a kind of microbe. It was rich with enzymes, and Chen Mu knew how strictly the quantity had to be controlled. Otherwise the resulting card ink would be significantly deficient.


    One hundred and twenty-two drops. Chen Mu''s hand was steady and precise, and didn''t tremble in the slightest, so there was no deviation during the whole dripping process.


    Everything went beautifully to that point. Chen Mu lifted his head in satisfaction, with fifteen minutes still remaining before he could get the ink for the three-star power cards.


    After fifteen minutes, Chen Mu opened the container. The liquid in the container had turned jade green, fresh and translucent, giving people an irresistible urge to drink it. In reality, the solution had a certain poisonous quality which would be quite serious if it accidentally got into the mouth.


    Chen Mu sat up very straight, with all the kinds of pens he would need having been arranged earlier in front of him, along with all the blank cards spread out.


    * * *


    "Nice work."


    Ah Shen had his eyes fixed in awe listening to his superior''s admonitions. He had just completed a small-scale conflict, where he had single-handedly ambushed three opposing card artisans. He had not only retrieved some valuable things from the three card artisan''s bodies, he had also just gotten a fat reward.


    When he left from his superior, he was greeted by envious gazes from all around. Even though his adversaries were all high-grade card artisans, he had surprisingly killed them alone. That kind of success would be stunning no matter where it was found. And on top of these three high-grade card artisans that time, his kills had already grown to twelve people.


    Ah Shen''s eyes were squinting as always, and he didn''t show any complacency in his expression. He knew that his victory had included some element of luck. If he hadn''t bought that ''raining shuttles'' card in the last few days, he was afraid the one killed would have been himself.


    Before arriving, he had been practicing hard every day with the raining shuttles card, finally getting his firing frequency up to six shuttles a second. He had been depending on his adversaries being unprepared for the super high rate of his shooting.


    He had to say that his luck wasn''t bad. Not one among these twelve was a defensive-style card artisan. If he had run into a defensive-style card artisan who had an energy cloak, then the one in danger would have been himself. The raining shuttles card only had three stars, and the energy of the shuttles that it shot wasn''t sufficient to penetrate the energy cloak emitted by three-star level card.


    "Are you selling that ''raining shuttles'' card, Ah Shen? How about six hundred contribution points?" People along the way would occasionally ask similar things.


    Nearly everyone knew that Ah Shen had a ''raining shuttles'' card in his hands that could achieve six shuttles per second. Of course, they were all after the high contribution points at the front lines, but no matter how many points they earned, they would need a life to enjoy them.


    Six hundred contribution points was already four times as much as Ah Shen had paid when he bought it, which would be enough to buy a few four-star cards which had outstanding capabilities. But Ah Shen always firmly refused, being very clear that the raining shuttles card in his hands wasn''t only connected to his military success, but was connected to his life.


    * * *


    Ning Peng was staring at the requests coming back from the front lines, and tipped his head with a confused look to ask Ning Yan, "Have you heard anything about some kind of ''raining shuttles'' card?"


    "Raining shuttles card? What the hell is that?" Ning Yan shook her head, as she came over.


    "I don''t know either." Ning Peng was rubbing his shiny bald head, pointing to the screen in front of him. "A report has just come out from the front line, requisitioning a large quantity of raining shuttles cards, the more the better."


    Ning Yan was propped on the edge of the desk with her two hands, looking at the report on the screen, "One person killed twelve enemy card artisans. Wow, when did Ah Shen become so awesome?" She had been in that building all along, and naturally knew who Ah Shen was. In her mind, although Ah Shen had some power, it certainly couldn''t have developed to such a frightening extent.


    "Ah Shen was using the kind of raining shuttles card brought up in the report to kill twelve enemies. Oh? This raining shuttles card was bought here in this building. Who made it?" Ning Yan seemed lost in thought.


    Ning Yan frowned, and quickly stood up, "I''ll look into it right away."


    Neither of them dared to be careless about requests from the front line, and they immediately commenced an investigation in the building. They very quickly found Algoradicci, the one who had sold the card to Ah Shen. But he wasn''t very clear either about who the card master was who had made this card.


    They then quickly arrived at the consignment market to look at the original records.


    * * *


    After three continuous days of work, Chen Mu was looking at the pile of three-star power cards in front of him, feeling full of accomplishment. Within three days, he had made sixty-two three-star power cards. Even he was astonished at that achievement.


    When did he become so awesome? He looked at his two inconceivable hands, and he suddenly realized that without knowing it, he had become an entirely different person.


    After smiling woodenly for a while, he started to gather up the things on the desk.


    There was a simple piece of test equipment in the apartment, and he casually pulled out a three-star power card and inserted it.


    The numbers quickly started to jump around the screen, and directly jumped to 12,156 before stopping. That result rather pleased him, since he hadn''t spoiled any of the materials.


    The composition of the three-star power card was already pretty intricate, and because of problems with the quality of raw materials, and differences in the abilities of card masters, the three-star power cards which got produced were also similarly variable.


    While the standard amount of energy contained by a three-star power card was ten thousand, as a matter of fact, if the energy contained was above nine thousand, it would be considered standard for a three-star power card. The one that Chen Mu had made at over twelve thousand would already be considered high grade goods.


    That extra two thousand could very likely decide whether a card artisan lived or died.


    As Chen Mu was just getting ready to remove the power card, there was some pounding on the door.

 Chapter 103: Cooperation

    Chapter 103: Cooperation


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu looked around his apartment to be sure that there wasn''t anything offensive or that would draw someone''s attention before he turned around and opened the door. It seemed strange to him to have someone come look for him at that time.


    When he opened the door, a very eye-catching bald head was the first thing he saw. It was Ning Peng, which surprised Chen Mu somewhat, causing him to immediately put up his guard. Apart from seeing Ning Peng the first day, he had never seen the general manager of the building. And since he''d come together with Ning Yan this time, something must certainly be up.


    "What''s up?" Chen Mu asked.


    Ning Yan was dressed in sharp contrast to the spitfire look she had last time. Her devilish figure was wrapped tightly in work clothes, must more serious than the last time, with only that slightly open neckline to hook someone with its silky seductive sexy hint.


    But as Chen Mu saw it, she looked a little more capable and experienced. He was very appreciative of that kind of demeanor.


    "Aren''t you going to invite us in to sit?" Ning Yan said smiling.


    Chen Mu turned aside to let the two of them in.


    "I only have water here." Chen Mu looked the two of them over.


    "That''s OK, water is fine." Ning Yan responded with a smile.


    Chen Mu stepped up his guard, since he remembered very clearly her barely concealed look of contempt the last time when he was returning the cards he''d repaired. While this time she seemed like she had become someone else entirely.


    He knew that such a change in attitude surely had some cause, but he didn''t know what it was just then.


    Ning Peng was pivoting his shiny bald head, sizing up Chen Mu''s apartment, and when his gaze fell onto the test instrument in the corner, his two eyes burst out of their sockets.


    He got up and went over to the test instrument. Chen Mu had just finished his testing, and he hadn''t shut down the instrument. The numbers flashing on the screen were very eye catching.


    12,156!


    Ning Peng gave Chen Mu a look, and he grinned, "I never knew that Mr. Chen Mu''s ability was so surprisingly high. That reading is enough to put quite a few card masters to shame." He rubbed his two hands, and said with a face full of apologies, "I am a crude man, and don''t understand these things, and I haven''t been doing a good job. If I have slighted the gentleman the past few days, I feel very sorry."


    Ning Yan gave Ning Peng a look as though something were a little strange, not knowing why her big brother would say those things. But when her gaze subsequently fell onto that test meter''s screen, her tender body quivered, with her beautiful eyes were unable to hide her shock. She instantly forgot what she had been going to say.


    Chen Mu was still more convinced that they wanted something. At the beginning when Ning Dong had brought him there, Ning Peng had been very impatient in his speech, and now Ning Yan was ever so polite. It was just that he''d seen a lot of that kind of change from arrogant to humble, and never made much of it, except that it confirmed what he thought.


    Ning Yan''s gaze toward Chen Mu immediately changed, now carrying a surprising hint of respect.


    "Please say it straight out if you have some business. The time for my commission is coming quick." Chen Mu had decided to ''open the door and look at the mountains'' as he went straight to the point. His concept of time had always been very precise, so he hadn''t given himself too much leeway. Now with these two hanging around, Chen Mu was only twelve minutes away from the time he had to deliver his commission.


    Not having thought that they would hear Chen Mu say such a thing, Ning Peng and Ning Yan looked at each other and smiled.


    The one who opened her mouth was Ning Yan, who laughed and said, "You''re delivering the commission for three-star power cards? How many did you make?"


    "How did you know?" But then he thought about the status of the two and Chen Mu''s expression returned to being at ease, "Sixty-two cards."


    Ning Yan and Ning Peng were taken aback, and asked in unison, "How many?"


    "Sixty-two. What, is there some problem?" Chen Mu looked at the two as though there were something strange, not understanding why there were astonished.


    "You made sixty-two cards in three days?" Ning Yan and Ning Peng looked at each other as though they found that a little strange.


    "Right. Did I make too few?" Chen Mu frowned, thinking about the explanation for the commission, "Didn''t it say that it took only forty to complete the commission?"


    "Ha ha, of course the commission is considered complete!" Ning Peng was quick to say. A layer of fine sweat was appearing on his bald head, and under the glare of the light one or two wisps of hot air could be seen densely rising. Then he asked probingly, "How do these three-star power cards look?" He pointed to the test instrument, "are they comparable to that one?"


    "Just about, with a variance within two hundred." Chen Mu wasn''t actually very satisfied with that result. That batch of cards were all made by him at the same time, and to have such variation could only mean that his control of the circular sections still wasn''t precise.


    Chen Mu remembered the phrase from the mysterious card very clearly: "If a card master cannot accomplish precise control of each circular section, then there is no way for him to become a successful card master," from which could be seen how important precise control was.


    Still, discontent breeds discontent, and that was already his best success. If it had been earlier, the variations would be about three hundred or more. His success was completely due to the benefit from the period of perceptual sensitivity training, which had made his control of perception more precise.


    He had only just then discovered that there were many good things about the perceptual sensitivity training. He believed that if he could only bring his perceptual sensitivity to a higher level, he could reduce those variations even further.


    He didn''t know what kind of an impact what he said was having on Ning Peng and Ning Yan.


    The beads of sweat on Ning Peng''s bald head were getting denser, and the hot air rising went from the one or two wisps at the beginning to being clearly visible. Ning Yan had long since put any seriousness or any charm to the back of her mind, now having a half dull expression.


    They''d dug up the treasure! The two of them were thinking quickly, having immediately realized Chen Mu''s value.


    They figured that if this unprepossessing youth could make the raining shuttles card on top of that piece of work, that would be more than enough for him to be based there, and to do quite well.


    The three-star power card was the most often used and the most cost-effective power card. The specifications of one and two-star power cards were too low and couldn''t meet the needs of mid and high-grade card artisans. While four-star power cards and above were extremely expensive, and no family had the financial resources to equip all their cards artisans with four-star power cards.


    Because of that any stable card artisan who could make high quality three-star power cards was very valuable to any of the powers. That''s letting alone that it was a time of war, with the need for power cards untold amounts higher than during a time of peace.


    In some ways, there were limits to the usefulness of several dozen high grade three-star power cards. But the two of them knew how truly valuable they really were. Once they were sent to the front lines, those seasoned card artisans would all know how to use the unexpected advantage they would provide.


    Being considered excellent quality if they were above eleven thousand, high grade three-star power cards were still not easy to buy. How could it not excite the two of them to have that batch of three-star power cards in front of them, all surprisingly over twelve thousand.


    And so long as Chen Mu remained there, they could continually get the high quality three-star power cards with a little more stability in production.


    What''s more, his output volume was equally exciting!


    Though they hadn''t tested them, they weren''t doubting what Chen Mu had said.


    Ning Peng swallowed deeply, and put on a bright smile, "Mr. Chen needn''t worry, we''ve already determined that you''ve completed this commission. What''s more, because the cards you made are so outstanding, we''ve decided that we will compensate you with ten points per card. You''ll be getting six hundred and twenty points this time."


    Beneath Ning Peng''s puffed up look was a very shrewd mind. He knew very well how to get things done. Since his counterpart had real ability, he couldn''t be stingy with the points. And it would be very difficult to buy so many high quality three-star power cards outside.


    Compared to those points, winning over the card master was more important.


    "Ah." Chen Mu grunted his agreement, his face ever placid, with no sign of excitement. That disappointed the two of them as they quietly continued to check him out.


    But Ning Yan very quickly put on her uniquely charming smile, "Mr. Chen, I wonder if you would be interested in another commission? The compensation would be very high."


    Chen Mu knew that they had arrived at the real reason for their coming. He''d never thought that they would be coming there without some good reason, especially the two of them together. He was still keeping up his guard, which was why he hadn''t changed his tone when Ning Peng offered ten points per card in compensation.


    "What commission?"


    "Raining shuttle cards." Ning Yan was staring at Chen Mu as she enunciated those three words.


    Chen Mu''s expression remained as always, except for showing a flash of surprise in his eyes. He had never thought that the raining shuttles card that he had made to demonstrate his own worth would achieve its goal so quickly.


    Ning Yan and Ning Peng probably didn''t think anything of it, since the raining shuttles card was the thing that this simpleton wooden youth had made that got their attention.


    Seeing that Chen Mu hadn''t opened his mouth to refuse, Ning Yan felt happy, and the smile on her face became still more charming. "We would like a batch of raining shuttles cards, and of course we will pay ample remuneration."


    "How much?" Chen Mu asked very directly.


    Neither of them had expected Chen Mu to be so naked and open about the price. But when it came to talking prices, Ning Yan immediately put her inborn feminine advantages in play, as she agreed very quickly, though without naming her price. She asked instead, "How much does Mr. Chen require?"


    Chen Mu met Ning Yan''s gaze without any evasion at all, "I would have to first put one up for auction to determine the value." His mind was as bright as snow. The two them had certainly come for the raining shuttles card because it''s performance had gotten their attention. And if that''s the way it was, then all the other card artisans in the building would certainly all know about it. If he could do a little testing the water with one of the cards, he would presumably get a sense of its price.


    Ning Yan was struck dumb, never having thought that such a simple and wooden seeming guy would be so shrewd. How could she not know how hot this raining shuttles card was among the card artisans in the building. If one were to go up for auction now, she was afraid it would stir up a high price, to the point where they wouldn''t be able to bear the cost of acquisition.


    Seeing the circumstances, Ning Peng quickly added a word, throwing out the price they''d already decided, "Two hundred points per card, and we''ll provide the materials. How about it?"


    Chen Mu let the two hundred points sink in and couldn''t help looking a little pleased. He agreed immediately, "OK!" The price was already far higher than he''d anticipated, and he was talking to the real boss who could set the conditions, so he didn''t have to haggle.


    Seeing the pleasure on Chen Mu''s face, Ning Yan who had been holding back went into a worse mood.


    Ning Peng showed the temperament of a person in authority who had to make life and death decisions, where once something gets decided, you don''t muddy the water.


    "Good. Then it''s decided." He thought for a moment, and then said, "The biggest advantage of the raining shuttles card is its firing speed, while its shortcoming is that it''s power is a little low. I wonder if there might be some way for Mr. Chen to lower its firing speed a little to increase its power?"


    Chen Mu had quickly regained his calm, flashing a few schemes through his mind, and then gathering himself up to say, "I would have to do some testing, and I would need some relatively expensive materials."


    "There''s no problem with materials. Starting now, Mr. Chen Mu can take anything he wants so long as it''s in the self-service materials supermarket." Ning Peng very quickly responded, then added, "And if the supermarket doesn''t have the materials you need, Mr. Chen can look for either myself or Ning Yan and we will quickly satisfy your request."


    Ning Peng knew very well that the battle had come to its critical moment. He knew that some small bit of battle power could very well be the straw to break the camel''s back. And if the precious raw materials weren''t turned into cards, they wouldn''t be forming any kind of firepower. The pile of words was just dead things, neither here nor there. And what is a little material worth compared to a war campaign, after all.


    "OK." Chen Mu nodded in agreement, also knowing why his counterpart was being so generous. What Ning Peng really needed was pleasant cooperation, since for the Ning family just then, time had become the most important thing. He looked at Ning Peng and said, "I''ll be fast."


    Ning Peng''s eyes flashed his appreciation. Dealing with smart people was always a happy affair. Then he said with a little discretion, "Can I trouble Mr. Chen to first make a batch of raining shuttles cards. How long would it take to make twenty?"


    "Three days." Chen Mu immediately followed.


    "Good." Ning Peng nodded while he was quickly calculating, and he said, "I''ll come to get those cards after three days. The contribution points due will go onto your room card at the same time. If you can increase the power of the raining shuttles card, using the ability to penetrate the three-star energy cloak as the standard, I''ll pay five hundred points per card."


    "OK." Chen Mu agreed, though after thinking he said, "It isn''t possible to raise the power of the raining shuttles card as it is, but there''s something I have to be clear about, while the power can be increased, the star rating would still be three-stars."


    "No problem." Ning Peng brightly responded, "I''m only interested in power." He then reached out his right hand, "To a pleasant cooperation!"


    Chen Mu put out his right hand and lightly shook Ning Peng''s right hand, "To a pleasant cooperation."


    The two of them then took the sixty-two three-star power cards and bid Chen Mu farewell.


    When they returned to the office, Ning Yan couldn''t help complaining, "brother Peng, you were mistaken just now to be so generous, giving him such a high price at two hundred a card." She was clearly still brooding about Chen Mu having just beat her at her game.


    Ning Peng laughed, "Look at you so small-minded. Don''t mention these few points, I agreed just as he was about to raise the price. Time is the most important thing for us now. Compared with that, we can''t be haggling about small change. Furthermore, he''s a talent, and he should be highly paid."


    "Talent? Why don''t I see it?" Ning Yan flattened her mouth in disagreement, "So awesome that he can only make three-star cards? There are so many in the building who are much more awesome."


    Ning Peng said with a cool smile, "This is the wrong way to think about it. How many commissions have we received during this time? Maybe we''ve gotten hundreds of three-star power cards, but how many have been above eleven thousand? We were able to pick out just five last time. Meanwhile, no-one else is making so many by himself. I would bet that every one of this pile of three-star cards is absolutely above eleven thousand."


    "You trust that man so much?" Although Ning Yan believed him too, her mouth was still debating it, not ready to admit her mistake.


    Ning Peng sighed, and then said sternly, "Little sister, you still don''t understand. You can see at a glance that this Chen Mu is very serious about his work. Once he does something, this kind of person will take it to its limit, never giving up his carving, never boastful or exaggerating, and if he says that it''s over twelve thousand then it''s over twelve thousand. And a final point, compared to most of the high-grade card masters in the building, he could best quite a few of them." Then he opened into a smile, "I actually used to look down on him."


    Ning Yan was stunned, looking full of amazement at her big brother. This was the first time in her memory that she had ever heard her big brother give such a high assessment of anyone.


    Seeming to have thought of something, Ning Peng couldn''t help admonishing, "Sis, when you''re dealing with this person from now on, don''t haggle. Although he looks simple and wooden, he''s really very clever. It''s worth it to spend a little more on such a person."


    Chen Mu hadn''t put that much hope on the raining shuttles card before. Its strengths and weakness were both obvious, high firing speed, and low power. He had only been thinking of using it as a way to demonstrate his value, and he hadn''t thought that the raining shuttles card would have so many benefits for him.


    If he were to put all of his energy into it, Chen Mu would only need a short amount of time to complete twenty raining shuttles cards. The materials required were all common low-level materials. Its design was the really complicated part. But given the increase in his perceptual sensitivity by that time, the thing that he was least concerned about was the complicated design of the composition


    So, he had left himself some extra time.


    His brain was entirely occupied with considering how he could increase the power of the raining shuttles card. That was the first time he didn''t have to be concerned about materials and could play to his heart''s content. If he could just imagine something, he could test it with abandon. He got very excited when he thought about all the materials in the self-service materials supermarket that he could choose to use.


    But the standard that Ning Peng had set was still not low; being able to penetrate a three-star energy cloak was generally something that probably required a four-star fantasy card to accomplish.


    If he could really pull it off, the lethality of that raining shuttles card wouldn''t just be raised a little. It was difficult to imagine how very few could escape intact under such rapid firing.


    It was an entirely new topic for Chen Mu, and one full of challenge, but he was still filled with confidence.


    When Chen Mu went again to the self-service materials supermarket, those disdainful looks had entirely disappeared, replaced by looks of pure awe and respect.


    This world is so practical! Chen Mu smiled bitterly to himself. For someone like him who had climbed up little by little from the lowest strata, this realization was a little deeper than it would be for most people.


    He picked out some materials that he could previously only gaze at in the glass cases, which were all things that he would have had to spend large amounts of contribution points to buy. But now Chen Mu didn''t have to spend anything, and he took advantage of his position to choose quite a few materials that he had coveted, and then returned to his apartment when he had satisfied himself.


    The time was too short, and there wasn''t enough time to completely redesign the card. But while he couldn''t complete the optimization of the composition, he could compensate for that with materials.


    He wasn''t thinking of scrimping on materials for the Ning family. In his eyes, materials were meant to be used, and if precious materials weren''t used there would be no way for them to show their value. Of course, it was also important that if he were to meet Ning Peng''s demands, the compensation would be two and a half times more than for the basic raining shuttles card, which was enough to excite him.


    He replaced blank cards made from the tannins of white banana leaves with blank cards made from gold-sprinkled grass which had better affinity. He replaced the chunked dragon stone with crystalline dragon stone powder, which had stronger physical properties. These were about an order of magnitude different in cost at the materials supermarket. For the affinity agent, Chen Mu also exchanged for the more highly concentrated and superior natural microbial liquid.


    For each of the materials, Chen Mu substituted something of several times the performance. But although the new ratios were only in the physical qualities, he kept them in the same balance, though if he wanted to get the most out of it, he would have to make some fine adjustments.


    Precisely controlling all the proportionate weights was one of the things that Chen Mu was best at. He very quickly adjusted each of the materials proportions, creating a new state of balance.


    Finally, under Chen Mu''s unremitting efforts, the new style of raining shuttles fantasy card which was named ''raining shuttles card .II'' came fresh out of the oven!

 Chapter 104: Raining Shuttles Card·Ⅱ

    Chapter 104: Raining Shuttles Card¡¤¢ò


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Ning Peng, Ning Yan and Chen Mu went together to the training arena which was numbered 888. It was also the training arena at the building with the highest specifications. The training fee for each hour went up to three points. Before his bartering, that kind of high fee would have given Chen Mu pause.


    "This is the improved type raining shuttles card." Chen Mu handed over the bright red card. This raining shuttles card looked very cool, with its face covered in deep red, while full of a passionate bright red design, which made it look like it was encased in a ball of fire.


    Ning Peng took the card. Aside from being in charge of that base, he was also a high-grade card artisan, whose strengths were a profound mystery. Seeing him skillfully insert the raining shuttle scar into the apparatus signaled to Ning Yan that she could start.


    In mid air in front of Ning Yan was standing a colored screen, which was the control screen for the training arena. She skillfully selected the appropriate options.


    The first thing they did was the penetration test that everyone was the most concerned about.


    A spherical energy cloak started slowly rising about two hundred meters away, within which was a red target. The target could only be hit after passing through the energy cloak. This cloak was a standard three-star energy cloak, whose protective power was generally equivalent to an ordinary three-star energy cloak.


    Without having much to say, Ning Peng raised his hand in which was a shuttle.


    Hsiu! The sudden shrill whistling sound startled Ning Yan. A dark green energy shuttle shot out from Ning Peng''s hand, leaving a green trail in the sky.


    Ping! Pow! The first was a crisp sound, followed by an explosion. The two sounds were very close together, but the three of them all had extraordinary hearing, and they could clearly tell them apart.


    Everyone could clearly see that the target inside the energy cloak had been blown apart.


    The screen in front of Ning Yan was also slowly playing back the scene, which enabled them to see more clearly the moment when the green shuttle had pierced the energy cloak.


    It was hard to hide the joyful expression on Ning Peng''s face, "Not bad, not bad!" then he said to Ning Yan, "Switch to free-fire mode."


    Ning Yan selected that mode on the screen.


    Countless small glowing spheres suddenly flew to a spot about five hundred meters from Ning Pen, looking like star after shooting star, dragging long tails. Due to their high speed, and the difficultly of discerning their flight trajectory, they looked bizarre and abnormally as though they were quick-witted. Those small glowing spheres were so numerous, and they were so scattered, that it was hard to catch sight of them.


    Chen Mu was supposing to himself that if he were called to shoot, he would probably have a pitifully low hit rate. The tailless shuttle was awesome, but its firing speed being so slow was its fatal weakness.


    He''d broadened his scope that day. Until he watched Ning Peng''s demonstration, he hadn''t understod how stunning the battle-power of a high-grade card artisan was.


    Pow Pow Pow!


    Ning Peng looked focused, as the green shuttles in his hand were falling away like raindrops, with each shuttle accurately targeting a glowing sphere. Getting out in front of each glowing sphere, the green shuttle would abruptly cut it off, with every glowing sphere hit by an incomparably accurate green shuttle when it reached the area, and then instantly turning into a ball of shrapnel.


    The sky full of scattered shrapnel spraying from one after the other was very fine to look at.


    Chen Mu was shocked. Ning Peng''s battle-power was amazing, and if he had to fight him, there wouldn''t be any chance of success. He did a little figuring. Although it was Ning Peng''s first time using the raining shuttles card, his firing speed was approaching six shuttles per second. After some time, his firing frequency would get faster and faster until he reached six shuttles a second.


    Chen Mu was looking jittery, since it was Ning Peng''s first time using the raining shuttles card. If he were to get in a little more practice, Chen Mu believed that he had an extremely good probability to break through six shuttles a second.


    That''s one really scary guy!


    Ning Yan was concentrating all of her attention on the screen in front of her, where all sorts of data was pulsating. The more she looked, the more her expression turned grave. If she had had any misgivings about the reports coming though in front of her, she was now completely on board and full of praise.


    That is one really scary kind of card!


    Taking a quick glance at the wooden simpleton Chen Mu to her side, she sighed that the guy who looked like nothing had actually invented such a terrifying battle-card. She no longer dared to look down on his simple looks. He''d proven himself.


    Gathering back her thoughts, her head was quickly filling with outlines for various schemes to use such a card. If a small team of twenty were each equipped with one of them, they should be able to form a dense net of fire, enough to cover a small district with firepower. And if there were a hundred?


    Ning Peng finally wrapped up the demonstration that had made Chen Mu quake with a very satisfied expression.


    "Nice! I suppose that if I spend a little time getting used to it, I can break through seven shuttles a second. It''s hard to imagine that this is a three-star fantasy card. You always give us a pleasant surprise, Mr. Chen."


    "Thank you for the praise." Chen Mu had to strenuously maintain his calm exterior and cover up his shock. Seven shuttles a second had already exceeded the theoretical limit. Could that be the real power of the card artisan then?


    Calming his shock, he pulled out a pile of raining shuttles cards, "Here are twenty of the previous model."


    Ning Peng took the cards, "Mr Chen is very punctual, and very efficient. I''d like to ask, how does the time to make the raining shuttles card .II compare with the previous raining shuttles card?"


    "It takes a fifth more time." Chen Mu gave him a pretty definite answer.


    "Could you make twenty in three days?" Ning Peng''s expression had become serious. He really understood what this card could do once it could be deployed, especially if it were deployed at scale. It would have an impact on the entire situation of the war.


    "Sure." Chen Mu didn''t waste any words either.


    Ning Peng''s expression relaxed a bit, as he continued, "If Mr. Chen could shave off a day, I would like to give another hundred points per card."


    Chen Mu was dumbfounded, as he did some mental arithmetic, quickly finding that this was do-able. But after thinking about it, he declined the tempting offer, "Two days is too short. It would be too easy for the cards to have a lot of defects."


    Hearing that, Ning Peng could only regretfully say, "It''s done then, quality comes first."


    Chen Mu returned to his apartment which had practically turned into a warehouse full of piles of materials. He had had the materials supermarket deliver the materials directly to his apartment, to save time.


    Chen Mu could easily complete twenty raining shuttle cards .II within three days, and it wouldn''t be any trouble to shorten it by a day. But he felt that caution was still his best strategy, since he never wanted others to know his real strength, or he wouldn''t maintain his margin for error in a counterattack if he ever encountered a dangerous situation.


    He needed to be careful to survive.


    He had already earned a lot of points. And since he could now get all his materials for free, he basically didn''t need to spend points. His craving for points was nothing like what it had been at the outset, though going forward, he still needed to be very careful to keep some chips in his hands.


    He had a lot of things he had to do with any extra time. He had never had enough time, and there could never be too much time.


    When Ning Yan and Ning Peng got back to the office, before they could sit down, the secretary knocked on the door.


    "They''ve arrived."


    Ning Peng and Ning Yan looked at each other and Ning Peng said, "Mmmm, take them to the number one meeting room."


    When the two soon arrived at the number one meeting room, there were five people waiting for them.


    None of the five were young, with the youngest about forty or so, and most were old men with white hair. When the five saw the two enter, they all stood, except for the eldest.


    Ning Peng signaled for them all to sit, and said with a smile, "I won''t waste any words. I naturally requested the honor of your visit this time because I have something to ask of you." None of the five was surprised, since they had long since guessed that for him to have invited them was naturally not so they could chat and drink tea. But with Ning Peng speaking so directly, all of the old and seasoned guys detected the urgency.


    Ning Peng nodded to Ning Yan, who then distributed a card to each of them from the pile in her hands.


    "This is a card made by one of our card masters. It''s called the raining shuttles card, in the category of a three-star battle fantasy card. Its biggest advantage is its fast firing rate, which is theoretically six shuttles per second, though for a card artisan who is proficient in shuttle-type cards, it could be pushed a little faster." Ning Peng very simply introduced the raining shuttles card.


    "Six shuttles a second?" The five were all stunned. The youngest one couldn''t restrain his refutation, "Not possible. How could a three-star battle card have such performance? Only fourth level and above could achieve this kind of firing rate!"


    While none of the rest of them said anything, their expressions showed that they didn''t believe it either.


    Ning Peng wasn''t annoyed, as he just lightly rubbed his bald head, and said with a slight smile, "You can all take a look at the card in your hands. I''ve already tested one myself. The reason I''ve asked you all to come is that I hope you can copy the card. You are all powerful card masters, I don''t know how many grades higher than the one who made this card. I don''t imagine it will be too much trouble for you. Of course, we won''t be shabby with the remuneration."


    He then signaled that they should look at the cards.


    The five of them all retuned their gazes to the cards, wanting to see what kind of three-star fantasy card that was which could achieve six shuttles per second.


    "Yi!""Yi!" Sounds of surprise from time to time. Their faces had all become very grave.


    Ning Peng and Ning Yan were looking at one another, each wanting to see if the other was worried.


    The meeting room had become very quiet, with all the five card masters looking focused on the cards in their hands, and no-one saying anything. Ning Yan and Ning Peng weren''t pressing them, waiting calmly for the result.


    After fully a half hour had passed, someone finally spoke. The one speaking was the oldest, whose hair had all turned white. He was also the most notable among the five. He had been the only one not to stand when Ning Peng and Ning Yan came in just then. He gave a light cough to alert the other four, who looked absorbed.


    Seeing that the card master had something to say, Ning Yan and Ning Feng also sat straight up.


    After a discreet pause, he slowly began to speak, "I''ve been scrutinizing this card. To tell the truth, I don''t understand a lot of the composition. But since brother Peng has tried it, there certainly isn''t anything wrong with it. It''s just that the composition of this card is quite a bit different from anything that I have studied. I can''t understand what I don''t understand, but its six shuttles per second firing rate must have something to do with its special composition, which is meticulous and rigorously structured."


    Looking around, he saw that everyone was listening. He paused for a moment to enunciate, "I can honestly say that this old man can''t copy this card."


    The entire meeting room fell silent after that. For someone of the stature and position of the elder to say with his own mouth that he couldn''t copy a certain card carried a lot of weight.


    Ning Peng and Ning Yan looked at one another, stunned. They needed a large quantity of raining shuttles cards just then, and although Chen Mu was quick, that was still a long way from meeting their needs. So, they had gotten the idea to look for people to copy it. While to them Chen Mu''s power was pretty good, among the many ace card masters at the base, there should be quite a few who could copy it.


    Maybe their copies of the raining shuttles card wouldn''t be up to the level of Chen Mu''s, but for them, one more card was one more bit of power. A pretty amazing quantity of raining shuttles cards was being demanded.


    Not one among the five wasn''t at the very top level for the base, and they represented the very best among the card masters there. And the elder was at the grand master level, having excellent relations with the Ning family. He was living there in part for retirement and in part to help Ning Peng resolve some issues relating to card masters. Ning Peng gave him the respect due an elder.


    Once he opened his mouth, that determined the direction of the whole matter.


    Ning Peng looked around at the rest of the card masters, who all looked very uncomfortable. They couldn''t copy the card either.


    "This card is too strange. It''s like what the elder said, there are many compositions in it that I have never seen, and I don''t know what school it came out of." One among them couldn''t help saying softly. The rest of them all nodded, making clear that they all strongly felt the same way.


    If anyone wanted to think that you only had to copy each stroke from the cards composition, that would be absolutely wrong. If you didn''t understand the meaning of the composition, and if you didn''t understand its purpose, then copying out a completely identical composition would be useless.


    Apart from one-star power cards, all the rest of the cards required the involvement of perception. Provided that you really understood every composition, and the purpose of every recursive composition, you could then allow your perception to make the corresponding adjustments, and from that allow the card ink and the card to achieve different degrees of union.


    It''s like painting where some places require a light sketch, and some require a heavy-pen ink-splash. Cards are like that as well, where there is a degree of union that the naked eye has no way to determine but can only speculate about by way of the composition.


    Those card masters were stumped on the first step, and so the remainder of the work naturally couldn''t unfold.


    Ning Peng smiled bitterly to himself, having never thought that those card masters with such strong reputations wouldn''t even be able to copy a three-star fantasy card. That was far beyond what he had anticipated, and it meant that in the short term, the plan to get large quantities of raining shuttles cards had been declared bankrupt.


    "Can we invite him to come and explain his composition?" Ning Yan impulsively opened her mouth.


    "Nonsense!" The elder categorically shouted. His look was stern, showing no pleasure, and the gazes of the rest of them looking at Ning Yan were also rather judgmental.


    Ning Yan sputtered, knowing that she had spoken poorly.


    Seeing that Ning Peng was a little unconvinced, the elder explained, "Although the traditions of card masters aren''t as strict as they used to be, with regard to this question, everyone is in agreement. You can''t talk about compelling others to disclose the key. That would be to pry, and it would violate a taboo."


    Seeing that the two of them were still unconvinced, the elder thought about it and said, "Here''s an example. Brother Peng is a card artisan, and he naturally understands the differences among card artisans, as well as differences in their understanding of the structure of energy. In the same way, two people who have a different understanding of the composition of energy might have a large difference in the amount of power, even while using the very same card. Never mind which school the card artisan is from; the most central thing is the understanding of the composition of energy. Have you ever heard of anyone saying that they would give their own understanding of the structure of energy to someone else?


    "That would never happen." This time Ning Peng very smartly nodded, while Ning Yan continued to sputter as though she''d been naughty.


    "Then that''s about it. Please always remember that while this is an unwritten rule in the world of card masters, it is also an iron rule. If anyone were to break it, once other card masters found out, the results would be severe. What''s more, the composition of this card is very unconventional, diametrically different from the composition of ordinary cards. It clearly belongs to some certain school. Whenever they are linked to a school, these kinds of matters become even more sensitive, and still more firmly decided." The elder sternly instructed the two of them. He was the only one who might have dared to give the two a lesson like that.


    "I understand, grandfather Yu." Ning Peng rushed to show his respect.


    "I''ll take the card back to study it some." And then the elder suddenly thought of an issue, "Who is the card master? Introduce him to me some day."


    "You''d like to see him? No problem, no problem, though it will have to be after a while, since he''s recently caught up in making the raining shuttles cards. I''m afraid we wouldn''t be able to get any of his time, and if you were to see him during this time, I''m afraid it wouldn''t be a satisfying talk." Ning Peng explained.


    The elder thought about it and nodded, "After a while then."


    Ning Yan suddenly pointed to the raining shuttles card in the elder''s hand, and said, "Grandfather Yu, this card will be sent to the front lines."


    The elder was startled, and immediately gave back the raining shuttles card, saying to himself, "Ai, then I won''t take it, if it can save one person, then save that person!" His face was full of concern, and he seemed to have gotten suddenly older. All sorts of feelings welled up in him when he thought about running into such a war during his later years.


    Ning Yan rushed over to steady him and take him back to his apartment.


    Chen Mu wasn''t too worried about any issues with the raining shuttles card, but he also didn''t have any time at all to consider any issues. Although making the raining shuttles card .II still gave him a little time left over, the time needed for his daily training was as long as always.


    And moreover, it was quite an enticement for him to be able to make use of materials for free. He still didn''t have strong foundations, especially in the practical aspects. Previously, his economic conditions were never sufficient to allow him to burn money like that. He had to grab the opportunity, since whether or not he could enjoy such treatment after the war had ended was a matter of uncertainty.


    No matter what, he had to take hold of the opportunity in front of him.


    By that time his apartment had gotten a lot more like a warehouse. Apart from a passage in the middle through which a person could pass with difficulty, everyplace else was piled with all sorts of materials.


    Ning Yan had later entered his apartment once, when there wasn''t even anyplace to sit. In addition to that were all sorts of materials floating around mixed up with a strange smell. And when she saw some kind of insect-shell carcass at her feet, her face had turned white.


    She only stayed three minutes before bolting away.


    Ever since then, she would always call Chen Mu to the door, not being willing to enter on pain of death.


    Chen Mu didn''t care about her, being only too anxious for them to bother him less often. But it was a good thing that he also knew that his ability to enjoy such treatment was tightly connected to his usefulness, so he was always punctual and met the quantities with the raining shuttles card .II, which really satisfied Ning Peng.


    Chen Mu was in an awkward position just then as a card master, having made more than enough cards in the three-star category, but still not having enough power to make four-star cards.


    He pondered that a bit and decided that he would still put most of his energy into making three-star cards. There were many types of three-star cards, among which the category of fantasy cards alone included a massive number. Chen Mu had started to try using token theory to optimize those three-star cards, such as the jet-stream card.


    Being able to fly had always been Chen Mu''s dream, and if he wanted to fly, the jet stream card was essential. And when it came to jet-stream cards, the first thing Chen Mu thought of was the mudfish jet-stream card.


    That was the most ingenious jet stream card among all the compositions Chen Mu had seen, even though it was specifically made for shuttle cars. But for Chen Mu as he was by then, it wouldn''t be a difficult thing for him to make a standard three-star jet stream card from it, for use in a wrist-apparatus.


    But Chen Mu wasn''t satisfied with just that.


    There was a very important reason that the mudfish jet stream card had such excellent capabilities, which was that it used a token-style composition, although that composition was still in its first stages. And what Chen Mu needed to make would take the more mature token theory as he understood it to optimize the mudfish jet stream card to a new level, taking its capabilities to an even more outstanding place.


    He had sufficient fine materials on hand and didn''t need to worry about problems with those.


    What would the first three-star jet-stream card that was in his own category be like? That was something to look forward to!

 Chapter 105: The Big Mudfish

    Chapter 105: The Big Mudfish


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Transport shuttles screamed into the air one after the other flying toward the front lines. As he watched the transport shuttles leaving from the landing pad at the building, Ning Peng couldn''t help wondering how much use those things would be that were being sent to the front lines.


    Every transport shuttle had over eight high grade card artisans to protect it, since even though they would remain within the area of what the Ning family controlled, they still had to defend against small-scale surprise attacks. Logistics are always important in any war. That was something everyone understood, and Ning Peng was not going to be careless.


    Hoping for an early end to the conflict, Ning Feng was spellbound staring blankly toward Eastern Shang-Wei City. He was a little more anxious than others, since if they couldn''t conclude the conflict soon, the situation could get messy. Nobody knew how many hunters were staring hungrily from the sidelines watching their prey like tigers. If they couldn''t take Eastern Shang-Wei City soon, that would mean that things could change. Not only wouldn''t they be able to grasp the fruits of victory, the Ning family might be overrun.


    This was not something that they wanted, and so the most important thing just then was to quickly resolve the fight. It would be better if they could have more of the raining shuttles cards. Provided he had sufficient raining shuttles cards, Ning Peng believed that they could greatly shorten this time of battling back and forth.


    There were very few defensive card artisans ¨C no matter in which power ¨C which was why the raining shuttles card could play such a valuable role. Too bad the numbers weren''t sufficient! Ning Peng had made up his mind that he needed Chen Mu to make more raining shuttles cards, and that it would be worth paying extra for.


    The raining shuttles card had been an extremely powerful battle tool without a doubt, for a pretty long time.


    * * *


    If was the first time Chen Mu had gone into the flight training room. It wasn''t very similar to the other training spaces, having its four walls, as well as the ceiling and floor, all covered with a sky-blue and extremely soft material so that you wouldn''t be harmed when hitting it at high speed. In addition to that it also had obstacles floating in midair. These obstacles were all strange different shapes and types, with most of them irregular. They were made of equally soft material, but if you came into contact with them, points would be deducted.


    During the beginning training, the obstacles were all fixed. But once the learner''s ability improved to a certain extent, the obstacles would freely move about in midair. In that way the trainees would have to pay attention to dodging and evading. And, as the training level increased, their movements would also get faster.


    The training room had scoring criteria. Chen Mu was very clumsy the first time he entered the training space, and was set to the lowest level.


    He took a deep breath. It would be a fraud to say that he wasn''t a little scared. He''d made a lot of improvements to that jet stream card since making it. The card he was using at that time was the one he considered the best, as well as the most perfected.


    He had used the mud fish jet stream card as the basis and optimized the token theory. And he took advantage of quite a few top-notch materials to make it. Chen Mu called it the "Big Mud Fish." He would have to practice before he could find out what the actual performance of the big mud fish was.


    Before coming to the training space, Chen Mu had made a concentrated study of a large body of knowledge relating to the skills involved in flight. He would soon find out if that had been useful or not.


    Strenuously calming himself down, he carefully activated the apparatus on his wrist.


    He could feel it! He was overjoyed to feel a slight thrust lifting him from beneath his feet. He rushed to control it with his perception and increased the thrust. He didn''t dare to increase it too much, so he increased it gradually.


    Chen Mu opened his arms as his feet left the ground and put all of his attention nervously on carefully maintaining his balance. That made him look like a bowed piece of shrimp, sometimes twisting strangely.


    Chen Mu flew further and further off the ground, swaying and wobbling, and getting to three meters in an instant. He felt as though he were standing on two round logs, and that if he weren''t careful it would be easy to lose his balance. He suddenly felt himself seeming to move toward the side, so he quickly twisted his body, trying to move in the other direction to maintain his balance.


    But just then he wasn''t paying attention that his perception had lost its control.


    The thrust under his feet suddenly arched him upward like a mud fish, making Chen Mu immediately unstable, looking like a person dancing in midair, with his body all twisted, and completely unable to keep his balance.


    The thrust beneath his feet became more untrustworthy, suddenly increasing its thrust and transmitting great power from his feet. Then the crooked Chen Mu discovered that he was shooting like a star to smash into the wall.


    The wall was getting suddenly bigger, and Chen Mu''s eyes were wide open, utterly not knowing how to adjust, and only able to helplessly watch himself get closer and closer to the wall.


    To tell the truth, as he helplessly saw that he would crash into the wall, he didn''t have any strength left to change the direction of his perception, which really sucked. Chen Mu just watched himself hit the blue colored wall. In the instant that he hit, he couldn''t help closing his eyes in preparation for the pain. The subsequent sensation was far different from what he had anticipated, as he fell into an extremely soft and airbag-like substance, which surrounded his whole body.


    The air sack slowly pushed him back out without waiting for him to open his eyes, and he felt his body in midair falling to the ground where he once again sank into the soft deep blue.


    He was surrounded by such softness that it had no resistance, and so he had to use a lot of energy to climb out from the deep blue floor.


    Chen Mu''s first personal flight ended that way. But he didn''t intend to finish immediately. Knowing that everything was covered with the kind of sky blue protective air cushion, the stone fell from his heart, and he immediately spread his hands and feet, intending to fly right back up, since falling back down wouldn''t hurt him.


    Chen Mu quickly found the joy of flight.


    Chen Mu was really just a boy. Although in many ways he was more mature than similar aged people, once he started to play hard, he was just a child who hadn''t lost his childishness.


    He didn''t need to protect himself from anyone just then, and he didn''t need to worry about his safety, and he was alone there, having dropped all his baggage like an innocent child having found his favorite toy, playing to his heart''s content.


    He had found the purest and simplest joy in that place.


    * * *


    "He went to the flight training space?" Ning Peng was startled.


    Ning Yan made an expression as though she were clueless, and shrugged her shoulders, "Perhaps he wants to try flying. Isn''t it said that flight is the dream of humans?"


    Suddenly remembering all the information about Chen Mu, Ning Peng said as though something were on his mind, "I seem to remember that he is also a card artisan. Right! When I think about it, he once killed Yu Xin from the Zuo household, which means that he''s no weakling."


    "Could he really be a genius?" Saying this, Nin Yan''s expression wasn''t saying that she thought so, "What period are we in to for someone to be both a card artisan and a card master? Is he out of his mind with his brain under water?"


    "I find it strange too. According to reason, and given his nature, he wouldn''t be likely to make that kind of mistake." Ning Peng was also rubbing his bald head a little strangely.


    Unlike at the beginning when the card system was established, after so many years of development, the divisions within the card system had become more and more definite. Card artisans and card masters were entirely different, and it was already very rare for someone to concurrently practice both professions, since the direct result would be to be proficient in neither.


    Whether it was to make cards or to manipulate them, both represent profound knowledge and study, enough to occupy an entire life.


    For example, in making cards, in the category of the simple fantasy card alone, there were many subcategories. Basic one or two-star fantasy cards were low grade goods to many people, though they still represented a lot of scholarship. And following recent developments with fantasy card advertisements and card plays, there were still more subcategories.


    That was why Ning Peng and Ning Yan were so surprised when they found out that Chen Mu had gone to the flight training space, though mostly they disagreed with the idea. Ning Peng had already been deliberating about when he should go to remind Chen Mu. For a long time now, Chen Mu had been very useful to the Ning family. But of course, what made him the most unhappy was that Chen Mu had time when he wasn''t making raining shuttles cards, but was racing over instead to practice some sort of flying.


    He naturally couldn''t say that to Chen Mu''s face. Although Chen Mu was still bound by those two hundred cards, he still wasn''t a card master directly under the Ning family, so Ning Peng couldn''t meddle too much.


    At that time Chen Mu was like a child, completely absorbed playing in the flight practice space. His wooden face was brimming with a happy smile. If Copper had seen him then, he would have been surprised as well, wondering if he had recognized the wrong person.


    Chen Mu didn''t know how many times he had fallen to the ground while he was trying to get the knack for it.


    One important factor was that he could control his perception to a very fine extent, which was crucial. Chen Mu had discovered yet again how important the perceptual sensitivity training was. His degree of precision controlling his perception reflected his ability to a certain extend. He had gotten through quite a few bottlenecks before by increasing his perceptual sensitivity enough to make a breakthrough solution.


    Another important factor was his outstanding physical conditioning. Having gone through the exercise gymnastics, he had improved his physical constitution. Beyond that was the mysterious dodging and evading training from the demonic woman, which he had kept up. His flexibility, coordination, and ability to keep his balance were all outstanding.


    Chen Mu was naturally diligent even while absorbed in play, which led to his ability improving more quickly. Still, what gave him the most trouble was that "Big Mud Fish" jet stream card.


    The "Big Mud Fish" had outstanding capabilities, but the difficulty of controlling it went along with its terrifying capabilities. For a beginner like Chen Mu, that was a big headache.


    But Chen Mu had no intention of exchanging it for a different jet stream card. His approach was very simple; that if he could control the "Big Mud Fish," then why would he need to talk about any other cards?

 Chapter 106: Black and White Chrysanthemum Rock

    Chapter 106: Black and White Chrysanthemum Rock


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The conflict between the Ning and Zuo households had reached its climax just when Chen Mu began playing with the Big Mud Fish. Chen Mu himself couldn''t remember just how many raining shuttles card .II''s he had made. But he had made an average of twenty every three days without interruption. The trend in his contribution points was also heading up to crazy heights during the same period.


    Completely devoted to learning to use the jet stream card, Chen Mu didn''t much care except that every three days after he had finished twenty raining shuttle cards .II, He would excitedly race over to the flight training space. He had to pay two points for every hour''s use of the flight training space, which was like a drop in the bucket for him by that point.


    At the same time, Ning Peng certainly knew how many he had on hand. From the first time that Chen Mu had made the raining shuttles card up until then had been precisely one month and three days, during which time he had made twenty raining shuttles cards and two hundred raining shuttles card .II''s.


    Two hundred raining shuttles card .II''s already composed a powerful enough battle force!


    The base at the front lines had tight discipline. There were seven or eight orderly forts in the battle grounds around the base. In the air above were card artisans acting as scouts, who were using their probe cards to continuously sweep the surroundings.


    Inside the base two hundred men were ranked in orderly phalanxes, not making a sound. Standing in front of them was a middle-aged man whose half-opened eyes oozed a deadly menace.


    "This is the day that will determine the outcome."


    The middle-aged man looked over those two hundred card artisans, who were all the elite among the offspring of the Ning household. Every one of them looked completely calm, and they calmed him with their look of determination. They were all excellent, of accomplished character, with each of them having passed through multiple rounds of selection before finally being accepted to the troop.


    With everything that needed to be said and done having been said and done, leaving nothing left to be arranged, he didn''t have much to say. He looked deeply into the eyes of the leader, and barked out, "Return triumphant!"


    "Yes sir!" The leader responded loudly.


    The middle-aged man softened his serious expression, "Bring everyone back safely!"


    ''Yes sir!" The leader hadn''t ever thought that such a strong and powerful man would speak that way, and he was stirred. And those card artisans who were looking at him in awe were also stirred.


    The middle-aged man was lost in thought as he watched them depart. There was probably no-one who knew that the turning point of the conflict had come from a single report he had written. He hadn''t placed much hope in it when he submitted that report, never thinking that Ning Peng could give him so many raining shuttles cards, much less the even more powerful raining shuttles card .II.


    Ever since getting the first batch of raining shuttles cards, he had begun to organize training in that type of card for the card artisans under him. The power of the raining shuttles card .II far exceeded what he had imagined, leading him to consider how to take advantage of the trump card.


    During that period, he hadn''t sent out a single card artisan, including even Ah Shen. They were all restricted from the battle. And during that month, the two hundred card artisans had been training on deployment at scale.


    He had held back so as not to give the adversary any opportunity for response. He wanted to determine the outcome in a single battle, and the final time had come.


    After the fighting up until that point, only the Ning and Zuo households still had any combat effectiveness, but he was very clear that today''s protagonist would be the Ning family.


    With its ability to penetrate a three-star energy cloak, the raining shuttles card .II rivaled a four-star fantasy card. When those two hundred crack card artisans used it in unison, and when you added its penetration to its stunning firing speed, the ferocity of the firepower would be terrifying even to him.


    The card artisans who had been deployed for a while in the battle grounds outside the base had started one by one to begin their actions.


    The first to fly out were the defensive card artisans. They had formed themselves into small platoons of seven or eight, with a few even acting alone. Their responsibility was to scout for card artisans in hiding. They didn''t participate in the long battles, since they lagged far behind those well-trained Ning family offspring when it came to coordinated actions. But in man-to-man combat, they had considerable strength, and they were all well-seasoned, with nearly each one of them having some specialty. They were well-deployed for that kind of responsibility.


    Everyone realized that the battle would be entirely different from any previous battle, and with the war being imminent, not a few of the card artisans among them showed their excitement.


    One after the other the card artisans flew into the sky. The entire base encampment had become noisy. All mixed up together were the sounds of running, and of orders being given, as well as the sounds of things breaking, with the atmosphere having become frenetic.


    Those card artisans with responsibility for communication were incessantly forwarding wave after wave of orders into everyone''s ears.


    A large war was unfolding.


    * * *


    By the time that Chen Mu got the news of the Ning family victory, he had already become pretty good at flying. It would have to be said that he seemed to have some talent in that regard, and it might have had something to do with his being so happy with the diversion.


    He really enjoyed the feeling of flying. He had already easily passed through the middle and above levels of difficulty in the training, even sometimes able to do the high-level flight exercises.


    Ning Yan had told him about the victory, which she quickly followed with another huge commission for two hundred raining shuttles card .II''s. The price hadn''t changed at five hundred contribution points per card, or a hundred thousand points altogether. If he were to exchange them for Oudi, that was about the output of a medium sized firm for a year.


    Chen Mu had over a hundred thousand points on hand by that time, which could be considered wealthy. And even better, Ning Yan and the rest had greatly relaxed the time-frame for the commission, allowing three months for this job.


    He didn''t see any trace of Ning Yan after she left off the commission. Even though there were amazing benefits for being on the winning side, the Ning family had paid a heavy price for that victory,


    There wasn''t room for any carelessness after the war. They had to appease the remnants of the Eastern Shang-Wei City forces, and they had to take over the Zuo family wealth, which was directly related to their income issues. Ning Yan and Ning Peng had both been sent to Eastern Shang-Wei City, and almost the entire Ning family was swamped.


    On the other hand, the recently cheerless base had become lively.


    Far fewer card artisans returned than the number which went out, and it was a moment to enjoy for those card artisans who had survived. They could finally relax their nerves which had been tense for so long. Beyond that, those who had returned all had a large number of points, plus the spoils which they brought back.


    The busiest at that time were probably traders like Algoradicci.


    Lots of strange things appeared in the consignment area, most of which were spoils seized on the battlefield by card artisans. The consignment office quickly adjusted, changing their weekly issue of the detailed fantasy card listing to a daily issue.


    But when it came to points, even a shrewd trader like Algoradicci didn''t have as many as Chen Mu had on hand.


    Chen Mu had gotten rich from the war in many ways. He could use materials for free, and he had a huge number of contribution points on hand, so he could go shopping for those things that the card artisans had.


    He was perusing the screen from the detailed fantasy card listings, where all the detailed listings for all kinds of goods had their pictures and information. Chen Mu didn''t envy the card master in the consignment office. With so many goods, it wasn''t an easy thing to make such a detailed fantasy card. And it made for quite a heavy work load, changing every day,


    His gaze suddenly fell onto a piece of blackish stone. It was about the size of a fist, and dark without any shine. But on the face of the stone where some white markings which looked like chrysanthemums, each about the size of a thumb, and very evenly distributed. The details about the stone were very simple, ''unknown material. Price: one thousand contribution points.''


    Among the goods listed in the fantasy card, one thousand points was a shocking amount. Chen Mu decided to buy it without much thought.


    He activated his communications card and connected with the consignment office. Since his status was so different from before, a person very quickly sent the item. Chen Mu very readily handed over the thousand points, which filled the workers face with admiration as he left Chen Mu''s apartment very respectfully.


    Picking up the black stone, Chen Mu touched it very carefully, feeling lots of pockmarks, which reinforced what he had in mind by buying it.


    This piece of black rock was called the black and white chrysanthemum rock. Chen Mu was able to recognize it entirely because of that mysterious card. While he was studying token theory there, several kinds of materials especially used for making token cards were introduced, one of which was the black and white chrysanthemum rock.


    Its composition was rather soft, and it felt very light to handle.


    The core of the token is computation, and token cards made of that kind of material had outstanding computational capabilities.


    Chen Mu hadn''t found the black and white chrysanthemum rock in the encyclopedia of card materials. If it wasn''t because it was rare then it was because it had a unique application, and had no other use than apart from making token cards.


    You could tell from the information on the detailed list of goods that the seller didn''t understand it. Chen Mu didn''t know if that card artisan had originally intended to test it, but he didn''t know the rock either, only that he had taken if from the body of a very powerful card artisan. He was the only one had remained from the small troop which had been required to kill him.


    There wasn''t anything taken from that body which wasn''t something good, and the dark rook which didn''t look like much was impressively among those. To find a black rock among a pile of precious materials, the card artisan felt that it couldn''t be ordinary stuff, so he went right ahead and gave it a high price to try out on the consignment market. He never thought that someone would buy it as soon as he put it out.


    It was already too late by the time that he saw that the damned thing was something good, and that his price was certainly low!

 Chapter 107: Strike When the Iron is Hot

    Chapter 107: Strike When the Iron is Hot


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The most common topic of conversation at the base then was the raining shuttles card. They had started talking from the time Ah Shen first had one in his hands, and then they talked about the shuttle card troops later. The firepower of the shuttle card troops at the last exciting battle remained fresh in everyone''s minds, having made a deep impression.


    They had called the troop made up of the card artisans who had been trained to use the raining shuttles card the "Raining Shuttles Troop." That wailing from the deep green shuttles which filled the sky like rain was still ringing in their ears. All the power arrayed against them was brutally strained away. The power of the raining shuttles cards that the Troop used was far beyond the one Ah Shen had used, and those card artisans had seen with their own eyes the three star energy cloaks being blown apart by the deep green shuttles.


    It was because of the siege of the "Raining Shuttles Troop" which broke up the camp, that the battle could be finished so quickly.


    The "Raining Shuttles Troop" was all Ning family offspring, and it wasn''t something that they had thought of. But once they saw the power of the card, they became very interested in this card whose powers reached to the sky. Any card artisan wants his weapons to be a little stronger.


    Ning Peng had already bought Ah Shen''s card at a high price, and Ah Shen had become the object of everyone''s admiration during the battle. He was the card artisan in the base who had gained the most.


    The grapevine in the building was lit up with news about the raining shuttles card.


    Algoradicci was in a very bad mood then, since by that time people were coming every day in an endless stream. It should have been his favorite situation, since traders know what it means to be popular. But of course, he wasn''t very happy when the people were all coming to ask about this thing that he didn''t have and didn''t know where to buy.


    He really wanted to shut the door and pay attention to nobody, but that wouldn''t work. That time was his best opportunity to do business. Having large quantities of goods would naturally lower their prices, and if you buy low you could make a lot of money. And he didn''t dare to offend the card artisans coming to the door to ask about the raining shuttles card, since they were all potential customers


    He could only keep smiling and bear it, carefully explaining the matter over and over to all the different people.


    Very soon, someone put out a commission to purchase the raining shuttles card. Then the number of other similar commissions started growing, making the price for the card shoot up like a rocket, quickly growing to a high of fifteen hundred contribution points.


    All the card artisans had large numbers of points. A good card was like the card artisan''s second life, so it was no wonder they went so crazy. But none of them knew who had made it.


    Chen Mu saw those commissions.


    He was wondering whether he should make them or not. Fifteen hundred points was indeed a lot for Chen Mu. He still didn''t understand why a three-star fantasy card, no matter how good, could be worth that much. But seeing so many similar commissions, he understood how big the market demand for the card was.


    His only misgiving was what the Ning family might think about it.


    After considering, he thought that neither Ning Peng or Ning Yan had prohibited him from making the card for others. He had thought of asking them, but they had both been transferred to Eastern Shang-Wei City where there weren''t enough people. So, he just gave it up, since he didn''t know any of the other people in the building.


    Should he, or shouldn''t he? Chen Mu was giving himself a headache.


    It was a fleeting opportunity, and if he didn''t take advantage of such a great opportunity, that would really be a shame. Having lived for a while with Copper, Chen Mu naturally understood a little about the rules of the marketplace.


    Chen Mu finally gritted his teeth and decided to do it! Still, he didn''t need any points at that time, since he already had enough. Then he thought about that black and white chrysanthemum rock, and an idea slowly surfaced.


    The base had been in a noisy disarray all through those few days, with the card artisans who had lived now partying with abandon. Meanwhile, the traders were frantically buying everything in sight, overall creating a busy scene. Those affiliated with the Ning family ¨C and with the Ning family victory ¨C naturally all made great profits.


    Algoradicci calculated that the time had come for the detailed fantasy card listing to be delivered. He''d been busy for a few days to the point of being in a terrible fix, and it was all thanks to that raining shuttles card. The only thing that made him feel a little encouraged was that there had been an increase in the flow of people, making his sales much better than he''d expected. There was a knock on the door, and Algoradicci shot up, and opened it right up.


    To his credit, the worker was already very familiar with Algoradicci. He smiled, and handed over a light-yellow fantasy card, and very politely saying, "Sir, this is today''s detailed listing fantasy card.


    Algoradicci took it hastily, his mouth saying "thanks."


    He very quickly put the card into his apparatus. For traders, time is always important. He wasn''t going to lose out on some profitable high-priced goods because he was one step too late.


    He greedily stared at the screen when it popped up, looking like a wolf staring at its prey. He went through the list item by item, marking certain items from time to time, which were all things he would buy later. He was fast, since he had been at that line of work for a long time and his eyes were sharp, basically being able to tell how much profit something was worth at a glance.


    There were a few items worth paying attention to that day, which he might consider grabbing.


    Then his gaze fell onto the commissions. By that time the number of people offering commissions was very small, except for commissions offering to buy those damned raining shuttles card. The rest were generally all traders'' commissions like his own.


    None of the card artisans who had just returned from the war were going out to execute any commissions. Their exhausted hearts needed a rest.


    Algoradicci''s expression suddenly froze. He was staring dumbfounded at a commission. After a few seconds, he rubbed his eyes, to be sure they weren''t blurry.


    He''d seen it right!


    Raining Shuttles Card .II ¨C it really was a raining shuttles card! But what did the "II" which had been added after mean? After some hesitation, he was suddenly reminded of the card artisans'' chats. They had said that the raining shuttles card used by the "Raining Shuttles Troop" was a lot more powerful than Ah Shen''s, and that it had a deeper green color!


    Could it be the newer model? The one used by the "Raining Shuttles Troop?"


    It must be! He wasn''t aware that his fist had turned white from clenching it.


    Algoradicci immediately realized the huge business opportunity. He didn''t rush right over to the consignment office but calmed himself to look carefully at the content of the commission.


    The one who issued the commission must be the card master who had made the card. His requirements were very simple; five three-star cards having unique capabilities could be exchanged for one raining shuttles card. Or, rare or unknown materials could be exchanged.


    It was an extremely vague commission, from which you could see how unprofessional the one who issued it was. What does ''unique capabilities'' mean? Nothing was brought up about how to judge that. And as for rare materials, that was even more broad, since what does rare mean? How would its weight be calculated? The one who issued it hadn''t given any specific values.


    Algoradicci despised the mysterious card master countless times over. But despise him as he might, he still moved very quickly, since he believed that this commission would very quickly raise the temperature of the entire market.


    Although the commission was vague, Algoradicci had roughly figured out what this card master was after.


    He had quite a few three-star cards which had unique capabilities, most of which were comparatively alternative, with limited usefulness. So, their price had never been high. But he had always considered those cards to be a very important aspect of his tactics to enrich himself. So, he had purchased a great quantity of these cards, planning to push them off on some card artisans after a while.


    Here was a god-given opportunity! The tears were pouring down his face, as he yearned with abandon for that imagined time when he would be giddy with points that covered the sky.


    The entire building was boiling over with excitement.


    Nothing could get the attention of those card artisans more than there still being raining shuttles cards. Those card artisans who saw the power of the card were all dying to sell themselves to buy one. But it was clearly stated that they would only be traded. The consignment area quickly became crowded. And at the same time, the number of commissions to buy the so-called "three-star cards having unique capabilities" shot up like crazy.


    Chen Mu had purchased a shared terminal from the consignment office, which he operated every day. He had spent twenty thousand points on it, which would leave anyone speechless. It was a good thing that he was fabulously wealthy by then!


    Through this shared terminal he could watch the commissions as they happened and examine the goods. What he saw was completely synchronized with the consignment office.


    He was also the only one who had purchased such a shared terminal until then. Even a guy who could be considered a professional trader like Algoradicci wasn''t willing to buy one. It was just too expensive.


    Chen Mu could examine his own commission directly while sitting at home.


    He had still underestimated everyone''s enthusiasm about the raining shuttles card. Under his commission were packed more responses than you could see to the end of, which was a magnificent sight.


    Chen Mu specifically picked through the detailed responses. For instance, there was a guy called Algoradicci whose responses were perfectly meticulous, not only having a picture of each card, but also very detailed explanations.


    He was also the person with whom Chen Mu would make the most trades, trading seven ''raining shuttles card .II''s altogether.


    The wide variety of the materials was the most bothersome thing. There were all sorts of strange things, some of which Chen Mu had seen and some of which he hadn''t. Although they didn''t know what the materials were that they had, some astute card artisans did some rough testing, and then put that data on the list.


    Those card artisans were also easier to trade the card with. After the first day, he had traded the raining shuttles card .II with about twenty people.


    But there was still not a single raining shuttles card .II on sale in the consignment area. And no one had heard of anyone who had traded for the card then trading it with someone else. Those who had traded for one seemed very much afraid of others knowing that they had one in their hands.


    The strange phenomenon also pushed everyone into still more enthusiasm for the raining shuttles card .II.

 Chapter 108: Problems

    Chapter 108: Problems


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu''s apartment continued to develop in its capacity as a warehouse. Not only were there all kinds of materials by then, but there were also all kinds of cards that he had traded for lately, as well as piles of things like broken stones.


    He still didn''t understand why people were chasing after the raining shuttles card .II, to tell the truth. While it did have superior firing speed, many four star cards also had that kind of advantage. From his point of view, the biggest advantage of the raining shuttles card .II was its ability to scale. The results in man-to-man combat were not as good as one might think.


    He didn''t know about the card artisans who had seen it on the battlefield that day, with its power to leave no survivors behind. If you were to add in Ah Shen''s results, their fanaticism wasn''t so strange.


    The superiority of the raining shuttles card .II had been pretty obvious, with its satisfying penetrating power in addition to its firing speed. And another very important factor was that it was a three-star fantasy card. While other four-star cards may equal its capabilities, or even exceed them, they were a lot more difficult to handle.


    Of course, the higher the grade of the card, the more power it had, but the difficultly of controlling it also increased.


    And although the raining shuttles card .II used a lot of high grade materials, it still had a lot lower cost of production than four-star cards. And the number of four-star cards that a card master could make in a day was nowhere near the number of three-star cards.


    Those were all things that Ning Peng had needed to consider.


    Cost of production, ease of use, capabilities and more, were all factors which needed to be considered. And as a matter of fact, there weren''t many card artisans in the Ning household who used four-star cards.


    It wasn''t only the Ning family, but it was the same in other places. Although it was said that mid and high grade card artisans could use three or four-star cards, being able to use them and being able to use them well were two entirely different matters.


    For example, Ah Shen could use four-star fantasy cards, but he would never use them in battle, where he would only use three-star cards. For ease of handling and responsiveness, the two were miles apart. Four-star cards had a very high requirement for perceptual control, at a different ability-level than for three-star cards.


    And even more, the price for four-star cards left people speechless. That was another reason that the raining shuttles card .II was so sought after. They all knew how critical a responsive and easy to handle three-star fantasy card was for them.


    Chen Mu stared blankly at all the stuff he had traded for. He had cancelled the commission by then.


    The trading was a spur of the moment idea, though what he had gotten from it far exceeded what he had imagined.


    He had gotten altogether over a hundred three-star fantasy cards having unique capabilities, which was very important to him. He still had a long way to go before reaching the level for four-star cards, which also meant that he needed a lot more dealings with three-star cards.


    He was already adept at making three-star fantasy cards, but there were too many things about them that he still hadn''t learned. Chen Mu believed that no matter what sort of knowledge it was, books would only have a small part of it. There were even many things about one-star cards which were worth delving into, which could only be more-so with three-star cards.


    He hoped to go through the cards he had collected to extend the scope of his vision and his thinking. He could only keep progressing and perfecting himself by studying others'' strengths.


    Most of the raw materials were amateur grade to Chen Mu. Nothing more need be said about how important raw materials were to card masters, but that was also a deep and vast field, requiring a great amount of time and accumulated experience and insight. Too vast for Chen Mu.


    Anyhow, what he did had depended on the generosity of others. While the high-grade materials used for the raining shuttles card .II would be very expensive if he had to buy them, since they were free Chen Mu needed to expend only a little time to be able to make them. That was a big advantage.


    The reason that he pulled the commission was that he felt that it had already served its purpose, and his time was very tight which made it impossible for him to spend very much time on such things.


    His perceptual sensitivity training had begun to show results lately, and he had already advanced to level forty-five.


    What made him smile bitterly was that while he had been able to make such a broadly well-received raining shuttles card .II, he''d had no way to optimize the tailless shuttle card. Its composition was already very mature, and to optimize it was intimidating for Chen Mu.


    Still, he hadn''t abandoned the tailless shuttle card. There was a sharp distinction in its usage compared to other cards, differing even in the way perception was employed. And while the power of the raining shuttles card .II was huge, it was still not as good as the tailless shuttle.


    Most importantly, he still hadn''t been able to fully excavate the latent power of the tailless shuttle card. Its power was very closely connected to his level of perception. If he could increase the level of his perception, he could greatly increase its speed. And if he progressed in his theoretical understanding of the composition of energy, he could sharply increase its power.


    As the reward for his being able to complete the unwinding game, how could the tailless shuttle card only have such a small amount of latent power? That was something that Chen Mu had always firmly believed, so he hadn''t chosen to look at the more convenient and currently more powerful raining shuttles card .II. He still wanted to stick to using the tailless shuttle card.


    Most those hundred-plus three-star cards were fine works. While their composition might not have been too surprising, all the concepts were fine and ingenious, with many areas that he could use for reference.


    It was very important for a card master whether the scope of his vision was broad or not.


    * * *


    It had already been two weeks since Ning Peng had returned to the base, and he had been so busy that he didn''t have any chance to rest. His eyes were bloodshot, although his spirits were good, since after all, their gains had been considerable as the victorious side. It was because of those strong incentives that he had held on so long.


    He called to his secretary, wanting to know whether anything important had happened on the base during that time.


    "What?" The blue veins were popping out of Ning Peng''s forehead, and his face had turned ashen, looking scary. The secretary didn''t dare to breathe, standing off to the side shivering.


    He hadn''t thought that the thing he least wanted to see would happen while he was away.


    Chen Mu had actually traded the raining shuttles card .II with quite a few people!


    His eyes flashed a chill, which was a sign of the anger to come, and the secretary''s shivering increased.


    Then he calmed down.


    He and Chen Mu had never talked about any agreement not to allow the raining shuttles card .II to spread, and he couldn''t blame Chen Mu for it. And Chen Mu was still quite useful to them. If he were to blame him, it would only cause a lot of damage to their relations.


    And it would be a very common thing for those card artisans having seen it to do everything possible to buy it.


    Ning Peng didn''t have to consider the card artisans, but he did have to consider the cooperative relationship with Chen Mu. He was the only one who could make the raining shuttles card .II, and until they succeeded in cracking it, not only could they not fall out with Chen Mu, they still had to make the relationship as positive as possible.


    Ning Peng had always been wary of any unauthorized raining shuttles card .II''s. Once it realized large-scale production, that kind of card could give free rein to a terrifying amount of power. Despite what had always been said about the difficulty of making the raining shuttles card, what if it weren''t so?


    So once the fighting had ended, he looked for Ah Shen and paid a high price to buy the card he had. He thought that would be foolproof. He had never thought he could slip up so much, with the situation then already beyond his control.


    It had already been a week since Chen Mu had cancelled the commission, and so the most pressing matter just then wasn''t to find Chen Mu but was rather to find those card artisans who had the raining shuttles card .II''s.


    After thinking for a moment, he ordered, "Get me a list right away of all the card artisans who have traded for a raining shuttles card .II, without any leaks. I need it fast!


    After agreeing, the secretary immediately left Ning Peng''s office with a rushed look.


    The training that Chen Mu was focusing on the most at that time was the perceptual sensitivity training, having felt with his own body the importance of perceptual sensitivity. He couldn''t abandon the practice.


    Taking a deep breath and slowing his breathing to calm his mind, the speed of the shuttle shaped perceptual vortex within his body slowly increased. The increase was very fine, and had it been earlier he wouldn''t have been able to detect it. But he was able to detect such fine changes in perception after having gone through the training.


    With the speed of the vortex a little higher, it quickly entered a steady-state, and then after an instant when he raised it a little more, he again made it constant, doing this back and forth, like going up stairs a step at a time.


    Such practice looked very slow and it did need a lot of time, but the results were clear.


    After probably half an hour, the rotational speed of the vortex had reached the highest it could go with him still being able to control it. At that speed, if he didn''t pay attention for even an instant, the perceptual vortex could lose its stability.


    It wouldn''t be absolutely uniform!


    Chen Mu had discovered a little fluctuation in the vortex. Although it was very slight, it caused his perception of his surroundings to become quite fuzzy. He concentrated all his energy on regulating the vortex to smooth out those fluctuations.


    Chen Mu felt in all directions with his eyes closed, where there were countless fingernail-sized glowing pearl-like beads flying around at high speed like a crowd of demons. Each of them emitted a light glow. They flew all around Chen Mu at high speed without ever touching him.


    They were flying so fast and were so numerous that their tracks were hard to discern at his level of training. Their number had already exceeded a thousand. If each small glowing bead were like an insect, then it would be a sea of insects.


    The surrounding scene became more and more clear in his mind, with every finest detail becoming more and more distinct. The differences in the sizes of the beads and their speed . . .


    Chen Mu opened his eyes to accurately quote the number "1367!"


    "Congratulations, your perceptual sensitivity index has reached 45! Would you like to enter the next round?"

 Chapter 109: Bo Wen

    Chapter 109: Bo Wen


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu shook his head, "I won''t enter." Perceptual sensitivity training really consumed his spirit, leaving him so utterly exhausted after each practice that he needed to rest. He also knew that if he were too eager with this kind of training, it could influence his progress. His having been able to go from thirty-five to forty-five in such a short time was directly related to his mental state. He put all his energy and concentration into each training, and never just rashly entered into it.


    Seeing that his perceptual index hadn''t risen by more than ten points, Chen Mu still felt that there had been a basic change in the nature of his perception. Whether it was in making cards or practicing flight, the change was perfectly clear.


    Because of improvements to his perceptual sensitivity, Chen Mu had been able to increase his production of raining shuttles card .II to fifteen a day. His more precise control meant that he was depleting his perception much more slowly, which made him feel that he had been wasting his perception previously with such low efficiency.


    Increasing his efficiency also meant that he had more time to increase his strength. He had too many things to practice, and was still at a very deficient level with flying. He wanted to know how card artisans could engage in battle while flying. Chen Mu didn''t think he could do that without a lot more practice.


    * * *


    Ning Peng stood very respectfully in front of the clan elder, though he couldn''t help taking a glance at the youth beside him all dressed in white. Although he wasn''t too clear, he felt that he knew a little bit about the impressive background of that youth.


    The white-dressed youth always had a slight smile on his face and carried himself easily on top of his handsome looks, no doubt a very charming person. Even Ning Peng was enchanted.


    The most crucial thing was that he was sitting alongside the clan elder.


    The most impressive spot in the clan elder''s house was where those two chairs were arrayed. The clan elder liked to sit to the left when he listened to their reports, and up until then except for his little niece, no one had ever sat in the chair to the right. The young prince in white looked so carefree and unperturbed sitting in that right-hand chair just then.


    Lots of things were flashing through Ning Peng''s mind as he stole that look, but he quickly straightened out his thinking to give a concise report about recent events to the best of his ability.


    The clan elder of the Ning family was Ning Dong''s father, as well as being Ning Peng''s uncle. He looked very old, likely because he had worked so hard. He said in a deep voice, "Up until now neither Zuo Tingyi or Zuo Tang want anything to do with the affairs of the Zuo family. The Zuo family is no more, and the two of them can''t carry on. Still, for now, it would be better if we didn''t enrage the descendants of the Zuo family."


    "The most critical thing just now is to firmly take the time to stabilize Eastern Shang-Wei City, taking it into our hands in the shortest possible time. In addition, we should be on guard with those who were on the side of the Zuo family, and shouldn''t treat them softly. It wouldn''t be worth getting a knife in our back, so don''t go there."


    "What do you think, Bo Wen?"


    The clan elder turned toward the youth dressed in white, which astonished Ning Peng. For him to consult like that with the youth short-circuited his brain.


    The youth named Bo Wen hastily bowed, and respectfully said, "You are too polite, uncle. Before I came, father clearly stated that ''Bo Wen must take his instruction from his uncle.''


    The clan elder waved his hand and laughed, "Don''t be polite Bo Wen, you are here as part of this family. It has been evident since you were small how intelligent you are, and that you were bound to help your uncle with advice on everything. Your uncle is old, with a brain that doesn''t work so well. The world now belongs to the young."


    He then pointed smilingly toward Ning Peng, "This is Peng-y. He''s the same generation as Dong-y. You''re all young, and you must tighten your familiarity." Then he turned toward Ning Peng and bellowed, "Despite his youth, Bo Wen is very sophisticated. You gang of idiots have to learn from others."


    Bo Wen quickly stood to greet Ning Peng. Ning Peng wasn''t angered by what the clan elder had said, and replied merrily, "Bo Wen has a naturally extraordinary bearing, which inevitably causes my envy at first glance. I''m afraid that all the women in the garden will be lining up to knock on his door in the middle of the night."


    The clan elder stared at Ning Peng, and then without any humor said, "There haven''t been any strikes for a few days, and you seem to have adapted." This scared Ning Peng''s shiny bald head to shrink back, grimacing to himself. Bo Wen was laughing to the side as he watched.


    The clan elder restrained his smile, and said in a deep voice, "How many of the raining shuttles card .II have you retrieved?"


    There are still three that we haven''t recovered, and those three card artisans have disappeared. We''ve searched all through Amay City and Eastern Shang-Wei City, and found no trace of them." Ning Peng''s face was bitter, as this was his first time slipping up like that, which he naturally took very badly.


    But the clan elder wasn''t blaming him, as he said after consideration, "You shouldn''t hold yourself responsible. With the raining shuttles card .II so squarely hitting the target this time, what person with any mind at all wouldn''t do anything to get one? Who knows how long those missing card artisans had been lurking. It could be a good thing that we found them out."


    Then he smiled coldly, "I don''t believe that their card masters have any more ability than ours. How would it be so easy to copy what the old ones all say can''t be copied? Ha ha, don''t worry, as soon as the raining shuttles card .II is probed, it attacks the equipment and destroys itself. There''s no need to worry about this matter."


    "Ah!" Ning Peng lifted his head in surprise. This was the first he knew of that characteristic of the card. He''d never had any report of that before.


    "I only just received the elder''s report. He had gotten one to study, and who would have thought that not only did it destroy his equipment, the raining shuttles card .II was also burned up." The clan elder spoke casually, glancing at the astonished Ning Peng before commanding, "It looks as though this Chen Mu is certainly a card master from some mysterious school. Find some way to learn his sordid past and see if you can find out where he comes from, and whether there is some master behind him."


    "That guy sure was shrewd, never to have let anyone at the base know that he was the one who had made the raining shuttles card .II, not even showing up for the deals. But you can''t let down your guard. Do everything related to the raining shuttles card .II personally or with Yan-y.


    "Once they find out that they can''t crack the card, they won''t give up, but will surely find some way to pin it on Chen Mu. No matter how, you must protect him! You can''t make any mistakes, do you understand?"


    "Yes sir!" Ning Peng dipped his head in response.


    "Bo Wen then hurriedly said, "Uncle, could I see this card that you are talking about? It''s a pity that I haven''t had the chance to see this card that I had heard so much about. It seems so suited to deployment at scale."


    The clan elder made a sign to Ning Peng with his eyes, and Ning Peng rushed to remove the raining shuttles card .II from his apparatus, and present it to Bo Wen. Not only did Ning Peng have one, but Ning Yan had also gotten one, with not a few of the offspring of the Ning family recently looking for him to get them one.


    Bo Wen took the card and put it into the apparatus on his wrist. He lifted his arm and closed his eyes, and the apparatus immediately emitted a misty green light, which gently surrounded it. Bo Wen looked solemn, with a light smile almost visible on his face, which made him look strangely cold, as though his whole body had taken chill.


    Ning Peng''s appearance changed. What power!


    "It really is a good card! I never knew there were such crouching tigers and hidden dragons in Amay City. I''m afraid that even well-known card masters might not be able to make this card. Six shots a second with an ace able to make seven, and with the power of the green shuttles that it releases pretty good as well. Not hard to handle, and still a three-star card! It really is a good card!" Bo Wen opened his eyes with his face full of praise, while he slowly lowered his right hand with the light glow that had just been there also disappearing. At the same time, the chill also went away.


    He pulled the card from his apparatus, and returned it to Ning Peng, and then said to the clan elder with a slight smile, "I have to congratulate my uncle, to have gotten this kind of card which scales so well, I believe that Amay City will grow a level in its power."


    Ning Peng was stupefied when he received the raining shuttles card .II. His mind was a mess, He''d seen everything that Bo Wen had done. Without having to let loose any green shuttles, he could see all its capabilities clearly from his apparatus. What kind of power was that?


    His spine had become covered in sweat without his knowing it.


    Bo Wen smiled without smiling and looked at Ning Peng deliberately or not.


    Having seen it all, the clan elder sighed in relief, and then pushed out a smile, "Don''t make fun of your uncle, Bo Wen, our offspring can''t compare with your father''s."


    "We Ning''s of Amay are basically only a branch of the entire Eastern Ning''s, and we''re all the same family. I''ve gotten a lot of consideration from your father these few years. And nothing has happened all along. We''ll keep only half of these raining shuttles card .IIs, and make a birthday present to your father of the rest, as a gesture of the appreciation of the Amay Ning''s."


    Bo Wen hastily made his thanks, and then said full of gratitude, "My uncle is really too polite now. Father has always said that the only way for us to flourish and be prosperous is that no matter how far flung the Ning family might become we would help one another no matter where we land. Father is familiarly happy that uncle has been able to occupy Eastern Shang-Wei City this time. Uncle should rest assured that if anyone covets Eastern Shang-Wei City or provokes anything, the Eastern Ning''s won''t be standing on the sidelines. We are all one family!"


    "Ha Ha, what Bo Wen says is exactly right, we are one family to our roots!" the elder laughed from his resolute old heart, while Bo Wen smiled along with him to his side.


    "Bo Wen has a small request, uncle."


    "Bo Wen shouldn''t hesitate to say what is on is mind."


    "Bo Wen would like to see what kind of a person the card master really is who could make this card. And Bo Wen would like to do some research about which school this card master is from, to see if we can help uncle to recognize it."


    The clan elder thought it over for a moment, and very smartly said, "OK! Ah Peng, take Bo Wen for a stroll to the base to see Chen Mu, and join him in feeling out all the details."


    "Yes, sir!" Ning Peng hastily responded, once he had returned to his senses.

 Chapter 110: Breath Control

    Chapter 110: Breath Control


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    No one paid any attention to one more person on the base.


    Untold numbers of card artisans wanted to join the Ning family by that time. Their victory in the conflict didn''t only bring them great material benefit, it also boosted their prestige to a level they had never enjoyed.


    The Ning family also had to replenish the power from their casualties. This meant no rest for Ning Peng and Ning Yan, who were once again busy. They had to check out the identity and background of each card artisan, as well as determine their power.


    So there were a lot of new faces appearing on the base. There were a few among the card artisans who got peoples'' attention, such as the previous leader of the ''Wei forest tigers'' card artisan troop, Mark Victor, or Cheng Ying who was called "The Rose," and so forth. But the majority were still unknown card artisans having exceptional power.


    Compared with the card artisans that they used to get, the average power of the new card artisans was a lot higher, and they were a lot better known. The very rich reward structure of the base quickly adjusted to incentivize those newly arrived card artisans.


    The base which had just been immersed in its celebratory partying had quickly returned to its ordinary bustle, adding to which was the urgent need of the Ning family for more hands. And all sorts of new commissions were being continually issued. The card artisans now had to to jockey for position all over again. Things were very busy.


    None of that had any connection to Chen Mu. He was staying in his apartment as always, seldom going out. No matter from what angle you might look at him, he was an extremely typical card master, never going out, deeply immersed in experiments all day, with the library and the self-service materials supermarket the places he went to the most. Apart from his flight practice which would have been unthinkable, everything else about him conformed to the impression card masters made on peoples'' minds.


    But if anyone were to stay in Chen Mu''s apartment, they would be dumbfounded by what they saw.


    It was pitch black in the apartment, such that you couldn''t see the fingers on your hands. Standing by the wall, Chen Mu would slowly close his eyes, already used to the dark. He would take a deep breath, and then suddenly start climbing up the wall like a gecko, running over the walls and ceiling in a lively manner.


    Differently sized red targets were pasted irregularly all over the walls and ceiling.


    Keeping his eyes closed the whole time, Chen Mu wouldn''t touch one of those targets. His movements weren''t impacted by his closed eyes, though his nimble movements did have something weird about them.


    His body was as flexible as though he had no bones, and he could twist and turn at will. He had gained consummate skill with the wall-climbing lotus, sometimes leaving only one hand on the ceiling, while his body swung forward, and then the instant his slightly bent knees hit the ceiling, the knee pads would be firmly stuck there.


    He always kept the wall-climbing lotus with him. And he always kept those springy shoes on his feet, never having changed them.


    His perception was more useful in the dark than his eyes. In the unfinished topic from the mysterious card which wrote about the use of perception in close-up fighting, there was something about how to use perception to examine all around in the dark.


    That was related to the spinning speed of the shuttle-shaped perceptual vortex. The faster it was, the more perceptual tendrils it would emit and the more sensitive his perception would be. But if the rotational speed slowed, the number of tendrils would also decrease, while their scope would expand.


    Chen Mu wanted to maintain the vortex at a slightly slower speed, so that he could extend his perception to the situation of the entire apartment. And he had discovered that no matter whether it was spinning fast or slow, as long as he held it steady, then the precision of his perception would be at its highest for that speed.


    But these weren''t the skills Chen Mu was most interested in. Even without perception, he could easily tell the situation of the entire apartment in the dark. The results of his always having slept in the dark were evident.


    The demonic woman had taught him how to hide his form in the dark, and his concealment skills had already proven their effectiveness. But there was still something that the demonic woman hadn''t taught him, which was how to evade detection by a probe card. The reason the probe card was invented was to handle people who could travel in the dark.


    And some techniques for escaping the probe card had also been brought up in that incomplete report.


    Chen Mu had always found reports like that, and things related to the topic, to be extremely strange. He really couldn''t understand what kind of a card master would be interested in such skills. And that mysterious card master had collected quite a few related techniques for comparative analysis, while at the same time that card master had never provided any final conclusions, which was another piece of incomplete research.


    Even though they weren''t finished, Chen Mu didn''t doubt the authenticity of the techniques documented there. It had been proven countless times that whatever was in that mysterious card was always extremely effective.


    The reason that Chen Mu was so interested in evading the probe card''s scanning was that he had to think about leaving the base someday, when that capability would be indispensable.


    He was very clear about his predicament, and from the attitude of the Ning family toward the raining shuttles card .II, he knew his plight from then on. If he didn''t have value, then even survival could be a problem. Having value, although he could survive, he had lost his freedom. Chen Mu wanted neither of those things.


    He had very closely read everything that had been described in those reports about the related techniques. There was a detailed listing in the report of several different genres or schools of techniques, along with some opinions from that mysterious card master himself.


    Schools were a strange concept for contemporary people, though they had once been glorious in the history of the card system.


    Before the time of Heiner Van Sant was the period when ''a hundred schools contended.'' There were far more than a hundred schools at that time, among which was some legacy which could be traced back to a few ancient religions.


    While Heiner Van Sant had reached to the clouds, what he hadn''t let the people of that time realize was that an entirely new period would soon arrive. He was one of the greatest card masters of all time who had wandered throughout the entire Heavenly Federation, and who had endured ten years of hard thought before he founded the Star Academy.


    The Star Academy was the first school in the Heavenly Federation to impart knowledge about cards. It was said that on the first day of enrollment in the Star Academy that year, countless youth flowed in endless streams gathered up from all over the Heavenly Federation, converging on Star Academy. The number of youth who converged there that year went as high as three hundred thousand, and the work of admissions by itself was underway for three months.


    At its opening, the academy had a strongly inclusive teaching style, which immediately had a dramatic impact on all the schools and sects such that over the next few months the schools disappeared from the scene, finally fading from the sight of ordinary people.


    Also, there were several outstanding card artisans who each established their own academies during the following months, which finally took the form of the six great contemporary academies, with their competing strengths. The schools and sects have almost disappeared.


    Chen Mu wasn''t interested in history, or in the so-called schools. What he was interested in was the techniques themselves.


    And there was a reason he was thinking about this skill. A couple of days before, his perceptual sensitivity had gone up another level, reaching fifty. He remembered that the report had described a kind of skill to evade being scanned, which had the condition that your perceptual sensitivity index had to reach fifty. He knew that part of the report completely by heart, not dropping a word. There were a lot of related skills, with each type having different conditions, with only this one tallying with his current index.


    Breath control was ascribed to the school called the "Night of the Cross." Apart from the phrase, Chen Mu hadn''t found any other information related to the "Night of the Cross."


    The practice of breath control wasn''t difficult. At its core was the requirement to use perception to maintain a certain vibration frequency. Maintaining that certain frequency could cause one''s breath to stop completely, and at the most advanced stages of training, even the most advanced probe cards had no way to detect your existence. You would become like a ghost in the night, letting people feel nothing at all.


    There were quite a few characteristics of perception, such as spin, or vibration, or transformations of state . . .


    Even the greatest card masters like Rosenberg and Heiner Van Sant couldn''t fundamentally describe perception, which was at the core of card theory, its most mysterious and abstruse content.


    Chen Mu had restructured his perception when he formed the perceptual vortex. After that, what he''d explored the most were its rotational characteristics.


    He had never felt any perceptual vibration.


    How would vibrations appear? Chen Mu frowned. The structure of perception determined all its characteristics, including his perceptual vortex whose biggest advantage was related to its spinning.


    But breath control required the property of vibration, which had to give Chen Mu a headache.


    The structure of the vortex within him seemed to be like a very small cyclone which took the form of a tube, emitting perceptual tendrils from each end.


    None of the structure had the properties of vibration.


    Could it be that he had no way to learn breath control? The frown on Chen Mu''s forehead deepened. The conditions for the other methods were even higher, and most of those were rigid requirements.


    Among the few skills, breath control was the only one that he could learn, but how was he going to resolve the problem of perceptual vibration? Chen Mu was sitting cross-legged in the dark, with light flashing from his two eyes, like stars in the night sky, deep and blurred.

 Chapter 111: The Rose, Cheng Ying

    Chapter 111: The Rose, Cheng Ying


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Why didn''t vibrations appear in his shuttle-shaped perceptual vortex? It was a limitation of its composition, with the structure itself determining that it wouldn''t have the advantage of vibrations.


    Composition! Insights suddenly flashed through Chen Mu''s brain, as he realized the core of the issue! Composition! It was composition! It was just because of limitations to the form that the composition of perception took inside of him that led to his perception having no way to realize vibrations.


    Which was to say that his own perception could no longer meet his needs.


    To put it another way, he could only learn breath control if he modified the composition of his perception to include the characteristics of vibration.


    He was a little bit excited, since finding the crux of a problem moves one a step closer to finally being able to resolve it.


    But he wasn''t bold enough to just casually modify the composition of his perception. Modifying the composition of perception was a risky affair. The perceptual vortex in him was extremely stable, and it would create difficulties if he wanted to break it. The firmer a perceptual composition was, the more fraught with danger it would be to break it.


    So, he immediately nixed any thoughts about breaking the composition of the perceptual vortex, since that would be too dangerous for him as he was then. He would only be able to optimize it, using the perceptual vortex as the basis, to bring it more in line with his current capabilities.


    That was to say that he would maintain the fundamental structure of the perceptual vortex, while adding the properties of vibration to it.


    But what kind of composition could achieve that goal?


    He thought about it very hard, and after a long time he still couldn''t come up with anything. The composition of the shuttle-shaped perceptual vortex was extremely stable, and the last time when he was facing the star lure, that sort of stability had saved his life, without letting him collapse his perception. Whereas now, the very stability of the composition of his perception was creating all his difficulties with making any modifications.


    * * *


    Bo Wen was really interested in looking all around. He had proposed to Ning Peng that he remain at the base for a while in his capacity as a card artisan. Although Ning Peng found it strange that he didn''t want to meet Chen Mu right away, he still quickly agreed. That prince wasn''t someone he could offend, and the clan elder had also given instructions that no matter what requests he had, they should be accommodated to the extent possible.


    Ning Peng was concerned about certain things at the base being leaked to other powers. But he had no worries in that regard with Bo Wen. He was only afraid that the base would seem shabby to someone else.


    In the Eastern Regions, there were twelve branches of the Ning family like them. They were like the branches and leaves of a tree, where the Ning family of the Eastern reaches were the original family, or the trunk of the tree. Unlike the other branches, none of the Eastern Ning''s had ever flourished. Still, there were always a few outstanding people who appeared in each generation, and for the past few years, the Eastern Ning''s weren''t only growing, they were also forming stronger connections to the branches.


    It was said that a long time ago the Ning family was one of the two top powers in the whole Eastern Region, and that at that time there weren''t any branches. But then they suffered a sudden bout of assassinations which led to the tragic loss of the leader of that generation, whereupon the Ning family divided into over ten branches.


    At that time everyone assumed that the Ning family was entering a period of decline, with the direct descendants who stood up in the generation which followed that leader leading it into that mess. Then after laboring to build themselves back up, the situation took shape as it was by contemporary times. The Eastern Ning''s had finally returned to their former glory.


    Seeing Bo Wen strolling around the base in such a leisurely fashion, only occasionally picking up a commission, was unsettling to Ning Peng who was so busy night and day.


    Could it be that the daily lives of the young from the Eastern Ning''s were all so relaxed? Ning Peng couldn''t restrain the criticism he felt in his guts. He felt that this young one hadn''t really come to look into Chen Mu''s identity, but was purely interested in coming to relax. But he didn''t dare express the least dissatisfaction; on the contrary, he would always be extremely enthusiastic every time he saw him.


    Seeing that Bo Wen wasn''t really coming to look for him and given that he had mountainous piles of things to do on his hands, Ning Peng really wasn''t at liberty to pay attention to Bo Wen. The only thing that he was concerned about was that Ning Yan seemed to have taken an interest in Bo Wen, which was giving him a headache.


    * * *


    During that time, Chen Mu had been wracking his brains without coming up with any way to modify the composition of the perceptual vortex. He had never been able to mock up a suitable composition and was about to tear out all his hair, becoming restless with anxiety.


    Without his quite realizing it, his mood was recently having a negative impact on all aspects of his training. Whether it was the perceptual training or something else, he wasn''t making any headway.


    He did quickly realize the issue, and that he would have to dispose of it quickly or else he wouldn''t be able to learn the breath control that he so urgently needed right away.


    He decided to go out and relax a little after being shut up in his apartment for so many days. Chen Mu''s mode of relaxation was very simple, flight training. What was dull and boring to others, was full of joy to Chen Mu, the simplest and most basic joy.


    Chen Mu had rented a high-grade flight training space, and he went running into it alone.


    Once he had entered the training space, he put all of those thoughts which weren''t making him happy to the back of his mind and flew off into the air with a shout.


    Seeing all those obstacles floating around, Chen Mu went headlong into them without thinking about it.


    The thrill that came with speed was heating up his blood. His mood from those last few days seemed to have been lit on fire, and Chen Mu didn''t hold back from taking his speed to its highest.


    The power he felt transmitted through his body increased, and the scene all around him blurred. The wind was roaring in his ears, and when he raised his head he could barely keep his eyes open.


    This was his first time taking his speed to the top, and a kind of feeling that he had never experienced surged from the deepest part of him, with all his blood seeming to have started boiling in an instant.


    He felt so carefree that he nearly shouted out, but before he could open his mouth, bam! Once he wasn''t in control, he went headlong into that sky blue colored protective air sack, where he was quickly submerged into the soft cushions.


    It took him a long time to struggle out, when he started laughing like a maniac. That little bit of craziness just then had loosened him up like he''d never felt before, clearing up his feelings and wiping away all the fog from the last few days.


    With his carefree expression, Chen Mu didn''t go right back to raising his speed to the limit the way that he just had, but started instead to practice with abandon.


    Chen Mu had outstanding balance and reflexes, which in addition to his precise control of his perception, made him progress very rapidly.


    According to the standard assessments, his flight score had already reached seven hundred and twenty-six. Although that wouldn''t be considered a high score, it was still an accomplishment for someone like Chen Mu who hadn''t been learning for very long.


    His most outstanding score was in small-scale dodging training, where his score was generally above eighty, having gotten as high as ninety. That was a result which would put quite a few professional card artisans to shame. Using his perception to probe all around him, along with the very unconventional dodging and evading skills from the demonic woman, plus his fine control of perception, he had finally been able to get these scary results.


    Usage wasn''t very high for any of the flight training spaces, since for a lot of card artisans, flight was just a mode of travel. They were used to having their feet on the ground when they fought.


    But Chen Mu really liked flight training, always practicing for two hours before leaving. He had at least ten "crashes" that time, though that didn''t annoy him in the least, but on the contrary made him very happy.


    Once he had finished his flight training, he walked out of the flight training space.


    Just as he left through the gate, as he was walking along the terrace he ran into a woman dressed in a skin-tight combat suit coming right toward him. Chen Mu casually glanced at her and then retracted his gaze.


    Cheng Ying had just joined the Ning family, and it hadn''t been five days since she''d been at the base. Having just finished a commission, and having earned about forty contribution points, she was just arriving at the training space. She had long since heard that the Ning family had great training facilities, which was one of the reasons she had been attracted there.


    She saw a man coming out of the flight training space with a face full of sweat, who took a look at her and then retracted his gaze.


    Among card artisans, there were far fewer women than men, so that the women drew a lot of attention to themselves. And Cheng Ying''s looks stood out, with mature and yet delicate facial features, showing a calm and reserved temperament. She was tall, and with that skin-tight combat suit, her curves would be something else to attract someone''s eyes.


    The reason she was called "The Rose," was because the rose is both beautiful and prickly. She had long become accustomed to the attention of others, and so running into a card artisan who was so cool, she couldn''t help taking another look.


    He looked very ordinary, with nothing special about him, and Cheng Ying guessed that the next time she saw him she would very likely not recognize him. But the thing that had made her the most comfortable about him was that he looked so cool, and she couldn''t help sighing about how temperament could actually make an ugly person look so much more pleasant.


    She quickly noted another strange thing.


    How could his face be so full of sweat? Didn''t he just come out from the flight training space?


    Flight training was the training least likely to produce a sweat. In the first place, there wasn''t that much activity, with the card artisan only having to control the jet stream card to go. What was needed was perception, and not strength. And the wind while flying face-up would quickly dry any sweat.


    That person had been training until his face was sweating, which really seemed strange.


    Chen Mu had no idea that the unrecognized woman was running through so many thoughts in her head in the instant that he brushed shoulders with her passing by.


    Cheng Ying was moved, and since she was getting ready herself to go to the flight training space, why not go into that one? Having that thought, she immediately turned to enter the flight training space from which Chen Mu had just exited.


    She swiped her room card.


    "The standard rate for using this training space is three points per hour."


    Cheng Ying was immediately startled, since three contribution points per hour was the standard fee for the highest-level training spaces. Was the guy really that wealthy? That was the first thought which had come to Cheng Ying''s mind.


    The first thing she felt upon entering the base was that contribution points were hard to earn. She would never have thought that the unremarkable guy she''d just seen would be using such a high-level training space.


    There were only a few kinds of people who might have a lot of points, traders, card masters with outstanding power, and card artisans. And certainly, neither traders nor card masters would be likely to do flight training. Apart from them were the card artisans having outstanding strength who could take all kind of high-level commissions, where the rewards were naturally generous.


    Could that unremarkable guy she''d just seen be a hidden card artisan?

 Chapter 112: Commissions

    Chapter 112: Commissions


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Cheng Ying gritted her teeth, swiped her room card, and entered the flight training space.


    She was very curious to look at all the facilities in the space, never having used such a high-grade training space. If the points were exchanged for Oudi, then the standard fee would exceed that for any training space she had ever used.


    Of course, it was very advanced! She very excitedly went over to the training room''s control screen, on which was a list of all the rich kinds of training, which were far more than any space that she had ever used.


    Yi, what''s this?


    Cheng Ying found a string of numbers on the screen. At the top were the most recent, from only ten minutes earlier. Very clearly those were the data from the one who was just there, which hadn''t been cleared.


    He actually didn''t clear it? Chen Ying was dumbfounded, finding that inconceivable. Any card artisan with the slightest bit of experience would never make such a basic mistake. Those numbers could reveal the strength of the one training, which for a card artisan was rather lethal, without any doubt. So, although all training rooms have an automatic save function, before they leave, card artisans would all erase whatever data was there.


    During that time when it was difficult to determine if it was a safe or a dangerous period, such prudence was necessary.


    Cheng Ying couldn''t restrain her curiosity and started flipping through the data.


    She could tell at a glance that the data belonged to a card artisan who had rich experience.


    The trainee had a middling flying ability, with nothing that stood out.


    But she was startled when her eyes fell onto one line of data, on which was written ''close-range dodging and evading in midair, difficulty: 80, final score: 85.'' Cheng Ying almost cried out, Heavens! With a difficulty score of 80 for close range dodging and evading in midair, that person actually got 85! Her gaze continued downward, where the line of data caused her to tremble.


    83, 86, 92, 90, 91, 87. . .


    His score had never dropped below 80, with probably one out of three over 90. Once she finished the line of numbers, Cheng Ying drew in a cold breath.


    What a fierce guy!


    Close-range dodging and evading in midair was an extremely obscure flight training. Very few were likely to undertake it. You could tell at a glance that there were basically very few obstacles in the air, making a lot of people think that doing such training wasn''t the least bit useful. When you added to that how difficult the training was, as well as its high demands for the card artisan''s control of the jet stream card, and high demands on their physical fitness, and then with extremely high requirements for responsiveness, the number of trainees decreased still further.


    According to what Cheng Ying knew, only the card artisans who engaged in close-in combat as their specialty would practice such a skill.


    Could that guy she just saw be such a card artisan? Cheng Ying was a little dubious.


    It wasn''t that all card artisans would launch their attacks remotely. There had always been close-combat card artisans, which was related to their specialty fantasy card.


    Some of the attack-type fantasy cards belonged in the close-range category, such as a type known as the autumn moon thin-knife card, which could very rapidly release a thin shaped energy blade about ten to twelve centimeters long, although its longest range was only five meters.


    They wouldn''t seem to have any advantage when facing a long-range card artisan. Though still, the autumn moon thin knife card had a firing frequency much faster than the raining shuttles card, being able to fire fifteen energy knives in a second. In the hands of an ace, that could rise as high as twenty-five or more.


    Imagine what a terrifying situation it would be once you were close to such a card artisan. Fifteen energy knives could practically cover most of the area within five meters, where there would be no place to hide. And twenty-five could cover the entire area. The moment they came near, you would find that you had already been sliced to pieces and turned into a pile of ground meat, spewing blood like a hurricane.


    It was a good thing that the autumn moon thin knife card wasn''t a kind of card that was seen very often. There were pitifully few card masters who could make it. But the ones who could use such a card were extremely scary killers.


    Another kind of comparatively representative close-in card artisan used a defensive card something like an energy cloak card to withstand the adversaries'' attacks, with the goal of getting closer and closer in. Those kinds of defensive cards weren''t simply able to achieve the goal of defense, with some of them even having a certain aggressive capability.


    For example, the hundred changes cloaking card that Chen Mu had restored could transform the appearance of the energy cloak at will, making part of the energy cloak into the form of a blade or a spear, achieving the goal of inflicting casualties. That card had very high requirements for one''s ability to control perception.


    In general, the flying skills of close-combat card artisans had to be quite a bit higher than those for ordinary card artisans. There were also higher requirements related to distance. They needed to be near the enemy they confronted, which required defense or dodging and evading the enemies'' attacks.


    In any case, among those who could get a score of 80 or higher in the close-range dodging and evading training which had a difficulty level of 80, probably only one in three could hit 90. Even among close-combat card artisans, that kind of result would be considered utterly amazing.


    Cheng Ying was more and more certain that the guy was a powerful and outstanding close-combat card artisan. But one very seldom saw such a careless card artisan. After thinking about it, she cleared out those data, and then chose her own training program.


    At thee points per hour, she couldn''t waste time. Cheng Ying gritted her shell-like teeth, and quickly threw herself into her training.


    * * *


    Chen Mu was in high spirits when he returned to his apartment. It seemed that the sweat had made his whole body feel a lot more comfortable. After washing, he sat back at the desk, pondering what he had gained.


    He decided temporarily to put the breath control to the side, since all that stuff involving perception wasn''t going to arrive by forcing it.


    It had been a while since he had made any cards, and Chen Mu''s hands were starting to itch. Ning Peng had come looking for him during that time, hoping to get the exclusive acquisition rights to the raining shuttles card .II, which Chen Mu agreed to readily. He clearly understood how important he was to the Ning family, and was afraid that his actions last time had already displeased them, though they still made requests of him, and there had been no flare ups.


    It was fortunate that Chen Mu could still make other cards in addition to the raining shuttles card .II. He opened that terminal that he had spent two hundred thousand points on, and carefully browsed through all the commissions.


    The profession of being a card master was one where experience mattered. You couldn''t become an excellent card master just by making more cards. Though excellent card masters certainly had a rich experience making cards.


    Chen Mu''s glance fell onto one commission in particular.


    It was for the purchase of a three-star fantasy card, though the requirements for the card were unique. The requirement was for a close-in fighting type of fantasy card. Although Chen Mu had restored that sort of card before, he had never made one.


    Repairing and making cards were two entirely different concepts. To repair a card, you only needed to restore the damaged areas according to the original composition, while to make a card, you would have to design the composition according to what it would be used for, and from your own experience.


    After thinking it over, Chen Mu quickly took the commission.


    Since it was to make a card, Chen Mu needed to contact the one who had issued the commission. He used his communications card to contact that card artisan called Will.


    "Hello, may I ask if you are Mr. Will?" Chen Mu asked.


    On the screen which had popped out in front of Chen Mu there appeared a strapping fellow, with deep set eyes, a high brow and roman nose, with the blueish look of just having shaved on his chin.


    "This is he, and you are?" Will had a booming voice, full of breath.


    Chen Mu said, "I am a card master, and I just took Mr. Will''s commission, and want to understand more particulars."


    "Commission?" Will was skeptically sizing up Chen Mu, and no matter from what angle, he just couldn''t believe that the green-looking youth he was seeing had the ability.


    "What level are you?" Will''s voice had a definite tone of mistrust.


    Chen Mu hadn''t thought that he would run into such a situation, though he quickly understood what was behind what Will had said. He hadn''t believed his capability. Although he''d been called into question, Chen Mu wasn''t angry. It was a common enough thing from his point of view. After all, given his age, others would inevitably be mistrustful.


    Chen Mu took out his room card, and put it in front of the screen, very calmly saying, "I am at the ''A'' level."


    Will''s face showed surprise. That "A" rank sign on the face of the room card had really poked him in the eye. Level represented degree of contribution, which corresponded to the number of contribution points you had earned since coming to the base.


    Chen Mu had already earned hundreds of thousands of points, and if he completed the current raining shuttles card .II commission, he would earn a great many more points, raising his level still further.


    Will looked ecstatic, and he quickly said with respect, "How rude of me! You really look too young. I await your guidance whenever you have the time."


    "A" was the highest level Will had run into. Level basically represented your capability, though naturally some fell into different categories, such as traders. Though you could still tell a trader''s commercial power from his level.


    Will had only just joined, and he was only at the "F" level. If he hadn''t just completed a pretty lucrative commission, he wouldn''t even have enough points to issue that commission of his.


    Although he didn''t know why a big guy in the "A" level would be interested in his few-hundred-point commission, he still suddenly felt giddy. Any card master on the base at the "A" level was certainly at the top of the pack of card masters. How could he not feel a little dizzy with such a high level card master actually helping him to make a card?


    "Why don''t we meet up. How about the number twenty-eight basic training room?" Chen Mu had been scanning his terminal for which training rooms were free, and he had casually selected a room. That was one of the capabilities of that expensive terminal. Once he reserved the room, he only had to use his room card to open it, although the fee started as soon as he had reserved it.


    "I''ll be there right away." Will said respectfully, restraining his excitement.

 Chapter 113: The Bipolar Thunderball Card

    Chapter 113: The Bipolar Thunderball Card


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Will had probably never thought that he would get a connection to an "A" level card master. One needn''t talk about how important an excellent card master is for card artisans, not to mention one who has an "A" level of contribution points. Will felt like he had been dreaming.


    But he didn''t waste his time dreaming, chasing over to the number twenty-eight basic training room. He didn''t want to give a bad impression to that card master, since being able to know such a great card master was not an opportunity he could just seek out, and he couldn''t let it slip by.


    When he arrived out of breath to the training room, the card master still hadn''t arrived. Facing the shiny smooth outer wall of the training room, Will straightened out his appearance a little, making himself look as accomplished as he could.


    He had to be very careful, since who could know what kind of odd temperament the card master might have. It was said that no matter the profession, the more awesome a person was the stranger their temperament would be.


    After about five minutes a youth came walking in that direction. Will looked to be sure it was the "A" level card master he had seen on the screen. Only his expression looked a little cooler than it had on the screen.


    Will quickly got nervous, since it was his first time having anything to do with such a high-level card master. There were only a handful of people who could get "A" level points on the base, and for someone newly arrived like him, it would be a lofty and unreachable goal.


    Chen Mu was looking at Will in the same way, as he greeted him, "Hello Will."


    Will had to restrain his heart from jumping out of his chest, as he very respectfully responded, "Greetings great master. I wonder how I should address you?"


    Although he looked so young, there was no way to fake those points. The one thing that the Ning family did extremely well was to require absolute compliance with the detailed base rules, even though the Ning offspring trained at that base. They weren''t any different from any other card artisan when it came to getting contribution points. A card master with an "A" rating was certainly at the level of a grand master.


    "I am no kind of great master, you can just call me Chen Mu." He frowned not quite noticeably, since it was too far-fetched for that person to call him a grand master.


    Carefully trying to figure him out, Will quickly realized the particulars, and immediately responded, "Then I''ll call you Mr. Chen Mu, OK?"


    "OK." Chen Mu nodded, not wanting to waste so much time on forms of address. He took out his room card and gave it a light swipe on the training room door, which slid right open. He led the way in, saying, "Come in."


    Will rushed to follow Chen Mu into the training room.


    This was also the first time Chen Mu had been to a basic training room on the base. Looking around, apart from the rather ample training arrangements, he found that nothing else was very different from any basic level training room. It was only that the data analysis capabilities were quite a bit more powerful than those of ordinary basic training rooms. The trainee could directly see their own progress from the data.


    Chen Mu raised his head to look at Will, and was a little puzzled, wondering how he could have run into someone even more taciturn than himself. How could he have known that Will was so nervous that he didn''t know what to say.


    "Tell me about your requirements for this card."


    Hearing Chen Mu''s question, Will''s expression quickly turned serious. Chen Mu showed a look of appreciation, since although this guy was a little quiet, he was probably rather strong in his own realm, which he could see from the seriousness which spontaneously revealed itself.


    After turning it over in his mind, Will said very deliberately, "What I want is a close-combat card, three-star, with a three to five meter scope of attack. Apart from that, I have no requirements.


    Chen Mu quickly asked, "What card are you using now?"


    "I''m using the bipolar thunderball card," Will said.


    "Oh. Let me see you use it." This was Chen Mu''s first time hearing of the bipolar thunderball, so he couldn''t help being interested.


    Hearing that, Will activated his apparatus without any hesitation.


    After a light oath, two fist-sized small white ''thunderballs'' suddenly appeared twirling around Will''s body. Will knew that Chen Mu wanted to see his ability level, and so without reservation, he gave it his all.


    The two thunderballs could be seen moving left and right in an extremely lively fashion like two naughty elves. Seeing such a card for the first time made an impression on Chen Mu.


    The two thunderballs suddenly lined up in front of Will.


    The two of them looked as though they were attracted to one another, chasing their tails faster and faster, until a white-colored light-shield quickly appeared in front of Will. From the face of the shield could be heard the crackling sound of an electric arc from time to time.


    It was very interesting, and Chen Mu felt his scope expanded, since he only partly understood card artisans. He couldn''t let such a rare opportunity pass him by.


    Chen Mu wanted Will to show him each of his skills, so that by the end Will had nearly fainted.


    There were a lot of things which were very interesting to Chen Mu. Apart from the light-shield''s defensive capabilities, these thunderballs also had quite good attack capabilities. And they could also be joined together to make a ball that was still the same size but was much more powerful.


    The two thunderballs were really two energy balls that had been especially well laid out.


    Chen Mu wanted to get the card from Will to carefully examine its composition.


    The card''s most profound secrets were in the control region of its composition, which was why Will had been able to use his perception to control it.


    The thing that most interested Chen Mu was the composition, this being the first time he had ever run into a card which could still be controlled after its energy had been emitted. No matter whether it was his tailless shuttle card, or any other card he''d made, once the energy in the power card had been emitted upon activation, it would pass through the fantasy card, where it would be formed into a uniquely structured energy body. Because the composition of each of these energy bodies was different, they all manifested differing characteristics, but they all had one thing alike, which was that once they had been emitted, just like an arrow after it has been shot, there was no way to control them.


    It really surprised Chen Mu that the pair of thunderballs formed by this bipolar thunderball card could be controlled.


    Feeling a little weak, Will cautiously looked at Chen Mu.


    This bipolar thunderball card had been given to him by his teacher a long time ago. While it was very flexible, it had very high requirements for perception, and it took a lot of energy to manipulate. And the power of the two thunderballs was limited, such that if he were to run into a slightly awesome beast, it would be difficult to make a fatal hit. So, he wanted to exchange it for a new card.


    Seeing Chen Mu so concentrated on the bipolar thunderball card, he was a little uncertain. This card wouldn''t be considered very high level and wouldn''t have much value. The reason his teacher had given it to him was that it was the only close-battle card that he had.


    Chen Mu closed his eyes, searching quickly through his brain, to digest what he could get from the card.


    Will didn''t dare to breathe, afraid of disturbing Chen Mu''s pondering. If he were so careless as to offend the card master, where would he ever find such a high level card master again?


    After a full half hour, Chen Mu opened his eyes.


    "Your ability to control your perception is too weak." The way that Chen Mu went right to the heart of the matter immediately raised the temperature on Will''s face, though he knew that what had been said was correct.


    Chen Mu thought for a moment, and then continued on, "You need a card with a simpler composition, so that you can act more quickly, and facilitate your dodging and evading. And your close fighting . . . "


    A scheme was forming in Chen Mu''s'' brain. Will''s eyes were brightly full of hope staring at Chen Mu.


    "I have two proposals for you just now. Do you want something single-shot with a lot of power while having a slow firing speed, or do you want something with a quicker firing speed, but with a rather weak single-shot fire power?" Chen Mu suddenly asked.


    "Something with a lot of power in its single-shot!" Will responded without hesitation. He had long been jealous of those card artisans who deployed powerful attacks, and the bipolar thunderball card was too weak, and couldn''t satisfy his use of it. Then he very cautiously said, "If you like this bipolar thunderball card, feel free to take it. I wouldn''t mind at all."


    He had discovered that Chen Mu seemed to be extremely interested in the card, and very simply and generously offered it to him. Anyhow, he intended to exchange for a different card. Being able to get a connection to an "A" level card master, never mind a mere bipolar thunderball card, even if it were ten, or a hundred, he would have given them to Chen Mu without any reservations.


    Looking at Will with a little astonishment, Chen Mu hadn''t realized he would be so generous.


    "Then if that''s the way it is, I am very grateful." Then after some thought, Chen Mu said, "I won''t need the remuneration for the commission, and I''ll give you the card in three days, alright?"


    "Yes, yes, yes." Will hurriedly said. To trade the bipolar thunderball card for a three-star card made by an "A" level card master was too generous a deal.


    Having completed their business, Chen Mu bid Will farewell.


    Will was happily strolling through the base. While he wouldn''t have any card for three days and naturally couldn''t take any commissions, just then he was humming a tune and strolling casually through the base.


    "Will!" A voice came from behind him.


    He turned around to see a female card artisan in a battle suit walking toward him.


    Will watched brightly, "Sister Cheng, you are still so stunningly beautiful that every time your little brother sees you, he is deeply intoxicated. . ." before he''d finished speaking, he opened his arms and with his intoxicated look, moved to give her a lusty hug.


    Cheng Ying raised her long leg without any polite consideration, stretching her right leg out like a javelin and putting her toe right at Will''s throat.


    Will quickly stiffened, his face full of smiles, "Sister Cheng''s long legs are still so nice and fit!" He sighed, sniffing at her calves, and then with the intoxicated look on his face deepening, "fragrant!"


    Cheng Ying pulled back her leg not knowing whether to laugh or cry, "You''re still such a brat, never spending any time on daily training. How is your power going to increase if you go on like this? You don''t know that I just ran into a close-combat card artisan like you. Do you know what his score was in the close-range dodging and evading training?"


    Will immediately opened his eyes wider, showing that he had gotten serious, "What level of difficulty? What score?"

 Chapter 114: Verification

    Chapter 114: Verification


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "What are you chatting about?" A young man with an easy manner came walking toward the two of them with a smile.


    Hearing the voice, the two turned around in unison. Seeing it was Bo Wen, Cheng Ying''s eyes lit up, "Don''t you have any practice today, Bo Wen?"


    Bo Wen''s smiling face was as enchanting as ever, and he said with a smile, "I''m too lazy to train today. Sister Cheng Ying is still so industrious that it puts me to shame."


    Will and Cheng Ying had known one another for a long time, and they both later met Bo Wen. Bo Wen was a little mysterious to them. His power was inscrutable, and Cheng Ying had always doubted whether even Mark Victor could be his equal. If one were to judge from the commissions he took, he had completed all of them very easily.


    Cheng Ying had always felt that Bo Wen was one strange guy. He seemed to be really interested in everything while he didn''t seem to care about anything. But one thing was certain; Bo Wen had a lot of power!


    That was sufficient. In that society, people with power were the ones worth getting to know. Both Will and Cheng Ying understood that very clearly.


    There weren''t many women card artisans on the base. But provided that their appearance was the least bit remarkable, if they were to look at Bo Wen it was as though they wanted to swallow him up.


    In comparison, Chen Ying was much calmer and more normal, which was one of the reasons Bo Wen looked upon her so favorably.


    Bo Wen was someone that no-one could dislike, and even a woman as picky as Cheng Ying couldn''t help that kind of thought, such was his charm.


    "Sister Cheng had just been telling me that she had found an awesome guy." Will explained after he and Bo Wen had greeted one another.


    "Awesome guy? Oh, if someone can get sister Cheng Ying to say ''awesome,'' he must really be something." Bo Wen looked a little interested.


    Seeing that both of their gazes had fallen on her, Cheng Ying talked a little about what she had seen that day, "I ran into a guy today who had scored above 80 in the close-range dodging and evading training which had a difficulty rating of 80. One out of three of his scores reached 90. Awesome! It stunned me."


    Will had been shocked, "Close-range dodging and evading training with a difficulty level of 80, and scoring above 80, With one out of three at 90?" He was a close-combat card artisan, and he knew what that meant more than an ordinary person would. He would only score 65 in the situation of close-range dodging and evading that had a difficulty level of 80. He could sometimes hit a score of 80, but to steadily hit that score time after time was a lot more valuable, and a lot scarier.


    "Oh." The ever-calm Bo Wen didn''t change his expression, "There''s that kind of a close-combat ace here? That''s a great score."


    Cheng Ying nodded in deep thought, "I find it surprising too, I don''t know if even Mark Victor could get that kind of result."


    Bo Wen said, "If there were someone, it would be him."


    Mark Victor had been making a lot of noise during that time. His rate of success with commissions was extremely high, and he finished every commission in outstanding fashion. Not only that, he had also defeated another card artisan called Alan in a conflict, who had also made a bit of a name for himself in those circles. He was easily defeated by Mark Victor.


    The thing that made people pay attention was that Mark Victor was also a close-combat card artisan, while Alan was a classic long-range card artisan, and the battle between them lasted only five minutes when Mark Victor claimed victory. Three people witnessed the fight between the two of them, and it had made a deep impression.


    It wasn''t permitted on the base to just casually kill people unless the adversaries had joined in a duel, which would then be life or death. That was how Alan had been killed in Mark Victor''s hands.


    The dead are dead, and no one cares about the loser.


    Will''s expression became a little serious. If a close-combat card artisan could get those kinds of scores, then he could evade most attacks. If anyone wanted to hit him, it would be very difficult.


    In general, card artisans like that had sensitive nerves, and were the hardest type to deal with.


    Seeing Will''s serious expression and Bo Wen deep in thought, Cheng Ying wasn''t thinking of saying anything casual. But since the atmosphere had gotten so serious, she wanted to liven it up a little, so she said with deliberate lightness, "Let''s not worry about him anymore. Even though he has such high scores, he doesn''t look like an ace to me. Will, seeing you so happy just now, did something good happen?"


    Will came back to his spirits, remembering what had happened that day, and couldn''t help smiling, "Ha! With such bad luck all my life, I finally ran into some good luck today!"


    Bo Wen had also been awakened from his deep thought, and seeing Will''s excited look, he smiled lightly, "What is it that''s made you so excited?"


    "Ha! You''ll never guess! I issued a commission yesterday, wanting to buy a somewhat better close-combat fantasy card, having always wanted to change mine." Will said laughingly.


    Bo Wen was dumbfounded, and then smiled, "You wanted to exchange a fantasy card? I know quite a few pretty good card masters. Would you like me to introduce a few?"


    Will quickly waved him off, "No need, no need. A card master just took the commission today." His face had a pleased expression.


    Cheng Ying laughed out, and made some fun, "Didn''t you issue it so that a card master would take the commission? What''s so surprising about that? Aren''t card masters everywhere these days?"


    The satisfied look on Will''s face didn''t fade, "There sure are a lot of card masters, but what if there were one who had gotten an "A" level of contribution points?"


    "A contribution level of ''A''?" Cheng Ying''s face was full of disbelief, "You think that a contribution level of ''A'' is some cabbage you can just stick your foot out and kick?"


    Bo Wen was lightly smiling, as he slowly said, "I''m afraid that there are only five card masters on the base with an ''A'' level of contribution." Both Will and Cheng Ying knew that Bo Wen was always likely to have insider information, so if he said five, then that would have to be pretty close. The two of them both tucked that number away in their memories.


    Seeing that the two didn''t believe him, Will deepened his look of satisfaction, "Ha ha, I didn''t believe at the beginning either, but then I saw his room card, on which was written an ''A'' which couldn''t be faked."


    Cheng Ying showed some astonishment in her face, "Why would a card master with an ''A'' level of contribution rush to take your commission? How much were you offering?"


    "It was only for two hundred contribution points. I didn''t get it either why some big guy would pay attention to my little commission." Will shrugged his shoulders, with a look of not knowing why it had been so, "I only know that he''s called Chen Mu, and he''s very young ¨C even younger than me. I really don''t know how someone so young could rise to the ''A'' level."


    "Chen Mu?" the ever-unperturbable Bo Wen suddenly raised his head, with a strange look to his eyes.


    Cheng Ying and Will''s gazes fell on Bo Wen at the same time, and Will asked, "You mean you know Chen Mu?"


    "Ha ha, no, I''ve only heard the name, and it''s said that he has pretty good strength." Bo Wen''s expression looked a little forced. Cheng Ying caught the look in his eye but didn''t say anything.


    Will became more excited, "So you mean he really is an ''A'' level card master?"


    Bo Wen couldn''t help smiling, "Those points aren''t a mistake."


    "Ha! Fantastic!" Will was so excited he didn''t know where he was, which make Cheng Ying beside him a little envious. Not knowing what that strange look in Bo Wen''s eyes was about, there wasn''t any worry that the "A" contribution level card artisan''s identity was in question. And you could see from Bo Wen''s reaction that the "A" level card master might have something special about him.


    Despite her envy, Cheng Ying was still happy for Will. Will might not have had the subtle depths of Bo Wen, but he was a lot more simple and upright and sincere toward people, which was something that Cheng Ying appreciated. She knew how strong Will was, and that the power of that original card of his was just too low.


    Then when Will talked about how Chen Mu had wanted to see him practice, the envy in Cheng Ying''s heart shot up to its highest point.


    Almost every card artisan had the ideal of using a card that had been tailor-made just for them. But that was only a dream for most card artisans.


    A card master who had the ability to make a three star or above card specifically designed for someone wasn''t someone ordinary.


    Bo Wen was standing to the side with a smile, with his eyes sometimes looking as though he had something on his mind.


    * * *


    Chen Mu didn''t start making the fantasy card for Will right away when he got home, but rather pulled out the bipolar thunderball card to study. He wasn''t only interested in the design on the face of it. But to be a card master, Chen Mu still had to delve into studying the design first.


    After spending about two hours, he had finally gotten a little bit of a clue. It was naturally only a clue. The design on that card was original, and clearly in an utterly different category from any theory that Chen Mu had learned about.


    He probably understood about a quarter of it, and could probably guess the purpose of another quarter, but he didn''t'' understand the remaining half at all.


    The bipolar thunderball card was a fine piece, and the card master who had made it was a powerful card master. To use the word ''powerful'' about a card master seemed to have become a little unreliable, but Chen Mu had used that word without any reservations at all.

 Chapter 115: Deep Variations

    Chapter 115: Deep Variations


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    It could be seen from the pen strokes on the card that the card master had extremely rich experience making cards. One could only form such fine and precise lines after becoming thoroughly tempered.


    The pen strokes in a composition would sometimes show the card master''s style. For instance, the first feeling that this card gave Chen Mu was of precision, with nothing being the slightest bit off, like dialed-in precision. In comparison, the mysterious card gave Chen Mu a kind of vast and broad feeling.


    Each card master was different from the others, and the cards that they make are naturally different as well.


    Will''s control of perception was too weak to bring all that card''s power into play. Even though it was only a three-star card, it''s real power went far beyond what he had demonstrated.


    Chen Mu inserted the bipolar thunderball card into his apparatus and activated it. He shut his eyes, feeling carefully for the energy changes in the apparatus.


    Two fist-sized glowing balls appeared, twirling around Chen Mu''s body, merrily chasing one another. But they weren''t the same as the thunderballs Will had formed. The ones that Chen Mu had formed had light-blue colored sparking on their surface, and the arcing sound had almost disappeared.


    Chen Mu had never known what his perceptual ability level really was, never having undergone the specialized assessment.


    He was very quickly immersed in probing the bipolar thunderball card.


    As compared to before, his perception was a lot more fine and sensitive. He carefully experienced the energy flow in the apparatus, where there were twelve energy beams converging from all directions, passing through different structures. They seemed like streams of liquid metal, passing through tubes having differing capabilities, finally forged into metals having different characteristics.


    Manipulating the two thunderballs didn''t take any energy and he could very easily control them any way he liked. But after Chen Mu had experimented a bit, the farthest that they could be from him was five meters. Any farther, and he would lose control of them.


    He could see two light-blue thunderballs sometimes speeding up, sometimes slowing, sometimes going clockwise, and sometimes counterclockwise.


    He suddenly remembered the light-shield that Will had demonstrated, and Chen Mu tried to get the two thunderballs to come close to one another and move in a circle in front of him.


    Like mischievous elves, the two thunderballs chased one another with exhilaration. But Chen Mu never saw any sign of the energy shield that he wanted.


    What was going on? Chen Mu was felt a little stupid remembering that he hadn''t asked Will anything about how to use the card, which made him sneer at himself.


    But he didn''t become discouraged, having seen such a situation many times before. Failure was his daily bread. And exploration had always been a kind of joy.


    By controlling his perception, he could keep them going continuously at their highest speed at which time his perception was in its most sensitive state.


    Chen Mu concentrated all his attention on the two thunderballs, and then he discovered something. They didn''t look much different from any energy balls, but under Chen Mu''s perceptual scanning, their peculiarities revealed themselves.


    Having been formed from countless small beams of energy, those then formed into a peculiar sort of gridwork. But those grids were extremely fine, and in a sense the thunderballs were like a honeycomb, or like a sphere woven from rattan.


    There were a lot of little holes on the surface of the thunderballs, some small and some large.


    Their size was precisely ordered, with two of the largest size. Next was a slightly smaller hole of which there were four. Chen Mu called them the secondary holes. There were eight of the next smaller size, and these were about as fine as Chen Mu''s finest perceptual tendrils. He called those the third-level holes.


    The third-level holes were at the limit of what Chen Mu could probe.


    From large to small, being arranged in two, four, and eight, one could see that they were extremely orderly. Chen Mu quickly determined that the key to manipulating the two thunderballs was those fine little holes.


    Now that his objective was locked in, Chen Mu began to experiment.


    He very carefully separated out two perceptual tendrils, extending one of them into one of the two largest holes in each of the two thunderballs.


    Then something wonderful happened!


    The two thunderballs suddenly started to quickly chase after one another, at such a high speed that in an instant an energy shield took shape in front of Chen Mu. But it wasn''t very similar to Will''s, being light blue on its surface, with the occasional sparking on its surface coming in flashes.


    Chen Mu''s spirit was stunned, and as he continually adjusted the strength of the perceptual tendrils inside the thunderballs, he saw the form of the energy shield in front of him also continually transforming.


    A mirror, a convex surface, a heart shape, a diamond shape . . .


    Then the energy shield in front of him looked like a disc of soft rubber, as it took any shape that he desired. It finally changed into the most classic and common individual shield, slightly thicker in the middle, arching out to both sides, and able to protect the whole person inside it.


    Chen Mu got it and retracted the two perceptual tendrils which were inside the thunderballs. There was a slight popping sound, as the light-blue energy shield turned into two glowing balls.


    Chen Mu immediately extended a perceptual tendril into one of the thunderball''s holes, and another into the other thunderball, but this time he chose two different holes.


    He saw two glowing balls fly in front of him, one behind the other, and then suddenly a long-shaped energy body appeared in front of Chen Mu.


    What was that? Chen Mu was a little stunned. It looked like a long bread stick, except for the light blue glow still being emitted.


    He very quickly reacted, realizing that the energy shield had just changed shape by itself. He tried changing the power of those two perceptual tendrils of his.


    The result was that the "blue colored bread stick" in front of him immediately transformed.


    After going through endless adjustments, Chen Mu finally succeeded in molding it into the shape of an energy sword, except that that energy sword was a little bit ugly, with a sharp tip and broad back-side, like a flat triangle, without any sharp edge, and without any handle. To be precise, it looked like the front half of a sword.


    Still, Chen Mu was quite pleased, since what was wrong with a "half-sword?"


    He tried controlling those two perceptual tendrils, when hsiu! a light blue ghost flitted into midair in a blur in front of Chen Mu. The "half-sword" seemed to have appeared out of nowhere five meters away!


    So fast!


    Chen Mu was a little startled, having no way to see it clearly with his eyesight. He believed that if that bipolar thunderball card were to be used in a surprise attack, he could certainly never evade it.


    The bipolar thunderball card had a very short activation time, and if his actions were more practiced, he believed that he could probably do it in half a second, which was a speed hard to defend against. Fortunately, its distance requirements were strict, or that card could really be a slaughtering machine.


    The stronger the perception, the stronger the "half-sword" that was formed, and the more precisely the perception was controlled, the shorter the time required.


    Chen Mu tried it a few more times and found that the two largest holes could only form these two kinds of energy bodies.


    Chen Mu''s gaze then fell onto the somewhat smaller holes, of which there were four on each of the thunderballs. He used the same method to extend a perceptual tendril into the secondary holes, with one going into one each of the secondary holes.


    Yi! Why no response?


    The thunderballs remained thunderballs, not transforming at all. He tried it another two times, and there was still no response from the two balls.


    It was a good thing that Chen Mu had never lacked patience, as he went ahead without any urgency to start experimenting one step at a time. After a few trials there was still no response. But moreover, the number of holes had now doubled, with each of the two thunderballs now having eight holes altogether, so how many combinations were there?


    Chen Mu''s expression was still as calm as water, without any restlessness. He counted to himself how many combinations he had tried, as he very methodically controlled the perceptual tendrils, testing one by one.


    Hard work pays off, and after half an hour, Chen Mu finally discovered something new.


    When he used four perceptual tendrils at the same time to enter four secondary holes in one of the thunderballs, while using one perceptual tendril to enter one of the other thunderball''s secondary holes, the two would finally undergo a transformation!


    There was a light crackling sound.


    The two thunderballs suddenly divided into five smaller thunderballs, with each one joined to one of Chen Mu''s perceptual tendrils.


    But the thing which Chen Mu found strange was that although his perceptual tendrils were linked to each of the five small thunderballs, he had no way to control them. He could perceive them and could know very clearly what they would do next, but he had no control over where they would show up next.


    The five little thunderballs were like five naughty children, who completely ignored any orders. They were extremely lively as they slowed and sped so smartly in their frolics all around Chen Mu. And unlike the two thunderballs, these five little guys flitted around without any order to speak of, though what set one''s mind a little bit at ease was that their activity was always within a small scope.


    The thing that most surprised Chen Mu was that he had no way to retract his perceptual tendrils from these five thunderballs, with all five of them firmly held by the five little thunderballs.


    It was this first time he had ever come across such a situation, with no way to retract his perceptual tendrils, and no way to control the movements of the five little thunderballs. That was a really messed up situation.


    He was struck by that as he sneered to himself. He never thought that this experiment of his would cause such a situation to appear, which was so far beyond human understanding.


    He tried shutting off his apparatus, wanting to cut off any power supply to those five small thunderballs. What struck him dumb was that after the apparatus was off, the five small thunderballs seemed not to be influenced at all, merrily frolicking all around his body.


    Chen Mu was puzzled watching them. Although up until then, he hadn''t noticed any effect on his body. He wondered if he would have to take these five little thunderballs out with him every day.


    What about eating? What about washing? Or study?

 Chapter 116: The Little Company of Five

    Chapter 116: The Little Company of Five


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The five small thunderballs were cheerfully circling around Chen Mu, whose face had a grimace more bitter than a bitter melon. Why wouldn''t those five little thunderballs disappear after all? They should normally have disappeared as soon as he turned off the apparatus.


    Chen Mu stood up.


    His elbow carelessly bumped the edge of the desk, and a cup that had been placed up high became unstable, and then came tumbling toward him.


    As Chen Mu was about to grab it, there was suddenly a flash of light. Like fish smelling raw meat, the five small thunderballs came shooting toward the glass from all directions!


    Pow! When was such an ordinary glass ever attacked like that, smashing into bits in an instant, shattering in all directions.


    What was that?


    What the five little thunderballs had done so suddenly was far beyond anything Chen Mu could have anticipated, giving him no chance to react.


    Seeing the shards darting toward him, Chen Mu was about to dodge, when an energy shield suddenly appeared in front of him with a crackling sound. The shards hit it with a very crisp-sounding impact.


    Chen Mu stared dumbly at that gorgeous five-sided energy shield, on each corner of which was a conspicuous small thunderball. Before he could realize what had happened, the energy shield suddenly disappeared, and the five little thunderballs went back to their previous flitting around.


    Then a very fine powder of porcelain floated slowly down from the air to right by the dumbstruck Chen Mu''s heel.


    Seeing those five thunderballs still as naughty as ever, Chen Mu felt like his brain had short-circuited. What had occurred in front of his eyes had utterly overturned all the ideas he had in his head.


    What? What is this?


    What had just happened kept coming back to his brain. Starting from the instant that the cup had come at him, the five little thunderballs shot toward it and smashed it. And when the shards had scattered, the thunderballs formed themselves into a five-sided energy shield right in front of him, and then the energy shield''s power grid pulverized them all, after which the five-sided energy shield disappeared.


    The whole process happened like a slow-motion card play, and it kept replaying in Chen Mu''s mind. Although it had happened suddenly, he could see every detail very clearly. This effective memory was the result of every little thunderball hanging onto a perceptual tendril such that he could remember every detail of the entire process.


    He stood there dumbly in the thick of the misfortunes passing through his brain, with the changes in the energy endlessly flashing by. With every detail flashing back, that was the first time he had ever experienced such intuitive, direct and clear perception of the transformation of energy.


    Although it had all happened in a spark of time, in that instant, the energy transformations that had manifested were enough to greatly widen the scope of Chen Mu''s vision. A clarity came surging out from the depths of his heart, as though a skylight had been opened before him, letting in all the sunlight.


    Not knowing how much time had passed, Chen Mu finally came out of this strange state. He took a look at the time and couldn''t help being shocked that a half hour had gone by.


    His gaze fell onto those five merry little thunderballs. But he didn''t need to use his eyes, which he closed, and could still sense every little movement of those five little thunderballs. He could very clearly know what they were doing to the finest degree but couldn''t control their any slightest movement.


    Yi!


    He suddenly noticed that the five little thunderballs had shrunk. He closed his eyes and examined them carefully. As he was sensing them, the five small thunderballs shrunk in a way that couldn''t be hidden.


    Then it hit him. Could it be . . .


    Thinking about it, he suddenly took some great strides toward his desk which was covered with all sorts of debris.


    By the time that he was at the same distance from the desk as the distance he had been from the cup just then, those five little thunderballs stayed selfishly swimming around his body and didn''t mount any attack.


    This gave Chen Mu a little more confidence. He slowly picked up a thumb-sized steel ball from his desk, and without any hesitation threw it against the wall.


    The ball hit the wall with a ping, and then bounced back, flying toward Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu didn''t flinch as he watched the ball coming at him, just like the blockhead that he was. But just as the steel ball flew to where that cup had just been attacked, that stunning scene repeated itself.


    Right in front of Chen Mu, black iron powder drifted and fell.


    These five little thunderballs would only attack something that was moving fast, which confirmed his conjecture.


    And then the five little thunderballs shrank a little more, with their shrinking being still more apparent than the last time. It wasn''t difficult to see that it had taken more power for the five little thunderballs to pulverize the steel ball.


    Again, Chen Mu didn''t hesitate to find all the steel balls he could in the apartment, throwing them one after the other. The five little thunderballs could then be seen to shrink in front of him with his naked eye. When Chen Mu had thrown the fifth ball, there was a pop, and the five little thunderballs were finally annihilated into thin air.


    The last steel ball which they still hadn''t managed to pulverize really hurt when it hit Chen Mu.


    Letting out a long breath, a big stone finally dropped from Chen Mu''s mind. If the five little thunderballs hadn''t disappeared, it would have caused a lot of trouble for him. He wouldn''t have been able to go out with those five eye-catching things around him.


    The bipolar thunderball card was a powerful card after all!


    Thinking about his having only just tested the secondary holes, that had been his first successful match. According to the previous two experiences, Chen Mu surmised that there should be about four kinds of matches among the secondary holes. Which was to say that at that level, there would probably be three more techniques. And then what about the level-three holes? Chen Mu remembered very clearly that there were eight third-level holes on each of the thunderballs.


    Eight techniques?


    Chen Mu found that unbelievable. It that''s the way it really was, then that bipolar thunderball card would have fourteen kinds of tactical techniques! This was an extremely terrifying number for any card artisan, without any doubt.


    No matter what, he was bowing down in praise before the card master who made the bipolar thunderball card. Apart from the mysterious card, this was the most powerful card he had ever seen.


    But he didn''t dare to experiment with abandon just then, since those five little thunderballs had already tired him. The bipolar thunderball card had really brought him too many pleasant surprises. It was too bad that Will''s perceptual control fell too far short, and he couldn''t bring all of the card''s power into play. Otherwise, he would never have needed to exchange his card.


    Chen Mu didn''t think he could make a card at that level. It would simply be another tall mountain that he could only gaze up on for him. And as he used to be, he wouldn''t have been able to bring all that card''s power into play either.


    The matching of the secondary holes to form different techniques was already extremely difficult for him. And he reckoned that the techniques which might come from matching the third-level holes weren''t something that he could control at that time.


    It as an extremely scary and dangerous thing for a card artisan not to be able to maintain control.


    If those energy bodies weren''t stable, then any thunderball would be enough to pose a threat to Chen Mu''s life. And if they were to explode, the whole apartment would be blown apart.


    He very sensibly decided not to do any more probing for the time being.


    Chen Mu used most of his time during those three days on making the card for Will. As awesome as the bipolar thunderball card was, Chen Mu felt a little sorry that he had gotten it so cheaply. That made him really put his heart into the card he was making for Will.


    In the middle of all that, he still couldn''t resist trying out the five little thunderballs, which technique he called the "little company of five." After trying it a few times, he acquired a pretty good general understanding of the "little company of five."


    For example, if he didn''t shut off his apparatus, then the energy emitted by the power card would continuously replenish the energy losses of the "little company of five," right up until the energy card in the apparatus had been exhausted. And Chen Mu estimated the approximate limit for their sensitivity to speed. Anything entering their range of attack that hadn''t exceeded that speed wouldn''t be attacked by the little company of five. But once it exceeded that speed, the little company of five would immediately attack, pulverizing the flying mass. The territory that the little company of five controlled was within a radius of three meters around Chen Mu''s body.


    The thing that Chen Mu found most strange was that the little company of five wasn''t at all interested in the things that he threw, never budging.


    That technique alone was enough for Chen Mu to study endlessly, and when he thought about the over ten other techniques, he got really excited.


    Not having any battle card, Will didn''t have any way to take commissions during that time, only being able to practice his close-range dodging and evading every day. Still for those few days, he wondered why he never ran into that ace that Cheng Ying had spoken about.


    He didn''t have enough points for the high-level training space and could only go to the rudimentary flight training room.


    Having been stimulated by the score achieved by that close-combat ace that Cheng Ying had spoken about that day, he would practice hard all day.


    The apparatus on his wrist suddenly sounded. That startled him, and the jet stream from the jet stream card dropped for an instant. He plunked down from the sky, almost chewing a mouthful of mud.


    "Who the f***k is that!" Will was gritting his teeth and cursing with all his heart at the guy who would call him.


    But once he saw the number, his tooth grinding expression suddenly became a breath of spring air, "Mr. Chen Mu, how are you!"

 Chapter 117: The Hundred Blades

    Chapter 117: The Hundred Blades


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Will arrived at the number 2 comprehensive training room with his heart full of anticipation. What would a card made by a card master having an "A" level of contribution points be like? Chen Mu looked very young, which stuck out among card masters where so much stress was put on qualifications and experience. But getting to the "A" level was something that even the so-called high-level card artisans couldn''t match.


    Hadn''t Bo Wen said that there were only five "A" level card artisans on the base? Will knew the principle that rare things are expensive.


    No matter how he looked at it, everything made Will extremely enthusiastic about that card which would be his.


    He suddenly thought about Bo Wen and Cheng Ying, who had said that they wanted to meet the awesome card master. Should he contact them or not? Will was hesitant, since he still wasn''t very familiar with Chen Mu''s temperament. He wondered if doing that might offend him. If he made Chen Mu unhappy, then he would be miserable. Will finally abandoned the idea, deciding to hold off his boldness, and first become familiar with Chen Mu before bringing up such a request.


    With that matter off to the side, Will''s heart filled with joy as he thought of the awesome card that he would soon have.


    Chen Mu was already waiting in the number 2 comprehensive training room. Will quickened his step upon seeing him, and hurriedly apologized, "I am really embarrassed to be so late."


    "It''s not important." Chen Mu waved it off, not minding, "The card is finished. This time is for you to try it and see if there is anything which needs to be adjusted."


    Will felt immediately comfortable seeing such an unexpected attitude; an "A" level card master who was so amiable and so dedicated! He sighed to realize that the more powerful a person was, the more easy-going they could be.


    Will wasn''t going to do anything the least bit rash just because Chen Mu was so easy-going. Even if it were before, when he had been awed to see the "A" on the card to indicate Chen Mu''s level of contribution points, Chen Mu would still be worthy of Will''s deep respect.


    "I am so sorry to trouble you." He said very sincerely as he bowed.


    Chen Mu looked at Will a little surprised. Being born poor, and having become accustomed to human sensibilities, it was easy for him to tell if Will''s praise was genuine or fake. He simply didn''t quite get it, since he knew that he hadn''t done anything that was so great.


    But he didn''t question it and changed the topic to the card that he had made for Will.


    "This is called the ''hundred blades'' card. Of course, if you don''t like the name, you can change it." Chen Mu said as casually as always, as he pulled a silver-grey card out from his card wallet.


    The card''s light profile had some significant differences as compared with an ordinary card. The dark silver-grey card was understated but extremely touchable, having gone through a water-based polishing process, which took away any reflective qualities. But compared to its understated physical qualities, it''s composition was dazzling. Its light silver design was fine and balanced, giving a kind of illusion, as though a liquid were flowing on the surface of the card, and they were the silvery veins.


    As soon as he looked at it, Will fell in love with the card. He stared wide-eyed at the hundred blades card in Chen Mu''s hand, with an obsessed look in his eyes.


    Chen Mu was concentrating on explaining the "hundred blades" card. He had decided to demonstrate it himself, and he inserted it into his own apparatus and then activated it.


    "The special thing about this card is the number of finger-sized energy blades it can emit in an instant. I thought this style would be rather suited to you for short range attacks. If your perception is strong enough, you can certainly reach the value of a hundred, but in general you could reach twenty shots, which isn''t bad."


    Chen Mu raised his hand and his look turned serious, then without any visible movement, several dozen light green rays of light flashed by all around his body.


    "Were you able to see that clearly?" Chen Mu asked Will.


    Will was so excited he was shaking, and with a trembling voice, "I see . . . saw it clearly! My god, that was great!" He saw those dozens of light rays very clearly, each one of them left by an energy blade. Those flashes of light were enough to show how fast the small light green energy blades were.


    "The coverage of the hundred blades card is within a range of ten meters around your body. If you were to have sufficient control of your perception, you could control the speed and direction of each of the energy blades. Just now, you could probably only control their general direction. In this way you could form a fan-shaped attack." Chen Mu did another demonstration, which flashed dozens of light-blue rays within a fan shaped area in front of him.


    Will''s face had reddened, since Chen Mu had implied that his ability to control his perception was lacking, which was why Chen Mu had chosen that style of attack. But one must know oneself, and that was his weak point. He was just not good at it. Since that card could avoid those weaknesses of his, while it embarrassed him, he was very happy. And he had been paying attention to the density of the attack within that fan-shaped area, which simply lit up his eyes. With that kind of density, very few would be able to dodge and evade.


    "The firepower of each small energy blade can''t be considered very high." Chen Mu''s expression showed his regret at reaching his absolute limit, and this being the best that he could do. He walked over to an instrument that was specifically used to test attack damage, which had a round target in front of it. There was a screen beside the target which currently displayed all zeros.


    He raised his hand and fired off a light green colored little energy blade, which hit with a pop, and then numbers on the screen started jumping around until they stopped at 330.


    "That''s about the level, pay attention when you''re in a battle." Chen Mu reminded.


    Will was gaping at the screen, feeling like his brain had been short-circuited. My god! To consider 330 low? He looked at Chen Mu speechlessly. When he had just said that the power of the energy blades was insufficient, he had prepared himself mentally for something not very much out of the ordinary, like maybe 250. The destructive power of the two thunderballs emitted by his previous bipolar thunderball card didn''t go beyond 180.


    He was scared stupid by the number 330! That was already a very high level for a three-star card, with the destructive power of ordinary cards probably in the low 200''s. He was wild with joy from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head, and his brain felt like he''d been slammed with a rush of heat which made him feel giddy.


    Don''t mess with me, brother, OK? Will was looking at Chen Mu resentfully, with these highs and lows bringing his fragile nerves to the point of collapse. But looking at Chen Mu''s serious expression, he felt the need to open his mouth and check the standards. Can "A" level card masters just ignore everyone else''s standards like that?


    He swallowed hard, wanting to open his mouth, while Chen Mu was twisting his wrist and continuing on, "In order to compensate for this deficit, I''ve given it an additional tactical technique."


    Then he raised his hand again.


    Dozens of green rays appeared at the same time and converged on a single spot with startling speed. There was a glowing spot floating in midair in front of Chen Mu, which gave Will the illusion that they were going all out to absorb all the light around them in that instant. The afterimage of that brilliant moment stuck in Will''s eyes, almost giving him a spell of fainting.


    A twenty-centimeter light green crescent-shaped wavy blade floated quietly in front of Chen Mu, looking like a crescent moon, gentle and serene.


    Chen Mu pushed his right hand slightly ahead.


    Sssss! The gentle-looking crescent moon emitted a sound like a hissing snake, blowing up a sudden chill in Will''s heart.


    Poof! The crescent hit the target with a sound like the previous one, so light as to be almost negligible. It left a twenty-centimeter clear impression in the center of the round target. And then the screen started jumping more crazily than the last time.


    450!


    Will stood in front of the screen, his gaze drifting, scared out of his mind. There was only the sound mumbling from his mouth, how could that be, how could that be.


    To Chen Mu, Will''s losing control of himself made him think that Will wasn''t satisfied with the destructive value, when he calmly said, "This is the highest damage value I''ve been able to achieve. If you aren''t satisfied, I don''t have any way to raise it for the time being." As he saw it, 450 certainly wouldn''t be considered high. The destructive value of his tailless shuttle was 756, after all. Besides, if he were to want to bring the hundred-blade card to that level, it would require a rather long energy accumulation process, which would be very inconvenient during a battle. Its usefulness would be very limited then, in his opinion.


    Will gave a sudden shudder, and came back to his senses, and said almost incoherently, "I''m satisfied, I''m satisfied! I''m really too satisfied!"


    Satisfied! How could he not be satisfied? Unlike Chen Mu, Will very clearly knew how rare it was to find any card which could achieve a damage value above four hundred in the marketplace. Not only would their price be sky high, even if you had the money they wouldn''t be available, and the money would be for naught.


    How could Will have known that he would be given such a pleasant surprise by Chen Mu. He felt like he should go to a temple and light some incense. Not to light incense when such a thing happened would be too disrespectful to the Bodhisattva. He needed to bless the Buddha a little to get such good luck! He felt like every cell in his body was trembling, and trembling with extreme excitement!

 Chapter 118: Three Moons

    Chapter 118: Three Moons


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Since Will was satisfied, Chen Mu breathed a sigh of relief. There were a lot of things about the bipolar thunderball card that he hadn''t yet explored, and he was hoping he didn''t have to return it to Will. But he still very conscientiously reminded Will, "This one has slightly higher strength requirements for perceptual ability. You should be able to use it now, but it will take some effort."


    "It doesn''t matter, it doesn''t matter." Will was excitedly rubbing his hands, dying to grab the hundred blades card from Chen Mu''s hands right away.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help smiling, seeing Will looking so much like a monkey in a hurry.


    "This card still has one more tactical technique, developed from that moon shape just now, with still higher requirements for perceptual control. Pay attention." Chen Mu''s expression was serious, since the technique required a serious approach in his opinion.


    Like rain drops, several dozen zipping light rays converged accurately on a spot in front of Chen Mu, where a crescent moon appeared floating. The same as before, Chen Mu gave a light push.


    The crescent moon darted hissing toward the target, looking no different from the last time.


    Will looked a little uncertain.


    Just then, in the middle of its high-speed flight, the crescent moon suddenly changed from one to three, so that three identical looking crescent moons were in midair.


    Poof!


    Three crescent moons hit the target at the same time, leaving three comparatively light impressions. The numbers on the screen started to jump around, but this time there were three data, which finished at 375, 372, 373.


    What? What is this? Will was struck dumb looking at the target. After five or six full minutes, he finally came back to life. Without being able to conceal it at all, his face was wild with joy to reach the sky. Will knew that if he could grasp the technique, in an actual battle it would have tremendous power. Even though their power was slightly less than the single crescent moon, these were so much more deceptive, to divide mid-flight into three without the slightest warning. If he were to run into such a thing, he would certainly be hit.


    Will had already determined for himself that no matter what, he needed to master that technique


    "It''s called ''three moons!''" Will firmly planted Chen Mu''s faintly spoken words in his memory. Three moons. Not a bad name!


    "Tell me what needs to be modified." Chen Mu continued in consultation with Will.


    "Let me try it first!" Will said excitedly. Although he had already been conquered by the hundred blades card, he would still be prudent. Without saying anything else, Chen Mu pulled the card from his apparatus.


    Will very carefully took the card, not as though what he was receiving with both hands was a card, but more as though it were some priceless piece of fine porcelain. As though looking at something very complex, he looked at the silver grey hundred blades card. And then all the joys and sorrows of his life inexplicably surged up in his heart.


    Seeing Will at such a loss reminded Chen Mu of himself. Remembering when even if it were a one-star fantasy card it could excite him for half the day. Now, the more abstruse his learning became, the less he felt such simple joy.


    That was something to cherish, as Chen Mu thought back to those carefree times.


    Will inserted the hundred blades card into his own apparatus and started his trials.


    Chen Mu returned from his reveries breathing a sigh, as that pure and simple life was getting farther and farther away from him. He turned his attention to Will, who was practicing the hundred blades card.


    Compared with Chen Mu, Will''s perceptual strength fell short. Chen Mu could very easily fire twenty little energy blades at a time, while Will could only release about fifteen. And there were differences in the battle scene, with all the wavy blades within a three-meter area around him.


    Chen Mu gave it some thought, and then praised Will to himself for his rich experience after all. Even though the scope of his control was a fair amount smaller, it still required a lot of strength to maintain control within a three-meter area. And sacrificing some distance to increase the rate of success with the hits was a classic close-in battle play.


    Will could also form the crescent moon, although the one he formed had a damage rating of about 350, which was about the same as what Chen Mu had later gotten with each of the three split-out wavy blades. Will didn''t look the least bit disheartened. On the contrary, his smile stretched from ear to ear.


    Chen Mu didn''t understand why Will was so happy, but that was because he didn''t understand the market. There were a lot fewer close-battle cards than there were remote attack cards, and card masters who were good at making close-combat cards were scarce. Being able to achieve a damage level of 330 wasn''t uncommon among remote cards, but it was hardly ever encountered with close-battle cards. And the hundred blades card had three modes of attack, on which Will placed a great deal of importance. A card artisan having only a single tactic wouldn''t have much chance of survival in the outer reaches, if it didn''t complement someone else''s tactics.


    Seeing that Will wasn''t about to let the hundred blades card out of his hand, Chen Mu felt a strong sense of accomplishment rise from the bottom of his heart. Probably every card artisan would be very happy in that kind of situation.


    Will was extremely pleased with the hundred blades card and didn''t have any thoughts about modifying it.


    Seeing that, Chen Mu was getting ready to leave when he suddenly thought of a question and stopped himself, turning around to ask Will, "Do you know who the most awesome close-battle card artisan is on the base?"


    "The most awesome close-battle card artisan? Do you want to issue a commission?" Will asked quizzically. Will found Chen Mu''s question a little strange, since apart from issuing a commission, he couldn''t think of any other explanation. But if he wanted to issue a commission, what kind was it that he couldn''t do without a close-combat card artisan?


    "I''m rather interested in close combat cards and want to find a card artisan who understands close fighting." Chen Mu had found a pretty good justification for himself.


    "Oh." It suddenly dawned on Will that Chen Mu wanted to find a partner. Quite a few card masters who made close-combat cards had partners who were close-combat card artisans. A close-combat card artisan could correctly determine the practical value of a card''s capabilities. Or to be blunt, their usefulness was to test the close-combat cards made by the card master, and then report their experience to the card master, to facilitate the card master''s improvements.


    Probably only an "A" level card master would ever dare to use that manner of speaking right in front of him, talking about ''the most awesome close-combat card artisan.'' He would assume it was a matter of course that someone else would have such power.


    Although he knew that being this card master''s partner would have countless advantages, he still knew himself well, and he was nowhere near that level. After thinking about it, he said factually, "In that regard, there is someone called Mark Victor who is probably one of the most awesome close-combat card artisans on the base. Oh, and my friend recently ran into an extremely awesome close-combat card artisan. His close range dodging and evading scores were all above 80 under conditions of a level 80 degree of difficulty, with one out of three above 90."


    As Will was saying that he was looking out into space, since those results were so far away from him.


    Chen Mu was taken aback, "Close-range dodging? Difficulty level of 80, getting 80 points?" He was remembering that he seemed to have recently done that kind of training, and that his scores seemed to correspond to those numbers.


    Will thought that Chen Mu wasn''t understanding, and patiently explained, "Close range dodging and evading is a training that close-combat card artisans have to learn, since it can improve their ability to survive. To get a score of 80 at an 80 level of difficulty makes it clear that this card artisan has an extremely outstanding dodging ability. That would be quite a scary close-combat card artisan."


    "Oh." Chen Mu looked like he was trying to understand. Could he have remembered his scores incorrectly? That must be it, though no matter what, these two scary terms card and artisan would never be linked together with him.


    "I unfortunately don''t know that card artisan''s name." Will looked full of regret, though he immediately looked at Chen Mu and said, "But with your strength, it shouldn''t be difficult to seek him out." Will couldn''t believe that an "A" level card master wouldn''t have that kind of privilege.


    "Who would be more awesome between him and Mark Victor?" Chen Mu asked.


    Will thought for a moment, "I haven''t seen that card artisan, and I''m also not really clear on Mark Victor''s actual strength. But I think they must both be at the same level, and if there were any difference, it wouldn''t be very large."


    "Hmmm, Thanks!" Chen Mu said. One had a name, and the other he needed to ask about. Chen Mu naturally chose Mark Victor.


    It suddenly struck Will as he thought of Cheng Ying, "If you need a remote card artisan, there are a few comrades I could introduce you to. They all have outstanding power." This wasn''t a watery phrase for him, since on the base, Cheng Ying''s power was top-notch. And Bo Wen was more inscrutable to Will.


    "Hmmm, I''ll look for you if I need someone." Chen Mu nodded.


    Will hesitated, and then with sudden resolve, gritted his teeth, "You are the most awesome card master I''ve even seen. Would you be able to leave me a way to contact you?" His heart was pounding. For someone of his status to say such a thing made him feel greedy. And many card masters'' dispositions weren''t nearly as good as their abilities.


    Chen Mu felt nothing of it, and casually gave him his room card number, "This is my room card number, if anything comes up, you can leave me a word."


    ''Leaving a word'' meant to leave it at the consignment office. You would input a certain card number, and then write down the information you wanted to leave, and that would temporarily remain in the terminal at the consignment office. The next time that the owner of that number came to the consignment office, he would receive the news. Except that Chen Mu wouldn''t need to bother, since his terminal had the same capability.


    Will was overjoyed, and rushed to reassure him, "Don''t worry, I certainly won''t just casually bother you." He was already very content to have gotten the card number, even though it was a little bother. He didn''t hold out the extravagant wish that Chen Mu would give him his communications card number, though that would be the most convenient method.


    "No worries." Chen Mu waved his hand, saying that it wasn''t important, when he thought of something else, "Do you know who it was that made that bipolar thunderball card?"

 Chapter 119: Mark Victor

    Chapter 119: Mark Victor


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Will shook his head, "My teacher gave me that card, and he didn''t know where it came from either. I only know that it is a rather old card from many years ago. Are you interested in the card?" He didn''t know what about that card was worth studying. He''d used it for a long time and hadn''t found anything special about it.


    "Oh well, forget about it then." Chen Mu couldn''t help being disappointed as he turned around to leave the training room.


    The training room door was locked with a card swipe, and Chen Mu was accustomed to swiping his room card just as he was about to leave. Immersed in the hundred blades card, Will wasn''t paying attention that he''d been locked into the training room.


    Returning home, Chen Mu thought about that Mark Victor whom Will had spoken about. The reason he had wanted to find a close-combat card artisan wasn''t what he said it was. He had nothing against close-combat cards, even though he knew that remote battle cards were worth more at that time. But for then he didn''t need to worry about materials, production costs, living expenses and so forth, which wasn''t what it would be like later on.


    Although it was a good place, he wouldn''t be there a long time.


    He had always been looking for a way to leave the base, and he wasn''t counting on the Ning family''s promises. He didn''t know if he could finish those two hundred cards, and the Ning family hadn''t brought them up again since the first time when they gave him that pile. They still had their minds on the raining shuttles card .II. Chen Mu wasn''t a fool, and he knew what the card meant for the Ning family.


    He could depend only on himself.


    The first thing he would have to do if he wanted to leave there was to become a card artisan. Chen Mu already wouldn''t be considered a weakling battle-card master, but he needed to be able to leave the base ¨C which seemed so loose but was really tight ¨C and still be able to survive the Ning family chasing him afterward.


    He would only have one chance, since once he got the Ning family''s attention, wanting to leave would be only a fairy tale.


    He was concentrating on that bipolar thunderball card. Although he hadn''t completely mastered it, it''s powerful defensive capabilities were something that no other card had. If he wanted to escape that base, Chen Mu considered that the bipolar thunderball card would be more effective than his tailless shuttle card. And it would be too difficult for him to make a new defensive card at that time.


    The base was full of ace card artisans, so why not just find one to teach him? With someone to guide him, he wouldn''t have to travel so many winding roads. He decided that he would rely on the bipolar thunderball card for most of his offense, so he would direct his objective toward a close-combat card artisan.


    Chen Mu had a lot of contribution points that he wasn''t spending. If Mark Victor were expensive, he could afford it.


    Carefully thinking it over, he reviewed the whole operation another time. He quickly found the most critical part of his plan, which was speed. He needed to quickly improve his power in a short amount of time before the Ning family could react, and then take his chance to leave the base. If the time dragged out, the Ning family would surely notice his activities, which make it many times more difficult if he wanted to leave.


    Having made up his mind, Chen Mu found Mark Victor very quickly. An "A" level of contribution points lets you find a lot of information, although that would naturally only be when the person you were looking into was at a much lower level. He could only find information about Mark Victor so easily because there was so much difference between Mark Victor''s level and his.


    Mark Victor was just then at the consignment office looking to see if there were any commissions worth doing. The communications device on his wrist sounded, and he couldn''t see the other person''s number, which meant that it wasn''t among his list of friends. The first thing he thought of in getting a call from a stranger was a commission!


    With his popularity gradually growing during that time, his power was already well recognized by everyone. He had also become someone that people liked to employ for commissions. Mark Victor had bronzed cheeks and thick facial hair, with drooping eyelids which made him look half asleep. That made him look like an ordinary middle-aged man down on his luck. Alan had paid the very high price of his life for underestimating him. No one underestimated him after that.


    Before he had joined the base, Mark Victor had already made a name for himself as the leader of the Wei forest card artisan troop, though it isn''t known why he left that position to come to the Ning family base alone. He was forty-two that year, with both his power and experience at their peak. And he had firmly established his position at the base after the battle with Alan.


    He took the call on his communications card.


    "Hello, this is Mark Victor, who''s calling?" His deep voice was a little gravelly.


    "I am very sorry to bother you Mr. Mark Victor. I have a commission, and wonder if you''d be interested?" The one speaking was a sallow-faced youth with ordinary features, and nothing special about him. If one were to meet such a person on the street, one wouldn''t pay any attention. But Mark didn''t look down on him because of that, since although it was common enough to find such a person on the street, this wasn''t that kind of place. This was the Ning family base, and the people who could join were all outstanding. Someone so ordinary would draw even more attention there.


    He had a lot more experience than Will, and so he was naturally more cautious. In any case, having come from a troop of card artisans he would be expected to serve the profession. He would understand how to deal with customers from his capacity as a leader. That was also why so many patrons wanted to commission him. The difference between a professional and a non-professional wasn''t only based on technical mastery; most of it was attitude.


    "Oh, I wonder what the commission is?" Mark Victor showed a prudent attitude, not agreeing right away. His eyes were as sharp as swords, with nothing left of that half sleepy and burned-out look.


    The youth on the screen tossed out a commission far different from what Mark Victor might have expected, "I want to employ a card artisan as my personal guide, to guide me in the study of knowledge relating to being a close-combat card artisan. Since Mr. Mark Victor is the most excellent close-combat card artisan on the base, you are no doubt the best choice. If you agree, I would give fifty contribution points for each hour. What do you think?"


    That price of fifty points an hour raised Mark Victor''s eyebrows. Although it wasn''t a lot, it was a stunning price per hour. If one were to calculate maybe six hours in a day, that would be three hundred points, which was about the same as a mid-range commission. But this commission would have plenty of advantages compared to an ordinary commission. He wouldn''t have to go outside, which would mean that he wouldn''t have to face those dangers. And since being a private guide is a relatively long-term process he would have steady income with an amazing overall payout.


    Taking a deep breath, Mark Victor nodded, "OK, I''ll take the commission, though I''ll insist on being paid at each session." How could that unprepossessing youth in front of him have so many points? He was a little skeptical, though he didn''t say anything right out. Among card artisan mercenaries, there was an unspoken rule not to go looking into matters relating to your employer.


    "No problem." Chen Mu answered smartly, and then said, "Then how about we start today."


    Mark Victor didn''t waste words either, as he got up, "OK."


    * * *


    Cheng Ying looked at Will in the training room as though it were inconceivable, "Good lord, you actually locked yourself into the training room? I''ve been pounding my head to understand how you could lock yourself into this training room. And for several hours!" Bo Wen beside her also looked like he was about to smile.


    Will said with an awkward look, "Do you still remember that card master I talked about with you last time? The one with an "A" level of contribution points." He had come back to his spirits in the training room only to discover that he had been locked into it. Not knowing what else to do, he looked for Chang Ying and them to help him open the door.


    "Sure, I remember!" Cheng Ying quickly got some energy, and asked anxiously, "Has he made that card for you?" Bo Wen was also paying attention.


    Will nodded, "He did. I came here today to try it out, and how could I know he would swipe the door as he was leaving." And then he thought of something, "Now I get it. He was the one who opened the training room, and I assume that when he was leaving he was in the habit of swiping his card and forgot that I was inside. If he hadn''t swiped his card as he was leaving then he would be considered to still be using the training room, and points would still be deducted."


    "What about the card? Quick, let me take a look." In her impatience Cheng Ying cut off Will''s recounting.


    "It''s called a hundred blades." Will took the hundred blades card out of his apparatus and handed it to Cheng Ying.


    "What a beautiful card!" Cheng Ying was looking at the hundred blades card in her hand with bright eyes. Women always have an extraordinary love for beautiful and exotic things. She was turning the hundred blades card over lovingly in her hands, which put Will on tenterhooks, apart from making him proud. If that old doll didn''t think it was beautiful, then she could just take it for herself.


    After quite a few minutes, Cheng Ying reluctantly gave the hundred blades card to Bo Wen beside her. When Bo Wen put it in front of his eyes to make a careful identification, he couldn''t restrain his instant praise, "Nice card!"


    After a while, he gave the hundred blades card back to Will, "Give us a demonstration." Neither Cheng Ying nor Bo Wen knew a thing about close-combat cards, so they would just let Will demonstrate.


    Without wasting any words, Will loaded the hundred blades card and started his demonstration. Although he still hadn''t gotten fully proficient, after having been alone in there polishing and refining for a few hours, he could still manage to be presentable.


    The firepower of the hundred blades card startled Cheng Ying, "You must be pleased with that. Haven''t you always wanted a powerful card?" She couldn''t help being happy for Will. Bo Wen''s gaze flashed as though he had thought of something.


    Will chuckled with his look of satisfaction, and then showed the "crescent moon," with its chilling weirdness and terrifying firepower, all of which left Cheng Ying dumbstruck and full of envy. Even the ever-calm Bo Wen showed some surprise, "A really nice card!" That was already his second time calling the hundred blades card a ''nice card.''


    Will didn''t demonstrate the "three moons," since it would be a foolish act to show all of his techniques and hold nothing back for that kind of demonstration.

 Chapter 120: What a Freak!

    Chapter 120: What a Freak!


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Mark Victor very quickly arrived at the number 20 comprehensive training room. He saw that that sallow-faced youth was still a little earlier than he was.


    "Hello." Mark Victor made his greeting.


    Having already noticed him, Chen Mu responded, "Hello, Mr. Mark Victor."


    "So, let''s begin." Mark Victor didn''t intend to waste any time, since at fifty points an hour, if he were to dither he would be embarrassed to take such a fee.


    "Demonstrate your close combat card artisan related skills." Mark Victor went on to say.


    But what he didn''t expect was for the youth to shake his head, "I am very sorry, but I''m a novice, Mr. Mark Victor."


    Mark Victor was taken aback, and stared at Chen Mu, saying a little unhappily, "Let''s not joke around, our time is very valuable." Fifty points per hour would definitely be called expensive. He felt like that youth in front of him was playing a joke on him. Novice? Were there any novices on this base? With aces running all over the place, how could there be any place for a novice?


    "I wasn''t joking. I''m a card master." Chen Mu said calmly, not the least bit jittery in front of Mark Victor. "I''m pretty interested in close-combat card artisans, and so I want to learn a little."


    "You''re a card master?" Mark Victor looked at the youth rather suspiciously, only then paying attention to how little this young body showed any characteristics of a card artisan. He frowned a little. It would have to be a novice. Although he had given pointers to a few card artisans in close-combat when he was the leader of that troop of card artisans, he had never taught someone who was a complete novice.


    "I think you should find a beginning close-combat card artisan who specializes in guiding rookies. Although they wouldn''t be very strong, they would be more standard in their teaching, and more professional." Mark Victor was giving his valid recommendation.


    Chen Mu showed a note of appreciation for someone who wasn''t motivated by the high pay and would still give his patron such an appropriate recommendation. But he cut him off, "Is there likely to be a beginning close-combat card artisan who is a full-time instructor around here, Mr. Mark Victor?"


    Mark Victor was taken aback as he turned around with a wry smile. Of course, where would a beginning close-combat card artisan come from around there? Much less one who was a full-time instructor. He narrowed his eyes toward Chen Mu. He found it strange and hard to understand that a card master would actually be interested in close-combat card artisans. And wanting to pay such a high price for it was something still more inconceivable. But he didn''t ask any further, since that was his patron''s prerogative. If his patron wanted to send his points down the river, he wasn''t going to ask why.


    He didn''t really mind whether he was teaching a beginner, as long as his earnings didn''t change.


    "OK, then." Mark Victor''s expression turned serious, "If that''s the way it is, then I''ll take the commission. But I''m only going to be able to work out a training routine for you based on my understanding of close combat. If either of us finds that unsuitable, then either of us can terminate the commission. Are you OK with that?


    He was implying that if Chen Mu didn''t agree, then he wouldn''t do it.


    "No problem." Chen Mu very readily agreed.


    "Let''s start with the close-range dodging and evading." Mark Victor had a great deal of professionalism, and he quickly entered the proper state, "Although you might not understand why, from my experience in a real battle, this is the most important thing. You must know how to dodge your enemy''s attacks while patiently closing in on him. Of course, if you have a defensive card with a lot of capability, you could choose a more direct method. But that would be a ''meat shield'' and not close-combat."


    He was coming entirely from the aspect of actual combat. The youthful card master was certainly not after some fancy things. The difference between close-combat and remote attacks was that one was down in the mud and the other was for well-dressed nobility. A long-range card artisan battle was always accompanied by a dazzling light show and breathtaking howls. All of it was fascinating, with their flying dance postures elegant and unrestrained. But a close-combat card artisan needed to be accustomed to lying low in the mud and dodging their way out of attacks as thick as rain, and then deciding their fate in an instant, with the light show only barely visible and always hard to detect.


    * * *


    During that time, the Ning family was incredibly busy, which was really evident for Ning Peng, who was so busy that his feet were hardly on the ground. That shiny bald head was shining still more brightly. As far as the Ning''s versus the Zuo''s, they were equal rivals. It was like one wild beast suddenly swallowing another one of the same size. It would take a long time to digest. The Ning family was in that state of digestion. The people who were the backbone like Ning Peng''s generation, were naturally busier than ever.


    Bo Wen was wandering the base at his leisure, thinking back to the scene of the demonstration of that card which Will had given that day.


    ''Hundred blades'' wasn''t a bad name for a pretty fine card.


    He wasn''t too familiar with close-combat card artisans, and so he wasn''t familiar with close-combat cards. Coming from the Eastern Ning''s as he did, he had seen countless cards, including five-star cards, so that kind of card shouldn''t have meant much to him. But the strange thing was that ever since Will had demonstrated the hundred blades card, he couldn''t get it out of his head.


    Even while he was thinking about that, Bo Wen maintained his enchanting smiling face, so mild and cordial.


    The entire process of Will presenting the hundred blades card was still in his eyes. From what he saw, the level of the performance wasn''t exactly dazzling. But he was still acutely aware of that hundred blades card''s latent power!


    If the one using it were a close-combat artisan who had better ability to control his perception, then the card''s power would probably be comparable to that of the illustrious autumn moon narrow-blade card. He hadn''t actually seen that card, but he was very familiar with its record.


    The most crucial part was that this one was only a three-star card!


    And . . .


    Bo Wen was suddenly acutely aware that he''d hit upon something.


    Three stars!


    Three-star again!


    From the raining shuttles card .II to the hundred blades, that young card master called Chen Mu seemed to be really good at making a three-star card which could exhibit the characteristics of a high-grade card.


    The raining shuttles card .II was like that and the hundred blades was also like that.


    Bo Wen''s slightly squinting eyes flashed for an instant, and his smile deepened. He realized that he''d unintentionally discovered something, which was the real value of Chen Mu. Yes, this was his true value! This young card master''s worth wasn''t limited to the raining shuttles card .II. While the Amay Ning''s were only focused on the raining shuttles card .II, his true worth had suddenly been revealed. It would be a great opportunity for the Eastern Ning''s. As valuable as the raining shuttles card .II was, if the Eastern Ning''s price was tempting enough, Bo Wen was certain that the Amay Ning''s weren''t going to refuse.


    He knew very clearly that the Amay Ning''s would have to get something if he were to get Chen Mu.


    But this was still only conjecture. Two cards couldn''t completely explain the issue. He still needed some proof that Chen Mu really had such ability.


    * * *


    The normally steady Mark Victor was staring dumbly at the screen, and asked in disbelief, "Are you really a novice?"


    "Without a doubt." Chen Mu gasped his response though heavy breathing. He hadn''t taken a breath since he''d started the training, even after completing five sets of the close-range dodging and evading.


    Could hellish training be the thing that Mark Victor was best at? The intensity of that kind of training might be too much for Chen Mu. He felt like he''d brought quite a few mistakes on himself that last set, of the sort that he would ordinarily never make. It was just that he''d used up too much energy, and he''d lost a lot of his ability to control his body at will, which revealed so many mistakes.


    Oooh, so maybe endurance is extremely important for close-combat card artisans. Chen Mu was thinking as he panted. He looked to be in sorry straits just then, dripping with sweat, and with a few bruises on his face. While the equipment in the training room assured the bodily safety of the trainee, those small injuries were still inevitable. Those kinds of small bruises were all due to Chen Mu having exhausted all of his energy. They were left from his being hit by the obstacles.


    "What kind of a novice can get a score above 70 in a situation where the difficulty is 80 in his first time doing close-range dodging and evading?" Mark Victor took a look at the panting Chen Mu and spoke cynically. He felt like he''d been tricked. How could that guy be a novice? Even if he''d done it himself, he couldn''t have gotten much better results.


    The first time, he''d had Chen Mu do a training with a difficulty level of 40, and who knew that that youth who didn''t look like much would get a full score. He immediately raised the level of difficulty by 10, and who knew that that youth would get another full score. He kept raising the difficulty until it hit 80, when his score quickly fell to 70. Before then, Chen Mu''s score had never fallen below 90.


    And those 70 points were after Chen Mu had completed four sets without taking a breath; he completing them without any rest along the way. Mark Victor estimated that if he had started Chen Mu out with a difficulty level of 80, he would have gotten over 80 points.


    He could count on the fingers of one hand how many people in the whole base could get that kind of result. How could such a person be a novice?


    After resting for a while, Chen Mu''s breathing was finally gradually restored. Having always stuck to his exercise gymnastics, his physiological functions were all outstanding, and his endurance wasn''t any different.


    "Isn''t the close-range dodging and evading exercise part of the flight exercise program?" Chen Mu responded, a little surprised.


    Mark Victor stared at Chen Mu''s face, seeing that he didn''t look like he was faking.


    "Why are you practicing flight?" Mark Victor asked after thinking it over.


    Chen Mu pointed at the screen in front of Mark Victor, and said as though it were a matter of course, "I''ve been practicing according to the practice program on there."


    "That?" Mark Victor pointed to the screen, and said with astonishment, "You mean that you are practicing by yourself according to that program?" Seeing Chen Mu nod, he was suddenly speechless.


    These days there are even freaks like that? Freaks who can take their close-range dodging and evading to such a level just by referring to the training program. That was the first he''d seen anything like that.


    "What have your scores been like on the other few trainings?" Mark Victor probed.


    "With a difficulty of 80 in the high speed long distance flight, I got about 80. In midair pursuit with a difficulty of 80, I got 80. Holding position in midair with a difficulty of 80, I got 75." Chen Mu was counting on his fingers, when he was suddenly a little embarrassed, "I was only able to learn midair tactical maneuvers to a difficultly level of a little over 70. Where I fell the farthest short was in multi-level tactics, where I could only link three levels. My success rate for four levels was only fifty percent."


    Mark Victor was struck dumb, and if you looked closely, you would see that his eyes had gone slack.


    He was utterly confused!


    His high-speed long-distance flight was actually pretty good. That was something that nearly all card artisans had to practice. Although in general it didn''t have a lot of technical content; if you had enough perceptual strength, your score wouldn''t drop. Midair pursuit was a skill that both remote and close combat card artisans required. Remote card artisans needed it to pursue enemies and prevent them from escaping their range of attack. While close-combat card artisans needed it to close the distance between them and their enemy.


    Holding an accurate position in midair was a skill that long-range card artisans needed to learn, since it would enable them to precisely control their position while maintaining stability in midair.


    Midair tactical maneuvers were generally mostly studied by close-combat card artisans, who needed to use them to confuse and dodge their adversary''s attacks.


    And as for the multi-level tactics, only close combat card artisans would be likely to study those. They referred to using various kinds of tactical maneuvers in a continuous combination. The so-called three-in-succession ''hat trick'' referred to the high level of difficulty tactical maneuver of continuously combining three different tactical maneuvers.


    That guy had already mastered the hat trick! Mark Victor stared hard at Chen Mu, until Chen Mu got a little creeped out.


    Freak! That guy is a complete super-freak! Mark Victor was suddenly excited. If he could really teach that kind of freak, what kind of monster could he create? The more he thought about it, the more excited he got, not having run into something so interesting in a long long time.


    And anyhow, he still had to think a little bit more deeply, as he was already forty-two years old, surely at his peak condition. But what would come after the peak? He was very clear that after a couple more years, his condition would quickly slip and the decline of his strength would begin. What would he do when he encountered a challenge then? That was something he needed to consider.


    Ever since leaving his position as leader of the troop, he had become conscious of violent death in old age, which was an issue he''d never considered before. He had never thought that such a freak would be sent in front of him so suddenly, to make an impact on him such as he''d never felt, which immediately activated his thinking.


    He coughed lightly, "Not bad. It seems that you would make a pretty good close-combat card artisan." His expression had been restored to calm, not showing the least clue. Chen Mu didn''t feel anything out of the ordinary, but instead felt rather glad, since it seemed that his results weren''t too bad.

 Chapter 121: Weak Water

    Chapter 121: Weak Water


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    With his droopy eyelids and muttering to himself a little, Mark Victor then calmly said, "I have two schemes."


    "Oh." Chen Mu acknowledged, waiting to hear.


    Mark Victor held out a finger, "The first plan, is for me to teach you some skills that are essential for close-combat card artisans. If you learn them, then among close-combat card artisans your skill would be in the mid to high range. In this scheme, what you would provide would be contribution points."


    Chen Mu''s expression showed that he was thinking about it.


    "For the second scheme, you wouldn''t have to pay any contribution points." Seeing that Chen Mu''s expression was the same as always, and hadn''t changed at all because of what he''d said, Mark Victor was still more firm in his resolve. After a brief pause, he went on to say, "I would give you all the skills and techniques that I have, without holding anything back. But I need a commitment from you."


    "What kind of commitment?" Chen Mu''s gaze was as clear as water.


    "If I run into some trouble later, such as someone challenging me to a duel, I''m hoping that if it were convenient for you, you would help me." Mark Victor spoke completely at ease.


    Chen Mu was dumbstruck. He was an intelligent person and could understand what Mark Victor was saying. What he had said wouldn''t bind Chen Mu if he didn''t want to keep his end of the bargain. He didn''t respond right away, but voiced his skepticism instead, "This doesn''t seem very fair to you."


    Mark Victor looked indifferent, "What I want is hope," Then he looked at Chen Mu, "To be able to make an exchange for hope makes a very cost-effective bargain for me. What do you think? You can consider if for a while."


    Chen Mu was startled. Obviously, what Mark Victor had said stunned him.


    Looking at Chen Mu''s startled expression, Mark Victor smiled, "I''m still really not too clear about why you want to become a card artisan. Being a card master is much safer. And since you can pay such high compensation, your work as a card master must be outstanding, so it wouldn''t be worth wading into a card artisan''s dirty water." Chen Mu could detect the loneliness and melancholy in Mark Victor''s speech.


    "I''ll agree to the second scheme." Chen Mu earnestly nodded his clear consent, and gave his own condition, "I hope that you can keep everything related to my learning to be a close-combat card artisan a secret. If anyone asks, please just say that you''re helping me to test out a new close-battle card."


    "OK." Mark looked serious, not showing either surprise or joy. He took at look at Chen Mu, and then calmly said, "Very well, let''s begin. The training is a little rough."


    When Chen Mu returned to his room, his legs had gone soft. He was too tired to even lift a finger, fully understanding what Mark Victor had implied by ''rough'' just then. He''d spent the whole afternoon training desperately, wildly, and repeatedly. He felt as though Mark Victor has squeezed every last ounce of energy out of him, and he didn''t even know how he had been able to get back to his room. Mark Victor seemed to have instantly turned into a cruel taskmaster, with a face like a brick, giving Chen Mu a bad taste as he thought about it.


    It had been a long time since he''d been so tired. Ever since practicing those exercise gymnastics, his physical strength had steadily improved. He was also becoming more and more confident in his strength, that was until then, when he found out that his physical strength was still insufficient.


    Being a close-combat card artisan really was a rough profession. That was only the most basic training, and they still hadn''t gotten to using cards. No wonder there were so few close-combat card artisans. Chen Mu was afraid that most people were scared away by the intensity of the training.


    He never even got to wash, just falling asleep in the dark corner. He had always remembered what the demonic woman had said, that ''you have to get used to the dark.''


    He slept straight through about three hours, when Chen Mu finally opened his eyes, awakened by knocking on the door.


    It must be Ning Peng or Ning Yan who were the only ones who would ever knock on his door. He cautiously turned on the light and looked around the room to be sure that there wasn''t anything offensive, and then opened the door.


    Outside the door was standing a stranger with a slight smile on his face.


    "Hello, may I ask if you are Mr. Chen Mu?" the stranger asked with his smile. His eyes showed some surprise when he saw the bruises on Chen Mu''s face.


    Chen Mu was on guard as he sized up that stranger, and then said, "I am. And you are?"


    "My name is Bo Wen." The stranger introduced himself very properly, "I''ve been admiring Mr. Chen Mu''s estimable name for a long time. Brother Ning Peng praises you endlessly every time he speaks of you and of your excellent skills in making cards.


    So, the stranger in front of him called Bo Wen is a friend of Ning Peng? Although he''d kept smiling and he seemed harmless and friendly, Chen Mu was still somewhat keeping up his guard. He quickly denied his own conjecture since while they might be friends, Ning Peng would never have mentioned him to this person. Still, since he must have gotten his room number from Ning Peng, the relations must be close between them.


    "You''re being polite." Chen Mu responded. Living under someone else''s roof, he had to give someone at least that amount of face. Although he looked simple and slow, he had much richer experience compared with people his own age,.


    Bo Wen was mildly smiling all along, as he unhurriedly said, "I was so bold to pay my respects this time because I have a request."


    Chen Mu made a sound that he''d heard and waited for Bo Wen to keep going.


    Bo Wen seemed slightly bashful, "I would like to ask Mr. Chen to make a three-star card for me."


    "Three-star card?" Chen Mu looked warily at Bo Wen, since what he had asked was so precisely what Chen Mu had surmised; he assumed that he had come looking for him to make a card.


    "I specialize in the wavy-blade style card, but I''m not very satisfied with the one I have now." He pulled a card out from his apparatus and gave it to Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu took the card that Bo Wen had handed over, and looked at it closely, finding that it was a layered-blow wavy card. Layered-blow wavy cards have tremendous power, based on the very simple principle of layering multiple wavy blades together to increase the firepower. Chen Mu looked at Bo Wen in surprise. While the layered-blow wavy card had a lot of power, there weren''t many who used it. If you wanted to layer a lot of wavy blades together, it required extremely precise perceptual control, which was very difficult. It was also one of the reasons that many card artisans abandoned it.


    "The layered-blow wavy card''s power is quite good. What function aren''t you satisfied with?" Chen Mu asked.


    Bo Wen earnestly said, "Frequency. It''s firing speed is a little slow."


    Chen Mu endorsed what Bo Wen had said. Because it involved perception to fold several wavy blades together, it took a lot of time, which naturally slowed down the firing rate. That was another reason that the card''s use was limited. It is a natural law that there are always gains and losses, and Chen Mu couldn''t do both things. There would never be a card in the world which could meet all the needs of mankind.


    After thinking it over, Chen Mu asked, "What kind of a card would you like?" Owing to the deep relationship with the Ning family, Chen Mu had decided to make a card for him. But it would depend on his mood what kind of card he would make.


    "A mid-range rate would be OK, but there has to be enough power for the wavy blade type. That''s all." Bo Wen was slightly smiling as he looked at Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu didn''t say anything, since Bo Wen was speaking so generally. No matter what profession, contrary to what one might think, in taking an order, the stricter a person''s requirements were, the easier it was to manage. If the requirements were vague and general, that would actually be hardest to take care of. For example, the biggest headache for jewelers would be "As long as it''s pretty, anything is fine." Or "There aren''t any specific requirements, as long as it feels right." Jewelers certainly must be wary and cautious with that kind of customer, always having to drill down and stipulate the particular style and pattern.


    Like with what Bo Wen said, what did ''mid-range frequency'' mean? And what about ''sufficient power?'' That kind of talk is obscure, and always makes orders hard to satisfy. But Chen Mu wasn''t planning to make such a great card for him and would just fulfil the order with any old card.


    Seeming to have seen through what Chen Mu was thinking, Bo Wen didn''t wait for him to say anything. He smiled, and then threw out a condition that Chen Mu had no way to refuse, "By way of payment, I will present Mr. Chen a set of card pens which were the pride of the grand master Kuo Haofeng: The ''weak water'' pens."


    Chen Mu''s expression looked suddenly dignified. The grand prize for the card making competition organized by the Star Academy at Eastern Shang-Wei City that time was Kuo Haofeng''s famous "success" pen. After that, Chen Mu had familiarized himself with the well-known pen-making masters of the time of Kuo Haofeng, and he''d specifically examined material about that grand master pen maker.


    He had a vague impression of the ''weak water'' pen set. It seemed that it could greatly increase the compatibility between the card ink and the card, especially with liquid card ink, where it had an excellent effect. Among all the card inks, liquid card ink is the most often seen and the mostly widely used. Which was also what made the practical value of the set of ''weak water'' pens so high. He never would have thought that it could be in the hands of such a young person.


    A fine set of card pens was indispensable for a card master. The card master himself must contribute to making the card ink, while card masters would be helpless to make pens. There were far fewer pen masters than card masters, and grand masters who could climb to the top like Kuo Haofeng could be counted on one''s fingers.


    Countless card masters dream about getting a treasure like ''weak water'' and never do. And now for it to be dangling in front of Chen Mu, how could he not be excited? Such a distinctive card pen as the ''weak water'' basically couldn''t be purchased on the market.

 Chapter 122: Mark Victors Twisted Spinning Thorns

    Chapter 122: Mark Victor''s Twisted Spinning Thorns


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu didn''t reply immediately, but prudently reminded him, "You need to clarify your requirements."


    Bo Wen kept smiling lightly, "Mr. Chen Mu is a professional card maker, and anything you make will be outstanding overall, which will be easy to tell. I only have one requirement, which is that it must be three-star."


    Chen Mu still didn''t immediately agree to do it, as he thought about it for a moment. Then he slowly nodded, "OK, but I will need some time."


    "No problem." Bo Wen was unexpectedly refreshing. "I''ve always been pretty patient." Then he showed Chen Mu some courtesy, "Then it''s agreed. I''ll just wait for the good news from Mr. Chen. Here''s my communications card number. Please contact me when you finish."


    Once Bo Wen had left, Chen Mu immediately started researching all sorts of materials about the ''weak water'' pen set.


    ''Weak water'' was made by the famous card master Kuo Haofeng on his fortieth birthday, and the set included seven pens, although it wasn''t clear if any were lost.


    Looking at the simple introduction hardened Chen Mu''s resolve to get the ''weak water.'' Of course, he had heard of Kuo Haofeng''s reputation, but that routine introduction had still revealed a critical piece of information . . . weak water was made on Kuo Haofeng''s fortieth birthday.


    Those were the words Chen Mu fixed on. Among the introductory material he''d read about Kuo Haofeng, it had been said that his most famous representative work, the "true fantasy," had been made when he was thirty-nine years old. Which is to say that the ''weak water'' had been made a year later, which was doubtless when Kuo Haofeng was at his peak, and would have been the period of his most mature works. And ''weak water'' had been made to celebrate his fortieth birthday. Without any question a work like that would be a masterpiece among masterpieces.


    How would Chen Mu not feel a rush of excitement?


    In a flash he decided to put all of his energy into it. No matter how, he was going to get the ''weak water'' pen set. At that time, he was still using the card-making pens provided with the apartment. Although they weren''t cheap on the market, they were far inferior to a work from a famous master like ''weak water.''


    But after Chen Mu did a finger calculation of how much time he had, his face looked like he was grieving.


    He still had to practice! When he thought about his droopy eyelids, and his blank face, Chen Mu felt like Mark Victor''s most likely response would be to go off in a huff if he said that he would temporarily like to break if off. If he wanted to find someone again, it wouldn''t be very easy to find someone else who was an ace like Mark Victor. But when he thought again about that day''s practice from hell, Chen Mu was afraid that he wouldn''t have energy for anything else, much less the kind of work which consumed so much energy and time.


    Chen Mu gritted his teeth and hardened his heart in his decision to discard neither of them, no matter what. Not only that, but he needed increase his strength in short order while preventing the Ning family from being clued-in, which would cause a lot of trouble for him. That was all while still having to finish that card and get the ''weak water'' before he left there.


    Splashing icy cold water on his face, Chen Mu quickly cleared his mind. He carelessly wiped his face, and then sat at the desk, where he started to sketch out how he could, in fact, complete the challenge.


    Although he didn''t'' know the background of Bo Wen, he could still see that he was a fastidious person. That was not only evident from the way that he dressed, but also from the way he went about things. It naturally showed in his every movement. In Chen Mu''s experience, that sort of person was generally the princeling of a wealthy family.


    But Chen Mu very quickly put these distractions to the back of his mind. He was just a card master, and what he could do was to make a sufficiently outstanding card in exchange for that ''weak water'' in Bo Wen''s hands. Chen Mu had no doubt that Bo Wen did really have ''weak water.'' It wouldn''t be worth his while to lie about that, with the card always staying in Chen Mu''s hands.


    He started to concentrate all his attention on designing what would be for him an entirely new card.


    * * *


    The Ning family had defeated the Zuo family, and then had occupied Eastern Shang-Wei City, where it seemed that all the people were keeping silent about it. And what people couldn''t get into their heads was that the Star Academy seemed to have faded completely off the very scene which they had once pursued so vigorously. What they were expressing by that time made them seem completely unlike the ones who had started the chaos.


    And that student who was said to be the first in ten years to come out from the inner academy hadn''t been heard from, no matter how much people asked around. There wasn''t any way to find out any news about her. If it weren''t for the Star Academy never having taken advantage, that news would have been considered fake news. But Star Academy had always been secretive. When you added to that their great reputation the situation would definitely look strange, though no-one doubted the truth of the matter.


    At the same time something else was causing a sensation in the Heavenly Federation, that time from the Desert Camp which was another of the six great academies. A pair of offspring from the Su clan of Xing had simultaneously surmounted the most difficult assessment ever established by the Desert Camp. The so-called ''hellish nightmare'' exam had only been passed by seven students in all history. And all those seven had become distinguished and strong in the history of the Heavenly Federation. That was also the first time that it had happened at the Desert Camp that two students in a single year had passed the ''hellish nightmare''. And even more importantly, Su Wei and Su Hu were brothers who had grown up together, each as bright as the other, having been called the twin stars, or Gemini. When they acted together, it was more than double the power.


    For three such first-rate powerhouses to appear in one year was news that inspired everyone.


    * * *


    In the Ning family training room.


    * * *


    "Not bad, you completed it quite well." It was the first time that Mark Victor had ever expressed satisfaction. The practices that he had prepared for Chen Mu during that time had been extremely harsh, and he hadn''t cared if Chen Mu could finish them or not. There were quite a few times when Chen Mu was so tired that he didn''t even want to move his finger, but he would always grit his teeth and tough it out.


    Chen Mu was very clear about one principle; what he was doing then was for himself. It was for him to get his freedom, for him to be able to leave that place, and for him to be able to live a better life.


    If he weren''t diligent, or if he didn''t do his utmost, the only one who would suffer in the end would be himself. The training was extremely rough, to the point where he would often feel that Mark Victor seemed to be pushing him to his extreme limits. But no matter how much harder it got, he would always do his utmost to complete the exercise.


    Chen Mu wasn''t mistaken in what he thought. Mark Victor really was trying to find out where his limits were. But what Mark Victor hadn''t considered was that every time he seemed to have discovered Chen Mu''s limits, Chen Mu would indomitably crawl back up again. It wasn''t that he didn''t see Chen Mu gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, but he just wanted to see where that young person''s limits actually were. Every time he made a guess, it would be overturned, and then Mark Victor would be stimulated again. He was really stunned, that being the first time he had run into such a tough and tenacious youth.


    If it could be said that Mark Victor didn''t know where Chen Mu was going when they started, he was by then already completely certain that the sallow-faced youth would certainly become a famous powerhouse.


    The reason he dared to make that kind judgement wasn''t because of Chen Mu''s outstanding physical qualities, or because of his stunning comprehension. It was, rather, his firm and indomitable heart. Every time he was challenged to his limit, and was exhausted to the point of shaking, he would struggle crawling right back up and finish the tough exercises without needing any urging. That was enough to move Mark Victor.


    If one wanted to become a powerhouse, one needed to have the heart of a powerhouse. There was no doubt that the youth had that quality.


    Mark Victor did everything he could to arrange every one of Chen Mu''s trainings with no slacking off, never holding back a single one of his tricks-of-the-trade as he transmitted them all to Chen Mu.


    He was paid back by Chen Mu''s stunning progress.


    It really was too amazing! During that time, Chen Mu had broken his own record nearly every day; no matter what kind of training, the scores always shot higher. What he was doing during that time was all basic training. For a close-combat card artisan, basic training was mostly physical training and movements, which were extremely dull and tiring. But Chen Mu never complained, not really liking to talk while he was training, and only opening his mouth when there was something he wasn''t sure about. What surprised Mark Victor was that even with such dull training, Chen Mu threw himself into it with all his concentration. He sometimes even had the illusion that Chen Mu enjoyed the training.


    Mark Victor knew how Chen Mu had passed his youth, and about how he had put all of his time every day into making one-star power cards. That kind of work was dull, but he never chose to slack off. On the contrary, he needed to control his feelings to put himself into a state of extreme concentration. Because if he didn''t concentrate enough, the rate of rejects would be high. To reduce the failure rate, he had learned early on how to enter that state of concentration very quickly.


    Or to put it a different way, he had become accustomed to boredom early on.


    Mark Victor wasn''t fussy about Chen Mu completing his trainings during that time. Apart from his hard working and tenacious spirit, Chen Mu''s physical state was surprisingly good, being able effortlessly to complete very difficult movements. He seemed to be a natural-born close-combat card artisan with outstanding physical conditioning, sharp reflexes, a reserved disposition, and the ability to endure hardship. Mark Victor saw in him all the excellent qualities that a close-combat card artisan would need.


    The only thing that he regretted was that Chen Mu didn''t seem to be good at communicating, preferring to immerse himself alone in his bitter training. That wasn''t such a good trait for a card artisan, where the skill of fitting into a team was an important skill to have. At that time, it was also an important technique.


    It gave Mark Victor a headache thinking about how to make Chen Mu learn to communicate.


    Chen Mu didn''t realize that Mark Victor had been giving himself headaches about his socialization, with his progress being so fast that he even surprised himself. It was the first time he had ever wondered if he might be naturally inclined to be a card artisan. It was a good thing for him that he had found Mark Victor, since although most of what he had been doing was basic training, the tricks-of-the-trade that Mark Victor had transmitted were extremely useful. And the most important thing was that he felt that the power latent in his body had quickly surged after experiencing these dull-seeming trainings. By that time, the speed of his reaction, his physical coordination, and his midair balance were all a lot better than before.


    According to what Mark Victor said, basic training was a long-term process, and his current ability was barely enough to pass an exam. Still, Mark Victor''s idea was that since basic training was such a long-term process, it should be practiced slowly.


    Starting that day, he started to pass along some concrete skills to Chen Mu.


    "Every card artisan chooses a card to specialize in. But there aren''t many types for a close-combat card artisan. In practical terms, most close-combat card artisans have a hard time being picky about fine works that are hard to get." He took a look at Chen Mu, and then continued, "Naturally, for you that wouldn''t be a problem. But you should still choose some kind of card to direct your specialization."


    Chen Mu understood what Mark Victor was saying.


    From the lowest to the highest, there were a lot of cards. And a card artisan might use quite a few throughout his lifetime. For example, in the category of wavy-blade cards there were quite a few types, while they all had roughly similar features. A card master''s power was always increasing, and as his power increased it becomes easier to adapt to a higher-level card. So, the good thing about choosing a card type to specialize in was that one could more easily adapt to a new card when the time came.


    Theoretically, so long as one had enough power, a low-level card could still release the same large amounts of power. But the higher the level of the card, the more outstanding its capabilities would get.


    What category would the bipolar thunderball card fall into? Chen Mu felt a little awkward.


    "I won''t waste words on this issue. Since you''re a card master, you must have a lot of good cards. Let me demonstrate my fighting style." Mark Victor spoke very blandly, while still showing unquestionable self-confidence.


    Without Chen Mu having seen how he activated his apparatus, it lit up on his left wrist.


    My card is called the ''twisted spinning thorns.'' Once he had spoken, light-gold thorny energy vines as thick as an arm appeared all around his body. These energy brambles looked like a large python surrounding Mark Victor''s body, circling up layer upon layer, protecting Mark Victor inside. On the surface of the light-gold energy thorns were a number of irregular lightning-like branches, at the tip of which were many sharp points.


    Chen Mu was examining Mark Victor''s twisted spinning thorns with a lot of curiosity, that being the first time he had seen a card like it. That energy creeper winding around Mark Victor looked remarkably like a python. It''s "head" was shaped like a spear, and the highly compressed energy was nearly all to the point of being a physical embodiment, as clear as a crystal, with the edge of the knife displaying a terrifying glow. The coiling "snake body" then formed into a spring-like form, slowly spinning, and giving the feeling that it was rhythmically extending and contracting.

 Chapter 123: The Great Mark Victor

    Chapter 123: The Great Mark Victor


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "I don''t know whether or not you''ve come into contact with many card artisans, but what I''m talking about now is my understanding of fighting. Use your perception to check it out!"


    Shielded by the coiled vine, Mark Victor took on a martial spirit with his hair bristling. Gone was any sign of his normally droopy-eyed schlumpy look.


    "Indeed, no matter if it is a close-combat or a remote card artisan, the core is always defense."


    Suddenly, Mark Victor pulled back his right leg slightly, and assumed a forward weighted half crouch.


    "This is defense!" Mark Victor shouted, as the energy-body thorny vine contracted around him like a suddenly tightening spring, sheltering Mark Victor''s entire body within dense airtight coils. The light golden energy vine which had formed itself into a protective ring suddenly glowed with such an intense light that it couldn''t be looked at without one''s eyes being burned as though looking at the sun.


    Since he didn''t need to inhibit himself, Chen Mu had fully deployed his perception, needing to carefully capture every fine detail in the transformations of Mark Victor''s thorny vine energy-body. He knew very well how rare it was to be allowed such deep examination of the uninhibited moves of someone like Mark Victor. For a card artisan, that would be like announcing your every weakness. When card artisans deal with one another, if one of them emits perception in front of another, it would not only be impolite, but dangerous. It would be a signal of utter enmity, and if you were to run into a card artisan with a bad attitude he would likely attack without any hesitation.


    There were many energy structures which could emit light, having all different colors among the many kinds of structures. Apart from cards especially made for illumination, there were very few cards designed specifically to emit light. In general, the structure of energy emitted by a card included the capability of emitting light, which is to say that these energy structures contained within themselves the capacity to emit light. It was said that there were a few aces who could make the energy they emitted invisible by reducing the energy structure to an extreme. But to get to that point not only would you require a deep understanding of the composition of energy, you would also require the ability to control abnormal forms of perception.


    As far as Chen Mu was concerned that possibility was far too remote, since he was still a rookie who had just completed his basic training.


    Perception wasn''t at all influenced by the bright glow from the energy vine, so that he could very clearly capture every subtle transformation of the twisted thorns.


    Coil after coil of the energy thorns was spinning at a stunning speed. Its spring-like body took on a bizarre frequency of rhythmic expansion and contraction, which gave Chen Mu the illusion that it was breathing.


    Chen Mu had a sudden flash of insight, seeming to have grasped something, though as soon as he thought about it, there was nothing there. And at just that moment, he was cut off by a shout from Mark Victor, "This is offense!"


    The crystalline shuttle of the energy thorns shot out in a flash, like a python long laying in wait.


    So fast!


    Chen Mu''s complexion changed. Never mind not being able to see it with his bare eyes, even his perception couldn''t keep up. As quick as a flash, it made a stunning blow! There was truly no way to imagine how anyone could resist such an attack. Although the scope for the attack was only nine meters, it''s speed had exceeded that of the tailless shuttle. Unless you kept your distance, once you were within the scope of Mark Victor''s attack range, you would basically be considered dead.


    By then he understood more clearly why the energy thorns kept up such a high-speed spin, since in that way they could greatly increase the initial velocity of the thorn shuttle attack.


    A human form could be dimly seen within the dazzling golden glow, out of which came Mark Victor''s steady voice, "The advantage of this kind of attack is its speed. You need to keep firmly in mind that our time is short as close-combat card artisans. Endless energy is spent trying to close the distance with your enemy. But most of the time you have less than a second. You must launch your attack and hit your adversary within that time. For this demonstration, I have slowed things quite a bit so that you could see it clearly."


    A look of panic flashed across Chen Mu''s eyes, since to him that kind of speed was already too fast to react to. But according to what Mark Victor had said, that was a slow speed move, which then made him feel deeply just how unfathomable the power of the number one ace at the base really was. Even if Chen Mu were to know Mark Victor''s weak spot, he still wouldn''t have the least chance of victory if faced with that kind of speed.


    Mark Victor''s demonstration still wasn''t over, with his twisted thorns transforming again.


    "If you run into a defensive style card artisan, they would generally have some kind of defensive energy cloak card. What we need to consider then is not the time, but how to exert oneself to increase the power of the blow. For example, like this. . ."


    The crystalline thorny shuttle suddenly spun up crazily like a drill, making a deep humming sound.


    "Hunh!" Mark Victor grunted his commencement, as the thorny shuttle spun into a phantom, like a rapidly shrinking tornado booming out toward the target.


    Boom! The test target was disintegrated in all directions within an instant.


    Chen Mu sucked in a deep breath of cold air.


    What kind of power was that? Good lord! What kind of power that was! Chen Mu was muttering, as his gaze lingered where the target had been, now pulverized by the blow from Mark Victor. The numbers were jumping around wildly on the screen, though it very soon displayed "Damage Unknown."


    The highest damage which could be endured by that target model was about 1200. Considering the way that debris had been scattered around where the target had been, Chen Mu guessed that the damage of that blow just inflicted by Mark Victor must have been around 1500.


    His face turned white. That blow from Mark Victor really dominated!


    The damage of the tailless shuttle could hit a value of 756, about half that from Mark Victor''s blow. And that hundred blades card that he had just made would seem like a toy if faced with such a dominant blow. Never mind a three-star energy cloak card, most normal four-star energy cloak cards would be shattered ¨C and shattered like glass ¨C by a damage level of 1500.


    The number one close-combat card artisan on the base hadn''t been called that in vain!


    And Chen Mu believed that it had certainly not been Mark Victor''s most damaging blow. He really couldn''t imagine what kind of a scene that blow would make.


    Having seen Mark Victor''s blow, Chen Mu finally understood what an ace was! Among those he had come across, only the demonic woman and those students from the Star Academy had gotten to such a level. Even those Zuo family card artisans that he had been cornered by that time ¨C whom he had killed in the end ¨C were far from comparable with Mark Victor.


    As the golden glow dispersed, Mark Victor maintained his cool demeanor, though it gave Chen Mu an entirely new feeling.


    Seeing the surprise on Chen Mu''s face, Mark Victor laughed, and then said to encourage him, "You will become more awesome than me!"


    The he very solemnly admonished, "Don''t ever be superstitious about cards. Ha ha, this twisted spinning thorns card has a standard damage rating of 423." He uttered that last statement very casually.


    But when Chen Mu heard it, it was like thunder.


    The so-called standard damage rating was under conditions where there had been no regulation of the structure of the energy-body emitted. Chen Mu was familiar with how that sort of rating would often be used by card artisans to express the perfection of the internal structure of a card. Chen Mu''s opinion toward Mark Victor filled with admiration, since he couldn''t fake that he had taken a card with a damage value of 423 to a damage level of 1500.


    That demonstrated the depth of Mark Victor''s understanding of the composition of the energy in that card. Chen Mu bowed down in front of such ability to adjust the energy-body emitted to a damage value over a thousand.


    That was a genuine ace!


    Mark Victor then showed him a few other skills, including the scope of their application, and their tactical significance.


    The cards used by the two of them were entirely different, and so there wasn''t much reference-value in piling on skills. But the tactical intelligence inherent in those skills were the crystallization of Mark Victor''s countless battle experiences, and their value far exceeded that of the skills themselves. Chen Mu paid close attention, lest he miss a detail. By grasping those archetypes, and paying close attention to what they meant, Chen Mu immediately felt his range of vision greatly expanded.


    Only then did he finally understand how lucky he had been in his own victorious battle experiences, and how crude his battle tactics had been.


    After an hour, Mark Victor stood, "That''s it for today. Think it over carefully when you go back, since we''ll begin actual combat tomorrow. You don''t have a lot of time, so that''s how we''ll have to do it. I''ll teach you everything I should, but you''ll have to count on what you learn from actual battles for the rest.


    The gains from that day far exceeded what Chen Mu could have imagined, and it would take him a long time to digest and absorb it all. Previously he had never had such knowledge and experience to call his own.


    As he was walking, Chen Mu suddenly remembered that sudden insight he''d had while watching Mark Victor''s demonstration.


    What had he realized just then?


    That kind of feeling must have meant something, and it must have been something important or it wouldn''t have made such a deep impression.


    But, what had it really been? Chen Mu sat right down in the hallway, as he frowned to ponder it.

 Chapter 124: Breath Control!

    Chapter 124: Breath Control!


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    To see a sallow-faced youth sitting cross legged and frowning in the middle of the hallway was something that would draw attention around that place. Everyone walking by was looking at him a little surprised. The card masters and card artisans who would show up there all had a lot of power and therefore high social standing, and so in that kind of atmosphere to see some guy so bold to sit there as Chen Mu was would naturally draw some strange looks.


    Chen Mu didn''t pay any attention to such looks. Before, when he was treated as a beggar allowed into Eastern Wei Academy, he''d gotten naturally accustomed to it. And he didn''t have time just then to pay attention to those peoples'' looks, concentrating as he was on what that insight which had moved him so much just then.


    If he couldn''t come up with something right then at such an opportunity for insight, then the longer he waited, the less likely it would be that he would ever realize it. So, he didn''t dare to move even the slightest bit until he realized what it was.


    What had he been seeing at that time which sparked such a feeling?


    Chen Mu carefully reviewed every detail in his memory.


    He remembered that Mark Victor''s twisted thorns were expanding and contracting rhythmically, with the feeling of breathing.


    Yi! Breathing! Right! That''s what it was! He suddenly realized that it was that feeling which had gotten his attention.


    But why?


    He kept going back to the scene at the time, with the rhythmic expansion and contraction of the energy vine.


    And . . .


    Rhythmic . . . expansion and contraction . . .


    What was that? A word jumped out at him from the back of his mind. Vibration frequency!


    Chen Mu''s eyes lit up then, knowing what he had realized. Breath control. There was suddenly some light toward the breakthrough that he could never find before. The circling spiral form of the structure of the energy thorns wasn''t only something that he hadn''t been able to think up, but didn''t it have both a rotational and a vibrating structure?


    When he had previously studied breath control, that''s what had blocked him from getting any further. He had never been able to find a suitable structural model.


    Overjoyed with this discovery, he stood right up and quickly returned to his apartment to carefully consider whether there was any feasibility in it.


    At two in the morning Chen Mu was sitting in front of his desk which was covered in a pile of drawings. He had diligently analyzed the structure of the spiral spring, finally determining that it was very close to the structure of the perceptual vortex within him. He would only need to make some fine adjustments. After many repeated inferences, he had come to the conclusion that such changes wouldn''t be dangerous.


    Should he do it or not?


    Chen Mu finally decided to do it! He was very clear that Mark Victor would provide him will all the close-combat skills, without holding anything back. But depending on that to leave the base was impossible. For him to become an excellent or even just a qualified close-combat card artisan would probably take a number of years. That would mean that he would have to stay there a number of years. And he wasn''t certain about how many years that might be.


    The problem was that even a little more time wouldn''t be nearly sufficient for him to learn to be a close-combat card artisan.


    And even if he were to become a fine close-combat card-artisan, he certainly wouldn''t be able to escape the base if he drew the attention of the Ning family. It was certain that whoever the Ning family was focused on, even it if were Mark Victor not to mention himself, there would be a very small probability of successfully escaping.


    As Mark Victor himself said over and over, Chen Mu could develop into an excellent close-combat card artisan. Even though Chen Mu didn''t quite believe that, if he could accomplish half of Mark Victor''s strength he would still be outstanding. For him to become stronger than that would take until he was forty, if he could even survive that long.


    So, the thought of depending on his beginner''s ability with close-combat card artisan skills to escape the base was basically an impossibility. And breath control was what Chen Mu saw as his secret weapon, which had given him some hope. But he had later discarded that when he couldn''t get beyond the issue with the structure of his perceptual vortex. He had then gone looking in other directions.


    He had never though that a new vista would open from him learning the skills of a close-combat card artisan, where he had been given that fresh insight.


    Is there anything more wondrous than that in the world?


    It took quite a bit of Chen Mu''s power to regulate perception. It was a good thing that his perceptual control had progressed so much, as he still spent two whole hours adjusting his shuttle-shaped perceptual vortex. Those two hours were spent entirely on adjusting the structure of his perception.


    That was his first time taking the initiative to adjust on his own internal perception, although he didn''t make any big changes to the main structure. But he was still very cautious, not wanting to make any mistakes.


    The whole process went rather smoothly, with the perceptual vortex as tame as ever, and with every adjustment accomplished handily. To optimize the structure, Chen Mu was making very fine adjustments, not bypassing a single perceptual tendril.


    After two hours, his internal perceptual vortex was completely replaced by a spiral spring structure.


    The thing that amazed him was that once the structure had taken shape, it started to spin on its own. It spun horizontally at a high speed, while the spiral spring was rhythmically vibrating up and down at the same time.


    That made Chen Mu very excited, so that he didn''t feel the least bit tired.


    Striking while the iron was hot, he started right then to practice breath control. Whether or not the spiral spring would succeed, he wanted to see if he could practice breath control, which had been his original goal.


    The method for breath control could be called very simple, which was to cause the perception to remain at a certain frequency of vibration. It had the very demanding requirement that the vibrations be maintained at an absolutely constant frequency.


    This was a very difficult demand to meet.


    But even beyond that, the vibration frequency required for breath control was strange, and made Chen Mu feel very ill. Every time that the frequency approached that certain value, Chen Mu felt a kind of strange feeling. Any fluctuation would make the feeling go away, as though it had been an hallucination. Chen Mu determined from that that breath control had very stringent requirements for the frequency of vibration.


    That stuff was hard to learn!


    The cross-legged Chen Mu suddenly felt a jolt through his body!


    After modulating the frequency through countless values, the vibration frequency of his internal perception had hit on the strange value required.


    A very fine perception suddenly arose from his spiral perceptual center and followed along his spine to drill into the back of Chen Mu''s mind. It then quickly spread with a chill to his whole brain.


    In the cold and dark, Chen Mu felt himself suddenly stripping away all his feelings. When he opened his eyes, and slowly looked around, every little corner of the room was fully present with absolutely no influence from the dark. By common sense he should have found that strange. Even though he had constantly tried to accustom himself to the dark, there still hadn''t been once when he could so fully integrate himself into the dark like that.


    No, it was more like he had been born into the dark.


    He still wasn''t surprised, not did he find it strange, but rather he felt as though he had become a cold machine or like a completely different person examining himself from the side in a detached fashion.


    His heart started to race, and his temperature started to drop, and his vital functions were weakening. He could very clearly perceive every change in his body, discovering that green thread inside of him, which was very calmly dormant in his flesh from his hands to his feet. The green thread could be seen in every part of his flesh. The only thing that hadn''t changed was the vibrational frequency of his spiral spring-like perceptual structure.


    Slow . . . stable . . . as precise as the gears in a clock.


    He knew that he had entered a very strange state. Although his vital signs were dropping incessantly, he didn''t feel the least bit of discomfort. On the contrary, he felt that his strength and his explosive power had increased to a certain degree.


    He lightly stepped over the material scattered on the floor, with each footstep accurate, feeling as though each step were following some carefully laid plan. His control of his body had gotten to a shocking place, him seeming to know the situation of each little part of himself.


    But before he could place his foot on the floor, the scene in front of him suddenly quaked.


    The last thing in his mind was ''twelve seconds!'' before he was drowned in endless darkness.


    Not knowing how much time had gone by, Chen Mu finally slowly awakened. But before he could stand up, a fierce irrepressible urge to vomit arose from his chest, and then he started to vomit. The vomiting lasted a whole ten minutes, with Chen Mu nearly vomiting up bile.


    Such a powerful side effect! Before he could sigh, he couldn''t help vomiting some more.


    After another ten minutes, Chen Mu finally stopped vomiting. He stood up with a bitter smile, as the room was a mess and an unpleasant smell filled the air. It had been a long long time since he remembered ever vomiting.


    What a terrifying method of breath control! When he thought of those twelve seconds, with himself like a machine having no feelings, Chen Mu felt a chill through his bones.


    Thinking back through every detail of what had just happened wasn''t difficult. And without knowing if it was because of the breath control, every detail from those twelve seconds was still clearly in his mind. He had never imagined that when he modulated the frequency of his perception to such a point, there would be such a stunning transformation which so far exceeded any expectations.

 Chapter 125: Turning a Weapon Against Oneself

    Chapter 125: Turning a Weapon Against Oneself


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    His whole body went suddenly cold, as his stomach convulsed. The vomiting had stopped, but Chen Mu''s entire body was aching and limp, without any strength. The side effects of breath control were far more than he had anticipated. That report only included the method to control breathing, with no more detail than that. But he had discovered as soon as he started the training that the report was too simple.


    It hadn''t brought up side effects, or how to keep the perceptions at a steady frequency, and it hadn''t brought up anything about the duration of the state of breath control and related matters, nor anything about the overall situation of the state of breath control.


    The muscles on Chen Mu''s face didn''t have any strength, which gave his smile an ugly look. Although the side effects were extremely powerful, what he felt during those twelve seconds had been really too strong. There was a chill without even the slightest involvement of any mood, and without vitality. He had never had such a feeling of everything being in his hands. He was certain that breath control could escape the probing of the probe card.


    That was the only thing he cared about, compared to which he felt it would be worth it even if the side effects were stronger. While in the state of breath control, he had even discovered that green thread inside of him. He wondered whether he could draw out that green thread if he were later able to increase his time in the state of breath control a little.


    But . . .


    Whenever he thought about those twelve seconds during which there was that cold indifference of being entirely beside himself, he was chilled to his heart, since in that state he had absolutely no human breath. He felt some terror in his heart that if he kept up the training he might become like that.


    Without feelings . . . cold like a machine . . . would that still be human?


    But he put those misgivings to the side, since for him just then the most important thing was to leave that base, and to leave Amay City. If there were side effects, he would just stop the practice after leaving that place.


    As he was by then he was only eager to use the power of breath control to get out of his nice-seeming cage.


    A whole night had passed without his realizing it. Chen Mu was instantly struck dumb when he saw the time, it being almost time to start actual combat with Mark Victor.


    In the training room, Mark Victor was a little startled when he saw Chen Mu, and he immediately asked in concern, "Are you ill? Was yesterday not so good?" Chen Mu''s face was flushed, and his eyes were lifeless. His spirits sagged, making him look very sick.


    Chen Mu took some effort to make himself look more natural, "I''m not so sure either."


    "Let''s cancel the next few days of practice so that you can get a good rest." Mark Victor pondered, and then ordered, "There''s a health department on the base. Go for an exam. Contact me once you''ve recovered."


    "Mmmm, OK."


    Once he had returned to his apartment, Chen Mu had to endure the discomfort in his stomach as he took a pill to supplement his nutrition. He had paid a hundred points to buy it from the medical department, and it could quickly restore his body''s energy. Although it had a very high price, it was fortunate that among those things that Chen Mu lacked, he didn''t lack points. About ten minutes after he took the pill, he felt a lot better. He couldn''t pay attention to anything else just then, so he put his head down to sleep in his exhausted state.


    It was already six hours later when me awoke.


    The room was pitch dark when he opened his eyes. He quickly discovered that his vision in the dark had considerably improved to where he almost didn''t need to turn on any lights. He could see everything in the room very clearly, without needing to deploy perception. Even though he had already started to get used to the dark before then, he had still had to call on perception. This time he hadn''t extended any perception at all.


    Could that be because of the breath control?


    As he thought about it, he could only come up with that single factor. That wasn''t just a wild guess, since he remembered very clearly that during those twelve seconds not only was the darkness having no effect on him, but he had determined on the contrary that he was taking to the darkness like a fish to water.


    Having had six hours of rest, he looked a lot better, and his body had gotten sufficiently strong.


    Having only just recovered from the side effects of the breath control, Chen Mu immediately started it all over again. Even if the side effects were stronger, he had no better choice at that time. The best thing to do was to grit his teeth.


    He sat cross-legged and started to modulate the spiral spring-like perception''s frequency, which was the most crucial step to breath control. It was a painstaking move, or one should say an extremely painstaking move. Chen Mu very easily adjusted the vibration frequency of his perception to the general range required by the breath control, though it was very difficult to make the precise match, with him narrowly missing many, many times.


    What made a person up-tight was that missing by a little bit wasn''t without its own results. Once the vibration frequency had been modulated to very near the value required, an entirely strange and fascinating world would appear. But once there was the slightest fluctuation in the frequency, you would immediately depart from that world.


    If one were to say that Chen Mu was in the range of 50 with the accuracy of his perceptual control, if he wanted to achieve the value required by breath control, his precision would have to advance to about 2, which is to say that he was about twenty-five times off.


    Chen Mu had already made about thirty revisions without anything happening. But he wasn''t the least bit impatient, since the last time he''d entered the state of breath control he had tried over a hundred times. His entire being was absorbed in carefully controlling his perception, constantly making the finest adjustments that he could.


    When he got to the sixty-seventh try, he entered again into that strange state.


    He opened his eyes, and there was no emotional color in what his empty indifferent pupils could see. He didn''t spend any time assessing the room, but instead examined his own physical state. His brain was surprisingly clear, and it was only in that state that he could examine the breath control method''s secrets.


    With insights from the state of breath control, examining the secrets of the method was something that Chen Mu had thought about before entering the entering the state of breath control. Since that report hadn''t mentioned anything other than the method of breath control, he would have to find it himself. That kind of clear insight from the last time had left Chen Mu with a deep impression, which gave him the sudden inspiration to use the state of breath control to examine breath control itself. He believed that the insights he could get under the altered state of breath control could help him to determine all the conditions and related information required by that state.


    The only thing he was worried about was whether he would be able to remember what he''d thought of while in the state, with that state of having any emotion peeled away being really too strange for him.


    But thankfully, apart from being separated from his subjective emotions, everything else remained normal. His brain actually became more sober, and his thinking more clear. And his control of his own behaviors reached a scary point.


    Since there wasn''t much time, and he had to pay attention during the time he had.


    Insights while in the state of breath control were stunning. He was able to take to heart every single little transformation in his body, even to the point of knowing the next step in the changes. He would find the critical part and then derive from that its basic factors, which all sounds very complicated but which actually all happened in a spark of time.


    Data flowed by in his brain in flashing stream after flashing stream. With factors endlessly surfacing, and the structural relations among them constantly perfected, in a flash they seemed to have constituted an intricately interconnected spider web except that it was a web in three dimensions. Hundreds of factors become thousands upon thousands of different strands at differing depths, creating a model of an extremely complex structure every detail of which Chen Mu could grasp at a glance as though he had studied the model endlessly and memorized it.


    And this all took fifteen seconds.


    That time, Chen Mu wanted to remain in the state of breath control a little longer, and he made it to thirty-three seconds. That was because he had made adjustments according to the information he had gotten from his insights. He increased the speed of the temperature drops, which gave him an additional thirty-one seconds. That also demonstrated the validity and value of the information he''d gotten from those insights.


    He wasn''t the least bit joyful, still like someone watching himself coldly from the side.


    But thirty-three seconds couldn''t be considered long and wasn''t quite enough to leave the base. He came out from the state of breath control again after thirty-three seconds had passed.


    The vomiting started again.


    After about ten more minutes, Chen Mu finally stopped vomiting and quickly took one of those nutrition pills. The information he had just gotten from his state of breath control was that there wasn''t any way to get rid of the side effects, which could only be mitigated to a certain very small extent. And those techniques weren''t something that he could use at that time.


    Which was to say that each time he would practice breath control, Chen Mu would vomit for ten minutes! This increased the suffering that showed on his face. Good lord, if he went on like that he would die from the daily vomiting.


    That time, he had fortunately prepared ahead, and went immediately into the bathroom, which saved him a lot of cleanup work.


    After another ten minutes the nutritional pill had started to kick in, and Chen Mu finally felt a little better. He need to start to organize the information he''d gotten from the state of breath control. No, to be more precise, he needed to recall the information.


    A chaotic and complex structural model was taking shape in his mind, consisting of many points and lines, which struck his vision silly. If he had wanted to organize the information, who knows by what year and month he could do it. Fortunately, he had already analyzed it in his enhanced state during breath control. He was a lot stronger in the state of breath control than he was then.


    All the issues which were most critical to Chen Mu had differing precise solutions.


    For example, what Chen Mu had found as a solution to make his time in the state of breath control longer was to become more familiar with the frequency, to the point where his state under that frequency could increase his time in the state of breath control.


    The skill of entering that state was related to his precision in controlling his perception, as well as his level of daily familiarity. The stronger his control of perception, the more familiar he could become with the frequency, and the quicker he could enter the state.


    Chen Mu even knew that if he were to reach the first stage of breath control, his temperament and perception would sadly change their nature.


    He took all that information and was finally able to keep his eyes open during the breath control training.


    But why hadn''t he found any way to alleviate the side effects? That was the thing Chen Mu resented the most.

 Chapter 126: Resistance Training

    Chapter 126: Resistance Training


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu devoted all his strength throughout a week to the breath control training. He tried to repress the powerful side effects during the seven-day training process. But because of the continuous vomiting, his physiological functions continued to drop, until he looked entirely emaciated. Although he hadn''t ever looked obviously robust, that kind of emaciation gave the sense of being frail. When Mark Victor saw Chen Mu''s sickened state he wouldn''t continue. After giving him some words of comfort, he took a commission for himself. That would require probably three days before he could return.


    During that week, Chen Mu would regularly vomit upwards of seven times each day, sometimes to the point of collapse. Then he would grit his teeth and continue on. Time was too important for him, and the more he dragged things out, the smaller his chances for success became.


    Chen Mu squinted his eyes to consider the inhuman suffering of those few days and sighed to himself that he would have to tough it out. While his body was rapidly emaciating, his temperament had sadly also started to change. His once clear eyes had dimmed under a layer of darkness. He had become accustomed to the dark at an alarming rate, with darkness no longer the least bit strange to him. On the contrary, he felt more and more as though he liked to be in the dark, and that it made him feel more comfortable. Probably even the demonic woman wouldn''t have expected him to have made such rapid progress in that direction.


    Darkness provided a kind of atmosphere which he had already gradually started to like.


    Though it was a huge price to pay, he also reaped great rewards, being able by that time to enter the state of breath control within three minutes; if he were given only three minutes, he could enter the state. He was pretty satisfied with that time.


    And under the condition of using breath control for a straight seven days, he had gotten his duration in the state of breath control up to three minutes, with two and a half minutes generally being no issue at all.


    Two and a half minutes, or one hundred and fifty seconds, would normally be considered a very short period of time. But to Chen Mu, a lot could be accomplished. If those hundred and fifty seconds in the state of breath control were used amid blades flying, it would be enough to change the situation. He had tried using the skills he had learned from Mark Victor while in the state of breath control, and no matter which one, the power was beyond anything he''d had before. This gave Chen Mu a lot of confidence.


    Chen Mu didn''t practice breath control during the three days that he still had, since the side effects had become too intense for his health. Chen Mu restrained himself since their power was so shocking,. If he were to train without restraint he wondered if he might die before being able to leave the base. What he needed was to leave safely, and not to die in the middle of training. Those three days gave his physiological functions a chance to recover.


    And he still had a job on his hands to make a card for Bo Wen. He already had the basic draft for that card, and he could probably finish it once he had completed the resistance training with Mark Victor.


    That time was also just right for him to quietly leave. But being able to exchange for that "weak water" set of pens before leaving the base was something that he was naturally excited about. So, he went right into using those three days to make the card. Time was something he couldn''t waste.


    Apart from that, he also harbored a dream. After he left the base he would have very few chances to run into Mark Victor again, and the promise he had made would grow more and more distant, reducing to nearly zero in practical terms. Chen Mu was full of gratitude and respect for Mark Victor. He had given every skill that he knew without holding anything back, which had cost him a lot of effort. Having become used to the ups and downs of human life, Chen Mu still couldn''t help a surge of warmth every time he thought of it. So, he hoped that before he left he could provide Mark Victor with some small gift.


    After the three days went by and Mark Victor had completed his commission, that also meant that Chen Mu''s resistance training would officially commence.


    In the training room the two figures moved like lightning, flying around the space.


    Mark Victor''s speed wouldn''t be considered too fast, but he was unusually slippery, with inspired directional shifts. Chen Mu didn''t have any way to chase him and during the first day of confrontation with an ashen face and head, never mind striking any blows against his adversary, he couldn''t even put a stain on Mark Victor''s clothing.


    It was a good thing Chen Mu had a lot of tenacity and kept up his courage despite setbacks. He also kept a level head, since for him to be defeated was nothing out of the ordinary. And since it was so normal, he wouldn''t become discouraged.


    Since the resistance training had commenced, Mark Victor hadn''t given Chen Mu any more pointers. What he demanded from Chen Mu was that he find his own way.


    Chen Mu had no alternative but to use his own brain, believing that for Mark Victor to do things that way had some certain purpose. So, Chen Mu would fight during the day, and closely review and then summarize all his experiences at night. Then he would try again to see if there were other ways that he could progress.


    And then the next day he would be able to test out the feasibility of the methods he had thought of the night before or find where they could be improved.


    If there were still any time, he would continue to complete the card for Bo Wen.


    By then it was the fourth day, and he had started gradually to get used to Mark Victor''s inspired rhythms in changing direction. Chen Mu''s close-range dodging and evading results were also outstanding, and as soon as he had gotten Mark Victor''s rhythm, the scene of battle would transform.


    Of course, Chen Mu had no chance of defeating Mark Victor at that time, though he could already keep pace with his adversary''s person. And unlike at the beginning, he could easily shake off his adversary during their shifts in direction.


    He played the excellent maneuverability of the ''big mud fish'' to its fullest, and he was also getting more and more practiced in that kind of flight. By the sixth day, he could be biting Mark Victor''s tail like a shadow.


    Not for the first time, Mark Victor sighed, "You are simply a natural close-combat card artisan. I really have no idea why you started out as a card master."


    Since he couldn''t shake off Chen Mu, the combat between them immediately transformed. Chen Mu had also started to understand Mark Victor''s tough attacks, and to avoid hanging up in the midst of battle, Mark Victor dared to maintain the power of his twisted spinning thorns at about thirty percent, putting Chen Mu into a bad situation.


    The chances for the two of them to dodge and to shoot were too few for the circumstances. During those few days, Chen Mu felt that he had completely remolded himself, with his movements finally displaying the qualities of a professional card artisan. He made no superfluous motions, which was forced upon him by the terrifying power of Mark Victor''s twisted spinning thorns. Not only were the attacks powerful, they were frighteningly quick, and the slightest pause or hesitation would cause the thorns to precisely fill the gap like a python smelling blood. There was no place for any high hopes that it would miss or ignore any errors.


    Chen Mu''s nerves were kept in a high state of agitation, not being able to let loose for an instant, since in front of an ace like Mark Victor, any laxity would be extremely dangerous.


    Compared with Chen Mu''s plight, Mark Victor was naturally more relaxed and leisurely, calm under pressure. But under his calm exterior, he was astounded.


    Chen Mu showed a potential he had never seen under such training pressure. He saw something like what is called genius in Chen Mu! Those so-called young geniuses that he had encountered previously could only be considered shoddy fake goods. Apart from his gifts, what Mark Victor most appreciated about Chen Mu was his calm and his resolve. He could seem like an iron man, running without tiring or flying through the skies. And, he would make the most appropriate response in every critical instant. He couldn''t believe that such calm could manifest itself in some novice who had only been studying close-combat for twenty or thirty days.


    And what really surprised Mark Victor was that close combat card of Chen Mu''s ¨C the bipolar thunderball card. Five creature-like little thunderballs full of spirit. When he first saw them, Mark Victor didn''t pay much attention. But during the resistance training to follow, he was really surprised! Whenever his energy spines would just about approach Chen Mu, like five little demons those five thunderballs would suddenly pounce. And then that perfect five-sided light shield would appear in front of his energy spines, abruptly blocking them.


    Mark Victor immediately increased his attack frequency without imagining that those five little demons would speed up right along with him.


    Even while the thorn shuttles were falling like rain, the light shield would keep right up with them, emerging in an endless stream, with the dense popping sounds falling from midair annihilated into raining shards of light.


    The more he fought the more alarmed he had become the first time he had encountered that strange close-combat card. If he wanted to break through the defensive perimeter formed by those five small thunderballs, he would have to increase the attack power to its highest level of about sixty percent. Maybe then he could break through that perfect five-sided energy shield, and cause some damage to Chen Mu.


    He could clearly see that Chen Mu still wasn''t quite familiar with using that card. He believed that as time went on and Chen Mu became more familiar with the card, and as he became more familiar the composition of its energy, the power of that card would be greatly enhanced.


    A youth of genius using a magical close-combat card was a combination which filled Mark Victor with expectation.


    He really looked forward to Chen Mu''s first battle, and to his brilliant future. He looked forward to him being before the world, using his amazing talents and power to conquer everyone!


    He really believed that this sallow-faced youth was worthy of such anticipation.

 Chapter 127: Good Cards and Good Pens

    Chapter 127: Good Cards and Good Pens


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "Mr. Mark Victor." Chen Mu shouted out just as Mark Victor was preparing to leave. That was the third week after they had entered actual combat confrontation.


    Mark Victor looked surprised, as he turned around with a sense of questioning, "What is it?" Apart from asking about things he didn''t understand, it was the first time Chen Mu had called to him after practice was concluded.


    Chen Mu presented a card, "This card might be useful to you."


    "What card?" Mark Victor asked as he took it, finding it a little strange. He suddenly thought about Chen Mu''s other identity. He was a little startled to realize that he had been leaving out important information regarding Chen Mu''s identity as a card master, which he hadn''t understood at all.


    What kind of ability did Chen Mu have? What kinds of cards was he good at making? What was his position at the base? And so forth. He didn''t have any idea.


    "I call it the big mud fish."


    "Big mud fish?" Mark Victor''s expression showed some surprise, "What a strange name."''Big mud fish was really a weird name, making it very hard to tell what kind of card it was.


    "It''s a jet-stream card." Chen Mu explained.


    "Jet-stream card?" Mark Victor turned it over with interest, examining the big mud fish card, being under pressure now to try this weirdly-named jet-stream card. Then he smiled mildly, "Many thanks." Although he wouldn''t necessarily use it, it was a nice gesture by Chen Mu.


    "Don''t mention it." Chen Mu turned and left the training room.


    Looking at Chen Mu''s back, Mark Victor couldn''t help laughing at such a truly lovable guy. After Chen Mu had left, he put the big mud fish into his own apparatus.


    . . . the time was almost up.


    * * *


    Chen Mu calculated to himself that there wasn''t any room for slip-ups in his plan. He called up Bo Wen''s communications card.


    "Hello, Bo Wen? The card is finished, please bring the ''weak water'' pen set. We can meet in fifteen minutes in the number two comprehensive training room."


    In the number two comprehensive training room the slight smile which Bo Wen always showed wasn''t there anymore. This time it represented his amazement and surprise, "Nice card!"


    From its looks, it was an ordinary wavy blade card which could only emit one wavy blade at a time. The wavy blades weren''t moon-white but were a bright red blood color. Each wavy blade was composed of five stacked wavy blades, with greatly enhanced power to achieve a scary destructive value of 611.


    In principle, the card was very similar to the layered-blow wavy card, both being composed of layered wavy blades. But Chen Mu had made quite a few improvements with the card that he had designed. The compositions of the wavy blades in the original layered-blow wavy card were all identical. In the card that Chen Mu had made, each two adjacent blades were opposite, which would help them to overlap. Not only that, Chen Mu had also used his knowledge of token composition for his improvements, taking advantage of the computational power of the token composition, which would greatly decrease the time for the layering. That would then greatly increase the firing frequency of the card, thus satisfying Bo Wen''s requirements.


    "Nice card!" Bo Wen could no longer remember how many times he had praised the card. As he saw it, for a three-star card to be taken to that extent was already at the limit for three-star cards. If he knew that Chen Mu still had in his hands a tailless shuttle card whose blows could reach 756, who knows how he would feel about it.


    "What is this card called?" Bo Wen asked with curiosity.


    Chen Mu casually responded, "This card belongs to you and you should name it."


    Bo wen couldn''t help the flash of astonishment which crossed his eyes. In general, the card master would proudly name the card, with few ever being so casual as that. Is that his nature? Or doesn''t he consider the card to be much in his eyes? Bo Wen''s glare flashed under the lights, looking at Chen Mu as though something were on his mind.


    He quickly came back to his senses and pondered, "This card with wavy blades like blood and as sharp as can be, will be called the ''blood sharp card.''" Of course, Chen Mu had no opinion.


    Despite Bo Wen''s constant praise, Chen Mu wasn''t very pleased. Even though the attack damage of the blood sharp card could reach 611, that result wasn''t anything to be proud of with the tailless shuttle card in front of it. And moreover, in order to increase the power of the blood sharp card, he had used the finest materials, so that the sharp card represented his highest level to date. But the materials used to make the tailless shuttle card were far inferior. Although they would only be considered ordinary at the base, in his previous opinion many of them would have been considered high-grade materials.


    One was a card made from ordinary materials which achieved a damage value of 756.


    The other was a card which Chen Mu had made with the highest-grade materials that he could think of, which had a value of 611.


    If the level of the two were to be adjudicated to explain his level compared to the level of the card master who had designed the tailless shuttle card that year, who knows how many levels he would fall short. So that even though Bo Wen had kept praising the blood sharp card for how outstanding it was, Chen Mu hadn''t been moved. That then made Bo Wen admire that sallow-faced nondescript youth even more. To be faced with admiration and still not be proud was not an easy thing for a teenage youth.


    Chen Mu didn''t intend to waste any time, and he asked directly, "What about the ''weak water'' pen set?"


    Bo Wen looked at Chen Mu with a smile that didn''t look like a smile, never having run into someone so direct in his speech. Those that he was in touch with all rambled on in a mixture of truth with falsehood. Although he was pretty full of schemes himself, he rather liked such an upright person as Chen Mu, even as he was constantly scheming about how he could recruit Chen Mu to join the Eastern Ning''s.


    Seeing that Bo Wen wasn''t saying anything, Chen Mu couldn''t help frowning, "Is there some problem?"


    Could something have gone wrong? Chen Mu''s heart skipped a beat.


    Under the snow bright lights if wasn''t clear if it was a change in the mood, but an almost imperceptible dark glare glinted through Chen Mu''s eyes. As an after-effect of his breath control training during that time, whenever he ran into danger or some other stimulus, he would often tend subconsciously to modulate the frequency of his perception toward the frequency needed for breath control. They would sometimes correspond, putting Chen Mu immediately into the state of breath control. But it would be for a very short time ¨C usually one or two seconds ¨C after which he would immediately come out from the state of breath control. It was a subconscious action, that couldn''t be maintained, while at the same time it didn''t have any side effects.


    Chen Mu''s temperament suddenly changed because of it, with the atmosphere seeming to have chilled all around him, with a gloomy glint to chill the heart. The strong contrast from before to after hit Bo Wen hard, and he couldn''t imagine how that youthful card master with nothing at all special about him could so suddenly have such a cold and severe side.


    He then suddenly remembered that Ning Peng had said that Chen Mu had killed card artisans from the Zuo family. Of course, Zuo family card artisans weren''t anything to him, but Bo Wen sensed something unusual in it as regarded Chen Mu''s card master identity.


    He regretted a little bit that he should have looked more carefully into that elusive youth''s actual underpinnings. He had Previously been restraining himself from investigating Chen Mu''s precise details, not wanting to alarm the Amay Ning''s. If they were to discover Chen Mu''s actual worth, then his own scheme would come to nothing, or run into a rather large obstacle.


    Because of the angle, Bo Wen had clearly caught the dark glint which floated through Chen Mu''s eyes.


    What was it? Bo Wen was really startled that the eyes could change color like that. But it was familiar to him, as though he had seen it somewhere before. Although it hadn''t lasted long, he was certain that he had seen that dark glint, and that it hadn''t been some illusion from something floating in his eye.


    He felt as though he''d seen that kind of dark glint before, but he couldn''t remember when it had been.


    Stopping his imagination from running wild, he smiled mildly and said with a breath of fresh air, "How could there be? I have earned my trust very diligently." Then he took out a light lavender colored velvet bag from his chest pocket.


    That fine velvet cloth pouch was about the size of a book, on the end of which was a special tri-colored twisted cord to close it.


    "This velvet pouch is made from purple civet fur, and it repels water, is extremely soft, and is very secure. Ordinary daggers can''t penetrate it. The tri-colored silk cord on the mouth of it is made from indigo cane, golden hemp, and brown spider silk. Ha ha, the bag itself is not so cheap, and only a high grade wavy blade card could cut it."


    Then Bo Wen opened the bag and removed a purse which he gave to Chen Mu.


    The purse was made from some unknown natural blue leather, on top of which were iridescent blue scales whose mesmerizing light was like rippling water. Opening the purse, there were seven differently sized card pens of various types inserted neatly.


    Pulling out the first pen, which was a slope-bladed pen which could gently transmit perception to its tip, it suddenly conveyed a strange sensation. His perception had directly touched the pen tip, and he immediately sensed the perception like flowing water, divided into many streams, with each fine stream of perception like a tiny stream of water, flowing smoothly around the tip of the pen.


    "A fine pen!" A pleasantly surprised look appeared on the normally wooden face of Chen Mu. The circulation of perception to the tip of the fine pen showed in its fine intervals why the pen had been named the "weak water" pen by Kuo Haofeng.


    Bo Wen was looking at Chen Mu all smiles, having seen how much he liked the set of pens. He would be easy to handle so long as there were things he liked. He felt that compulsion wouldn''t be useful for a card master at Chen Mu''s level, since he would have to serve willingly to realize his highest value. If he wanted to claim Chen Mu for the Eastern Ning''s, he would have to consider Chen Mu''s opinions.


    Seeing Chen Mu liking the "weak water" so much, that stone dropped from Bo Wen''s heart. He was no longer worried about Chen Mu liking it, but rather about what he wouldn''t like. Among collections in the whole of the Eastern Region, the Amay Ning''s were clearly not among those who could compare.


    Chen Mu tried each of the pens and was extremely satisfied. The work of the master was indeed a masterpiece. Whether it was the feel in the hand or in any other aspect, they were far beyond anything ordinarily on the market in the way that they worked. And the "weak water" could help the card master to more effectively control his perception so that with the help of that pen set he would even be able to attempt the challenge of making four-star cards, though that would be something for the future. Still, it was always hard to find a chance to boost your skills under ordinary circumstances.


    But Chen Mu was still sober and restrained knowing that one couldn''t rely on great tools overly much.


    He very gingerly received the "weak water" pen set, and then the two of them said words of parting and he turned around to leave the training room. Bo Wen didn''t hold him back as he smiled at Chen Mu''s departure.


    The smile which never left Bo Wen''s face suddenly disappeared when Chen Mu''s figure had passed through the door of the practice room, and his spring-like gaze became instantly icy.


    He didn''t leave the practice room right away but lowered his head to think. He was attending to every smallest change in Chen Mu leading up to that sudden glint in Chen Mu''s eyes, which had been like a thorn to his heart, making him feel very uncomfortable.


    Bo Wen was very calm and had a lot of confidence in his own judgement. He was brooding on what it was that was so familiar about it.


    But no matter how hard he thought, he couldn''t come up with who among all those that he had encountered had ever shown that kind of phenomenon. If he really hadn''t seen it, then it must have been from some ancient records. Something that all the offspring of the Eastern Ning had to experience was to browse through the annals of the clan, which he had done since he was small as someone regarded as the successor to the Eastern Ning''s.


    It must have been in the records or in the annals. There was a detached look to his gaze while he was rapidly turning that over in his mind.


    Having his head down all along, his expression finally changed.


    He raised his head, with an oddly pallid look on his face as a look of panic flashed through his eyes. He soon realized that he was losing his remarkable self-control. He closed his eyes, and took a few deep breaths, and finally calmed his surging heart.


    He activated his apparatus and called up a number on his communications card.


    During the over ten seconds that it took to make the connection, he felt an anxious impatience that he would ordinarily never feel, given his patient nature. When the other party finally responded, and the screen popped out in front of him, there appeared a sleepy-looking young woman.


    "You''re still not asleep by this hour, brother?" That was Bo Wen''s younger sister Ning Jia. She was wearing a loose white nightgown, rubbing her sleepy eyes.


    "Jia Jia, go to the book collection right away."


    "I''m so tired, brother, let''s do it tomorrow, OK? To ask someone to go to the library pavilion so late! I need my beauty sleep!" Ning Jia was cranky in her sleepiness.


    "Go now!" Bo Wen was agitated, and his voice had become more stern than it had ever been.

 Chapter 128: The Night of the Cross

    Chapter 128: The Night of the Cross


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Ning Jia looked at Bo Wen in surprise as her eyes misted over, never having imagined that her brother would talk to her in that tone of voice.


    Bo Wen forced himself to calm his tone, "Be nice and go quickly Jia Jia," Then his voice became more urgent, "In the innermost shelves of the library pavilion, there is a grey and brown notebook on the bottom right. Quickly!"


    Hearing the urgency in her brother''s voice, Ning Jia bit her lip and held back her tears, then grunted her response, as she ran out of the bedroom. She understood the importance of the situation, and that if it weren''t something very important her bother would never have forced her like that. He had never compelled her once ever since she was little.


    "Jia Jia, it''s so late. Why aren''t you asleep?" Ning Jia''s mother had been awakened when she heard the door open and she called out.


    "Brother wants me to find something for him." Ning Jia kept running out of the house after saying that, even as her mother kept complaining from behind her. "So it''s Bo Wen. I''ll have to have a talk with him about calling Jia Jia so late to find something."


    The way to the library was through a long corridor, which was completely unoccupied at that hour as one of the most closely protected places of the Eastern Ning''s. Tightly restricted but relaxed inside where no-one was to be seen. The sound of rapid footsteps filled it as Ning Jia lifted her nightgown to run without the slightest concern for how she looked.


    She had a worried frown on her face. Her earlier resentment had disappeared completely, and she was now only worried about her brother. She knew very clearly what kind of person her brother was ¨C in her eyes the most excellent of men, ordinarily not even moved by a landslide. She had never seen him so out of sorts, wondering what it could have been to worry her brother so much. She couldn''t help feeling anxious, wondering if her brother had gotten into some trouble. Even though she was so frail, she wanted to be at her brother''s side.


    The dark library was deadly silent and filled with a kind of musty scent as she pushed open its heavy doors. It had been a while since Ning Jia had been there, though she had often played in there with her brother when she was little. To be alone then in the dark and silent library frightened her.


    With her body trembling she screwed up her courage and went into the stacks where she finally turned on a light. The snow-bright light drove out the darkness and lit up the books.


    That calmed her as she went right into the stacks to the last shelf.


    That was where it would be!


    On the bottom shelf, there was the grey and brown notebook. She stooped down to get it.


    Then she hurriedly activated her communications card, and Bo Wen''s face appeared on the screen which popped out, as he asked with evident distress, "Did you find it Jia Jia?"


    "I found it ¨C is this the one?" Ning Jia rushed to hold up the grey and brown notebook. She felt a little perplexed about what her bother was doing to call her so late to look for such an old and worn notebook.


    Bo Wen''s eyes brightened as he hastened to say, "Go to the last few pages, Jia Jia, and find the notes related to the night of the cross."


    "Mmmm." Ning Jia responded, having started to flip through the pages of the old notebook. She then quickly exclaimed, "I''ve found it. The night of the cross, right brother?"


    "Right." Bo Wen''s voice had become very stern, "Read it through, Jia Jia, and don''t omit anything."


    "Mmmm." Ning Jia nodded, and started to read a moment later, "He seemed like a ghost in the night, not making a sound. I had the strong feeling when I saw him that he was just out for a stroll. I watched with my own eyes as he passed within five meters of Ning Hong, though Ning Hong himself didn''t notice anything. I panicked and wanted to call out, but just then he turned and saw me!"


    Ning Jing read with some fear and nervousness in her voice, as though influenced by what she was reading.


    "His bare unmasked face was pallid, and I still remember it to this day. His eyes were the scariest, good lord what a pair of eyes! Terrifyingly, they showed no signs of life or humanity. His pupils were clouded by a dark look, as though a demon had walked out from the void. If I believed in god I would have thought that those demonic eyes came straight from hell."


    Hearing that, Bo Wen''s pupils became like needles, and his eyes took on a chill glint, as narrow and sharp as a knife.


    "Hunh!" He grunted, as his face tuned steel-grey while he murmured, "And so . . . "


    "What is this, brother?" Ning Jia''s voice was trembling, and she could no longer restrain herself.


    "Bo Wen said mildly, "keep on reading, Jia Jia."


    "I seemed to have suddenly fallen into an icehouse which froze my body to where it wouldn''t respond. I wanted to call out, but no matter how much I tried, it appeared that I had lost control of my body and I couldn''t make a sound. Every time I remember this affair, I am filled with guilt and remorse. If only . . .If only I had been a little braver, Father might not have died! I sometimes wonder if that man was even human. His movements were so precise, without any slightest change in his expression, and with his eyes devoid of life. He left a cross shaped wound on father''s back, which I later realized had penetrated through to father''s heart . . ."


    Ning Jia couldn''t read any further than that as she held her mouth in horror.


    The cross wound was something that nearly every member of the Ning family was familiar with.


    The most powerful and talented lord of the Ning''s, Ning Xuan, had died from a lethal cross wound. The Ning family was at it zenith at that time, having just established their position in the Eastern Reaches. It was that mysterious lethal cross scar that had ended Ning Xuan''s life in its prime. The five years thereafter were the most turbulent and dangerous times for the Ning family. That was when the branches such as the Amay Ning''s were spawned. If it weren''t for Ning Yi, the son of Ning Xuan, the root of the Ning family might very well have been lost to history.


    As Ning Yi grew up he also started to manifest his genius, and it was his diligence which finally rescued the Ning family roots from the turbulence.


    In the eyes of all the succeeding generations of the core Ning family, Ning Yi had become a god-like figure, whom they idolized as a hero. Upon their investiture, each successive generation of lords of the Ning family was urged to become as outstanding as Ning Yi was.


    And there was only one descendant of lord Ning Xuan, who was lord Ning Yi.


    "This . . . this is the record from Lord Ning Yi?" Ning Jia looked alarmed, as she asked incoherently.


    "Right." Bo Wen''s voice had deepened, as a hint of sadness was mixed into it, "When this all happened, Lord Ning Yi was only nine. This was recorded as he was near death. I discovered it by accident when I was looking through the records from the ancestral lords a while ago." Bo Wen''s tone then went cold, "Ning Yi spent his whole life looking into the night of the cross, and every lord thereafter would do his utmost to scour for any legacy from the night of the cross sect. If I''m remembering correctly, if you go to the number thirteen book shelf, the entire shelf is all sorts of material about the night of the cross."


    "Ha ha, now that I bring it up, I''m really lucky." Bo Wen said mildly, though his eyes didn''t look at all happy. He suddenly raised his head to show Ning Jia a smile, then said with concern, "Go to sleep little sister. I''ll make up for having awakened you so late when I come back."


    "Be careful brother!" Ning Jia''s eyes made it obvious that she was very worried. For her brother to have awakened her so late to read something could have meant that he had found himself implicated in the night of the cross. Or that he had discovered something. If the night of the cross had been able to kill even Lord Ning Xuan, her brother was certainly in danger. But once she saw her brother''s look of resolve, what she had been about to say to urge him to come back changed to an exhortation to be careful.


    "Don''t worry Jia Jia."


    Watching the screen disappear in front of her, Ning Jia was disappointed. Then she suddenly thought of something and picked up her nightgown to run to shelf number thirteen.


    Looking them over quickly there weren''t any books on the shelves, which were exclusively full of all kinds and colors of notebooks. Ning Jia pulled out the first one, and opened it to read, only to find it called ''about the night of the cross.''


    She sat on the floor, leaning against the shelf, to read the notebook more closely.


    The night of the cross was a sect of card artisans which was an unknown sect during the period of sects and schools. They were card artisans who specialized in moving in the dark. The lord of each generation did their utmost to investigate them, though the night of the cross had remained mysterious and hidden in the dark.


    All the notebooks invariably brought up the two skills of the night of the cross, the cross and breath control. But they only knew the names and didn''t have any more detail than that.


    Looking at it literally, the cross was probably the cross-shaped penetrating wound on Lord Ning Xuan''s body, though nobody was clear about what kind that had been in the end. And if one were to guess about that breath control method, it was probably some kind of stealth maneuvering technique. As with the cross, no one knew. But what was different from the cross was that there were very detailed records about breath control. It was said that those who practiced breath control had to remain in completely dark places for a long time, and that those gifted generations needed over five years. The lords for many generations thereafter had made a lot of conjectures about that message. What most of them endorsed was that the word ''night'' in ''the night of the cross'' must have represented breath control, or the dark required by breath control.


    Given the surprising riches of the Ning family, and the great power of their people as well as their rich communications channels, it was very difficult to imagine why they had finally gotten so little information. That just demonstrated how covert the sect was.


    And the most recent notebook was already from eighty years before. What was written there when the lord of that generation was in power hadn''t gotten any further information relating to the night of the cross. At the very end of the notebook, that lord made his own conjecture, considering the night of the cross sect to be have probably been lost in the river of time. When the time of the academies arrived, quite a few of the brilliant and glorious sects went up in smoke, and the dissipation of the night of the cross wouldn''t have been anything out of the ordinary.


    Could it be that the night of the cross hadn''t dissipated, but had persisted? She couldn''t help worrying again about her brother Bo wen.


    * * *


    Chen Mu took another look at his apartment, having already spent a lot of time that day in preparation. It was late by then, the time of the weakest defense, and the dark would be a help to him.


    He had quite a few cards in his wallet, having taken the ''big mud fish'' for the sake of safety, in case a jet-stream card broke along the way. Apart from that, he had also purchased several four-star power cards, and a high-speed jet stream card, since the "big mud fish" whose strength was in turning, wasn''t so great at high speeds. He also had an illumination card, a heating card and those sorts of commonly-used cards which could be useful in the outer reaches. He had spent many of his contribution points on those cards, but if he didn''t spend them all they would be wasted. Apart from that, he had exchanged contribution points for a large quantity of cash cards, since no matter where he was, not having money would never be good. He kept the "weak water" pen set right against his body.


    He purchased an extremely high-grade apparatus with those points which remained. It was a combat apparatus which had six card slots, which was to say that apart from the power card, it could have five cards inserted and ready to use at the same time. Not only that, but it had a rich set of functions, such as direction-finding and mapping and more.


    He had spent five-thousand contribution points on that apparatus alone, and it was the highest-grade apparatus which could be purchased on the base.


    He was well equipped with his elastic shoes, the wall climbing lotus, and the ghost-faced flower as well as the belt which had three hidden poisonous smoke bombs which he had never once used. He had kept those things with him all along, as the things given him by the demonic woman had always been useful.


    The time had come to set off.


    The base at night wasn''t completely devoid of people, with many of the card artisans and those researching card appliances used to working until late at night and then resting during the day. It was completely opposite for card artisans, very few of whom would be likely to be active at night. At that time, groups of two or three card masters might commonly be seen on the base together discussing something or other or rushing to the consignment office or to the self-serve materials supermarket.


    Chen Mu was calmly walking about on the base with no one paying any attention to him.


    Every five stories on the building there was an exit level, where several exits were distributed about the level. But they were all closed and required access privileges if you needed to leave. If you had the right privileges, the exit would automatically open once you swiped your room card. Many armed probe cards were arrayed around all the exits, not omitting a single nook or cranny, to be certain that those exiting matched their room cards.


    Chen Mu''s room card didn''t have access privileges.


    Arriving at the fifteenth floor, he hid in a dark nook, from where he could scan all the exits on the floor. Apart from the exits on the ground floor, only the card artisans would use those since they were the only ones who could use a jet stream card to fly.


    During that time there were few card artisans leaving, but Chen Mu was watching in the dark, to see starting then how many would generally leave in the course of an hour. In general, there would be six or seven card artisans leaving, and he was only paying attention to those.


    What he wanted to do just then was just to wait, and to wait patiently.

 Chapter 129: The Best Breath Control

    Chapter 129: The Best Breath Control


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Cheng Ying had a commission that day and she needed to leave the base. Women very seldom went out so late, but that wasn''t any problem for someone like her who wasn''t just any weak woman but was rather an outstanding card artisan. She had the strength to defend herself. So, she hadn''t hesitated to take it when she saw the commission.


    She had been training diligently during that time, and had already become rather well-known at the base, though she still wasn''t satisfied. She hoped to become even stronger, to achieve her dreams which still seemed so far away.


    She had joined the Ning family base entirely because of the excellent training facilities there. She had already confirmed her decision. And with so many aces at the base, like Mark Victor or Bo Wen ¨C and by that time even Will couldn''t be underestimated ¨C every time she thought about it she cheered for herself. How could she be outdistanced by them?


    She restrained her excitement while she trained desperately and surged rapidly higher in her ability during that time.


    If she wanted to maintain that kind of training she constantly needed to take commissions to get enough contribution points. The commissions on the base were entirely different from those outside; not only were they of many different types, they were several levels more difficult. Just to complete a commission was a kind of tempering of her power.


    Cheng Ying gave her all for every single commission.


    That commission wasn''t any different, and she needed to be at some certain place before two AM. It was still half an hour before the appointed time, which was plenty of time given her speed.


    Just as she usually did, she walked toward the number five exit, which was a number she liked.


    She suddenly seemed to sense something behind her. She turned about, slightly alarmed, though there was nothing behind her. She looked around the exit corridor and didn''t see anyplace to hide.


    She couldn''t help laughing at herself. Maybe she had been accepting too many commissions lately and her nerves were too sensitive.


    She took out her room card and was just about to swipe it when she heard what sounded like a person''s rapid footsteps coming toward her. Her hand stopped immediately in midair just as the hurried steps hit her ear.


    Chen Mu was coldly staring down at her from the ceiling into which he had absorbed himself. He had long since forgotten the woman he had once passed by. All his concentration was on the room card in Cheng Ying''s hand. Since he was on the ceiling, he could also hear any footsteps from outside very clearly.


    There was no evidence of life in his indifferent eyes, which were shrouded in a layer of darkness, as though there were some dark world behind them.


    Ten seconds had gone by.


    He was managing his time very precisely, since he could only remain in the state of breath control for 150 seconds, with the most he had ever done being three minutes ¨C or 180 seconds ¨C although he couldn''t plan for that.


    Every second of those 150 was precious. If he couldn''t finish within 150 seconds, what would happen next was easy to imagine.


    Before he had set the plan, he had also wondered whether it was worth it. After thinking about it for a long time, he finally decided that it was. Having gone through his business with Copper and with the demonic woman, his desire for freedom was ever stronger. It wasn''t that he couldn''t lower his head and temporarily behave in worldly ways in the face of power. But that didn''t mean that he wanted to stay that way forever.


    He craved freedom!


    Chen Mu''s brain had been whirling all along, which was one of the features of the state of breath control, as well as one of its strengths.


    He was stuck to the ceiling like a gecko, without any expression on his face, his gaze focused on the room card in Cheng Ying''s hand.


    The footsteps were getting closer and closer and he could hear that someone was rushing in his direction, where there was only the number five exit.


    He had decided In less than a second that as soon as that person entered the passageway he wouldn''t have anyplace to hide and would have to make his move. Chen Mu''s expression didn''t show the slightest bit of worry, seeming like a bystander calmly watching some ordinary event.


    In contrast to his state of mind, his reflexes were exploding. His belly was slightly sunken, when it suddenly stuck forcefully out, at the same time that his four limbs which were stuck to the ceiling abruptly extended, and then like some phantom he pounced on Cheng Ying.


    At almost the same time that Chen Mu made his move, Cheng Ying had felt something odd. There was someone on top of her! Her face showed the terror that she hadn''t felt something that was so close. In a spark''s time, lots of thoughts passed through her mind, and then a chill arose from the depths of her heart.


    Even though it had happened so suddenly, Cheng Ying showed the profound power of a professional card artisan. She very quickly bent over backwards, touching the ground in an instant and tumbling back.


    And she had activated the apparatus on her wrist in that tiny period.


    She had already calculated that if she were to stand during that instant, she would only be able to fire off one shot. She believed that if she were only able to fire off that shot, it would certainly push her adversary back. At such close range, she really couldn''t dodge. And if her opponent were to move back, it would be better for her. By opening some distance, she could get away from that passive situation and take the initiative.


    But before she could stand up, she felt a powerful force from the room card that she was clenching in her hand, and she couldn''t hang onto it as her hand went empty.


    She turned pale with fright.


    Her seductively slim waist suddenly tightened as she rolled to the side. The shot she had anticipated had never materialized, which astonished her as she got the hell out of there to stay away from her adversary as best as she could. Even by the time she straightened out, no shots had materialized from her adversary. The frightened Cheng Ying''s two legs were bent for springing as she assumed an alert posture. There was no color in her face, with her adversary so easily taking the room card from her hand. If he wanted to kill her all he would need would be a dagger. No. Even a nail could do it.


    It had been a long time since she had been in such danger, with her life so directly threatened. The pressure of death far exceeding that of any of her commissions. She had completed a lot of commissions, but none had terrified her like that.


    Her adversary wasn''t making a sound or taking a breath as he utterly pinned her. He had a lot more power than she did! She had immediately realized that in the face of such an ace she didn''t have the slightest opportunity for any resistance.


    That kind of feeling was really messed up!


    She defiantly lifted her head in fear toward that person who had stolen her room card, not being able to understand what good it was to steal a room card. She didn''t know how someone so terrifying in his moves could come stealing a room card, and a perfectly ordinary one at that.


    But once Cheng Ying clearly saw her attacker''s face, her complexion changed again, being shocked to the point of almost screaming.


    It was him! It was that sallow-faced youth she''d run into that day outside the training room. It was actually him! She immediately thought of the terrifying numbers she had seen in the training room about close-range dodging and evading. That then made her still more firmly believe that the youth was a terrifyingly powerful close-combat card artisan.


    She really didn''t know how terrifying Chen Mu''s power was, but what she did know was that she couldn''t disobey him. When was he going to come at her? How long would he stay up there? She had no idea. And she could see from that attack just then that the two of them were not in the same realm.


    "Who are you?" Cheng Ying was horrified as she looked at Chen Mu on full alert.


    While it takes a while to describe those unforeseen events, they had all taken place in a very brief five seconds.


    Fifteen seconds had already been passed in the state of breath control, and Chen Mu calculated that he couldn''t pay attention to Cheng Ying.


    He had no need, and he had no time.


    As quickly as possible, he swiped Cheng Ying''s room card at the exit from the passageway. At the same time, he was calculating that it would probably take five seconds to get through the passage which meant that there would be 130 seconds left after he got through.


    Seeing Chen Mu swipe the room card, Cheng Ying immediately understood Chen Mu''s plan. The youth certainly didn''t have a room card, or his room card didn''t have access permissions. He wanted to use her card to open the door of the passage. Her face was completely devoid of any blood by then. She really didn''t know what the relations were between Chen Mu and the Ning''s, but there was one thing which she did know very well, that if he were to be allowed to leave like this, it would certainly be bad for her later.


    It was the Ning family style to recognize only results and not be concerned with the process.


    "This won''t work for you. Once the probe cards around here detect you the entryway won''t open." Cheng Ying was biting her lip, as she spoke with a pallid face. She didn''t want to die, since that would be the end of her hopes. But at the same time, she hoped she wouldn''t lose her foothold on the Ning family base because of the matter. If there were no way for her to become stronger, then her dreams would be but a reflection of nothing.


    Chen Mu wasn''t paying any attention to her but was listening closely as the footsteps outside got closer and closer, until they were only twenty meters away by his quick estimation of the precise location.


    Cheng Ying didn''t know what to do as she watched Chen Mu not making any move. Once the probe cards had detected that the information in the room card didn''t match the one going through the entryway, the door in the passageway certainly wouldn''t open. During the daytime, it would only let one person at a time pass, with two not being able to come or go at the same time. That was precisely to prevent such a situation.


    She wasn''t afraid of him escaping the base at that time; she was afraid of him taking out his anger on her. She had also heard the footsteps and was hoping that someone would come quickly to stop that nut.


    Five seconds passed.


    The passageway entrance suddenly burst open!


    How . . . how could that be? Cheng Ying opened her eyes and couldn''t believe that the door had been opened. Impossible! The door had never been able to be opened for two in the passageway, which was something that people had tried countless times without anyone succeeding.


    Cheng Ying was lost in a brief trance wondering how the entrance had opened.


    The footsteps stopped at the entrance once the one coming arrived there.


    "Chen Mu!" The words of the one who had arrived showed surprise and shock, which brought Cheng Ying back to life. Her gaze fell onto Bo Wen, who was the one at the entrance.


    "Halt!" While Bo Wen''s voice wasn''t loud, it had a biting chill as he stared coldly at Chen Mu.


    Bo Wen was looking with a stern dark expression at the youth about to leave, which was the first time Cheng Ying had seen such a steely dark expression. From what she had seen, Bo Wen always had that charming mild smile on his face. Although she also knew that Bo Wen''s real nature wasn''t so mild as the expression he wore, every time she saw that friendly smile, she couldn''t help being smitten by it.


    Bo Wen is an enemy of this youth? That was the first thing which came to Cheng Ying''s mind.


    Chen Mu was also paying attention to Bo Wen, but in contrast to Cheng Ying, his expression hadn''t changed at all, still having that emotionless look. He looked at Bo Wen indifferently, while in his brain Chen Mu was determining that Bo Wen showing up was an unforeseen factor, though since he hadn''t known he didn''t do much thinking about it.


    What was most valuable just then was time.


    Without any hesitation, Chen Mu leapt through the passage toward the outside. Bo Wen''s appearance would cause the passage entryway to close, so he only had a very short time.


    Chen Mu was more decisive than anyone could have anticipated, with even Bo Wen not having considered it. But Bo Wen reacted very quickly, taking a cold breath and planting his two legs into the ground and then sending his whole body forward. He knew very well that if he were to hesitate at all, Chen Mu would disappear from his field of vision. And he might disappear forever, since hiding was the strength of the card artisans of the night of the cross.


    The damned alarm suddenly sounded once the probe cards had detected the anomaly.


    The entryway could be seen to close quickly, slamming toward Bo Wen who was in the entryway though he slipped away like a fish without any hesitation, braving the danger of being chopped off at the waist by the door.


    Jumping away from the door, Bo Wen quickly dropped to the ground, but he had seen Chen Mu. Chen Mu had already activated his jet stream card and was probably a hundred meters away flying north. He was really moving fast! Bo Wen was silently surprised that with only a second''s lead Chen Mu had already activated his apparatus to stop the fall and set his direction.


    That needed some kind of precise calculation and control!


    Bo Wen''s complexion changed, as he became still more certain of Chen Mu''s identity as the night of the cross. He suddenly caught a glimpse that Cheng Ying had gotten out with him, which surprised him. But he regrouped all his attention. In front of a night of the cross card artisan, if he couldn''t maintain his concentration, never mind revenge, he could lose his life at any time.


    Bo Wen then finally demonstrated all his power without holding anything back! Who knows when he had activated the apparatus on his wrist, but one only saw his figure in midair as it abruptly gained speed.


    His jet stream card clearly wasn''t low grade and had a very high flight speed, even faster than the one that Chen Mu had which had been especially bought for its high speed. His whole body was like an artillery shell, hurtling in the direction that Chen Mu was flying.


    Having just determined Chen Mu''s identity, and having gone through Chen Mu''s apartment, which he found to be empty, he had immediately realized that Chen Mu had very likely made a move. Although he had become conscious that Chen Mu had some scheme, he still wasn''t very clear why Chen Mu had come to the base.


    Neither Ning Peng nor Ning Yan were at the base, and he wasn''t too sure of the identity of the one in charge. He had planned to go to the Amay Ning''s at night, to find the clan elder. He never thought he would run into Chen Mu at the number five entranceway.


    Chen Mu had not been ignoring Bo Wen following him. He was an unknown factor with a lot more power than he could have expected. That jet stream card in Bo Wen''s hands must have been a four-star card. Only four-star cards would have such high-speed capability. The most important thing was the enmity that Bo Wen had toward Chen Mu, that being the first time that Chen Mu had classified someone as an enemy like that.


    Chen Mu still wasn''t feeling any upheaval in his emotions, remaining calm and objective.


    If he didn''t do something about it, his adversary would catch him in five seconds. And if his adversary intended to take a shot, that would come no more than two seconds later.


    That had been an objective calculation. At the initial stages of flight when the acceleration was the highest, most of the body''s functions had to be endure the forces of acceleration as well as keeping balance, so that it would be very difficult for any card artisan to attack during that time. Although the four-star jet stream card that Bo Wen was using had accelerated very abruptly, it also applied a lot of force to the body at the same time. Under those conditions, one would need a terrifying amount of power to mount any attack.


    Although Bo Wen was strong, he was still far away from that kind of ability.


    Chen Mu immediately determined that he should adjust, and his perception quickly changed to his apparatus. Within .6 seconds he had already completed swapping out his cards. In the state of breath control, Chen Mu could bring his greatest ability into play, which was much higher than normal. In his normal state under those conditions, he would need two seconds to swap a card. That would already be considered outstanding among card artisans. But .6 seconds boosted him up to a different plane. The power of the state of breath control was obvious.


    He replaced the high-speed jet stream card with the big mud fish card. That was a stupid thing to do against the speed of a four-star jet-stream card. But while a four-star jet-stream card is fast, a card master like Chen Mu would naturally know its weaknesses. The faster it was the more difficulty it would have with turns. And moreover, even though he was still a novice, Chen was a close-combat card artisan. It had to be remembered that his results in the close-range dodging and evading had been extremely impressive.


    Chen Mu re-extended his perception into the big mud fish card. Without needing to think, Chen Mu could be seen dropping precipitously at high speed toward the residential area below.


    Bo Wen immediately reacted, as he pressed himself slightly lower. He had very quick reflexes and if Chen Mu hadn''t turned, he would have intercepted Chen Mu within two seconds. Still, with the direction he had now chosen he could cover a rather large range. No matter which way Chen Mu flew, he wouldn''t be able to escape the scope of his control.


    Not only that, but a blood red moon-shaped wavy blade had appeared above his palm, ready to be fired at will. It was the blood sharp card! Bo Wen had chosen the three-star card while flying, since he could control it a little better. He didn''t need power at that time, but rather precision, which was why he chose the blood sharp card.


    Probably even Chen Mu hadn''t considered that the card that he had just made would be used against him so quickly. What a wonderful world!


    Twenty-three seconds! He had already passed twenty-three seconds in the state of breath control, and everything had gone well so far except for the appearance of Bo Wen.


    From when the entrance had opened until that point had taken only three seconds. But whether it was Chen Mu or Bo Wen, they had both put on an amazing performance during those three seconds. In comparison, Cheng Ying, who was struggling to keep up with them, was far inferior. She didn''t have Chen Mu''s stunning control, and she didn''t have Bo Wen''s ability to use a four-star card. While she had considerable strength, in front of those two powerful people she paled to nothing.


    She gritted her teeth and continued her struggle to keep up, though she didn''t dare get too close. The reason she was being so bold as to pursue them at such peril was that she wanted to do her own assessment. No matter what, that room card which had opened the entryway was hers, and although that youth was strong she still didn''t believe that there was anyone who could escape from the Ning family domain. Having been born in Amay City, the power of the Ning''s had long been implanted in Cheng Ying''s mind. When that youth was finally captured, even though her room card had been grabbed from her, if the Ning family were to investigate it would still cause trouble.


    If she really weren''t able to remain at the base because of that it would be unbearable for her. The Ning family base was now the only way she could imagine growing stronger. Born ordinary, she knew how hard it was to find an opportunity like that, which made her cherish it all the more.


    No one knew how much she craved power underneath her bluff and freewheeling nature.


    She didn''t intend to give up and was braving the danger in pursuit. Even though she might not be able to be effective, she wanted the trial to demonstrate her attitude to get a little more respect from the Ning family.


    But having seen the two of them engage for those three seconds, all of her thoughts went out the window with the peak responses of the two of them just then.


    Too awesome!


    During those brief three seconds, the skill and adaptability of the two of them would be called textbook classic. They had gone through several rounds in three seconds, which might not have seemed like much since there weren''t any dazzling moves. But the skill implied in each of the moves would put all the so-called aces at the base to shame.


    As she saw the profession, Chen Mu''s timing and accurate judgement were scary, and the speed with which he swapped cards was absolutely terrifying. And as for Bo Wen with his reflexes as quick as lightning, his adaptability also couldn''t be picked apart.


    She watched the two in front of her with envy, since having that kind of power would be considered great! They were just too much more powerful than she was. No matter how she looked at their fighting within those brief three seconds, it would have ended in failure for her.


    She kept her distance even more, since that level of competition wasn''t something she could take part in. But at the same time, she didn''t want to be too far away since that level of contest wasn''t something that she would ever see again. To see such a battle with her own eyes could teach her a lot.


    When she first saw Chen Mu so abruptly dive to where the residences were, she was puzzled. But very quickly she remembered the string of anomalous numbers she had seen on that screen regarding close-range dodging and evading training.


    Her expression then changed.


    Just as Cheng Ying thought he would, Chen Mu was going to take advantage of that ability. But before he could, he would need to enter safely into a more complicated terrain.


    His mind was extremely sober in his state of breath control, enabling him to consider every factor. In that state he could give full play to all his strength, for example his expertise with making tactical maneuvers in midair. In Chen Mu''s own estimation, tactical maneuvers in midair was not something he was good at, since the midair tactical maneuvers he had learned only had a difficulty level of 70.


    He thought that if 80 were considered excellent, then how could 70 be considered high.


    Under the state of breath control, Chen Mu''s mind was sharply focused, and he wasn''t going to think about such irrelevant matters. The reason he had chosen those skills was that he had calculated that he would have to be able use them to evade his adversary''s attacks even before he got to the ground. He figured that during that time Bo Wen would certainly mount an attack on him.


    Chen Mu suddenly made a spiraling somersaulting dodge in midair. His body could be seen to suddenly twist and then abruptly drift downward in a dangerous trajectory. Bo Wen ¨C who had just locked in on Chen Mu and had been about to let loose the wavy blades in his hand ¨C suddenly lost his target and had to quickly retract his perception. That caused the red wavy blades in his hand to quiver and give off a fine ripple, although they very quickly regained their firm position in his hand.


    But to have nearly lost control of his perception in the chaos like that was a feeling that was hard for him to take.


    His astonishment was unparalleled. While every generation of the Ning''s had advanced some research into the night of the cross, there still wasn''t very much accumulated information about them in the family. But he could still discern the evidence. The two strongest skills off the night of the cross ¨C the cross and breath control ¨C included attack and stealth, and when they were used together, it would be hard to defend against an assassination. But in all the materials that existed, there was nothing to indicate that the card artisans of the night of the cross were good at close combat.


    Although lord Ning Xuan had been killed by the cross at close range, that didn''t mean that the cross was a close combat skill. The cross was the most well-known and outstanding of the skills of the night of the cross, and it was what the Ning family understood the best. It was a cross shaped energy form which was emitted by the composition of the cross card, which had a lot of power. But the cross card was a classic remote attack card.


    And most of the cases of assassination among the night of the cross were committed lurking in the shadows of darkness, using the cross card to deliver the fatal blow. It had never been said that the sect of card artisans could do close-combat.


    But midair tactical maneuvers were something that only a classic close-combat card artisan would learn. And still more, only the most orthodox and steadfast close-combat card artisans would be able to learn those spiraling somersaulting midair dodges which had a level of difficultly of 70.


    Could it be that the night of the cross had been keeping up with the times?

 Chapter 130: The Best Breath Control (II)

    Chapter 130: The Best Breath Control (II)


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Just as Bo Wen was about to question himself, Chen Mu executed a fish-flop, carving a marvelous trajectory in midair like a fish belly. That was also a highly skilled midair tactical maneuver having a difficulty level of 70. Bo Wen was utterly dumbfounded.


    Multi-level tactical maneuvering refers to combining several midair tactical maneuvers into a coherent whole. If there were two such maneuvers, they would be called double-level tactics, and if it were to include three, that would be called a triple-level tactic by analogy. Although Bo Wen wasn''t a close-combat card artisan, he still had some basic understanding. If a double-level set of tactical maneuvers included two maneuvers with a difficulty level of 60, then the level of difficulty for the overall set would be far more than a single maneuver at the level of 70. So, most of the card artisans who deployed multi-level tactical maneuvers only included several simple and very low-level midair tactical maneuvers.


    The level of difficulty of a double-level tactical maneuver which linked two 70 level of difficulty maneuvers would be a rather frightening number. By that time, Bo Wen was utterly convinced of Chen Mu''s identity as a close-combat card artisan.


    From farther away, Cheng Ying was also stunned, as this was her first time seeing a double-level tactical maneuver which combined two 70 difficultly-level maneuvers into a double-level.


    Bo Wen had discovered that he had no way to lock onto Chen Mu, and he had delayed releasing the wavy blade from his palm. If a remote card artisan didn''t make a strike with his first attack, that would have an influence on his self-confidence. Therefore, most aces wouldn''t ever make hasty moves. They would always wait for an opportunity and would never fire unless it was going to hit.


    Bo Wen was clearly an ace.


    He was waiting until Chen Mu completed his fish-flop.


    If was already evident from its difficulty level of 70 that the fish-flop made great demands on controlling the jet-stream card. It required that the card artisan control three directions of the jet stream simultaneously. If there were any more directions, then the trajectory would be even harder to track. Being able to use the fish-flop made it clear that his adversary had extremely strong perceptual control.


    But while multi-level tactics certainly had excellent evasive results, they weren''t without disadvantages. The demands on the body and on the control of the jet-stream card were extremely high, and even more importantly some flaw would often appear just when they were being completed. That was because the forces on the body were too high, so that by the time the maneuver was completed, and that load had reached its peak, most normal card artisans would experience a momentary blackout.


    Of course, that wasn''t a certainty. There were close-combat card artisans who were abnormally strong who could support those kinds of forces and wouldn''t be likely to have those midair blank-outs. And those outstanding card artisans with a lot of combat awareness might optimize those multi-level tactics to bypass or make up for that shortcoming.


    Both neither of those two types of card artisans were seen very often.


    That had to do with the history of close-combat card artisans. The earliest card artisans were remote card artisans, with close-combat card artisans only appearing later. The early close-combat card artisans had all developed as a subgroup from remote card artisans. That was also why there were far more remote card artisans than close-combat card artisans. The tactical system for remote card artisans had already been quite perfected, in comparison to which the tactical system of the close-combat card artisans was a lot more crude and simple. They were also not so good at physical exercise, having evolved from remote card artisans. Adding to that the constant disadvantage of lower numbers of close-combat card artisans, they never developed nearly as far as remote card artisans had.


    In that regard, the Palace of a Hundred Pools and the Mohadi Region were both rather strong.


    The two groups were very different when it came to tactical accomplishment. There were several dozen times more remote card artisans than close-combat card artisans. And there were pitifully few close-combat card artisans among the very top aces. No matter the system, its development would depend on the participation of large numbers of aces. Since there were so few aces and the basic numbers were small, the theoretical system was crude. And the most direct result was that most close-combat card artisans weren''t very proficient with general tactics.


    So, Bo Wen was waiting for Chen Mu to show his flaws.


    The trajectory of the fish flop was so erratic that it was difficult to follow, though Bo Wen remained calm, with the wavy blade in his palm ready to release at will.


    There was a sudden flash in Bo Wen''s eyes, with his expression suddenly turning serious, as he made ready with the wavy blades in his palm. Even though Chen Mu''s figure was hard to lock in, Bo Wen''s gaze was firmly fixed in front of him. That was because the fish-flop would have to complete! Bo Wen had already surmised that when it was finished, it would have to be in the place where his gaze was fixed.


    Even if Chen Mu only gave him a tenth of a second of blanking out, that would be enough for him.


    Like a hunter who''d set his trap, he was waiting for the quarry he''d been chasing for so long to enter the killing zone. His gaze was focused on a thirty-meter round zone, which was where he''d determined that Chen Mu''s fish-flop would finally end up.


    Chen Mu was getting closer and closer!


    Bo Wen''s gaze became as sharp as a needle, and all his fibers had tensed! Chen Mu was just about touching the edge and about to enter the ''trap.'' Bo Wen had adjusted the wavy blade in his palm to its optimal state, ready to fire at will.


    Then Chen Mu performed a sudden maneuver that was beyond what anyone could have anticipated!


    An in-folding direction change!


    Having just tapped the locked-in area, Chen Mu suddenly made that in-folding direction change, perilously tagging the circular area as he caromed obliquely away.


    That maneuver greatly exceeded what Bo Wen had anticipated, not even having considered it. He released the wavy blade unconsciously.


    The folding directional change had a difficulty of 10 and was one of the simplest midair tactical actions. Bo Wen ¨C who was the first ace of the younger generation of the Eastern Ning''s ¨C had been tricked by something any novice could have done.


    To use such a basic simple midair tactical maneuver in that situation was simply fabulous. In reality, that had been a triple-level tactic when combined with the others, and not a double-level tactic. Still more importantly, with the three midair tactics'' difficulty arrayed at 70, 70, 10, it was no wonder that Bo Wen had been fooled by that strange combination.


    The two previous maneuvers which had such a high degree of difficulty had given the illusion that it was a double-level tactic which included two midair tactical maneuvers. The previous two actions had a difficulty level that was so high ¨C with a correspondingly high level of difficulty for the double-level tactic ¨C that no one would think that yet another would be added afterward. That was because to add another midair tactical maneuver would raise the difficulty level to a point where it basically couldn''t be completed.


    And he hadn''t realized that Chen Mu would actually add on the lowest difficulty level maneuver to combine for such a weird triple-level maneuver.


    Bo Wen''s face looked awful. Calling himself a genius, he had been abruptly tricked by someone even younger than him. A kind of humiliation that he had never felt rose up from the bottom of his heart, making his face hideously steel-grey. If you were to say that he had begun by wanting to kill Chen Mu because he was a card artisan of the night of the cross, he had just added yet another reason.


    He could accept defeat, but he couldn''t accept being taunted.


    Greedily watching the fighting explode in front of her from a distance, Cheng Ying had an expression of disbelief.


    Bo Wen''s skill far exceeded anything she had imagined, and objectively he was probably a couple of levels higher than her. If you were to say that Bo Wen''s actual strength had made her feel shocked, then the actual strength of that youth had made her feel incredulous. She had previously surmised that the youth''s skill was very high but had only just then discovered that her assessment was way off. She really felt that even the best close-combat card artisan at the base, Mark Victor, wasn''t the equal of that youth.


    That spiraling somersaulting midair dodge had dazzled her. That tight fish-flop had made her look like her blood was boiling. But the folding directional change that followed had really made her worship that nondescript sallow-faced youth.


    Was that really a close-combat card artisan who had made a name for himself with crude tactics? While ingenious was a term that put something into the realm of the fantastic, she didn''t feel that it was sufficient to describe the youth''s tactics. She had felt a kind of power of wisdom in him.


    There had been no deviation in Chen Mu''s mood, and what was in his mind included no feelings that would bias him, as he treated others objectively, as calm as though what was happening before his eyes had nothing to do with him.


    The time was at thirty seconds.


    He was already under twenty meters away from the roof tops of the residential area. And he still had 120 seconds. He either had to shake off Bo Wen or kill him.


    It would be best to shake him off since the Ning family base had probably already started to respond. They had certainly dispatched card artisans to capture him.


    Bo Wen swapped cards as quickly as he could, since the single-shot nature of the blood sharp card made its power insufficient for the current turn of events.


    Not knowing if it was because of the stimulation, Bo Wen''s speed at swapping cards far exceeded his best results, at nine tenths of a second. But it didn''t give him any pleasure that time, with the chill spilling out of his eyes, and his calm restored, as placid as a mountain rain about to turn to storm.


    His perception pivoted at the greatest speed, with his spirit more focused than ever ¨C and his perception more responsive than ever ¨C so that within an instant he was filled with confidence. He believed that his next attack would be the most powerful he had ever delivered in his life.

 Chapter 131: The Best Breath Control (III)

    Chapter 131: The Best Breath Control (III)


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    His perception was like gathering dark clouds brewing as he was about to deliver his strongest attack. Bo Wen had mobilized every bit of his perception, and the energy in his apparatus had already started to take shape with stunning speed.


    The transformation of Bo Wen''s perception was so strong that even Chen Mu could sense it. He immediately realized that that the blow he was about to receive would far exceed anything he had ever experienced, and a powerful feeling of danger arose in him. Cool all along, Chen Mu still seemed as if he were looking objectively at the danger from off to the side and hadn''t been disturbed by it at all.


    He could then be seen suddenly to tuck himself into a ball at the same time that those five small thunderballs quickly appeared all around him.


    And the time for Bo Wen''s attack had also finally arrived.


    The thousand swallows wavy blades!


    The pitch-black sky suddenly lit up, with the glint in Bo Wen''s eyes from midair eye-poking like the sun. Countless palm sized jade-white wavy blades started to emerge like swallows as they screamed toward the place where Chen Mu had landed.


    Pa pa pa pa pa!


    The dense blows slammed all around Chen Mu in bright round explosions as magnificent as fireworks. The assault from those undifferentiated wavy blades was as dense as rain, and covered a broad swath of the ground, giving no one any place to hide.


    The blood had completely drained from Cheng Ying''s face! A four-star card! Only a four-star card ¨C and only the highest grade among those ¨C could have such terrifying power. That was her first time seeing the scene of attack from a four-star card. It was too scary! At least a hundred wavy blades had been emitted in an instant, followed by wave after wave. Who could make a lucky escape under such an attack? Bo Wen was that strong after all.


    In the rain of the flashing wavy blades there was an even more brilliant fireball, which had been formed from the fireworks-like shredded energy, made from a meteor shower of wavy blades. There was no way to shield from the light.


    But that bursting glow hadn''t lasted even a second when it was enshrouded by the dust that had been stirred up. The residences in the area came crashing down under the indiscriminate attack as though they were rotten wood and straw, as dust filled the air.


    The rain of wavy blades didn''t stop but kept coming in indiscriminate wave after wave. Bo Wen didn''t have any scruples at all about whether anyone was in those residences or not, since to him that made no difference.


    The attack took a full fifteen seconds, during which who knows how many wavy blades Bo Wen let loose. He didn''t stop because he had actively stopped, but because the power card in his apparatus was about to be done. Every wavy blade was composed of energy, and with so many blades even a four-star power card could only keep it up for fifteen seconds. It was a good thing that he hadn''t lost his reason and there was still a little bit of energy, or he would have immediately fallen to his death from the sky.


    He wobbled down from the sky, and the energy card in his apparatus was exhausted just as he touched the ground.


    Bo Wen was breathing heavily with a pallid look and his hands on his knees. Although he was able to manage a four-star card, his perception couldn''t keep up an attack like that. Keeping it up as long as he had was already an extraordinary play. To be able to sustain a four-star card at its highest attack-level for fifteen seconds was enough to elevate him to among the first ranks of card artisans.


    The thousand swallows wavy blades was a powerful four-star fantasy card which could bring forth swallow-shaped wavy blades. It''s truly awesome aspect was that while it was emitting countless wavy blades, it could achieve a thousand at a time. But given the limits of Bo Wen''s power, he could only emit six hundred, which was already a terrifying number.


    The dust in front of him slowly settled, and the area devastated by the thousand swallows wavy blades during those fifteen seconds finally appeared.


    Not a bit of the ground wasn''t pockmarked by the masses of holes from the countless wavy blades whose shocking scars had crisscrossed it. And what was really shocking was the tenacious youth still standing there.


    Standing there bloody.


    Chen Mu was also gasping for breath, with hardly a stitch of clothing on him that wasn''t shredded by the wavy blades, with over ten of the wounds still oozing the blood which had long since soaked his clothes. He also had both of his hands on his knees as he took deep breaths. Only his eyes were as calm as ever, not showing any emotion.


    Those five little thunderballs emitted by the bipolar thunderball card had blocked most of the wavy blades for him, but because by the end the energy from the power card had been depleted, and the five little thunderballs had been extinguished, he had been grazed by umpteen wavy blades. Although he looked awful, he didn''t really have any lethal wounds. The only problem was that he needed to stop the blood in short order or else the situation could turn bad. He had carried with him some of the medicine that the demonic woman had left him, but he needed to get to a safe place to apply it, which wasn''t where he was just then.


    There was something strange about the scene.


    The two of them were facing one another doing the same thing, breathing heavily with their hands on their knees.


    Bo Wen had also taken note of something strange about the scene, which startled him a little, but when he saw Chen Mu''s eyes he felt some chill coming suddenly out of nowhere.


    Were those human eyes?


    In his state of breath control, Chen Mu wasn''t feeling anything strange or astonishing, as he calmly assessed the situation that was on his hands, finally making the most suitable response. Without pausing or losing his focus, he made the most appropriate response to the situation.


    He reached into his chest as fast as he could, needing to pull out a power card from his wallet.


    Bo Wen''s expression changed, knowing what Chen Mu was trying to do. He became immediately agitated since that was where he would die that day if he waited for Chen Mu to install a good energy card first. There wasn''t a bit of energy left in the energy card in his apparatus. He immediately touched the energy card on his waist.


    But he was overjoyed when he saw Chen Mu pull out his card wallet. There was an obvious difference between where a professional and an unprofessional card artisan would put their cards. Bo Wen had placed his cards in a specifically made pocket on his waist, from where they could be conveniently and easily taken out. Chen Mu was just a novice, and Mark Victor hadn''t taught him that little trick. He had all his power cards in his wallet.


    That was enough to be fatal under those circumstances.


    As soon as he saw Bo Wen''s move, Chen Mu immediately realized that if he were to get another energy card, his adversary would be a little quicker.


    Without any hesitation, Chen Mu charged toward Bo Wen. They were too close to one another with fewer than five meters between them. Given his current situation, his first calculation had been that it wouldn''t be suitable to wrestle, since that would accelerate his blood loss. So, he had chosen to swap the power card. But he had put them in the wrong place since he didn''t have sufficient experience, and then he had quickly discovered that he would be at a disadvantage if he were to continue on that way, so he quickly changed his plan.


    Between dying on the scene and accelerating his blood loss, the choice went without saying.


    Chen Mu''s move immediately flustered Bo Wen. He had been groomed from the time that he was small to be the scion of the Eastern Ning''s and had never gotten into a fight. In his opinion that kind of thing involved no technique and wasn''t a means of self-cultivation. It was nothing that a person of any stature would ever do. What he had studied was the most orthodox and standard card artisan education. That had included training his perception, tactical training and so forth, but the only thing it didn''t include was any content regarding fighting. And within the clan, among those as big as he was there wasn''t anyone who would dare to contend with him . Those bigger than him were like guards beside him, afraid lest he scrape his skin.


    For Chen Mu, starting from his youth as a street punk, his daily bread had been fighting. And when he was at the Eastern Wei Academy he had badly beaten ''Allah'' Gong and his gang along with Copper. Then when he later ran into the demonic woman he finally understood that those original fighting skills could be fatal if he were to use them well. And they were sometimes simpler and more direct. He finally put some technique into his fighting, and then he had used the method of strangulation and crushing the throat to kill that Zuo family card artisan. And now his speed and strength, as well as his reflexes, were far more advanced than before.


    Ding!


    A green light beam as straight as an arrow suddenly hit in front of Chen Mu''s feet, making a hole the size of a thumb in the ground. Chen Mu stopped his body, knowing that it had been a warning.


    Bo Wen also stopped as he suddenly realized Cheng Ying had been closely following them, which quickly overjoyed him! There was no power left in either his or Chen Mu''s apparatus, and the one who had been the weakest of the three of them, Cheng Ying, would now be the one to determine the winner and loser of the battle.


    Cheng Ying was gritting her teeth and pursing her lips, conflicted in her mind. Chen Mu had long since conquered her with his stunning performance and his superb tactics, and with his never-yielding tenacious will to fight. That had all made her full of good feelings toward that youth. While on the contrary Bo Wen had ignored the lives of those living in the residences, which cooled any good feelings that she had for him.


    But she still couldn''t sit still for Chen Mu killing Bo Wen. If she were to let Bo Wen be killed, then when the Ning''s looked into it the responsibilities that she had needed to bear would change their nature, and her fate was easily imagined. And moreover, she had always suspected that there was a special relationship between Bo Wen and the Ning''s. Otherwise, how would he have so much inside information? And the power that he had shown that day wasn''t that of any ordinary card artisan.


    Bo Wen stared at Chen Mu, not daring to insert the energy card in his hand into the apparatus.


    Just then, a group of black spots suddenly loomed on the distant horizon.


    The card artisans from the Ning family base were finally arriving. In midair, Cheng Ying finally breathed a sigh of relief, understanding that she finally no longer had to decide that thorny problem. She had a complicated expression as she looked at Chen Mu on the ground, and she continued to purse her lips. As she saw it, for things to have come to that point with the dust settling, the youth''s fate had already been decided.


    She wouldn''t be around for whatever sort of fate he would face afterward. She was only a little person who could only accept fate, with no way to change it.


    Chen Mu and Bo Wen in front of her were also paying attention to the rapidly approaching card artisans in the sky.


    Bo Wen heaved a huge sigh of relief, since Chen Mu would never dare to make any wild moves with Cheng Ying''s deterrence on the side. He only had to wait for those card artisans to arrive for there to be no way for him to get away.


    It was at just that moment that there was a glint in Chen Mu''s eyes, and he made his move!

 Chapter 132: The Best Breath Control (IV)

    Chapter 132: The Best Breath Control (IV)


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The two of them were only five meters apart, which was really too close. Bo Wen had let down his guard, which had doubtless been a fatal mistake. And Cheng Ying had just relaxed when Chen Mu made his move, just when everyone considered the overall situation to have been resolved.


    He moved as fast as lighting to escape!


    In the state of breath control, Chen Mu could employ every function of his body to the fullest. Even while his skills might fall short of the demonic woman, he was still the most powerful he had ever been. And having been continually training over a long period with the exercise gymnastics and with those excruciating routines from the demonic woman, his strength was already astonishing, including his burst strength. But being so routinely accustomed to his identity as a card master, he had naturally not realized his own strengths.


    Bo Wen took fright and instinctually wanted to escape.


    Chen Ying was also alarmed, not having considered that Chen Mu would still dare make a move by that time.


    Didn''t he care to live anymore? Even if he could kill Bo Wen, he could never survive being hunted down by so many card artisans. And she had no chance to think it through that if Bo Wen were really killed by Chen Mu, then she would be unable to prove her innocence.


    But before she could attack, Chen Mu had already snaked his way into Bo Wen''s breast-area like a cat. And the most despicable thing was that he was using Bo Wen''s body as a shield, so that she had no way to mount any attack.


    All the color went out of Cheng Ying''s face as her heart sank, seeing the two of them on the ground with a look of despair in her eyes. Was this the end for the captured beast? She hadn''t imagined that the youth would have such a hot temper and would find death preferable to dishonor.


    Damn, how could things have come to this? She closed her eyes since she knew how it would end, Bo Wen killed by the youth, and then the youth torn to pieces by the enraged Ning family card artisans. As for herself, she would have to bear the Ning''s anger alone.


    Chen Mu remained as cool as ever seeing the terror in Bo Wen''s eyes, making it hard for anyone to know what he had in mind.


    Did he want to die? Bo Wen wanted to close his eyes, being scared in the face of death. No matter how fine and powerful he was, he was still a twenty-year-old youth, without much experience with most of the ups and downs of the world. Fear would be the most common response to being so suddenly faced by unexpected death.


    He had never expected to be killed at the hands of some sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth even younger than he was. His adversary''s strength, experience, and cards were all far inferior. For things to play-out as they did was really incredible, for all the plans of someone in this world to arrive at that point because of a sixteen or seventeen year old youth.


    The night of the cross was really something.


    Then Chen Mu made another move which far exceeded what anyone could have expected.


    Not only did he not kill Bo Wen, but he didn''t even touch him. Instead, he rather deftly took that four-star power card out of Bo Wen''s hands.


    Half a second to load it.


    The big mud fish card burst into action, as he leapt out from Bo Wen''s chest like a mud fish and disappeared into the streets after making some snake like twists and turns along the ground.


    Bo Wen and Cheng Ying froze.


    Bo Wen didn''t respond until Chen Mu had disappeared. Finding himself so unexpectedly spared, the sudden change in his plight had blanked him out for a moment. By the time he came back to life, Chen Mu was long gone. He stared in the direction to where Chen Mu had disappeared as some nameless bone-penetrating chill arouse from his deepest reaches making Bo Wen feel as though his blood had frozen.


    He grasped the flaw in his and Cheng Ying''s frames of mind, with their quick calculation to keep back from the brink of death. Chen Mu''s real intention had been to escape, and so he pulled the power card from Bo Wen''s hand, which could both save time and delay Bo Wen from catching up. He would have needed another power card if he wanted to escape, and the whole process hadn''t taken more than a second, which was enough to make some distance between them. Bo Wen was more certain than ever that Chen Mu had even calculated-in the amount of time he would be frozen.


    Bo Wen took breath of cold air, as his face completely drained of blood.


    Both he and Cheng Ying had been tricked by Chen Mu, and Cheng Ying had held off her attack for fear of causing greater harm. Even he had been fooled by what came next, with Cheng Ying''s strange response. Even though she could still use her power card, she had no way to fire on Chen Mu.


    He suddenly realized why Chen Mu hadn''t killed him, since he had undoubtedly included the amount of time it would take in his calculations as well.


    Such meticulous thinking showed a terrifying decisiveness and ability with calculation! He had to have powerful ability with calculation to be so precise with timing and human psychology, and then to seize the opportunity at such risk. Bo Wen believed that if it had been any other card artisan, ninety nine of a hundred wouldn''t have such ability to resist temptation, and would have killed him. But Chen Mu didn''t.


    That made Bo Wen even more terrified.


    It would be too terrifying if all the night of the cross card artisans had that ability.


    But Bo Wen was no ordinary person and he quickly held his feelings in check to restore his calm. He quickly pulled out a power card and inserted it into his apparatus. He took note of the card artisans from the Amay Ning''s coming toward him, knowing that they weren''t reliable. If even he had been taken advantage of by Chen Mu, he was afraid that those people wouldn''t be able to capture a hair from his body.


    The Eastern Ning''s had been holding a grudge against the night of the cross for a long time, and Bo Wen had seen Chen Mu''s power that day which hardened his resolve to get rid of him. Whenever he thought about such a calculating and terrifying enemy lurking in some dark corner, he thought of long sleepless nights.


    Although he''d been repeatedly taken advantage of by Chen Mu that day, he hadn''t been harmed. On the contrary, Chen Mu had been badly wounded, which clarified the difference in strength between them.


    Chen Mu depended on his powerful calculation for his advantage in the field, but because of the difference in their power, he had been the one injured. Even though Bo Wen was the one who seemed in dire straits, he had remained completely intact.


    That gave Bo Wen some of his confidence back.


    And Bo Wen realized that it was an extremely rare opportunity! Chen Mu was already wounded, and even though he looked down on the Amay Ning card artisans, their numerical advantage would be very useful. It would be his best opportunity to destroy Chen Mu! Once he missed it, that would mean that he would fret for the rest of his days. Once that night of the cross card artisan hid in the dark, no one would be able to find him.


    The pitiable Chen Mu probably wasn''t thinking about any of that. At the same time that the state of breath control had given him a lot of power, it also brought him a lot of trouble.


    Chen Mu''s mind had remained calm while in flight that there were just forty seconds remaining in the state of breath control, and he had to find someplace safe as quickly as possible. Once the state of breath control ended, he would lose his ability to move for a little while because of its powerful side effects, when he would become a lamb waiting for slaughter.


    The dark was fortunately giving him a lot of cover, and he adapted to the dark even more in the state of breath control. His perceptual control was extremely precise in that state, and he wasn''t likely to make any mistakes in his facile control of the complicated jet streams from the big mud fish card.


    Chen Mu slithered along like a dark mudfish as he shuttled through the residences in the dark of night.


    Where would forty seconds allow him to escape to?


    . . . the outer reaches!


    Not having any fear of the outer reaches by then, Chen Mu quickly calculated that even though the probability of survival in the outer reaches was very small, at least there was that possibility. The plans had gone perfectly that day except for the unexpected Bo Wen. He still didn''t know why Bo Wen would attack him and was not willing to stop until he died.


    Because of that surprise, Chen Mu had always been on the brink of failure.


    He needed to take care of his wounds, though if he were in the city his bleeding would have given him no place to hide. The Ning family card artisans would have quickly found any hiding place and once he was surrounded it would have been a standoff. For one person to break through the entire Ning family wouldn''t have even a one percent chance of victory.


    Although nine out of ten would die in the outer reaches, at least there was still a chance to live!


    Chen Mu didn''t hesitate at all, as he quickly exchanged for the high-speed jet-stream card and flew off to beyond Amay City.


    Bo Wen immediately descried Chen Mu and went in pursuit without hesitation.


    Cheng Ying''s face kept changing in her indecision, although she gritted her teeth and went in pursuit as well.


    The speed of the high-speed jet-stream card deserved its acclaim, and Chen Mu put his all into it to push it to the top of its theoretical speed. There were very few who would fly at such high speed within the city, since if there were to be the slightest loss of control and one were to bump into any obstacle one would turn to mincemeat, without the slightest chance of survival. It would be hard to escape from even the lightest graze.


    Bo Wen''s eyes were glinting as he quickly matched the speed. He had already decided that no matter how, he wasn''t going to let Chen Mu survive the day. But compared with Chen Mu''s abandon, Bo Wen looked a lot more cautious. That was his first time flying at such a high speed within the city and he was a little scared. And because of that, Chen Mu was immediately stuck with the tag of a desperate outlaw.


    Cheng Ying was the most disheartened as she watched the speed of the two of them, and she almost lost the courage to pursue. The two of them didn''t seem to want to live! But seeing them disappear over the horizon, Cheng Ying had no choice but to put all her energy into pushing the jet stream card in desperate pursuit. Among the three of them, the most helpless and innocent was her, the one with the least initiative.


    To escape the Ning family card artisans, Chen Mu was flying very low. If he weren''t in the state of breath control with such precise control of his perception, he wouldn''t have been able to keep up such a high speed. At that speed he had a little higher probability of death than if he were to commit suicide.

 Chapter 133: The Best Breath Control (V)

    Chapter 133: The Best Breath Control (V)


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    After only five seconds, Chen Mu entered the buffer zone of Amay City. The wild beasts had long since been cleared out from there, and most of what was there were bases for the cultivation of vegetation. But those cultivation bases only had some low-grade fast-growing plants. When an occasional wild beast got in, they weren''t likely to suffer much loss.


    Because of the market''s great demand for large quantities of raw materials, the study of botany had been gradually flourishing those past few years and had already begun to provide a constant stream of artificially cultivated man-made low-grade vegetative materials.


    Quite a few large firms had started their own cultivation labs. Shockingly, eighty percent of the materials for three-star and above cards had to be gotten from the outer reaches. And among those, mineral and vegetable raw materials constituted thirty percent each, while materials gotten from animals constituted about twenty percent. That was why so many firms had thrown endless amounts of money into plant cultivation, which wouldn''t show any returns in the short-term.


    For example, if the large-scale cultivation of the luminous tree were to succeed, that would mean massive profits. There was value in any kind of plant which could be cultivated for raw material, and the first to succeed in the cultivation would be the first to take hold of its market trend. The profit from that was enough to turn endless people''s eyes red with greed.


    It was said that some of the more powerful firms had already started to invest in research about the production of raw materials from animals, not being satisfied with only plant cultivation. Those investments were an order of magnitude greater than what was required for plant cultivation. Still, they would yield higher profits.


    Those simple and crude rapid-growth plant bases were all serene in the night, with the fluorescent grass emitting a light glow from its velvety surface. There wasn''t any wind that night, and cluster after cluster of that velvety fluorescent grass floated and moved gently with the breeze. That glistening sea of velvety fluorescent grass transformed everything to look blurred and dreamy.


    It was a pity that Chen Mu took no interest in enjoying the view under his state of breath control. He stuck close to the ground as he swished through the glowing grass.


    He was like a shark cutting through the sea who left a V-shaped wake behind him, where the velvety glowing grass had been affected by the jet stream which caused it immediately to transform into a surreal surge! The calm and tranquil sea of glowing grass was stirred by Chen Mu cutting through it.


    Xiu Xiu! There were impressions in front and behind him, with the sea of dazzling dreamy glowing velvet grass which had suddenly overheated looking as though he had leapt into the age of noisy glitz.


    Chen Mu could sense that his energy remained constant, as most of the wounds on his body had already started to clot by themselves, although there were three which were too deep and still had blood flowing. But that wasn''t as critical as time was!


    Only twelve seconds remained!


    The vast dark jungle far away appeared in Chen Mu''s field of view, and Chen Mu felt something for the first time! His heart started to pound as he suddenly felt something strange and complicated.


    The feeling was like a very fine mist under the hot sun, not yet having formed into dark clouds, and then disappearing without a trace. Chen Mu''s heart was restored again as though the sky had returned to its pure and clear blue.


    Bo Wen and Cheng Ying had been left far behind by him, and if he looked he would see only two small specks. Chen Mu was wracking his brains to calculate every little bit of time and then piecing them back together to formulate whether it was enough to leave them behind.


    Without any misgivings at all he pushed his speed to the very top! Like a shooting star he went wildly into the forest!


    The tree branches stung his face, and the peaceful expression on Chen Mu''s face had become strange because of it.


    Even though he was in the state of breath control, he would still only control the jet stream card to miss the larger tree trunks, and he couldn''t avoid all the branches. Breath control wasn''t invincible after all and was still limited by Chen Mu''s own ability. If that were higher, then he could bring even more power into play when he entered the state of breath control.


    The denser the forest became the more he drilled into it, ignoring the small thorny vines which were tracing so many fine bloody tracks on his body.


    There were only five seconds left.


    He had to get the most from those five seconds. Chen Mu didn''t decrease his speed as the forest grew denser, as he kept going toward the deepest part of the forest.


    Five, four, three, two, one!


    Chen Mu''s speed plummeted, but he had already lost control of his body. Like a sandbag he plopped right into the mud, splashing it all over. Chen Mu nearly lost consciousness during the fall, with the only reason he remained alert being that the plunge was so fast that it tore open all the cuts on his body, which then woke him right up.


    Before he could climb out he was clutching his stomach and starting to vomit right into the muddy pool. He really looked awful by then, with his entire body looking like a mud man. The blood and the mud were mixed together to cover his body which was still covered in tatters. His face, his arms and his back were all striped with blood and mostly covered in mud.


    Chen Mu''s face was contorted as he squatted over in the pain of dry retching.


    The vomiting lasted for three full minutes.


    After three minutes, Chen Mu was about to lose all his strength, and his eyes started to go slack, as his strength was drawn down to the brink of nothing. He struggled to stand, knowing it wasn''t yet the time to rest. He needed to find a place to hide himself right away, and if he didn''t take care of his wounds fast, he would be gone for loss of blood.


    Coming out from the state of breath control he was no longer standing beside himself, objectively handling what his body was feeling. He was almost inundated by the pain which came on like a tide. He used all of his power to clench his teeth, as the muscles on his face spasmed from time to time making him look like a desperate beast in his hideous horror.


    Weakly dragging himself along, he moved toward the nearest tree with great difficulty. When he had been dragged into the forest by the demonic woman for a while, he had seen with his own eyes how she had chosen where she would sleep. Such a pitifully small bit of experience had become extremely valuable and would save his life that time.


    Bo Wen hadn''t followed Chen Mu closely into the forest but had paused waiting for Cheng Ying to land next to him.


    "We''ll partner up." Bo Wen was staring into Cheng Ying''s eyes as he spoke with a strong note that he wouldn''t countenance any misgivings.


    Cheng Ying''s expression changed as she held back for an instant before nodding, "OK." By that time, she had no choice. Whether because Bo Wen was so strong or because of his position, he wasn''t going to let her refuse.


    With the two as partners, they walked very cautiously toward the jungle. They weren''t Chen Mu and of course understood how scary the jungle in the outer reaches was. No one would ever fly there, and Bo Wen was no exception. There were a great number of wild beasts there, and card artisans who flew through the air made great targets. Not only would they have to master the sky against the siege of those ferocious flying wild beasts, but they would also have to defend against surprise attacks from the beasts on the ground.


    For example, there was a kind of creature called the crouching frog which was about one and six or seven tenths of a meter having a long mouth like a gun barrel, which was about three quarters again the length of their bodies. They were good at preying on birds in the sky, with the skill of their long mouth the same as a gun barrel, being able to shoot a kind of green colored egg-shaped glowing bomb with a high degree of accuracy. The power of one of those wasn''t great, but what terrified people was that the crouching frog was a social animal. One might imagine that hundreds of crouching frogs would quietly lurk at the bottom of the dense jungle, then suddenly spray out those glowing bombs simultaneously. Most flying beasts had no way to escape that kind of "bomb array." That was why the crouching frog was sometimes called the cannon frog.


    Another problem was that their pitifully low intelligence couldn''t discriminate card artisans flying in midair from birds. And looking down from the sky into the forest the dense foliage hid all the dangers there.


    Card artisans with any common sense wouldn''t fly in the forest, where only an impetuous young talent like Chen Mu would go like he did without any misgivings. If they had known the way that Chen Mu had flown through the woods, they would have felt that he was crazy.


    The jungle was very dangerous at night. They really had no way to see anything around them, but Bo Wen had a lot of tactical accomplishment from his standard card artisan education, and he knew what to do under those conditions. He hadn''t recklessly used an illumination card, but rather squinted his eyes hard to adjust to the light rays all around. At the same time, he pulled out a probe card from the specially made pouch at his waist. That probe card would help him to probe around him for any threats to a radius of five meters.


    Cheng Ying flashed a look of admiration for the way Bo Wen met the emergency. It would have been thought a joke on her for the two of them to have become battle partners. Who would have thought that she would ever have such a bold partner, and in such a dangerous place?


    Rookies always liked to use illumination cards in the dark to be able to see the situation around them clearly. Little did they know that that was the stupidest move. That was like giving the enemy the chance to create a sneak attack. But those weren''t the only dangers in the forest.


    There were a lot of insects in the forest who were attracted to light, and among them were a few that were very dangerous. As soon as you used the illumination card, you would discover that without knowing it that you had already been surrounded by some extremely dangerous insects who would leave only bones behind in the end, which made a scene for nightmares.


    "Look!" Cheng Ying had discovered something.

 Chapter 134: Bo Wen’s Promise

    Chapter 134: Bo Wen¡¯s Promise


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    There were a lot of tatters hanging in the brush in front of them, which lit up Bo Wen''s eyes, "They''re his!" But the two of them stared at each other since the brush in front of their eyes was quite dense. What surprised the two of them was the thorns on the overgrown branches which were so dense. Judging from the location of the rags, Chen Mu must have gone into the brambles right there.


    Bo Wen was used to being aggressive when challenged and using his full power to defeat his opponent, and he was used to remaining elegant and calm, but that clearly didn''t include drilling into the thorny bushes. If one were to have said previously that Chen Mu represented a calculating intelligent card artisan, by then Bo Wen felt that he was more of a dauntless spirit, as only desperate people would go so all out. Bo Wen didn''t only become more cautious. It wasn''t scary for him to face people who were full of hate, but what he feared was someone who was so tough on himself. That kind of person would be extremely rough and full of danger.


    While Bo Wen was squinting his eyes, Cheng Ying was beating the drums of retreat. She had a richer experience fighting compared to Bo Wen, having fought in the far reaches quite a few times, but she had never felt so frightened. Those weird and unpredictable battle tactics of Chen Mu just then had left a deep impression on her. A person like that would be hiding in the dark waiting for them to arrive, and she figured that they didn''t stand a chance.


    That wasn''t the only thing scaring her. She had seen quite a few brave and celebrated card artisans, but not one of them was brave enough to drill into such dense thorny brambles without an energy shield opened in front of them. Even though there were a few beasts who lived in the forest which would dare so heedlessly to bore into those terrifying bushes, those sharp thorns could easily tear open their skin. And some of the thorns had a certain poisonous quality.


    "Are we going to wait for the rest of the people to get here?" Cheng Ying was a little hesitant, but still couldn''t help opening her mouth. Maneuvering in the outer reaches after dark wasn''t a rational activity, with its being so difficult to discern the situation around them. That also led to a sharp rise in the risk factor, since the dark was the world of the beasts.


    "No, we can''t wait." Bo Wen said peremptorily. Maneuvering in the dark was the strength of the night of the cross, and if they were to wait until the reinforcements got there he was afraid Chen Mu would have already slipped away. His gaze fell onto the tatters hanging on the brambles which were completely soaked in blood, still wet to the touch. He could even smell the scent of fresh blood.


    He immediately determined that Chen Mu had been badly wounded and wasn''t very far from them. If they couldn''t eliminate Chen Mu given such a rare opportunity, they sure wouldn''t be able to do it later.


    Bo Wen always kept an energy shield card in his apparatus, and it would come in handy just then. That kind of energy cloaking card wasn''t the common variety; after it was activated an egg-shaped energy cloak would envelope him. Under Bo Wen''s control the energy cloak would continually change shape, finally forming into a man-shaped energy shell just a little bigger than Bo Wen.


    Cheng Ying was looking enviously at the energy cloak on Bo Wen''s body, although it gave her a little bit of a bad taste by making her even more certain that Bo Wen was identified with the Ning family. Any one of the cards that he had was worth more than all of hers combined, which felt way out of balance. She kept silent about it.


    Bo Wen was paying attention to Cheng Ying''s mood, as he took a card out from his chest and gave it to her, "This is a three-star energy cloak card for you."


    Cheng Ying looked in surprise at Bo Wen.


    "Chen Mu is very important to me. No matter how, I can''t let him live on after today. If you help me to finish that . . ." he was speaking very seriously . . ." I''ll be able to give you some better opportunities. What do you think? Aren''t you looking for more power?"


    There was a glint in Cheng Ying''s eyes, and then she lifted her head, "Who are you really?"


    "I am the next generation successor to the Eastern Ning''s." Bo Wen didn''t flinch from Cheng Ying''s gaze.


    "The Ning Family of the Eastern Reaches?" Cheng Ying covered her mouth in surprise. She had been making all kinds of conjectures about Bo Wen''s identity but hadn''t hit on the right one. Meeting Bo Wen''s calm look, she knew that he wasn''t lying. If he were thinking of lying, he certainly wouldn''t have fabricated such an outrageous sounding identity. She was starting to understand by then why Bo Wen would know so much about what was happening at the base.


    What were the Eastern Ning''s doing there? She was a little puzzled, but she immediately tossed that question aside, since it wasn''t something she needed to concern herself about.


    "I would like to make a guarantee about what I am saying." Bo Wen added in a timely fashion.


    "OK." Cheng Ying took the three-star energy cloak card from Bo Wen''s hand and inserted it into her own apparatus. Once she had made the decision, any wavering hesitation disappeared from her face. That evening''s activities were certainly dangerous, but worth the risk. She didn''t have less talent than others, and she was many times more diligent, but the strength that she had acquired was still far lower than what was required. That was all because the platform she was in touch with was too low. If she wanted to realize her dreams, she would have to get onto a higher-grade platform, and receive higher-grade training. She had struggled to get into the Ning family base for that reason.


    The Eastern Ning''s were a far larger and higher-grade power than the Amay Ning''s, so why wouldn''t she agree? Even though she rather admired Chen Mu, there was nothing between them and that kind of admiration wasn''t anything more than admiration for his power.


    Cheng Ying activated the energy cloak, and a light green energy cloak appeared around her body. It was unique, being covered in green swirls, with that green more emerald green than other places and really gorgeous.


    "This is a really good cloaking card that I used to use, called the "green rings." I''m giving it to you. Take good care of it." Although Bo Wen''s tone was light, it conveyed a certain melancholy.


    Cheng Ying astutely caught the hint of melancholy in Bo Wen''s voice even in the midst of her joy, and although she didn''t think well enough of herself to think that Bo Wen could have such good feelings toward her, she couldn''t help thinking that the "green rings" card had some kind of special meaning for him.


    Chen Ying showed her fine professionalism as she put all those unrelated matters quickly aside, since what she had to do just then was to get used to the "green rings" card. Too bad that the thing they most lacked just then was time.


    They didn''t know where Chen Mu was and would have to seek him out step by step. It was lucky that he had been so wounded that the scent of blood could give them a direction, or even Bo Wen wouldn''t have entered into that jungle. There was a hundred percent probability of death to go into where wild beasts were all over and a card artisan of the night of the cross was lurking.


    Because of that, Bo Wen activated his communications card and asked the Ning family to immediately send people to support them. He also held the command of those delayed card artisans still behind them in his hands.


    After the Ning clan elder and Bo Wen communicated, the entire Ning family was immediately riled up and everyone was pulled from their beds. The card artisans who came in support were all the elite of the Ning family, with Ning Dong in their lead. And it was no wonder they were so agitated, since if something were to happen to Bo Wen, no one knew what drastic actions the Eastern Ning''s might take. The elder of the Amay Ning''s didn''t dare to slight them, so that after dispatching their elites he immediately contacted the clan elder of the Eastern Ning''s, Bo Wen''s father.


    The Eastern Ning''s were the traditional giants of the Eastern region, and their every action would have a direct impact on the entire region. There weren''t many direct descendants, and Bo Wen was in the direct line for his generation, along with his sister Ning Jia. How could the Eastern Ning''s not be worried?


    Bo Wen and Cheng Ying looked at each other, and then went carefully into the underbrush. The energy cloaks on the two of them kept the thorns on the bushes from them, as they instantly disappeared into the bushes.


    * * *


    The ointment from the demonic woman was extremely effective, and all the of the constantly bleeding wounds had been stopped up after only five minutes. Still, it would take a rather long time to fully recover.


    Chen Mu''s entire body was sore and on the verge of collapse. Adding to that the faintness from blood loss, what he most wanted to do then was to put down his head and sleep. But he knew very well that if he didn''t want to die he had to get up. The scent of blood on his body was strong and pungent, and it smelled bad mixed up with the smell of the mud. He didn''t mind the smell but was afraid that it would attract the wild beasts, and that it might also give away his position.


    Still, he seemed rather lucky that day, since he heard flowing water.


    Dragging heavy steps, he struggled toward the sound of the water. The agile footsteps of the past now felt detached and hard to control and he nearly fell over a few times.


    A small stream burbled along, and he could see its crystalline flashes even in the night woods so dense that no air got through. It was a very small stream, and Chen Mu would ordinarily have lightly hopped across it.


    Chen Mu wanted to grin, but every slightest involvement of the muscles of his face hurt to where he had to take a cold breath. He didn''t know how many trees he had just gone through, but there were scars crisscrossing his face. It was a good thing he didn''t care about the scars, which would have sent Copper crying.


    He scooped up some of the stream water in his cupped hands and splashed it on his face. When the icy cold water hit him, his brain cleared up.


    That kind of small stream wouldn''t contain any large water creatures, which calmed him down. It was very quiet all around with only the sounds of insects calling from time to time. Everything looked normal.


    Still on guard, he carefully washed the blood from his body and splashed the water onto his wounds, which drilled pain into his heart. But Chen Mu gritted his teeth and washed himself with the stream water over and over until the blood on his skin had been completely cleansed. Then he plunged his clothes into the stream, since if he didn''t wash them clean then he would die without any burial in that forest. The senses of smell of many of the beasts was extremely acute, and they could smell blood from a long way off.


    The blood dispersed into the water and threaded away like bright red cloudy yarn, quietly without breath in the dark. They followed the stream quickly diffusing downstream.


    Because of the dispersion of the blood, an unexpected guest had arrived on the quiet stream bottom.

 Chapter 135: The Dangerous Jungle

    Chapter 135: The Dangerous Jungle


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu was naked as he kept washing his clothes which were about to turn to rags. To leave no trace of the scent of blood, he kept on scrubbing them to where the clothes that had already been tattered didn''t look like clothes anymore. And he still wasn''t satisfied, as if he seriously wanted to scrub them into a pulp. Perhaps because of the stimulation from the cold water, Chen Mu had started to recover his strength a little, and his depleted perception was starting to revive.


    Chen Mu had kept up his guard while struggling with his clothes and he suddenly seemed to see a dark shadow flash in the water not far away. In the pitch dark of the forest if it weren''t for the reflection off the water and the recent enhancement of his facility in the dark, he certainly wouldn''t have seen that dark shadow.


    He quickly stopped his activity and looked alertly at the creek while almost unconsciously activating the bipolar thunderball card.


    Five small thunderballs appeared in an instant, while the dark shadow came shooting toward Chen Mu''s chest from the water. A perfect five-sided glowing shield burst out in front of him.


    Ping Ping Ping!


    Three hits so close that they sounded like one crashed into the light shield. There was a lot of power in that dark shadow, and as the first hit pinged into the light shield it transformed into a shower of sparks as the remaining power of the dark shadow continued to shoot toward Chen Mu. It was a good thing that the bipolar thunderball was so outstanding, as it instantly formed into a second glowing shield, when another shot cracked into it, and the second shield shattered. Then it continued on to smash the third.


    In the end, the fourth energy shield smartly fended off the dark shadow, as the light shield''s scattering sparkles reflected back, finally illuminating what the dark shadow looked like. It was about as thick as a finger, about thirty centimeters long, and looked like an eel or a water snake at first glance. There was a slender line along each side of its head, which was its mouth. Its mouth was fully a third the length of its entire body, and once it opened, the two rows of sharp white teeth were enough to chill a person''s heart.


    With such a long mouth and the two rows of teeth spiked against the light shield as though they would chomp it, its body was left writhing wildly in midair.


    Chen Mu could hear the terrifying sound of its gnashing teeth on the surface of the light shield.


    Its two tiny eyes were staring at the stunned Chen Mu, dripping with mad desire. He had never seen such a creepy creature, with its two rows of white teeth so striking in the dark. The most frightening thing was the look of extremely wild hunger which oozed from the small creature, which caused even the heart of one so daring as Chen Mu to pound.


    After a while, seeming to know that it wasn''t going to break through the light shield, it twisted around and shot back into the water like an arrow.


    Chen Mu hadn''t yet quite reacted to that series of misfortunes which had happened so fast that he couldn''t really take it all in. He instinctively pulled away from the creek, still holding his dripping wet clothes in his hand. Then he suddenly came-to when the drips landed on his foot.


    He felt a jolt of fear after the fact, that if he hadn''t activated the bipolar thunderball card in the nick of time then he would have died in the mouth of that scary little thing. That row of sharp teeth could easily have torn through his skin and into his body, killing him for sure. Chen Mu watched the surface of the creek with lingering fear as he quickly moved back. How could he have known that such a terrifying creature could exist in such a small creek where he had thought there wouldn''t be any danger and nothing so large could live.


    Its lightning speed and close rows of teeth along with the crazed hunger it oozed had left a deep impression on Chen Mu.


    The forest really was a dangerous place where anyplace that might look safe still held unknown lurking danger.


    The danger of the outer reaches was something that had been giving humanity headaches forever. Even though human capabilities had been getting ever stronger, humanity still paled in comparison with the beasts in the outer reaches. There weren''t many card artisans in the entire Heavenly Federation who would dare to go there alone.


    Ever since Heiner Van Sant, the development of the card system had entered a period of decline which still continued. Even though the system continued to be refined, no entirely new theoretical frameworks had emerged which could bring about fundamental change. And no individuals had come along to compare with the two grand masters Rosenberg and Heiner Van Sant. The phenomena were the same in the worlds of both card masters and card artisans.


    No individual powerhouse was enough to change the relations between humanity and the beasts, which is to say that the powerful people at that time only had great individual power and couldn''t bring about fundamental changes in the whole society the way that Rosenberg and Van Sant had done.


    They still weren''t strong enough!


    All the cities that existed had been opened up during the time of those two great masters, and the Heavenly Federation hadn''t opened up any new cities after the death of the grand master Heiner Van Sant.


    The power of the wild beasts was immense as, for example, the power of the blow from that little thing just now had been sufficient to penetrate a shuttle car.


    Chen Mu wasn''t as he had been under the state of breath control, and he could feel the impact of negative emotions; his heart was filled with fear of the jungle by then. But it was a good thing that he still had the memory of what he had been thinking while in the state of breath control and knew that what he had thought had been correct. So that despite the fear that he felt he could still drum up his courage, and no matter how dangerous the jungle was, he would survive somehow.


    He couldn''t help smirking to himself about his original expectation that he could escape the base, which hadn''t included the realization that he would end up in such dire straights and find himself in such a terrifying spot. If he had known that earlier, he would have remained at the base where at least he wouldn''t have had to worry about survival for a little while.


    The price of freedom was high!


    But then he thought that wasn''t necessarily so. He had been curious all along about the issue of why Bo Wen was so deadly intent on killing him in the end. Could it have been for the "weak water" pen set? Impossible! Chen Mu immediately vetoed that guess. Bo Wen didn''t seem like that kind of person, as cultivated as he was. Chen Mu had thought that he was a Ning from the beginning, but then when he thought about it later he felt that wasn''t so. If he were a Ning, then he would certainly have found some way to capture him alive, and not try to kill him so mercilessly as soon as he saw him. And if he had still been living on the base, things wouldn''t have been any better.


    Why? What was really going on? Chen Mu wracked his brain but couldn''t come up with anything. And then there was that woman whom he never thought would end up under Bo Wen. He still couldn''t remember where he had seen Cheng Ying.


    He didn''t know whether they could accompany him into the jungle, but that wasn''t important anymore. He was still in the relative safety of the outskirts of the outer reaches. While they might not dare to enter just then, they would certainly come searching for him once it was light. Then it would be dangerous for him, and so he had to take advantage of the night to go more deeply into the jungle.


    He already understood that if he were to fall into the hands of the Ning family just then, he would find himself with no way to live. While Chen Mu hadn''t guessed Bo Wen''s identity, he knew that his relations with the Ning''s were close, since Ning Peng had told him his apartment number.


    Although it was a very small chance, his best chance for survival was in his own hands.


    Having thought things through, Chen Mu''s terror weakened as his heroic spirit blossomed.


    * * *


    Things were going smoothly for Bo Wen and Cheng Ying along the way, though they were moving ahead very slowly, not having the ability that Chen Mu had to see things in the dark. They had to constantly go through all sorts of clues to determine if they were moving in the right direction. Cheng Ying was a specialist at that. Bo Wen was immensely gladdened by the decision he had just made, since his speed would have been much slower without Cheng Ying.


    But they still hadn''t found any traces of Chen Mu after walking for over half an hour. And they had no way to know that Chen Mu had used a high-speed jet stream card to fly into the jungle. That was something unimaginable, since to fly at such a speed in Amay City incurred a shocking probability of being killed in a crash. There was basically no possibility to survive flying in the jungle.


    Chen Mu had once again exceeded their expectations.


    They still hadn''t realized that Chen Mu was already quite a distance from them.


    The distance flown in ten to twenty high-speed seconds would take a rather long time to walk.


    And what had gotten Bo Wen even more discouraged was that they had gotten the news that those card artisans closest behind them had run into some trouble. They had run into a swarm of iron bees, and if it weren''t for some among them bringing along a repellent, they would have been finished there that day. The speed of the iron bee was quite fast among bees and they had bodies as hard as steel. Each one was the size of a fist and had a fifteen centimeter long stinger sharp enough to raise the hair on anyone. Those were often used as an assassin''s weapon for their hardness and sharpness.


    There were probably about three hundred in the swarm of iron bees, and they had tightly surrounded the card artisans. But even though they hadn''t come closer because of the repellent, they showed no signs of flying off.


    Bo Wen didn''t intend to turn back, since he didn''t want to run into a swarm of iron bees, and he wasn''t concerned with the fate of those card artisans. What he was concerned about what that if he turned back at that time, he would have little chance to find Chen Mu. Bo Wen smiled bitterly for their bad fortune to run into iron bees, and a swarm of them at that.


    He had decided to keep going along with Cheng Ying, since Chen Mu was seriously injured which minimized his threat to them. What they had to worry about was running into some awesome beasts.


    He was still going to kill Chen Mu, even if he might run into some beasts!


    That was his first time to realize the feeling of that kind of fear in his body. So, he had decided that he would kill Chen Mu, whatever it took.

 Chapter 136: Good Character is Really Good

    Chapter 136: Good Character is Really Good


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu''s strength had started to come back little by little, though his whole body was still feeling pretty torn-up. Although the wounds on his body had started to close, there were still hundreds of big and small scary-looking tender red scars all over his body. Fortunately, the situation didn''t seem too awful since most were very shallow apart from a few deep wounds, though they did make him look frightful. And even those deep wounds had started to close, thanks to the efficacy of the ointment from the demonic woman.


    The scare just then at the creek had made him very nervous, and the five little thunderballs were now always circling merrily around his body. Dragging his feet, Chen Mu tumbled ahead one shuffling step at a time as he hurried toward the deep part of the jungle.


    * * *


    "He was just here." Cheng Ying and Bo Wen had arrived at the creek where Chen Mu had been washing off the traces of blood.


    "How long since he left?" Bo Wen couldn''t help asking. He had already transferred all the tracking responsibility to Cheng Ying.


    She looked around the creek and said, "He just left. You can see that the water marks haven''t dried yet." The two of them looked striking in the dark night, with one of them in a light white energy cloak and the other in an emerald green one.


    "We''ll go after him." Bo Wen said resolutely.


    "Mmmm." Cheng Ying knew that the youth was determined and not to be contradicted, and only asked, "When will the second batch of Ning family card artisans arrive?"


    Bo Wen shook his head, "I still don''t know." He was somewhat worried, since those card artisans led by Ning Dong should have found them earlier. But news from them had been delayed, though the most crucial part was that as they followed constantly deeper-in, something would happen to the communications card, which was sometimes effective and sometimes not. Cheng Ying had long gotten used to that situation, explaining to Bo Wen that it was common, since the environment in the outer reaches was complex and caused a lot of interference with communications cards. Communications cards just weren''t very trustworthy in the outer reaches.


    Ning Dong had also run into trouble. They had encountered an army of crouching frogs and were just then struggling to resist the "cannon fire" which blanketed the sky. Bo Wen and the Ning family were having bad luck that night, with Ning Dong leading about two hundred elite card artisans into the jungle. Because there were so many of them, and because they were anxious to find Bo Wen, they had pushed ahead very quickly. But that kind of heedless advance had carelessly aroused that army of crouching frogs. They had suddenly shot off hundreds of glowing bombs in the dark without any warning.


    Caught off guard, the Ning card artisans had suffered heavy casualties in that instant. The glowing shells shot off by the crouching frogs had startling power, and even if the card artisans had activated their energy cloaks, they would have broken through to kill them given such dense firepower.


    Ning Dong was angry and was the first to attack the army of frogs. The fighting hadn''t gone on very long before the Ning card artisans were victorious. Apart from being able to spit out those glowing shells, the crouching frogs were weak in all other respects. Within five minutes the army of frogs had been completely wiped out.


    But those five minutes had also been very costly to the Ning card artisans. Among the over two hundred troops, only one hundred and twenty remained. And among the over eighty sacrificed, over fifty were killed in the first wave of shots from the crouching frogs. Ning Dong''s face was grey, as his head held always high had never been so frustrated.


    And those eighty card artisans were the genuine elite, with many among them having just participated in the battle against the Zuo family from Eastern Shang-Wei City. The Ning family had expended endless manpower and materials to cultivate every one of them, and they had all been baptized in battle. Each of them was precious.


    But eighty of them had died in front of him in those five minutes.


    And moreover, the blame would all be laid on mistakes in his command. They had been pushed-in so recklessly because they wanted to find Bo Wen so eagerly. As he had seen it at the beginning, they were only in the outskirts of the jungle which shouldn''t have had creatures that were too fierce. Who knew they would encounter a surprise attack from an army of crouching frogs?


    Having learned that lesson, the troops all slowed, and everyone was very careful lest they encounter another kind of sneak attack from wild beasts. That last round of attacks had stunned them all, and everyone''s face was showing fear. Ning Dong also knew that if something like that were to happen again, the fate of that gang of his would be for the army ultimately to be annihilated.


    Ning Dong was complaining inwardly that the Amay Ning''s had lost a lot of blood for Bo Wen. Those card artisans from the base who had been surrounded by the iron bees were still trapped, though to find Bo Wen more quickly, Ning Dong and his men didn''t immediately go to rescue them, but rather demanded that they hold out until follow-up reinforcements could save them.


    And when Ning Dong discovered that he couldn''t use his communications card to communicate outside, some unknown feeling in his heart quickly rose to its highest. It was very dangerous to lose contact with the outside from the outer reaches. But it was very easy for communications cards to be influenced by the environment of the outer reaches, and to become very unstable. That was one of the reasons that card artisans wouldn''t dare go into the deep parts of the jungle, since while in the outskirts of the forest retreat was comparatively easy even if you were to lose contact with the outside. Another important reason was that maps were almost useless in the forest. In the deeper parts, it would be extremely easy to lose direction. Moreover, the jungle environment was complex, and you needed experience more than you needed maps.


    Should they retreat? Ning Dong vetoed that notion. If anything were to happen to Bo Wen on-site at the Amay Ning''s, the severity of the consequences would be something the Amay Ning''s couldn''t take. Ning Dong''s political savvy was a lot more astute than even his experience fighting in the outer reaches.


    No matter how, he had to guarantee Bo Wen''s safety.


    It was fortunate that the remaining card artisans were all battle-hardened, with many of them good at tracking. Ning Dong decided to continue advancing, though he had become a lot more prudent, constantly sending card artisans out ahead to scout.


    The Ning family was a scattered group by that time. Bo Wen had lost any means of communication as had Ning Dong, which made the atmosphere among the Ning''s suddenly agitated. While Bo Wen certainly held a noble position, Ning Dong was also the heir of the Amay Ning''s. No matter which of them might have some accident, it would be unbearable to the Amay Ning''s.


    The third wave of card artisans had been assembled into troops as quickly as possible and had started to advance toward the jungle.


    * * *


    Chen Mu continued to move ahead on the third day, and the wounds on his body were almost better, although his face was still covered in scars which made him look hideous. It was too bad that he didn''t know the formula for the ointment the demonic woman had left him. Chen Mu felt that if he were to sell it he could make a pot of money, since its efficacy was outstanding.


    He had already completely lost his direction and was just looking for a way forward. It turned out that the capabilities of the so-called map-card in his apparatus were completely useless in the outer reaches. But his luck had been excellent those three days, and he hadn''t even run into any fearsome beasts, which surprised even him.


    It would be great if that situation could continue. Chen Mu couldn''t help fantasizing from time to time that wandering through the forest for a month could be a pretty fine experience.


    But his nerves were always tense. Compared to before, he had improved his activation speed with his apparatus. He didn''t know if it was because of the influence of his fighting those last few days, but he had been overjoyed that his perception had also shown some unexpected improvement.


    He was moving ahead very quickly, and his rushing had become a lot more relaxed because of his elastic shoes. In the next few days he had also become a lot more experienced at dodging the tree branches. To assure enough strength, he also had to ensure enough time for rest.


    The luck of Bo Wen and Cheng Ying wasn''t bad either, and they kept right up with Chen Mu. Bo Wen was showing sufficient courage by that time, as he hardened himself to give chase, never opening any distance between them and Chen Mu. While their spirits were lagging, how could they not be tired having been in pursuit for a straight three days and nights? They didn''t have Chen Mu''s elastic shoes, just chasing day and night. And their spirits lagged quite a bit compared to Chen Mu in front of them.


    Bo Wen was holding in a belly full of fire. He felt like Chen Mu was playing with them. Every day they saw tracks that he had left, all showing that he hadn''t left very long ago, but they still hadn''t even seen his shadow during every day and every night of their chase.


    And another messed up issue was that they had completely lost all contact with the outside.


    The situation had quickly become complicated, and Bo Wen faced two choices, one to continue the pursuit, and the other to return the way they came.


    Bo Wen chose the first. He believed that the Ning''s would certainly not allow him to be lost in the woods like that. He would only have to wait until the card artisans behind him caught up to the place where Chen Mu''s corpse would be. If he were to choose to retreat, he would have lost that opportunity forever. He had left behind quite a few marks along the way for them.


    So, Bo Wen chose firmly to chase closely without giving up. That rather surprised Cheng Ying, on the one hand because of Bo Wen''s courage to enter the deep jungle, which was something that not everyone would do. On the other hand, she was surprised that the enmity between Bo Wen and Chen Mu was so profound that Bo Wen would risk so much because of it.


    If Chen Mu had realized the so-called enmity between him and Bo Wen, he wouldn''t have known whether to laugh or cry. But the world really was that marvelous that two people who didn''t seem to have any connection at all could develop a connection in such a strange manner.


    Bo Wen wasn''t wrong, since the Ning family had also dispatched a large number of card artisans for him, and there would be a great possibility to surround Chen Mu if only they could catch up. But having lost all communication with the Ning family, Bo Wen didn''t know that a rain storm had started behind him in the forest. If was sufficient to create small-scale flooding, and many of the marks he had left had been washed away. Not only that but the tracks left by the three of them had been nearly wiped clean by the flooding.


    And by that time Chen Mu had run into some trouble of his own.

 Chapter 137: Three People and a Beast

    Chapter 137: Three People and a Beast


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    With all the fibers in his body taught, Chen Mu stared at the beast in front of him. The apparatus on his wrist was already in an active state, and the five small thunderballs were cheerfully swirling around him.


    His knowledge of the jungle was pitifully scant, and he didn''t have any idea what that beast was called or what was special about it. But that didn''t make him look down on it at all. On the contrary, he had a very nasty look on his face.


    The beast was about the size of a calf, with four powerful stout limbs and a tuft of black hair along its back. The scariest thing about it was its two tails, each of which was about as thick as Chen Mu''s arm, with a barb at the end of each scorpion shaped tail. It was staring at Chen Mu with a malevolent look, with its two tails swinging in a pattern behind it and gathered into a crouch ready to pounce. Chen Mu could even see the saliva dripping from its fangs.


    Sizing up its shape, Chen Mu doubted whether the bipolar thunderball card could block the charge of such a large beast.


    Chen Mu turned and ran without a pause.


    Charging all his power to his feet, his whole body whooshed away like an arrow with his bouncy shoes proving crucially useful that time. While he was in the air, Chen Mu also swapped out for the "Big Mud Fish" card. The trees beside him flew back as Chen Mu''s heart was finally calmed by the high-speed flight. The beast shouldn''t have been able to chase after him once he was in flight.


    As though it knew what Chen Mu was thinking, the beast gave out a roar which startled Chen Mu to the point that he almost fell from midair. He didn''t dare to turn his head as he put all his strength into flying ahead. The beast behind him would shockingly roar now and again.


    Chen Mu really looked like a mud fish that time, as he shuttled among the trees like some slippery anomaly. Unlike that dexterity, the beast behind him just charged ahead, paying no attention to those stout trees as the sound of their snapping came to Chen Mu to make his heart race and his muscles jump.


    Chen Mu wanted to tell the beast that he was only a novice!


    "What''s that sound?" Bo Wen suddenly stopped. His perception was stronger than Cheng Ying''s, so that he could detect movements farther off.


    But those movements were obviously big enough for Cheng Ying to sense them too.


    The two of them lifted their heads to look ahead, puzzled.


    The ground seemed to shake thunderously, more and more fiercely, and the sounds became more and more clear. The two of them looked at one another wondering what had happened.


    Bo Wen was looking ahead when his sharp eyes suddenly lit up, "Chen Mu!"


    Chen Mu was flying their way with a beleaguered expression. What a great opportunity! Bo Wen immediately swapped to the "thousand swallows wavy blades" card in his apparatus. No matter how, he wasn''t going to let him slip through his hands that time.


    The shaking of the ground was getting fierce by that time, and both Bo Wen and Cheng Ying felt that they would lose their footing. There was a loud banging from behind Chen Mu, which was throwing up dirt along with the crowded sound of trees snapping.


    What was it?


    Chen Mu''s urgent expression caused Bo Wen to hesitate as he was about to fire. The ever cool and calm expression on Chen Mu had made a deep impression on him, seeming never being affected by whatever circumstance or situation, and the Chen Mu in front of him looked like a completely different person. He wondered what kind of situation could make Chen Mu so shocked and pale. It had to be something quite scary.


    It was during that brief pause that he caught sight of the beast in hot pursuit of Chen Mu.


    "A twin hook beast!" Bo Wen''s pupils immediately contracted, and his complexion changed, hastily swapping for the jet stream card in his apparatus as he turned around to leave. Only after he turned was he awed to find Cheng Ying already out in front of him with her jet stream card wide open, close behind Chen Mu.


    He had been too raw in the end, and his face showed it.


    Three people and a beast. Three ahead and one behind. There was a battle of pursuit developing in the jungle.


    There wasn''t any time then to consider the practice of never flying in the jungle. And there wasn''t any time to think about the grudge between him and Chen Mu.


    The three of them formed a triangle with Chen Mu at the top and Cheng Ying and Bo Wen unwittingly following, as the three of them few madly ahead. The calmest among them was Chen Mu. He had the best close-range dodging and evading score, and the "Big Mud Fish" card was best at that kind of turning. Bo Wen and Cheng Ying were about the same as one another. Bo Wen was a little stronger, but close range dodging and evading was the weak point in the training of remote card artisans. Although Cheng Ying wasn''t as strong as Bo Wen, she had a lot more experience in actual battle, which equalized their standing.


    Both of their faces were white without any sign of blood, and they were the closest to the twin hook beast, with the sound of the snapping trees coming from behind keeping them on their alert about how close the twin hook beast was to them.


    They wished they could sprout a pair of wings, though they didn''t dare to speed up since if they did they wouldn''t need the twin hook beast to die from smashing right into a tree.


    Bo Wen suddenly shouted out his brilliant thought, "Let''s fly up!"


    In front of him, Chen Mu rashly got what Bo Wen was saying. He had been chased out of breath by the twin hook beast, but never mind that. While the twin hook beast had astonishing speed, it couldn''t fly! He believed that all they had to do was to fly into midair to shake the beast.


    "Don''t!" Cheng Ying shouted to stop the two of them, with her voice full of terror.


    The two of them were taken aback, and while Chen Mu was fine, Bo Wen nearly smashed into a tree.


    Cheng Ying was carefully controlling her own jet stream card with her eyes fixed ahead of her, not daring to be distracted as she quickly explained in her gasping breath, "There are even fiercer things in the sky!"


    Chen Mu and Bo Wen hastily dropped any notion of flying up since they didn''t have any experience in the jungle, and naturally didn''t know the situation. But that didn''t prevent their surmise that if Cheng Ying wasn''t willing to fly into the midst of such danger, then what she said about fiercer things in the sky was certainly true.


    The twin hook beast was roaring along behind them, with the three in front having lost their color as they dropped back down to flee. That beast was extremely tough, being utterly oblivious to the trees along the way which it snapped as it met them, never flagging in its power. Its strength was perverse, not seeming at all tired after chasing them for six hours. The three of them flying along didn''t feel they could take it anymore, complaining silently in their hearts.


    All of the smaller animals along the way bolted in fear of such large movements, without any beasts daring to deal with that twin hook beast.


    After nine hours, the three of them showed obvious exhaustion. Flying continually for nine hours through such an environment was something the three of them wouldn''t have dared to think about before. But with the closeness of death, all three had done it.


    Even the twin hook beast had started to show some fatigue, no longer resembling its rampage at the outset. Although it was still in hot pursuit, its movements were a lot smaller.


    The three of them didn''t dare to slack off, driven almost to their ends. Cheng Ying was the most miserable, with a pallid face and her eyes going slack. She was the weakest among the three. Bo Wen''s perception was the strongest, but since he wasn''t accustomed to that kind of flying, he had used up a lot of it. Adding to that their pursuit of Chen Mu for three days and nights without a rest, they were both in an exhausted state.


    By comparison the one in the best condition was actually the novice Chen Mu! Since he had the elastic shoes, he had been able to travel rather quickly over the past three days while getting full rest to restore his strength. And among the three of them, he was the most accustomed to that kind of flying. And the "Big Mud Fish" card was the most suited to that kind of situation.


    After the tenth hour, the twin hooked beast was breathing thunderously, with even its strength not being able to keep up.


    After the eleventh hour, Cheng Ying''s flying looked like it was collapsing, as though she could fall from the sky at any time. Bo Wen''s face was also as pale as death, with his lips starting to crack. Chen Mu was in a somewhat better state, though his eyes had also lost their spark, not having completely recovered from the wounds to his body. And it wasn''t so good to be tossed about like that.


    The twin hook beast had already started frothing at the mouth, and its pupils had begun to slack.


    After twelve hours, the twin hook beast finally couldn''t hold out and it collapsed to the ground.


    At about that same time, Cheng Ying fell fluttering from the sky in a faint. It was a good thing that they weren''t flying very high ¨C being only one or two meters off the ground ¨C so that it wasn''t very serious.


    Bo Wen wanted to stop since he had finally lost control of his perception, though his momentum took him into a pile of underbrush, sending up mournful screams from him. Bo Wen''s screams were sharp enough to stun Chen Mu who was about to faint as he fell from the sky.


    Falling to the ground impacted the wounds on his body, which hurt to where Chen Mu kept sucking cold breaths. But the pain had brought him back to his senses.


    His lips were cracked open after twelve hours of uninterrupted flight, and his spirits were extremely depleted to the point that he wanted to sleep, though he gritted his teeth still more strongly to hold out. He didn''t know Bo Wen''s situation, but if he were to fall asleep then, he would die there that day.


    That flight of Chen Mu just then had been on a single breath, and once he fell from the sky, that breath was gone. He found that his body had already gotten to the situation where the lights were out for lack of oil. Never mind his perception, he didn''t even have the strength to lift a finger. If he had any perception left in him, he would certainly give some to Bo Wen.


    After five full minutes, Bo Wen had finally struggled to crawl out from the underbrush. His face was as white as paper, and his eyes were slack, in an obvious sign of extreme physical exhaustion.


    The two of them were at a loss, but neither had the strength to move.

 Chapter 138: A Three Person Pact

    Chapter 138: A Three Person Pact


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Neither of the two of them dared to fall asleep, and both held strong. They looked at each other worn out to the limit. Both were tough, and neither would be the first to fall asleep.


    An hour went by.


    Two hours.


    Three hours went by.


    * * *


    After five hours their spirits were on the brink of collapse, but they were still holding strong.


    Chen Ying woke up just then. She had slept for five hours and her face was looking a lot better. She was a little astonished to find the two of them looking at each other, and her gaze then fell onto the fallen twin hook beast.


    Seeing that Cheng Ying had awakened, Bo Wen exulted, "Cheng Ying, hurry up and kill him!" He was wise after all, as Cheng Ying had finally become the crucial one to decide the outcome. He remained silently alert since although he and Cheng Ying had partnered, theirs was only a relation of interests. His and Chen Mu''s fates were now in her hands, and who knew what kind of move she might make. Bo Wen had already decided that if she were to raise any conditions that time, he would agree to them without hesitation.


    There were a lot of advantages implied in letting her kill Chen Mu, and he wanted to know if the relationship between them had changed by that time.


    Chen Mu''s face remained calm when he heard what Bo Wen said, while his heart had sunk. He didn''t have any power to fight back by then, and his number had really come up like a lamb waiting for slaughter.


    But what exceeded his expectations was that Cheng Ying walked over between the two of them and sat down. The look on Bo Wen''s face changed when he saw her move, since he knew that the situation had started to change.


    "I am very sorry Bo Wen, but I can''t kill him." After over ten hours without a drop of water in a state of high agitation, her voice sounded rather hoarse. What she said had allowed Chen Mu to drop his heart from his throat, though some doubt arose in him about why she had gotten on her horse for him.


    Bo Wen''s face had returned to normal as he asked lightly, "Why? Have you changed your mind?" His tone was light, since his voice would never betray any strong note of oppression having occupied such a high position for so long.


    "Because I want to live." Cheng Ying also spoke very lightly.


    Bo Wen was taken aback, not having thought that would be her explanation.


    "We''ve already entered the very depths of the jungle. We''ve been flying for twelve hours, and you know how far we''ve come." She had the richest experience in the outer reaches among the three of them, and the two of them looked like they were listening closely. Cheng Ying saw them without looking, as she used her finger to push away the hair that had slipped onto her face, and continued, "Besides, we''ve lost our direction. Who knows where we are. No one. I really doubt that anyone has ever been here before us."


    "We can return the way we came." Bo Wen couldn''t help saying.


    Cheng Ying took a look at Bo Wen and said very sincerely, "Our having gotten here had nothing to do with our having enough strength. It was because of that twin hook beast." She glanced at Chen Mu, "I don''t know why it went so wild, but there is no other creature in the jungle who could drive the twin hook beast wild like that. So, we didn''t run into any other beasts along the way. If we were to go back the way we came, I believe that we would receive an adequately grand welcome from the rest of the beasts."


    Chen Mu had paid attention to the way that she had glanced at him, and he didn''t say anything since he wasn''t clear either about why the twin hook beast had gone so mad, only remembering that he hadn''t done anything at all.


    "If we want to go back, we must have enough power, and it isn''t enough to depend on the two of us." Cheng Ying had laid clear her reasons.


    Bo Wen went silent since he knew that Cheng Ying was right. He really wanted to kill Chen Mu even if it meant taking a risk, but that didn''t mean that he wanted to die along with him. He held a respected position and was the future heir to the Eastern Ning''s who was going to take the helm of the clan. How could that card artisan of the night of the cross Chen Mu compare?


    "Maybe we can wait for the reinforcements. I think that they will soon find us." Bo Wen said suddenly.


    Cheng Ying said rudely, "Impossible! No one would dare to fly through the jungle the way that we did, and they wouldn''t have the twin hook beast to drive away all the other beasts for them. They would be blocked along the way by all kinds of beasts that they might come across. They won''t find us, and we''ve already lost our way. They wouldn''t be able to find us even if you were able to contact them."


    Then her look became forlorn, "The chances of making it back the way we came aren''t good, and who knows how many little battles arise in the jungle every day. The beasts would have eradicated any tracks that we left. To tell the truth, we don''t have great chances to survive anyhow."


    Bo Wen''s face became suddenly foul, though he knew that Cheng Ying was speaking the truth, not being likely to trick him about that kind of issue. He gave Chen Mu an icy look, since if it hadn''t been for him, he wouldn''t have gotten into that situation.


    Damn all the people of the night of the cross!


    He was terrified!


    Ever since childhood, he had received the most elite education, and had always been a genius in people''s eyes, and the object of their compliments. He had an incomparably bright future, with so many people relying on him to breathe. He exuded a natural superiority, which made him always elegant and calm. But now he had impressively discovered that those things he was most proud about weren''t going to help him get out of the deadly jungle.


    Death seemed like the predictable outcome.


    And the root of all of it was related to that night of the cross card artisan.


    Bo Wen being out of sorts only lasted a short while, and if it hadn''t been for both Chen Mu and Cheng Ying paying attention to him, he might not have realized it. Chen Mu had gone cold as he felt the negative decisions from Bo Wen more and more. If Bo Wen had been a typical fancy-pants in that kind of situation he would likely have been hysterical. Chen Mu hadn''t thought that Bo Wen could switch to such a positive attitude in such a short time, which showed how resolved he was.


    Chen Mu kept up his guard, since he had to be careful and beware the hidden agenda with the kind of person Bo Wen was. Chen Mu had seen the venom in Bo Wen''s eyes, and he didn''t dare to be careless.


    But it was a good thing that Bo Wen was still in the category of normal, since if he were a princeling who had never experienced any danger, and who would remain indifferent to the immediate situation, he wouldn''t have been human.


    Chen Mu was a lot calmer by comparison. That didn''t mean that he was more exceptional than Bo Wen. But once he had entered the jungle, or even when he was still in the city, or in the state of breath control, that was all what he had come to expect. And it had mentally prepared him even more when he had later run into that monster from the bottom at the edge of the creek. Another reason was related to his youth and the difficulties of being a street punk. Perhaps his psychology had become more suited to facing danger.


    Although the immediate situation was dangerous, it hadn''t reached the ends of the earth.


    "You are correct." Bo Wen gave his usual slight smile, with no harm in his face. "We certainly need to put aside our prejudices for a while. What do you think Chen Mu?" He turned toward Chen Mu, where Cheng Ying''s gaze had also fallen. Chen Mu didn''t quite respond, still wanting to determine the situation. From her point of view, if the three of them were able to work together, then Chen Mu was the most important link. His superb tactics and his stunning calm had made a deep impression on her.


    "OK." Chen Mu cherished words like gold, though he was watching Bo Wen''s gaze, which remained quite alert. Chen Mu had never asked him why he was so intent on killing him, and Bo Wen''s transformed look had put him on guard. The truth of the matter was that Chen Mu couldn''t trust a person like that.


    But he then threw out his own counterbalance, "My requirement is that we move forward." To return the way they came was to court death. Having understood what Bo Wen had just said, there were a lot of Ning card artisans now searching for them, and if they were to go back then, while it wouldn''t matter to the two of them, it would be fatal for him. If the two of them were resolved to return the way they came, then he would absolutely never agree.


    Bo Wen and Cheng Ying looked at one another, although this time Cheng Ying didn''t say anything since she knew when she should talk and when she would keep her peace.


    Bo Wen took a discreet moment, then raised his head, "OK."


    "The two of you rest." The relieved Cheng Ying advised, and the long-exhausted two of them dropped their heads to sleep.


    When Chen Mu gradually awakened and had barely opened his eyes, he saw Bo Wen sitting with his back toward him, which surprised him a little, though he then relaxed, seeing that he hadn''t been killed in his sleep.


    "Don''t worry, I won''t make any moves against you before we leave the jungle." Seeming to know that Chen Mu had awakened, Bo Wen threw that out without turning around.


    Cheng Ying was struggling with the body of the twin hook beast, on which there were some things which were hard-to-get materials, such as its two dark scorpion tail hooks. If she were to take them out to sell, they would surely get a sky-high price. The twin hook beast was so tough that few card artisans could kill one.


    Chen Mu walked over in front of the beast''s body only to discover after close examination that the twin hook beast had died from exhaustion, with its mouth covered in froth.


    "What did you do to enrage it?" Cheng Ying asked in curiosity. To be able to make the twin hook beast chase until it died of exhaustion wasn''t something that just anyone could do.


    Chen Mu smirked, "I don''t know." He certainly didn''t know what was up with that twin hook beast to chase him so wildly.


    Bo Wen suddenly stood up just then, and looked at Chen Mu as though something were strange, "Why aren''t you gathering materials?"

 Chapter 139: Card Artisan? Not Me

    Chapter 139: Card Artisan? Not Me


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Cheng Ying stopped what she had been doing and looked at Bo Wen surprised. She found it a little strange that Bo Wen would ask such a question. Bo Wen had always been very direct in his speech, and since he had asked it that way it must have implied some sort of issue. She also took a look at Chen Mu wondering to herself whether Chen Mu could have the hobby of gathering materials.


    "I don''t know how to collect materials." Chen Mu responded very plainly.


    "Ha, a card master with an ''A'' level of contribution points actually doesn''t know how to collect materials!" Bo Wen was taken aback and suddenly started to laugh a little wildly and with a hint of ridicule.


    A card master with an "A" level of contribution points? Cheng Ying''s gaze went straight, suddenly thinking about that "A" level card master that Will had spoken of. Cheng Ying immediately said in a halting voice, "You . . . you''re the card master who made the ''hundred blades'' card for Will?"


    "Do you know Will?" Chen Mu''s gaze turned toward Cheng Ying. He didn''t look at Bo Wen at all, as though he had no good feelings toward Bo Wen after he had shown such contempt toward him from his deepest reaches.


    "Um, right, we have a pretty good relationship." Cheng Ying was suddenly feeling a little nervous. In her mind, an "A" level of points card master was someone she would look up to. That kind of respect wasn''t based on any difference in position but was because of the person''s knowledge. It was well-known that card masters needed to have deep theoretical understanding. And an "A" level card master, whose number could be counted on one''s fingers, represented someone who had deep and broad knowledge in her mind.


    Looking on, Bo Wen''s eyes flashed.


    "Oh." Chen Mu didn''t say anything but made a sound in response. He and Will had never talked about friendship, and their connection was nothing more than making a card for him. Well, there was also that bipolar thunderball card that he''d gotten at such a bargain.


    "Are you a card artisan?" Cheng Ying asked very cautiously. She had subconsciously used the honorific. Bo Wen was also listening very closely from the side since he was also very curious about the question. After Heiner Van Sant, no one had succeeded with simultaneous study as both card master and card artisan. A person had limited energy and being a card master or a card artisan were as different as night and day. To give a very simple example, both card artisans and card masters practice perception, but in opposite ways. It was in the nature of the two of them to have entirely different demands, which was the most basic point on which it had been decided that one couldn''t simultaneously study to be both a card master and a card artisan.


    There wasn''t anyone who could practice the two types of perceptual training at the same time.


    Besides that, card masters had to spend a lot more time on theoretical knowledge, and a card master had to be a knowledgeable student regarding all kinds of meanings. That was why Cheng Ying unconsciously felt so nervous upon hearing that Chen Mu was an "A" level card master.


    A high level of power makes a person afraid while deep and broad learning gives a person respect.


    "Card artisan? Not me." Chen Mu said, shaking his head. How could a dabbler like him be considered a card artisan? From the very beginning with his tailless shuttle card, he had only been following his whims. And the bipolar thunderball card he had now was from after he had studied to be a close-combat card artisan for only a month. Card artisan? Whatever sort of card artisan could he be? He had a clear understanding of himself.


    Chen Mu had no sense of himself as a card artisan, or maybe he had never thought of himself as a card artisan.


    Cheng Ying was stupefied that someone having such terrifying skills would so seriously say that he wasn''t a card artisan. What did it mean?


    What did it mean indeed? Bo Wen''s face looked so bad that it was about to squeeze out water. For a person who had cornered him in a frontal assault to then say with such understatement that he wasn''t a card artisan. What Bo Wen was hearing really stung in his ears. Fine. So Chen Mu says he''s not a card artisan. Then what about himself? What does it mean for him to be pushed into such a tough spot by someone who''s not a card artisan.


    Bo Wen was stifling himself to the point of going mad, with absolutely nowhere to vent.


    Cheng Ying''s expression had also turned strange, though when she looked at Chen Mu''s expression, she didn''t think he was faking. Could it be that he really thought that his power was lacking? From the point of view of her long experience she immediately erased that ridiculous thought, since she didn''t want to be made a fool!


    She looked out of the corner of her eye at the terrible-looking Bo Wen when it dawned on her that Chen Mu had originally provoked Bo Wen. But Cheng Ying thought that if two people were going different ways then it was very common for their language to be provocative.


    So, she skipped over that phrase, feeling that her thoughts were pretty good. But her respect for Chen Mu had only grown, since there wasn''t anyone anymore who could learn to be both a card artisan and a card master. A card master with a "A" level of contribution points and a card artisan who could push Bo Wen into a tough spot, those two things combined were enough to make a person bow his head in worship.


    Most of the people in the world including Chen Mu would never achieve even one of their goals, never mind being able to accomplish two of them.


    Bo Wen was off to the side with a dark look, also feeling that it was inconceivable. Although Chen Mu had said that he wasn''t a card artisan, Bo Wen actually knew how strong he was. And he had seen Chen Mu''s ability making cards.


    How could one person be so accomplished at being a card artisan and a card master at the same time? He had also seen a few paranoids chasing after the footsteps of the ancient card masters, studying to be a card master and a card artisan at the same time. But not one of them had been an exception to the iron rule that a person could not simultaneously learn two professions.


    But in front of him was a living exception!


    Could he be the darling of heaven, and a so-called genius? Bo Wen''s expression was cloudy and uncertain.


    Chen Mu didn''t think there was anything strange about himself. At the beginning he had also felt that a card master was a card master and a card artisan was a card artisan. But then he had come across the theories in that mysterious card, where he discovered that there wasn''t any conflict between the two. He accepted that concept very naturally, since he wasn''t very confident in the theory he had studied on his own previously. And then he had proven to himself very quickly that the theory described in that mysterious card was correct.


    While he was at the base, Chen Mu had often steeped himself in the library. But that had been to study four-star fantasy cards. The obvious good point about that goal was that he could improve his ability in a short time by focusing his energy, while the bad thing about that approach to learning was that it was easy for his scope to narrow. Chen Mu hadn''t realized that he was quite different from anyone else.


    There was quite a difference between what he had studied and what ordinary card artisans or card masters would study. For example, regarding the collecting of materials. That was a skill that both card masters and card artisans had to learn that he hadn''t studied at all. The only unusual materials that he remembered had been described in the mysterious card, such as the black chrysanthemum stone, which was the only material he kept with him. When it came to gathering materials there also existed such a thing as materials markets in that world.


    It was a good thing that Cheng Ying was there as a seasoned professional card artisan who had mastered the collection of materials, which was also her most important source of funds.


    He watched her practiced way of scraping the fur from the twin hook beast, or of cutting away the tail hooks and even her collecting several bottles of its blood. Throughout the entire process both Chen Mu and Bo Wen were looking on with curiosity. One of them was accustomed to shopping for finished materials while the other was a princeling who had only fought on the practice fields or the dueling fields, without any hands-on ability.


    She gave a bottle full of the twin hook beast''s blood to Chen Mu, "The twin hook beast''s blood makes a really good compatibility agent."


    Chen Mu carefully examined the blood. The compatibility agents that he normally used were all processed finished products, and that was his first time to see the raw materials in their original form. He really wanted to try out the twin hook beast''s blood to see what kind of results it would have but scanning Bo Wen he immediately scrapped that plan. He also didn''t have the equipment for it.


    Having packed up the twin hook beast, the three of them started to move ahead carefully. Because of what Chen Mu had said at the outset, they couldn''t go back the way they came and there was nothing Bo Wen could do about it. If he and Cheng Ying were to turn back, they would certainly die along the way. They were both relying on Chen Mu''s strength. Although they didn''t know what lay ahead of them, the three of them together had more strength which gave them a better chance of survival. If their luck was any good, they might even be able to reach Amay City or Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    But he probably didn''t know that Chen Mu''s great power wouldn''t last more than 150 seconds. And outside of those 150 seconds Chen Mu was nothing more than an ordinary novice close-combat card artisan.


    The three of them were extremely careful since no one knew what was ahead. And Bo Wen and Chen Mu had to be separated by Cheng Ying.


    Across several days the three of them hadn''t run into any wild beasts. That had to be considered good luck. And among the three of them, Cheng Ying had been the most useful since her experience had been at the root of their survival. It was hard to imagine that she even carried such things as a sewing kit with her. Chen Mu''s tattered clothes could finally be put to bed, as what he was then wearing was sewn together by Cheng Ying in two days from the fur of the twin hook beast.


    Although it was crude, Chen Mu had gladly accepted it since the rags on his body could no longer be called clothes.

 Chapter 140: Li Duhong

    Chapter 140: Li Duhong


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The three of them were sitting beside a small lake, since finding water was something you had to do first in the outer reaches. All three of them looked haggard and ashen, with the cleanest being Bo Wen who would wash his face clean every day, having a certain standard of cleanliness.


    Chen Mu and Bo Wen hadn''t been talking all along, having nothing to say.


    Bo Wen presented a few small animals, swinging them in front of Chen Mu. Chen Mu didn''t change his gaze as he pulled out his heating card to start a fire. The heating card could directly heat food, but to save power they would gather sticks for a fire.


    The flames soon leapt up. Chen Mu started to skin the prey, which he was pretty good at after a few days.


    He finished very quickly and put the prepared animal on the spit to roast. Cheng Ying, who had been gathering berries nearby, hadn''t yet returned which put a frown on Chen Mu''s face, since she should have returned by then.


    Chen Mu and Bo Wen looked at each other without thinking and saw the worry in each other''s eyes.


    The two of them then abruptly stood when they vaguely heard Cheng Ying''s call for help.


    Chen Mu and Bo Wen very hastily flew in the direction of the call for help. Seeing Chen Mu fall behind, Bo Wen couldn''t help flashing a look of contempt across his eyes.


    The two of them had set off at the same time, but now Chen Mu had fallen behind by a body length.


    Bo Wen had made the assessment to himself that while he had good strength, he wasn''t much as a person. It was no wonder Bo Wen thought that way, since knowing that they had set off at the same time and Chen Mu had fallen a body length behind after such a short time, it was clear that his counterpart''s strength wasn''t at his same level. But from Bo Wen''s point of view, while Chen Mu wasn''t any stronger than he was, he wasn''t deficient either. For Chen Mu to have fallen so far behind was a classic case of not making the effort.


    Chen Mu wasn''t aware of that, since he''d already taken his speed to the maximum, and he hadn''t paid any attention to Bo Wen''s disdainful gaze.


    He well understood that when he wasn''t in the state of breath control he wasn''t anything more than an amateur card artisan duffer. He naturally wouldn''t take the lead in this matter of rescuing someone. How could a novice like him compare with someone who had the power to control a four-star fantasy card?


    The two of them saw Cheng Ying in the blink of an eye.


    She was tightly protecting a dark-skinned little boy in a confrontation with a cruel iron salamander. It was about a meter long and shaped like a lizard with a flatter head but covered in dark shining scales which gave off a metallic sheen. It would shoot out its blood red tongue from time to time, and fresh blood could be smelled from a long way off.


    Chen Mu was finally seeing Cheng Ying''s methods. There were some multicolored glowing dots floating in front of her. With a serious expression, Cheng Ying was gently waving her hands very slowly, though it seemed to Chen Mu that it was taking a lot of strength to do those movements.


    He saw those colorful glowing spots form into a canopy like colorful rainfall shooting at the cruel iron salamander.


    There was the light sound of dense popping and splitting.


    That colorful rainfall which looked so weak was actually quite powerful, and the cruel iron salamander was cringing from it, with its body shaking from the blows. But his scaly skin was thick and hard, and even though the colorful rainfall had left some pockmarks on its body, it wasn''t doing any fatal damage.


    And the colorful rain had enraged the iron salamander, so that it stormed after Cheng Ying. Ignoring the rainfall, it seemed to know that it wouldn''t cause him any mortal harm.


    Bo Wen had no intention of doing anything, wanting to see Chen Mu''s means of attack. The other thing that the night of the cross was famous for was the "cross." In his eyes, Chen Mu was mysterious and strange, and it was difficult to determine his depth. During the process of their last confrontation, he had never seen Chen Mu use that "cross." At that distance launching off the "cross" was almost certain.


    The salamander moved very quickly and not in any straight line but rather moved forward in a complicated kind of strange writing pattern, which was hard to predict.


    Chen Mu didn''t make a move, or to be precise, he didn''t even lift a finger.


    Given his speed, he was still too far away from Cheng Ying and the bipolar thunderball card had no way to reach. The only thing he had which could harm the salamander was the tailless shuttle card which was slow. Cheng Ying would already have been torn to pieces by the salamander by time he could shoot it off. He simply didn''t do anything, not to mention that the ace Bo Wen was next to him, so what use would his moves have?


    Bo Wen had an ugly look on his face, never having thought that Chen Mu would be so utterly indifferent.


    Those night of the cross card artisans were really a bunch of cold blooded guys! Didn''t he know that if Cheng Ying were to die, he wouldn''t live either? Or was he so sure that Bo Wen himself would make the move?


    Despite the resentment that he felt, Bo Wen didn''t dare to delay his moves. Chen Mu showed no sign of doing anything and was looking on with an expression as though what was happening had nothing to do with him.


    Bo Wen couldn''t restrain himself any longer and made his move. Three fist sized blood red wavy blades lined up end to end and sunk into the salamander''s body one after the other.


    The salamander''s body went stiff and its eyes went suddenly slack, while its momentum kept it charging into Cheng Ying. Seeing how fast it was coming, Cheng Ying held the child as she deftly stepped aside. The cruel iron salamander kept on coming without moving, right up until it had stopped.


    Amazing! Chen Mu was quietly speechless. Bo Wen''s power was really tough. The blood sharp card wasn''t sufficient to kill that salamander, but he hadn''t thought that Bo Wen could fire off three wavy blades at the same time, which reflected a stunning level of perceptual control. And the most crucial thing was that the three wavy blades'' hits were completely coordinated, which enabled the lethality of the wavy blades to be multiplied to their maximum, which then enabled them to tear open the cruel iron salamander''s thick and hard scaly skin.


    Bo Wen didn''t look the least bit pleased. To have made the moves necessary to kill an iron salamander didn''t give him any pleasure. On the contrary, he felt as though he was fed up with Chen Mu, and no one felt any pleasure after choking on their food.


    Bo Wen grunted feeling extremely dissatisfied and returned alone to the camp.


    Cheng Ying was a little bit confused seeing that, and she asked Chen Mu in a low voice, "What''s up with him?"


    Chen Mu shook his head, "I don''t know."


    He really didn''t know.


    Only after he got back to the camp did Chen Mu pay attention to the child being held by Cheng Ying. It was about seven or eight years old with dark skin and a rather scrawny body, and dark eyes which flashed like agate.


    How could there be people there?


    Chen Mu and Bo Wen''s spirits were suddenly in synch. If there were people there, could it be that they were already close to leaving the jungle?


    "What is your name?" Cheng Ying guided patiently, sitting down.


    Probably because it had been Cheng Ying who had just saved him, he was a little friendlier to her. He stuck out his little head from Cheng Ying''s chest, with his face full of curiosity, and didn''t see anything scary.


    "I''m called Li Duhong." Although the child tried to express himself as though he were a little older, his childish voice made his actions look amusing and cute.


    "Where is your house, Li Duhong? Why did you come here by yourself?" Cheng Ying asked very softly.


    "My house is in the mountains." Li Duhong''s dark glinting eyes looked a little crafty, as he went on to say, "I''m lost, big sister."


    In the mountains? That manner of speaking was just too generic, since the entire jungle could be said to be ''in the mountains.''


    Chen Mu was paying attention to Li Duhong''s spirits, and quietly understood that the small child was pretending to be little. His own childhood had taught him that if you thought that a child was completely simple, you would be mistaken. Glancing at Bo Wen and Cheng Ying, the two of them were intent on what LI Duhong was saying, and it was clear that they hadn''t taken note of the deceit. Maybe to them it was normal for that little child to speak so vaguely.


    "How far away is your house?"


    "A long long way!" Li Duhong was waving his two little arms in an exaggerated movement and expression. Cheng Ying smiled when she saw that and couldn''t help rubbing his little head.


    Chen Mu was looking on coldly, having noticed that Li Duhong''s gaze toward them wasn''t full of goodwill, even though he had been smiling all along. On the contrary, it was alert and vigilant with a sense of hostility.


    He was too familiar with that look. When he was still a street punk, he would draw that kind of look whenever he entered some other street punk''s scavenging area.


    He didn''t interrupt since he knew it wouldn''t do any good. And if he were to speak up, Bo Wen and Cheng Ying wouldn''t believe him. That little guy called Li Duhong looked a little bizarre. He was alert and might pull off something shady, so it would be better to look on from the side to see what might happen.


    For a child of seven or eight to show up in that kind of dangerous place was quite unreasonable.


    He had surmised that the child''s house was certainly not far away. Lost? It would take strength to get lost in the jungle, otherwise he would have become the supper in some wild beast''s belly before he had gone very far. Far? If it were far, how could he be so safe and sound? If it were really far away, then that small child''s strength would be more amazing than theirs, and he wouldn''t have needed them to rescue him.


    Chen Mu looked like a block of wood as he fixed his attention, sitting there with no expression.


    "Do you live in the mountains?" Cheng Ying asked with curiosity.


    "Yes, our village is in the mountains." Li Duhong said very cleverly.


    Then Bo Wen suddenly asked, "Village? How many are there in the village?"


    Li Duhong''s eyes grew round, "A whole lot. I''ve never counted them." He looked embarrassed after he said that, as though he''d disappointed someone.


    Cheng Ying saw that and hastily changed the topic, "Have you always lived in the mountains?"


    "Yep, we have always lived in the mountains. Big sister, where did you come from?" Li Duhong asked full of curiosity.


    Cheng Ying smiled slightly, "We came from Amay City."


    "Amay City? What place is that?" Li Duhong was still more curious. Chen Mu noticed that he hadn''t been lying judging from his expression which Chen Mu had been watching from the side.


    "That is a really big place, where a whole lot of people live." Cheng Ying smiled ever more as she was saying that, imitating Li Duhong''s intonation just then.


    "Big sister, will you take me home?" Li Duhong lifted his head and asked miserably.


    "Cheng Ying''s gaze fell on Chen Mu and Bo Wen. Bo Wen nodded and said, "Let''s send him back. If we run into the adults, we can ask the way." Cheng Ying then turned to look at Chen Mu.


    "I have no opinion." Chen Mu said quietly.


    Bo Wen and Cheng Ying were in high spirits along the way, not having thought that they would come across any other humans in the jungle. In the vast dangerous jungle, not only couldn''t they tell things apart, if they wanted to depend on their own strength to continue on alive, the odds would be very low.

 Chapter 141: Head to Head

    Chapter 141: Head to Head


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu followed close behind the three of them, closely watching every move of Li Duhong. Bo Wen kept trying to get some good information out of Li Duhong''s mouth, not knowing how slick he was. Li Duhong took advantage of being the little one who didn''t know anything with his absurd muddled responses. Meanwhile, he was getting a lot of things out of Bo Wen, and Cheng Ying couldn''t be counted on at all, since every time the little guy used that innocent tone to ask her something, she would always answer him right away.


    That little kid was even more amazing than Chen Mu had been when he was small! Chen Mu was quietly keeping up his guard while betraying nothing with his expression. After Li Duhong kept coming up with nothing he had lost patience with Chen Mu. He wrapped himself around Cheng Ying and Bo Wen instead, asking them about this and that and taking Chen Mu as so much air.


    The direction in which Li Duhong was leading them was quite close to the direction they had been taking. The four of them kept going ahead according to the little boy''s guidance. He was showing amazing qualities by then, with strength equal to an adult, and able to shuttle through the forest freely, as calmly as though he were playing in his family garden. He could find water very quickly and knew what was edible and what was poison, and even what kinds of wild beasts would be where. He could even swing along on the vines like a monkey at a speed not much slower than Bo Wen and the rest could fly.


    The three of them were starting to understand how Li Duhong could exist alone in the jungle. He really was so familiar with it. They all believed that he had always lived there, including Chen Mu. To have become that familiar with it, he must have lived there since he was small.


    It surprised the three of them that there were actually people who could survive in the desolate and sinister jungle. What did the people in the jungle live on? And how did they deal with the terrifying wild beasts? And how did they have enough power to live so freely in such a dangerous place?


    Bo Wen had become quiet. Those kinds of questions had naturally drawn the vigilant attention of someone so astute about politics as that offspring of a wealthy clan. If the village that Li Duhong had talked about really had enough aces to face most of the beasts in the jungle, then the three of them together didn''t add up to much. It would be very dangerous for them if it were like that. People were more dangerous than wild animals much of the time.


    Given Bo Wen''s silence and Chen Mu putting on his block of wood look, most of their time along the way was filled with the occasional laughter of Cheng Ying and Li Duhong.


    "What''s up with you big brother Bo Wen?" Li Duhong looked at him with his shiny black eyes, puzzled.


    Bo Wen barely smiled to say, "It''s nothing. I''m just thinking over a few things."


    "What things?" Cheng Ying had a questioning look, having also noticed Bo Wen''s worried look. Although she didn''t really think much of Bo Wen''s character, she didn''t question his ability. What was he worried about? Could there be something wrong?


    Bo Wen gave his little smile, "It''s nothing, just that I''m a little homesick."


    Once he said it, Cheng Ying went silent, though she immediately gave a smile, while her eyes flashed a little sadness, as she said, "I''m fine though. Being on my own, I don''t have to think about those things."


    Bo Wen was taken aback, and apologized, "Sorry."


    Cheng Ying transformed into a smile, "What is there to be sorry about? It has nothing to do with you."


    She turned around to look at Chen Mu, "What about you Chen Mu?"


    "Me?" Chen Mu looked calm, "I''ve always been on my own."


    When Chen Mu was very small, his parents were killed in a disaster where he was the only survivor. Without any relatives, he had to live by scavenging as one among an army of street punks.


    Bo Wen didn''t have any good feelings toward Chen Mu on his face, as he smiled coldly, "Someone coming from the "night of the cross" wouldn''t'' have any humanity, so how could you have a family?" In the annals of the Ning family, the training of the "night of the cross" card artisans was extremely cruel. For example, the mysterious breath control technique required being in the dark for a large part of their lives, and the training to become a gifted card artisan required five years of training, or even more. A card artisan who had gone through such training would have become ruthless and dehumanized.


    That classic dark look in Chen Mu''s eyes was characteristic of someone who had gone through breath control training. Bo Wen assumed that Chen Mu was a card artisan from the "night of the cross," which was why he said those things.


    Chen Mu was stunned that Bo Wen actually knew about the "night of the cross!" What else did he know? Chen Mu suddenly turned his head and stared brightly at Bo Wen.


    He hadn''t told anyone about the mysterious card, and nothing was ever leaked. How did Bo Wen know about the "night of the cross?" Chen Mu''s knowledge of it was limited to breath control. But in his mind the mysterious card was the thing he cared the most about and was his most closely guarded secret. Of course, it was shocking for someone so suddenly to call out what had been recorded there.


    He had scoured the materials and had never found any information about the "night of the cross." From that, he could tell that the "night of the cross" wasn''t a very well-known sect. How could Bo Wen know about it? And then Chen Mu suddenly thought about Bo Wen repeatedly trying to kill him, and he started to understand!


    Bo Wen wanted to take the mysterious card! Although he didn''t know how Bo Wen knew about the mysterious card, that was the only thing which could explain it. It was the first time he''d considered that as the reason. Covetous crimes had never been rare since ancient times. Never mind the mysterious card, he''d seen quite a few people killed over a loaf of bread when he was a child.


    In that marvelous world Chen Mu didn''t know about the feud between the Ning''s and the "night of the cross," and Bo Wen didn''t know that Chen Mu hadn''t learned breath control form the "night of the cross" sect.


    "What? Did I hit the nail on the head?" Bo Wen was still smiling coldly, full of hostility.


    Chen Mu didn''t show his feelings, other than his eyes as sharp as swords staring straight at Bo Wen. And Bo Wen didn''t retract his own stare at Chen Mu.


    Cheng Ying and Li Duhong were transfixed by the two of them crossing swords, still not understanding the situation. Cheng Ying had long known about the differences between Bo Wen and Chen Mu, but that unrestrained outbreak was far beyond anything she''d expected. She really wanted to intervene, but considering her own power, she very wisely kept silent. And she couldn''t help wondering about the "night of the cross" and what it really was. Why would Chen Mu react so strongly upon hearing of it?


    And Li Duhong was looking at the two of them full of curiosity with a look of real interest.


    The silence was explosive.


    Just when Cheng Ying and Li Duhong were expecting a fight to break out, the two of them broke off their stares and their sprits calmed, as though nothing had happened.


    Li Duhong''s mouth was opened wide in his expectation of a good show, as he looked at them stunned. His brain had short-circuited, not knowing what was going on with the two of them. And the uptight Cheng Ying finally breathed a sigh of relief, since if the two of them were to fight, it could only be a lose-lose situation, with nothing good for anyone. But after thinking it over, she felt that her worry was overblown, since neither Bo Wen or Chen Mu were impetuous people. On the contrary, they were both among the people who were chill to the bone, who would never let themselves get into a dangerous situation because of a battle of words.


    Chen Mu became even more silent, and Bo Wen was also treating his words as gold, not letting anything out of his mouth for half the day. The atmosphere of the troops had gotten heavy, and even Li Duhong had shut his mouth, and wasn''t asking any more bizarre questions.


    Li Duhong would be gathering things from time to time and putting them into the bag that was hanging from his waist, in which were all sorts of materials that he had gathered. Cheng Ying would also sometimes gather up seldom-seen precious materials, since it was such a rare opportunity to be so deep in the jungle. How could she face herself if she didn''t take the opportunity to gather them? If they were really able to get out of there, those precious materials all had sky high value. She only regretted that she didn''t have more knowledge, since she recognized too few precious materials.


    Whenever she did it she would always lift her head in surprise at Chen Mu. She really couldn''t imagine how a card master with an "A" level of contribution points didn''t know the least thing about even the most basic raw materials. She found it incredible every time she saw him looking so indifferent, standing among such precious materials.


    But she quickly got used to it, since however you looked at him, Chen Mu was not an ordinary person. Gifted geniuses like him did commonly have strange things about them. If they were the same as ordinary people, then that would be strange.


    Sitting in the camp, their expressions were flickering in the light of the roaring campfire. Since Bo Wen and Chen Mu were out of sorts, there was only the lively chatting between Cheng Ying and Li Duhong. Cheng Ying really like him, so no matter what he asked, she would very patiently tell him about it in detail.


    They had already walked for seven days since running into Li Duhong. But because of his guidance through the jungle, the quality of their lives during that time was as different as night from day compared to the time before then. Li Duhong had extremely rich experience in the jungle, knowing which animals'' meat was tasty, and where the sweet water was, and even sometimes picking some berries for Cheng Ying which had an extremely sweet flavor.


    Chen Mu''s attention had been focused on Li Duhong all along. Although that little guy had been acting pretty normal during those seven days, he didn''t dare to drop his guard.


    Chen Mu didn''t know that while he was paying attention to Li Duhong, Bo Wen was paying attention to him.


    Bo Wen was full of doubt, since he felt more and more that he couldn''t read Chen Mu.

 Chapter 142: The Brilliant Ape

    Chapter 142: The Brilliant Ape


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Bo Wen had been watching Chen Mu very closely those past few days. Ever since his last probing he had been convinced that Chen Mu came from the "night of the cross," which made him examine Chen Mu even closer. He wanted to know what was really different between the night of the cross card artisans who had gone through such tortuous training, and the rest.


    He still hadn''t gotten the answers he needed from that examination, but instead his doubts had increased.


    That was because he had discovered something really strange.


    He had found that Chen Mu''s strength was far from what he had shown that day in their battle. A card artisan''s power could be considered from many different aspects. For example, time. An ace would be very sensitive about time, and such sensitivity would sometimes demonstrate their difference from ordinary people. Everyone has some unconscious reaction when things get dangerous. Card artisans were no different, except that their reactions were more professional, and faster.


    But not Chen Mu, who had quick reflexes, but they looked messy, as though he hadn''t experienced any of the traditional training of a card artisan. And he had discovered something else, which was that his reaction wasn''t nearly as fast as it had been that day in battle.


    During that battle, Chen Mu had swapped out his card in only six tenths of a second, which had left an indelible impression on Bo Wen. But then ever since, Chen Mu had never swapped out a card in under a second. And what was most inconceivable to him was that all of Chen Mu''s reactions seemed natural, and not faked.


    Once, twice, three times . . .


    There were quite a few times which gave Bo Wen pause. He had never seen any of the inadvertently revealed brilliance of an ace from Chen Mu. It was always Bo Wen who made a move whenever they ran into danger, and never Chen Mu. From the start, Bo Wen had considered Chen Mu to be hiding his strength, or conserving it, but he had gradually sensed that something was off.


    It didn''t seem that Chen Mu was unwilling; it was rather because of his strength that he held off. It seemed that he had lost his spirit ever since that day, which is to say that after that day his strength had seemed to shrink a lot.


    That was what Bo Wen considered to be most likely, and he knew that it was common enough to lose strength following the kind of serious wounds that Chen Mu had gotten that day. What card artisans most feared was to lose the strength of their perception, since once that was damaged it was very difficult to restore, or sometimes even impossible.


    That made Bo Wen ready to make his move, but he held back. If his surmise had been correct, it would be easy enough to kill Chen Mu if he wanted to. He didn''t have any value to him or Cheng Ying with his strength depleted and was a burden instead.


    But what if he were wrong in his surmise?


    The result of that would be something unbearable.


    Bo Wen squinted as he leaned against a tree, looking like he was asleep.


    Chen Mu sat cross-legged to carefully understand the perception in his body, which was a bit of homework he''d done every day since entering the forest. Ever since Bo Wen''s probing, he had become more careful. He didn''t dare to pull out the water-world card that he had been using all along for training. He would simply keep trying every day to understand the perception in his body. In the eyes of Bo Wen, it looked even more as though Chen Mu''s strength had been damaged.


    There wasn''t any card artisan who would train his perception while around other people.


    Bo Wen couldn''t know that Chen Mu wasn''t training his perception but was trying to understand it. Ever since it had dawned on Chen Mu that his perception had a spiraling spring-like composition, he had realized that he didn''t understand it well enough. If he were ever to run into trouble he would only be able to come up with a few ways out.


    Just at that time, it wasn''t suitable to practice anything else, so he calmed himself to closely examine the perception in his body. Perception was one of the most mysterious powers of the body and up until then there hadn''t been a card artisan or a card master who had claimed to have fully understood it. That was a vast and enormous engineering project for Chen Mu which exceeded his current capability, though he was still attempting it.


    While he might not achieve any results in the short term, it was something he had to do for the long term.


    Chen Mu had closed his eyes in his cross-legged position, as he carefully examined the spiral spring of perception in his body. The perception in his body had been divided into lots of very fine perceptual tendrils, which were circling up, and forming themselves into a very spring-like perceptual composition. They were turning slowly, with an up and down rhythm, which was the oscillation of his perception.


    At the two ends of the spring structure, there were a number of fine perceptual tendrils scattering out, slowly rippling like seaweed.


    The spring was turning very slowly, and the tendrils which were disseminating were very long, by that time seeming like the spring had been extending some very long tentacles, and those soft invisible tentacles were rhythmically swaying in the air. That also gave Chen Mu a lot of understanding of what was going on around him. The longer the tentacles were, the broader the range of what he could probe.


    Although he hadn''t opened his eyes, he knew what the rest of them were doing. Bo Wen was examining him, and Cheng Ying was staring dazed into the fire. As for Li Duhong, he seemed to be quietly spreading some powder on the ground.


    What was he trying to do? Chen Mu had no idea what that powder did. Was it some kind of insect repellent? But then why hadn''t he seen him spread it those last few days?


    Chen Mu was suspicious, but before long some of the tentacles snapped together. It seemed that something was fluctuating deep in the jungle. Chen Mu was somewhat shocked and didn''t hesitate to slow the rotation of his perception in order to extend the reach of the tentacles until he couldn''t extend them any further, which was at the limit of what he could probe.


    The perceptual tentacles had a regular sway, and the distant scene became gradually more clear in Chen Mu''s mind. Of course, it wasn''t as clear as being there, and he really could only sense the general outline. But the outlines were clear, though he would have to closely identify it to be able to tell what it was. He had found that his probing was very deficient in the jungle as compared to open spaces, and those fuzzy outlines were more difficult to decipher.


    What was it? Chen Mu''s heart skipped a beat as the fuzzy picture almost blurred together. It seemed as though something was coming their way at high speed from some distance away.


    A wild beast?


    Bo Wen also seemed to have discovered the situation, as he sat up and stared deep into the jungle.


    The fuzzy picture kept transforming in his mind, and Chen Mu could only do his best to keep the perception within him turning at a steady rate. But with the changes in the fuzzy outline, what he saw was rather abstract. And Chen Mu had to discern what was actually there from those abstract images.


    One, two, three . . .


    One after another round thing appeared in Chen Mu''s mind, and the first thing he thought of was a person''s head. But he could tell from the outline that those round shapes were larger than a head. What could it be? Chen Mu didn''t have a lot of time to be guessing.


    A roar came from deep in the jungle such as he had never heard, and it was coming closer, as a succession of roaring sounds.


    "The brilliant ape!" Li Duhong said in a panic.


    Bo Wen''s expression changed, and Cheng Ying responded more intensely, as her face turned white. Chen Mu had been paying attention to the look of satisfaction and playfulness that had flashed across Li Duhong''s eyes even while his expression looked panicked.


    Eight of them! Chen Mu already knew how many they were. But he didn''t know anything about the power of the brilliant ape, though with eight of them it was enough to make Chen Mu feel endangered. He determined that it would be about a minute until they got there.


    Without any hesitation, Chen Mu then started to enter the state of breath control. In general, it would take three minutes of preparation for him to enter that state. But there was only a minute that time. No, probably less than a minute, since that gang of brilliant apes was coming on really fast.


    That was a challenge for him! He had to enter the state of breath control before the apes got there.


    Bo Wen had already activated his apparatus and was floating in midair in a battle-ready state. Cheng Ying had gathered up Li Duhong and was also floating in midair in combat readiness.


    Their adversary had gotten too close, and that gang of brilliant apes had already discovered them, leaving them no time to flee. The apes were really fast, even faster than that twin hook beast which had chased them that day.


    Bo Wen and Cheng Ying were looking at Chen Mu from midair as though something were strange, not knowing what he was up to. He wasn''t even going to make any move in that kind of situation? Bo Wen wondered if he could have guessed wrong. To be so still at a time like that, could he actually be in control?


    And Cheng Ying was looking worshipfully at Chen Mu, since an ace was an ace, and wouldn''t change his expression in front of the collapse of Mount Amay, unruffled in the midst of chaos.


    Li Duhong was looking down at Chen Mu with a lot of curiosity, finding it very strange that he wouldn''t move. Could it be that he wasn''t afraid of the apes?


    The brilliant apes were the type of ape with long legs that stood about three meters high. They had a lot of power and moved in groups. They were also among the small number of animals who could use tools, and they were good at using the natural spinulosa wheel as a weapon. The spinulosa wheel was made from the fruit of the spinulosa tree, and was as flat as a plate, having a diameter of between about twenty and thirty centimeters. It had thirteen lateral ribs. After the fruit was dried, it was as hard as steel, and those thirteen lateral ribs turned into thirteen sharp knives, with the thickness of the wheel also getting thinner, while its weight didn''t decrease by much.


    The brilliant apes were naturally good at using that type of weapon, and when they threw the spinulosa wheel its power was shocking and they had excellent aim. With such long and powerful legs, they could run extremely fast. And they liked to act in groups, hunting with the spinulosa wheel. They were a very powerful tribe in the jungle.

 Chapter 143: A Bitter Battle

    Chapter 143: A Bitter Battle


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Card artisans really hated that kind of powerful creature, since they were really hard to deal with. The spinulosa wheel that the brilliant apes threw had terrifying power which could even smash through a three-star energy cloak card. Even if you were grazed by it, if it didn''t kill you it would disable you. The brilliant ape had a very strong territorial sense, and if any other wild beast were to enter their territory, they would become powerfully aggressive.


    Failure!


    Failure!


    Another failure!


    Chen Mu couldn''t quite adjust the frequency to where he could enter the state of breath control.


    Every step taken by the apes had a lot of power, and when they stepped on the ground Chen Mu could feel it shake. They were getting closer and closer to where he was! Chen Mu forced himself to remain calm as he carefully brought the frequency of the vibrations to what was specifically required to enter the state of breath control.


    Bo Wen''s color had already returned to normal. The brilliant ape was certainly very difficult to oppose, but he would just have to brace himself. That was also a good opportunity to test whether Chen Mu''s strength had been damaged. If it had been, Bo Wen would kill him without any hesitation! Bo Wen had always wanted to get rid of Chen Mu as quickly as he could, but the reason that he hadn''t killed him was that he needed Chen Mu''s strength to get through the crisis together. But if his power had been damaged, Chen Mu didn''t have any value for him.


    Bo Wen and Cheng Ying split up to hide behind some trees, and while floating in midair they could already see the hideous face of one of the brilliant apes.


    Just at that time, Chen Mu opened his eyes!


    What kind of eyes were those? Indifferent, cold, chilly like the gods glaring at creation, without any emotional color.


    Bo Wen''s body was jolted, as his heart tightened, and he said over and over to himself, So that''s how it is! That''s how it is! That''s how Chen Mu looked that day!


    Although Chen Mu hadn''t had any expression on his face those past few days, Bo Wen hadn''t ever found that terrified feeling that Chen Mu had given him that day. That was an important reason he doubted whether Chen Mu''s power had been damaged. He felt that the ordinary Chen Mu and the one that day were two different people.


    Seeing Chen Mu in front of him, all of what Bo Wen had been thinking went up in smoke as he looked at Chen Mu carefully and guardedly. He faintly anticipated that that guy would finally make his move.


    Cheng Ying had also noticed Chen Mu''s transformation, but she wasn''t the same as Bo Wen, since her disturbed heart immediately calmed, as Chen Mu was finally going to start showing how strong he was!


    Li Duhong shivered when his eyes made contact with Chen Mu''s, and he looked at him in some fear, his instincts telling him that the person in front of him was very dangerous.


    Looking over everyone with indifference, Chen Mu jumped up into midair without any warning, having entered the state of breath control, with the whole action many times slicker with its overall nimbleness than his normal plodding.


    Bo Wen was trying to understand what Chen Mu had been doing showing such modest power when he was so strong. Had he been trying to hide his power? There wasn''t any need to do that, since Bo Wen and Cheng Ying had already seen it, so there wasn''t anything to hide.


    Could it be that Chen Mu''s power wasn''t only limited to those aspects they had seen? Once that thought had surfaced, it wouldn''t go away. Bo Wen''s mouth was dry and his heart was beating, as he swallowed hard forcing himself to calm down.


    Not paying any attention to Bo Wen, Chen Mu flew toward Cheng Ying. Her face brightened since she would be a lot safer with Chen Mu at her side.


    Chen Mu stopped right in front of her, showing extremely strong perceptual control by going to full stop from such a high speed. Bo Wen nearly hung his head in shame to look at that, since he had thought that Chen Mu''s perception had been injured. Did that look like injury? Never mind an injury, that kind of precise control was far beyond his ability. While it was something Bo Wen could do with a great deal of effort, he would never be able to do it so gracefully.


    That was what was most distasteful to Bo Wen, always having boasted about his discernment, while every time he looked at Chen Mu it made him depressed. Like a strong man proud of his power being bowled over by some youth who wasn''t very strong over and over again, that would naturally suck.


    Chen Mu didn''t care if it sucked for Bo Wen or not, as he stopped calmly in front of Cheng Ying.


    Seeing someone charging toward him suddenly stop without any warning about two meters away was something really striking. It was clearly the first time Li Duhong had seen anything like it and it had obviously shocked him. His mouth hung open as he stared dumbly at Chen Mu, his expression frozen.


    Bo Wen and Cheng Ying had both gotten the wrong impression. Chen Mu wasn''t doing something meaningless. They found that Chen Mu''s gaze had stunningly fallen onto Li Duhong, remaining as if he were a lifeless object, calmly indifferent.


    Could it be . . .


    "If you make any more mischief I''ll kill you."


    The calm and unmodulated voice seemed to mechanically elaborate some entirely ordinary matter. Even such a bold person as Bo Wen shivered to hear such talk, while Cheng Ying had just lost her color.


    Li Duhong whom she was holding close was trembling and his lips were quivering, with his body in a chill. He was really scared then, as he looked at Chen Mu in terror, doing everything he could to avoid meeting his gaze. He didn''t have any thoughts about making excuses, feeling as though all the blood in his body had congealed, leaving his brain blank and his body trembling.


    He was really just a seven or eight-year-old kid; no matter how weird he was, he was only a child.


    Wu Wu Wu!


    Roar after roar were coming from the brilliant apes, who were coming at them in a half-circle array.


    Xiu xiu xiu! They started to throw their spinulosa wheels from about fifty meters away. The heavy wheels made a terrifying wailing sound as they flew through the air, and although they''d already heard it, now that they were facing those terrifying killing devices, everyone''s face changed.


    The only one who didn''t react was Chen Mu, whose stare still lingered on Li Duhong being held by Cheng Ying.


    Dong Dong Dong! The heavy hurtling spinulosa wheels all hit the big tree in front of them sending splinters everywhere with shocking momentum. The wheels were almost entirely embedded in the tree, showing how stunningly powerful they were. Each of the brilliant apes had quite a few spinulosa wheels, which didn''t seem to have any impact on their movements.


    Without any hesitation, Bo Wen fired off three fist sized bright red wavy blades, accurately sinking in to a brilliant ape''s skull, spewing blood everywhere! Bo Wen''s triple shot was enough to kill the cruel iron salamander, so how would a brilliant ape which had less protection than the salamander be spared? The ape that had been hit howled, as he fell softly down.


    By that time Cheng Ying had figured out the brilliant ape. Although the canopy of floating bright spots that had been formed in front of her wasn''t so powerful, it covered a large range. And that time there happened to be some colorful spritzes going into one of the apes'' eyes. That ape was immediately writhing on the ground, screaming in agony.


    Bo Wen and Cheng Ying had calmed down, since those apes didn''t seem as scary as the legends. Of course, Bo Wen had never run into a brilliant ape before, and even Cheng Ying who had a rich experience hadn''t ever encountered that king of creature. What they knew of them was limited to the stories they had heard and the knowledge from books.


    But they very quickly found out that they had underestimated the power of the brilliant apes!


    They immediately heard the howling, with the remaining apes seeming to have been provoked by the death of their comrade, as they became quite agitated.


    They threw more of the spinulosa wheels that they carried, but that time all of their firepower was aimed directly at Bo Wen!


    The scene would be hard to describe. The heavy wheels came roaring at them like rain covering the sky and darkening it. Bo Wen couldn''t even raise his head against such firepower which sounded relentlessly in his ears, never mind making any counter attack. He could only switch to his energy cloak for protection first, before doing anything else.


    The sound of wood cracking made the teeth itch with acid, as the huge tree which had been protecting the three of them was splintered by that rain of spinulosa wheels.


    Bo Wen couldn''t dodge or hide, as one of the wheels smashed into him. Although he had raised his energy shield, the power was far greater than he had estimated. He was sent flying by the direct hit, falling hard a long way off.


    There was blood coming from Bo Wen''s mouth, and his throat was burning. He had been injured! He had never been so seriously wounded in his life, even fighting that day with Chen Mu where he''d been bested, he''d come through intact.


    He''d actually been injured that day!


    Bo Wen who had been crawling on the ground suddenly leapt up with fury in his eyes. All of the blood had gone to his head, and his eyes were crimson.


    The brilliant apes were extremely clever, and they knew how to hit a person when he was down.


    Under the command of an ape with dark fur, the howling of the spinulosa wheels again sounded, all of it moving toward Bo Wen who was crawling on the ground, like rain to hide the sky. Cheng Ying had gone white, and hurried to send out her colorful spray, wanting to stop the wheels. But there wasn''t enough power in the colorful spray, and although it pitted all of the wheels, it had no way to stop those powerful and momentous weapons.


    A ruthless look flashed across Bo Wen''s eyes, as he yanked off the energy shield around him, and flew up into the sky like an arrow.

 Chapter 144: The Amazing Tailless Shuttle

    Chapter 144: The Amazing Tailless Shuttle


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The thousand swallows wavy blades!


    The screaming of countless swallow-shaped wavy blades pierced the eardrums as it pressed down. If one were to say that those spinulosa wheels had darkened the sky like rain, then the thousand swallows wavy blades were diametrically opposite. The sky was suddenly lit up, with the light shining from them pricking the eyes enough to hurt. The screaming wavy blades had covered all of the brilliant apes.


    The whooshing sound kept up, and as the swallow-shaped wavy blades hit the ground, the dust would fly. If they were to fall on the body of an ape, the blood would spurt like flowers blooming, sending up shrill screams from the brilliant apes.


    The brilliant apes hadn''t planned any kind of firm defense against such a dense and powerful attack, and they completely collapsed.


    But then very shortly those apes showed a toughness and tenacity beyond that of any other creature.


    In the midst of the eye-stinging rain of blades, all of their bloody eyes remained full of resolve, while at the same time summoning all of their strength to throw all of the remaining spinulosa wheels that they had. Dozens of the wheels faced the rain of wavy blades, shooting toward Bo Wen in midair.


    The wheels that had been thrown were then suddenly torn apart by the dense and sharp wavy blades. But although the wavy blades were sharp there wasn''t anything special about their power; while they could easily split up a spinulosa wheel into dozens of pieces, they couldn''t even slightly slow the speed of the fragments.


    Even though broken into pieces, the wheels'' momentum hadn''t been reduced, and they kept screaming toward Bo Wen who was flying off in midair.


    The screaming of the apes on the ground was mixed with the whoosh of the sharp thousand swallows wavy blades and the deep howl of the spinulosa wheels, and then mingled with the moan of Bo Wen. The battle had reached its climax in an instant.


    The rain of the thousand swallows wavy blades was dazzling, and no one was paying attention under that dangerous and beautiful sight as an ape with dark fur had rolled himself into a ball. And even though he was covered in wounds, he had braced himself to keep silent. He was the only brilliant ape who hadn''t thrown his spinulosa wheel.


    Bo Wen was moaning in midair, since while those small pieces chopped up from the spinulosa wheels weren''t big, they still hurt when they hit the body. Those apes were powerful, and although Bo Wen had already switched out to his energy cloak card, the shroud of fragments from the wheels was falling like rain on bananas, and when they hit the energy shield each one hit very hard.


    The first piece to hit the energy shield sent it shaking, and the ones following close upon it in a climax very rudely drove him flying out of there when he couldn''t dodge them. The biggest of those didn''t exceed the size of a fist, but there were too many of them and with the power they had Bo Wen was quickly driven off, which showed how powerful those apes were.


    Just then, that dark-furred ape who had rolled into a ball suddenly stood up. Astonishingly, there was still a spinulosa wheel in his hand.


    Bo Wen was taken aback, but under the pummeling of wave after wave of fragments, he could only struggle precariously to maintain the energy cloak. The power of those wheels was immense, and he could only grit his teeth and steel himself. But he didn''t have any energy left to dodge them. Those fist-sized fragments from the spinulosa wheels were shockingly lethal.


    If he were to be hit by an intact wheel, then the energy cloak which was already near collapse would collapse in an instant. Without it he would be as vulnerable as a sheet of paper in front of the wheel.


    With its two large eyes gleaming and its mouth in a grin, who knows if it was taunting Bo Wen, who had lost his control. It wasn''t moving slowly with its two long arms suddenly outstretched and holding tightly to the spinulosa wheel, with its eyes fixed on Bo Wen in flight. It was certain that making that fatal blow was completely in its hands, not knowing how many times it had brought down such speedy prey.


    And it wanted revenge for its tribe, so its eyes were on fire, showing a mad desire to kill.


    It exhaled and bent its arm to throw, and it was evident that the wheel was about to be released.


    Bo Wen''s heart sank, and his eyes lost all hope! What could cause a person''s heart to beat harder than to see death coming closer and closer right before the eyes.


    Could he be about to die right there that day? That was the thought which flashed through his mind.


    A strange whistling suddenly sounded. It was a very peculiar sound, something that it was pretty sure it had never heard before. Was it going to stop it? That clever ape had a crazed look in its eyes as the forest floor was lit up. It was already too late, and he was certain that the wheel would accurately hit that flying prey.


    A light flashed in front of its eyes, and a pain spread rapidly from its brain, without it being able to react before everything went dark.


    Not far away, Chen Mu''s empty index finger was still sticking up in the air, and he looked as indifferent as ever with no emotion on his face. In that moment just then, he had fired three tailless shuttles, which was a mode that he''d learned from Bo Wen which he''d used with that blood sharp card, the triple combo. In the state of breath control, Chen Mu had been able to take the precision of his perceptual control to a higher place than he had ever achieved. That was enough for him to complete the process of controlling three tailless shuttles, and because of the increase in the precision of his control, he had greatly decreased the time it took to fire them. That then fulfilled the conditions to fire three of them together.


    The three tailless shuttles accurately hit the ape directly in its right eye, where its incomparable penetration was instantly demonstrated to the fullest. The three tailless shuttles sunk into the ape''s right eye as one, immediately penetrating its skull. Given the huge impact, immense quantities of blood and brains spewed out from the back of its skull. Because of the brain damage, the ape had died in the first instant.


    Chen Mu suddenly turned his face in midair and gazed into the forest. At about the same time, he raised his index finger again, and the other three finally were able to see clearly the crystalline tubular tailless shuttle on Chen Mu''s finger.


    At some point above his index finger, everyone saw something bloom as a light flashed by and sank into the forest.


    Hunh! A moan came from deep in the jungle. Someone was there! Bo Wen and Cheng Ying simultaneously showed the shock on their faces that there had been an ambush! No one had noticed the strange look on Li Duhong who was being held by Cheng Ying. No one had yet reacted until Chen Mu suddenly moved, and accelerated from stillness to a high speed, too fast for anyone to follow easily, demonstrating his extreme skill with controlling perception yet another time.


    Chen Mu flew to where someone had ambushed them like a wisp of smoke.


    Before Bo Wen or Cheng Ying could react, he had disappeared. The two of them looked at one another and saw the horror in each other''s eyes. Chen Mu hadn''t made a move, but once he did it was a stunner.


    Was that the "cross" just then? Bo Wen was frightened and uncertain, as he stared blankly in the direction where Chen Mu had disappeared. Although the stunning attack that Chen Mu had just made was the attack of a remote card artisan, there was quite a difference between that tubular crystalline little tube and the "cross" that had been described in the annals of the clan. The cross in the annals of the clan made a cross-shaped wound, while that fine crystalline shuttle was tubular.


    He walked over to where that dark furred ape was. That clever ape had nearly taken his life. If it weren''t for Chen Mu, he would already be dead, which upset him. The brilliant ape''s corpse was laid out on the ground, with its whole right eye a bloody mess, and the pool of blood behind its head mixed with brains and shocking to see.


    Bo Wen struggled to turn over the ape''s body. He didn''t have much physical strength, so to turn over such a tall and heavy ape tired him to the point of panting.


    "What is it?" Cheng Ying had come to where Bo Wen was, asking with wonder. There wasn''t any material worth gathering from the brilliant ape''s body, which was another reason it wasn''t liked very much by card artisans. No one liked a dangerous beast that didn''t have any income potential.


    Bo Wen pointed to the back of the ape''s head, and said, "Look!"


    All of the blood drained from Cheng Ying''s face. And Li Duhong''s little face paled in her arms, as he swallowed in horror. Bo Wen also had an ugly look on his face, both grey and pale.


    If the back of the ape''s head had been pierced, they wouldn''t have reacted as strongly as they did. But the back of that ape''s head had been blown off, and when Bo Wen had flipped it over, you could see that half of the skull was gone. There was nothing to be seen of the back of its skull, nor any blood or brains inside. They had been spewed by that huge impact from a long way off.


    The scene of an empty skull was enough to terrify anyone. No wonder even those three bold people were frightened by the scene.


    Bo Wen turned the body of the ape back over, explaining, "Look, apart from the eye, everything is intact on his front. There was only one way that kind of situation would occur. He explained that the speed of that fine shuttle-shaped energy body was so fast that it could cause such a wound.


    "So powerful!" Cheng Ying muttered to herself.


    "It certainly is very powerful." Bo Wen''s sprits had returned to normal, as he coldly said, "Anyone coming from the night of the cross would certainly be amazing." But the doubts he harbored hadn''t decreased, since that wound hadn''t been made by the famous "cross" of the night of the cross card artisans.


    Could it be that the night of the cross had been progressing those last few years? That was the most likely thing, since a sect would only survive if it were able to bring its traditions up to date and underwent continual development. Sects that refused to develop would die before they regained their former power.


    "What is the night of the cross that you talk about?" Cheng Ying couldn''t help asking. Ever since those two had disputed, she had been curious about what the night of the cross really was.


    Bo Wen smiled without answering, but instead asked, "Did you hear that man''s voice just now?"


    Cheng Ying immediately realized that that wasn''t something she should be asking about, and so she didn''t hang onto it. She had also heard that moan from the jungle, and her expression turned solemn, "Mmm, I heard it. I don''t know who it was, but we''ll know when Chen Mu returns."


    "I never found anyone lurking." Bo Wen had an uneasy look on his face; that Chen Mu had been able to discover something that he hadn''t, and he had been bested once again.


    In that one day he had been repeatedly attacked. And it had been Chen Mu that made the move to save his life. Such a proud person couldn''t help a sense of frustration.


    That guy is so powerful!

 Chapter 145: Pursuit

    Chapter 145: Pursuit


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu had entered the woods in a flash, having just discovered someone observing them from the dark. When the tailless shuttle left his hand, it had hit the man in the shoulder. The tailless shuttle had a confusing peculiarity, which was that it''s flight would get faster the father it went. At the outset, the enemy would have gotten its initial speed, which wasn''t very fast, but its tail would be continually dissolving as its speed got faster and faster, until it had reached a frightening speed.


    That guy in hiding had taking a hit because of that. He had originally thought he could dodge it, but hadn''t realized that the shuttle''s speed would increase, so he was surprised, and he couldn''t dodge it and got hit in the shoulder.


    But as soon as Chen Mu saw him he could see that the fellow was full of spice, as he went charging into the woods rubbing his shoulder. Although his shoulder had been wounded, his actions were still as vigorous as a wild beast, though he was simply running, and going not much slower than Chen Mu could fly.


    He turned around for a glance, and when he saw Chen Mu following closely, a look of panic flashed through his eyes making him increase his pace.


    Chen Mu was following closely behind with no expression on his face, while the tailless shuttle took shape again above his hand, although he didn''t immediately fire it off. The mans pace was very strange, lurching side to side and constantly ducking for cover behind trees, making it very hard to aim.


    It was perfectly obvious that under the state of breath control all of Chen Mu''s qualities had been raised, though they were still limited by his basic abilities.


    That is to say that if he were an experienced card artisan, he would have been able to make better predictions under those conditions. That was because before they became professional card artisans, they would undergo study of the formal system, and they would be told in all sorts of curricula how to manage such a situation.


    But our classmate Chen Mu hadn''t ever studied, and not only that but he had utterly no understanding. Regarding card artisan theory, he was basically a blank slate. The only thing he understood was what little Mark Victor had taught him about close-combat theory. Mark Victor was a card artisan who emphasized fighting experience and went light on the theory. He wouldn''t have taught Chen Mu any theoretical knowledge.


    And moreover, what he was using then was the tailless shuttle card, which was a classic remote attack card.


    When Chen Mu had entered the state of breath control to explore its mysteries, although there were quite a few areas he hadn''t understood, he did have a certain understanding of some of the basic things. Breath control wasn''t something that would come from nothing, and its utility was to take one''s current skills to their highest power. And that greatest power wasn''t something that was set in stone but would vary according to one''s theoretical understanding and enhancements through experience, being constantly optimized upward.


    Combat awareness and tactical accomplishment were important components of battle strength.


    Breath control was only a skill to assist in combat, and it couldn''t replace Chen Mu''s basic skills and awareness.


    For example, in the current situation, Chen Mu didn''t have any way to make a proper response to that guy''s evasive maneuvers.


    Chen Mu''s expression hadn''t changed, and truthfully under the state of breath control, his emotions would remain in an utterly calm state. That was the scariest thing about breath control. Other abilities such as evading the probing of the probe card could only be considered as something useful that was rarely used.


    Chen Mu didn''t blindly shoot off the tailless shuttle in his hand, which was whirring on his finger at high speed. In the state of breath control, he had elevated his perceptual control a few levels, and that crystalline transparent tailless shuttle was spinning extremely fast, without any sign of exploding.


    But his adversary''s moves were too agile, and he had a knack for dodging and evading. He was also very familiar with the jungle, which gave Chen Mu a lot of trouble. It was a good thing that Chen Mu''s close-range dodging and evading flight accomplishment was so outstanding, as he persistently relied on his close range dodging and evading skills in his relentless pursuit. And he was floating in midair where the obstacles on the ground didn''t do anything to him.


    That guy''s moves were as quick and quiet as a civet cat, without any sloppiness. He never went in a straight line, but took a route which was impossible to predict.


    After going through the initial panic, none of his movements had any evident mistakes. His face was painted, which made it hard to see what he looked like, but his two eyes were extraordinarily clear. Without needing to turn his head to look, he knew that Chen Mu was still close behind him, and he couldn''t help the quiet wave of chill, still not knowing how he had been discovered. He had always been proud of his ability to hide. Even those beasts having such a good sense of smell had no way to discover him.


    He didn''t dare to slow his pace even a little, as he shuttled through the jungle''s twists and turns as fast as he could, using the trees for cover. That guy behind him was too close, like maggots on a bone before the soul had departed. His right shoulder had been shot through and hurt terribly, though the expression on his face hadn''t changed.


    Less than a minute had gone by, and he had started to sweat on his brow. His adversary was really staring him down, and he had exhausted all his skill and energy in vain, not having been able to open any distance between him and his adversary. It had actually closed a little. He became immediately nervous, since that glowing shuttle which had just hit his right shoulder didn''t only injure his body, it also damaged his courage.


    The speed was too fast. Could that glowing shuttle be having some lingering effect? Despite his best efforts, he hadn''t been able to dodge it. Although he had yet to fully accept it, he thought that that his adversary hadn''t actually discovered him when he saw it. Though he thought he had prepared, the possibility of successfully dodging it was really only about thirty percent. That would already be dangerous for him.


    He had never imagined that someone could fly so flexibly, as slippery as if his whole body had been covered in oil. He ducked his head and ran like crazy. It wasn''t that he hadn''t considered a counterattack, but he knew that if he even paused, that cute and deadly glowing shuttle might come whistling at him again. What it would take away the next time could very possibly be his life.


    Chen Mu looked quite calm, though he had taken all of the skills that he could use to their highest level. But the way it was and given the speed at which the distance was closing, he would never catch him before leaving the state of breath control.


    He very quickly calculated that he had no way to catch up. He still had a minute and a half in the state of breath control, and he needed to return. He still hadn''t let loose the tailless shuttle from his index finger, since his adversary hadn''t given him any opportunity. His probability of making a move and hitting the mark wasn''t even twenty percent, and so he cancelled the attack.


    Just then, energy was his most important resource.


    He floated in midair watching that person disappear into the dense jungle at a shocking speed.


    Ten seconds later he started to turn around and fly back.


    The route that he had just travelled was imprinted in his brain, and he very easily found the way back.


    The route was as relaxed as an outing, not running into any wild beasts, and without any chance to make a move in his state of breath control. Just as he was arriving at the four-person camp, he suddenly fell hard from the sky.


    The breath control was done, and he couldn''t avoid the pain as he crawled on the ground desperately vomiting. His stomach was convulsing, and his intestines were constricting like crazy accompanied by a powerful desire to vomit. Chen Mu by then had none of the demeanor of the ace who stood out from the crowd that he''d just shown.


    The powerful side effects of the breath control were getting more and more violent. Chen Mu was both vomiting and complaining to himself, since he really wondered if he would be killed by that breath control one day. It wasn''t invincible, and he didn''t'' know how those "night of the cross" card artisans were finally able to brace themselves through the side effects. Or could it be that the breath control they learned was different from his?


    Bo Wen was staring at Li Duhong, asking in a cold voice, "What is going on here? What have you done?"


    Cheng Ying wasn''t helping him anymore by then, sitting to the side with a face full of hopelessness, watching Bo Wen interrogate Li Duhong. The two of them weren''t any fools, and since Chen Mu had said what he said, he must have discovered something.


    If this little devil had really made such mischief . . .


    He had almost died there that day, and Bo Wen couldn''t believe that he had almost fallen by the hand of a kid. He had enough reason to be angry. Cheng Ying wasn''t saying anything, thinking about the little guy''s pure and innocent manner those few days, which suddenly chilled her.


    Li Duhong hung his head in silence.


    If it were said that the two of them still had any doubt, they were certain by then that Chen Mu''s surmise had been utterly correct. Bo Wen was extremely smart, and he immediately got to the crux of the matter, "Who was that who ambushed us just now?"


    Li Duhong''s face showed some hesitation.


    "Say it!" Bo Wen''s voice was exceptionally severe as he looked at him coldly.


    Li Duhong looked at Bo Wen''s face which was about to twist apart and shivered before confessing, "That was my third brother." Suddenly seeming to realize his cowardice, he stubbornly pushed out his little chest, and said defiantly in a loud voice, "You won''t catch him, he has the most awesome escape skill in the village!"


    That was when Bo Wen and Cheng Ying discovered that someone was approaching, and the two of them were jumpy with sensitive reactions.


    When they saw that the one coming was Chen Mu, they both breathed a sigh of relief.


    Seeing the two of them looking at him, Chen Mu shook his head, "I didn''t catch him."


    Li Duhong''s expression changed when he saw him, but when he heard that Chen Mu hadn''t caught him, a look of joy flashed in his eyes.

 Chapter 146: A Gifted Composition (I)

    Chapter 146: A Gifted Composition (I)


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "The kid says that the person just then was his third brother." Bo Wen was describing the situation. No matter how big the grudge was between the two of them, they could put it aside for a while. The situation was a lot more serious than they had thought, and they had no way to know what the village the kid came from was really like. But one thing they were certain of was that the village would be more powerful than Bo Wen and the rest of them. And they could see from how they had acted that they weren''t benevolent. That had made them have to be very cautious. Even though Bo Wen and Chen Mu were enemies, after so many days of travelling together they had established some mutual trust


    Although that trust was somewhat fragile and unreliable, when it was compared with a bunch of complete strangers who were powerful and had a certain hostility, that was enough to allow them to drop their prior grudges for a while.


    Chen Mu agreed, "That''s about what I thought." His face was a waxy yellow, which was something that the demonic woman had coated him with which he still hadn''t been able to peel off, and which had to be amazing for how long-lasting it was. If it weren''t for that disguise, Bo Wen and Cheng Ying would have been able to see how haggard he looked after coming out from the state of breath control.


    "I think they might be in contact with us right away." Bo Wen took on a stern look, and the way he said "contact," it was understood by everyone to be a dangerous contact.


    After thinking it over, Chen Mu suddenly said, "Let''s go directly to their village."


    Cheng Ying''s expression changed, "Wouldn''t we be walking into their trap?"


    Bo Wen said with a cold smile, "I was thinking of bringing that up too. We''re not their equal in the jungle, and we wouldn''t be able to get away from them. Given that, it would be better to go straight to their village, to see if we can find some opportunity." He paused for a bit and then said, "Moreover, we still have the kid on our hands."


    Cheng Ying opened her mouth to say something, but then she closed it.


    They hadn''t tried to keep what the three of them had been talking about from Li Duhong. His face had turned white when he heard what Bo Wen said.


    Seeing Bo Wen and Chen Mu with that rare identical opinion, Cheng Ying then realized that it was probably the best way to deal with their plight just then.


    Li Duhong then understood that apart from Cheng Ying, the other two weren''t so well disposed toward him, and he''d better not play any more tricks. Especially Chen Mu. Every time Chen Mu''s look grazed over him he would feel a chill over his whole body. The battle against the brilliant apes fixed in his mind that the man wasn''t someone he should provoke.


    Surprisingly, Li Duhong fit right in after that. He wasn''t afraid, since he knew for sure that nothing would happen to him before they saw the people in the village. The only thing he was worried about was that if some conflict were to develop between them and the people in the village, he could be killed.


    The little guy was weird, but he had become a lot more honest, and his normally shifty black eyes had become a lot more docile.


    Chen Mu had also gone back to being ordinary, not seeming to be any different from an ordinary plodder, although both Bo Wen and Cheng Ying didn''t have any more doubts. Bo Wen was even wondering to himself whether that kind of ability to change his temperament wasn''t another skill of the "night of the cross," which would enable them to hide in a crowd without being found out. Thinking that he''d seen through Chen Mu, Bo Wen couldn''t help marveling to himself how extraordinary the "night of the cross" really was. Some of the skills that didn''t seem to matter might be incredibly ingenious when put together.


    Chen Mu suddenly turned around and said to Cheng Ying, "Let me take a look at your card."


    Cheng Ying was taken aback, and then immediately got excited. She hurriedly took out her card from her apparatus and presented it to Chen Mu with both hands. Why wouldn''t she be excited? Chen Mu was a card master with an "A" level of contribution points, and she never thought she would strike it so lucky. For card artisans, a suitable and powerful card would directly determine their battle power.


    Chen Mu was thinking of the same thing, since for them at that time every bit of fighting strength was precious. Cheng Ying had rich experience and a lot of accomplished skills, but she was limited by her battle card, which could only bring a limited amount of power into play.


    It wouldn''t be practical to tailor a new card for her, so Chen Mu wanted to see if he could make some improvements to that card.


    Cheng Ying''s battle card was called the "starburst rain," and it would emit small fine energy beams. Although it could cover a large scope, it had rather low power. Chen Mu had an idea as he looked it over.


    "I will need linked stone, ten-scent grass, woodgrain, and the amber sap of the hibiscus." Chen Mu said.


    Cheng Ying went through her bag in a hurry, pulling out several materials along the way, "I have ten-scent grass and woodgrain, plus the amber sap, but I don''t have the linked stone."


    Chen Mu shook his head, "That won''t work."


    Cheng Ying''s disappointment was palpable, but there was nothing she could do, since linked rock was a very precious material, and extremely rare.


    Bo Wen then opened his mouth, "I have some here." He took out a yellow crystal about the size of his thumb from the bag stuck to his waist. It was a very fine piece of translucent linked stone, without any impurities. If such a linked stone were put up for auction in any city, it would go for over fifty million Oudi. Bo Wen put it in front of Chen Mu.


    Suddenly excited, Cheng Ying could only incoherent say "Thanks!"


    Bo Wen waved her off not to mention it, while his gaze fell to Chen Mu, wanting to see how he might modify a card in such a tough environment. The study of cards was known to be a fine life, which needed to be accompanied by precision equipment. But in that place, never mind precision equipment, there wasn''t even any simple ordinary equipment. A card master was basically someone who made cards, which didn''t come from nothing.


    But after so many days of contact, Bo Wen had a certain level of understanding about Chen Mu. He wasn''t a big talker, and he wasn''t full of himself, and he wasn''t that likely to open his mouth to seize that job. People are curious, and Bo Wen was no different. He had never understood how the "night of the cross" had cultivated such a geek. Could it be that they had mastered the simultaneous study of both card artisan and card master skills? He didn''t really believe it. Those two things couldn''t be studied together. That was the iron rule deeply rooted in every card artisan and card master''s mind.


    But he had to accept the fact of what was going on right in front of him.


    Chen Mu looked around until his gaze fell onto a piece of green stone. He walked over and moved it to where they were. It was the most ordinary rock of the sort used for building material.


    "Shape it into a small bowl." Chen Mu said to Bo Wen.


    Bo Wen very readily swapped out for his blood sharp card. A palm-sized bright-red wavy blade appeared, calmly floating above his palm. Bo Wen very casually cut the green stone, which demonstrated how strong his control of perception was, as well as his deep understanding of the wavy blade-type card, neither of which Chen Mu could equal.


    The very fine red wavy blade was extremely sharp, and it cut through the green stone as though it were tofu. After a moment, Bo Wen had cut out a small bowl.


    Li Duhong was looking on wide-eyed, as he watched with a great deal of curiosity while Bo Wen manipulated the bright red wavy blade to cut the green stone. He thought it was magic, and then he looked like he really wanted to touch it.


    Chen Mu took the green stone bowl which Bo Wen had carved out, and put several materials into it, and then poured in some of the twin hook beast''s blood that Cheng Ying had given him before. The other three were staring into the small bowl in front of Chen Mu without blinking, all of them very curious.


    Chen Mu pulled out a heating card from his own card-wallet, which he had brought with him just in case.


    The heating card was a widely-used card, as for example, nearly every household had a heating pot at whose core was a heating card. Not only that, but a heating card was something that every card artisan needed for its broad utility. It could heat things within a certain scope, and the range and temperature were controlled through the heating card. The manipulation of the heating card also took some skill, such as that shown by Chen Mu just then.


    The blood in the bowl started to steam a little, while the people all around didn''t feel any heat. That demonstrated the extent to which Chen Mu could control the heating card, with all of its heating energy concentrated in the bowl, and none of it lost.


    The smell of the blood in the bowl gradually turned pungent, and all of their faces showed repugnance, with only Chen Mu staying rock-still. That kind of pungent smell lasted for three minutes, when it suddenly disappeared, and in its place was a rich and refreshing fragrance.


    The three of them were all taken aback and then looked intoxicated. Even Bo Wen, the aristocratic offspring of a wealthy clan, showed the same expression of intoxication. A big clan like the Eastern Ning''s pursued a life of luxury, and what they spent on spices each year was a huge expense. A youth destined to rise like Bo Wen had already grown used to using all sorts of fragrances, though he had never smelled anything so rich without its being overpowering. It smelled like a fragrance that was comfortable to bask in.


    It was the opposite of heavy scents, which often had an overpowering feeling, only suited for use by uninhibited women. If a fragrance was rich without being overpowering, it would be among the finest. For example, the yellow bee fragrance, which was the essence of the fire flower. But all those exceptional fragrances had a sky-high price. Even the grand families wouldn''t be able to use them. So, he couldn''t help himself from secretly writing down the materials.


    The scarlet color of the liquid in the green stone bowl was fading from where it started, and after five minutes, it was already clear, and the scent had gradually grown subtle from its richness at the beginning, as though it almost wasn''t there, making people unconsciously struggle to capture its ethereal faint fragrance.


    Linked stone, woodgrain, ten-scent grass, the amber sap of the hibiscus had all disappeared, with only a half bowl of clear liquid there, slightly rippling, until it was discovered that the clear liquid in the bowl was slowly becoming viscous.


    That was when Chen Mu opened the bag of the "weak water" pen set.

 Chapter 147: A Gifted Composition (II)

    Chapter 147: A Gifted Composition (II)


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    That was Chen Mu''s first time to use the "weak water" pen set after he had gotten it, but nothing about the way he used it made him look like an unfamiliar beginner. He picked up a slanted blade pen with his right hand and very carefully put the tip of it into the green stone bowl. Then he inserted two more different types of card marking pens.


    Bo Wen''s gaze was fixed on what was in the green bowl. He wasn''t concerned about the "weak water," since although there weren''t may such collectible items in the clan, there weren''t so few either. All his attention was drawn to the clear liquid in the bowl. Whether it was its rich fragrance at the outset, or the subtle fragrance just then, they were fragrances that only the finest spices could produce. While one might say that he had been a little bit uncertain, he had become certain by then that the clear liquid in the small bowl was priceless.


    All through the Heavenly Federation, there had been quite a few powerful families for many years who had been on the move to greatness by way of fragrances. The Eastern Ning''s would be considered an important and well known regional powerhouse in the Eastern Reaches, although they wouldn''t be on the list for the Heavenly Federation. Seventy percent of the grand households of the Heavenly Federation were concentrated in the capital and the five flourishing districts, with only thirty percent in the twenty-two ordinary residential districts. The Eastern Reaches didn''t have any great families according to the true meaning of the term.


    Having gone through so many years of development, the growth of the Ning''s wealth had hit a bottleneck. The profit model they were then using had been hindering their development, and they needed a new one to be able to move ahead.


    For the huge Ning family, a "weak water" set didn''t make any real difference. But if they were able to take hold of the technology to produce that fragrance, it would roll in a lot of wealth for the Ning family.


    His gaze was burning into the green bowl in front of Chen Mu, as he was wracking his brains about how to get the recipe from Chen Mu to make that kind of fragrance. Although he had already written down the ingredients, it wasn''t that simple, since there were other tricks involved such as the heating temperature. The amount of heat emitted by the heating card was intangible, and he had no way to figure how much Chen Mu had used in the end. And then there were the proportions of the ingredients, which took a lot of learning. Although he didn''t really know much about card making, he knew the principle that any slightest difference might lead to a huge miss in the results.


    It was as though Bo Wen was having hard time not scratching the itch in his mind, even while his casual-looking face didn''t show it.


    After about half a minute, Chen Mu deftly took up the pen and started to bury himself in the modification of Cheng Ying''s card. Under Chen Mu''s intent expression, his brushwork flew. Everyone was being very careful not to make a sound.


    Cheng Ying was entranced watching Chen Mu concentrate on modifying the card. She could see the side of his face from her angle. Chen Mu had no handsome profile to speak of, although there was some charm to the concentration that he exuded. She was suddenly distracted. That youth in front of her who was several years younger than she was could be so difficult to make out.


    There was nothing about him of the pride which might accompany his position. And he didn''t have any of the impetuousness of people his age. His clarity of mind and his constant calm indifference were both far beyond the qualities which someone his age should have. He had ordinary looks, and an ordinary temperament at first glance, even to the point of seeming a little dull. No matter what corner he was stuck in he wouldn''t be the object of anyone''s gaze.


    But there was amazing talent under that plain exterior. Whether it was his tactical facility or his calm appearance in the face of danger, everyone around him would pale in comparison, blooming with dazzling brilliance as he was. And now with his undistracted concentration and such aplomb with his brushwork, that was enough to make the others firmly remember such a youth who couldn''t look more ordinary.


    As she was watching so intently, Cheng Ying was thinking that he was probably the strangest person she had ever come across. Bo Wen had been the center of everyone''s attention no matter where she went. He had what everyone envied; a legacy, cultivation, a handsome appearance, outstanding strength. He should reasonably be the most dazzling and eye-catching object. But even he sadly paled in front of Chen Mu.


    She guessed that Bo Wen must have had a bad taste in his mouth.


    Thinking about all of that, the corners of Cheng Ying''s mouth unwittingly curved up.


    Lu Duhong was watching Chen Mu''s every move, as well as the card in his hands, with a great deal of curiosity. There was a real look of surprise in the little guy''s eyes, as well as some adoration.


    There wasn''t even a drop left of that clear liquid in the bowl, and it was hard to believe that all the liquid in that half-filled little bowl was now on Cheng Ying''s card. Squinting to examine it very carefully, Chen Mu finally lifted his pen in satisfaction. The performance of the "weak water" pen had been outstanding, and if it weren''t for that pen set, given his current ability, he wouldn''t ever have gotten to such a perfect place. Not only did the "weak water" pen set save him from using-up his perception, it had enabled him to improve the accuracy of his control of perception by about ten percent. To improve accuracy by ten percent might not seem like a lot, but after a card master increased his accuracy by a certain amount, it would be extremely difficult to raise it any more. By that time even if it had been only one percent it would have been extremely valuable, never mind ten.


    It was too bad that Chen Mu had never undergone any specialized professional assessment, and he didn''t know to what level his perceptual accuracy had really progressed. He didn''t even know anything about how grading was done among card masters, being as blank as a sheet of paper in that regard.


    "Alright." Chen Mu stood, and very carefully and meticulously returned the "weak water" card-making pen to its pouch. The three peoples'' gazes all invariably fell onto the card in Chen Mu''s hand, on which if they hadn''t seen it with their own eyes, it would have been hard to imagine that all the clear liquid in that little half bowl had been used-up. The three of them all looked full of anticipation, being very curious about what would be special about the card that Chen Mu had just modified.


    "I''ve made a few small changes to this card." Then he handed it to Cheng Ying, "Give it a try."


    Cheng Ying took the card with a bit of excitement and inserted it into her apparatus.


    She closed her eyes while the others were all watching, to carefully experience what had been changed with the card in her apparatus. She kept her eyes closed for ten minutes, during which time she didn''t move at all. Li Duhong was looking at her suspiciously, not knowing what she was doing.


    Then Cheng Ying suddenly opened her eyes. At the same time, quite a few colored shining spots suddenly appeared beside her, seeming no different than before except for being slightly bigger around. Cheng Ying lightly swung her hand forward, and the colorful glowing spots transformed into a colorful glowing energy rain, moving to cover what was in front of her.


    pa pa pa pa! Dust and mud flew where it hit on the ground.


    A flash of discouragement flashed over Bo Wen''s eyes, since it wasn''t any different from before. He turned his head to look at the empty green stone bowl, quietly regretting that the half bowl of fine fragrance was no longer there.


    Cheng Ying, by contrast, didn''t show any discouragement. She lowered her head to think, and then she suddenly raised it, and once again colorful glowing spots appeared one by one floating.


    Under Bo Wen''s unknowing eyes, the glowing dots suddenly underwent a dramatic transformation. As though each dot were a source of light, they shot out beams of light, and then all of them gathered at one point, forming a white beam of light the thickness of an arm!


    That beam of light was really harsh, and hurt everyone''s eyes, making everything in front of them like a sheet of white. Chen Mu had long had his eyes closed, and he wasn''t affected.


    Bo Wen patiently waited about ten seconds before he opened his eyes, and he was transfixed as soon as he saw what was happening in front of him!


    A hole as thick as an arm had appeared on a tree trunk in front of Cheng Ying, which was still smoking. If that was all it was, he wouldn''t have been so surprised. What amazed him was that that beam of light and gone through a whole fifteen tree trunks, with over half of them being big enough that it would take several people to encompass them. All the holes were the same size, with the sides of the holes all charred, with smoke still coming out from some of them.


    Li Duhong was rubbing his eyes which had just been stung, and when he saw the tree trunks which had been shot through, his first reaction was to unconsciously gulp. And then he looked excitedly at the apparatus on Cheng Ying''s wrist.


    Cheng Ying hadn''t finished her demonstration, as the colorful glowing spots appeared all around her again. She lightly swung again, and those colorful glowing spots slowly drifted forward. A look of incomprehension flashed through Bo Wen''s eyes. At that speed, he was afraid that there was no way they could hit anything. But that time he discreetly said nothing, knowing that there must have been a certain change underneath.


    Then when those colorful spots floated to in front of a block of granite, they suddenly burst open without any warning.


    Pop!


    Every single colorful dot had burst into several small fine energy starburst needles. The scene was spectacular, with millions of energy starbursts with needle-sized tips entirely covering the granite. It was like a cloud of smoke, the starbursts were so small, giving the illusion that it was a spring rain.


    Pow! The block of hard granite broke into dozens of pieces. Bo Wen walked over with a dignified appearance to where those pieces were and picked one up. His expression suddenly changed. He saw that the piece of debris was covered in countless needle-sized little holes. And the shard and become extremely loose, so that pieces could be broken off very easily. It could easily be seen from those fragments that those needle sized little holes went all the way through the rock.


    Li Duhong was already gazing hotly at Chen Mu, looking at him hard with his agate eyes, his face full of adoration.


    A look of joy flashed through Cheng Ying''s eyes, and she looked at Chen Mu after a pause, while very gingerly pulling her perception away from her apparatus.


    Chen Mu kept looking as indifferent as ever, as though what was happening in front of his eyes had nothing at all to do with him.

 Chapter 148: To Be Alone is also To Be Somewhere

    Chapter 148: To Be Alone is also To Be Somewhere


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Maybe because Chen Mu''s modification of the card had been too amazing, everyone fell silent along the way. It was a good thing that Chen Mu didn''t like to talk so much himself, so there was nothing for him to get used to. Cheng Ying was immersed in her excitement and elation, always having wished for a powerful battle card. She had never thought that a card like the one Chen Mu had modified was something she could have, having no influence, and being no better-off than any ordinary card artisan.


    Bo Wen was wondering about fragrances. Among the materials that he had written down, apart from the comparatively precious linked stone, the other kinds of materials weren''t hard to get, although they were expensive. If he were able to succeed, the huge profits would be exciting. He didn''t really think that much of Cheng Ying''s much more powerful card which had been modified by Chen Mu. Although there weren''t so many exceptional cards like that one, there weren''t so few either. And moreover, he could already use four-star cards, and do it rather well.


    With regard to power, the gap between three-star and four-star cards couldn''t be spanned. Of course, there were exceptions, but those were scarce enough to be counted on one''s fingers. As for Bo Wen, he only needed to work hard to round out his familiarity with the four-star card and shouldn''t waste his time on strange three-star cards, even if that three-star card was outstanding. Cards depend on quality not quantity.


    Li Duhong was silent as well, sometimes looking toward Chen Mu with a hot gaze. At his age, with a life full of fantasies, and given his curiosity and mischievousness, he felt that Chen Mu had a kind of magical power, seeming to get all kinds of results from just casually moving his pen.


    Having been raised in the jungle, Li Duhong was sensitive to power, even though he was still a child. And so he felt a natural longing toward Chen Mu with his ability to create power.


    They were shuttling through the jungle afoot, and Li Duhong was very compatibly guiding them, so that the three of them soon arrived at the village the little guy had talked about.


    Chen Mu and the rest got a "grand reception" once they arrived at the entrance to the village. There were five youths surrounding an old man standing at the entrance. They seemed to have known in advance that Bo Wen and the rest were about to arrive.


    The old man had on a headdress made of colorful feathers and wore a broad brown cloth skirt. He had deep wrinkles on his face, and dark brown skin from long exposure. Because he was so old, he had already started to wither. The several youths beside him all had an unfriendly look in their eyes.


    Bo Wen and Chen Mu looked at one another. Li Duhong looked at the old man, and immediately bowed his head.


    "Welcome guests from afar!" The old one stood up and smiled, "Thank you very much for returning my child. I''m afraid he''s given you some trouble these past few days." Then he turned and said, "Wei-ah, take the little kid to his mother."


    A sturdy fellow responded and was about to walk over to Li Duhong.


    Li Duhong had been their protective talisman. How could they just take him away before they knew what was going on? Bo Wen stepped forward, blocking Li Duhong.


    That move of Bo Wen immediately drew a strong reaction from the already unfriendly-looking youths.


    With a hiss, weapons showed up in each of the five youth''s hands, each of them holding an energy knife. They were about 45 centimeters long with curving blades.


    Chen Mu was a little startled, not having noticed until then something that looked like a knife-handle tied onto their wrists. He had never imagined that those knife-handle shaped objects could take the form of an energy knife. It was the first time either he or Bo Wen had seen such a weapon. If they hadn''t been so familiar with energy, then they might not have had any way to know on first glance what those youths were holding in their hands.


    A card appliance? Chen Mu and the three of them looked cautious. Chen Mu hadn''t seen such a strange card appliance, but he was a card master, and his sensitivity to energy was more refined.


    The sharpness of those energy knives wasn''t as good as ordinary three-star wavy blade cards, and their flexibility and range fell far behind.


    It was his professional assessment that they were only a kind of low-grade weapon.


    But that didn''t mean that he would look down on them. On the contrary, if they had been able to survive in the jungle by means of that kind of simple crude weapon, that would be enough to make clear how powerful the battle strength of those villagers was. Unlike Bo Wen, Chen Mu didn''t think that card artisans were the only ones with battle power in the world. The demonic woman was a classic example. She could have killed him a hundred different ways if she had wanted to, and none of them required cards.


    The number of card artisans killed by the demonic woman certainly wasn''t small.


    Looking more closely at them, they all looked fierce, with pumped up muscles like human-shaped beasts, each of them menacing.


    Although the five of them had all pulled out weapons, Bo Wen was looking calm. Who was he? What hadn''t he seen? Apart from having suffered at Chen Mu''s hands, no one else had ever been able to cause him any trouble.


    "Are you making a move?" Bo Wen asked haughtily, having quietly activated the apparatus on his wrist. Upon seeing that, Cheng Ying beside him also activated her apparatus.


    In contrast, Chen Mu seemed a lot calmer. His expression hadn''t changed, though of course that was partly because of the disguise on his face, since if it had changed they wouldn''t have seen it. But the most surprising thing was that he wasn''t even in a state of alert, as though he hadn''t seen the five of them light up their weapons.


    Cheng Ying and Bo Wen admired Chen Mu even more for remaining so calm in that situation, which showed his excellent psychological qualities. How could they have known that it wasn''t that Chen Mu didn''t want to be alert, but rather that it wouldn''t do any good for him to be vigilant. He needed quite a few minutes to enter the state of breath control, and without entering that state, his fighting strength was pitifully small, and so he simply looked on as the situation developed. A novice had no right to speak up, and so he kept consciously silent.


    "Do you want to make enemies of us, young man?" The old man asked without changing his expression, looking again at Chen Mu.


    Bo Wen bowed slightly, and said very humbly, "Respected old one, I believe that you can see that we have no animosity. We simply don''t know if what your honorable village is giving us is knives and swords. Or is it friendship? That has been difficult for us to determine from the previous behavior. I think that before we decide, maintaining the current situation would be acceptable to both of us."


    The old man said a little unhappily, "You can only drive away our friendship this way, young man."


    "You can also see that we are in a weak position in your honorable village and require some guarantee of our protection. The philosopher said that blind strength is not the most appropriate attitude. And things may develop that can never be reversed." Bo Wen said lightly. That was his only bargaining chip, and he didn''t want to waste it.


    The five youths showed an angry look on their faces, since as they saw it Bo Wen was threatening them.


    Facing the restless youths, Bo Wen maintained his expression, and saw them without looking at them. Although the status of Li Duhong wasn''t clear, the intimacy in the old man''s voice made Bo Wen think that the relationship between the kid and the old man was certainly not simple.


    The old man hadn''t been angered by what Bo Wen said, and his expression hadn''t even changed, as took a deep look at Bo Wen, "You are very clever, young man." Without waiting for Bo Wen to respond, his gaze fell onto Chen Mu.


    Bo Wen was the handsome one among the three, with an extraordinary bearing, and Cheng Ying was elegantly heroic; both of them were very striking people, with only Chen Mu not attracting any attention. But the old man''s gaze had fallen onto Chen Mu for the longest, and it seemed to be a little meaningful.


    "So, this little brother is the ace that little Three was talking about." What the old man sad made the gazes of the five of them again all fall at once onto Chen Mu, and their gazes were suspicious, excited, doubtful, and provocative, with none of the five showing the same look. But they were all stunned. They knew about little Three being wounded, but they had thought all along that it was Bo Wen who had wounded him. No matter how you looked at him, Bo Wen had the manner of an ace.


    Because of what the old man had said, their gazes had all then fallen onto Chen Mu. Such an ordinary looking youth with nothing outstanding about him had actually been the one to wound little Three.


    Little Three? Chen Mu then remembered that man that he had wounded. Could that be him? He didn''t know how to fill the space, so he simply kept silent.


    The old man suddenly opened into a smile, "Being able meet such an ace is really an honor for our village. Ai-ya! I am so old, and not so good at managing things. How rude that I still haven''t invited you all into the town to sit. How rude of me! Come, come, come, please come in quickly, come quickly."


    Bo Wen and Cheng Ying looked at one another. They didn''t know how to respond to the old man who had so quickly changed his attitude. To go from ''swords drawn and bows bent'' just then to such a sudden spring rain, was really a test of the heart.


    Chen Mu hadn''t felt that, since the strength of the two sides were at such different levels. Their true fighting strength in that place was really limited to Bo Wen and Cheng Ying, and if a conflict arose, the first one to be killed would certainly be himself. Who would give him three minutes for entering the state of breath control?


    So, Chen Mu remained calm, and he didn''t need to think so much. If a conflict really arose between the two sides, what use would a novice like him be? And still more, if they really wanted to make a move against them, it wouldn''t make any difference whether it was in the jungle or in the village.


    He faced the situation very calmly, always maintaining his calm expression and his tranquil gaze.


    To be alone is also to be somewhere!

 Chapter 149: Alfonso

    Chapter 149: Alfonso


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Life is always wonderful. Ever since he''d had that mysterious card, Chen Mu didn''t know how many times he had that feeling. Before he had the mysterious card, what he more often felt was the helplessness and hardship of life. But his circumstances underwent a stark change after getting the card. Before that change, he wouldn''t have dared to imagine ever being able to think of himself able to become a card master who had an "A" level of contribution points at such a high-grade base. He had always assumed that he would make one-star power cards for his whole life, and if he were lucky, maybe he would become an ordinary low-level card master.


    That mysterious card was like an invisible big hand which had pushed his fate onto a different path. He didn''t know if that path was better or worse than the one before. Judging from appearances, he was a lot more glamorous, and had gotten a lot of things he wouldn''t have dared to think about before, such as knowledge, or power. But at the same time, he had lost many things that he had cherished.


    But it had never seemed that he had any choice.


    Like then, where once again he had no choice.


    Chen Mu sized up the village with a lot of curiosity. It was different from the wood and thatch houses that he''d imagined. In his eyes, the village had a lot more of a distinctive style. You didn''t see the tall buildings of a city, and no house exceeded thirty meters. The roofs were like an upside down round shield, and on top of them were some spikes sticking up, which were as thick as a person.


    Chen Mu''s eyes lit up when he found that those spikes were card appliances! He squinted to examine them closely. The card appliances weren''t very high-grade, and he could basically understand them. Beneath the roof of every house there would be a device for providing energy. An energy cover would take shape between the spikes, protecting the entire house.


    That was enough to surprise Chen Mu. Most of the houses were bigger than twenty meters, and if you wanted to cover them completely you would need an energy cover with a radius of up to more than twenty meters. A standard spherical energy cover with a radius of over twenty meters would need a shocking amount of energy. That was the biggest energy cover that Chen Mu had ever seen. While Eastern Shang-Wei City or Amay City might have them, he would have had no way to see something like those security facilities at that level of defense.


    And Chen Mu guessed that those energy covers would also have offensive card appliances underneath.


    "The little village is simple and crude, no? Could it be that Mr. Chen has also researched card-matters?" The voice of the old man came from behind him, and when he turned around he saw the old man''s gaze staring at him brightly.


    Without waiting for Chen Mu to start talking, Li Duhong couldn''t help interrupting, "He''s awesome!" Then he started his vivid description, boasting about how Chen Mu had modified Cheng Ying''s card. It was as though he had done it himself. All those around were listening with great interest, and even the tough guys lost some of the hostility in their eyes, replaced by a little respect. Only then did Chen Mu discover that although Li Duhong was small, he could really talk.


    "Oh." The old man''s eyes lit up, as he said with a lot of interest, "This village is a rustic place, and we have very limited experience. To be able to encounter such an expert as Mr. Chen is a rare opportunity. We must exchange some ideas. Go and get Alfonso, Wei-ah."


    "OK." Wei-ah gave an unflustered response, as he turned around and ran into the village. He was fast and disappeared within the village over a few rises and falls. Both Bo Wen and Cheng Ying showed their reactions in their faces, not ever having seen such skillful agility. If that man had been dodging at full speed, Bo Wen didn''t think that he would ever get a good shot at him. He felt a strong misgiving, not knowing whether the power in that village was at the level of Wei-ah, and he moved closer to Li Duhong. If it weren''t for the people surrounding him, he would have kidnapped the old man.


    That move of Bo Wen immediately drew the glares of those around the old man, while the old man himself remained calm-looking, not minding a thing, only smiling at Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu said discreetly, "My knowledge is shallow, and I don''t understand very much. I''ve never heard of those ''card-matters'' that you talk about."


    The old man waved his hand, and said without concern, "We have very little interaction with the outside world, having very little chance. You must enlighten me, Mr. Chen. This use of ''card-matters'' is only the slang in the village. Ha ha, what does it matter what you call something?"


    Chen Mu looked at the old man in surprise, never having thought that an old man hidden away in such a little village would have such an open mind. Chen Mu had seen quite a few card masters who had never been able to get there.


    Just then, Wei-ah showed up in front of them leading along a thin middle-aged man. The cheeks on the middle-aged man''s face were sunken, and he had a dull stare, as though he were pondering some problem. Chen Mu was very familiar with that look, which he had seen on quite a few engrossed card masters, and even he himself would be like that from time to time.


    "Alfonso."


    The middle-aged man was taken aback, and his eyes soon cleared up as he lost all that blankness he''d just shown, and then said respectfully, "Were you looking for me, elder?"


    "Ha Ha, Alfonso, I''ve long told you not to stay inside all day. You won''t get anywhere shut-up making cards. You should get out and walk more, since your body is withering away." That last thing he said had a note of concern and dissatisfaction.


    Alfonso smiled warmly, "Don''t worry, although I''m not quite up to that dumb ox Wei-ah, I still have some muscle left."


    Wei-ah was silent, as though he had heard something unrelated to him, while the rest of those around the old man seemed about to laugh.


    "Come on Alfonso, Wei-ah could squash you with one hand if you want the comparison." One of them couldn''t help interjecting.


    Alfonso wasn''t mad, as he laughingly said, "Wei-ah is great, but he still can''t get into my house." He had a look of satisfaction as he spoke. Wei-ah was still standing expressionless and indifferent.


    "Apart from holing up like a turtle, what can you do?" The one who said that wasn''t quite convinced. Alfonso''s house was the safest place in the village. No-one could break into it, as it was surrounded by an arrangement of countless mechanisms. Up until then, no-one had succeeded to break in. Alfonso was like a turtle, and that tightly laid-out house made it like a turtle shell. Whenever someone would mock him, they would always say the same thing.


    While the others were laughing at his turtle shell, not only wasn''t he mad, it seemed to make him happy.


    "Alright, let''s not fool around in front of our guests." The old man called it off, and they all immediately stopped the foolishness.


    "Alfonso, these guests have come from outside. Mr. Chen here is rather well-studied in card-matters. Aren''t you always saying that you don''t have enough interchange with outsiders? Why don''t you host him for a while?" The old man said.


    "Him?" Alfonso looked at Chen Mu skeptically, and a little indifferently, since how could a furry-headed kid be called well-studied. He guessed he only knew a few basics. Even though he didn''t know anything about their background, since the village chief had said something, he didn''t have anything to say about it.


    Seeing Alfonso''s expression, the old man couldn''t help smiling. He understood Alfonso all too well, and as soon as he saw that expression he knew that Alfonso wouldn''t be likely to think much of Chen Mu. He sighed to himself that there really wasn''t enough interchange with the outside in the village. They really didn''t know how big the world was, since to them the world wasn''t any more than the village and the few dozen kilometers around it.


    "How about this." The old man took a look at Chen Mu with an expression that he wanted a consultation, "There are quite a few housing models in Alfonso''s house, and you can try out each of them, to see which of them has the best defensive power and the best counterattack power. How about it?"


    The old man saw that Chen Mu hadn''t been moved, and he smiled mildly, as the wrinkles on his face stretched, "Of course we can''t let Mr. Chen work in vain. If he does good work, then the grudge between us will be written off, what do you think?"


    Chen Mu raised his eyelids about to speak when Bo Wen suddenly cut him off to say quietly, "Agree!"


    "Can we trust him?" Chen Mu looked at Bo Wen as though he''d gone strange, since that guy was never so easy with others.


    "The better you do, the more we can trust him." Bo Wen tossed out the phrase.


    Chen Mu was pondering the ambiguity of what Bo Wen had said, as if there were something on his mind.


    The old man was smilingly watching the mutterings of the two of them and didn''t say anything. Alfonso was looking at Chen Mu in amazement, never having thought that the clan elder would actually place such importance on that furry-headed youth. He couldn''t help sizing up Chen Mu another time, but still saw nothing special about him.


    Li Duhong then said laughingly, "Uncle Oscar, Uncle Bullet, why don''t we make a little bet. Nothing ever happens here, and it will be really boring without a bet! I just happen to have two nice knives, the two I won from Uncle Alfonso the last time.


    The two people next to the old man looked at each other, each finding the fire in the others'' eyes. Everyone in the village knew about what had happened the last time when Li Duhong had won those two nice knives from Alfonso''s place. And although that kid was something of a brat, he was always solid, and wouldn''t walk away from a bet. Although Alfonso wasn''t a bad guy, getting something nice out of his hands wasn''t very easy.


    "What kind of bet? If we''re going to bet, then we''re betting that Alfonso will win." Bullet spoke first, since Alfonso was considered to be the best in the village at making card-matter things, and there still hadn''t been anyone who could break into that little house of his. Not only that, but the safety and defense of the entire village had all been laid out by him.


    "No problem." Li Duhong laughed, and then said very steadily, "Then I''ll bet that Mr. Chen will win. But the two of you have to lay your bets on the table."


    "What are you thinking? The one asking that time was Oscar, looking a little cautious.

 Chapter 150: The Bet

    Chapter 150: The Bet


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "Didn''t Uncle Oscar pick up those cloud-bird eyeballs last time? It''s said that those eyeballs turn into crystals after it dies, and then turn into gems. Really curious! If I remember correctly, Uncle Bullet seems to have some anaconda jelly, which is really something special." Li Duhong said laughing.


    Oscar and Bullet looked at each other, both a little helplessly. They hadn''t thought that Li Duhong might know everything about them so well. It looked like the little devil had memorized what they had.


    "OK." The two answered at the same time, since they knew that they might as well gamble if Li Duhong had memorized that, since otherwise there would be more trouble later on. The little guy was so good at blackmail that no one in the village could fight it. Bullet patted Alfonso on his shoulder, "Alfonso, don''t drop the ball!"


    Alfonso stared him down and said grimly, "Is that the kind of person I am?"


    Bullet laughed, "No, no, how could we not have faith in someone like you?"


    "As long as you know it." Alfonso hadn''t quite been mollified.


    Li Duhong wore a mischievous smile, looking like a fox. But he wouldn''t have had the guts to talk to Chen Mu that way. Every time his gaze fell onto Chen Mu, his expression became involuntarily serious, and he lost all his normal mischievousness. That was an unconscious reaction that even he wasn''t aware of himself.


    Suddenly, he said to Wei-ah, "Do you want to participate Uncle Wei-ah?"


    "Not interested." As always, Wei-ah wasn''t showing anything on his face, neither happy or annoyed. Li Duhong wasn''t mad either, as he laughed, "That look of yours is really ugly, uncle."


    Wei-ah didn''t respond, and there wasn''t any change in his expression at all.


    Chen Mu thought a while and then nodded, "If that''s the way it is, I''d better obey out of respect." Seeing Chen Mu agree, Cheng Ying and Bo Wen were both elated. They were afraid that if Chen Mu didn''t agree, no one could force him, not Bo Wen, and not Cheng Ying. Since he''d agreed, the two of them were full of confidence, since Chen Mu was nothing other than an "A" level of contribution points card master!


    The old man was all smiles as he looked at them all, wondering to himself what those people could bring to his village.


    Chen Mu and the rest then settled down in the village, and Bo Wen stuck near to Li Duhong, even though that behavior drew unfriendly looks from the villagers.


    Chen Mu followed Alfonso to his house.


    Inside, it was more messed up than the most chaotic lab that Chen Mu had ever seen. There were all sorts of strange devices in all shapes scattered about on the floor, and he had to watch where he stepped. But Chen Mu had broadened his outlook, that being the first time he had seen so many things related to card appliances. Although the village called them ''card matters,'' once he saw them Chen Mu could tell they were card appliances, just called by a different name.


    Alfonso very languidly took Chen Mu to the materials room and opened the door to point out the mountains of materials, and then lazily said, "If you want to use something, take it. None of this is worth anything. If it isn''t here, you''ll have to get it yourself. Oh, you could also trade me something, if I think it''s useful." People coming from outside always had one or two interesting things with them.


    He basically didn''t believe that the furry-headed youth could have any ability. The clan elder had certainly been tricked by that fast-talking guy. The accumulation of knowledge was something that took time, and that guy wouldn''t have been able get anywhere even if he''d started studying in his mother''s womb. He himself had been studying card-matters for over thirty years.


    Then Alfonso tossed a model to Chen Mu. It was completely identical to the village houses, except smaller.


    "It''s just a model. Study it yourself. OK, if you don''t need anything then don''t bother me. Do what you have to do. Someone will send food when the time comes."


    After he finished talking, Alfonso burrowed into a room inside, and slammed the door shut with a bang.


    Seeing that, Chen Mu simply sized the place up by himself. He could tell what some of the things he saw strewn about were, but he couldn''t understand most of them. He had only a limited knowledge of card appliances, and before then the only interaction he''d had with them was when he''d made the "mudfish card" for the "fiery mayfly" shuttle car.


    ''Card appliances'' referred to mechanical devices which had card technology at their core, though they had some unique qualities. In many regards, they could bring more of a card''s power into play; like the shuttle car, which was a typical card appliance which allowed ordinary people to fly in midair. The study of card appliances was growing, and more and more card appliances of every sort where being integrated into peoples'' daily lives.


    But there were two very different points of view regarding card appliances. Ordinary people naturally welcomed them, but there were quite a few card masters who weren''t enamored of them. They considered the strategy to be a kind of trick to steal from machines, and only card artisans who weren''t good enough would pay any attention to card appliances. In the point of view of traditional card masters, A card master should dedicate himself to the theory of energy composition and the uses of perceptual control, instead of trying to use the power of machines.


    But not every card master excluded card appliances from their point of view, and there were some more open-minded card masters who had started to focus on that kind of research. But overall, there was a large gap between the level of card appliance development compared with cards. Card appliances were just a newly developing thing. Chen Mu didn''t discriminate at all against card appliances, but on the contrary he felt that they could allow ordinary people to use the power of cards, which wasn''t a bad thing in itself. And moreover, if they were powerful, it didn''t matter where the power came from.


    But in that village, Chen Mu had discovered that the villagers seemed to make more extensive use of card appliances.


    Chen Mu crouched, and fiddled with the card appliance parts on the floor with a great deal of interest. The parts had strange shapes, and most were made of metal. That wasn''t what Chen Mu had expected. The metallic parts all had shiny undamaged surfaces. He hadn''t thought that the level of metalworking there would be so much higher than anybody could have imagined.


    The card appliance in front of him had a drill bit about thirty centimeters in diameter, and Chen Mu guessed that it very possibly was used for drilling. It must have been part of a medium-sized card appliance, but there were really too many card appliances on the floor, and he didn''t know which one was related to it.


    Alfonso''s house had many rooms, but most of them were closed. Chen Mu was in the living room, but with the card appliances piled everywhere there wasn''t any furniture there for entertaining guests.


    Chen Mu saw a card appliance that could be used for short flights, different from a shuttle car. Compared with the shuttle car, it had a lot smaller volume. It was a small metal square with a buckle about half the size of a brick, and probably tied to a leg. It could fly over ten meters at a time, a little bit like the gliding of birds, and wouldn''t be much use to Chen Mu and the rest of them. But thinking of that man with the demonic pace he''d chased that day, the little gadget could be very effective.


    He didn''t really understand most of the card appliances. After all, he didn''t specifically study them and while he could understand a little, that was entirely due to his card making ability.


    His gaze fell onto the model which Alfonso had tossed him, and he thought about the so-called "exchange," which gave him a headache. If he weren''t in that kind of situation, and if Bo Wen hadn''t reminded him, he certainly wouldn''t have participated in such an "exchange." Card appliances were a rather unfamiliar field for him.


    But it would be hard to refuse in that situation, and he would just have to bear it.


    Card appliances weren''t what he was good at, and he didn''t use them himself! What he was best at were cards, the core technology of card appliances. He had a lot more confidence with cards.


    He understood the composition of quite a few kinds of energy cloaks, and each type had unique advantages. And when he was looking around the materials room just then, he saw some materials he needed. Many of those materials were rare, in his opinion.


    In the city, the materials that were the easiest to buy were minerals. Most mineral materials came from mineral veins, and once they''d been discovered, there would be stable continuous production. And the rarest were the living materials which came from the jungle. The materials which came from the bodies of wild beasts were much harder for people to get.


    In that materials room, it was the opposite. Most of what he saw there were biological materials. With so much biological material available, Chen Mu became somewhat excited. By nature, card masters were fond of materials, and Chen Mu was no exception.


    He needed to do his best that time. What Bo Wen said was right, that the more he put into it, the more respect they would get from their adversary, and then their probability of survival would go up. Survival was their biggest problem just then.


    Since that was how it is, then take it seriously!


    Chen Mu carefully examined that model of the house. It was about thirty centimeters high and was extremely detailed. Every part of it could be taken apart, and then snapped back together. The internal structure was identical to the real thing and separated into lots of rooms. The rooms had doors and windows, and the walls could all be activated.


    He didn''t know what the models were made of, but it was very hard, and the spikes on the top were really sharp. If you weren''t careful it would be easy to stab your finger. There wasn''t anything inside the models and he could put anything he wanted into them.


    Remembering seeing the houses in the village which all had protective card appliances on them, Chen Mu couldn''t help contemplating.

 Chapter 151: Wei-ah

    Chapter 151: Wei-ah


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Walking around in the living room, Chen Mu felt a little hungry. There hadn''t been any sign of the food that Alfonso said would be sent. Chen Mu knocked on the door where Alfonso was.


    "What do you want?" Alfonso opened the door a crack, showing part of his face, which looked unhappy.


    He had been working and wasn''t very happy to be interrupted by anyone having never experienced it before. These disgusting people from outside! He didn''t do anything on the spot, thinking about how the clan elder had charged him with hosting the little furry head.


    Chen Mu saw Alfonso perturbed, so he asked very calmly, "I''d like to ask, when will the food be delivered?"


    "What a pain!" Alfonso muttered a couple of words and came out to the wall of the living room. Chen Mu then noticed that there was something hanging on the wall that looked like it had been made from a cow horn. Alfonso walked in front of that thing, and lightly touched the middle of the horn with his finger.


    A light gentle glow slowly spread out from the horn like an eager gaze, with several small glowing spots flashing within it, and Alfonso touched one of them with his finger.


    The flow of the glow quickly transformed, and the image of a woman appeared in it. Alfonso communicated with the woman in a language Chen Mu had no way to understand, and then a moment later Alfonso shut off the image and turned around to face Chen Mu saying, "There will be a banquet this evening, where the clan elder will welcome you."


    He paid no more attention to Chen Mu, quickly burrowing himself back into his room.


    Evening? Looking at the sky, it was still early. If he were to wait until evening he thought he would starve. Chen Mu wondered if he should do something himself.


    After thinking it over, Chen Mu found the hunger intolerable and left Alfonso''s house.


    The villagers were all very curious to see him walking in the village. Everyone knew that people had come from outside, which was a momentous affair for such a closed off little village. But Chen Mu could see the guardedness in their eyes.


    "Are you alone?"


    A man''s voice came from behind, and Chen Mu turned around to see Wei-ah. Chen Mu had a deep impression of that chilly-looking man who didn''t say much. He could detect from what the people around him said that they all had a lot of respect for Wei-ah, although it could have been a kind of fear. Even that unruly Li Duhong became a lot more straight in front of him. Once Wei-ah appeared, the rest of the villagers hurriedly avoided him.


    "Do you have anything to eat?" Chen Mu suddenly asked.


    Just as Chen Mu had formed a deep impression of Wei-ah, so had he formed one of Chen Mu.


    "Come with me." Wei-ah wore the same emotionless expression as he walked right ahead.


    Hearing that, Chen Mu immediately caught up with him.


    "Is this your house?" Chen Mu was looking around and felt that he had to ask. Wei-ah''s house was extremely simple and crude, completely empty inside. It was hard to imagine that he lived in such a place, which was a whole lot worse than the supportive housing that Chen Mu used to live in.


    Right in the middle of the room was pile of ashes, which still gave off some heat, and there were some dry sticks piled in a corner.


    "Mmmm." Wei-ah made a sound in answer, as he went straight over to the wall, and took down a wild deer leg that was hanging there. He stirred the ashes with a branch he was holding to expose some coals that hadn''t gone out, and then twisted the branch as though it were a towel.


    Without seeing where his energy was coming from, Chen Mu heard the sound of a loud blast covering the ground, as all the wood fibers in the whole stick of firewood suddenly came loose. And then he just lightly shook his right hand, and the firewood there instantly became a thatch of very fine wood fibers.


    Wei-ah very deftly put the thatch of wood fiber onto the coals, where smoke immediately arose, followed by a wisp of flame quickly leaping up. Wei-ah then added some wood in a leisurely way, and the fire grew immediately, raising the temperature in the room.


    Chen Mu had been transfixed. When he was so poor in his youth and scavenging to live as a street punk, he had never seen that kind of savage life. You could see from Wei-ah''s actions that he was very used to it, and Chen Mu realized why his house was so empty. If there were anything in it, it would catch fire.


    Wei-ah had already put the deer leg on a spit over the fire, while skillfully adding fuel.


    Countless doubts arose in Chen Mu''s mind. From what he had seen in Alfonso''s house, he didn''t think that life there had fallen very much behind, with such advanced technology. Even though it was a lot different from the Heavenly Federation, it wouldn''t be called primitive. Bu Wei-ah did seem entirely primitive. And Chen Mu had found something strange. Wei-ah''s house wasn''t equipped with protective devices.


    "Why don''t you have any protective devices?" Chen Mu asked, finding it strange, and then adding, "You have the same roof as the rest."


    "I don''t need them." Wei-ah didn''t raise his head, as he continued patiently to baste the deer leg.


    Don''t need them? Chen Mu turned that over in his mind.


    The two of them didn''t say anything for a while. Neither of them liked to talk, and so they very naturally fell into silence.


    "Here." Wei-ah gave Chen Mu a deer leg.


    Wei-ah was very good at what he did, and the deer leg was golden-brown and shiny, giving off a delicious fragrance. Chen Mu took it without any hesitation and opened his mouth to take a bite. He was starved and wasn''t paying attention to anything else and wolfed it down in a flash.


    Chen Mu felt a lot better after eating the deer leg.


    The two of them sat by the fire without saying anything.


    The silence lasted for almost ten minutes, which felt awkward even to someone like Chen Mu who didn''t like to talk. Just as he was about to leave, Wei-ah suddenly opened his mouth.


    "What''s it like outside?"


    After asking that, Wei-ah fell silent again.


    Chen Mu couldn''t get a handle on what Wei-ah had said, and then said after thinking it over, "I don''t know how to describe it, but it''s not the same as here."


    Wei-ah grunted, and his eyes looked perplexed as though he were thinking of something.


    "You wounded little Three?" What did you use?" Wei-ah asked.


    Chen Mu pointed to the apparatus on his wrist, "This." Seeing Wei-ah''s look of puzzlement, Chen Mu activated the apparatus. Very quickly a crystalline tailless shuttle was whirring lightly on his finger.


    Wei-ah showed arousal on his face for the first time, "What is this?"


    "It''s called a tailless shuttle." Chen Mu explained and then pointed his finger toward an empty spot in the corner. Xiu! The strange whistling sound took the calm expression from Wei-ah''s face, and then it changed.


    The tailless shuttle left a small hole on the wall, letting in a beam of light from outside, and then Wei-ah''s expression quickly resumed its calm, as he nodded, "No wonder you wounded little Three. If I hadn''t been aware of it beforehand, it would have been very hard for me to evade as well."


    "Mine isn''t much. Bo Wen''s thousand swallows wavy blade card is much scarier." Then he described a little about the scene of attack from Bo Wen''s thousand swallows wavy blades, and Wei-ah nodded, with a calm expression.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help asking, "How do you fight here."


    "They use card-matters, which I don''t like to use." Wei-ah said mildly.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help his curiosity, "What do you use?"


    "Speed and strength!" Wei-ah answered very directly.


    Without knowing why, Chen Mu suddenly thought of the demonic woman, who had once said the same sort of thing. But taking a look at Wei-ah, Chen Mu felt how absurd it was to connect Wei-ah with the demonic woman. Wei-ah had a huge body; whether standing or sitting he was always like a tower of iron, and very overbearing. His face was lined with fortitude and carved like stone. When combined with his stony expression, he looked full of menace. By comparison, the demonic woman had an exquisite body, small and lovely, although she didn''t have a very flattering face.


    And the menace which came from Wei-ah was starkly different from the menace which came from the demonic woman. The demonic woman was like an assassin who travelled in the dark, while Wei-ah seemed like a ferocious wild beast of the jungle, or like a lifeless killing machine.


    Chen Mu nodded, seeming to understand, though puzzled. He could see from the way that Wei-ah had twisted the firewood just then how much strength he had. And Wei-ah had shown his speed that time at the entrance to the village, which had so awed Bo Wen.


    Although he felt a little at odds with the notion, with that kind of skill, if he were to use a card, wouldn''t he be even scarier? The more power, the naturally better it would be. Of course, that was only something that Chen Mu was turning around in his head before it disappeared. His counterpart could crush him like an ant. He wouldn''t have been qualified to make such an assessment about anyone else, given his own strength.


    "Are there a lot of people more amazing than you on the outside?" What Wei-ah said was blunt, and you could see that he didn''t spend a lot of time communicating with others.


    "Lots." Chen Mu scratched his head, a movement which made him look more like an ordinary youth. Thinking about the world he was used to, Chen Mu couldn''t help missing it. He had never thought that there was anything exceptional about him, and at the same time, he thought of himself as a duffer. Thinking about those high-grade card artisans who were all so superb, what did his own ability add up to? Among the three of them, if he hadn''t used breath control, he wouldn''t have been able to beat even Cheng Ying, not to mention Bo Wen.


    Wei-ah''s expression became more serious, since Chen Mu didn''t seem to be fooling. There were only as many people as you could count on your fingers in the village who could wound little Three. Could any random person on the outside be like that?


    Just then someone knocked on the door.


    It was Bullet, who breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the two of them, "The banquet is about to begin, and the clan elder has summoned you."


    Wei-ah stood with a grunt.


    The banquet was in the biggest building in the village . . . held in a small half-moon-shaped little auditorium. Chen Mu was amazed. It was hard to imagine that in such a closed-off village deep in the old growth of the mountains he would actually see a building that could hold over three-thousand people. That really made a huge impact on him.


    Scanning all around, Chen Mu sucked in a cold breath of air.

 Chapter 152: The Banquet

    Chapter 152: The Banquet


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    All kinds of defensive card appliances were distributed all around the small auditorium, to the extent that it could be called a card appliance exhibition. Chen Mu was closely looking them up and down, never having seen so many. Each of the card appliances was different, though most were a kind of appliance made of countless gun barrels. The gun barrels lined up to make an array pointing to the sky. Since there was no way to see the structure inside, Chen Mu had no way to determine how the card appliances were fired. But so many stout metal tubes were enough to make the heart pound. Scanning over them quickly, there were at least hundreds of them stacked all around.


    Every card appliance was huge, and they would make a fine deterrent for a rookie like Chen Mu. They were spectacular when taken all together.


    Wei-ah and Chen Mu walked into the auditorium. The round dome made it feel more spacious inside, where there were designs which Chen Mu couldn''t understand carved into its white pillars. The inlaid lights in the dome were like stars brightly lighting up the whole place.


    The auditorium was filled with the clamor of the voices of a third of the village relaxing and discussing. There was merry music wafting everywhere, along with the shrill sound of excited children.


    Wei-ah still had no expression on his face, and Chen Mu felt very self-conscious as he followed him. The villagers would automatically make way wherever Wei-ah went, and even the playful children wouldn''t bother him. The strangest part was that no one would dare to greet him. Chen Mu smiled wryly to himself that it didn''t look like the guy was very popular. While he, on the other hand, attracted a lot of curiosity.


    Wei-ah wore a natural self-composed expression. He led Chen Mu into the middle of the crowd, quickly arriving at the deepest part of the auditorium. Several of the important people from the village awaited them, and Chen Mu saw that elder who had met them at the village entrance, standing commandingly right in the middle. Even people as slow as Chen Mu could tell his position in the village. Bo Wen and Cheng Ying had already arrived, with Li Duhong remaining, as always, by Bo Wen''s side.


    His eyes lit up when the little guy saw Chen Mu and Wei-ah.


    "Ha ha, I feel so ashamed that I am such a bad host as to allow Mr. Chen to go hungry. Terrrible!" The elder''s face was apologetic. Alfonso looked displeased to his side, having just been taught a stern lesson from the elder, which made him naturally uncomfortable. He didn''t understand why the elder was being so nice to such an ordinary looking furry-headed youth.


    Chen Mu smiled, "You are too polite. If that hadn''t happened, I wouldn''t have had the chance to taste Wei-ah''s handiwork, which would be a real shame."


    "Ah." The elder''s eyes brightened, "Mr. Chen has been getting along with Wei-ah? That would be good. Wei-ah is the number one ace in our village, and the two of you are both young and talented, so you should naturally become friendly."


    There were a few among the crowd who were groaning, clearly dissatisfied that the elder had called Wei-ah the number one ace of the village. Even some of those near the elder looked put-out.


    Wei-ah''s expression hadn''t changed, as though he hadn''t heard anything. Chen Mu discreetly refrained from any response, since it didn''t matter to him if Wei-ah was the top ace. But if others were to despise him because of it, that would be too bad.


    The elder''s expression hadn''t changed, as though he hadn''t heard the groans. He turned to Chen Mu and smiled, "There aren''t too many rules in the village, and although this is called a banquet, it will be quite boisterous. I beg your forgiveness."


    Bo Wen and the others rebuffed the apology and kept admiring the liveliness.


    By then Chen Mu was sizing up the few middle-aged people around the elder, who each looked stern and whom he could tell at a glance were the real powers. Three of them caught Chen Mu''s attention. One, whose hair was all white, with a ruddy face and a full-throated voice, looked very spiritual. He was named Bafu, and he was the elder who gave the children guidance. Every one of the offspring of the village had been educated at his hands in childhood.


    Another made a dark impression with his malicious look and narrow eyes which glinted from between the lids to make anyone uncomfortable. Kang Lade was mainly in charge of discipline, and if there were a fight in the village he would be the final arbiter, so that the elder wouldn''t need to be involved. The people around were rather fearful of Kang Lade, and even Li Duhong stayed very straight in front of him.


    The one who drew the least attention was a young man with a calm look, who was the only one around the elder still a young man, not yet thirty. He looked forever unperturbed and gave people an easy going feeling that he would be easy to get along with. Kitt was the young man in charge of the genealogy and records of the clan. His was the most special house in the village, as his ancestors had been selected as the town archivists. Ever since then, that responsibility had been handed down and the clan archivist had to be from that family. Kit had begun archiving the clan records at the age of seven, which was fully eighteen years by then, when he had turned twenty-five.


    Archiving the clan records and genealogy was very dull work, though Kitt had never found it boring. He had also never played with the other children in the village and although he was young, having nurtured such a rare nonchalance, the clan elder was fond of him. He was also considered to be the village''s most erudite person, though not everyone liked him. In a circumstance where strength was revered, and the norm was to chase after power, spending time on genealogy and records which couldn''t increase one''s power wasn''t interesting to anyone but Kitt.


    "These are the ''little three.'' When they ran into you all that day and were checking you out, they didn''t realize that it would create such a misunderstanding between us, and they now regret it. I''ve asked them each specifically to come today in apology." The elder spoke with a look of regret.


    None of the three were tall ¨C only about 1.65 meters, which was a little shorter than Cheng Ying, though they were quite thin with rather long legs and arms and lively eyes. He made a gesture of salutation which Bo Wen rushed to decline, smiling, "Since it was a misunderstanding, it was the error of both sides. For the three subalterns to behave that way makes us all the more uncomfortable. Ha ha, one doesn''t get to know one another without some bumps, and being able to make friends with so many makes us all feel very fortunate."


    Bo Wen was quite tactful, seeing them stoop so far that he rushed up to meet them.


    "Ha ha, you are so right!" Bafu''s bright voice could be heard, "One can''t know someone without a few bumps! You young people really know how to make this little brother feel warm. There are mountains beyond the mountains, and it''s always good for young people to see more of the world.


    Several young people of the village rushed to agree.


    The three were gazing at Chen Mu uncomfortably. After that endless and not quite fatal run, third brother''s injuries had worsened, and he''d fallen into a coma as soon as he''d returned to the village. In that coma Chen Mu''s ghostly image had appeared like a nightmare following him like a shadow, making him so agitated that he nearly couldn''t breathe.


    "Come, come, we can''t allow our honored guests to starve. Taste the things of our village and see if you can get used to them." The clan elder said jokingly.


    Since he''d just been gnawing on a deer leg at Wei-ah''s, Chen Mu wasn''t feeling very hungry. He helped himself to some fruit, which was much sweeter than could be bought in Eastern Shang-Wei City. What he was most interested in were the small things there, such as the grill with adjustable heat, which was a classic card appliance. There was also the ice maker which was quite interesting. It didn''t look any different from an ordinary ice maker into which water would be poured, and then in only three minutes, the water would have turned into ice cubes. Afterward, he would see the villagers pour out the ice onto a piece of felt, where they would use some kind of fine and long glowing knife to make the large chunks into smaller pieces.


    The metallurgy there was very advanced, and all the serving items were made of metal, having intricate and beautiful patterns on them.


    Unlike that clodhopper Chen Mu, Bo Wen''s gaze was a lot more jaded. In just a short while, his face had taken on a strange look. What kind of backwater is this anyhow?


    Following his gaze, practically all of the villagers hung some kind of gemstone over their torso which made Bo Wen''s eyes pop out. While the gems weren''t huge, with several thousand villagers each wearing one, Bo Wen thought he might go crazy. And there was also the floor in the place, where each piece had been composed of highly polished zebra stone. That sort of stone, which had makings like those on a zebra, was showing off its expensive provenance. One piece of that kind of zebra stone would be sky high outside. In his own house, there was only that very small place for collectibles which used such an expensive flooring. But good lord, the entire floor of the auditorium there was laid from such flooring, which was more valuable than gold.


    His eyes shone at how genuinely wealthy the place was. He was calculating very rapidly to himself that if he were to be able to set up trade relations with the village, then the profits . . .


    Bo Wen wasn''t used to the tastes and Chen Mu was already half full. Among the three of them, only Cheng Ying was happily eating away. The food there was delicious, and she had never eaten anything so good.


    Amid the hubbub of the hall, practically no one was disturbing them, apart from a curious look now and then,


    "Is this the one who wounded little Three, elder?" An inappropriate voice suddenly sounded out.

 Chapter 153: The Challenge

    Chapter 153: The Challenge


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Things quieted down all around right away, with all eyes falling on the youth in front of Chen Mu and those three. He had a shaved head, and the top half of his body was half naked, revealing his bronzed skin and powerful muscles. The other half of his upper body was wrapped in a strange ancient-style metal armor, which extended up from his waist to his left ribs. Combined with his grave expression, he had an impressive bearing. On his left shoulder he wore a metallic arm band.


    The clan elder''s expression went cold, as he shouted without pleasure, "Colin, how can you be so rude?"


    Colin saluted the elder, as he respectfully said, "Colin meant no offense, elder. I am only curious about what kind of person the one who was able to wound little Three is."


    Then his gaze fell onto Chen Mu and the three of them, finally focusing on Bo Wen. Among the three, Bo Wen was doubtless the one whose demeanor showed the most ability, and he was the most eye-catching.


    The elder then laughed, "You are mistaken, Colin. The one who had the exchange with little Three is this Mr. Chen."


    Flabbergasted, Colin shifted his gaze to Chen Mu, carefully checking him out and not being able to help becoming somewhat crestfallen. He had thought that the one who''d wounded little Three would be some kind of outstanding person, never having considered that he would be such an ordinary youth without anything remarkable about him.


    He quickly became somewhat moody. Seeing that, the elder smiled again, "Perhaps you don''t know, Colin. Mr. Chen is also proficient in card matters, and is about to compare notes with Alfonso on the art. Even the kid couldn''t resist staking it."


    "Oh!" Colin''s eyes lit up, taking a look at Li Duhong, "Who are you backing to win, kid?"


    Li Duhong squinted at Colin, as he languidly said, "Of course I''m staking Mr. Chen. Why? Is big brother Colin interested? Would you like to make a stake?


    Whereupon Colin mocked, "No, forget about it. I''m not interested in gambling." Li Duhong was as clever as a fox, winning nine out of ten times, and he wasn''t going to look for trouble. Still, how could this youth who didn''t look like anything special gain the confidence of even the little kid. He must really have some ability.


    His gaze went hot again.


    Chen Mu met Colin''s gaze placidly, not understanding why he had suddenly become so interested in him.


    "Each of you has been able to enter the jungle from outside, and you must therefore have great strength. Colin is just now itching to fight, and I wonder whether I might invite you to teach me a thing or two, to give me the chance to gain a little experience in the skills from the outside world." Colin spoke slowly, in a steady vigorous tone, while his gaze burned into Chen Mu.


    The clan elder and several other elders'' eyes glinted, with the atmosphere so suddenly heated.


    "Come on, come on, give us a lesson!"


    "That''s it, let us broaden our scope."


    "Could you be afraid?"


    * * *


    The hall had become rowdy, and many of the villagers'' faces had turned red, thickening their necks and waving their hands.


    "Fight! Fight! Fight!" With two thousand voices raised together, it was like clapping thunder to hurt the eardrums.


    As though sleeping, the clan elder had his eyes half closed, as though nothing were affecting him.


    Bo Wen''s expression changed somewhat, as he couldn''t help groaning. Every since he was small, he had never had anyone dare to be so arrogant in front of him! He was almost ready to take up the challenge, when he heard a clear woman''s voice ring out, clearly audible in the raucous hall, "Since brother Colin is interested, how could we hurt his spirit? Your little sister is the weakest of the three, but I''ll summon the courage to fight a bout. I''m inviting brother Colin to look with favor on my play."


    Cheng Ying responded without being servile or overbearing, which when combined with her gorgeous appearance and her heroic manner, got many of the villagers'' approbation, who all cheered her on.


    Hey, little sister, I''ll lick your shoes if you bowl Colin over!"


    "Aren''t you taking advantage of Colin?"


    "Haven''t you heard that you shouldn''t let your favors flow to outsiders? Cheating Colin is better than cheating someone else."


    "Would you like me to join you? I''m not someone else!"


    "Oh, can you beat Colin?"


    * * *


    Colin''s expression quickly changed to something between crying or laughing, as he took a look at Chen Mu and Bo Wen, neither of whom had any expression.


    "Ha ha, since both sides are eager, then why don''t we move to the trial arena where everyone can enjoy their fill." The clan elder laughingly said, with his eyes flashing a look of satisfaction.


    The three of them were all very clear that it looked as though the trial that day couldn''t be avoided. Bo Wen wasn''t actually afraid, wanting to see for himself how the strength in the village really was. He turned around to take a look, and saw Chen Mu full of calm, and his feelings settled. He had already determined for himself that Chen Mu was the most awesome of the three of them, and seeing him so unperturbed, he naturally felt a lot more confident.


    If he had known what Chen Mu had been thinking, he would certainly have paled. What Chen Mu was thinking was very simple, that come what may, he was the weakest of the three, and so it wouldn''t turn on him. If he really had to compete, he would simply have to accept defeat.


    The trial arena was specifically used for such competitions by the villagers, and the entire arena was made of tall highly hardened steel and stone walls, which made Bo Wen envious on sight.


    The arena was entirely covered by a huge energy cover, which divided it from the viewing stands.


    The card appliances had really developed there. Seated in the stands, Chen Mu evaluated the huge transparent energy cover, which stunned him. He had never come in contact with such a huge card appliance. If it simply used cards, it would be very difficult to achieve such a stunning result.


    In such a large-scale piece of equipment, the card would be its most essential component. If it were to simply rely on cards, what kind of huge card would it require for such a huge energy cover? Once a card became too big, the card master would basically be powerless toward the composition on its face. No one could use a pen that was several meters long, never mind attaching one''s perception to it.


    The energy cloak which covered the entire trials arena forced a completely new understanding of cards and card appliances on Chen Mu.


    Cards couldn''t do everything, and card appliances couldn''t either, all having their own strengths and weaknesses.


    Within the trials arena, Colin and Cheng Ying were facing off. Because of the divide of the energy cover, they had no way to hear the commotion outside.


    "Please!"


    "Please!"


    Since it wasn''t a life and death duel, the two of them were appearing rather courteous.


    Just about when the voices died, there appeared several dozen multi-colored glowing balls in front of Cheng Ying. Every one of them was about the size of a thumb, and they seemed to be in some rhythm as they floated all around her.


    "Wow!"


    To see the villagers in the stands suddenly sound off their surprise, it was clear that it was their first time to see such a scene. Cheng Ying, who had charmed them with her beauty all along, looked still more beguiling set-off by those cute glowing balls.


    Colin, who had been rather relaxed, immediately became cautious. He had never seen such a strange method of attack.


    With a slight sound, the metallic hoop on his left arm suddenly emitted a ray of light-white light, which formed into a slightly white-colored glowing shield on his left arm. At the same time, he pulled out a hollow metallic staff from the side of his waist.


    Zi! The top of the metallic staff abruptly shot out a dark red glow, which quickly transformed into a beam of light as thick as the staff, whose tip compressed back into a dark red spear.


    The shield was held on Colin''s left arm while he held the spear in his right and pointed it straight at Cheng Ying in a defensive posture.


    Seeing that Colin wasn''t going to make the first move, she smiled sweetly, "Then I''ll attack!"


    Colin readily assented, having wanted all along to see Cheng Ying''s mode of attack, "OK."


    Up in the stands, Li Duhong curled his mouth, "Colin will be out of luck!" Bafu gave him a look from the side, "Nonsense, has it even started yet? Are you being a brat again?"


    Li Duhong lifted his head to laugh, "Papa Bafu, how about we make a little bet."


    As soon as he heard the word bet, Bafu grunted and quickly turned away, acting as though he hadn''t heard a thing.


    "A real weakling!" Li Duhong quietly mumbled. Just then, Kang Lade gave him a warning look, and Li Duhong rushed to put on a properly red face.


    All the other villagers in the stands were encouraging Cheng Ying, since as they saw it, it wasn''t easy for a woman like Cheng Ying to be brave enough to challenge Colin. And after those glowing balls appeared in front of her to make the crowd so restless at once, they quickly calmed back down. They really looked forward to Cheng Ying''s next blow.


    Cheng Ying''s expression was grave, which caused Colin to shiver inwardly, as the glowing shield emitted from the metallic arm band on his left arm elongated to protect his entire body.


    Then all the glowing balls in front of Cheng Ying each shot into a single light beam, all of which then toward a single point. That point was not far away in front of Cheng Ying.


    The eye-piercing glow suddenly lit up.


    No-one could help calling out in surprise and involuntarily closing their eyes.


    By the time they opened them and turned their gaze again to the trials arena, everyone in the stands had become of a piece.


    "What just happened?"


    "I don''t know! I didn''t see it clearly either!"


    "Colin took a big loss! Tsk Tsk, This little girl sure isn''t someone else''s riches. She''s hot, and you all had better be careful!"


    * * *


    The clan elder''s expression had changed a little, but the one whose expression had changed the most severely was Bafu. Colin had made him proud as his disciple, and he always had adversaries when he was young. If it weren''t for Wei-ah, he would certainly have become the top ace among the younger generation.


    Kang Lade squinted to heat up his gaze and then his ever-calm eyes flashed something strange.


    The calmest was Wei-ah, whose expression remained as calm as though he were watching something perfectly ordinary.


    In the trials arena, the metallic ring on Colin''s arm had cracked into dozens of pieces, and the armor over half his body had also become covered in cracks. His expression had turned ugly, as his blue veins burst out holding the dark red glowing staff.


    "Yow!" He suddenly called, as he quickly threw the dark red glowing staff in his hand.


    The glowing staff transformed into a red shaft of light, which flew toward Cheng Ying. His attack was quite abrupt, making everyone think that the situation had been decided. Bo Wen couldn''t help standing, causing several villagers unconsciously to surround him.


    The muscles in Bo Wen''s cheeks started to twitch, as his gaze remained fixed on the field.

 Chapter 154: Give it a Try

    Chapter 154: Give it a Try


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Cheng Ying was a professional card artisan with rich battle experience. She wasn''t from a wealthy household like Bo Wen, who had received the most excellent education from the time he was small. From whatever aspect, she was rather like Chen Mu, struggling from the bottom reaches of society. But she had more ambition than Chen Mu, and higher aspirations. Still, as compared with Chen Mu, her luck had fallen quite short.


    She had always persisted in her arduous training, which differed from those card artisans who represented some academy''s school. Her skills came mostly from actual combat, so it would be very difficult to notice any flourish in her skills. For a girl to struggle alone so bitterly and then to show such courage wasn''t found in just anyone.


    As compared with both Bo Wen and Chen Mu, she had experienced far more battles.


    But she had never had any big ideas. She didn''t make any move against Colin''s light-spear but used her first moments to swap out for the "green hoop" card. Dazzling emerald green glowing balls surrounded her body in rings.


    Ping!


    A powerful force made Cheng Ying feel as though she had been smashed into hard by a high-speed shuttle car. She was stunned. How could human power reach such a terrifying place?


    Facing such a hugely powerful blow, she had no way to steady herself, or even to resist such incomparable power, but instead went along with the power and floated away with the help of her jet stream card.


    Watching from outside, she looked as though she had been sent flying by the light-spear which Colin had thrown, which drew a bursting cry of shock from the crowd in the stands. The villagers had grown rather fond of such a gorgeous and valiant girl.


    Cheng Ying was in a terrible situation. The "green hoops" were rippling like waves of water, as ring after ring of glowing green rings quickly became chaotic, making the dark-red light-spear visible through the energy cloak. Her breathing nearly stopped in that moment! The energy cloak in front of her looked as though it would shatter at any time, and the dark red light-spear was within five centimeters from her nose. She could clearly see the fierce rippling which the tip of the dark red spear had stirred.


    As the surrounding scene quickly flew past her eyes, she gritted her teeth and forced herself to relax her body.


    Cheng Ying quaked in fear to see the emerald glowing hoops bouncing up and down so chaotically. Without knowing what technique Colin had used, the spear surprisingly wasn''t blown apart after it hit the energy cloak, but stuck right into it like a nail.


    That light-spear was weird!


    Chen Mu''s gaze had remained fixed on the light-spear thrown by Colin, and he had already discerned that it was card appliance! That shocked him, to see how far the advance of card appliances had surpassed the Federation in so many places. He speculated that if he were to carelessly encounter such an attack it wouldn''t end well.


    The jet stream card was at its highest output, as Cheng Ying retreated as fast as possible. There was basically no way to see her face from the viewing stands, where only an emerald green shape was visible floating on the field, dragging a dark red glowing tail behind it.


    The stands grew silent, as the villagers fixedly watched a contest such as they had never seen in the arena.


    On the one side was a mysterious outsider, and on the other was the number one or number two youth from the village. They were in such a compelling battle that it took everyone''s breath away.


    The "green hoop" wasn''t any ordinary thing after all! Although the blow from the light-spear had been massive, those delicate looking green glowing hoops were exceptionally resilient, and kept roiling without ever breaking apart.


    There was a clang!


    The metallic shaft from the light spear fell at her feet, its energy exhausted.


    Cheng Ying felt relief through her body, as the green colored hoops which had protected her gradually resumed their normal appearance.


    Colin''s face had gone grey, as he slowly raised his right hard, his stare fixed on Cheng Ying.


    Cheng Ying was watching him nervously, since that surprise attack had stunned her just then. If she had reacted a little more slowly, she was afraid she would have been decapitated! She had never thought that Colin could be so ruthless, which made her unusually angry. She had won and lost many contests without ever having encountered such a dangerous situation. No one would ever go so all-out in such a contest which wasn''t meant to be life or death, after all.


    "I accept defeat."


    That phrase from Colin was transmitted through the special equipment to reach every corner of the stands, where the deathly silent stands immediately boiled up. The gazes of the crowd toward Chen Mu and his group immediately transformed, as they took on a reverent quality, looking at the three with longing.


    "Well done." Bo Wen praised in a low voice as he patted Cheng Ying who had returned to the stands. Her panic had not yet subsided.


    Cheng Ying forced out a smile, feeling some fear after the fact. She suddenly turned around to give Chen Mu a smile of gratitude, since if it hadn''t been for Chen Mu modifying her card, she would very likely be lying dead on the field that day.


    "Well done." Chen Mu encouraged her with the same words. No matter how things would go later, they were companions then, at the very least. Cheng Ying needed encouragement at that moment.


    Cheng Ying was stunned that Chen Mu would give her such praise, but by the time she''d reacted, Chen Mu had already turned to leave. Watching his back, she suddenly felt elated and couldn''t help her mouth turning up. The elation coming straight from her heart made her extraordinarily beautiful just then.


    Bo Wen had taken that all in, and his expression darkened.


    From there forward the banquet had become insipid and without flavor, though only for Chen Mu. Cheng Ying, who had been victorious against Colin, and the villagers who had just witnessed such an thrilling battle, were all immersed in their excitement.


    "The lass''s skill is stunning! To defeat Colin so handily is something only Wei-ah could do from the village." The clan elder was endless with his praise, while Bafu to his side had a very strange look on his face.


    Cheng Ying said with a light smile, "You grant too much. Cheng Ying is the weakest among the three of us. Colin conceded defeat this time, seeing that Cheng Ying is a woman, and held back. Otherwise even several Cheng Ying''s wouldn''t have been his equal."


    What Cheng Ying said improved Bafu''s and the others looks somewhat, while Colin then became rather gallant, as he said with deep feeling, "Miss Cheng mustn''t speak that way. A loss is a loss, and strength doesn''t matter while diligence does."


    What Colin said gave Cheng Ying a new appreciation for him. To accept defeat in front of so many people wasn''t something that many could do.


    Elder Bafu laughed as he patted Colin on the shoulder, and said candidly, "Right! Real men must always be so broad-minded and bold as to return to the fray. What is a loss? You must still pay attention to your methods and study those with ability in order to keep advancing." Then he turned, "I wonder if Miss Cheng would consent to giving the youth of our village some pointers?"


    "If any of you require anything, please say so." The unhurried cold voice came from Kang Lade, which had been the first time the real power of the village had opened his mouth. It seemed as though he had also recognized the strength and advancement of the card artisan style of battle.


    Then everyone quieted down.


    Cheng Ying took a look at Bo Wen and Chen Mu and wisely chose to remain silent, since in regard to that matter she didn''t want to say something careless. Bo Wen secretly rejoiced as he quickly calculated. Even if they didn''t express any demands they might have, that wouldn''t be as important as a guarantee of their safety. He could also then set some conditions of his own for finding a way to set up cooperative trade-relations with such an affluent village.


    Only Chen Mu kept his calm expression, as though nothing had anything to do with him. Since he didn''t have Cheng Ying''s fear of Bo wen, and didn''t have any scheme the way Bo Wen did, he remained naturally poised.


    Chen Mu''s calm poise had drawn the attention of the clan elder and the rest.


    Could he really be the leader of the three after all? The clan elder wondered to himself.


    Cheng Ying couldn''t stay still any longer, since her counterpart had made a request. She thought it over and carefully said, "There is something that you don''t know about our fighting methods, which is that they require specialized equipment."


    "Ah, what equipment is that?" The clan elder asked.


    "This is an apparatus, and it uses all kinds of cards which are inserted into it. You witnessed the blows that it emits, as well as the energy cloak. All of that was provided by the cards." Cheng Ying was unfastening the apparatus while she patiently explained.


    Her apparatus was passed among them, and everyone was curious about such a strange thing. Her explanation gave them a sense that they had learned something that they didn''t quite understand, and the leader Bafu couldn''t help asking, "What Miss Cheng is saying is that if you didn''t have these things, then there wouldn''t be any way to learn your skills?"


    "Correct!" Cheng Ying was very definite about that. Without the apparatus, and without energy cards and fantasy cards, then how could you do battle?


    The crowd couldn''t help looking crestfallen.


    Kang Lade suddenly opened his mouth again, "I wonder how one could get a hold of the apparatus and cards?" Every time he opened his mouth, the temperature in the room would get a few degrees colder.


    Bo Wen''s heart had lightened up, since that was his opportunity! If the two sides were to set up a cooperative trading relationship, the Eastern Ning''s would naturally provide a large quantity of cards. Bo Wen felt extraordinarily wise as he thought that through, and his assurance quickly stepped up a few notches.


    Thereupon a very earnest seeming Li Duhong pointed to Chen Mu and shouted, "He can make them!"


    Chen Mu''s gaze swept helplessly toward Li Duhong, who shrunk back in fear.


    "Ah!" The clan elder quickly became interested, "Mr. Chen can make them?"


    Everyone''s gaze quickly focused on Chen Mu, and the temperature around him shot up.


    "I have some ability." Chen Mu said cautiously.


    "Excellent!" The clan elder was elated, "I wonder if we might ask Mr. Chen to make a few of the apparatus and cards for us?"


    Seeing that Chen Mu was thinking it over, he struck while the iron was hot, to say, "If Mr. Chen agrees, we will amply reward him. And if Mr. Chen would like to remain in the village, he would enjoy the highest status. We would provide anything that you might desire. And if Mr. Chen would desire to return home, I would send people to assist him in exiting the jungle. Although our clan has never left the jungle, we are the best guides within it."


    "Please don''t worry anyone, we have no ambitions toward the outer world. The reason we would like to learn your techniques is only that we hope to increase the strength of the clan''s people, so that we can continue to live well in the jungle." The ever-silent Kitt had finally opened his mouth.


    "We can give it a try." Chen Mu finally nodded after thinking it over. Then Bo Wen''s face quickly fell.

 Chapter 155: How Many Points, Teacher?

    Chapter 155: How Many Points, Teacher?


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "How about a little chen-stone? Hurry up, hurry up, we still need the luminous leaf, and everything has to be ready!"


    "The floor has to be resurfaced again. Oh, there''s still some zebra-stone in the storeroom. Go get some."


    From some distance away from the house, the elders could hear the sound of elder Bafu''s full voice shouting. People were coming and going in an endless stream, carrying all kinds of stuff, most of which were raw materials.


    "This will be Mr. Chen''s temporary residence. If there''s anything you need, please don''t hesitate to bring it up. The materials you stipulated have already been placed in your room, and if there is something you still require, please don''t hesitate to speak up." The clan elder was smiling as he accompanied Chen Mu on the walk to the room. Wei-ah was behind them, showing no expression at all.


    The three of them entered the room where they saw a frenzied scene. They saw people incessantly moving things into the room. Apart from elder Bafu, Alfonso was surprisingly there. Having seen Cheng Ying''s stunning blow with his own eyes and having found out that her card had been modified along the way by Chen Mu, Alfonso had very quickly admitted defeat. He''d then quickly gathered everything there, taking the initiative to move all sorts of materials from his own storeroom to the storeroom in Chen Mu''s house.


    He was directing the villagers about how to categorize the storage, and he had even made some instruments specifically for Chen Mu, except that those instruments were all based the instruments he commonly used, such as metal processing equipment and the like. He didn''t know if Chen Mu needed those or not, but he moved everything in, lock stock and barrel.


    Seeing Chen Mu and the clan elder enter, elder Bafu and Alfonso hurriedly dropped what they were doing to welcome them.


    "What might you still require?" Alfonso asked in a very flattering tone.


    Seeing Afonso''s expression, the clan elder was stunned and immediately burst out in a big smile while pointing at him tauntingly, "You know how to win people over now, Alfonso? No more putting on airs? Ha ha!" He then turned to Chen Mu to say, "You have no idea how this guy struts around normally. Apart from giving me a little face, if anyone else were ever to want anything nice from him it would be just about impossible. He really likes to put on airs, ha ha, and now he finally knows how to put on a smiley face!"


    That didn''t make Alfonso mad, as he chuckled off to the side. To his side, elder Bafu looked like he couldn''t stand to watch.


    Chen Mu wasn''t joining in the fun, having realized much earlier that Alfonso was a studious type. He exhibited the advantages of a scholarly cast at the same time that he exhibited its significant disadvantages. Chen Mu could understand Alfonso''s behavior better than others could.


    "Let''s first take a look in the storeroom." Chen Mu wasn''t very long-winded either.


    The alacrity with which they treated Chen Mu couldn''t help but demonstrate their admiration.


    The storeroom was already half full with all kinds of materials, as Alfonso had moved nearly everything from his own storage into it.


    Chen Mu examined everything very meticulously item by item, while everyone else kept unwittingly silent under his influence.


    After finishing his examination, Chen Mu finally raised his head to say, "I''ll need some gold-mottled grass or some constellation leaves. If those aren''t available, white banana leaves would do in a pinch." No matter what kind of card he might make, they all required the same basic thing, which was blank white cards. The ones he usually used were finished products, whereas he would now have to make them himself.


    "No problem." The clan elder responded very nonchalantly.


    Taking into account future usage, Chen Mu added, "It would be better to get a lot."


    "OK." The clan elder''s response was as direct as ever, as he said to elder Bafu, "Go and speed them up a little."


    "Yes, sir!" Elder Bafu responded loudly, and then turned to leave the room, his pace nearly breaking into a run.


    After giving the command, the clan elder turned smilingly toward Chen Mu, "Let Alfonso know if you need anything later, and don''t worry about disturbing him." Seeing Chen Mu''s gaze remaining on the materials, he left with Wei-ah.


    Alfonso was introducing the materials to Chen Mu, when Chen Mu realized something strange; the naming of materials there was quite similar to that in the Heavenly Federation. Apart from a few kinds whose designation was starkly different from outside, most were the same.


    That made Chen Mu think to himself that the ancestors of Alfonso and the rest might have come from the Heavenly Federation. But he very discreetly didn''t inquire into it, and he really wasn''t all that interested anyhow.


    There were many materials that he hadn''t used before, or even seen. A good part of those weren''t even listed in the illustrated fantasy card that Chen Ying had, which was giving Chen Mu a headache. Not knowing the materials was tantamount to not knowing their characteristics, which would make them worthless no matter how he looked at it.


    Judging from Alfonso''s expression, Chen Mu realized that none of those materials were staples. It would be such a waste if that were the case and they never got used, so Chen Mu couldn''t help considering how he might use those materials that he couldn''t even recognize.


    Cheng Ying and Bo Wen had begun teaching the villagers how to train their perception. They were both professional card artisans, whose foundations were a lot more solid than Chen Mu''s. That naturally wasn''t any problem for Cheng Ying, while Bo Wen was very clear about his situation, that if he didn''t appear cooperative it wouldn''t do any good for him.


    He felt like he was in crisis!


    Chen Mu had pushed him into a very dangerous place, even though he''d saved his life. Bo Wen felt that he wasn''t as good as Chen Mu regarding his strength as a card artisan. And as for card making, he was still more clear that his own ability wasn''t even worthy to be his assistant.


    Chen Mu could do anything that he could do, while he couldn''t do all that Chen Mu could do. Even though he didn''t like to admit it, he really did know that Chen Mu was a lot more valuable to the villagers than he was. And the thing that he regretted the most was that the clan elder seemed uninterested in any kind of cooperation with the Ning family.


    Cheng Ying''s status in the village had shot up because of her battle exploits last time, and the small children really loved the beautiful female instructor.


    Cheng Ying had no air of pride, and she served with sincerity which quickly earned the love of the villagers, everyone being very fond of such a forthright and sincere girl.


    To spark the interest of those little friends, Cheng Ying would sometimes put on a demonstration, such as a flight demonstration.


    Sometimes, she would do a complex rolling maneuver in midair, which would elicit wave after wave of screaming and cheering from the little friends below. The adults in the village had much more serious expressions, since the battle-advantage of being able to execute such difficult maneuvers in midair was very clear to them! If they were able to fly like Cheng Ying, they would be able to live much more freely in the jungle.


    With the applause they sent up from time to time, the little friend''s hands had been clapped red, and every little face had turned rosy. The only one distracted was Li Duhong, since not only had he already seen such flight, he''d actually experienced it at Cheng Ying''s chest. Looking down on his excited companions, his mouth twitched, and his dark eyes were flitting about, as though he were paying attention to some unknown ghost.


    "Teacher is awesome!"


    "Teacher, Can I fly like you some day?" . . .


    When Cheng Ying landed, her little friends all clamored to outdo one another.


    Cheng Ying patiently smiled toward the little friends to say, "One day everyone can study a special flight curriculum. If you are all diligent then you can certainly all fly."


    "Our teacher is really awesome! Livelier than the poison bat!"


    "Oh yeah! Teacher, teacher, is it hard to fly the way you just did?"


    Cheng Ying laughed a little, "Not so difficult! The maneuver I just did is in the flight lessons, with a difficulty of only forty-five."


    "Teacher, how hard is forty-five?" All their hands were being raised like a little forest.


    "That''s a very low level of difficulty." Cheng Ying felt very fond of those children, as she crouched down to patiently explain, "You should know that Mr. Chen could achieve a score of eighty in close-range dodging and evading exercises where the level of difficulty was eighty."


    "Wow! Awesome!" All of the little friends looked stunned. Even Li Dugongs eyes lit up, which had been so tepid all along.


    The villagers all looked at each other, having heard the frightening news that Cheng Ying had so inadvertently revealed. That move of Cheng Ying just then was only forty-five, so what would a maneuver that had a degree of difficulty of eighty look like? And what did it mean to get eighty points in those circumstances?


    They really didn''t know how high that degree of difficulty was, though they felt that it must be quite high. Al the villagers were feeling that Mr. Chen was basically an ace!


    Cheng Ying''s moves had also drawn the attention of the little friends who were just then studying in front of Bo Wen, when one of them suddenly raised his hand to get Bo Wen''s attention.


    Bo Wen asked, "What''s your question?"


    The little friend asked with a face full of curiosity, "Teacher, instructor Cheng was talking about some kind of training with a difficulty of eighty. How many points can you get, teacher?"


    Bo Wen''s face quickly darkened.


    * * *


    Chen Mu was so tired he was about to lay down, as there wasn''t any card making equipment there. While he had restored Cheng Ying''s card under very primitive conditions, that didn''t mean that he could just make cards at will under such conditions. It was a good thing that the metallurgy was extremely well-developed there, and that Alfonso was the village''s most accomplished specialist. Chen Mu was always demonstrating with gestures to Alfonso, wanting to get him to make some simple equipment. He finally made Alfonso understand that even such simple equipment was beyond Chen Mu''s power.


    The two of them had pulled an all-nighter the night before and were beyond exhausted.


    There was sudden knocking on the door at dawn, and someone could be heard yelling outside, "Mr. Chen, we''ve delivered the materials you asked for!"


    "Coming"


    Chen Mu responded and then groggily got up, still in a confused state. He walked over to open the door and forced open his sleepy eyes.


    He looked outside in his daze and was struck dumb, as all his sleepiness vanished at once.

 Chapter 156: The House of Chen Lab

    Chapter 156: The House of Chen Lab


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu was shocked by what he saw.


    There were ten people neatly lined up at the door to his apartment, naked from the waist up and spattered with water and green grass. The thing which surprised Chen Mu was that each of them was carrying a bale of grass over their shoulders which was as thick as two peoples'' waists!


    They were large bales of gold-mottled grass and constellation leaves! Those were the two kinds of materials for making blank cards which Chen Mu had just ordered, except that Chen Mu''s jaw dropped at such a large quantity, as he stood transfixed at the door.


    They had very casually tied them into bales with rattan straps as thick as a finger It made Chen Mu''s heart bleed to see such valuable gold-mottled grass and constellation leaves so deformed by the rattan straps.


    These guys sure are wasteful! Chen Mu mumbled subconsciously.


    Ten people were each carrying a torso-thick bale of mottled-gold grass or constellation grass, all lifting their faces and standing in front of him, which made a huge visual impact.


    Golden sparkles flashed on the body of the gold-mottled grass which was as long as a saw blade, as though flecks of gold had been scattered there. That was also where it got its name. The early shoots of the gold-mottled grass were very fine, but the longer they grew over months and years, and the broader the leaves became, the higher their value was. Each blade of the gold-mottled grass that those guys had on their shoulders was wider than the palm of a hand. He knew that one blade of such high-quality gold-mottled grass would have a shocking price on the outside. He had never used such high-grade gold-mottled grass for his handiwork at the base.


    And the constellation leaves were covered in silver grey star-constellations, which were each the size of a coin. They were top quality constellation leaves without a doubt.


    None of those guys had any idea of the value of those thick bales on their shoulders. In their eyes, the stuff was just some straw. They found it strange that Mr. Chen would be so interested in it.


    Peng, peng, peng!


    The ten of them had just casually thrown the bales of straw on their shoulders to the ground without really looking, sending up clouds of dust. Their movements were utterly coordinated and really nice to watch. They weren''t denigrating those bales of "straw," each of which weighed several dozen kilos, but they had been carrying them for nearly the whole night, and they were terribly exhausted.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help his heart skipping a beat at that movement, and he had to restrain his impulse to check whether the gold-mottled grass and constellation leaves had been damaged.


    "Is that enough, sir?" Colin was asking with an eager face. Influenced by suffering such a loss at Cheng Ying''s hand, as soon as he heard elder Bafu say that Chen Mu needed some gold-mottled grass and constellation leaves, he seized the initiative to volunteer and led some people out of the village. He still remembered what elder Bafu had ordered, ''to get as much as possible.'' But he had no idea how much that was, so he simply had each person bring back a bale, having no way to bring back more.


    "Enough, enough." Chen Mu rushed to respond. It wasn''t a matter of sufficiency any more.


    Colin breathed a sigh of relief, "Good." He had been afraid that they wouldn''t have satisfied Chen Mu''s needs with what they brought. But he then asked with curiosity, "Sir, what can this straw do?"


    Straw . . .


    Before Chen Mu could respond, a villager happened by, and felt himself clever to say, "Isn''t it for burning, sir? But I''ve already tried it, and those two kinds of straw don''t burn well! Would you like us to gather some straw that''s a little better-burning?"


    Chen Mu was momentarily speechless, his head a blank.


    It was difficult to wait for Colin and his team to satisfy their curiosity and leave, leaving Chen Mu flabbergasted looking at those ten bales of materials. He wouldn''t be able to use up even a tenth of such quantities of gold-mottled grass and constellation leaves. If he were to process that much by himself, he couldn''t do anything else all year. But if those materials which were so precious in his eyes weren''t processed, they would lose all their value. If they weren''t processed within five days of picking, they would dry up and turn yellow and become as useless as straw.


    We can''t just waste it!


    Chen Mu walked into his house to awaken Alfonso. He said straight-out to the drowsy-eyed Alfonso, "I need manpower!"


    "Oh." Alfonso responded semi-consciously and could then be seen to stagger out the door. He walked straight outside and accosted a villager passing by, and said with a heavy note of sleepiness, "Mr. Chen needs manpower, and everyone who wants to come should come, preferably young."


    "Ai." The villager looked delighted and took to his heels to run back.


    Alfonso staggered back into the house and walked into his room in a daze, where snoring could be heard a moment later. Chen Mu didn''t go to wake him up, since the two of them had stayed up too long, and he was still sleepy himself.


    Chen Mu laboriously took the bales back to the storeroom, with his heart fulfilled. He didn''t believe that there was any card master who wouldn''t be moved by so much outstanding-quality material.


    With his outstanding hearing, he suddenly heard what seemed like something moving in his direction.


    The movements grew louder and louder, as though quite a few people were running in his direction. He was startled and wondered what was going on. He got up and walked toward the door where he heard a hubbub outside.


    "We heard that Mr. Chen requires some assistance, are you bringing your Ah-xi along?"


    "Of course. What kind of person is this Mr. Chen that even Alfonso is under him. If our Ah-xi can learn a couple of tricks, then maybe later he can become the equal of Alfonso."


    "Hey, let''s go together. Is there any shortage of warriors in our village? Alfonso wasn''t willing to give instruction before. Since Mr. Chen came along it''s better now. He has a lot more ability than Alfonso. Didn''t I just hear that we should bring our children along."


    "Indeed! . . .


    Chen Mu finally understood what had happened and didn''t know whether to laugh or cry.


    * * *


    Bo Wen was depressed. Very depressed. He was safe enough, but apart from that everything was beyond what he could have anticipated. The clan elder wasn''t even interested in his so-called cooperation, and he had noticed the scary guy called Wei-ah sometimes covertly watching him. That had made him afraid to make any moves, since Wei-ah''s power was unfathomable, and he didn''t want to put himself in jeopardy by coming into conflict with him.


    Judging from what was in front of him, it would be a long time before he could leave the village.


    The thing which annoyed him the most was that Chen Mu was enjoying a lot better treatment there than he was. The hatred between the "night of the cross" and the Ning family was only finished in one sense, and it would be natural for him to be out of sorts after having been steeped in that enmity.


    If there really were no way to leave that jungle, he would certainly kill Chen Mu first!


    It was just that by then he still couldn''t move, since he glimpsed Wei-ah out of the corner of his eye in a nook not far away, calmly standing there, giving him the chills. He didn''t understand why Wei-ah was so interested in him, since reasonably, starting from when he''d entered the village, he hadn''t done anything to attract anyone''s attention.


    But very soon, his face darkened again. He''d discovered that the students coming to him that day had dropped below half. He looked up to see all the people in front of Chen Mu''s house. Quite a few of his own students had been taken there by their parents, desperately trying to squeeze inside.


    Dammit! Bo Wen was noisily gritting his teeth. He''d been asked by his own students the day before what kind of score he could get in close-range dodging and evading training which had a difficulty level of 80. He was a remote card artisan, so why would he do any kind of close-range dodging training? That was something he couldn''t explain to these children who didn''t know anything.


    Bo Wen''s face had turned grey. Ever since running into that guy, he had been at all kinds of disadvantage. What was happening just then on the street infuriated him to no end. His entire body was trembling invisibly, as a manifestation of his utter rage. He didn''t know if he could restrain himself if Chen Mu were in front of him.


    Looking at the scene in front of him, Chen Mu also found it a thorny problem, and he simply roused Alfonso another time, just leaving it to him. Alfonso was skilled at handling things, and an instant later there were dozens of ten-year-olds left, all of whom looked very clever. Chen Mu hadn''t realized that Li Duhong was among them.


    Chen Mu didn''t have such good feelings toward that bratty kid. They hadn''t felt any malice toward Li Duhong at first, and Cheng Ying was the best toward him. She hadn''t realized that the little guy was quietly doing mischief, with utter disregard for their lives. What he disliked the most was his innocent face, underneath which was hidden such deep scheming.


    He had felt more than once that the little guy would be quite something after he grew up!


    But the relations between Li Duhong and the clan elder weren''t shallow, and even Alfonso had no way to handle him, so Chen Mu certainly wasn''t going to manage it. He neither targeted him nor valued him but could only treat him as an ordinary youth. Chen Mu had discovered that all the other children were rather afraid of Li Duhong.


    The preparation of the gold-mottled grass and constellation leaves wasn''t actually complicated, although it was extremely meticulous work. Every time he saw the earnest children preparing them, he couldn''t help feeling that those children were a lot luckier than he''d been, being able to handle such high grade material at the outset of their training.


    During that interval when the children were preparing the materials, Chen Mu and Alfonso set up the lab. Chen Mu was amazed at Alfonso''s skill with metallurgy, being able to generally make whatever it was that Chen Mu described. After a few adjustments, Chen Mu really believed that the things which Alfonso was making could certainly be sold in the Heavenly Federation. All of the equipment in the lab had come from that famously stingy middle-aged man.


    After the two of them went through that continuous effort, Chen Mu''s lab was finally taking shape, to be called "The House of Chen Lab."

 Chapter 157: Wei-ah’s Dedication

    Chapter 157: Wei-ah¡¯s Dedication


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    It had already been two months since Chen Mu had arrived at the village, and he finally had a pretty solid understanding of that village which was so cut-off from the world. It didn''t even have a name, and they descended from a strange clan called Moqi. Even Bo Wen hadn''t heard of it, and he had certainly researched family names.


    For the offspring of grand or nearly-grand houses like Bo Wen, the study of family was part of the prescribed curriculum. Bo Wen was basically familiar with all the surnames of the Heavenly Federation, even to the extent of knowing about the old names that had once been glorious. But he had never heard of such a strange surname as Moqi.


    There were probably 100,000 people in the village, which could be considered not such a small-scale tribe. What Chen Mu had recently found so surprising was how advanced the technology was there. While they had certainly fallen behind with cards, in other aspects, such as metallurgy, they had a lot more advanced processes than the Heavenly Federation.


    The Heavenly Federation had never placed much importance on metal processing, since its defensive capabilities were limited, which also limited its military effectiveness. On the other hand, because of its low cost, it had more widespread use among civilians for things like construction.


    As far as Chen Mu could tell, the metallurgy in the village had gotten to a simply fantastic place. They were able to make extremely sophisticated equipment to such refinement that it far exceeded the quality of what could be produced by the Heavenly Federation. That could be seen from their production of apparatuses, where Alfonso would only employ the finest and lightest alloys to make them. He would use only a couple of days to easily make an apparatus of outstanding quality.


    Too bad that neither Bo Wen nor Cheng Ying had realized that. As far as they could see, how could any precision metal instruments compare with a precise probe card?


    Meanwhile, although he wasn''t anything more than a teenage youth, Chen Mu could see the broad prospects which were latent in them. Compared with cards, the cost of metal was a lot lower. Plain metal had limited usefulness, but if high quality metallurgy were to be combined with the card system, the power of that combination would be quite high. And Chen Mu had learned from Alfonso that there were quite a few ore veins in the vicinity of the village. Chen Mu really couldn''t help feeling that that was why the ancestors of Alfonso and the others had looked for such a superb place with such geography.


    The card appliances in the village were fairly primitive in Chen Mu''s eyes, and he had found something strange about them; it was incredible to Chen Mu that although Alfonso could make card appliances, he didn''t know anything at all about the card system. He only found out when he later asked Alfonso that the technology for making those things they called "card matters" had been handed down from their ancestors, and that there was already nothing left of that, so that he could only make a few types.


    Alfonso was very vague about their ancestors'' accomplishments, and so Chen Mu didn''t ask any more about it.


    Alfonso made the most rapid progress of any of them, having the experience of making card appliances; compared with the others, it was easier for him to understand card knowledge. And among the other youths, there were three whose progress was obviously faster than the rest, Chen Mu not realizing that Li Duhong was among them. The only thing which Chen Mu found regrettable was that Alfonso could not increase his perception due to his age, and was the slowest among them. Perception was the most basic skill that a card master would need to have, and it would greatly limit Alfonso''s room for growth later.


    Including Li Duhong, the speed of the three youths'' progress could be described as lighting fast. Chen Mu wouldn''t have had anything on them at the same age, especially Li Duhong, who was the youngest of the three, who made the fastest progress. Chen Mu didn''t keep anything back, even giving the three youths the perceptual training methods from the mysterious card.


    Those guys'' tough nerves surprised him. He would have been tormented to death by such extreme training at the same age, while those children all seemed indifferent to it.


    Chen Mu had very quickly come to enjoy life in the village, which was so quiet and free. It wasn''t necessary for him to do anything there, just basically to teach something to Alfonso, while the rest of the children would let Alfonso teach them. Having such rich materials, it was even more prosperous than the base! That also greatly stimulated his enthusiasm for research. The only thing that made him a little upset was that the materials there were all raw materials, and he had to process them one by one.


    When had he ever learned how to process materials? He could only grope along slowly. It was a good thing that the process was a lot of fun, in addition to which the children were really attentive. In many cases, he only had to distribute the experimental charts, and they would all experiment strictly according to what was on them, which greatly reduced his time in the lab.


    The House of Chen Lab had expanded three-fold over the two months, as had the number of people under him, which approached eighty. All the knowledge that those children got from Chen Mu was meticulously recorded and left with Kitt for archiving.


    The cards which Chen Mu made were starting to have some effect on the village, such as the power card. The utilization rate for power from a power card was a lot higher as compared with the energy-extraction devices they had used previously, and they were a lot smaller. The most welcome were the heating and illumination cards, both of which were nothing more than ordinary cards, but they had been welcomed by nearly everyone in the village. As far as those who had to enter the jungle were concerned, the illumination and heating cards could greatly decrease the weight of what they had to take with them.


    Chen Mu only made such cards as one-star cards, which were the simplest cards. Although they had limited capabilities, they didn''t require anything of the users. He had also pushed those two types of cards out of consideration to himself. Although they were simple, both cards had practical value, and were both good for the beginners to practice with.


    A one-star power card, a one-star lighting card, a one-star heating card; they were all one-star, but for those villagers who had never touched a card, they were still shocking.


    Compared to the card matters that they commonly used, the apparatus'' weight and size was negligible, and it was a lot more convenient to carry with them on their body. Having experienced the good points of the apparatus, when the villagers heard that higher grade cards would require specialized training, the stream of people going to Bo Wen and Cheng Ying immediately surged.


    That was fine with Chen Mu who had the attention of the clan elder. As long as he didn''t remain deliberately silent, the clan elder wouldn''t dare gather at that something-or-other-lab-place.


    The thing that the villagers couldn''t make sense of was what good relations Mr. Chen had with Wei-ah.


    In the village, Wei-ah would only listen to the clan elder. He wasn''t from there but had been found by the clan elder in the jungle a few years before, in a coma. The clan elder then rescued him and brought him back. Wei-ah had amnesia after he revived, basically not being able to remember who he was. Even his current name ''Wei-ah'' was something the clan elder helped him to come up with.


    Ever since then, he would shadow the clan elder. He was quite tall, without any counterpart in the village, which made many of the competitive youth of the village unhappy. No one dared to look for trouble with such an evident powerhouse. Wei-ah''s disposition was cold, indifferent, and taciturn, not listening to anyone other than the clan elder.


    "Your physical condition is the best I''ve seen." Wei-ah said coldly, making his fortieth effort.


    "Oh." Chen Mu didn''t make anything of it, being busy with his research all along. It was his first time to be so freely able to follow his own desires and take his own time without any pressure. He didn''t have to worry about money, since truthfully money had no use there. And all the villagers were very respectful and good toward him, and the clan elder didn''t make any hard demands. He did whatever he wanted and didn''t have to worry about materials, with such fine and rich materials as would be hard to find anywhere else.


    Wasn''t that just the life he wanted?


    Chen Mu no longer wanted to leave the village, assuming that he couldn''t do any better if he were to leave.


    Wei-ah had become interested after seeing Chen Mu practice his exercise gymnastics. He just objectively said that he was interested in Chen Mu''s physical condition. He considered Chen Mu''s body to be of excellent quality, and that Chen Mu could learn a few skills from him. To use his way of speaking, there was only Chen Mu in the entire village whose conditions could meet his standard.


    "There aren''t many skills that I still remember, but there are enough to teach you." Wei-ah''s expression was still that of an icy mountain which had never changed for thousands of years.


    Chen Mu had already forgotten how many times he had refused, "Wei-ah, I really don''t have the time. Look how busy I am." He pointed to all the busy assistants in the lab, "I still have a lot more experiments to conduct. I need to determine the properties of these materials again, otherwise, they are only a pile of grass."


    Wei-ah remained unmoved, "You are very suited to study my skills."


    Wei-ah''s persistence was giving Chen Mu a headache, and he helplessly sighed, "Wei-ah, I''m really very sorry. I''ve already studied quite a few skills, and if I were to take on still more, things would get more complicated. You also know that too much complexity always means that nothing gets done. What I need now is not to learn more skills, but rather to continue to hone the ones I have."


    Chen Mu hadn''t yet discovered that because of the change in environment, and because of having to engage with different people like Alfonso and the other assistants, and Colin and so forth, he had been speaking more than before. And moreover, after the deadly pressure had disappeared, Chen Mu had started gradually to recover his youthful mentality.


    "I won''t take much of your time." As always, Wei-ah had no intention of letting it go.


    Just then, Colin burst into the lab, and said with a stern look, "Mr. Chen, the clan elder requests your presence."

 Chapter 158: The Gummy Cloud

    Chapter 158: The Gummy Cloud


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    By the time Chen Mu had rushed over, he found that all the important people of the village were there. Bo Wen and Cheng Ying had also been invited. They both seemed somewhat puzzled, not seeming to know what was going on, while everyone else looked grave.


    Seeing Chen Mu arrive, the clan elder looked all around and then slowly began to speak, "The reason I''ve asked you all to come is that I have something to discuss. We have already determined that the gummy cloud layer has recently become unsettled."


    The meeting room was deadly silent, with all the villagers looking ashen. Chen Mu and the three of them looked at one another, not know what the so-called gummy cloud layer referred to.


    Bo Wen quietly coughed, "This is the first time I''ve heard of the gummy cloud layer, and I wonder what it really is?"


    The one who came out with the explanation was Kitt, "The three of you may not know that in the sky above our heads there is something peculiar. We call it the gummy cloud layer. It is formless like air, but more viscous, like a cloud floating in the higher reaches of the sky. The gummy cloud layer is boundless, and no-one knows how big it is."


    That was the first time the three of them had heard such a thing, and they all looked a little alarmed. Bo Wen had a look of some disbelief, wondering how he hadn''t heard of it if there really was something like that.


    "The gummy cloud layer is as transparent as air and is much higher up so there is no way to discern it with the naked eye. In general, the gummy cloud layer is extremely stable, and doesn''t have any effect on our daily lives." His voice then became grave, "But once the gummy cloud layer becomes unstable, it becomes a disaster for all life on the surface!"


    Kitt maintained his calm look, though worry was evident in his eyes. The three of them held their breath as they listened carefully to Kitt''s narration.


    "Every time it becomes unstable, there is then a likelihood that many small balls of the gummy cloud will descend. It starts with very small puffs, but over time those falling puffs become huge, sometimes extending to as much as several hundred kilometers of infection. Although they are formless, they are like transparent glue, and as time goes on, all of the creatures underneath the gummy cloud puffs will die of suffocation. Including us."


    The looks on Chen Mu and the three quickly changed in fear. One couldn''t escape something that extended hundreds of kilometers.


    "That''s not all. The gummy layer is also characterized by its ability to ingest energy! Especially the pure energy form of an energy cover, which can be quickly consumed.


    The expressions on the three of them kept transforming. The thing card artisans were most afraid of was for their own energy to be assimilated. The core component of all cards was their ability to utilize energy, and if the gummy cloud layer could really ingest energy then it would be the curse of every card artisan. All professional card artisans simply relied on energy for their attacks.


    "Periods of instability in the gummy cloud layer generally manifest themselves once every one or two-hundred years. Unfortunately, we seem to have run into one." There was some bitter agony in Kitt''s smile.


    Seeing the puzzled look on the three, Kitt sighed, "The energy covers in several places within the village all have small holes in them which come from the corrosive effect of falling puffs of the gummy cloud. They have all been small this time, with the biggest the size of a fist." Kitt then passed over a transparent glass bottle which looked as though nothing were in it.


    "Inside is a puff of gummy cloud. Don''t worry, it won''t cause any harm to humans."


    The three hurried to take it and examine it with a good deal of curiosity. When the bottle got to Chen Mu, it felt heavy in his hands, since the gummy cloud puff was dense. After thinking about it, he suddenly opened the bottle to insert a one-star energy card.


    Then something shocking happened!


    The composition on the face of the one-star power card disappeared with a speed discernable by the naked eye, and within a minute all that was left of it was a blank white card, with all the composition on its surface gone. The composition on the face of a card was extremely stable and secure, and no matter whether it was a knife scraping or washing with water, it was very difficult to damage. Except that in this invisible transparent gummy cloud puff . . .


    The three of them drew in a cold breath, and the already grim faces of everyone in the meeting room all became terrible.


    It was Chen Mu''s first time to see such a thing, though even in his terror he couldn''t help thinking that such gummy cloud puffs could actually be used to repair cards. Without knowing what it really was, it did have that peculiar characteristic. He really wanted to take the bottle of gummy cloud puff back to study.


    But he fortunately realized that it was not the time for research, and so he acted as though he were listening attentively. Still, in his heart he didn''t feel that it really mattered that he had come. He''d always thought of himself as a novice in every regard. He certainly didn''t think of himself as a savior, never having thought that his opinions were any better than those of others. But it wasn''t as though he didn''t understand the ways of the world, and since the clan elder had asked him to come, the importance that others gave him was clear. No matter whether you yourself thought you had any ability or not, you would still have to give your counterpart his due.


    "I''ve invited everyone here this time so that we could all come up with something to do, especially the three guests. You have come from the outside and have much broader reasoning that we old people. According to the annals, the small falling puffs of the gummy cloud appear as the first sign of the huge gummy could falling." His tone then changed, "But, if the annals aren''t mistaken, we should have maybe three or four months'' time remaining." Then he added, "I have no way to know if those numbers are reliable."


    Bo Wen''s face had become ugly, since wasn''t that as though he hadn''t said a thing?


    "The annals which have come down to us only record one instance of a gummy cloud layer catastrophe, so we have no way to make any better estimation." The clan elder was helpless.


    "Could the annals be wrong?" Bo Wen couldn''t restrain his feelings to ask.


    Hearing what Bo Wen had said, the faces on those in the meeting room which had already looked bad turned ugly. Once it had come out of his mouth, Bo Wen knew that he had spoken badly, and he then tactfully kept his mouth shut.


    The meeting room sank into silence.


    It seemed as though no one had spoken for a long time, when the clan elder opened his mouth to speak, "I''ve done some planning together with some of the elders, and the best thing for us right now is to move the village! But there are 100,000 in the village, so that''s easier said than done. And then if we really want to move, where would we move to? The jungle is dangerous all over, and even the warriors in the village don''t dare to go far. And half of us are women and children."


    Everyone remained silent. Moving 100,000 people is easier said than done, especially in the dense jungle!


    "Since there''s no objection, then I so order it!"


    "Yes sir!" All the elders bowed slightly in unison.


    The clan elder then demonstrated the decisiveness of a leader, "Bafu, you organize the soldiers according to war footing. We''ll move Northeast, where you will send a small team of soldiers on ahead to scout the road and blaze the way. Retreat immediately if you run into danger."


    "Yes sir!" Bafu shouted as clear as a bell.


    "Kang Lade, I''m handing over everything about materiel to you."


    "Yes sir." The temperature in the meeting room plummeted as he opened his mouth.


    "Kitt, you will organize the women, old people, and families into units, with ten families to a group, and ten groups making a troop. Every ten troops becomes a unit. Strive to accomplish that in the shortest time possible. And you still have to mobilize the women and children to assist Kang Lade to gather materiel."


    "Yes, sir." Kitt''s gaze was like water, clear and placid.


    Once the clan elder had given all his orders, the atmosphere in the meeting room became agitated.


    The clan elder then turned to face Chen Mu, and said, "Mr. Chen, I require your assistance!"


    Chen Mu felt suddenly awkward; for someone still only a teenager to be addressed by a seventy-year-old with the honorific form of "you" made him uncomfortable all over.


    "I''ll follow your instruction to the extent that I can be of any assistance." Chen Mu''s expression softened the gazes of the village elders who were looking at him.


    After some deliberation, the elder began to speak, "If even half of us are to survive this move, that would be pretty good." Once he said that, the rest of those sitting there couldn''t help looking aggrieved. The elder hadn''t been exaggerating. The jungle was dangerous everywhere, with wild beasts all over, and they had to trek a long distance. No-one knew how large an area the disaster would cover, so they would have to go very far away. The farther they travelled, the safer it would be, although the father they travelled the more serious the attrition would be.


    "We need weapons! The only one who can make weapons in the village is Alfonso, and he doesn''t have many in reserve. I''m hoping that Mr. Chen can suspend his research to help us make some weaponry. Each additional weapon may save another person." The clan elder entreated.


    "OK." Chen Mu responded without hesitation.


    The meeting then quickly dispersed, and from that time forward every minute would be precious.


    Chen Mu pondered returning to the lab along the way. He''d only found out after asking Alfonso that the villagers generally used the standard energy knife, which was a type of weapon that Chen Mu had seen, whereas the kind of light spear that Colin had used wasn''t readily available. Alfonso hadn''t made many weapons like that one, and they couldn''t be mass-produced.


    Although the clan elder had said that any additional weapon was important, Chen Mu understood that one or two weapons would be insignificant along the course of the entire migration.


    He had to come up with something workable! Chen Mu determined to himself that he would go all out, even if it was only for himself!

 Chapter 159: The Conduct of a Defeated Family

    Chapter 159: The Conduct of a Defeated Family


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "Drop everything you''re doing, Alfonso." Chen Mu immediately said as soon as he''d returned to the lab.


    Alfonso was stunned, "What''s up?" He still didn''t know what was going on. The rest of them stopped what they were doing one by one, having never seen Chen Mu so fired up. In their minds, Chen Mu had always plodded along steadily, unmovable by thunder.


    "Bring out all the military card appliances you have made, for me to see." Chen Mu said.


    "OK!" Alfonso had been aroused. Although he didn''t know why Chen Mu had become so suddenly interested in card appliances, that was the realm he was most familiar with. He liked the term card appliance, which made him feel more professional. Could it be that Mr. Chen wanted to advance the card appliance side of things? Once he thought of that, he had become aroused. Since card study was abstruse, it had to be studied from the beginning. If Mr. Chen could improve the card appliances, that would be better for his advancement.


    What sort of character was this Mr. Chen? Alfonso was excited that someone with such power would study card appliances.


    Without waiting for anything else to be said, he immediately took some helper to his own place, and moved a pile of card appliances back there. Chen Mu had devoted a large space to pile them in, and the room quickly filled. The most extraordinary thing was that Alfonso had actually lugged over some of the large-scale things that Chen Mu had seen in the auditorium.


    Those card appliances were nearly five or six meters tall, which made them intimidating to look at, erected there. Standing below them, everyone was covered by their shadow.


    "These are cluster cannons which have a lot of power. Even the most ferocious beasts would be reduced to dust by its blast." Alfonso spoke with pride, since he was the one who''d proudly made them. It was the crown of the village''s garrison, where quite a few surly wild beasts had come under the cluster cannon''s fire.


    Looking up, Chen Mu couldn''t help a sigh of appreciation, having only been able to see it from a distance before, where he could now examine it closely. Such a large-scale weapon wasn''t seen very often even in the Heavenly Federation. Who would have thought that in such a village, cut off from the world, there would be such a terrifying weapon?


    "Dismantle it so that we can study it."


    Alfonso had long been waiting for Chen Mu to say that, as he very excitedly started to direct all the villagers in its dismantling. Seeing the villagers so easily dismantle such a solid and terrifying cannon, Chen Mu was speechless. But his attention was quickly absorbed by Alfonso''s explanations.


    Chen Mu had a far deeper understanding of the card system than Alfonso did, often explaining a little about it''s critical areas, so that Alfonso could familiarize himself with it. Alfonso got more excited as he talked, since the expression on Chen Mu''s clearly showed that something had been brewing in his mind.


    The dismantled parts from the cluster cannon were strewn all over the place, though they could only be placed outside, since it was so large. The villagers continually passing by would look at the parts all over the ground and couldn''t help showing what a shame and heartbreak they felt it was. The cluster cannons were the most powerful weapon in the village, and every one of them was precious.


    Chen Mu had to admire Alfonso. Although there were many things about the cluster cannon that were primitive and crude, and which could be optimized somewhat, Alfonso had only been able to rely on that tiny bit of primitive knowledge of cards that he had in his head to make such menacing weapons. There was no need to doubt his innate gifts.


    Mr. Chen and Alfonso were both nuts!


    Every time a villager would pass by that so-called "lab," they couldn''t help their strange expression. Everyone in the village knew that Mr. Chen and Alfonso had become addicted to tearing things apart. It seemed as though the two of them wanted to give up on everything, with everything that Alfonso had made being torn to pieces. That room was then specially called the "parts storeroom," since all the weapons had been turned into parts. Even those youth who had been studying with Chen Mu felt heartsick.


    The weapons that Alfonso had made had always been among the most well-received things in the village. Those things which had been thought all along to have been gotten with such extreme difficulty, were then surprisingly being dismantled into parts. That was no way for a defeated clan to behave! Especially at a time when such weapons were obviously more precious than ever. It even got to the point where many would run over to where the clan elder was, hoping that he would appear and put an end to such defeatist behavior, beyond anything in the history of the clan.


    He needed to know that there had been enough weapons to arm over two-hundred people.


    Chen Mu''s eyes were bloodshot, their having been taking apart the appliances for several days and nights to the point where even his brain felt numb. It was the third day of dismantling the card appliances, during which time he had burrowed into the lab alone.


    Three sleepless and restless days!


    He took a deep breath to clear his mind, feeling as fatigued as though he were being washed by the tide, and as though he could sleep standing up. He held several rolls of plans in his hands, as he stood in the largest room of the lab. All the workers in the lab dropped what they had been doing and respectfully stood in front of him. The youth couldn''t help their look of reverence, never having thought that the Mr. Chen who had always seemed to be in no hurry could be so desperate!


    They had long since gotten the news about the situation in the village. Though all of them burned with anxiety, they had been ordered to help Mr. Chen and listen to what he told them unconditionally.


    That day was the first time that Mr. Chen had gathered them since the emergency alert, and they stood very orderly, although they couldn''t conceal the excitement on their faces. They understood that their mission was about to arrive! Seeing the number one person in the village so busy that his feet didn''t touch the ground, they all urgently hoped that they had the ability to help somehow.


    It was quiet enough in the lab to hear a pin drop.


    Chen Mu said in a husky dry voice, "Everyone stop what you are doing, and process these things." He held out the plans in his hands. After that, being tired to the point of not being able to hold anything, Chen Mu dropped his head and slept.


    The lab became immediately busy, and even the ones who were ordinarily slackers became wound up like a spring. Chen Mu had already given them the best example, and they were as moved as though they had all taken stimulants, bursting in enthusiasm such as they had never experienced!


    All the equipment in the lab was in operation day and night without stopping, and those youth who were mostly teenagers all roused their fighting spirits to throw all their energy into it.


    * * *


    Seeing the busy villagers, Bo Wen asked Cheng Ying, "Do you believe what that old guy said?" Starting that day, the atmosphere in the village had become abruptly agitated. Bo Wen didn''t quite understand how such a person who never seemed muddled could make such an unsubstantiated conjecture, to make such a hasty decision. He still didn''t believe the talk about the so-called gummy cloud layer disaster, and if there really was such a disaster, it couldn''t have been prevented by the Heavenly Federation.


    "I believe it." Cheng Ying nodded without hesitation.


    Bo Wen turned in disbelief, not having thought that Cheng Ying''s response would be so definite.


    Seeing Bo Wen''s suspicious gaze, Cheng Ying laughed to inform him, "They have no need to trick us."


    Bo Wen had been about to say something, when what Cheng Ying continued on to say made him abruptly open his eyes wide. Cheng Ying was whispering as she remembered, "Because I''ve seen it before!" When she said that her face betrayed some fear, as though she had remembered something scary.


    Bo Wen''s expression slightly changed.


    Cheng Ying smiled bitterly, "Do you still remember that time when we were being chased by that twin-hook beast? It seemed at the time that our best choice was to fly up, but I stopped you. Do you still remember?"


    "Mmmm, I found it strange at the time." Bo Wen said dubiously.


    "I once went with a team into the outer reaches to compete a commission. We ran into an awesome card artisan that time, whose temper was so bad that he clashed with us. He was fierce, even fiercer than Chen Mu! Almost our entire army was annihilated. I had good luck and was only knocked out. Then his adversary caught up with him, whose power wasn''t any lower. The two of them battled it out, and when I revived, it was just in time to see them battling. Finally, they both died!" Cheng Ying glanced at Bo Wen, "They had flown very high, and then they fell to their deaths. I couldn''t find any wounds on their bodies, and to tell the truth I was terrified. I could never forget those two twisted faces, looking the same as if they''d been drowned. Ever since then, I''ve understood that there is danger even in the sky.


    Bo Wen''s expression had completely changed.


    * * *


    It was already two days later by the time that Chen Mu woke up. His body had become well rested, and his strength had been restored. He was stricken by powerful pangs of hunger as soon as he opened his eyes. Seeing Chen Mu awaken, Li Duhong, who had been waiting at his side, rushed out to get some food.


    "How have you been doing?" Chen Mu asked vaguely while he was gorging himself.


    Li Duhong stood with his head bowed, saying respectfully, "We''ve already completed two hundred sets of each style part, and the senior apprentices are still working." Although Li Duhong was young, he already had rather orderly thinking, much more so than Chen Mu at the same age. Chen Mu couldn''t help thinking that if the child weren''t so diabolical in his cleverness, he would be quite worth cultivating.


    Carelessly stuffing himself, Chen Mu left the building again, and arrived at the big room of the lab.


    Seeing Chen Mu come out, everyone put down their work. Under Alfonso''s guidance, they bowed their salute in unison, "Greetings teacher!"


    When had Chen Mu ever gotten such treatment? He nearly freaked out. He wasn''t much older than those youths, and Alfonso could be his uncle based on his age. Teacher? How could such a rookie as himself have enough ability to be considered those peoples'' teacher? But then seeing them all clasp their hands in respect and rise, they looked like they were awaiting his instruction.


    Beside himself, Chen Mu lightly coughed, "Have all the parts been processed?"


    Alfonso stepped forward, and answered with unparalleled respect, "They''ve all been processed." All the parts in Chen Mu''s design were made of metal, which was the strong point of a village so advanced in metallurgy. Since Chen Mu hadn''t been specific about the quantities, they had made two hundred of each part in a single breath.


    The parts hadn''t been very elaborately designed, though they were plenty of trouble to process. Alfonso had tried roughly to assemble the parts but hadn''t once succeeded.


    Even someone with as rich experience as Alfonso couldn''t figure out how the parts were actually to be used.


    All of the younger people were full of curiosity, as they waited for Chen Mu to reveal the mystery.

 Chapter 160: I’m Ugly, and I’m not Gentle

    Chapter 160: I¡¯m Ugly, and I¡¯m not Gentle


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Twenty-five different kinds of parts had been placed in front of Chen Mu, flashing with the metallic gleam of just having been processed, each one shiny. Chen Mu picked each one up to inspect it, until he had set down the last part, when his face showed a satisfied expression.


    Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. After working so hard to make those parts, if they didn''t meet the master''s demands, that would have been enough to frustrate those impetuous youths to the point of spitting blood. Most of them wouldn''t be considered very good with metal work, that basically being a time to let the rookies strut their stuff. It was a good thing that the instruments had a lot of intelligence. That, together with Alfonso''s on-site teaching, meant that they had been just barely able to make them. The most tired for the past couple of days included Alfonso, who had gotten a size skinnier.


    Chen Mu didn''t immediately move to assemble the parts, but rather started to make cards right on-site. The lab already had all the materials he would need, since he had taken that factor into account at the outset of his design. No matter whether it was time or manpower, they were all precious at that time, and there wouldn''t be any time for him to search out new materials.


    This was Chen Mu''s first time to make anything other than a one-star power card in front of those youths.


    He settled his sprits and was rather pleased with his physical conditioning. He took the materials which had already been prepared, and then took out the "weak water" pen set. Chen Mu then started to make the card while everyone watched.


    The tip of the pen was gentle and smooth, and Chen Mu''s movements were natural like moving clouds and flowing water calligraphy, so smooth that the youths almost forgot to breathe. The fine pen nib was like a superb dancer, as it flew up to dance, spreading a light glow from the lines as they followed the pen nib which spread its transformations over the face of the card.


    The scene looked so miraculous! In that instant the youth''s minds were all overcome by the magic. They would never be able to forget that mental image which had been branded into their minds for the rest of their lives.


    Chen Mu''s final stoke was perfectly placed, and the slight glowing design suddenly started to breath like a person, dark for a while and then light for a while. That drew a whispered exclamation from the youths in unison. The light and dark went through three oscillations, when the card scattered all its glow to lie quietly on the table.


    He had made a three-star card; a very uniquely alternative three-star card. More precisely, it was a wavy blade card in an incomplete state.


    If Chen Mu were to give the card to any card artisan, the only fate for the card would be for the card artisan to dismiss it and throw it into the trash-can like a piece of garbage. There wasn''t any card artisan who could use the card, though Chen Mu hadn''t made it for the use of a card artisan.


    The wavy blades that could be formed from that card had all their flexibility removed by Chen Mu. Which was to say that the power composition of the wavy blades emitted by the card was entirely fixed, and there was no way to adjust the power composition by means of perception. Truly, the card had no sensitivity to perception to speak of at all. Cards that couldn''t be manipulated by perception wouldn''t be used by any card artisan.


    Still, Chen Mu had made such a card.


    The card had gotten different characteristics that other cards didn''t have, at the expense of flexibility. It had a simpler composition, and so long as there was energy, it would be able to form a fixed composition wavy blade that it would emit. Thus, it was like a fixed sequence, so inflexible that it would remain steady even in complete shambles. Its power had been fixed from the point of creation and wouldn''t fluctuate at all. All the wavy blades that were formed were completely identical.


    Chen Mu had expended a lot of effort to increase its power. Under the circumstance where perception would be no help, its power was directly related to its rate of energy use, which required some calculation to optimize.


    What could be more useful under those conditions than the token composition?


    The token composition seemed to have been created for just such a situation. Chen Mu felt vaguely as though a window had appeared in front of him, and all he had to do was open it. But whenever he would have that thought, he wouldn''t be able to grasp the thread of light. In his current situation, to calm his mind and contemplate the disaster in front of him was entirely inappropriate and would be a luxury he didn''t have. It was a good thing that our classmate Chen Mu didn''t'' have the habit of luxury.


    In that instant, all the irrelevant thoughts were deemed distracting by him, and he ruthlessly shook them off.


    Under the gaze of the adoring students all around, Chen Mu started to do the assembly. All of the metallic parts were exquisite, though naturally that thought was limited to Chen Mu. In Alfonso''s eyes, the level of precision in the fitment of the metal would be classified at the roughest level. And it was a good thing that it was rough, since if the precision were any higher, he wouldn''t have been able to train so many rookies in such a short amount of time.


    From that, the difference in metallurgy between the village and the Heavenly Federation was evident.


    Chen Mu was moving very slowly, sometimes having to stop and think for a bit. The crowd had stopped breathing, as they were transfixed by Chen Mu''s every move, afraid to make the slightest sound. Only the sound of metal clanking could be heard in the great room in the huge lab.


    Chen Mu put the card in a metal accessory which looked like a small square box. The crowd then realized that the shallow groove in the metal accessory was for placing the card. There was a light clicking sound, as the little metallic box locked up. Chen Mu lowered his head and picked up all the parts that he needed from the table.


    Everyone finally realized after a while why they hadn''t been able to succeed in putting them together, since those parts basically didn''t belong to any weapon, or even to a couple or even a few weapons. That caused a lot of distress to Alfonso, who had made so many attempts to put them together.


    Chen Mu finally had the first finished product completed in his hands!


    Seeing the finally completed thing, the crowd all looked at one another, with some already unable to help laughing. That weapon, oh good lord! If it were to be called a weapon, it really was an ugly one!


    The first impression was made by a strange thing that was composed of what looked like two pieces of metal plate pieced together, and a flat metal plate about a meter long placed horizontally, which was about ten centimeters wide. Its tail end was attached to a square metal box about thirty centimeters on each side. The two joined at a right angle, at whose inner bend a short metal rod was sticking out.


    "What, what is this?" Alfonso stammered to ask. He hadn''t thought that the Chen Mu who he admired so much would ever make such an ugly thing. The powerful impact that strangely formed thing gave him had even made him stammer while he spoke.


    "A weapon." Chen Mu glanced at Alfonso as though he were strange, asking such a rhetorical question. What would he make at that time if not a weapon?


    Everyone had gone silent.


    Chen Mu didn''t pay any attention to them, having finally come up with the first weapon he''d designed by himself. That thing was really heavy! But thinking about it like a villager full of brute force, he discarded any notion of improving it.


    There wasn''t anyplace to test weapons in the lab, so Chen Mu could only go to the fields beyond it.


    The crowd in the building all looked at one another, and then fell silent. Then they went out with Chen Mu, though it took a lot of courage. Alfonso was the first to leave the lab, with a face generously full of tragic death. In response, everyone else could only grit their teeth and harden themselves to follow him.


    That thing was really too ugly. What a loss of face!


    "Aiyo, what are so many people about to do?" The villagers couldn''t help asking, since it was their first time seeing the crowd in the lab come out all at once.


    Alfonso and the rest had brave black lines straight across their brows, remaining collectively silent.


    Chen Mu hadn''t paid any attention to the strange expressions of Alfonso and the others behind him, as he arrived in front of a large tree, which was over three meters in diameter, having a lush canopy sprinkling shade under it. He stopped about fifteen meters from the tree.


    Only then did the villagers pay attention to what Chen Mu was holding up in both hands, when all at once everyone''s expression turned strange, and then they were quickly surrounded by an eerie silence.


    Alfonso and the rest of them were wishing they could find some kind of hole in the ground to crawl into. Really too embarrassing! Such a loss of face! Alfonso was inwardly teary, being such a power in the village, who had never lost a person so big.


    Just then, Chen Mu lightly pulled on that short metal rod.


    Xiu xiu xiu xiu xiu!


    There was suddenly a stunning glow from the front of the ugly flat metal box, as blade after deep blue wavy blade came spewing like crazy from the front of the flat metal plate. They looked like a dense chain of deep blue wavy blades!


    Alfonso and the youths were staring gape-mouthed at Chen Mu and that string of dark blue wavy blades, whose glow wasn''t dimmed even in the broad daylight! The weirded-out expressions of the villagers instantly turned to panic, with such a sudden transformation making their expressions even more weirded-out.


    Pa pa pa pa pa!


    All of the wavy blades hit the same spot on the tree, sending sawdust everywhere! The level-flying sawdust even hit some villagers and students in the face. The fine wood chips were full of power and hurt when they hit the face. Still, none of them were covering their soft spots with their hands, since they weren''t moving, as though they were carved in rock.


    Apart from the popping sound of the wavy blades hitting the tree trunk and busting out all the sawdust, there was also the whooshing sound of the wavy blades going through the air, when the field became as quiet as death.


    Everyone was stunned!

 Chapter 161: The Blue Moon Gun

    Chapter 161: The Blue Moon Gun


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The weapon that Chen Mu made shook the whole village. Everyone knew it was a stunning weapon with unprecedented power. If it weren''t for the current state of agitation, Chen Mu''s lab would probably have been engulfed by a water-tight crowd of villagers. But the weapon''s ugliness was as famous as its power. All of the villagers who had seen the weapon from Chen Mu''s lab exaggerated the same way with the same phrase: it was really too ugly!


    Alfonso, who was familiar with its power, couldn''t bear such a powerful weapon being so ugly. Alfonso was a good colleague with aesthetic leanings from any point of view. He clearly understood the function of every part from Chen Mu and quickly grasped the design of the weapon, apart from that little card.


    Though Alfonso had no way to become a fine card master, he was a genuine specialist in metallurgy. He re-commenced the optimization of the weapon''s design, taking only two days. The new weapon didn''t look anything like Chen Mu''s original one. Since Chen Mu had no interest in any sort of naming rights, Alfonso also took that part of the work. The new weapon was dubbed the "Blue Moon Gun."


    The body of the gun wasn''t actually blue, but was instead pure black. After three tries, Chen Mu still couldn''t remember the long string of words describing the alloy that Alfonso said he''d used. The body had undergone some sandblasting technique which gave it a nice feel, but what Chen Mu appreciated most was that it wouldn''t reflect anything in the dark.


    The gun was a meter long, completely pitch black, with its muzzle curved back like an ancient crossbow. If one were to see it from directly in front, its level muzzle would look like the slightly scolding mouth of a shark, giving anyone a chill. The main energy box had been placed toward the back of the gun, just where the right hand could grip it comfortably. Apart from the power case, Alfonso had made other improvements, which included adding a second power case. It had been placed somewhat toward the muzzle, where the left hand could support it very nicely.


    Alfonso had also made further adjustments to its core components, which would save even more effort.


    The thing Chen Mu most appreciated about the improved Blue Moon Gun was its weight. It was only half the weight of Chen Mu''s original model, which could only be called a prototype.


    The Blue Moon Gun was still too unwieldy from Chen Mu''s point of view. However, he didn''t have any way just then to improve it further, since its heaviest parts were the energy cases.


    There was a small-scale, moonlight-stone vein near the village, which was the only energy mine in the area. The most important material in the energy cases of the Blue Moon Gun was the moonlight stone. The Blue Moon Gun had a very low rate of power utilization, and if the situation hadn''t been so dire, Chen Mu certainly would never have made a weapon that had such low efficiency. The power utilization efficiency of card artisans was generally over 80 percent. The Blue Moon Gun was at only 40 percent.


    An important reason for the low power efficiency was the technology of the energy cases. As compared with the technology of energy cards, they were a lot less efficient with their energy utilization ratio.


    For the time being, Chen Mu would just have to compromise. The energy capacity of a one-star power card was just too low, with no use in battle. And there was no one there apart from Chen Mu himself who could make two- or three-star power cards. Chen Mu had no choice but to use the technology of power cases. That was the village''s technology, which Chen Mu only borrowed.


    The lethality of the Blue Moon Gun''s wavy blades was probably about 200, which Chen Mu thought was just passable. What to the villagers was a terrifying firing rate was still unworthy of mention from Chen Mu''s point of view. The wavy blade firing rate of any card artisan would be a lot faster.


    The only part of the Blue Moon Gun that wasn''t completely wrong was that it could be used by ordinary people. So what if the power and firing rate were a little off? No stalwart soul would be any match for large numbers, and with each person paired with one gun, they could constitute a certain battle power even if they weren''t professional battle card artisans.


    Apart from the Blue Moon Gun, Chen Mu also designed a small-form cluster cannon among his weapons, which had been an improvement upon Alfonso''s cluster cannon. Provided that an adult male was wielding it, its flexibility was greatly improved. It''s power output reached about 500, with more scope. Still, it was a power hog, with a fiercer utilization than the Blue Moon Gun.


    Alfonso also made some new optimizations to the small-scale cluster cannon, lightening it by a third.


    Afonso was bowing down in admiration of Chen Mu. The little teacher had designed two kinds of fierce weapons just through casual manipulations. To design two entirely new weapons in three days'' time¡ªthey had never heard of such speed. Alfonso was very clear about his own limitations in the design of weaponry. From his point of view, it seemed as light and easy as raising his hands for Chen.


    No one in the lab had the slightest doubt of Chen''s power. Teacher Chen was a lot more awesome than the most awesome master of card matters in the village, and the alchemical refinement of his technique was something they could only admire; it filled them with reverence! The most unbelievable thing to them was that Teacher Chen wasn''t much older than they were, and everyone ¡ª including the villagers¡ªbelieved he had an incomparably bright future.


    It was hardly realistic to put any extravagant hope in becoming such a genius as Teacher Chen. But to become the student of a card master with such a bright future made people proud and full of hope. It was much more feasible now than it had been for their ancestors.


    And so, starting that day, many of the villagers would run one after the other to the village chief to entreat him in hopes that their own children could study under Teacher Chen.


    There was no need to doubt Teacher Chen''s power and knowledge. As notable as his power was, so was his ignorance of aesthetics and his clumsiness with his handicraft. That terrifyingly powerful and ugly prototype had long become the laughingstock of the villagers.


    All the scholars, including Alfonso, were firmly resolved that the next time Teacher Chen came out with something new, it would absolutely never leave the lab before it had been optimized! That had nothing to do with keeping it secret; they just believed they would all lose face.


    "What do you think about this weapon?" the clan elder asked Elder Bafu. His tone displayed unprecedented seriousness. One of the brand new Blue Moon Guns had been set up in front of him. That model was a simple, smooth, unique weapon, which drew everyone''s gaze. They had long since heard rumors of the weapon, but it was their first time seeing the finished product.


    Elder Bafu was the authority in that regard, and as soon as he gave it a try, he quickly mastered the usage of the Blue Moon Gun.


    He put it down a little reluctantly as he excitedly said, "Fantastic! So long as we can assemble such a weapon at scale, our battle power will be raised many-fold."


    "How many of that sort of weapon can we get?" Kang Lade asked coldly, voicing the question concerning everyone.


    "The production is very limited." The clan elder was rubbing his brow with a headache. "The rest of the parts have already been prepared, while that strange card, which is its core component, can only be made by Little Mr. Chen." Because of Chen Mu''s age, everyone had gotten used to adding "little" when they were talking about him.


    Elder Bafu couldn''t hold back his praise. "Such card technology is really magic. It would be great if we could learn it!"


    Everyone couldn''t help but nod, and even such a life-long ice-man as Kang Lade couldn''t stop himself from showing an expression of praise.


    "We''ll speak again after we get through the current difficulties." The clan elder cut off everyone''s imaginings, as the meeting room returned to silence. The gummy cloud layer catastrophe was impending, and the small puffs that fell from the sky had been getting more frequent recently. This made everyone agitated.


    Chen Mu was making cards every day; his card making ability far beyond what it used to be. When the "weak water" pen set was added to that, it was as though the "tiger had grown wings." The compounding of the ink had all been delegated to the students. Although they weren''t old, they were meticulous in getting things done. Chen Mu had discovered that all he had to do was give the order and the students would memorize all of it without him needing to be concerned.


    Such great kids! Chen Mu had something of an older person''s attitude toward them.


    That was how Chen Mu''s productivity went up. It was less difficult to make those not-quite-three-star cards than to make ordinary three-star cards. For Chen Mu, it was very easy work. He was able to make 40 core cards for the Blue Moon Gun every day, along with two of the core cards for the small-scale cluster cannon. He didn''t need to concern himself with any of the other parts since Alfonso couldn''t be picky about that. And to increase production, the clan elder had increased the numbers of meticulous villagers he dispatched.


    After 20 days of work, they had produced 800 Blue Moon Guns altogether, as well as 40 small-scale cluster cannons. As each of the weapons was produced, they were given to the village''s warriors at the first chance. They all needed to become accustomed to the new weaponry quickly.


    By that time, it was discovered that the gummy cloud layer had been in a strange condition for nearly a month. Its activity was more frequent and unsettled, which made everyone in the village more agitated.


    Only the day before, a puff about ten meters in diameter had suddenly fallen from the sky, scaring everyone there at the time. Everyone realized the danger was closing in on them. Even Bo Wen, who had made nothing of the gummy cloud layer at the outset, wasn''t saying anything.


    The pace of work was stepped up, and the clan elder ordered that the first divisions would set off in five days. Everyone had prepared their luggage. The busiest during that time were the villagers gathering the materials, since they were making their final dash.


    Chen Mu wasn''t slowing down either. He was using every free minute desperately making three-star power cards. Power cards were like food and medicine to a card artisan, and he also had to make last-minute preparations.

 Chapter 162: The Fifth Unit

    Chapter 162: The Fifth Unit


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "Has the Fifth Unit prepared?" Elder Bafu asked in a cold voice. There was nothing of his normal jolliness in his face this time.


    "We are ready!" Colin responded loudly.


    The Fifth Unit was strong! That was Chen Mu''s conclusion upon inspecting them. There were 200 soldiers carrying the Blue Moon Gun to protect them, as well as eight of the small-scale cluster cannons. It must be known that there were 800 of the Blue Moon Guns altogether, and only 40 of the small-scale cluster cannons. But when he saw the unit assembled, he finally understood why the village had put such importance on it. Nearly the entire unit was composed of children and youth. And it numbered well over 1,000 people, with upwards to 3,000!


    In a village where the difficulties of childbirth meant a low survival rate for babies, children and youth were the most precious resources and the hope of the Moqi line of descent. The village therefore provided the unit with about a quarter of its battle power. Chen Mu noticed that among the adults protecting them were Kitt and Alfonso. Kitt gave a mild smile upon seeing Chen Mu, though Chen Mu still noticed that thread of deep concern in his eyes.


    If one were to say what surprised Chen Mu the most, it would be seeing Wei-ah. That taciturn fellow who almost never departed from the clan elder''s side actually showed up in the unit!


    Wei-ah had certainly been sent by the clan elder, though who could be so important for the clan elder to make such a determination? Chen Mu swept his gaze over Kitt, who might have been the one! Kitt had a very special position in the village, although Chen Mu still wasn''t clear about what he really did. Still, he had discovered that no matter if it were the clan elder or any other elder, or those like Afonso, they were all very courteous and respectful toward Kitt.


    Or was it the little devil? Chen Mu''s gaze fell upon Li Duhong, feeling that to be quite possible. The little devil''s relationship with the clan elder was extraordinary, which was already evident when they first entered the village. Li Duhong must have been the child of the clan elder, though Chen Mu had never gotten such information through the daily channels and had no way to prove his conjecture.


    The appearance of Wei-ah calmed the children quite a bit. It looked like the person who was considered the top ace of the village had a truly majestic position in the eyes of the children. Chen Mu often saw their looks of fervent admiration watching Wei-ah''s back. Kitt''s luster had been nearly stolen by that taciturn guy in comparison.


    What Chen Mu didn''t notice were the gazes of the children toward him, which were still more fanatical!


    Chen Mu, Kitt and Alfonso were walking together. Chen Mu had long since stopped feeling himself a child. No one around him treated him that way even though his age wasn''t more than two or three years beyond those youths.


    "What about Bo Wen and Cheng Ying?" Chen Mu asked of his two companions who hadn''t deployed in the same division with them.


    Kitt smiled and said, "Bo Wen and Cheng Ying have already set off in the Third Unit. If our luck holds, we might come across them." He had already silently concealed his worry, and with his placid, distinguished face, he had calmed the unwitting youths all around him. Before Chen Mu had arrived, Kitt was the most learned public figure in the village, though Chen Mu occupied that position after he got there. But the villagers were still full of admiration for that non-worldly, quiet, and sophisticated young man.


    In truth, many people considered Bo Wen and Kitt to be the most gifted young men.


    There was an animal that was the so-called beast of burden for riding in the village. The body was huge at nearly two meters and had four stout powerful legs, but it still had a mild disposition. There were limited numbers of that beast of burden, which had all been used for packing supplies. All the people had to walk.


    Colin was the top commander of the division, though expectations of Wei-ah, like Chen Mu, weren''t much lower than for him. Kitt had never been able to command Wei-ah. Wei-ah had never communicated with any of the others, only remaining silent among the unit.


    Seeing the expressions among the blank and terrified youth in the unit, Kitt said with regret, "Among them are quite a few who will become qualified soldiers after another couple of years."


    Chen Mu was silent looking at those youths holding the metallic weapons. Each of them looked young and tender, with their fingers turning white from their powerful grip on the weapons, showing how nervous they felt. His students were within the unit, all very intent on protecting their partners.


    "The Moqi line has always been plagued with misfortunes," Kitt said with a calm expression that made Chen Mu feel somewhat astonished.


    "The reason for our ancestors entering the jungle that year is no longer known in detail, but it''s easy to imagine that it wasn''t anything good." Kitt''s tone was as calm as ever, although it was quite a bit louder. "And the disasters faced by our Moqi clan line have been never-ending since entering the jungle. This catastrophe of the gummy cloud layer is the second time. That year was the height of the Moqi line, with our population having reached 30 million! In the history of the clan, such catastrophes have never stopped. Disasters involving wild beasts have been recorded in the clan''s history where the 500,000 of the remaining Moqi line was reduced by a steep decline to half. There were only somewhat over 200,000 remaining. Snowstorms and floods along the way reduced the clan population even further to only 100,000."


    The youth all around raised their heads one by one, turning their gazes, all of which were aggrieved and low, towards Kitt.


    Kitt looked around and saw the gazes of the youth directly when his tone became abruptly impassioned. "And so, we Moqi line have never yielded! To enter the jungle from the outside, our ancestors battled with innumerable beasts! We survived! During the first gummy cloud layer disaster, under conditions of heavy casualties, our ancestors toughed it out to complete the migration! And once again, we survived! Blizzards and floods have caused a lot of harm to our Moqi line, but they still have not defeated us! We''re still alive! Proudly alive!"


    The gazes of the people all around, whether soldiers or youth, turned hot with passion. Many of their faces were red, as their breath came course and heavy.


    Scanning the crowd slowly, each of the soldiers and youths who had been touched by Kitt were unwittingly standing high with chests puffed.


    "Today, we once again encounter danger! But I am confident that our Moqi line will certainly survive!" Kitt''s voice had become hoarse, and the gazes of the Moqi clan showed nothing of loss or terror; their eyes were full of steady resolve.


    Watching Kitt, Chen Mu''s heart was filled with admiration. What was a leader? Kitt was providing the best rendition! Some were natural leaders after all, and Kitt was surely among those.


    Chen Mu asked himself whether he would have done that, but it didn''t obstruct his admiration of Kitt. Only Wei-ah had no response within the unit, betraying no response with his body. Chen Mu sometimes couldn''t help but wonder whether that guy could also practice breath control and enter into the state at will. That crazy thought flashed through his brain.


    The martial spirit of the division was at its peak, and it seemed like an entirely different troop from just before; its forward speed stepped up a few notches.


    Markers could be seen left behind along the way by the advance unit, which calmed everyone quite a bit.


    In the jungle, where no air could penetrate, no one really knew where the danger lay. No one dared to be careless, even though they were still within the range of their daily activities.


    By the ninth day, they had already left the area of their daily activity. They would see some freshly erected gravestones along the way from time to time, and even though they had no names on them, they would fill everyone with grief. That also made Colin and the rest feel like they were confronting a mortal enemy, not daring to loosen up in the least. The soldiers protecting the unit had gotten their orders prior to departure.


    That unit was the future of the village. Under such immense pressure, each of the soldiers was in a high state of anxiety, as though walking on thin ice second by second.


    But, Chen Mu was extremely unperturbed. As compared with the time when he had set off into the jungle together with Bo Wen and Cheng Ying¡ªjust the three of them¡ªsuch a large-scale mobilization felt an awful lot safer. He rather enjoyed chatting with Kitt, who turned out to have broad knowledge, yet was quite tolerant about knowledge and thoughts he didn''t understand.


    Alfonso remained bottled up to the side, appearing as though he would never open his mouth. The two of them were chatting very leisurely with Chen Mu talking about matters regarding the Heavenly Federation and Kitt talking about some of the myths of the Moqi line. For such a truly fanatic technophile like Alfonso, nothing apart from the technology was other than boring and uninteresting.


    By the fifteenth day, even Chen Mu and Kitt had gone silent, needing to conserve their energy. But only Kitt continually insisted, though Chen Mu''s strength wasn''t as weak as he appeared.


    The signs that they saw along the way kept decreasing until the twentieth day, when they had lost all contact with the advance division.


    They weren''t able to find a single marker!


    The unrest spread through the entire unit, with quite a bit of difference between the psychology of the youths and the soldiers.


    Still, the unrest pervaded the soldiers just the same. Colin had already kept up his steadfast expression through several days, which had made the atmosphere still more stifling.


    The disaster didn''t stop there. They had no way to retreat! During that time the puffs falling from the gummy cloud were coming much more densely than before, and so to retreat at that time would only be a road to death. The thing that worried them even more was whether the division behind them could even survive such dense gummy cloud puffs.

 Chapter 163: Toughing it Out

    Chapter 163: Toughing it Out


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The division''s martial spirit had dropped way down, with nearly everyone lowering their heads except for Chen Mu and Wei-ah. The experience of that period had nearly wiped clean any remaining youthfulness from Chen Mu''s body without him realizing it.


    Although they''d lost contact with the advance division, they still hadn''t stopped their forward progress. On the contrary, they wanted to increase their forward speed. The gummy cloud puffs incessantly dropping from the sky were like spirits urging them along, not letting them stop for a second. They had seen a wild beast with their own eyes stranded by a ball of the gummy cloud and suffocated straight to death.


    It was a terrifying scene! That fierce wild beast had struggled weakly in the gummy cloud ball for only three minutes before it died. No one had ever seen such a strange scene; they stared blankly at the wild best in front of them struggling so desperately. Every one of its movements was as if in slow motion, with its hideous face vividly playing out the terror in its soul.


    Everyone''s movements unconsciously quickened several paces after such a fright.


    Colin and Kitt consulted for a while and decided to walk toward the northeast. Their chances of running into the other division would be greatly improved if the direction were correct.


    Kitt''s condition seemed to be worsening while his fever persisted; he showed fewer and fewer moments of clarity each day. The accompanying doctors couldn''t do much about it, as they still hadn''t found any cause. Everyone was concerned about him, though no one could do anything. Not being a doctor, Chen Mu couldn''t do anything either. He couldn''t come up with any effective measures.


    An awful sound suddenly came from in front of them.


    "The white mottled ant!" The expression on Colin''s face had changed.


    Everyone''s faces transformed except for Chen Mu''s and Wei-ah''s. Chen Mu didn''t know what a white mottled ant was, while Wei-ah might simply not have known what fear was.


    But it could still be seen from Wei-ah''s response that he wasn''t going to be careless in front of the white mottled ant. Chen Mu suddenly felt his collar tightening and his whole body chilling. Wei-ah grabbed Chen Mu with one hand and Li Duhong with the other and dodged into the jungle.


    All the youth had lost their minds in fear as they ran madly after Wei-ah into the jungle beside them.


    Seeing the frightened youth, Colin had a determined look in his eyes.


    "Prepare to confront the enemy!" he growled, as he took the lead in raising the Blue Moon Gun in his hands and started firing at the white mottled ants.


    The white mottled ant was one of the scariest creatures in the jungle. When they appeared in ranks, nearly all the creatures in their path would become food in their bellies. They were only as big as a walnut, and their solitary battle strength wouldn''t be anything to talk about. But it was their terrifying numbers that had given them such a notoriously formidable presence in the jungle.


    "Every troop pay attention! Draw the ants'' attention toward the South!" Colin''s brain was exceptionally clear in that moment. They needed to draw the ants away, or none of the children would be able to survive. If they were to move back toward the village, then the divisions after them would suffer the same calamity. So, after a brief pause for examination, he decided to move south.


    The Fifth Unit''s soldiers were battle-hardened; they didn''t hesitate to put the Blue Moon Guns in their hands into a steady cadence of shooting to keep an appropriate distance from the leading edge of the swarm of ants. Although they knew they would die, many of the soldiers had a look of gratitude in their eyes, since their own children were among the division.


    Their movements in the jungle were resolute, as they kept up their firing of the Blue Moon Guns toward the swarm of ants, riling them up. The wavy blades from the guns effortlessly sliced apart the white mottled ants, and since the blades were so dense, each one could kill quite a few. Still, their effect on the swarm was minuscule, but they had been very successful in riling them.


    Colin led the soldiers in a mad dash to the South, sometimes looking back to see the swarm of ants relentlessly closing in, which gave his eyes an unconscious perpetual iciness.


    They had already entered the region of instability for the gummy cloud layer by then, with balls of the gummy cloud dropping from time to time. When they hit one''s body they were like jelly, tight and falling off very slowly.


    The swarm of ants also seemed to be aware of the danger in front of them, as they slowed their pace.


    An icy smile formed on Colin''s face as he made a signal for his comrades to fire all-out. In a while all their firepower was cascading down on the swarm of ants, with nothing held back. Quite a few of the ants were pulverized under such dense firepower. Their fluids and guts were flowing out as the air filled with a pungent smell.


    The swarm of ants became enraged! They suddenly surged toward Colin and the rest, where two sides of the ant swarm had already begun to move, wanting to surround the evil gang.


    The sound of Blue Moon Guns lightened up, as they were no longer actually firing any wavy blades, since the energy cases were used up!


    Colin dropped the Blue Moon Gun without any hesitation as he growled, "Run!"


    Everyone dropped the guns and dropped their heads in a wild run. The enraged swarm of ants was giving even faster chase that time, with no hesitation at all.


    Chen Mu, who was being carried, suddenly noticed Kitt and Alfonso. He wrestled himself from Wei-ah''s hands, hurriedly saying, "Take Kitt!" As soon as he hit the ground, he rushed toward Alfonso.


    Wei-ah was stunned, but he quickly responded after some pause. He picked up Kitt with one hand. By that time, Chen Mu had arrived in front of Alfonso, who he pulled up onto his back. Alfonso was utterly astonished, his delicate constitution having become his most fatal weakness by then.


    Running for over ten minutes on a single breath, Chen Mu found that the situation was getting worse. There were several thousand people running pell-mell, making a chaotic scene.


    The children were out of their minds with fear, with their shrieks and cries sounding up again and again.


    Chen Mu furrowed his brow. If things were to go on like that, not even half of them would survive.


    Chen Mu halted his pace, shut his eyes, and took a very deep breath. Wei-ah gave Chen Mu a strange look, as he stopped as well.


    "Everyone, close your mouths!" Chen Mu abruptly shouted. Those four words nearly exhausted all the strength in his body. The blank-minded Alfonso on his back was jolted right out of consciousness.


    Chen Mu''s shout had blanketed all the youths'' shrieks, and all the noise came to a sudden halt within an instant.


    Looking at all the young people''s blank expressions, Chen Mu sighed to himself, and then immediately ordered in a loud voice, "Those over 16 who have undergone military training, stand to my left! Those under 16 who have undergone military training, stand to my right."


    The youths, who were out of their senses, unconsciously did what Chen Mu had told them to, and there were very quickly around 200 or more youths meeting the conditions to Chen Mu''s left. While their bodies were still rather frail, they were all nearly adults. Chen Mu''s right was almost full of people of all different sizes, all with panicked looks. But the ratio was a shock to Chen Mu. As far as the eye could see, there were only about 300 children who hadn''t received any military training, and they were mostly only 5 or 6 years old.


    "You, you, you..." In a single breath, Chen Mu selected 20 from the left of him whose bodies looked the most well-developed. Those selected were at a loss, and then without much calculation, Chen Mu said to them, "You are all now the team leaders, with each of you responsible for a team.


    "It is your responsibility to lead your team to follow the larger team!" Chen Mu stared at the 20, as he said word by word, "Now divide into teams!"


    The division into teams went very quickly and much more efficiently than Chen Mu had ever anticipated. Most of the children had undergone military training, and although their skills weren''t yet sufficiently developed, there wasn''t any issue with their basic abilities. And those children who hadn''t undergone any military training were then calmed, looking as obedient as ever.


    All the 5- and 6-year-olds were taken on the backs of those 16 and over.


    "Where do we go?" The ever-silent Wei-ah suddenly opened his mouth.


    The youths were all looking at Chen Mu, whose recent actions had made him the only one they could rely on in their eyes.


    Chen Mu was stunned, thinking that Wei-ah knew where to go. But from what Wei-ah had said, Chen Mu immediately understood that Wei-ah had only gone running for his life, without any purpose.


    Chen Mu smiled bitterly. Everyone''s gaze was focused on him, and he had no way to evade it by then. Otherwise, the organization he had just accomplished would revert again to chaos. In truth, he also couldn''t evade Kitt still being unconscious, and Alfonso wasn''t any good, so he could only pay attention to Wei-ah. It wasn''t worth thinking any further.


    Just then, there was a disturbance in the jungle behind him, and everyone''s expression suddenly changed. Could the white mottled ants have caught up?


    Several of the startled beasts of burden were charging out from the forest. Those docile creatures had also been frightened. Their appearance brightened Chen Mu''s eyes, since the material they had on their backs had been bound so securely that it surprisingly hadn''t fallen off. He immediately ordered several brave youths to gather them up.


    The thing that made everyone happy was that there were only three of the beasts of burden missing; the rest were still there.


    Getting the supplies calmed everyone down quite a bit. But as soon as they thought of Colin and the rest, the youths'' eyes all turned red, and the smallest among them started to wail.


    "Move ahead." Chen Mu had thought for a while and then gritted his teeth to speak. Seeing the still-dazed Kitt, Chen Mu hoped he could come out of it quickly, so he could hand the mess over to him. He now realized what he hadn''t been able to bear before: there were too many problems. He had no idea how to lead such a big gang of bratty kids who didn''t have the strength to protect themselves in that jungle.


    But staring at those 5- and 6-year-old children dying tragically in front of him, Chen Mu couldn''t just let himself do nothing and run for his life to safety.


    Still, after toughing it out, Chen Mu had discovered that he had no idea.


    Wake up, Kitt!

 Chapter 164: What Kitt Entrusted

    Chapter 164: What Kitt Entrusted


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "What''s with you staying with me?" Chen Mu lifted his eyes to take a look at Wei-ah. He had found Wei-ah''s reaction strange that day when they ran into the ant swarm. Wei-ah''s first reaction had been to grab Chen Mu and Li Duhong.


    For him to rescue Li Duhong first wasn''t really unexpected, but for the other one to be himself was something Chen Mu couldn''t quite understand. He believed either Alfonso or Kitt were more important than himself. And moreover, he was pegged with a foreign identity. Chen Mu tried to guess who it was in the end that had caused the clan elder to command Wei-ah¡ªwho never left the clan elder''s side¡ªto appear in their division. Chen Mu had never considered himself at all likely.


    Wei-ah was right beside Chen Mu ever since. No matter how much Chen Mu asked him why, he would remain silent. But as soon as Chen Mu stood, he would stand right alongside him.


    "Kitt has come-to! Kitt has come-to!" The encampment grew lively, with such good news making the beaten-down youths'' faces bloom with smiles.


    Kitt had finally woken up. That was good news for everyone, including Chen Mu. He breathed a sigh of relief, since with Kitt alert, he wouldn''t have to take charge any longer.


    "Mr. Chen, Kitt would like you to go to him." A youth who looked to be about 12 had come to Chen Mu, speaking with admiration. Chen Mu''s performance those last two days had won over the respect of all the youth.


    Chen Mu got to Kitt, but he was startled when he saw Kitt''s face showing such a feeling of malaise. Kitt''s cheeks presented an unusually livid redness, which looked very much like a final show of lucidity.


    Kitt forced a smile upon seeing Chen Mu arrive. "Thank you." Li Duhong and Alfonso were both by Kitt''s side. Li Duhong was showing strength well beyond that of a child, having insisted on walking during that time and not riding on someone''s back. Kitt seemed to have just said something to Li Duhong, whose face still had some traces of tears on it, while a resolute gaze still shone from his two onyx eyes.


    "Don''t thank me," Chen Mu shook his head, responding very honestly. "You just get better. I''ve already done what I can do. I don''t have any good ideas right now." He wasn''t being self-effacing; he had wracked his brain and still couldn''t come up with anything. There were still 2,700 youths remaining, but only three adults who had any military training. To lead so many youths would be like leading a herd of plump lambs without a pride of lions to protect them.


    Who knew if the wild beasts had already spotted them?


    "What you''ve already done is outstanding!" Kitt was looking straight at Chen Mu, not hiding his admiration in the least.


    Chen Mu smiled bitterly. "Outstanding? Your praise for me won''t do any good, since I really have no ideas."


    Who knew what Kitt was thinking, but his tone turned deep and hard to make out, "Fate will always make one feel hopeless, but it is just when one is hopeless that there is a ray of sunshine."


    With his knowledge all card-related, Chen Mu didn''t grasp that, not ever even having skimmed literary knowledge. So, he chose to remain silent.


    "What are your ideals, Chen Mu?" Kitt suddenly changed the subject to ask such an utterly irrelevant-seeming question.


    "Ideals?" Chen Mu was turning over in his mind what he had learned in his experience about what he considered a rather strange term. He suddenly remembered some things that had happened. He remembered those few years when he had been making one-star power cards, and he remembered the excitement and distress when he had been making a card play together with Copper. And he remembered the uncontrollable excitement when he had discovered the mysterious card...


    "You don''t want to die here in the jungle, right?" Kitt cut off Chen Mu''s reminiscences, staring at him deeply.


    Restored to himself, Chen Mu hurried to respond, nodding his head. "Right."


    Kitt signaled for Alfonso to help him sit up, and all of the youth around couldn''t help their excitement. They believed once Kitt got better and joined Chen Mu, the two would certainly be able to lead them out of danger. Chen Mu and Kitt were acclaimed as the most gifted young people, and they both deserved the youths'' faith.


    "Haven''t you seen them? They are very young and weak, and any wild beast could tear them to shreds." Kitt was looking straight at Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu was listening, knowing Kitt had more to say.


    "But that is now! Among them are many who have already undergone military training, even though it''s incomplete! But provided only five more years¡ªno, maybe they only need three¡ªthere will be quite a few of them who will grow into excellent soldiers!" There was a lot of pride in Kitt''s face. "You might not know that those in this unit are all the most excellent youth of the clan! Each one of them is extremely outstanding!


    "If you wish to escape the jungle, you won''t succeed by yourself! I believe you understand that. But it won''t be an issue if you have them with you. Most of them will become specialists in the jungle. Having such expertise, this stretch of jungle will become your kingdom. You will be the king of this kingdom!"


    Kitt''s speech was full of temptation.


    Chen Mu wasn''t moved by that. While Kitt had outlined an extremely beautiful scene, all of it was based on the premise that he could lead those youths to survival.


    Could he?


    Chen Mu was shaking his head to himself, not considering himself to have that ability.


    Kitt started to cough, which became more and more violent as the red flush on his face become deeper. It looked terrifying to Chen Mu. The youths all stood and nervously looked on.


    Kitt stopped his coughing with a great deal of difficulty and forced a smile. "I reckon I''ll die soon; the heavens are rushing me. Lead this gang of kids, Chen Mu. If things get dangerous for you, just run off. You won''t take a loss in any case..." Kitt had another fit of violent coughing, while Li Duhong was chewing his lip to the side, his eyes red, keeping his little face stiff as he struggled to keep tears from falling.


    Chen Mu sighed to himself and lightly said, "Alright, but I can only say I''ll do my best. I can''t guarantee anything." He had already seen that Kitt had started to bleed again from his stitches, and his distinguished face had become so full of red it looked like it would ooze blood.


    Kitt stopped coughing after a few minutes and looked at Chen Mu in gratitude. "Thank you!" Then, after speaking, he patted Li Duhong''s head lightly with his right hand. "Little devil, remember to listen to what Mr. Chen says."


    "Arrgh," Li Duhong groaned with a heavy sob, having nearly bitten his lips to bleeding, as his eyes were swimming with tears. To his side, Alfonso couldn''t help but turn away to wipe his tears.


    "Wei-ah." Kitt suddenly lifted his head.


    Wei-ah was startled, not having thought Kitt would have anything to say to him.


    "Come over; I have something to tell you."


    After some hesitation, Wei-ah walked over to Kitt.


    "Come a little closer."


    Wei-ah put his ear near Kitt''s mouth, and Kitt said something to him quietly. Wei-ah looked at Chen Mu with some astonishment and lightly nodded. Chen Mu had watched the particulars and couldn''t help but mull them over, wondering what Kitt had said to Wei-ah.


    Kitt then brought some of the older youths to his side, giving them careful exhortations. There were sounds of crying all over the camp, as none of the youth could stop the flow of grieving tears.


    Kitt''s voice became weaker and weaker until it couldn''t be heard, and then he looked as though he were sleeping. No matter how much they called out to him, he gave no response.


    Wei-ah put his finger to Kitt''s neck and shook his head at Chen Mu. "He''s dead."


    Kitt was buried on the spot, and the morale of the division had reached its freezing point. Chen Mu was helpless in that kind of situation, only able to keep camp for a while. They left remembrances along the way, though not one of those with Colin had caught up with them. Chen Mu conjectured that there would no longer be any positive signs of them.


    But, what was surprising to Chen Mu was that he found several small-scale cluster cannons among the material on the backs of the beasts of burden. When they had run into the swarm of ants previously, those with Colin hadn''t been able to retrieve them. Although he didn''t think those few small-scale cluster cannons would be be very useful, they were better than nothing. No matter how small, the ants were still flesh.


    He specifically chose several of the older youths to learn how to manipulate the few remaining weapons.


    The division kept moving forward, though more slowly than before. They were children after all, with quite a bit of difference in their bodily strength compared to adults. But, they were quite excellent, and after a very short time, they had learned how to manipulate the small-scale cluster cannons, which they tirelessly practiced.


    Chen Mu sent Wei-ah out to scout since he was the only one in the entire division who could do such work. Chen Mu had been a little worried that Wei-ah wouldn''t take his orders, not having thought that Wei-ah would be so exceptionally compliant; whatever orders Chen Mu gave, he would carry them out without hesitation. The only thing that gave Chen Mu a headache was that Wei-ah would still urge him every day, right into his ear, to learn his techniques.


    Wei-ah was deployed to the fullest by Chen Mu, as the surliest martial fellow in the entire division.


    Wei-ah''s performances had demonstrated that he was worthy of his designation as the top ace in the village. They would often come across the corpse of some wild beast along the way. After they asked Wei-ah, they understood the beasts had all been killed easily while he was scouting.


    Jiu! A drawn-out scream suddenly sounded from the woods.


    The entire division stopped its progress, as the youth couldn''t help showing their terror.


    Chen Mu''s face also shifted involuntarily, since that was Wei-ah''s cry of danger, proving he had run into trouble. When Wei-ah couldn''t resolve some trouble, it would really have to be bad!


    Chen Mu shut his eyes as fast as he could with an inward bitter smile.


    Breath control! He needed to enter that damned state of breath control right away!

 Chapter 165: The Big Bug

    Chapter 165: The Big Bug


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The terrified youths gathered together, though they showed a lot more strength than when they had encountered the swarm of ants. They were growing up very quickly. They had closed ranks unconsciously to give themselves some feeling of security. Within the group, Li Duhong had fixed his gaze on Chen Mu with his closed eyes, knowing that Chen Mu was certainly up to something. Although he didn''t know why Chen Mu closed his eyes, he remembered very clearly the time when they had run into the brilliant apes; Chen Mu had also closed his eyes at the outset.


    The teacher is surely up to something! Li Duhong''s little face flushed a deep red as he burned with anxiety.


    Ever since the last time, Chen Mu had started to be more moderate toward the use of breath control. The powerful side effects made him believe if he were to enter the state of breath control without restraint, he would very likely perish in that state. He felt he was making a deal with the devil, putting his own life on the line in exchange for some temporary strength.


    It was a messed-up bargain for sure, although every time he was about to face danger, he would find he had no other choice!


    What a helpless life!


    Chen Mu opened his eyes and shot up from the ground into the forest like an artillery shell bursting from a cannon.


    The teacher has made his move! Li Duhong was wringing his little fists, and it was hard to hide the excitement on his face.


    Seeing Chen Mu make his move for the first time, the other children all dropped their jaws, watching stunned as Chen Mu made his gorgeous attack, so full of explosive power. At that moment, the encampment, which had been in an uproar of terror, abruptly turned extremely peaceful!


    The peace lasted five seconds. The encampment roared back to life!


    "Good Lord! Mr. Chen really is an ace!"


    "Teacher Chen had talked about how he could fly. Mr. Chen is really awesome!"


    "Way too cool! I want to learn to fly!"


    Li Duhong was looking disdainfully at those buzzing children, sunken into their fanaticism. They completely forgot how fanatical and worshipful he had been that day. The shock of Chen Mu''s sudden move had softened the terror in their hearts.


    Li Duhong was gazing spellbound toward the deep jungle, bound never to forget the teacher''s eyes for his whole life! Although Chen Mu was normally quite good-natured, even, and moderate, Li Duhong still knew underneath that mild exterior was hidden a pair of eyes that held the grim reaper''s chilly contempt for life or death.


    Chen Mu was very quick; the "big mud fish" let him shuttle effortlessly through the jungle, and in the state of breath control he was able to discern Wei-ah''s position in an extremely short time. If some ace were to carefully observe the scene, he would be stunned to discover that Chen Mu''s way in was made of countless very fine threads. The winding path of those little threads was the optimal path under the circumstances.


    That had required some kind of stunning calculation ability.


    Chen Mu found Wei-ah.


    Wei-ah had a calm expression as he confronted a large-scale bug encased by a carapace. As soon as Chen Mu saw such a large bug standing a couple of meters tall, with its carapace shining black, he knew how hard it was. With its body supported by six legs, it could move with extreme nimbleness and grace. It had two shining, black sickle-shaped claws in front, on top of which were crammed rows of barbs as thick as a thumb. The sharp barbs struck a chill straight to the heart. Its pair of rich, green little eyes were fiercely staring down Wei-ah.


    Chen Mu felt the bug was invincible as soon as he saw it. Its whole body was covered by the hard carapace, and the pace of its movements on those feet was extremely quick, with no awkwardness at all. Wei-ah looked like a delicate baby in front of it with empty fists.


    Chen Mu then finally saw how Wei-ah fought.


    Wei-ah suddenly charged the big bug, with the speed of his movements too hard for Chen Mu to capture, even in the state of breath control. Chen Mu made an almost unconscious calculation, which floated up some rough data in his mind. He calculated that in that first instant, even in the state of breath control, he would be defeated without any doubt if he were facing Wei-ah. Chen Mu''s reaction time was far deficient!


    The big bug was evidently rather scared in the face of Wei-ah, the two barbs of its forward claws glinting coldly. It raised them toward Wei-ah, who was charging it.


    It exceeded his own reaction time! Chen Mu once again reached his discouraging verdict. If he were facing that big bug, he couldn''t come up with any better method than to run away.


    Or maybe trying to strike with the tailless shuttle while floating in midair was a tactic worth trying.


    Under the state of breath control, Chen Mu had neither grief nor joy. He felt cool as though he were watching himself from the side while his brain made a quick analysis.


    Wei-ah suddenly bent down from his waist with his whole body nearly stuck to the ground, dodging the two cold, terrifying flashes as he drilled into the big bug''s belly.


    Peng!


    A sound reverberated in the jungle as though something had pounded hard on a steel plate, hurting Chen Mu''s ears in midair and nearly dropping him from the sky.


    The big bug had been kicked up into midair by Wei-ah!


    Too fast! Wei-ah''s leg just then had been as quick as lightning, and Chen Mu could only see a ghost of it. That had been Chen Mu''s first time being unable to discern his adversary''s moves while in the state of breath control. The power of Wei-ah''s leg had kicked the big bug seven or eight meters into the air.


    Wei-ah withdrew slightly, waiting for the big bug to fall.


    Wei-ah could then only be seen disappearing into a ball, circling around the big bug''s body, launching his frantic attacks. The dense hits pounded the ears incessantly along with a big bang, and the over-two-meter-tall big bug kept spurting off.


    It was Chen Mu''s first time to encounter such a fierce style of attack. He naturally wasn''t scared in the state of breath control, though a rough set of data was produced in his brain like bright red numbers, incomparably eye-grabbing.


    He had no way to keep up with his adversary''s tempo! His success rate would have been less than 8 percent!


    That set of calculations and rough data kept hitting Chen Mu over and over. While his gaze was still as indifferent as ever, a rare fluctuation still appeared in Chen Mu''s frame of mind.


    The vitality of the big bug was incomparably resilient, however. Even suffering Wei-ah''s attacks, which were like howling wind and torrential rain, it remained completely unharmed. It shook right back up, looking only slightly wilted, though its two brilliant green eyes were still fiercely staring at Wei-ah.


    One man and one bug confronted one another again. That series of confrontations just then¡ªso fast the eye couldn''t see them, like sparks from a flint¡ªlasted only a few seconds.


    There was no expression on Wei-ah''s face, but it could be seen from his heaving chest that it hadn''t been an easy series of moves for him.


    "Do you have a way?" Wei-ah suddenly opened his mouth, having discovered Chen Mu earlier.


    Chen Mu said nothing, while he directly shot off three tailless shuttles!


    Three in a row! A strange howl suddenly sounded as they shot toward the big bug.


    The big bug was stunned, and its feet moved fast, wanting to dodge the tailless shuttles coming from the sky. But, the speed of the shuttles had exceeded its imagining, and it was only able to move away by a small step.


    Pa, pa, pa!


    Three tailless shuttles struck its shell, sending off a spray of fragments.


    Chen Mu looked at the big bug without any expression. He had been aiming at its eyes just then, never having thought the reaction of the big bug would so far exceed what he had imagined. It was his first encounter with a creature that could dodge the tailless shuttle. The creatures from the jungle were really awesome for just any old bug to be so much trouble.


    The three tailless shuttles surprisingly hadn''t left a mark on the big bug''s carapace. If Chen Mu hadn''t been in the state of breath control, his expression would certainly have transformed, but he was showing as blank an expression as ever just then. He had no good ideas since the tailless shuttle was already the most awesome attack method he could use. The three combined shots were the limit of his goals.


    Wei-ah also felt embarrassed. The big bug''s carapace really was too hard, and his attacks were of no use. He hadn''t thought that even Chen Mu''s attacks wouldn''t have the slightest result.


    They had encountered such a plight the first time the two joined forces.


    The two of them were helpless, and the big bug hadn''t forgotten about them. It couldn''t do anything about Chen Mu in midair, but Wei-ah was still right in front of it. Once the brilliant green eyes fixed on him, it pounced murderously toward Wei-ah. It was so fast that in the blink of an eye, it had rushed in front of Wei-ah, and the barb-shaped front claws became two empty shadows sweeping toward him.


    Wei-ah deftly dodged away. But, the tree behind him, which was as thick as a bowl''s mouth, suffered a calamity. With a whoosh, all that was left was a glossy stump.


    The big bug didn''t leave things there; it continued its deadly pursuit of Wei-ah. Its pair of barb-like forward claws were two lethal weapons that could easily split open a rock. Despite that, it still couldn''t hit a corner of Wei-ah''s clothes because of Wei-ah''s facile dodging. He didn''t have any efficacious method in front of him; he was just able to dodge and conserve his strength.


    The scene could be called hair-raising. It seemed as though Wei-ah could be lost at any moment under the barbs.


    Without showing the slightest reaction from midair, Chen Mu was blankly watching what was happening in front of him while his brain spun at shocking speed. Every slightest little movement of the big bug was being precisely captured, and the information gathered was immediately analyzed in his brain.


    The big bug was very tightly protecting its eyes, using its two barbs like shields, very carefully protecting its front. If it were a little off, it would have completely covered its eyes.


    From the start until then, the entire scene flashed in front of Chen Mu''s brain incessantly. Each scene was decomposed into countless details, and each detail''s information was compiled again by his brain to come up with an entirely new model.


    One minute and 20 seconds passed, and Chen Mu had finally found where the big bug''s weak point was!


    He had only 30 seconds left!

 Chapter 166: Chen Mu’s Proposal

    Chapter 166: Chen Mu¡¯s Proposal


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Thirty seconds was quite sufficient for Chen Mu as long as he could find a way; sufficient, that is, for Chen Mu in the state of breath control!


    Without any hesitation, he raised another tailless shuttle in his hand.


    The strange whoosh of the tailless shuttle sounded again, somewhat startling the big bug whose body flinched back with exceptional agility.


    Chen Mu had been examining its style of activity for the last two minutes. In that brief time, he had analyzed a large quantity of data. Chen Mu didn''t understand the principles of breath control himself, but every time he entered the state he would always naturally employ frightening computational ability.


    The probability of hitting the target was 55 percent!


    With a poof, the tailless shuttle grazed the joint on one of the big bug''s legs, leaving a finger-sized hole, and fell onto the ground.


    There was no change to Chen Mu''s expression, which was nothing out of the ordinary. Not having hit the target was certainly in accordance with things. In the instant he''d fired, Chen Mu''s brain had automatically displayed the probability of hitting the target. A 55 percent probability couldn''t be considered high with about a 50-50 chance of missing. That was something he couldn''t do anything about, since during his two minutes of examination, he was already at his limit to get that far.


    Still, the data had already satisfied him. A 55 percent chance meant that if the situation didn''t present really bad luck and he were to fire off ten tailless shuttles, he would hit the target five times.


    But, realistically, his rate of success would be a lot higher than the data since there was someone else there.


    Wei-ah''s outstanding battle awareness was such that at nearly the same time the tailless shuttle Chen Mu fired grazed the joint on one of the big bug''s legs, he had determined what Chen Mu''s target was. He wasn''t actually clear about how Chen Mu had determined the big bug''s weak spot, but that didn''t prevent him from having confidence in Chen Mu''s ability.


    He mounted his attack at about the same time.


    By comparison, Wei-ah''s attack was like thunder, and Chen Mu could feel its abrupt murderousness in midair.


    Wei-ah normally gave a sense of being taciturn like a rock, never being moved by other creatures. But, at that instant, when his uninhibited murderous spirit was showing, the power of his noise was shocking! From midair, Chen Mu could clearly capture the terror in the big bug''s brilliant green eyes. Even he himself had felt the surrounding air temperature plunge.


    Unfortunately, Chen Mu didn''t have much concept of that so-called murderous spirit. He had no way to turn it into data and only knew that Wei-ah''s abrupt display of it was quite powerful. He hadn''t been intimidated himself by Wei-ah''s murderous spirit. On the contrary, he had been quite moved.


    That made the perfect opportunity!


    Just as he was making his move, he calculated that the probability of this attack hitting its mark on the big bug had reached over 82 percent.


    Moreover, Chen Mu''s tailless shuttle wasn''t the first thing to hit the big bug. That was Wei-ah.


    Like a leopard, Wei-ah swiftly appeared under the big bug''s belly. He bent his left knee, while his right leg was like an axe swinging up as it ruthlessly hacked at the big bug''s leg joint.


    Ka cha!


    The big bug made a blood-curdling screech, quickly losing its balance as its body toppled. Without waiting for it to stabilize its center of gravity, Chen Mu''s tailless shuttles came one after the other, precisely hitting its other leg joint.


    The big bug had six long, skinny legs¡ªlike a giant spider''s legs¡ªand its joints could be moved in any direction with extreme agility. This made its movements extremely nimble, but it also became its weak spot. Unlike the rest of its body, which was protected by a thick, hard carapace, those lively joints had become its weakest parts. Ordinary creatures naturally had no way to catch the bug, but the two in front of it then were no ordinary creatures.


    The penetrating power of the tailless shuttle had achieved its most perfect embodiment in that instant as half of the bug''s skinny leg was blown away like a dried stick.


    Having completely lost its center of gravity, the big bug cried out and fell to the ground with a bang.


    Still, Wei-ah and Chen Mu had utterly no extra sympathy. Their moves hadn''t changed because the big bug had been wounded; on the contrary, they increased the frequency of their attacks!


    In the blink of an eye, the six legs of the big bug had all been broken by Chen Mu and Wei-ah. Judging from the frequency of the blows, still more of the disparity between the two of them could be discerned. Four of the six legs had been broken by Wei-ah. The terminally suffering big bug was writhing on the ground, its mournful screeching pounding endlessly on the ear.


    After Chen Mu drilled two more tailless shuttles into the big bug''s eyes, the screeching finally stopped.


    Without waiting to examine the fruits of their success, a powerful desire to escape overcame them, and Chen Mu came wobbling down to earth. Once his legs touched the earth, a powerful impulse to vomit came surging up from his core. Almost unconsciously, Chen Mu squatted on the ground to vomit fiercely.


    Wei-ah was standing still by Chen Mu''s side watching him vomit.


    The vomiting lasted ten minutes when Chen Mu finally felt a little better. He hadn''t realized Wei-ah would suddenly open his mouth to speak faintly, "That''s very dangerous." Wei-ah''s determinations were always quite precise.


    Chen Mu stood up with a bitter smile, spreading out his hands helplessly. "I don''t have any other means."


    "Why don''t you learn my skills?" Wei-ah had never been able to understand that issue.


    Chen Mu thought it over and answered honestly, "I''m a card master."


    "No matter what you are, you have to survive," Wei-ah said without the least bit of courtesy.


    Chen Mu remained silent; the likelihood of survival in that stretch of jungle would be very low if he were to rely on his half-baked ability as a card artisan! But, his thoughts had always been on that mysterious card. Although he didn''t have any time just then to do research, he was still full of anticipation about it. He still hadn''t connected himself to that stretch of jungle. He had never thought he was likely to live there himself, even though he had been very comfortable in the village.


    To be able to have a shuttle car and card plays¡ªor all kinds of cards in his life¡ªwere all things that really interested him. He wasn''t likely to be dancing with the wild beasts in that stretch of overgrown jungle.


    So, whenever Wei-ah would hope Chen Mu would study those skills with him, he always got cut off. Of course, there was still another very important reason: Chen Mu felt the breath control method had already assured his safety to a certain degree. From any point of view, Chen Mu didn''t like violence, and he was far from Bo Wen or Cheng Ying in his requirements for power. The power the method of breath control had given him was already quite satisfying and could enable him to fight Bo Wen in a standoff. What would he not be satisfied about?


    There were quite a few weak points with breath control: its slow response, fierce side effects, short duration, and so forth. But, Chen Mu had always thought of himself as an ordinary person who shouldn''t be prone to so much danger. He had never thought of becoming a professional card artisan. His ideal life would be in the lab, quietly studying his own cards, or finding ordinary work in some card firm.


    He had certainly run into some issues at that time, though he still kept considering they were only temporary and shouldn''t have much influence on his fairly ideal life ever after.


    That was the last bit of idealism remaining in his heart.


    To be still more precise, he had already become wary of power. As with that mysterious card¡ªfrom which he had gotten power and knowledge he never would have imagined previously¡ªhe had still lost quite a few things he cared about more. Such intimate understanding made Chen Mu strongly set his mind against any more great strength.


    Once he had gotten greater strength from Wei-ah, what would remain of his ideals? Would they all be blown away to disappear like smoke?


    So, Chen Mu kept firmly cutting off Wei-ah''s suggestion. Being able to defend himself with difficulty was sufficient, and he didn''t see having such great strength as such a good thing.


    He didn''t know if Wei-ah''s clinging gaze was because of his taciturnity, but it put more pressure on Chen Mu. Chen Mu couldn''t help bitterly smiling again as he said, "Maybe you should transmit it to those children. They need strength."


    "Their physical conditioning isn''t sufficient." Wei-ah shook his head, vetoing Chen Mu''s suggestion.


    "You can teach them a simpler version, and I can provide them with my exercise gymnastics. You have said they could improve a person''s constitution." Seeing Wei-ah''s blank expression, Chen Mu was suddenly hit by some inspiration. He directly returned Wei-ah''s gaze and very earnestly said, "If none of them can learn it, why would I be able to learn it? My basic physical essence? After they learn the exercise gymnastics, their physical essence should be more outstanding than mine."


    Seeing Wei-ah show some sign of having been moved, Chen Mu quickly struck while the iron was hot. "If you can teach them all how to do it, that would validate that your abilities can be learned. Then when the time comes you can teach me, and I''ll certainly study. But, before that, I won''t be likely to study."


    "Ok," Wei-ah responded very bluntly.


    Chen Mu was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief after being pestered by Wei-ah every day, which had been giving him a headache.


    Chen Mu had an urge to laugh when he thought about the over 2,000 children and whether he could teach them all. Ai, but to make fun in the midst of bitterness isn''t such a bad thing.


    Chen Mu''s gaze fell onto the body of the big bug, which had already turned stiff in death.


    "What is this?" Chen Mu asked with curiosity. The big bug was simply like a cockroach. Though if they hadn''t found its critical parts, even Wei-ah wouldn''t have had anywhere to begin.


    "I don''t know; ask Alfonso. He knows."


    As one person using one hand, Wei-ah dragged the big bug, while Chen Mu followed behind on two legs, which had gone soft.


    Once the two of them entered the visual field of the children, the camp abruptly burst out cheering!

 Chapter 167: The Good and the Bad

    Chapter 167: The Good and the Bad


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Without knowing whether it was because of the explosion that time, Chen Mu''s reputation among the crowd of children had become unassailable. Guiding the crowd of kids in the exercise gymnastics went extremely smoothly. Compared to himself before, the physical constitutions of the youth from the Moqi line were a lot better. They took to the set of exercise gymnastics very readily with a speed that surprised Chen Mu. Wei-ah kept his calm expression all along.


    Wei-ah had actually started to teach the children his skills, which delighted Chen Mu. From his point of view, those basic skills truly had stunning power. Chen Mu had always felt Wei-ah''s techniques were quite suited to those village youth. They were clever, and they had outstanding physical constitutions with the temperament to persevere. They were afraid of neither pain nor bitterness. They were simply perfect disciples! But, Wei-ah had never considered imparting his skills to those youth, always concentrating on Chen Mu, who had come from outside.


    Wei-ah''s disharmony wasn''t only based on that. Chen Mu had long since discovered that Wei-ah had never gotten along so well with the villagers, apart from being with the clan elder and Li Duhong when his expression would moderate somewhat. More of the villagers dreaded Wei-ah more than they respected him. A few of them would even betray some enmity in their eyes, which Chen Mu didn''t quite understand.


    Wei-ah had never given a straight answer as to why, so Chen Mu figured he couldn''t answer it. But, Chen Mu relaxed a little since those adult villagers'' moods hadn''t developed into much of an influence on the children. Those children had experienced the trials of life and death, which had engendered their worship of power to an extreme. And, the classic representative of great power, Wei-ah, had enough capital to become one of the idols of the new generation. Naturally, the other one was Chen Mu.


    The bug had been a pleasant surprise for Chen Mu. The black-steel, sickle-bladed bug was one of a few types of creatures in the entire jungle that made people''s color change upon hearing of it. Its carapace was extremely hard, and its movements were quick. It was a natural knife master with its two powerful sickle-blade front claws. When you added to that its excellent hunting skills, it could run amok in the jungle.


    Alfonso wasn''t the one who knew of the black-steel, sickle-blade bug. Li Duhong also knew of it, which astonished Chen Mu somewhat. After the bug had been dismembered, they found that those shells that had even been able to block the tailless shuttle were no doubt of some fine material. The children at that time were all barehanded and empty fisted, and they had used anything that could be made into a weapon to arm themselves.


    Looking at the shells, Alfonso endlessly coveted them. Unfortunately, he didn''t have any tools with him and had no way to carry out any processing on them. He had only brought along a set of miniature tools, which had limited capabilities. Some of them could only complete the extraction of less than five kilos of metal, and some could only produce metal parts to a diameter of under ten centimeters. But, that set of miniature tools could still help Alfonso set up a simple and crude metallurgical lab in short order. That installation, which included some probing equipment, could help them find some mineral resources if they weren''t buried very deeply.


    The biggest after-effect of the breath control for Chen Mu that time was that his whole body was powerless and limp, and he was in pain across three days.


    But, they still didn''t have time to rest since time was life for them! They didn''t have many supplies left, and if they weren''t able to leave the area of the gummy cloud layer within half a month, their future would be bleak. Depending on hunting or raising food was impossible with over 2,000 people, and there weren''t even enough hunters in their division.


    All the division''s forward progress was exceptionally arduous, though, the crowd of children actually displayed tremendous orderliness and perseverance, which moved Chen Mu.


    By their twenty-second day of advancing, they had already succeeded in distancing themselves from the area of the gummy cloud layer''s instability. The division was too awful to watch with everyone having nearly turned into mud-men; their bodies were covered in mud and rotten leaves, and their clothes were beyond repair.


    The black-steel, sickle-blade bug was the last obstacle they had encountered, and they hadn''t run into any other fierce wild beasts along the rest of the way. According to what Li Duhong had explained, the smell of the black-steel, sickle-blade bug had kept many of the ferocious wild beasts at a distance. Chen Mu then understood how fierce that bug he and Wei-ah had faced last time truly was.


    "How much longer will we have to walk, do you think?" Li Duhong asked Alfonso.


    Alfonso''s skin had been darkened by the sun, which changed his formerly frail appearance. The division had already departed from the strange realm of the gummy cloud layer, which allowed everyone to breathe a sigh of relief. But, they were facing another issue¡ªthey had to choose a temporary place to live. Alfonso shook his head. "I don''t know, either." He rubbed Li Duhong''s skull and sighed from some unknown thought.


    It wasn''t something simple to choose a temporary living place. It had to be near a source of water, easily guarded, and hard to attack. They had to block attacks from the wild beasts, which was especially important for them at that time. Chen Mu gave Alfonso the responsibility to choose a place to camp, even though he was also at a half-baked level. Still, among the entire division, he was doubtlessly the one with the most right to speak. There were three others to help him; Mogu, Dong Shen, and Li Zexi were all 16 and were the three oldest among the youth. They were also the three who had received the most complete military training.


    Within the village, the three of them had focused the most on cultivating each other and were considered youthful geniuses. As they faced helping Alfonso choose a camp, their most important responsibility was the issue of safety.


    Since they hadn''t yet found any suitable temporary living place, the crowd of people could only continue walking ahead.


    They finally found a suitable temporary camp by the twenty-fourth day. Three sides of the camp were surrounded by 1,000-meter cliffs, which made a natural barrier. There was some deep water at the base of the cliffs. There was also flowing water where an underground stream came together with the pool. Such a camp was doubtlessly quite suited for the youth, who wouldn''t have any battle strength for a while.


    They all couldn''t help cheering when the place for a temporary camp had been decided. The youth could finally see some hope!


    By the time Chen Mu led everyone into the valley, Wei-ah had cleared out any large wild beasts he could see. Only when he had determined the valley was completely safe did the youths enter and station there.


    A new camp felt like a new start. The children''s faces showed brilliant smiles. No matter how old or young they were, they all started to clear away the weeds in the valley on their own initiative.


    A fence was quickly built to seal off the mouth of the valley, with the tips of the fresh tree trunks sharpened and set up in a row. Wei-ah had completed the entire project by himself; in the eyes of the children, Wei-ah was a human machine.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help but think maybe that guy really was a human-shaped machine.


    Alfonso had also become very busy, as he was just then directing a group of children to mine some stones. The mine there was very shallow beneath the surface, and it could be easily dug. But, it still made a very difficult life for those children, who only had a few rudimentary tools. Li Duhong was engrossed in the strenuous digging among them, not uttering a sound and his little face all covered in sweat.


    Li Duhong had an honored identity as the clan elder''s grandson. If nothing happened to him, there was a good possibility he would be the clan elder later on. That identity had made the rest of the children fear him to their bones. Though by that time, his calm and capable display had quickly established his trust among the youths.


    Wei-ah suddenly stopped what he was doing at the mouth of the valley, showing an alert expression. Chen Mu had noticed something strange about Wei-ah right away, and he stopped the work he was doing and turned his head, making an urgent signal to the youths behind him.


    The expressions on the youths behind him changed, as they ran off shouting, "Be on guard! Everyone on guard! Prepare the artillery troops!"


    The artillery troops referred to those few small-scale cluster cannons. Everyone was immediately running deep into the valley, and the youths who wielded the small-scale cluster cannons had already gathered them up and made the preparations to fire.


    By the time Chen Mu turned back around, there was already no sign of Wei-ah at the mouth of the valley.


    By the time Wei-ah reappeared, he was leading a large group of people. There were probably 200 of them, and Chen Mu was quite familiar with the one at their head. It was Bo Wen! They were people from the village, among whom was Cheng Ying, and they all looked miserable. Once the children in the valley saw those familiar people outside, they immediately rushed out.


    It was a joyous reunion with relatives that caused crying to sound up in the valley; whether they were male or female, old or young, they were all crying. Even Cheng Ying couldn''t stop wiping her tears.


    "Everyone into the valley, and then we can catch up," Bo Wen said in a clear, loud voice.


    From the compliance of the villagers, Chen Mu could see Bo Wen had already become the leader of those 200 people. Bo Wen regarded Chen Mu with a smile that wasn''t a smile, which made Chen Mu very uncomfortable. Given Bo Wen''s ability, it wasn''t anything out of the ordinary to Chen Mu that he would become the leader of that crowd. Chen Mu wasn''t really interested in the duties of leadership, but he was still very clear that if he were to allow Bo Wen to become the leader of the camp, then his own situation would become miserable.


    Chen Mu found that the 200 people were all soldiers. Given Bo Wen''s temperament, he wouldn''t be at all likely to be leading any of those who might hold him back. But, it was undoubtedly a good thing for the camp for those 200 soldiers to join them.


    Still, it wasn''t very good news for Chen Mu.


    Comparing the strength of the two sides, Chen Mu could derive the verdict that his side was at an utter disadvantage. His side was composed entirely of children who didn''t understand affairs, and their battle power was of no account.


    Chen Mu immediately felt a headache.


    But, just then, Li Duhong came drilling out of the crowd.

 Chapter 168: The Thoughts of Xi Weide

    Chapter 168: The Thoughts of Xi Weide


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "Uncle Xi Weide," the Little Devil shouted out.


    At the very front of the troops, a stalwart man''s eyes reddened, and his lips quivered as he saw Li Duhong. "Hey, Little Devil!" he said excitedly.


    For such a sturdy fellow to rub the head of the kid and plop down bean-sized tears, all of the soldiers around were wiping their eyes, their spirits filled with grief. Xi Weide caught Li Duhong''s gaze with a look full of indulgence. He was the confidante of the clan elder and had always dearly loved Li Duhong since he was little; in Li Duhong''s heart, Xi Weide was like a family member.


    Having put on such a display of strength for the last few days, Li Duhong couldn''t help but wail, "Wuwu, Elder Kitt has died, and we haven''t seen big brother Colin." The more he reflected, the more aggrieved the little guy seemed, sobbing in spasms. Previously, everyone had anticipated the difficulties of the migration, but it now seemed crueler than they had thought.


    The grief in the eyes of the soldiers deepened. Kitt''s position in the clan had been superior, and everyone respected him. Colin was well-known among the youth and might have taken Elder Bafu''s position. The two of them were important people in the village.


    "Don''t be afraid, Little Devil! Xi Weide will protect you!" Xi Weide''s voice was choking, though he kept it extraordinarily steady. He looked around as he gradually calmed himself, but he couldn''t help but show his astonished expression.


    "How did you get here, Little Devil?" Xi Weide couldn''t help but ask, not having seen a single soldier. Everywhere he looked were all children. That was impossible! Without an escort of soldiers, that crowd of defenseless children would never have been able to remain unscathed for so long in the jungle. All of the soldiers very soon discovered the same thing, which showed in their expressions of disbelief.


    There was no one who understood better than they did the dangers and difficulties of the jungle. It had required going through many dangers for they themselves to have survived to that point.


    "It was Mr. Teacher who guided us." Li Duhong was wiping his eyes with his little hands as he stammered, "On the brink of death, Elder Kitt handed us over to the teacher, and then all along the teacher led us here."


    Mr. Teacher? There was only one person in the village who was called by that title, which was Chen Mu. Xi Weide''s gaze moved to Chen Mu in disbelief that he would be able to lead such a group of defenseless children there. Xi Weide wasn''t looking down on Chen Mu, but on the contrary, he really honored him. It was the consensus of the villagers that Chen Mu possessed a lot of knowledge. If they hadn''t been able to depend on the Blue Moon Guns that he''d made, not even half of them would have been able to survive.


    Xi Weide seemed very forthright, though he was still very cautious as he pounded his head to understand how Chen Mu had led that gang of children here.


    They had all prostrated themselves along the way to Bo Wen, who not only had great strength, but took great care in his thinking. He had unwittingly become the leader of the troop.


    If what Li Duhong was saying was true, then Chen Mu and Bo Wen were on completely different levels. Chen Mu had been able to lead more than 2,000 children to that place, while Bo Wen had only led 200 elite troops there. The hardships along the way had made Xi Weide believe for a time that there was no one apart from Bo Wen who could lead them to survive the trip there. But, once he had seen the camp, despite its simplicity, he understood there was still someone more awesome in the world!


    Elder Kitt''s insight had been sharp after all! Xi Weide felt heartfelt admiration toward Elder Kitt''s courage to make such a choice.


    Alfonso walked over just then and smiled when he saw Xi Weide. "Xi Weide, it makes us really happy to see you!" Compared to before, the current Alfonso was a completely different person. His tempering during that time had wiped clean all his sourness.


    "Alfonso!" Xi Weide said with surprise as he took a big stride forward and held out his arms to give Alfonso a big hug. "You''re still alive, my fellow! How wonderful!" The soldiers all around were smiling. So long as Alfonso was alive, there would always be weapons, and they could establish another village.


    Alfonso and Li Duhong shot a glance at Wei-ah, who was not far away. Now that Colin was no longer to be seen, and Elder Kitt was gone, they were all the most important people in the village. Xi Weide, who was familiar with the style of the clan elder, could make out how important the unit was to him. It made Xi Weide inwardly apprehensive to find that Chen Mu had been placed in that unit. Could it be that Chen Mu was so important to the future of the Moqi line in the clan elder''s heart?


    No one had thought someone as straightforward as Xi Weide might have so many thoughts in that one look around.


    Xi Weide had considered the matter in that instant. His many years'' experience had taught him the clan elder wasn''t likely to be mistaken! When Xi Weide was very small, the clan elder had received the clan''s most powerful position from the hands of the previous clan elder. Xi Weide had been by his side for ten years, during which time he had come to fathom how much wisdom the clan elder had.


    Moreover, the clan elder would certainly have undergone some serious pondering for such an important decision. Then, Xi Weide suddenly remembered a different matter about why the clan elder hadn''t put Bo Wen and Cheng Ying in the same place.


    Could it be...?


    He showed none of it on his face while those thoughts were flashing through his mind.


    Alfonso was patting Xi Weide''s shoulder as he continued on to say to the rest of the soldiers, "Elder Kitt has turned us all over to the teacher, and Mr. Chen will act as our leader until the clan elder arrives. The little kid is to become our future clan elder. Is there any dissent?"


    Bo Wen''s expression had become abruptly darker, not having imagined Alfonso could cut him off so. The soldiers were all looking at one another, a little restless. No one had any doubt the Little Devil would become the future clan elder, but it was hard for them to accept Chen Mu becoming their leader.


    They had already gotten used to accepting orders from Bo Wen during those few days. Although they had heard of Chen Mu, they hadn''t really seen anything of his overall abilities. Naturally, they couldn''t put a lot of confidence in him. But, although Alfonso''s tone was bland, it had a note of not brooking any doubt. Moreover, Chen Mu''s identity had already been established by the elders. If anyone were thinking of opposing that, they certainly didn''t dare open their mouths. Though the crowd would sometimes fall silent, they were all gazing at Xi Weide. Before Bo Wen, Xi Weide had always been their head.


    Xi Weide found it thorny as well, knowing the issue had a lot of importance for the future of the clan! He didn''t have a lot of ambition himself. If he did, he wouldn''t have been able to give leadership authority to the outstandingly powerful Bo Wen. He then caught a glimpse of the ever-silent Wei-ah, whose expression hadn''t changed in the slightest!


    Since he had first seen Wei-ah, Xi Weide hadn''t paid much attention to him. Now, a chill abruptly arose in him. Seeing Wei-ah again, it suddenly became obvious the clan elder had been determined about the matter!


    The clan elder¡ªso widely known for his wisdom¡ªwasn''t just someone who always tried to get along well. Xi Weide recalled anew the year the clan elder had used such bloody means. The clan elder had only made three moves his whole life, and blood flowed like a river each of those three times. That seemingly mild elder made fierce moves against those who opposed him. It was truly starting with his moves that the villagers'' discipline had been able to reach a relatively high place.


    There wasn''t much difference in Wei-ah''s silence from normal, though Xi Weide detected a concealed hint of powerful chill. Wei-ah, the bodyguard who would never leave the clan elder''s shadow, had always carried out the clan elder''s orders faithfully. Would Wei-ah make a move if Xi Weide were to oppose them himself?


    Xi Weide gulped down his saliva, struggling to keep his face calm. The pressure made him feel as though he were on tenterhooks! He knew his choice might directly affect the fate of the encampment.


    Wei-ah''s two hands, which hung naturally at his side, rose almost imperceptibly. Xi Weide''s heart suddenly tensed up.


    "What''s up, Uncle Xi Weide? Do you feel sick?" Li Duhong asked with guileless concern, in all innocence, though seeming to point something out. "Even Grandpa wouldn''t oppose what Kitt had decided. Grandpa had said the teacher could lead us onto a new path."


    Xi Weide seemed to have been enlightened. Yes! Whether it was Elder Kitt or the clan elder, he couldn''t compare his wisdom to theirs, so what qualifications did he have to oppose them? Xi Weide was abruptly awakened. Would this be the moment Bo Wen would display his utter superiority over him? Xi Weide became immediately vigilant. No matter what, he was a part of the clan; he couldn''t go against the orders of the clan elder and the other elders. That concept was already deeply rooted in him.


    Xi Weide then bowed deeply with clasped hands and said with a worshipful tone, "Xi Weide will do as you bid!"


    The crowd of soldiers looked at one another, bowing down at the same time. "Yes, sir!"


    Bo Wen''s expression strangely dropped. After scheming so hard those last few days, he had not realized the power and prestige he had established among them could be so weak as to be toppled at the first blow.


    Bo Wen felt he had lost his senses; he wondered how it might change the situation if he were to blindly kill Chen Mu faster than a thunderbolt. He suddenly saw Wei-ah staring at him, which penetrated him like an icy chill. He came to his senses right away. During his time in the village, he had been discovering Wei-ah examining him in the dark. Why was that guy staring at him? Bo Wen suddenly felt his hair on end.


    Chen Mu had stunningly discovered that the matter he''d been worried about had been resolved in the blink of an eye. He was suddenly warmed seeing Alfonso smiling lightly at him, along with the heartfelt joy flowing from Li Duhong.


    They had been supporting Chen Mu all along!

 Chapter 169: The Discovery

    Chapter 169: The Discovery


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Although there might have been some who still harbored misgivings, no one was likely to be so stupid as to stand out. Having established confidence those last few days, that still wasn''t at all sufficient for Bo Wen to compete with the long-established ideas in those soldiers'' hearts.


    The arrival of more than 200 soldiers caused the capability of the encampment to surge. Those who had been able to survive were all shock troops, whether from their discipline and obedience or their fighting strength. They were a lot better than ordinary soldiers, and they were all very familiar with food gathering.


    Chen Mu found their methods quite mysterious until he learned that among the materials each unit had brought was a kind of seed that could be used to grow food¡ªthe gray radish. Those light gray seeds required energy for their activation, and they could grow rapidly, producing edible fruits within a very short period of time. The gray radish was actually a kind of parasite, which required that they live on a living plant, such as a tree trunk. They got all the nutrients they needed by robbing the host, allowing them to survive in short order.


    Thankfully, the one thing the encampment wasn''t lacking was fresh vegetation. There were trees reaching to the sky all over. After a while, all the trees around the camp had been planted with the light gray seeds. The gray radishes made them look like they were covered with a layer of gray glass beads, each the size of a walnut. They were said to have a chewy, gummy texture. But, it was also said that when the gray radish seeds were packed into a sealed bottle, they required tools to be removed.


    Chen Mu felt really curious when he first saw the gray radishes growing.


    He saw the soldiers digging thumb-sized holes into the tree trunks, putting small pieces of moon-colored stone in with the gray radish seeds, and sprinkling them with water. Probably several hundred gray radishes could be planted on a large tree, and they required three days to ripen.


    All the larger trees had been planted with the gray radishes. After asking Xi Weide, Chen Mu finally understood that the planting of the gray radishes had always been the adult soldiers'' responsibility.


    The gray radish was an extremely invasive plant that had a certain danger to it, which was why only adult soldiers could handle them. It had been a long time since they had been planted in the village since the gray radish could cause a lot of serious damage to the surrounding environment. But, they had been stockpiled as wartime materiel.


    That had also led to no one recognizing those several bottles of gray radish seeds until Xi Weide arrived with his people.


    After three days, the gray radish seeds had born bright purple fruit, which had a very high starch content and could be used for food. Apart from their bland flavor, there was nothing else wrong with them.


    The most pressing problem had been solved, and Chen Mu was able to let out a long sigh of relief. Feeding 2,000 or 3,000 was a big problem. By then he had understood how the clan elder and the rest had long prepared. But, no one had thought there wouldn''t be a single soldier left in that unit of Chen Mu''s. Wei-ah was a soldier, though he ordinarily did only bodyguard work. He had never handled the planting of gray radishes.


    Apart from soldiers planting the gray radishes, everyone else was putting their effort into digging mines. Alfonso had already determined there were rich mineral resources hidden there. Not only were there metal ores, there were also energy ores! That news had really boosted everyone''s martial spirit. If there were energy ores, they didn''t need to go back in time.


    Alfonso''s crude lab had already started to be productive. He wasn''t making tools; rather, he was making some required parts to improve his lab. Chen Mu didn''t dare stand in the way of Alfonso''s progress since he didn''t feel he had any right to speak in that regard.


    There was soon a bumper crop of gray radishes! All the thick, solid trees were hung full of row after row of purple fruits, each the size of an almond, with glistening skin and a unique smell. It wasn''t dangerous to gather the gray radish fruits, so many of the children participated. It was also their first time to see such strange fruits. The sound of children laughing could be heard echoing in the forest.


    Approaching where the soldiers had previously dug holes, Chen Mu discovered the gray radishes had a highly developed root system, which penetrated deeply into the tree trunks.


    "What an amazing thing," Chen Mu couldn''t help but mutter in admiration.


    Xi Weide was laughing to his side. "Yes, the gray radish certainly is a scary kind of plant. But, it''s a good thing it requires energy stones to be activated; otherwise, it would be the only thing left in the entire jungle."


    Holding one of the gray radish fruits and pressing on it lightly with his fingers, it popped open, showing the white flesh inside.


    "You can eat it raw," Xi Weide said. "The taste isn''t bad, though it would be better if it were a little sweeter." Xi Weide was motioning for Chen Mu to try it as he continued on, "But, if you were to eat it every day, you would quickly tire of it." His expression showed that he was reminiscing. "Before, I would sometimes bring along a few gray radish seeds when completing an obligation. One time, when I was trapped in a valley, that thing saved my life."


    "Now it will save all of our lives," Chen Mu said.


    "Ha ha!" Xi Weide laughed. "Yes, that makes clear what a good thing it is!"


    "What about the tree?"


    "It''s already dead! Its nutrients have all been used up, and there isn''t anything left apart from some shredded wood fibers. The wood fibers are about as much use as straw. After another couple of days, you''ll be able to see this tree come crashing down." Xi Weide showed a look of some regret. Their life was in the jungle, and their feeling toward living things was different from that in the Heavenly Federation.


    The quantities of gray radish fruits gathered that day were stunning. Until he had seen the mountainous piles of it, Chen Mu hadn''t understood the real strength of that kind of plant. Xi Weide had purposefully left a small part of the gray radish fruits unharvested, so they could gradually turn into gray radish seeds.


    The harvest really did make everyone happy, but since the gray radishes required energy to be activated, the planting had used up nearly all of the energy among their materiel. It was fortunate there were energy ores in the vicinity, or they would only have been able to muddle through a single meal.


    After Chen Mu taught his exercise gymnastics to the few children, they had all continued to practice every day. The utility of the set of exercise gymnastics had also gradually revealed itself, as the children''s physical condition made stunningly rapid progress. Wei-ah hadn''t expected that, and he stepped up his training. It surprised Wei-ah that Chen Mu was feeling so successful.


    Xi Weide was really surprised at Wei-ah''s willingness to transmit his skills to the children. No matter who in the village might want to study skills from Wei-ah, they would all be refused entrance to his gate. Apart from Xi Weide''s surprise, he was quite pleased. There was no one in the village who could surpass Wei-ah''s skills. For those children to be able to study them, they would certainly become much stronger soldiers in the future than the present ones. The Moqi line would surely be a lot more powerful as well.


    Apart from learning from Wei-ah, Li Duhong also practiced something else. He was training his perception. There were several other children learning with him¡ªall students from Chen Mu''s lab.


    Alfonso''s lab had already been through three upgrades. It had been moved into a cave in the deepest part of the valley for security. All of the raw materials from the encampment had been unconditionally given to Alfonso''s lab over the last few days. But, the returns were equally great; after the upgrade, the lab could already produce quite a few laser tools, which immediately increased the output of the camp several-fold.


    The camp had entered a period of rapid development, changing its appearance almost every couple of days.


    Everyone believed that before long the camp would catch up to the level of the village again. Everyone was in a frenzy as they felt the joy of a new life starting to bubble up in themselves.


    A soldier urgently rushed up to Chen Mu, his expression betraying a lot of excitement.


    "Teacher! Take a look at what I discovered!"


    He presented the thing in his hand to Chen Mu; it was a piece of something flat that was damaged. Upon seeing it, everyone immediately gathered around.


    As Chen Mu received it, his expression suddenly changed. To his side, Bo Wen and Cheng Ying''s faces changed at the same time!


    "What is it?" Xi Weide couldn''t help but ask. It showed clear signs of having been man-made.


    "It''s the remnant of a card!" Chen Mu explained as his expression turned serious while he closely examined the card remnant.


    Card remnant? Everyone immediately entered into a discussion, having long since seen the marvel of cards. But, the thing in front of them was far different from the cards used by Chen Mu and the others! It was mottled on its surface, with some parts already rotted away.


    The more he looked, the more startled Chen Mu became. That card was from a very early period. It had already started to look degraded, though the composition could still be vaguely discerned. But, the thing that made him the most nervous was that the composition on the surface of the half-corrupted card was, surprisingly, something he had never seen before!


    If it had been earlier, it would have been perfectly ordinary for him to never have seen it. However, Chen Mu could now handily make three-star cards and could even make a few kinds of four-star cards. Compositions he couldn''t recognize at all were generally four-star cards at the very least, or even higher.


    In the entire card system, four-star cards would never be considered low grade. Moreover, that card was from a very early period. Everyone knew earlier card theory was far less developed than current theory, and the average capability of ancient cards couldn''t be placed on par with current cards. A four-star card in the ancient times was already an extremely high-grade card.


    Could it have been something left behind by card artisans from ancient times who had entered the jungle?


    Chen Mu''s expression changed even further by what the soldier said next.

 Chapter 170: What is This?

    Chapter 170: What is This?


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "This kind of thing is all over the place there."


    Everyone was looking at each other. All over the place? If that was really a card, would it be all over the place? Could it have been a depot for the disposal of card garbage? Chen Mu shook his head to reject that preposterous notion. He had seen the places where cards were discarded for recycling, and there were certainly cards everywhere in those places. But, they were now in a desolate jungle with wild beasts everywhere. How could there be a garbage recycling depot there? Moreover, from what could be seen of the age of that card remnant, there weren''t any card recycling depots in those days. Ancient cards were not nearly as highly developed as current cards, and their use had been limited to a very few people.


    It was earth-shattering news for someone like Chen Mu.


    Then, Chen Mu said, "You lead the way."


    The soldier called out excitedly and led Chen Mu and the others toward the place where he had made his discovery. Having heard the news, even Alfonso set off with everyone.


    A stream of people soon arrived at the place the soldier was talking about.


    Chen Mu stopped to take a look around. The vegetation covering that place was obviously different from its surroundings. There weren''t any towering trees to be seen along the way there, and as far as the eye could see was all knee-high grasses. That raised everyone''s guard; it would always mean some unusual danger whenever there was something distinctive about a place.


    Without Chen Mu having to issue any orders, Xi Weide had lightly waved his hands, and the soldiers behind him all split to the sides. Entering that stretch of knee-high grasses filled them with guarded expressions. By contrast, Wei-ah remained beside Chen Mu with a placid face, not moving away from him by even an inch. Bo Wen and Cheng Ying had activated their energy cloaks, also showing guarded expressions.


    "Down here!" The soldier parted the grasses on the ground so Chen Mu could see clearly. There were quite a few things on the ground that looked like card remnants mixed in with the mud and dirt. There wouldn''t have been any way to find them if he hadn''t parted the grasses.


    He casually picked one up. It wasn''t as well-preserved as the other one, though it didn''t have any degradation where it had broken. The card had been through an explosion! Chen Mu immediately put forward that theory, while at the same time, Bo Wen pulled his gaze away from the card remnant in his own hand. His face showed an expression of surprise and doubt. Cheng Ying wasn''t any different, having never thought there could be so many card remnants in the jungle.


    The age of the cards could be judged by the considerable transformation they had undergone. What would that place have looked like in some distant time?


    Looking off, apart from grasses upon grasses, there wasn''t anything else to be seen. But, the treeless stretch of grasses was extremely large; it was a lot bigger than any of the large-scale training grounds Chen Mu had ever seen. Moreover, Chen Mu had discovered a special place that was extremely flat.


    Just then, someone shouted out, "There''s something here!"


    Chen Mu was aroused from his thinking to see a soldier standing in the middle of the area waving his hand and shouting. Everyone''s enthusiasm was aroused as they ran excitedly to where the soldier was.


    The soldier''s finger was pointing to a slightly dug-up chunk of dirt with grasses on it where, astonishingly, a round metallic edge could be seen. It had the particular shine of metal! The discovery inspired everyone to start clearing away the dirt and grasses. Very soon, more and more of the metal was showing.


    Once all of the mud and grass was cleared away, the metallic device was finally fully visible to everyone.


    It was shaped like a round table¡ªa thick metallic disk, three meters in diameter, held up by a similarly thick metallic pedestal. The pedestal was sunk into the mud, so no one could tell how long that part was. The whole device was suffused in a metallic luster that wasn''t too gaudy, though it had a kind of hardness that could have withstood the passage of time.


    Everyone was drawn to the unique device. Everything about the place was just as incongruous¡ªits unique form and vegetation, the card remnants scattered all over in the mud, and that finely made metallic device.


    "A very fine level of construction," Alfonso said in evaluation. Chen Mu couldn''t help but look up at Alfonso. It wasn''t very easy for something to elicit his praise. Alfonso was very studious, but he remained modest toward cards. But, when it came to metallurgy, he would be simply arrogant in his descriptions, frequently cutting down the things others made. Even Chen Mu had been ridiculed. But, his artistry with metallurgy was certainly commensurate with his temperament, being the best Chen Mu had ever seen.


    "This is an alloy. It must be the cold-form alloy," Alfonso said with a very professional tone. Though, apart from him, there wasn''t anyone who understood what he was talking about.


    Chen Mu''s gaze then fell onto the surface of the disk where there were quite a few lines carved, all crisscrossed. It looked chaotic, but as though some pattern were hidden there. For such a metallic table to be found there, it must certainly have had some particular use. Those incised lines must also have had some application.


    Chen Mu suddenly noticed the edge of the disk where the composition of the patterns made by the lines looked familiar to him. No, not just familiar; it was a recursive composition! That discovery immediately excited Chen Mu!


    The recursive composition was one of the basic compositions of cards, which would show up on nearly 90 percent of them. It was one of the most familiar to Chen Mu, as one of the few things he would research ever since he had been making one-star power cards. In truth, there was something different about his research compared with others.


    That recursive composition was a variant he had seen on a one-star power card with a non-standard composition. He had collected 12 different kinds of one-star power card compositions at first in order to reduce his costs. Those would look negligible to him now. He had put a lot of research into that recursive composition. It was a comparatively efficient composition, which he had borrowed. Even though he had come in contact with it later on, it would always be part of a far superior composition in terms of knowledge and difficulty. But, if it were the composition he was most familiar with, it would be that crude recursive composition¡ªso crude it was no longer studied!


    He very quickly found more of the recursive composition in the designs carved into the surface of the plate. The more he found, the more he believed the round, table-shaped metallic device must be a kind of card appliance. If there were only one recursive composition, it might have been a coincidence, but it couldn''t be any coincidence for so many to appear at the same time.


    But, apart from those recursive compositions, the rest of the lines looked quite chaotic without any of the elegance of a card composition. Maybe in the eyes of an ordinary person, the composition on a card was nothing more than a strange design from a bunch of lines. A card master, however, could discern at a glance whether a pattern was a card composition, even though they might not be able to recognize the composition. With long experience making them, card masters would develop a unique feeling like what one might feel for language or art.


    Chen Mu had such a feeling! The production costs for making cards were rising day by day, so there weren''t many card masters who had rich experience making cards. Chen Mu was doubtlessly among those who did.


    The design of the lines on the metallic disk in front of Chen Mu still raised doubts in him. He couldn''t tell if those designs were card compositions in the end, since it was his first time to encounter such a situation!


    Everyone else''s gazes were focused on Chen Mu. Who else could show the best possibility to decipher the riddle of that disk?


    In his concentration, Chen Mu wasn''t aware of the crowd so attentively watching him. The lines on the round table looked rather chaotic and messy, dazzling everyone who looked at them. Chen Mu wasn''t at all anxious, being quite a patient person. During the process of studying cards, that was what he considered to be one of his rare strengths.


    He might as well use a stupid method.


    Everyone knew all card compositions have a starting stroke and a stroke of completion. The so-called initial stroke was the spot where the pen first fell, and the final stroke was the last stroke before completion. Superior card masters would be able to perfectly blend the two together. That became more obvious the higher the grade of the card, to the point where a card master''s exclusive cards were made to where it would be difficult to tell the strokes apart. In that way, they could protect against someone else copying the cards they made.


    If the designs on that disk were truly compositions, then they would certainly have a starting and finishing stroke. Perhaps in the eyes of Cheng Ying and Bo Wen, a card master with an A-level of contribution points was already awesome. In Chen Mu''s own eyes, he was nothing more than a dabbling card master with pretty good luck.


    Of course, even apart from a one-star power card, he had plenty of confidence in that regard.


    Chen Mu couldn''t do it, but he believed there was someone who could.


    Alfonso.


    Alfonso''s knowledge of cards was a mess, but his metallic arts were unsurpassed. Those lines, which might have been compositions, were engraved on a metallic plate. If they had been carved, then the starting and finishing strokes would surely leave differing clues. He couldn''t discern them himself, but Alfonso should have been able to. Chen Mu was glad the lines had been etched onto a metallic disk; if they were on a card, he really wouldn''t have any way.


    Chen Mu spoke in detail with Alfonso about what he was thinking.


    Alfonso muttered to himself for a while before nodding and saying, "I''ll give it a try."


    While everyone was watching, Alfonso traced out all the lines with his finger, slowly moving along the inside of the lines. The others, including Chen Mu, were all holding their breath and staring, not daring to exhale.


    There was only the sound of wind swishing through the underbrush.

 Chapter 171: Both Students are Excellent, so Which One Shines?

    Chapter 171: Both Students are Excellent, so Which One Shines?


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu was thinking. As far as he could see, the stretch covered with underbrush was quite unlike its surroundings. There were card remnants scattered everywhere, the metallic, table-shaped device, and the designs like compositions carved on its surface. When all of that information was put together, it was as though it was telling him something.


    That place had some close connection to cards.


    The earliest cards showed up in a few religions. They all had a long history, and no one knew the mysteries they passed along. In the eyes of the ancients, cards were full of mysterious powers, which provided a lot of help in the promulgation of the religion. Every religion had flourished for a while during ancient times. If some religion had some extensive influence, they had fervently pursued things regarding cards. It was not only the ordinary people at the time, but the religious adepts were also full of reverence for that kind of mysterious, but magical, power.


    That was until the appearance of Rosenberg when cards became a discipline¡ªa comprehensive discipline involving energy, composition, perception, and so forth.


    Could these be the remains of some ancient religion?


    That was the conjecture Chen Mu felt was the most likely. Although it wasn''t possible to accurately determine their precise period from the remnants of those cards, Chen Mu felt they had very possibly passed through more years than the time between Rosenberg and the current time.


    Too bad he wasn''t an expert in appraising ancient cards; he had no way to make an accurate determination.


    "I found it!" Alfonso cut off Chen Mu''s thoughts with his excited shout.


    Alfonso pointed out two places and said to Chen Mu, "It should be here and here. The marks on these two places are clearly different than the other places, though I don''t know which is the starting stroke you spoke of and which is the ending stroke."


    That was sufficient for Chen Mu. He turned around and said to Xi Weide, "Give me the Blue Moon Gun."


    Xi Weide was stunned as he quickly handed over his Blue Moon Gun to Chen Mu. Everyone looked at one another. Was Chen Mu going to use the gun to blow open the disk?


    They only saw Chen Mu very handily taking apart the Blue Moon Gun into a pile of parts, at which point no one knew what he was going to do. In the undergrowth, things had become calm again. Everyone stared, though that time their object was Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu removed the power case of the Blue Moon Gun and gathered up a few other parts to reassemble a very strange-looking structure. He then connected it to the metallic disk.


    Alfonso was the first one to understand what Chen Mu was doing. He made a few noises as though he were about to say something, though he very quickly retracted any sound. Still, in the end he couldn''t help but mutter, "Really ugly! Your skills are still so messed up!"


    Chen Mu hadn''t heard Alfonso''s complaints, being immersed and completely cut off from the outside. What he was doing just then was very simple according to basic principles; no matter whether it was a card or a card appliance, they all required energy to be activated. So long as he provided the energy, if it were a card appliance, it would naturally be activated. If it were a card, apart from energy, it would still need to use perception as a medium.


    Chen Mu had no way to determine if it was a card in the end or a card appliance; though, perhaps from its appearance and structure, it was more like a card appliance. But, Chen Mu actually felt it possible that it was a type of card.


    The instant the energy was connected, Chen Mu''s heart jumped into his throat. What sort of transformation would that round, metallic table undergo? His heart started to race.


    However, the round, metallic table didn''t do a thing. All the onlookers looked discouraged.


    Chen Mu''s heartbeat went back to its normal level. Since the first plan hadn''t succeeded, he would just give the second method a try.


    While everyone was watching closely, Chen Mu pressed his two hands onto the metallic disk and closed his eyes. With his prompting, the spinning rate of the spiral perceptual composition within him started to quickly gain speed!


    Bo Wen and Cheng Ying''s expressions had slightly changed as they felt a powerful fluctuation of perception. Card artisans were exceptionally sensitive to fluctuations in perception. Although this fluctuation didn''t have any attack quality, its power made them quite apprehensive. Bo Wen''s astonishment was especially obvious; in his mind, Chen Mu''s strength had always been a riddle. Each of Chen Mu''s stunning displays had all been quite brief, giving him no way to make any accurate determinations.


    That time, however, he had received its true impact!


    Perception was the basis of a card artisan''s power. Within the professional system of the card artisan, there were two distinct major kinds of appraisal. One was the strength grade, and the other was the precision of control.


    The strength of perception was divided into ten levels, and each of the levels was further divided into three ranks of upper, middle, and lower. Bo Wen''s perceptual strength was at the lower rank of the fourth level, which was a rather fantastic score for his age group. That had always been something he was quite proud of, although that bit of pride had vanished in a puff of smoke that day.


    Chen Mu''s perceptual strength was at least at the middle rank of the fourth level with a good possibility that it reached the upper rank. Moreover, Chen Mu was younger than Bo Wen! From the material Bo Wen had gathered about him, Chen Mu''s age must have been 17 or 18. It had to be known that for perceptual strength to get to the third level, one would be considered a mid-grade card artisan; getting to the fourth level, one would already be considered a mid-grade expert.


    The fourth level was a dividing line. If one''s perceptual strength hadn''t gotten to the fourth level by the age of 30, that would mean the card artisan''s potential for further development didn''t look hopeful. It was like the dividing line for a card master to be able to make three-star cards, with the five-star card being another dividing line.


    Bo Wen knew very well that in the entire Eastern Ning Clan, there weren''t many card artisans with a perceptual power beyond level four. And, those who had gotten to four were basically all over the age of 30.


    High-level card artisans were naturally very popular, and the most popular were the young ones. Those with outstanding gifts and youths with huge potential would be strenuously courted by the rich and powerful. It was unheard of for someone of 17 or 18 to have gotten to level four or above with perceptual strength. Bo Wen knew if the news were to get out, he would never be able to¡ªnor would he dare to¡ªkill Chen Mu. By that time, there would be countless of the rich and powerful flocking to him. They would be waving endless Oudi and offering a mouthwatering position to attract such a genius youth with unlimited capacity for future development.


    In the eyes of the rich and powerful, that kind of youthful genius would be a lot more valuable for the kind of place where the Eastern Ning Clan was. Innumerable precedents had proven that the potential of a card artisan was directly related to the age at which he reached the fourth level; geniuses who got there before age 20 were one of the rarest precious materials in the world.


    Up until then, the quickest recorded achievement of a level four perceptual power in the entire Heavenly Federation had been ten years prior when Tang Hanpei from the Heavenly Federation Comprehensive Academy had accomplished it. He had been 17, 4 months, and 15 days. Tang Hanpei had already become one of the most prominent young aces in the entire Heavenly Federation by then. He was the incomparably influential standard bearer for the Comprehensive Academy.


    The unprepossessing youth in front of Bo Wen was, surprisingly, a youthful genius at the level of Tang Hanpei. Bo Wen saw the reflection of Tang Hanpei in Chen Mu. If Chen Mu were to become as awesome as Tang Hanpei later on, then their remaining hatred would be sufficient to cause the Eastern Nings to disappear from the Heavenly Federation.


    Bo Wen had only broken through to the fourth level that year, and he was 20! That achievement had originally not only filled the clan with anticipation about his future, but he was very proud of it himself. But, as compared with Chen Mu, he fell quite a bit short.


    When a legendary-ranked genius showed up alive in front of him, Bo Wen''s proud mind had been shattered to pieces.


    For the Night of the Cross so surprisingly to have such an outstanding genius made Bo Wen feel helpless and jealous. If the Eastern Nings were to have such a genius who possessed such potential, then the future of the Eastern Nings could very possibly enter into the ranks of the truly wealthy and powerful. But, why did it have to be the Night of the Cross? If it had been a different power, Bo Wen would still have been able to pull out all the stops to attract him without being afraid of squandering his wealth. He would have absorbed that genius into the Eastern Ning Clan.


    But, that was impossible!


    A deadly glint passed through Bo Wen''s eyes.


    Wei-ah had also been examining Chen Mu''s perceptual power. Wei-ah''s face showed nothing of what he felt except for a strange, fleeting look in his eyes. When he raised his head, he had seen the deadly glint in Bo Wen''s eyes without him noticing.


    Although Cheng Ying had also felt the fluctuation in Chen Mu''s perception, her own perceptual strength didn''t go beyond level three, which didn''t provide her any way to determine Chen Mu''s strength. Some wise person once said that people most revere what they don''t know, and Chen Mu''s already high impression in Cheng Ying''s mind got a few notches higher.


    Chen Mu didn''t have any awareness of the activity of those around him. He had focused the scope of his perception on a very small area, just enough to be able to encompass the disk. The good part of sacrificing the scope of perception was that the fineness of his perception was able to reach an unprecedented level.


    It had already been a while since he''d used that method of deploying perception, though his move that time wasn''t at all unfamiliar. On the contrary, he felt his progress. That kind of progress wasn''t that his manipulation was more skillful; it was because his perceptual strength had increased his sensitivity.


    All of the etchings floated up very clearly in his brain to where he could even "see" the mud and dirt that remained in the etchings. In the same way, he could discern the energy in the power case gradually flowing into the metallic disk without any set shape, like it had been blocked by something.


    It made clear that the energy from the energy case couldn''t make any connection with the metallic disk. The situation just then was like that in an apparatus where a separate power card and fantasy card would be placed and already activated. Though, if there weren''t any perceptual control, the two would basically have no way to produce a connection and thereby emit an attack.


    What Chen Mu needed to do was to use his own perception to bring the two together.


    He found the two carving traces Alfonso had pointed out, with the second in a different position. Those were the keys to solving the problem!

 Chapter 172: Misfortune

    Chapter 172: Misfortune


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Perception flooded all of the lines in the metal. The formless barrier between the metal disk and the power case seemed to break right up, with the first shapeless energy immediately penetrating the disk.


    A wonderful scene unfolded!


    The sky became suddenly dark, and everyone seemed to be plunged into night. That abrupt misfortune took everyone aback. Xi Weide and the rest looked as though they were facing a powerful adversary, never having seen such a weird phenomenon. Bo Wen and Cheng Ying directly activated their energy cloaks, one of them white, the other emerald green¡ªboth very eye-catching in the dark.


    Chen Mu wasn''t flustered since he knew it hadn''t been some change in the sky, but rather they were in a kind of illusion. He had entered into the mysterious card innumerable times and had encountered such a large-scale fantasy before. He could recognize it at a glance. And, even though the simple water world that he''d made later on was rather crude, it still gave him a deeper understanding of illusions.


    But, he didn''t relax because of that. Although those illusions were certainly fake, that didn''t mean they weren''t dangerous. On the contrary, they had a huge degree of danger; if the one entering them were the least bit inattentive, they could present mortal danger. The peculiarity of an illusion was that while the real was real and the false was false, there was fake to the real and real to the fake, making it difficult to tell them apart.


    Just then, something unusual happened.


    Countless fist-sized glowing balls shot up, making it snow-bright all around. The glow from those balls didn''t hurt the eyes, but rather gave everything a strange chill. The glowing balls rose to about chest level where they stopped still, floating calmly in midair.


    There was a glowing ball in front of Chen Mu''s chest, and after a pause, he tried extending his finger intending to lightly touch it.


    Once his finger touched the glowing ball, a voice sounded up from the sky. "The system has been activated with zero privileges. Commencing determination of initial privileges."


    Everyone was stunned by the voice, which appeared without warning. Without waiting for them to understand, the ground went out from under them. Bo Wen and Cheng Ying had the quickest reactions. In combat readiness all along, Bo Wen triggered the jet stream card in the first instant, wanting to flee. Wei-ah, to the contrary, was approaching Chen Mu.


    Then, the glowing balls around everyone suddenly transformed into a canopy of glowing rain, which surrounded the crowd. A light beam penetrated Bo Wen''s energy cloak, leaving a burn on him. Bo Wen was scared out of his wits. If the power of those light beams could actually penetrate his energy cloak so easily, that would be too scary!


    "Warning. Leaving your position will judge you the target of attack."


    Wei-ah''s retreat was faster than his advance, making a blur in front of everyone as though he had never moved.


    In the situation of not being able to resist, everyone fell down one after the other. But, the process of falling was strangely slow. There was no ray of light in the darkness all around.


    Chen Mu was the coolest among everyone without a doubt. He knew the illusion was about the same kind as in the mysterious card. It seemed orderly; as long as you didn''t violate the rules, there wouldn''t be any danger. Besides, he was very curious about who could make such a mysterious illusion. Chen Mu had never heard of any card master from that time who could do so.


    This was his second time encountering an illusion where the real and the false couldn''t be distinguished. He thought of his mysterious card, whose time period was also long ago. Could it be that the card masters in the ancient times all had such high ability? Didn''t the books say the contemporary level of card making was more advanced than the ancients? But, the reality in front of Chen Mu just then seemed to be giving him an entirely opposite response.


    The drop suddenly slowed, and Chen Mu felt as though he were being held back by some kind of power.


    It was really miraculous! Chen Mu couldn''t help gasping again in admiration. If the illusion could get to such a point, it was really freakish and brilliant to describe. It was still pitch black; he couldn''t see anyone. He had fallen so fast that if he were to open his mouth at all, it would fill with wind, making it impossible to make a sound.


    "Where is everyone?" Chen Mu had no way to determine anyone else''s position in the dark, so he shouted out.


    Alfonso''s voice came from not far away. "Here I am, teacher." His voice had a note of terror, as well as a little excitement.


    Apart form Alfonso, no one else responded. Chen Mu''s brow furrowed, and he blurted out, "Is anyone else there?"


    No one responded.


    Peng. He felt something solid under his feet, finally having landed. Chen Mu breathed a sigh of relief.


    "What happened?" Alfonso asked in some terror. Alfonso''s response rather satisfied Chen Mu since it looked as though he had been emboldened quite a bit by the danger he had experienced.


    "I''m still not too clear about the situation." Chen Mu''s voice seemed to have the power to calm, and Alfonso immediately calmed down.


    He said with a smile, "Have we just won a prize?"


    "Very possibly." Chen Mu showed some rare humor.


    The rays of light slowly brightened, and the two of them could clearly see the scene around them. There were screens set up all around, each of them about five or six square meters. They were all strung together to make a circle. Chen Mu and Alfonso were placed right in the middle of it.


    Chen Mu squinted to see the images on the screens.


    His gaze first fell onto the one in front of him, which showed the design on a card. Alfonso was obsessed with a different screen on which was an elaborate schematic of some apparatus.


    A production problem? Chen Mu seemed to have found some clue, and he couldn''t help but smile. He liked that work.


    Bo Wen and Wei-ah were off by themselves. The trial for them was completely different from Chen Mu''s.


    Theirs was a complicated terrain of countless mountains and rocks stretching out for dozens of kilometers. Wei-ah and Bo Wen were in the middle of the rocky mountains, and on top of them were floating several hundred strangely shaped objects, which would continually emit all sorts of deadly light beams. The beams were extremely accurate and had stunning power.


    Wei-ah was like a bouncing ball, endlessly ricocheting among the rocks without stopping. The light beams were scattering all the rocks, but none of them were hitting that scary man.


    Bo Wen was a lot more miserable! He had no way to copy Wei-ah''s battle technique, all along depending on his energy cloak to protect him in front of those shooting beams. It was as weak as paper. Several dozen wounds had already appeared on his body. The only thing to be glad about was that those light beams hadn''t targeted his vital regions. Otherwise, he would have been long dead.


    A remote card artisan couldn''t compare with a close-combat card artisan when it came to dodging fire. If Chen Mu were there, he absolutely would not have cut such a sorry figure. That wasn''t to say Bo Wen''s battle strength wasn''t as good as Chen Mu''s, but it was determined by the fighting style. Every style of fighting had its strong points, but it would certainly also have its weak points. Remote card artisans far exceeded close-combat card artisans with their output of firepower and their range.


    What calmed Bo Wen was that those light beams didn''t seem to be after his life and must have been conducting some sort of test. While that test looked perfectly dangerous, he surmised that once it was completed, there would surely be some sort of restorative therapeutic content.


    But, he was still struggling to dodge and evade, although his dodging didn''t have much use. Still, his determination was stunning. If he were to speculate about that test, he thought the more outstanding he was, there would have to be some benefit.


    Folded into a "V" shape and floating like a snake, three short lines accelerated.


    Although a light beam fell onto his body from time to time, Bo Wen steeled himself and steadfastly persevered, tenaciously dodging to his limit, just doggedly taking on those he couldn''t dodge. For him to have endured until then depended entirely on his willpower.


    The light beams grew more and more dense, and Bo Wen suddenly noticed a piece of rock sticking up not far away. This made him happy since it formed a natural barrier. By coincidence, his distance from it was sufficient to complete a folded "V" maneuver.


    Bo Wen gritted his teeth, increased his speed, and flew over toward the mountain rock.


    The dense light beams were like the teeth of an open-mouthed boa, grabbing on and not letting go. Meanwhile, those beams were getting a little bit closer. If he were hit by such dense beams, then that trial would doubtlessly have hit its target. He calculated that once he had flown behind the rocks, the firing would have just reached its peak. Having endured for so long, he had started to form a certain understanding of the pattern of the firing. After the peak of the light beam firing, its rate would be greatly reduced.


    The rocks were looming large in front of him, which pleased him because his calculation hadn''t been mistaken!


    Then, a hand unexpectedly shot out from behind the rocks!


    Caught off guard, Bo Wen paled in fright. He considered what move could avoid the hand, not thinking the wrist would suddenly flick, shooting a small stone toward his eyes.


    Bo Wen unconsciously ducked first, wanting to dodge the stone. Since he was in the middle of flight, that sudden unforeseen event had made a mess of his perception. Bo Wen lost control of his high-speed flight.


    The stone scraped his cheek as it flew past, while the teeth of the light beam boa that was after him had enveloped him in a rain of rays.


    In that instant, Bo Wen was shot through like a sieve with countless light beams having pierced his body.


    That sudden misfortune immediately ended the trial, and those strange flying devices disappeared. The endless, rocky mountains also disappeared without a trace, leaving Bo Wen lying on the ground, blood gurgling out of his body. His wide-open eyes were watching Wei-ah in front of him, and the blood kept pouring out of his mouth as he asked incoherently, "Wh...why?"


    Cold and detached, Wei-ah watched as the radiance gradually darkened in his eyes.


    "As he was dying, Elder Kitt ordered that I should kill you if I see you." Wei-ah was speaking as he walked over to Bo Wen, closely examining the wounds on his body; the most fatal place was where a light beam had penetrated through to his heart.


    Wei-ah ended his speech. With a bland expression, he lightly hit Bo Wen with his fist to the side of the wound over his heart. Bo Wen''s body went stiff as his eyes bugged out, never to budge again.

 Chapter 173: A Stroke of Luck

    Chapter 173: A Stroke of Luck


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The sweat on Chen Mu''s forehead was about to gather into a river with his two eyes still pinned to the screen. Without realizing it, he had endured that same position for three hours already. What a strange pattern! After wracking his brain, he had discerned a composition only after a great deal of difficulty, still with no way to recognize what remained. It was the pattern he had figured out that had cost him so much mental effort.


    Once he had teased out the application of the composition in that pattern, the pattern shining on the screen went dark. That was what had aroused Chen Mu from his pondering.


    He looked around at something of a loss since a three-hour-long mental trial had made it rather difficult to return to his senses. After half a minute, an outline finally emerged. He suddenly realized how drenched in sweat he was, which was quite uncomfortable.


    All of the patterns were bizarre and totally different from the card system of the Heavenly Federation. Still, it was a good thing the theory from the mysterious card wasn''t entirely disconnected from them. For Chen Mu to have been able to discern some of the patterns was entirely due to the theoretical system in the mysterious card.


    It was quite a bit like the pattern of the token card, though there were certain differences. It was slightly superior to the token card knowledge in its elegance. That had made it possible for Chen Mu to discern a kind of pattern; otherwise, he wouldn''t have been able to conceive of it. As far as he was concerned, those complex patterns were still rather abstruse.


    Stretching out his sore neck, he turned around to take a look at Alfonso; he was absorbed in staring at the screen in front of him, where there were some very complex compositions. Chen Mu knew himself and pulled back his gaze after a glance since they were so incomprehensible.


    Surveying around, Chen Mu couldn''t help but smile bitterly about how he had been able to quickly become so engrossed for such a long time in that situation. No wonder he and Alfonso were laws unto themselves; the two crazies had never really been so different from one another.


    His calm restored, Chen Mu started to carefully examine his surroundings.


    It was pitch black all around with only the square screens set up in midair.


    Chen Mu knew from experience that if he couldn''t find the proper method, there would be no way to get out of the powerful illusion being emitted. But, he had no way to find the right method just then. The situation was different from the first time he had entered into the mysterious card. He had emitted the illusion from the mysterious card, after all, which also meant his safety was assured. But, although he had also sparked the illusion in front of him now, he wasn''t the one who had emitted it.


    It was doubtlessly more dangerous now.


    Just then, the voice blurted out again, "The initial privileges have been determined!"


    A screen popped out in front of Chen Mu, nearly scaring him out of his wits. The screen was packed with figures, which made Chen Mu''s eyes swim and his head become awash in fog.


    The voice cleared away the puzzle by saying, "Since the system has been damaged, the most optimal thing now would be to automatically return the system to its default state. Your privileges are raised to the highest necessary contribution value facing the optimal event. The initial determination is that your honorable score is 15 points¡ªthe highest among those now being determined. Congratulations. You will have the highest privileges beyond the optimizing event."


    Chen Mu couldn''t quite get his head around what was being said. He seemed to understand, but not quite. "What is the highest privilege?"


    "The highest privilege is the privilege to control the system. Since you have the highest points, in the case where you don''t violate the optimization, you will have the highest control privileges among those having any privileges."


    That sort of explanation made Chen Mu''s already foggy mind still more foggy, though he had clearly heard the phrase "highest control privileges."


    "That is to say I can control you?" Chen Mu probed cautiously.


    "No." His counterpart''s refusal was very straightforward.


    "Oh," Chen Mu answered, though he didn''t feel any loss of hope. If his counterpart had affirmed him, he would have been terrified.


    "Who are you?" Chen Mu was asking the simplest of questions. So long as his counterpart was willing to communicate, then it was already an exciting breakthrough for Chen Mu.


    "The system."


    Chen Mu rolled those words around in his head a few times and still felt awash in fog.


    "Where are we?" Chen Mu continued to inquire.


    "The city below."


    "The city below?" That strange designation had gotten Chen Mu''s attention.


    "Yes."


    "How is everyone?" Chen Mu was thinking of his comrades and couldn''t help but ask.


    "Apart from one who died from a malfunction, everyone else is fine."


    The system''s response made Chen Mu uptight. "Who died?"


    A screen immediately sprung out in front of Chen Mu, on which Bo Wen''s figure appeared. Chen Mu had some complex feelings seeing Bo Wen already deprived of his life force. Although Bo Wen''s existence was a hazard to him, in the bottom of his mind Chen Mu admired Bo Wen''s abilities¡ªif they could only get rid of the grudges. He had always considered Bo Wen to be the most awesome of the three of them; whether in regard to his shrewd strategies or his individual battle strength, Bo Wen was the strongest.


    Chen Mu didn''t grieve very much over Bo Wen''s death. Though he admired him immensely, Bo Wen was the person he most needed to be on guard against. Chen Mu reckoned that if he''d had the opportunity, he would have moved to kill Bo Wen. In the same way, if Chen Mu had given him any opportunity, Bo Wen certainly wouldn''t have had any restraint. Their relative positions had determined their attitudes toward one another.


    "And the rest? How were their scores?"


    The first thing that popped up on the screen was the image of Wei-ah, and the cold voice of the system said blandly, "He had the highest score. In the category of a combatant, his battle score got as high as 65, which suggests he could advance to the specialized battle evaluation."


    Sixty-five points!


    Thinking about his own pitiful 15 points, Chen Mu opened his mouth very sluggishly.


    "With 65 points, Wei-ah is the highest. Why do I have the highest privileges?" Having reacted, Chen Mu couldn''t help but ask.


    "His is a battle score, while yours is a maintenance score. Right now the most optimal thing is to restore the system, so your contribution number has been determined to be higher than his," the system very simply explained.


    "Maintenance score?" Chen Mu felt as though he might cry or laugh; the machine had initially made him into a master of maintenance.


    He glanced at Alfonso, who was still absorbed. "How many points did he get?" Chen Mu asked while pointing.


    "Nine points." The system treated words like gold.


    "And the others?"


    The images of the others immediately appeared on the screen in front of Chen Mu. Their points were categorized below. The thing that brought Chen Mu closest to tears or laughter was that Cheng Ying''s points were actually written as logistics! Chen Mu really couldn''t get how the "system" had related a professional card artisan with logistics. As soon as he thought of Cheng Ying with an apron strapped on, a big metal spoon in her right hand, and a bucket of potatoes and beef stew in her left, it was really...


    Apart from Wei-ah, no one had exceeded 15 points; this stirringly reaffirmed Wei-ah''s valiance to Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu understood that in order to get out of the predicament, he needed sufficient information, so he kept communicating with the "system." He very quickly understood how high his so-called "highest control privileges" were.


    They were worthless. Since the contribution points were too low, he had pitiful privileges. A somewhat useful piece of information was that it would usually require 40 or 50 contribution points.


    Chen Mu had still gotten some rather useful information.


    At that time, he was positioned in an underground base, which had seven levels altogether. He was in the level closest to the bottom, which hadn''t been completely damaged. In truth, it was only 20 percent intact. Since the initial points determination had consumed a lot of energy, what was left would only last five more days. This left Chen Mu speechless.


    But, there wasn''t any danger! That discovery allowed Chen Mu to finally heave a sigh of relief. From all of the information provided by the "system," they were safe at least for the time being.


    Chen Mu was surprised when he saw the layout of the first level.


    The area of the underground base was stunningly large!


    No wonder it was called the "city below." In Chen Mu''s eyes, it was simply comparable to a small-scale village. Chen Mu also found out the first level had quite a few divided rooms¡ªprobably 1,600 of them¡ªcrowded close together like a beehive. The space in the first level was really huge; when he thought about it, it was 45 meters high.


    It was hard to believe such an advanced and huge underground base was actually the remains of a distant, unstudied period. Chen Mu believed even the most outstanding underground base in the Heavenly Federation couldn''t have been better than that place.


    Nearly everything there had been made of metal. How many mines would that have required them to extract metal ores from? How high were the metallurgical skills required? How much manpower and resources did it require?


    The remains of the many empty rooms were undoubtedly providing him with a lot of information; a lot of people had been living in that base. Where did they go? Why did they abandon the base?


    After a while, Chen Mu had plenty of doubts swirling around in his mind.


    The "system" was very tight about any connotations with what it said. Up until then, Chen Mu hadn''t gotten any basic information about the base, such as when it was established, who established it, why it was such a huge base, and so forth.


    Even though that was how it was, the tip of the iceberg that had been exposed about the underground base had already provided Chen Mu with sufficient shock.


    They had had a stroke of luck!

 Chapter 174: A Slight Change

    Chapter 174: A Slight Change


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The disappearance of the future heir of the Eastern Nings created quite a stir in the Eastern Reaches, which sent the region into turmoil. Still, Bo Wen''s disappearance hadn''t made the slightest splash in the entire Heavenly Federation. Not only wasn''t it the most important news there, it wasn''t even the most important news in the Eastern Reaches. A poll would show the most newsworthy event having been from Eastern Shang-Wei City, which had just undergone the turmoil of war. That bit of news was very simple. The rather well-known, low-grade fantasy card club in Eastern Shang Wei City had launched their new product¡ªa fantasy card receiver.


    That kind of so-called fantasy card receiver had proliferated across the entire Heavenly Federation with astonishing speed as soon as it was launched. Its composition wasn''t very complicated. At its core was something like the card play generator, although it had undergone massive innovation. The illusions emitted didn''t need to be processed by a card play emitter to be seen; they were transmitted by signal to the receiver. It wasn''t like the communications card, in which a special information transmission line needed to be installed first. It was lower level, as were its costs, which naturally meant it was cheaper. It was quite popular after launch.


    And, the little-known president of the low-grade fantasy card club had stunningly emerged as a huge producer. Within a very short time, he had united with several of the oligarchic clans of the Eastern Reaches to establish the first communications platform. At the same time, since the composition of the fantasy card receiver wasn''t very complicated, the market was quickly flooded with copies. But, the low-grade fantasy card club took advantage of that decisive moment.


    All kinds of communications platforms soon appeared like bamboo shoots after the rain. Even the government of the Heavenly Federation quickly realized how important such platforms were, and they immediately set up an official federation platform. Once launched, it shot to the top of the viewership.


    After purchasing a fantasy card receiver and paying the platform a certain fee, one could watch all sorts of programs transmitted by the platform.


    It only cost 500 Oudi for a fantasy card receiver plus only another 200 to install the cable, which was quite cheap for most residents.


    The Low Fantasy Platform established by the low-grade fantasy card club was the most popular platform. Its most popular shows were serial releases of the card plays "Chance Encounter" and "The Legend of Master Shi." Those two card plays had drawn countless customers, nearly pulling the official Heavenly Federation platform from the top spot. They had become the second most-watched platform with the third lagging far behind. The outstanding business acumen of the magisterial president was easy to discern.


    What had preserved the position of the official federation platform had been a different item of news, which could be called explosive.


    It was the first time in history that news had been broadcast in real time, shattering the assumption that news would always be delayed. According to the statistics, there were more than 2 million watching. But, within only ten minutes, the numbers surged up to 30 million. According to the statistics, there were another 40 million or more who watched recordings of the news after the event.


    The Gemini, the twin stars of the Desert Camp, had sought out Moon Frost Island of the Heavenly Drum District hand-in-hand!


    Who knew where the official federation platform had gotten the information, but they had actually accompanied the Gemini to Moon Frost Island.


    No wonder after people had heard the news, they all put aside what they were working on without exception and paid attention to it. The Desert Camp was one of the Big Six, and the card artisans who came from there were consistently swift and fierce fighters. No matter whether it was the federation armies, the oligarchic clans, or large-scale card artisan firms, they all looked quite fondly on the card artisans from the Desert Camp.


    That year, the Gemini from the Desert Camp had made a stir across the federation for having passed the so-called "nightmare" exam, the most difficult of all exams. That doubtlessly had drawn quite a few eyeballs since it was said that battles among aces fired people up the most.


    While Moon Frost Island had plenty of relations beyond it, as one of the Big Six it would have been difficult to determine how many. And, although the pair of stars was young, they had already ascended into the ranks of aces.


    Both sides were heavy hitters! A clash between two of the academies would naturally fill countless people with anticipation.


    Moreover, any chance to see such battle aces as the Gemini was simply too rare to miss! Everyone was grateful to the unknown low-grade fantasy card club president. The first moment the Gemini set foot on Moon Frost Island, all the recording apparatus were focused on them.


    The arrogance of the Gemini was met with an uncontrollable chill from the students of Moon Frost Island, which immediately created a conflict.


    Among the crowds watching in front of their fantasy card receivers, some were even shaking their fists uncontrollably, yelling, "Fight! Start the fight!"


    The card artisan from Desert Camp was known for his fiery temperament, and the Moon Frost Island students were just as partisan. At that moment, Mars collided with Earth.


    The Gemini were the first to make a move, naturally without any pleasantries. The ensuing battle went immediately fierce with the power of the Gemini finally on display. The one fighting was one of the pair, Su Wei, who had defeated ten people in a row! Not to be defeated, the student ace from Moon Frost Island mounted a series of attacks, though they were too weak in the face of Su Wei''s power. He took the victory.


    The faces of the students from Moon Frost Island went as cold as ice, that having been the biggest humiliation in the history of the school. And, it had played out live in front of them, which left the youth''s blood boiling and all of them gritting their teeth.


    Just when everyone assumed Moon Frost Island had been humiliated by the Gemini, a young woman swooped in.


    The young woman covered in white had an ice-cold expression, flesh-like jade that could be shattered with a musical note, and a tall hair style from ancient times. She looked like a goddess who had flown out from an ancient painting!


    It was that young, frosty looking woman who picked up the fight with the Gemini. The two of them fought fiercely for nearly ten minutes with Su Wei finally suffering the loss. Just as the crowd was worried that Su Hu was about to take advantage of the goddess-like beauty''s challenge, Su Hu gathered up the wounded Su Wei without a word and swept off after a respectful nod.


    That frosty, young woman who had appeared out of the blue immediately captivated the residents of the federation, becoming the idol of countless people. Because of the young woman, who hadn''t even uttered a word, there were already quite a few young people pledging to sign up for the exam at Moon Frost Island.


    The originally subdued Moon Frost Island then entered everyone''s field of view. Everyone found out just how unfathomable the Big Six were. Just then, Moon Frost Island had the top young ace when it had normally been considered off in a corner by itself.


    The excitement built on itself, and those looking for a way in were polishing their resumes.


    It would have been a joke to say the performance of the Gemini didn''t have the backing of the Desert Camp. But, the Big Six had always been restrained among themselves. Everyone carefully preserved the peace, so how could Desert Camp want to disturb it or do something in secret?


    What happened afterward exceeded anyone''s expectations and made things abruptly jittery.


    Along the way back to Desert Camp, the Gemini were ambushed, and Su Wei was killed on the spot. Su Hu broke away with heavy wounds.


    The affair made a lot of waves in the federation. Desert Camp was immediately pointing the finger at Moon Frost Island, which protested vociferously that the matter had nothing to do with them. They even wanted to assist the local garrison to conduct their investigation.


    No matter what, relations between Desert Camp and Moon Frost Island had become frosty.


    Sensitive people could already smell the agitation in the atmosphere.


    * * *


    During that time, Chen Mu had just led the remainder of the Moqi line to complete its migration. Although the city below was dilapidated beyond endurance, it was a lot more secure than the crude valley, which didn''t add up to much. The elevator to the surface and the air circulation system had been repaired thanks to Chen Mu. Those empty rooms in the base, which weren''t good for more than living in, held seven or eight children each.


    Having been so terrified outside for so long, the young people were full of hope for the future. It was good to be living someplace out of the wind and rain where they didn''t have to worry about the wild beasts.


    Chen Mu cautiously slid a card into the card slot of the apparatus in front of him, which made a light sound as the green lights lit up. That finally calmed his nervous mind.


    "The energy system has been restored to five percent," the emotionless voice of the system said.


    Wiping the sweat from his brow, Chen Mu asked, "How much is five percent?"


    "Power to live in the base." The system''s response was as sparse as could be.


    Chen Mu looked resigned, having pulled out all the energy on hand while also making his highest-level repair to the system. It was still at only five percent of the base''s customary operation. Well, five percent was five percent. If it was sufficient for everyone to live, then it would have to do.


    The energy mine could be slowly exploited, and with machinery being produced incessantly, it would be able to supply more power in the future.


    "Teacher, teacher!" Alfonso called excitedly from the distance.


    Chen Mu looked around and saw Alfonso wildly waving his hand at him. Could he have made some new discovery?


    Chen Mu walked over and asked, "What''s up?"


    "I''ve found something good," Alfonso said with exaggerated mysteriousness.


    "What good thing?"


    "Come with me." Alfonso hurriedly led the way.


    Alfonso took Chen Mu in the direction of the warehouse. Every level of the base was pretty independent, and each would have a warehouse. The first level was no different. So they could move in a little sooner, he hadn''t taken any opportunity to go exploring around the first level. He had been busy repairing the backup system and the air circulation system. Even though it was only one level, it covered a huge area and was filled with all kinds of weird installations.


    Pushing open the door of the number 12 warehouse, a pungent, rotten smell came out from it. Taking a look, the air circulation system had already started up, though it would take a while for the turbid air inside to clear out. There were all sorts of miscellaneous things that had been corroded beyond recognition.


    Alfonso''s expression hadn''t changed at all, seeming to have become used to that kind of air.


    Chen Mu went with Alfonso into a corner. Alfonso''s expression became excited, and he pointed toward some object covered in dust, saying, "That''s it!"

 Chapter 175: Alfonso’s Kind Intentions

    Chapter 175: Alfonso¡¯s Kind Intentions


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "What is it?" Chen Mu''s gaze had fallen onto a bizarrely shaped object in the corner. It was metallic and about eight or nine meters long. Its surface parts had corroded, some of them all the way through. It had two thin wings that looked like bird wings. Compared with its huge wings, the body was a lot smaller¡ªlong and narrow like a shuttle¡ªwith a beautiful, slightly curved shape.


    "It''s a flying device generally used for short flights." Unexpectedly, the one responding was the system.


    "Flying device? Ha, I actually didn''t guess wrong!" Alfonso was nearly dancing in his excitement.


    That sort of flying device looked very rudimentary, and Chen Mu was discouraged to compare it with the shuttle cars he''d seen.


    Seeing Chen Mu''s interest flagging, Alfonso couldn''t help but laugh as he said, "Doesn''t the teacher want to leave the jungle? You should be able to depend on this flying device for that."


    Chen Mu''s heart warmed a bit, never having thought his hope to leave the jungle would be something Alfonso would remember. He smiled. "I''m afraid it wouldn''t make it out of the jungle with that gummy cloud layer in the sky." Seeing Alfonso so eager, Chen Mu also didn''t want to deflate him, so he spoke rather tactfully. If he could get out of the jungle by flying, he would have done it a long time ago. He had more than one kind of jet stream card on hand! And, that stretch of jungle was so huge. That, combined with the existence of the gummy layer, killed the plan.


    "Teacher needn''t worry," Alfonso said to console him. "There is certainly a gummy cloud layer in the sky, but this device can fly through it. I''ve never seen a flying device shaped like this, but I believe it must have stunning thrust! If the power is sufficient, then I calculate the gummy cloud layer can''t trap it!"


    Chen Mu considered the idea more carefully, wanting to see if what Alfonso said was correct. If there were sufficient power, a flying device shaped like that should be able to split open the gummy cloud layer. And, the gummy cloud layer had no corrosive effect on metal. Furthermore, energy wouldn''t be absorbed by the gummy cloud layer with the protection of the metal.


    Chen Mu looked ahead brightly. "Can you restore it?"


    "I won''t be able to restore it," Alfonso said, shaking his head. "It has really corroded too much!"


    Chen Mu went cold. If there was no way to restore it, then the flying device was just a pile of scrap metal.


    He didn''t expect Alfonso to change the topic. "It shouldn''t be a problem for me to make a replica to try."


    That filled Chen Mu with joy, though it was followed by his thinking of another issue. He raised his face toward the air to say, "System, do you have a construction schematic for this flying device or materials about it?"


    "Yes," the system responded quickly.


    Chen Mu and Alfonso looked at each other in excitement. Restraining the joy in his heart, Chen Mu asked, "Can I examine them now? If not, then what are the conditions?"


    "You can''t," The system answered without leaving any leeway for change. Though, it then explained, "Although it is classified as rudimentary technology, you would still require 15 contribution points."


    "What is my current contribution level?" Contribution level, more contribution levels. Chen Mu couldn''t help but remember his life in the Ning family base. There isn''t any free lunch these days!


    "For repairing part of the supply system, you got five points, and one point for repairing the elevator, plus two for the air circulation system, which makes eight altogether." The contribution level was not the same as the privileges Chen Mu had gotten 15 points for last time. That was the system''s evaluation of his ability to contribute to the restoration of the system, while the contribution level referred to what he had already contributed.


    He was still short seven points, which wasn''t an insurmountable value. Chen Mu immediately said, "I''ll require a list of repairs."


    A screen immediately popped out in front of him, on which was a detailed listing of all the items that required repair and the conditions required to repair them. There was enough listed to make Chen Mu''s head spin. There was almost nothing in the base that was complete without any defects. Still, Chen Mu needed to find some items on the list he could repair, which would require patience.


    * * *


    Wei-ah was watching the youths in front of him without any expression as they were practicing his wrestling skills. Each of their faces was determined, and they practiced with all their might. Wei-ah really didn''t need to do any supervising; he knew there wasn''t a single lazy child in that crowd.


    Although it had only been a little while, the youths had been making their every move to the letter of his instruction. The expressionless Wei-ah was inwardly stunned. He hadn''t thought Chen Mu''s exercise gymnastics were compatible with his skills or that they could have such huge effects. The speed of their progress really surprised him. Wei-ah still believed that although they looked like they were straining, those children he hadn''t considered suited to learn his skills would be lightning fast in their later progress¡ªif they were able to endure the toughest period.


    There were always things on Chen Mu''s body people couldn''t make out. Wei-ah had mostly understood the fighting style of the card artisan by then. As far as he could tell, it really was a little unreasonable to think a card artisan would ever use the skills from those exercise gymnastics.


    The part that wasn''t suited was that Chen Mu''s body was still so small. It was a skill to hobble oneself, and in Wei-ah''s point of view, only those who could move about in the dark would ever learn.


    No matter how he looked at it, there wasn''t any connection between Chen Mu and the dark. Plus, he was proficient at making cards. No wonder Chen Mu had told him he had studied too many different things. Among those youths there was no shortage of outstanding people, and the exercise gymnastics had greatly improved their physical conditioning. But, Wei-ah still felt some regret when he closely examined them. He always came to the same conclusion¡ªChen Mu''s physical conditioning was still the best!


    Quite a few were stronger and more lithe than Chen Mu, and some excelled further in many other aspects. But, if one were to roll all those conditions together, the most excellent would still be Chen Mu. It was strange, but it was the plain truth.


    It was really a pity! On the one hand, Wei-ah was full of regret, and on the other, he was curious about why he was even concerned. It was clearly not his style to brood about such things, though in truth, he really did seem to care about it.


    * * *


    That was the busiest Chen Mu had been recently, giving his all every day to advance the repair work. The base made extensive use of cards, which was also what he was the handiest with. As far as he could tell, the base was basically a huge card appliance. There wasn''t much of the repair work he could do, but the little he could do benefitted him greatly. If the unsophisticated theory hadn''t been put to practical use, it would have been very difficult for him to make any progress, particularly when it came to making cards.


    One important reason there were so few awesome card masters was that most of the problems they faced were academic and not life questions. When it came to problems with living, they would only require money, not cards.


    Still, for Chen Mu, everything there required privileges. If he wanted those, he would have to do a lot of the base repair work. And, he would encounter quite a few unforeseen issues during that process. He was encountering life issues, which all required cards to resolve.


    Those issues never became abstruse or obscure, but instead there would be only one way to resolve them! That gave him no other choice than to think and make progress.


    It was a good thing Chen Mu had enough patience and enjoyed the process. He had earned up to five contribution points by then, but he had never thought he would actually be able to make any modifications to the equipment on the base. Still, he hadn''t devised those modifications himself. They were the things he''d learned alongside Spanner at Eastern Wei Academy.


    Having those five points greatly reduced the time before he could earn enough to see the material about the flying device. It would only cost him about five days before he had earned the 15 contribution points.


    There was a rather huge amount of material and data regarding the flying device. Chen Mu hadn''t expected those surprisingly detailed schematics to so bedazzle him. He might as well have handed over the materials to Alfonso and continued his work.


    Alfonso helped him in good faith suffused with camaraderie, and Chen Mu wasn''t slacking off either.


    The more of the base he repaired, the better the children''s living environment became. The future lives of Alfonso and the rest would also be a lot better.


    He could feel the sincerity in the concern Alfonso showed toward him, and he knew it was something precious! Chen Mu¡ªwho understood the ups and downs of human emotions¡ªhoped he could help those who had really cared about him in return. He was all the more attentive in what he imparted to Li Duhong and the rest.


    Of course, he hadn''t stopped his own training since he knew from experience that his strength would ensure his fate. Without Bo Wen and the wild beasts, and with things having settled down for Chen Mu in the secure underground base, he didn''t need to try to cover up his training anymore. Apart from his work, all the rest of his time was spent training; he focused on putting the life he had messed up for so long back in order.


    One could only know how precious peace was after going through turmoil.


    He sometimes even thought if he were to actually live in the base, it wouldn''t be so bad!


    It looked as though he wasn''t really someone with a lot of ambition.


    After two months, every day still seemed like an entirely new beginning for Chen Mu and the rest. They were learning constantly, and they had their rough training and their work. The ordinary, peaceful life had given them a new lease on life after the calamity. It made everyone feel completely comfortable.


    But, just then, the situation in the federation was undergoing a new change.

 Chapter 176: Preparation

    Chapter 176: Preparation


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    A conflict had arisen between the Qin household of the Nawen District and the aristocratic Lasorda family, with hundreds of casualties on each side. The ensuing conflict kept increasing, and the casualties kept mounting. The Nawen District was an ordinary residential district, and the two families wouldn''t be considered such large clans. However, the conflict had attracted the attention of the entire Heavenly Federation. In people''s eyes, the conflict was a lot more serious than the one in the Eastern Reaches between the Nings and the Zuos.


    Everyone''s gaze had turned toward the powers behind the two families. The Qin household had a tight relationship with the Central Repository of the Classics, while the Lasorda family was a subordinate of the Comprehensive Federation Academy. Up until that time, neither the Central Repository of Classics nor the Comprehensive Federation Academy had shown up, nor did they have any intention to stop the fighting. That left room for people''s imaginations.


    A short time before, the relations between Desert Camp and Moon Frost Island had gone cold. Now, it was the Central Repository of the Classics and the Comprehensive Federation Academy who were facing off. That filled a lot of people with anxiety since the influence of the Big Six Academies in the federation was without equal. If they were to unite, then even the government wouldn''t have been able to oppose their vanguard.


    The government just then couldn''t be very happy. They couldn''t afford to offend either side, and it was difficult to be the man in the middle.


    For those few years, the federation government had found its infiltration by the Big Six Academies to be of serious concern. There were 12 corps in the military, and 11 of the 12 commanding officers had come from the Big Six Academies. There was only one who was outside the academy system, and he was in the twelfth-ranked corps among them.


    The first corps was acclaimed as the federation''s elite corps, which was half again as large in scale as the rest of them. It was the best equipped and had the richest fighting experience. The commanding officer, Wei Yueqing, had come from the Comprehensive Federation Academy and had always been the first among the Five Nobles of the Capital. Another of his junior disciples, Tang Peitong, was the last among the five.


    Zou Bai, the commanding officer of the second corps, and Yang Zhirui, the commanding officer of the fifth corps, both came from the Star Academy.


    Huang Fuxing, the commanding officer of the third corps, and Chang Longqi, the commanding officer of the ninth corps, then came from the Central Repository of the Classics.


    Jin Wuwei, the commanding officer of the fourth corps, and the commanding officer of the seventh corps, Lun Haizhe, were then from the Bitter Solitude Temple.


    Zhi Tingman, the commanding office of the sixth corps, and Jiang Zhenyan, the commanding officer of the eleventh corps, both came from Moon Frost Island. Zhi Tingman was the only female commanding officer among the 12.


    Lu Ning, the commanding office of the eighth corps, and Chang Chourong, the commanding officer of the tenth corps, came from Desert Camp.


    Only the commanding officer of the twelfth corps, Chang Liangqiu, had an ordinary family background, which was an anomaly in the history of the federation. Liangqiu was born in an ordinary residential district and joined the military after graduating from an ordinary school. He accomplished countless military victories, rising step-by-step to the top, finally becoming a commanding officer. He was also the only commanding officer among the 12 to receive the adulation of ordinary people.


    It was clear how far the power of the Big Six Academies had extended. They were finally the true masters of the Heavenly Federation. But, at the same time, any friction or conflict among them would concern the people.


    * * *


    Star Academy


    A young woman was leaning on a parapet, wearing a light blue robe, scanning the distance, seemingly lost in thought. Her looks would only be considered middling, though she showed her manners in every movement with her placidity exuding a gentle feeling.


    "What is Qing Qing thinking of?"


    The hoarse voice came from behind her where there was an old man strolling to her side. He gave her a look full of love, plus a little doting. All the old man''s hair and beard was white, though he was quite robust in spirit. He wore a proper suit and had an unflustered temperament.


    "Good morning, President!" Seeing that it was the academy president, Qing Qing greeted him with mild courtesy while her gaze returned to the distance.


    "Will it get bad?" Qing Qing suddenly let out a frustrated sigh, the sunny and clear day seeming to be full of dark clouds in her eyes.


    The president of the academy stopped himself from saying anything, though he also sighed.


    * * *


    Chen Mu was looking at the flying device in front of him, asking, "Are you certain it will fly?"


    "It will certainly fly!" The sound rang out from Alfonso, who was full of pride. After getting the materials about the flying device, Alfonso had finally made the first copy of it. Though, in his eyes, it was his creation.


    The flying device was six and a half meters long. Its two wings were more tightly raked than the original, which made the flying device look more swift and fierce. According to Alfonso, that would greatly increase its penetrating power. Its shuttle-shaped body had a sharp nose. The flying device had only used card technology, which meant the power card. Since no one knew how long it would take to fly out from the jungle, they had to prepare a lot of power. The power cards had the benefit of being easily carried and were naturally Chen Mu''s first choice.


    During that time, Chen Mu''s contribution points had already reached 20, which was the highest in the whole base by then.


    After reaching 25, Chen Mu could consult some of the materials, among which was the curriculum the children were studying. The knowledge in the curriculum wasn''t entirely like what Chen Mu had studied; there was more about card appliances. It was more like what Alfonso had learned. Chen Mu would sometimes even conjecture that the card appliance technology the Moqi line had gotten might have unknowingly been learned from the base.


    The curriculum was most useful to Alfonso. The card appliance knowledge he had studied had been applied completely uncritically and fell pitifully short of any familiarity with principles. From the point of view of theory, the core principles of card appliances and cards should be the connected, though there were still quite a few differences. Chen Mu had wanted to teach Alfonso some of the principles. He had made rapid progress, though it still couldn''t satisfy Chen Mu. Still, the curriculum from the system had raised Alfonso''s abilities by many levels in a short amount of time. Many of the areas he had only seemed to understand had suddenly become clear.


    That was also why Chen Mu wondered whether the ancestors of the Moqi line might have had some intersection with the base. The things Alfonso called "card matter" technology showed some obvious signs of common lineage with the technology of the base. Though, he hadn''t found any traces of it by then.


    The flying device had two seats and could hold two people.


    After everyone found out Chen Mu wanted to leave the jungle, they were all quite reluctant to part with him, though they very much understood and honored his decision. Chen Mu was also reluctant in his heart to part with everyone, but the biggest problem just then¡ªsecurity¡ªwasn''t something he needed to worry about anymore. Not only was the base hidden, but the exit from the elevator was completely under their control. So long as they didn''t leave, no one would consider entering.


    Following Chen Mu''s incessant repairs, he had found the base was far more advanced than he had imagined. After restoring the observation lens, they could clearly observe the situation on the ground.


    The critical item that made everyone agree to Chen Mu leaving wasn''t the flying device Alfonso made, but was rather the communications equipment Chen Mu had found by chance in the warehouse. Such an advanced piece of communications equipment, which relied on pulse signals, was like a breath of fresh air to Chen Mu. Together with Alfonso, they combined that technology with the federation communications card technology to make an entirely new communications card!


    That sort of communications card had extremely powerful signal reception; in theory, it would be able to provide a connection no matter how far apart the two parties were. Of course, that was only in theory, not considering all kinds of interference, as well as some other factors. But, that so-called "thousand-kilometer card" could certainly fulfill communication requirements of within 1,000 kilometers.


    The most surprising thing was that when the token card was added to the thousand-kilometer card, its capabilities were improved many times over. But, that huge, boundless, forested stretch went a lot more than 1,000 kilometers. Chen Mu still wasn''t optimistic he could use the thousand-kilometer card to get in touch from outside the jungle.


    Still, Chen Mu had made another important discovery while incessantly repairing the base. Surprisingly, the base had a specialized large-scale communications signal transmitter. The equipment in every single room made Chen Mu and Alfonso both draw in cold breaths. The complicated wiring channels almost blew the two of them away several times. But, what they hadn''t expected was the system''s unprecedented enthusiasm for the repair of the signal transmitter! It even went so far as to provide all kinds of assistance, which was quite a bit different from its normal style of only wanting to talk about materials and the need for privileges.


    The complexity of the signal transmitter wasn''t something Chen Mu and Alfonso would be able to resolve by themselves. They expended a lot of time to repair a small part. But, the capabilities demonstrated by even that small part overjoyed the two of them.


    They both believed that no matter how huge the stretch of forest was, establishing connections would surely be no problem given the thousand-kilometer card combined with the signal transmitter.


    The base had given them too many pleasant surprises. Every discovery inevitably astonished Chen Mu for how advanced it was. But, there was nothing they could do about the system remaining silent about its own origins. It had never divulged the slightest related information.


    The jungle was no longer an insurmountable barrier now that they could establish connections and had a flying device able to penetrate the gummy cloud layer.


    Chen Mu was getting excited.


    He ran over to Cheng Ying''s apartment.


    "I''m not going back," Chen Ying said mildly with a smile, cutting short Chen Mu''s invitation. "I like it here. I can learn a lot here, and so long as I can learn useful things, it doesn''t matter if it''s about cards or something else."


    Chen Mu stayed silent. He understood that Cheng Ying was talking about the skills transmitted by Wei-ah. So as not to delay the children''s studies, Wei-ah had sought out Chen Mu to put demonstrations of his skills onto a fantasy card. Cheng Ying knew how hard it would be to find such high-level training outside. More so, with Bo Wen dead, maybe there wouldn''t be so many people who could find Chen Mu. If they were seeking Chen Ying out, it would be a lot simpler.


    Since that was the way it was, it would be better for her to stay at the base and wait until she was a lot stronger before leaving.


    Having been designated as the next clan leader, Li Duhong really didn''t need Chen Mu to appoint him. He repeatedly threatened suicide to be able to accompany Chen Mu, but he had faced everyone''s opposition.


    Wei-ah demanded to stay with Chen Mu, which exceeded everyone''s expectations. Many people urged him to stay, but with the clan elder no longer there, there wasn''t anyone who could restrain that wild beast. And, Chen Mu felt it wouldn''t be a bad thing for him to have another "bodyguard," so he agreed.


    Chen Mu''s heart was full of excitement and longing, for he was finally about to return to his former life.

 Chapter 177: The Encounter

    Chapter 177: The Encounter


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "It can''t be used anymore." Wei-ah was looking at the burnt-up flying device at his feet, speaking without expression.


    The flying device certainly could penetrate the gummy cloud layer, but there was still a flaw in its design. It would eventually overheat because of the friction in the gummy cloud layer. Although Chen Mu had thought about it as hard as he could, it had already reached its limit. But, Chen Mu was glad it was already the fifth day. It was a pretty tall requirement to even be able to fly at high speed for five days in such a device made of metal. The shuttle cars of the federation would only end up trapped in the gummy layer with no way to budge.


    "The city should be to the northeast." In the moments before the flying device dropped, Chen Mu had vaguely made out a city in the distance. Although it was still far away, he didn''t need to worry about security, having such a super bodyguard as Wei-ah.


    Wei-ah didn''t say anything as he walked toward the northeast. Wei-ah had an accurate sense of direction in the jungle, which Chen Mu endlessly envied. Most of the time he was even more accurate than the instruments in the flying device. So, Wei-ah was the guide once they were on the road.


    Following closely behind Wei-ah, Chen Mu still couldn''t be the least bit relaxed. If it weren''t for Wei-ah, the only choice in the jungle for a dabbling card artisan alone like him would be whether there were any remains of his bones.


    "Wei-ah, why is it that you really want to accompany me?" Wei-ah''s attitude toward him had made Chen Mu endlessly perplexed. It seemed Wei-ah had looked at him favorably from the beginning, and later it was even more so. When they had encountered the mottled ants, he had even been one of the first Wei-ah had rescued. And, when Chen Mu had decided to depart the jungle, Wei-ah just decided to leave right along with him.


    The ever-unmoving, detached expression remained on Wei-ah''s face.


    "I am free after the death of the clan elder."


    Chen Mu shook his head since Wei-ah''s manner of speaking didn''t satisfy him at all. "The clan elder is not dead for sure." Although the clan elder had left the village after they did, they still hadn''t heard any news of him. In the hearts of the Moqi clan, there would always be that one-in-a-thousand hope. Given how shrewd and unscrupulous that old guy was, Chen Mu felt his survival wasn''t entirely impossible.


    Wei-ah wasn''t saying anything, and only the sound of footsteps crunching dry sticks on the jungle floor could be heard.


    Chen Mu kept silent as well; if Wei-ah didn''t want to talk, there was nothing he could do about it. Moreover, he didn''t feel Wei-ah had any reason to explain anything to him.


    Just when Chen Mu was considering whether to change the subject, Wei-ah surprised him by saying, "I want to retrieve my memory."


    Chen Mu was taken aback. "Retrieve your memory?" He''d heard talk of Wei-ah losing his memory, though he hadn''t ever thought about it. Thinking about the meaning of Wei-ah''s existence, a mournful feeling arose in Chen Mu''s heart. Even Wei-ah''s background seemed vaguely desolate and bleak.


    Although he was rather curious about what had happened to Wei-ah that year, Chen Mu still tactfully chose to change the subject.


    "It looks like we''re about to leave the jungle. There are a lot fewer signs of wild beasts in this direction." Under the influence of the Moqi villagers, Chen Mu had become a partial expert in the jungle.


    Wei-ah didn''t say anything, and Chen Mu was also unconcerned as he said directly, "I don''t even know what city is ahead of us. Ai, we will have finally returned to civilization in any case!" While life in the jungle made a pleasant enough memory for Chen Mu, he had basically lived in the federation since he was small, and that was what he was still used to.


    There was a sudden call for help in front of them.


    Chen Mu immediately went silent and looked at Wei-ah, quickly activating the big mud fish card in his apparatus and floating up into midair. There was already no sign of Wei-ah. Chen Mu was silently praising the speed of Wei-ah''s actions, and he didn''t dare fall behind as he carefully controlled the jet stream card to fly quickly toward where something had happened.


    As he drew near, the call for help became more and more clear. Chen Mu could also hear the faint snarls of several beasts.


    Chen Mu didn''t hesitate to pick up his speed to go straight there. If he were there alone, he would never have been so brave. Having Wei-ah at his side, he didn''t need to worry about the issue of security. He had seen Wei-ah''s glorious fighting results against beasts. Even when they had run into that black-steel, sickle-bladed bug last time, Wei-ah wouldn''t have been able to kill it if it hadn''t been for him, but the bug didn''t have any way to catch Wei-ah either.


    Moreover, they were near the edge of the jungle, where there wasn''t such a high probability of running into fearsome wild beasts.


    A middle-aged man and a youth were surrounded by eight West Nile wolves. The West Nile wolves wouldn''t have been considered such powerful wild beasts, though they would always appear in packs and had a crafty disposition. That sure gave people headaches when added to their ability to run like the wind. Their speed was extraordinary¡ªas fast as lightning¡ªparticularly in close surprise attacks. They were impossible to defend against, and they even filled card artisans with headaches.


    The middle-aged man was a card artisan, and the energy cloak he had deployed was also protecting the youth.


    The blue energy cloak was like a clear, sparkling crystal. The youth was being protected at the chest of the middle-aged man, his eyes full of terror. The youth''s flesh was fair and clear, and one look would tell that he was a young master who lived like a prince. The middle-aged man must have been some sort of bodyguard.


    The energy cloak the bodyguard had emitted was sturdy and compact as if it were substantial, and it was evident that he had deep accomplishment in that regard. Even the energy cloaks of Bo Wen and Cheng Ying hadn''t reached that point. Chen Mu''s eyes lit up, that being his first time to see a card artisan who could deploy an energy cloak with such proficiency. In general, an energy cloak could only protect the card artisan himself, not his comrade at the same time. Chen Mu conjectured to himself that the card artisan must have been a specialist in the energy cloak.


    There were very few card artisans who specialized in energy cloaks; that category of extremely defensive card artisans had a combat value of nil. The industry they engaged in was also very solitary. Most of them had such responsibilities as protecting important people. Some of the large households would specifically cultivate such card artisans, and small security agencies also had them, though the numbers were small.


    The bodyguard was clearly that sort of card artisan. There were eight West Nile wolves repeatedly attacking the energy cloak, though the energy cloak held imposingly firm.


    "We can''t go on like this, Little Master," the bodyguard said nervously. While his energy cloak could keep it up for a while, the energy would run out at some point. Those wily West Nile wolves wouldn''t likely give him time to swap out an energy card.


    "So, then what can we do?" The blood had drained from the young master''s face, and his lips were trembling. The other servant, Li Siben, had already run to find reinforcements, but he hadn''t yet returned. And, their communications card couldn''t make any connections home.


    The bodyguard was left without any good options. Each of the West Nile wolves had blood-red eyes and were ramming his energy cloak without any regard for their lives. Both his perception and the energy in the power card were flowing at an astonishing pace. At that speed, he couldn''t be certain they would hold out until the reinforcements showed up.


    He hadn''t thought those West Nile wolves, whose forte was not their power, would be pummeling with such force. They seemed crazed beyond caring about their lives, and they repeatedly charged his energy cloak. He cried out silently to himself in desperation.


    Chen Mu didn''t make his move right away, but remained off to the side examining things. He had his doubts. The West Nile wolf was wily, and the scene in front of him had overturned his impression of the animal. They seemed like wild bison, making their charge, then flying in the air and crashing. Such barbarism was completely different from their style of fighting. Every wolf''s head was dark red and oozing blood, making a terrible sight. Their pupils were bright red, wild and bloodthirsty.


    Just then, Wei-ah''s low voice was in Chen Mu''s ear. "The two of them have bait on their bodies." Wei-ah had already hidden himself soundlessly at Chen Mu''s side. Chen Mu was silently stunned. The word for bait was the slang of the village, referring to some drugs that could lure wild beasts. Li Duhong had used the bait when he lured the brilliant apes that time.


    Suddenly noticing the bodyguard''s energy cloak quiver out of the corner of his eye, Chen Mu knew he couldn''t hold out much longer. He thought it over and said quietly to Wei-ah, "I''ll go make my introductions." Chen Mu charged out as soon as he''d spoken.


    Chen Mu''s sudden appearance made the two of them very happy since they had landed in such desperate straits!


    "You''ve saved our lives, you''ve saved our lives!" Seeing the hope of survival, the youth had immediately been aroused to shout. Death had put him on the brink of collapse, and he seemed to be grasping at a life-saving straw as he said incoherently, "I beg you to rescue us! My father is the general manager of the Narnia firm, and if you rescue us, we will certainly thank you over and over!"


    The bodyguard also displayed a look of relief. He had a lot more experience than the youth did; for someone to appear at a time like that, it must have been to rescue them.


    The bodyguard''s conjecture wasn''t mistaken; Chen Mu had originally been planning to rescue them. He could see how rich and noble the position of the youth was. After he had announced his household, Chen Mu couldn''t help but furrow his brow. He didn''t have very good feelings toward the offspring of the wealthy. A little loathing floated up from his heart, though he didn''t show it on his face.


    But, he needed more information, and he needed them to lead himself and Wei-ah into the city. He only had to repress his displeasure for a while.


    Chen Mu didn''t waste any words on them as he lifted his hands.


    A strange, sharp whistle flooded their ears, and in a flash, the eight West Nile wolves were all dead. Chen Mu pulled his hands back, rather satisfied. He had been practicing with the tailless shuttle card for the past while, and he accurately hit the speedy West Nile wolves. And, his firing frequency had improved by 15 percent from before.


    Having returned from the brink of death, the youth fell limply to the ground like mud while his bodyguard remained vigilant toward Chen Mu. That kind of guardedness wasn''t any kind of enmity, but was a kind of professional habit.


    Wei-ah also drilled out, and his appearance gave a start to the two who had just been rescued. But, when they realized Wei-ah was Chen Mu''s companion, they breathed a sigh of relief.


    Chen Mu suddenly walked over to the youth.


    "What were you trying to do, sir?" Chen Mu asked. The bodyguard, who had been so nervous, immediately put out his energy cloak. The youth, sitting in a heap on the ground, had lost all the spirit in his eyes. He still hadn''t recovered his strength.


    Chen Mu was pointing to a sachet tied to the youth''s body as he calmly said, "If you don''t want to die, you''d better get rid of that."


    Following Chen Mu''s finger, the bodyguard''s gaze fell onto the sachet tied to the youth''s waist. Having slowly returned to his spirits, the youth reacted quickly. The color in his face changed as he said with a trembling voice, "You mean, sir...?"


    He gave out a shrill scream and frantically tore off the sachet. He threw it far away as though he''d been scalded.


    The sachet fell at Chen Mu''s feet, and he bent over to pick it up, giving it to Wei-ah. Without seeing Wei-ah expend any energy, he easily broke open the sachet and brought it to his nose to sniff it.


    "Green wood scent, li thorns, pungent leaf, fishy vine." Wei-ah accurately reported all the plants contained in the sachet.


    The youth and the bodyguard were looking at the two of them rather blankly. Chen Mu shot them a glance, saying, "The smell emitted by the green wood scent is what the West Nile wolf likes the most. When they are mixed together, the li thorns, pungent leaf and fishy vine produce a gas that can drive the West Nile wolves into a frantic, bloodthirsty state." Although he couldn''t immediately discern all the ingredients upon smelling them like Wei-ah, Chen Mu knew the basic principles.


    What Chen Mu said made the youth''s and the bodyguard''s faces change color.


    "You should feel lucky you didn''t attract the gold thread snake or the coconut-ringed green python. This sachet would have been equally effective on them." What Chen Mu said completely drained the blood from their faces in an instant. The gold thread snake was incredibly poisonous and came and went like a spark, so small it was hard to discern. The coconut-ringed green python was huge, with surprising strength. It could bite apart a rock. Compared with those two terrifying wild beasts, the West Nile wolf was only a bit-player.


    "Young Master, that sachet of yours..." the bodyguard inquired with a trembling voice.


    The youth''s face was ashen and bloodless, and his eyes had turned suddenly gloomy, turning his expression sinister. His face all twisted, he said through gritted teeth, "It''s Fen Ni!" The look in his eyes vanished, but his anger was quite evident.


    The bodyguard discreetly didn''t follow up since the young master''s household affairs weren''t something an insignificant bodyguard should be concerned about. Considering the time, he furrowed his brow, saying, "Why hasn''t Li Siben returned yet?" Judging from the time, Li Siben should have long since arrived with some people.


    "Li Siben!" the youth guffawed coldly, his eyes showing a chilly glint. Inwardly quaking, the bodyguard shut his mouth.


    Chen Mu could sort most of that out to himself, though he didn''t have any sympathy. He didn''t believe the youth was any sort of fine fellow. If the opportunity and the need arose, the youth would certainly be doing the same sort of thing. That was the specialty of the offspring of big families.


    The youth had resumed his calm and showed no more signs on his face as he gave a slight smile to Chen Mu, saying, "I am grateful for you coming to my rescue. I am Cleo Lewin." He made an elegant, polite gesture to Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu said succinctly, "Cao Dong." He wouldn''t dare use the name Chen Mu, not knowing where he was and still certain the Eastern Nings were investigating his whereabouts.


    Wei-ah remained as mute as a rock, so Chen Mu made an offhand introduction. Cleo retracted his gaze after meeting Wei-ah''s eyes, piling on the smiles. "Mr. Cao''s moves aren''t ordinary. Those West Nile wolves gave up their ghosts in the space of a joke, which really opened my eyes." Then, he keenly found out Chen Mu didn''t care for such half-flattery. He quickly changed tactics, directly and candidly saying, "I wonder if I might commission the two of you, Mr. Cao, to escort the two of us back to the city? Whatever reward you require, I would be pleased if Mr. Cao wouldn''t hesitate to bring it up."


    After thinking it over, Chen Mu nodded. "Ok, I''ll take the commission. As far as the reward, it''s whatever you see fit."


    Cleo was thrilled and hastened to add, "Thank you very much, Mr. Cao! Thank you very much!"


    Chen Mu needed someone who knew the situation in that place to lead the way, so he''d seized the opportunity to take the commission. Now that there was this Cleo, his and Wei-ah''s identities and so forth would be blown wide open. But, with those two leading, they wouldn''t need to expend any effort to find the way back to the city.


    Cleo was very cordial to Chen Mu along the way, though he never stopped his probing between the lines. Chen Mu was treating his words like gold, giving out a phrase every now and then until he might as well have just shut his mouth. Wei-ah hadn''t made a single response from start to finish.


    Chen Mu deliberately lagged behind so the bodyguard would naturally take on the responsibility to lead the way.


    They saw a few wild beasts along the way. Chen Mu''s tailless shuttle never missed its mark, which made Cleo all the more cordial. Though Chen Mu remained unmoved, Cleo wasn''t making much of it either, talking away freely as always.


    That actually made Chen Mu a little better disposed toward him; most of the offspring of the wealthy were haughty and hard to approach. Though he knew his counterpart was demanding and selfish, to be able to put on such a posture and to be so free and easy wouldn''t have been easy for him.


    And, from his performance along the way, one could see the bodyguard was experienced. For a card artisan who was a purely defensive specialist in the energy cloak, that would be quite hard to come by.


    Wei-ah suddenly stopped in his tracks, his gaze falling in front of him as though he were about to penetrate the layers of the jungle. Wei-ah''s display made Chen Mu immediately raise his guard. The sensitivity of Wei-ah''s vigilance had always been unfathomable to Chen Mu, though it had been proven countless times that Wei-ah was always right.


    There was certainly something going on ahead!

 Chapter 178: The Scheme

    Chapter 178: The Scheme


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu and Wei-ah looked at each other, both knowing intuitively. After walking for about a minute, they heard the distant sound of voices in front of them. Even though he''d long since settled on the feeling, Chen Mu still couldn''t help but look admiringly at Wei-ah. The guy''s perception was so sensitive. He didn''t know how it had gotten that way, but probably only the demonic woman could be measured against Wei-ah among the aces Chen Mu had come into contact with.


    Cleo seemed to have sensed the tacit understanding between Chen Mu and Wei-ah, while the bodyguard up ahead was oblivious.


    Only after a few more minutes did the bodyguard detect movement in front of him. His spirits were stirred as he yelled, "Young Master. They''ve arrived!"


    Cleo''s relaxed expression passed in an instant, though he didn''t show too much joy. "Oh," he blandly responded.


    A gang of people crashed out of the forest in front of them, and they were all excited when they saw Cleo.


    "Young Master!""Young Master Cleo!""Nothing''s happened to you. I''m so glad!" There was a lot of commotion for a while.


    "What about Li Siben?" Cleo asked with a darkened face.


    "Young Master..." A small man drilled out from the crowd. His bean-sized eyes were shifting around, though his panicked look disappeared in a flash when he rushed up, patting his chest and looking very aroused. "Excellent! Excellent! Nothing has happened to you, Young Master! You''ve scared Li Siben to death!"


    Cleo looked at Li Siben, seeming to smile without smiling. "Not bad, not bad. Just in time. Your contributions are many, Li Siben."


    The people calmed down, though some were still at a loss, and some seemed to have something on their mind.


    With beads of sweat seeping out, Li Siben looked a little flustered, constantly wiping the sweat from his brow. He said with terror, "Calm down, Young Master. Don''t be angry. Your servant encountered something along the way..."


    "No need to mention it." With his spirits back to normal, Cleo waved him off, cutting off Li Siben''s explanations. Looking at him without looking, he said, "Let''s go; we can talk about it after we get home."


    The Lewin family''s house, which could be seen from their courtyard, wouldn''t be considered one of the great houses. As compared with the Ning family pavilion Chen Mu had seen, there certainly wasn''t anyplace there to light up a person''s eyes. It still wouldn''t be described as impoverished, nor would Cleo''s father, Clive Lewin.


    Clive comforted his son for a bit and admonished him not to run off to the jungle like that. Off to the side, Chen Mu was watching Cleo listen to his father''s lecture with a face full of respect and couldn''t help but heave a deep sigh of regret. The offspring of the wealthy were all profound schemers. That was probably the only way they could survive in the clan. Then, he looked at the expressionless Mose Lewin to the side, and Chen Mu felt glad he didn''t need to face such nauseating affairs.


    Mose looked a lot more mature than Cleo, and his physique looked a lot more developed. He was dressed very properly and had refined manners, exuding the temperament of an adult.


    "Father, I have these two friends to thank this time. If it weren''t for them, I''m afraid I wouldn''t be seeing father just now." At that point, Cleo''s eyes turned red, and his voice choked.


    Clive dearly loved that son of his, and he immediately rose to show Chen Mu and Wei-ah courtesy. "Many thanks to the two of you," he said. "Clive truly appreciates it. If the two of you have any need of Clive, please don''t hesitate to ask."


    He continued on with much self-assurance, "In Pomelo, what Clive says can sometimes take care of things."


    "Father, I want to give these two gentlemen the Baidoa Garden." Cleo had taken his father into a room to whisper to him, and Mose had also gone with him.


    Clive was hesitant; the Baidoa Garden had been built 100 years prior and had been a symbol of the Lewin family for a long time¡ªright up until a few decades ago when they had moved to Pomelo, and the house there went vacant. Clive wasn''t too eager, but they had saved his son''s life.


    "I''m afraid that would be inappropriate. The Baidoa Garden was handed down from our ancestors. While it''s too late to keep it up for those who come after us, how could we give it away?"


    Mose had stood up by then. Clive hastily added, "What do you think, Mose?"


    There was a glint in Mose''s eyes, though he said with a mild laugh, "We have a number of businesses on our hands. Why don''t we give them one of those? We can''t let people think the Lewin family doesn''t know how to return a favor. Plus, a card artisan who can travel deep into the jungle must have a lot of power and would be worth our cultivating."


    "You are right." Clive approved of what Mose was saying. "But, which business should we give them?"


    "We can''t give the ones that are too underperforming. And, we can''t toss off the good ones. I recall that we have a small firm under us called Heaven''s Wings. Why don''t we give them that one?" Mose drew out his response.


    Clive furrowed his brow. "Heaven''s Wings always takes a loss. Apart from our own internal business, it hasn''t been able to get anything else profitable."


    Mose lightly laughed. "I''m only afraid they won''t want it. We can put some capital into the accounts, so it won''t seem so shabby when we present it. Besides, Heaven''s Wings has no outside business at all. The more they depend on us, the easier it will be for us to control. Once they get used to the money, it won''t be so easy for them to stop."


    Clive smoothed his brow and laughed. "You''ve grown a lot these last few years, Mose. Not bad, not bad." He turned to Cleo to chide, "Cleo, you should learn from your older brother, and stop fooling around all day."


    "Yes, sir." Cleo answered submissively.


    "So, that issue has been taken care of." Clive settled the matter.


    Cleo looked up to say, "Father, let me take care of the Heaven''s Wings matter. Cleo agrees these last few days of fooling around have really been too wild. I want to learn how to do things, so I can become like my big brother and make my own contribution to the family."


    Clive looked gratified. "My little Cleo has finally grown up." After thinking about it, he nodded his head, saying, "Ok. You can be responsible for this matter. If there is anything you don''t understand, you can ask your brother, or you can ask me." Clive had greatly encouraged Cleo.


    Mose remained smiling, also seeming gratified to see his little brother growing up. However, there seemed to be a little note of chill behind his smile.


    Pomelo was a big city¡ªbigger than Eastern Shang-Wei City, and it was a lot more developed. There were people all over the streets, and shuttle cars would whoosh by in the sky. There were tall buildings everywhere, giving it the rich style of a very modern city. The fantasy card billboards everywhere gave Chen Mu a feeling of d¨¦j¨¤ vu.


    Copper...Uncle Hua...


    The people and things that had been sealed away for so long all came bubbling up into his heart, and he wasn''t in the mood to listen to Cleo''s commentary. Flashes from the past flitted by as he sighed. When Chen Mu finally returned to the present from his memories, the aftereffect was hard to talk about.


    "And this is Heaven''s Wings." Cleo was pointing ahead to a silver-gray building. It was situated in the northwest corner of the city, and it could be seen from the surrounding buildings that it was a rather ordinary district. The buildings weren''t so new, and that 11-story building didn''t stand out among them.


    Chen Mu didn''t have much hope of getting any returns from those people and that so-called Heaven''s Wings place, so he didn''t do much more than take a look. He and Wei-ah were penniless, and since that Heaven''s something-or-other still had some capital on its books, he was naturally willing to go ahead. Although he still hadn''t quite figured out which district Pomelo was in, he still understood he couldn''t do anything without money.


    So, what was Heaven''s Wings? How did it make money? He wasn''t so interested. He never thought of himself as any kind of business guru. That would have been Copper, not him.


    But, he wasn''t afraid of not finding work. Given his current abilities, whether it was making fantasy cards or repairing them, he could do it easily. Chen Mu trusted that Wei-ah could take on any burden, so maybe they could get rich.


    Their only issue was they didn''t even have emergency funds. If they didn''t find any reliable source, maybe Chen Mu could take Wei-ah to rob some mobsters in the many places he had seen along the way. Looting was Wei-ah''s specialty. And, wherever there were mobsters, there would be a concentration of underworld power, which Chen Mu was an authority in.


    Chen Mu was keeping up his guard about the Lewin Clan. He wouldn''t be looking to Cleo and the rest for any help if he ran into bigger issues.


    That didn''t bother Chen Mu; there wasn''t one among the grand aristocratic households he''d come across that had left a good impression on him. In Chen Mu''s mind, they gave the impression of being the bad guys. The scheming of such hot stuff as Bo Wen was scary to Chen Mu, and he''d rather not have any dealings with them.


    "I''d originally wanted to get my father to give the two of you the Baidoa Garden since only such a valuable thing as that could express my gratitude." Cleo looked angry. "I never thought my big brother wouldn''t agree. My words don''t count, and there wasn''t much I could do about you having been wronged. Although it''s small, the amount of money on the books of Heaven''s Wings isn''t trivial. And, I''ll try to get as much inside business as I can for the two of you."


    Cleo''s face was full of sincerity, though seeing the two of them remaining indifferent discouraged him. He quickly arranged his expression as he led them into the building.


    * * *


    Mose was relaxing on the soft sofa in his apartment, where the warm, soft lighting would make anyone sleepy. Mose was drinking red wine in his comfort, and there was a thin middle-aged man sitting in front of him.


    "We''ve lost track of Li Siben and his whole family, First Master, and Fen Ni has just been sent to the hospital, apparently with food poisoning. Two hours prior, her family discovered a fire, and none of the household was spared. It looks like it has to do with Second Master finding the sachet."


    Mose took a sip of red wine and narrowed his eyes. "My beloved little brother is finally growing up, and his moves are starting to be like Mose''s."


    "Might we have applied too much pressure?" The middle-aged man hesitated before he spoke.


    Mose shook his head with a shrug. "It''s a little more interesting this way. Wouldn''t it be boring otherwise?"


    "We still haven''t dug up the identity of those two. But, it so happens that those eight West Nile wolves were all killed in one blow, pierced through the skulls. The one who acted was apparently that card artisan, Cao Dong. The other one didn''t make any moves, and we don''t know anything about his strength. It looks as though Second Master wants to take advantage of their strength." The middle-aged man was very tidy in what he said.


    "Ha, ha." Mose was gazing at the clear red wine in his hand and after a while said lightly, "Ai, he''s so young after all, and he doesn''t understand patience.


    "Could it be that he doesn''t know all of his anger is in vain when facing decisive power?" Having finished speaking, Mose self-indulgently finished off all the wine in his glass.

 Chapter 179: What Does He Want to Do?

    Chapter 179: What Does He Want to Do?


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The transfer had been accomplished very quickly. Within half an hour, everyone in the entire building knew they had a different boss. All the employees stopped their work. It was undoubtedly a bolt out of the blue for certain employees. The Lewin family wouldn''t be considered a grand old family; however, for those who had been under their protection for many years, the Lewins were their sky.


    Now, the sky had suddenly been changed. Even the ones who remained calm had no way to look nonchalant about it. They employees all looked concerned, and there was enmity in the gazes from some of them toward Chen Mu and Wei-ah. Some other employees had gathered in the corner to quietly discuss the matter among themselves, shooting glances at Chen Mu and Wei-ah every once in a while.


    Cleo very cheerfully made the public announcement, and then he handed over all the materials regarding Heaven''s Wings to Chen Mu before walking off, arrogantly unconcerned.


    Not paying any attention to the crestfallen employees, Chen Mu opened up the materials about Heaven''s Wings.


    He got stuck on the first page.


    * * *


    Cleo and his bodyguard were sitting in a shuttle car, and the bodyguard brought up something that concerned him. "Young Master, it looked to me as though those employees had a few issues, and without our help, Cao Dong and Wei-ah might not be able to keep them down." Before they left, he had found quite a few of the employees looking a little restless and nasty, which astonished him. Given the way the master and his first son operated, it was hard to imagine them putting up with such employees in the company.


    "Ha, ha," Cleo guffawed with a look of satisfaction. "The situation at Heaven''s Wings is rather unusual. The reason we first established it was to give those family members who didn''t have any prospects some way to make a living, as well as to make an old folks home. Some guys there might be a little straightforward in front of my father and Mose, but apart from them, everyone else is basically insubordinate. As long as they don''t cause too much trouble, how could Father expect them to earn their keep?"


    "Isn''t that a problem?" The loyal bodyguard was surprised. "Do you mean that''s how First Master is forcing Cao Dong and Wei-ah out?"


    Cleo nodded. "Possibly. How could they know anything about card advertising? Once the money is gone from the books, it wouldn''t matter anymore."


    "So, the master and his son have succeeded?" That bodyguard couldn''t help but be concerned about Chen Mu and Wei-ah. That fellow called Cao Dong had outstanding strength. Although he didn''t talk much, he had rescued himself and Young Master with that strength.


    "He, he." The look of satisfaction on Cleo''s face deepened. "It''s not that simple. Although Heaven''s Wings isn''t big and has a good foundation, it has a lot of problems. A sharp person could tell its value at a glance. I have pretty good confidence in Cao Dong''s discernment. They aren''t likely to leave so easily; they will probably give it a try no matter what. This is our chance. When they feel things getting thorny, we show up to help them get rid of the hotheads, and then we give them a little more business. That''s when they''ll realize our value."


    The bodyguard couldn''t help but admire him, which satisfied Cleo still further.


    * * *


    When Chen Mu saw the words "fantasy card advertisements," he didn''t know what to say. He felt awash in feelings and was stunned for a while. Such a marvelous world! It was as though there were a hand in the cosmos pushing him forward little by little, and once he thought he had gone a long way, he''d be back at the beginning without realizing it.


    "Is there a problem?"


    Wei-ah''s words roused Chen Mu. He lifted his head and met Wei-ah''s gaze with a look of commiseration as his heart warmed. He laughed and said, "It''s nothing. It''s just that I hadn''t thought it would be fantasy card advertisement."


    Chen Mu''s gaze returned to the materials in his hand.


    Heaven''s Wings was a small fantasy card advertising firm, and the prior year''s profits hadn''t exceeded about 5 million Oudi. There were probably 150 people in the company. That was an outrageous number to Chen Mu. While 5 million Oudi was a considerable sum, it was about what a high-class shuttle car would cost. For a 150-person firm to make only 5 million was really too low.


    He continued to look further down when he started to understand. Just about every month, there would be some capital injected into Heaven''s Wings. The amount earned from each project completed by Heaven''s Wings was quite a considerable sum. In rough calculation, they would earn about 35 million in a year. That was enough to explain that Heaven''s Wings'' operational conditions made it a terrific company. Even though Chen Mu couldn''t run a business, he still knew from the values that it wasn''t something most businesses could achieve.


    But, when he saw the salaries of the workers, it dawned on him. With 35 million a year in income added to the monthly infusion of 2 million, there would only be 4 or 5 million by the end of the year.


    About 40 million or more constituted the salary of the workers. And, among the 150 in the whole company, there were only about 25 who did the work.


    Chen Mu understood what had been happening.


    Then, he smelled smoke.


    He lifted his head to see a group of people not far away, some sitting on the tables, some sitting on stools, all of them with cigarettes in their mouths. Those guys were smoking away as though no one were there, and very soon the room was swirling in smoke.


    Chen Mu had seen countless mobsters since he was small, so he was familiar with that kind of bunch.


    He got up and walked over to them, saying mildly, "Put out the smokes."


    "Hey man, you''re a real character¡­"


    Before the jerk''s voice had died out, his whole body flew. He crashed like a bag of sand, knocking over a few old tables, and finally fell to the floor. The guy was bent like a shrimp, doubled over in pain, when he fell unconscious.


    The office went silent, and everyone''s jaw had dropped. They all looked dully at Chen Mu. No one had thought Chen Mu''s reaction would be so fierce.


    Chen Mu''s expression remained calm as though nothing had happened. He didn''t feel the pressure from such small matters anymore.


    "Damn, you dare move on us? Let''s go, guys!" A blond young fellow had quickly responded and suddenly stood up, spitting his cigarette to the floor and charging at Chen Mu murderously. Those guys normally ran amok in the place, and to see someone more amok than them made them furious.


    Everyone then gathered around.


    There were one or two dozen people gathered to the side who were more detached and had no desire to join in.


    Chen Mu furrowed his brow, not liking confusion.


    He raised his right hand and stuck up his index finger.


    Xiu!


    A beam of light left a stunning afterimage on everyone''s retinas.


    Pu, pu, pu!


    Everyone slowed their pace. Before they could react, howling like pigs being slaughtered sounded up ear-piercingly in the noisy office.


    Everyone was stunned, and the looks on their faces immediately transformed. There was no more cacophony¡ªonly the sound of screaming echoing around the office. It was like the atmosphere had been twisted around by the screaming, which took everyone''s breath away.


    There were three people desperately writhing on the floor, each of whom had a bloody hole in his thigh. The line of tailless shuttles had pierced the thighs of the three of them. Blood was gurgling out, leaving its heavy smell in the air. The three on the floor were struggling and rolling around, and the blood was leaving a frightening series of shapes on the floor. Several of the female employees couldn''t take it and immediately fainted, their eyes turned up.


    Everyone else looked pretty badly off; except for Chen Mu and Wei-ah, no one could stay calm in such a scene.


    Chen Mu''s face was perfectly calm, no longer being the rookie he once was. He had seen countless scenes more terrifying than that one. Wei-ah hadn''t even lifted his lids.


    But, although those fancy-pants ran rampant every day, they had never seen such a nakedly bloody scene. The three writhing around on the floor were all well-known comrades, and it was shocking to see them in such misery. That greatly increased the impact.


    With his calm expression, Chen Mu looked even scarier in the midst of those unnaturally contorting three people and a floor full of dark red bloodstains.


    A thought flashed through everyone''s mind at the same time¡ªmaybe Cao Dong had killed people.


    "Damn!" someone shouted out, and the crowd of people whose spirits had been near collapse grew noisy. They all scrambled to run away as though they would die if they slowed even a little.


    Xiu!


    That strange whistle sounded up again like a nightmare, and then a finger-sized hole appeared in the wooden door of the office with a pop, sending splinters flying.


    "Stay put." Chen Mu hadn''t raised his voice, but everyone stopped almost unconsciously as though he had some mysterious power. They were pegged to the floor with some even stuck in the posture of charging forward.


    They nervously swallowed and very carefully held their positions, not moving from their spots. The faint muffled screams from behind them weren''t making them feel any safer. On the contrary, their hair stood on end. The youth who had remained calm from beginning to end was starting to look remarkably like a cold, unfeeling, murderous killer fiend in their eyes.


    What did he want to do? The panic was spreading.

 Chapter 180: The Calculation

    Chapter 180: The Calculation


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    It was so quiet in the office you could hear a pin drop. All the employees were trembling in fear, ashen faced. Although everyone knew the new boss would certainly make some response, no one had ever imagined such a meek and mild seeming person would be quite so fierce and direct in his methods. Once he''d made his move, there wasn''t any room for negotiation.


    The three struggling on the floor seemed to say this ever-aloof, young boss was really some kind of ruthless type.


    Chen Mu looked around and raised his voice to ask, "Who is Bu Qiangdong?"


    Everyone looked at each other. After a few seconds, a young fellow of about 25 wearing glasses stepped out and said, "I am Bu Qiangdong."


    Chen Mu''s gaze fell onto him. His face was as ashen as the rest, though it was evident he was trying hard to stay calm. He was properly dressed, giving off the particular air of a technical employee, which was Chen Mu''s first impression. Among the completed projects Chen Mu had just looked over, his picture had been with nearly all of them and always in the principal position.


    Compared with Chen Mu''s isolated experience, Copper had been far more involved. Still, during the period when they were making card plays when he was with Copper every day, Chen Mu had developed a certain understanding of fantasy card advertising under his influence. And, given his ability to make complete fantasy card plays, he understood things at that place as soon as he saw them.


    So, Chen Mu had discovered in very short order that Bu Qiangdong was the critical person at Heaven''s Wings.


    "What are the procedures for dismissing employees?" Chen Mu asked with a placid face.


    Bu Qiangdong''s face turned still whiter. Though he looked at Chen Mu in fear, he carefully responded with the company''s policies. If one were to listen carefully, one could hear some trembling in his voice.


    No one was going to laugh at him that time. Chen Mu''s question had already made them feel not so hot. Those who had been gathered off by themselves since the start were also looking pretty bad. Unlike those pensioners who were offspring of the Lewins, they were nothing more than ordinary residents. If they were to be dismissed, they would lose their livelihood.


    Chen Mu listened carefully to the explanations, and then he picked up the employee list and took out a pen and hastily wrote on it. After about a minute, Chen Mu handed the list back to Bu Qiangdong.


    "Except for those I''ve checked off, go through the resignation procedures for all the rest. Now." With Chen Mu''s direct gaze and especially that last word, Bu Qiangdong couldn''t help but shiver to the point of hearing his teeth chatter. He had never considered himself a brave person; he had a daughter and a wife. Although his salary at Heaven''s Wings wouldn''t be considered high, it was still generous compared with other companies. He really cherished the work he had and was feeling desperate.


    The upheaval in the company just then had put him into a daze, in the middle of which he briefly lost consciousness. It was about ten seconds before he took the name list from Chen Mu.


    The atmosphere had become suddenly stifled; all the employees felt as though their hearts were blocked with lead, and they couldn''t breathe. They looked at Bu Qiangdong in disbelief and wondered if Cao Dong was crazy.


    Once Bu Qiangdong came back to his senses, the blood in his face had drained completely away! Good Lord! What was he doing? Thinking of how Chen Mu had made his move without any hesitancy and then the scary silence afterward, Bu Qiangdong felt as though something had exploded in his head. The ceiling seemed to be quaking until he was so dizzy he almost couldn''t stand up.


    "Is there a problem?" To his surprise, he was met with a rather mild question and not that scary, deadly death ray.


    "No problem, no problem!" Bu Qiangdong''s abrupt response overcame any thoughts about his future happiness. He quickly and respectfully took the name list and hastily replied.


    In the first instant he got the list, he saw there was a check in front of his name. His rapidly beating heart immediately calmed. By that time, the screams of the three on the floor had gotten to him. He hesitated before very respectfully and tentatively saying, "Perhaps we should send them to the hospital? If a capital case were to arise, that would create some difficulty."


    The workers were stirred, wondering why they hadn''t thought of that. Was that guy so arrogant he would even dare to wantonly kill someone right in the city?


    A few of the boldest were about to open their mouths when Chen Mu asked, "How long before we''re finished? With everything?"


    "Probably over an hour." Looking at the name list in his hands, Bu Qiangdong gave his response. He couldn''t help but admire the newly arrived boss since the employees who had been checked were all people who really worked. Having just been introduced to Heaven''s Wings, it was pretty awesome for the new boss to be able to make such accurate determinations!


    Chen Mu turned around to ask Wei-ah, "How long before they stop breathing?"


    Wei-ah took a look at the three on the floor as though he were looking at three head of livestock about to be slaughtered. After only three seconds, he dropped his eyelids again and sparingly spat out a few words as though they were gold. "One and a half hours."


    The temperature in the office plummeted, and those employees who had just been considering any wayward moves shrunk back immediately. Everyone seemed as though they had been put out in the cold. The dialog between Chen Mu and Wei-ah couldn''t have been any simpler. But, it was like the iciest winter wind blowing through them, congealing their blood.


    Terrifying! Several people swallowed hard. The indifference to life the two showed took away the last of their courage to resist. Even if he were a high-grade card artisan, they wouldn''t have been able to do anything worse to ruin their future lives than to resist. But, the one standing in front of them was no high-grade card artisan or high government official. He wasn''t even some personage with a big reputation. He was a murderous fiend who ruthlessly killed people like mowing down straw.


    If you lose your money, you can still find more; if you lose your life, it won''t come back. Although those fancy-pants weren''t so good at doing work, they had done a pretty good job of making that calculation. Seeing which way the wind was blowing, they had all turned extremely clever in their navigation.


    Bu Qiangdong, whose color had returned, turned immediately ashen again.


    Chen Mu had a lot of confidence in Wei-ah''s estimate. If Wei-ah said one and a half hours, then it wouldn''t be an hour and 20 minutes. Those who were proficient in close combat tended to have a good understanding of the makeup of the human body. As Chen Mu saw it, Wei-ah was the absolute authority in that regard. He waved his hand to signal for Bu Qiangdong to begin.


    Handling all the dismissals used up about 40 minutes. The entire process went very smoothly and without any comments. No one had even asked any questions. During the strange silence, the Heaven''s Wings employees had been reduced until there were only 25 left.


    After the paperwork was signed, the employees stood dutifully in the office, no one daring to leave without permission. The three on the floor had already stopped screaming, having fallen into a coma. The employees had found the new boss minding his own business browsing at the files in his hands, without even directly looking at the three during the entire 40 minutes.


    Since Chen Mu had arrived, he had never shown the slightest anger or any expression other than calm. It was the unfathomable calm that had given the employees such massive psychological pressure. Seeming to reflect the calm he expressed, the office had maintained a strange silence with only the scratching of names being signed and the shuffling of papers.


    Seeing that Bu Qiangdong had completed his work, Chen Mu stood up with his ever-placid expression. His voice could be heard very clearly in the silent office.


    "Starting today, those dismissed have no reason to return." He glanced around, knowing the dark antics of those little mobsters like the back of his hand. As a street punk, he had been at what was doubtlessly the lowest rank in society. He had encountered quite a few ordinary people who basically had no way to know the dark side. Those fancy-pants weren''t much different from little punks. Although they may have had limited fighting power, those thugs had many insidious, secret tricks.


    "If I find anyone is up to something behind my back, I''m likely to make their death a little less easy." Chen Mu''s expression still had that never-changing calm, and his tone was equally mild and light. But, it was sounding so ordinary that made everyone''s hair stand up on the back of their necks.


    Having experienced Chen Mu''s moves, they didn''t doubt the truth of what he had just said.


    Chen Mu waved his hand, and those who had undergone the dismissal procedures took away the three who were dying and couldn''t bolt out of there fast enough, as though they''d been given a reprieve.


    The 25 employees who remained in the office looked at Chen Mu, cringing and not daring to breathe. While it was true they were happy not to have been dismissed, every time they thought about having to face such a reckless guy every day, how could they really be happy?


    * * *


    Cleo was reading a book. That life-or-death experience had made him understand that if he didn''t get his act together, then never mind his wealth¡ªhe might not even have his life left. So, he changed his old ways of only knowing how to play around and started conscientiously studying. Through it all, a look of gratification could be seen in the eyes of his personal bodyguard.


    The communications card in Cleo''s hand sounded. Seeing the number, he couldn''t help but show a look of disgust. Those fancy-pants had been his good friends, but the new Cleo didn''t have any good feelings toward them. But, when he thought about it, they might need more of his help, so Cleo fixed his face and took the call.


    His look very quickly changed. He was stunned and turned dignified in his disbelief.


    He ended the call a few minutes later.


    Seeing his bodyguard''s look of concern, Cleo sneered, "We have underestimated that Cao Dong."

 Chapter 181: Three People

    Chapter 181: Three People


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Cleo related simply what he''d just found out about what had happened from start to finish at Heaven''s Wings.


    "How could that be?" The bodyguard was stunned.


    Cleo thought for a bit and said with a lowered voice, "Don''t worry; how could a card artisan understand working in fantasy card advertising? We''ll just calmly watch things change." His expression had turned abruptly cold, even seeming a little mocking. "I''m guessing my beloved older brother won''t be able to take it much longer. He''s always been mystified by his own power and might actually think power can solve all problems."


    When quitting time finally came, all the remaining workers left in a flurry after Chen Mu nodded. They needed some time to digest what had happened that day, and they also needed some time to adjust to the new boss''s style. But, a good piece of news for them was that their salaries would remain the same as before. That had calmed some of the employees who''d been considering jumping jobs.


    Although the new boss was somewhat horrific, quite a few of them believed it wouldn''t be that bad to work under him. They could hop jobs when the time came, though finding a new job as good as the one they had wouldn''t be so simple. So, they might as well stay a while to see how it went. If it didn''t turn out so well, then it wouldn''t be too late to consider leaving.


    People were leaving a deserted building, which was a good metaphor for Heaven''s Wings. The 25 remaining people, which made 27 with Chen Mu and Wei-ah, was a pretty small number for an 11-story building. After the work day, only Chen Mu and Wei-ah were left in such a large space.


    But, Chen Mu liked it since he and Wei-ah wouldn''t have to go out to rent an apartment and could keep living in the building. He could even turn the upper floors into a card making studio. Once he thought of that, he couldn''t help but be excited. When he was in the village, he had always been eager for a modern card making studio instead of a basic, crude card studio with nothing in it.


    But, there was still a lot to do before that.


    Chen Mu took out a silvery piece of metal about the size of a box of matches that looked like standard silver bullion, its six sides shining like a mirror. Toward the top was painted a red six-petal flower.


    Chen Mu put the piece of silver on the table and pressed gently on the flower.


    Zi!


    The chunk of silver metal automatically opened as though a fresh flower had blossomed. Inside of it were enough parts to make a person''s vision blurry as they activated and spread out on the table with astonishing speed. In an instant, a communications array appeared in front of Chen Mu and Wei-ah, with the antenna in its middle the thickest and tallest part, shaped like a tree having many branches. It was hard to imagine how a thing the size of a match box could become the size of a washbasin after it had all opened up. It was the small-scale signal transmitter. Along with the thousand-kilometer card, it could achieve ultra-long-distance communications.


    Chen Mu carefully manipulated the signal transmitter. Although he had used it a few times, if he were to break it there, it wouldn''t be so easy to fix. It would be very hard to find such an accomplished metal artisan as Alfonso in the federation.


    Activating the thousand-kilometer card, the image of Alfonso''s face appeared very clearly in front of Chen Mu. Alfonso was very excited to see him. "Is it you, Teacher? Where are you now? Didn''t you run into any trouble along the way?"


    "It''s me. Wei-ah and I are both fine. We''ve already come out from the jungle and are now in Pomelo."


    Chen Mu described the situation along the way and asked about the situation at the base.


    Wei-ah suddenly gave him a gesture. Chen Mu was stunned and quietly broke the connection with Alfonso, pressing on top of the apparatus so the basin-sized transmitter would quickly retract to its former appearance as a chunk of metal.


    "Someone has stolen in." Wei-ah''s voice was a little fleeting in the dark.


    Chen Mu was startled, immediately turning off the lights and quickly hiding in a corner.


    It was already night by then, and the whole building had been pitch dark except for the top floor. Once Chen Mu turned out the lights, the building was completely plunged into darkness.


    "How many?" Chen Mu asked quietly. Although he didn''t know where Wei-ah was, he knew Wei-ah could hear him.


    A barely audible voice came from not far away. "Three." Although Wei-ah was close by, he still couldn''t determine his position.


    "They''ve entered." That time, Wei-ah''s voice came from someplace else.


    * * *


    Main entry to the Heaven''s Wings building.


    "It looks like our little rats have found us out," a red-haired card artisan said with a demonic laugh. Within the instant they had arrived, the lights at the top of the building had suddenly gone out. That meant their target had discovered them.


    "What difference does it make?" one of his other comrades asked indifferently. She was a female card artisan! She wore skin-tight, incredibly short leather shorts and had snow-white, long legs to make a person drool. On top was the same skin-tight, black leather, which very clearly outlined her slim waist and her breasts so plump they looked like they would explode. Her lips, dripping with scarlet, were bright and seductive in the dark.


    Beside her stood another grim-looking man. His face was like a standard rectangle. He had very unique eyebrows, all one piece, looking like a straight line drawn with a ruler.


    The redhead laughed. "Someone looks like he wants to play. It''s been a while since I''ve had any action, and my craving has become unbearable!" His tongue was lightly licking his lips while his two pupils displayed a kind of crazed battle lust.


    "You are such a vile jerk!" The woman card artisan looked at him in disgust.


    "That really hurts for you to say such a thing, Anna. Oh, your boobs look a lot bigger than before. It looks like your little white boy has been doing a standout job, ha, ha!" The redhead let out an unrestrained laugh, which also contained a hint of madness.


    Anna didn''t get angry as she said coldly, "What? You''re jealous of what he can do! Well, waste can only ever be waste!"


    "You!" The redhead''s face went dark.


    "Shut your mouths!" That time the bar-browed man next to Anna had opened his mouth. His voice was cold and had a gravity like never before. "Do your work, and be careful. Our adversary isn''t weak." He lifted his face and gazed at the top of the building.


    The two of them were both apprehensive; if their senior said their adversary wasn''t weak, this would certainly be a very bitter battle. The two of them hardened their looks and immediately activated the apparatus on their wrists.


    The three of them had already fought together at least 20 times without being defeated once. Their combined battle strength was powerful, and they had an incredible rapport.


    They formed into a triangle with the redhead in front. It was just as Anna had said; he was nuts, and once he went mad, no one could stop him. He had a natural-born desire to fight in his bones, and that longing went so far as to be perverted. That made him the most suited to be the point. When the three of them went into action, the one in front was always the crazy one.


    Nothing was visible in the pitch dark of the building. The three of them were feeling their way along, not using the illumination card, since that would only turn them into targets for the enemy.


    They had a rich experience carrying out their tasks and had encountered every kind of situation. There wasn''t anything special about the situation then facing them.


    They carefully and cautiously pressed upward. Behind the one leading them, who was indeed crazy, Anna was moving along with the bar-browed man.


    "Yi!" Anna suddenly gave out a sound of alarm.


    "What''s up?" the redhead asked in a low voice, slowing his feet.


    Anna said in alarm, "I can''t determine their position."


    The redhead was stunned. "What happened?" Apart from having a decent fighting ability, the reason Anna had become the most important among the three was her mastery of the probe card. Anna''s probe card was one of the so-called "ripple" probe cards. The ripple wasn''t a standard probe card that could be purchased just anywhere. She had bought it for a high price from a famous card master. It was said that she didn''t hesitate to put her sex appeal on the altar for the card. And, three days after she had gotten the card, she killed the card master.


    The ripple was an extremely powerful probe card, which had been proven in countless battles. Anna had all sorts of skills with the ripple, even being able to detect a mosquito within 100 meters. And, within a scope of 500 meters, no one could evade her detection.


    Even the senior guy among them, who was an unfathomable card artisan in their estimations, had no way to evade Anna''s detection within the scope of 500 meters.


    But, they had encountered some guy who could evade Anna''s detection! If one were to say they had just taken their enemy lightly, they wouldn''t dare to underestimate their target in the slightest anymore. The redhead even had a vague premonition that the battle that day would be the toughest of his life.


    They had already gotten to the fifth floor by then. They had utterly no advantage in the dark without Anna''s ripple card.


    But, no matter whether it was the redhead or Anna, they both remained full of confidence. Even without the ripple card, they still had rich experience fighting in the dark and were naturally unafraid. They couldn''t even see the fingers on their hands in any direction, though the three of them remained steady, not being flustered in the least.


    Then, the bar-browed man stopped abruptly without any warning.

 Chapter 182: Night Fighting

    Chapter 182: Night Fighting


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The fluctuation of the probe card had scared Chen Mu. At the beginning, when he was trying to find a way to escape from the Ning family base, the probe card had been one of his greatest obstacles. Chen Mu had done a lot of homework about how to evade the scanning of the probe card. He couldn''t find any way, and he had still had to depend on the method of breath control to escape. But, his efforts hadn''t been in vain; his understanding of the probe card was a lot deeper than it had been. So, when the ripple card had scanned him, he immediately sensed it.


    The powerful side effects of breath control had prevented it from becoming a conventional weapon. Since the side effects were getting more and more powerful, Chen Mu used the dangerous method as little as possible. Chen Mu was good at being prepared. He had come up with a few ways to respond to that kind of situation, such as taking the rhythm of his perceptual vibrations as near as possible to the frequency required for the state of breath control without ever reaching the specific frequency to enter that state.


    That was the technique he was using just then. The method of breath control had proven itself to be the best way to move stealthily and hide, and Chen Mu had called the specific frequency it required the "golden frequency." The closer he got to the golden frequency, the weaker his breathing became. Using that together with the methods for hiding in the dark he had learned from the demonic woman, he had successfully evaded the probing of the ripple card.


    But, his method was limited to hiding. As soon as he thought about attacking, the fluctuation in perception and energy would immediately expose him.


    Chen Mu had never been able to perceive Wei-ah''s breathing; he had seemed to disappear into the vacuum of darkness. Wei-ah''s power left Chen Mu speechless. He couldn''t perceive any trace of perception on him. The most inconceivable thing was how someone without perception could control his own breath.


    The spiral spring of perception inside him was spinning rapidly, and at the same time, it was vibrating toward the specific frequency. To be able to control the rotational speed and frequency of his perception without being in the state of breath control was very difficult for Chen Mu.


    His mind was very calm and clear at that time, neither lax nor rushed, as he controlled the spiral column of perception within him. The situation below gradually became clear.


    The fifth floor. They were on the fifth floor! But, he discovered that no matter how much effort he put into it, the images of the three people had become indistinct in his brain. It was as though as soon as his perception approached the vicinity of the three of them, something would interfere with it.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help but be surprised the first time encountering such a situation.


    Meanwhile, there was a flash of light from the bar-browed man''s eyes, and he called out quietly, "They are on the top floor!"


    The other two were shaken, and the three ran together toward the stairs. It would have been stupid to choose the elevator at that time, no matter how much quicker and more convenient it would have been.


    Just as they were making their move, there was a light hissing sound in the air.


    It sounded like a very sharp knife had sliced through a thin piece of paper, changing all of their expressions.


    "Careful!" The bar-browed man deployed his energy cloak in the first moment, and the other two reacted quickly. They all deployed their energy cloaks at about the same time.


    Ping!


    The crisp sound of the blow hit their ears hard. They were pushed off balance, hit by a powerful blow just as they had raised their energy cloaks. But, the three of them weren''t any ordinary aces, and they adjusted quickly. The redhead hurriedly tumbled back as he received the blow, while Anna floated back along the floor as though she were gliding on ice. The bar-browed man was demonstrating his superior strength as he grunted and held fast to his position. But, the power of the blow had exceeded his expectations. He became unsteady on his feet and was abruptly set back a few paces.


    The three of them were terrified beyond anything they had ever felt!


    None of them had discovered someone lying in ambush on the floor! Who would be able to so easily mount an attack right under their noses and have no qualms about attacking the three of them at once? How could such power not chill the heart?


    Have I been hit? The bar-browed man''s heart quickly sank. The perceptual fluctuation that had flashed by just then had been a ruse! Although he knew the enemy wasn''t far away, he hadn''t detected him at all. The chill in his heart thickened.


    An idea suddenly flashed through his brain like lightning. His expression changed as he decided on the spot and gave a low shout, "Withdraw!"


    Anna and the redhead looked at one another, seeing the shock and horror in each other''s eyes. That was the first time their senior had given the order to retreat from battle. Could he have discovered something new?


    They had always had confidence in the bar-browed man, and as soon as he''d stopped, they rushed toward the window without any hesitation.


    By then, the dark building had become like a terrifying, eerie forest as the bone-chilling cold irrepressibly spread over them. The endless darkness seemed to be hiding endless murderousness as though there were some terrifying wild beast waiting with its mouth open for them to enter. It was just that the wild beast seemed indifferent about their departure.


    The window got closer and closer until they could even see the fantasy card advertisements arranged on the buildings in front of them, whose rich and beautiful changing colors were so entrancing in the night. But, they weren''t giving them even a hint of warmth at the moment.


    Stepping on the guardrail of the window, they leapt outside. They would be safe if they could leave through the window. The sky was the realm of the card artisan.


    As soon as they escaped the situation where the enemy could see them from hiding, they still thought they would have the strength to fight any enemy.


    Anna felt relieved the instant she left the guardrail of the window. They were the safest they''d been up until then. That day had absolutely been the most dangerous among their many jobs, and they still didn''t know where their enemy was. They didn''t even know what had just hit them. That kind of battle had made her afraid for the first time.


    A strange whistling sound suddenly pierced the night air.


    "Careful!" The crazy one and the rod-browed guy had called out together in their ashen shock.


    Anna was stunned as her shoulder went suddenly numb with a ping as though she''d been bitten. What was it? She had an energy cloak! She looked at her cloak in a daze to find a finger-sized hole in it. The dizzy sensation that followed flooded over what remained of her clarity like a tide.


    Unfortunately, he hadn''t hit a vital spot. Chen Mu stood outside the window of the top floor watching the two remaining comrades rescue the one who had been his target and disappear into the night. He couldn''t help his look of regret. In order to pierce his adversary''s energy cloak, Chen Mu had chosen to use the triple shot, which had a certain influence on his accuracy; he had only hit his adversary''s shoulder. Otherwise, the shot would have been lethal.


    Returning to the fifth floor, Chen Mu saw all the porcelain fragments on the floor and was inwardly speechless. He didn''t know where Wei-ah had come from, but his power was incredible. Those people had probably never imagined what had hit them would turn out to be three porcelain saucers. That guy was really a human-shaped murder weapon who could use whatever was in his hands to kill someone. But, Chen Mu most admired that Wei-ah had chosen the time to make his move so cleverly. Wei-ah had taken advantage of what had originally been Chen Mu''s error. Thinking back on the scene, Chen Mu had to conclude it had been the optimal time.


    However, Chen Mu didn''t quite understand the adversaries'' sudden departure. From his point of view, they shouldn''t have been so easy to scare off. It could be seen at a glance that the three of them were richly experienced battle card artisans. If it hadn''t been for Wei-ah that day and he had been alone, even if he had entered the state of breath control, he wouldn''t have had great odds for success. Especially against the rod-browed man, whose power was so unfathomable he could even detect Chen Mu''s very fine perceptual fluctuations. That was just too terrifying.


    "They''ve left," Wei-ah said.


    Chen Mu furrowed his brow while he was wondering to himself what power those three belonged to in the end. Who would have such enmity toward him to send three such awesome killers after him? Chen Mu didn''t think the strength of his identity could merit such a fine welcome from such high-class card artisans, not to mention three of them.


    Could it have been the employees from the daytime? Chen Mu shook his head, not thinking that very likely. Those fancy-pants didn''t have the power to back such high-level card artisan killers.


    His adversary had really thought too highly of him, Chen Mu sneered inwardly. He hadn''t thought he still wouldn''t be able to return to the life he wanted after returning to the Heavenly Federation. He felt helpless. He looked at Wei-ah standing there without any feelings as though nothing had just happened. That inevitably made Chen Mu once again appreciate Wei-ah''s tough nerves.


    Maybe it wasn''t anything more than a minor episode for Wei-ah, but it was making Chen Mu rather nervous. He recognized very clearly from the battle how far from those card artisans he remained. At the same time, he very clearly recognized it wasn''t going to be as peaceful around there as he''d imagined. That also led to his changing his original plans to set up a card making studio. Just then, it seemed more urgent to build a card artisan training studio.


    Maybe if he could become stronger, he would be able to lead the life he had imagined. That was how Chen Mu was thinking.


    It was a good thing Wei-ah was there, so he didn''t have to worry about anyone sneaking in. Otherwise, he didn''t think he could sleep at night.


    The night passed very quickly, and by first thing the next morning the remaining employees had already filed into work. Since the battle had been so brief, it hadn''t caused much destruction. The employees didn''t sense there had been a thrilling battle there the night before.


    Bu Qiangdong apprehensively approached Chen Mu''s office. His colleague had told him as soon as he''d entered the building that the boss was looking for him. When the boss called, he would just have to steel himself and go.


    "You were looking for me, boss?" Bu Qiangdong asked respectfully.


    "Mmm." Chen Mu lifted his head and pointed to the sofa, saying, "Sit."


    Bu Qiangdong very gingerly sat on the sofa, not knowing why his new boss had been looking for him. He felt as though he were sitting on pins and needles, uncomfortable from head to toe.

 Chapter 183: Chaos

    Chapter 183: Chaos


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu raised his head, not looking in very good spirits. The dust-up the night before at such a high pitch of agitation, together with having to study the materials about all the Heaven''s Wings projects, had left him pretty exhausted. Still, when he saw Bu Qiangdong enter, Chen Mu pulled himself together.


    As he was studying the Heaven''s Wings materials, he found something very strange. Nearly all of the work they had was closely related to the Lewin family. No matter how he looked at it, Heaven''s Wings was entirely supported by the Lewins. And, when he connected that to the fancy-pants he''d let go the day before, Chen Mu finally understood what Heaven''s Wings was really for.


    But, understand it as he might, Chen Mu still didn''t have any business experience. When he had been making the card plays "Chance Encounter" and "The Legend of Master Shi" previously, Copper had managed everything. Still, it was a good thing they''d undergone the cleansing the day before. The 25 left in the company were the limit of what Chen Mu felt he could deal with.


    Ask for help from the Lewins? That thought had never occurred to Chen Mu. Whether it was Cleo or Mose, there wasn''t any essential difference to Chen Mu. Pulling off any relations with those so-called great clans would hardly ever be a good thing based on Chen Mu''s vast experience. Since the Lewin family had given such a company to him, it was clear they didn''t have such good intentions.


    The only thing Chen Mu was glad about just then was that it was a fantasy card advertising company and not something else. If it had been a different company, Chen Mu wouldn''t have wasted his energy; he and Wei-ah would have just walked off with the money on the books.


    But, since he had received Heaven''s Wings, he would, of course, have to find a way to keep operating it. That was why he had sought out Bu Qiangdong.


    * * *


    When Bu Qiangdong left Chen Mu''s office, he wore a pretty sour face. He''d just gotten his orders from the boss. Starting that day, he would be responsible for getting business for Heaven''s Wings. No wonder he looked so bitter. When had Heaven''s Wings ever had to go looking for work? Bu Qiangdong didn''t have any experience drumming up business, but he didn''t dare to object in front of the new boss.


    But, the most incredible thing was that the boss had actually wanted him to bring in public service work. He really didn''t understand what the boss was thinking since there wasn''t any profit in public service work. There were only a few associations that would do such work for free. He really wondered how he would get his next month''s salary if they were to go on like that.


    However, the boss''s tone had been very peremptory, and he could only dutifully obey.


    * * *


    The liveliest spot in the center of Pomelo was where the tallest buildings in the whole metropolitan area were. Emitted from the buildings were the most exquisite fantasy advertisements for merchandise so expensive it would leave you speechless. Among the buildings, the most conspicuous were a pair of twin towers. These were the headquarters for the Central Island Firm, which was among the top firms in the entire Ming Zheng District, as well as one of the landmark buildings in Pomelo.


    Central Island Firm, Director General''s Office.


    A slightly overweight, middle-aged man was very attentively listening to his subordinate''s report. He was the director general of the Central Island Firm, Ren Wenzhou. Two people stood in front of him, one of whom was a man of about 40 who looked shrewd and capable and spoke with concise authority. The other was a white-haired man with a highly creased face who wore glasses with heavy black frames.


    "Do you mean to say you detected unknown signals last night?" Ren Wenzhou looked grave.


    "Yes." The one answering was his competent subaltern called Qian Mingyi, who was one of Ren Wenzhou''s most capable subordinates, as well as his confidant. The old, white-haired man standing next to him was the head card master at the firm, Farley. Farley wasn''t a well-known card master; he was unknown in the universe of Heavenly Federation card masters. But, at the Central Island Firm, he had a position in charge of project development that was the envy of everyone. The inner circle of the firm had some objections, but Ren Wenzhou stood his ground and insisted Farley serve as the firm''s chief card master.


    Farley added, "That signal had characteristics very similar to the ''bee''s buzz card'' we are now researching. But, it''s obvious their technology is more mature than ours." Farley didn''t look so well as he said that. It had already been five years since the bee''s buzz card had been started. A lot of blood and sweat had been expended on it during those five years. The day before, when they had just experienced a breakthrough, and all the workers were about to celebrate, they suddenly detected a similar signal.


    Farley couldn''t sleep the night before. The analytical report he''d gotten had been like a bucket of cold water. He had astonishingly discovered their technology was far more mature and powerful than the bee''s buzz card they were researching! That had turned the not-so-young card master''s heart to ash in an instant.


    After 3 o''clock in the morning, not daring to delay any further, Farley woke up the deeply sleeping Qian Mingyi. When Qian Mingyi heard the news, he was struck dumb, and any sleepiness disappeared. He raced in a tumult over to Farley''s lab, feeling the importance of the situation. When he got to the lab and saw all the dejected card masters who had just been so elated, his heart sunk even further.


    Only when he saw Farley did he find out the situation was worse than he''d imagined. So, once it was daylight, he dragged Farley along to see Ren Wenzhou.


    Ren Wenzhou had a pretty ugly expression. The bee''s buzz card was the development project the firm was putting its hopes on, and they had invested countless human and material resources up until that point.


    The technology of communication cards was very mature, though there were quite a few things that hadn''t been perfected yet. There was no way to use them in the jungle, which greatly limited the range of their use. The bee''s buzz card used a technology that was completely different from ordinary communications cards. Communication could take place even where the terrain was complicated, or in the jungle where there was serious interference.


    For the Central Island Firm, not only was profit from the bee''s buzz card an issue, the project had direct impact on the future development strategies of the firm. It couldn''t help but raise the ire of Ren Wenzhou when he heard about it. But, he was used to storms after all, and he quickly calmed down.


    "Could you detect where the signal came from?" Ren Wenzhou asked.


    "Their communications were too brief. We had no way to accurately capture their position. However, the signal should be from the northwest part of the metropolitan region." Qian Mingyi''s frosty face was very serious.


    "The northwest corner?" Ren Wenzhou was tapping his finger on the desk, deep in thought. It was his impression that the northwest part of Pomelo didn''t have any large businesses. It had seemed as though things hadn''t been going smoothly recently, still not having overcome their current difficulties. They weren''t expecting to run into a new issue. He was rubbing his brows in distress, and it took some effort for Ren Wenzhou to calm himself down.


    After a few minutes, Ren Wenzhou raised his head and said in a peremptory tone, "Look into it right away! Don''t stop your monitoring until you find out where they came from!"


    "Yes, sir!" Qian Mingyi had a startled look as he responded respectfully.


    Ren Wenzhou couldn''t help but charge them further, "But, don''t make a lot of fanfare. Do all your investigating on the down-low, understand?"


    Qian Mingyi was taken aback. The Central Island Firm had always been a power in Pomelo. That was his first time to hear the director general require them to investigate in secret. Could something have happened recently? Although Qian Mingyi didn''t understand, he nodded.


    Ren Wenzhou''s gaze fell onto Farley as he took on a more relaxed expression, saying mildly, "Don''t be discouraged, Master Farley; your research doesn''t have to stop. Continue making progress. Try to press for early results."


    "Understood." Farley nodded vigorously.


    After Qian Mingyi and Farley departed, Ren Wenzhou fell back exhausted into his chair, gazing off into the distance out the floor-to-ceiling window. Could it be that Central Island wouldn''t be able to crest the ridge that time? Turning his mind to a different headache, he sighed inwardly.


    * * *


    Mose looked at Anna in her coma, and his face went grey. The slender, middle-aged man beside him couldn''t help but look surprised either. He was very clear about how strong Anna and the others were. In order to attract the three of them that year, the young master had done endless maneuvering. He had expended endless quantities of cash, to the extent that more than ten of the mid-grade card artisans under him had died before he could completely reel in the three of them. And, those three didn''t shun the young master''s high expectations; they became his most loyal and sharpest daggers.


    "What happened?" Mose''s voice was coming from between his clenched teeth, and he had a scary look on his face.


    "They ran into an ace." The ever-indifferent bar-browed man seemed to be relating something utterly irrelevant.


    "Ace?" Mose felt that sounded a little absurd. "Apart from the psychopathic killers in Central Island, what card artisans are there in all of Pomelo to compare with your power?"


    The redhead couldn''t help but call out, "Those two disgusting bugs snuck up in the dark, and even Anna''s ripple card wasn''t any use. We fell into a plot!"


    Mose quickly recovered from his anger. "Are you saying you didn''t see them?"


    "Ugh! Damn, if I ever see those two guys again, I''ll rip them to pieces!" the redhead said with hatred.


    Mose''s gaze fell onto the bar-browed man. "What have you found out?" The bar-browed man''s background was a mystery, and Mose still didn''t know where he came from. But, he knew that for power and experience, he was the strongest among the three of them.


    The bar-browed man was silent for a while, and then an undetectable beam of light flashed from his lowered eyes while he answered without expression, "Nothing."

 Chapter 184: Pomelo

    Chapter 184: Pomelo


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Mose hadn''t noticed the beam of light that had shot from the bar-browed man''s eyes, though he had already completely calmed down. Although the backgrounds of Cao Dong and the other weren''t clear, they were doubtlessly two guys not to be provoked. He quickly remembered Cleo had run into the two of them in the jungle, and he couldn''t help but regret that he had ignored that point. He should have paid attention to that before. People able to go deep into the jungle wouldn''t be any mediocre operators.


    "Did anyone discover you?" Mose suddenly asked.


    The redhead shook his head and said with a very firm tone, "No one. We covered our tracks very well."


    Mose nodded. "Good, then. Put that aside for a few days while you recover. Don''t go out." He was calculating to himself that if the three of them stayed hidden, then his father wouldn''t find out he had three such strong card artisans under him. Cao Dong and the other naturally wouldn''t think of him, although their moves had given a chill to the young master of the Lewin Clan. He had hoped to resolve it sooner, not wanting to string it out. He hadn''t thought his adversary''s power would be so strong.


    His face turned white thinking about what would happen if it ever dawned on his adversary that he''d done it.


    * * *


    Chen Mu and Wei-ah walked out of the building.


    Before then, Chen Mu had never heard of Pomelo; since he was there now, he naturally wanted to become acquainted with it. What had happened the night before had also reminded him it wasn''t safe there. So, he just brought Wei-ah along on his casual stroll.


    Wei-ah seemed indifferent to his surroundings, while Chen Mu was always interested.


    Pomelo was one of the three biggest cities of the Ming Zheng District, best known for its hot springs. There were some 300 large and small hot springs in several scenic spots near the city, making it a well-known holiday spot in the federation. It was well-developed economically and had a strong business climate.


    There were two ordinary residential districts between the Ming Zheng District and the Eastern Reaches. Chen Mu was astonished to learn of that, though it quickly calmed him; with the Eastern Reaches far enough away, he would be beyond the reach of the Eastern Nings. Without quite knowing what the reason was, he quickly felt more carefree.


    The Nings had been a thorn in Chen Mu''s heart all along.


    All sorts of exquisite goods were arranged in the floor-length display windows, which filled Chen Mu with lots of feelings. It was likely his living in the jungle that aroused such feelings from such ordinary things. But, Chen Mu wasn''t a moody person. He quickly returned to normal.


    Pomelo was quite a bit larger than Eastern Shang-Wei City and was a lot more bustling. That was clear from how many shuttle cars were visible in the skies. Although ordinary shuttle cars weren''t too expensive, the costs were steep when energy card consumption was included. Generally speaking, it was the residents with healthy financial circumstances who would purchase shuttle cars. Quite a few large goods-transport shuttle cars could be seen apart from the ordinary ones. The freight cars were many times the size of ordinary shuttle cars, though they were a lot slower. That sort of freight shuttle car was rarely seen in Eastern Shang-Wei City since their cost was so steep.


    The 22 ordinary residential districts were scattered among 22 oases in the Heavenly Federation. Commerce among them wasn''t very convenient, especially when considering they were divided by large swaths of jungle. Compared with the five flourishing districts, their living conditions were a lot lower in all regards. The five flourishing districts were interconnected, with each having an area roughly equivalent to three ordinary residential districts. Residents of the five flourishing districts didn''t have to concern themselves about attacks from wild beasts, and they enjoyed the best benefits. Quite a few people dreamed their entire lives about being able to move into one of those districts. The capital of the array of flourishing districts, Ming Zhong City, was the economic and political center of the entire federation.


    Compared with the Eastern Reaches, the geography of the Ming Zheng District was quite superior. The cities there mostly neighbored one another, making commerce among them a lot more convenient. The beasts from the surrounding jungles had been pretty well-curbed given that the Ming Zheng District had been developed early on. The government would regularly organize groups of professional card artisans to sweep the jungles in the vicinity to mitigate the likelihood of being overrun by beasts.


    So, Chen Mu was somewhat surprised when he saw how prosperous the district was.


    There were clearly a lot more people on the streets than in Eastern Shang-Wei City, and the number of fantasy card advertisements had reached an outrageous point. He would sometimes want to pass through the fantasy card advertisements, though he didn''t understand why they were so similar to the ones in Eastern Shang-Wei City in one respect; most of the advertisements there were also of beautiful women. Especially the larger establishments, which all used beautiful women for their advertisements. The same woman might be seen lots of times. That puzzled him a little since he still didn''t have the concept of a star in his life.


    But, to his professional eye, most of the advertisements would be considered quite ordinary.


    Wei-ah suddenly stopped and lifted his head, his gaze falling onto a large building.


    Chen Mu was startled and also stopped to follow Wei-ah''s gaze.


    There was a large, vertical screen dozens of meters across in front of the building, though what was being emitted from it wasn''t any fantasy card advertisement, but a battle.


    One of the combatants was a woman in white with a chill quality, while the other was a man with a cool expression.


    "This battle is certainly one of the highest-impact battles in recent years. It hasn''t only caused an uproar in the realm of card artisans but will have a far-reaching impact on the political landscape of the federation. Research about it has surged. Each side of the battle would be called a heavyweight; one side is an unknown ace from Moon Frost Island, and the other is one of the Gemini twins from Desert Camp, though unfortunately, he was assassinated on his way back to school..."


    Chen Mu was watching with a professional eye without ignoring the rather confusing commentary. How awesome! His eyes were glued to the screen so as not to miss a single detail. That was certainly the highest-level battle he''d ever seen, with the power of each contestant far beyond any card artisan he had ever seen. What he hadn''t understood previously at all, he now only half understood, though he certainly was no longer any kind of ignorant rookie. Given his rather ample battle experience, he could appreciate many of the fine points.


    The speed of the woman was like lightning, and Chen Mu surmised that she must certainly have had a very high-level jet stream card. What had elicited the most praise were her directional changes, which were agile and graceful and without warning. The man''s blows all had shocking momentum. The card he was using was pretty amazing as well, like a net of ever-transforming electrical starbursts that were impossible to defend against.


    Chen Mu had simply never seen such cards as the two were using, though he could tell at a glance how high-grade they were. They weren''t comparable at all to those three or four-star cards that could be had on the market.


    The battle lasted about ten minutes, and it was pretty rare as far as battles among card artisans were concerned. Chen Mu watched, intoxicated, without being aware of the passage of time. It was a pleasure for him to watch such a battle.


    Chen Mu finally came back to his senses when he saw the guy defeated by the advantage taken by his slightly weaker opponent.


    The people on the street who had gathered in front of the screen started to scatter, though some hung back in heated discussion. Then, the content on the screen changed to a kind of medicine advertisement, and Chen Mu reluctantly left with Wei-ah.


    While Chen Mu was still feeling the aftereffects of that battle, Wei-ah commented out of the blue, "You fall quite a bit behind them."


    Chen Mu nearly stumbled as cold sweat poured off him. Wei-ah had shamed him by making a comparison to those two aces.


    Seeming to suddenly like jabbing at Chen Mu, Wei-ah said seriously, "They are about the same age you are."


    "They are, they are," Chen Mu responded in some bafflement. Who were they? Moon Frost Island and Desert Camp were among the Big Six Academies. How could such an ordinary person as he compare with aces from the Big Six? They could stick out their little finger, and that would be enough to pinch him to death. The two sides were nowhere near the same level. No, they were as different as Heaven was from Earth. Any among that kind of ace would be admired by millions and worshipped as idols by countless people.


    But, Chen Mu knew himself rather well; it had to be said that he was very adaptable and didn''t have any great aspirations. Even though he might see such incredible people, that didn''t make him feel deficient in his heart.


    Chen Mu didn''t have that much interest in becoming some ace, but he was quite interested in making money. Living and research both required the support of money. While the 5 million Oudi he had on hand wasn''t paltry, if he were to go out to buy card supplies, it would be a pitifully small quantity. One of Chen Mu''s two remaining ideas was to crack the puzzle of the mysterious card, while the other was to live out his life in peace.


    To tell the truth, Chen Mu hadn''t put a lot of hope on Heaven''s Wings from the start. Although, those 25 people had solid accomplishment, and it would be a shame to get rid of them. But, for Chen Mu, Heaven''s Wings was just an experiment, and he wouldn''t dare to put all his hopes on it. If he wanted to make money, he would depend on something else.


    Lifting his head to look at the shop in front of him, Chen Mu lifted his feet to enter with Wei-ah right behind him.


    It was a card shop of a sort that could be seen all over Pomelo. Chen Mu had already walked past at least 30 along the way. That one wasn''t the best or the worst among them.


    "Good day. Might I ask if there is something I can do for you?" A rather pretty, professionally dressed woman walked over in front of them and spoke with a light smile.


    Chen Mu took a look around, checking carefully what cards were for sale while keeping his refined understanding to himself. The ones in the case weren''t the highest quality, with their crafting just ordinary. There weren''t any outstanding cards, and such cards naturally didn''t mean anything to him.

 Chapter 185: What Will it Be?

    Chapter 185: What Will it Be?


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    A girl off to the side who was good at reading tone and body language hastily said, "If you require a high-level card, we can have one custom made for you. Our affiliated card masters are all mid-grade and above, so you can rest assured about anything they make."


    "Can I sell on consignment here?"


    A look of disappointment flashed across the young lady''s eyes, though she still presented a professional enough appearance. "You can, though you must pay ten percent of the price in commission. But, if you were to become a card master affiliated with this shop, you would only have to pay a six percent commission."


    Chen Mu nodded that he understood, bade his farewell to the card salesgirl, and then left with Wei-ah. He''d only wanted to check out the situation since he didn''t have any suitable cards on hand for sale.


    They had returned to Heaven''s Wings by midday.


    Bu Qiangdong had been waiting for a while, having very handily completed the responsibilities Chen Mu had turned over to him. Public service commissions were easy to get since their fee was so low¡ªmostly not done for any pay at all. The employees had all started talking among themselves when they found out Bu Qiangdong had gotten so many public service commissions.


    They felt like the new boss had gone mad! Although public service commissions all required an outlay of materials, their meager rewards could be considered negligible. They had originally thought the new boss would get most of his orders from the young master''s people in order to maintain the company''s operations. They hadn''t thought the new boss would actually want to do public service work. Good lord, could he want to be a philanthropist?


    There was a hubbub in Heaven''s Wings with all of the employees wearing worried expressions. If the company''s operations didn''t do well, they would lose the work they then had. They weren''t anything more than low-grade card masters¡ªthe sort that could be gotten for a dime a dozen anywhere. They wouldn''t be offering many advantages if they were to apply at some other business. To expect to make such a high salary for the work they did then was basically impossible. That was also why no one was leaving rashly, even though they had a dim view of the future of the company.


    It wasn''t easy to find work those days!


    Once Chen Mu and Wei-ah entered the office, all the talking abruptly stopped. While the new boss might not have been good at operations, in those employees'' hearts no one dared to go against his orders. To put it another way, Chen Mu had established his authority very successfully at Heaven''s Wings. Of course, as Chen Mu saw it, that wasn''t anything to boast about.


    Once Bu Qiangdong saw Chen Mu, he became immediately submissive, bowed, and entered Chen Mu''s office after the two of them.


    "How have you been managing?" Chen Mu signaled for Bu Qiangdong to sit.


    Bu Qiangdong very cautiously said, "According to your instructions, I''ve already brought in a large amount of public service work, including 300 sets of fantasy card instructional material and 150 fantasy card advertisements for the city. In addition..." he then went on after a pause, "there is also a public service announcement for one of the broadcast platforms, although our counterpart says he wants to see the quality of our work before he finally decides if he will use it." Bu Qiangdong couldn''t help but be a little upset when he thought of that, wondering when Heaven''s Wings had been so taken advantage of all year.


    While others may actually have considered it appropriate to help others for free, Bu Qiangdong felt it was plain insulting.


    Carefully weighing his words and watching his expression, he hadn''t expected the boss not to have any drastic reaction when he heard the news. That puzzled him a little since the new boss seemed to have a hot temper; if even he had felt humiliated by it, how could the boss remain indifferent?


    Still, it turned out Chen Mu really didn''t have any response.


    Chen Mu took the material from Bu Qiangdong and looked it over, nodding. "Nice work."


    Bu Qiangdong''s heart immediately relaxed as he lowered his head to await further instructions from the boss. After a long time without hearing the boss say anything, he couldn''t help but lift his head out of curiosity. As soon as he did, he saw the young boss engrossed in the materials in his hands. That struck him as strange since what was in the materials was all very specialized. Card masters would have to carry out their fantasy card making according to those materials. If one wasn''t a card master, there wouldn''t be any way to understand such professional terminology.


    After five minutes, Chen Mu gave Bu Qiangdong a list and said, "Go to the warehouse and bring me one of each of these materials."


    Full of puzzlement, he took the list from the boss. When he saw the materials listed on it, he was dumbfounded in an instant.


    This, isn''t this¡­?


    The dull-faced Bu Qiangdong didn''t come back to life again for a few minutes, his blank stare suddenly making contact with Chen Mu''s raised eyebrows. He then felt as though a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head. Damn! How could he let his mind wander at such a time? He hurriedly stood up and blurted out, "Right away! I''ll get them right away!" Before he had finished speaking, he had rushed off like a puff of smoke.


    He very quickly came puffing back carrying a bag in his hand. All of the other colleagues along the way had regarded him with puzzlement.


    * * *


    Qian Mingyi was showing his annoyance, which made him look as though nothing could please him, and he wanted to curse at whatever he saw. He felt he would soon go mad; the signal that had appeared last time hadn''t reappeared, and he hadn''t made any progress with his investigations yet. The northwest corner of Pomelo was really too big. His adversary had vanished without a trace and left them with no way to do anything.


    Moreover, as the director general''s confidant, he had to know about the crisis the Central Island Firm was facing just then. It was just that he didn''t have any better recommendations about the issue and could only look on helplessly as the director general wore himself out. Under the influence of that affair, he had to keep his signal investigations on a small scale and carry them out in secret, which undoubtedly made the investigations a lot more difficult.


    When he saw Farley, he couldn''t help but be startled. Was that still Farley?


    For those few years, Farley had been living well. Although he was rather old, he actually kept himself up quite well. But, the Farley in front of him looked like a completely different person. His previously gray hair had turned snow-white, his eyes were sunken and bloodshot, and the creases on his face seemed to deepen overnight.


    Seeing Qian Mingyi, Farley brightened and hurriedly grabbed him by the arm, asking urgently, "How is it going? Have you found out anything?"


    Qian Mingyi gave a bitter smile, saying, "No. The signals haven''t appeared again, and we have no way to determine their specific location. And, there has been limited manpower in the firm lately, so we can''t conduct a large-scale investigation of the matter." Once he spoke, he jumped, not having realized how hoarse and dry his voice had become.


    Farley was suddenly aroused. He released Qian Mingyi''s arm as he waved his hands and snarled, "Limited manpower? What has the f***ing manpower gone off to do? What is more important than this? What are these people thinking? Could they not know how important this is for us? Once we get this technology, we can advance into the jungle! What can this gang of rotten eggs be thinking?"


    The bitter smile on Qian Mingyi''s face deepened. Of course he knew what that technology meant for the firm, but he also knew what kind of crisis the firm was facing just then. But, he just couldn''t reveal the secret information to Farley. He could only bear Farley''s anger in silence, having only his bitter smile.


    Farley was exhausted after his venting, and he became silent.


    "How is your progress over there?" Qian Mingyi broke the silence.


    Farley despondently shook his head. "Not so well. Very unstable. I wonder how these people resolved signal stability. We did everything we could think of and still have no way to resolve the issue of stability."


    Having followed the entire course of the research, Qian Mingyi knew the problem Farley was talking about, though he was bewildered by such professional matters.


    Patting Farley''s shoulder, Qian Mingyi consoled him. "Keep up your spirits, old man. Once they show up again and I can narrow the scope a little, I''ll certainly ferret them out for you."


    * * *


    Chen Mu wasn''t entirely satisfied to look at what he''d made in his hands. It had been too long since he''d practiced, and he felt a little raw. Raising his head, he saw Bu Qiangdong''s dumbfounded expression.


    He couldn''t help but wonder what was worth making a fuss about. It wasn''t anything more than a one-star fantasy card of the most ordinary kind. What was there to make such an expression about? But, Chen Mu was also too lazy to ask, and he just casually handed the card to Bu Qiangdong. "This is the model for the instructional card. Carry on according to it. Get them to finish up the remaining 299 sets quickly."


    When Bu Qiangdong emerged from Chen Mu''s office with a dull face, all the employees roused around him. They were quite curious, and in case the boss could hear from inside his office, they kept their voices down. "Qiangdong, what''s up?""Yeah, what''s up?"


    Bu Qiangdong felt as though his brain had short-circuited, and he couldn''t regain his poise. He just dumbly gave the card in his hands to the crowd and said, "Take a look yourselves."


    "Who made this?"


    "The boss," Bu Qiangdong blurted out without thinking.


    It was suddenly quiet all around. The employees were all looking at one another, and no one spoke for a while.


    After a long time, someone finally slowly and haltingly asked, "Are you saying the boss made this, Qiangdong?"


    "Yep." The stunned Bu Qiangdong remained wooden as he answered.


    Everyone was thrown into silence again¡ªa very strange kind of silence.


    "And...and what did the boss say?" someone stuttered to ask.


    The boss said the remaining 299 should be completed according to this model." Having finally been somewhat restored to clarity, Bu Qiangdong spoke a little more smoothly.


    Finally, some brave person swallowed hard while asking probingly, "So...unless, let''s take a look first?" That proposal immediately got the assent of all the gathered employees, though everyone''s gaze was on Bu Qiangdong. By that time, he had returned to normal. He had seen the entire process of the boss making the card with his own eyes. So, what was inside the card the boss had made? He was as curious as anyone and nodded his agreement.


    Very carefully, as though what he was holding in his hand were some precious treasure, Bu Qiangdong and the line of people went in front of the display apparatus.


    They still slid the fantasy card into the apparatus more carefully, and everyone''s gaze converged onto the projector, watching it intently. No one could help but hold their breath as they waited for the image to appear.

 Chapter 186: The Boss’s Fantasy Card

    Chapter 186: The Boss¡¯s Fantasy Card


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Oooh! Everything around went suddenly dark, and countless bright spots swiftly floated up. The spots were large and small, floating around.


    They seemed to be in the interstellar realm. It was boundless darkness among countless brighter or dimmer stars scattered around the universe like sand in a river, or as though mutually attracting to form clump after clump of strange and fantastic galaxies. Mist-like, colorful nebulae were still more like a dream or a fantasy.


    The revolving of the galaxy and the creation and destruction of the stars, along with the diffusion and gradual dissolution of the nebulae, played out in front of everyone''s eyes. It brought them to feelings of great mystery while still seeming to hold some kind of order.


    "Oh my god! It''s beautiful!" screamed some of the female employees.


    "Did the boss really make this? It''s simply miraculous!" murmured some of the employees absentmindedly. The observation was met with everyone''s nearly unanimous agreement. Without a doubt, it was a fine work among fine works. In people''s eyes, astronomy had always been full of mystery, and they had never seen such a realistic and magnificent interstellar image.


    The first notion to take shape in their minds was how small they were among the stars.


    Such lifelike interstellar imagery could never have been produced without proficiency in astronomy, no matter how good he was. Now, the already awed employees were still more awed. If you were to say what had awed them before was Chen Mu''s power, this time they were certainly awed by his learning. And, as professionals, they understood how difficult the card was to make. In all of Heaven''s Wings, there was absolutely no one who could have made it.


    The stars weren''t just lifeless objects; they were moving around according to some kind of order and numbered in the tens of millions. That was in addition to the galaxies formed by the stars and the transformations of the nebulae. All of that brought the difficulty of the fantasy card to a hair-raising level.


    If they hadn''t seen it with their own eyes, they would never have believed there could be such a complex card on Earth. Oh, maybe Rosenberg or Heiner Van Sant could have made one, they thought.


    Chen Mu had used his power to establish his authority, but it was a fantasy card that finally overwhelmed those low-grade card masters. The image the employees all had of Chen Mu grew immediately taller. His face, which had looked so fresh and raw to everyone, seemed to have suddenly become inscrutable. Speaking of the star images, Chen Mu really had to thank the low-grade fantasy card club for those. If he hadn''t seen them there, he wouldn''t have been able to make them.


    Following that, the scene changed into the growth of plants. The luxuriant growth in the process from sprout to health infected everyone. On one side, an explanation slowly unfolded, though there was only writing since it wasn''t accompanied by a sound card. Just as everyone was entranced by the fascinating world, someone suddenly called out, "Do you mean to say we''re going to make this card?"


    Once those words came out, everyone was jolted awake. Then, there was a hubbub.


    "Yeah, are we supposed to make this card?"


    "Impossible. I reckon that apart from the boss, no one could make it."


    "Anyhow, I can''t do it."


    * * *


    Everyone had something to say, and the scene quickly turned chaotic. Bu Qiangdong got a headache once he saw what was happening. He drew in a long breath and shouted abruptly, "Everyone shut up for me!"


    Everything quieted down. Bu Qiangdong''s cool face slowly scanned over everyone. They all had their mouths closed, watching him.


    "Is there anyone who doesn''t want to do it? Eh? Could it be that you don''t want this work anymore?" Bu Qiangdong''s voice had a note of coercion to it, and everyone quickly shook their heads. It would be a joke to say they could find work anywhere that paid as well as Heaven''s Wings.


    Seeing everyone shaking their heads, Bu Qiangdong''s expression moderated. "In truth, I think it''s difficult to make as well. But, the boss''s temper, ha, ha." Bu Qiangdong gave a couple of cold chuckles, and some of the group cringed back, thinking back on how the young, new boss didn''t seem to have such a good temper.


    Everyone fell silent.


    Bu Qiangdong calmly said, "So, brothers, if you don''t want to lose this job, we''ll have to go all in."


    In the office, Wei-ah said to Chen Mu, "It looks like you have a pretty good subordinate."


    Chen Mu kept working on what was in his hands, not having raised his head. "Mmmm, he''s doing well. But, if we want to make money, I''ll have to depend on myself." He was in the middle of making a card. For a card master, the fastest way to make money was of course to make a card. Chen Mu could make three-star cards by then, which was already at the level of a mid-grade card master. If he only needed to make a living, he would have a pretty good life as a mid-grade card master.


    But, if he wanted to conduct research as well, the amount of money he could make as a mid-grade card master was limited. That was why so many card masters would join some sort of group as a way to be able to access better funding, which would enable them to get further along down the road.


    The biggest reason Chen Mu liked to research was the mysterious card, which was so packed with riddles. But, it would be unacceptable to lose his freedom to do research.


    Everything in the Heaven''s Wings warehouse was low-level materials, but that wasn''t a big issue for Chen Mu. Although the price of high-level cards was high, they also consumed a lot of perception and had higher production costs. And, they weren''t in such demand on the market. For someone like Chen Mu, who had relied on making one-star power cards to make his living, he wasn''t going to complain about the profit margins. What could be more meager than the profit margins for one-star power cards?


    Chen Mu wasn''t really too concerned about how Bu Qiangdong and the rest proceeded. He was more used to setting his own goals according to his own habits.


    Chen Mu and Wei-ah arrived back at the shop from last time, though this time he''d brought some cards. Since the materials on hand were quite ordinary, Chen Mu had no way to make any sort of excellent cards. He could only make an ordinary card, such as the fiery dragon card.


    Speaking of the fiery dragon card, it was probably the most frequently sold card on the market. Of course, the fundamental reason was its low price of 100,000 Oudi each. It was really quite cheap compared with other three-star cards, which frequently cost 100,000 Oudi to as much as 1 million Oudi. Although its power wasn''t great, it was adequate, and it was comparable to other high-priced three-star cards. It was also the nearly compulsory entry-level three-star card for card artisans.


    But, there were hardly any aces who would use that kind of extremely popular card. The reason was similarly simple. The fiery dragon card had very high energy consumption, while its power was limited. In addition, it wasn''t very controllable. For aces, any of those factors could prove fatal.


    High energy consumption would mean that upon engaging in a lengthy battle, you would have to remain passive right away. There''s no need to say any more about power, but ace card artisans demanded a high level of controllability. During the period when remote card artisans were burgeoning, being able to maintain precise attacks was a problem all card artisans needed to face.


    Therefore, regardless of how popular the fiery dragon card was in the world of card artisans, no well-known card artisan had ever been seen using it.


    The fiery dragon card Chen Mu made included some advances. He had used the token composition for one crucial part, which had decreased its power consumption by 15 percent. The most important advancement was changing the internal composition of the energy body emitted by the card. To put it another way, it was really an entirely new card. Although the energy body emitted looked very similar to the ordinary fiery dragon, the fiery dragons formed by the two had entirely different internal compositions.


    In the lower right corner of each card, Chen Mu had etched the letter "C."


    Chen Mu made ten fiery dragon cards in a single breath, setting the price at 80,000 Oudi apiece. When the card salesgirl saw that what Chen Mu was selling on consignment was only a fiery dragon card, her expression went cold. Chen Mu didn''t make anything of it as he placed them into the automatic consignment apparatus and entered the number of his new money card. Once the cards were sold and the merchant''s fee deducted, the remaining money would be automatically imported to his money card. Chen Mu and Wei-ah departed after they finished.


    They still had a lot to do, such as buying some daily necessities. Chen Mu thought of himself as different from Wei-ah¡ªwho wasn''t really human¡ªwhile he remained in the category of ordinary human.


    Still, the only thing that surprised Chen Mu was that Wei-ah had been so interested in the many kinds of programs shown on the big screens in the commercial district. Chen Mu simply bought an apparatus for Wei-ah when he noticed that, as well as some fantasy cards to watch.


    About 30 miles outside Pomelo, there was a small tourist town called Dongxing. Dongxing didn''t have much of a name for itself among the small villages around Pomelo, but it did have seven or eight hot springs and was rather nearby. So, quite a few people would pass their holidays there.


    There were many old-style wooden houses in Dongxing, which were often rented by their owners to tourists who wanted to stay for a while.


    A young woman dressed in purple stood in front of a house and knocked on the door. Her head of light purple hair was tied in a small pony tail, and she wore a similarly light purple jacket, inside of which she had on a skin-tight, black knit sweater. She was about one and seven-tenths meters tall with a slender body that would draw the gazes of passersby. She had a sharp chin beneath her large sunglasses, though the thing that drew the most attention was the pack on her back, which was nearly as tall as she was.

 Chapter 187: Butchie

    Chapter 187: Butchie


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    A youth of about 12 appeared when the courtyard door was opened. He shouted in surprise when he saw the purple-clothed young woman. "Sister Butchie!" He turned behind him and shouted into the courtyard, "Ma, Sister Butchie is here!"


    The young woman called Sister Butchie bent down and pinched the youth''s childish cheeks back and forth while laughing away. "Ha! Paxy is still so tender! This skin makes me so jealous!" Paxy was wailing his complaints but likely knew resistance was futile, and he would just have to endure the ravages of the purple-clothed young lady.


    Not long after, there was the sound of rapid footsteps, and a 40-something-year-old woman wearing an apron came rushing out of the house. As soon as she saw the purple-clothed young woman, she called with a voice full of excitement, "Butchie!"


    Butchie set Paxy loose and stood up while pulling off her sunglasses. She looked at the woman, smiling. "Sister Mei!" Her two eyes were as clear as gemstones, and she had an exquisite face. She was about 25 or 26, though her brow revealed a mature and valiant temperament.


    Without knowing why, Sister Mei''s eyes went red, though she quickly and happily said, "Come in, come in. It''s about time to eat." Then she complained, "Don''t you know how to announce your arrival?"


    "Oh, I just got here, and I have something I need to do," Butchie said, laughing.


    "How long do you plan to stay this time?" Sister Mei asked with concern as she was walking into the house.


    "I think it could be a while," Butchie said with a helpless expression.


    Paxy started jumping with joy off to the side. "Great! Sister Butchie can guide me in my card artisan lessons."


    "That child only thinks of card artisans." Sister Mei was clearly not so thrilled about her son being so obsessed with card artisans.


    Once at the table, Butchie was finishing off all the food in the dishes like a whirlwind, without any manners. Sister Mei''s eyes were full of doting. "Take care eating. No worries; there''s no one here to rob you, and there''s still more in the kitchen. How many days has it been since you''ve eaten? How could you be so hungry?"


    "Three days," Butchie said vaguely.


    "Three days?" Sister Mei was taken aback and raised her eyebrows. "Do you mean to say you flew for three days?"


    Butchie was wolfing down her food while she was nodding. Paxy was watching her adoringly from the side, it being nearly written all over him how much he adored her. To be able to fly for three days straight wasn''t something any ordinary card artisan could do.


    Sister Mei abruptly put down her chopsticks and said unhappily, "How can you be so careless with your body? It''s a lot more convenient to ride the shuttle train these days. If you keep going like that, you''ll be sick when you get old."


    Butchie kept nodding while she kept stuffing her mouth with food. Seeing her looking so embarrassed, Sister Mei couldn''t help but pick up her chopsticks to keep giving Butchie more food.


    When the food was done, Butchie patted her stomach and lay down on the floor without any regard for what it looked like. Paxy crawled next to her and asked with curiosity, "What were you doing flying so long, Sister Butchie?"


    Butchie lifted her sharp chin in her comfort and said languidly, "Broke."


    Paxy didn''t understand. "Aren''t you awesome, Sister Butchie? How could you be broke?"


    "Impulses are the devil. I carelessly bought this outfit and spent all my money," Butchie said without concern, then added, "Oh. I brought you a present."


    Paxy became immediately excited. "I always knew Sister Butchie was the best! What''s the present?"


    "Did I hear your perceptual level has reached the bottom of the second level?" Butchie asked casually.


    "So it has. Paxy has been diligent all along." Paxy stuck out his chest, although he grew quickly discouraged about how wimpy his chest was. Still, for his perception to reach the bottom range of the second level at 12 was a pretty fine result.


    "I''m giving you this fiery dragon card." Butchie took out a fiery dragon card from her pocket, which she had bought at an ordinary card shop in Pomelo. She only had 100,000 Oudi left on her to buy a present for her little nephew. After flying three days and nights and never imagining she would find a fiery dragon card for 80,000 in any old card shop, she immediately bought it as soon as she saw it.


    Paxy took the card, overjoyed, having thought he would have to wait a long time before being able to have his own battle card. He had never expected such a wonderful surprise. Once his joy subsided, Paxy ran over to hug Butchie and gave her a kiss, saying joyfully, "Ha, now I know Sister Butchie is the best!"


    "Hey, the little guy really knows how to flirt with his sister!" Butchie knocked him on the noggin, putting on a look of annoyance. Seeing the flustered Paxy warmed her heart. Those three days of flying hadn''t been wasted. Still, she rather brusquely grabbed Paxy by the collar as he was about to rush off, bringing him in front of her.


    "Now what wild place are you thinking of running off to?" Butchie raised her eyebrows. "With your perception at the bottom range of the second level, you can barely use the fiery dragon card. Once you reach level three, it will be a little easier for you. I''m telling you¡ªif you use the fiery dragon card to bully people outside, never mind making your mother angry; you be careful, or I''ll paddle your butt."


    Paxy laughed and said, "Don''t try to scare me, Sister Butchie. I am very well behaved." But, then he was tugging at Butchie''s arm. "Sister Butchie, how about you come teach me to use the fiery dragon card?"


    After considering it, Butchie nodded. "Ok, but if you run into trouble, you''ll be down on your knees before your mother again, little brat." She shouted into the kitchen, "Sister Mei, I''m taking Paxy out to play."


    Paxy''s mother''s voice came from the kitchen, "Go. Be careful, and don''t come back too late."


    While she answered, Butchie was lifting Paxy into the sky, and they flew off to more remote places. The population of Dongxing wasn''t that small, but there were a lot of remote spots. Looking around to be sure there wasn''t anyone else there, Butchie landed in a field with Paxy.


    "The fiery dragon card is very simple to use. You only need to use your perception to guide the energy onto the fiery dragon card, and then you can get it to come forth. It''s so simple that I won''t say more than that." Butchie negligently sat off to the side, sucking on a piece of straw and lying back lazily.


    "Oh," Paxy responded, only seeming to understand. He then pushed the button to activate his apparatus. His perceptual strength would have been sufficient to use perception to activate the apparatus. Paxy''s tender face was earnest, just like a little grown-up. He closed his eyes and carefully adjusted his perception.


    Butchie looked at Paxy with admiration. While it might not be considered genius for a 12-year-old to be at the bottom of the second level, it would be considered excellent. Butchie really appreciated the serious expression Paxy was wearing then. After taking a look, Butchie pulled back her gaze since the fiery dragon card was so simple to control; she believed Paxy would certainly be able to launch the energy attack with ease.


    Chewing on the stalk of straw in her mouth, the special, fresh taste of green grass was flooding it little by little.


    Thinking of her mission at the time, she couldn''t help but worry. The enemies they would be confronting were a lot more powerful than any she''d faced before. Her gaze fell onto the apparatus on her wrist where the buckle had already been severely worn. There was a very clear mark on her wrist where she wore the apparatus.


    Time had left its mark on her body, and without knowing it, she wasn''t young anymore. But, her spirits were roused once she thought about her own steadfast belief. At least she had a clear goal to strive for.


    No matter how, she wanted to complete her mission. A look of firm resolve flashed across her exquisite face.


    "Sister Butchie!" Paxy''s cries broke off her string of thought. She lifted her head in some surprise, asking with curiosity, "What''s up?"


    Trying to hold back tears, he said, "It''s still no good. When I extend my perception into the fiery dragon card, it''s very strange how quickly it loses control, and then there''s no sign of it."


    "Impossible." Butchie was taken aback and spoke unthinkingly. But, when she saw Paxy looking like he''d taken a blow, she immediately corrected herself. "Don''t worry, Paxy. Let Sister Butchie take a look to see if this fiery dragon card is broken." Logically, there would certainly be a little difficulty to control the fiery dragon card at the low end of the second level of perception, but there shouldn''t have been any trouble to carry out the simplest attacks.


    Taking the card, she put it into her own apparatus. Scenes from the time she''d spent practicing the fiery dragon card suddenly floated up in front of her, very far off and indistinct. The card seemed to excite some deep memories, putting her into a very brief trance.


    What''s up today? I seem moody all of a sudden, Butchie sneered. Although, her movements hadn''t slowed; they were as practiced as ever. Paxy had long since swept away his haze, and he was watching his big sister expectantly. Butchie had been his idol ever since he was very small. That was since the first time he and his mother ran into Sister Butchie. He''d seen her invincible might with his own eyes as she alone took down five bad guys, rescuing him and his mother. Ever since then, he aspired to be a card artisan as awesome as Sister Butchie.


    The moves she''d made back then had left a stunning trace on his mind, though he had never seen Sister Butchie make any moves since that time.


    Now, he would be able to see Sister Butchie make a move! His tiny heart was immediately excited.


    Of course, Paxy couldn''t compare with the power of Butchie. But, something went wrong when her perception made contact with the fiery dragon card.

 Chapter 188: The Unexpected Acquisition

    Chapter 188: The Unexpected Acquisition


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    With a light note of surprise, Butchie retracted her ordinary devil-may-care expression and became very serious. Paxy was looking on with admiration. Because he was so close, he could sense the rather powerful perception emitted by Sister Butchie. The fluctuations in perception really were powerful¡ªseveral times more powerful than that of the teachers in his school.


    Sister Butchie was really a powerhouse among the powerful! He didn''t know when he could ever get to where she was.


    As Butchie''s perception started to make contact with the fiery dragon card in her apparatus, she got a better sense of the card''s mysteries.


    "Interesting!" Her phoenix-slanted eyes flashed as a near smile started to form in the corner of Butchie''s mouth. Then, her empty right hand was raised, and with a whoosh, a fiery dragon seven or eight meters long appeared around her body. Paxy was startled and watched the monster with some dread. The fiery dragon''s body was huge; its gathered-up body left its majestic head right on top of Butchie''s, with its deep-set dragon eyes watching straight ahead. The heat emanating from the fiery body made Paxy back up a few steps. The dragon looked very real with its bright red, fiery scales formed of energy.


    Raising his little face, Paxy was watching the fiery dragon in awe. To so very casually cause such a realistic fiery dragon to be emitted, Sister Butchie was awesome. The more precise one''s perception got, the more realistic the fiery dragon could become. That would mean its internal energy composition was more realistic and could emit more power.


    The fiery dragon was very lifelike and exquisite, and its power would certainly not be slight.


    Butchie wore a thoughtful expression as she sent her right hand lightly forward, and the dragon squatting on her head leapt forth. Paxy only noticed a red flash going by, after which there was a loud bang that shook the ground under his feet. The blast wave sent countless fine pieces of gravel sweeping toward him, making Paxy quickly cover his head.


    By the time he lifted his head, he found a big hole about five meters in diameter not far away, emitting blue smoke from its charred insides.


    "The power is not bad." Butchie was looking at the big hole and mumbling to herself. She was inwardly amazed. That card was quite different from ordinary fiery dragon cards. The internal energy composition of the energy body formed by it was completely different from that formed by an ordinary fiery dragon card. If it had been an ordinary card, it would have been able to achieve no more than two-thirds the damage she was looking at.


    In truth, she wasn''t paying that much attention to the card''s power; even the power of that fiery dragon card wasn''t much to her. But, that didn''t hinder her surprise with the card. The fiery dragon was a very mature card, having gone through many years of development. It wasn''t the most amazing card, but it wouldn''t be saying too much to say it had the most mature structure.


    Because there were so many who used it, quite a few card masters had been making improvements to it all along. Having undergone the excavations of countless generations of card masters, every bit of the fiery dragon card''s potential had been uncovered. By 30 years ago, the composition of the card had already been completely set. It was a very mature product. During those 30 years, no one had ever heard of anyone being able to make any further improvements, which just proved how mature its composition was.


    Still, right in front of her was a completely different fiery dragon card whose power was greater by half in comparison with the ordinary card. Being increased by 50 percent might be a common enough circumstance moving between different levels of cards, but it had become extremely rare in a single product.


    If any card master were to say he could improve any particular card to where its power would be increased to 150 percent, then that card master would either be crazy or a great master among the top great masters in the world, like Rosenberg or Heiner Van Sant. But, why would such a card master put so much energy into something so low-grade as the fiery dragon card? To be able to increase the power of any card by ten percent would be pretty good.


    No matter how she looked at it, 150 percent was a stunning piece of data!


    Butchie wasn''t any card master, but as a professional card artisan, she knew how much weight that would carry. When would such an awesome card master have ever appeared in Pomelo?


    Every card artisan would long to be connected with an outstanding card master, and Butchie wasn''t any different.


    She''d recently felt as though she were approaching a breakthrough. If she were ever able to break through her current limits, then the card she had would no longer suit her.


    It was actually very difficult to assess the strength of a card artisan. Apart from the hard indicator of perceptual strength, there were still quite a few things, such as battle awareness and experience, that couldn''t be evaluated by metrics. So, a card artisan''s division into levels wasn''t something many card artisans concerned themselves with.


    A big part of what determined a card artisan''s strength was the card they used.


    A card suited to oneself would always bring a card artisan''s greatest strengths into play.


    It looked as though she would have to ask around to find out what card master had made the fiery dragon card. Butchie was thinking it over. She hadn''t realized she would make such an unexpected acquisition as soon as she got to Pomelo, which made her rather excited.


    She looked up to find Paxy full of anticipation and chuckled. Watching Butchie for a while with her smile and dazzling natural beauty, he blurted out, "Sister Butchie is really pretty!"


    Both angry and full of humor, Butchie knocked Paxy on the head. "You''re a pretty smooth talker for such a youngster. You''ll get it after you grow up. Come on, Sister Butchie will show you how to use this kind of card..."


    * * *


    Cleo was looking at the report submitted to him and said to his bodyguard with a laugh, "This Cao Dong really doesn''t know how to run things. He actually took in a pile of public service work."


    The bodyguard was also smiling. "Does the young master want to drum up some work for them?"


    Cleo made an expression as though he were full of wisdom. "Don''t rush. Let them get off to a start first." Then he thought of something and asked, "What has my beloved big brother been up to lately?"


    The bodyguard shook his head. "I haven''t heard anything from them."


    Cleo instructed, "You have to keep a close watch on them."


    The bodyguard quickly responded, "Yes, sir."


    * * *


    The work Bu Qiangdong had drummed up wasn''t difficult at all for Chen Mu, though he still made his standard model carefully. That was hard on Bu Qiangdong and the rest of the employees. They were only low-grade card masters; although they had mastered their jobs, for them the one-star cards Chen Mu had so diligently made weren''t just ordinarily difficult.


    But, what Bu Qiangdong had said to them that day undoubtedly hit them face-on. Everyone was very clear about their current situation. Although the card the boss had made was difficult, it wasn''t completely out of their reach.


    Bu Qiangdong organized them into research groups, and the employees all pulled together to face the difficulties with those educational fantasy cards and the public announcement fantasy cards.


    The more people, the more power, especially when organized. One by one, they solved problems they had thought to be impossible, which greatly boosted their morale. Everyone''s mood soared, and their enthusiasm surged. They had never used that method before then. No one had thought that such an effort, about which they had no choice, would move them off in a new direction to create an entirely new Heaven''s Wings.


    Chen Mu wasn''t expending his thoughts on Heaven''s Wings, being very busy at the time. Among the 11 floors of Heaven''s Wings, Chen Mu planned that the bottom five would be turned into the work area, and the top six floors would be transformed into living space and a card studio, plus a simple training area.


    So, the whole building was filled with loud sounds of banging during the day to the point where they would sometimes feel the entire building shake. At the start, everyone''s face went white, including Bu Qiangdong''s. Such loud noises would always bring them back helplessly to that bloody scene from when the boss''s peaceful but terrifying expression would flash through their minds.


    And, when it came to Wei-ah, he had always been regarded by the employees as Chen Mu''s bodyguard. It was natural in their eyes that someone like their boss would have a bodyguard. Everything about Wei-ah, from his physique to his expression, meant no one would believe he wasn''t a bodyguard.


    After a while, everyone had grown gradually used to it. No matter how loud the noise got, everyone looked as though they were working routinely. However, they would sometimes become curious about what the boss and his bodyguard were doing upstairs.


    "Good." Chen Mu was looking with satisfaction at the training space. There were only some simple devices there along with several quiet rooms. The devices were entirely different from the standard devices that could be gotten on the market, having been made by Chen Mu according to Wei-ah''s description and manual assistance. They would check out the results later.


    Most of the devices were for physical training. Although Chen Mu thought it unnecessary to enter into an entirely strange realm to train with Wei-ah, physical training was still something he needed. Wei-ah was the specialist in that regard. Chen Mu had always liked to know the specialist''s point of view, especially regarding matters he wasn''t so good at.


    The quiet rooms were for training perception, and they had used specialized materials to block sound to make it less likely to be disturbed by the outside world. Chen Mu hadn''t expected Wei-ah to also request a quiet space. Since Wei-ah had made such a rare request, Chen Mu opened another quiet room, though he didn''t know what Wei-ah would use it for.


    The crude training space had limited uses. A professional card artisan training space required a lot of space, and the costs of the devices was beyond what Chen Mu could bear; he still had to buy large quantities of instruments and materials to set up his card making lab.


    The work of Heaven''s Wings didn''t go beyond one- or two-star fantasy cards, so the instruments and materials were all low-grade and couldn''t meet Chen Mu''s demands. So, he had to set up a separate, new card making space.


    He was spending money like water without realizing it. The 5 million Oudi in Heaven''s Wings'' accounts were almost all exhausted. Broke again! Thinking it over, Chen Mu could only sneer¡ªit seemed as though he''d never gotten rich.


    Just then, there was a sudden sound from the apparatus on his wrist.

 Chapter 189: Wei-ah Style Training

    Chapter 189: Wei-ah Style Training


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "The ten fiery dragon cards you left on consignment have been sold out. From 800,000 Oudi overall, minus 80,000 Oudi, leaves 720,000 Oudi. Please check your account."


    The message that had popped up on his apparatus made Chen Mu immediately happy. Just as he was saying he had no money on hand, the money came, which would make anybody happy. He couldn''t help but feel that it really was a big city with the cards selling so quickly. Somehow, all ten of the three-star cards at 80,000 apiece had sold out in a day''s time. What amazing speed.


    Chen Mu wondered if all the mid-grade card masters around there were rich as he remembered again when he was making one-star power cards. Now he was making more in a day than it used to take him a year to make. Knowledge really was money; Chen Mu finally understood the saying more deeply.


    Eight hundred thousand plus looked like a lot of money, but to set up a card making lab, it was a pitifully small amount. Never mind the rest; just a set of mid-grade materials and equipment wouldn''t be less than 1 million, and high-grade analytical instruments could approach 10 million each.


    Chen Mu never expected to be able to use such luxury items; he was only hoping he could have a card making lab that wouldn''t be considered too shabby. He was quite satisfied with the one he now had. Just then, he only hoped his life could be a little more peaceful. It had been a long time since he''d entered into the mysterious card.


    Chen Mu''s feelings about the mysterious card were rather complicated. It had changed his life, some for the good and some for the bad, but his inquisitiveness about the card hadn''t been extinguished. He wanted to find out who had really made the card that had had such an impact on his life.


    As the day gradually went dark, and he was watching the colorful fantasy card advertisements through the floor-to-ceiling window, Chen Mu''s thoughts took flight. He felt a slight, nameless chill in his heart, and without knowing why, he was spellbound watching those constantly changing fantasy card images.


    "Start the training." Wei-ah''s voice interrupted Chen Mu''s thoughts.


    Chen Mu returned to his senses smiling and put all the irrelevant thoughts to the back of his mind. Wei-ah was standing in front of the piece of equipment he''d designed, looking right at Chen Mu.


    "How do I begin?" Chen Mu asked, steadying his nerves. He was the one who''d taken the initiative to ask Wei-ah for physical training. That battle a few nights before had led him to understand that if he didn''t have the strength to protect himself, then no matter where he was, it would be difficult to guarantee his existence.


    He didn''t quite understand why his previous life was gone forever.


    At times like that, he looked like the 17- or 18-year-old youth that he was.


    "Since what you want is physical training," Wei-ah said without expression, "you''ll only need some comparatively simple exercises."


    The request Chen Mu had made to Wei-ah was to improve the quality of every aspect of his body. He didn''t want to learn to wrestle since the material he had to learn was already too much. He didn''t feel his time just then was well-distributed, so how would he have the time to learn an entirely new system? He understood very clearly the simple principle of not biting off more than he could chew.


    But, Chen Mu felt more than ever that physical training was something he required. Seeing those three card artisans that day¡ªespecially the bar-browed man¡ªhad made a deep impression on him. His movements were agile and quick, and his reactions were fast. For a card artisan to be able to fight in midair placed great demands on the body.


    There was still another reason that had prompted Chen Mu to make his decision; he wanted to train his perception. Though he didn''t know how other people trained their perception, the only method Chen Mu knew was extreme and made huge demands on his body. Chen Mu had never slacked off on his perceptual training, though his improvements had become very slow. Still, Chen Mu could feel improvement.


    He needed to plan for the next phase of study since the demands on his body for the perceptual training he was then doing had gotten rather steep. Although he didn''t know what would come next, he guessed its demands would be still higher. Moreover, Chen Mu was rather worried about the green thread the demonic woman had placed in his body. He''d never forgotten about it, even though he''d only had that one seizure. The green thread had never disappeared. He could very clearly sense its existence whenever he entered the state of breath control.


    He still wasn''t clear about what the green thread actually did, but the pain of that one seizure was etched in his memory. He would need a strong body to resist the green thread until he could find some way to resolve it. He didn''t even know if it would do any good, but it was the only way he could think of.


    It was just for that reason Chen Mu had finally figured out how to divide out a chunk of time from his already packed schedule to advance his physical training.


    Coincidentally, right in front of him was a professional in physical training. Chen Mu even believed there was probably no one in the entire world who would compare with Wei-ah''s authority in that regard. He had seen the power of Wei-ah''s body with his own eyes. Before then, he had never imagined the human body could achieve such strength. He sometimes wondered if such a body were really human.


    Wei-ah was quite refreshing. Once Chen Mu had brought up his request, he responded without another word being said. All of the equipment in the training space had been made according to Wei-ah''s instruction.


    In front of him was one of the pieces of exercise equipment. It was a huge pool, two meters tall and 15 meters long, whose outer shell was made of high-strength fiberglass. The water in the pool was filled to Chen Mu''s chin. The water was flowing, and what Chen Mu had to do was to bear a load going back and forth repeatedly from one end to the other.


    The speed of the water was controllable, and the load could be increased as well. Such drilling could increase strength, energy, and endurance.


    He was carrying a 12-kilogram weight on his back which made Chen Mu look like a turtle. Watching the water flow below him, Chen Mu swallowed hard and turned his head. "Are you sure this is useful?"


    Without raising his eyelids, Wei-ah said, "I did it when I was 10."


    His face red, Chen Mu took in a deep breath and jumped into the pool.


    The water splashed all over, and Chen Mu was a little unstable on his feet. He then suddenly lost his balance, taking in a few mouthfuls of water. After struggling for a while, he was finally able to precariously stand. The water was flowing very fast, and if he were the least bit careless, he would be pushed off balance. Wiping the water off his face, Chen Mu started to walk ahead against the strong current.


    Until then, he had always felt he had a lot of experience in the water. He had soaked in the simple water world for a long time. In order to get the method of making the tailless shuttle card, he had struggled for a long time against the water grass on the bottom, which was as strong as steel cables. That had all enabled him to realize a lot of skills for exerting force in the water.


    But, he had just then discovered the situation in real water was clearly rather different from the simple water world. In a swift current, the situation was even more complicated. He actually spent an entire 20 minutes for those very short 12 meters before he could struggle to the end. And, that was only because he understood something about how to exert power in the water. If he had been an ordinary person in such swiftly flowing water, never mind making progress¡ªhe wouldn''t have even been able to stand.


    Without any expression, Wei-ah turned to leave, dropping the phrase, "Your job for today is to go back and forth 20 times."


    * * *


    Butchie arrived at the shop where she had bought the fiery dragon card last time.


    "Hello, and how may I serve you?" the card salesgirl asked very politely.


    "Hello. I''d like to ask if you know the card master who made this card." Butchie took out the fiery dragon card she''d bought for Paxy a couple of days before.


    The card salesgirl took the card and laughed. "We sell nearly 50 fiery dragon cards here every day, Miss, from many different sources," the card salesgirl patiently explained after sensing Butchie''s outstanding temperament.


    Not being able to avoid being a little disappointed, Butchie suddenly thought of something. "Right. I bought it from your automatic consignment machine. Young miss, can you think about it with me? It''s very important to me!" Butchie begged as she looked anxiously at the card salesgirl. It was lethal for an older sister with a mature temperament to suddenly display such a look.


    The card salesgirl immediately softened as she hastily said, "I''ll look into it for you."


    Butchie immediately piled on the smiles. "That''s so nice of you, miss! Thank you!" The card salesgirl gave a faint smile and activated the apparatus on her wrist, pressing on the communications card.


    Butchie walked over to the automatic consignment vending machine to take a look. The pile of fiery dragon cards was already sold out. She was startled. When she''d bought it that day, there were still at least seven or eight left, and those had now been sold off. Could it be because they were so cheap? Or, was it that there were people like her who had discovered the peculiarities of that fiery dragon card and cleaned them right out?


    After she finished looking at the cards in the vending machine, she was disappointed that she hadn''t found any other cards marked with a "C."


    Just then, the card salesgirl finished her inquiry. Butchie rushed forward, though the card salesgirl was shaking her head apologetically.


    Butchie was crestfallen, though she quickly devised another strategy. "Miss, could you help me with something while you''re working here?"


    The salesgirl was full of good feelings toward Butchie with her mature temperament, and she said with a wide smile, "Of course. It won''t be a problem if it''s something I can do."


    Butchie asked for some paper and a pen, where she wrote down her communications card number and handed it to the card salesgirl. "This is my communications card number. If you see anyone selling cards marked with this kind of ''C,'' would you be able to help me get the card master''s address? Or, please directly connect him with me. I would be eternally grateful!"


    The card salesgirl readily took the number and said, "Very well."


    Coming out from the card shop, Butchie felt lost. She hadn''t thought she would come up so empty after running into such an outstanding card master that time.


    Ai, first go and do your proper work! Butchie pulled herself together and rose up into the sky to fly off toward the northwest corner of Pomelo.

 Chapter 190: Why Did They Come?

    Chapter 190: Why Did They Come?


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    She was sitting in a modern office, which had walls made of floor-to-ceiling glass and a panoramic view of half the city''s scenery in the distance. Card artisans were often seen flying past the windows. The glass was one-way glass; the scenery outside could be seen perfectly from inside, while those outside couldn''t see a thing inside. It was also strong enough to resist powerful energy attacks.


    "This place of yours isn''t bad," Butchie said. She was sitting very casually on a swivel chair in the middle of the office wearing a comfortable expression. There was no sign of the elegant and demure demeanor of a mature woman from a moment ago.


    In front of her was a middle-aged man with a short beard wearing a white suit. He said to her with a laugh, "You''re the same as ever. I''ve always thought the chief was wrong to want you to change you into a lady."


    "I agree." Butchie nodded in full agreement and then leaned back and crossed her feet on the table with a very relaxed expression. Her black evening gown slid off nearly to her thighs to show her satiny, smooth, alluringly bare legs.


    The short-bearded, middle-aged man sneered, "It looks as though all the chief''s work these past few years has been wasted." But, then he thought of something and said with a light laugh, "I guess you haven''t been having such a good time these past few years. You''ve had your fill of etiquette classes, ha, ha!" Then, seeming to remember something interesting, he smiled.


    Butchie gave him a chilly look. "I hate the etiquette class, especially Old Lady Fei. She is simply one of the scariest creatures on Earth."


    "I''m surprised. Why did the chief send you this time?" He had an expression of incomprehension as he said it.


    Butchie retracted the unconcerned expression on her face and pulled back her long legs to sit up straight. "This is a very serious matter."


    The short-bearded man was a little surprised. "Has something happened?"


    "The chief says the situation has changed. We are to maintain our current foundation, and we need to expand outward." Butchie''s tone was strong and direct. Her eyes flashed, and her expression was firm and dignified.


    What she said gave the middle-aged man a jolt, and he couldn''t hide the shock in his eyes. The chief hadn''t said much, but a lot of information had come through what he did say.


    "We have to take down the Central Island Firm, no matter how we do it. Their current research program would have a huge impact on what we do, and we must do whatever it takes to get it." Butchie looked very serious.


    "Has the chief gotten some news?" the short-bearded, middle-aged man asked with suspicion. He had never known what program the Central Island Firm was advancing, which made him inwardly ashamed because he was responsible for Pomelo. In the end, it would be his dereliction that he hadn''t become aware of it at all.


    "You don''t need to feel bad. The chief isn''t trying to blame you. He just accidentally came across the information, so he sent me." Butchie''s explanation was also to comfort the short-bearded, middle-aged man.


    He suddenly thought of something and couldn''t help but frown, saying, "Could those people be after the Central Island Project?"


    "Right." Butchie lay back on the chair lazily with her recent neat and skillful look nowhere to be seen on her face anymore. She was muttering, "Those damned guys. Who knows where they came from? I thought they were going on vacation. Have you looked into that gang''s background?"


    The short-bearded, middle-aged man shook his head and said cautiously, "No. But, I sent someone to feel them out. They are quite powerful and have carefully kept themselves hidden. I''ve already reported on the matter. If they''re our adversary, I won''t have enough strength on hand."


    "Oh, they already got your report upstairs," Butchie said with a deep voice. "You don''t have to worry about strength. The chief will be sending us reinforcements after a few days."


    The short-bearded, middle-aged man considered that before saying, "I''d like to know what our goal really is. What kind of program is it, and do I have sufficient authority? That sort of thing."


    "Your authority extends to this level." Butchie sat up again and said sternly, "The chief got some information. The Central Island Firm is just now advancing a secret research project. It''s an entirely new communications card, which uses a much better mode of communications than the one we have now. The most important thing is that it can be used in the outer reaches. You know how useful that is. And, it''s been said they have already had a breakthrough."


    The short-bearded, middle-aged man was even less able to keep still, his whole face showing disbelief as he subconsciously murmured, "This...how could this be?"


    To be able to maintain communications in the outer reaches¡ªof course he understood the practical value of that project. The thing that had been hindering humanity from expanding wasn''t those powerful wild animals nor the sinister jungle; rather, it was that as soon as people entered the jungle, they would always lose their direction.


    Moreover, large-scale teams basically had no way to enter the jungle. What blocked them was the issue of communication. Large-scale mobilizations could never work without some means for effective communication.


    Up until then and all throughout history, the ones who had found the transit windows had all entered the jungle alone. Their deeds had a strong character of individual heroism that was memorable, though it was actually something they had no choice about.


    There were myriad risks in the jungles of the outer reaches, but at the same time, there was boundless treasure and natural resources there. Over the course of history, there had been quite a few firms that had the notion of conquering the outer reaches. During the wildest period, there were even large firms composed of 200,000 card artisans who would enter the jungle. There were only 77 who ever returned from such activities alive. Ever since then, organizing such large numbers of card artisans had become less and less common. By now, there wasn''t any firm likely to do such a foolish thing.


    But, what would it mean if the Central Island Firm''s project were to succeed?


    That would mean they would be on the verge of an era of large-scale marches into the outer reaches! The current small-sized expeditionary teams would gradually decrease, and it would become an era for the organization and planning of large-scale expeditions.


    Whoever could get hold of that technology would be at the forefront of the era. The short-bearded, middle-aged man''s face had turned red and his breathing rapid as he became excited to understand the value of what it entailed.


    And, even beyond the resources in the outer reaches were the transit windows!


    Those portals to other worlds had always existed in the outer reaches; at least the transit windows connecting two regions in the federation had all been found in the outer reaches. It was set by federation law that whoever discovered a transit window would get ten percent of the tax on trade between the two districts for a period of 100 years, in addition to a huge bounty. There were other benefits beyond those, such as large numbers of preferential trading rights and so forth.


    The ten percent of trade tariffs between two regions for a period of 100 years would be enough to excite any firm in the federation.


    That was also why there were so many who wanted to brave mortal dangers to enter the jungle. Most of them¡ªreally 99 percent of them¡ªwould be buried in the jungle. But, the one or two lucky ones were enough to stimulate wave after wave of people plunging into the jungle.


    Such news was invaluable to any firm. The short-bearded, middle-aged man couldn''t help but honor the chief; such news about the Central Island Firm would have to be classified as top secret. It could be seen how well the Central Island Firm had protected its secrets since he hadn''t previously heard the slightest word of it. And, for the chief to have gotten the news from 1,000 kilometers away would have to hit anyone with how well-connected the chief was.


    Still, he had some sudden doubts. "Given the mediocre power of the Central Island Firm, how could they research such a communications technology?"


    He knew something of the ins and outs of the Central Island Firm, and although it was a large firm, it was still a long way from the top firms of the Heavenly Federation. And, none of those top colossuses had made any progress with such a project. How would such a regional firm as the Central Island Group be able to achieve such results? If he hadn''t known it was the chief who''d gotten the information, he would have certainly considered it fake news.


    "I don''t know either." Butchie shrugged charmingly. That simple, casual gesture was accompanied by a myriad of flirtatious looks.


    The short-bearded, middle-aged man averted his gaze. He knew even he, who was so normally unmoved, would be provoked by that man-killer, who had been cultivated toward such mercurial temperament by the chief. There wouldn''t have been one among the young talents who would have been able to turn a blind eye.


    Thinking about Butchie surrounded by a gang of handsome men suddenly excited him, and a small smile appeared in the corner of his mouth. But, he wouldn''t worry about Butchie''s safety given his knowledge of her power.


    * * *


    Chen Mu was lying on the floor like a dead dog, his whole body soaked. He stared dumbly at the ceiling, his mind utterly blank. That training just then had sapped all his energy, and his brain was in a state of complete emptiness.


    After a full ten minutes, he gradually came around. He struggled to stand, not seeing any sign of Wei-ah. He could see the closed door out of the corner of his eye, finding himself in a quiet-room. Chen Mu had always been curious about what Wei-ah would do in a quiet-room.


    His entire body was limp, and he walked as though he were walking on a pile of cotton. The thing he needed most just then was rest, but unfortunately there was still something he had to take care of.


    Bu Qiangdong had been waiting for him downstairs, having something very important to report. Without any recourse, Chen Mu put on his clothes and dragged his tired-to-death body off to listen to Bu Qiangdong''s report.

 Chapter 191: A Bold Idea

    Chapter 191: A Bold Idea


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Pushing open the door to the office, he found that Bu Qiangdong had been waiting there a long time. He rushed to stand when he saw Chen Mu enter.


    "What is it?" Chen Mu asked tersely.


    Carefully assessing the expression on the boss''s face, Bu Qiangdong immediately saw he wasn''t in great spirits. He was pretty good at reading expressions and knew he would have to make his long story short.


    "We''ve distributed everything we completed, Boss. Based on your instructions, we''ve put the Heaven''s Wings logo on all of our work." Bu Qiangdong spoke very carefully, but even though he was restrained in his speech, it was hard to hide his excitement.


    By then, he endlessly admired the young new boss. But, it wasn''t only him; everyone was in awe of the boss. If it weren''t for the boss''s template, and if they''d had to rely on their own power, they would never have been able to make such fine works. They had expended so much energy just to imitate him. That was why they''d felt the imponderable depths of the boss''s skills still more profoundly.


    They hadn''t originally understood what the boss was trying to do. It had finally dawned on them when Chen Mu had them put the Heaven''s Wings logo on each fantasy card, as well as in the corner of the emitted images. That was how the boss had been planning to establish their brand all along!


    Everyone was both admiring the boss''s long outlook and marveling at his power. It was probably only by drawing on such deep skill that he could be so bold with his strategy. They thought about those public service announcements, which would be around for several years; they would provide Heaven''s Wings with so much virtual advertising. And, the study material for students was still more perfect marketing. Bu Qiangdong was even considering selling the teaching materials since he believed there would be quite a market for them.


    Chen Mu didn''t actually know everyone''s opinion of him had undergone such a complete transformation during that brief time.


    What did he know about strategy? The reason he''d sent Bu Qiangdong out to get public service work was only because such work was always so well-received. He wanted to quickly find out the actual abilities of his employees. If they were good, then he might as well give it a try; if they had no ability, then he would certainly dissolve Heaven''s Wings. As for the matter of the logo, that was something he''d learned from Copper. He thought of the year when the card plays signed by "Wood-Cop" had been so well-received in Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    It was all a complete fluke for Chen Mu. When he saw Bu Qiangdong''s fiery look, he didn''t quite understand and was disinclined to take much notice. Chen Mu didn''t have any response to Bu Qiangdong''s report.


    Was it really anything so important?


    Still, Chen Mu didn''t intend to dash Bu Qiangdong''s enthusiasm, so he nodded, saying, "Mmmm, well done." Having put in only a short time as a leader, he already knew the basics.


    Bu Qiangdong''s expression became more animated. "We''ve just taken in several pieces of business, Boss. Although they aren''t large, your strategy has really been brilliant!" The boss was the boss after all, and seeing Chen Mu''s face so composed, Bu Qiangdong became simply adoring.


    The news had given the rather fatigued Chen Mu a bit of a boost. As long as there was business, he wasn''t going to belittle it. Was there anything less profitable than to make one-star power cards? He had made those for three full years, and he wasn''t going to stop making them because he thought the money wasn''t good. Besides, that gang had to put up the money so he could have some leisure.


    "Mmmm. Do a good job with those." Chen Mu gave Bu Qiangdong some encouragement.


    Chen Mu didn''t take a rest when he returned to the training space upstairs. Having been interrupted by Bu Qiangdong, he felt as though his energy had been somewhat restored.


    He was entranced sitting there looking at the pool. The water in it was perfectly smooth and looked like a huge crystal from a distance, without any of the raging rapids from just before. Chen Mu sneered; before then, he had thought he knew a lot about water. He now understood how far he fell short. But, when he thought about it seriously, it was all quite normal. No matter how realistic what a fantasy card made was¡ªor how excellent ¡ªin the end, it was not real.


    He didn''t do anything more than train his perception and break the water grass in the simple water world, naively thinking he had already become extremely familiar with water. Then, for those last few days, he''d deeply felt that, while it seemed easy, moving forward in the water held hidden within it some deep knowledge. That knucklehead Wei-ah had once demonstrated how he could advance like a cheetah in the water, which had left Chen Mu gape-mouthed and staring.


    The raging flow of water seemed not to have any influence on Wei-ah, which filled Chen Mu with envy to see.


    Sitting on the ground and looking at the transparent pool in front of him, Chen Mu looked blank. His mind was unconsciously going over the experience of those last few days. His biggest impression was that the feeling of real water was quite different from the water in the simple water world.


    A sudden thought jumped out at him.


    What might happen if he were to train his perception in real water?


    Yes, if he were to train his perception in real water, what kind of results would he get? The extreme perceptual training he was doing then used a water environment to stimulate a rapid rise in his perception.


    The thought hit him like lightning striking his mind, and he felt a powerful impulse to immediately try out his idea. Then, he quickly calmed down, staring at the transparent pool, his brain spinning. With issues involving perception, he couldn''t afford to be the least bit reckless.


    He quickly realized the crux of the issue. If he could train in water, then why would the maker of the mysterious card specifically make the simple water world?


    Thinking about it for a long time, he couldn''t find any resolution, so he just took a different angle: what was the difference between the simple water world and real water?


    Comparing them, Chen Mu quickly found where the issue was. The simple water world was very similar to real water in every other aspect; while they were different, the differences weren''t large. The only basic difference was breathing. One could breathe very naturally in the simple water world, while there wasn''t any way to do that in real-world water.


    The more he thought about it, the more excited he got. He''d grasped that it was certainly the most crucial aspect. Though, he still harbored a few misgivings about how the one who had established that sort of training in the beginning had thought of it. Could he also have had a simple water world fantasy card? If not, then how had he solved the issue?


    Chen Mu was sitting alone quietly in the training room, his brow furrowed in thought.


    There wasn''t any way to breathe in water. It was a very lethal place. Perceptual training had always required several hours or even more. Without relying on other tools, Chen Mu could only last about ten minutes underwater. That was his limit. And, ten minutes was too short for perceptual training.


    But, there wasn''t any kind of tool yet to enable someone to freely breathe underwater. After all, to exercise one''s perception required the devotion of one''s entire spirit, which was a wonderful state where one would become unconscious while remaining both sensitive and sluggish in reaction to his surroundings. The sensitivity was because the six senses would become acute, and the sluggishness was expressed through the movements. There was basically no way under that state to effectively control one''s own body.


    After thinking about it a long time, Chen Mu felt he needed to give it a try. Thinking it over, he knocked on a quiet-room that had its door closed. After a few seconds, Wei-ah opened the door, showing his stone-like face. "What is it?"


    "I need you to help me with something," Chen Mu said.


    Without asking what it was, Wei-ah walked straight out of the quiet-room.


    Noticing Wei-ah looking at him, Chen Mu considered for a moment and said, "I''ll stay in the pool for a while. Pay attention to my situation, and if you find any trouble with my breathing, then fish me out. Just like that."


    Without asking why, Wei-ah said smartly, "Ok."


    Having Wei-ah''s protection, Chen Mu''s mind relaxed quite a bit. That way, he didn''t have to worry about anything happening while he was training.


    Climbing onto the pool, Chen Mu gave Wei-ah a look and put the weight from before on his back. He jumped into the pool.


    Having undergone so many days of training in the pool, Chen Mu was already familiar with it. Just as before, the water reached up to his chin. Standing in the water, He spent a whole five minutes to settle himself. He put all the miscellaneous thoughts out of his mind in his heightened state of concentration.


    Taking in a deep breath, Chen Mu gradually submerged.


    Once he''d entered the water, it seemed as though the entire world was far away, and the noises were abruptly reduced. Once he started to enter the water, the water in his ears and nose made him a little uncomfortable, though he quickly got used to it. The water was like a barrier, cutting him off from the outside world while his mind was strangely serene.


    Knowing he couldn''t support himself very long on a single breath, he didn''t waste any time. He immediately focused his mind to start the everyday training that was so familiar to him. He quickly entered the state, benefitting from his ordinary persistence in the training, no matter the circumstances. That was why he was able to get rid of the distractions so quickly.


    His perception started to ripple like water, and the spiral spring of perception in his body started to spin regularly.


    It was a different kind of feeling.


    The perceptual tendrils that emanated from the spiral spring were very difficult to control in the water. With only the slightest ripple, the perceptual tendrils would float along with the water, not at all responsive to his control. Chen Mu had no way to know the situation would be like that; the perceptual tendrils were normally like obedient children. Now, in the water, they had suddenly become naughty.


    Chen Mu couldn''t do anything but to expend all of his effort on controlling the perceptual tendrils, though the difficulty was far beyond what he had imagined. After only a moment, the dense perceptual tendrils had been reduced by half. His perceptions were influenced by the undercurrents in the water and lost contact with Chen Mu as they dispersed.


    Chen Mu quickly became flustered, grabbing at one while losing the other, without being able to stop the perceptual tendrils he''d sent out from fading. The situation in real water was a lot more complicated than the simple water world. If one were to say the simple water world was like a light shower, then the real water was like a raging storm.


    Chen Mu was like a little sampan being tossed in the wind and rain.

 Chapter 192: The Murderous Aura

    Chapter 192: The Murderous Aura


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The imperceptible, fine currents were relentless under the water. Chen Mu''s originally strong perception became as weak as paper there, and if he were the least bit careless, it might be broken apart by those fine flows. The complexity of the flows was far beyond what Chen Mu could then control, which put him in a difficult situation.


    It was hundreds of times more complex than the simple water world. Chen Mu now understood a little bit about why it had been called that. The one who had made the mysterious card had also understood how different the card was from real-world water. That was why he had called it the simple water world.


    But, Chen Mu didn''t retreat. On the contrary, he felt faintly excited. He had been caught up in the slow phase of increasing his perception for a long time, where its increase was like hair, growing one strand at a time. Although that hadn''t made Chen Mu anxious, he had now accidentally discovered a shortcut that would speed up the increase in his perception.


    The basic premise of his "extreme training method" was that the simple water world involved a lot of pressure, which would constantly refine his perception. His perception would then improve quickly. As he pursued the continual strengthening of his perception, the more he adapted to the simple water world, the less difference there would be between it and the normal world. Chen Mu would feel the pressure decreasing at the same time the increase to his perception had hit a bottleneck.


    Now, he had found a new way to resume the feeling of pressure! It was everywhere and in every orifice with its incessant, fine flows that made him feel like he would go crazy. It was also much more brutal than the simple water world. In the simple water world, the pressure he''d faced would always be precisely just beyond his perceptual strength, putting him just beyond the state he could bear from beginning to end. But, in real water, those complex flows didn''t care if he could bear them or not. That tore into his brain and drove him crazy. That kind of pressure was more direct, as well as more powerful.


    The perception within Chen Mu''s body was getting weaker and weaker as the situation around him was becoming more and more confused. It was a manifestation of the disappearance of a large part of his perception. The scope of perception was a lot smaller than in the air; if he were to use it, its rate of consumption would be a lot faster.


    Mental arousal was not enough to cause a person''s body to make a similar response. All of Chen Mu''s attention was spent on how to control what remained of his perceptual tendrils, and he was unaware of how much time was passing. Without knowing it, the oxygen in his blood had been gradually depleted.


    The depletion of the oxygen in his blood could made him feel dizzy. Chen Mu wasn''t paying attention to that detail, thinking it was the influence of his own rapidly depleting perception.


    The suffering on his face could be vaguely discerned through the glass of the pool.


    Wei-ah was already standing on the platform to the side of the pool prepared to fish Chen Mu out at any time.


    The surroundings became more and more fuzzy as his perception was constantly being torn apart by the trickles in the water, leaving only a small part remaining. The depletion of oxygen in his body was accelerating the consumption of perception until Chen Mu''s consciousness started to gradually blur. The sounds and images became distant all at once.


    His mind had become blank.


    Watching from the platform, Wei-ah could see Chen Mu was at his limit with his face ashen and without a drop of blood. The water had already started to rush into his mouth, and bubbles were gurgling up.


    Just then, Wei-ah''s eyes changed their expression and narrowed as he turned his head and cast his gaze to the window. A powerful surge of a murderous aura came from where Wei-ah was standing, and it was as though the temperature in the training room had dropped several degrees. Even the white lights seemed to have chilled.


    In the water, the dizzy Chen Mu felt enshrouded in a chill. Stimulated by it, he immediately awakened from his unconscious state! Chen Mu was frightened by the powerful murderous aura at first, having just been restored to his senses. He felt as though he were an ant in the storms of winter without any means of resistance. His blood congealed, and his body hardened while an unfathomable terror arose from the deepest reaches of his heart.


    He was just then unconsciously gathering his own remaining threads of perception to resist the powerful surge of the murderous aura. In that busy instant, he forgot about those incessantly flowing, tiny ripples in the water. After his overwhelming fear, the desire for survival was as tenacious as spring to follow winter. Under the threat of death and its stimulation, Chen Mu felt a clarity and calm such as he had never experienced. The perception within his body suddenly become clearer than ever with every finest detail at his fingertips. And, the perception he had just felt so difficult to control seemed to have been given a jolt as it became incomparably docile. No matter how much Chen Mu manipulated it, it was compliant beyond anything he had never experienced.


    The murderous aura was exceedingly powerful, in front of which Chen Mu''s resistance had become more like a praying mantis instead of an ant in the ice and snow. Chen Mu was so cold in the water his teeth were rattling, and his body was trembling. With all of his energy focused on resisting the murderous aura, Chen Mu hadn''t paid attention to his internal perception having increased at such a shocking rate.


    Outside the window, a dark shadow flew off and disappeared into the distance like a startled, large bird.


    Wei-ah didn''t go in pursuit, as he was preparing to bend down and fish out the already exhausted Chen Mu. Just as he was bending over and as his gaze attached to Chen Mu in the water, there was a sudden burst of light in his eyes. He halted his movements to stand.


    * * *


    Without any decorum, Butchie opened the short-bearded, middle-aged man''s liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of red wine, grabbing the neck with her right hand and lightly twisting it. She let out a whistle and contentedly took it halfway down the neck, having just inadvertently cut off the entire mouth of the bottle, leaving the cut gleaming like a mirror.


    "Can''t you do it the ordinary way?" Clearly displeased with the way Butchie had opened it, the short-bearded, middle-aged man was looking at his very expensive and fine bottle of red wine.


    Not thinking anything of it, Butchie said, "This is more convenient!" She was just getting ready to pour the wine when she suddenly lifted her head.


    The expression on her face suddenly froze. It then quickly turned serious, her gaze turning to the houses not far away.


    "What a powerful murderous aura!" The phrase contained seven parts praise and two parts astonishment, along with one part excitement.


    "What happened?" Without having felt a thing, the short-bearded, middle-aged man was looking at Butchie full of curiosity. But, his expression became surprisingly serious; he had full confidence in Butchie''s power. Within the organization, there was only a handful of card artisans as awesome as Butchie. She had certainly discovered something; a card artisan''s perception was extremely sensitive.


    "There is a scary ace over there who just emitted an extremely powerful murderous aura. I never thought Pomelo would actually have such aces." Butchie clucked her cheek and gazed through the glass to where the forest of apartments was and said, not having quite expressed herself, "The most critical thing is the murderous aura! Who knew there could actually to be such a chilling murderous aura in this world? That would have to be some kind of ruthless ace."


    "Does Pomelo have such an ace? Why haven''t I heard of it?" The wondering look on the face of the short-bearded, middle-aged man deepened. He understood Butchie''s temperament very well, with her eyes always gazing over the top. For her to actually use "terrifying" to describe a person shocked him and naturally piqued his curiosity.


    Just then, Butchie''s gaze froze as it fell onto the dark night sky.


    "Interesting!" A hard-to-describe smile floated to the corners of her mouth. "It looks like it was just the bug provoking the lion. Ha, ha, I''ll go and get him." She got a mask from who knows where and put it on her face. She pushed open the window and flew off without a word of parting.


    Before the short-bearded, middle-aged man could say a thing, Butchie had disappeared without a trace, leaving him shaking his head with regret. Afterward, he contentedly grabbed the bottle of red wine and poured himself a glass. "What a waste!"


    One in desperate flight and the other in pursuit, they were naturally very different.


    The one dressed all in black and wearing a mask on his face was the dark one. There were no designs nor anything special about the mask. The black mask and black clothes made him look like a ghost in the dark.


    Butchie wore a black and red mask, which gave off a desolate and eerie feeling. Watching the black shadow in front of her, she became more and more stunned. The black-suited card artisan in front of her had more skill than she might have imagined. He made a series of highly difficult tactical maneuvers that nearly threw her off. While she had originally looked down on that "little reptile," he had now gotten 120 percent of her attention. His moves weren''t like hers, though the differences were minimal. She had considered her movements to be covert and her adversary to be unaware of her. But, once her adversary had suddenly used a set of moves with such a high degree of difficulty, the intent was obvious. He had discovered her.


    Her adversary was extremely vigilant and powerful. He was no ordinary character! Thinking back on the one who had emitted the murderous aura, she became still more terrified. How long could she hold out against the power of the black-suited adversary in front of her who had fled from the murderous aura?


    The more she thought about it, the more alarmed she became. When had Pomelo produced so many aces?

 Chapter 193: A Fierce Battle

    Chapter 193: A Fierce Battle


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The black-suited man in front of her was suddenly diverted by a powerful lateral force on his extended body floating in midair, and he flashed into the space between the buildings. The battle maneuver was very abrupt, and Butchie was nearly caught unprepared as she uttered a chill grunt and rose up in hot pursuit.


    She felt pent-up frustration from her chest. Her adversary''s move was too abrupt! She put a huge force on her body as she powerfully changed direction herself. Her move also revealed her intentions.


    Without any hesitation, the black-suited man responded with five wavy blades in his raised hand. The five silvery wavy blades left stunning, glowing trails, which stung Butchie''s eyes with their silvery flash. What awed her still more was that the five wavy blades were scattered all over, nearly sealing off any angle for escape.


    The wavy blades were fast. The had already made it in front of Butchie before the whistling sound they made as they tore through the air reached her ears. Her reaction wasn''t slow; she just managed to deploy her orange-colored oval energy cloak to block them.


    There was a light popping like rippling water as they hit the orange oval energy cloak, and then Butchie''s field of vision went blurry.


    What she was then using was the "orange," which came from a card master in the organization who specialized in energy cloaks. The orange was an unintended result of the card master''s experimentation. Because of its orange color, it was too easy to see when it was deployed in the dark, which meant no one wanted it. Butchie once saw it by accident and was deeply attracted by its soft, mellow orange. She immediately begged the card master for it. In her subsequent experimentation, the orange demonstrated excellent performance, which immediately got everyone''s attention. Moreover, the card master never made another one, so that orange-colored energy cloak became Butchie''s trademark within the organization.


    Damn! Butchie''s expression changed. She hadn''t thought her adversary''s move would be so ruthless once she saw it. Reflecting to herself, it looked as though that little bout had gone too easily and that she had dropped her guard too much. She pulled together all of her energy, but because she had lost the initiative, she had fallen into a passive position without realizing it.


    Then, the black-suited man gave her another surprise.


    He basically didn''t have any intention of letting her go. Without any pause and just as she was raising her shield, countless silvery, moon-like wavy blades came pouring down from his right hand and just kept coming.


    The silvery-moon wavy blades were raining down all over and pounding against the orange energy cloak.


    The attacks were coming on too quickly. Her adversary wasn''t giving her any breathing space; she could only grit her teeth and hold out. There was no room for any counterattack.


    She was full of fury, not knowing when she''d last been in such dire straits. Five years ago? She couldn''t quite remember anymore. But, she was certain it had already been a long time. Since she''d already lost the initiative, she could only stay on defense for the time being.


    But, was it possible her adversary was going to give her the chance to fight back? The lethal silvery-moon wavy blades were as dense as rain and seemed inexhaustible enough fill a person with hopelessness.


    With the energy in her apparatus rapidly depleting, the one staying down that day would certainly be her. Butchie didn''t lose her fight because of that. As a card artisan with rich battle experience, the more difficult things became, the more calm she would become.


    Any look of impetuousness and contempt vanished from Butchie''s face, replaced by a deep calm with a hint of ruthlessness. Her snow-white, long legs were showing through her evening gown, which created a different kind of allure under the light reflected from the orange.


    Now! Without the least hesitation, she suddenly made the same kind of high-altitude drift! Her energy cloak dimmed slightly since she was distracted by controlling her jet stream card, and the orange couldn''t avoid being influenced. When several silvery-moon wavy blades landed on it, the energy cloak shook violently.


    Butchie''s face was as calm as water, and her eyes were fixed as her body lurched to the side from high speed.


    Originally, one of them had been following the other between the buildings in high-speed flight. While such flight was actually quite dangerous¡ªonly those card artisans with outstanding flying ability would dare it¡ªthe kind of flying Butchie and the black-suited man were doing was still more rare.


    Off in the distance, there were already quite a few card artisans who''d noticed the battle from the air. It was hard for the sensitive card artisans not to pay attention to the energy waves left by the black-suited man''s moves. But, no one dared to approach; the concentration of silvery wavy blades was enough to scare them half to death. Even those who weren''t afraid to die would still only dare to look from afar at the scene of the fierce battle. It had always been difficult to be able to watch a battle among aces, so to be able to see it in person would be of great assistance to their own improvement.


    The card artisans floating in midair were staring fixedly at the battle scene as it unfolded for fear of missing a single detail. Among them, there was a youth with an elegant temperament watching the two, slightly surprised, while differently colored lights flashed in his eyes.


    He suddenly heard someone beside him open up his communications card, panting, to say, "Hurry up! I''m in the northwest corner! There''s a war over here, and man it''s nice! If we could broadcast it live, good lord! We would spike our viewership! What? You say it wouldn''t be up to the war between the Gemini and the Chill Woman? Are you f**king kidding me? You think the battles among the Big Six are a bargain? They are all over the place. Don''t drag this out. If you don''t want this month''s bonus, I sure do. Bring the f**king stuff here now; the sooner the better!"


    A bald fatty with a head full of sweat was facing the image on the communications card with spit flying. The youth next to him couldn''t help but smile.


    A cold, neat sucking sound arose, and the youth was startled. He quickly returned his gaze to the battle. He could only see the orange glowing ball suddenly float directly into the space between the buildings from a high spot. The move made the youth''s eyes suddenly flash.


    "Good lord! Is that guy nuts? Does he want to kill himself?" the bald fatty beside him was mumbling.


    What he''d said wasn''t off-base. Given such high speed, to suddenly turn into the space between high buildings wasn''t much different from seeking death. There were two tall buildings level with the direction of her flight, and the distance between them wasn''t more than 100 meters. It had to be known that at such high speed it was basically impossible to stop within 100 meters. The only possible result would be to ram into the side of the building. Slamming into a building head-on at such high speed, she wouldn''t be safe even with her energy cloak to protect her.


    Having missed their objective, the silvery-moon wavy blades were detonating like rain at the spot on the building where she would have been.


    Pa, pa, pa, like a rainstorm on banana leaves, they left very clear, shiny marks on the windows of the tall building. All of the floor-to-ceiling windows on the building were made of high-strength, steel-reinforced glass that had excellent protective capabilities. They could resist most energy attacks. But, it showed how powerful the dazzling, silvery wavy blades were that they could so easily leave marks.


    Many of the card artisans gathered around watching looked indignant. They hadn''t realized the black-suited man in front of them would actually behave in such a deadly manner in the city like that without any misgivings. If they hadn''t been restrained by how strong the black-suited man''s power was, they would have taken immediate action and beaten the crazy wrecker to a pulp.


    Because of a what was happening in front of them, they were more concerned about the yellowish glow. In their minds, the black-suited man had already been turned into the villain, while the yellow glow was subconsciously made into the good guy.


    Butchie''s high-altitude drift greatly exceeded what the black-suited man had expected, and he suddenly lost track of her. But, he never got flustered and never stopped; rather, he continued to maintain his rapid forward flight. The farther apart they got, no matter how his adversary responded, he still occupied an invincible position. He wasn''t the kind of person who would quibble, and that murderous woman suddenly appearing along the way had rather brought him up short. He wasn''t the sort to seek out the light, and the crowd gathered nearby had alarmed him, which quickly made him want to get out of there.


    The spectators suddenly erupted into a burst of admiration.


    "Too splendid!"


    "Is that even possible?"


    "My word, am I watching a ghost?"


    * * *


    That youth among them couldn''t help his startled look.


    Butchie shot out like an artillery shell into the space between the two buildings. She closed the distance at a stunning rate, causing quite a few of them to helplessly close their eyes. When she was about 70 meters away from the building, everyone assumed that no matter how awesome the card artisan within the yellow glow was, she would be a goner for sure. But, just then, Butchie executed a maneuver the spectators would be reflecting on for some time.


    She executed half a U-turn ricochet swoop!


    The so-called U-turn ricochet swoop was the card artisan abruptly swooping straight down from high altitude and then suddenly pulling up very near the ground to make a high speed vertical climb. Because the flight trajectory would be U-shaped, it was called a U-turn ricochet swoop. It was a tactical maneuver with an extremely high level of difficulty that also made very heavy demands on a card artisan''s physical fitness and flying ability. The most difficult part of the tactical maneuver was how close together the swoop and climb were; the closer they were, the more difficult it would be. The standard separation was 200 meters.


    What Butchie executed was half of the U-turn ricochet swoop, as well as half of the vertical climb. To see her suddenly climb at such high speed and then to stretch out such an exaggerated arc within a distance of 70 meters, and then afterward to stick so close to the glass walls of the building while she climbed straight up¡­ And, that time, her distance from the building''s wall was less than 20 centimeters, which was beyond dangerous.


    From there it could be seen still better how powerful she was! To execute a half U-turn ricochet swoop within the space of 70 meters was a piece of data sufficient to make a person''s blood fizz.


    While the battle was raging between the two and when Butchie competed that gorgeous maneuver, Chen Mu was slowly opening his eyes in the pool.

 Chapter 194: Worries

    Chapter 194: Worries


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu came shooting out of the water hiding his pleasure with some difficulty, though he was such a calm and cool person. Wei-ah remained impassive as though nothing had happened and saw Chen Mu without looking at him.


    "What did you just discover?" Chen Mu couldn''t help but ask.


    "There was someone hiding in ambush by the window, and I scared him off." Wei-ah turned about and walked toward the quiet-room while dropping a phrase, "Don''t bother me unless something''s wrong."


    Chen Mu smiled bitterly to himself, only then understanding where that murderous aura, which seemed dropped from an icehouse, had just come from. Wei-ah''s power had once again stunned Chen Mu, with the murderous aura so heavy and cold. It was hard to imagine how terrifying that move would be if Wei-ah used all this strength! Wei-ah''s power had so stunned Chen Mu it had broken right through his recent excitement and made clear to him what a little rookie he still was.


    Chen Mu didn''t know how others might respond to the situation, but he had always strongly felt that every time his own strength increased, he would realize how weak and small he was. That was indeed strange!


    The breakthrough that time had greatly exceeded his expectations. He had originally hoped to find some kind of method to increase his own perception more quickly. But, when he''d received that bout of Wei-ah''s murderous aura, he''d profited from the catastrophe with a surge to his perception. His body''s perception by then had shot up a full 20 percent. That wouldn''t have meant much at the start, but it was undoubtedly a qualitative transformation for Chen Mu at that point.


    More importantly, Chen Mu had found a truly effective method. He didn''t mind whether there was similar content as he reviewed the results from his extreme training. What he did care about was whether such methods were useful or not and what the results were. Since he''d gotten such deadly pressure in the water just then, the powerful desire to survive that had burst forth had provoked a marvelous transformation in his body. The most evident aspect was the length of time he could remain in the water.


    He''d done some testing, and he could now remain for about 25 minutes on a single breath, which was much longer than the previous ten minutes.


    He wasn''t very clear about the specific reason for that, but it still wasn''t a bad thing no matter what anyone said. Not being able to understand why it was, Chen Mu put the matter aside for the moment since he was still busy with other matters just then.


    For his perception to improve by 20 percent was like a person who weighed 50 kilos to suddenly add ten kilos of flesh. Such perception was really unimaginably wonderful. Chen Mu was then faced with the worries that the sudden rise in his perception would make his six senses more astute than ever.


    Slight noises he had originally been able to ignore were now like dozens of mosquitoes humming in his ears. Even his pores had become suddenly more sensitive, and he would accurately capture every slightest breath of air. The problem was that what he didn''t want to capture would plug up his brain just the same.


    His hearing had also shot up to where he could even very clearly hear Bu Qiangdong berating the other employees downstairs. That wasn''t very fortunate for him either.


    Chen Mu hadn''t gotten any joy from the increase to his perception within those few brief hours. On the contrary, he felt he had been suddenly thrown into a marshy pit without any way to resist and only being able to bear it in silence.


    Although Chen Mu didn''t have any way to get rid of those damned issues, he had found a way to temporarily resolve them, which was the quiet-room. In the quiet-room, not only would he be able to avoid the noise outside, but the air flows were also a lot better there. He wondered if that could have been why Wei-ah would duck into the quiet-room.


    Ai, it looked as though he could only first enter the quiet-room to find any way to resolve the issue.


    * * *


    Butchie wasn''t in the mood to evaluate how well she''d executed that tactical maneuver because she had already lost track of the black-suited man! His disappearance seemed to happen entirely without warning, and she had quickly lost any response from him. That nearly scared Butchie out of her wits.


    If he were looking to evade such a high-grade card artisan as Butchie, it wouldn''t be a simple matter. She''d run into stealth aces before, though she''d never run into a situation like the one she was confronting then: a sudden disappearance in the midst of battle. In the midst of battle, perception and power waves were a lot more powerful than normal. Card artisans needed to deploy their perception to lock on and fire with the energy bodies never released from perception along the way. If he''d wanted to hide, he would have had to restrain his breathing, which would have naturally included his perception.


    To release one and restrain the other wasn''t so difficult, but to complete the entire process from release to restraint in an extremely short period, like 0.5 seconds, implied a level of difficulty more than several orders of magnitude greater.


    It wasn''t like there weren''t such card artisans in the world who could enter that realm in the midst of battle. For example, 30 years prior there was the "transparent man," Peng Hao. His reputation flourished for a while as the fabulous card artisan from the Repository of the Classics who had vanquished 20 of the most prominent card artisans of the period in the space of a year. It was said that even while he was in the midst of battle, he could abruptly hide his breathing at will and make a sneak attack. That''s where the nickname "transparent man" came from.


    But, such an ace as Peng Hao would be a top card artisan without exception many times above her own level.


    Could she have encountered such an ace? Butchie immediately nixed such a notion. She was very clear about her own stature, and if such an ace had arrived, she would likely lose just facing him. She would never have been able to battle fiercely for so long.


    Thinking hard about it, the only resolution was that the black-suited man had some special skill in that regard. Butchie had better just accept the facts; although she''d been somewhat lacking that evening, it had allowed her to establish her vigilant heart, which wasn''t all bad. And, she''d only wanted to probe the black-suited man a little.


    Butchie couldn''t help but feel somewhat bleak to run into two such aces in the course of a single day. That was especially when she thought about the seeming distance between herself and the black-suited man, who when faced with the cold murderous aura was only able to escape in panic. That didn''t sit right with her. It meant it would have been the same result even if she''d changed. What worried her still more was that there could be such a top ace in Pomelo, which wasn''t a good thing considering her current job.


    She didn''t know if that ace had come for the same thing. If he had, then they wouldn''t have the slightest hope anymore. If not, then given her misgivings, she wouldn''t have dared to be so unrestrained. If she weren''t careful and offended that ace, then the result would doubtlessly be worse.


    That was the true ace''s most powerful deterrence. Butchie felt some unaccountable envy. Since when had she been able to get to such a place?


    In the crowd, the ever-smiling, refined youth had taken on a serious expression. He had cast his gaze to the corner of a building in the distance, which was where the black-suited man had just disappeared.


    As compared with his expression, his feelings were still more shocked. Since he''d seen what happened more clearly than Butchie had, it had made a deeper impression.


    Just when the golden glow was about to climb to the top of the building, he lost any response toward the black-suited man. That surprised him. More surprisingly, he had seen the black-suited man so very clearly at the time. It was a strange feeling for him to have the black-suited man so clearly in his sights and then for his perception to lose any response toward him.


    "Why don''t they fight? Good lord! My reward!" The fatty to his side was half surprised and half in anguish. That also made the youth''s frosty face warm a bit. Just then, the golden glow had already become a shooting star, flying off into the distance. The youth hesitated for a moment while he fought the urge to go in pursuit.


    When the youth returned home, he found everyone present in the living room except for him. Everyone''s face was grave, and he asked with some surprise, "What''s up?"


    "Didn''t Howie feel it?" The middle-aged man in charge looked at him sharply, showing some dissatisfaction. His cheeks were thin, and below his left eye there was a light scar, which made him look still more self-possessed.


    The youth called Howie was stumped and then grinned and said laughingly, "Uncle is talking about the ace''s breathing?"


    "Mmm. We were just discussing the matter." The uncle nodded, seeing Howie impatiently watching him, and then he shook his head. "I''m not his equal." The uncle said that quite naturally and placidly and without a shred of shame.


    As the group heard it, everyone''s expression went apprehensive. The heights of the uncle''s talents were the most outstanding in the group.


    "And, we haven''t found out which guy has eaten his fill and doesn''t have anything to do, who would still come to steal something to eat from us." Howie muttered.


    "We still don''t know the adversary''s goal just now. But, it looks like we''ll have to make a change to our plans. Everyone has to lay low for a while. Ren Wenzhou can''t hold out much longer. I''m guessing he will soon make a compromise. He has already started to soften. What we need is to very safely and steadily take in the entire Central Island Firm. It really won''t be appropriate for us to take rough measures. This is where our strength lies, and I believe Ren Wenzhou will surely choose us."


    Howie couldn''t help but interrupt. "What about that ace? Should we ask for help from above?"


    Not paying attention to Howie, the uncle said to the group, "One ace won''t change the situation. We already have the absolute advantage. What we need now is not to fight over it, but rather not to make any mistakes. Everyone knows the other powers have recently been making a bit of a fuss, and the higher-ups are being vigilant; they won''t be able to deploy anyone just now." His tone faltered, and then he stepped up the volume. "But, I believe that even if we don''t get help, we can still complete this job!" What the uncle said was full of heroics and resoundingly roused everyone''s spirits.


    Howie was still wanting to mutter, but when he saw the uncle staring at him, he quickly swallowed what he was about to say.


    He felt some faint foreboding.

 Chapter 195: Wei-ah’s Advice

    Chapter 195: Wei-ah¡¯s Advice


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu finally emerged from the quiet room after a few days. The situation seemed to have taken a turn for the better. He had already started to gradually become accustomed to his heightened sensitivity. It wasn''t that he had found any good method, but rather that his body had begun to adjust itself. He felt pretty amazed about how marvelous the body could be.


    Returning back on track, Chen Mu felt sincerely glad. Those last few days of torture had nearly driven him mad. And, if he hadn''t been able to get rid of those negative influences, he wouldn''t have been able to do a thing.


    The reports sent up by Bu Qiangdong were clear that the work they were getting had started to pick up speed. Even though their profits were still small, Chen Mu was pleased. It was at least enough to support the workers'' salaries. Why wouldn''t he be pleased to have such results in such a short period?


    Among the work were several projects put forward by Cleo. Chen Mu could only speculate about Cleo''s thinking, though he didn''t want to involve himself in such matters. So, he just used it as a kind of training, putting all affairs on Bu Qiangdong.


    Those who had been scared off hadn''t actually made any trouble, and Clive wasn''t making any noises about it.


    Afterward, Chen Mu made a few more models. When he gave them to Bu Qiangdong, he looked as though he''d been granted some treasure. He hadn''t realized Bu Qiangdong had actually made a special showroom in the company''s entryway. All of what had been placed there were Chen Mu''s creations.


    Nothing needed to be said about the quality of Chen Mu''s works. Making "Chance Encounter" and "The Legend of Master Shi" had given him good experience. And, his subsequent card making accomplishment had provided deep benefits, which kept increasing his ability. As he was by then, he would already be considered a grand master with one- and two-star fantasy cards.


    He hadn''t thought Bu Qiangdong''s creativity would have such outstanding results. Quite a few clients who had only come to consult were sold on the spot by those realistic fantasy cards on display. Bu Qiangdong had fattened his orders at a stunning rate within a very short time, and that fawning guy was smiling every day. The employees of the firm were all full of energy and spirit.


    They all understood that so long as the firm''s work increased, their economic circumstances would take a turn for the better, and their daily lives would also improve. Everyone in Heaven''s Wings from top to bottom was now completely submissive to Chen Mu. Without realizing it, they had already made that young new boss, who had been so cold and violent, into their idol.


    When each of Chen Mu''s works had been placed into the display room, they would all become objects for the employees'' imitation. But, although they were all one-star fantasy cards, Chen Mu had unwittingly used a few high-level skills and even some basic knowledge about token theory. For him, those things represented nothing more than a few basic and simple understandings, where for the employees of Heaven''s Wings, they were rather difficult.


    It was a good thing they had their ways to find solutions. Each time a new work came from Chen Mu, then those fantasy cards imprinted with a "C" would immediately become the employees'' course of study. The 25 employees would form themselves into a small study group, and they would pool their strength to tackle the issue.


    Each of the boss''s works would draw forth bursts of admiration. And, once they cracked their unfathomable contents, it would feel like victory after a fight, making them all jubilant. Without realizing it, those low-level card masters, who had been nothing special, were making stunningly rapid progress. So long as they all moved ahead together, then none of them realized it.


    But, there were always some clear-headed ones who did discover it. Bu Qiangdong was one of those.


    Bu Qiangdong was always full of wonder; if it weren''t for the boss, then those few people would have just been muddling through the days waiting to die as they had been before. How would they have become the way they now were¡ªso full of fighting spirit and the desire to learn? He would bet as the company was then, if any ordinary employee were to go to a different fantasy card company, they would certainly be able to get a pretty good position. But, he was also certain that so long as the boss didn''t leave the firm someday, there wouldn''t be a single person likely to leave voluntarily. They wouldn''t leave a company that would give them such fighting spirit and the ability to learn such advanced knowledge.


    Sometimes, Bu Qiangdong couldn''t understand where such a youthful boss had learned so many high-level skills. The strangest thing was that every time he would stand in front of the boss, he would always feel chills up his spine from the boss''s calm gaze, as though it were something substantial. Bu Qiangdong had this feeling more and more deeply even though he was seeing the boss less and less frequently, and the boss said very little each time.


    His work was very diligent. Whatever the boss would command, no matter how much effort it would use up, he would always complete it without daring to take any shortcuts.


    * * *


    Chen Mu took out the mysterious card. On its surface was the constellation-like design, deep and indistinct, as though it were itself full of some mysterious breath. It had already been a long time since he''d entered the mysterious card. He felt a kind of familiarity when he saw the card he''d brought with him all along.


    The scene was the same as the last time he''d entered. Once there, he embarked on the test of his perceptual sensitivity index.


    That time, he got a score higher than he''d ever gotten¡ª65!


    To be able to get such a result was entirely because of his perception increasing by 20 percent, which gave his perceptual sensitivity index a similar boost. Previously, the highest he''d been able to reach had been 45.


    The score made Chen Mu immediately happy. He remembered very clearly that with 65 he could get a reward¡ªhow to make the folding Yanbo card. That was the way to make the second kind of battle card recorded in that mysterious card, with the one before then being the tailless shuttle card.


    Although he didn''t know what kind of card the folding Yanbo card was, Chen Mu was still full of anticipation. When he''d started the tailless shuttle card, he had also thought it ordinary. Only when he''d truly started to make three-star fantasy cards and had seen more of the world did he know how advanced the tailless shuttle card really was. He''d made the raining shuttle card according to the principles of the tailless shuttle card, and the stir it had caused far exceeded what he could have imagined. He''d nearly been caught up in the Ning family base because of such a card.


    The power of the raining shuttle card was far from being comparable to the tailless shuttle card. What kind of surprises would the folding Yanbo card have in store for him?


    And, Chen Mu was even more covetous because of another prize: Knowledge about the middle-level token theory. However, that required 70 points, leaving Chen Mu five short. But, he couldn''t belittle those five points with the two sides as different as night from day. For Chen Mu to be able to get to 65 points by then was entirely due to the wild increase in his perception. To be clear, that wasn''t anything more than an increase to his perception itself. There hadn''t been any fundamental transformation in regard to his skills.


    The remaining five points required him to advance bit by bit. At that stage, each point increase was extremely tough. So, although five points didn''t seem like much, in reality it was like a broad chasm. It wouldn''t be easy if he wanted to cross it.


    The folding Yanbo card was a rather strange sort of card. The energy body it could emit was like a folded shape, which would be to say it was a simple swallow shape. As compared to the energy bodies emitted by other fantasy cards, it would be considered crude. It only had one approximate form, which was like an irregular cylindrical energy body folding out from the middle to form something like a chevron-shaped energy body.


    The folding Yanbo card once again exceeded Chen Mu''s expectations. In his knowledge, high-level fantasy cards would always have extremely orderly external shapes. If they were imitations of something, then they would be lifelike shapes. But, the energy body emitted by the folding Yanbo card was so crude Chen Mu nearly suspected it wasn''t a three-star fantasy card. He really couldn''t tell from its composition how much power the folding Yanbo card actually had.


    The difficulty of making the folding Yanbo card would have to be greater than that of the tailless shuttle card, not to mention the demands on perception and materials. It would also have to be quite a bit more expensive. Chen Mu didn''t have much money on hand, and that was yet another headache for him.


    Although Heaven''s Wings had already started to make a profit, that bit of money wouldn''t even be enough to buy some dregs. Chen Mu was lamenting about why the things recorded in the mysterious card were all rare and uncommon materials.


    He was quite skeptical about how the maker of the mysterious card could have had such a great quantity of precious materials on hand. The quantity of such materials must have been so great he could keep wasting them to specifically try making some strange cards. Perhaps the folding Yanbo card was created like that. But, that grand master certainly hadn''t considered that the one who got that card would actually be a poor vagabond!


    Chen Mu was smiling bitterly to himself, half out of self-mockery and half from reconciling himself to the situation.


    When Chen Mu came out from the mysterious card, he saw Wei-ah training in the pool.


    Chen Mu was a little stunned!


    The training method had been proposed by Wei-ah, but apart from setting a couple of examples, Wei-ah hadn''t gone in again. But, Chen Mu was then watching Wei-ah diligently train in the pool, which wouldn''t exactly be called keeping calm.


    The water in the pool was opened to the highest speed, and the surging water drowned out any other sounds. Chen Mu was certain he wouldn''t even be able to stand under such a rush of water, while Wei-ah had a relaxed face as he moved forward with great speed. The whole process didn''t make Wei-ah look like he was expending any energy¡ªas easy as eating and drinking.


    Chen Mu opened his eyes wide to see that rare practice of Wei-ah, not wanting to miss a single detail.


    Wei-ah''s body was blurred as though it had been reflected in numerous disordered ways. But, Chen Mu could still get some inkling of the shocking frequency of Wei-ah''s body swinging like a fish might swing its soft body and tail. Though, Wei-ah''s frequency was a lot higher, making the water all around his body become wave after wave of fine ripples. After the light rays traversed those disordered ripples, his body had immediately become blurred.


    The more Chen Mu watched, the more entranced he became, unwittingly imitating him. But, he very quickly understood it wasn''t something he could do as he was then. To use such skills made huge demands on the body; it was probably only some strange monster like Wei-ah who could actually do it.


    No. Maybe the demonic woman could do it! During the time he was with the demonic woman, it had simply been a nightmare. The most beautiful scene in that nightmare was the demonic woman''s inhuman strength. In that regard, Wei-ah and the demonic woman had stunning similarities¡ªespecially their indifferent ways. If they hadn''t actually been from the same gang, Chen Mu couldn''t help but wonder if the two were actually brother and sister.


    Wei-ah came out of the pool soaking wet, and the contours of his muscles could be seen very clearly. While his size wasn''t that obvious, Chen Mu could sense the latent explosive power hidden in his body.


    When he was in the village, Wei-ah didn''t actually have the most awesome body, though it was the strongest with the best physique and the most power. Thinking of that, Chen Mu lowered his head to look at himself. There were some similarities with Wei-ah from the shape of his body alone.


    "Why did you think to train today?" Chen Mu asked in some surprise.


    Wei-ah tilted his head and thought about it before saying, "It felt very familiar."


    After spending a long time thinking, Chen Mu clarified what Wei-ah had been saying and quickly became interested. "What did you find?" Wei-ah''s memory had been blank all along, and he couldn''t remember things from before. Chen Mu surmised that Wei-ah had probably done the same sort of practice previously; when he rehearsed the training that had previously been so familiar to him, it must have reminded him of something.


    "I''ve done it before." Wei-ah''s tone was certain, and then he thought some more. "I was thinking about this issue recently. Last time, I suddenly said I''d learned how to exert myself in water when I was 10."


    Chen Mu nodded, still remembering Wei-ah saying that. It had seemed strange at the time. Could Wei-ah have remembered the past? But, once subsequent affairs overcame that occurrence, he had forgotten such things.


    "I don''t know why I said that then. I''ve been thinking these last few days, but I haven''t come up with anything else. Therefore, I thought I''d give it a try," Wei-ah said.


    Wei-ah''s expression at that time induced a milder feeling.


    Everyone probably has something on their mind they''d like to seek out, Chen Mu thought and sighed to himself.


    "And the results?"


    Wei-ah returned to his impassivity and shook his head. "Nothing." He then followed that with, "You''re going to start training."


    The training was as hard as always, and nothing of Wei-ah''s easy, free style while training could be seen in Chen Mu. He was beaten up and exhausted and would often fall. He also tried again to imitate Wei-ah''s moves, though it was very clear he was then still unprepared for such conditions. He fell more frequently than the day before.


    Having completed his training, Chen Mu sat limply on the floor, his body as soft as mud.


    "Talk to me about battle, Wei-ah, ok?" Chen Mu opened his mouth with difficulty, his throat burning, which was caused by too much heavy breathing.


    Wei-ah gave a look at Chen Mu and sat before him, saying, "What would you like to know?"


    Chen Mu carefully sorted out the lines of thought in his mind. He then said in a deliberate tone, "Mmm, I think the things I have learned seem a little all over the place, and I don''t know how I should bring them together. How should I put them to use? In what direction should I develop them?"


    Carefully sorting them out, Chen Mu finally realized how disparate the things he had learned really were. What he''d first encountered were the tailless shuttle and the skill to exert himself in water. Later, he''d learned some basic hiding and dodging skills from the demonic woman, as well as some simple bare-handed killing techniques. He''d learned some close-combat card artisan battle techniques from his short stint with Mark Victor, and the "Methods of Using Perception in Close Combat" recorded in the mysterious card were quite useful to him. He also had in his hands a bipolar thunderball card from an unknown creator that had the amazing feature of both attack and defense. Added to that were the flying skills and all kinds of tactical maneuvers he''d learned from the training modules in the training space, which were too many to count. Then, there was the breath control, which was like a two-edged sword.


    Those only included the aspect of battle. If he were to add on card making, that would simply make anyone collapse. That was also why Chen Mu felt there wasn''t enough time and that there were really too many things he needed to practice and study.


    Chen Mu knew diversity wasn''t actually such a good thing; it looked like if you could do everything, you would not be a master of anything. But, he also didn''t really have a choice. From the start until then, he had never gotten any systematic training. The things he had learned were all scraped together from all over the place, some even having been forced upon him.


    Although he''d learned a lot, every time he encountered danger, he would never know which type of skill he should use.


    Therefore, he wanted to get Wei-ah''s opinion. In his mind, Wei-ah was a combat expert.


    "When I was in the village, I found a strange phenomenon."


    Chen Mu was entranced listening to Wei-ah speak.


    "All of the soldiers in the village wanted to do battle and to hunt. They had started to receive their training when they were very small, and Bafu was a pretty good instructor. Once the children grew up, their battle skills would mature day by day. But, because of interest and some other things, they would always choose different directions to develop."


    Hearing that, Chen Mu paid still closer attention.


    "But, there were always those who would die, and there was danger all around the village. No one could be certain they would live to return the next time. Among those who had all received the same kind of education, there were some who would die and some who would live on." Chen Mu suddenly felt that except for the hard lines on his face and his unchanging expression, Wei-ah was sounding like a philosopher pleasantly talking on.


    "Among those who lived on, there were clearly two types. One type was the top among them, who possessed the best battle abilities and were the most excellent among the soldiers, attended to by all. The other kind was diametrically opposite."


    Chen Mu''s spirit was aroused, knowing the important part was coming.


    "In the midst of battle, they didn''t stick out at all, there sometimes being no way to find any particular skill on them. They seemed to have a little bit of every kind of battle skill, but all of them were very balanced with nothing sticking out. They didn''t attract any attention among the soldiers, though they were among those who had the highest survival rates."


    "Why?" Chen Mu couldn''t help but ask. That had puzzled him, though he knew what Wei-ah said was certainly true.


    Wei-ah explained, "The environment around the village was very complex, and most of the time the soldiers who died outside the village didn''t die at the hands of the wild beasts. The second kind of person I was just talking about had a lot of abilities, so once they encountered danger, they had a lot more room for choice. Much of the time, solving a problem doesn''t require very high skills. On the contrary, among the situations one encounters, more than 70 percent can be resolved by running through some very simple and elementary skills."


    Chen Mu seemed to realize something.


    "That sort of person would also often die outside the village. Their causes of death would be divided into two kinds, one of which was that they had encountered some difficulty that had exceeded their ability. But, most of the time it was that they hadn''t chosen the right means to respond, which is to say they chose the wrong skill."


    "Is the choice the crucial thing?" Chen Mu immediately grasped the crux of the issue.


    "Right." This time Wei-ah was showing a lot of patience. "Every skill can play an important role, but the premise is that you must use it at the right time."


    Wei-ah suddenly asked back, "Are you familiar with them?"


    Chen Mu was stumped, having suddenly become embarrassed. Thinking very carefully, he was certain he wasn''t sufficiently familiar with the skills he had, never having considered how to use them and under what circumstances.


    What Wei-ah had said was an eye-opener for Chen Mu. He''d been plagued by problems for a long time. Would he choose remote combat or close combat in the end? He had dabbled in both of those two diametrically opposed battle styles. As for which of those roads he should progress down afterward, he had always hesitated to choose.


    After hearing what Wei-ah had to say, he was finally able to think it through. He hadn''t originally thought he would become a card artisan. What he wanted was to be able to protect himself when he encountered danger. But, just like those villagers with all sorts of mediocre abilities Wei-ah had just spoken of, he only wanted to survive and not to establish a name for himself.


    Moreover, if he were to choose a specialty, that would mean he would have to study systematically. Although Wei-ah fought powerfully, his memory still hadn''t been restored. In regard to close combat, Mark Victor had only transmitted some basic knowledge to him, most of it being small, practical battle skills. And, as a remote card artisan, apart from the tailless shuttle card, he couldn''t do anything else.


    He actually didn''t have any room for choice, so how would he ever have the opportunity for actual systematic study? It looked as though he could only depend on himself. To spend any more time thinking about it, no matter what, the only right thing to do would be to guarantee he could survive.


    Having set his course, Chen Mu then started to put it into practice. He carefully combed through all of the theories he knew, and he endlessly simulated every kind of situation and how he should choose which skill.


    In that regard, Wei-ah had given him quite a few precious suggestions. Chen Mu most admired some very simple skills that he felt had very limited use, but in Wei-ah''s hands would always be able to bring shocking power into play.


    That was a calm period, and the situation with Heaven''s Wings had taken a large turn for the better. Not only had those public service advertisements continued to play a role, still more important were the large quantities of educational fantasy cards Bu Qiangdong was making. Once the making of those excellent educational fantasy cards was launched, they had become vigorously sought after by all of the schools; they were hot sellers and always out of stock. The schools that couldn''t buy educational fantasy cards put out by Heaven''s Wings on the market would come rushing directly to Heaven''s Wings to place their orders, causing orders to come flying in like snowflakes in a short time.


    Bu Qiangdong was both happy and concerned. He was happy that the stunning number of orders on hand meant a lot of money, but he was concerned that there were still only 25 employees in the company. Their manpower was stretched to its limits. But, if he''d wanted to recruit a large number of card masters at that time, it wouldn''t do much good.


    The card masters on the market just then wouldn''t live up to his standards. There was too great a divide between the ordinary card masters and the Heaven''s Wings employees. That was something he increasingly felt.


    As he pondered the situation, it looked as though they would have to first recruit and then slowly cultivate.


    He therefore wrote a special advertisement. Feedback from the boss was very quick, and the ad came right back to him with the boss''s approval. The somewhat worried Bu Qiangdong could finally breathe a sigh of relief. That was his first time to express an opinion to the boss.


    Bu Qiangdong moved very quickly, and the news of Heaven''s Wings'' recruiting spread very fast. Almost without expending any effort, he received a large number of applications. Bu Qiangdong was busy all day with his job and didn''t know the reputation of Heaven''s Wings had shot up like a rocket in the world of Pomelo City fantasy card advertisement. It had become like the sun at its zenith.


    During that time, Heaven''s Wings was the fantasy card firm most in the limelight in Pomelo. But, in the people''s eyes, it was low-key and mysterious. Apart from the public service fantasy card billboards along the street and on the communications platforms, there were the educational fantasy cards from Heaven''s Wings, which were so hot you couldn''t buy them. Up until then, those had been the most famous three cases of the Heaven''s Wings company. Apart from those, there wasn''t any news about Heaven''s Wings. They hadn''t even taken any initiative to pull in business, and you would have to go to their door looking for them in order to see them.


    A conscientious investigation would find that the firm had originally belonged among the Lewin family subsidiaries and had already changed owners. It had also recently undergone a large-scale layoff. And, its backstage boss, Cao Dong, had a mysterious background with some saying he was a high-grade card artisan, while others said he was a veteran card master. There was endless speculation about him, which added some note of mystery to the Heaven''s Wings company.


    There was no more amazing biography than the showroom in the entrance of Heaven''s Wings, which was said to have on display everything Heaven''s Wings'' boss, Cao Dong, had made since entering the company. Every guest who entered that exhibition hall couldn''t stop their praise after they left, to the point that quite a few low-grade card masters would go there to seek the famous. They would be immediately overcome after they saw those magnificent and exquisite fantasy cards.


    That was also why they had received so many applications as soon as Bu Qiangdong had put out the news. Among them were quite a few who even wanted to give up a high salary to come.


    To tell the truth, that had completely exceeded Bu Qiangdong''s expectations.

 Chapter 196: A Signal

    Chapter 196: A Signal


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu flitted about the training room like a ghost. He was fleeting just like a fish with his weirdly twisting body and his feet not touching the ground. Every move was imbued with some unspeakable weirdness. He was so fast he was like a phantom, such that someone with weak eyes would only see a burst of wind flitting by.


    His gaze never left the wooden beam standing in the corner of the training room as he bent down and hugged the ground like a cobra, as quick and erratic as always, jerking left and right, which made him hard to discern. Then, about two meters from the beam, he suddenly shot up from the ground like the cobra suddenly raising its head. At the same time, he had already closed with the beam where a red line could be clearly seen.


    Chen Mu''s right hand shot out like lightning and accurately and gently wiped the place where the red line was. With a flash and a slight hissing sound, a very fine mark as thick as an arm appeared where the red line was on the beam.


    "How was that?" Chen Mu asked with coarse breath. After a while, he walked over in front of the beam and lightly picked it up. The beam was cut at the mark in a smooth cross-section.


    He had already been doing that training, which had an extremely high level of difficulty, for a rather long time by then, though his success rate wasn''t very high. That set of exercises had been formulated according to his own conditions. For example, for the dodging and evading he had refined his jet stream card flight skills, as well as skills like the close-range dodging and evading that the demonic woman had passed on to him.


    That sort of dodging and evading had become swifter and even more difficult to predict. At other times it would depend purely on the strength of the body, while sometimes he would take advantage of the jet stream card to complete a few unfathomable actions. Chen Mu''s close-range dodging and evading training had originally been his strong suit, but now it was like the tiger had grown wings. As compared with card artisans, and especially close-combat card artisans, Chen Mu could use his physical strength to establish his position. That would also allow him to move while dodging and evading and still take advantage of his explosive power.


    But, within extremely short distances, explosive physical strength and reactions were doubtlessly more reliable than the jet stream card.


    That could be compared to Chen Mu and Wei-ah being in the same room dueling with their dodging and evading blows, where Chen Mu would die ten times, and Wei-ah might never die. But, if they were in the jungle, then the gap between them would shrink since the jet stream card could make up for his insufficiencies.


    If they were in an open field, Chen Mu''s rate of success might be able to stay nearly even with Wei-ah''s. Of course, that was only conjecture; Chen Mu didn''t have much confidence in it.


    Chen Mu using his body would seem like playing house from the vantage of a specialist in physical battle like Wei-ah, although he would certainly be at an advantage with card artisans.


    The hardest part of that skill was the smooth transition from using physical strength to the jet stream card. The smoother the transition was between the two, the more deceptive the move would become. In order to achieve that, Chen Mu thought through everything; after completing a great amount of practice he could finally grasp the essence of it. But, there was still a lot of difference from the smoothness he would like to nail.


    Another hard part about the training was the final blow. While Chen Mu''s strength wouldn''t be considered great, he also didn''t understand more than a few simple ways to kill bare-handed. If he had to depend on his bare-handed skills alone, then the power of the blows would be rather small. In order to make up for that, Chen Mu tried combining the card artisan battle style with the bare-handed killing techniques. That final blow with the wooden beam was him using the wavy blade card lodged in his hand, taking advantage of the sharpness of the wavy blade to be able to easily complete the final blow. He could even send out the wavy blade in his hand at such a close distance, basically giving the other person no chance to dodge or evade.


    That was something he''d learned from the stones in the Ning Family prison. It was said that the Ning card artisans would all spend a lot of time cutting rocks in order to train their ability to control perception. Chen Mu''s perception was already far beyond those days, and his sensitivity had also gone way up. Such difficult skills were easy to achieve for him now.


    Those battle tactics had gotten Wei-ah''s guidance¡ªespecially the critical aspect of transition, where Wei-ah had helped Chen Mu to simplify his moves and procedures quite a bit and increase his power.


    Wei-ah had a lot of power and basically didn''t need to use any other tricks. The skills he knew were untold times more powerful when he used them, which made Chen Mu dumbstruck. That was also enough to prove again how far they were from one another in their understanding of battle.


    That set of tactical maneuvers was borrowed from card artisan-style battle in quite a few places. To say it as Chen Mu would, they were a big stew of different ingredients. But, their results far exceeded his expectations, and Chen Mu could feel it when he was battling with Wei-ah. Although it always ended in his defeat, the current situation was a lot better than the previous sorry state of affairs. At the very least he was proving to be a little meddlesome to Wei-ah.


    Chen Mu was already quite pleased with such results. He had never had the wildest hope to defeat Wei-ah.


    "Not bad." Although Wei-ah wasn''t indicating "not bad" by his look, Chen Mu was still happy. For Wei-ah to give such an evaluation wasn''t something easy to get. Wei-ah suddenly said, "Let''s get in touch with the village." There was a flash of concern that flitted past his eyes that was too slight to notice.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help but feel that even though Wei-ah was not ordinarily loose with his talk or laughing, he still seemed to have pretty deep feelings toward the village.


    It had certainly been a long time since they''d had any contact with Alfonso as he thought it over, so Chen Mu nodded and said, "Ok."


    He lightly pressed on the six-petal flower on the top of the silvery metal box. It whizzed as though a magic trick had been performed and then changed into a communications array. At the same time, Chen Mu activated the thousand-kilometer card in his hand.


    "Mr. Teacher! Mr. Teacher! It was Li Duhong that time, and the little guy was quite excited to see Chen Mu. "Are you ok, Mr. Teacher? Are you having fun? How is it really on the outside? When are you and Wei-ah going to come back...?"


    Li Duhong looked a lot more developed than before and was a lot taller. Chen Mu''s feelings were rather complicated toward the little guy. In the beginning, Li Duhong had lured in the brilliant apes, and starting from then Chen Mu had felt the kid only seemed innocent while he was really full of scheming. So, he didn''t like him. But, gradually, Chen Mu found that the although the little devil held an exalted position for such a young one, he still had a tough disposition. So, when he came to be his student, Chen Mu didn''t object. After they encountered the gummy cloud layer, Li Duhong demonstrated stability and maturity far beyond his age, which gave Chen Mu a whole new level of respect for him.


    "We''re ok." Chen Mu didn''t quite know what to say to the little devil, though he suddenly thought of a question. "How is the base recently? Have any issues arisen?" That was the matter he was most concerned about¡ªwhether the so-called "underground city" would be somewhat dangerous in the end. That was something no one could make any assurances about. With several thousand people living in it, most of them children, if something were to happen it would create a big problem.


    "Mr. Teacher needn''t worry. We''ve been fine." Li Duhong spoke laughingly, now showing his naughty child aspect. "Aren''t you bored there all alone, Mr. Teacher? Shouldn''t I come and join you? Uncle Wei-ah is made of stone and basically doesn''t know what fun is..."


    Wei-ah suddenly appeared in front of the communications apparatus like a ghost, coldly saying, "Have you completed the day''s training?"


    Li Duhong was startled, and his little face blanched as he said haltingly, "Uncle¡­"


    "Go." Wei-ah wasn''t having any happy talk as he spat out the syllable.


    Hearing that, Li Duhong turned into a scared rabbit and ran off quickly.


    With some unexpected surprise, Chen Mu said, "Does that little devil really fear you so much? I seem to remember you used to act like you really couldn''t stand him."


    Without raising his eyelids, Wei-ah said, "After rearranging him a few times, he got honest."


    Hearing that, Chen Mu broke out in a sweat. But, he also knew that although Wei-ah had always taken care of Li Duhong, it had probably been because of the position of the little devil''s grandfather.


    Alfonso appeared laughing in front of the communications apparatus, first shouting out some adulation, "Mr. Teacher." He then turned around and said to Wei-ah with a laugh, "Wei-ah looks a lot better than before. To look at you, you haven''t been doing so badly recently!" Since their positions in the village were rather similar, they were able to speak a lot more casually.


    But, Wei-ah clearly didn''t have any intention of responding, so it was a good thing Alfonso knew his temperament and wouldn''t make anything of it.


    Alfonso turned to Chen Mu and said respectfully, "Have you been all right recently, Sir? Everyone really misses you. Do you have any instructions?"


    "I''ve been ok lately. How is the base? Has anything come up recently?" Chen Mu felt a little helpless with Alfonso becoming more and more respectful toward him. Among all those in the base, apart from Chen Mu, Alfonso was the most familiar with it. Actually, many of the things Chen Mu had been able to accomplish had been accomplished by the two of them together.


    "Things have been fine at the base. Apart from still having to go out to mine the ore for our energy supply, everything else is normal." Alfonso smiled bitterly. "But, I have limited ability and can only resolve a few issues. I have no way to earn anymore contribution points." When Alfonso said that, his spirits flagged a little. He was approaching middle-age, and it took a lot of energy to learn new things. He was one of those having the highest positions in the entire Moqi line, so the weight on his shoulders was naturally quite a bit heavier than before.


    Disaster always readily seasons a person no matter how old he is.


    Chen Mu didn''t know how to comfort him and could only change the subject. "How is Cheng Ying doing?" Cheng Ying''s decision to remain at the base had stunned Chen Mu. When he thought about it, he still couldn''t quite understand it.


    "She''s fine. The kids all love her." Alfonso spoke with a smile, and then he suddenly became hesitant. "A few of the young people in the clan are after Cheng Ying. I don''t know whether..." Alfonso was watching Chen Mu''s expression while he was speaking.


    "That''s a good thing. What''s the problem?" Watching Alfonso, Chen Mu was finding it strange.


    Alfonso probed, "You mean you agree?"


    Chen Mu raised his eyebrows. "That''s Cheng Ying''s business, and it''s up to her to decide." He looked up at Alfonso, saying calmly, "It''s all about respecting her wishes. If something happens that shouldn''t..."


    Chen Mu maintained his very even tone without any audible fluctuations, while Alfonso rushed to assure him. "Don''t worry; there won''t be anything to offend Cheng Ying''s femininity, and if anyone were to dare such a thing, of course Alfonso wouldn''t permit it." Getting to that last part, Alfonso''s tone had already chilled.


    "That''s fine then." Chen Mu nodded, keeping his calm expression. Without realizing it, however, his intimidating aspect was naturally revealed.


    Wei-ah suddenly had something to say. "Is Xi Weide there?"


    Hearing that, Alfonso urgently turned to yell in a gruff voice, and Xi Weide quickly appeared on the screen. Xi Weide was still as well-built as ever, looking like a small mountain. That straightforward stalwart with his simple expression of tender concern had made a deep impression on Chen Mu.


    Xi Weide was also very happy to see Chen Mu and Wei-ah, though he would still first salute his respect to Chen Mu. "Teacher Chen."


    Chen Mu smiled; the expression Xi Weide wore was a lot better than when they''d left, making it look like their life during that period hadn''t been bad at all. Xi Weide didn''t seem surprised to have been called over.


    Wei-ah asked, "How is the little devil''s training going?"


    "He is quite diligent and serious, and his recent progress has been great." Xi Weide had an expression of reassurance on his face seeing that the future clan elder of the Moqi line would be so diligent. He seemed to be expressing the hope for the future of the clan. Wei-ah''s expression lagged.


    Xi Weide continued to say, "The progress of some of the other children is also very rapid, and after a few years they will certainly become more powerful soldiers than even Colin." His face was excited as the one in the base responsible to guide the training of those youths. The basis of their training was still the methods Wei-ah had passed along, not those that had been previously used in the village. He''d finally discovered how much better the results of Wei-ah''s training methods were.


    "Oh," Wei-ah responded very impassively.


    Chen Mu sighed to himself, having just considered Wei-ah to have rather deep feelings toward the village, which he seemed to have mistaken. Wei-ah was really only interested in Li Duhong. Though, as he thought about it, Chen Mu realized that wasn''t out of the ordinary. The one who''d rescued Wei-ah was Li Duhong''s grandfather, and that was a very normal result given Wei-ah''s temperament.


    He couldn''t control any of that. When he thought about the folding Yanbo card he still couldn''t use and looked again at Xi Weide and Alfonso on the screen, Chen Mu suddenly had an excellent idea.


    Just then, in the lab of the Central Island Firm, someone burst into Qian Mingyi''s office.


    "Mingyi, we''ve captured that signal!" Farley stumbled as he broke in.

 Chapter 197: Prologue

    Chapter 197: Prologue


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Kai was flying at high speed, and Machida and Lu Xiaoru were calmly flying behind him. There were also 40 card artisans flying along with them. This was basically the main strength of the Central Island Firm. It was clear how great the boss''s resolve was from the mobilization. They were going all-in, and Kai was quite curious about what was worth the boss doing such a thing.


    Kai had the blood of a Paminian with his prominent brow ridge and deep eyes. His eye lines were some kind of natural blue, which was characteristic of Paminians. It would commonly make them look rather seductive, but on Kai''s face, they looked unusually cold.


    The operation was the biggest since he''d entered the firm. As the hidden force, they had very few ordinary responsibilities; the previous job was half a year prior. That was the first time the three of them had worked together.


    Although the boss hadn''t said anything, that operation had already demonstrated his attitude, making Kai become more serious than he''d ever been. He was concerned about the two others¡ªMachida and Lu Xiaoru¡ªwhom he had never partnered with before. Although he was the one in charge of that operation, he couldn''t tell if his counterparts were a match or not.


    Machida was tall and thin with a pale face and had a somewhat weak aspect. But, if you were to underestimate him for that, you''d be dead. Kai couldn''t easily put his finger on what was frightening about him. He wasn''t even wearing card artisan battle clothes but was rather wrapped in a tight black windbreaker. He had a piece of candy pinched in his hand, which he was slowly eating piece by piece with a strangely demonic look in his eyes.


    Lu Xiaoru wasn''t wearing battle clothes either, seeming to be off to a party with her deep red, low-cut dress that was like a flower blooming. Her ample, snow-white bosom was nearly popping out of the dress, forming a deep cleavage. Kai could even see the card artisans around her secretly swallowing. Her posture was enchanting, and her body was full and soft. Her two eyes were glistening. Her tender, red lips would slightly part from time to time, letting out light white puffs, which were softly provoking the hearts of the other male card artisans.


    Kai''s gaze had just touched her when she discovered it. The look in her eyes toward Kai turned hot enough to nearly melt him.


    Lu Xiaoru''s gaze was full of passion, and Kai frowned unhappily. He gave out a cold groan as he slightly narrowed his eyes, allowing a knife-like murderous aura to arise gradually. Lu Xiaoru''s face changed slightly as her gaze went clear, and she chuckled sweetly. "If you look at people that way, they will naturally respond."


    Machida kept eating the sweets as though there was nothing going on, seeming never to finish that piece of candy, with his black windbreaker rustling in the wind.


    Just then, the apparatus on Kai''s wrist sounded, and he opened his communications card. A glowing screen popped up in front of him, on which appeared Qian Mingyi''s image. Kai got rid of the murderous aura, and Lu Xiaoru fixed her expression while Machida stopped eating the candy and turned his gaze in that direction. As the real power in the firm, Qian Mingyi wasn''t someone they could ignore.


    Qian Mingyi looked a little wiped out on the screen, though his face was flushed, which gave the impression of repressed excitement. Looking at the three of them, Qian Mingyi was no-nonsense and said directly, "What''s your current position?"


    A building with a spire was sweeping under their feet, and Kai quickly said, "We''ve just passed the twin towers building."


    Qian Mingyi closed his eyes, finally sweeping away the previous few days'' degeneration. He nodded steadily with an astonishingly imposing manner as the powerful man he was. "Mmm, then we still have time."


    Kai didn''t say anything, knowing the true goal of the operation was about to be announced. They had rushed to the firm''s building as soon as they had gotten their orders, though they still hadn''t been given their responsibilities. Each of them was given a small ball followed by an order to fly toward the northwest corner of Pomelo.


    Machida and Lu Xiaoru flew up beside Kai, being just as concerned about what the job was.


    After pulling himself together a little, Qian Mingyi slowly spoke. "Your job this time is very simple. I believe you''ve each received a ball-shaped apparatus."


    Kai pulled out the small ball. "This?"


    "Right." Qian Mingyi continued, "This is the latest product of the lab, a signal ball. Your job is to go into the northwest district of the city, and if the red light on the signal ball in your hand lights up, that means someone within 50 meters of you is using special communication devices. Your job is to grab the person and all of his possessions. That''s how simple it is."


    None of them spoke out. If the job were really so simple, then the three of them wouldn''t have been needed to do it. There must be something special there.


    Qian Mingyi continued, "But, you have to pay attention to the very real possibility that other powers will intervene. None of them are weak, but they''ll let you strike first this time!" Qian Mingyi''s face had become abruptly fierce, causing the three of them to tremble in their hearts as they increasingly determined their job wouldn''t be easy. None of them was ordinary; if the job had been easy, then why would they be needed? Their value was in resolving the responsibilities that weren''t so simple.


    "You don''t need to have any scruples. If you have any trouble, the firm will take care of it for you. But, there is one thing; no matter how, you must get the person and all of the equipment!" Qian Mingyi''s tone was decisive, not allowing for questioning as he looked them over, asking coldly, "Any questions?"


    Machida suddenly opened his mouth and said in a feminine tone, "Does it make any difference to kill?"


    "Yes. We want him alive. You can break his arm, you can break his leg, you can break anything, but he must be alive!" Qian Mingyi emphasized that with a loud voice.


    "Oh. I get it." Machida swallowed his smile with some nervousness, turning his pallid face still more startled. The expressions on the card artisans to their sides changed as they unconsciously distanced themselves from him. Only Kai and Lu Xiaoru acted as though nothing had happened.


    Kai took on a serious expression. "The radius of the signal ball is 50 meters, in which scope there could be a lot of people. How do we tell who it is?"


    "Grab them if they feel suspicious," Qian Mingyi continued straight on, and Kai nodded to show he understood.


    Lu Xiaoru chuckled sweetly. "Leader Qian, if I grab that person, will you let Kai stay with me for three nights? He''s really strong." Once she''d said it, Kai''s face abruptly sank, and the card artisans to the side were jealous as they looked at Kai.


    "Sure." There wasn''t a hint of a smile on Qian Mingyi''s face. "If you do it, I''ll let him go to your place." Once he said it, Kai''s face became still more tortured. Machida gave another nervous giggle to his side.


    * * *


    Chen Mu ran to the store with great dispatch to buy a set of what was claimed to be the most complete Encyclopedia of Materials. That set of fantasy cards cost 200,000 Oudi, being composed of 1,750 two-star fantasy cards and containing about a billion kinds of materials. Of course, although that Materials Encyclopedia was said to be the most complete, there were still quite a few oddball materials that hadn''t been recorded. Fortunately, it was sufficient as far as Chen Mu was concerned.


    The card salesgirl at the store sized up Chen Mu in some surprise. No matter how she looked at him, he didn''t seem like a fanatical card master! Most ordinary card masters would choose to go to the library to inquire about such a Materials Encyclopedia. It was very seldom that anyone would buy a set; its price wasn''t low.


    Apart from that, Chen Mu also bought one of the cheapest apparatuses.


    Chen Mu hurried back once he''d bought the Materials Encyclopedia and opened the communications array while activating his thousand-kilometer card. Chen Mu said to Alfonso, "Help me connect to the system."


    The connection was quickly completed.


    Chen Mu said, "Do I have sufficient permissions to set up a new database? And to transmit the data?"


    The system was silent for a bit and then answered, "You have sufficient permissions and should be able to do the operation."


    Chen Mu was immediately thrilled and said right away, "Please help me to set up a dataset called ''materials.''"


    After a few seconds, the system responded, "The operation is complete."


    Chen Mu took out the set of the Materials Encyclopedia and pulled out the first fantasy card, putting it into the separate apparatus where a screen immediately popped out. The very detailed characteristics of those kinds of materials could be seen on the screen, and there was a lot of textual information below the images. Those images could be transmitted over the thousand-kilometer card to the underground city base.


    Taking a look at the rest of the pile of fantasy cards on the ground, Chen Mu inwardly clenched his teeth. While it would be tough that time, he wouldn''t have so much trouble later on.


    Once they had the data, the adult soldiers would be able to slowly gather all kinds of materials. They were positioned deep in the jungle where there were all kinds of precious and rare materials. If he didn''t take advantage of such singular conditions, it would be a waste. Although Chen Mu didn''t think he would ever return to the underground city, to be prepared wouldn''t cost him too much energy. Moreover, those fantasy cards would be rather useful to those children who had studied with him for several days.


    Chen Mu didn''t really have strong feelings toward the Moqi line, but he did have rather strong feelings for those children who had accompanied him to the underground city.


    Chen Mu wasn''t aware of the danger quietly approaching him as he patiently transmitted the data.


    * * *


    Butchie''s aspect while sleeping was a far shot from the way she was during the day, with her grinning face buried under the covers. Saliva was oozing out of the corner of her mouth, and the sheets were already soaked. The strap on her see-through nightgown had slipped below her shoulder, springing her alluring breasts. The rest of the covers had been squished under her, leaving her legs crossed on top of them.


    Di, di, di.


    The sound of the apparatus on her wrist was strangely ear-piercing in the bedroom. Butchie wasn''t disturbed by it and kept drooling.


    Di, di, di; di, di di . . .


    The alarm seemed to know Butchie''s nature and just kept sounding. The veins on Butchie''s forehead under the covers pulsed a little as the hand grabbing the covers nearly ripped them apart.


    Di, di, di . . .


    "F**k, what jerk is bugging this babe so early?" Butchie couldn''t help her outburst as she sat up in a fury, growling while she opened her communications card. "If you let this old babe know who you are, I''ll bust you..."


    A face appeared on the screen.


    Butchie''s voice screeched to a stop, and the fury on her face disappeared without a trace as she said with a sweet smile, "Good morning, Brother Hugo!"


    It was a peculiar face, with half of it covered by a silver mask. The mast went from the forehead over the nose and lips and all the way to the chin, covering the length of his profile, dividing the face into two parts. If one were to see only the other half, it would be enough to make any woman scream. The perfect and rigid profile was full of masculinity. The deep eyes were as dark as night. The aquiline nose made the face still more firm and full of strength. The wide, thick lips were masculine and sexy.


    Still, the other side destroyed any sense of its beauty.


    The shining, silvery mask evoked a soft feeling, while the black eyes were like black gems inlaid on it. To see only that side was like seeing a work of art.


    But, whenever the half mask showed up in front of anyone, the appearance was quite monstrous and terrifying.


    Hugo said smilingly, "You''ve exposed yourself, Butchie." His voice was as screechy as a knife on glass. His smiling face was just as ugly under the silvery mask.


    Butchie''s face had flushed, and she sighed in exclamation as she put the covers in front of her body in a flurry.


    "It''s time to get up. We''ve already arrived in Pomelo, though I haven''t gone over to where ''the beard'' is. I might need you to come with us." Hugo had lightened his voice, although it was still quite piercing.


    "Ah, so you''ve arrived!" Butchie was a little surprised as her brain cleared up, and she jumped right out of bed. "Where are you? I''ll be there right away!"


    "You''ve exposed yourself again!" said that glass-scratching, piercing voice. "We''re in the vicinity of the Karl Hospital."


    Butchie''s legs nearly went soft under her. "I''ll sign off and be there right away." She didn''t wait for Hugo''s response after she spoke, and she shut off the communications card. She leaned against the wall after turning it off with her face red to the point of oozing blood, pursing her lips as she shook her head hard. She quickly rummaged in her suitcase for clothes.


    * * *


    Howie was wandering along the street. What the chief uncle said was right; he was afraid Ren Wenzhou wouldn''t last long. To be able to compel Ren Wenzhou to yield and to agree to be acquired by them had required immense human and material resources from above.


    What counted was power those days. Howie couldn''t stand feeling the power above him while at the same time feeling how hard Ren Wenzhou was. If he''d been ordinary, he would have yielded a lot sooner. For Ren Wenzhou to have been able to hold out until then meant he was not a simple player!


    Still, even if he were tougher, what could he have done? When facing an overwhelming force, everyone''s will would become as fragile as paper.


    As he thought about it and felt it through, he admired Ren Wenzhou, though Howie didn''t have the least bit of sympathy. For Ren Wenzhou to have gotten to where he was, he would have had to apply a lot of pressure. Howie wasn''t going to do any more than to express his sentiments.


    He suddenly stopped as his gaze fell on something in the distance.

 Chapter 198: The Fuse

    Chapter 198: The Fuse


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Yikes, wasn''t that the female card artisan from that day? Howie was paying rapt attention. Even though the girl had been completely covered by the orange energy cloak, his eyesight was good; he could still see what she looked like. He remembered very clearly the surprise he had felt at the time. For a female card artisan to have such power wasn''t common.


    Butchie had changed into more casual attire that day, though Howie had still been able to recognize her at a glance. What kind of person was she? The crowd had attracted his attention. They were all on alert, and it was clear they were all wearing battle-style apparatuses. Among their behaviors could be seen signs of discipline. He was inwardly shocked that so many card artisans would suddenly come to Pomelo. What was really going on? Could it have something to do with what he was just in the middle of?


    His gaze then fell onto the card artisan wearing a half mask, who was the leader. The female card artisan seemed to be rather respectful toward him, showing a kind of respect Howie was very familiar with. It was about the same as he was toward the chief uncle. Howie surmised the power of the masked man would be impressive. The other card artisans were no slouches themselves.


    Hugo suddenly tilted his head, letting his gaze fall onto a street corner not far away.


    "Do you know that man, Butchie?" Hugo asked.


    "Which one?" Butchie thought it strange.


    "That man wearing the white dress suit, about 20-something and looking rather refined." Hugo was spitting out the words rapidly, though his piercing voice was hard to take.


    But, Butchie was used to it. She took a look and shook her head. "I don''t know him. What''s up?"


    Hugo groaned, and a chill settled on his face as he made a slight sign to the two beside him. The two card artisans immediately understood and pushed the pedestrians apart, walking over to the youth who was wearing the white dress suit.


    Butchie''s face shifted. "Am I being followed?"


    Hugo laughed lightly, and his voice became still more screechy. "I don''t think so, but he was just staring at you as though he knew you."


    "That can''t be! I definitely don''t recognize him." Butchie shook her head while she couldn''t help her admiration for Hugo. They were about 50 meters from the white-suited man, and there was a street with incessant pedestrians intervening. It really felt inconceivable that Big Brother Hugo could still discern something odd about that person in such a situation.


    "Don''t fret. We''ll find out in a bit," Hugo said placidly.


    Once Howie saw the two stalwarts walking toward him, he immediately knew things had gone bad. He''d thought he was sufficiently concealed, not that he would be found out at a glance by the adversary. Such acuity was too frightening! Howie became inwardly fretful, and without any hesitation he turned around to run. The masked man would certainly be more powerful than him.


    He opened his communications card while he was running, while the two stalwarts behind him became more certain he was a problem as soon as they saw him run. The two looked at one another and simultaneously activated their jet stream cards, going at him with murderous intent.


    "Damn!" Howie activated his own jet stream card while his expression transformed. He rose up into the air, unable to determine his direction while gathering speed pell-mell. To shake those two would be his best choice, and while he was pushing his jet stream card to its top speed, he was calling the chief uncle.


    After a few seconds, the chief uncle finally opened his communications card.


    "What''s up?" The chief uncle''s face appeared on the screen, and Howie couldn''t help but want to kiss him just then.


    "Chief Uncle, Chief Uncle!" Howie wasn''t paying much attention to how gracefully he flew while he was nearly crying out, "Come and save me now!"


    He then quickly described what he''d seen. The more the chief uncle heard, the more serious his expression became until he said very directly, "First lead them someplace, and we''ll get there. Announce your position at the right time." Once the voice fell, Howie heard the chief uncle calling to a group of people.


    Howie heaved a sigh of relief. While he wasn''t entirely powerless, he didn''t have a lot of real battle experience. With Hugo having shaken him up from the get-go, and then to chase him with those two ferocious looking, fiendish card artisans, he had gone into a panic. Hearing what the chief uncle just said quieted his mind.


    Once he was calm, his actions become a lot smoother, and his flight speed increased. The actions he''d practiced daily made his movements more accomplished. By then he was no longer in a hurry to lose the two but had started to rhythmically draw them in until the chief uncle could come to rescue him. He kept his communications with the chief uncle open about the route they were taking in flight.


    The two behind him could quickly discern Howie''s power. While they had a lot more battle power than Howie, they realized the two of them alone had no way to capture their adversary. To be able to match their strength, he couldn''t be anyone ordinary. The possibility he had some special objective was high. Thinking of that, they didn''t hesitate to communicate with Hugo to report what was going on.


    Hugo understood the gravity of the situation.


    Having just arrived in Pomelo, to have someone stalking them either meant their adversary had a lot of power and extraordinary intelligence, or it meant their adversary already knew their itinerary; that was what Hugo was most concerned about. Their operation was even secret with the organization, and if it had leaked, that would mean there was a mole in the organization.


    No matter what the situation was, as far as they were concerned¡ªand as far as proceeding with the operation was concerned¡ªit wasn''t good news.


    Hugo knew the power the two had. A card artisan with more power than the two of them had already been able to pose a threat to him. How many such card artisans did his adversary''s organization have? A whole series of issues had appeared in Hugo''s mind in a very short amount of time.


    Without having thought so many situations would arise right from the beginning of the operation, Hugo remembered the big boss''s orders before they set out. Don''t get careless. Those were the orders the card artisans set out with.


    Some card artisans had ascended into the sky. Under Butchie''s guidance, they flew off in the approximate direction of the two card artisans.


    * * *


    The northwest corner of Pomelo was a rather fuzzy concept. Its surface was no less than 100 square kilometers. To find a single person in such a large area, even with their signal balls, would be a rather difficult proposition. Kai was compelled to order everyone to scatter and to line up with 100 meters between them in order to form a "comb." What they needed to do was to comb through the northwest corner of Pomelo. That primitive-seeming method was still the most assured and the hardest to get wrong.


    Kai didn''t really care where the firm''s intelligence had come from. He was more worried about what Qian Mingyi had said¡ªthat the enemy who might appear could be anyone. To have made the higher-ups so worried, they couldn''t have been any ordinary goods. Though he didn''t want to run into them, he was more afraid of another fierce battle. He raised his head to take a look into the distance where there were innumerable tall buildings blocking his view.


    Kai, Machida and Lu Xiaoru all suddenly lifted their heads to look ahead.


    Three people were flying toward them, one in front and two behind. The ones behind seemed to be chasing the one in front. The sudden appearance of those three made the already uptight Kai and the rest suddenly alarmed. They were well-trained, and everyone had assumed the attitude of battle within a very short time.


    The distance between the sides was rapidly closing. Kai, Machida and Lu Xiaoru could see the shock in each other''s eyes.


    Although there was still some distance between the two sides, they had just been able to see clearly. The youthful card artisan wearing the white dress suit in front of them had even more skill than the three of them did. They still couldn''t see the other side, though their skill controlling their jet stream cards was brilliant. The white-suited youth looked to be about 20 years old. For such a young ace, no matter what power he was in, he was a highly trained target. There wasn''t any youth so talented in the youth training camp of the firm!


    Although the power of the two card artisans chasing him wasn''t quite up to his, they still were not to be underestimated. They were more than one cut above the card artisans the three had with them. And, although those two had fallen to the lee, they still didn''t look flustered. The distance between the two had remained extremely constant. To provide such mutual support would effectively avoid them being split apart. That was enough to show what serious training they''d had; there wasn''t a wasted move among their every gesture.


    Kai and the rest knew clearly what it meant that only those card artisans who had honed their training through countless experiences could have developed such practices.


    The one escaping wasn''t flustered, and those chasing him weren''t in any hurry. To Kai, the situation raised too many doubts. More importantly, it was really a little coincidental for them to show up!


    Seeing Kai and the others, Howie and the two card artisans chasing him all changed their expressions.


    For such a gang of card artisans to suddenly appear in front of them in droves, and in what was almost a standard containment formation¡­ Everyone had been scattered into a line, making its function self-evident, which was to impede their breaking through from that direction.


    Could the two sides be together? Howie''s heart sank.


    The gazes of the two card artisans behind him had become even more diabolical than his. Once they spotted Kai and the others, their first thought had been whether it could be a trap with Howie as the bait.


    One of them immediately reported the situation to Hugo when something happened they had probably not anticipated; their actions had become the fuse for a battle!


    They were calling for reinforcements! Kai, Machida and Lu Xiaoru all changed their expressions.


    "But this time, they''ll let you attack first!"


    What Qian Mingyi had said flashed through Kai''s mind, and without any hesitation, Kai gave the order to attack!


    "We have all of them; choose your own targets among the three and attack!"


    The fierce energy fluctuations in the air had heated up with alarming speed; a storm was brewing!

 Chapter 199: A Chaotic Battle

    Chapter 199: A Chaotic Battle


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The chief uncle''s expression suddenly changed while he was in high-speed flight, as did everyone else''s. His face went swiftly dark as he signaled for the ranks to speed up.


    Just then, the masked man''s eyes flashed, and Butchie''s expression changed. The rest of the card artisans were shocked too. Without anything needing to be said, all of them sped up, and the entire platoon silently flew toward the energy fluctuations.


    Wei-ah suddenly raised his head as his gaze went out the window.


    While Chen Mu was transmitting the data to the system, he stopped what he was doing and looked out the window in some alarm.


    What powerful energy fluctuations! They could likely only come from a large-scale battle. Who would dare so brazenly to do battle in the city? Chen Mu furrowed his brow. The bout of fluctuation was quite close¡ªnot more than 2,000 meters away.


    After elevating his perception, his discernment became more accurate. Previously, he would still have been able to perceive it, though certainly without such clarity.


    Two thousand meters wasn''t anything more distant than the blink of an eye for a card artisan. As far as a large-scale melee was concerned, it wouldn''t be any distance at all.


    If a real large-scale card artisan battle had developed, and if he was within the range of fire, that would be quite hazardous. The bout of energy fluctuation was really powerful, and he could imagine what kind of terrifying firepower that implied. He was afraid the entire Heaven''s Wings building would be leveled when it came.


    But, what made him feel uncertain was that very few people would dare to open fire in a city. There were tall buildings all over the place, and there were a lot of pedestrians, most of whom were ordinary residents who had no way to protect themselves. Once a firefight developed in the city, it could create a large number of civilian casualties. There wasn''t any ruler who wanted to see such a situation, whether it was a ruler in name only or the actual rulers. They always hoped for good order in their precincts to facilitate their development and the accumulation of wealth.


    Therefore, in cities there would generally be a prohibition against card artisans battling. Few would ever challenge such prohibitions, whether the card artisans were strong or weak. During that time while martial power was distinctly important, there were still some other things, such as reputation, that couldn''t be ignored either. Aces were generally rather protective of their public image.


    But, Chen Mu wasn''t concerned about such things. Under conditions where there wasn''t any threat, Chen Mu could usually be considered an ordinary, peaceful gentleman. But, he couldn''t remain unperturbed that time. The energy fluctuations in the air had heated up at a startling rate, and he had already sensed their danger.


    That place wasn''t safe!


    There was already no sign of Wei-ah. Chen Mu had always had perfect confidence in Wei-ah''s ability to defend himself. He wouldn''t have half a chance against Wei-ah as he was then. Even if he were to pull away from Wei-ah, any tailless shuttle he might emit would still have no way to hit him. Wei-ah was like a beast with an innate fighting instinct, always good at taking advantage of whatever conditions he could. He didn''t have any perception, but Wei-ah''s ability to detect danger was still more powerful than Chen Mu''s. He couldn''t fly, but his high-speed sprinting wasn''t even half a point inferior to Chen Mu''s all-out flight.


    He didn''t know where such a freak had ever popped up from, but Wei-ah''s very existence subverted everything Chen Mu knew about humanity.


    As he listened attentively, there was no noise from downstairs, which Chen Mu found a little strange. Could those guys have also felt the danger? After a while, he realized it was Sunday; there were no employees at work.


    As he was just about to close the communications array, the communications card transmitted the system''s voice. "If you shut down, the transmission will terminate. Do you want to shut down?"


    Chen Mu didn''t say anything. He had transmitted nearly half by then, and if it were to fail he would have to start all over the next time.


    "Can I pause temporarily?" Chen Mu asked.


    "Yes, not more than three hours."


    Three hours should be enough for him to get away from the battlefield. It was a good thing the communications array wasn''t large; Chen Mu could simply pick it up in one hand.


    Opening the window and taking a look to see there was no one around, he slid down the building''s side. He was like a lively gecko, sticking to the outer wall of the building while following the dark, winding shadow all the way. The big mud fish card had inconceivable agility, which made Chen Mu''s movements still more weird and erratic.


    He shrank into a secluded corner, which was entirely hidden in the shadows. Without looking carefully, there was no way to discover Chen Mu hiding there. He slowed his breathing and carefully regulated the frequency of the spiral perceptual spring within his body, approaching the "golden frequency" of the breath control method. That was the stealth technique he had groped for and the one he had used to evade the probing of Anna''s ripple card, after which his sneak attack had succeeded. Such a technique didn''t have the side effects of breath control, though its results weren''t nearly as good. Not only did it not have the characteristic calm of the state of breath control, the stealth wasn''t as perfect.


    But, as far as Chen Mu was then concerned, it was sufficient. It didn''t have any side effects, so he could use it whenever he wanted.


    There were dozens of card artisans floating toward confrontation. The density of the air along with the substantial energy fluctuations meant there was about to be an attack. No matter where one might run off to by then, it wouldn''t be any different than to seek death. Chen Mu could only stay hidden.


    Then, Chen Mu witnessed a spectacular scene.


    Glowing blades covered Heaven and Earth, and light beams and energy bombs whistled like rain drops toward where the three were flying. The high-speed flying wavy blades cut through the air with a shrill howl, and the fine, straight, glowing beams left eye-piercing traces. Those were then mixed up with the energy bombs'' low whirring. It was like a symphony reaching its crescendo without any prelude.


    In addition to those three most common attack methods, there were quite a few more bizarre energy attacks. The light from those even exceeded the sun, with everything a flash of white, and even the shadows in Chen Mu''s corner were driven away; his body was immediately exposed. Just then, while no one was paying any attention to him and while they were all intimidated by the attacks, including Chen Mu himself...


    Hong, hong, hong!


    When the energy bombs detonated on the ground, or on the houses, or on the buildings, a blaze of fire would bloom. The shock wave formed by the stream of noise from the violent explosions carried along countless stones, which scattered all around with shocking speed.


    Chen Mu was stunned, never having thought anyone would dare to attack so unscrupulously within the city. Compared to the scene in front of him, what he had seen before with Bo Wen or in Eastern Shang-Wei City would only be considered child''s play.


    He kept being surprised, though his reaction was very quick as he activated the bipolar thunderball car with the greatest dispatch. That was the most powerful energy cloak he had just then. Five small thunderballs merrily twirled around his body by themselves.


    Peng, peng, peng!


    In the space of a blink, he had blocked two wavy blades and an energy bomb. The Heaven''s Wings building under his feet was a mess, having taken three energy bombs in that instant! Those energy bombs had detonated on the outer glass. The protective glass was shattered. Within a few brief seconds, the Heaven''s Wings building had become unrecognizable. The high-temperature blasts formed by the explosion of the energy bombs nearly blew Chen Mu down. Although he wasn''t injured, Chen Mu''s face and head were blown with ash.


    Hugo''s expression was dark and frozen, and his already terrifying face was now outrageously hideous as he watched the flames formed by the explosions in front of him.


    On the other hand, his voice remained calm. "Old Bing and Bea have died." It was as though he were reciting facts with his uniquely piercing voice. Yet, all those who were along with him, including Butchie, knew Hugo was furious! They were too!


    Meanwhile, in a different direction...


    "I''ll go first, and you follow." The chief uncle tossed out that phrase as he sped up. He had already seen the battle off in the distance while those huge explosions had long since gotten there. He could imagine what sort of battle had been waged! He had just lost his connection with Howie, which made him burn with anxiety.


    * * *


    Chen Mu hoped nothing had happened with Wei-ah! He was somewhat worried about him. An ace like Wei-ah wasn''t afraid of targeted attacks. What they feared most were chaotic battles. The disorderly attacks within chaotic battles were more fatal as far as they were concerned. No one could control them; it was all fate.


    Very soon, Chen Mu didn''t have any time to be concerned about Wei-ah since the firepower had become still more fierce. Could those guys want to destroy Pomelo? Chen Mu promptly fled, unable to deal with anything more. He discovered with a hurried glance that one of the three who were the target of the attacks was impressively still alive. Chen Mu wouldn''t have had the strength himself to escape under such strong firepower. Although that person had a defeated look, he was indeed still alive.


    The one alive was Howie, and the reason he was still alive was that "steel helmet" card of his. Before then, he hadn''t liked the steel helmet since he felt it had an ugly name; he never thought it would save his life.


    The steel helmet was a card given to him by his father and was said to have a long heritage. It was an energy shielding card, but it was diametrically different compared to the ordinary energy cloaking cards. Its most special feature was its outstanding protective ability. It had experienced every means of attack, none of which had ever shaken it up. But, it had a very critical weakness. Like its name, once it was activated, it was like wearing an extremely heavy steel helmet, and movements could become extremely slow.


    Contemporary card artisan battles were very fast-paced, and maintaining high-speed flight was the most basic requirement. There wouldn''t be any question about death once the speed slowed. Ordinarily, he really couldn''t use the steel helmet. But, because it was something left to him by his father, he still kept in in his apparatus.


    He hadn''t thought it would be so crucial to saving him.


    Maybe it was the spirit of his father in the heavens! The thought flashed through Howie''s mind.


    But, that firepower had been too fierce, and even the indestructible steel helmet had collapsed in an instant. What made him feel still more hopeless was that the steel helmet card in his apparatus had already broken into pieces. He had no way to use it again.


    He was completely relying on his outstanding flying ability to dodge, and his body had already gotten more bloody gashes within a few seconds. Stuck in a dangerous situation, he actually calmed down and struggled to brace himself. He knew no one would save him then; if he wanted to live, he would have to depend on himself.


    That was when the chief uncle and Hugo arrived.


    The chief uncle saw Howie covered in blood and having difficulty bracing himself. His eyes went red, and without any hesitation, five blue lines came from his raised hand. Each of the five threads was the thickness of a finger and about two meters long, looking like five blue snakes.


    Chen Mu didn''t neglect to look back at the situation he was fleeing. When he saw those five blue lines, he immediately recognized the card the chief uncle was using, which was the blue polar snake line card.


    Previously, while in Eastern Shang-Wei City, the one who had been after him had used it. Afterward, Chen Mu had specifically looked at materials about the blue polar snake line. That kind of card had been well-received by high-grade card artisans. It had an unusual special feature. When it was used, it produced extremely small energy waves.


    It was very similar to the tailless shuttle card in Chen Mu''s hands. But, the waves produced by the tailless shuttle were still finer than those of the blue polar snake line and were harder to detect. Chen Mu had killed a professional card artisan that day in close quarters by virtue of the tailless shuttle. Whenever he thought about that, he couldn''t help but be amazed by his boldness.


    An ignorant person is fearless. What a correct statement that was. As he was now, he would never be so bold as to do such a thing.


    The blue polar snake line card was a three-star card and just happened to be within the scope of Chen Mu''s research.


    From the angle of a card master, Chen Mu didn''t actually think the blue polar snake line had anything too superb about it. Its power from the energy composition formed at the start wasn''t great, and it required the card artisan to optimize its energy composition. If the blue polar snake line card was used well, it would require the one using it to have very powerful perceptual control ability.


    The blue polar snake line card being deployed by that middle-aged man in the air was being used very well. Once the five blue light beams left the chief uncle''s control, they looked more like five blue snakes that had smelled something, or like five winding, blue bolts of lightning shooting out.


    Their speed was dizzying.


    Pu, pu, pu! The three light beams sank into the chests of the three who had been attacking Howie. They looked stunned, not having understood at all where the blows came from. Having lost control, the three fell headlong from the sky, smashing onto a building in a bloody mess.


    Two more blue beams burst into two starbursts, annihilating into the air.


    Machida stared at the chief uncle with a strange demonic flush on his face while his black windbreaker rippled in the wind. Wavy blades were hovering about his fingers, and he gave out a nervous chuckle. Those wavy blades were exquisite and elegant, shaped like butterflies, whose graceful and smooth curves were like works of art. They were entirely a delicate white rendered translucent and sparkling like crystal. That was the manifestation of highly materialized energy.


    The chief uncle''s expression had turned serious. Experience had taught him the gaunt one in front of him wouldn''t be so good to deal with.


    Hugo and his large group arrived and saw Howie being attacked. Howie looked miserable with his entire body covered in wounds, and his flight was long since without the calm and fluidity he''d had at the start. His mind was blank by then, and he was in a state of unconscious combat.


    He was pitifully unaware anyone was staring at him.


    The fiery battle scene immediately excited those guys, who were so full of fight. They still recognized Howie, though he was covered in blood.


    So, it was that damned guy!


    He didn''t know what had happened, but Howie experienced a brief moment of clarity. He saw Hugo''s unique half-masked face and shivered as his mind cleared. Once he made contact with the hateful looks of Hugo and his men, he reacted very quickly, immediately pointing to Kai and his crew, who were shouting as they rushed to Hugo. "Those two were killed by them!"


    Once he said that, the scene became chaotic.


    Without any hesitation, Kai attacked! He only then understood that those two who had just been killed near him weren''t in the same gang with the little punks who wouldn''t be a match for a cockroach.


    But, he was also a decisive person; even though he still had a grudge, he thought more about how little difference it would make. On the contrary, at such a critical moment, any hesitation could cause the whole team to fall into someplace without hope of reprieve.


    Hugo made his moves at about the same time as Kai. Once he did, it really rocked things.


    He leaned forward with the top part of his body, both arms circling in front of his chest. The silvery mask flashed before it faded.


    Hong!


    A bright white, glowing beam about five meters in diameter was so dazzling in the midst of the battlefield, it was as though the sun were breaking through the clouds.


    There was a deafening sound. After a brief blindness, there appeared a deep, black hole maybe ten meters across behind Kai with blue smoke swirling up from it.


    The stout beam directly obliterated five card artisans. The most terrifying thing was that half of the body of one of them just vanished, with blood spurting out like a fountain. Still floating and not having yet reacted, he didn''t understand what had happened until the pain arrived.


    The sharp screams nearly split the sky open, and even those like Kai were unable to watch. Peng. He fell to the ground, and the screaming came to a sudden halt.


    Lu Xiaoru was patting her pounding chest, though no one was paying attention to her alluring action that time. She had only just missed being wiped out by that terrifying beam, luckily jumping fast. Otherwise...


    Hugo''s action caused quiet on the field for a short while, but in the heat of the action just then, what remained of everyone''s reason had disappeared.


    With reddened eyes, Kai looked like a raging lion with an oval shaped energy bomb slowly taking shape in his empty right hand.


    The energy bomb didn''t attract any attention, not looking any different from an ordinary energy bomb, though Kai had quite a serious look on his face.


    With a flash in his eyes, Kai raised his hand and threw the energy bomb toward Hugo! Its flight was extremely fast, but it strangely wasn''t making any sound.


    Still, that unremarkable energy bomb caused Hugo''s expression to change as he burst out, "Dodge fast!" As the shout died, he dodged to the side as quickly as he could.


    His warning had come a little too late.


    The bomb exploded in the midst of the card artisans Hugo had brought along, and it was more violent than the one that had just occurred. Maybe explosion was not an appropriate term to describe it. In fact, it didn''t make any sound. That energy bomb was like a bright white starburst bubble that suddenly expanded. Six card artisans who couldn''t escape were swallowed up by the expanding white light.


    Then, while everyone was still dazed, the suddenly growing white ball popped, transforming into innumerable fine, white bursting fragments.


    It burst apart like snowflakes spewing everywhere, floating down from above the field, making that hell on earth look strangely beautiful.


    It had really turned chaotic!


    Butchie was chasing Howie, with the strikes from her hand sharply different. She had a very unusual way of striking, ceaselessly emitting tadpole-like energy bodies, which would spontaneously chase after Howie no matter how he dodged. Those tadpole energy bodies were each different, with some able to enter Howie''s flesh and some gathering together into a large body and suddenly blowing apart.


    "Howie!" a girl was crying out. At almost the same time, Butchie was beating a quick retreat.


    Attacks from more than 20 card artisans came at the same time, and she couldn''t dare hold fast against their vanguard. The place she had just occupied was drowned by countless energy bodies.


    That was also when the chief uncle and his support forces arrived. The arrival of 20 card artisans didn''t actually trigger the end of the battle; on the contrary, the battle scene became still more chaotic. Everyone''s eyes were deadly red, and they didn''t need to determine who their enemy was anymore.


    So long as they didn''t recognize someone, that was an enemy!


    Lu Xiaoru stood in the ruins with her red evening gown already destroyed, revealing her snow-white flesh. She stood with her sexy, full, long legs spread open, greedily gasping for breath. The battle above her had really gotten too fierce. She had just nearly missed dying there. Taking a look at the glaring, wide-eyed Kai in midair, as well as at Machida, who was fighting miserably with the chief uncle, she was mocking silently that this old babe wasn''t going to play with those two idiots.


    The perils of that day''s situation had far outpaced any battle she had ever encountered. In such a melee where anyone''s battle power was extremely limited, nobody''s power made any difference.


    She had indeed gotten many benefits from the Central Island Firm, but she wouldn''t be so happy if she were to lose her life that way.


    In order to control the card artisans, the Central Island Firm controlled all of their families, giving them the best life and the best services. But, Ren Wenzhou and his people hadn''t realized Lu Xiaoru''s so-called family was nothing more than an ordinary family she had bribed. In order to foil any investigations, she had already spent five or six years cultivating her feelings among the family. And, no one would ever imagine she had quite a few families on hand like that one.


    So, she could walk away without any concern at all.


    She suddenly stopped. What was that? Something in her bag seemed to be vibrating.


    She rummaged through her fanny pack. It was the signal ball! It was vibrating endlessly, and the red light was flashing.


    Lu Xiaoru''s face suddenly looked ecstatic.


    She had never thought the old babe she was would ever get so lucky! Lu Xiaoru held the signal ball in her hand while she looked all around with her gorgeous eyes. For the signal ball to respond would demonstrate that the objective was within 50 meters of her. Once she thought about the possibility of catching that man and finding the so-called equipment, and then going back for the reward¡­ It would have to be an astronomical number! The firm had been very clear on that, and they had never lied.


    Her mind heated up.


    In fact, Chen Mu was only six meters from her.

 Chapter 200: Degeneration

    Chapter 200: Degeneration


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu had shrunk into a dark corner and wasn''t making a move. He squinted and very carefully watched the woman, not daring to let down his guard in the least. He maintained his spiral perceptual spring''s vibration frequency all along. That was the only way he could keep from being found out. Chen Mu didn''t look down on his adversary at all because she was a woman; as a matter of fact, he really didn''t feel he could be considered a card artisan. Of course, he was talking about professional card artisans. He had always felt no matter how far his skills had developed, he still didn''t have the psychological qualities of a professional card artisan.


    Shrunk into the corner, Chen Mu quietly watched his adversary. The hiding skills he''d learned from the demonic woman¡ªin addition to the advice he''d gotten from Wei-ah¡ªwere extremely useful. Even though she was very close, his adversary hadn''t discovered him.


    But, what was that small ball?


    Chen Mu was a bit puzzled, not understanding why the woman had looked so ecstatic when she took out the small ball. The red light on the ball kept flashing brightly, and Chen Mu could see it clearly vibrating from a distance of 16 meters. What was it?


    The red light felt quite familiar to Chen Mu. He would often see such red lights when he was in the underground city base. Red lights like that were generally indicative of an alarm or a reminder.


    The time period of the underground city base wasn''t reliably known, though it was something very old. Who knows how much customs would have changed since that time? So, Chen Mu couldn''t be sure.


    He could see how far he was from the attitude of a professional card artisan. Or, to put it differently, there was a gap between him and true combat personnel. If it were Wei-ah, he would certainly have made his move without hesitation, and it would have been fatal. Potential danger and actual danger weren''t any different in Wei-ah''s eyes.


    Chen Mu couldn''t do that, or at least not now.


    Lu Xiaoru lightly swept away her bangs, and her beautiful eyes flowed around. The signal ball in her hand was still flashing in clear indication that her objective hadn''t departed and must be hidden somewhere. How could she find him?


    A diameter of 50 meters wouldn''t be called big, but it wasn''t small either. And, the surrounding environment was complex. There were broken remnants of walls and chunks of concrete piled up all over the place. The only thing she was then worried about was that her quarry might have been bashed dead and buried by chunks of concrete falling from the sky. In that case, her reward would be sharply cut.


    She then furrowed her brow, and a pained look flashed across her face. She lowered her head to take a look at her right foot, which seemed to have been struck by something. She bent down to examine her foot. Along with that movement, the shredded red evening gown on her body couldn''t take the stress and suddenly slipped off her left shoulder.


    Her flesh was like snow at the first sign of spring, and she exclaimed as though she wanted to stop the dress from slipping off, not knowing the movement would cause the strap on her right shoulder to snap. The whole dress just plopped to the ground.


    She quickly grabbed the dress to cover her chest, but the red evening gown was basically thin and slinky. Her back was entirely exposed, with her two snow-white, round shoulders laid similarly bare. The most critical thing was that the lower part of her evening gown had ripped apart nearly to her waist.


    Chen Mu saw it all from his dark corner. He felt the rush of his youthful blood and caught his breath.


    He very quickly contained himself. The woman had her hands over her breasts all along, and none of her recent panic was anywhere to be seen as she looked his way, seeming to smile without smiling.


    She''d nailed him!


    Chen Mu''s heart sank. Could her objective have been him?


    He slid to the side with no indication under his feet about how he''d made the move. Without looking back, he followed along the shadows at the base of the wall, dashing with all his strength. It was the first time Chen Mu had witnessed such a way of being found out.


    She hadn''t thought her objective would actually have such skills. Lu Xiaoru calmly straightened her clothes in the midst of all that, even tying a bow on the shoulder strap in a leisurely manner. Those two beautiful eyes never left Chen Mu, her face showing a rather interested expression.


    Feeling the gaze from behind him, Chen Mu felt his body go rigid, though he quickly overcame such unfitting feelings. That was because the pressure his adversary was putting him under was a lot less than Wei-ah''s.


    Chen Mu''s speed while running full-out was stunning, and he never ran in a straight line. That was a habit he''d picked up while sparring with Wei-ah; he had found that if he were to run in a straight line, then the battle would be over within a second. Therefore, under Wei-ah''s pressure, Chen Mu''s movements became more and more erratic. Sometimes his body would be faster than his mind and nearly instinctual.


    Lu Xiaoru''s look turned serious, and a flash of surprise went through her eyes. It was her first time running after such a weird opponent whose body was hidden in the shadows all along, making his figure only faintly discernible. When he made his move, the route was impossible to predict.


    Generally speaking, the best thing to do when facing such an adversary would be to cover the area with attacks, but she didn''t have any means to carpet an area.


    Moreover, those above her had said they wanted him alive. She suddenly felt the issue had gotten tricky. The strength shown by her opponent surprised her, and her expression became gradually more serious. The more she watched her heart, the cooler she became.


    She still hadn''t seen what her objective looked like, with his body so perfectly hidden in shadows all along. She couldn''t help but think about a certain kind of card artisan who moved in the dark and considered it his companion.


    Could the quarry in front of her be such a card artisan? Lu Xiaoru found her throat dry.


    A long time ago, she had heard of a very small number among card artisans who walked that line. Such card artisans were mostly engaged in assassination and the work of snooping for intelligence. They were good at taking advantage of the dark and moving nimbly to seize opportunities. They were among the scariest of card artisans. Such card artisans had gotten brutal training from the time they were small, so their attitudes were diametrically different from ordinary people''s. Most of them were ruthless and cold-blooded.


    In former times, when sects were everywhere, there were some very famous such schools. As the time of the sects was fading toward the verge of the time of the academies, they had all suddenly vanished without a trace. But, Lu Xiaoru knew they had only been hiding in the dark and that quite a few would still cause sensations, often leaving only a shadow of their activities.


    The really powerful families or the big firms would all have such card artisans kept in the dark to take on certain special jobs. Very few contemporary card artisan assassins had a simple or solitary existence; they were always in the shadow of the large organization behind them. Some of the card artisan assassins would even report to several powers.


    She wasn''t going to have such bad luck herself! Lu Xiaoru hesitated.


    However, she had sufficient confidence in her own strength. Although assassin card artisans were powerful, they weren''t without their weaknesses. The content of their training was diametrically different from ordinary card artisans''; the most crucial aspect was the time invested in the area of perception, which was quite a bit less than for ordinary card artisans. That also led to their perception never being strong enough. Therefore, they didn''t have much advantage if confronted head-on.


    It was a different factor that made her hesitate though; there might be something behind her adversary.


    On the one hand, there was the large reward, while on the other, there might be some kind of terrifying backer. Should she do it or not?


    Seeing that her quarry was about to leave the scope of the signal ball''s perception, Lu Xiaoru needed to decide! She would punch her ticket, take the money and then beat it. Heaven was big and the earth broad, and it wouldn''t be so easy to find her.


    After thinking it through, she didn''t have any hesitation and immediately flew up and away, chasing after Chen Mu.


    Without turning around, Chen Mu knew the woman was chasing him. He was now certain he was the woman''s objective. Although Chen Mu didn''t know why, he''d already stopped wondering about that.


    There was only one thing in his mind¡ªto escape or to kill his adversary.


    Chen Mu hadn''t made a move before because he still hadn''t determined whether his counterpart was the enemy, but he now knew she indeed was. Although he had no way to be as ruthless as Wei-ah, he wasn''t any more hesitant with enemies.


    The big mud fish card was great at changing direction. When added to his own physical strength, he was full of explosive power within short distances.


    Once he entered into battle, Chen Mu became very focused. His gaze was firm and resolute; he was a different person from a moment ago. He shuttled among the buildings and the busted walls at high speed carrying the communications apparatus in his left hand as a tailless shuttle was taking shape in his right. The perception he sent out had accurately captured his adversary''s image.


    Lu Xiaoru''s expression shifted in midair.


    Damn! I''ve been tricked! That guy''s perception is about the same as mine!


    Once she thought about a seeming assassin card artisan with perceptual strength like hers, she got scared. Perception was the card artisan assassin''s weak suit. Wouldn''t it mean her adversary was more powerful than she was if his weakest aspect was about the same as hers?


    As though drenched in ice water, Lu Xiaoru''s heated greed quickly disappeared without a trace. No matter how much more money she could get, she would need to be alive to spend it.


    She was just thinking of leaving when her expression suddenly changed. She deployed he energy cloak almost unconsciously.


    The bright purple energy cloak was like a glowing egg floating in the air, which attracted a lot of attention.


    Ping! There was a sound like breaking glass. Her energy cloak was blown apart in an instant as the undiminished momentum of the tailless shuttle shot into her left shoulder.


    Yikes! It just missed her head. In the dark, Chen Mu looked on with regret at Lu Xiaoru flying behind him, noting to himself that it seemed training and real combat were two different things in the end.


    Lu Xiaoru was panicked, and her face was drained of blood. She had just raised her energy cloak and didn''t think it wouldn''t be able to block her adversary''s attack. That blow had utterly erased any thoughts beyond getting far away from that damned place.


    Their roles had been swapped so quickly! Quickly enough to make Chen Mu incredulous. He was a little surprised to be so successful.


    He didn''t turn about to leave but instead chased after Lu Xiaoru. He wanted to understand why his adversary would make such moves toward him and especially what the little ball was used for. If he wasn''t able to clarify that, Chen Mu felt he would never be able to sleep. To become a target for no reason was a really messed up feeling.


    Chen Mu moved along the shadows at the base of the wall, never leaving them. Against those shadows, Chen Mu''s body became more and more strange and erratic, as though he were a chilling ghost whose feet weren''t touching the ground. Chen Mu wasn''t aware of any of that with his attention so focused. That was a habit also developed by training with Wei-ah. Once he entered into a battle posture, he could arouse 120 percent of his spirit. Every time he sparred with Wei-ah, he would be vanquished in an instant if he were distracted in the slightest.


    At the beginning of his training, Chen Mu would be defeated within ten seconds much of the time. Wei-ah really understood the composition of the human body, and every time he would attack Chen Mu, Chen Mu would go numb and fall on his back. Only after five or six minutes would he be back to normal.


    At first, they would spar for an hour, but the actual sparring time wasn''t more than a minute. The remaining 59 minutes were all him watching the ceiling. He''d gotten used to that sort of numbness and paralysis.


    That made for some terrifying pressure, and the feeling he got from Wei-ah was like being submerged in the ocean to an unfathomable depth. To face such pressure over a long time meant when he would see other card artisans, all the panic and helplessness he had felt at the outset would quickly change to a showing of how well he could adapt.


    Chen Mu''s feet seemed a lot lighter without Wei-ah''s omnipresent pressure. A refreshing feeling arose like he had never had. Although there was still some distance between him and the female card artisan, Chen Mu was full of confidence in that instant.


    His mind was exceptionally clear, and everything around him seemed to be within his grasp, which was a wonderful feeling. The switch between the big mud fish card and his footsteps was utterly fluid. With his empty hand, Chen Mu took out the fruit of the ghost-faced flower and crammed it into his mouth. He felt the fruit quickly expanding in his mouth as his face had a chilled feeling. Several seconds later, the ghost-faced flower had already tightly covered his face. Only the ghost-faced flower and the elastic shoes remained in his hands among the things he had gotten from the demonic woman. The rest were already lost.


    A strange, twisted, natural mask now accompanied his equally strange and erratic pacing. Chen Mu appeared like some ghostly apparition flitting through the dark, spreading an oppressive chill.


    Chen Mu wasn''t feeling any chill, though. His mind was calm, and his perception, energy, environment and pace were all similarly clear and in sync. Apart from the state of breath control, that was his first time to have such a wonderful feeling. He much preferred his current state than the state of breath control.


    The second tailless shuttle was quickly taking shape on his right index finger. In the next second, he would be able to deliver a fatal blow. He knew he wouldn''t miss this time. His adversary''s vitals were locked in with the same feeling as though he were training.


    Suddenly, there were two card artisans flying toward Lu Xiaoru. Their speed was extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye they entered Lu Xiaoru''s scope of attack.


    That unforeseen event broke off Chen Mu''s firing rhythm, and he abruptly stopped his impulse to fire the tailless shuttle that had already formed in his hand.


    He hid behind the broken-down walls and carefully watched the situation in front of him. He wasn''t so inflated as to think he could take on three against one. He needed to understand the situation before planning his next move.


    Should he leave, or should he continue on? Chen Mu was in some doubt. If he were to leave, of course he could easily escape. But, if he didn''t determine what was going on, who knew what the situation might be the next time?


    Just then, the three engaged in battle.


    Lu Xiaoru''s strength surprised Chen Mu, and he couldn''t tell what kind of card she had been using. That astonished him. He was no longer just a rookie. He may have been far from being a professional card artisan, but he still had the right to talk about cards.


    No one understood cards better than a card master. While he''d only used a handful of cards, and while the number of cards he had researched would not be considered incalculable, he had still basically covered most of the common types.


    However, the card Lu Xiaoru was using and the energy body it emitted were something he''d never seen. That made him quite excited.


    Every time Lu Xiaoru made a move, Chen Mu never saw any energy body, but those other two card artisans'' energy shields would shake violently at the same time. It was a powerful, fierce shaking to the point that it interfered with the ability of the card artisan within to make any attacks.


    Then, a strange thing happened while he was watching Lu Xiaoru standing there in leisurely fashion while her enemies were trapped inside of their energy cloaks. Chen Mu could even see the painful suffering and dazed expressions of the two card artisans. But, the bloody wound on her snow-white left shoulder was the only shocking thing; it was the evidence of the attack Chen Mu had just made.


    Lu Xiaoru had taken the overwhelming advantage in a flash. Her two adversaries didn''t have any more power to fight back.


    Chen Mu was certain Lu Xiaoru had actually made a move since he had felt the energy fluctuations. The issue was with the energy bodies! Could it be some kind of formless, intangible energy body? Chen Mu was thinking while he kept up his alarm. His brain was churning, but he didn''t have any way to calculate what kind of card she had actually used.


    Most puzzling was that Lu Xiaoru had clearly already gotten the complete advantage, so why didn''t she just kill them? Judging from her recent performance, she wasn''t any soft-hearted woman.


    How could he know the reason Lu Xiaoru didn''t immediately kill them was because of his existence?


    Chen Mu had kept himself hiding in the shadows, and it would be very hard to see him with bare eyes. Chen Mu''s bogus borderline breath control prevented her from determining his position. On top of that, the energy fluctuations from the tailless shuttle card were extremely small; in that area, there were countless powerful energy fluctuations to provide him good cover.


    Lu Xiaoru was paying Chen Mu nearly half of her attention.


    The signal ball in her pack was vibrating all along, which showed that her adversary was still hidden in her vicinity. She didn''t stop what she was doing while her two beautiful eyes endlessly swept around, with every dark, shadowy place making her so nervous the chill in her heart kept swelling up.


    She was full of regret about provoking such a terrifying enemy.


    * * *


    Howie was being tightly protected by his comrades. Seeing no opportunity, Butchie simply strolled around them. She had a lot more power than the supporting card artisans in front of her, and she wore an easy expression. She was like a wily fox as she patrolled along the edges. Every time someone wasn''t paying attention, she would take the opportunity to take a nip out of them.


    Her flight skills were outstanding, and she had a much richer battle experience than those card artisans. She quickly held up nearly 20 card artisans by herself, sometimes making a move. Every time she did make a move, one or two of them would be killed.


    She found out those card artisans were generally quite young, as though they''d just gotten out of school. They were complete novices. Ordinarily, she wouldn''t have bothered with such novice card artisans. But, this time her moves were ruthless.


    Her gaze was always fixed on Howie, who was near blacking out. So, it was that guy! If it hadn''t been for him, her comrades wouldn''t have had to die, and this huge battle wouldn''t have happened. The comrades alongside her kept dying, and she had no power to stop it. That was her simple feeling. Anyone''s power was limited in a large-scale, chaotic battle.


    In her eyes, Howie was the main culprit of the battle. She fixed her gaze on him, wanting to finish the hateful guy off.


    A girl was holding Howie, sobbing through her tears, "Wake up, Howie, wake up!"


    Whether or not it was the result of her efforts, Howie did finally wake up and slowly opened his eyes. After a while, his eyesight cleared up. The terrible shape he was in with blood dripping off his whole body made him look like he was made of blood. His whimpering mouth seemed about to smile, but the pain on his face forced him to keep his stiff expression.


    He would inevitably feel the disfigurement that time.


    He craned about with difficulty to scan the whole battle scene and immediately found they were descending into danger. His adversary alone had actually held up nearly everyone.


    Having experienced life and death, Howie seemed to have matured quite a bit in that instant. His voice was dry and hoarse, and he spoke with difficulty. "Young troopers, organize together, and synchronize your attacks!"


    One person in the crowd immediately responded, "Ok! Why didn''t I think of that?" He then raised his voice. "Everyone pay attention. We need a precisely synchronized attack!" Because he was a little older, the trooper had a little more prestige among the group.


    The so-called synchronized attack was everyone making their moves at once. That kind of attack wasn''t about accuracy but was about unity and frequency of attack. Such a battle style was only used by teams, and they had all studied it. But, no one had thought to use it.


    Butchie heard what Howie said at the same time, and she knew her tactics would become ineffective. She suddenly made her move, and without even watching what happened, she immediately sped off without any reluctance. Bloody holes appeared on the throats of each of the two card artisans on the periphery, and they fell headlong from the air.


    His adversary''s ruthlessness seemed to have aroused a chill in Howie. The distance between the two sides had really gotten too great.


    That distance didn''t actually manifest itself in the power of each individual, but rather in tactical attainment. Surveying his comrades, Howie smiled bitterly that his side, including himself, would normally never experience such a scene. They were all out-and-out novices. He counted to himself; in that moment, 12 comrades had died, which made up nearly a quarter of their total.


    That had been caused by the adversary, which deepened the bitter smile on Howie''s face.


    The chief uncle was in a frenzied fight with the card master wearing the black windbreaker. Given his ability, it was difficult to tell who was superior. He sighed to himself and reminded everyone, "Keep your spirits up. Once anyone gets near, use the synchronized attack, and don''t worry about your energy cards. Everyone take instructions from the trooper."


    "Ok!""No problem!""You are all right, Howie!"


    All of the scattered sounds came together, though Howie didn''t feel the least joy. He knew very well they didn''t have good chances of being able to survive. They were the weakest among the three sides, and the reason so many were still alive was only that the other two powers hadn''t sorted out the winners from the losers. Once the battle scene cleared up, they''d be in danger.


    Looking at the card artisans fighting fiercely in the air, Howie felt horrified. The strength of those card artisans was beyond anything he''d expected.


    Everyone was attacking without any misgivings, turning it into a real battlefield in the sky. Where they had been below was already in ruins. He was afraid he didn''t know how many people had been killed, which chilled Howie''s heart.


    But, he quickly calmed down. The reason they had been so passive was because they hadn''t been sufficiently prepared. Looking at the entire federation, those who could compare in battle strength with them could be counted on the fingers. Such a battle would certainly be noticed by those above.


    You''ll know better by then! Howie''s gaze sank, and his face twisted.


    After that, Butchie left Howie and those card artisans and saw Lu Xiaoru and her own two companions.


    Lu Xiaoru''s skill surprised her, but her two eyes turned fiery very quickly. Seeing Lu Xiaoru seeming to play cat and mouse and ravaging her comrades, Butchie''s expression abruptly darkened. For her comrades to be killed wasn''t so odd. That was a difference in power. But, the insult of such toying by the adversary enraged Butchie.


    She didn''t lose her reason because of her rage. She powerfully curbed her urge to attack and quietly moved toward the vicinity of Lu Xiaoru.


    Yikes! Who is this person? Her gaze suddenly fell onto the shadows of a broken wall where she could vaguely glimpse an indistinct figure.

 Chapter 201: Looking Up in the Dark

    Chapter 201: Looking Up in the Dark


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    When Butchie discovered him, Chen Mu also discovered her. His situation that day had gotten very strange, with his perception untold times more acute than normal.


    Slightly squinting, he raised his head in the shadows. He recognized Butchie from the recent battle where he had discovered how breathtaking that female card artisan was. Her understanding of energy and her control of perception were something he could never overtake.


    If he hadn''t known his own perception had greatly increased during that time, he would have been afraid that even his perception was far from hers. Making the comparison with a cool head, Chen Mu stolidly found he wasn''t her equal at that time. What was more, and what felt strange, was that he didn''t feel any fear. He was a different person from when he''d just encountered Lu Xiaoru, with nothing to be seen of the novice''s peculiar panic.


    Chen Mu then seemed like a seasoned hunter, composed and without the least bit of panic, hiding in the shadows and watching his counterpart. He probably didn''t even realize his mannerism of squinting was so similar to Wei-ah''s.


    The two of them looked at each other for a few seconds. In such a tumultuous battlefield, a few seconds was a long time. The air between them seemed to have turned solid, and neither was making a sound.


    Chen Mu abruptly moved like an agile civet cat as he shot wildly out of the shadows, springing from his feet. The big mud fish card was pushed to its limits through a succession of erratic flitting moves, so he was lost among the wrecked walls in a breath.


    Butchie''s face turned white.


    She was really stunned as she helplessly watched her adversary depart so easily without her making any response. For a richly experienced professional card artisan to respond that way was a fatal, low-level mistake. Yet, she had no such thoughts, remembering the scene just before that had given her a chill.


    In the shadows, when her adversary had raised his head to look at her, that indistinct and weirdly breathing face with his two squinting eyes seemed to have been branded in her brain. She knew such a face was a mask, but whenever she thought about that painted face¡ªthat indistinct and weirdly twisted face slightly raised in the dark, and those two eyes¡ªa chill would blast up from her tailbone!


    The cool look he''d given her had also left a deep impression. Also surprising were his movements, or rather his manner of walking. Butchie had never seen such a strange walk; he had seemed to glide over the ground.


    If he was using his physical strength, there would have to be some up and down motion, but he didn''t have any. While he might have been using a jet stream card, Butchie had still seen him using the strength in his legs. His erratic walk was hard to predict. Butchie couldn''t quite determine if she would be able to lock onto him once he''d made his move.


    What a dangerous dude!


    Butchie watched the place where Chen Mu had disappeared with lingering fear. She really didn''t know what that guy had come there for; she just hoped he wasn''t an enemy. Butchie was pondering absent-mindedly.


    But, she quickly returned to her calm since the companions in front of her still needed her to rescue them. It wasn''t any time for wild thoughts. She settled herself and continued on toward Lu Xiaoru.


    After a few seconds she saw her.


    Lu Xiaoru looked badly off with her left shoulder a deep red. Butchie was curious about who had actually wounded her. As she looked her over, she determined Lu Xaioru''s skills were at about the same level as hers. Who could wound her on such a battlefield? Apart from herself, everyone else was in a raging battle. Ordinary card artisans couldn''t have hurt her apart from a combined effort, in which case she should be covered in wounds.


    Could it have been him? Butchie''s heart pounded!


    That slightly raised masked face from the shadows flashed through her mind unbidden, and she seemed to see a cold light flash from the two eyes in the mask just then!


    When she thought about where he''d been ambushing just then, he would have been just able to see Lu Xiaoru, which felt about right to her.


    She didn''t make as much of a fuss as Lu Xiaoru did about a card artisan assassin. There was a specific department of assassination in the organization, and those in it were all such people. It was said that it was unlit even where they lived, as gloomy as could be. When such people went out, they almost didn''t breathe. When in the assassin''s department, you would never know how much time you''d spent there or even how many personnel from the assassination department had passed by.


    Anyone who had ever gone to the assassination department didn''t want to go there again. Although Butchie had never been there, she''d heard a lot of rumors about it. She''d asked Hugo about it and found that the way to promotion for such card artisan assassins was a lot more difficult than for ordinary card artisans. The things they learned were extremely complex, which would limit their later development. That was why truly top card artisan assassins could be counted on the fingers.


    Hugo had said there weren''t many card artisans in the assassination department who could do her harm, so she didn''t have any dread of card artisan assassins. But, when she then faced a card artisan of that style, she finally understood the powerful sense of oppression, which was something ordinary card artisans wouldn''t give off.


    Would all card artisan assassins give such a powerful sense of oppression?


    Such notions flashed through her mind. Having such unbridled thoughts in the midst of battle was something that hadn''t happened to her for a long time. It seemed as though that card artisan had produced a pretty powerful attack, and Butchie smiled bitterly to herself. She then presented all of the fine psychological qualities of an outstanding card artisan, and she quickly swept away all of her unbridled thoughts. She put her attention on the battle that was just about to start.


    She didn''t attack, but she very slowly and quietly emitted the tadpole energy bodies. Her battle card was called the "tadpole," which was a three-star battle fantasy card. Once those energy bodies had been emitted, they were like tadpoles in the water, lively and splashing around strangely. But, because each of the energy bodies was so small, the energy fluctuations they produced were also quite small.


    In order in increase the suddenness of the attack, Butchie deliberately slowed the speed of the energy bodies emitted, so they didn''t seem so normal. Then, when they took the initiative to attack the target, they would be swimming around Butchie''s body.


    She''d spent countless hours on that card, having started to use the tadpole card ever since she''d gotten good enough to use three-star cards. As her strength kept increasing, the card wasn''t actually so suited to her anymore. The big guy had specifically come to find her about that, but she still always insisted on using the tadpole card.


    The power of the tadpole card wasn''t so great because of her power, but it was because of how long she''d been using it. She''d already familiarized herself with the card to the point where she couldn''t know any more about it. It was clear from the energy bodies near her how far her control of that card had advanced. She''d even realized some new energy compositions, which not only increased the tadpole card''s power, but greatly improved its tactical diversity.


    Hugo had said card artisans really only needed one card in their lives. The power of any card could be taken to the extreme once you understood its composition to the limit. All the cards that existed wouldn''t be much different in their power once they hit their extreme.


    She had seen how amazing that middle-aged man had been using the ultimate blue snake line card that day. It was a very ordinary kind of card, but not only did it have shocking power in the hands of that middle-aged man, it could transform endlessly. It was astonishing to see.


    The energy fluctuations produced in the instant the card artisan had emitted the energy body had been the largest over the entire process of the battle. After the energy body had been emitted, its energy fluctuations would die off to where they were hard to discern.


    Several dozen tadpole-shaped energy bodies concentrated at Butchie''s side as though firmly drawn there by something.


    Lu Xiaoru was tense and couldn''t slack off in the least. She could clearly sense the signal ball''s vibration through her fanny pack. The person was still nearby!


    Where was he? Lu Xiaoru felt like she would go nuts. Where is the card artisan assassin actually hiding? There, in the shadows? Every shadow or dark place seemed to give off a ghastly chill.


    Her eyes suddenly brightened. Rather than to stay here suffering, why not enter the chaotic battle in the sky? The melee in the air was unbearable, but in her eyes, it was still better than the shadows with dangerous, hidden places everywhere. That kind of invisible and pervasive pressure had nearly taken her breath away. It was like eyes in the dark, always staring at her until her scalp went numb.


    She wanted to fly immediately to the fiercest part of the midair battle. Although it was dangerous there, she could get away from the guy hidden in the dark.


    Glancing at the two card artisans not far away, she showed a chill smile from the corner of her mouth. I''m not going to play with you!


    Just as Lu Xaioru was about to get them precisely out of the way, something suddenly happened, and her expression changed.


    The guy finally made his move! At the same time, she breathed a sigh of relief. That''s how people were. Just when the adversary wasn''t making any moves, the pressure was the greatest; then, once the adversary made his move, the pressure would be released. Lu Xiaoru had all of her attention on the attack suddenly appearing behind her and put her fear to the side.


    Although her adversary''s attack was powerful, she had long been prepared for it and wasn''t caught short. She was most thrilled that she detected her adversary''s position. The scariest thing about a card artisan assassin was that there was no way to accurately lock in on them, or even any way to know where they were hiding. But, once you knew their position, they weren''t even as good as an ordinary card artisan.


    She had locked her perception onto her opponent and believed the adversary had no way to escape that time!


    Before she could expend all her hatred on killing her adversary, she first had to dodge the wave of attacks. Her perception filled the space around her like a fog. Those little energy bodies were rushing toward her with astonishing speed and nimbleness.


    That was her first time to see such small energy bodies, and she acclaimed silently, finding her adversary''s methods so unusual. Generally speaking, the volume of energy bodies would correspond to their power; the more energy they contained, the bigger their volume would be. Of course, there were exceptions, such as the wavy blade card. Although the most penetrating wavy blades weren''t necessarily the smallest, they tended to be the thinnest.


    That came from their particular structure. Wavy blades were formed from the oscillation of a shared frequency, so the energy would always tend to collapse toward the middle. The higher the vibrational frequency was, the thinner they were and the more stunning their power. They also kept their high frequency vibrations to a narrow range, so it would be very easy for them to cut apart hard alloys.


    Lu Xiaoru didn''t underestimate those energy bodies because of their fineness in the least, with her adversary being an assassin card artisan. In those days, when there weren''t enough outstanding assassin card artisans, there wasn''t any room for their existence. Her adversary certainly had extraordinary methods.


    Sure enough, when the fine, small energy bodies were about three meters from where she was, they gathered in front of her like sharks smelling something fishy. She was unprepared for such an unforeseen event. She didn''t quite understand what the goal of those energy bodies was.


    A momentary feeling of danger made all of the hairs on Lu Xiaoru''s body stand on end. Almost unconsciously, she deployed the energy cloak she had long since prepared. The card artisan assassin''s blows were quite aggressive, and the energy cloak had limited usefulness. However, if she hadn''t been covered by the energy cloak to block them, she would probably already be dead!


    Her adversary''s shuttle had been locked onto her throat. When it was blocked by the energy cover, even though it smashed the energy cloak, its direction was inevitably affected. The originally lethal blow had hit her in the shoulder.


    Lu Xiaoru had always been prepared to deploy her energy cloak to defend against Chen Mu''s sneak attack. However, she somehow hadn''t thought it wasn''t going to be Chen Mu''s expected attack, but Butchie''s instead.


    Hong!


    Incredibly hot flames abruptly flared up, trapping Lu Xiaoru inside them. The bright red flames were like a wild beast with a ferocious appearance whose volume was endlessly increasing with shocking speed. Even Butchie, who had released the attack, had deployed her energy cloak to protect herself from being burned up by the sweeping burst of high-temperature gases.


    That was an original tactic of Butchie''s. The small tadpole-shaped energy bodies only had limited power. They didn''t even have a way to break through a somewhat good card artisan''s energy cloak. So, she had thought up that method to control a large quantity of energy bodies within a small area in order to advance a concentrated, matched explosion among them. In that way, the energy bodies could become unusually enraged to trigger an amazing explosion. Another fatal aspect was that they would develop an extremely high temperature, which was impossible to accurately determine. If an energy cloak were the least bit weak, it would basically have no way to block such high temperature.


    That was Butchie''s Firestorm Countermeasure!


    Hugo had endlessly praised its power. Since it was a sneak attack that time, Butchie had only released about 20 or 30 energy bodies. The most she''d ever done was release nearly 70 energy bodies to set off the subsequent Firestorm Countermeasure. The explosion had blasted the training field into a ruin. Ever since then, the number of people chasing Butchie had dropped off, and everyone''s darling became the famous female Tyrannosaurus rex of the organization.


    Although there were only 20-some small energy bodies this time, their explosive power still had spectacular sound and fury. Butchie''s two companions were also caught up in it. They were tumbled by the shock wave and fell straight off.


    Chen Mu hadn''t left, though he changed his position again. He felt he had to get the woman card artisan dressed in red, so he decided to hang around.


    His concealment was completely successful again, and when the female card artisan got there later, she didn''t find him. He then thought his having just been discovered was only because he had happened to be in his adversary''s flight path.


    Before he could finish, he saw Butchie''s Firestorm Countermeasure!


    He was immediately stunned by such a wild explosion! Compared to the soundless explosion from the half-masked man from before, which had been triggered by the beam of light, this time the explosion doubtlessly had more visual impact. The incredibly bright, deep red flames and the percussive blast shook the earth. Apart from their blasting up a load of gravel, the explosion''s shock waves also had oppressive heat! Chen Mu''s position was probably 30 meters from the explosion, and he could still feel the burning heat at such a distance.


    The sound of the explosion had certainly scared people, and even those card artisans fighting furiously in the sky had noticed the movements, although none of them came over. No one would dare to touch that female T. rex.


    Chen Mu was most surprised by Butchie''s abnormal control of her perception. He didn''t miss a single detail of the battle between them.


    The energy bodies were quite small, and it wasn''t difficult to control them. However, when their numbers got to more than 20, the difficulty would increase by several times. Moreover, she wasn''t only controlling the movements and direction of more than 20 energy bodies. She also controlled the high-speed collisions among them, making great demands on accuracy.


    His own perception was similar to his counterpart''s, but when it came to perceptual control, he was a long way off. Could that be the real strength of a professional card artisan? Chen Mu once again didn''t have any way to stay calm as he took on a look of awe.


    Butchie''s battle tactics lit up his eyes. Chen Mu got the general idea of the card she was using, which was why he was finally heaping such praise on that uniquely creative battle tactic. He didn''t realize such unremarkable energy bodies could emit so much power after undergoing those kinds of collisions.


    Thinking of that, he couldn''t help but feel ashamed that his tailless shuttle card hadn''t undergone much of a change in his hands. He was still using its most basic and simple methods of deployment. Chen Mu suddenly felt as though he''d been wasting his resources.


    Although he marveled, Chen Mu was still paying attention to staying hidden. Too much marveling and he would inevitably be sorry. But, what he was sorry about was the female card artisan dressed in red, who was boding disaster by then.


    Chen Mu didn''t feel too aggrieved when a life was lost in front of him, having experienced such emotions quite a few times already. What he needed to consider was that once the woman died, he would never know what her objective had been in attacking him.


    Another thing that made him feel sorry was her card. Her means of attack were quite peculiar, and Chen Mu had never seen their like. He surmised that the woman card artisan dressed in red was using some kind of unique card to be able to get such results. He had originally wanted to find some way to grab her. Apart from interrogating her objective, he also wanted to take a look at what sort of card that really was.


    He was full of curiosity about that card of hers, which had nothing to do with his needs but was entirely to satisfy his research hobby.


    While Chen Mu was privately regretting, the situation on the field had changed its complexion.


    A hole about ten centimeters in diameter suddenly appeared in the red flames. Within that hole, there weren''t any flames. Chen Mu could clearly see a pair of hands, one them wearing an apparatus. He didn''t know if it was because of the heat or something else, but the light rays seemed a little twisted.


    On the other side of the hole was Butchie enveloped in her energy cloak. At the same time, Butchie''s orange energy cloak suddenly shook at a high frequency, and the materialized energy cloak started to drone.


    Chen Mu''s spirits were stirred that the female card artisan dressed in red hadn''t died! Wasn''t that intangible attack style what he had just been watching without comprehension?


    The pained expression of the woman could be seen through the orange energy cloak. She seemed to be enduring extremely fierce pain, though Chen Mu couldn''t see any sign of injury.


    Could she be seeing some kind of terrifying illusion? Chen Mu shook his head inwardly. The so-called fantasy illusion cards were mostly one-star or two-star fantasy cards. They were quite realistic and looked like a true environment, so someone with a weak mind would always tend to be fooled by the illusion. But, who among those card artisans didn''t have a mind as firm as iron?


    There was another kind of fantasy illusion card that was much rarer and more high-grade. For example, the mysterious card Chen Mu had gotten was an extremely high-grade fantasy illusion card. Once you entered into the fantasy world it composed, all sense of reality would be cut off. You wouldn''t hear anyone talking to you, and you wouldn''t sense anything nearby. Most such fantasy illusion cards were handed down from ancient times. It was no longer heard of for anyone to be able to make them.


    That kind of fantasy illusion card was quite hard to get, and to use it in warfare would be still more rare.


    The most famous of them was the star in the hands of the president of the Star Academy, which came from the hand of Heiner Van Sant. It was one of the most famous and powerful cards in the whole federation. That was one of the reasons that although the Star Academy had declined, it could still remain among the Big Six.


    But, if it was a fantasy illusion card, then what was up with the hole in the flames?


    If it wasn''t a fantasy illusion card, then what was it?

 Chapter 202: Are You Getting Sprung Too?

    Chapter 202: Are You Getting Sprung Too?


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Lu Xiaoru slowly walked out of the flames looking pretty bad with her whole body showing burns. The destroyed red evening gown had long since turned to ash, though she didn''t care about any of that as she walked out of the flames completely naked.


    Her face was distorted as she ground her teeth and looked at the orange energy cloak.


    "You damned jerk, to make me so miserable! This time I''ll be giving you a taste of what it means when living is worse than dying!"


    Her voice was full of hatred and satisfaction. But, the energy cloak surrounding her body had reached its limit, and it dissolved into the air with a pop.


    Then, a hand suddenly reached out from behind and lightly choked her.


    "Don''t move." It was a very light, calm voice, though with some chill to it. It sounded like it still had some of the particular tenderness of youth.


    Before she could react, she felt the wrist of her right hand lighten as her apparatus was removed by the stealth attacker from behind. From the heavens all the way to hell, there would be no way to describe what Lu Xiaoru was feeling just then. Her adversary''s motions were practiced and his thinking deliberate, making him quite a difficult character to deal with.


    Was it him? Lu Xiaoru''s heart sank. Could the person behind her be the card artisan assassin? But, then who had she attacked? Her gaze fell onto the orange energy cloak when her expression suddenly faded away.


    In the dark, the orange energy cloak was very conspicuous. How would a card artisan assassin use such a thing? Why hadn''t she realized that?


    Biting her lip, it was too late for Lu Xaioru to fret, and she quickly considered how to free herself. There wasn''t a thread on her. Her adversary was pasted up against her, which was a dubious action, like a bold act between lovers.


    Lu Xiaoru gave a little laugh as her stiff body when soft, and she stuck out her smooth butt. She was testing. She''d experienced lots of men, and she''d just heard clearly that the one behind her was a man¡ªa very young man at that.


    Wouldn''t a man feel desire, and a youth full of sap still more so?


    Chen Mu furrowed his brow with his prior lesson still vividly in mind. This isn''t an honest woman! He groaned as his left hand formed into a fist, and he gave her a punch five centimeters above her tailbone. That was a move he''d learned from Wei-ah while sparring with him. Wei-ah would always be able to punch him numb. Of course, Chen Mu could never be as superb as Wei-ah, but he had some of the basics and was able to deliver a good punch.


    Lu Xiaoru felt her whole body go numb. The powerful paralysis made her lose any ability to move; she couldn''t even talk or blink.


    Her heart plunged. Although her adversary was young, he had some extremely powerful restraint. Added to his careful thinking, he would doubtlessly make a very tough adversary. There was already nothing she could do except to go along with it and wait for her chance.


    The fear she felt wasn''t as strong as it had just been. No matter which power her counterpart belonged to, none of them had any need to kill her. There was a lot she was capable of. A card artisan with such skill as hers was a resource, and still more, she looked pretty good. To change camps was pretty much routine for her. She only had a cooperative relationship with the Central Island Firm and naturally had no loyalty. She didn''t care about sacrificing her beauty as long as she could go on living.


    Although she couldn''t turn her neck, her attention was on the youth behind her. There were always some very minor things that might reveal some of her adversary''s habits and what was on his mind. She needed to understand him better. The more she understood him, the greater her chances of survival.


    Chen Mu suddenly lifted his head as the card artisan in the orange energy cloak seemed about to come-to.


    He made a move with his feet, and his body slid as though he were on ice over to where Butchie was. He extended the index finger of his right hand, on which a tailless shuttle was whirring at high speed. But, it never left his finger. Like a dragonfly touching the water, his index finger lightly touched the orange energy cloak.


    The orange energy cloak suddenly shook violently as Chen Mu''s index finger set the tailless shuttle rhythmically tapping on the energy cloak. The movement was light and quick and the rhythm clear. The energy cloak''s shaking would go up a few notches with every tap.


    Peng! After six more taps, the orange energy cloak finally couldn''t hold out, and it broke into an orange starburst.


    Just then, Butchie opened her eyes.


    Her strangely smelling face was stacked over layers of black folds. Even her neck was black folds. There were some red spots on the folds above her face that were like drops of blood arranged in a peculiar pattern, making her entire face look more gloomy.


    The two eyes showing were calm, mild and placid.


    Then, everything went black, and she lost consciousness.


    Chen Mu didn''t look at Butchie''s eyes anymore after she fell since the place was so full of danger; it wouldn''t be good to linger. At the same time, Chen Mu didn''t like killing people, although he sometimes didn''t have a choice.


    Just as Chen Mu was getting ready to carry Lu Xiaoru away, he suddenly felt an energy fluctuation coming from behind him.


    He abruptly pushed out his feet as he slid back with his whole body. With a tap of his toe, he changed direction. He went through a few turns before arriving in front of the awakened card artisan. The changes of direction enabled him to have his back to his adversary and face directly forward.


    The entire process was bewilderingly fast with each change in direction very erratic, so his adversary basically had no way to fix on him.


    He made contact with the card artisan''s terrified eyes and stayed still. They were only a few meters apart. At such a close distance, perception wasn''t as good as using close combat. His body''s explosive strength could be played out to its best at such a distance, which was also Wei-ah''s favorite distance.


    Although his explosive power wasn''t up to Wei-ah''s, having been trained by both Wei-ah and the demonic woman, he was as fast as lightning. The card artisan couldn''t react. When the weird, ghostly face of Chen Mu appeared in front of him, it was almost pasted to his face. He could even see every stinking red spot formed by the ghost-faced flower.


    Chen Mu''s arms were as soft as two whips for a simple strangulation, locked onto his adversary''s throat. The card artisan''s head dropped with a snap. The entire motion was quick and neat.


    The card artisan went down like a soft puddle of mud, and his two vacant eyes remained terrified while already devoid of life. The energy body just formed on his hand lost control and went off to the side, making a pit in the ground.


    Without needing to double-check, Chen Mu knew his adversary was dead, but it didn''t give him any satisfaction. On the one hand, he didn''t actually like to kill people. On the other, if it had been Wei-ah, it would have been a lot more pretty, which is to say it would have been more efficient. He would only have to use two fingers and half the time to be able to crush the opponent''s throat.


    When Wei-ah was around, no matter what had to be done, it would be hard for Chen Mu to get excited about it. If it weren''t done, then it would indicate he hadn''t done enough; if it were done, then it would only be expected.


    Lu Xiaoru could see everything from her angle, and her heart was filled with terror as she watched Chen Mu with a fearful gaze. It wasn''t that she hadn''t seen people die. Machida would kill people in more bloody and perverted ways, but that wasn''t enough to make her afraid. She had even stood very appreciatively watching Machida use his butterfly wavy blade to torture someone to death bit by bit.


    However, this time she did feel afraid. Her adversary''s expression was just too peaceful. His emotions didn''t move before or after, as though he were doing something utterly unremarkable. She had also killed people¡ªquite a few people¡ªand afterward was when she would undergo the greatest psychological transformation. Some would feel fear, some would feel excitement, while others might feel some faint defiance. She had never seen anyone who could remain so peaceful.


    She hadn''t thought it was related to Chen Mu''s history. From his young life as a street punk, he''d seen a lot of death. Ever since he''d been mortally pursued, he''d had still more experience of death. That was especially true in the jungle, where he faced people dying every day, until by the end there were always children dying right in front of him.


    In his eyes, death had gradually become an ordinary thing.


    Chen Mu didn''t realize he would subconsciously imitate Wei-ah when in battle, which included such calm indifference.


    * * *


    On a distant building, there was a person watching. If Chen Mu could see him, he would have been stunned to discover he was one of the three who had mounted a sneak attack¡ªthe one with the bar-brow.


    "It doesn''t look like him. Could I have been wrong the last time?" He was mumbling despondently. He''d seen clearly Chen Mu''s agile attack just then without the slightest admiration. On the contrary, it seemed he''d been disappointed.


    From his angle, he could see Chen Mu had picked up Lu Xiaoru and was getting ready to leave. That was from about 600 or 700 meters away; he had been watching Chen Mu''s every movement in secret.


    Picking up Lu Xiaoru, Chen Mu started to leave the battlefield. From the higher vantage, Chen Mu seemed like a phantom shuttling through the shadowy corners. If he hadn''t been paying close attention all along, he would have been hard to discern. Those shadows were giving Chen Mu the best cover.


    Right up until he was leaving, he hadn''t even raised his head to look at the chaotic battles in the sky.


    The world he watched was tilted, and his pupils flashed a rare look of panic. When? When had that person arrived? He hadn''t found out a thing. He wanted to see what his adversary looked like, but he couldn''t because he was above, and the face was always toward the ground.


    * * *


    Chen Mu wasn''t interested in the battlefield, not feeling it had anything to do with him as he carried Lu Xiaoru off quietly. He''d knocked her out and dressed her in the clothes from the card artisan he had killed.


    Wei-ah appeared before he went very far. To his surprise, Wei-ah was also carrying someone.


    "Where did you find this guy?" Chen Mu recognized the bar-browed man in Wei-ah''s hands and couldn''t help but ask.


    If he hadn''t guessed wrong, he would be from the Lewin family, probably under Mose. Could the Lewin family also be participating in the big battle? He found it strange that Wei-ah had brought him back. Given Wei-ah''s temperament, he would seldom be so concerned about anyone. Or, he would want to directly kill his adversary to resolve some issue, not knock him out to bring him back with him.


    Wei-ah didn''t waste any words and said directly, "Come with me." He then led the way.


    They were still within the scope of the battlefield, and the two of them were both carrying a person. If they had been discovered and drawn into the melee, it wouldn''t have been pretty. Chen Mu immediately closed with Wei-ah.


    Chen Mu may have been bizarre and erratic before, but Wei-ah''s advance seemed fierce and full of the explosive power of a cheetah. While each pace wasn''t big, every one of them seemed like an explosion from his feet. The whole person was like a shooting artillery shell with a very powerful impact.


    Chen Mu had to use all of his strength to keep up with Wei-ah. Probably only someone as freakish as Wei-ah would have been able to get that far on pure physical power alone. Although speed wasn''t the strong suit of the big mud fish card, it was a jet stream card after all, and Chen Mu knew Wei-ah wasn''t even using his full power.


    Carrying a person, Wei-ah didn''t need to use any tools as he very easily climbed 22 floors with his bare hands. Even though Chen Mu had a jet stream card, he still felt rather taxed.


    "Here." Wei-ah used words like gold and tossed the bar-browed man to the ground as though he were throwing something away that wasn''t a person.


    As compared to Wei-ah''s savagery, Chen Mu was a lot more civilized. He knew what he carried was fragile and needed to be picked up and put down lightly.


    Checking things out all around, Chen Mu asked with curiosity, "How did you find this place?" You could see the entire battle field from there, but it seemed relatively safe. And, with the one-way glass, you could see outside with no way to see in. Unless you had really lousy luck¡ªlike that masked man with the light beam hitting the building¡ªthe damage from ordinary energy attacks would be very limited.


    There were also a lot of things for spying in the room, such as a long-distance viewing apparatus. It was an instrument that used a special card to observe things from a long way off. Since its fluctuations were very small, it would be difficult to discover.


    But, that little toy had a steep price. The army did have it, but military material was strictly controlled. If an ordinary person wanted to get one, it wouldn''t be easy.


    Chen Mu was very interested to open up the long-distance viewing apparatus, it being his first time to see the real thing. It took very little skill¡ªnot very much different from ordinary glasses. After putting them on, you could see things very far away quite clearly. He quickly grew to like that thing. It was really just too convenient.


    Wearing the long-distance viewing apparatus, Chen Mu threw his gaze to the battlefield. Once he saw it, he immediately drew a deep breath.

 Chapter 203: Goldfish

    Chapter 203: Goldfish


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The battle was beginning to wind down, and there were only a few sporadic card artisans left in the air. The rest of the people had been either killed or injured in the fierce battle. There was blood flowing from the corner of Machida''s mouth. His face was pallid, and he looked monstrous. The chief uncle''s face had turned dark, and his right hand was slightly trembling. Kai''s situation had fortunately gotten that far. He glared with big, round eyes yet appeared deeply fatigued. By comparison, Hugo was doing a lot better. Although his clothes had been long since destroyed, both his expression and his complexion were a lot better. What Chen Mu admired was his gaze, which had remained calm after having gone through such a long battle. He was really tough.


    There were only seven or eight remaining from that heap of card artisans with Howie. The other two card artisans who''d joined together to cruise around their perimeter had brought them a great deal of destruction. Their experience was rather shallow in the end, always looking left and missing what was on the right or looking ahead and missing what was behind them. They took heavy losses in one brief moment. Howie''s expression was aggrieved, but there was nothing more he could have done. If he were in perfect condition, he would have been able to fix those two card artisans by himself. But, as it was, he was not only physically exhausted, but there was nothing left of his perception.


    The long-distance viewing apparatus captured it all very clearly. Chen Mu could see their every motion, even including the slightest expression on their faces. He mostly marveled at the screen that popped out from the long-distance viewing apparatus; it was not much larger than a fingernail and was in precisely the most comfortable position in front of his eyes. Not only could he see clearly, but it wasn''t tiring to have it on for a long time.


    Chen Mu had relished seeing the battle among those ace card artisans. Every one of them a unique characteristic, such as the guy with the pallid face wearing the black windbreaker. The wavy blade card he''d used was quite special; the wavy blades were not moon shaped, but they were shaped like butterflies. Their trajectories were unpredictable. The middle-aged man he''d been fighting with had been using a superb ultimate blue snake line card, which was untold times more magnificent than the card artisan Chen Mu had encountered that year. He had been using the same kind of ultimate blue snake line card. Chen Mu could tell the middle-aged man had certainly done a considerable degree of optimization with the energy composition of the card. Otherwise, the ultimate blue snake line card''s power would surely have not had any way to reach such a place as it had.


    The firefight between the other two had been more intense. The thinnest of the light rods the masked man had emitted were as thick as an arm, and the thickest were like a column of light. They also had explosive properties. There were several kinds of cards that could emit such energy bodies, but the one most consistent with those characteristics was probably the aurora beam card. The energy bomb used by Kai didn''t seem to have anything strange about it, though its power was rather stunning.


    Cards that emitted energy bombs weren''t so popular among card artisans. Although they had a lot of power, they were a lot less accurate than ordinary cards. Among aces, where opportunities were fleeting, you might only have one chance in a battle to make a move. They preferred to use some cards with higher accuracy.


    But, Kai could actually use the energy bombs to create a sense of oppression. His rate of firing was really fast. When the energy bombs were falling like rain, they could blanket an area and greatly make up for the disadvantage with their accuracy. They weren''t very complicated things to speak of, but their firing frequency was about two or three times more than an ordinary card artisan''s. Such shocking numbers meant during a similar amount of time, they could outmaneuver ordinary card artisans two to one.


    That sort of energy bomb card was different from ordinary energy bomb cards. It was made specifically to accompany his kind of tactics where it could quickly send off attacks in an extremely short amount of time. For Kai, it was an oppressive style of play to take the initiative and to create opportunities.


    And, every time Machida made a move, it was hard to predict. The chief uncle was shrewd, and Hugo had an easy calm. Everyone''s style was completely different, though they all had some things in common, such as the way they moved, which was extremely well worked out. Or, when they used the jet stream card to make the heart race and the spirit rock. Every time they had the chance to make a move, it was extremely clever and always when the adversary was at the biggest disadvantage. When they dodged, they would never use any tactic that was too complicated, but always the simplest and the most basic moves. They were untold times faster than the so-called standards.


    For a novice like Chen Mu, such a battle was a rare learning opportunity. The last time he saw the battle between Su Wei, one of the Gemini Twins from the Desert Camp, and the Moon Frost Island''s female card artisan, it may have been a more brilliant battle with a higher level of ability. But, as far as Chen Mu was concerned, it still couldn''t approach the current battle for deepening his insights.


    His strength wasn''t sufficient yet to allow him to appreciate such high-level battles. While the one just then wasn''t up to the level of those two, Chen Mu was still being enlightened. Their positions, for example, were always likely to have something new when compared to his own thinking. But, when Chen Mu had seen those other two before, there was simply no way to trace their movements. They completely contravened common sense, and it was difficult for him to resonate with them.


    Wei-ah seemed to understand Chen Mu''s thinking, though he didn''t say anything. He suddenly noticed the bar-browed man seemed to be showing some signs of life. Wei-ah rudely stepped on his back, making the pitiful bar-browed man stiffen before sinking back into his helpless paralysis.


    Chen Mu wasn''t paying any attention to what Wei-ah was doing. Instead, he was paying rapt attention to what he watched, afraid to miss a single detail.


    The battle had finally reached its critical moments; the masked man suddenly burst forth!


    He leaned slightly forward and traced a circle with his arms in front of his chest. His whole person was like a cannon, while the circle traced by his arms was like the barrel.


    Suddenly, the energy fluctuations rose powerfully, and Chen Mu could feel them clearly even as he watched the battle from afar. All of the card artisans in the sky suddenly stopped in the midst of their fierce battling, and the expressions on Machida''s and the chief uncle''s faces changed. The two of them scurried to separate and escape as soon as it started.


    Howie was looking at Hugo in terror, his heart aghast. The ugly man wearing the mask actually had the power to create such a terrifying situation! Feeling such a bout of fundamental energy fluctuations, his heart raced and pounded. All the card artisans around him were ashen-faced. Some of them were trembling, and even those two who were cruising around their perimeter stopped what they were doing and looked at their leader in awe.


    Kai''s expression changed! He hadn''t thought his adversary would have any room to maneuver by that time. He immediately realized the gap between their power.


    He couldn''t get away; he was firmly locked in by his adversary. Although Kai was frightened, he didn''t fall apart. He might as well not have bothered to defend himself since it wouldn''t be much use by that time. There was just about nothing he could do. He summoned up all his remaining perception. All of the energy in his energy card then went through the card with stunning speed and formed in his hand.


    Another eye-catching energy bomb took shape.


    There was another powerful energy fluctuation in the air, and all of the card artisans then understood Kai would lose! There was an obvious difference in the strength of the two energy fluctuations. The energy fluctuations disseminated by Hugo were seemingly substantial and completely oppressive. They could already smell the spent quality of Kai''s energy fluctuations, even though they were powerful as well.


    His adversary fighting desperately like a cornered beast didn''t touch Hugo''s expression at all, and his silvery mask was suffused in a dim cold with his desolate eyes devoid of any feeling.


    "Scatter!" He spat out the word lightly, and his normally piercing voice was full of a desolate awe.


    Everything between Heaven and Earth was alight!


    Chen Mu only sensed everything in front of him going white, and the fierce, eye-piercing beam of light made it so he couldn''t see a thing. He closed his eyes unconsciously because of his body''s automatic protective response.


    His eyes only returned to normal after a full ten seconds. Chen Mu sneered involuntarily when he saw there wasn''t anyone battling in the air. The long-distance viewing apparatus worked well, but it also increased the stimulation to Chen Mu''s eyes far beyond what he would have felt without them. He hadn''t been blinded when the eye-piercing light had been emitted in front of his eyes, which was pretty lucky.


    Chen Mu helplessly warned himself he would certainly have to learn his lesson for next time. He had missed the most brilliant part. He was very curious about what kind of attack the masked man had finally set off.


    His gaze returned to Wei-ah with an inquisitive expression, which Wei-ah certainly saw. However, Wei-ah didn''t hold his gaze but pointed at the bar-browed man on the floor.


    "He was secretly watching you."


    Chen Mu felt a sudden chill. His gaze immediately turned to the bar-browed man. Why did that guy want to secretly watch him? And, why would he brave such huge dangers by entering the field of battle? Chen Mu suddenly looked all around and blurted out, "From here?"


    "Mmmm."


    "Have you asked him anything?" Chen Mu''s expression had become serious. That person''s activities had an obvious purpose, which put him on alert.


    "You ask."


    Wei-ah wasn''t going to waste words as he scanned all around, and his hand then went to the water glass on the table. He seemed to abruptly realize the water glass was a little too small, and he saw the fish tank placed beside it. He walked over and picked up the fishbowl, which was as big as a cabinet, and walked over to where the bar-browed man was.


    Chen Mu couldn''t bear to watch as Wei-ah turned the fish tank over onto the bar-browed man.


    The temperature was already quite cold in the room, and the water in the fish tank was piercingly colder. Under the stress, the bar browed man immediately shivered. His legs twitched like a pair of scalded frog''s legs.


    Seven or eight plump goldfish were flopping around desperately on the man''s chest, and he looked like a drowned chicken.


    His face was frozen blue as he was shivering and trying to stand. The fish all fell to the floor and jumped on the backs of his legs as his fat butt kept twisting.


    He was looking at Wei-ah in alarm, and Chen Mu could even hear the sound of his teeth chattering. Swallowing hard, Chen Mu seemed to feel a little cold himself. He had been treated like that at the beginning himself. There was a time when Wei-ah thought Chen Mu was dragging out his recovery time from practice, and he just threw him straight into the pool. Fortunately, the water in the pool was quite a bit warmer.


    Watching the scene, Chen Mu secretly swore he would never raise goldfish indoors for the rest of his life.


    Although he was scared, the bar-browed man was still expressing a pretty good degree of calm. He was looking at Wei-ah and waiting for what he would ask. The apparatus on his wrist had already been removed by his counterpart, and even if he''d had one, he didn''t think he''d have any chance. His adversary''s strength was too much greater than his, and to attempt any kind of overreaching in that situation would have been extremely stupid.


    Chen Mu rather admired the bar-browed man, thinking he wouldn''t have been able to demonstrate such seasoned calm in the same situation.


    Looking at Wei-ah''s expression, Chen Mu understood the job of questioning would be his.


    "Why were you secretly watching me?" Chen Mu asked. To tell the truth, he did find it strange. He didn''t feel he had anything about him to draw anyone''s attention, but his counterpart had specifically watched him in secret. His first thought was that he''d been sent by Mose, but he didn''t think that was likely. Chen Mu''s response the last time had clearly demonstrated where he stood. If Mose had sent someone to cause trouble even after understanding the situation with his power, that would be incurably stupid. From his first look at Mose that day, he didn''t think he was that kind of person.


    The bar-browed man wasn''t saying anything. Judging from his expression, he seemed to be struggling.


    Wei-ah raised his eyelids and gave him a look. The look of his was full of meaning and immediately tipped the balance the bar-browed man been struggling with in a decisive direction.


    "I''d like to know what sect you belong to."


    "Sect?" Chen Mu didn''t respond right away. That ancient term, sect, was seldom brought up anymore, especially with someone like Chen Mu, who''d never been through any systematic education. The only thing he knew about such things was mostly from a few isolated comments. His understanding about sects was limited to knowing something about the age of schools and what the Night of the Cross mentioned in the mysterious card. That''s all he knew. He had never thought he would actually be associated with any school or sect.


    "You give me a very familiar impression." The bar-browed man took a look at Chen Mu and added, "The first time we entered the building, your method of concealment felt familiar."


    The bar-browed man looked calm and not as though he were lying.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help but think back on the details of the situation the day of the sneak attack when he had injured one of them. The method of concealment he''d used was the bogus borderline breath control he''d invented himself. How could it be related to a sect?


    Wait a minute! Sect? Chen Mu suddenly remembered. Didn''t the breath control method come from something called the Night of the Cross? Could that be it? The more he thought about it, the more Chen Mu thought that was possible. His own bogus borderline breath control had originated with the Night of the Cross method of breath control. But, there were only one or two references to the Night of the Cross in the mysterious card, and Chen Mu really couldn''t get any substantial understanding about the sect from those.


    Calmly watching the change in Chen Mu''s expression, the bar browed man became still more certain.

 Chapter 204: The Rescue

    Chapter 204: The Rescue


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "I know the Night of the Cross!" the bar-browed man said lightly.


    He hadn''t said much, but Chen Mu was immediately certain of his counterpart''s identity. "You are a card artisan of the Night of the Cross?"


    "Yes!" The bar-browed man flashed a look of excitement. "You were using breath control, weren''t you?" Without realizing it, he''d used the honorific form of "you."


    "No." Chen Mu shook his head. Seeing the bar-browed man flash a look of disappointment, he added, "But, it came from the method of breath control."


    The bar-browed man then got excited. "Do you know how to do breath control?"


    "I do."


    "Might I ask where you learned breath control?" The bar-browed man was having a hard time containing his excitement as he very carefully asked. It was hard to believe such a cold and ruthless fellow would use such a cautious tone. It was clear the question was very important to him. Perhaps it actually reflected a firm belief for the bar-browed man.


    Chen Mu suddenly felt somewhat moved. It had been a long time since he''d had such a feeling.


    Thinking it over, Chen Mu said rather apologetically, "I''m very sorry, but it wouldn''t really be convenient for me to say." He didn''t want to give anything away about the mysterious card. Seeing the bar-browed man''s face so full of craving, he didn''t want to trick him either. That''s why he spoke like that.


    The bar-browed man wasn''t even surprised by that answer. He lowered his head to think for a second and then looked up. "Would you be able to use breath control for me to watch?"


    Chen Mu shook his head. "The side effects of breath control are too powerful, and I wouldn''t use them again except as a last resort." He immediately followed with, "You must be a Night of the Cross card artisan. But, I let you down since I am not. I''m also not interested in you Night of the Cross card artisans. If I get tangled up with you again, I won''t be so polite."


    Chen Mu''s tone was quite calm, though a certain note of warning came through involuntarily. It made clear he was able to do as he said he would.


    The bar-browed man shook his head. "I don''t have any ill intent toward you. By this time, I''m the only one left from the Night of the Cross. I wonder what the conditions would be if I wanted to study breath control with you."


    "Study breath control?" Chen Mu was taken aback, and he rushed to shake his head. "There''s no use thinking about it. There is no way I would teach you breath control." It was no joke; there wasn''t anyone who understood how dangerous breath control was more than Chen Mu. Its power was sufficient to turn an ordinary card artisan into an ace, not to mention what it might do for someone like the bar-browed man, who already was an ace.


    Although Chen Mu admired the bar-browed man''s persistence, he wasn''t going to cause himself trouble because of it. He still hadn''t determined if he was an enemy, and of course he wouldn''t do anything so foolish.


    "I could serve you; 20 or 30 years would be fine," the bar-browed man said resolutely.


    Chen Mu was moved, never having thought his counterpart would want to sacrifice so much to learn breath control. Chen Mu stared at him and asked one word at a time, "Why do you want to study breath control so much?"


    "The method of breath control has been lost for many generations, and even the one who taught me the skills couldn''t do it. I''ve been told I''m Night of the Cross since I was small, but I only knew later that one couldn''t be considered a true Night of the Cross without breath control." The bar-browed man showed an expression of nostalgia thinking about matters from the past.


    "Before now, I hadn''t thought there was anyone who could do breath control. But, having now discovered there is, of course I have to learn how." The bar-browed man spoke as if it were a matter of course, as though he were saying something quite natural.


    Chen Mu thought for a moment and still shook his head. "I won''t teach you breath control. You can leave. I hope to never see you again."


    "No matter what your conditions might be, I can meet them." The bar-browed man kept insisting.


    "No matter what, I won''t teach you." Chen Mu''s response was just as firm.


    The bar-browed man turned to leave, full of discouragement, when he stopped and turned around to say, "I know this woman. She''s Lu Xiaoru from the Central Island Firm. I hope that is useful to you." He then left.


    After waiting for the bar-browed man to leave, Wei-ah opened his mouth. "Why did you insist you wouldn''t teach it to him?"


    "Breath control is too dangerous!" Chen Mu''s expression was stern. If Chen Mu were to use breath control then, he was quite certain he would be a lot stronger than any time before. But, Chen Mu wouldn''t dare use breath control because its side effects were too powerful. Whenever anyone else saw it, they mostly saw its power.


    "Maybe you think breath control is more powerful than it is," Wei-ah said mildly.


    "Perhaps." Chen Mu shrugged. "But, we don''t have to take the risk, do we?"


    Wei-ah gave an expression of agreement. Then, pointing to Lu Xiaoru on the floor, he said, "What''s this woman''s problem?"


    "I''m not so clear on that." Chen Mu shook his head. There was that small ball in her hand that had been vibrating all along with the red light flashing. He carefully studied it for a while and still couldn''t get any inkling. He said with some doubt, "It seems I was this woman''s objective. But, I don''t know why she would be interested in me."


    Wei-ah looked around, seeming to be searching for something. Chen Mu couldn''t help but ask, "What are you looking for?"


    "The fish tank." Wei-ah wore a natural expression, though Chen Mu was in a sweat when he heard that.


    When Lu Xiaoru came to, there were two people standing in front of her. Chen Mu had removed the ghost-faced flower, showing his original face. Lu Xiaoru very quickly discerned who the person who''d made a sneak attack from behind had been. That tender, youthful voice was identical to this youth''s voice.


    Between the two in front of her, Chen Mu was watching her coolly, and Wei-ah didn''t really need to show any expression since he was already cold and ruthless enough. Lu Xiaoru was secretly shocked. Those two, one big and one small, looked to have very similar temperaments. She could tell they were master and apprentice right away. For the youth to be so awesome, she surmised the other one must be even more so.


    She understood her situation in a flash, and to play out any thoughts she might have had at such a time wouldn''t benefit her. If it were only the youth alone, she might have considered trying seduction, but there were two of them there. There was no way to use that trick, of course.


    Moreover, she understood the human heart very well, and once she caught Wei-ah''s eyes, she knew his mind was as hard as steel¡ªas ruthless and cold toward himself as he was toward others. Any kind of enticement in front of such a person would be in vain.


    She looked extremely well-behaved and ready to answer any question, putting on a great performance. Chen Mu quickly understood all that had been happening. He hadn''t thought his own use of the communications array would invite so much trouble. He basically hadn''t paid any attention to the communications array being so coveted. He only then realized its value, along with that of the thousand kilometer card. However, he didn''t have the least ambition and would have preferred if they weren''t worth anything.


    He sighed to himself that the world was so full of disputes. By then, he understood why the little ball had been vibrating and why Lu Xiaoru had targeted him as her objective.


    Chen Mu immediately shut down the communications array, and for safety he removed the thousand kilometer card from his apparatus.


    "What should we do about her?" Chen Mu pointed at Lu Xiaoru. She became abruptly nervous with her fate arriving at the most critical moment.


    "Kill her." Wei-ah looked utterly indifferent. Lu Xiaoru''s face went pallid.


    Although that was the expected result, Chen Mu still felt some difficulty accepting it. Chen Mu didn''t have any mental block against killing an enemy in battle, but he didn''t feel he could kill Lu Xiaoru like that.


    "Don''t you have any suggestions?" Chen Mu asked, stalling.


    Taking a look at Chen Mu, Wei-ah said, "This is the safest way. But, the decision is in your hands."


    That was the agreement between Chen Mu and Wei-ah; whenever they were at odds, Chen Mu had the last word. Wei-ah would carry out the agreement meticulously.


    Chen Mu knew what Wei-ah said was right, but he was basically different from Wei-ah. In the depths of his heart, he wasn''t anything more than a card master, and he suddenly felt awkward.


    "I will do anything. I can help you. I''m sure you''re short of manpower. I can cook. I can fight. I can do anything." Seeing Chen Mu a little hesitant, Lu Xiaoru rushed to add more. "I can also do some cosmetic surgery, so they will never recognize me." She was probably just talking, but her thinking gradually revealed itself. Her tone also become more stable. "I can take you to the Central Island Firm. I know where their most state-of-the-art lab is. You can find out why they are so against you. If you can''t trust me, you can administer some poison, so you can be sure I won''t mutiny."


    Chen Mu looked at Wei-ah, and Wei-ah surprisingly nodded. "I think that could be all right."


    Chen Mu was stunned, not quite daring to believe Wei-ah would be so easy to convince. He then saw Wei-ah take out some kind of pill and stuff it into Lu Xiaoru''s mouth.


    "What was that?" Chen Mu asked with some curiosity. It wasn''t so odd that Wei-ah would use poison. In the village, everyone had lots of means¡ªespecially Li Duhong, who had a passion for them.


    "It still doesn''t have a name. It''s something I invented," Wei-ah said very peacefully. "Only myself and the little devil know how to prepare it. I taught him. It has a certain painkilling effect, but you need to take a different kind of pill within a month." He paused, tilting his head to think. "I remembered wrong. The little devil tested it on orangutans, and it was 28 days."


    Lu Xiaoru''s complexion whitened a few shades. She choked back the churning in her gut and the urge to vomit and tried to calm herself. Chen Mu felt it was fine. Poison was a very useful trick while he was in the jungle. It wasn''t any different from using any other tool, and Chen Mu understood the villagers'' attitude toward poison after he had lived in the village for a while.


    It was really hard to imagine that such a violent man as Wei-ah would also be interested in poison.


    "I was thinking you weren''t likely to let her go." Chen Mu smiled, feeling a lot more relaxed without that burden on his mind.


    "She can cook," Wei-ah said very naturally, adding, "It has to be better than what you make." Wei-ah took out another pill and tossed it around.


    It wouldn''t be good to stay where they were, and Chen Mu and Wei-ah decided to go back to the Heaven''s Wings building. When they got there, Chen Mu was shocked. Several floors at the top of the building had been nearly cut in half. He could even see the remaining half of the pool, and the training room was useless. Chen Mu was angriest about his card making studio. In order to set that up, he had spent nearly all of his Oudi. What had been seen was only its embryonic form. Who would have thought it would be completely destroyed now?


    "There''s no way to live here anymore." Chen Mu looked up into the sky. That battle had caused some rather serious destruction in the northwest corner of Pomelo. There were all kinds of card artisans rushing over constantly from the distance toward where they were. The most conspicuous were the card artisan teams from the public security garrison. Their combat uniforms made them easy to identify. Another conspicuous group were the medical card artisans, most of whom came from the various medical systems. The arrival of those two organizations greatly stabilized the situation. Some miscellaneous card artisans also started to help with search and rescue among the ruins.


    Everyone looked sad. It had been a very long time since such a situation had occurred in Pomelo. The area affected by the battle was quite large, and it was a residential district. The casualties were heavy, with heart-rending cries coming from everywhere. Some of them were half-buried, and some of their legs were crushed. Some had turned completely charred, and their faces were hard to recognize.


    They could clearly see the situation below from where they were. Out of nowhere, Chen Mu''s heart turned sour. Without saying anything, he manipulated his jet stream card to fly down from the building. Wei-ah said nothing and followed Chen Mu closely. Seeing what was happening, Lu Xiaoru rushed to go along.


    The three of them started to rescue people as soon as they landed. Lu Xiaoru was afraid of being recognized. She''d changed into a dusty man''s jacket and had slightly changed her face, which had also abruptly changed her temperament.


    The three of them were very efficient, and in a little while they had rescued six people. Among them were two women and one child. Chen Mu''s heart was sorrowful seeing how miserable they were. Although he''d experienced a lot of hardship from the time he was small, he had seldom seen such misery.


    "There''s someone here!" Lu Xiaoru''s voice was urgent. "I can''t get that thing off!"


    Chen Mu rushed over to where there was a small girl crushed under a huge beam. The two of them bent down to see her little face. The little girl''s expression was awful, and her left leg was pinned by the beam. There was a puddle of blood on the ground.


    "She''s hurt, and she needs critical care fast! She''ll die otherwise!" Lu Xiaoru spoke impatiently with a look of anxiety flashing in her eyes.


    Chen Mu drew a slight blank. In his eyes, Lu Xiaoru seemed like a completely different person that time. There weren''t all those flirtatious expressions, and there wasn''t a bit of charm. In the dirty jacket with a face covered in mud that couldn''t cover her anxiety, her two eyes were still as bright as could be.


    Sending out his perception, every part of the composition of that pile of ruins became gradually clear. Chen Mu had slightly closed his eyes, and his expression was solemn.


    Lu Xiaoru was really surprised. Could he perceive the internal structure? She watched Chen Mu''s gaze like she was looking at a monster. Perception could make a person''s six senses become more keen, but that kind of acuity was limited. Most of the time it would be sensitive to energy fluctuations, which was a general characteristic of perception.


    However, there would always be every different kind of yet another weird thing in that world, and perception wasn''t any different. The perceptions that came from different kinds of perceptual training could have diametrically different properties. For example, there were some perceptions good at control, some had more of an explosive power, others were good at changing, and so forth.


    In the same way, there did exist perception that was good at the perception of physical properties. The most famous was the Materials Refining Code of the Comprehensive Federation Academy. That kind of perceptual training had a very long history, leading up to the newly improved perceptual training method revised after the Comprehensive Federation Academy had brought it in. Its biggest feature was that it could perceive physical changes all around.


    So, you could see students who had studied the Materials Refining Code often walking with their eyes closed.


    The Materials Refining Code wasn''t actually very useful. In battles among card artisans, energy fluctuations were the really crucial things. Whoever could perceive energy fluctuations would be able to take the initiative in the battle. It was a world of remote battle for contemporary card artisans. They were often several thousand meters apart when they had battles among them. Those who used the wavy blade energy body, which had such a fast flight speed, would basically not be able to dodge using their physical strength alone. And, once they could capture their adversary''s energy fluctuations, they could evade them ahead of time or take other responsive measures.


    By the time the attack came in front of you, you would discover it was already too late.


    The physical range of the perception from the Materials Refining Code wasn''t more than 20 meters. If a wavy blade flew within 20 meters of you, you could basically be pronounced dead.


    The reason the Materials Refining Code was famous was because 30 years before, a geek who specialized in the Materials Refining Code had appeared in the Comprehensive Federal Academy. He was a close-combat card artisan and very proficient in wrestling. However, his spirit was odd, and he was extremely bloodthirsty. Incalculable numbers of card artisans were killed at his hands, many having rather notable reputations.


    However, while the card artisans all saw what an extremely dangerous psychopath he was, he had towering prestige in the eyes of the masses. Quite a few of the ordinary people worshiped him wildly. And, there were still countless people who glorified what he did. He was always gracious toward ordinary people and would teach them all kinds of skills. But, once he knew someone was a card artisan, he would show his aggression.


    That was none other than the famous, freakish genius, Caesar! His acts put the Comprehensive Federation Academy under a lot of pressure at that time. All of the other five academies pressured them. Having no choice, the Comprehensive Federation Academy sent out a group of ten to capture him and bring him back to the school. But, they hadn''t expected that not one of them would survive. By that time, the academy was furious, and it sent out an extermination squad composed of 50 aces. Its leader was the top ace in the academy that year, Pavchek, who was now the president of the Comprehensive Federation Academy.


    In that battle, which had lasted for three months, Caesar would lead that platoon, composed entirely of ace card artisans, around in endless circles. They went through deserts, the Gobi, swamps, and finally the jungle, which became his best companion. By the end, there were only 13 of the academy''s finest card artisan squad in history who came back alive. Those 13 all became extremely prestigious card artisans in the academy at that time.


    Badly injured in a battle with Pavchek, Caesar finally escaped into the jungle to the Sponge Swamp, from which no one had ever returned. He was never heard from again.


    Because of Caesar, the perceptual training method¡ªthe Materials Refinement Code of the Comprehensive Federation Academy¡ªbecame famous throughout the federation. It wouldn''t have been considered well-known before. Now, everyone knew about it. Afterward, although lots of students practiced the Materials Refinement Code, no one ever achieved the heights Caesar had that year.


    The first thought in Lu Xiaoru''s head was about whether he was a student from the Comprehensive Federation Academy.


    But, when she carefully sized up Chen Mu, she immediately discovered lots of things that didn''t tally. Chen Mu''s clothes were as simple as could be. The social benefits from the Big Six as compared with these exceptional card artisans with rich experience were still a lot higher. Because of the academy being in the capital, where everything was expensive, the students all received rich social benefits and would decidedly never have any reason to dress so shabbily.


    What most made her feel he wasn''t like that was Chen Mu''s temperament. As she saw it, although that youth was a little tender, his body didn''t have anything of the flavor of a student. On the contrary, the feeling he gave her was more like a young card artisan who had been hanging out with gangs of card artisans since he was little.


    But, what was happening right there in front of her was the youth probing deeply into the structure of the pile of ruins. Those two were so full of oddities. One of them was like a robot; the other, who looked a little more normal, was good at a non-mainstream kind of physical perception.


    Lu Xiaoru found that strange but not really scary. Even if he had studied the Materials Refinement Code, she didn''t think there was anything worth being scared about. Untold numbers of people studied the Materials Refinement Code every year, and just then it would be nothing more than another Caesar.


    Chen Mu opened his eyes and walked a few paces to the right, getting to the place where the beam branched off.


    "Hang on. I can lift this beam. You pull her out right away. You have to move quickly since I can only hold out for three seconds."


    Chen Mu was watching her as he spoke solemnly.


    Lift it? Lu Xiaoru was really struck dumb by that. She took a look at the fallen beam, which was about two and a half meters in diameter. Although light alloys had been used, it wasn''t something that could be budged by man-power. Moreover, there were a lot of bricks and stones piled on it. The weight was shocking.


    When she took another look at Chen Mu''s body, she wondered still more whether Chen Mu hadn''t gone dizzy. But, she didn''t dare show any expression of doubt when she pointed tentatively at the beam. "Pick that up?"


    "Right."


    Chen Mu didn''t waste any words as he lightly held the bottom of the beam.

 Chapter 205: Medical Card Artisans

    Chapter 205: Medical Card Artisans


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Chen Mu wasn''t so certain he could lift it either. He had only taken a glance at it. He also didn''t know where Wei-ah had run off to. There was only himself and Lu Xiaoru. What she had said wasn''t wrong; if the little girl didn''t receive critical care, it would be very dangerous. All of the medical card artisans were exceptionally busy, and none of the security card artisans had any leisure either. The scope had spread so far by that time that the rescuers were like a cup of water on a blazing fire.


    But, that young girl''s situation couldn''t drag out any longer.


    His state wasn''t bad that day, and what he''d clarified by his probe was that although there were piles of bricks and stones on the beam, it was actually hollow in the center. After some calculation, he chose the safest spot from where he could exert the most force. He didn''t need to completely lift the beam; he only needed to raise it a little bit. Lu Xiaoru could then pull the little girl out.


    The situation was urgent, and there wasn''t any time for him to think about it.


    "Ok." Lu Xiaoru was half lying on the ground and holding the girl by one of her arms. She lifted her head to signal, though there was some hesitancy in her gaze at Chen Mu. It was hard to imagine who could move such a massive object using simply physical strength. But, her counterpart basically wasn''t giving her any right to question him, so she could only prepare herself.


    Chen Mu''s hands were lightly on the bottom of the beam, and he started to modulate his breathing. He kept reviewing in his mind the pointers Wei-ah was always giving him about how to exert force. Tighten his waist, plant his legs firmly, straighten his back, and at the same time, use the strength of his calves and thighs, as well as the strength of his core...


    Suddenly, as though he were in the raging pool with his whole body fighting the force of the massively powerful flowing water, his ears roared.


    He glared with wide eyes as his two hands jerked, and in that instant, the muscles in his whole body were like wire rope as they tightened.


    The beam made a creaking sound to sour the teeth, and all the bricks and stones rumbled down while the beam started to move up inch by inch.


    Lu Xiaoru''s hand had a firm grasp on the little girl''s arm. She held her breath with her eyes open wide and ignored the bricks falling on her from above. She was aghast; the guy''s strength could extend so far that he really could move a beam! But, there wasn''t any room for wayward thoughts then, and she needed to wait until the beam was completely off of the little girl''s leg to pull her out.


    The veins on Chen Mu''s neck protruded like winding worms, and he wore a hideous expression with all of the muscles on his body drum-tight. He looked like forged bronze and iron.


    Chen Mu suddenly groaned with all of the power in his body having been taken to its limit in that instant. The beam had been lifted straight up to his waist.


    As soon as Lu Xiaoru saw things clear in front of her, she didn''t dare to hesitate and immediately exerted force on the little girl''s arm she had grabbed. The little girl was pulled forward while countless chunks of brick and stone came rolling down the beam.


    Lu Xiaoru rushed to seize the battered girl with her two hands as she bundled her, rolling backward. Quite a few chunks of brick hit her body while she did that, and she didn''t have an energy cloak to protect her. She was not much different from any ordinary person then. She let out a few groans.


    Seeing that the little girl had been rescued, Chen Mu released his breath. He relaxed his hands, and the beam pounded down heavily with a boom. The pile of loose bricks on it immediately tumbled, sending a cloud of dust everywhere.


    Chen Mu plopped down on the ground gasping for breath. His entire body was spent, and his legs were shaking. Although he hadn''t strained for more than two or three seconds, he''d used up all of his strength.


    "Hello. Could you please leave her to me? She needs urgent care." Chen Mu was brought back to his senses by the soft female voice of a stranger.


    There was a female card artisan dressed in a medical uniform talking with Lu Xiaoru.


    Lu Xiaoru looked like she had seen a savior as she rushed to place the girl on the ground and said earnestly, "Her leg has been crushed, and she''s lost a lot of blood. Her breathing is also very weak."


    "Don''t worry; she isn''t in mortal danger for now." The female card artisan''s voice seemed to have some kind of calming power, and Chen Mu relaxed.


    Her back was toward Chen Mu, and he had no way to watch all of her rescue means. He had never seen how a medical card artisan would treat someone who was unwell, and he was curious. He struggled up from the ground and walked over.


    Medical card artisans were card artisans whose aim was medicine. They were more popular with the masses as compared to ordinary card artisans. There were all kinds of different cards, among which were those used for medical purposes. That was an important branch of cards. Those might include a special blood metering card for measuring blood or a card to enhance bone regeneration and so forth. Medical card artisans had some advantages compared to regular doctors. The sensitivity of their perception meant they could often detect extremely small changes in diseases. And, their therapeutic methods were quite a bit richer and more effective than ordinary doctors''.


    But, there were strict limits on who might become a medical card artisan. The lowest level would need level three or above perceptual strength. Apart from that, they needed to go through a systematic study of medical knowledge. They also needed to be familiar with the usage of every sort of commonly used medical card. Lots of people would register with the association of medical card artisans every year, but the ones who could become medical card artisans didn''t even constitute two percent of those. Most among them would only become ordinary doctors or medical personnel.


    After becoming a medical card artisan, not only would you earn a good position in society, you could earn a very high salary. Medical card artisans, especially high-grade ones, were truly scarce resources. There were a lot fewer of them than there were high-grade card artisans, and they were sought after by all of the powers. But, medical card artisans were now nearly 70 percent attached to the medical association. Most of those were employed at the various medical facilities and were treated very well.


    It was amazing that the medical card artisans were mostly women.


    However, if you were to ask a medical card artisan for a diagnosis¡ªapart from some charitable non-profit organizations¡ªthe fees would generally be top-dollar. Chen Mu would never have had the money for a diagnosis from a medical card artisan. If he were to have ever gotten sick, he would absolutely not have gone to the hospital, never mind any medical card artisan.


    As Chen Mu came into contact with more and more card artisans, his insights improved every day. He''d seen quite a few of every kind of card artisan, but he still had never seen a medical card artisan. He was curious about how they actually treated the sick.


    Walking over to where the two were, he was immediately drawn by the ball of light in the medical card artisan''s hand.


    He saw her lightly place her right hand on the girl''s wounded leg with intense concentration. The glowing ball on her hand was not conspicuous; it was extremely faint. But, Chen Mu''s perception was quite sharp, and he quickly detected it. She was using a special kind of probe card, which was utterly different from the ones he had seen before. It was extremely sensitive but had a pitifully small scope not even 50 centimeters in diameter.


    In the eyes of a card artisan, such a probe card didn''t have any useful value. For medical card artisans, however, it would be their best companion. Chen Mu couldn''t help his admiration and wondered who had been the first to use such a probe card. It was doubtlessly someone full of wisdom.


    Very soon, the female card artisan drew back her right hand and said reassuringly to Lu Xiaoru, "It''s a lot better than I''d thought. It shouldn''t amount to anything."


    After saying that, her expression returned to her previous look of concentration. She took another card from her card holster and re-inserted it into the card slot on her apparatus. There were nearly 20 or 30 different kinds of cards in her holster.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help his surprise. He''d seen still more complicated ordinary card artisans who wouldn''t have so many cards on them. But, as he thought about it, he felt relieved. Medical card artisans would encounter symptoms that outnumbered the stars in the sky, and it could be assumed that those 20 or 30 cards only represented the most commonly seen cards.


    Thinking of that, Chen Mu admired those medical card artisans still more. It was certainly a varied and complex subject. Just then, he was brought back to attention by an energy fluctuation nothing like the one just before.


    Energy bodies! Probably several dozen very fine, needle-shaped energy bodies floated in front of the female card artisan''s chest. There were long ones and short ones, thin and thick ones, and some were even hollow or bent. The energy fluctuations emitted by those small energy bodies were extremely weak, but every needle-shaped energy body without exception was an extremely high-level materialization of energy. They looked like crystalline needles.


    The medical card artisan had a dignified expression. Her whole body was covered in a plain white and light-blue striped medical card artisan uniform, which made her look very pure.


    She separated one of the sharp energy needles from those floating there and plunged it firmly into the girl''s wounded leg. Then, she lightly cut open the girl''s wounded flesh.


    The composition of her flesh was very clearly exposed in front of Lu Xiaoru and Chen Mu, and the wounded blood vessels and broken bone, as well as some black clots inside, looked perfectly awful. Neither Chen Mu nor Lu Xiaoru averted their eyes. They weren''t ordinary people; such scenes wouldn''t make them feel afraid.


    Under the control of the medical card artisan, every shape and style of the energy needles flew toward the spot of the opened wound. There was then a dazzling operation that amazed Chen Mu. Those energy needles'' movements were incomparably accurate. Their every movement was precise at the level of a millimeter or finer. Compared to ordinary card artisans, when it came to accuracy, medical card artisans were much more precise.


    Soon, the little girl''s right leg had been sewn up. The whole procedure took probably three minutes or less. The superb skill shown by the female card artisan really impressed Chen Mu and Lu Xiaoru. She raised her head and said to Lu Xiaoru with a smile, "That''s it; there''s nothing more wrong. You only have to take care that she doesn''t put any weight on her leg. She will have to be careful to recuperate, and she''ll be healed after about two months. Wait here, and a shuttle will come in a little while to take you to the hospital. Don''t worry; it''s free."


    After she spoke, she finally paid attention to the other person there as her gaze went to Chen Mu.


    Only then did Chen Mu see the female card artisan''s face very clearly.

 Chapter 206: Sue Lochiro

    Chapter 206: Sue Lochiro


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    At first sight, Chen Mu was drawn to her two lovely eyes and the mildness that flowed from them so naturally. Once he caught her gaze, his heart suddenly calmed.


    "How are you?" She politely brought Chen Mu back to his senses, smiling lightly. "I was honored to see your recent performance. It was really wonderful! You have a lot of strength. If I hadn''t seen it with my own eyes, it would have been very difficult to believe."


    Without knowing if he''d been infected, Chen Mu smiled back. But, his smile looked quite stiff. His voice was a lot calmer than the stiff expression on his face. "Thank you for your praise." By then, his attention had wandered to her face. He couldn''t be sure if it was the prettiest face he''d ever seen, but if it were up to him to judge, he would have given her the prize without any hesitation.


    He didn''t feel he had the words to say how beautiful she was. Chen Mu felt very comfortable in front of her. Her temperament was so calming; there was nothing aggressive about her. That was something especially precious for Chen Mu among the card artisans he was used to seeing.


    "You are a high-grade medical card artisan!" Lu Xiaoru suddenly spoke out as she stared at her counterpart''s chest.


    Chen Mu followed Lu Xiaoru''s gaze to her chest, where she was wearing a badge on which was written, "High-Grade Medical Card Artisan Sue Lochiro."


    Sue Lochiro was a rather peculiar name, but she was surprisingly a high-grade medical card artisan. That exceeded anything Chen Mu had expected. High-grade medical card artisans had very high standing among medical card artisans. They were often the highest representatives of a hospital. Medical card artisans higher than that would rarely even be employed in a hospital.


    Seeing how old she was¡ªwhich wasn''t more than about 20¡ªfor her to already be a high-level medical card artisan surprised even Chen Mu. The road to promotion among beginning, middle and high-level medical card artisans was a lot more difficult than for ordinary card artisans. That was because not only did they require exceptional talent with perception, but there was still a higher requirement within the medical system. In general, those who became mid-level medical card artisans were mostly about 30 years old. A lot of people could never achieve the high level for their whole lives.


    Although you couldn''t say it had never happened, it was as rare as a phoenix feather or a unicorn''s horn to be able to become a high-grade medical card artisan at 20 or so.


    Sue Lochiro smiled and shrugged. "Yep, if you get sick, you can come looking for me. People like you who have a good heart are those I''d really like to serve."


    Wei-ah suddenly showed up carrying a young boy. The boy was unconscious and without any color. His appearance was a lot worse than the little girl''s; his entire left arm was cut off and dripping blood.


    Everyone was taken aback, and Sue Lochiro came forward with a very serious look on her face.


    "Please place him flat on the ground," she said urgently.


    Wei-ah didn''t move but turned his gaze to Chen Mu, only putting the boy down after Chen Mu nodded.


    "What happened?" Chen Mu asked in a low voice.


    Wei-ah said, "When things started happening, he was caught between two walls, and his left arm was already necrotic. So, I cut it off." Wei-ah spoke very naturally while Lu Xiaoru was having difficulty swallowing off to his side. That cold and ruthless man was really some kind of grim freak.


    Sue Lochiro concentrated on manipulating all sorts of cards. Her movements were quite a bit faster than before. She also used more cards, which greatly expanded Chen Mu''s horizons.


    The first time Wei-ah ever saw a medical card artisan, their moves were full of magic in his eyes. It could be seen from his unwavering stare how interested he was in those sorts of techniques.


    Sue Lochiro took some medicines from the medicine case she carried with her, injecting some of them into the boy''s body. She then fed him some while rubbing others onto his wounds.


    "He has serious problems, and we have to send him to the hospital right away." There wasn''t any more mildness to her voice, which had become fast and direct. All of the mild smiling her face always wore was gone as she became serious and solemn.


    She then activated her communications card and called for backup. After about half a minute, a shuttle car came down from the sky, landing in front of them. Once it landed, several more medical personnel rushed down carrying a stretcher. Sue Lochiro directed them methodically about how to transport the wounded boy onto the shuttle car.


    The shuttle car was quite a bit larger than ordinary shuttle cars and could hold more of the wounded. An eye-catching logo was painted on the body of the shuttle.


    Sue Lochiro then gave one of the medical personnel a fantasy card. "There is a preliminary symptom assessment there. Take it back for the hospital records." He took the fantasy card with a look of reverence and went back to the shuttle car, which rose up into the air and flew off toward the hospital.


    "If you want to keep your eye on these injured people, you''ll have to record your names and means of communication. That way, once their condition improves, we can contact you." Probably from having just completed something nerve-wracking, the seriousness on Sue Lochiro''s face dispersed. She was once again blossoming with her usual mild, smiling face.


    Lu Xiaoru was about to open her mouth, but she quickly realized it wasn''t something she could decide. Her gaze fell onto Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu shook his head. "That won''t be necessary." He had to be careful about any activity that might reveal anything about him.


    "You really don''t need to?" Sue Lochiro seemed to be paying attention to the look in Lu Xiaoru''s eyes, which made it seem as though she had wanted to. Sue Lochiro was a little bit surprised. That group gave her a really strange feeling. It was a surprise to her that the youngest was their leader.


    "Thanks, but that won''t be necessary." Chen Mu''s response was very firm. Lu Xiaoru looked discouraged.


    Seeing how firm Chen Mu''s response was, Sue Lochiro didn''t ask again but lightly smiled. "Mmmm, that''s fine. No matter what, I really want to thank the three of you. You''ve saved a lot of lives! Thank you!" Her voice was very sincere.


    She suddenly changed the topic. "I wonder if I could know your communications cards. For personal reasons."


    Chen Mu was about to refuse when he suddenly thought about the serenity he''d caught in her gaze, and the refusal on the tip of his tongue became a little hard to get out. He thought about the green thread that was still in his body. Since she was a high-level medical card artisan, perhaps she would have some way... Thinking of that, Chen Mu exchanged his communications card number with Sue Lochiro. She also exchanged numbers with Lu Xiaoru. Wei-ah didn''t have a communications card, so that was dropped.


    The number of card artisans coming from afar kept increasing, as did the crowds. Having finished, the three of them parted from Sue Lochiro. She didn''t linger, throwing herself once again into her work.


    Once the three left the line of Sue Lochiro''s vision, they immediately sped up. They didn''t want to run into anyone they shouldn''t, such as people from the Central Island Firm.


    "Where do we go now?" Wei-ah asked.


    The question took Chen Mu for a loop. The Heaven''s Wings building was nearly half peeled open. While the bottom part was nearly intact, to enter it at that time wouldn''t be a very good choice.


    Hesitating for a bit, Lu Xiaoru then opened her mouth. "I have a set of rooms to the west of the city that no one knows about. We can go there for a while."


    Chen Mu didn''t have any other choice just then. There was also Wei-ah''s "pain killer" drug, so he wasn''t afraid of Lu Xiaoru trying anything fancy. The two advanced toward the west of the city under Lu Xiaoru''s direction.


    It was an ordinary family house with three floors. It wouldn''t be considered to have a lot of space, but it wasn''t small either. Looking from the outside, it was unremarkable. Once they entered, they could sense how much better the interior decoration was than the outside. If people who were in the know had been there, they would know what had been spent to decorate the estate could buy at least three such estates. Every piece of furniture had been carefully selected, down to the smallest teaspoon. You could see how tasteful and discerning its owner was.


    Unfortunately, in Chen Mu''s or Wei-ah''s mind, there really wasn''t any vocabulary for taste or discernment. The two of them assessed the house and immediately started to get to work. Wei-ah started putting traps and alarms in the all the entrances and exits, while Chen Mu also put a few toys in the frequently traveled places. He reminded Lu Xiaoru not to touch them.


    Their professionalism was utterly comparable to professional assassins, which rather scared Lu Xiaoru. She felt as though she had suddenly turned timid in front of them, as though they could easily scare her. She didn''t know if that was because she''d become timid or if they were just too freakish.


    Chen Mu was setting out some small card appliances. They were mostly inspired by Alfonso. They didn''t actually have much power, but because their energy fluctuations were so small, apart from genuine aces, card artisans of his level really had no way to detect them. The card appliances used a variety of tricks with some of them even being suited to concerted attacks. Chen Mu had learned the key role parallel structures could play from Spanner. That would allow those card appliances to be able to emit either solitary attacks or to combine and become richer.


    Speaking of making traps, any of the children in the village were more familiar with them than he was, and they were much more creative. That little devil Li Duhong was typical of them while seeming to stand out from the crowd for his talent in that regard. The ideas for those card appliance traps had come mainly from him. So, how would you say he was Chen Mu''s student?

 Chapter 207: Ren Wenzhou’s Counterattack

    Chapter 207: Ren Wenzhou¡¯s Counterattack


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The traps Wei-ah was placing weren''t as elegant as Chen Mu''s. He was casually splitting apart a heavy pomelo-wood chair by hand.


    Off to the side, Lu Xiaoru''s heart was bleeding since that chair sold on the market for 50,000 Oudi.


    Of course, Wei-ah didn''t know anything about its value. Even if he had, that wouldn''t have changed his behavior at all. He took the top of the longest piece of the dense pomelo-wood and nailed it onto a short, sharp stick. He then bent it and hooked a rope onto it, looping the other end onto a mechanism that could be activated. He put the trap behind an outside window with the trigger underneath the window. Anyone coming in through the window would step on the trigger mechanism. Then, the dense strip of pomelo-wood would be released in an instant and sprung straight. Such sudden, explosive power could kill some powerful beasts in the jungle.


    Wei-ah hadn''t actually thought there could be chairs made of dense pomelo wood in that place. It had excellent springiness and was very suited for making such traps. If it were to strike a person, that sharpened stick would instantly penetrate his chest and nail him to the window frame.


    The simple and crude trap was full of enough explosive power to evoke fear on sight. Chen Mu''s traps looked a lot more civilized.


    Within a very short time, the house didn''t look anything like before; there was danger lurking everywhere. Seeing the changes with her own eyes, Lu Xiaoru didn''t dare to complain, though her calves were pumping. She may have previously had some doubts about the two of them, but now she was utterly certain they were card artisan assassins.


    Apart from the kind of guys who liked to move around in the dark, who else would do such things?


    "Heaven''s Wings is destroyed, and we should consider where we go next." Chen Mu said resignedly. He hadn''t spent too much of his ambition on Heaven''s Wings, so its destruction wasn''t so distressing. But, the card making lab was near to his heart and was suddenly gone. That had been hard to take. On top of that was the Central Island Firm coveting the communications array he had with him. He felt more and more like it wouldn''t be good to dwell there for long.


    "Whatever you say." Wei-ah didn''t have any input.


    Noticing that Lu Xiaoru seemed to have something to say, Chen Mu turned his gaze to her. "What do you think?"


    She hesitated and then said, "If I haven''t guessed wrong, the city will certainly respond to such a large action. According to prior practice, when something like this happens, the government will provide an appropriate subsidy. We should be able to get quite a bit since that was a pretty large building, after all."


    "Subsidy?" The government pays?" Chen Mu found that ridiculous and couldn''t believe the federation government would be so generous.


    Lu Xiaoru shook her head. "That''s not it. I''d say this time the Central Island Firm will lay out most of it with the government putting in only a small portion. Among all the people, the people from the Central Island Firm were the easiest to spot. They''ll have to bleed this time. They are considered the instigators." Although Lu Xiaoru wasn''t gloating, she didn''t have the greatest feelings about her former club.


    "Oh, that really happens?" Chen Mu had gotten rather interested.


    * * *


    Ren Wenzhou''s hair had turned white within a few days, and his visage had suddenly aged quite a bit. Beside him, Qian Mingyi looked pretty morose himself. Neither of them had thought the affair would get as messed up as it had. They had just received the government''s demand that they pay out the benefits.


    If it were ordinary times, those government officials would never have dared to use the tone they did, but the firm had to submit to the humiliation this time. Although the Central Island Firm was among only a handful of large firms in Pomelo, what had happened was just too much.


    The rest of the firms were all furious with the Central Island Firm about its utterly unbridled actions. The Central Island Firm had impacted everyone''s profits, and while there weren''t many powers in Pomelo, none of them wanted to see the city turned to ruins.


    There was no way to make any profits among ruins.


    Within a short time, the other powers in Pomelo had all clearly expressed their attitudes. Ren Wenzhou was facing unprecedented pressure, and the firm was in the greatest danger it had ever experienced. They were cornered.


    "Only Machida is still alive. There''s no sign of Lu Xiaoru, and Kai was sacrificed," Qian Mingyi said morosely.


    Ren Wenzhou''s expression dropped, and he said hoarsely, "Have you found out where those people came from?"


    "According to the description from Machida, the adversaries weren''t all from the same place. We''ve determined where one among them came from. They were the ones who had been negotiating with us¡ªthe Central Repository of the Classics." Qian Mingyi''s tone was full of contempt for the Central Repository of the Classics. "But, they also suffered disastrous losses. I''ve heard there were only seven or eight survivors. That old guy Yu Guozheng has already led them back, though I imagine the Central Repository of the Classics will certainly not let the matter drop there. They''ll soon dispatch more people."


    "The Central Repository of the Classics!" Ren Wenzhou growled. They were the ones who had been negotiating with them before. He believed the reason the other powers had been so quick to express their attitudes now was very possibly because the Central Repository of the Classics had been secretly adding fuel to the fire. They were one of the Big Six, with immense power far beyond what the Central Island Firm could oppose. If it weren''t for his resistance those last few days, he believed the Central Island Firm would already have become a dependency of the Central Repository of the Classics.


    For the ambitious Ren Wenzhou, that was something he doubtlessly never wanted to see, so he had stood his ground and stuck to his own point of view.


    But, there was a lot at stake for the Central Island Firm by then, and if they were the least bit careless, all would be lost. The Central Repository of the Classics had very cleverly used every aspect of its power, relentlessly backing Ren Wenzhou into a corner.


    "We''re still not clear about the other power, though I imagine it''s another great power. They also suffered large losses with only a scant few remaining.


    "Oh!" Ren Wenzhou''s spirits were aroused, and his expression became enraged. "Which is to say we have a little breathing space?"


    Qian Mingyi was taken aback, though he quickly recovered. The boss must have had an idea. He nodded to say, "We should. It''s not only us this time; both sides have suffered serious losses. Although that mysterious power might be a little better off, they still only have a few left. I believe they will certainly wait for reinforcements before they make any moves with such a serious personnel shortfall."


    "Good." Ren Wenzhou stood up from his chair and walked to the window, looking off into the distance. His voice became abruptly cold. "Not to fight back when we''ve taken a beating wouldn''t be Ren Wenzhou''s style, now would it?"


    Qian Mingyi''s spirits were aroused as he awaited his boss''s orders. He''d been with Ren Wenzhou for over 20 years and could be called loyal and devoted. He had plenty of confidence in his boss.


    Ren Wenzhou turned around with a hint of a sneer to his mouth and said coldly, "Since the Central Repository of the Classics is so anxious, I think the other powers will certainly be interested in it as well. How would it be right for the Central Repository of the Classics to get it without spilling some blood? Isn''t the reason they have so unscrupulously pressured us this time that there aren''t so many people who know about it? Humph, since that''s the way it is, then let''s expose it right away and let the entire federation know. I believe there would be a lot of people interested in it!"


    He kept on casually, "When the time comes, if the Central Repository of the Classics wants to play hard, they''ll have to see if everyone else signs on or not."


    Qian Mingyi suddenly looked elated; that move of the boss was beautiful. It gave them back the initiative.


    "I''ll take care of it right away!"


    "Go. The bigger the better." Ren Wenzhou waved his hand to signal for Qian Mingyi to leave the room. Then, he suddenly spoke out, "Wait a minute."


    Qian Mingyi stopped and respectfully awaited new instructions.


    "Take control of whoever knows about this matter of signals, regardless of who they are. The information can''t be leaked this time. Do you understand?"


    "Yes, sir!" Qian Mingyi felt a chill.


    Ren Wenzhou''s age became more evident once Qian Mingyi had left the room. He let out a breath in exhaustion as a sadness started to grow. He''d understood the importance of that technology all along, so he''d kept it pretty secret. He hadn''t thought the information would leak. The leak had brought a lot of trouble to the firm. While the Central Repository of the Classics wasn''t a power the Central Island Firm could resist, he had a hunch about that other mysterious power, which was undoubtedly a colossus as well.


    If they hadn''t screwed up the secrecy, then after another ten years, the Central Island Firm would certainly have become as much of a colossus as they were. But...


    Ren Wenzhou unconsciously clenched his fist.


    * * *


    Qian Mingyi had thought the move to be incredibly praiseworthy, though he didn''t know it was only something he had no choice but to do. To think the Central Island Firm would enjoy the technology by itself had already become impossible. Since that was the way it was, Ren Wenzhou could only get the greatest value for the firm and for himself.


    Qian Mingyi had always been able to get such things done, and it was easy enough for him to do.


    In fact, Qian Mingyi didn''t let Ren Wenzhou down. He quickly came up with something very simple: an advertisement.


    He gathered together all of his subordinates.


    "We have to produce an advertisement. I need the most powerful advertising company, and we only have a short amount of time. We have to complete this within two days." Qian Mingyi wasn''t long-winded and went straight to the topic.


    They all looked at one another. They knew it was something extremely important from the boss''s tone. Moreover, with all the rumors that had been recently flying around the company by that time, no one dared to slack off.


    One of the subordinates said, "Since the boss''s required time frame is so short, then it has to be a local advertising firm. The local firm most in the limelight recently is Heaven''s Wings."

 Chapter 208: Just Do It

    Chapter 208: Just Do It


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "Yes indeed, I do think Heaven''s Wings is the best."


    "For sure. My daughter bought a volume of Heaven''s Wings'' educational materials, which looked very legit to me."


    The subordinates were all talking at once, and without exception, they all pointed to Heaven''s Wings.


    "Heaven''s Wings. Why have I not heard of that name?" Qian Mingyi asked a little doubtfully.


    "Oh boy, what a lousy memory I have. I''ve got the educational materials right here in my bag. My daughter forgot to take it when she went out, and she wanted me to bring them to her!" The subordinate slapped his forehead.


    Qian Mingyi raised his eyebrows. "So, go and get them."


    When the fantasy card educational materials were delivered into Qian Mingyi''s hands, he immediately stuck the card into the projection apparatus.


    A boundless universe full of stars, so vast and deep!


    The meeting room suddenly went silent. Everyone was wide-eyed and shocked.


    After fully half a minute, the room erupted.


    "I''d say that to sell such expensive educational materials and to get so many people to buy them, it would have to be pretty good stuff!"


    "Heaven''s Wings is awesome! At that level, I''d think they would be considered premium goods even if they were shown in the Five Flourishing Districts!"


    "Extraordinary. Truly extraordinary..."


    Qian Mingyi looked just as stunned. He had never seen such striking illusions either. Disregarding the subordinates'' heated discussion, he made a quick decision. "Mmmm, so that''s Heaven''s Wings. Get a group together to find the boss of Heaven''s Wings and get him over here, or their general manager will do. I''ll give you two hours. Hurry."


    They all stopped their discussion and looked at one another. Two hours? Is the boss nuts? How could two hours be enough time to find a person in Pomelo, not to mention the boss of Heaven''s Wings?


    Qian Mingyi wasn''t giving them any opportunity to bargain as he continued on, "A different group of you, go out to all of the communications platforms. We want all the prime-time advertising rights. If they''re sold out, buy them from that person''s hands regardless of the cost. Do you understand?"


    The last phrase was said peremptorily, and everyone was immediately chilled. They all knew the boss was determined. It seemed all the various speculation about the firm from outside wasn''t such empty talk, after all!


    After a brief division of labor, everyone in the meeting room, apart from Qian Mingyi, got to work.


    * * *


    Chen Mu and Wei-ah were still relaxing with Lu Xiaoru''s pine nut tea. Lu Xiaoru''s tasteful life was really not bad. The handicrafts satisfied Wei-ah. That also put Lu Xiaoru''s mind at ease. She could see that while Chen Mu was the leader among the two, that grim man wasn''t all that offensive.


    Lu Xiaoru took a lot of trouble to please them, which improved Chen Mu''s and Wei-ah''s quality of life abruptly.


    While the two of them were getting comfortable, they had no idea there was someone madly looking for them at the same time. Perhaps even if they had known, they wouldn''t have cared.


    The one they found was Bu Qiangdong. Given the power of the Central Island Firm, it was pretty easy to find anyone in Pomelo who had a name and a surname.


    When Bu Qiangdong was brought in front of Qian Mingyi, he was nearly scared to death. A name is like the shadow of a tree, and in the hearts and minds of the locals of Pomelo, this one was just a synonym for unreachable heights. Compared to that, his former employer¡ªthe Lewin family¡ªwas only a little brother in front of the Central Island Firm. Bu Qiangdong was the general manager of Heaven''s Wings, and when they hadn''t been able to find Chen Mu, they had asked him to come.


    "How are you? Please take a seat. I am Qian Mingyi." Qian Mingyi very mildly introduced himself.


    Qian Mingyi? Who is that? Bu Qiangdong was rummaging through his brain and couldn''t think of it for a little while, though the name seemed quite familiar. As he was just about to sit with a look of puzzlement, his expression suddenly changed, and his legs nearly started to tremble. My god, Qian Mingyi. It''s actually Qian Mingyi! He finally realized who he was. Among the big names in Pomelo, those in the Central Island Firm were the absolute powerhouses.


    For a long time, people had been calling him Uncle Qian out of respect. There were very few who called him by his name.


    Bu Qiangdong was really spooked as he hurried to stand, his face heaped with flattery. "How could such a junior stay seated in front of Uncle Qian?"


    Qian Mingyi grinned. "Sit. Don''t be polite. I just happen to have something I want you to help me with."


    Bu Qiangdong hurried to say, "Please don''t hesitate to instruct me about your business, Uncle Qian!" He was very pleased. How many people in Pomelo would have Uncle Qian say anything to them about helping out? He had never before considered he would sit in front of such a powerful person as Uncle Qian someday and that he would be the one getting asked for help.


    But Bu Qiangdong was quite clear in his mind that although Uncle Qian had spoken very politely, it was nothing more than politeness. It would have been pretty stupid if he had gotten carried away because of that. He was pleased in his heart while his expression remained respectful.


    "Heaven''s Wings has been in the limelight lately," Uncle Qian said knowingly. He was well qualified to speak like that, so Bu Qiangdong wasn''t about to challenge him when he heard it.


    Bu Qiangdong leaned slightly forward. "Yes." He kept his expression of respect even while his thoughts had flown off somewhere else. He suddenly thought about the boss''s first day. Who would have thought such a skinny youth would so quickly fill everyone with awe, including him? Still more inconceivable was that after Heaven''s Wings changed hands, it had actually progressed and developed rapidly.


    And he was qualified in the end to sit in front of such a huge name as Uncle Qian.


    Without any exaggeration, that was completely due to their powerful boss. If it weren''t for him, Heaven''s Wings would probably be as moribund as it had been before. If it were Bu Qiangdong''s choice, even if he were to have double his current income, he still wouldn''t want to go back to where he was. The current Heaven''s Wings and their current selves had all undergone some essential transformation without them even knowing it.


    They had discovered their own worth, which was also a credit to the boss, or at least that was how Bu Qiangdong felt. When he thought about it, the number of times the boss had talked to them could be counted on the fingers of one hand, and most of that was just executive orders. But it was just such a taciturn boss who could get them to take the initiative without even knowing it and to follow in his footsteps.


    Uncle Qian said with feeling, "I''ve looked at the fantasy card educational materials you''ve made. They are first-class." Once he said that, Bu Qiangdong filled with pride. The sales performance of that set of educational materials had stayed hot, and he could predict the situation would continue for quite a while. Such results had never been seen before in Pomelo. They had created some kind of minor miracle.


    To get praise from such a person as Uncle Qian wasn''t any trivial matter.


    "I have a very important bill of particulars in my hand just now. But time is rather short, and I''m hoping it can be completed within two days. I''m also hoping the boss of your honorable company can do the work himself. As for the compensation, you may set the rate." After Uncle Qian finished stating his goals, he looked on calmly, having spoken in an understated manner. That managed to put a lot of pressure on Bu Qiangdong, however.


    Bu Qiangdong was rather excited to be able to take an order from the Central Island Firm. That would be a big boost for Heaven''s Wings without a doubt. But the demands couldn''t be agreed to lightly. They wanted it to be completed within two days, and moreover, they wanted the boss to be personally involved. That wasn''t something he could decide.


    Bu Qiangdong pondered a bit while maintaining his respectful expression. "Of course it won''t be a problem to do as you request. But, since it involves the boss, I can''t make decisions for him as his subordinate. Could I connect with our boss?"


    Uncle Qian smiled and said casually, "Of course." He made a sign for Bu Qiangdong to contact Chen Mu right away.


    Bu Qiangdong was a little surprised, not having thought his counterpart would be quite so urgent. It looked to be something of an emergency. His brain immediately calmed. While it was true big firms like that were generous with their spending, if something wasn''t done right, the consequences could be severe.


    Bu Qiangdong settled himself as he activated his communications card.


    Lu Xiaoru''s house was quite comfortable inside. It was as mild as spring with a thick wool carpet on the floor, which was very soft to the step. The chairs and sofas were so plush that when you sat on them, you would almost sink into them. Chen Mu and Wei-ah didn''t know what to make of such plush sofas; the two of them just sat on the carpet, from where they could react quickly if something were to happen.


    Chen Mu was in the process of studying Lu Xiaoru''s card, about which he had always been curious. How could he resist satisfying his curiosity now that he could relax?


    While he was carefully studying the card''s composition, Chen Mu finally realized why he had never been able to see how Lu Xiaoru attacked.


    It was a sonic wave card, which could generate an energy body that was a kind of structured sound. It could send out extremely lethal percussive attacks. Those percussive waves weren''t spread out; they were compressed within a small area to form a kind of high-pressure sonic cannon.


    The sonic cannon had shocking power. Once it hit an energy cloak, it would cause high-frequency vibrations in it. The card artisan inside the energy cloak would have no way to be spared. The sounds could pass through the air, and the card artisan would fall into a strange semi-comatose state. That was why he had seen those card artisans suddenly lose any ability to resist that day.


    It was an alternative kind of card, which Chen Mu had never seen before. That surge of insight really piqued his interest.


    He found out from Lu Xiaoru that the card was called the Sound Beam. It was taken from the body of a dead card artisan in a battle once. But because she didn''t really know how to use it, she could only use a few simple attack styles.


    Chen Mu was always interested in knowledge about new kinds of cards. His horizons were many times more expanded than before. Using the Token Theory as his core, he could always find some pattern in any seemingly chaotic compositions.


    Suddenly, the apparatus on his wrist sounded. It was Bu Qiangdong. His face appeared on the screen that popped out when Chen Mu took the call.


    Chen Mu was a little astonished about why Bu Qiangdong would look for him at that time. It was the weekend, and Bu Qiangdong would absolutely never bother him on the weekend unless it was something important.


    "What is it?" he asked directly.


    Bu Qiangdong took a glance out of the corner of his eye at Qian Mingyi relaxing not far away with a cup of tea. He had distanced himself so his counterpart wouldn''t overhear him.


    "Boss, the Central Island Firm came looking for me today."


    "The Central Island Firm?" Chen Mu was taken aback. Hadn''t the instigator of that huge battle been the Central Island Firm? Weren''t they the ones who were so interested in the communications array and the thousand kilometer card in his hands? He''d already put them on his blacklist. If he hadn''t had such good luck, the one to have been outplayed that time would have been him. He couldn''t believe such a large gang of card artisans from the Central Island Firm would want to resolve the issue in such a peaceful fashion.


    Could they have discovered something else?


    Chen Mu''s gaze became abruptly sharper. Bu Qiangdong on the other end was quite taken aback, being awe-struck by Chen Mu himself. He had never seen such a frightening look in the boss''s eyes, which scared him.


    "Do you have some kind of close connection with the Central Island Firm?" Bu Qiangdong cautiously asked.


    Without answering, Chen Mu asked, "Why did they come looking for you?"


    Chen Mu''s gaze was tangibly oppressive. Bu Qiangdong could feel his scalp tingle wondering if the Central Island Firm and the boss really did have relations. But then he hardened his resolve and said, "They want to make a fantasy card advertisement, but they want it rather urgently¡ªwithin two days. And they hope you can work on it yourself."


    "Fantasy card advertisement?" Chen Mu felt relieved. He hadn''t expected that.


    He immediately asked, "How much?" He didn''t have much spare cash with everything having been put into the card making lab. If the remuneration was good, he would actually consider it. He knew from Lu Xiaoru that the Central Island Firm didn''t yet know he was their target. As far as the signal balls were concerned, so long as the communications array and the thousand kilometer card weren''t activated, his adversary wouldn''t have any way to detect them.


    Hearing that, Bu Qiangdong was relieved. He hurried to say, "The money shouldn''t be any problem. At least over 5 million. Our counterpart is rather urgent, and if we wanted to raise the price a little, they probably wouldn''t care. Time is tight, and it has to be completed within two days." He hesitated a little and then continued on, "Their requirements might be a little high."


    Five million! That price immediately got Chen Mu excited. Penniless as he was just then, he urgently needed a plug of cash. Even though he was born so poor, he still understood that if he didn''t have any money, then he couldn''t go anywhere and couldn''t do anything. He had simply never held out any hope to get the kind of compensation Lu Xiaoru had spoken of.


    "Ok, you go discuss the cost, and detail their requirements." Once he''d decided, Chen Mu didn''t have the slightest hesitation.

 Chapter 209: The Sound Beam Card

    Chapter 209: The Sound Beam Card


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Bu Qiangdong was glad to hear that. He admired Chen Mu''s power to the point of adulation, never believing there was anything the boss couldn''t do. He had only been afraid the boss wouldn''t want to do it, in which case there would be nothing he could do. He knew how important the opportunity was for Heaven''s Wings. Provided they succeeded this time, Heaven''s Wings'' reputation would rise to unprecedented levels.


    When the time came, never mind Pomelo; they would also get a reputation in the entire Ming Zheng District. It was not easy for a fantasy card advertising company that wanted to achieve that, and even the biggest fantasy card advertising firm in Pomelo, Easy Sailing, wouldn''t have any way to accomplish such heights.


    After closing his apparatus, Chen Mu turned around to Lu Xiaoru and said, "Tell me about the Central Island Firm."


    Lu Xiaoru considered that for a while before saying, "The Central Island Firm was founded by the current director-general, Ren Wenzhou, when he was 20. Right now, it is the most powerful firm among the powers in Pomelo. Ren Wenzhou has deep local roots. His father, Ren Wensheng, was the chief of the garrison for decades, which was very prestigious. I don''t understand much about the firm, but I do know they are powerful. They have lots of labs, and for these past few years, Ren Wenzhou has invested quite a lot in them. They seem to be doing some important experiments."


    Chen Mu then became interested. "Oh, so how did you find that out?"


    "Actually, the Central Island Firm has been getting consistent results these past few years, though they have yet to develop any very successful products. There was one time recently when I ran into that old pervert Farley, the head card master. He was very excited at the time and told me he had made a breakthrough that would mean everything to the firm very soon. I didn''t really believe it at the time since what that old ghost said was always pretty watery. Besides, wherever the foundation of the firm was, how could everything be turned over in Central Island?"


    Lu Xiaoru continued talking slowly as she reminisced.


    "And afterward?"


    "I never ran into that old goat Farley after that, although I did run into Boss Qian a few times. Oh yeah, that would be Qian Mingyi, the competent confidante of the director-general who has been at his side for dozens of years already. We normally communicate with Boss Qian and are more familiar with him. During that time, Boss Qian''s mood wasn''t so good. I felt he was under a lot of pressure. There were lots of rumors within the company then, and everyone was rather restless."


    Chen Mu immediately perked up. "What kinds of rumors?"


    No matter how you looked at him, Chen Mu didn''t seem like a gossip. Lu Xiaoru gave him a surprised look, though she continued on. "It seemed there was some large firm getting ready to acquire Central Island, and it was said to be among the handful of federation powers. So, the people in the firm were all anxious. But, since it didn''t have a lot to do with me, I didn''t pay much attention to such issues."


    Chen Mu nodded in understanding; it really didn''t have so much to do with Lu Xiaoru and her people. There wasn''t any power that wouldn''t enthusiastically court such an exceptional card artisan as Lu Xiaoru.


    Lu Xiaoru went on with her hands spread out. "We got our orders after that. The firm issued each of us a signal ball, saying the signal had been originated in the northwest district of Pomelo. Our job was to find the one sending the signals and all of his related equipment." She looked at Chen Mu cautiously and then said a little timidly, "Boss Qian said we could cause injury but to keep him alive and not to leave anything behind."


    Chen Mu went quiet, and his expression was unchanged. In his heart, however, his anger was brewing like a storm. Even though Qian Mingyi''s demands weren''t much different from what he had thought, he still felt angry. Maybe he was nothing more than an ordinary person, but he still didn''t think his fate and his life could be so casually messed with like that.


    He still didn''t quite realize how much he had changed from before.


    He took in a deep breath and repressed the anger arising from his heart. He restored his calm. The Central Island Firm was a long way from anything he could resist. But, still...


    Chen Mu was clenching his fist unconsciously, and his gaze went suddenly deep.


    His gaze startled Lu Xiaoru, and she somewhat regretted adding that last phrase. It wouldn''t be good for her to enrage her counterpart.


    But, beyond what she expected, Chen Mu didn''t get furious with her. He instead coolly and calmly waved his hand. "Ok, I need to get to work." Catching Chen Mu''s dark and calm gaze, Lu Xiaoru''s heart went cold. That youth in front of her was only about 17 or 18, but for him to have developed the ability to control his emotions to that extent, without any sign of the impetuosity of youth, and to be so seasoned and mature, she was afraid he would have limitless achievements later on. Thinking more about how young he was, with his perceptual strength right up to hers, she became more and more certain of her surmise.


    Chen Mu didn''t have as much conjecture to his thinking as Lu Xiaoru. He knew what could be called reality from his life since he was small. He was clear that whatever he might encounter now, it would only be one part of what was real. He was just as clear that there was always another side to reality, but if you wanted to push reality over to its other side, you would need power.


    The work Chen Mu was talking about was to study the sound beam card. That alternative card had greatly expanded his horizons and had taught him quite a few things.


    Watching Chen Mu study her own card, there was nothing Lu Xiaoru could do about it. Ordinary card artisans would practice some fisticuffs and the like, but no one took it very seriously. Lu Xiaoru was the same; once she didn''t have her apparatus, even as a card artisan she wasn''t any different from an ordinary person. Lu Xiaoru didn''t expect her bit of fisticuffs could lead to anything good in front of those two. In particular, after she''d seen Wei-ah casually break the dense pomelo wood chair into pieces single-handedly, she was even more confirmed in that thought.


    She was also curious about what sorts of fancy tricks Chen Mu could research out from that card. After she''d acquired the sound beam card, she''d been assiduously buffing her usage, but what she''d achieved was quite limited. What she could do by then was still only a few of the most basic moves.


    Although the sound beam card wouldn''t be considered the most alternative card Chen Mu had ever seen, it was still rather unique. The card probably had some years on it, and from the feel of it, he could tell it certainly hadn''t experienced only a single owner. The Sound Beam was a three-star card, and the main body of the card was made from the tanned bark of mine thorn branches. It had a rough feel. The mine thorns were common gray shrubs that could be seen most anywhere, but they were especially dense above mine veins. That was how they got their name. Previously, they had been an important sign for prospectors to determine whether there were mine veins underground.


    Of course, prospecting methods were more advanced now, and very few people would be likely to pay attention to them anymore.


    When Chen Mu had determined the main body of the sound beam card was made from the tanned bark of mine thorns, he had been rather surprised. What surprised him wasn''t that the mine thorn was a common kind of plant, but rather that the mine thorn had a peculiar characteristic. Although there was an introduction to the mine thorn in the Illustrated Handbook of Materials, there really weren''t many people who would use mine thorn to make cards. Since the mine thorn often grew on mine veins, the mine thorns from different veins would have subtle differences. That was the basic reason card masters would seldom use it.


    Although the differences were subtle, in the field of fastidious and precise card making, they showed too many variables. And, he had no way to speculate on the ingredients of the ink used to draw the composition.


    Chen Mu didn''t plan to try copying the Sound Beam. If he wanted to copy that kind of peculiar card, it would be difficult. The hardest part about it would be to identify the ingredients of the ink. Although there were devices that could perform component analysis, the analysis could cause a certain degree of damage to the material the card was made from. The most sophisticated part of a card was the pattern on its surface; if that was damaged at all, then the card would likely be destroyed. And, if you wanted to know its composition or any of its specific ratios, that would cause injury to the brain!


    Most card masters would first analyze the principles of any novel card they encountered. Then, they would analyze its composition, and then its materials, to speculate about their possible proportions before finally experimenting. But, once they encountered truly high-grade cards, that method was no longer feasible. For example, why were there no copies of the star card in the hands of the Star Academy president that had come from Heiner Van Sant? On the one hand, it was true that its principles were abstruse and mysterious, while on the other, the materials were hard to get. Never mind experimenting; even if Heiner Van Sant were still alive and wanted to make a second star card, he would also be facing a situation where there wouldn''t be any rice to put in the wok.


    The Sound Beam''s principles presented no difficulty for Chen Mu. With the help of the Token Theory, he''d quickly discerned the pattern within its tangled swirls. The card master who''d made the sound beam card had rather peculiar notions. To want to produce power from sound waves would require the consumption of way too much energy. Moreover, while the power wouldn''t be sufficient, the attacks might not distinguish between the enemy and oneself. That card master had also had the idea to compress the sonic waves.


    There were two reeds formed from energy that were lightly strummed with perception to induce a high-frequency vibration, which would then produce a rather powerful sound wave. The resulting tone would then enter an energy pipeline. That energy pipeline was composed of two layers of energy piping with a vacuum between the pipe walls. That would effectively prevent the sound waves from diffusing in other directions.


    The sound waves would be compressed and strengthened within the energy pipeline, increasing their power many times over. In that way, it would greatly reduce the energy losses while increasing the power of the energy waves. What was most amazing to Chen Mu was that the energy pipeline formed by the sound beam card was only 20 centimeters long. But, it''s flight speed was exactly the same speed as the sonic wave. While the sound waves were on their way to reaching the enemy, they were constantly colliding and compressing within the pipe walls, which would prevent the sound waves from losing their power because of dissipation before hitting the enemy.


    What a brilliant idea!

 Chapter 210: The Fantasy Card Advertisement (I)

    Chapter 210: The Fantasy Card Advertisement (I)


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    That was the most basic method of attack. Chen Mu was like a starving wolf who''d seen some delicious food. His eyes were giving off a hot glow, which was very different from his normally calm, cool look. Looking on, Lu Xiaoru was a mess thinking there was something wrong with her card.


    The Sound Beam was a powerful card, though its attack style was pretty singular, as he had determined from its principles. Chen Mu guessed there were two places that formed the crux of the sound beam card. One of them would be to use perception to strum the two energy reeds. That looked like a simple strumming, though it must have contained quite a few variations. The other critical place would then be the shape, size and thickness of the energy reeds and so forth.


    But, Chen Mu was a complete layman with regard to the likes of musical rules. Even if he understood the crux of those, he wouldn''t have any way to deduce the variations among them.


    Still, he had his own tricks. Summoning up all the perception in his body, Chen Mu strummed the two energy reeds very hard. It was as though two large hands had pulled them out to some outrageous extent and just let them loose.


    Pa!


    A hole was blown in the chair in front of him and the table behind it as well. Wood chips scattered all over the living room! Stones from the wall behind splashed from a hole blown the size of a fist, which was surrounded by cracks like spider webs. A hole had also been blown through the closet that could be seen right through that hole in the wall. A swan-down quilt on the big bed behind the closet also had a hole blown through it, and the soft down was fluttering wildly all over the room.


    Lu Xiaoru was staring with her mouth open.


    She''d already had the Sound Beam in her hands for several years, and no one was more clear than she was about what its power was like. As she saw it, that card could only be considered an oddity with basic power that wasn''t worth talking about. Once an enemy was prepared for it or had seen the card, she thought she''d have to revert to other means to win.


    But, it was extremely unorthodox, so there would be few people to speak of who could catch on the first time.


    The Sound Beam had never played out such immense power in her hands. How had he done that? Her gaze toward Chen Mu turned hot.


    Wei-ah only took a quick look before pulling back his gaze. Who knew what he was thinking?


    Chen Mu shook his head to himself. His perception was basically still not strong enough. Just then, he''d mobilized the perception in his entire body to pluck those two energy reeds, but he''d never reached their limit; it was still far from the Sound Beam''s full power. His means didn''t have any skill in them, and no one could unreservedly mobilize all of the perception in their body for a single attack in the midst of battle.


    However, it was enough to make Lu Xiaoru excited. Ever since getting that card, what she understood about it was pitifully little. She had no way to surmise anything from the card''s basic principles the way Chen Mu just had. She could only perform repeated trials, but she had made pitiful gains to that point.


    Shutting down his apparatus, Chen Mu removed the Sound Beam. That card wasn''t suited to him. If he''d wanted to specialize in it, he''d have to first learn music and the laws of sound. If the Sound Beam were to fall into the hands of a card artisan proficient in sound, then the power it could bring into play would certainly be stunning. But, how many would there be among card artisans who were likely to be proficient with sound? That destined it to become some obscure and out-of-the-way card.


    He certainly didn''t intend to study something new because of one card. His time was already super tight, so how could he find the time to study something new starting from the basics?


    Lu Xiaoru was anxiously watching Chen Mu, now looking like a docile and cute little kitten.


    Seeing her look of longing, Chen Mu thought for a while and then said to her, "Come on over."


    Lu Xiaoru was overjoyed and rushed over to Chen Mu''s side. But, she didn''t just sit casually on the carpet like Wei-ah and Chen Mu. She knelt down on her heels instead, with her two hands on her legs and her back erect.


    It was unnerving to see the curves formed by her butt with that erect back.


    "There are two critical parts of this card..."


    Lu Xiaoru was sitting upright like a student and listening attentively. Chen Mu wanted to tell her about the mysteries of the Sound Beam, which far exceeded her every expectation. Not to mention her two sides were her best friends, and there wasn''t anyone who could inform her so calmly as Chen Mu was. For a card artisan, understanding one''s own card was the basis and foundation of power. If one didn''t understand their card, then one fundamentally couldn''t bring all of the card''s power into play, never mind being able to adjust and optimize the energy bodies it emitted.


    She had gotten used to all the ways of the world and knew how rare such an opportunity was, so she listened very carefully, afraid to miss a single detail.


    After Chen Mu was finished talking, he saw Lu Xiaoru with her head lowered in thought. He didn''t disturb her but walked off to the side. Although the Sound Beam didn''t suit him, it had revealed quite a few things to him. Previously, he had never thought sound waves could be weaponized. Now, he''d gained a lot and expanded his horizons.


    Just then, Bu Qiangdong called Chen Mu back.


    The terms had been settled at 7 million. They were also extremely harsh, requiring completion within two days, and they included 20 completed sets. Every additional set would get another 500,000. There were no further requirements regarding the advertisement apart from saying it needed to have an impact¡ªa very powerful impact.


    After Chen Mu had gotten the details, he felt suddenly as though he didn''t know whether to laugh or cry. The advertisement his counterpart wanted to do was actually about a card and a device that could conduct communication from the outer reaches. Central Island''s target was himself. Hadn''t they been wanting to get the communications array and the thousand kilometer card from his hands?


    But, he quickly pulled himself together. He was short of money¡ªor he should say really short of money¡ªjust then! For him, 7 million was very important. So finally, without any hesitation, he''d taken that piece of business even though the other party was the Central Island Firm.


    Apart from those things, there weren''t any further rigid conditions. They only wanted to see the final result of the fantasy card advertisement and didn''t care how much creativity had actually been used for it.


    Except two days'' time was pretty urgent!


    Within those two days, there was actually only one day for Chen Mu. The other day would be taken up with preparing the special sound card. Time was extremely short.


    Chen Mu went immediately back to the Heaven''s Wings building with the other two. Bu Qiangdong was already waiting for them.


    By the time they''d rushed over, Bu Qiangdong was below the building looking up crestfallen and mumbling, "How could this be¡­ how could this be..." Just as he''d been given so much hope and had found such a rare sense of belonging, who could have thought that in the blink of an eye the building would be unrecognizable? Several upper floors had been cut right in half. He could clearly see the broken walls exposed to the air, which made his heart ache.


    He felt some retrospective fear just then since the boss normally lived up there...


    It was a miracle the boss was still alive!


    When he saw Chen Mu, Bu Qiangdong felt a stone fall away from his heart as though he''d just found his backbone. "It''s so wonderful nothing happened to you!" His tone was sincere, and one could hear he was expressing his true joy. Chen Mu was moved and nodded while grunting in response.


    Bu Qiangdong''s gaze then fell onto Lu Xiaoru to Chen Mu''s side. She''d already changed her face by then; with nothing more than a reshape to her eyebrows and a few other tricks, she seemed like a completely different person. What was most inconceivable to Chen Mu was that her temperament had also undergone a stark transformation. This Lu Xiaoru was wearing light-framed glasses and a classic white blouse with knotted clasps down the front and slim dress pants below. Those made her legs look slender and tall.


    There wasn''t anything of that sexy, voluptuous and charming Lu Xiaoru he had seen before. This was a completely different intellectual, professional woman. She followed behind Chen Mu like a dignified secretary. Even such a career veteran as Bu Qiangdong was fooled by her. He thought the boss must have had time to find a secretary and was praising him silently for his choice.


    He well understood the subordinate''s place and didn''t look askance, nor did he ask anything further. But, watching that pretty secretary walking so close to the boss, he couldn''t help but wonder about the relationship between the two.


    Lu Xiaoru might be said to have rich experience in that regard, and she got it right away. She kept her face looking cool and sober as she moved a little closer to Chen Mu without any indication of it from her feet.


    Chen Mu didn''t introduce her to Bu Qiangdong, not feeling the need to. The line of people then entered the Heaven''s Wings building. As soon as they entered, Bu Qiangdong rushed over to the fantasy card advertisements in the exhibition hall, and his face filled with excitement. "Good god, how wonderful. They''re all still here!"


    Chen Mu was a little perplexed to see Bu Qiangdong so excited. What was there that merited such excitement? Those fantasy card advertisements were nothing more than ordinary cards. He didn''t understand why Bu Qiangdong would care so much about those little gizmos.


    There was no expression on Wei-ah''s face, while Lu Xiaoru was still more reluctant to open her mouth as she didn''t quite understand the situation. She was conscious about remaining behind Chen Mu in the guise of a secretary.


    "Tell them all to come."


    Chen Mu tossed that phrase off when they''d arrived at the basement storeroom of the Heaven''s Wings building.


    There were quite a few materials inside the Heaven''s Wings storeroom. They were all basic materials like some Chen Stone and the like. The materials weren''t worth anything, but they were all rapidly consumed, making it too much trouble always to shop for them. Most companies would accumulate some inventory if the conditions permitted.


    Chen Mu was minding his own business picking things up in the storeroom while Bu Qiangdong was off to the side trying desperately to contact the rest of the employees. Depending on Chen Mu alone, there would be no way to complete the 20 sets of fantasy card advertisements.


    For Chen Mu, making one- or two-star fantasy cards was a simple matter he was very familiar with. Of course he was beyond used to it from that year when he and Copper had been making card plays, and he had needed to produce them continuously and repetitively every day.


    But, even though they were only making one- and two-star fantasy cards, Chen Mu was exceptionally focused. He wasn''t the least bit casual because of their low level. That was a habit leftover from making one-star power cards, when any mistake would mean a loss of money for him.


    He watched with concentration as the card ink in the vessel constantly changed color. Chen Mu carefully and precisely placed all the necessary kinds of ingredients in it. Bu Qiangdong was excited to be able to see the boss do the work himself. He had a background in card making himself and worshipped Chen Mu''s ability in that regard. He couldn''t wait to be able to record every step the boss was taking.


    The moves were skillful and unhurried, precise and fastidious. Every move the boss made was exemplary, still more so in the eyes of such an old hand at card making who couldn''t help but feel full of praise.


    His heart filled with emotion. He didn''t know who had mentored the boss, but his fundamentals were amazing. No one in all of Heaven''s Wings could produce such exemplary movements. To some extent, the boss might be considered a kind of freak among card masters.


    What card master would practice penmanship those days? Penmanship had limited use for card masters, and it required a lot of time to practice. Most card masters wouldn''t want to waste time on it. So, one would often see extremely clumsy compositions drawn by some of the highest-grade card masters. However, the boss''s beautiful penmanship was utterly the best he''d seen and must have taken a lot of time to practice!


    No matter how you said it, the boss had always been hard to penetrate.


    Still, Bu Qiangdong quickly cleared all those miscellaneous thoughts from his brain as he watched every step of the boss wide-eyed, lest he miss a single detail.


    After putting in the final ingredients, which took 15 seconds to complete, the card ink in the vessel turned from a dark yellow into a subtle violet, which gave off a strange smell. Of course, that was only as far as Wei-ah and Lu Xiaoru were concerned since Bu Qiangdong had a background as a card master and was accustomed to that smell.


    Lu Xiaoru was wide-eyed as she watched Chen Mu''s utter absorption with surprise. Was he a card master? That was puzzling to her. For a card artisan assassin to actually be a card master too? Chen Mu had an expression of great concentration and had forgotten himself, which was a state she had only seen in some truly outstanding card masters.


    What kind of person was he, after all?


    Jungle, communications, impact¡­ those words were swirling around in Chen Mu''s mind. To tell the truth, he wasn''t so good at writing the script. That had always been Copper''s work before, and he was reluctant to do it that time.


    It was a good thing Chen Mu had actual experience in the jungle.


    If... if one could communicate in the jungle...


    The scene of him leading children in the difficult trek through the jungle suddenly emerged before his eyes. The scene of Colin leading the soldiers to lure off the white mottled ants...


    He suddenly lowered his head and without any hesitation pulled out one of the slanted blade pens from his set of Weak Water pens. He dipped it fully into the card ink and started to draw confidently on the blank white card.

 Chapter 211: The Fantasy Card Advertisement (II)

    Chapter 211: The Fantasy Card Advertisement (II)


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Hugo was slowly drinking his red fungus gruel. The silvery mask covering half of his face was reflecting the red gruel, which made him look especially weird. His expression was, as always, without any sign of the recent huge battle he''d been through. Butchie was sitting in front of Hugo, absent-mindedly stirring the gruel in her bowl and looking somewhat dispirited.


    "Are you still thinking about that card artisan assassin?" Hugo''s ear-piercing voice pulled Butchie out of her reverie.


    Butchie only grunted in response, still stirring unconsciously with the soup spoon in her hand.


    "The folks from the spy department will get here soon." Hugo was drinking the gruel as he spoke. "I''m pretty sure we will soon find out who that guy is. I''ve seen the wound on the body of D26. His adversary''s methods were masterful. His throat was crushed by bare hands in a kind of strangling move. It''s been a long time since I''ve seen such a professional barehanded kill." He was half admiring and half in sorrow, and then he added, "If he''s a specialist in hand-to-hand combat, he''ll actually be easier to manage."


    Although a hand-to-hand assassin might have a shocking amount of power in certain situations, he would also have a lot of shortcomings. Hugo had lots of ways to deal with such an assassin.


    Butchie put down the soup spoon and shook her head. "That''s not the way I feel. His perception is no weaker than mine. He must be a card artisan. He''s also good at hiding himself¡ªmuch better than I could have imagined. It was complete luck I found him this time." The image of that indistinct and bizarre face looking up from the dark shadows floated unbidden in front of her eyes. Those two icy eyes devoid of emotion seemed to be looking right at her.


    She shuddered as her actions slowed.


    Hugo was extremely sensitive. Although Butchie''s moves were slight, he accurately captured them. His face showed he''d been somewhat moved, understanding how her adversary had unconsciously imprinted himself on Butchie''s mind. He placed a lot of importance on Butchie''s description. Their power had reached such a level that it would be difficult for him to evade their scouting him out with their six sensory inputs being as keen as they were.


    Butchie''s unspoken thought was that her adversary had far more skills.


    There wasn''t anyone more clear than Butchie about how far her power went. No matter whether her adversary''s skills were truly so unfathomable, she''d still been scared by his weird moves. They were enough to show she shouldn''t underestimate the guy who hid in the dark.


    "Why didn''t he kill me?" Butchie suddenly looked up at Hugo with a puzzled look in her eyes.


    That was also something Hugo didn''t understand. When they''d found Butchie, she and her comrade were unconscious on the ground, which was a little strange.


    Was he friend or foe? That was impossible for them to judge. If he were an enemy, then why did he let Butchie live? If he were a friend, then why hadn''t they heard anything about him? Plus, he hadn''t given them any help in the battle.


    "The reason isn''t clear at the moment." Hugo''s tone became deeper. "Lu Xiaoru hasn''t been seen either, and it''s thought that she must have fallen into that person''s hands." He drew that out, saying, "If Lu Xiaoru really fell into his hands, I''m curious about why he would be so interested in her."


    It was only after Hugo spoke that Butchie remembered Lu Xiaoru had disappeared. She felt her mind going wild. Who was that guy in the end? Why hadn''t he killed her? How was he connected to the Central Island Firm? And why did he show up on the battlefield?


    Seeing Butchie so distressed, Hugo laughed involuntarily. "Don''t think about it. Be careful about hurting your brain, or the boss-man will make trouble for me." Hearing that, Butchie stared at him. Everyone in the organization knew she was a little scared of the boss-man. Hugo laughed out loud, and that ear-piercing guffaw came out as pretty carefree.


    "They''re really serious about the issue!" Butchie protested as she remained unsatisfied, her face full of annoyance.


    Hugo looked at Butchie adoringly as though he were looking at his own naughty little sister without being annoyed. The mask didn''t hide the right side of his face, where some rare tenderness showed through. He comforted her with a soft voice. "Leave the matter alone. We still have some other things to gain this time, which I feel might have something to do with this person."


    Butchie came back to her spirits, and she asked with wide eyes, "What gains?"


    Hugo pulled out a small ball from his pocket and handed it to Butchie. "This was found on the body of a Central Island Firm card artisan. It didn''t originally attract our attention, but we discovered later that every one of the card artisans form the Central Island Firm had one on them. This was taken from their corpses. There are a few more that were sent to the boss-man. I reckon we''ll have some news very soon."


    Butchie took the little ball with curiosity, turning it over to look at it several times. She couldn''t help but ask, "What is this?"


    "We still don''t know." Hugo shook his head. "But I feel it must be crucial to the Central Island Firm''s mobilization this time. I wonder if that card artisan assassin you spoke of might be one and the same with the object of the Central Island Firm''s card artisans. If that were the case, then it would explain why he would be so interested in Lu Xiaoru." The silvery mask flashed with a demonic glow.


    "That''s just your speculation," Butchie said unconcernedly.


    Hugo smiled. "We still have time to verify it." There was a note of unsurpassed self-confidence and dominance in his ear-piercing laugh.


    Seeing Big Brother Hugo''s hearty laugh, the haze seemed to disperse from Butchie''s mind, and she looked at Hugo infatuated.


    "Your spirits aren''t very good. Take a good rest these next couple of days. You don''t need to worry about what''s happening in the organization with me here. Relax. We''ll certainly ferret that guy out." Hugo''s tone was firm and full of self-confidence and strength.


    "Mmmm." Buchie lowered her head as she gave her soft response. She couldn''t help the glimmer that wafted toward Hugo from the corner of her eye.


    * * *


    When Chen Mu raised his head, there was a whole platoon standing in front of him. Every one of the employees in the company had come, with some of them even wearing their pajamas. But none of them showed any sleepiness; their gazes were all focused on the two things in front of Chen Mu.


    The Weak Water set of card making pens looked impressive. They were made by the once-in-a-generation pen making master, Kuo Haofeng, at his peak, so of course they attracted attention. Although the employees were all low-grade card masters, they could still tell the pens in front of their boss were no ordinary goods. As compared with Kuo Haofeng''s other works, the Weak Water had a very low profile and had been in a private collection for a long time. Those who knew about them were pitifully few. Even if some people did know about the set of Weak Water pens he''d made, practically no one had seen them apart from the core members of the Eastern Nings.


    It wouldn''t be anything remarkable to those employees for the boss to have a good set of pens. But there was nothing strange about their envy.


    Still more of them had turned their gaze toward the card Chen Mu had lowered his head to make in one straight shot. They were curious about what kind of delights the card the boss had made this time would bring them. When the boss got to work, it had to be something fine that would earn the endorsement of everyone in Heaven''s Wings. They''d all heard Bu Qiangdong''s detailed explanation of the job.


    Taking in a piece of work that required them to produce 20 sets of fantasy card advertisements in two days'' time was probably something only a person as skilled as their boss had the nerve to do! And the other party was the Central Island Firm. That was enough to heat up the blood of every employee.


    Plus, being able to watch the boss make cards live with their own eyes was an opportunity they had never had. Every one of them was staring wide-eyed, afraid to miss the slightest detail. They would regret that for the rest of their lives. Even Bu Qiangdong couldn''t resist clinging to the front of the boss''s desk to get a close-up look.


    The beautiful Lu Xiaoru couldn''t help but be a little jealous. That was her first time to be ignored in front of so many men. Their gazes were all focused on Chen Mu, filling her with curiosity about what kind of card that mysterious youth could really make. Was he really a card master?


    There wasn''t a sound in the huge room during the process of Chen Mu''s card making.


    Wei-ah wasn''t paying any attention to them. He was alone in a corner guarding a viewer fantasy card. He was watching the program on the screen with great interest. He had been totally into that thing ever since he''d watched that fight between the Gemini from Desert Camp and the icy woman from Moon Frost Island when he was on the street with Chen Mu. Because of that, Chen Mu had specifically bought him a viewer fantasy card and had even laid the wiring for it. That had become Wei-ah''s only entertainment.


    The programs on the screen were endless, and there were more and more of them.


    Chen Mu had found something really unique about Wei-ah¡ªno matter what program was broadcast, Wei-ah would watch it with relish. He had even seen Wei-ah attentively watching "Lectures on the Nursing of Pregnant Women." But what was hardest for him to take was that Wei-ah watched every lecture in the series from beginning to end, never missing a segment. Was he thinking about giving birth?


    No matter the program, Wei-ah never changed his poker face. He always maintained his cold expression even while watching the most popular comedy programs, such as the one that gave countless people belly cramps, "The Daily Laugh." He would watch the screen in concentration. He never missed one of those episodes either, but Chen Mu had never even seen the corner of his mouth twitch.


    However, Wie-ah''s expression changed that day. He was staring intently at the screen when a doubtful look floated up on his face. Puzzled, it seemed as though some issue was confusing him. But his gaze didn''t leave the screen for an instant.


    Having just completed the card, Chen Mu wasn''t paying any attention to Wei-ah''s changing expression in the corner, or he would have been very surprised. What could actually cause Wei-ah to look moved?


    Chen Mu''s attention had gone from the card he''d just finished to the row of people standing in front of him¡ªall his employees. Each of them was watching him full of reverence.


    "Has everyone arrived?" They were all neatly arranged. Chen Mu had originally thought it would be pretty good if even half could come; he never thought nearly all would show up.


    Bu Qiangdong said respectfully, "They''ve all come." There were a few among the employees who had just been recruited to the company by Bu Qiangdong. They''d heard all kinds of rumors about the valiant boss and had seen all kinds of the boss''s work in the exhibition hall. It was still their first time seeing the actual Chen Mu. The look of curiosity couldn''t be hidden from their gazes.


    Chen Mu didn''t waste words and said straight out, "Let''s look at the card first."


    There was a card play generator set up in the middle of the room. Although it was normally used to show card plays, it had no problem showing fantasy card advertisements. Bu Qiangdong had set it up earlier.


    Each of the employees was craning their neck to watch the boss insert the completed card into the card play generator.

 Chapter 212: The Fantasy Card Advertisement (III)

    Chapter 212: The Fantasy Card Advertisement (III)


    Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Except for people like Wei-ah¡ªand including Lu Xiaoru¡ªeveryone was stunned as they looked dumbfounded at the viewing area.


    It was completely blank.


    If anyone had come into the room, they would certainly have found the scene quite strange. There were several dozen people staring speechlessly at a blank place as though they were lost souls. Several of them were even subconsciously muttering something. It wasn''t comprehensible, and they probably didn''t know themselves what they were reciting.


    Chen Mu was quite satisfied with such a result. Any card master would feel fulfilled if a card he''d made could shock people like that.


    Everyone was immersed in their shock for more than ten minutes. They looked like clay figures just stuck there. The room was struck dumb.


    Taking a look at the time, Chen Mu had to give a light cough. In that silence, the sound was ear-piercing. The employees abruptly awoke and gradually returned to their senses.


    "That is just too fantastic, Boss! Good god! This is certainly the most incredible fantasy card ad I''ve ever seen! You are really too much, Boss!" Bu Qiangdong was nearly incoherent and looked as though he couldn''t wait to crawl on the floor and kiss Chen Mu''s shoes.


    The other employees were all reacting to the point where they were about to burst open the entire Heaven''s Wings building, though most of them were too excited to say anything.


    Chen Mu remained placid. He looked at Bu Qiangdong as though he had something to say. He had to remind him, "We don''t have much time."


    Bu Qiangdong''s face had reddened from the excitement, but it wasn''t only him. Apart from Chen Mu and Wei-ah, the faces of all the employees of Heaven''s Wings went red as though they had been drinking. The temperature in the room had shot up.


    "Don''t worry, Boss; I''m going out to expedite the sound card!" Bu Qiangdong didn''t say another thing as he pushed open the door and ran outside looking like he wished he had two longer legs.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help but cough again.


    Everyone''s gaze then immediately converged on Chen Mu, all of them with fanatical expressions. They knew they had a lot of work to do, so they weren''t noisy and just calmly watched him. The fanaticism together with the silence created a palpable contradiction.


    "Now, I''m going to explain this card to everyone¡­"


    * * *


    Qian Mingyi was sitting on the sofa rubbing his temples. He looked exhausted. Those two days trying to buy all the advertising slots from all of the communications platforms had nearly wiped him out. He and his subordinates had used up a lot of energy. The Central Island Firm was working madly to give itself the biggest advantage.


    Money had been flowing like water, but the results were clear. They had parlayed most of the prime-time advertising slots on most of the influential communications platforms. It was too late for Qian Mingyi to be distressed by the huge expense. They still needed to continue their efforts.


    Pouring a big mouthful of coffee, a tough look flashed through Qian Mingyi''s eyes. This would be their last stand!


    There was a knock on the door.


    Qian Mingyi returned to normal, going back to the sofa and saying calmly, "Come in." He knew the more he was in crisis, the more calm and stable he needed to appear. That was the only way to keep those under him from panicking.


    "The director from Heaven''s Wings has brought the fantasy card advertisement," his subordinate reported.


    Qian Mingyi was stirred. "Oh, ask him in right away." That Heaven''s Wings was pretty efficient after all. He only hoped the ad wasn''t too shabby. Even a layman like him knew that to finish a big ad in two days would be very difficult. But, they were riding the tiger and couldn''t dismount; there was so little time left. Whether or not the fantasy card advertisement was any good would directly affect the end results.


    Several fantasy card firms had already sent over their works, but none of them had satisfied Qian Mingyi.


    Bu Qiangdong had the same kind of heavy exhaustion on his face, and his eyes were bloodshot. But, his spirits were fine; Qian Mingyi even felt he was a little hyper.


    "I hope we haven''t disappointed!" Bu Qiangdong took a look at Qian Mingyi and couldn''t help but let out a sigh of relief.


    Qian Mingyi rushed to say, "Little Yu, hurry up and pour some tea for Director Bu, and then bring some snacks." He then said to Bu Qiangdong, "Sit. You''ve been working so hard."


    Bu Qiangdong hurriedly gave the fantasy card advertisement to Qian Mingyi. "Take a look Uncle Qian, and see what needs to be fixed." Although his tone was respectful, his face looked full of self-confidence.


    Taking the fantasy card advertisement Bu Qiangdong was handing over, Qian Mingyi turned very solemn. The strength of Heaven''s Wings'' reputation couldn''t be approached by any other company, and he had the highest expectations for them.


    "Bring in the generator, and tell everyone to come," Qian Mingyi ordered.


    A generator was set up immediately in Uncle Qian''s office. His competent subordinates from the company all filed into the not-so-big office. Off to the corner, Bu Qiangdong was contentedly drinking tea and eating pastries. Watching those Central Island Firm employees all talking softly, he suddenly filled with anticipation! He was really looking forward to how the elite of the Central Island Firm would look in front of the ad.


    "Begin." Qian Mingyi spoke softly, though it hushed all the voices immediately. Everyone''s gazes had gone to the display area.


    Once it lit up, dense foliage suddenly appeared. It was huge, and even the dark green veins were clearly visible. The foliage opened up, and the viewing area started to rhythmically shake, creating a powerful illusion. It was as though they were struggling forward in the dense foliage with different depths underfoot.


    The foliage was always crowding in, and when it opened up and retreated back, more would appear in front. There was always a myriad of staggered branches with the sunlight only visible through the gaps between them. The sounds of rustling vegetation and people breathing were barely audible.


    By that point, quite a few Central Island Firm employees had gotten excited. Just as the so-called laypeople were becoming unruly, those in the know were still watching the route. There were many professionals among the employees. Seeing the jumble of seemingly ordinary vegetation looking so realistic was enough to show how accomplished the one who made them was. He had arrived at a rare place to be able to make such realistic effects with low-grade fantasy cards. There was no lack of outstanding card masters among them, but even they were stunned.


    The most praiseworthy thing was the rhythmic shaking of the entire viewing area. That almost imperceptible change enlivened the whole scene and sharply increased the viewers'' sense of immersion. The shaking of the scene was precisely matched to a person''s forward pacing. Plus, it kept zooming in and getting clearer until it blurred the vegetation that was moving backward. It was as though they were all struggling through a dense and windless jungle.


    There was a roar!


    The growl of a wild beast suddenly sounded, and the looks on quite a few people''s faces changed to the point that some almost unwittingly retreated.


    The growl was deep and penetrating as though some king of the jungle were proclaiming his majesty!


    The generated scene shook more violently, and the dense foliage retreated more quickly. The atmosphere then became suddenly tense as though the world of the viewing area had transformed.


    The generated breathing sounds became huskier and more urgent.


    Just at that point, the field of view pulled back, and the audience could see the entire scene.


    There was a twin-hooked beast not far away from some adventurer. There was about 50 meters between them, though it was all dense foliage. The scene kept pulling back until a small team of about 50 adventurers could be seen several kilometers away from him. They were scattered into smaller squads, and their faces were all anxious as they desperately called out a man''s name¡ªAh Wei.


    With dizzying speed, the viewing area zoomed in on the twin-hooked beast, and everyone could clearly see what it looked like. Those two flexible, scorpion-like hooks with its mountainous body plus the contemptuous look in its two fierce eyes froze the heart!


    It was too real! It was simply the same as reality!


    In the corner, Bu Qiangdong heard the cold breaths sucked in like a chorus, which sent his vanity through the roof. He gave a little laugh as he continued to bury himself in the snacks.


    The breathing sounds became more and more hoarse, and everyone could clearly feel the huge pressure felt by that card artisan looking for a path. Everyone was about to break down! There were people among the crowd who were clenching their fists, and gulping sounds could be heard increasingly from all over.


    The trembling card artisan took out a small ball with an antenna. The logo of the Central Island Firm was clearly visible on it. At the same time, he activated the communication card in his apparatus. His hand was trembling through the entire process, and some among the viewers had turned white. The urgency of life and death seemed to have pressed in on them, filling them with empathy.


    Everyone could see what the card artisan looked like. He wasn''t more than a tender youth of 17 or 18. He must have gotten lost from the gang of adventurers.


    The tip of the antenna on the signal ball was flashing as each second of that moment was drawn out.


    The communications device on the wrist of the leader of the card artisan team searching for him suddenly sounded from the viewing area. He called out in surprise, "It''s Ah Wei!" Everyone immediately surrounded him, and the leader hissed for them to be quiet. They immediately calmed down.


    The communications went through, and a pallid-faced youth with a trembling voice begged, "Team¡­ team leader¡­ I¡­ in front of me¡­ there is a twin-hooked beast!"


    At the same time, the twin-hooked beast seemed to have heard his breathing, and his face twisted to the youth''s position.


    The looks on the card artisans'' faces surrounding the screen all changed, and the gaze of the cautious team leader suddenly froze. He had discovered an arrow-shaped blaze on a tree to the right of the youth. He became excited. He knew where the youth was!


    That was a mark he''d made earlier.


    He suddenly yelled, "The tree to your right!"


    The youth quickly turned his gaze to the tree to his right.


    "Do you see the arrowhead? Follow the direction of the arrowhead and run!" the team leader blurted out. "Fast!"


    The twin-hooked beast discovered the youth''s position just when his voice fell, and a fierce look came to its gaze as its four hooves sprang to action. It was like a small mountain as it charged toward the youth, causing the ground to quake.


    The youth responded right away, and his face turned even whiter. Without any hesitation, he followed the direction of the arrowheads in a mad bolt!


    The scene kept rapidly changing¡ªthe team leader leading the madly running troops, the fleeing youth, the aggressive twin-hooked beast. It was tense enough to take one''s breath away.


    The youth was in a tough spot as he tried frantically to escape with his face full of terror! The twin-hooked beast was getting closer and closer, looking as though it would bite his neck.


    Among the Central Island Firm employees watching, the timid had already fainted.


    The team leader had just seen the youth on his screen, and his round eyes were suddenly angry.


    "Ah Wei! Fight!"


    Countless light beams came shooting in from all over, and the colorful energy bodies were like brilliant fireworks! The dazzling fireworks dispersed, and the dark viewing area was left with only a line of text: "Central Island Communications ¨C Jungle Communications Technology. Partners invited!"


    The office fell into absolute silence!

 213 The Letter sC�

    Butchie went back to Dongxing Township, only being able to feel truly relaxed at Sister Mei''s. Her spirits had taken a hit during the recent battle, and she needed to relax and recuperate for a while. A person''s nerves would be stretched like a bowstring after being in a high state of agitation for such a long time. If she weren''t able to relax from time to time, the bowstring would snap.


    Ace card artisans especially needed that kind of calibration. The difference between aces and lower-level card artisans was that the aces would deliberately calibrate themselves. Their resolve was more tenacious.


    So, when Hugo recommended Butchie rest for a while, she accepted it on the spot.


    "Sister Mei!"


    Seeing the apron, and Sister Mei''s utterly matronly appearance, Butchie felt a nameless warmth in her heart. The smile returned to her face.


    A look of surprise surfaced on Sister Mei''s face as she put down the vegetables she was just washing. "How can you spare the time today? What would you like to eat tonight? Paxy will be out of school soon. There''s a lot of fresh food in the cupboard. If you''re hungry, you can eat a little something first to tide you over."


    Butchie gave Sister Mei a full-body hug and took in a deep breath. She then lifted her head and smiled tenderly as she said, "I''m not hungry, and we can eat any old thing this evening. I''ll help you wash the veggies!" She wouldn''t brook any opposition after she spoke, and she casually took off her jacket. Underneath, she was wearing a skin-tight black sweater, which really showed off her beguiling curves.


    Sister Mei couldn''t help but smile and couldn''t stop looking at her, only able to say, "Ok, ok, come on. Put on an apron first, so you don''t get your clothes dirty."


    After a while, Paxy got home from school. He immediately called out in delight, "Sister Butchie!"


    Sister Mei gave Paxy a look. "How many times have I told you to call her Aunt Butchie?" As she saw it, since she called her Sister Butchie, of course Paxy should call her Auntie.


    Paxy wasn''t afraid of his mom and laughed. "Sister Butchie wouldn''t be very happy if I call her Aunt Butchie."


    "That''s right!" Butchie smiled sweetly. "I don''t want to be called old!"


    Paxy''s eyes were bugging out as he stared at Butchie. He overstated, "God, you are beautiful! How would you like to come to our school to teach, Sister Butchie? You could totally bowl over the principal! The old bugger says he''ll pull off the second bloom that''s said to be impossible."


    Sister Mei to his side became enraged, and she came over to box him on the head. "You get more and more outrageous. I don''t know where you learned such smarmy talk. It looks like I''ll have to give you a good fixing."


    Butchie was secretly delighted. There wasn''t any woman who didn''t like being found beautiful. She felt that praise from such a kid as Paxy really expressed what he thought without any hypocrisy or designs. Seeing the grimace on Paxy, who''d just been conked, she rushed to rub his head and asked solicitously, "Does it hurt?"


    Paxy shook his head repeatedly. "It doesn''t hurt, it doesn''t hurt. But, Sister Butchie''s rubbing is nice."


    There was a smile in the corner of Butchie''s eyes as she lightly patted his head. "You really are getting more and more smarmy. I wonder how many girls you''ll be bowling over. Come on, tell Sister Butchie what''s been happening lately at your school."


    Paxy brightened up as he started to enumerate all the interesting things that had happened at the school recently. He was frequently amused by Butchie''s giggling. In the middle of cooking, Sister Mei would sometimes turn around to look at the two of them, unable to hide her heartfelt delight.


    Paxy suddenly remembered something and said very excitedly, "I''m going to show you something, Sister Butchie."


    "What is it?" Butchie asked, rather interested.


    "Hey, this was really hard for me to borrow!" Paxy was waving the fantasy cards in his hand, very pleased with himself. "These are the hottest educational materials! They''re the hugely famous publication of Heaven''s Wings. You don''t know how hard these are to get. They''re all sold out on the market. There are only three in my section who''ve managed to buy them, and it was really hard for me to borrow them."


    "Educational materials?" Butchie smiled to herself. Such a child. She didn''t want to destroy Paxy''s interest, so she kept her overtly interested expression.


    The set of fantasy cards was placed in a really elaborate card case, and if Paxy hadn''t clarified earlier, she would never have guessed it was actually a set of educational materials that was so well-presented. She felt inwardly how much people those days really knew how to do business. Even educational materials were exquisitely packaged. At first glance, it looked like it was some kind of high-grade card.


    Opening the case, a neatly stacked deck of cards come into her field of view, freezing her gaze.


    There was a large letter "C" on one corner of the card that caught her eye!


    * * *


    The Central Island Firm didn''t default on any of its obligations with the first period falling due. Qian Mingyi was extremely pleased with the fantasy card advertisement. Even in such a tense situation as that one, he had specifically invited Bu Qiangdong to eat. The flattered Bu Qiangdong could be said to have eaten well. All of the people at the table had been blown away by that set of fantasy card ads, which made the guy swell up even more. He felt like he was walking on air when he returned to Heaven''s Wings.


    Chen Mu was rather content after he''d gotten the money. Now that he had the proverbial food in his hands, he was no longer panicked. Getting 7 million meant he didn''t need to worry about money issues. Making a card making studio would be a drop from the bucket of that 7 million; if all it was were his living, it would be enough for himself and Wei-ah to spend for a very long time. At that time, he thought he was someone who could live on a few hundred Oudi a month.


    Lu Xiaoru didn''t make much of it. Given the power of her position, a few million Oudi naturally wouldn''t make any waves in her mind. In the whole company, only Chen Mu, Wei-ah and Lu Xiaoru looked calm. All the other employees looked excited. Such a big order would hardly ever be seen, especially considering this piece of business paid twice. They could expect when Heaven''s Wings'' reputation went sky-high throughout Pomelo, the direct result would be their great future destiny. How could they not be excited?


    Lu Xiaoru''s ever placid look was inscrutable to those employees. Everyone could understand why neither the boss nor Wei-ah was excited. They had always been inscrutable to the employees, and now that breathtakingly gorgeous secretary was just as inscrutable. Everyone unwittingly felt that the person beside the boss was no ordinary person at all.


    Wei-ah walked over to Chen Mu. "I need money."


    Chen Mu was stunned. He wondered if he had heard wrong. Did Wei-ah actually ask him for money? To Chen Mu, Wei-ah had no concept of money; if he were to give him money, he wouldn''t know how to spend it. It would inevitably take Chen Mu aback for such a person to so suddenly tell him he needed money.


    But, Chen Mu didn''t ask Wei-ah to do anything. Given Wei-ah''s temperament, since he''d actually opened his mouth, there must have been some urgency.


    Chen Mu asked, "How much do you want?"


    Wei-ah hesitated before saying calmly, "Give me half."


    Half of 7 million was 3,500,000, which wasn''t any small amount. However, Chen Mu didn''t hesitate and gave Wei-ah 4 million. He still asked, "Do you know how to spend it?" That statement nearly put black lines onto Lu Xiaoru''s head.


    "I do." Wei-ah responded very directly and walked out without turning back, adding, "I''ll be going out for a while."


    He left behind a stunned Chen Mu and Lu Xiaoru.


    Chen Mu watched helplessly as Wei-ah disappeared through the door without ever having responded. It was pretty certain Wei-ah had something to do. To look for a big chunk of money from him and then to run off would be strange if he didn''t have something he had to do. But, Wei-ah didn''t have anything else to say before disappearing. If Chen Mu had wanted to find him, there was already no trace of him.


    He smirked to himself; Wei-ah''s style really was the same as the demonic woman''s, except Wei-ah seemed a little more peaceful. Of course, Alfonso and those folks would never acknowledge Wei-ah as peaceful. If that were so, then the whole world was peaceful.


    Chen Mu didn''t consider he could interfere with Wei-ah''s conduct. Fortunately, he didn''t need to worry about Wei-ah''s safety. The possibility of someone so inhuman as Wei-ah running into danger was a lot lower than the likelihood of him causing danger to others. He was certain if the guy wearing the half-mask that day were to battle against Wei-ah, the winner could only be Wei-ah.


    Although the man with the half-mask had a lot of power, Chen Mu considered it only a single battle''s worth. Facing Wei-ah, Chen Mu had never felt he had any chance to win. There was an absolute difference in power. On that point, there was no difference from running into the demonic woman previously.


    Since he didn''t need to worry about Wei-ah, Chen Mu got busy with his own things. Lu Xiaoru went calmly along right behind Chen Mu like a professional secretary.


    Just then, someone came flying in out of breath.


    "Who''s the boss of Heaven''s Wings?"


    Everyone dropped what they''d been doing and looked at the door in surprise. A gorgeous woman dressed in a purple jacket was standing outside the door.


    Chen Mu''s pupils shrunk a little and then returned to normal. Behind him, Lu Xiaoru''s breathing had become coarse, but it then returned to normal the next second.


    It''s her! Chen Mu''s heart skipped a beat. The pretty woman was none other than the female card artisan who''d wrestled with Lu Xiaoru at the end of the battle. Chen Mu had a deep impression of that female card artisan since her power was so outstanding.


    She had finally found Heaven''s Wings! Could they have discovered him? That was the first thought that crossed Chen Mu''s mind.


    That female card artisan was the partner of the superbly powerful half-masked man. They clearly had an organization. What Chen Mu liked least then was to be concerned with such large organizations.


    But, the adversary had found his door!


    The first thing Chen Mu did was prepare for battle.

 214 A Flare-Up!

    Butchie looked around. A few people in the room had all turned to look at her in unison. Why would she pay any mind to such a small arena? She was known as the female T. rex! She was waving one of Heaven''s Wings'' educational materials fantasy cards and asked in a loud voice, "Who made this?"


    Everyone looked at each other, their faces full of puzzlement, and no one answered.


    Butchie got a little agitated and raised her eyebrows as well as the volume of her voice. "Speak up!"


    Behind Chen Mu, Lu Xiaoru flashed a murderous look. She had nearly been killed at Butchie''s hands, and she was still brooding over that. She was pretty put out with Butchie running in and shouting, and she was secretly preparing to fight. Once Chen Mu gave the order, she''d do the killing! She smiled coldly to herself. That youth didn''t seem like someone who would stand for anyone pushing him around, no matter how you looked at him. That damned woman wouldn''t stand a chance against the two of them together.


    She had plenty of self confidence and even more confidence in the youth.


    Butchie''s unrestrained shouting had also annoyed some of the Heaven''s Wings employees. Wouldn''t it put them in a tough spot for her to run into Heaven''s Wings right in front of the boss and yell like that?


    "Young lady..." One of the employees couldn''t help but come forward to let her know.


    The unhappy gazes of those all around made Butchie realize she had unwittingly offended those people. She had always run rampant through her own organization. Apart from the boss-man and Hugo, she''d run roughshod over everyone else. She''d seen a lot of that sort of scene.


    "Who made it?" Butchie looked a little impatient as she held her right hand level. Then, a wooden table in the corner suddenly exploded into splinters with a loud pop. She was anxious but also thought an advertising company wasn''t likely to have any powerful people. Even if they did have card artisans, that wouldn''t have scared her in the least. The only companies who would have card artisans at her level would be the large ones.


    Her move was effective; all the Heaven''s Wings employees went silent. Their faces looked angry, though they were awed by her strength. But, some of the older staff¡ªwhich was quite a few of them¡ªshowed some excitement and anticipation. They had seen what Chen Mu could do and knew their boss wasn''t a character to be provoked.


    Sure enough, Chen Mu stood up.


    "Who are you?" Although he spoke in even tones, an intimidating note came through. Probably even Chen Mu himself didn''t know how much he had unwittingly adopted the style of a higher-up. Starting from when he''d led children through the jungle and then to the underground city base, he had been playing the role of the leader. After he got to Pomelo and became the boss of Heaven''s Wings, all those experiences had caused a transformation with his temperament without him being quite aware of it.


    Whether he was in front of those children in the jungle or at Heaven''s Wings, he didn''t really feel he was any kind of leader. That was why he''d been able to simply leave the base without the slightest regret. He could easily leave Heaven''s Wings in the same way if anything were to happen.


    However, whether or not he himself could tell, the transformation certainly did exist.


    Butchie was a little surprised to see the youth who walked out from among the group. He was probably the youngest of all of them, though his tone carried the most authority. Although Butchie was arrogant, she wasn''t stupid. None of those employees looked at all like anything unusual had happened. She was immediately 80 or 90 percent certain the youth in front of her was the boss of Heaven''s Wings. He wasn''t very robust and even looked rather wimpy. But, she had only seen his imposing manner in the likes of Hugo or the boss-man.


    Her gaze suddenly froze when it fell onto the professional beauty behind the youth.


    This woman is dangerous! Butchie was shuddering inwardly. Perception among aces was really subtle even though that pretty woman, all professionally dressed, looked like she ought to be the youth''s secretary. What she found strangest was that the secretary felt somewhat familiar between her features. No matter how much she searched her brain, she couldn''t come up with who it was for the life of her.


    But, what was happening in front of her stopped her from thinking any further. She had already discovered that the look in the secretary''s eyes wasn''t well-disposed toward her. It was as though she might make a move at any minute.


    That youth turned out to be a not-so-simple person, after all! Butchie was still more confirmed in her assessment.


    No matter who he was, he couldn''t have been very simple to have such a beautiful and powerful female secretary as his personal bodyguard. Although there were more and more female card artisans those days, one as stunning and powerful as her would be a scarce resource in any place.


    The atmosphere had turned abruptly hostile with swords drawn and bows bent.


    Butchie suddenly smiled sweetly, and the light in the room seemed to brighten a few notches.


    "This little girl was only so abrupt because I was so eager. I would like to apologize to each of you! Please forgive me! I''m called Butchie, and I came to find the card master who made this card. I would like to commission this card master to make a battle card." Butchie elegantly demonstrated her easy politeness all around with a sincere expression. She believed even the old lady who''d taught her etiquette wouldn''t have found fault with her that time.


    The staff all had their mouths hanging open and couldn''t believe what they saw. Their brains had short-circuited. They didn''t understand how the provocative and savage girl had just become a different person; she had become a worldly, polite lady. Seeing Butchie standing there lovably, so meek and frail, they wondered if they had been dizzy. Some of the younger staff already regretted how they could have been so angry with such a mild maiden.


    A look of surprise flashed through Lu Xiaoru''s eyes behind Chen Mu, followed by a playful smile forming in the corner of her mouth. Lu Xiaoru wasn''t from the finest stock herself. She was familiar with that change in temperament. Otherwise, Butchie wouldn''t have been so prone to not recognize her. She was displaying her own skills before a master!


    Among all of them, the most stable and peaceful was Chen Mu. Of course, that was because Wei-ah wasn''t there.


    His expression was cool; he knew clearly how dangerous that seemingly meek and innocent little girlfriend in front of him was! Because of his childhood experience, his attitude toward pretty women was rather different from that of ordinary people. He had seen quite a few women who were as pretty as flowers with hearts of snakes. Born poor as he was, of course he never had any improper feelings about those so-called beauties.


    He could be upright if he had no desires. Plus, the arrogance and savagery of his counterpart disgusted him.


    "I made it," Chen Mu responded with a mild expression. Butchie looked overjoyed. How could she not be, having finally found the card master? However, Chen Mu''s next words were like a bucket of cold water that extinguished the passion in her heart.


    "But, I won''t be able to make you a card." Chen Mu was as mild as usual, though any idiot could discern the firm and peremptory tone in what he said.


    "Why?" Butchie asked without thinking, with a strong note of not being reconciled to what he''d said.


    Chen Mu wasn''t going to explain anything to her, and he threw out the phrase, "Please leave, thank you." He then turned around to continue his own work.


    A look of anger flashed in Butchie''s eyes, but just as she was about to make a move, Lu Xiaoru seemed almost inadvertently to be standing in front of Chen Mu. She was looking at Butchie with a smile that wasn''t a smile; she was watching Butchie get beaten and feeling pretty good about it. Although her wounds still hadn''t healed, she wasn''t the least bit afraid of Butchie. Moreover, there was still that inscrutable youth behind her. By that time, she was just itching for Butchie to make a scene, so she could make her own moves without any scruples.


    She had enough confidence¡ªmore than enough. So, she was looking quite calm. In Butchie''s eyes, such calm had the flavor of fearlessness, which filled that girl, who had always run amok, with dread.


    Although Butchie was arrogant, she wasn''t the stupid type; she knew if things turned tough, there was a great chance it wouldn''t turn out well. Since she knew who her counterpart was and had the means, she didn''t need to rush into anything just then.


    Her smile was like a flower, without any annoyance on view. Then, as muddled as someone without anything to do, she said, "Since that''s the way it is, this little girl will bid farewell." She turned and walked out of Heaven''s Wings without turning back.


    Lu Xiaoru was disappointed and took a look at Chen Mu. Seeing no expression, she couldn''t do anything but watch Butchie leave.


    Once Butchie left Heaven''s Wings, Chen Mu turned around to walk upstairs. Lu Xiaoru was startled and rushed to accompany him. The staff had all buried their heads in their own work, and no one paid attention to Chen Mu''s movements. They weren''t concerned with whatever the boss did. That had been the longest the boss had ever hung out with them.


    Once he got upstairs, Chen Mu immediately floated in front of the window where he could still see Butchie, who had yet to fly far away after just ascending into the sky.


    Chen Mu took off his pants and outer clothes without any hesitation. He then took out the demonic woman''s ghost-faced flower fruit and held it in his mouth while biting it lightly.


    The soft ghost-faced flower membrane squirmed over his face like mad, covering half of it in an instant. When Lu Xiaoru came in and saw the weird scene, she was startled and almost screamed. She was a woman after all, and to see a layer of something soft squirm out of his mouth as though it were alive and then nearly cover Chen Mu''s face paralyzed her. She finally found out how the mask on Chen Mu''s face was put on, but that was all, apart from terrifying her even more.


    Making contact with Lu Xiaoru''s aghast gaze, Chen Mu said, "Stay here." Before the sound faded, he''d pushed open the window and disappeared beyond the windowsill without a sound.


    The sky was gradually darkening, and there were more people starting to come out onto the streets. The number of card artisans whistling through the sky had also increased. The bright and colorful fantasy card advertisements had started to show their dazzling lights. If you were to look down from above, the flashing, scattered lights made it like a city without nighttime.


    The slowly thickening darkness gave Chen Mu good cover as he flew very low, sometimes taking advantage of the shadows of the buildings and carefully sticking behind Butchie.


    Card artisans would seldom choose to fly close to the ground since it was too difficult, and it was easy for something to go wrong. So, the ground was devoid of the card artisans whizzing along up high. Chen Mu had chosen to stick on the ground in order to not be discovered. That meant he would sometimes need to avoid all kinds of obstacles, such as buildings or those ordinary people just off work who used Lightweight Cards. They were simpler and more convenient than the ones the students from Eastern Wei Academy had used. They didn''t require perception to control and could make a person''s walking relatively effortless and fast.


    Theoretically, flying on the ground couldn''t compare to the speed of high-altitude flight, though Chen Mu had taken it to its limit to stick right behind Butchie.


    He wanted to know what power Butchie belonged to and why they were paying attention to him. Although she''d only come looking for a card, Chen Mu didn''t believe that could be a coincidence. Everyone had just intersected in the recent battle, and to be sought out for a card by one of them was just too coincidental!


    He had never tried such mad high-speed flight so close to the ground! To be precise, he wasn''t simply flying. In order to be able to increase his speed to the limit, he had brought to bear every bit of skill that might increase his speed, with full abandon.


    He picked up the speed of his quick steps to drift and cut...


    The wind whooshed past his ears and the rapidly retreating scenery left afterimages of colorful, flowing lights on his retina.


    Unprecedented speed and passion!


    For every step, the elastic grass transmitted powerful impacts from beneath his feet, and the scenery in his field of vision started to show brief fuzziness. When he raised his face, the wind blew to the point where he couldn''t open his eyes, though he didn''t dare to close them. The wind on his face pressed in on every part of his body, and he needed all of his strength just to resist such fierce pressure.


    Seeing Butchie pulling away from him little by little, Chen Mu became anxious. No good! He would certainly fall behind if he continued on that way! How could he go any damned faster? He felt like he was in the water pool where his every bit of energy had been squeezed out; under the impact of the torrent, it was as though he had no room to struggle.


    Unlike that training, this feeling of powerlessness was so fierce! It was like a hidden blue flame silently roasting his spirit, and the stubbornness buried deep in his bones got completely excited. His blood boiled in that instant, imperiling him like a volcano spewing lava; it boiled until nearly his whole body was trembling.


    Faster! Faster! I need to go faster!


    In the dark, Chen Mu was suddenly glaring wide-eyed with a contorted face! Immersed in a feeling of helplessness as he was, he subconsciously made a movement as though he were parting water, and his body slightly slithered like a fish. Having already reached the limit of his speed, he could feel the pressure on his raised face seem to ease off, and his body dashed suddenly forward.

 215 The Will to Figh

    As though he''d found a ray of light in the dark, Chen Mu was overjoyed. He had to conk himself on the head for not thinking of what he did as daily exercise. He had finally realized how deeply different real fighting was from practice. When that finally sunk in, his body was moving like a metronome. If one looked carefully, every slightest wiggle wasn''t linear but was more like an undulating line moving forward.


    The oppressive wind pressure abruptly decreased while the speed of things falling behind increased. Chen Mu''s mind was more carefree than ever. The distance from the female card artisan, which had been growing, was now shrinking rapidly. The people walking along the way only inadvertently saw Chen Mu from the shadows shuttling through, imagining they were seeing things.


    He was a predator in the dark as he snuck along while keeping a firm eye on his prey.


    The apparatus on Butchie''s wrist suddenly sounded. She opened her communications card, and a screen popped out in front of her.


    "Big Brother Hugo." She displayed a sweet smile.


    "Where are you?" came the knife-sharp, ear-splitting voice.


    "I''m almost where you are. What''s going on? Did something happen?" Butchie asked as though something were odd. Hugo''s expression was serious, making it look as though there was some situation. She came to a stop. Seeing that from the ground, Chen Mu slipped into the shadows like a civet cat within a couple of paces. Even though he was in the shadows, he still kept a sharp lookout. He hadn''t expected Butchie to stop in midair. He couldn''t stop on a dime, so he was only 50 meters from her. That was a rather dangerous proximity, and since there were very few card artisans in the vicinity, he might be discovered if he was the least bit careless. Card artisans like Butchie were always on full alert.


    Being too close, Chen Mu could see Hugo''s face clearly on the screen in front of Butchie. The man with the half-mask! Chen Mu was surprised. That spooky man had left a deep impression on him! His burst of power in the last seconds of the battle had utterly determined the outcome of the entire event.


    Yikes! He seemed to have seen Chen Mu. He wondered if it had been an illusion. From such a distance, and with him in the shadows, how could his adversary find him by just the communications card?


    In the screen, Hugo''s eyes suddenly burst open in flame, and he hissed, "There''s someone behind you!"


    Butchie was stunned. She and Hugo made a good team, and she knew right away there was an ambush! Without the least hesitation, the tadpole-shaped energy bodies took shape on her hand like lightning.


    "In the direction of 7 o''clock behind you, in the shadows under the eaves." Hugo''s warning arrived just in time, and Butchie let loose five of the tadpoles in the direction of 7 o''clock to her rear. It was clear how well-coordinated the two were with their tacit connection. Before Hugo''s words were finished, Butchie had already completed her attack.


    In the instant Butchie let loose her tadpole-shaped energy bodies, Chen Mu felt the energy fluctuation and immediately knew it was bad. Without time to think, his two legs burst out, and his entire body shot out like an arrow. The explosion behind him gave him a start before he could even consider how his adversary had discovered him. In that instant, his brain had become surprisingly calm and sober.


    He didn''t choose the tailless shuttle, but rather he wandered like a ghost among the buildings. He understood the danger of the situation. If he was even slightly careless, he could die at the hands of that adversary. The woman in front of his eyes was more powerful than Bo Wen, and he wasn''t in the state of breath control. But, Chen Mu was a little surprised at how he didn''t have the slightest fear this time. On the contrary, he felt a faint excitement. The will to fight had begun to stir in his heart.


    How could he change like that? Chen Mu was excited and a little bit panicked. That state was strange to him.


    However, the situation didn''t leave any room for him to consider such extraneous questions just then. What he needed to do was face Butchie''s attacks, which blanketed the sky.


    On first sight of Chen Mu, Butchie''s heart sank.


    "I''ll be there right away." Hugo wasn''t wasting words and immediately ended the communication. He didn''t know Butchie had become temporarily distracted during that desperate moment.


    That person! That slightly raised, fuzzy face in the dark and those two squinting eyes! She didn''t know what he was called nor what he looked like. She had never intersected him. But, that moment of rubbing shoulders, when that painted face was like a nightmare as he passed by, had been etched deeply in her brain.


    She hadn''t thought the enemy lying in wait in the dark would actually be him! Had her adversary been stalking her all along and still lying in wait when she happened to run into him? She couldn''t be certain.


    Chen Mu didn''t know how it looked to Butchie, but he had to be sharp enough to seize any opportunity. He extended his toes, and his body was seemingly weightless as it flitted strangely in the dark like a bat, even giving the illusion of gliding. His movements were bizarrely fast like lightning and too much for the human eye to take in.


    In the space of a blink, there was no more than ten meters between him and Butchie. By that time, Chen Mu had completely entered the state where any fright or miscellaneous thought¡ªor any scruples at all¡ªhad been put entirely out of his mind. There was only one person in his sights by then. Butchie!


    The sense of danger abruptly shot up as she saw Chen Mu close by from the corner of her eye. She was shocked! How could she let herself be distracted at such a time? Without being able to think any further, she swiftly pulled back and finally didn''t have any reservations about making her move! Roughly 120 tadpole-shaped energy bodies went shooting toward Chen Mu like 120 eye-piercing rays of light.


    Chen Mu had seen that play with his own eyes when Lu Xiaoru had taken a big loss from it before. She almost didn''t have the chance to turn.


    The only thing that made Chen Mu feel a little safer was that he hadn''t felt himself being locked in. Facing such a professional card artisan as Butchie, once locked in, it wouldn''t be easy to even think about breaking free. There was a saying among card artisans: "Once locked in, you''re already dead." Chen Mu hadn''t heard that saying, but that didn''t prevent him from understanding it.


    Chen Mu dodged to the side.


    A ball of bright red flames blossomed abruptly in the dark to pierce the night sky.


    Chen Mu only felt the shock, which shook him until his head was buzzing. He nearly couldn''t stand under the oppressive shock waves. He rolled awkwardly on the ground to shed the power transmitted from behind him, but he couldn''t avoid getting ashes all over his head and face. Chen Mu stuck to the ground and drilled into the shadows in a corner.


    His heart was beating violently, and his face was full of lingering fright. He could only tell from personal experience how powerful the trick actually was. What he felt this time was a lot more powerful than when he was an onlooker far away, and his ears were still ringing. The place where he''d just stood was already leveled.


    He slowed his breath and forced himself to calm down. He was rapidly figuring out how much distance he had put between himself and his adversary because of what had just happened. They were then 15 meters apart, which wouldn''t be considered very far, though it also wasn''t close. Even given Chen Mu''s speed, the time needed to go 15 meters was enough for his adversary to get off a few attacks.


    A few attacks¡­ Within such a short distance, even if she didn''t lock him in, there was a pretty good chance of hitting him. Moreover, never mind a few attacks; even one attack''s hit rate was quite frightening.


    What should he do?


    Sweat was forming on Butchie''s back as she looked nervously all around. She didn''t really know if that last shot had hit the target or not, but she didn''t dare to go look. In her mind, she might as well assume the attack hadn''t hit her adversary. She didn''t think the guy in the dark would be so easy to get rid of, for sure. So, she didn''t dare to move, afraid it would give her adversary an opportunity.


    But, her anxiety had increased since she had lost track of him. That explosion was too fierce, and it had been very close. If any energy fluctuations had appeared during that instant, she couldn''t have had any perception of her adversary.


    When she thought of how good he was at taking advantage of the dark and the shadows, her heart jumped up into her throat. Every nook in every direction seemed to be concealing endless danger, like innumerable poisonous snakes lurking and waiting for their prey.


    She had experienced quite a few battles, but none like this one.


    She had found out how massively oppressive it was to face a card artisan assassin; her adversary could appear at any time from some unexpected place to make a deadly blow.


    Chen Mu slightly raised his head in the dark, sending his gaze to the night sky. The explosion had already alarmed quite a few people, and there were countless card artisans approaching. He was a little taken by surprise. It seemed no one had dared to come watch during that last battle. Could they have changed their nature this time? How could he have known Pomelo was in a high state of alert having just experienced that bloody battle? The city wasn''t going to experience another battle at such a scale.


    There were already quite a few who had started to migrate to other cities, which greatly affected all of Pomelo''s interests. So, all of the powers in Pomelo had come together in unprecedented unity. Of course, they''d had to remove the Central Island Firm from among them.


    Having heard the commotion, the card artisans all came rushing.


    He had to make his move. If he didn''t, there wouldn''t be another chance! Chen Mu was determined in the dark. He would take the big risk this time, not wanting to return empty-handed. His heart was brimming with the will to fight, which seemed to be urging him to hurry up. That bout of fighting spirit put Chen Mu forever in the midst of a kind of strange excitement while he was still utterly cool and calm. That kind of cool being mixed up with the excitement felt really weird.


    Quickly and carefully reviewing the tactics in his head he had just proposed, he made sure he hadn''t left anything out.


    Chen Mu abruptly opened his eyes in the dark. With his ghostly face like a flower and his eyes like stars, his will to fight was awe-inspiring.

 216 A Chill

    The tailless shuttle was spinning merrily away as Chen Mu was now increasingly skilled in its operation. That not only reduced the time he needed to release it, but the tailless shuttle''s sound had also been reduced. Both of those things meant his ability to control energy by perception had been getting stronger and stronger.


    But, the tailless shuttle still couldn''t avoid producing energy fluctuations. Even though they were small, Butchie felt them right away since the two sides were so close.


    He''s there!


    Almost without hesitation, the 15 tadpole energy bodies she had gotten ready earlier left her hand. They clustered together to form a long line, which flew off with a whoosh to where the energy fluctuations had come from. Just then, there was a weird whistling sound, together with a powerful thrumming. When that arose, the whoosh of the tadpole energy bodies fell right off.


    Although Butchie was surprised, she didn''t fall apart. She was a lot more relaxed than she had been. What made her most afraid about her adversary was his hiding in the dark, which left her defenseless. Although that attack looked fierce, it had exposed his position, which actually destroyed his greatest advantage. Butchie had never been afraid of a clean battle between card artisans, whether it was positional or on the move.


    Pa! Pa! Pa!


    There was a series of dense explosions, and Butchie''s expression changed.


    All 15 of the tadpole energy bodies had been destroyed! Each one of them had been specifically connected to her perception, and she had already known before the moment they were first destroyed. Fifteen energy bodies couldn''t even block that energy shuttle in the least. She was aghast at the destructive power of the energy shuttle''s attack!


    He reaction was quick as she almost unconsciously raised the energy cloak.


    The "Orange" changed her world into a warm yellowish-orange color, and she automatically felt safer. In all of her battle experience, the Orange had had never been directly breached by anyone, so she felt safe every time she raised it.


    Ping!


    Butchie only felt a large blow being transmitted as though she''d been hit head-on by a hammer, which slid her back. The Orange hadn''t been breached, but the normally dense color had become an almost transparent, thin layer.


    Was that an energy shuttle? How could a tiny energy shuttle have such a terrifying impact?


    A flash of terror was visible through the already transparent energy cloak.


    Her adversary was within eight meters of her!


    That was Chen Mu''s strategy. Although the tailless shuttle was powerful, it would be easy to discover because of the energy fluctuations. If he wanted to overcome a card artisan like Butchie by relying only on what his card could do, that would obviously not be realistic. But, by that time, Chen Mu had already realized power wasn''t just what a card could do; it had to fully benefit from other aspects of power before a victory would be achieved in that battle.


    Using the energy fluctuations of the tailless shuttle to draw his adversary''s attention, his actual intention was shown by the move that followed. At the same time he let loose the tailless shuttle, he had bent his back like a cat and rushed at Butchie from the other side of the wall.


    His mind was utterly clear the instant he came winding around the wall. His temperament then showed nothing of the tenderness of a novice. It resembled an experienced hunter instead, with every shot both deadly and dangerous.


    He hadn''t expected Butchie to let him get so close that easily with how professional and experienced she was. More importantly, she was an ace.


    So, he didn''t advance in a straight line. He took a roll and stretched his body to move silently along the ground with amazing agility. Those were the dodging skills he''d learned previously from the demonic woman. When he used them this time, they were untold times more powerful than before. He wondered what the demonic woman would think if she were to witness it.


    In the instant he covered the ground, he suddenly bent his hands and feet into a weird pose like a four-point spring. Shooting up from the ground, he completely changed direction in a posture that give him a lot of room to maneuver and the ability to shoot off in any direction.


    Such directional changes couldn''t be defended against. Just as his hands and feet left the ground, and Butchie was expecting him to go up, his body suddenly slid straight along the ground in a strange move contrary to common sense, as though there hadn''t been any inertial.


    * * *


    Butchie''s face went white!


    Every move of her adversary went beyond anything she expected. Her eyes couldn''t keep up with his tempo. Although her perception could clearly discern his every move, she had no way to predict them. His moves were as quick a lightning, as well as weird and hard to gauge. Even for someone who''d seen every kind of card artisan, their frequency left her aghast.


    Within the short space of seven or eight meters, her adversary had changed directions as many as 26 times.


    Tossing out such data would be enough to create a sensation in the federation, to put any close-combat card artisan to shame, or to cause some top-notch wrestler guys to hit the wall and die!


    Butchie''s gaze went slack. She didn''t understand how such a wimpy guy could withstand such an astonishing burden to his body. Within seven or eight meters, to complete more than 20 directional changes in less than a second was a frequency that would break an iron man into pieces.


    How could the human body metamorphose to that extent?


    The distance between them closed with shocking speed, and Butchie gritted her teeth. Although she''d taken a heavy blow to her self-confidence, she wasn''t about to surrender so easily. Even though there was no way to predict his next move, she still wasn''t without any strategy left to try. Having gone through the initial horror, she firmed up her slack eyes. She wasn''t going to give up!


    Tadpole energy bodies went off from her hand in every direction like crazy. They didn''t have any target and were just indiscriminate attacks with her body at the center. Like a cornered porcupine insanely firing off all the barbs on his body, Butchie didn''t hold back right up to the last shot!


    Chen Mu was in a really tough spot!


    Damn!


    He didn''t dare deploy his energy cloak; once he did that, his pace would have to slow. Even though that slowdown wouldn''t even be a tenth of a second, in the hands of such an ace card artisan, it would be enough to change the nature of the entire battle. His prior planning would also have been ruined.


    Chen Mu had made a clear-headed assessment. While he might be prevailing, the biggest reason was the element of surprise. His style of fighting was quite different from that of ordinary card artisans. Once his adversary adapted to it, the two sides would be at a standoff, standing once again on the same starting line. The one defeated in the end would certainly be him.


    He couldn''t retreat, and he couldn''t hesitate!


    To retreat was to be defeated, and to be defeated was to die! Although to move ahead was dangerous, it had a much better success rate.


    Chen Mu made a quick decision. He gritted his teeth, hardened himself and didn''t slow down in the slightest, boring headlong into the so-called thicket of thorns created by the energy bodies.


    Without knowing whether it was because he''d been provoked, Chen Mu''s perception was exceptionally clear. Time seemed to have slowed around him. He suddenly seemed familiar with the setting. It was like an illusion where he had just entered into perceptual sensitivity training!


    This time, in addition to having to perceive them, he would have to dodge them.


    Every energy body was clear in his mind. He could even see their little tails. Having entered completely into the state, Chen Mu had a calm mind without any fear or nervousness. Everything around was far away from him. In his perception, there were only those merry tadpole energy bodies.


    He pulled in his shoulders, pinched his waist and dodged a tadpole energy body! He spread his legs with a shout, and two energy bodies slipped by...


    It was a really strange state. In his perception, those tadpole energy bodies were like one merrily wandering little tadpole after another, and his own movements were like slow-motion actions. However, those slow-looking movements had just dodged most of the tadpole energy bodies, which didn''t have any order to them.


    But, there were just too many of them. Much of the time, Chen Mu could only choose to keep them away from his vital parts.


    Zing! Zing! Zing!


    Several rivers of blood appeared on his left shoulder, on the outer side of his calf and below his ribs. The most dangerous spot was his cheek. If he had been any slower in tilting his head, that merry tadpole energy body would have been just as happy to drill into his brain. Within the world of his perception, he could clearly "see" the entire process of the blood flowers blossoming on his own body and then splashing down through the air, all as though in slow motion. The pain from the wounds seemed to be transmitted at the speed of a turtle.


    In Butchie''s terrified eyes, Chen Mu had broken through the thicket of thorns formed by the line of countless tadpole energy bodies! Chen Mu himself didn''t even know how many moves he had completed in that briefest of moments.


    Phew! Right when he succeeded to break through, he immediately returned from the slow motion to reality. The sound of wind in his ears alerted him to how fast he''d been moving! At the same time, the pain from those wounds didn''t leave any room for discussion about rushing to his nerve center.


    It hurt so much he wanted to suck in a breath of cold air.


    The female card artisan was suddenly magnified in his eyes. By that time, there wasn''t much joy in victory. On the contrary, he could feel a chill to his mood. He didn''t know if it was the influence of that chilly feeling, but his movements didn''t change at all. He didn''t even utter a stifled grunt from the pain.


    In the same way, the ashen look in his adversary''s eyes didn''t move Chen Mu in the least as he sank into the chill.


    Peng! A punch with his fist made the gossamer-thin energy cloak break into a burst of pieces, which dissipated in the air.


    Taking advantage of the speed of the blow, his right hand touched her warm, snow-white neck while his left hand had already plucked the apparatus from her right wrist!


    Just then, Chen Mu''s face abruptly changed, and his body beat a retreat even faster than he had been moving just before.

 217 It

    The wind blew cold in the night, leaving Butchie still standing in the same place with no one around her. Quite a few card artisans were moving in her direction, and she could clearly hear their high-speed whistling.


    The air was filled with the heavy smell of dust and smoke left behind from the recent explosion. If it weren''t for that smell reminding her, she would surely have wondered whether what had just happened was a dream.


    What about that person?


    Butchie still didn''t understand what had happened and why he had suddenly chosen to leave at the last moment. His hand had already been at her throat. He had only needed to twist it slightly, and she would have be dead like that colleague of hers, whose neck had been crushed. When they examined her dead colleague''s wounds, the strength of the killer''s hands was stunning.


    He hadn''t had any reason to let go. She still remembered when he had charged up to her, and his eyes had shown that bone-penetrating chill. Such a chill not only demonstrated her adversary''s determination to win, but also that he wasn''t someone who could be easily shaken.


    She wouldn''t have found it strange whether she were killed or had escaped. But, for him to withdraw without a sign or the least hesitation left her deeply stumped. No one would leave on the verge of taking the victory¡ªespecially not a determined ace!


    Why? She still didn''t know.


    Looking all around, there was long since no sign of him, and Butchie finally relaxed. While the battle had been brief, its danger and ferocity had been the most serious in her life. She had been at a disadvantage the whole time, overwhelmed by her adversary.


    No matter by skill or tactics, he was always strange and hard to fathom. In those few brief seconds, she had felt more nervous than ever before. When the crisis passed, she was overcome by a deep fatigue. Her entire body was wiped out, and she couldn''t summon the least bit of energy.


    "Are you ok?" That ear-piercing voice suddenly came from behind her. It was Hugo! Butchie''s spirits were roused. Although his voice was ear-piercing, the heavy note of concern to what he said calmed her.


    "I''m ok." Butchie forced out a smile.


    Hugo looked all around on alert and said in a low voice, "Let''s go." Some of the card artisans gathering could already see them.


    "You lead me." Butchie smiled bitterly.


    Hugo looked a little surprised, though he didn''t say so. He pulled Butchie along by one hand as he flew into the sky. Seeing they were about to run, the swarming card artisans quickly shouted out to give chase and not to let up.


    The corner of Hugo''s mouth curled up as though something were funny. Underneath the silvery, metallic mask, there was a note of mockery with an abiding chill. There wasn''t any visible action as he increased his speed and quickly left the card artisans behind. Carrying someone didn''t seem to have any effect.


    The onrushing card artisans weren''t about to give up so easily and immediately exerted their strength, not letting off on the chase.


    There was a body curled up in the dark shadows in a corner near the place where the battle had just taken place. With the night so dark and the corner so deep in the shadows, it would be difficult to find him even up close. The card artisans giving chase were all busy charging the two who had just left, and no one discovered there was still someone there.


    It was Chen Mu.


    He was clenching his teeth in the dark, and because of the excessive force on his facial muscles, his face looked twisted. He seemed to be repressing some fierce pain, with bean-sized beads of sweat seeping out and rolling off until there were small winding rivulets forming on his face. On the skin showing outside his clothes, there seemed to be something wriggling, which looked disgusting.


    Only at that point did Chen Mu dare to groan. While the groan was low, it seemed to come from deep in his lungs and squeezed out through his teeth. His body was curled up in a ball and shaking incessantly. Like a tide, wave after wave of stunning pain hit him to the limit of what he could bear.


    At that moment, any small child could have easily killed him.


    He didn''t have the strength to think about that issue. Bone-penetrating couldn''t describe his pain in that instant. The best thing to do would be to black out, but he didn''t dare. It wouldn''t be any different than to seek death. Based on his previous experience, while the pain was fierce and hard to block, it wouldn''t last long; he just had to get through it...


    Hang on! I must hang on!


    That was the only thought in his mind! Behind his vacant eyes and his twisted face, there was a youthful belief that was simple and without any grandeur.


    Chen Mu felt like a piece of bamboo that had been pushed to its limits and could snap at any time. Time was moving so slowly it seemed as though he soon wouldn''t even feel his breathing.


    When he gradually returned to his senses, he didn''t feel the slightest joy. He only breathed a sigh of relief.


    It had finally passed!


    The time of the seizure seemed drawn out compared to the last time. A touch of worry floated helplessly into his gaze as he gradually regained his focus. Since he didn''t have any sense of time, he wasn''t clear about how much time had really passed, which made him wonder if it was just an illusion.


    He couldn''t be certain.


    Examining his body, apart from the wounds from the battle in several places, there wasn''t anything else unusual. The green thread had re-entered the depths of his body, and he couldn''t help but smile bitterly. It activated without any pattern or warning. It had already been a long time since the last time¡ªso long he''d never thought it would act up this time.


    Just as he was about to capture that female card artisan, it had acted up! Chen Mu knew what would immediately follow, so he had taken off without any hesitation!


    His greedy breathing wouldn''t be considered a breath of fresh air, but the night air did bring a chill to his lungs, which slightly reinvigorated him. He didn''t know if it was because of that prison-like torture he''d just been through, but he didn''t feel too much regret about the outcome of the battle.


    How could that compare to the pain?


    He set his goal: He needed to quickly come up with some way to resolve it! Any sort of Central Island Firm or mysterious organization would just have to step aside.


    If it were to happen again, Chen Mu couldn''t be certain whether it would drive him crazy! He really didn''t want to go through wave after wave of that bone-penetrating, unbearable pain that erased his awareness again!


    However, he also knew if he didn''t find some way to resolve it, then the seizures would surely return without him knowing when. Moreover, was there anything more dangerous? His luck had been good that time, but if his adversary hadn''t been too frightened to chase him, then the one dead that day would certainly have been him.


    He didn''t want to die yet.


    Having thought it through, Chen Mu slowly stood up in the dark. His body didn''t seem to have been influenced by that bout of pain; it was as intact as ever and once again full of energy.


    When Chen Mu returned to Heaven''s Wings, Lu Xiaoru was taken aback by what he looked like. What had happened? She didn''t quite believe Butchie could cause Chen Mu to descend into such a sorry state. Something else must have happened! Lu Xiaoru was utterly convinced of that guess, but seeing that Chen Mu had no thought of mentioning it, she chose to keep it politely to herself.


    * * *


    Hugo had easily shaken off those chasing him; the two sides were really too far apart in their power. Going in a big circle to be certain no one was following him, Hugo brought Butchie back to the place where the Beard lived.


    Seeing their appearance, the Beard was shocked. "What? What happened?" Hugo carefully placed Butchie on the sofa.


    Butchie sneered, "I ran into that guy from before and had a fight with him." Taking the juice the Beard had brought her, she gave her thanks.


    "That guy wearing the ghost-faced mask?" The Beard shrugged. What happened to Butchie the last time had gotten their attention. The Beard was responsible for that territory, and he had spared no effort to unearth any news about it. Up until that time, it had been to little effect.


    There was a reason for his surprise. Pomelo wasn''t a very big place, and the card artisans who could do battle against Butchie were all well-known and named, such as Kai, who had died at Hugo''s hands. The Beard had detailed material on them there, but he didn''t know anything about that devil-faced card artisan assassin who''d just popped up. Recently, apart from that gang from the Central Repository of the Classics, no other powers had taken part.


    The most annoying thing was that they didn''t even have any information about him.


    "Mmmm." Holding the juice, Butchie said with lingering fear, "It was lucky Hugo discovered him. Otherwise, nothing would have gone well for me today."


    The Beard hurriedly moved his gaze to Hugo. "You saw him? Did you cross swords?


    Hugo shook his head. "When I was communicating with Butchie, I vaguely saw that there seemed to be someone behind her through the screen. By the time I arrived, the guy had already left." He was also curious about what had really happened. Butchie hadn''t been harmed in the least, but her spirits had nearly collapsed.


    Butchie then slowly told about what had happened that evening with some horror.


    "Why did he leave?" The Beard had thought about it every which way and couldn''t come up with anything. "Could he have discovered Hugo would soon arrive?"


    Butchie shook her head. "I don''t know either, but Hugo was still far away at that time. He had enough time to capture me or to kill me."


    Hugo nodded his agreement with Butchie''s thinking, though he didn''t say anything. He showed a thoughtful expression through his silvery half-mask.


    With the three of them baffled, the communications device on the Beard''s wrist suddenly sounded. He walked into a corner to take the call and mumbled a few words. After a bit, he walked back with a not-so-good expression.


    "What''s up?" Butchie hurried to ask. Hugo''s gaze also fell onto the Beard''s face.


    He looked really bad. "There''s just been a huge activity at the Central Island Firm."

 218 Central Island’s About-Face

    The huge activity at the Central Island Firm didn''t only greatly surprise Butchie and her people; it had surprised nearly the entire Heavenly Federation.


    On the same day at the same time¡ªprime time, when everyone had just gotten off work at dinner time¡ª90 percent of the influential communications platforms were broadcasting the same advertisement! At the same time as that, in the big cities, especially where the most people congregated in the six flourishing districts and the capital city, they erected the exact same fantasy card billboards.


    Once the new terminology for technology to communicate in the jungle showed up, it rocked the federation! Its inventor, the Central Island Firm, had entered everyone''s field of view.


    Quite a few people had scoffed at the ad at the time, considering it nothing more than the Central Island Firm''s hype. There had been plenty of large firms researching jungle communications, but no one had heard of any results so far. How could that unknown Central Island Firm be more powerful than those large firms and corporations?


    Most of the Heavenly Federation masses felt the same way; they didn''t quite believe it.


    Then, on the mainstream platforms, part of the Central Island Firm''s announcement gave related experimental data. Those data were naturally hard for laypeople to sort out, and they were stunning in the eyes of experts.


    The data were enough to demonstrate the Central Island Firm wasn''t just spouting nonsense.


    On that seemingly ordinary evening, countless family enterprises and corporate firms organized working groups right away. With stunning efficiency, they analyzed the data overnight. When dawn overtook the night, they had the initial results of the analysis. No matter which family organization or corporation, they all surprisingly got the same results¡ªthe Central Island Firm had made a breakthrough with jungle communications!


    There were endless analytical institutions that verified the data. The Central Island Firm had really rocked the federation! The huge sensation quickly became a frenzy.


    Nearly all of the firms with any standing had related experimental programs and were well aware of how valuable such technology was.


    In every district and city, all of the shuttle car tickets to Pomelo were immediately sold out. The big, powerful firms all dispatched specialized project teams right away. Within a short time, countless people were thronging there.


    With such big news coming out, everyone in Pomelo was filled with pride. When people met, what they talked about was bound to be jungle communications technology and the Central Island Firm. People were talking excitedly and speculating about who would partner with the Central Island Firm in the end. The Big Six? The government? Or would it be some other large-scale firm? It was as though they were employees of the Central Island Firm.


    Thanks to that marvelous move, the Central Island Firm underwent a tremendous transformation in their circumstances. First was the number-one person of the local government personally rushing over to congratulate them, along with a bunch of VIPs. They didn''t say a thing about their having to pay the huge reparations but were rather desperate to praise the firm''s contributions to Pomelo those last few years.


    Right after that, all the other powers that had been lined up against the Central Island Firm now all sent their own important people to send their respects. Everyone understood the recently formed alliance had already run its course.


    The employees at the Central Island Firm, who had been panicked, immediately calmed down. Entering the Central Island Firm building, there wasn''t one of them who wasn''t holding their head high and their chest out with a face full of pride. Those who had been planning to change jobs secretly wiped off their cold sweat and rushed to tear up their letters of resignation.


    The busiest were the Central Island Firm''s clients. Nearly all the communications cards of the customers had been zapped, and none of the customer service girls had a moment''s rest, starting at midnight. All had parched voices, though they didn''t look at all tired. They looked more excited than ever!


    The advertisement wasn''t only good for the Central Island Firm. The one who''d made the advertisement, Heaven''s Wings, had undoubtedly made a deep impression as well. Some interested companies started to inquire about that fantasy card advertising firm they''d never heard of either. There was a flurry whenever people in Pomelo saw the special Heaven''s Wings logo on a fantasy card advertisement.


    Of course, it was extraordinary that Heaven''s Wings had undertaken the project.


    The fame of Heaven''s Wings in Pomelo overshadowed all the other firms by that time as the first in command among the true denizens. Not only that, most of the outside firms were calling on them, which nearly drove Bu Qiangdong crazy.


    His voice was smoked. Starting in the morning, those calling for him never stopped. Who knows where they got the contact information for Heaven''s Wings, but the thing he found the most incomprehensible was that the calls were exclusively made into his communications card.


    His communications card was nearly fried.


    The rest of the employees were jealous and helplessly wanted to do something. Bu Qiangdong complained incessantly. By that time, he was the only head of the two heads, and he was in a bad place. The consulting companies were all ones he''d previously had to look up to. While others could freely complain and pluck hairs that were all thicker than his thigh by their roots, he had been careful always to plod straight along¡ªlest anything go wrong.


    Afterward, he became completely numb to those earth-shaking large firms when he heard them in his ear.


    What flustered him most was that he hadn''t found the boss! Every bit of business there required the boss''s final decision. He certainly didn''t dare to make decisions. But, not only couldn''t the boss be found, his bodyguard couldn''t be found either, or even that pretty secretary who''d just arrived.


    At that time, Chen Mu and Lu Xiaoru were with Sue Lochiro.


    Lu Xiaoru was playing with the little girl she''d risked her life to save before. Under her every possible kind of coaxing, the little girl''s gloomy face finally resumed its sunny, warm smile.


    "This young lady isn''t only beautiful; she''s also a good angel!" Sue Lochiro walked over beside Chen Mu, her voice showing a note of respect.


    Angel! Chen Mu felt a weird feeling welling up. He didn''t know how much blood or how many lives she had on her hands to be called an angel! But, seeing what was going on in front of him and the joy coming from the depths of Lu Xiaoru''s heart, as well as the innocence and happiness on the little girl''s face, Chen Mu found he had nothing to say.


    He just kept silent.


    Sue Lochiro turned around naughtily and smiled lightly. "Tell me, what I can do for you?" The blue and white medical card artisan uniform made Chen Mu think of the word "scent."


    Chen Mu was a little surprised. "How do you know I want something from you?"


    Sue Lochiro shrugged and spread her hands apart, saying, "If such a taciturn person as you didn''t need something, then why would you come here?" Her motions were light and casual, which, combined with the warm smile, increased the intimacy as the two of them came closer together.


    Chen Mu didn''t mind that she''d called him indifferent. But, the initial feeling of strangeness had dissipated. He felt a lot more relaxed as he nodded his head to admit, "I certainly do need something from you. I''m having some health issues and would like to ask for your help to do an examination."


    "Oh. What''s the trouble?" The casual look on Sue Lochiro''s face quickly disappeared, replaced by a serious, conscientious look.


    Her attitude probably affected Chen Mu; his originally relaxed expression abruptly turned serious.


    After a moment''s thought, Sue Lochiro chuckled despite herself. This made Chen Mu wonder, giving him a questioning expression.


    "When your face stiffens, it brings to mind the green paving stones in my old home town." There was the hint of a smile in the corner of her mouth as the plain but elegant intellectual showed something of the innocent playfulness of a little girl.


    Chen Mu suddenly smiled. That sort of look was pretty rare on his face, and Sue Lochiro''s eyes rolled a little more as the smile on her lips broadened.


    "I''m just kidding. Ok, let''s get back on track. Um, where is the trouble?" Sue Lochiro pulled back her smile and resumed her serious expression.


    Chen Mu wasn''t bothered by that. His temperament remained obscure, not being so good at contact with strangers. But, once she got used to him and became his friend, he was pretty good tempered. That''s the way it had been when he was together with Copper, and there had been some respect added with Uncle Hua.


    However, in this later encounter when he was on guard and alert¡ªand with his constant companion Wei-ah even colder than him¡ªhe unwittingly looked still more obscure.


    He felt relaxed with Sue Lochiro and certainly wouldn''t be bothered by a joke.


    Chen Mu used hand gestures for a long time, never being able to find suitable words to describe what was wrong. He furrowed his brow as he kept gesturing with his hands, which made him look very funny. Sue Lochiro didn''t smile and kept looking at him seriously.


    After a while, Chen Mu found it was really a problem for him. He could only helplessly say, "I think if you do an exam, you should find out."


    "Mmmm, come with me." Without any teasing, Sue Lochiro took Chen Mu to a specialized examination section. No one was there, and it was piled with all sorts of strange devices Chen Mu had never seen.


    "This is the examining room, and all of the instruments here are rather advanced for the Ming Zheng District." As she explained, she pointed to a bed in the middle of the examining room. "Lie down on that."


    Chen Mu did what she asked. There were various instruments placed all around the bed.


    Sue Lochiro had a solemn expression. Her movements were lively as she started them up in a practiced manner, charging Chen Mu, "Don''t be nervous, and try to keep your breathing even and calm."


    All of the instruments lit up one after the other, and all kinds of screens could be seen around the room. The colorful screens were crammed with data Chen Mu couldn''t understand.


    Taking in a deep breath without any agitation, his breathing became perfectly even.


    A look of praise flashed through Sue Lochiro''s eyes. That had demonstrated how perfect that Cao Dong''s psychological qualities really were!

 219 The Checkup

    The first time Sue Lochiro had seen Chen Mu, he and Lu Xiaoru were rescuing that little girl. She watched the entire process of Chen Mu''s rescue. It was hard to imagine there could be someone with the strength to lift such a heavy metal beam under his own power alone. She had been very surprised. It would be hard to find anyone whose strength had developed to that point. She was a medical card artisan and would be naturally more concerned about such things.


    For a bystander like Chen Mu to rescue the wounded made that kind-hearted medical card artisan well disposed toward him.


    She was really surprised Chen Mu and Lu Xiaoru would come looking for her. When she''d asked Chen Mu for contact information that day, he had declined at first. That let her know roughly what kind of person he was. That was the first time she''d been declined when asking for contact information.


    Then, when Chen Mu had said he had something wrong with his health, that further deepened her impression. She was curious about what kind of health issue he could have. She had rich medical experience, and her perceptual acuity was without equal. She had always been able to tell what kind of disease someone had just by looking. But, during that chat with Chen Mu just then, she hadn''t been able to find anything wrong.


    She was surprised to find her perception was blocked as soon as she got close to Chen Mu. That was very rare for her. Her perception wouldn''t make her an outstanding card artisan, but in the world of medicine, she was quite well known. In that regard, the perception emanating from her had a peculiar quality, which was that it was mild¡ªso mild it would never elicit anyone''s blocking.


    Card artisans were highly sensitive toward perception, whether their own or someone else''s. So, it could be a rather troublesome matter when a card artisan was wounded. The more outstanding the card artisan, the more trouble it was. They would always unwittingly reject the perception emitted by the medical card artisan. That also increased the difficulty of treatment. It was a good thing true aces could freely constrain their own perception.


    Sue Lochiro''s mild perception was a great help with her work. It was for that reason she would seldom restrain her own perception. That was why the situation that day had occurred.


    Realizing her perception had been excluded by Chen Mu''s, she was surprised. She didn''t want to cause any misunderstanding and immediately restrained her perception, but she remained secretly curious.


    His perception had some really special quality!


    Looking at Chen Mu lying on the bed, Sue Lochiro''s mouth formed a sly smile. She would now be able to openly do a full examination of Chen Mu''s body without any scruples.


    The data on the screens kept refreshing, and her expression looked a little stunned. She was staring at the screens that had popped out of the devices.


    Is this¡­ is this a human body?


    It looked like a normal human body, but those were some really weird data! She didn''t quite know how powerful he was, but his muscles and sinews were 4.2 times stronger than normal, which was about the strength of steel wire!


    Not only that, but his breathing and heartbeat were like his muscles, and his cellular activity...


    Sue Lochiro had been by her teachers'' sides since she was 6, and by 8 she had already started to study basic theory. When she was 12, she was prepared for bedside experience. She had examined thousands of people already and had never seen such a freakishly perfect body!


    She only then understood why he had been able to pick up such a heavy metal beam without any tools.


    That body was just too perfect. She couldn''t help but feel as though she had discovered a new continent as the analytical data from each instrument kept moving in front of her. Whenever there was a new discovery, her eyes lit up.


    A doubt took shape more and more powerfully in her heart in the midst of her marveling. Judging from her current assessment, not only didn''t his body have the slightest issue, but he was beyond healthy. However, she knew he was certainly not a person to speak without thinking. And, he had already demonstrated last time that he certainly wasn''t someone who would do anything fancy just to get close to her.


    Focusing on the operation of the instruments and looking at the dense data, a puzzled look flashed through her eyes.


    She walked over to Chen Mu with the final report and looked at him closely for a moment. She then said with an expression as though something were strange, "There''s nothing wrong with you, Mr. Cao. You are extremely healthy!"


    A look of disappointment flashed through Chen Mu''s eyes. It looked like the capabilities there were insufficient after all. It wouldn''t be easy to discover things from the demonic woman, and he''d been mentally prepared for that.


    The meticulous Sue Lochiro immediately detected his look of disappointment, and she felt some hesitancy. Could he really have some issue?


    She suddenly brightened, saying, "Maybe we can try a different method."


    "What is that?" Chen Mu also got a little excited.


    The two of them sat opposite each other on armchairs that were very close to one another. Their legs were almost touching. If anyone else were to come in, they would certainly be surprised at their intimacy. Sue Lochiro had a great record in the Pomelo medical card artisan association, where her mild nature had earned everyone''s love. When you added to that her beauty and outstanding temperament, there were naturally people chasing after her like carp crossing the river.


    Although she would always smile, she kept those types as far away as she could.


    "Restrain your perception; I need to use perception to explore the situation in your body," she notified him.


    Hearing that, Chen Mu compressed his perception to its limit after some hesitancy. He was already used to allowing his perception to spread to a small area around him to improve his sensitivity to his surroundings. He had a lot more perceptual strength than before, and it was strong and powerful. After being compressed, it became still more sensitive, giving the feeling of a faint stirring.


    He detected Sue Lochiro''s perception and became quickly excited. He had never experienced such mild-tempered perception. It was harmless and had no edge to it. When it entered his body, it was like a slight wind blowing into his heart with no discomfort. He marveled at the vastness of the world with no end of wonders.


    He didn''t know to what extent Sue Lochiro''s surprise had progressed by then!


    The separation between her and Chen Mu was tight to the point where she could clearly comprehend every aspect of Chen Mu''s body as though it were transparent. There was a special medical term for that called "near-field perception." While it looked easy, it actually had steep requirements. On the one hand, it required the medical card artisan to have a high degree of perceptual strength; on the other, it required the sick person to exercise powerful restraint with his own perception. Not every medical card artisan had the mildness to her perception that she did.


    Perception was extremely sensitive, and medical card artisans required that it be even more sensitive. In that way, not only would they be able to get more accurate information about the sick person, but it would also enable them to complete more difficult procedures. Within the entire Pomelo medical card artisan association, Sue Lochiro was number one with her perceptual sensitivity.


    What powerful perception! Even though Chen Mu had deliberately restrained his perception, Sue Lochiro could still detect how powerful and sensitive it was. She was amazed to face a youth who didn''t look more than 20 who had perceptual strength at nearly the fourth level!


    She wasn''t any ignorant woman. Maybe a perceptual strength level of four didn''t mean much, but at that age, it was enough to surprise anyone! That demonstrated how much potential he had and how limitless his future was.


    She closed her eyes and kept her natural expression. She had actually been prudent from the start and didn''t dare to be the least bit careless.


    The circumstances were special. Chen Mu''s body was like a battlefield, and the perception in his body was like the guards. Sue Lochiro''s perception was like the other army. All of the defenders had retracted and given over the entire field to the other army.


    Their perceptions could detect the finest fluctuations between them. Sue Lochiro could feel the restless stirring of Chen Mu''s perception without any difficulty. In the same way, Chen Mu had discovered in the first instant how careful Sue Lochiro was being with her perception.


    Neither of them dared to be careless, with the one forcefully restraining his perception and the other carefully using her own perception to examine his body without causing any resistance from him.


    The response of perception was often quicker and more direct than any mental response, which was also why they were both so cautious.


    Her face suddenly turned red.


    At such close range, and given the strength of her perception together with Chen Mu''s deliberate cooperation, she could have the most detailed understanding of Chen Mu''s body.


    It was as though anything Chen Mu wore was worn utterly in vain.


    That was her first time to encounter such a situation, and her breath, which had been easy, became flustered. The disorder wasn''t serious, though there were some autonomous fluctuations to her perception.


    At about the same time, Chen Mu''s actively restrained perception immediately felt the fluctuations. He was a little surprised, not knowing what had happened to her, concentrating as he was on restraining the restless perception in his body! His perception had been trained in the water, which was so full of pressure, so he was unusually sensitive to all kinds of pressure.


    His perceptual spring coil had been compressed to its limit, and all of his perceptual tendrils had been retracted to within the coil, which led to it becoming very coarse.


    It was the spring''s characteristic that the more pressure there was, the greater its recoil would be. Given his control, to compress the perceptual spring coils to such an extent was already rather difficult. Now, with those fluctuations, it made the compressed perceptual spring coil show some faint signs of recoiling.


    Chen Mu felt a bout of incredible head swelling.

 220 A Mishap

    So Sue Lochiro could examine him more completely, Chen Mu had compressed his perception into an unimaginably tiny ball. Even though his control was a lot more powerful than before, the extremely compressed perception''s sudden fluctuation made him nearly lose control.


    That wasn''t the first situation where Chen Mu had encountered a loss of perceptual control, so he didn''t get flustered. In truth, he hadn''t gone through any systematic study about how to control perception. What he could do was partly from his conjecture according to the principles elaborated in the mysterious card, and the rest was from his own explorations.


    The perceptual spring coil''s composition was something he''d thought up out of thin air. So, he wouldn''t be surprised if some strange situation appeared with his perception.


    But, he was clear that once his perception really lost control, it could hurt Sue Lochiro. Her perception had a mild quality, while his had a powerful aggressiveness. No one could be certain what would happen in the sudden shock of losing control, but whether good or bad, something would happen.


    The marvel of perception was something only a handful of people in that world could understand clearly, and that handful certainly didn''t include Chen Mu.


    By comparison, Sue Lochiro was clear about the dangers of near-field perception. That was why she had never used it before. Also, the technology was advanced by that time, and there were countless kinds of examining instruments. She was using the most advanced equipment.


    But, the devices hadn''t detected Chen Mu''s physical peculiarities, so she had thought of that method. What she hadn''t thought about was that it would be so embarrassing. To be a doctor naturally meant you would be very familiar with the human body and wouldn''t be any stranger to the male body either. But, to perceive it so clearly and so close-up was something she had encountered without having mentally prepared herself. So, she naturally had a powerful reaction.


    Chen Mu didn''t know anything about that. He didn''t even know why her perception had fluctuated. The biggest problem was that he didn''t have any great way to restrain the restless perception in his own body.


    Given his pitiful understanding of perception, he had exhausted all of his efforts.


    That was no exaggeration. All of Chen Mu''s his concentration was focused on that compressed perception. He didn''t have any more perception to use as a medium, added to which was his high degree of concentration. He would have lost any connection with the outside world from any point of view.


    If anyone wanted to kill him then, it would be trivial.


    Sue Lochiro was silently surprised. The fluctuations between them were subtle, and she could clearly perceive him. That sort of understanding was a direct perceptual understanding, which was a lot more rapid and realistic than any other mode of understanding.


    She couldn''t help but feel greatly appreciative of Chen Mu. Such appreciation wasn''t because of his demonstrated ability to control his powerful perception. That ability was truly powerful, but for a medical card artisan with higher requirements for accuracy, it wouldn''t be so surprising.


    The thing that surprised Sue Lochiro, and that she appreciated, was the calm and concentration Chen Mu demonstrated. To be so concentrated and cut off from the outside under such circumstances not only required courage, but it also required sufficient resolve.


    From that aspect, Chen Mu wasn''t only the most outstanding person she had ever encountered. To have such resolve while being so young was a first.


    In that world, most geniuses would all have something out of the ordinary. But, if one imagined a more advanced development, that would require possessing still more qualities. Precise focus was a highly important quality among those.


    This card artisan named Cao Dong clearly wasn''t any ordinary person, even though she had never heard of him.


    Sue Lochiro turned serious as she carefully let her perception slowly penetrate Chen Mu''s body. That procedure was the most dangerous part of near-field perception. Every person''s body had self-defense awareness, and card artisans were especially outstanding in that regard. When someone else''s perception entered their body, it was easy to cause a reaction.


    The process was slow, but under her control, her perception penetrated firmly. Since he''d said there was something wrong, and the instruments hadn''t detected it, then it must have been buried too deeply or had a powerfully concealed nature.


    By that time, Sue Lochiro had forgotten any of her embarrassment. Her concentration was not the least inferior to Chen Mu''s.


    Chen Mu''s body was really like a battlefield, and her perception was like slowly advancing troops. They carefully searched everywhere there could be any issues without missing the tiniest thing.


    A powerful, uncomfortable feeling was transmitted to Chen Mu''s brain through his nerves. With his concentration completely focused on that compressed perceptual coil, Chen Mu didn''t immediately realize her perception had entered his body. He didn''t panic; the restless suppressed perception kept his mind empty and focused.


    At the same time, Sue Lochiro''s expression became still more serious. Her absolutely beautiful face, with eyes closed, didn''t show any of the normal warm and cozy smiling expression. It was replaced by a very solemn expression.


    She had discovered the anomaly!


    Starting from Chen Mu''s skin, her perception had slowly advanced. By then, Chen Mu''s entire body was within the scope of her perception. That kind of full-line closing-in might have looked a little crude, but it was quite effective.


    There was something there that would drill down deeper into Chen Mu''s body once it touched her perception.


    At the same time, it rattled her spirit. She was quite surprised.


    What was it? Although she hadn''t completely scanned it just then, she felt certain it was something.


    Her heart surged with curiosity. She was quite indifferent to power and wealth, but if she encountered any kind of strange illness, she would become immediately excited. Having been encouraged, the speed of her perception''s advance immediately increased.


    How big could Chen Mu''s body be? Everything inside had been searched by her perception in a short time. She had previously hoped to be able to understand it a little more deeply, and she tried to slow her advance. But, that acceleration had suddenly transformed the situation.


    That thing was extremely flexible and slippery, as well as extremely vigilant. Sue Lochiro suspected it must be alive. Maybe a parasite, she thought to herself. As a high-grade medical card artisan, she had seen what might be called some very strange things. She didn''t even know how many. Quite a few parasites were scary. Once they entered the body, whether one wanted to kill them or extract them, it was very difficult.


    She was careful. If it really was a parasite, then it was the first or second most troublesome she''d ever seen.


    It suddenly stopped!


    She was overjoyed as she scanned that unidentified object over and over with her light-wave-like perception.


    Good lord! What is it? She carefully observed every aspect of that unidentified object in her surprise. The flexible and agile object was actually a hair-fine green thread!


    A roundworm? It didn''t look like it. Although the green thread was fine, it was shockingly long. It went throughout Chen Mu''s body like it had become a capillary. If it had been red and wasn''t moving, Sue Lochiro couldn''t be certain she ever would have found it.


    Such a fine roundworm could never have grown so long.


    She finally understood what Chen Mu was suffering from. There was a green thread in his body that could drill anywhere at any time. That certainly wouldn''t be any fun. She''d already felt how tough it was. Because she''d caught it with her perception, it was now tightly stuck to Chen Mu''s bones as though there were a layer of fine green mesh covering them.


    She couldn''t help but frown. What was that? She couldn''t make any accurate judgment for a while. For a high-grade medical card artisan, that was something not seen often. But, she couldn''t match it to any of the information in her head.


    Lost in thought, Sue Lochiro didn''t realize the danger approaching.


    Her perception slowly became unstable like a current stirred up from the bottom of a river. It started to interact constantly and with impact.


    When Sue Lochiro realized something was wrong, the situation had already gone beyond her control. Having just wandered off to study the green thread, she hadn''t been paying attention to her perception touching Chen Mu''s perception. The perceptual spring, which had been compressed to its limit, was like an extremely dangerous powder keg that the slightest spark could explode!


    Her perception was precisely such a spark.


    Bam!


    Struggling to suppress that perceptual spring, Chen Mu called out to himself how bad it was!


    A storm had formed in a tenth of a second. The perceptual spring, which had been compressed into a ball, suddenly blew apart. Countless perceptual tendrils scattered violently, shooting off while the perceptual spring coil''s main body suddenly expanded outward!


    If it were only Chen Mu alone, that wouldn''t have caused much of a problem. However, there was a different perception with different properties within the scope of his original perceptual control.


    Having been caught off guard, Sue Lochiro couldn''t react. Her perception had been engulfed by a bout of different perception.


    If judging purely by quantity, although Chen Mu''s perception was a little more powerful than hers, it wasn''t that much stronger. But, because he had previously compressed it so much, the suddenly released impact immediately made Sue Lochiro lose control of her own perception.


    What kind of transformation would two different-natured perceptions undergo when they were blended together?


    Maybe Chen Mu didn''t quite understand the inherent danger, but Sue Lochiro''s face went abruptly white.

 221 The Choice

    It wasn''t like no one had ever done research into that; Sue Lochiro knew a little about it. For Chen Mu, however, it was just too strange. Even though he''d studied a lot, he wasn''t very interested in that and had no way to know about academic issues in fields that weren''t critical to him. He had never undergone any systematic study.


    That didn''t mean Chen Mu wasn''t clear about the danger.


    On the contrary, Chen Mu''s mind was extremely clear just then. He had already smelled the danger. The smell was heavy enough to scare him out of his wits. He immediately understood there had been some mishap.


    However, he couldn''t control his perception in such a state of emergency. To tell the truth, even if he could control it, he wouldn''t know what to do.


    All they could do was wait until things calmed down.


    Just then, a nurse pushed open the door. "Madame Sue..." She saw the two of them sitting together and immediately swallowed what had been on the tip of her tongue. A pair of black eyes showed the glint of gossip as she surreptitiously sized them up.


    Because they both had their backs to the door, she couldn''t clearly see their expressions. But, Chen Mu''s masculinity stood out prominently, which really surprised the young girl.


    Good lord, is Madame Sue actually being intimate with a man?! She covered her mouth in surprise with her eyes nearly dropping to the floor. She couldn''t quite believe the scene. If all those hot guys chasing after Madame Sue had seen it, she was afraid half of them would jump from 12 stories in their grief.


    Sue Lochiro was utterly mild to anyone in the association, and she wasn''t any different to the young nurses.


    Among the nurses, there were quite a few who wanted to become medical card artisans but hadn''t passed the assessment. They would work while diligently studying medical card artisan knowledge. Sue Lochiro took extra care of those nurses, though she never put on airs because of being a high-grade card artisan herself. Whenever a nurse would ask her something, she would give a patient explanation, which earned the love of the young nurses.


    Could that be Madame Sue''s boyfriend?


    An idea came into the young nurse''s head. After looking around to see there wasn''t anyone else paying attention, she tiptoed over to push the red button behind the door. She then quietly shut the door as she left.


    The young girl looked with satisfaction at the row of flashing characters above the door. She left, excited for what she''d done.


    "Examination Center ¨C Do Not Disturb"


    She probably didn''t have any way to know the cozy-looking scene was actually full of danger. There was nothing cozy about it.


    Nothing could keep the ever-calm Sue Lochiro from panicking. Even a medical card artisan with a good understanding of the dangers of near-field perception couldn''t understand what was happening then.


    In an instant, even Chen Mu felt dizzy. He had never tried such a rapid emission of perception. If it hadn''t been for the coincidence, he would never have known his own perception might have those characteristics. But, he had no way to control it all.


    Out-of-control perception was one of the card artisans'' least favorite circumstances. While Chen Mu had never considered himself a professional card artisan, he didn''t like the situation he''d encountered just the same.


    He helplessly watched his own perception rolling up into a ball together with Sue Lochiro''s.


    It was as though a placid, shallow pool of water had suddenly been over-washed by a surge of water, turning the situation chaotic.


    Both Chen Mu and Sue Lochiro were dumbfounded by the two strands of perception mixed up together. They looked at one another helplessly. Never mind that one of them was a decent card artisan, while the other was a young high-grade medical card artisan, there being no two aces more awesome. They didn''t have any good way to face such chaotically stirred-together perception.


    Their perception had become very strange by then. They could both feel the entire scope of perception. But, because they were both mixed together, the information feedback from the perception had become fragmented. That wasn''t even the most powerful feeling. What they felt most strongly was actually the other person''s perception!


    No matter whose perception, it all contained a great amount of information. It''s composition and its properties...


    In just an instant, Chen Mu had a deep and subtle understanding of Sue Lochiro''s perception. It had now become the perception he was most familiar with, apart from his own. In the same way, Sue Lochiro''s understanding of Chen Mu''s perception had reached a stunning place in the blink of an eye. That was because their perception had made such a direct connection.


    The endlessly raging perception finally started to calm down, which made them both breathe a sigh of relief. Although a weird transformation had taken place, it hadn''t yet turned really bad. Sue Lochiro was most worried about each of their perceptions combining into a "mutual hedging storm," which would mean both would leave the field in misery.


    Injury to perception was unlike any other, especially for one skilled in medicine like Sue Lochiro, who wouldn''t dare to touch that forbidden area easily.


    The situation seemed more and more clear while their expressions became more and more weirded out.


    "How could this be?" Sue Lochiro couldn''t help but cry out involuntarily as though she''d seen something inconceivable.


    Chen Mu shook his head. "I don''t know either." His eyes showed an uncontrolled look of surprise as well. The situation had developed beyond anything he could have expected.


    The perception in Chen Mu''s body formed a vortex, and what Sue Lochiro emitted into his body had already been swept up into it.


    A look of panic flashed through her eyes. Her situation was a lot worse than Chen Mu''s. Part of the perception in her body had already been swept up into Chen Mu''s perceptual vortex. The scariest part was that the perception in her body was already completely out of her control. The perceptual vortex in Chen Mu''s body had fierce suction, and her own perception was constantly being drawn in.


    What made her discouraged was that she didn''t have any ability to cut them apart. No matter how much effort she expended, her ever-docile perception didn''t have any response. How could that be?


    If she didn''t have perception...


    Her mind went dizzy, and her eyes nearly went dark.


    "Calm down a bit," Chen Mu couldn''t help but call in a low voice. He had also been unprepared for the change in perception. But, that didn''t make him lose his cool. In truth, he didn''t know how many times he''d been in more dangerous situations than that one. Every time he''d explored his perception, it had been full of the same kind of danger.


    When something happened with perception, Chen Mu didn''t panic. His many experiences had taught him the more dangerous things became, the calmer he needed to be. If he were to lose his cool, then he would lose his last chance to survive.


    Chen Mu''s blunt warning made Sue Lochiro calm right down. Seeing Chen Mu so calm gave some hope to her discouraged mind. Could he have some way? She wasn''t any ordinary person after all, and she had seen all kinds of major events. What had just happened wasn''t anything more than a moment of excitement where she''d only ceded a square inch. She was a little ashamed after she calmed down, not even being up to a 17- or 18-year-old youth.


    With his head spinning rapidly, Chen Mu kept thinking of countermeasures.


    Chen Mu hadn''t found it strange when the perceptual vortex took shape. The composition of his perception had two characteristics. One was the spinning, and the other was the vibration. The mildness of Sue Lochiro''s perception, along with it being soft and a little thick, had made it susceptible to the suction of his perceptual structure, finally forming into a vortex. That was actually a normal thing.


    After giving it a try, he had no way to make the spring-like coil of his perceptual vortex spin any slower. At the very beginning, the part of Sue Lochiro''s perception that had been sucked into the vortex had pushed the helical perceptual coil a little slower. Now, it had become a boost to the power of the helical spring. It pushed Chen Mu''s spiral perceptual spring to spin even faster. That incessant spinning could then draw in more perception.


    What to do?


    Chen Mu suddenly had a flash. Since there was no way to slow the spinning of the perception, then why not try the other characteristic of his perception?


    That would be vibration!


    No sooner thought than done. Unlike for Sue Lochiro, the vortex was in his body, so he was fighting on home territory. He would naturally have stronger control of his perception than she did.


    She had already completely calmed down to the point where she even had some curiosity as she watched Chen Mu. He had brought her too many surprises that day, and she wanted to see what sort of surprise he would bring her now.


    Chen Mu wasn''t paying any attention to Sue Lochiro''s gaze. All of his attention was focused on the endlessly chaotic perception. Focusing his energy, he lightly adjusted the frequency of vibration of the perceptual coil''s helical spindle.


    Under Chen Mu''s control, there were some fine changes to the vibration frequency of the spiral spindle.


    There was hope! Chen Mu was silently happy. If he could control it, that would mean more possibilities.


    The most critical thing was to be able to control the frequency of the perceptual vibration. That would mean he could enter the state of breath control! The complete calm he felt under the state of breath control would give insight into the nature of everything. Isn''t that what he needed most just then?


    However, Chen Mu immediately felt hesitant. He was familiar with entering the state of breath control, and there weren''t any technical difficulties. But, its powerful side effects could be expected just the same. Those side effects were more powerful each time. He thought about the last time, about which he still had lingering fears. There was no question the side effects would be still more powerful than last time.


    Should he, or shouldn''t he?


    Chen Mu took a look a Sue Lochiro, whose complexion was more and more pale, and he quickly decided. If he allowed that to continue, Sue Lochiro would be abandoned. Chen Mu didn''t think of himself as any great kindly type, though he had his own principles for making his choices. Since Sue Lochiro had helped him to get into that situation, he couldn''t stand by idly, no matter what.


    Let''s go! Breath control! Chen Mu''s eyes suddenly glowed with brilliant light. His heart felt some faint anticipation. How far could he get entering the state of breath control this time?


    The unexpectedly sudden, brilliant glow blossoming from Chen Mu''s eyes put Sue Lochiro into a momentary trance.

 222 What Sue Lochiro Discovered

    Chen Mu couldn''t remember how many times he had entered the state of breath control by then. But, strangely, the details of previously entering into the state of breath control all seemed very clear in his memory. Those tiny fragments didn''t require any brainpower to remember, as though they had been directly etched into his brain.


    He would be a calm onlooker without any joy or sorrow. His surroundings were so clear he could master their every nuance.


    Perception was no exception.


    Without having to expend any energy, his brain operated at a much higher speed than normal. He painstakingly investigated the chaotic perceptual vortex, the shocking speed of which was more and more clear in his mind.


    For the two sides'' perception to be mixed together, any slightest change wouldn''t escape her eyes. Sue Lochiro immediately felt Chen Mu''s transformation.


    What is going on?


    It was hard for her beautiful eyes to hide her shock. She felt the youth to her side had suddenly become a different person. She didn''t have the words to describe such a transformation. In fact, Cao Dong hadn''t moved a finger.


    Although she couldn''t control her perception, there had been no influence on the rest of her body. She started to carefully size up Cao Dong with powerful curiosity. That card artisan seemed to keep a lot of secrets on him.


    That sallow-looking Cao Dong seemed to be nothing more than an ordinary youth who gave out something of a sickly feeling. But, that ordinary-looking youth who would be lost in a crowd was hiding too much that was extraordinary.


    He was only 18, which she''d detected from the age of his bones. There was nothing special about that age, but if one were to add that mid-range fourth level of perceptual strength, it would have a completely different meaning. If the news were to get out that an 18-year-old had mid-range fourth-level perceptual power, it would attract throngs of large firms.


    The top geniuses of the federation would likely be no better than that.


    She''d been recognized as a genius since she was small, though she didn''t really live up to it. She was 20 that year and had already accomplished the title of a high-grade medical card artisan, which was a proud achievement. One of the requirements for a high-level medical card artisan was that one''s perceptual strength had gotten to the fourth level.


    At the same level four, she could approximately determine Chen Mu''s perceptual strength.


    Her curiosity wasn''t only limited to his genius. A genius such as him would likely be added into some powerful firm or clan. They could accomplish better development that way. But, it didn''t seem Chen Mu had anything like that.


    There weren''t any firms who would be so careless to allow such a genius youth to go looking for a medical card artisan by himself. Every detail of their lives would get the greatest attention.


    Since Cao Dong had come looking for a medical card artisan by himself, that made him a little hard to understand.


    What also made her rather full of admiration was how cool he was. Being a medical card artisan was a profession that tested a person''s nerves, and she always had to stay calm. She knew how hard it was to be able to keep such cool in such a dangerous situation.


    He really had tough nerves.


    However, what most surprised her was Cao Dong''s instant transformation just then.


    It was too abrupt and too fast¡ªand too thorough! Sue Lochiro had never seen such a situation. Although a transformation of temperament wasn''t seen often, it did happen. But, Cao Dong''s transformation had changed even his breathing and heart rate. Even the rate of blood flow through his body was completely different from the second before.


    How could that be? She nearly cried out involuntarily! As a medical card artisan, she didn''t believe there could be any such transformation in the world! But, it had happened right in front of her.


    Although she''d only been in contact with Chen Mu for a brief time, she had still made her own judgment. For example, Cao Dong''s coolness had made her think he was a little introverted and was just being vigilant about his surroundings.


    Now, that thought had completely changed!


    He was as cool as ice water and without a hint of impurity, but he was also without any hint of emotion.


    "Is anything wrong?" Sue Lochiro''s voice had some fear in it, but she still couldn''t help but check in with him.


    Chen Mu opened his eyes.


    There wasn''t any emotion in that pair of eyes; they were like a cold machine. That glare made her feel some nameless terror!


    Every detail of the two combined perceptions was reflected extremely clearly in Chen Mu''s mind. He could feel every change in them, even to the extent he could turn their transformations into some rough data and calculate what would happen next.


    While his perception had been furious like a wild beast, there wasn''t anything more than a paper mache beast in front of him now.


    He couldn''t determine all of the details, but he could determine quite a few things. With every detail of the perception clearly displayed in front of him, it looked like he had analytically calculated the optimal method for the chaotic scene.


    Chen Mu had heard worried and fearful talk, but he hadn''t understood it. By that time, it was a complete waste of time to talk. Under the state of breath control, every bit of time was sliced very fine. It wasn''t sliced by the second; the unit was an order of magnitude smaller.


    He chose the most peripheral. Those tendrils that had extended the furthest would be his breakthrough.


    Since they extended so far, they were the furthest from the vortex and therefore the least restricted.


    In an instant, those perceptual tendrils, which were finer than a hair, became thousands of strands trembling at their tips in concert.


    Countless perceptual strands shook and then combined together like a wave, and they rolled toward the helical perceptual coil from their tips.


    Chen Mu was now causing every last change to the two combined perceptions, which was clear to Sue Lochiro. She saw the moment with her own eyes, and a phrase almost unconsciously popped out of her brain¡ªthe butterfly effect, where you pull one hair, and the entire body moves! She thought to herself that this was probably the best portrayal.


    Looking on with surprise, she didn''t quite understand how Cao Dong''s actions could actually be useful, but that didn''t hinder her from being stunned by his ability to control perception. She knew if she were in his place in that situation, she couldn''t have done any better.


    Chen Mu was continuously controlling countless fine peripheral perceptual tendrils, making them rhythmically shake. One by one, waves took shape and grouped themselves together, endlessly impacting the helical perceptual coils.


    Such stunning perceptual control! Sue Lochiro''s eyes shone bright, though she was inwardly aghast.


    It wasn''t easy to control thousands of fine perceptual tendrils at the same time and then to think of forming such a huge oscillating wave! For such a stunning number of perceptual tendrils to move in the same rhythm required highly accurate control.


    Precise control was one of the objectives of the medical card artisan. Compared to ordinary professional card artisans, they had more expertise in that regard. Quite a few medical card artisans had stunning accuracy, which allowed them to perform difficult procedures and manipulate a lot of advanced medical cards.


    Even as a high-grade medical card artisan, Sue Lochiro wasn''t sure she could control such a huge number of perceptual tendrils so accurately. If she hadn''t seen it herself, she wouldn''t have believed anyone in the whole city of Pomelo could get to that point. But, she had seen the entire scene with her own eyes. No! It was more precise than sight; the information was returned from perception.


    That was something done by an 18-year-old? She looked at Cao Dong in disbelief.


    Level-four perception in that nearly freakish body might not be considered that huge, but it meant unlimited potential. Adding to that his superb perceptual control and his calm mind¡­ Apart from not really looking quite handsome enough, he was simply...


    She really couldn''t believe Pomelo could actually have such a genius, and still with no fame!


    Cao Dong''s expressionless face was as cold as a mountain.


    Focused, calm, seasoned...


    If she hadn''t examined him to the age of his bones, she would never have believed such a temperament could appear in the body of a mere 18-year-old. Those qualities should show up in battle-hardened, eminent and famous first-class card artisans.


    Wave after wave of vibration shocked the madly spinning spiral perceptual coils, and every blow made them slow a little. Within a brief ten seconds, Chen Mu could control the peripheral vibration of the perceptual tendrils to within 100 times, averaging ten times per second!


    The high-frequency shocks made the countless fine spiral perceptual tendrils Chen Mu had emitted seem crazed, as though a wild beast had become enraged.


    The information fed back from the perception made a picture in Sue Lochiro''s mind, which made her a shocking sight. She raised her eyes to look off, and Cao Dong''s expression hadn''t changed in the slightest; it was just as cold as ever¡ªneither joy nor sorrow. All of her hopes were now consigned to Cao Dong. Seeing how calm he was calmed her as well.


    In an instant, she was delighted to find the suction within Cao Dong''s body seemed to have decreased somewhat.


    The method was effective! She became excited after having been forced into such a desperate situation. No matter how outstanding she was, she was really just a 20-year-old girl. As soon as she encountered danger¡ªespecially a life-or-death situation¡ªhow could the toughness of her will compare with someone who had experienced as much danger as Chen Mu?


    But, after her initial excitement, she quickly returned to being calm. Her gaze moved to Chen Mu''s body. She had become even more interested in him. The feeling was as though she had just encountered some challenging case, from within which she looked forward to being able to dig out some hidden knowledge.


    She then made a few more discoveries without knowing why she had such peace of mind.


    He was still as calm as ever, without the least fluctuation and with no change at all to his breathing or heart rate. She was full of admiration. If he were to become a medical card artisan, he would certainly be the most outstanding.


    Her attention was drawn by Cao Dong''s eyes.


    They were open, but it was clear his attention wasn''t on what was in front of him. That made his eyes look rather dull.


    What was he thinking? There were innocent thoughts, along with some naughty ones, that jumped out of the girl''s mind.


    Her gaze traced down from Chen Mu''s eyes and turned to his face.


    She suddenly wrinkled her brow a little as her eyes reflected a sallow face.


    Waxy yellow...

 223 The Card

    Under the incessant shocks, the perceptual vortex formed by the two sides'' perception finally started to slow down. Sue Lochiro''s charming face showed a joyful blush. It wasn''t so easy for her to remain calm given her new lease on life.


    Her gaze floated distractedly over to Chen Mu. His forehead was covered in bean-sized beads of sweat, and he looked wiped out. But, his face was strangely still just as cool as before. Even his eyes were the same, devoid of any emotion.


    That made a rather weird picture. Sue Lochiro was a medical card artisan, and when it came to general knowledge about the body, there weren''t many who went as deeply as she did. According to common knowledge, someone in Cao Dong''s present condition should be breathing hard with his veins popping out and his blood surging. But, such common knowledge wasn''t to be fulfilled on Cao Dong''s body.


    Looking at that expressionless face and those eyes void of emotion, Sue Lochiro felt a chill arise from her heart.


    Chen Mu''s every capacity was significantly elevated in the state of breath control, but even in that state, such a fine-grained operation was still laborious work.


    Thankfully, the hardest part was already past with the perceptual spiral spring''s spinning slowing down. His perception had started to get back on track and was gradually becoming responsive. There was no joy on Chen Mu''s face as he steadily and methodically manipulated his perception.


    His movements were faster and faster, and each shock wave was more powerful. Sue Lochiro''s perception received a powerful shock, and the information it fed back had gotten a little muddled.


    Before she could respond, her whole body suddenly shook and then quickly relaxed.


    Everything around had returned to normal in an instant. She''d gotten her perceptual control back.


    There was nothing wrong! A look of joy flashed through her eyes, which were now in high spirits after being freed from danger. The originally refined and gentle Sue Lochiro was now blossoming with an alluring glow. If there had been anyone else on the scene, they would have been stunned by the beauty of her charming face.


    Too bad Chen Mu''s face hadn''t changed at all. His eyes were even closed.


    After a few seconds, Sue Lochiro calmed down and found Cao Dong sitting as always, without moving, which surprised her. Could something have happened to him?


    Nothing had happened to Chen Mu. The time he could sustain the breath control hadn''t passed yet. He was just then examining the green thread in his body, which he could see clearly in the state of breath control. He had already decided to use it to check out the green thread before entering into that state.


    It was as though he were off to the side, with no sign of feeling in his face, looking at something that had nothing to do with him. He could take in the entire green thread. It was so long. He had already gotten a taste of how awesome the green thread was during the first day he''d met the demonic woman. It had made a deep impression.


    Parts of the green thread finer than a hair were complicated, and it even wound together in some places. It looked like the finest capillaries. Tightly stuck to Chen Mu''s bones as it was, it wouldn''t be easy to clear off.


    Chen Mu had a stunning ability to calculate in the state of breath control. In an instant, he had already cleared up that chaotic ball of green thread, which didn''t seem to have any loose ends. His attack last time had made him realize the green thread in his body really was an utterly dangerous and lethal thing.


    In the state of breath control, he was even more clear about how dangerous it was.


    Chen Mu opened his eyes and startled Sue Lochiro, who was watching him. To so directly watch someone like that was an impolite thing to do. She couldn''t help but blush. She then quickly tossed those somewhat embarrassing thoughts to the back of her mind as Cao Dong''s subsequent moves blew her mind.


    Chen Mu had activated his apparatus, and a light blue wavy blade appeared on his empty palm.


    What was he going to do? All the blood drained from her face. Could he be thinking of killing her? Many card artisans were violent and readily killed people. Had she run into one of those?


    Medical card artisans didn''t have any ability to defend themselves in front of battle card artisans. But, very few would be improper to medical card artisans. Who hasn''t been wounded? It wasn''t a big deal to offend one medical card artisan, but to offend the association would cause trouble. The medical card artisan association was extremely tight and united. Once on their blacklist, few medical card artisans would be willing to treat them. But, there were always counterexamples in that world. Naturally there were some without any fear of death, as well as the unbridled psychopaths.


    Sue Lochiro was exceptionally smart, and she just about subconsciously negated that notion of hers, which had somehow seeped out.


    She abruptly covered her mouth and stared at Cao Dong. Her eyes were aghast.


    She had never thought she would see such a terrifying sight. She had many years of clinical experience, had seen countless operations and was well-familiar with all the organs and viscera of the body, but the scene in front of her still turned her face a deathly white.


    She saw Cao Dong cutting open his own flesh without any expression on his face, as though he were looking for something. The air suddenly filled with the smell of fresh blood, which was winding down from the wound.


    Sue Lochiro opened her mouth to say something, but seeing Chen Mu''s ever expressionless face, she chose to close it.


    From a professional angle, she had plenty of reason to tease Cao Dong about how poor his technique was. An excellent medical card artisan could have halved the flow of blood for the same wound in the same place. Sue Lochiro herself could have even reduced it to a quarter of what it was.


    But, if she were truly the one handling the knife, she would never have made such a horrible wound. For a high-grade medical card artisan, a ten-centimeter cut would only be used for very difficult surgery or serious orthopedic situations.


    She didn''t laugh. To be able to so calmly cut open his own left arm and watch his own blood flowing out, and then afterward tear open his own wound with the same calm look... Who would dare to make fun of such a person?


    Finally, Sue Lochiro could hardly restrain herself. She couldn''t help but warn, "Your wound will get infected like that!"


    Chen Mu turned a deaf ear as he kept his head down, with his right hand deep into the wound on his left arm as though he were searching for something. Sue Lochiro felt her hair stand on end. It was as though Cao Dong wasn''t feeling any pain.


    No matter who it was, it would be hard to forget such a scene for a lifetime.


    She watched everything happening in a panic and was about to stop it when Cao Dong suddenly fell off the chair without any warning and stopped moving. Sue Lochiro was surprised. Just as she was about to come forward to examine him, Cao Dong''s body started to shake as though it were going through a great deal of pain. His eyes were closed tight, and his face was full of pain.


    She couldn''t pay attention to anything else as she rushed up to examine him.


    * * *


    Pomelo was growing by leaps and bounds and surging with undercurrents. That big play by the Central Island Firm had caused it to abruptly become the focus of the entire federation. Each and every power was secretly making every effort, striving as hard as they could and all in the same ways.


    Butchie was scrutinizing the gizmo in her hand and couldn''t help but ask with curiosity, "What kind of card is this?" She held a card in her hand like none she''d ever seen. The boss-man had specifically sent it along with the reinforcements.


    Hugo''s ear-splitting voice sounded, "This is something new for the signal-cracking ball."


    "A new product? What does it do?" Butchie looked puzzled. The dazzling, thin golden card was flitting elegantly in her fingers.


    Hugo wasn''t the one to answer. The Beard was, as he contentedly sipped his red wine to say languidly, "Such a great thing! Those under me secretly kidnapped one of their researchers, ha ha! We never thought we''d gather such massive intelligence."


    "What information?" Butchie suddenly opened her eyes wide, very interested. Seeing that expression, Hugo dropped the corner of his mouth without making any noise, as though he were laughing. He quickly contained the humor. The half of his face that wasn''t covered by a mask had a serious expression.


    The Beard took a sip of his red wine with satisfaction. It had cost him no small effort to be able to sniff out the information. "Do you still remember that card artisan that time when you all ran into the Central Island Firm and that gang from the Central Repository of the Classics?"


    "What about it?" Butchie found that still more strange. How could she forget that day? A slightly raised face appearing from the dark involuntarily surfaced in her brain. How could she think of him? Butchie abruptly shook her head to force the illusion to the back of her mind.


    "Don''t you find it a little strange? There were so many card artisans mobilized, and they all took action without a word. Don''t you think there''s something fishy in there?" The Beard saw Butchie take a fighting stance and rushed to say, "What I''m saying is their actions that day were because they had actually discovered someone in Pomelo was using the same technology they had, and it was farther along than theirs."


    Butchie was surprised at what he''d said. "How could that be?"


    The Beard said with a solemn expression, "The information is completely validated. When we first heard it, we didn''t believe it either. We spent a pile of money to verify it, in addition to kidnapping one of their researchers. We found the information to be utterly verified before we could believe it. It''s said the signal appeared twice."


    Butchie looked stunned. All of the large firms were involved in research into jungle communications, but up until then, only the Central Island Firm had experienced any breakthrough progress. The Central Island Firm''s miracle had already completely destroyed the iron laws in people''s minds. For what could only be considered a local firm to actually be able to create such a miracle in such a high-end field was quite impressive.


    But, they had discovered there was yet another person still more miraculous. And, that person was also in Pomelo. How would Butchie not be dumbfounded?

 224 Cao Dong

    "You certainly haven''t guessed the signal came from the northwest corner of Pomelo. That''s near where we are right now!" The Beard spoke methodically. "The Central Island Firm had previously been making secret investigations in this district. I was wondering about it at the time, not knowing what they were thinking of doing. I now realize it was quite possibly when they had first captured the signal."


    The Beard was eloquent, as though he had witnessed it all.


    Butchie had already fallen silent. There were actually wonderful things in that world, which left her speechless. She waved the golden card in her hand and asked, "What about this card? Is it also for capturing the signal?"


    The Beard smiled mysteriously. "Very clever! It isn''t only for capturing the signal. After we sent back the signal balls we had seized last time, a card appliance specialist in the organization performed some analysis on them. He finally found the signal''s band. He then directly made a communications card with a single capability. It can call back and forth. Once connected to the other party, the communications card can then show the other party''s general position. Because time was short, there was no way to make it more accurate, and it can only show the other party''s position within some general area."


    "General area? How big?" Butchie asked seriously.


    "Within a range of 500 meters."


    Butchie became excited. "Can I try the card now?"


    The Beard looked unconcerned as he continued to drink his red wine and returned to his leisurely appearance, languidly saying, "Don''t blame me for not advising you his apparatus hasn''t been turned on."


    Butchie gave it a try. Nothing happened, which turned her bitter-looking. She thought of something. "Right. Help me look into the boss of Heaven''s Wings, Beard." The Beard was the one responsible for intelligence in the area, and he had lots of spies under him.


    "Heaven''s Wings? The one whose boss is Cao Dong? Why are you interested in them?" The Beard put down the wine glass that was at his lips.


    "Isn''t he well-known?" Seeing The Beard''s reaction, Butchie was immediately interested.


    "This person''s origins are a mystery. No one knows where he came from. It''s said he was first seen in the jungle. He had someone with him who was habitually silent, probably in the age range between 28 to 35. His strength is unknown. They rescued Cleo from the Lewin family in the jungle. Cao Dong was the one who made the move using some kind of shuttle-type card. However, what really drew everyone''s attention to Cao Dong was his card-making talent. Heaven''s Wings was originally one of the Lewin family companies, which had been used to provide sinecures to their feckless internal offspring. In order to thank him for the rescue, the Lewin family gave the company to Cao Dong."


    "Hrumph, the Lewins aren''t really such good jerks. Someone saves their life, and they reward them with something like this. That is really too much." Butchie grunted out the couple of phrases.


    "Ha! The Lewins did harbor malicious intent. They wanted to drag Cao Dong into the Lewin family by deliberately using that trick. Who knew Cao Dong had a better trick? As soon as he took it over, he forced all the fancy-pants to retire. Afterward, Heaven''s Wings started rapidly expanding. Up until now, their most famous two cases included one that was a public service billboard, and the other was the ''Heaven''s Wings Edition Educational Materials.'' The latter was especially a big heart-stirring deal. To tell the truth, I was stunned the first time I saw it." He couldn''t help but cluck his cheek. "Why couldn''t someone make such educational materials when we were in school? Then, I would surely have been a good student."


    Listening carefully, Butchie couldn''t help but roll her eyes.


    "Afterward, which was right in the beginning, did you see anything during that major activity from the Central Island Firm?" The Beard asked.


    "Did I see anything? What does that have to do with Cao Dong?" Butchie asked with curiosity.


    "Cao Dong was the one who made that advertisement. It has already become a classic among fantasy card advertisements, which has created a stir in the entire federation! There are a lot of interesting things in here. It''s said to be Cao Dong''s own work, and he only took three days to complete it. Gosh, to be able to accomplish such realism; if that guy could make a picture gallery of miss Tan Yumin, it would sell out for sure!" The Beard was stroking his moustache and clucking his cheek. His vulgar face was in the throes of sexual fantasy.


    Really not able to stand The Beard''s expression, Butchie cut off his fantasy. "So, can he make a battle fantasy card?"


    "Battle fantasy card? I''ve actually never heard that." The Beard drew a blank and shook his head.


    Butchie sank into thought, and Hugo suddenly opened his mouth. "Have you discovered something new, Butchie?"


    Seeing both of their gazes on her, Butchie told them about the strange aspects of that fiery dragon card, as well as the letter "C" written on it, plus the situation of her getting kicked out of Heaven''s Wings when she went there.


    "A card master?" Hugo looked like he found that strange. "Could he be more awesome than Peanut Head?"


    Peanut Head was a card master within the organization. Butchie''s Orange and Tadpole were both from his hands. Since his hair looked like a peanut, everyone liked to call him Peanut Head. The cards he made were very popular and were the object of everyone''s striving. But, he was quite frank in front of the female T. rex, Butchie.


    Butchie hesitated before saying, "I think he might be more awesome than Peanut Head."


    "Oh." Both Hugo and The Beard simultaneously showed the same amazement. It wasn''t easy for any card master to earn such an evaluation from Butchie.


    Hugo muttered, "If that''s the way it is, you might as well make friends with him."


    Hearing the song, The Beard knew how elegant it was and rushed to nod. "Mmmm, I''ll look into it, and we''ll see if we can''t strike up some relations."


    Meeting really powerful card masters was a rather important daily activity for card masters. Even though there was a powerful card master within the organization, to know another one would naturally provide another avenue. That wouldn''t be a bad thing for them.


    Hugo warned, "But, we must still put our energy into the Central Island Firm first. We can''t put too much into this matter."


    Butchie cleverly said, "Don''t worry, Hugo; I know what''s important."


    * * *


    When Chen Mu came to, he found his whole body in a glass tank, which was full of a light green liquid. His naked body was soaking in it with only his head sticking out.


    The wisp of a sneer floated up.


    He was still thinking too simply about that green thread! He had thought he could draw it out in the state of breath control. Who know the green thread was like a living thing that would actually come to life? Once it activated, it was like you''d pull one hair, and the whole body moves. The part that was a fine mesh in Chen Mu''s body immediately transformed. It would be wishful thinking if he''d wanted to draw it out by brute force. He was afraid it would draw out all of the flesh and blood from his body.


    Once the time span for breath control had expired, and he had returned to normal, Chen Mu didn''t even get to feel the side effects. He was submerged in a wave of pain that blacked him out.


    Examining his body, the wound on his left arm was already healing, and he couldn''t help his inward surprised at how fast it was.


    Sue Lochiro walked in and saw Chen Mu had come to. She couldn''t help but call out in surprise, "You''re awake!"


    "Mmmm." Chen Mu nodded and smiled. "Thank you very much for your treatment. I''d be in a lot of trouble otherwise."


    Sue Lochiro was embarrassed to say, "I could only deal with your wound. I still don''t have any prospect to help you with that green thread in your body. She was looking at Chen Mu full of apology, although she felt relieved. Cao Dong seemed to have returned to normal. She didn''t know why, but that Cao Dong without any expression on his face terrified her.


    Chen Mu said, "No worries, we''ll take it easy. Can I come out now?"


    As she did a quick examination of Chen Mu''s naked body, he didn''t pay any attention to the blush that passed over her face. A second later, Sue Lochiro stood up with nothing strange on her face but the beautiful smile blossoming there. "The wound is already healed. You can come out."


    Hearing that, Chen Mu didn''t waste any words and climbed right out over the glass pool, putting one leg over and jumping down. That made Sue Lochiro, who had been just about to open the pool, dumbstruck.


    Looking around to be sure his things were all there, Chen Mu relaxed. He put on his clothes, heedless of anyone else in the room. Sue Lochiro opened her mouth to say something, but after she took a look and felt her face was burning, she hurriedly turned around.


    Having put on his apparatus, and wearing clothes, Chen Mu looked as though he''d once again returned to being an ordinary youth.


    However, Sue Lochiro couldn''t take him as an ordinary youth anymore. How could someone who could cut open his own left arm so calmly and indifferently be any ordinary youth? There was no one who could more clearly feel than she did what was so uncommon about Cao Dong.


    Looking at the shy, smiling face in front of her eyes, how could Sue Lochiro connect that to the coldly indifferent face? She had a faint feeling he must have been through some kind of unknown transformation. But, what could make him undergo such a startling transformation?


    In her mind, Chen Mu was increasingly mysterious and unpredictable.


    Suddenly having thought of who knows what, Sue Lochiro''s snow-white face went red and seemed as though it would ooze blood. The blush spread with shocking speed to her ears.


    She firmly pursed her adorable, moist red lips, trying to calm herself down, until finally her face seemed to return to normal when she walked to the door.


    When the door opened, Chen Mu could see Lu Xiaoru playing with the little girl.

 225 The Call I

    Seeing Chen Mu, Lu Xiaoru ran over to him in a hurry. She had been waiting for the past two days; Sue Lochiro had told her Chen Mu had been injured and needed to recover. She didn''t really bring up Chen Mu''s injury. She had guessed something must have been wrong when Chen Mu brought her there. Who would go to the hospital if there wasn''t something wrong, not to mention seek out a high-level medical card artisan? But, she well understood her own position, and she kept her mouth shut and didn''t ask any questions. She obediently played with the little girl while she waited.


    Now, she finally breathed a sigh of relief seeing Chen Mu come out. Her life depended on others; if something were to happen to Chen Mu, she didn''t know what would happen to her.


    Lu Xiaoru''s experiences were unusually rich, and she had seen just about everything. Of course, there wasn''t anything to be happy about with getting captured. But, luckily this young master wasn''t so bad. So long as she didn''t disobey him, not only would her life be pretty good, but there were also some pretty good benefits. With regard to manipulating cards, there weren''t many willing to give instruction without some master-apprentice relationship.


    She had been delving into the sound beam card in her hands during that time, and the pointers Chen Mu had given her left it only up to her own diligence and talent to go wherever she wanted.


    Although it had only been a few days, she could already feel a direct increase in power.


    For a person like her who had diverse experience, the things she could most count on were money and her own power.


    "I will contact you right away if anything develops." Sue Lochiro was standing demurely at the door with her hands in the pockets of her medical uniform and a smile on her face. With her extraordinarily mild face, she felt completely out of the ordinary in the eyes of Lu Xiaoru. But, when Lu Xiaoru looked a little more closely, the feeling disappeared.


    Could she have been seeing things?


    Lu Xiaoru was a little puzzled. She''d always made pretty good assessments of people, and she had seldom encountered such a situation. She turned the thought over in her mind a little before it went away.


    Chen Mu nodded. "We have been so much trouble for you." He then turned to leave, but he suddenly thought of something and stopped. He turned back around and said sheepishly, "I almost forgot something. I still haven''t paid you."


    Lu Xiaoru looked at Chen Mu in surprise. In her mind, Chen Mu and Wei-ah were both emotionless, cold-blooded men. They were so taciturn and coldly aloof, never laughing, and they killed people without batting an eye. They were butchers and killers. They were just killing machines, certainly not ordinary people.


    Good lord, what did I just see? Lu Xiaoru''s whole aspect showed disbelief. She had never thought Chen Mu''s face could show such gentleness and such a heartfelt smile.


    She opened her mouth in shock as she retracted her gaze from what was between the two of them.


    Could there be something going on between them?


    Once that thought floated up, she couldn''t prevent it from blocking everything else out of her head. The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed. She had never seen such an expression on Chen Mu. Taking another look at Sue Lochiro, although there was nothing breathtaking about her, even she liked a woman with such a gentle and refined temperament.


    Sue Lochiro smiled and shook her head. "There''s no need for that. I wasn''t able to help you, so how could I take any fee?"


    Lu Xiaoru smiled to herself. No fee? That was a practice often seen with ordinary doctors. The fees for medical card artisans were quite high, and she had never heard of fees not being collected just because someone didn''t get better. And, Sue Lochiro being a high-grade medical card artisan meant it would require an additional high fee for making a house call.


    Lu Xiaoru didn''t show any emotion as she obediently stood by Chen Mu''s side.


    "Oh, so it goes." Chen Mu looked as though he got it and nodded. "Well, I''ll be on my way then." He then left the hospital with Lu Xiaoru.


    Sue Lochiro sent the two of them off with her soft eyes and a blank stare, not knowing what to think.


    Once Chen Mu got back to Heaven''s Wings, the nearly collapsed Bu Qiangdong practically tumbled and crawled over to him and cried out, "You''ve come back, Boss!" His eyes were red, and his voice was hoarse. His hair was like a bird''s nest and his clothes quite disheveled.


    "What happened?" Seeing Bu Qiangdong so miserable surprised him. Could someone have come looking for trouble again?


    "My communications card is nearly fried. We''ve gotten commissions from quite a number of companies¡­"


    As soon as he heard it was company business, Chen Mu relaxed. He cut Bu Qiangdong off. "Run the company as you see fit." He then walked into his office and shut the door with a bang.


    Bu Qiangdong''s face suddenly looked like a bitter melon as he mumbled, "What kind of boss is that¡­"


    After sitting a short while, Chen Mu couldn''t sit still. The building was practically about to collapse, and it wouldn''t be safe to work there. He muttered to himself for a moment and then called Bu Qiangdong back in. He turned the matter over to Bu Qiangdong and then ushered him out. The huge pile of issues on Bu Qiangdong''s hands weren''t complete yet, and now there was something new. How could he not be depressed?


    Not paying any attention to Bu Qiangdong, who was about to cry, Chen Mu took Lu Xiaoru out again.


    "Where are we going?" Lu Xiaoru asked cautiously.


    "To buy stuff."


    Shopping? Lu Xiaoru couldn''t make any sense of that, though she simply didn''t think about it. It wouldn''t do her any good to say anything.


    Chen Mu really did want to buy things. With the Heaven''s Wings building half destroyed and the training room and card making lab gone, Chen Mu wasn''t even thinking about the card making studio anymore. He didn''t know how much money he''d spent on it last time, but it had fizzled out before he could even take advantage of it.


    By then, he only had 3 million left. Never mind building a card studio; he didn''t even have enough to make a high-grade set of cards. Chen Mu was only thinking about buying materials and some training equipment.


    The materials were to keep up his practice, and the equipment was for training. Time was precious, and he didn''t want to waste it. He didn''t have the qualifications to do so. Even without a card making studio, he still needed to keep up his practice. He well understood that with any skill, to stop keeping in practice for any length of time, or even not to think about it for a while, would always send a person backward. Those materials weren''t anything he could profit from; they were only for practice and to keep him thinking.


    He couldn''t skimp when it came to the training equipment. No matter whether he considered himself a card artisan, he still needed to train. So long as his power kept increasing, he would be able to get along better. At least the training equipment wasn''t expensive.


    * * *


    Are you sure this gizmo is any good?" Butchie was not pleased as she looked at the Beard, waving the card the organization had sent in her hand.


    The Beard suddenly complained, "Would I trick you, little lady? If I were to trick anyone, it wouldn''t be you!" The two of them had known one another for a long time, having known each other since before the Beard had been transferred to Pomelo. He knew how bad it would be to provoke that girl with the ponytail in front of him. The image of the female T. rex was sufficiently etched in his mind.


    Butchie plunked the card onto the table with a look of frustration. She''d tried it for quite a few days¡ªdozens of times a day¡ªbut she hadn''t been able to connect even once. According to what the Beard had said, that communications card could connect with the communications operations of the other party. Although it wouldn''t receive any images, and although the sound quality couldn''t be guaranteed, there shouldn''t be any problem with talking.


    After trying it for a few days without getting through, Butchie was naturally angry.


    The Beard picked up the card, wondering if it could really be broken. The card didn''t have a name, but it had come from the hands of Peanut Head; he still had a lot of confidence in it. No one would deny Peanut Head''s power in card making, just as no one would deny Hugo''s strength.


    Putting the card into his own apparatus, he tried activating it. The card was completely different from other cards. According to what Peanut Head had said, apart from that one band, the card wouldn''t connect on any other band.


    "Yikes! There''s a response!" The Beard called out in surprise, which startled everyone else in the room. Hugo and Butchie immediately gathered around. The veins on Butchie''s forehead were pulsing, having tried it for three days without any response. For the Beard to get a response the first time he tried was just...


    But, she knew how important it was and closely watched the Beard.


    * * *


    Leading Lu Xiaoru along the street, the rate of head-turning went far beyond what Chen Mu could have expected. Lu Xiaoru was as dainty as a flower with her gold-framed glasses sitting on her delicate nose, all dressed like a secretary, which gave her a rather intellectual quality. The half-open collar of her blouse made a small section of her collarbone vaguely visible, though the not-quite-visible collarbone didn''t detract at all from her charm. On the contrary, it made her well-rounded, soft beauty even more apparent, mixing in some sexiness to her intellectual look. The highly propped out chest of her blouse declared what kind of splendor she was wearing inside, which kept the people with their sweeping gazes madly gulping.


    Chen Mu was enjoying a different kind of status¡ªjealousy, gasps, derision, and all sorts of such things. Such a fresh flower stuck into cow dung! was written on just about everyone''s face.


    He had just bought a few three-star card blanks and some raw materials. The three-star card blanks had an ordinary texture and were far from comparable to the gold-mottled grass he''d used for blank cards in the jungle. Of course, they were only ordinary raw materials, but they were sufficient for practice. That pile of things had still cost him 300,000 Oudi, which showed how much money a card master burned through.


    There were no finished products with exercise equipment, which he could only order. It was a good thing he''d bought them once and knew what he was doing.


    The apparatus on his wrist suddenly sounded. It was an unknown number, so he closed it with a glance.


    There was no point paying attention to it since the other party had called by mistake. He knew everyone who had his number, and he had all of their numbers. For a strange number to appear could only mean he''d been called by mistake. That happened pretty often, and most of those who had communications cards would encounter such things.


    After a while, the apparatus sounded again, and Chen Mu lowered his head to look. It was the same number.


    He shut if off.


    It sounded again, and he shut it off again.


    But, when it sounded another time, even Lu Xiaoru was surprised.


    Chen Mu''s gaze fell onto his apparatus, wondering who it was. Turning a few thoughts around in his mind without making much sense of them, he decided to answer.

 226 The Call II

    It got through! The other two gathered around the Beard, looking excited. Although he was also excited, the Beard didn''t his lose cool¡ªafter the call went through, he didn''t immediately say anything. In general, when someone would take a call and didn''t hear the other party say anything, they couldn''t help but ask, "Wei? Who''s there?"


    That was just an inconspicuous little detail. The Beard well knew the importance of details. It was just such details that could allow him to take the initiative and to understand the other party more quickly. He could make a more appropriate response depending on the other party''s reaction.


    To his surprise, however, there was no sound apart from some background noise. The other party was also keeping silent. After two or three seconds, the Beard immediately realized his plans had come to nothing. What he wanted to do was to establish contact with the other party by any means necessary under the circumstances. Although the present circumstance wasn''t what he''d expected, he wasn''t at any loss about what to do.


    "Hello." The Beard spoke slowly and politely, and he was beyond warm. Hugo and Butchie couldn''t help but frown behind him, and heavy static could be heard through the communications card. Although they hadn''t counted on locking in their target by hearing his voice, the voice would have been a rather helpful bit of supporting information. From experience, it could give them a lot help.


    The interference coming through the communications card was intense, which left them no way to judge the other party''s voice. Now, they could only hope the communications card would do its thing.


    "Who are you?" a male voice responded through the noise with a strong note of vigilance.


    Chen Mu only then responded after having detected it wasn''t his usual communications card, but it was rather the thousand kilometer card! The only communications the thousand kilometer card could accomplish was with the underground city''s Moqi Clan. For some stranger to suddenly be able to connect to the thousand kilometer card would naturally put him on guard.


    Having just gone through the affair with the Central Island Firm, Chen Mu already knew the value of the thousand kilometer card in his hands, together with the technology of the communications array.


    But, he had never imagined someone would actually be able to find him that way.


    "Ha ha, please don''t be concerned; I have no malicious intent." The Beard lightly laughed as he tried to ease the tension. To his side, there was a green dot on the screen that had popped out, as well as a round red patch.


    The green dot represented their current position, while the red patch indicated the range of the other party''s position. It could only indicate the other party''s direction and how far away it was. Butchie and Hugo watched and immediately started to look for the other party''s specific position.


    Hugo made a signal to the Beard to stall for time.


    "State your business." Chen Mu frowned, feeling vaguely insecure. Almost unconsciously, he was using Wei-ah''s ordinary spoken tone.


    Lu Xiaoru found it a little strange to see Chen Mu so unhappy. The youth''s mood was very stable. In truth, she had never seen any youth quite so steady at that age. The most commonly seen expression on his face was calm and concentration. It would be hard to detect any happy or angry emotions.


    Lu Xiaoru kept her mouth obediently shut, not able to imagine what had offended him.


    Clearly, Wei-ah''s tone had a certain lethality, and the other party went silent.


    The Beard felt things were getting tricky; the other party clearly didn''t have the patience to get entangled with him. If he didn''t pull out something substantive, the other party would likely cut off the communication. He looked at Butchie and Hugo, who were both searching the map for the location of the region covered by the red patch.


    Gritting his teeth, the Beard said, "I would like to inquire whether the communications technology the distinguished gentleman has is for sale. As for remuneration, the distinguished gentleman may suggest as much as he''d like, whether in cash or some other item, or anything else. If the distinguished gentleman feels the price can''t be negotiated, we might discuss other forms of cooperation."


    "Where did you get this information?" Chen Mu asked with some surprise after staying quiet for a moment.


    The Beard said calmly, "We came across it from the Central Island Firm." He took a look at Butchie and Hugo while continuing on. "Please trust our sincerity. We thought of every way to connect with the distinguished gentleman until we finally got the distinguished gentleman''s communications band. We''ve expended a lot of energy to make this communications card, and we never thought we would succeed in making the connection. This is really too delightful."


    Chen Mu suddenly realized what had happened.


    Both Hugo and Butchie looked excited. They''d drawn a circle on the map with a red pen. Putting the pen down, thy rushed out the door as fast as they could. Just as they were leaving, Hugo gave the thumbs up to the Beard to show he had done well. He then pointed at his apparatus and made a sign again to delay as much as possible.


    The corner of the Beard''s mouth turned up in an arc as he gave a slight nod to indicate he''d understood.


    "We don''t have the slightest malicious intent. We suppose the distinguished gentleman must know the value of this technology. Our organization''s power is among only a handful within the federation. If the distinguished gentleman has any issues with the conditions, please rest assured. We would be able to provide billions in funds at a time. If you require materials, we can provide the rarest materials. If you love to collect, we would gather the oldest and most precious antiques for you, sir..."


    Chen Mu felt a rush of excitement. He could hear the other party''s eagerness for the technology. They were willing to pay any price to get it. For Chen Mu, that technology wasn''t anything more than a way to connect with Alfonso and the rest. Transferring the technology wouldn''t have a lot of effect on him, and he didn''t need to be concerned about his link with the underground city being affected. He had lots of ways to solve that problem.


    He needed money. He needed a large quantity of materials. He needed his own card making studio. He needed to study systematically...


    If he were to transfer the technology, then all of that would seem to be at his fingertips. How could he not feel a rush of excitement?


    The other party continued to talk, though Chen Mu couldn''t understand the last thing he said. Stay calm! You have to stay calm, he kept desperately warning himself. Even though he''d been through lots of big events, it was still his first time to face such temptation. He had just discovered that just when the life he''d been dreaming about was at the tip of his fingers, his mood became more volatile than ever.


    In the end, he was only 18 years old.


    Chen Mu took in a deep breath to clear his head.


    The Beard smiled contentedly to himself when he heard the other party drawing in that breath. Were there many people who could stay calm with such a price in front of them? He liked that feeling, to just straight out use money to knock someone else dizzy. What could be cooler than that? Although he was feeling pleased, he didn''t stop talking. He still needed to stall and try to drag it out until Butchie and Hugo could reach the area.


    Given their power, so long as they didn''t encounter large troops, there basically wasn''t anyone in Pomelo who could stop them. Given the acuity of Hugo''s six senses, he was confident he could find any objective within a range of several hundred meters.


    So long as he could delay until the two got there, then the guy couldn''t fly even if they gave him wings.


    Chen Mu finally calmed down. The fruit was tempting, but thinking about it carefully, he could not eat it no matter what. On the contrary, the situation had become quite dangerous for him now because of the technology. An "ordinary, innocent man in trouble because of his wealth" was something he had seen rather a lot of.


    He didn''t have any power to discuss conditions with only one person''s power in front of an organization. On the contrary, once the other party knew who he was, they would have sufficient means to make him yield, making it clear what would happen next.


    Once he thought of that, Chen Mu became frightened and alarmed, and his back became drenched. He immediately found all the faults. The other party kept putting out more and more bait as though they wanted to drag the time out. Drag out the time? Once the thought popped out, he increasingly felt the other party was up to no good.


    Why would they want to drag out the time?


    A chill arose from the bottom of his mind. Without any hesitation, Chen Mu slammed the apparatus shut on his wrist. His expression was gloomy, and his back was cold with sweat. If they were really trying to drag out the time, that could only mean one thing: they had still more awesome tricks in store for him.


    What sort of awesome tricks might they have? Chen Mu could get the general idea without thinking too hard.


    With a miserable expression, he looked all around and called in a low voice, "Go." Before the sound faded, he had leapt up and out.


    Lu Xiaoru was taken aback and hurried to catch up.


    Seeing Chen Mu with such a nasty expression, she nervously followed behind. Chen Mu was fast, and the complex geography of the city didn''t seem to have any influence on him. He was flying very low, nearly sticking to the ground. That was a real eye-opener for Lu Xiaoru as she looked on, complaining to herself. It wasn''t hard for her to fly in midair, but to fly along the ground was really difficult for her.


    Chen Mu quickly noted Lu Xiaoru''s difficulties, and he soon realized what was going on. So, without saying another thing, he just pulled on Lu Xiaoru''s arm and went forward.


    Carrying someone else in his hands didn''t seem to have any effect on him, and they quickly disappeared among the crowds in the streets.


    Hugo and Butchie rushed into the area just after the two left. They looked at the buildings in profusion all around, at the dazzling shopping centers, and at all the crowds rolling along beneath their feet, as well as at the card artisans and shuttle cars whizzing by.


    Their expressions were way off. That was Pomelo''s most bustling commercial street!


    How could they not have realized the other party would be so alert after all? Now, after beating the grass to scare the snake and alerting him, to think of finding him again would be still more difficult.


    Would they really have to put all of their hope on the Central Island Firm again? A flash of concern passed over Hugo''s eyes. Under the sunshine, his silvery half-mask was suffused in a dazzling brilliance.

 227 An Invitation

    Bu Qiangdong had pretty outstanding management capability. He rented a new office building, which had only had five stories and looked rather shabby among the surrounding buildings. But it was more than adequate for the sparse numbers of Heaven''s Wings employees. The building belonged to a card appliance company. They hadn''t wanted to rent it, but they immediately agreed when they heard the renter was the great Heaven''s Wings company. They anxiously begged Bu Qiangdong, hoping to get Heaven''s Wings to make them a fantasy card advertisement for a negotiable fee.


    Bu Qiangdong didn''t originally have that sort of building in mind. Heaven''s Wings wasn''t just a small company anymore, so how could they stay in such a shabby place? They just couldn''t find any empty buildings over ten stories to rent. Actually, what he had in mind was something like the twin towers of the Central Island Firm, which would be tall enough to be bright and spacious and where he could rent two or three floors. That would be enough to make him happy.


    But he nipped that in the bud after turning it over in his mind, being more concerned with the boss''s preferences. That boss of his didn''t like renting together with others. For Bu Qiangdong, there wasn''t anything more important than determining the boss''s preferences no matter what he was doing.


    When Bu Qiangdong thought about the current Heaven''s Wings, he felt full of drive. The rest of his life''s happiness depended on it. He was perfectly thrilled that he had encountered the boss, even though the boss was younger than him.


    Since the building had been kept up and was quite clean, they could move in right away. Bu Qiangdong immediately organized everyone to move into the building.


    The first floor retained the convention of the exhibition hall, devoted exclusively to displaying the boss''s works. The Central Island Firm''s ad was naturally placed in the most prominent position. Everyone knew about it by then, and it had become the calling card of Heaven''s Wings. The second floor was the warehouse, and the third and fourth floors were offices. The top floor belonged to the boss.


    After finishing all that, But Qiangdong sheepishly called in the boss. After a moment, the boss arrived at the building, bringing along that pretty secretary.


    Chen Mu''s miserable look scared Bu Qiangdong half to death. He lowered his head and hung behind, not daring to breathe. He was muttering to himself about where he might have gone wrong. Then, glancing at the boss''s beautiful secretary and seeing that she also had a sheepish look, he immediately balanced out his thoughts. His movements became a little lighter.


    The boss walked over with his gloomy look, with the director and secretary cowing silently like frozen cicadas. The entire building went silent.


    Having returned to his own office, Chen Mu sat on the chair. He quickly sank into thought.


    Greed is terrible! He had nearly fallen headlong into it, and his mind had only slightly relaxed when nothing happened along their way. He felt his resistance hadn''t been bad, never having imagined he could be nearly fooled when someone threw out that bait.


    The other party kept calling along the way, so he finally took out the thousand kilometer card. Even without him opening the communications array, the other party could actually still connect with that card. It looked like the thousand kilometer card didn''t require pairing with the communications array to be used. Within short distances, two such cards seemed to be able to complete communications. But he didn''t really know what kind of card the other party had and how it might be different from the card in his hands.


    Coming out of his thoughts, Chen Mu saw the nervous Bu Qiangdong in front of him. He relaxed his countenance and gave a few words of praise. "Mmmm, this building is nice. If you have something to do, you may go ahead and do it."


    A stone dropped from Bu Qiangdong''s heart as he submissively said, "Your subordinate has already pasted a notice of our move on the building that clearly indicates our current address. If anyone comes looking for us, they would be able to find us easily.


    Bu Qiangdong was watertight in what he did, which pleased Chen Mu. He had just been wondering how Wei-ah would find the place when he returned. Now, he could relax.


    "Very good. We''ve gotten quite a bit of work lately, and you''ll have to organize everyone to get it done. As for the orders you might take in, if they are below 3 million, it''s your decision." Chen Mu muttered to himself for a moment. "Everyone has been working hard lately. Starting this month, everyone''s salary will be increased by 15 percent, and yours will be raised by 20. Let''s all do good work."


    Bu Qiangdong was overjoyed. "Thank you, Boss!"


    Chen Mu waved his hand. "Get to work."


    After Bu Qiangdong left, Chen Mu sank into thought once again. He had never thought the thousand kilometer card could bring him so much danger. He was toying with it as he lowered his head in thought. After thinking about it, he put the card into his card wallet, thinking it better not to use it for a while.


    He''d made the thousand kilometer card himself, and he was clear about its principle. He had never thought he would encounter such a situation, so there were quite a few aspects he hadn''t perfected. It was those holes that had caused him trouble.


    The thousand kilometer card had lots of room for improvements, which were within his ability to do. But he didn''t intend to do that work now. The safest thing just then would be to do nothing.


    Lu Xiaoru was off to the side. She had never imagined such fear and trepidation. Those last few days, she had begun to understand the temperament of that master in front of her. He didn''t like to anger anyone. She had overheard that day''s communication very clearly.


    To tell the truth, she was blindfolded at the time. During the last huge battle and before today, she had been a little muddled. She didn''t understand why the sides were fighting to such a terrifying extent. When listening to what Chen Mu and the other party were saying today, it finally dawned on her.


    It turns out this gizmo is that valuable! At the time, she couldn''t wait for Chen Mu to agree. How much money would billions be? It seemed as though there was still room for negotiation in the other party''s thinking. Her brain had been buzzed silly.


    Afterward, when Chen Mu had shut off his apparatus, she didn''t quite understand. She had been about to persuade him, but seeing his miserable look, her remaining trace of sanity made her shut her mouth.


    Now, thinking about it calmly, she realized behind the tempting fruit was hidden some terrifying danger. She had still more admiration for Chen Mu when she thought of that. It was really stunning for that youth, who didn''t look like much, to be able to keep his composure in front of such temptation.


    By comparison, Lu Xiaoru didn''t care as much about the superb flying skills he showed afterward. Compared with skill, qualities of the spirit were still rarer. She had opened her mind. Since changing masters, there were more benefits to her from how much stronger he was.


    From any point of view, he was a fine master. He didn''t have any strange habits, and across so many days, he had never made her into his bed servant. That had rather surprised her. If it hadn''t been for their battling that day, when Chen Mu''s coarse breathing had made her certain he was an ordinary male, she would almost have thought there was something wrong with him.


    But Chen Mu hadn''t shown the slightest sign of any interest in her those last few days. Could she have lost her charm?


    She was beating her brains out.


    Of course, Chen Mu didn''t know Lu Xiaoru had such matters in her head, being much more concerned with a different issue.


    Bu Qiangdong knocked on his office door and had a stranger with him.


    "This is Mr. Fei from the Central Island Firm, Boss."


    Hearing Bo Qiangdong''s introduction, Chen Mu slightly narrowed his eyes. Lu Xiaoru, who was standing so pretty behind him, was slightly shocked. Chen Mu carefully sized him up to find an ordinary youth of about 20, wearing a proper business suit and a respectful aspect.


    Mr. Fei saluted Chen Mu. "Greetings, Boss Cao. Our director general, Mr. Ren, will be holding a banquet in three days. The director general says he has been fortunate to have Boss Cao''s help this time, without which the consequences would be hard to estimate. The general manager hopes to be able to thank Boss Cao face to face and invites Boss Cao to honor him if you can find the time."


    He then pulled out a light blue invitation and presented it respectfully in front of Chen Mu with both hands.


    An invitation from the Central Island Firm? Chen Mu found the world so full of strangeness. By rights, he should have been resentful of the Central Island Firm. How could he have thought that not only would he help them to make the fantasy card advertisement, but that he would now receive an invitation from them? That had to make him feel the wonders of the world.


    After Chen Mu received the invitation, the youth named Fei bid farewell, and Bu Qiangdong sent him on his way.


    Without turning around, Chen Mu said calmly, "Did he recognize you?"


    Lu Xiaoru''s response was quite certain. "Definitely not. He''s unfamiliar. I think he must be one of Central Island''s peripheral staff. Our existence was known to very few. In any case, with my face disguised, even in front of Qian Mingyi, I figure he wouldn''t necessarily recognize me." In what she said, she showed some confidence in her skill with makeup.


    Nodding, Chen Mu waved the invitation in his hand. "What do you think about this?" The light blue invitation was utterly elegant and had a nice feel to it. There were designs like watermarks on it, which showed how expensive it was.


    Lu Xiaoru didn''t immediately reply. She knew what a great opportunity that was. She needed to demonstrate her ability since only then would she be able to get better treatment and a better position.


    She said thoughtfully, "I don''t think they have malicious intentions. Ren Wenzhou gives a banquet once or twice a year, and those invited are all people in Pomelo with gravitas. He''s accustomed to pulling in all sorts relationships that way. I believe Heaven''s Wings'' performance this time made him feel you have already started to have the qualifications to join his circles. That is to say you have potential."


    Chen Mu seemed to be thinking about something. He looked at Lu Xiaoru with appreciation and said, "Continue."


    Having been encouraged, Lu Xiaoru said, "Heaven''s Wings has gained quite a bit this time and is a lot better known than before. But those things aren''t enough. We still need to expand our business, and the other powers in Pomelo would be useful for our further development. I don''t think you have much to worry about regarding your identity. Except for me, no one has seen you." Looking at Chen Mu, she added, "The more elevated your identity becomes, the more powerful people you will know, and the safer you will be."


    She closed her mouth, feeling a bit of regret. Some of what she had said were things she shouldn''t have laid bare. But since she''d said it, she could only steel herself and wait for Chen Mu''s response.


    Chen Mu was tapping his fingers on the table without any rhythm, looking deep in thought. It seemed he was digesting what Lu Xiaoru had said, as though he were reviewing some other matter.

 228 The Banquet II

    If you were to say everyone previously had some doubts, no one was doubting the tender-looking youth''s outstanding skills now. With the praise of the Faya representative and his evidently not-shallow relationship with Madam Sue Lochiro, if anyone were to call him ordinary, no one in the room would have believed it.


    People were already guessing what his relationship with Sue Lochiro really was.


    One of the servants suddenly rushed forward with a nervous expression, covered in sweat. He was jogging toward Ren Wenzhou by the time he got close and whispered something in his ear.


    Ren Wenzhou was stirred and said brightly, "If you''ll excuse me, everyone." He then turned around and walked out the door while everyone watched. Could yet another terrific figure have arrived?


    Chen Mu breathed a sigh of relief. It creeped him out to have so many people looking at him. By then, everyone had finally diverted their attention, which made him feel a lot more relaxed. He found another corner and was just about to sit when there was some commotion at the door to the great hall.


    Ren Wenzhou could be seen accompanying a young man walking into the hall. Ren Wenzhou''s face was glowing, while those around the youth were smiling in a reserved and courteous manner.


    Ren Wenzhou clapped his hands loudly and was pleased when he saw he had gotten everyone''s attention. He immediately said in a booming voice, "Everyone, I would like to grandly introduce you to the young lord at my side. I believe everyone must be trying to guess who he is, ha ha. But please, allow me to reveal the riddle."


    Ren Wenzhou looked all around. Seeing everyone holding their breath in anticipation of what he would say next, he smiled lightly and dropped his bombshell in a buoyant fashion.


    "The young lord at my side is the among the outstanding aces of the Federation Comprehensive Academy''s new generation¡ªZu Ning!"


    The entire great hall exploded. Girls shrieked excitedly here and there as everyone desperately pressed forward, wanting to get a look at the ace''s style. His most distinguishing feature was probably his hair, every strand of which stood neatly erect like a steel needle. He had a beautiful face, which might have been rather effeminate, but it was even more extraordinarily martial, being set off by that hair style.


    Adding to that the elegance and modesty of a wealthy clan, he had all the elements of a popular lover. But, he wasn''t depending on his looks. In fact, he was truly famous because of his extraordinary power.


    His body wasn''t contaminated by the slightest bit of the arrogance normal to citizens of the capital. On the contrary, he was an extremely diligent student. He had extraordinary talent and had been selected at the Federation Comprehensive Academy when he was 13, and he had made his name by 15.


    At that time, during his first experience in the Outer Reaches, he rescued seven people from the jaws of a congregation of the ferocious saw-tooth alligator. That started his rise to fame. His unusual appearance, elegant bearing and proud strength immediately made him into one of the most popular aces of his generation.


    He didn''t lose his way because of that but became still more diligent. Finally, when he was 16, he was allowed to take the famous Federation Comprehensive Academy course in the training of perception, the Sectional Training Method. Afterward, his strength became unstoppable, and he progressed rapidly. When he was 22, he undertook the Federation Comprehensive Academy card bestowal exam, because of which he was granted the Sectional Succession five-star card.


    Hearing someone nearby, who seemed to be one of Zu Ning''s hardcore supporters and was going on and on about Zu Ning''s accomplishments, Chen Mu finally gained a pretty good understanding of him.


    Unfortunately, Chen Mu wasn''t very familiar with the Big Six and didn''t understand the implications. But, from hearing the proud pronouncements of that person nearby, he knew Zu Ning must be someone pretty awesome.


    Chen Mu wasn''t interested in Zu Ning''s identity, but he was wondering whether the Federation Comprehensive Academy wanted to intervene in the Central Island Firm''s affairs. Chen Mu smiled coldly to himself in the corner as things were becoming more and more interesting. But, it didn''t have a lot to do with him. He neither wanted to nor had the ability to join in as he sat calmly in the corner.


    Things had become a little chaotic. Who knew the servant would come in, with still more sweat on his face and running very fast this time, to whisper into Ren Wenzhou''s ear again?


    An almost imperceptible smile flashed by the corner of Ren Wenzhou''s mouth, and he immediately pretended to be pleasantly surprised. "Oh my, what a great day. Who would have thought in addition to being honored by the presence of young Zu, the Central Repository of the Classics has also sent someone? How about we welcome him as we did young Zu?"


    What Ren Wenzhou said was neither understated or overstated. However, when it fell onto everyone''s ears, it didn''t create quite the same explosion. Those already struck dumb could smell the unusual flavor of the evening, and everyone calmed down.


    A smile appeared on Zu Ning''s gorgeous face as Ren Wenzhou dimly revealed his close relations, maintaining his discretion for sure. Zu Ning gave a slight bow in deference. "After you. It''s my pleasure."


    After a moment, there was more commotion in the hall. The one from the Central Repository of the Classics, Jie Yanbai, was indeed the same sort of weighty personage. He was also a famous young ace. He had made a name for himself when he was young, just like Zu Ning, though Jie Yanbai didn''t make his name until he was 15. Interestingly, while Zu Ning had made his name as soon as he had a successful battle, Jie Yanbai made his name when he failed in battle.


    No one would belittle him for failure since his adversary in that battle was President Pavchek of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, who had made his name three years before. No one knew why Pavchek would have accepted a challenge from such a young unknown. On that point, never mind bystanders; even the scholars at the Federation Comprehensive Academy didn''t understand it.


    Even though he lost the battle, Jie Yanbai earned glory in defeat. Pavchek afterward praised him as the leader of the younger generation. All of the presidents of the Big Six were at the top in the federation; to be able to earn their praises, Jie Yanbai''s worth abruptly multiplied.


    Once Zu Ning saw who it was, his handsome face darkened. Among those he hated most among the students at the Federation Comprehensive Academy, Jie Yanbai was probably the worst. That would be indistinguishable from the way students of Moon Frost Island detested the Gemini from Desert Camp, though there was only one of the Gemini remaining from there.


    Very interesting! There was the Central Repository of the Classics, the Federation Comprehensive Academy, and the Faya Foundation. What a hoot! Sitting in the corner, Chen Mu was not only glad he had resisted temptation; clearly he couldn''t survive in such turbid water.


    The mood and the feeling had changed as he pleasantly drank his juice. The taste of the sweets was incredible. For a poor fellow like Chen Mu, who hadn''t ever tasted such fine things, he just opened the floodgates and gorged himself.


    A fat man, dripping with sweat, squeezed beside Chen Mu and plopped down. As soon as the fatso sat down, he smiled at Chen Mu. "The last time I came, there weren''t half as many people here. Good grief, was he trying to embarrass this fatso with so many people here this time?"


    He laughed and put out his plump right hand. "Yang An, businessman."


    Chen Mu took a look at him and put out his right hand, saying, "Cao Dong."


    It dawned on the fat man. "I ask who it is, and it''s Cao Dong from Heaven''s Wings! I''ve heard all about you!" Although the boss of Heaven''s Wings was secretive, a boss like Yang An certainly would have heard of him.


    "Is Mr. Cao is interested in making high-grade cards?" The fatty showed a harmless smiling face, on which the fat was layered, as he pulled out a name card. "I manage an auction house, where we''ve just taken in some pretty good materials. Among them are a few five-star card blanks. It''s really hard to distinguish the real from the fake, and I wonder if Mr. Cao could help us feel them out."


    The fatty was pretty apprehensive; if this Cao Dong had refused even the person from Faya, how would he be able to do any better?


    Five-star card blanks! Chen Mu was very excited!


    He was mostly making three-star cards then, and he could barely make a few kinds of four-star cards. He couldn''t even think about five-star cards. But, when he heard five-star card blanks, he couldn''t help his surprise.


    Unlike commonly used three- or four-star cards, the scarcity of five-star and above cards made each of them sky-high in price! Even among the Big Six, five-star cards were seldom seen. People like Zu Ning could only be granted a five-star card after passing the Federation Comprehensive Academy''s card bestowal exam.


    The difficulty of the card bestowal exam was hard for even the students from the Federation Comprehensive Academy to imagine.


    Most of the five-star cards in the federation were in the hands of the Big Six or other big powers, like Faya. They really couldn''t be bought on the market. They would only occasionally be found at auction, where they were extremely expensive! Among the records of the largest and most famous auction houses, most of the genuine cards were left behind. That left most of the sparse five-star cards to be snapped up by the rich and overbearing powers like the Big Six.


    However, those who could make five-star cards weren''t actually as rare as people thought. The reason so few five-star cards were made was the materials. The materials required by a five-star card were all extremely rare and expensive. The five-star card blanks were an important part among those.


    Altogether, there were 27 kinds of materials from which it was known to be able to make five-star card blanks. Some of those had already gone extinct, and some had never been seen; the remainder were all extremely rare. That was also why five-star card blanks were so rare and expensive.


    The price of one five-star card blank went far beyond the cost of 50 four-star cards or 40 high-performance four-star cards! They faced the same problem of being priced out of the market.


    That was one critical reason five-star cards were so rarely seen on the market. Just as with other cards, there was a problem with the success rate in making the cards. You wouldn''t succeed every time, even if you were able to make five-star cards. Five-star cards made stringent demands on the fine control of perception, and the complexity of the compositions was several levels higher than for four-star cards.


    The scarcity and cost of the materials together with the low success rate could roughly explain why so few five-star cards were ever on the market. Quite a few well-versed card masters might never have the chance to successfully make a five-star card for their entire lives. Most of the card artisans powerful enough to use a five-star card would only be able to use a four-star card their whole lives.


    There was a lot of weight in the several five-star card blanks the fatso tossed out! Chen Mu was excited, but he still had the lesson from last time firmly on his mind; he didn''t immediately respond. Instead, he considered it coolly for a while before saying, "What sort of cooperation is Mr. Yang An considering?"


    A look of appreciation flashed through Yang An''s eyes. To present such calm in the face of temptation would be nothing for an "old oil stick" like him. But, it was certainly commendable for an 18- or 19-year-old. When he thought about the rebirth of his counterpart''s Heaven''s Wings, which now sat firmly in the top spot in Pomelo''s fantasy card advertising world, Yang An would never scorn him in the least.


    The fatty said refreshingly, "I''ll provide the materials, and Mr. Cao makes the cards. As far as what kinds of cards, that would be up to Mr. Cao. The cards produced would be auctioned at my humble auction house, where if sold, we would split the profits 60-40, minus the materials. Forty for me and 60 for Mr. Cao. How would that be?"


    Chen Mu had gotten the main outline in a moment. As far as he was concerned, it was a pretty good idea. What he needed to provide was labor¡ªhe would make the cards, and the benefits for him would be to get some income and a good deal of practice and experience. He was particularly interested in the latter. The materials the fatty would provide would certainly be three-star or four-star card materials. Although such materials weren''t as rare as five-star cards, they still weren''t cheap. It would certainly be tedious for him to acquire materials himself.


    Moreover, the fatty wouldn''t take a loss. The division with Chen Mu already deducted the cost of materials, which weren''t deducted from the profits. He would only have to provide the materials to be able to earn 40 percent of the income. So, for him it would naturally be a simple matter. Besides, he would get another stable supply point. An abundance of products to auction would be a great help in increasing the reputation of his auction house.


    Everything was based on Chen Mu''s truly unusual card making strength. Although he didn''t quite understand his counterpart''s certainty in that regard, he rather admired the fatty''s thinking.


    Seeing Chen Mu''s seemingly moved expression, the fatty added more fuel to the fire. "As partners, if the auction house has the materials required by Mr. Cao, then Mr. Cao would have the right to buy them out at 1.2 times our purchase price. Of course, if Mr. Cao sells the cards, our auction house would get priority. The Heaven''s Wings fantasy card advertisements would be no exception. Our cooperation would be reviewed twice a year. How about it?"


    Without any further hesitation, Chen Mu nodded. "Ok!"


    The fatty held out his palm, and Chen Mu gave him a high-five to indicate agreement. The further details of the verbal agreement would be put into a signed contract.


    To be able to woo a card master who had won the admiration of a representative of Faya put the fatty into a good mood. The two of them high-fiving their agreement would immediately change their relationship.


    The fatty''s speech became a lot more relaxed. He looked around the great hall and laughed. "Central Island has scored some big shots this time. But, the three sides aren''t such good shakes, and I''m afraid Pomelo could get a little chaotic. Oh, but I don''t know if we''ll be able to watch Zu Ning and Jie Yanbai crossing swords, which would be a golden opportunity! Gosh, and Faya would still be looking on hungrily from the side. I am really curious about what kinds of aces they might send. Interesting! Very interesting!"


    Aces? The image of that man wearing the silvery half mask flashed through Chen Mu''s mind as he said nonchalantly, "What does all that have to do with us?"


    The fatty clearly liked Chen Mu saying the word "us" very much; he gulped a mouthful of juice and laughed. "It certainly has nothing to do with us. We''ll just pay attention to making money!"


    The fatty still found it a little strange that Cao Dong wasn''t really as hard to get to as he''d imagined. He didn''t know what sort of grudge he had against Faya to turn down Faya''s business.


    How could he have known how arrogant Butchie had been? If she''d tossed out a few million Oudi, then maybe Chen Mu would have taken the business.


    The powerful had always enjoyed using a tough attitude toward the weak. When they discovered the other party wasn''t so weak, they would immediately adjust to a smiley face to conciliate the cooperation. Perhaps the powerful weren''t intentionally like that until they became accustomed to power.


    The habit created a scary kind of power.


    But, Chen Mu obviously wasn''t about to give them a second chance. Whether it was Butchie or something up with Faya, he''d put them all on his blacklist.


    The fatty was an interesting guy, sometimes talking about insider information in witty ways, so even Chen Mu couldn''t help but smile.


    They weren''t paying attention to the crowd gathered in the middle of the hall, where it looked like a group of people were intimately scheming and plotting. According to what the fatty was saying, they still didn''t have enough clout.


    The fatty''s power wasn''t as low-key as he acted. Those who had come over excitedly to look for Chen Mu had a hard time hiding their disappointment when they saw the fatty. While the fatty looked as though nothing were happening, he couldn''t prevent a look of satisfaction from flashing across his eyes. Those who had left disappointed all remembered to give fatty Yang a salute before leaving. With his calm look, it did look as though he had long become accustomed to that.


    It looked like the fatty had a pretty high position in those circles and wasn''t any simple character.


    "Mr. Yang An, Mr. Cao!" A young man wearing a tuxedo arrived in front of them with a flattering and pleasing expression on his face.

 229 The Banquet II

    If you were to say everyone previously had some doubts, no one was doubting the tender-looking youth''s outstanding skills now. With the praise of the Faya representative and his evidently not-shallow relationship with Madam Sue Lochiro, if anyone were to call him ordinary, no one in the room would have believed it.


    People were already guessing what his relationship with Sue Lochiro really was.


    One of the servants suddenly rushed forward with a nervous expression, covered in sweat. He was jogging toward Ren Wenzhou by the time he got close and whispered something in his ear.


    Ren Wenzhou was stirred and said brightly, "If you''ll excuse me, everyone." He then turned around and walked out the door while everyone watched. Could yet another terrific figure have arrived?


    Chen Mu breathed a sigh of relief. It creeped him out to have so many people looking at him. By then, everyone had finally diverted their attention, which made him feel a lot more relaxed. He found another corner and was just about to sit when there was some commotion at the door to the great hall.


    Ren Wenzhou could be seen accompanying a young man walking into the hall. Ren Wenzhou''s face was glowing, while those around the youth were smiling in a reserved and courteous manner.


    Ren Wenzhou clapped his hands loudly and was pleased when he saw he had gotten everyone''s attention. He immediately said in a booming voice, "Everyone, I would like to grandly introduce you to the young lord at my side. I believe everyone must be trying to guess who he is, ha ha. But please, allow me to reveal the riddle."


    Ren Wenzhou looked all around. Seeing everyone holding their breath in anticipation of what he would say next, he smiled lightly and dropped his bombshell in a buoyant fashion.


    "The young lord at my side is the among the outstanding aces of the Federation Comprehensive Academy''s new generation¡ªZu Ning!"


    The entire great hall exploded. Girls shrieked excitedly here and there as everyone desperately pressed forward, wanting to get a look at the ace''s style. His most distinguishing feature was probably his hair, every strand of which stood neatly erect like a steel needle. He had a beautiful face, which might have been rather effeminate, but it was even more extraordinarily martial, being set off by that hair style.


    Adding to that the elegance and modesty of a wealthy clan, he had all the elements of a popular lover. But, he wasn''t depending on his looks. In fact, he was truly famous because of his extraordinary power.


    His body wasn''t contaminated by the slightest bit of the arrogance normal to citizens of the capital. On the contrary, he was an extremely diligent student. He had extraordinary talent and had been selected at the Federation Comprehensive Academy when he was 13, and he had made his name by 15.


    At that time, during his first experience in the Outer Reaches, he rescued seven people from the jaws of a congregation of the ferocious saw-tooth alligator. That started his rise to fame. His unusual appearance, elegant bearing and proud strength immediately made him into one of the most popular aces of his generation.


    He didn''t lose his way because of that but became still more diligent. Finally, when he was 16, he was allowed to take the famous Federation Comprehensive Academy course in the training of perception, the Sectional Training Method. Afterward, his strength became unstoppable, and he progressed rapidly. When he was 22, he undertook the Federation Comprehensive Academy card bestowal exam, because of which he was granted the Sectional Succession five-star card.


    Hearing someone nearby, who seemed to be one of Zu Ning''s hardcore supporters and was going on and on about Zu Ning''s accomplishments, Chen Mu finally gained a pretty good understanding of him.


    Unfortunately, Chen Mu wasn''t very familiar with the Big Six and didn''t understand the implications. But, from hearing the proud pronouncements of that person nearby, he knew Zu Ning must be someone pretty awesome.


    Chen Mu wasn''t interested in Zu Ning''s identity, but he was wondering whether the Federation Comprehensive Academy wanted to intervene in the Central Island Firm''s affairs. Chen Mu smiled coldly to himself in the corner as things were becoming more and more interesting. But, it didn''t have a lot to do with him. He neither wanted to nor had the ability to join in as he sat calmly in the corner.


    Things had become a little chaotic. Who knew the servant would come in, with still more sweat on his face and running very fast this time, to whisper into Ren Wenzhou''s ear again?


    An almost imperceptible smile flashed by the corner of Ren Wenzhou''s mouth, and he immediately pretended to be pleasantly surprised. "Oh my, what a great day. Who would have thought in addition to being honored by the presence of young Zu, the Central Repository of the Classics has also sent someone? How about we welcome him as we did young Zu?"


    What Ren Wenzhou said was neither understated or overstated. However, when it fell onto everyone''s ears, it didn''t create quite the same explosion. Those already struck dumb could smell the unusual flavor of the evening, and everyone calmed down.


    A smile appeared on Zu Ning''s gorgeous face as Ren Wenzhou dimly revealed his close relations, maintaining his discretion for sure. Zu Ning gave a slight bow in deference. "After you. It''s my pleasure."


    After a moment, there was more commotion in the hall. The one from the Central Repository of the Classics, Jie Yanbai, was indeed the same sort of weighty personage. He was also a famous young ace. He had made a name for himself when he was young, just like Zu Ning, though Jie Yanbai didn''t make his name until he was 15. Interestingly, while Zu Ning had made his name as soon as he had a successful battle, Jie Yanbai made his name when he failed in battle.


    No one would belittle him for failure since his adversary in that battle was President Pavchek of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, who had made his name three years before. No one knew why Pavchek would have accepted a challenge from such a young unknown. On that point, never mind bystanders; even the scholars at the Federation Comprehensive Academy didn''t understand it.


    Even though he lost the battle, Jie Yanbai earned glory in defeat. Pavchek afterward praised him as the leader of the younger generation. All of the presidents of the Big Six were at the top in the federation; to be able to earn their praises, Jie Yanbai''s worth abruptly multiplied.


    Once Zu Ning saw who it was, his handsome face darkened. Among those he hated most among the students at the Federation Comprehensive Academy, Jie Yanbai was probably the worst. That would be indistinguishable from the way students of Moon Frost Island detested the Gemini from Desert Camp, though there was only one of the Gemini remaining from there.


    Very interesting! There was the Central Repository of the Classics, the Federation Comprehensive Academy, and the Faya Foundation. What a hoot! Sitting in the corner, Chen Mu was not only glad he had resisted temptation; clearly he couldn''t survive in such turbid water.


    The mood and the feeling had changed as he pleasantly drank his juice. The taste of the sweets was incredible. For a poor fellow like Chen Mu, who hadn''t ever tasted such fine things, he just opened the floodgates and gorged himself.


    A fat man, dripping with sweat, squeezed beside Chen Mu and plopped down. As soon as the fatso sat down, he smiled at Chen Mu. "The last time I came, there weren''t half as many people here. Good grief, was he trying to embarrass this fatso with so many people here this time?"


    He laughed and put out his plump right hand. "Yang An, businessman."


    Chen Mu took a look at him and put out his right hand, saying, "Cao Dong."


    It dawned on the fat man. "I ask who it is, and it''s Cao Dong from Heaven''s Wings! I''ve heard all about you!" Although the boss of Heaven''s Wings was secretive, a boss like Yang An certainly would have heard of him.


    "Is Mr. Cao is interested in making high-grade cards?" The fatty showed a harmless smiling face, on which the fat was layered, as he pulled out a name card. "I manage an auction house, where we''ve just taken in some pretty good materials. Among them are a few five-star card blanks. It''s really hard to distinguish the real from the fake, and I wonder if Mr. Cao could help us feel them out."


    The fatty was pretty apprehensive; if this Cao Dong had refused even the person from Faya, how would he be able to do any better?


    Five-star card blanks! Chen Mu was very excited!


    He was mostly making three-star cards then, and he could barely make a few kinds of four-star cards. He couldn''t even think about five-star cards. But, when he heard five-star card blanks, he couldn''t help his surprise.


    Unlike commonly used three- or four-star cards, the scarcity of five-star and above cards made each of them sky-high in price! Even among the Big Six, five-star cards were seldom seen. People like Zu Ning could only be granted a five-star card after passing the Federation Comprehensive Academy''s card bestowal exam.


    The difficulty of the card bestowal exam was hard for even the students from the Federation Comprehensive Academy to imagine.


    Most of the five-star cards in the federation were in the hands of the Big Six or other big powers, like Faya. They really couldn''t be bought on the market. They would only occasionally be found at auction, where they were extremely expensive! Among the records of the largest and most famous auction houses, most of the genuine cards were left behind. That left most of the sparse five-star cards to be snapped up by the rich and overbearing powers like the Big Six.


    However, those who could make five-star cards weren''t actually as rare as people thought. The reason so few five-star cards were made was the materials. The materials required by a five-star card were all extremely rare and expensive. The five-star card blanks were an important part among those.


    Altogether, there were 27 kinds of materials from which it was known to be able to make five-star card blanks. Some of those had already gone extinct, and some had never been seen; the remainder were all extremely rare. That was also why five-star card blanks were so rare and expensive.


    The price of one five-star card blank went far beyond the cost of 50 four-star cards or 40 high-performance four-star cards! They faced the same problem of being priced out of the market.


    That was one critical reason five-star cards were so rarely seen on the market. Just as with other cards, there was a problem with the success rate in making the cards. You wouldn''t succeed every time, even if you were able to make five-star cards. Five-star cards made stringent demands on the fine control of perception, and the complexity of the compositions was several levels higher than for four-star cards.


    The scarcity and cost of the materials together with the low success rate could roughly explain why so few five-star cards were ever on the market. Quite a few well-versed card masters might never have the chance to successfully make a five-star card for their entire lives. Most of the card artisans powerful enough to use a five-star card would only be able to use a four-star card their whole lives.


    There was a lot of weight in the several five-star card blanks the fatso tossed out! Chen Mu was excited, but he still had the lesson from last time firmly on his mind; he didn''t immediately respond. Instead, he considered it coolly for a while before saying, "What sort of cooperation is Mr. Yang An considering?"


    A look of appreciation flashed through Yang An''s eyes. To present such calm in the face of temptation would be nothing for an "old oil stick" like him. But, it was certainly commendable for an 18- or 19-year-old. When he thought about the rebirth of his counterpart''s Heaven''s Wings, which now sat firmly in the top spot in Pomelo''s fantasy card advertising world, Yang An would never scorn him in the least.


    The fatty said refreshingly, "I''ll provide the materials, and Mr. Cao makes the cards. As far as what kinds of cards, that would be up to Mr. Cao. The cards produced would be auctioned at my humble auction house, where if sold, we would split the profits 60-40, minus the materials. Forty for me and 60 for Mr. Cao. How would that be?"


    Chen Mu had gotten the main outline in a moment. As far as he was concerned, it was a pretty good idea. What he needed to provide was labor¡ªhe would make the cards, and the benefits for him would be to get some income and a good deal of practice and experience. He was particularly interested in the latter. The materials the fatty would provide would certainly be three-star or four-star card materials. Although such materials weren''t as rare as five-star cards, they still weren''t cheap. It would certainly be tedious for him to acquire materials himself.


    Moreover, the fatty wouldn''t take a loss. The division with Chen Mu already deducted the cost of materials, which weren''t deducted from the profits. He would only have to provide the materials to be able to earn 40 percent of the income. So, for him it would naturally be a simple matter. Besides, he would get another stable supply point. An abundance of products to auction would be a great help in increasing the reputation of his auction house.


    Everything was based on Chen Mu''s truly unusual card making strength. Although he didn''t quite understand his counterpart''s certainty in that regard, he rather admired the fatty''s thinking.


    Seeing Chen Mu''s seemingly moved expression, the fatty added more fuel to the fire. "As partners, if the auction house has the materials required by Mr. Cao, then Mr. Cao would have the right to buy them out at 1.2 times our purchase price. Of course, if Mr. Cao sells the cards, our auction house would get priority. The Heaven''s Wings fantasy card advertisements would be no exception. Our cooperation would be reviewed twice a year. How about it?"


    Without any further hesitation, Chen Mu nodded. "Ok!"


    The fatty held out his palm, and Chen Mu gave him a high-five to indicate agreement. The further details of the verbal agreement would be put into a signed contract.


    To be able to woo a card master who had won the admiration of a representative of Faya put the fatty into a good mood. The two of them high-fiving their agreement would immediately change their relationship.


    The fatty''s speech became a lot more relaxed. He looked around the great hall and laughed. "Central Island has scored some big shots this time. But, the three sides aren''t such good shakes, and I''m afraid Pomelo could get a little chaotic. Oh, but I don''t know if we''ll be able to watch Zu Ning and Jie Yanbai crossing swords, which would be a golden opportunity! Gosh, and Faya would still be looking on hungrily from the side. I am really curious about what kinds of aces they might send. Interesting! Very interesting!"


    Aces? The image of that man wearing the silvery half mask flashed through Chen Mu''s mind as he said nonchalantly, "What does all that have to do with us?"


    The fatty clearly liked Chen Mu saying the word "us" very much; he gulped a mouthful of juice and laughed. "It certainly has nothing to do with us. We''ll just pay attention to making money!"


    The fatty still found it a little strange that Cao Dong wasn''t really as hard to get to as he''d imagined. He didn''t know what sort of grudge he had against Faya to turn down Faya''s business.


    How could he have known how arrogant Butchie had been? If she''d tossed out a few million Oudi, then maybe Chen Mu would have taken the business.


    The powerful had always enjoyed using a tough attitude toward the weak. When they discovered the other party wasn''t so weak, they would immediately adjust to a smiley face to conciliate the cooperation. Perhaps the powerful weren''t intentionally like that until they became accustomed to power.


    The habit created a scary kind of power.


    But, Chen Mu obviously wasn''t about to give them a second chance. Whether it was Butchie or something up with Faya, he''d put them all on his blacklist.


    The fatty was an interesting guy, sometimes talking about insider information in witty ways, so even Chen Mu couldn''t help but smile.


    They weren''t paying attention to the crowd gathered in the middle of the hall, where it looked like a group of people were intimately scheming and plotting. According to what the fatty was saying, they still didn''t have enough clout.


    The fatty''s power wasn''t as low-key as he acted. Those who had come over excitedly to look for Chen Mu had a hard time hiding their disappointment when they saw the fatty. While the fatty looked as though nothing were happening, he couldn''t prevent a look of satisfaction from flashing across his eyes. Those who had left disappointed all remembered to give fatty Yang a salute before leaving. With his calm look, it did look as though he had long become accustomed to that.


    It looked like the fatty had a pretty high position in those circles and wasn''t any simple character.


    "Mr. Yang An, Mr. Cao!" A young man wearing a tuxedo arrived in front of them with a flattering and pleasing expression on his face.

 230 Wei-ah Returns

    He hadn''t thought he would run into Cleo, the second son of the Lewin family¡ªyet another person he knew. Cleo''s attitude was entirely different from before.


    The fatty wasn''t interested in Cleo but just raised the juice glass in his hand to say, "Young Lord Cleo," and said nothing else. Chen Mu also nodded to him. "Young Lord Cleo."


    Cleo didn''t seem to mind such treatment and faced the two eagerly. "I never thought I would see Mr. Cao here, which is quite a surprise. It will be Cleo''s coming of age ceremony in a few days. Would Mr. Yang An and Mr. Cao be able to come?"


    Coming of age ceremony? Chen Mu wasn''t sure what that meant, but he wasn''t much interested in the Lewin family. The eagerness in Cleo''s eyes also made him feel a little uncomfortable, so he shook his head. "I''m very sorry, but I''m busy." Then, he closed his mouth. The fatty''s response was still more direct. "I''m busy as well; sorry, Young Lord Cleo."


    It was hard for Cleo to hide his disappointment, and after saying a few more things, he hurried off.


    The fatty watched Cleo''s back as he left and said contemptuously, "The Lewin family is heading backward more and more. The two sons are obsessed with intrigue and pay no attention to the family properties. He''s really a stupid fellow!"


    When he saw Chen Mu''s expression of not understanding, he explained. "An aristocratic family like the Lewins will put on a banquet when the family heirs come of age. They would also invite some people to look on, and their powerful friends would cheer them on. Well, there aren''t so many families who still keep that tradition. I never would have thought the Lewins would keep it up."


    Between the lines of what the fatty said, there seemed to be some disdain for the tradition.


    Chen Mu understood a little of that. But, he didn''t have any good feelings about Cleo himself, so he didn''t much care. Even after he had rescued Cleo, not only had Cleo not treated him sincerely, he was always scheming. Chen Mu respected such a person by keeping him at a distance.


    Seeing Chen Mu''s expression, the fatty''s expression showed that he understood. He lowered his voice to say, "The two sons of the Lewin family don''t have a grasp on their affairs, and their decline is a foregone conclusion. Doing business with them is ok for the short term, but it isn''t worth it in the long term."


    "What do you mean by that?" Chen Mu was suddenly a little curious.


    With a mild expression, the fatty said, "To get to where we are in business, work it isn''t only a matter of dealing with things. Most of it is networking and channels. If one isn''t doing good business now and is expecting to grow because of one''s current strength, that would be as hard as climbing to heaven. The important trend is to cooperate with people. No matter what kinds of windfalls you make in the short term, those are very limited. Stable, long-term income is more important. A partner who will stay with you for the long term is worth spending a lot of money on. A talent such as young brother Cao is worth spending money on!"


    Chen Mu was taken aback by what the fatty was saying. He didn''t have much experience with business, but what he was saying seemed rather enlightening.


    Chen Mu smiled. "You regard me too highly."


    "No, no, no!" The fatty shook his head like a drum rattle, making it look like he might fall over. "There''s no need for young brother Cao to be so modest. Although this fatty doesn''t bat a thousand judging people, he''s not so far off. Young brother Cao has a calm demeanor with a steady gaze. One look can tell a lot; I see your tough temper and authoritative character."


    Chen Mu was taken aback again. He had never heard anyone so full of praise for him before. Just then, someone not far away greeted the fatty. His eyes sharpened as he rushed to apologize to Chen Mu and got up to give his greetings. It was hard to believe such a fat guy could move with such agility.


    After the fatty left, Chen Mu was once again alone in the corner. There was beautiful music playing in the hall, and the waiters would come around carrying red wine and juices and sweets among all the guests. All of the people from Pomelo who had any gravitas were networking there, gathered in groups of three or five. They would sometimes talk and laugh or turn their gazes toward the center of the hall. Those upper-class women wearing beautiful evening gowns would be kibitzing in whispers while their gazes were always hotly cast right toward the middle, where Zu Ning and Jie Yanbai were. The young men had hot, greedy eyes as they stared at Butchie in their midst.


    The stars of the banquet were those two men and that one woman.


    When it came to Chen Mu, who was nothing more than a small character, it saved him trouble that no one knew him. He didn''t pay any attention to those who would sometimes walk past looking at him with gazes that were just as full of surprise.


    Such a banquet didn''t include many high-grade card artisans. While high-grade card artisans were certainly the object of every power''s wooing, it would be difficult for them to enter high society. Of course, that was apart from students who graduated from the Big Six. Once admitted to the Big Six, that would mean you had already started to step into high society.


    People like Zu Ning and Jie Yanbai always maintained their even and reserved expressions. That was a kind of condescension, though no one found it strange. On the contrary, they felt it was perfectly normal. Even Ren Wenzhou took it quite naturally.


    The was a saying in the federation that only the five flourishing districts and the capital would have any true nobility. In the eyes of many of the citizens of those districts, a regional despot like Ren Wenzhou was nothing more than a wealthy provincial. They were born with a sense of superiority, and that sense of superiority was still more obvious with those who came from the Big Six.


    By comparison, Butchie looked a lot more pleasing. Clearly, however, she wasn''t the equal of those two; whether in power or in strength, she wouldn''t be any rival to the two of them. If it were that man with the half mask, then he might have given them a fight.


    But, what did that have to do with him? Chen Mu kept comfortably drinking his juice, finishing off seven or eight glasses in a breath. The taste of each one was different¡ªquite a bit better than the Sapphire Cloud Running Water he used to drink.


    As soon as he thought about Sapphire Cloud Running Water, Chen Mu thought about Copper. He didn''t know where he was by then, which turned him melancholy.


    He remained in the corner that way without anyone to disturb him. Quite a few who had wanted to make friends with Chen Mu left discreetly when they saw Chen Mu''s look of not wanting any strangers.


    After the banquet was over, Chen Mu quietly left, not even seeing those he had spoken with again.


    When he returned home and opened the door, Chen Mu was taken aback. Wei-ah was sitting imposingly on the floor.


    "When did you get back?" Chen Mu went over to Wei-ah''s side and sat on the floor. Seeing Chen Mu had gotten back, Lu Xiaoru rushed to prepare the tea and something to eat.


    "Just now." Wei-ah didn''t raise his eyelids. Chen Mu had just noticed the plain brown-colored little animal he was holding. Wei-ah was teasing him in a desultory fashion.


    "What is that?" Chen Mu asked in curiosity. The small animal was covered in dense brown fur and looked a little bit like a dog, though its body was a lot fatter, which made it look like a brown ball of flesh.


    Wei-ah shook his head. "I don''t know."


    "You don''t know?" Chen Mu''s expression went strange. "Where did you get it from?" Given Wei-ah''s temperament, Chen Mu couldn''t quite believe he would buy a small pet. The only time he could have bought one was when he was hungry.


    "I stole it." Wei-ah still hadn''t lifted his eyelids as he quietly enjoyed himself, teasing the little guy. That little guy was slow enough; he curled up on Wei-ah''s leg, sleeping soundly.


    "You stole it?" Chen Mu became suddenly interested. "Where did you steal it from?"


    "Amedal."


    "Where is that?" Chen Mu was at a loss. Lu Xiaoru rushed to connect from the side. "Amedal is another business center in the Ming Zheng District. It''s about as bustling as Pomelo. It''s quite a ways from here."


    "What were you doing going to Amedal?" Chen Mu asked in curiosity. He had thought it was incredible when Wei-ah had asked him for money. Wei-ah must have had something to do for him to run over to Amedal. Chen Mu believed it certainly wasn''t because of that brown dog-like ball of flesh.


    "To steal it." Wei-ah''s response made Chen Mu''s face turn to stone.


    "It?" Chen Mu''s mouth was hanging open as he pointed at the chubby brown dog with a shocked expression. Lu Xiaoru, who was just about to pour the tea, nearly spilled the tea water.


    "Mmmm."


    "You ran off to Amedal just to steal it?" Chen Mu wasn''t quite sure whether he was hearing things.


    "Right."


    "Why did you steal it?"


    Wei-ah tilted his head to think for a bit. "He looked familiar."


    Black lines popped up straight across Chen Mu''s forehead. "So you just stole it? And, you specifically ran over to Amedal to steal it."


    "Right." Wei-ah then pulled out a money card and gave it to Chen Mu. "This thing is useless."


    "Useless?" Chen Mu went blank. A money card, useless? There were four million Oudi on that money card, and Wei-ah actually said it was useless! He was suspicious. "So, how did you get to Amedal?


    "On the shuttle train."


    "You need to buy a ticket for the shuttle train. Didn''t they check your ticket?" Chen Mu asked.


    "What kind of thing is that?" Wei-ah asked back.


    Lu Xiaoru''s hand shook again, and the tea water splashed onto the table.


    Chen Mu was using hand gestures to describe it. "It''s something like a card, called a train ticket. You can only get on the train with a ticket. Didn''t you buy one?"


    "No." Wei-ah shook his head.


    "Then, how did you get on?" Chen Mu asked with a lot of curiosity. "If you don''t have a ticket at the gate, then you can''t get in."


    "Oh, you''re talking about that talking machine? I gave it a tap, and it didn''t say anything more." Wei-ah''s expression was very natural.


    Chen Mu felt a sudden chill. Gave it a tap? He glanced at Wei-ah''s hand and couldn''t help an image of that scene floating up in his mind. Given Wei-ah''s strength, for him to give the ticket machine a tap, never mind that machine; even hardened instruments would be turned to scrap.


    Swallowing hard, Chen Mu kept asking, "Didn''t you eat?"


    "I ate."


    "How did you eat?" Chen Mu was curious.


    "I saw many places where cooked meat was hanging, and I took it down to eat." Wei-ah sucked his mouth. "The taste was a little mild, but it was still better than what you make."


    A scene immediately surfaced in Chen Mu''s mind where Wei-ah was walking into a cooked meat shop and saw a row of cooked meat hanging above, and with a stunning flash of speed he simply picked a few strings down and walked off.


    "Did you come back the same way?" Chen Mu''s looked dumbstruck, though he still asked.


    "Right."


    His glance fell again to the soundly sleeping, plump dog Wei-ah was holding. Could there be some relationship between the dog and Wei-ah? If there were no relation, then why would Wei-ah go so far? But, Wei-ah says he doesn''t know, which means he probably can''t quite remember. Chen Mu suddenly thought about a different issue. "How did you know this dog was in Amedal?"


    "I saw it on the fantasy card receiver."


    Chen Mu then suddenly realized what Wei-ah had said earlier. "It was also stolen?"


    "It had been locked in a cage, and I broke the cage. There were six people after me, whom I killed." Wei-ah didn''t change his expression. As cool as ever, he described a rather bloody affair with a natural voice.


    Lu Xiaoru turned white, and her hands shook so much she spilled a lot of the tea water.


    No matter what had happened, Wei-ah had returned, which finally allowed Chen Mu to relax. Given Wei-ah''s strength, he didn''t really need to worry, but Wei-ah was a complete stranger to the world beyond the jungle. Doing things like what he had just done were actually quite dangerous. If the other party was powerful, or if he ran into some real power, or if he''d been attacked by an angry mob, even given Wei-ah''s valiance, Chen Mu couldn''t be sure he could survive.


    Perhaps some ace like the president of one of the Big Six Academies could survive against bombardment from several hundred or even more card artisans. But, any other card artisan, even though they might be some famous ace, wouldn''t be able to escape from hundreds of card artisans.


    But, Wei-ah wasn''t versed in worldly affairs and was prone to get in trouble. Chen Mu wasn''t afraid of things, but meaningless trouble didn''t seem necessary to him.


    Lu Xiaoru''s face had remained white as though she had received a powerful shock. Even up until Wei-ah praised her cooking, her expression was extremely unnatural. That pudgy dog seemed rather clever and woke up as soon as it heard about eating.


    Wei-ah was the same after eating as he''d been before, watching his fantasy card receiver by himself. This time, however, there was a brown ball of flesh at his feet.

 231 State of Mind

    The next day, Chen Mu got a call from Sue Lochiro. She wanted him to come to the Medical Card Artisan Association. Could there have been some result? Chen Mu immediately rushed over.


    Unexpectedly, Sue Lochiro wasn''t the only one waiting for him. To Chen Mu''s astonishment, the old man he''d seen at the banquet was there.


    Sue Lochiro introduced him. "Mr. Cao, this is my teacher, Kong Youde. You may call him Elder Kong."


    "How are you, Elder Kong?" Chen Mu asked earnestly.


    Elder Kong laughed. "Well, how about I call you Little Cao? For a young person to be neither anxious nor hot-tempered is quite good." The old man had a look of praise in his eyes.


    Chen Mu said modestly, "You flatter me."


    "Mmmm, your situation is quite special. It''s my first time to encounter such a situation. Sue and I did some research, and the problem is quite a bit more troublesome than I''d imagined." The old man''s brow creased in a look of consternation.


    Chen Mu turned his gaze toward Sue Lochiro.


    She explained, "It''s been a while since Teacher has paid any medical calls himself. However, I''m stumped myself this time, so I begged Teacher to rescue me. It now looks like the issue is pretty tricky. But, don''t worry; the association will find a way." Afraid Chen Mu had taken a blow, she rushed to comfort him.


    Chen Mu''s heart dropped. Although he''d mentally prepared ahead of time, to hear Sue Lochiro with his own ears say there was nothing they could do disappointed him. He didn''t know what to do after even Sue Lochiro''s teacher said there was nothing he could do.


    Noticing the look of disappointment in Chen Mu''s eyes, Elder Kong smiled. "Don''t be discouraged. I''ve run across quite a few difficult odd diseases in my life, some of which I''d never heard of, and it was common to feel helpless at the outset. But, in the end, most of them were conquered. If you have confidence and work along with us, that would make a good result more likely!"


    "Mmmm." Chen Mu nodded heavily.


    Seeing that, Elder Kong was rather satisfied and continued. "I''ve already looked at the data from when Sue examined you last time, but it''s still insufficient. I need more detailed information regarding your body. You''ll need to do a few more detailed exams in hopes of a breakthrough."


    Elder Kong''s expression was serious, and Sue Lochiro couldn''t help but flash a look of concern either. It was obvious she wasn''t optimistic.


    Of course, Chen Mu wasn''t going to refuse Elder Kong''s request. When he saw that more than ten medical card artisans had been in the examination room for a while, he was stunned. But, he diligently did each exam. There were so many different exams they tired him out, even given his physical strength.


    After a full three hours, the exams were all finished.


    Elder Kong and Sue Lochiro had all the data they''d just gotten, though they both had serious expressions. That caused a bad feeling to arise in Chen Mu. Seeing Chen Mu walk away, Elder Kong sighed lightly and turned to leave.


    "Don''t worry. Go back, and we''ll do our best. If we make any progress, I''ll call you first thing," Sue Lochiro said mildly to comfort him. Chen Mu forced a smile. "No problem." Sue Lochiro using the words "do our best" had immediately caused him to realize his situation.


    He wasn''t so good at hiding his feelings, and Sue Lochiro had seen a lot and could tell at a glance. She was about to give some words of comfort, but she didn''t know what to say. Out of nowhere, her heart turned sour, and a few tears dropped from her eyes.


    The other card artisans'' gazes toward Chen Mu were a little more direct, as though they were looking at a dead man.


    Afterward, Chen Mu didn''t quite remember how he had left the Medical Card Artisan Association. He was already on the street before he reacted.


    Staring at all the people coming and going and looking into the sky where shuttle cars and card artisans were whizzing by, and then looking at the tall buildings, Chen Mu felt empty. He didn''t have anything, and a formless feeling filled his heart.


    But, he wasn''t all that sad, although it was bad news for him. Perhaps it was his mental preparation ahead of time, but Chen Mu found he felt neither very sad nor terrified.


    Being only 18, he had already seen too many deaths. He realized there were still a lot of things he had to do.


    The card play "The Legend of Master Shi" was still unfinished. He didn''t know where Copper was now, and Chen Mu had a powerful urge to finish it. There were still too many mysteries he hadn''t penetrated inside the mysterious card, and he still hadn''t figured out where it came from. There was still no sign of Wei-ah''s memory coming back, and then there were the children in the underground city.


    Chen Mu suddenly couldn''t help but laugh. He was so concerned with Wei-ah''s memory. When he thought about it, however, there was nothing he could do about it.


    He raised his head to look at the sky. The blue, as though the air were cleansed, abruptly brightened his gloomy mood. In any case, he wasn''t going to die in the next little while, so why not take the time to take care of his concerns and the things on his mind?


    That way, even if he were really to die, he would have fewer regrets.


    Chen Mu''s vision was gradually clearing up.


    None of the card artisans flying by in the sky, nor any of the hurried people walking past, had any idea there was a youth among them who had just completed an important transformation in his life!


    Just then, the apparatus on his wrist sounded.


    "Do you have time today, young brother Cao? Why don''t you come over to your big brother''s place to look around?" Yang An''s enthusiastic voice came through the apparatus.


    Chen Mu understood why his counterpart was so anxious. On the one hand, he wanted to see his ability to be sure the cooperation would be valuable. If it truly had value, then the fatty would naturally hope to be able to sign the contract soon.


    "I''ll be right over," Chen Mu said readily. He flew right up into the sky toward the fatty''s auction house.


    His own time was very tight. He had a lot of things to finish!


    Chen Mu''s steadfast belief flashed past his eyes like a shooting star piercing the sky.


    The fatty''s auction house was a lot bigger than Chen Mu had imagined. It completely destroyed his previous impression of auction houses. It was a group of buildings that were all five stories, crisscrossed by streets that were open in all directions with people shuttling everywhere. The bustle wasn''t any less than that of Pomelo''s most flourishing commercial street.


    The fatty was waiting at the main entrance in person, which doubtlessly attracted a lot of attention. Passersby would all glance and guess to themselves about what kind of VIP would cause the big boss, Yang An, to receive him personally. The big boss was seldom personally involved in the operations by that time. The ones holding the power were all managers. Those with sharp eyes immediately discovered the middle-aged man standing to the side of the big boss, respectfully clasping his hands. He must have been one of the four principal managers, Xi Ping.


    Just as the crowd was wagging their tongues, a sallow-faced youth dropped from the sky.


    "I have kept my big brother waiting!" Chen Mu saluted.


    "Ha ha, I''ve only just gotten here." Yang An was pleased to see Chen Mu and gave him an introduction. "This is my assistant, Xi Ping. If you need anything, contact him directly, or come to find me just the same."


    Chen Mu saluted. "Good day, Manager Xi."


    Xi Ping rushed to return the courtesy. "Mr. Cao is too polite!" There was also someone next to the fatty dressed in a battle uniform¡ªa cold-faced beauty, whom the fatty didn''t introduce and Chen Mu didn''t ask about.


    "Let''s go. I''ll give you a tour of your older brother''s life''s work." Fatty Yang was full of pride as he pulled Chen Mu inside.


    "Big Boss!"


    "Big Boss!"


    Along the way, people would respectfully salute the fatty incessantly, and he would reciprocate in a way to correct the laziness he''d shown Cleo at the banquet.


    "Big brother is awesome!" Chen Mu praised. He was speaking from his heart. The bustle in front of him was started by the fatty single-handedly. He was the king of the place!


    "Well, I haven''t wasted my life so far, ha ha." There was both feeling and pride in what the fatty said, and Xi Ping also showed some pride.


    "But, we also know our limitations. Don''t look at how many people we have or how big it is. What we move is mostly low-end stuff. Compared with the really big guys in the federation¡ªplaces like the Gewei Auction House or the Rainbow Eyes Auction House¡ªwe fall far short. Any two or three items from them would compare with an entire year''s quota here." The fatty was being a little self-deprecating.


    Chen Mu looked dazed. He had never heard of any Gewei or Rainbow Eyes. He knew pitifully little about the auction house industry.


    Noticing Chen Mu''s expression, the fatty laughed. "Let''s talk about something else. Come, I''ll take you to see the materials."


    There was an underground warehouse. While it wasn''t large, it was piled full of all sorts of materials.


    Chen Mu''s eyes were fixed.


    "Not bad, right?" The fatty''s pride couldn''t be hidden on his chubby face.


    "Nice, really nice!" Chen Mu murmured as he looked at the materials in a daze.


    It wasn''t that Chen Mu hadn''t seen things, but those mountainous piles of materials in front of him had put him into a temporary daze.


    He walked over to some random pile of materials. It was cat''s eye sandalwood. That was used in making three- and four-star cards and was a rather expensive material. Cat''s eye sandalwood was a fruit from a kind of fragrant yellow sandalwood tree. Each of the fruits shone like jade and would look like glowing cat''s eyes under the sunlight. Each one of the cat''s eye sandalwood in front of him was about as large as a thumb. From the size of a mung bean to the size of a thumb, it took them about ten years to grow.


    Such a cat''s eye sandalwood would cost about 500,000 Oudi in a materials shop, which could be considered very expensive. No ordinary materials shop would ever have ten-year cat''s eye sandalwood on sale. You would have to go to a large outfit to buy it. There looked to be a few hundred in the pile of cat''s eye sandalwood in front of his eyes. It was hardly strange for the fatty to have cat''s eye sandalwood on hand, but to have such high-quality cat''s eye sandalwood by the hundreds was still shocking.


    "Take a look at this!" The fatty ran with his buttocks pumping over to an ice box about half as tall as a person and gestured for Chen Mu to come over.


    The fatty lightly pressed a button. With a light noise, the ice box automatically opened, and a cold mist spread out from it. Chen Mu felt a chill air flowing over his face. When his gaze fell onto what was inside the mist-filled ice box, he couldn''t help but call out, "Liquid snow iron!"


    In the dense, cold mist were laying a few irregular, fist-sized black pieces of ore that had shards of ice on them. That was the famous liquid snow iron!


    If the cat''s eye sandalwood couldn''t be bought on the market, the liquid snow iron in front of him was among the most truly rare materials. Liquid snow iron could only be produced in extremely cold places in very sparse numbers. That sort of ore was rather special. It had to be maintained at temperatures under 30 below, above which it would melt into a silvery black, like liquid iron.


    The kind of liquid had a complicated composition; up until then, there hadn''t been anyone who could determine it. Once the liquid flowed out from the liquid snow iron, there was no way to preserve it. It would become useless within three hours when it would turn into ordinary iron and lose its value.


    He wouldn''t have imagined the fatty would actually have liquid snow iron on his hands, and not only one piece! Chen Mu had never seen the real thing but had been able to recognize it thanks to his prodigious memory.


    The fatty was quite pleased by Chen Mu''s expression. It would be appropriate to show one''s strength to someone who might become your ally in order to promote the two sides'' cooperation.


    "Is my young brother satisfied with this batch of materials?" the fatty said with a laugh.


    "Quite satisfied!" Chen Mu''s face was reddened with excitement. For a card master born among the grass roots like him, how could he not be excited to suddenly see such a large pile of precious materials?


    "So, could my young brother give us a demonstration?" As always, the fatty was smiling.


    Xi Ping''s gaze fell onto Chen Mu, knowing the moment of truth had arrived. In fact, he was rather indifferent toward that card master who had popped up so suddenly. Xi Ping had grown up in Pomelo, and whatever card master had any power there, or whoever was an imposter, was something he was very clear about. It didn''t mean much that he was the boss of Heaven''s Wings. Heaven''s Wings didn''t do anything more than make fantasy card advertisements. As everyone knew, fantasy card advertising was all one- or two-star cards; no matter how awesome he was, he was still just an outstanding low-grade card master.


    Heaven''s Wings'' takeoff only demonstrated what an outstanding manager he was; it couldn''t show he was an outstanding high-grade card master.


    If the boss hadn''t made the proposal himself, and even though everyone had a lot of confidence in the big boss''s judgement about people, the proposal wouldn''t have had any way to get through. Xi Ping was pretty concerned about that batch of materials, which was so hard to get and had cost a lot of money. If it were wasted, then the auction house would suffer rather heavy losses.


    "Ok!" Chen Mu responded readily with a flame of excitement dancing in his eyes.


    Xi Ping had the illusion that the youth in front of him had suddenly become a ravenous wolf, staring with longing at a fat flock of sheep with a vaguely green-tinged gaze.

 232 The Folding Yanbo Card I

    Chen Mu grabbed a pile of the materials he needed as the fatty and Xi Ping looked on anxiously. It was no wonder; the materials Chen Mu grabbed were all the most precious among them.


    Since he had made up his mind to show what he could do, Chen Mu wasn''t going to hide behind the easy stuff. He had gotten ready to make one of the most powerful cards he could make just then¡ªthe folding Yanbo card. He had researched the procedures and steps for making that card for a long time, and it could be said to be cooked into his mind. But, he had never had enough materials, in addition to most of his energy being devoted to the tailless shuttle card. He had hardly gotten caught up in the folding Yanbo card.


    It was now time to demonstrate his strength, and the folding Yanbo card would naturally make a good choice. He was confident about everything that had shown up in the mysterious card. And, with such a complete set of materials in that place, there were all the critical materials for the folding Yanbo card. He could find replacements for those few that weren''t there.


    The materials required for each kind of card composition were different. So, one inevitable responsibility of the card master was to be able to find substitutes.


    Moreover, each type of card didn''t just have a single composition. Chen Mu had found 12 different compositions for even the simple one-star power card.


    In the eyes of a card master, the composition of cards was quite flexible. What was known then about materials formulation was all summarized from prior research. Every type of card, and especially high-grade cards, might have upwards of dozens or even a hundred kinds of required materials. To think of staying strictly in accordance with the formulation would be too difficult. So, card masters had come up with techniques for finding their replacements.


    There were quite a few works on that, such as the rather common "Table of Physical Properties" or the "Handbook of Materials Science" and so forth. Among the Big Six, they would often have their own related internally written handbooks. Those were several times more valuable than the ones seen on the market, and they couldn''t be purchased on the outside.


    However, not all materials could be substituted. Every card composition had a few critical materials, which were irreplaceable. Which materials could be substituted and what could be used as a substitute, and what the results were like, were all a deep and vast topic of study.


    Of course, they couldn''t make cards in the warehouse. In order to get the best results, Chen Mu accompanied the fatty to a specialized card making studio.


    Xi Ping went ahead and lightly knocked. An old voice came from within. "Who is it?"


    "It''s me!" Xi Ping replied.


    "Come in."


    Pushing open the door, a dark-haired old man was in the middle of an experiment. The old man was taken aback to see Yang An. "What are you doing here, An?"


    "Pearson. I need to borrow your card making studio for a while."


    "I''m in the middle of conducting an experiment, An," Pearson said discontentedly. He was waving his withered arm. "I thought you were bringing me materials; I never imagined you would actually crash my card making studio!"


    "Ha ha, we won''t be too long. I will compensate you for the materials." The fatty spoke nonchalantly and immediately turned to Chen Mu to say, "Use whatever you need, my boy, and if you need Pearson to assist you, instruct him as you please."


    "An!" Pearson''s expression became a little ugly, and he couldn''t help but snarl. "You want me to be the assistant to this guy whose mop hasn''t even grown out? What an insult to this mid-grade, titled card master! A very serious insult!"


    Frowning, Xi Ping interjected from the side. "You consumed 3 million Oudi in materials last month, Pearson, and so far, you haven''t succeeded to make a single card. Are you thinking of paying back that chunk of change?"


    Up until then, Pearson had wasted about 30 million Oudi in materials to come up with nothing. But, that project was something the big boss had agreed to, and he couldn''t really object.


    Pearson''s face turned red. He kept smiling with embarrassment, saying, "An, please believe me, the experiments are about to succeed! Just give me a few more months, and I''ll surely succeed!"


    The fatty signaled him to stop and tipped his head to ask, "If he needs it, help this Mr. Cao."


    "No problem!" Pearson washed away his anger and patted his chest. "Pearson is an outstanding assistant!"


    The fatty turned around and smiled at Chen Mu to say, "Just ask, young brother. If you need any assistance, go to Pearson. He is a mid-grade card master with a pretty good foundation."


    "I''ll be a high-grade card artisan in a jiffy!" Pearson couldn''t help but make the distinction.


    Chen Mu nodded. "Ok." Then, he started to arrange the materials he had brought from the warehouse on the desk.


    "Oh my god! My lord, what I am seeing? I must be dreaming. Liquid snow iron! This is liquid snow iron. I am actually looking at liquid snow iron!" Pearson started shaking in his excitement, making his frail body look as though it were a reed fluttering in the wind. That old face, like a dried-up orange peel, had flushed red. He blurted as though he were spitting beads from his mouth, "This is cat''s eye sandalwood. Good lord, it''s at least ten years old! Star tuber grass? Could this be star tuber grass? Ah! Cross-grain shark wood, good lord, this must be an illusion. I must have gone crazy wanting some cross-grain shark wood..."


    Pearson was murmuring to distraction in front of those materials, sunken into a kind of unconscious fanaticism.


    Chen Mu took a look at Pearson with some understanding. When he had so suddenly seen the materials before, he hadn''t known what to do. However, he didn''t have time to become entangled with the old guy, having already started his work.


    He first put the star tuber grass in front of him. It was purple and slightly bigger than his palm. The leaves were plump to the point of dripping and gave off a taro-like scent. Turning over the leaves would show tiny mottled spots, with each spot like an extremely standard five-point star.


    He first pulverized the star tuber grass in the grinder and then used the A-13 reagent as solvent to get a tube of bright purple liquid. Then, he carefully used the liquid flowing from the liquid snow iron to dropper into the tube of purple liquid.


    In the blink of an eye, the purple liquid changed into a dense, inky black.


    The fatty and the rest had long since been struck dumb.


    Card masters wouldn''t let others disturb them when they were making cards. Before then, they had never seen a card master making a card. Chen Mu hadn''t asked them to leave, and they were naturally happy to watch. They were all staring wide-eyed, afraid to miss a single detail.


    Pearson was staring closely at Chen Mu''s hands, frowning in concentration, mumbling to himself, "What is the principle here¡­ How could liquid snow iron be used like that..."


    The movements of Chen Mu''s hands were dazzling. It was as though he didn''t have to think, with every move and every step seeming to be at his fingertips. In the eyes of the fatty and the rest, Chen Mu was like some superb dancer whose every move was graceful and smooth. He used the moving clouds and flowing water style of calligraphy, which gave the sense that it was all done in a single go.


    Pearson had already given up thinking. His eyes were fixed on Chen Mu, and sometimes he moved his hands along with him in imitation of his movements. He was utterly certain the youth in front of him, who didn''t look older than 17 or 18, was who knows how many times deeper in his attainments at card making than he was. A connoisseur would recognize artistry, whereas laypeople might simply enjoy the show. Each step Chen Mu took looked perfectly simple, but it held a lot of meaning when it fell onto Pearson''s eyes.


    Pearson memorized each of the materials that had been put in, hoping to be able to gain something. But, he knew most of that would be in vain. Card making was an extremely precise discipline; any slightest mistake could produce drastically different results. He only knew the order of the materials and didn''t know their quantities, so it wouldn''t be much use.


    In his mind, he had already determined Chen Mu must be a grand master. If he wasn''t, then he was surely a high-grade card master.


    Being able to see the process of an ace making cards with one''s own eyes was a rare opportunity. Although his counterpart wasn''t likely to teach him in person, he could still learn quite a few things. For instance, he had never heard and had never thought liquid snow iron could be processed that way. That had given him a lot of inspiration.


    It was quiet in the card making studio. No one dared to breathe. Even the beautiful female card artisan next to the fatty couldn''t help but hold her breath.


    Chen Mu was excited. When facing a tube of card ink that had probably cost 50 million Oudi in materials to make, no one could not be excited¡ªespecially when that 50 million had been spent on oneself.


    The card ink, which was as black as night, flashed with little silvery floating lights that were unspeakably beautiful and mysterious.


    But, he didn''t have time to become intoxicated in the beautiful card ink. The ink was very hot¡ªabout 150 degrees. Chen Mu needed to use it up before it sank to 72 degrees, or else the tube of beautiful card ink would lose its effectiveness.


    The time between 150 degrees and 72 degrees was between 37 and 45 minutes.


    Chen Mu had to finish drawing the folding Yanbo card within that period of time. Not just one card, but two! Although he knew the composition of the folding Yanbo card very well, he had never made one and couldn''t be certain he could succeed even once. Just in case, he made two batches of the card ink at the same time to give himself another chance. But, that also meant he would have to be quick.


    Without any hesitation, he took out two three-star cards he had prepared earlier and put them on the desk. He pulled out his Weak Water pen set.


    Pearson was staring at the Weak Water pen set. Although he didn''t know what the card making pens were called or from what master''s hand they had come, he could see at a glance they were uncommon. But, when he thought about how much further along the card-related attainments of his counterpart were than his own, the envy in his heart lightened quite a bit. It was replaced by a feeling of being in sync.


    By that time, Pearson was endlessly regretting that if he''d known earlier he would be running up there to be an assistant, he might have been able to stand right behind to watch his counterpart.


    The card ink underwent perception to meld with the card, and that kind of union went through countless transformations that went beyond anyone''s ability to speculate. That was just when the card making was the easiest to perceive.


    The pen moved vigorously like dragons-and-snakes style calligraphy. His wrist moved as though it had no bones, which was astonishing to see.


    Pearson was bowing down in admiration. Those were such skilled movements and such powerful basic skills, unlike any he had ever seen on a card master. Who knows what he would have thought if he had known Chen Mu had gotten his basic skills by training on thousands of one-star power cards?


    There was sweat on Chen Mu''s brow as fine as beads, and his breathing through his nose had become coarser. The rhythm of his hands hadn''t changed at all. The time passed by the second and by the minute until the very last stroke. He pulled back the pen like a light wisp of smoke and proclaimed to the multitudes he had completed the folding Yanbo card.

 233 The Folding Yanbo Card II

    Chen Mu stood up and gave the fatty one of the folding Yanbo cards. "I''d like to keep the other one. You may deduct the required fees from the income."


    Xi Ping carefully took the card the fatty handed him. Pearson, who couldn''t wait any longer, went over to them.


    The fatty waved his hand and said without a care, "My young brother is too polite; just take it."


    "Since we''ve already decided the rules, how could I break them?" Chen Mu shook his head, insisting.


    The fatty laughed. "Well, then let''s do as you say." His appreciation for Chen Mu grew a few notches. A big business man like him treasured reputation and trust more than anything. They were the sort of people who followed the spirit of the contract. Not being petty, Chen Mu''s conduct gave him a good feeling.


    "Let''s check this card out." The fatty clearly wanted to know the true worth of the card. He turned around to say, "I still haven''t asked my little brother what the card is called."


    "The folding Yanbo card."


    "How many stars?"


    "Three stars."


    The fatty responded with a grunt. Xi Ping felt a hot rush of blood to his head, and his face turned ugly. Three stars? Good god! That was 50 million Oudi in precious materials! To only make two three-star cards? Xi Ping felt his heart would drip blood.


    An impostor! In Xi Ping''s heart, Chen Mu had already turned into the same kind of imposter as Pearson. But seeing his boss look as though nothing was wrong, he repressed his urge to curse.


    The appraisal of a card''s value, and especially that of an excellent card, was a pretty troublesome process. When ordinary people spoke of cards, the first thing they would think of would be how many stars. For outstanding cards, however, or cards with the potential to increase in value, the number of stars was not the most important indicator.


    More weight was given to the overall performance of cards like that. Sometimes special-purpose cards could bring in a good price.


    The fatty was quite familiar with that principle, having built up string after string of classic cases, so he was completely fascinated after hearing Chen Mu. Pearson had a furrowed brow and a dull look all along, wearing an expression as though he were deep in thought.


    Before long, the groups arrived at a training room.


    It was a classic card assessment room. There were quite a few test instruments of every kind in the room, including some Chen Mu had never seen and didn''t know the purpose for. There were also quite a few people in the assessment room awaiting orders.


    "Come on, Jin Yu," the fatty ordered.


    "Yes, sir!" With a cold voice, the pretty female card artisan stepped forward from beside the fatty and took the folding Yanbo card from Xi Ping.


    "Is there anything my young brother would like to bring up?" the fatty asked.


    After thinking, Chen Mu said, "This card requires pretty outstanding perceptual control."


    The fatty turned up his mouth in a smile. "Ha, you don''t need to worry about that." The girl called Jin Yu flashed a look of annoyance. What she heard was that Chen Mu had doubted her ability.


    "Begin." The fatty spoke to Jin Yu. He was curious about what kind of outstanding qualities the card had, seeing as it was made by a card master who could get the attention of Faya.


    Xi Ping and Pearson quickly looked toward the field. The assistants were all taking their places.


    A half-dome shaped energy cloak covered the test field, which divided it from those watching. That was to avoid any accidents.


    Jin Yu put the folding Yanbo card into her own apparatus. One could see at a glance what sort of high-grade goods that was. Chen Mu counted six card slots, which made him rather envious.


    Jin Yu closed her eyes, carefully trying to understand the internal composition of the folding Yanbo card. The cold, jade-like face of Jin Yu wasn''t as cold as usual, but it was intensely focused.


    Chen Mu didn''t really know himself what the power of the folding Yanbo cards was like. The tailless shuttle''s power had already become shocking, so he didn''t think the folding Yanbo card would fall far short of it. Moreover, when it came to the production costs, the folding Yanbo card cost several dozen times more than the tailless shuttle card.


    The only thing he was worried about was that the requirements regarding the perceptual sensitivity index were too high. He''d gotten the reward of the folding Yanbo card only after his own perceptual sensitivity index had reached 65.


    Jin Yu suddenly opened her eyes, and Chen Mu immediately felt a powerful energy fluctuation! It caused his heart to race. His gaze was fixed on Jin Yu on the field.


    Jin Yu''s snow-scallion-like right hand was tilted down in midair. A fiery, bright red energy was taking shape below her slightly wagging fingers as though molten lava were flowing and snaking out of them.


    An extremely simple bright red energy body floated in front of Jin Yu.


    The arrowhead-shaped energy body wasn''t actually orderly; it gave out a crude feeling. The derision Xi Ping felt became still heavier. In general, high-grade cards emitted energy bodies with orderly compositions. They all had perfectly rigorous geometric structures. The arrow-shaped energy body emitted by Jin Yu was like a variable-thickness energy body with a fold in its middle. It was called the Yanbo¡ªor swallow wave¡ªand was probably the ugliest swallow in history!


    The fatty''s expression hadn''t changed, showing neither discouragement or excitement. Pearson looked full of doubt, as though he''d encountered some problem that gave him a headache. His furrowed brow didn''t show any sign of relaxing.


    A look of joy emerged on Jin Yu''s face.


    Without any hesitation, she gave a light wave of her hand. The bright red folding energy body whirred into a trace of red that left a trail in everyone''s eyes, and it hit the target precisely.


    Hong!


    Everyone felt a shock under their feet, and Pearson nearly fell over. Luckily Xi Ping was quick-witted and held onto him. The fat on the boss''s body shook, which steadied him. The good thing about a heavy chassis at a time like that was its stability.


    The shaking struck everyone, including Chen Mu.


    Jin Yu remained on the field. The target that had been in front of her had already disappeared without a trace, and in its place was a big hole about a meter across and 30 centimeters deep.


    All of the assistants stopped what they had been doing and looked onto the field in disbelief. The large testing ground was absolutely silent.


    With a jangling, something fell to the ground from someone''s hands, and the sound of it aroused everyone from their shock.


    "My god! What did I just see?" The creases on Pearson''s excited face shook like a roaring sea.


    Xi Ping was completely flabbergasted, though he quickly responded. A hard-to-disguise look of ecstasy appeared on his face. It was clear to him how much money the folding Yanbo card could bring in!


    His gaze remained on the big hole in the ground. The testing field was paved with high-strength bricks made of protective materials; if ordinary cards left a slight mark on it, they wouldn''t be bad. For the folding Yanbo to have effortlessly blown such a huge hole required unparalleled power.


    The ever-calm fatty finally showed some excitement on his face as he quickly asked the assistants, "Has any data come out?"


    One of the assistants stammered, "It has too much power. It destroyed the target, and we have no way to compute its power. The most destructive power this type of target can withstand is 1,200. If you want to continue the assessment, we''ll have to swap out a higher-grade target."


    "Change it, and do another test!" the fatty ordered without hesitation.


    Xi Ping felt his mouth dry and his tongue parched, and he couldn''t help but lick his lips. What kind of concept is damage at 1,200? The damage value for ordinary three-star fantasy cards started at about 200. Above 300, it would already be considered a pretty good three-star fantasy card. When it reached 500 or more, a three-star fantasy card was already the finest of the fine. Not only had the fatty never seen a three-star fantasy card with a destructive value of 1,200, he had never even heard of one.


    While the destructive value for a four-star fantasy card would fluctuate quite a bit, in general, they averaged roughly 600. The best among them could reach over 1,000. If they could get to 1,500, they would be absolute top-quality.


    The three-star card in front of them had actually achieved a destructive value of more than 1,200. How would that not be incredibly stirring? For them, the card''s sales value was the most essential thing. A three-star card that could compare to the best of the four-star fantasy cards would have a sales value far beyond a four-star card with a similar destructive value.


    The higher the star rating of a card, the greater the demands on a card artisan. The demands of a four-star and a three-star fantasy card were at completely different levels. Card artisans who were able to train to use a four-star fantasy card had already risen to quasi-ace stature. Those like Bo Wen could deploy a four-star fantasy card, though he hadn''t been very skilled at it.


    That also meant the folding Yanbo card''s customer base would far exceed the target audience for a four-star fantasy card. For a businessman like the fatty, what could be more wonderful than that? Xi Ping was also clear about the folding Yanbo card''s value. His face reddened with the difficulty of hiding his excitement.


    Meanwhile, Pearson remained shocked, but he was even more full of doubt about the things he had pondered a hundred times.


    The assistants put up the target as fast as they could and connected it to the instruments. That time, they were using the highest-grade target, which could sustain a destructive value of 2,000. They were excited and didn''t need any urging from the fatty for each of them to be proactive as never before. They all knew they were possibly going to witness the birth of a new record with their own eyes!


    What could be more exciting than that?


    Jin Yu was also pretty excited, though she still felt some regret; too bad she wouldn''t be able to get that card for herself. Although the boss was good to her and basically met her requests, that level of card wasn''t something she could ever expect.


    Still, to even have the opportunity to use such an outstanding card had great benefit for her. Being able to achieve such terrifying power was sufficient to clarify how perfectly formed the energy composition of the folding Yanbo card was. Although she couldn''t thoroughly understand it, she could still be greatly enlightened.


    Aiming at the target, she again lightly flipped her right hand. Another bright red folding Yanbo shot out.


    There was another explosion, and the ground under everyone''s feet shook again. Having been prepared this time, no one fell.


    When the smoke cleared, the target had come through unscathed. On the floor below the target, however, another hole as big as the last one was blown open.


    "My god! A destructive value of 1,502!" the assistant exclaimed, once again igniting the atmosphere on the scene.


    There was a collective heavy breath, and everyone''s face was flushed. It was a miracle. A true miracle!


    Among four-star cards, a destructive value of 1,500 was a watershed. Being able to achieve that value would be called top-quality, but 1,502 was a number that had definitely broken through that watershed. A super top-quality three-star card comparable to a top-quality four-star card? Xi Ping had already started to get some idea in his mind about how to plan for the auction of that card.


    Of course, that wasn''t the only part of the assessment. The evaluation of a card had quite a few items, such as the card''s standard firing frequency, its rate of energy consumption, the specific qualities of the energy body, the environment where it could be used, and so forth.


    On the field, Jin Yu was getting more and more excited about the folding Yanbo card. She was increasingly relaxed as she released it and didn''t need to use her fingers to assist it anymore; she could just casually let it go.


    The fatty gave Chen Mu a thumbs up and exclaimed, full of admiration, "You are a card master worthy of Faya''s prostration after all, my boy. Powerful! From what I see, this work of my young brother isn''t something even grand masters could compare with. I would dare to assure this card will certainly become a miracle across the entire federation!"


    "My older brother flatters me," Chen Mu said humbly. To tell the truth, he hadn''t expected the folding Yanbo card''s power to actually be so terrifying. The tailless shuttle''s destructive power was 756 when it was assessed last time. Now that he had gradually deepened his attainments with it, it would reach 1,000 with no problem. Even so, it was still quite far from a destructive value of 1,502. Chen Mu believed the power could still increase over time as he became more familiar with the folding Yanbo card.


    It was a truly terrifying card¡ªeven Chen Mu himself felt it so! Luckily he''d left one for himself. If he didn''t have such a powerful weapon in his hands, wouldn''t that be a great loss?


    Xi Ping was looking at the folding Yanbo card in Chen Mu''s hands with a burning gaze, like he couldn''t wait to grab it.


    Fortunately, fatty saw Xi Ping''s appearance and scolded him with a laugh. "You unpromising fellow, cut out that piggish look. It''s a complete disgrace to me!"


    Xi Ping abruptly and sheepishly smiled, and Chen Mu couldn''t help but smile back.


    In no time, the results of the assessment were out.


    "Folding Yanbo card. Three-star. Standard destructive value: 1,502. Standard firing rate: 2.8 times per second. Characteristics: explosion. Coverage: a diameter of three meters. Environment for deployment: a non-water environment. Note: Those with higher perceptual acuity can increase the power¡­"


    When the fatty saw the list, his mouth nearly curled up to the back of his head. Jin Yu pulled the folding Yanbo card from her apparatus with a glimmer of reluctance on her face. When Xi Ping took it, he carefully and quickly put it where no one could see it.


    Chen Mu couldn''t wait to leave by then to go back and really test out the power of the folding Yanbo card in his hands. He understood their cooperation had already been completely determined, and he didn''t have anything else to do there. Having finally accomplished his goal, his mind became abruptly more relaxed.


    Glancing at Pearson, who was about to scratch through his head, Chen Mu flet some sudden sympathy. Although he had long since made up his mind to do his utmost, he had used a lot of skills. If he were to put the composition of his folding Yanbo card together with the folding Yanbo card described in the mysterious card, it would be easy to discover that this card''s composition was quite a bit more complicated, having a few more lines where there previously weren''t any.


    Chen Mu had used those lines to confuse people. They didn''t have any function but were purely decorative. But, mixed up as they were with the true composition, if one didn''t already know the composition of the folding Yanbo card, even Chen Mu himself wouldn''t have any way to accurately determine it. That was apart from any speculation about how the folding Yanbo card was made, on the basis of the card''s composition.


    Chen Mu had paid more attention to the token architecture in the composition. Surrounding the token composition, there were a lot of lines to dazzle people, just in case someone slightly understood the token architecture. It would be difficult to determine what it actually was unless the other person''s attainment with token theory was far more profound than his, in which case those little tricks would be utterly useless. His counterpart would certainly be able to discover the mystery within them at a glance.


    If that were really to happen, such a level of card master wasn''t someone he could contend with anyway.


    "Young brother." The fatty had a solemn look on his face. Seeing Chen Mu''s glance come around, he said with a sigh, "To tell the truth, I feel a little bit as though I can''t put out this card."


    Seeing that Chen Mu''s expression hadn''t changed at all, he smiled and continued on. "This card is really too powerful! Such a card¡ªwhich has never before appeared in the Heavenly Federation¡ªif I were to put out a card like this, it would doubtlessly be a blockbuster. I''m afraid it wouldn''t be a small storm, either. My young brother would be famous overnight. That''s for certain. But I''m afraid a lot of trouble would come along with our going ahead like that."


    What the fatty said was serious, and Chen Mu listened carefully, chewing over the fatty''s words.


    "I''m ashamed by what I say. Your big brother is a substantial person in Pomelo, but if I were to swing over to the federation, I wouldn''t be much more than an ant. I''m afraid there wouldn''t be anyone who wouldn''t want such a person as my young brother. This card would certainly attract all the heavyweight powers. It wouldn''t even be impossible to get into the Big Six. Your older brother congratulates you in advance."


    The fatty''s expression was sincere, without the slightest put-on, which warmed Chen Mu''s heart. He knew that to be able to re-enter the Big Six was a future better than anything in the eyes of ordinary people. That was why the fatty had made his expression of congratulation.


    Seeing the fatty still had something to say, Chen Mu restrained himself from interrupting and continued listening.

 234 Like Crazy

    "Of course, your older brother will do his utmost to cover for you. But, as a person with a conscience, I have to say it''s only a matter of time before people find you. Standing in front of the god of hell is easy compared to dealing with the smaller devils. The Big Six are like tall trees that catch all the wind, and they have to be scrupulous about their names. They also have enough bargaining chips to draw in my young brother. The scariest are those who operate in the dark. They will do anything to achieve their goals and are ruthlessly hot and hard to deal with. My boy had better be prepared.


    "I''ve heard you have an ace by your side. That''s good. With just one person, though, it would still be easy to slip up. My young brother may wish to invite a few more. There''s no need for them to be too high-grade. On the one hand, you would put up a front to save a lot of trouble. On the other hand, sometimes it''s just useful to have more people. Your older brother has quite a few under him, but not because I''m mean¡ªbecause they relax me." The fatty had a solemn expression.


    Chen Mu''s heart skipped a beat. He didn''t know if the ace the fatty was talking about was Wei-ah or Lu Xiaoru. No matter whom, the fatty hadn''t informed him just to surprise him. He could hear there wasn''t any hostility in what he''d said, but he was rather saying it for his sake.


    The fatty smiled until his chubby, rolling face showed how sincere he was. "Ha ha, to tell the truth, I''m being selfish. The longer it takes for my young brother to be discovered, and the later he becomes famous, the better it is for me." He laughed. "If you were to do as I say, then my young brother would never have a name. That would be the best. Then again, someone as golden as my young brother would shine anywhere sooner or later!"


    After talking, he patted Chen Mu on the shoulder. "Just keep this talk from your old brother in mind." He then accompanied Xi Ping to go look at the rest of the tests on the folding Yanbo card. Pearson was left alone in the corner with a puzzled frown.


    After a month, the folding Yanbo card would be sold at auction for the first time. That would undoubtedly be an auction of unprecedented scale. They were all worrying about whom to send the invitations to. Before that, they would have to completely seal off any news about the folding Yanbo card.


    The fatty couldn''t wait for Chen Mu to be able to make a few hundred folding Yanbo cards, but that was only a beautiful wish. In reality, Chen Mu didn''t have a way to make even the third folding Yanbo card. He had already used up one of the critical ingredients: the rabbit hair crystal.


    The rabbit hair crystal was a red crystalline ore, and inside of its crystal-clear body were a large quantity of filament-like objects, like rabbit hair, only more brightly colored. In the eyes of ordinary people, they would be a kind of commonly seen material.


    But the rabbit hair crystal that was needed to make the folding Yanbo card had strange requirements.


    The rabbit hair in the crystal had to be a silvery-gray. The ordinary rabbit hair crystal was red, and the rabbit hairs inside it were a deeper, flame-like red. The better the grade, the redder the rabbit hair crystal. A top-quality rabbit hair crystal looked as though the hairs were steeped in blood, dazzlingly beautiful.


    However, it was clearly stated in the mysterious card that you certainly needed the rabbit hair to be silvery-gray in the rabbit hair crystal. Among their batch of rabbit hair crystals, there were only two pieces that met the requirements.


    Chen Mu really wanted to try and see what kind of results he would get if he were to use those bright red rabbit hair crystals to make the folding Yanbo card. But those materials were really too expensive. Even tossing out the rabbit hair crystal, the price of the other materials was still so high Chen Mu had only gotten to the point of looking up at them with longing. He still hadn''t become so ostentatious as to use that much money just to experiment.


    He had already gotten the fatty to acquire the silver-gray rabbit hair crystal. Looking at those expensive and rare materials, Chen Mu felt the stirrings of an unprecedented, powerful urge to make cards.


    Apart from the folding Yanbo card, he still had the tailless shuttle card, but he didn''t have anymore outstanding card compositions on hand. That wasn''t such a big issue for him, however. Having mastered the Token Theory meant he was already using the most powerful weapon. He only needed to use the Token Theory to optimize any other so-called card''s compositions.


    Those rare materials were constantly stimulating Chen Mu''s brain and causing him to be in a hyper state of excitation. What was life''s greatest happiness? Chen Mu didn''t know, but at that moment, he believed there wasn''t anything like those rarely seen materials in front of him to make him feel happy!


    Chen Mu had always had to struggle to keep his balance on the line of having enough food and warm clothes. So, he had always been frugal with materials.


    A powerful sense of abundance sprang out of nowhere! His gaze drifted off from all those kinds of materials to some card compositions, which had sprung involuntarily from his brain. The cards he had researched so many times seemed to be waving to him.


    So many thoughts, so many ideas, so many compositions, as though a volcano had been saving up for a long time and was about to gush!


    * * *


    "My god! Is that guy still human?" Xi Ping murmured, his eyes vacant.


    "How long has he been working?" the fatty asked with a somewhat trembling voice.


    "Nearly three hours." Xi Ping hadn''t heard the fatty''s strangeness in his vacant state.


    "How many cards has he finished?" the fatty continued to ask.


    "I don''t know." Xi Ping felt his brain had gone wooden, and he glanced at the cards scattered on Chen Mu''s desk. "Probably more than ten!"


    They were all at the door discussing quietly. No one went in to disturb him, lest they awaken Chen Mu from the state he was in.


    The fatty looked at Chen Mu overjoyed, having felt in his heart countless times how glad he was about that gamble! There really was a god of wealth!


    There were a lot of card masters in the Heavenly Federation, and it wasn''t as though there weren''t powerful card masters! But they had never seen any card master with as much power as Chen Mu, nor one so efficient. In general, card masters with exceptional power were always utterly prudent about making cards. Their temperaments were weird and not quite human-feeling, and they seldom did anything. One card would often require several months'' time.


    Chen Mu had utterly destroyed the impression of card masters they had in their minds!


    Chen Mu making cards could only be described by two words: like crazy! Chen Mu had an amazing burst of energy when he threw himself into card making again. His pen never stopped! In that moment, it was like he was simultaneously possessed by both Rosenberg and Heiner Van Sant.


    The madness just shocked everyone!


    * * *


    He worked continuously for eight hours without a break! His every movement was so precise, and his every stroke was so perfect, that in his silence, Chen Mu would make everyone feel a kind of powerful tension. The many kinds and styles of cards arrayed in front of him were scattered all over. Those were the cards he''d completed in eight hours.


    Chen Mu finally stopped, his whole body beyond limp and sore from head to toe. His perception was somewhat floating, and he nearly didn''t have the strength to stand. But his gaze was still brimming with intense joy!


    Seeing Chen Mu had stopped, those who had been waiting outside all day hurried in.


    The fatty, who was in the capacity of the big boss of the auction house, was now like a servant, holding out steaming food with both hands and anxiously presenting it to Chen Mu. The one called "iron face," who was in the capacity of the top manager, Xi Ping, was respectfully providing Chen Mu with hot towels. In one hand, Pearson held the pot, while in the other he held out cups. His face was like a blooming chrysanthemum, as though he were trying to suck Chen Mu in with his flattering look.


    Hungry to the point of collapse, Chen Mu wanted to eat without wanting to. He nearly buried his face in the rice.


    While Chen Mu was eating, the three of them started to inventory the day''s results.


    One, two, three...


    The final result was 22 cards, added to the folding Yanbo card he first made. In that one day, Chen Mu had made 23 cards altogether. Among them were 21 three-star cards and two four-star cards, with no two the same.


    Twenty-three cards!


    Their gazes fixed on the cards in front of them, and the three were utterly speechless. For one card master to make 23 cards in a single day wasn''t just strange; to be able to make five or six three-star cards was already extremely powerful. To be able to make 23¡ªmoreover, 23 cards with entirely different compositions¡ªwas far beyond the category of human in their minds.


    There was no card master who could make cards like that. Being a card master was an extremely money-burning profession, and experience was established on countless materials. Ordinary card artisans didn''t have the opportunity to waste materials, and those card artisans who had institutions to support them lived pampered lives. Why would they so desperately squeeze their own perception?


    To concentrate for a long time put a big load on the body.


    However, that didn''t mean anything for Chen Mu. Starting from when he had been making one-star power cards, he had conducted such a heavily loaded life every day. The difficulty of making a three-star card wasn''t like the one-star power card; in the same way, the strength of his perception was not what it had been.


    That day, Chen Mu far exceeded his ordinary performance. He''d been provoked to a passion for making cards by the high-grade materials in front of his eyes, and once provoked, he couldn''t hold back. His card-related accumulations had also reached a certain level where once he was triggered, it turned into the scene in front of them.


    If he had to make another one, he wasn''t certain he could do it.


    But those results had been live in front of their eyes, and the shock it gave them was unparalleled.


    The fatty and Xi Ping were both smiling and hadn''t stopped. In those days, card masters were easy enough to find. Powerful card masters were hard to find, and card masters who were both powerful and desperate would be one in a thousand. Although they still hadn''t assessed those cards'' quality, just based on the speed, they were both quite satisfied.


    At that speed, he was simply a one-person card printing machine.


    The smile on Pearson''s face had become a lot simpler as he bowed down in prostration. He couldn''t wait to throw himself at Chen Mu''s feet.


    Chen Mu''s manner of eating was just as crazy as his card making; he ate six people''s portions in a single breath. The three watching changed their expressions slightly.


    Like crazy! Too crazy! This guy isn''t normal! The three were communicating with their eyes.


    Seeing Chen Mu finally finish eating, the fatty''s face was full of smiles. He already couldn''t wait. "Let''s go test some cards, young brother. You need to digest the food we just made."


    Chen Mu nodded, having recovered some of his strength. "Ok." He wanted to see how he''d done, as well. He didn''t remember clearly what sorts of cards he''d made in that crazed state.

 235 Numbered Series Cards

    When they arrived again at the testing room, the staff looked at Chen Mu in a completely different manner. Each of them was adoring and respectful. No matter where he went, such a person with genuine talent and learning would always be admired.


    Xi Ping carefully took out the stack of cards.


    That stack of cards was possibly the largest¡ªno, it was definitely the largest batch of goods for that year.


    Xi Ping was really looking forward to the craze the folding Yanbo card would stir up. When he thought about that miraculous creation from his own auction house¡ªand born from his own hands¡ªit was hard to suppress his excitement.


    He couldn''t expect the pile of cards now in his hands to be of the same top quality as the folding Yanbo card. The way he saw it, something like the folding Yanbo card should never exist in quantity.


    So, he wasn''t too discouraged when he heard Chen Mu say he had no way to make another folding Yanbo card. Besides, he knew those 22 cards wouldn''t be anything ordinary, given Chen Mu''s power.


    Everyone there had plenty of reason to anticipate testing the cards.


    Jin Yu was still responsible for the testing. She looked eager as she hotly stared at the stack of cards in Xi Ping''s hands. When she had personally tested the folding Yanbo card, it had made an unparalleled impact on her. But she knew she couldn''t have such top-notch products as the folding Yanbo card. So, although it had made her happy, she wasn''t going to overstep. There were so many in that stack of cards¡ªno fewer than 20. If one were truly suited for her to use among them, she would ask for it, and the boss shouldn''t be too stingy.


    It looked like hard work for her to be the tester, but she really liked it. Apart from Chen Mu, she reckoned she best understood which cards were good and which ones suited her.


    Chen Mu waved over Xi Ping, who immediately came to his side, holding the cards respectfully. Chen Mu needed to provide a general introduction to the cards to help Jin Yu reduce her time exploring them.


    He casually picked a card from Xi Ping''s hands and took a look at it. Chen Mu said confidently, "This is a shuttle card, or I should say it''s a kind of cluster shuttle card. It can fire off 16 to 32 energy shuttles at a time with mid-range firing frequency. Its strength is unparalleled firepower, and its shortcomings are that there is no way to conduct precise attacks, and the power of the individual shuttles is limited. Energy consumption is also pretty fast."


    The first card brought endless pleasant surprises for the group.


    The light cyan-colored energy shuttles made the sky look as though it was filled with needles, with spray after spray of attack having shocking power. The issue with accuracy Chen Mu talked about didn''t seem like an issue in the eyes of those looking on. Each attack wave covered an area with a diameter of seven or eight meters and didn''t leave any place to hide. The waves became even scarier as Jin Yu gradually became familiar with the card.


    After she got used to it, Jin Yu could fire 24 energy shuttles at a time. What kind of scene did it make when 24 energy bodies flooded an area of seven or eight meters? Imagine it like 24 card artisans firing at the same time from a shuttle car! The onlookers had never seen anything like it, and they all turned white in amazement.


    Even Jin Yu turned a little white. She wondered if she could evade it if she were ever to face such firepower herself. She nixed the possibility to dodge or evade it in the first instant. Without being able to dodge or evade, she would have to hold out. Holding out required having an energy cloak card with outstanding performance!


    But when she saw the damage value for each energy shuttle reported by the instruments, she completely gave up on that. Each of the individual energy bodies had a damage value of 300! While that result naturally didn''t mean much compared to the folding Yanbo card they''d just tested, it was still enough to chill her heart.


    The diameter of an energy cloak was about two meters, more or less. That meant for each attack, the energy cloak needed to sustain an attack value of about 1,200 to 2,400!


    Although that wasn''t enough to leave a person hopeless, it was enough to terrify Jin Yu. To be able to resist over 1,200 damage, an energy cloak would have to be the best of the best! Their scarcity made such high-quality energy cloaks something money couldn''t buy on the market.


    However, Jin Yu had also found the card''s shortcoming. It consumed too much energy. One three-star energy card would only suffice to fire off ten attack waves!


    Even so, that didn''t overshadow how tough the card was. It was an out-and-out, relentlessly effective attack device. It was like a sharp spear without a horse; once the offense made it to the extreme, weaknesses in the defense wouldn''t be important at all.


    The fatty remained gracefully composed off to the side but was inwardly bursting with joy. While that card was far from the folding Yanbo card, there would be a big enough market for it. One card would be enough for an unnatural card like the folding Yanbo. Any more would greatly dilute their value. But that new card had a clear advantage despite its shortcomings. Its price also wouldn''t be as outrageous as that of the folding Yanbo card, so a lot more people could buy it.


    That price point was where most customers would be. And the fatty knew how amazingly hyped the prices would become.


    Xi Ping then respectfully asked, "What will you call the card?"


    Chen Mu casually said, "001."


    Everyone turned to stone.


    Chen Mu probably didn''t realize his casually-named card would later become highly sought after. No one realized the most famous numbered series in history would actually be called something its creator said thoughtlessly just to avoid the bother of naming it.


    Nobody knew how many cards there would be in the numbered series. But those numbered cards would become something every mid-grade card artisan dreamed of. They were the worthy kings among that level of card.


    Later on, the Register of Numbered Cards would become the register every card master had to have. In that book were collected all the numbered cards that could be found at the time, arranged according to their numbering and listing the patterns of their compositions. There were a lot of missing numbers inside, however, which was painful in the minds of countless card masters!


    Writing about the first card in the numbered series, the Register of Numbered Cards commented on it this way: "No one knows what the mysterious card master had in mind while making this card. We believe the grand master might not have realized he would leave behind such a store of precious riches. Even if it were placed within the entire history of cards, this set of cards would always be an incomparably radiant pearl.


    "That pearl 001 made a decisive impact in the initial glory of its making. Its amazing destructive value remains surprising even now. It would be difficult for us to determine whether the cluster attack style of card was started with 001, but its outstanding performance has given it the top-gun spot among the numbered cards."


    Xi Ping didn''t know how many times he had cursed Chen Mu to himself. He felt such a powerful card should at least be called something like the Torrential Rainstorm of Pear-Blossom Nails or some such glorious name. But Chen Mu''s ability and power had already utterly awed him. Although he might have thought it too bad in his heart, he didn''t dare show the slightest dissatisfaction.


    This old man really is a god of wealth!


    Number 002 was then quite a strange card. It could emit a kind of utterly unique energy wave that could influence nearly all energy structures. It was inspired by the Star Academy''s star lure card from his time at Eastern Wei Academy. The theory of 002 was that it could influence any energy composition. In practice, though, it would be difficult to get to that point.


    Still, that unorthodox card was powerful! It didn''t have any attack qualities, but when used as backup, it could greatly increase the fighting strength of the side using it.


    Good things would certainly have good prices! The masterful fatty''s eyes had already narrowed to slits.


    Each card was demonstrated, from 001 to 022, and Jin Yu was so tired she was drenched in fragrant sweat. All of the staff were so tired they were about to fall over. But nobody was complaining. Everyone''s face was flushed with excitement. They hadn''t seen such an exciting test for many years. They were doomed never to forget that day for their whole lives.


    Every time a card was tested, it would be placed into a high-grade, fragrant wooden box, the inside of which was lined with soft swan''s down velvet. On the box''s face were detailed markings, and a sheet of more detailed test results was placed inside.


    Looking at one after another of the exquisite card boxes, Chen Mu felt full of accomplishment, which reduced the exhaustion of his body by no small amount.


    "I have an idea, young brother," the fatty whispered.


    "What''s that?" Chen Mu asked right away in curiosity.


    "Ho ho, these cards will certainly cause a sensation in Pomelo, and we don''t need to worry about their price. Let''s just sell half!" The fatty laughed craftily.


    "And the other half?"


    "We''ll exchange those for materials," the fatty said, laughing. "We''ll use the first half to make a stir, which I believe will cause their fame to soar. When the time comes, I''ll put out a rumor that the rest of the cards will be exchanged for materials and won''t be for sale! I think those guys will certainly think of some way to come up with some precious materials. After having the materials, my young brother wouldn''t have to worry about being short of supplies."


    Chen Mu was immediately in awe. What a great idea! He was in a surprisingly good state that day with a high rate of success, even though he had failed seven or eight times, which used up a large quantity of materials. Although it looked like there were a lot of materials in the warehouse, there was a serious shortage of quite a few of them after that day''s consumption.


    The two of them briefly discussed it and were soon unanimous. They would sell half of the cards made from then on, and they would exchange the other half for materials.


    Chen Mu immediately went back after he finished everything. He really needed to rest. Not only did his body need to rest, but his brain needed to rest too. That burst of inspiration was unexpected, and he needed sufficient time to digest it. After it was completely digested, his card making ability would have shot up by a length.

 236 The Craze

    Chen Mu felt refreshed after he woke up. He''d slept for two days, which showed how much strength and energy he''d used up.


    What he''d gained was pretty rich as well. Not only did he earn recognition from the fatty, but he''d made a new breakthrough with his card making. His ordinary approach had suffered from a lack of materials and the inability to implement it. Now, he could use the fatty''s materials and had experimented with most of them. Among those experiments, he sometimes succeeded and sometimes failed. But, whether success or failure, there was always a great benefit for Chen Mu.


    He now understood why so many card masters wanted to join institutions or organizations. They wouldn''t need to worry about materials, capital, or equipment. Whatever fancy ideas they had, they could use the organization''s solid strength to be able to do their experiments.


    But ordinary card masters wouldn''t be so lucky. They needed to consider their own livelihoods and needed to shop for and gather materials for themselves. They would need to acquire all sorts of high-grade instruments. When it came to precious materials, however, they couldn''t just buy whatever they wanted. They could often only get them through special channels. Such materials would be difficult for a solitary card master to get if relying on his own power.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help but sigh about his own good luck. If he hadn''t run into the fatty, his breakthrough would likely have been put off indefinitely.


    He couldn''t help but think about what the fatty had told him. The fatty had loads more experience with the ways of the world than he did, and Chen Mu put a lot of credence on his opinion.


    Entering the Big Six? He wasn''t interested. In his mind, the Big Six had already become the villain. He would rather become a card master who wouldn''t be considered all that outstanding. He certainly didn''t want to become a card master with no freedom. He had also gathered from what the fatty had said that he didn''t only need to consider the issue of choice; he also needed to consider his own safety.


    Chen Mu wasn''t really worried about safety with Wei-ah at his side. But he still wanted to ask Wei-ah''s opinion. He was an expert in fighting, and no one had more right to say something about that than he did.


    Wei-ah was in the middle of teasing that plump brown dog. The fat and healthy dog was lying lazily on Wei-ah''s lap while Wei-ah played with it, making all of its flesh undulate.


    "I have a question, Wei-ah." Chen Mu just spoke straight out. "After a while, I might run into some danger. The other party would be very powerful. While they might choose peaceful means, there might also be some of them likely to use fiercer means. Do you think we should add some manpower?"


    "Manpower?" Wei-ah squinted and stopped what he had been doing.


    Chen Mu nodded and said deliberately, "We''d just spend some money to invite a few people. They might fight, but it definitely wouldn''t be too fierce."


    "Understood." Wei-ah nodded and then reminded Chen Mu, "You need to find a sufficiently powerful lion to lead this herd of sheep, or else the sheep will always remain sheep."


    Chen Mu responded, "What about you?"


    Wei-ah shook his head. "I''m not suited to combat command." He then thought it over and offered another opinion. "Maybe you can try it yourself at first. Your performance in the jungle was pretty good, and you must have that kind of potential."


    I have potential for that?! Chen Mu almost thought he had heard wrong. When he was in the jungle, he hadn''t done anything more than steel himself to push the ducklings onto their perch. It didn''t seem to him that he''d made such a fine performance. He didn''t understand how Wei-ah had come to that conclusion.


    Maybe he could look for Alfonso and the others to help. Xi Weide wouldn''t be a bad candidate. He looked coarse, but his mind was delicate. Maybe his solitary fighting wasn''t so strong, but he did have experience leading the troops. Chen Mu believed if he were to bring up his requirements, neither Alfonso nor Xi Weide would refuse.


    He turned the notion around in his brain and then dispelled it. At that time, there was too much danger in contacting Alfonso and the rest. Besides, the underground city was still mostly a gang of children. To pull their backbone, Xi Weide, would compromise the safety of the children.


    Chen Mu was still rather fond of those Moqi Clan children. He didn''t want the surviving children to be in danger because of him.


    Chen Mu was suddenly stumped. He finally didn''t adopt Wei-ah''s proposal because he considered himself a complete rookie in that regard. It would be better for him to commit to increasing his power instead of doing such things. As he saw it, that would be a little more reliable.


    Chen Mu would have to set the problem aside for a little while as he continued to be busy with his training. However, some trivial things forced him to come forward.


    A local Pomelo government official came. It was the Chief of Civil Affairs coming to deliver a subsidy. He was direct and generous, with quite satisfactory efficiency. Chen Mu didn''t have any feeling about it, but Lu Xiaoru and Bu Qiangdong looked full of disbelief. Since when did the Pomelo city government become so generous?


    When that official beat around the bush to ask about the relationship between Heaven''s Wings and Central Island, it finally dawned on Chen Mu. He thought it must have been his attending Ren Wenzhou''s banquet. Heaven''s Wings'' stature had immediately gone up in the eyes of those officials.


    Central Island''s rise was already a foregone conclusion. No matter which of the three sides Ren Wenzhou finally invested with, he would still be the winner. By having been invited, Heaven''s Wings was basking in their glory.


    Chen Mu didn''t wish to get caught up in further details since getting some money would naturally be a good thing. The subsidy was 20 million Oudi. If it had come earlier, Chen Mu would have found it to be an astronomical amount. But, given the cost of the materials he''d consumed during the past few days, even hundreds of millions wouldn''t have phased him. Just those two folding Yanbo cards had gone as high as 50 million Oudi.


    Chen Mu was even a little bit numb when he received that plug of money. The staff, including Bu Qiangdong, were so excited they nearly fainted. Twenty million was a huge amount of money! When they looked at Chen Mu''s calm expression, they couldn''t help but admire him. The boss was the boss, and even that attitude and calm made people feel admiration!


    Seeing that Chen Mu wasn''t interested in chatting more, the official tactfully bid farewell. Anyway, Heaven''s Wings got a lot more opportunities for dealings in Pomelo after that, and they didn''t need to worry.


    With 20 million in subsidy on top of the earnings from Central Island plus Heaven''s Wings'' profits during that period, the total liquid assets on Chen Mu''s hands had already reached 30 million Oudi.


    If that were used to live on, 30 million Oudi would be enough for a family to pass a rather luxurious life. If it were used to conduct business, that amount of money would usually be pitifully small.


    Chen Mu didn''t consider spending it. What he needed just then was training; the fatty''s warnings had stuck in his mind. However, the plan to recruit staff was clearly not feasible in his eyes. He had to find a different plan, which would be to increase his own power.


    Moreover, he had a trump card on hand. The folding Yanbo card''s attack was so powerful even he¡ªthe one who made it¡ªwas surprised by it.


    But he still hadn''t chosen to immediately practice using the folding Yanbo card. He instead chose to enter the mysterious card.


    That card was the true wellspring of Chen Mu''s power!


    * * *


    That year was undoubtedly a banner year in Pomelo. Quite a few of the Pomelo citizens would remember it many years later, still with a note of excitement.


    The Yang Clan Auction House was Pomelo''s largest auction house and one of only a handful in the Ming Zheng District. If an auction house of that scale were to be placed into the entire federation, it wouldn''t even have been among the top 50. But that auction house had still firmly attracted the attention of the entire federation.


    That started with a single auction.


    That was the numbered card called 001. It was only a three-star card, and it shouldn''t reasonably have been enough to draw anyone''s attention. It really didn''t. That card was outstanding, and its power was comparable to that of a four-star card, which left a lot of people drooling. However, because not many people knew about the auction, the card was purchased by the head of a card artisan firm for just 5,560,000 Oudi.


    It was said that it was later sold off to someone for what was then a high price of 20 million Oudi, which that head-of-firm would come to deeply regret.


    Lots of card artisans later got the news and bemoaned missing out. Among the next day''s auction items, there impressively appeared the strange card named 002. That similar numerically named card inherited the same high standards of 001. Although it was an auxiliary card, its powerful performance turned countless people''s eyes red with desire.


    Those prepared to come that time far exceeded the previous time, and 002 was finally sold for 22,050,000 Oudi.


    On the third day¡ªas promised, 003¡ªthere was also a crazy auction! Still more people had caught on, and to raise the standards of the auction, every participant needed to pay an entrance fee of 100,000 Oudi. Even so, more than 100 people gained access. Card 003 was finally acquired for 32,200,000 Oudi.


    Before 004 appeared at auction, the news had spread widely across the Heavenly Federation. The peculiar numbered cards'' superior performance and everyone''s crazed pursuit of them became a topic of conversation that was doubtlessly valuable for its hype. Many of the fantasy card viewer platforms started to hype it, bringing out detailed information about the cards'' characteristics.


    After the announcements of the performance parameters, there was a great uproar across the federation.


    Three-star fantasy cards were the most in demand in the federation, and they had the biggest consumer group. A top-notch three-star fantasy card''s value could be quite a bit higher than that of many four-star fantasy cards! The number of people coming to the Yang Clan Auction House suddenly surged, and among them were both card artisans and card masters. For the card artisans with money, one top-notch three-star fantasy card would be their life''s biggest guarantor. The card masters were still more curious about how those three-star cards could have had such outstanding performance.


    Without a doubt, the appearance of 004 was resplendent. The entrance fee had surged to 200,000 Oudi that day, while the numbers abruptly rose to 250 people. From the entry fee alone, the Yang Clan Auction House made 50 million Oudi. Card 004 was no disappointment. The qualities, which turned people''s eyes red with envy once again, led to the eye-popping, jaw-dropping price of 46,780,000 Oudi.


    The value of that numbered series of cards immediately surged! Countless fantasy card receiver platforms reported the news at the same time, and they also reported the cards'' performance parameters. Starting from 004, the numbered series cards became the object of countless mid- and high-grade card artisans'' dreams for a top-notch three-star card.


    The Yang Clan Auction House had entered people''s awareness for the first time, becoming the center of attention. Where had such a seemingly ordinary auction house, with no deep background or long history, gotten such a set of numbered cards?


    People in the know could see at a glance that the numbered series of cards had come from a single card master. Such an outstanding card master had suddenly become the coveted cash cow for many firms. If they could recruit him into their ranks, then wouldn''t they be able to have a steady stream of top-notch cards? Quite a few people even fantasized that if the entire card artisan firm could all be equipped with the numbered cards, that would make them into a numbered card troop. What kind of shocking battle power would they have then?


    Nobody had considered that although the Yang Clan Auction House was small, it still had a few skills. No one knew where its big boss was hiding, and he basically didn''t show his face. With the complete blocking of any information from both the staff and outsiders, the immensely powerful firms had the surprising feeling of being helpless underlings.


    There were so many titans gathered in little Pomelo¡ªthe little fish mixed with the dragons¡ªthat everyone remained scrupulous, and no one would dare to do any shady business. If they had really pressured the auction house to keep others from the auctions, it would provoke outrage with a miserable outcome.


    Card 005 continued the mythmaking by exceeding a 40 million Oudi sales price.


    Card 006 gave everyone''s excitement a big push. When that fantasy card''s energy body was emitted, it enabled the user to lock onto the enemy with breathtaking intelligence. It also carried on the special characteristic of the numbered card series: a high damage value. Before each card was auctioned, it would be demonstrated. After the demonstration of 006, the venue went dead. Everyone was obviously stunned by such an outrageous card.


    With the speed of lightning, that news became the headline of every platform! The price for 006 was unprecedented, going up to 61 million Oudi. The public was amazed by such a number, but no one thought it was an accident.


    That was really the price! In the polls of many of the platforms, they had more than a 60 percent approval rating.


    The day after 006 was auctioned, still more people showed up in the venue. There were dense masses of people everywhere. But those who came were either rich or were big shots from the large firms, so there wasn''t much commotion.


    Impressively, Zu Ning showed up at the venue with a thin middle-aged man at his side. The middle-aged man was shuffling along, clearly no card artisan. His narrow eyes were very alive, however, though they sometimes glinted with a glum chill.


    Zu Ning tilted his head to listen. After a while, he laughed and said to the middle-aged man, "The entrance fee has risen another hundred thousand. Ha ha, it looks like this card today might be about to give everyone a pleasant surprise." Seeing that the middle-aged man seemed to have something on his mind, he couldn''t help but ask with curiosity, "What do you think about these numbered series cards, Professor Bei? And what about their value?"


    That cold and gloomy middle-aged man was a clinical professor at the Federation Comprehensive Academy. Anyone who could become a professor at that academy would have to be top-notch in their field. Bei Dong was a prestigious person at the Federation Comprehensive Academy, known as the ghostly genius of cards. All the cards he made were ingenious, unexpected, and rather obscure.


    Zu Ning and Bei Dong hadn''t had any dealings, but it had to be a little surprising in his mind for the school to send Bei Dong. Unlike students, the professors at the Big Six would seldom be sent off to do things. So, when he''d heard the school was sending a professor, Zu Ning knew the importance to the school of the numbered series of cards. What he didn''t understand was why the school would send Bei Dong, who had a disagreeable and obscure temperament.


    Professor Bei Dong''s temperament was a lot more famous than the cards he made at the Federation Comprehensive Academy. Those who sought cards from him seldom succeeded. Even his direct supervisor would often get rebuffed by him.


    Bei Dong took a look at Zu Ning and said grumpily, "Nonsense. Would I race all the way over here if they had no value? This set of cards..." he groaned.


    Zu Ning didn''t get mad. He knew Professor Bei was the same with everyone and wouldn''t treat him any differently because of being relatively unknown. He then asked, "What about today?"


    "We have to win today''s card." Bei Dong''s expression turned gloomier, and what he said was peremptory.


    A voice abruptly interrupted their chat. "What a coincidence. I never thought I''d run into Brother Zu here!"


    Jie Yanbai was walking over to them with a mild smile, having a beautiful, mature woman at his side. The beautiful woman was about 30 and had a dignified bearing. Seeing the two of them with their gazes focused on her, she wasn''t timid. She magnanimously saluted and said, "How are you both?"


    Seeing Jie Yanbai, Zu Ning''s smile deepened as though he''d seen an old friend.

 237 The Super 007 I

    "Is Brother Jie interested in the numbered card series too?" Zu Ning''s face had a look that was harmless to man and animal. "If your little brother has remembered correctly, the Central Repository of the Classics has quite a few famous card masters. Could you have had to seek assistance from outside these last two years?"


    Jie Yanbai had dark skin, big eyes, and bushy eyebrows, which gave him the rough look of some farmer who often worked in his fields. All of his clothes were very simple. He had a clear gaze and a magnanimous expression, which gave a feeling of upright resolution.


    He grinned to show a row of snow-white teeth. "The Central Repository of the Classics certainly doesn''t have such deep pockets as your honorable school, where anything can be bought."


    Among the Big Six, the wealth of the Federation Comprehensive Academy took the crown, while the time since its establishment was the shortest. On top of that, they had always liked to pave the way with money, so they were sarcastically considered the "provincial landlord" by the students of the other five.


    "Oh, so Brother Jie has come here to distract himself?" Zu Ning said with a sneer. Without waiting for Jie Yanbai to respond, his gaze fell onto the woman who was accompanying him. "How impolite of me! I still haven''t requested the sweet name of this madam, if you please." Zu Ning gracefully bowed in apology.


    "Young Zu is so polite." The lady smiled lightly and said, "I am Zhi Lian."


    "Madam Zhi Lian!"


    Zu Ning''s expression changed as he called out involuntarily. To his side, Bei Dong''s expression also changed, which made him look even gloomier.


    Madam Zhi Lian smiled. "I wouldn''t have thought young Zu would know about me. I am honored."


    Zu Ning rushed to salute again and said with an expression of respect, "My elder must be teasing. Your name has spread throughout the Heavenly Federation. How could this child compare?" He had been quite shocked, never thinking the Central Repository of the Classics would actually send out Madam Zhi Lian. He was already surprised when his administration had sent out Professor Bei Dong. As he saw it, even though those three-star cards had outstanding performance, that certainly wouldn''t attract so much attention from the administration.


    Surprisingly, the Central Repository of the Classics had gone so far as to send someone even more heavyweight.


    Madam Zhi Lian deflected her smile. "I have had the pleasure of reading Professor Bei Dong''s ''Theory of Cuneiform Compositions.'' It truly is a treasure. When Professor Bei has a chance, perhaps we could exchange our views in more detail."


    The gloomy look on Bei Dong''s face dissolved, and he became excited. He clasped his hand to fist and said with a proper face, "I dare not accept the Madam''s extravagant praise. If Madam has any questions, your humble servant won''t hold anything back!" He had mixed feelings to get such a compliment from someone of the stature of Madam Zhi Lian, and he was moved. However, his "Theory of Cuneiform Compositions" wasn''t so highly regarded at the Federation Comprehensive Academy, where there was little interest. He couldn''t even compete for funding to experiment.


    Zu Ning was surprised. Not only did Madam Zhi Lian recognize Professor Bei Dong at a glance, but she''d also been blown away by his writing. It was clear how much importance she gave him. But, although Professor Bei Dong was pretty well-known at the Federation Comprehensive Academy, to be treated so well by Madam Zhi Lian still really surprised him.


    He was afraid it was Professor Bei Dong''s temperament that sadly kept him from achieving his ambitions. Zu Ning kept carefully in mind that the Federation Comprehensive Academy was also full of factions, where infighting was rampant. For him not to achieve his ambitions at that time would provide a good opportunity for someone to woo him. But he knew he was too much of a lightweight, and such matters had to turned over to those above. He only needed to report what he''d learned that day, and he believed those above would certainly make the right choice.


    "Please don''t inconvenience yourselves; we''ll just stroll." Madam Zhi Lian slightly nodded to the two of them.


    "Enjoy yourself, Madam!""Enjoy yourselves, my elders!" Zu Ning and Bei Dong hastened to return the courtesy.


    The two of them watched Madam Zhi Lian and Jie Yanbai disappear into the crowd. Jie Yanbai looked like a conscientious bodyguard as he carefully and alertly stood guard at Madam Zhi Lian''s side.


    "I never would have thought she''d come!" Zu Ning said with feeling, and Bei Dong couldn''t help but sneer either. "It looks like we''ve run into trouble this time!"


    Madam Zhi Lian was one of the iconic figures of the Central Repository of the Classics. She was its third-ranking person and was in charge of the card making division. She was herself a grand-master-level card master; the famous coil of smoke card was her creation.


    That famous five-star card was now in the hands of the head of the Third Legion, Huang Fuxing. The coil of smoke card''s appearance had given the Central Repository of the Classics yet another legacy. It was their first time in the past 50 years.


    The academies'' legacies were their biggest advantage.


    For example, the Star Academy president had the widely famous star lure card. It came from Heiner Van Sant and had been passed down across several hundred years. Across that time, the card''s theory and experience would be passed along to every generation of card artisan. Following generation after generation of continuous succession, it had become a rigorous subject of study.


    Another example was the sectional succession card in Zu Ning''s hands. It had the same kind of well-developed academic discipline in its background. The way to make the sectional succession card was recorded inside the Federation Comprehensive Academy, which the students in the card making department could study after going through an assessment. After being passed down for generation after generation, remarkable improvements had been made in the current sectional succession card in comparison with its original form.


    For example, those who wanted to elect that card needed to first learn the Sectional Training Method, which was the proven and best way to train perception. It was most conducive to deploying the sectional succession card. Other handling tips and energy forms, as well as tactical knowledge and so forth, were all touched upon.


    The most essential were the accompanying perceptual training methods.


    The school wouldn''t impart the perceptual methods to the students all at once, but rather bit by bit, starting from the shallow and moving to the deep. Only after passing the assessment would they get the most advanced perceptual training. If the student had outstanding talent and was extremely diligent, they could take an additional extremely rigorous card bestowal exam. They would then be awarded the actual card, by which their power would surge.


    Before that, they would use the simplified version of the same card. Every legacy among the Big Six would have that same kind of valuable card. That way, even if they weren''t granted a card, by having used the same kind of simplified card, their battle strength would be far beyond that of an ordinary card artisan.


    In an ordinary school, such legacy cards wouldn''t be so complex.


    In the Big Six, every legacy was a powerful card that had gone through the test of history. Only such behemoths as the Big Six would be able to get sufficient capital to make those rare cards continuously. The materials required by the sectional succession card were hard to collect even by the Federation Comprehensive Academy, never mind the ordinary schools and institutions. In the hands of the ordinary academies, such technologies would hardly escape extinction in the end.


    Being able to form a legacy was the greatest affirmation of a card master. It was obvious how resplendent Madam Zhi Lian''s power was.


    It surprised the two of them that such a famous and eminent person in the card making world across the federation would come to that out-of-the-way place. They couldn''t help but worry. Madam Zhi Lian''s appearance showed how determined the Central Repository of the Classics must be.


    Zu Ning didn''t dare expect their school''s administration to allow them to utilize funding to compare with Madam Zhi Lian. Although the Federation Comprehensive Academy did have money, the other five weren''t exactly vegetarians. Even the Bitter Solitude Temple, which had never enjoyed the spotlight, absolutely wouldn''t be far off from the Federation Comprehensive Academy when it came to money.


    Madam Zhi Lian''s name really was big!


    Within a short time, quite a few people recognized Madam Zhi Lian, and the news abruptly spread across the entire auction hall. Some were cursing silently about how the Big Six had inserted themselves. Auction-goers who had been holding out for their luck now had to adjust their attitudes. But most people became more excited. Any card Madam Zhi Lian was interested in would nix any injustice in their coming!


    * * *


    "It is Madam Zhi Lian, after all!" Hugo said coldly from the corner. "It looks as though we''ll have a fine show today."


    Butchie looked eager as she said in a low voice, "Do you want me to..." She clandestinely made the gesture of slitting her throat. Madam Zhi Lian only had Jie Yanbai alone by her side; if it were planned well, they may have had some hope to succeed. Madam Zhi Lian was famous everywhere for her card making, but everyone knew she didn''t have any ability to defend herself.


    What happened last time had utterly cemented the enmity between Faya and the Central Repository of the Classics. While others were terrified of the Big Six, neither Hugo nor Butchie were afraid. To be able to kill such a heavyweight was a temptation they yearned for.


    Hugo thought about it and shook his head. "It''s important that the business be proper, and we don''t want to complicate the issue. Humph. Still, it wouldn''t be bad to make them bleed a little this time!" He then said in a low voice, "What''s happening at 8 o''clock?"


    There was a faint voice like a mosquito in the corner beside him. "Someone is secretly protecting her. Two of them. Strong." The voice was erratic and made it impossible to guess where it was coming from. There was clearly nobody there beside Hugo and Butchie.


    Butchie couldn''t help but show a hint of disgust as she shifted to the side.


    The hall gradually quieted down as the time for the auction arrived.


    A middle-aged auctioneer dressed in tails walked up to the auction podium. When he got there, he gave a low bow to those below. He was rather handsome, and his tails set him off to be still more perfectly dashing. His elegant manners and warm tone were rather infectious.


    "Welcome, everyone, to today''s auction. The numbered series of cards have already given us many pleasant surprises. The six that have already appeared, 001 to 006, were all fine goods worth walking a thousand miles for. Due to strict secrecy, even I don''t know the specific parameters of today''s card, though I am just as curious as each of you. I believe this will be an evening not to be forgotten. Even to be able to host such an auction is the greatest honor of my life. Now, let''s witness the miracle together! The parameters of Card 007 are in this small box in front of me."


    Countless people''s gazes were focused on the small box placed in front of the auctioneer. Quite a few of them couldn''t help but stretch their necks, as if that would enable them to see what was inside the box.


    The auctioneer carefully opened the box as the entire hall went silent.


    He pulled a small piece of paper from the box, on which was recorded the detailed parameters of Card 007.


    Staring at the paper in his hand, the auctioneer''s face suddenly flushed red!

 238 The Super 007 II

    Those in the crowd below all held their breaths and looked anxiously at the auctioneer, whose expression had made them curious. Some malcontents couldn''t help but scold, "Come on, what are you selling? You''re driving me nuts!"


    Some were also so into it they couldn''t hide their anticipation.


    The auctioneer kept them up in the air as he lightly returned the piece of paper to the box. "Don''t be anxious, everyone. I can tell you in all responsibility that there will be a miracle this evening." Some of the more circumspect people were stunned when they heard the auctioneer''s voice shaky with repressed excitement.


    The crowd''s curiosity had already reached its peak.


    They had seen the previous six cards, which could also be considered miraculous, but they knew this one might actually be more powerful!


    Those who had come to that conclusion were all waiting eagerly, though they also knew the rules. Prior to the auction, there would be a card artisan who came specifically to demonstrate the card''s various qualities. Those who had been able to come weren''t just ordinary people. They all patiently waited for the demonstration to begin.


    The layout of the hall was rather peculiar compared to other auction houses. There was a 200-meter diameter demonstration area, inside of which were placed all sorts of devices and targets. It was covered by a transparent layer of energy cloaking to divide it off. All around the huge demonstration area were five levels of high observation platforms, which could seat 500 people.


    Those participating in the auction could see the demonstration with their own eyes, and if they didn''t like the separation of the energy cloak or couldn''t see clearly, they could use the instruments above their seats. From those, they could observe every detail of the demonstration from any angle.


    Those in the arena were seated according to their number at purchase, and quite a few couldn''t wait to open the screens above their seats.


    The demonstration official began once the crowd was seated.


    Having activated the energy cloak, a thick layer of crystal-clear energy cloaking tightly covered the field. On the one hand, that was to prevent any injury from the energy bodies emitted during the demonstration; on the other, it would ensure the safety of the item being auctioned.


    No one was on the field, though many who weren''t there for the first time were sitting quite still.


    A small hole grew in the middle of the demonstration field, from which a man gradually rose up. There was commotion in the stands as quite a few people stood up, unable to sit still.


    "Jiao Si! It''s Jiao Si!


    "Holy cow, it really is Jiao Si! He actually came to do the demonstration himself!"


    "Awesome! The boss of this auction house must really have some good tricks to be able to invite Jiao Si to demonstrate. That''s not a simple matter. Not simple at all!"


    * * *


    Jiao Si was the former head of the Origins Academy and was currently the head of the division of card artisans. The Origins Academy was among the top 50 in the federation and was the largest and most famous academy in the Ming Zheng District. It wasn''t in Pomelo, but it was in another commercial center called Amedal. In general, apart from the Big Six, the presidents of ordinary academies were good at administration; Jiao Si, however, was a high-grade card artisan.


    He had been famous for more than ten years.


    Ten years before, which was when he had only just stood out, he had become famous for resisting wild beasts from the jungle who were attacking the city. He had been so brilliant that even the Big Six all threw out their olive branches. But he unexpectedly rebuffed the Big Six and came to his alma mater to become the youngest president in history of the not-so-well-known Origins Academy.


    The Origins Academy quickly advanced under him, not only jumping into the biggest spot among Ming Zheng academies, but becoming one of the top 50 academies of the Heavenly Federation. Forty among the top 50 academies were in the five flourishing districts or the capital, while the Origins Academy was among the remaining ten.


    Jiao Si had left the presidency five years before, retiring to the second tier to become the dean of the card artisan division.


    What was talked about most enthusiastically about Jiao Si wasn''t his outstanding achievements as the president of Origins Academy, but rather his brilliant military accomplishments as dean of the division of card artisans. The 40-year-old Jiao Si was in his prime, with his power having reached heights never before achieved.


    To be the dean of the division of card artisans, not only did he have to cultivate many young but powerful card artisans, but he had also received quite a few challenges himself. He told himself they wanted to sharpen his own skills that way. During those five years when he was dean, he received as many as 300 challenges, large and small, averaging one every six days.


    Among those 300 challenges, there were 290 victories and seven draws. No matter who it was, such an impressive battle record was dazzling. The three he lost to were Tang Hanpei, Liang Qiu, and Fang Shi.


    Of course, nothing needed to be said about Tang Hanpei, who was a genius from the Federation Comprehensive Academy. He held the record for the fastest accomplishment of level-four perception and was then the dean of the Federation Comprehensive Academy''s division of card artisans.


    Liang Qiu was the commander of the twelfth corps and was the only commander who had been born in an ordinary district. The extent of his own martial power certainly placed him among the best three of the 12 corps.


    Fang Shi was probably the most famous and least obvious one of the three, and he was the most mysterious ace among them. He was like a shooting star, cutting across the sky and disappearing.


    Having been able to battle them himself made Jiao Si one of the top aces in the federation. His battle style was extremely robust, and he wasn''t afraid to die. Under his influence, the card artisans who came out from the Origins Academy all fought boldly and had outstanding reputations in the world of card artisans.


    For such a heavyweight card artisan to appear on the demonstration field would surprise anyone.


    Those who had been paying attention to the auction immediately eliminated any further thoughts. To be able to invite such an ace as Jiao Si was enough to clarify how huge the hidden power was. Moreover, to see the Buddha in place of the monk, who would dare to cause ruckus with Jiao Si standing there?


    By that time, the hole on the field had been closed, and Jiao Si was slowly walking onto the it.


    He stood 1.8 meters tall and had large, rough hands with a plain and simple appearance. If everyone wasn''t so familiar with him, it would have been hard to believe such an unprepossessing person could actually be a top ace in the federation.


    He didn''t look outside, but he directly activated his apparatus without paying any attention.


    In the instant the apparatus was activated, Jiao Si''s manner abruptly changed as though he''d become a different person. If one were to say he had just been like an ordinary citizen, then he was now like a sword taken out of its scabbard as he presented himself aggressively.


    Jie Yanbai was staring hotly at the field, his hands slightly trembling.


    "Don''t be anxious, Yanbai; I am acquainted with Jiao Si. I''ll take you over to the Origins Academy after a while and ask him to tutor you. I think it will provide you with some benefit," Madam Zhi Lian said, smiling. She really appreciated how hard it would be for such a talented and diligent student who wasn''t yet outstanding to restrain himself. She wasn''t reluctant to lend a hand at the right time.


    Jie Yanbai rectified his appearance and respectfully bowed toward Madam Zhi Lian. "Yanbai is grateful to Madam. If something ever were to happen to you, I would never leave you alone!"


    "Ha ha, let''s first watch the demonstration. I''m curious about what sort of card this really is, too, to be able to get Jiao Si here to demonstrate it!" Madam Zhi Lian said with a laugh.


    As though he had just realized something, Jie Yanbai said, "Could the boss of the auction house have some deep relationship with Mr. Jiao?"


    Madam Zhi Lian mildly shook her head and smiled. "You''ve seen Mr. Jiao, and you can understand what kind of person he is. If there weren''t something special about this card, I''m afraid Jiao Si would never have made an appearance."


    Jie Yanbai''s curiosity was suddenly extremely aroused.


    On the field, Jiao Si didn''t immediately demonstrate but closed his eyes under low eyebrows. He was as calm as a mountain as he stood there, casually spreading his transfixing manner all around.


    The faces of Jie Yanbai, Zu Ning, and Hugo all transformed as they felt the power of Jiao Si on the field surging. Without using any external power, to be able to freely control his power had given him the means of steady victory.


    Jiao Si opened his eyes!


    Snap! There was an easily overlooked sound like a cracking egg shell.


    Afterward, there appeared countless round energy bodies the size of a thumb all around Jiao Si, divided into two pure black and pure white colors. They were scattered about and calmly floated all around him.


    Jiao Si remained calm, as though he were a javelin, standing among those black and white energy balls.


    The energy balls then neatly arranged themselves, forming into a spherical matrix. There was a white ball beside every black ball, and there seemed to be some kind of special magnetic field inside of the black and white energy sphere.


    Jie Yanbai''s white face kept changing! A cold sweat was sticking to his spine and flowing down as a chill arose in him! He had clearly felt Jiao Si''s power on the field spike in that instant.


    Madam Zhi Lian suddenly opened her mouth. "Count how many energy balls there are, Yanbai."


    Jie Yanbai was stunned, and his mind was spinning. He couldn''t help but feel secretly ashamed; he''d been nearly terrified by the power of that person. Having calmed, Jie Yanbo calculated in the blink of an eye. "There are 60, Madam!"


    "Sixty!" Madam Zhi Lian could no longer remain calm, and she suddenly stood up.

 239 The Super 007 III

    Inside the mysterious card, Chen Mu was conducting the incredibly boring training of his perceptual sensitivity. No matter the skill, and no matter how fantastic it looked, underneath that gorgeous exterior were dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of different monotonous, boring, and mechanical training regimes. Every one of those trainings required perseverance through upwards of thousands of repetitions, or even more.


    While having talent provided a certain bonus to training and was just as powerful, it wasn''t the most important factor in success.


    After his perceptual acuity broke through 60, the content of the training would change.


    Increasing perceptual sensitivity was obviously beneficial. Perceptual sensitivity referred to how fine perception was. The finer it became, the more one could control still more refined power, and the more sensitive one could be toward the transformations of energy. Chen Mu had been able to make 23 cards in a day, which was inseparable from the increase in his perceptual sensitivity. With his perceptual sensitivity increased from before, he could greatly reduce the wear and tear to his perception from making cards. Of course, increasing the strength of his perception was another important reason.


    The overall increase, and the increase in efficiency along with the decrease in wear and tear, meant the quantity of cards he could make shot up. If Chen Mu were to make one-star power cards at that time, he could make hundreds in a single breath.


    Chen Mu''s current goal was to break through 70 with his perceptual sensitivity. That goal wouldn''t grant him the mid-grade token-card theory tutorial, although it could enable him to make cards the next level up. However, what he most needed then was the ability to protect himself.


    He was settled on the folding Yanbo card.


    Behind the way the folding Yanbo card was made was a rather large field for talking about how to use the card. It was mentioned there that if one wanted to manipulate the card comparatively freely, then one''s perceptual sensitivity had to be above 70. Otherwise, it would be difficult to play out its true power.


    That was the only way he could think of to substantially increase his own power in the short term.


    After his perception broke though 60, he would enter the second level of the mid-range training. That kind of training required a lot of patience and was extremely boring.


    When Chen Mu put himself inside the mysterious card, there was a turntable spinning at high speed in front of him. He sat up straight and highly concentrated his energy. The turntable was quite large. On top of it were countless energy blocks, each of which was marked with a number. To his side was an incomplete model of a complex fortress. He needed to use perception to discern which blocks he needed from the rapidly spinning turntable, and then he had to use perception to accurately remove them. Afterward, he would again use perception to put them into the appropriate place. The ultimate goal of finishing the second-level training was to complete five kinds of models.


    It sounded interesting, but after he''d actually tried it, he found out how boring and tedious it really was.


    There were more than 3,500 energy blocks on the turntable, all in disorder. Finding the blocks needed from the vast turntable, which always maintained its high-speed spinning, wasn''t easy to do. Just to think of grabbing them was difficult. Each of the energy blocks had the method of getting it on its surface along with the number.


    All around the blocks was a line of buttons. The buttons, made of energy, were even finer than needles. Chen Mu needed to use his own perceptual tendrils to accurately touch the fine energy buttons according to the order of the drawings on the surface of the blocks. Only if the order was entirely accurate could the energy block be removed from the turntable.


    But he knew he couldn''t breathe any sigh of relief after taking the blocks down. The building of the model was just as difficult. Its complexity and detail made one''s hair stand on end. The entire building process required the use of perception to control the energy blocks. The slightest mistake would ruin the entire model in the end.


    It was a way to torture someone, and Chen Mu was just then being tortured to within an inch of his life.


    * * *


    There was a different scene at fatty Yang''s auction hall.


    Madam Zhi Lian was staring at Jiao Si in the middle of the field. The other one who saw the clue was Bei Dong, whose face showed a look of bewilderment.


    The others didn''t know what they were seeing, but that didn''t stop them from making judgments. Madam Zhi Lian losing herself made one thing clear¡ªthe card was already outstanding enough to surprise even her!


    There was no sound of talking or arguing; everyone was waiting anxiously for Jiao Si to demonstrate the card.


    Jiao Si had his eyes closed and a strange expression on his face, as though he were drunk or gasping in surprise. He seemed excited. The 60 energy balls were calmly floating around his body to form a perfect sphere, enveloping him in its middle.


    "What is he doing?" Someone finally had to break the silence.


    But before he could finish what he was saying, Jiao Si moved on the field!


    He opened his eyes, and his gaze was like a sword, as sharp as could be. At that moment, his power shot up to its peak.


    With a whoomph, the energy balls floating around his body started to spin. While the large sphere composed of those energy balls was in the process of moving, it maintained the stability of the inner structure. It looked like a large ball spinning itself at high speed.


    As the energy balls'' speed got gradually faster and faster, the black and the white started to become blurred. Even blurrier was Jiao Si''s image inside the shroud. The 60 energy balls were simultaneously moving at high speed, making an impressive display of force.


    A card appliance suddenly lit up on the field, and a beam of light came shooting toward him! That beam of light was a full arm''s thickness and eye-piercingly white!


    Some of the people in the stands couldn''t help but call out in concern about Jiao Si in the middle of the field.


    An incomprehensible scene appeared.


    When the light beam hit the large sphere of twirling energy balls, it abruptly stopped turning. The 60 black and white energy balls suddenly went completely static, floating around Jiao Si as though there were no change from before they were launched.


    For the high-speed spinning to so suddenly go static felt so uncomfortable it nearly made people spit blood! It was completely against common-sense physics, and the onlookers stared with their mouths open, utterly silent.


    Still stranger was the light beam. It had stopped in thin air, and it seemed time had also stopped in that instant.


    Within the sphere, Jiao Si blinked.


    The shockingly powerful light beam as thick as an arm hit a black energy ball. Surprisingly, it didn''t explode, but with stunning speed it was split up into countless fine, sparking starbursts. The zapping sound didn''t stop for a while as the thumb-sized sparks shot out and wandered among the black and white energy balls.


    Those electric starbursts became finer and finer. In an instant, the 60 black and white energy balls that composed the sphere became calm again, though each energy ball had enlarged a little.


    Could it absorb the energy bodies? Everyone''s eyeballs were practically falling out of their sockets, and even Jie Yanbai and Zu Ning looked incredulous.


    Jiao Si''s demonstration still hadn''t finished. He extended a finger and lightly touched the nearest white energy ball.


    Wound all around his body, the completely static 60 energy balls suddenly started to spin like crazy. In that instant, it was as though his body were surrounded by tons of black and white little wandering fish. The zapping that had just disappeared suddenly sounded up again as countless sparking starbursts jumped about among the energy balls.


    Madam Zhi Lian''s expressed abruptly changed again. Not far away, Bei Dong looked horrified!


    The sparking starbursts became thicker and thicker. The entire process was impressively the reverse of the previous absorption of the energy bodies!


    Could it be...


    Just when everyone''s mind was puzzled to the point of wanting to blurt out, a light beam exactly like the one before came shooting out of a white energy ball. It accurately hit the card appliance that had just shot out the light beam!


    Hong! A loud noise sounded, and the card appliance was blown apart!


    The impact wave formed by the explosion rolled to the demonstration field. When the swirling dust hit in front of the sphere formed by those 30 black energy balls and 30 white energy balls, it somehow didn''t infuse into the sphere.


    That card could absorb the adversary''s blows and reflect the attack back!


    Everyone was stunned, including Madam Zhi Lian, Jie Yanbai and Zu Ning, and Hugo and Butchie...


    The field went dead. Even a pin could be heard dropping on the ground.


    "007: four-star card. Specific parameters: confidential." The auctioneer''s commentary showed up just right. It was very simple yet very powerful!


    A four-star card! That was a four-star card all along! No wonder it was so powerful! That was the first four-star card to appear among the numbered series of cards, and its appearance was gorgeous and without parallel!


    Everyone who had witnessed the scene had then entered the field, causing some chaos. They were extremely excited. Although a four-star card wasn''t as rare as a five-star card, it still wasn''t often seen. The 007 was obviously top-notch among four-star cards. Such a card would move anyone.


    Madam Zhi Lian calmed down and sat there as though something were on her mind. Compared to her unperturbed face, her mind was completely the opposite. How could it have calmed down? She was undoubtedly more insightful than those laypeople. The power of 007 wasn''t because it was a four-star card; it was because of the unique qualities of its native compositional structure.


    What most surprised her wasn''t the card''s power. Rather, it was the card''s concept, which was shockingly similar to a card from the annals...


    Sixty energy balls was also strangely consistent with the results she had calculated...


    That card had long since disappeared in history. Pretending to inadvertently glance at Bei Dong, she wasn''t sure if he had thought of the same card.


    Cheng, cheng, cheng! The auctioneer knocked on the table, not too lightly and not too heavily. He said with a light smile, "I believe everyone must be satisfied with Card 007, so I have nothing more to say. The auction will now begin at 40 million Oudi!"


    A reserve of 40 million Oudi was the highest starting price of those few days, but no one there found it strange. The card''s peculiarities were obvious, and everyone had taken the price for granted.


    "Sixty million!" Someone raised his marker and made a lot of people draw in a cold breath.


    "Sixty-five million!"


    * * *


    "What about us, Madam?" Jie Yanbai asked in a low voice.


    Madam Zhi Lian seemed to have a card up her sleeve and wasn''t worried. She smiled at Jie Yanbai and said, "No need to worry."


    "One hundred million Oudi!" Bei Dong couldn''t keep from raising his marker.


    The hall quieted down. For a firm, 100 million might not be that much, but it was a rather shocking number to use on a single card.


    But it was a four-star card that could be considered one of the finest four-star fantasy cards.


    "One hundred five million!" Someone couldn''t help but raise the bid.


    Bei Dong was secretly annoyed, not having scared those people off. He raised his marker again. "One hundred twenty million!"


    That time, everything turned quiet. At 120 million, the price was really terrifying.


    "One hundred thirty million!" Jie Yanbai suddenly raised his card number.


    The hall abruptly got excited! It was already an out-and-out, sky-high price for a card. That much could even buy an ordinary five-star card. Most people were just excited to witness the confrontation between the Central Repository of the Classics and the Federation Comprehensive Academy. To be able to see such a good show, the 300,000 Oudi they''d paid for entry wasn''t wasted.


    For ordinary people, the Big Six were doubtlessly something they would look up to. They were actually fighting fiercely for a card right in front of them. How could they not be excited?


    "One hundred fifty million." A crisp voice sounded suddenly from the corner. Butchie raised the marker in her hand.


    "Faya. It''s Faya!"


    "Hey, what a great show this time! I had thought it was a power struggle between two hegemons; I never thought there would be a three-power melee!"


    There was a sound of whispering down below.


    Jie Yanbai''s gaze fell onto Hugo to the side of Butchie. He was undoubtedly the most attention-grabbing person there with his half mask. Jie Yanbai flashed a severe look through his eyes as he spoke in a low voice into Madam Zhi Lian''s ear. Her expression seemed to turn cold.


    Bei Dong wasn''t stupid either. He knew such a price could only be considered the starting point of a fight among the three of them. He couldn''t help but feel concerned. Those above him had never thought he would encounter such a situation, and they''d given him a limit of 300 million Oudi. He had thought it would be more than enough¡ªnot that he could be strapped for cash.


    "Two hundred million!" Bei Dong had taken the plunge to quote such a price, going all in. If worse came to worst, he would spend the entire 300 million on it. Zu Ning''s face had already shifted off to the side, and he secretly drew in a breath of cold air. He hadn''t thought the bidding in the field would be so bitter and bloody! He was normally also the lord of extravagance, but that was his first time to encounter such a crazy scene. Bei Dong''s madness was really unexpected.


    The hall was filled with the sound of cold air being sucked in. Two hundred million was a crazy price!


    Butchie''s face looked the same kind of ugly, while Hugo retained his easy grace. He took a look at Butchie and pulled the marker from her hand.


    "Two hundred twenty million." Hugo''s ear-piercing voice was strangely clear in the quiet hall.


    "Two hundred fifty million!" Bei Dong stuck out his neck as his face turned red.


    "Two hundred sixty million!" The ear-piercing voice was as though a knife were scraping glass, while Hugo''s expression remained as ever.


    Bei Dong drew a line in his mind as he raised his marker another time. "Three hundred million!" Zu Ning blanched to his side.


    Hugo shook his head and put down the marker in his hand, making a helpless expression toward Butchie. Butchie gave a smile of relief instead. She had been looking all along for a new card that suited her to replace the Tadpole. While 007 had excited her, the price had really gotten too high!


    Seeing Hugo put down the marker, Bei Dong, who had been so uptight, finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had just thought to rub the sweat from his brow when something sounded from the field.


    "Three hundred fifty million!" Jie Yanbai once again raised the marker in his hands.


    Bei Dong''s expression changed fast as he slumped into his chair, only then discovering that in that little bit of time, his back had somehow become completely saturated with sweat.


    That price had exceeded everyone''s expectations. After a moment of silence, the hall suddenly erupted in applause.


    The news of 007 being auctioned for 350 million once again made the headlines on all the platforms. No matter where, the discussion about the earth-shattering 007 filled the realm. What everyone discussed the most was what kinds of properties a 350-million-Oudi four-star fantasy card would have.


    The specific parameters of 007 hadn''t been made public. Apart from the hubbub or its magical capability to reflect back attacks, what other functions did it have? No one questioned the card, however, since the one who bought it was Madam Zhi Lian!


    No one in the entire Heavenly Federation had the qualifications or power to question Madam Zhi Lian''s insight into cards.


    The evaluation of the other person in the know, Jiao Si, had made everyone still more curious about 007. Jiao Si''s evaluation was simple and could be stated in a single term: "Worth it!" It was said that after Madam Zhi Lian acquired the card, she left Pomelo at the first chance to return to the Central Repository of the Classics.


    The fame of the numbered series of cards was a one-time happening. There wouldn''t be another. Even though that card numbered 007 had never been used even once in battle, it had won the Super 007 designation.


    Along with discussions about the numbered series of cards always increasing, quite a few people wondered who¡ªand where¡ªthe maker of that incredibly magical set of cards really was.

 240 A Bold Guess

    Chen Mu had run into trouble. The mid-grade second level of perceptual sensitivity training was going to be far more difficult than he had imagined. Across seven straight days, except for resting, he had been immersed in it to the point of even dropping the exercise gymnastics. He could already tell those were obviously providing less and less improvement.


    He didn''t find the training boring, even as tortuous as it always was. It was a lot more interesting than making one-star power cards. When he had been making those, especially at the beginning, the scale of the resistance he would encounter was something hard to believe. He was only 11 at the time, and that card master was someone in dire straits about to starve to death. He only had seven days of study.


    It was almost impossible to succeed in getting an 11-year-old child with no foundation to be able to learn to make one-star power cars within seven days. But that dying card master had thought up the method, which was the only thing he had as a thank-you gift for Chen Mu. In order to teach him, the card master had racked his brains to detail every step. He then explained every step very patiently.


    The first time Chen Mu made contact with all those things, there were too many he didn''t understand. But, as young as he then was, he still keenly realized their potential to change his fate. So, he was very diligent; although he didn''t understand, he started by memorizing them. When the card master died, Chen Mu still hadn''t understood, but he had already memorized all of the steps and every detail.


    Once he had hope, Chen Mu looked everywhere for short-term work. That lasted a year.


    Within that year, he had finally figured out what the dead card master had taught him. Even if it was the way to make the simplest and most ordinary one-star power card, it was hope for him. Hope did exist. He would "dip his hand into the water" every night, learning the composition of the one-star power card section by section. Since he was afraid of forgetting, he would take the time every day to recite to himself every detail he needed to pay attention to. From start to finish, he never left out a single detail.


    By the time he started to make one-star power cards, the pressure still hadn''t let up. The funds he had on hand were pitiful; every time he failed, his losses were huge. He wasn''t qualified to fail!


    He then cultivated his painstaking habits of concentration, which was the only way he could try to reduce the number of times he failed in making cards.


    Among card masters, Chen Mu''s success rate was stunning. Ordinary card masters would have a failure rate of about 30 percent when making cards they were familiar with. But Chen Mu''s failure rate was far below that number, like that day when Pearson was watching him gape-mouthed.


    Chen Mu had already become accustomed to a boring, monotonous life. For him, it was nothing more than the most common and ordinary part of life. It was nothing worth making a fuss about. He had probably never thought he would finally accomplish what he had because of that attitude.


    Those with superior lives always felt life should be colorful, varied, and full of the taste of cigars and red wine.


    But that wasn''t how it was to Chen Mu. No matter how hard life was¡ªlike walking on thin ice¡ªit would always have all sorts of troubles and distress beyond what he''d ever imagined.


    He had already become used to that.


    He''d given up on hope, even if his hope wasn''t anything more than a measly one-star power card. That was the way it was, so he would just grit his teeth and bear the inhuman suffering when he was practicing the extreme training methods in the mysterious card.


    That was only part of life for him, and a common and ordinary part at that. It was no big deal.


    It was the same just now. The perceptual sensitivity training tortured his nerves time and again. He didn''t even know how many times he had failed, but it was so many he couldn''t count them. He had only barely completed the first story of the model in front of him. That had been the pitifully small result of those seven days.


    Chen Mu''s spirits were as ever. His attention never wavered because of the endless failures, and he wasn''t discouraged. He concentrated all along on controlling his perception. For others, concentration was rather enervating, but it was Chen Mu''s daily bread. Making one-star power cards had taught him how to concentrate, and he had used that habit in every aspect of his life.


    He had already discovered a few tricks, which was to say his perceptual acuity seemed to have made a little progress.


    The rapidly spinning turntable didn''t interfere with him anymore, and he could now effortlessly find the energy block he needed and lock onto it.


    That was also the only thing he''d accomplished during those seven days.


    But when he wanted to take the block, that was still difficult. He probably had to attempt it 150 times before he could successfully take a piece. It really placed high demands on his perceptual control.


    That rate would drive a person crazy, but Chen Mu wasn''t the least bit discouraged. Compared to how dark his eyes went when he first touched a card¡ªwhen there wasn''t anyone to guide him, and he had to depend on teaching himself¡ªthe difficulty in front of him was a problem he was well-familiar with, even though it was a little more difficult.


    But his body had always had the capacity to hold out to the limit. The depletion rate on his physical and mental powers from his concentration was shocking. When he exited the mysterious card after three hours, he had removed two energy blocks. He had approached 500 failures.


    The difficulty of removing those two energy blocks was quite a bit higher than for ordinary energy blocks. That was what created such desperate proportions.


    * * *


    Wei-ah was sitting in front of the fantasy card receiver, watching its programs with relish. He was holding the brown, fleshy dog in his lap and teasing him idly with his other hand. The dog was fat and heavy. Every time Wei-ah picked him up, obvious waves of flesh rolled. It had a great capacity for food and a lazy temperament, sleeping through the whole day.


    The strange thing was that Wei-ah, who had never been concerned about anything, seemed to really like that fleshy dog. Chen Mu marveled at that.


    Just then, the apparatus on Chen Mu''s wrist sounded. It was Sue Lochiro.


    "How are you, Mr. Cao?" Sue Lochiro''s absolutely beautiful face appeared on the screen.


    "How are you, Miss Sue?" Chen Mu nodded to her.


    Sue Lochiro smiled gently and asked with some concern, "How has your health been lately, Mr. Cao? Has there been any condition?"


    That warmed Chen Mu, and his tone naturally slowed. "Everything has been fine recently, thanks to Miss Sue." The relationship between him and Sue Lochiro was one-sided. Not only had she diagnosed his illness without charge, but to be so concerned with his condition really moved Chen Mu.


    Gathering the bangs in front of her forehead, Sue Lochiro''s beautiful white face produced a rush of excitement as she said with a slight smile, "You are so polite, Mr. Cao. I am a medical card artisan, and this is my job." Her tone then became more proper. "I looked for Mr. Cao this time because there have been some preliminary diagnostic results."


    "Oh? Please continue." Chen Mu''s attention had become immediately more focused.


    "To tell the truth, the professor and I have never seen such a situation before. We couldn''t find any record of that thread-like thing inside of Mr. Cao." She paused as she glowed with the radiance of knowledge. Her delicate cherry lips then tossed out a heavy bombshell. "However, based on the analysis of the data the professor and I had already conducted, that blue thread-like thing is likely a living thing!"


    "A living thing?" Chen Mu''s heart skipped a beat.


    His mind flashed back like lightning, remembering the scene when the demonic woman had used the green thread. It had so easily killed several card artisans. He suddenly remembered the demonic woman finally retrieving the green thread when it had changed back into a card!


    Right! It was a card! He still remembered how shocked he had been. He had never seen such a strange card, which was to say he had never seen such a peculiar transformation.


    At the core of the cards in the Heavenly Federation were energy and composition. All cards revolved around those two points without exception. At the same time, the Heavenly Federation cards'' transformations were all transformations of energy and composition.


    Before he had ever seen the demonic woman, that had been Chen Mu''s understanding of cards. But that card in the hands of the demonic woman had completely destroyed Chen Mu''s understanding of cards. There was still a card system in the world that was entirely different from that in the Heavenly Federation!


    Without knowing why, when Chen Mu heard Sue Lochiro say the green thread was a living thing, the first thing that came to his mind was the green silk card!


    "Indeed. From the analysis of its every feature, it should be a living thing. But neither the teacher or I have ever seen such a peculiar creature." Sue Lochiro''s expression turned solemn. Once she started talking about professional issues, the softness in her face disappeared and was replaced by a sharp feeling.


    Chen Mu waited for what would follow.


    Sue Lochiro paused and looked at Chen Mu apologetically, saying, "But, up until now, the teacher and I haven''t found any practical solution. It is too deeply entrenched and distributed throughout your body. If we were to directly remove it, we would have to cut apart your whole body''s fleshy structure. Our current technology is far from that point!"


    A faint disappointment arose from Chen Mu''s heart, although that result hadn''t been unexpected. He''d had a bad feeling the last time he was examined.


    What Sue Lochiro went on to say shook his spirits. "But it isn''t as though we didn''t discover anything." Sue Lochiro pursed her lips in a smile. "The teacher and I have studied together for a long time, and he is also very interested in your condition. We finally came to two conjectures, which might be of some assistance to you."


    "What did you speculate?" Chen Mu couldn''t help but blurt out.


    "There are two conjectures. First, we speculate that the strength of your perception can reduce the number of episodes; the stronger your perception is, the less possible an episode becomes. The pain and duration of each episode would also be shorter. But the other issue is that the stronger your perception is, the more oppressed that thing is. Such a living thing is the strangest the teacher and I have ever seen. Its vitality is powerful, though the energy it requires is limited. You don''t ordinarily have to worry that it would absorb the nutrients in your body.


    "However, it is very sensitive to oppression. That is why it drilled into the deeper layers of your flesh when you were preparing to pull it out. The pressure that came along with the strengthening of your perception could have stimulated its further growth. This is one strange creature; the more the pressure, the more intense its tendency to grow. By now, it could even be absorbing nutrients from your body, and we can''t be certain what kind of residual effects might ensue.


    "The other conjecture is something I discovered by accident. I was using its every parameter to make a standard data table of characteristic symptoms in order to find a similar creature. I wanted to see if I could find its close relative and in that way perhaps find something new. It was a pity I didn''t find any relatives, but I accidentally discovered a kind of creature that was completely opposite in every bit of data!"


    Chen Mu perked up his ears to listen carefully, afraid to lose a single word.


    "In the study of medicine, there is a peculiar phenomenon called the Popovich Phenomenon. It was discovered 100 years ago by a medical card artisan named Popovich. He found that if there are two living things whose characteristic data charts are completely opposite, they often exhibit the phenomenon of mutual solution. The most classic type among them is the three-handed grass and the brown ground fern. Both of those plants are toxic, and their characteristic symptoms'' standard data charts were complete opposites. Amazingly, however, the three-handed grass could resolve the brown ground fern''s toxin, and the brown ground fern could resolve the three-handed grass''s toxin in the same manner!"


    As her eyes whirled, she got a glimpse of Chen Mu. Sue Lochiro continued on to say, "But to have such a coincidence in the natural world would be really rare. Up until now, we''ve only found five pairs of completely opposite samples. This kind of mutual resolution phenomenon doesn''t have any theoretical basis, and there is a lot of argument about it in the world of medical card artisans. But I consider it to be a breakthrough myself. The thing that is completely opposite to the table-standard data on characteristic symptoms for the silk-like creature in your body is the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus."


    "Gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus?" Chen Mu asked back, never having heard of such a living thing.


    Sue Lochiro said with a bitter smile, "To tell the truth, I haven''t seen the real thing either. It is an extremely rare kind of fungus with a soft texture, like the jelly on meat, with gold-colored mottling growing on its surface." As she described it, Sue Lochiro impressively popped out a small screen on which was the picture of a gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. Sue Lochiro continuously adjusted the angle of the fungus in the screen to make it convenient for Chen Mu to see it clearly.


    "The gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus is extremely rare and expensive. It has an important use to prolong people''s lives. The federation doesn''t produce it, but it is produced in the House of a Hundred Depths, where it is said to be just as rare." Having said that, Sue Lochiro seemed to feel the hope had been spread too thin. Full of apology, she said, "This speculation really doesn''t have any value, though I told you about it anyway. I hope you don''t lose hope. The gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus doesn''t matter. I can look around to see if I can find its close relative, which could be useful."


    Chen Mu was transfixed.


    Seeing his appearance, Sue Lochiro''s beautiful eyes saddened, and she sighed to herself that she didn''t know how to console him. She felt guiltier and could only disconnect after a few words of comfort.


    What she didn''t know was that Chen Mu''s being transfixed wasn''t because of her or the fungus. It was because of her bringing up the House of a Hundred Depths! When he heard that name, it was as though his brain were struck by lightning. The demonic woman had come from the mysterious House of a Hundred Depths!


    The ghost-faced flower seed, the wall-climbing lotus, the elastic grass shoes, and the battle style of moving in the dark had made him speculate many times.


    By now, he was 90 percent certain the demonic woman had come from the House of a Hundred Depths. But, although Chen Mu didn''t know much about that place, he at least had some general understanding.


    The House of a Hundred Depths had established relations with the federation for about 270 years, but it was still quite mysterious in the minds of the people. Moreover, although there were bilateral relations, there was little exchange. Originally, there were frequent comings and goings, but that was up until about 100 years ago. A card artisan firm numbering in the tens of thousands once entered the House of a Hundred Depths, which brought about a nasty reputation.


    Exchanges between the two sides were strictly controlled after that event. By now, the exchanges were nearly zero. If it weren''t for the demonic woman being so different, Chen Mu would have had some difficulty even thinking about that mysterious place.


    Chen Mu suddenly remembered that the first time he encountered the demonic woman was in the Outer Reaches outside of Eastern Shang Wei City. But the exchange transit window between the House of a Hundred Depths and the federation wasn''t in the Eastern Reaches! How did the demonic woman get to the Outer Reaches outside of Eastern Shang Wei City? Even though the demonic woman was extremely tough, Chen Mu didn''t believe she could single-handedly get through the Outer Reaches across half the Heavenly Federation. Moreover, given the stiffness the demonic woman demonstrated, she hadn''t had any dealings with residents of the federation before she had seen him.


    Chen Mu then thought about the matter of the Star Academy coming to Eastern Shang Wei City. There were many speculative versions of that event, but no matter which, everyone believed the Star Academy certainly had some definite motive. Otherwise, why would the illustrious Star Academy come to such an unknown little place?


    The demonic woman¡­ the Star Academy...


    Could there have been some connection between those two?


    An irrepressible, bold guess emerged from Chen Mu''s mind.

 241 Divvying Up

    Shaking his head, Chen Mu couldn''t help but laugh. What did that have to do with him? Even if he knew, it wouldn''t be any use. The House of a Hundred Depths was a long way away from him.


    Whether it was the House of a Hundred Depths or the Mohadi Domain, after going through the transit window, there would have to be an ash stratum in between.


    No one knew what mechanism formed the ash stratum, but its dangers were recorded in many books. The ash stratum was without sunlight and dusky with ash, which was how it got its name. The living things in the ash stratum had a lot of vitality. Even though many had been hunted down, it had taken just more than ten years to regain their vigor. So, it was very dangerous to traverse the ash stratum.


    After each discovery of a transit window, the federation would organize aces to break through the ash stratum. The cost each time was always disastrous, and the first time was always the worst. The transit window leading to the Mohadi Domain was the first one discovered by humans. The exploration of the ash stratum was established on a foundation of endless blood.


    It was said that the first expeditionary team was completely wiped out. The Heavenly Federation then organized the second expeditionary team, which was also completely wiped out.


    Not willing to fail, the federation government organized the third expeditionary team. The third team''s lineup was unprecedented in strength; all of the famous card artisans from the Big Six mobilized, on top of which were the military aces and some civilian aces who had long accomplished their fame. The scale of that expeditionary force would top the list throughout the entire history of the federation.


    That third team finally broke through the ash stratum. When the news got back to the Heavenly Federation, the whole federation celebrated. Everyone was in high spirits, and countless people started to predict that a new era had arrived.


    When the rare species and ores found in the ash stratum were sent back to the federation, the people didn''t just cheer. Driven by profit, more and more people were eager to try their hands. With the encouragement of the Heavenly Federation government, quite a few expeditionary teams of all sizes were established and set off to the transit windows to enter the ash stratum.


    As the teams continually entered the ash stratum, even as vast as it was, it couldn''t block human greed. Lots of people made a windfall from the great quantities of rare materials and ores sent back to the federation. That living example greatly stimulated people''s desire for riches, and more and more firms and card artisans then joined the lively exploration movement.


    Once the ash stratum was gradually all explored, those who had already been carried away by the riches set their sights on the other exit from the ash stratum, which was the same kind of transit window. What was beyond it? No one knew, but there was no longer any way to stop those people''s advance.


    The first mobilized was an expeditionary team organized by the federation. That team, composed entirely of aces, was at the front, and they were also the most profitable group in the expeditionary movement. Being the first to traverse the transit window, they were surprised to discover there was a still vaster territory beyond the ash stratum.


    But they had terrible luck. They met the fierce resistance of the local aborigines.


    Perhaps looking back from now, that must have been a meaningful transition. At the time, it wasn''t anything more than ordinary. The level of development of the society of the aborigines in the new territory couldn''t compare with that of the great Heavenly Federation. The retrograde soldiers of the aborigines naturally couldn''t contend with highly developed card artisans. The federation''s advance was rapid, and they won every battle.


    But no one had considered that the aborigines'' resistance would get increasingly intense, and regardless of life and death, they would continue to mount wave upon wave of attack. Only then did the federation discover that without their knowing it, they had gotten trapped in a quagmire! If they were to pull back and leave, the likely final result wouldn''t be so bad. But, with the lure of profit in front of them, any opposing voices didn''t even make a ripple. Moreover, the federation at that time had a lot of confidence in the power of their fully developed card system. They still assumed it was a war between different eras.


    That war lasted 15 years!


    The aborigines had the advantage of fighting on their own territory, which made them more familiar with the climate and geography. Supplies were also much simpler. On the other hand, although the federation had more advanced technology, the jungle fever in the field had possibly caused over 50 percent attrition. Moreover, their supply chain required traversing the ash stratum before supplies could be sent to the new domain.


    The fighting stalemated. The aborigines were utterly cunning and never fought face-to-face with the federation. They would incessantly tear open the federation lines. The transition of the ensuing war gradually transformed the power of the two sides. Those who were wise among the aborigines had been getting knowledge about cards from the mouths of their captives, and they gradually developed their own peculiar card technology.


    The federation forces didn''t know anything about that.


    When contemporary historians discussed the forbearance of the aborigines, they were all full of heartfelt admiration. The natives took ten years to store up their power in secret. They took unto themselves different things from each of the Heavenly Federation academies, and the sages from the aborigines collected them together for their common enlightenment. They then took what they had learned about card technology and distributed it to each tribe without holding back in the slightest.


    They grew up during those ten years and continuously improved their card system, combining it with their original skills to form an entirely different style from the federation''s.


    The war was finally given up by the federation in defeat. Only afterward did the federation officially begin to recognize the independent identity of the new territory, which was called the Mohadi Domain.


    The forefathers of the Mohadi Domain didn''t block the transit windows because of their victory. On the contrary, they started to advance relations and trade with the federation. Right up until contemporary times, exchanges between the Mohadi Domain and the federation were extremely frequent. But the enmity and hatred of the aborigines toward the Heavenly Federation hadn''t abated, so card artisans seldom entered the Mohadi Domain.


    In the eyes of the Federation, the Mohadi Domain has always been mysterious.


    On that point, the House of a Hundred Depths was similar to the Mohadi Domain but doubtlessly more daunting. The House of a Hundred Depths was said to be the realm of the flexster. The so-called flexster referred to those who moved in the dark like assassins. They were good at using all kinds of weapons, among which were rope-like, pliable things.


    That was one of the biggest reasons Chen Mu had determined the demonic woman came from the House of a Hundred Depths. No matter where she was from, the demonic woman corresponded too closely to the flexsters described in the annals.


    Neither the Mohadi Domain nor the House of a Hundred Depths had anything to do with him. Moreover, Chen Mu deeply understood his own heft. How could such a small player as himself guess the secrets the other five of the Big Six couldn''t pry out?


    Beyond that, judging from Sue Lochiro''s description, the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus wasn''t something he could get. Something good enough to prolong life would be precious anywhere. Going to the House of a Hundred Depths would be nonsense. Continuing to train his perception would be a lot more practical.


    * * *


    But Chen Mu didn''t quite know how madly his numbered cards were selling!


    The fatty found his door, along with someone else.


    Chen Mu opened the door. "What are you doing here, old brother?" Although he had only known the fatty for a short time, Chen Mu actually got his temperament pretty well. He was a classic type who didn''t get up unless it was worth it. Coming to find him meant something was up. Could he be sending more materials? Chen Mu couldn''t help but feel shaken with the unprecedented production when he last made cards.


    The fatty was smiling bitterly and not talking. But he was looking at Chen Mu as though he had seen a monster.


    After a while, he blurted out, "What kind of freak are you, buddy? I''m afraid your later achievements will at least make you a grand master like Luo Qi! I don''t know how I had such luck to have any doings with you."


    Chen Mu couldn''t wrap his head around the fatty talking in such a mindless, emotional way. "What''s up? Has something happened?" Still, it was very much in line with the fatty''s profiteering ways to show such respect to Luo Qi.


    "Nothing has happened. I just came to divvy up the money." The fatty''s expression was still showing a bitter smile.


    Seeing the fatty''s expression looking like he would squeeze out bitter water, Chen Mu couldn''t help but ask in concern, "Haven''t they sold well?" He had little involvement with the marketing of cards and wasn''t much in the know. But he did know the cost of the materials he''d consumed was considerable. If those cards hadn''t brought a good price, he would have been surprised.


    Speechless, the fatty looked at Chen Mu to be sure he wasn''t being put on before bitterly pulling back his gaze. He couldn''t help but curse. "What a freak you are!"


    Chen Mu really couldn''t get his head around that and could only wait for what came next.


    The fatty pulled out a money card and held it in front of Chen Mu. "This has your cut, which is 360 million Oudi altogether."


    Chen Mu was taken aback. "How could it be that much?" Up until then, the most he''d ever handled had been at the level of tens of millions. How would he not be startled for the fatty to drop a 360 million money card?


    Chen Mu didn''t go to get the money card but looked at the fatty, puzzled.


    Seeing Chen Mu''s expression, the fatty suddenly felt a little discouraged. He wasn''t in a good mood when he said, "Do you know how much your cards sold for? That 007 of yours sold for 350 million. Good grief, the admission fee alone brought in enough to give me pause. Deducting the materials and various expenses, this is your cut."


    "Three hundred fifty million!" Chen Mu''s brain had crashed. Of course, he had some influence on the 007, which was inspired by the bipolar thunderball card. It was one of the two four-star cards among the 22 cards. But for a four-star fantasy card to sell for 350 million? He felt that price was a little bit outrageous!


    Seeing Chen Mu''s expression of disbelief, the flesh on the fatty''s face quivered as he muttered, "I didn''t expect such a price either. But it was Madam Zhi Lian who took it, so it was presumably worth the price, though I don''t get it. As for you..." The fatty thought of Chen Mu tossing him so many bombshells with his calm face, and he couldn''t help but say, "I don''t get you either."


    Chen Mu grunted his response as he took the money card.


    "I''ve only sold 11 of the cards. This is the dividend from those 11." The same bitter smile appeared again on the fatty''s face. "We have played too big this time, young brother, which is scaring your older brother!"


    "What do you mean?" Chen Mu''s expression had become serious as he faintly felt his safety might be involved. He would become especially serious whenever he encountered issues regarding his safety.


    "Your older brother has really rocked the federation this time." The expression on the fatty''s face was a little complicated, showing some concern along with some pride. Someone of the stature of Madam Zhi Lian had come, which had really caused his face to surge. The fatty''s expression then turned dignified. "But, if we keep playing like this, your big brother''s heart won''t hold out. You might not know I''ve nearly been driven crazy lately. It was a good thing I quickly saw what was happening and hid as soon as I could. Otherwise, my gosh, everything would have vexed me. I wouldn''t be able to take any more of it. Moreover, young brother, there are already quite a few people secretly investigating. We got to know one another at the banquet, where a lot of people saw us, even though they still haven''t been thinking that way as of now. But once someone starts paying attention to you, it won''t be easy to hide."


    There was a lot of concern in what the fatty was saying. Chen Mu remained silent, knowing what the fatty said was right. If the numbered series of cards was really so hot as he''d said, there certainly would be people devising every possible means to exploit them.


    "I still haven''t auctioned that folding Yanbo card." The fatty pulled out that card and held it in front of Chen Mu. "Your older brother doesn''t have a strong foundation, and I can barely stand the influence of one 007. If another even more awesome card were to appear, that would exceed what I could take. Although your older brother is plenty greedy, I still know which wealth I can covet and which I can''t."


    What the fatty said was unexpected, and it rather stunned Chen Mu to see fatty presenting the folding Yanbo card.


    "The numbered series of cards has already given me enough to eat; if I were to get any stronger, it would be more of a curse than a blessing for me. Take this card for now, young brother, and don''t release it for a while. Given its value, it would be enough for you to recruit a first-class card artisan. You won''t lack for spending money having the numbered series of cards. While it''s natural for we business people to seek wealth, our lives are also important," the fatty earnestly instructed.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help the respect he felt for that obese man. With such profits in front of him, how many people would be able to control themselves like the fatty did?


    Taking the folding Yanbo card, Chen Mu nodded and answered him seriously. "Mmmm."


    "We''ll stay with our original plan for the remaining cards in the numbered series." The fatty then pointed to the man beside him, who hadn''t said anything all along. "Now, I''d like to introduce my young brother to another proposition."


    Only then did Chen Mu closely size up the man the fatty brought with him.

 242 The Restoration

    The man was probably about 40, with sunken eyes, a listless expression, and a stubbly beard. His clothes were worn out, and even from far away, he gave off a pungent smell. Once he''d come in, Chen Mu noted his right leg was lame. The way he looked was the living example of one down-and-out dude.


    Chen Mu didn''t look down on him in the least because of his shabby appearance, having been a lot more miserable when he was small.


    Looking at that middle-aged man, the fatty sighed and took Chen Mu aside. In a low voice, he said, "The two of us have known one another for a long time. He was once well-known, and I never thought he would be in such dire straits as he is now." Glancing at his good friend from the old days, the fatty couldn''t help another sigh. "This guy is really desperate; otherwise, he wouldn''t be in such dire straits. I wanted to bail him out, but he rebuffed me. The stir recently made by the numbered series of cards was so big he didn''t even know where he got the news of me, but he wanted me to bring him to see you. He helped me a lot in the old days. If it would be convenient, I wonder if you could help him. If there is anything you need, just let me know."


    "Mmmm." Chen Mu nodded, and the fatty pulled back to the side. Chen Mu walked over to the middle-aged man.


    Noticing Chen Mu, the middle-aged man''s eyes brightened, and his bowed back straightened right up. The clothes were the same, his face was still covered in a beard, and the smell was as before. In Chen Mu''s eyes, however, that man looked as though he had just become a completely different person. Inwardly surprised, Chen Mu couldn''t help but think about what the fatty had just said. The middle-aged man had been a famous personage.


    "Jody Bogner!" The middle-aged man''s expression immediately became sharp, as though he could pierce through Chen Mu.


    For that guy to have such a sharp gaze meant he was no ordinary person after all. But Chen Mu wasn''t surprised. Although he hadn''t seen more awesome people than he could count, he''d seen quite a few. Of course he wasn''t going to be intimidated by him.


    "What do you have in mind?" Chen Mu asked him, without even introducing himself. He didn''t know what the man needed, but since the fatty had brought it up, Chen Mu had already decided he would do his best to help as long as it wasn''t too difficult.


    Bogner squinted as though he was looking right through Chen Mu. Chen Mu was already a little surprised at how weak the perceptual fluctuations from his body were. To have such a sharp, oppressive gaze was rare. Chen Mu remained calm, patiently waiting for what his counterpart would have to say.


    After a full ten seconds of Bogner staring at him, the flash of admiration faded, and his sharp gaze gradually lost its edge. He once again returned to his former look of a down-and-out dude. He cautiously pulled out a card from his chest and put it in front of Chen Mu. In a trembling voice, he asked, "Grand Master, can you see if you can restore this card?"


    Taking a look at Bogner, Chen Mu took the card from his hands and looked it over carefully.


    From its luster, he could tell the card had gone through a number of years, but he could also see its owner had been attentive. What was most shocking about it was that its surface had five obvious scratches crisscrossing it, which had destroyed the composition beyond recognition.


    "Yikes!" Chen Mu uttered a light oath since the card was rather unexpected. It was a three-star fantasy card, but it was an extremely strange one. Its use was actually no different from a one-star or two-star card, which could only emit specific images. It was his first time seeing such a three-star card, which, as he saw it, didn''t have any real use.


    If it had been someone else, that card wouldn''t have been worth restoring. It was a card only a mid-grade card master would be able to restore, with its compositional structure in the range of a three-star fantasy card. Though the content involved was that of a low-grade card, the demands were more refined. The skills for such a refined low-grade fantasy card were something only a low-grade card master who made card plays or fantasy card advertisements for a living would be able to penetrate.


    Few among mid-grade card masters would have such deep attainments with low-grade fantasy cards. But Chen Mu did in his capacity as the boss of Heaven''s Wings. He''d made "Chance Encounter" and "Legend of Master Shi," so those fine skills were something he had long since become proficient with by heart.


    Looking a little more closely, Chen Mu said, "I can repair it." After saying that, he thought he would do the repair right away since it would involve little effort.


    Bogner''s eyes showed a look of delight, although he suddenly stopped Chen Mu. "Would you please wait a bit?"


    Chen Mu turned around and looked at him. "What''s the problem?"


    "Can you really restore it?" Bogner asked cautiously.


    "Yes." Chen Mu''s response was direct, without the slightest uncertainty. He could see the card must be important to Bogner.


    "Wonderful!" Bogner was overjoyed, but he restrained his expression. He suddenly straightened his body, and his gaze shone brightly at Chen Mu as he asked in a sinking voice, "What kind of price must I pay?"


    Chen Mu shook his head. "It won''t take much. You don''t need to pay any compensation." It would certainly be effortless for him, and to be able to help out the fatty made him rather happy.


    He hadn''t thought Bogner would shake his head. "That won''t do. I''ve already asked on the market. You are the third card master I''ve asked who could restore it, and the lowest price among the two previous ones was 200,000 Oudi before they would do the repair."


    Chen Mu took a look at the fatty and said honestly, "You are his friend, so I can''t take any compensation."


    "No good." Bogner shook his head, his gaze as stubborn as ever. "My friendship is with him. What I''m talking about with you is business."


    Chen Mu hadn''t thought this guy would be so tough. He took another look at him, asking calmly, "Do you have Oudi?"


    Despite the beard covering Bogner''s face, Chen Mu could still see his cheeks turn red as he shook his head in some embarrassment. But his gaze was as stubborn as ever, and he wasn''t going to waver because of that.


    It was the first time Chen Mu had encountered someone so stubborn, and he couldn''t help but turn his gaze toward the fatty. The reason he''d wanted to help Bogner restore the card was completely based on giving the fatty some face.


    The fatty came between the two of them and helplessly said to Bogner, "After so many years, you are still so stubborn. I say, when will you change this manner? If the spirit of Celia up in heaven were to see you this way, I''m afraid she would be angry."


    Hearing that name, Bogner''s eyes turned red, though his face remained indifferent. "You don''t understand Celia, Fatty. If I weren''t like I am, she would never have married me that year."


    Hearing that, the fatty''s gaze couldn''t help but turn sad. His basic pique had become more flexible as he muttered to himself, "Since that''s the way it is, young brother Cao may have run into a little trouble recently, Bogner. He''s been wanting to recruit a few hands. You have a lot of experience in that regard, so why not help him out as compensation?"


    Hearing that, Bogner''s expression looked hesitant.


    The fatty said with an unhappy expression, "Do you want Celia to be watching you down in the dumps like this from the heavens, Bogner?"


    Bogner was stunned to hear that, and he lowered his head in silence.


    After a full five minutes, he finally raised his head. Chen Mu saw the flash of sharpness in his gaze again. Bogner had a calm expression and an aggressive gaze. "Ok, I can serve Mr. Cao, but my salary requirements are 100 million Oudi per year." Bogner said it in a calm tone while maintaining his proud expression.


    One hundred million a year? Chen Mu was speechless. Who was making a request of whom in the end? That was the first time he''d seen someone so self-important while asking for help. Although he''d just gotten quite a few hundred million, he still didn''t plan to squander it that way.


    Just as he was thinking of refusing, he saw the fatty giving him a steady look.


    Could the fatty have wanted to bail out Bogner that way? Chen Mu hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Ok." Chen Mu''s thinking was pretty simple. The fatty was the most important partner he had at the time. If not for him, he would basically not be able to have earned so much money. Although 100 million was a huge amount, it was still like tossing a peach to get back a plum in returning the favor.


    Following that, Chen Mu started to restore the card. After all he''d been through, the difficulty of the card wasn''t even worth mentioning.


    Chen Mu completed the restoration after spending only half an hour.


    Bogner''s hands were trembling with excitement when Chen Mu presented the restored card to him. His lips were pursed tight and had turned white from the excessive pressure. The simple action of inserting the card into the apparatus took him three tries.


    The card activated.


    * * *


    "Ha ha, our Bogner is finally about to be married to the beautiful Celia. Although Bogner is a little ugly, ha ha, he''s still plenty fertile. He makes perfect cow dung to plant a flower!"


    * * *


    "Oh my god, we are so beautiful¡ªlike a fairy, the love in the dreams of every brother in the group. Our beloved princess Celia has appeared! I can see it all. Good lord, I am so jealous of Bogner right now. What a lucky guy!"


    * * *


    "Bogner has come out. That guy is the enemy of all his fellow men today! But hey, everyone has plenty of chance for revenge. No one can leave this guy alone today. Although he has silently plucked the most beautiful and charming flower from our team, we must mobilize all our fellow men not to get him drunk him tonight, which would never be enough to calm our fellow men''s wounded hearts!"


    * * *


    "What a beautiful night. Ha ha, Bogner has gotten drunk in front of our sea of resentment without the least scruples! Poor Bogner, to be as drunk as mud on his wedding night, ha ha. I feel for him."


    * * *


    "I''m really looking forward to it! What kinds of ugly kids will that ugly donkey Bogner and Celia produce? Little princesses or little princes? I really can''t wait. No, I must remind Bogner that he must be diligent!"


    Among the images was a lively wedding with everyone shaking with joy.


    Tears covered Bogner''s face.

 243 Bogner’s Theory

    The fatty was in a glum mood when he left.


    Maybe there were a lot of stories there, but seeing Bogner''s dejected look, Chen Mu discreetly didn''t ask. In any case, Bogner suddenly pulled himself together and became a different person. Although there was still a teary look in his eyes, he was mostly firm and determined.


    That man had certainly been someone who rocked the world!


    "Let''s talk about my duties," Bogner said respectfully. His sunken eyes, skinny face and his stubble like a wire brush made him look like a sword drawn from its scabbard; its point was hard to disguise. Lu Xiaoru looked on radiantly with her lively, beautiful eyes. Only Wei-ah kept watching the fantasy card receiver in front of him selfishly with the brown fat dog snoring beside him.


    Could this guy really have a lot of experience? Chen Mu felt puzzled. Although, for Bogner to have been able to find him, he clearly must have known about his making that numbered series of cards. He wasn''t going to hide that now, so he said directly, "I believe you understand my situation. What would you propose?"


    Bogner was erect and proper with his spine ramrod straight. His worn-out clothes could never hide the imposing manner of his body.


    "I need to know what you''re thinking. If you wish to join the Big Six or some other power, then we would only need to reach out to them; they would arrange the rest. If you don''t wish to join, then the matter might become more troublesome."


    Chen Mu said peremptorily, "I won''t join."


    Bogner didn''t show anything unexpected by his expression. "If that''s the way it is, then I think you will need sufficient self defense power. If your numbered series of cards hadn''t made such a splash, I might recommend you expose your identity. But now, with the strength you''ve shown, no power would leave it at that. You are truly in everyone''s sights. If you were to expose yourself, there would be no way to keep their claws off you."


    Chen Mu''s question got to the heart of the matter. "How do we establish sufficient power?"


    "Money!" Bogner''s expression remained the same as he spat out that one word.


    Chen Mu furrowed his brow. "I don''t believe money can solve this problem." He had never doubted the power of money, but at the same time, he didn''t blindly believe in it.


    Without changing his expression, Bogner said, "It would be impossible to establish enough power to contend with the Big Six. The only ones who could contend with such huge powers as the Big Six and Faya would be themselves. But, among local powers such as in Pomelo, it wouldn''t be impossible. Pomelo''s local power is very low-key. I think we could hold out for a certain amount of time in such a situation. We won''t need to establish power equivalent to theirs; we would only need to establish enough power to give them some misgivings. That way, they wouldn''t just act without thinking."


    Chen Mu was chewing over what Bogner said in his mind, and he was largely convinced until he thought of an issue. "And after the situation has stabilized?"


    "We move away," Bogner said without hesitation. "There are a few places in the federation where the tentacles of the Big Six haven''t reached yet."


    Chen Mu found that strange. "Then why wouldn''t we leave now?"


    Bogner gave Chen Mu a look and made a mocking smile. "I don''t know how much you know about power, but in my understanding, a solitary power can never contend with a group. The reason they would dare to do something to you would be that they saw you as isolated and without help. If you have a certain power under you, then before anyone would do anything, they would carefully consider the gains and losses. They would likely choose a different means, such as cooperation."


    Bogner got right to the nub of the matter. "As you are now, your power isn''t sufficient to make them choose to cooperate. In their eyes, they could make you yield and serve them with only small losses. Once you have a certain amount of power, however, they would likely consider that after using drastic means, the losses you would bring to them might not be made up for by the profits. What we have to do is increase the costs to them. With increased risk, their profits would be less certain. You would be safe that way! In truth, they are a bunch of businesspeople, just a little smarter than Yang An."


    Chen Mu was silent.


    "Another thing about not leaving now is that you might make a lot of money in a short time. That might enable you to temporarily establish fledgling power. Although it wouldn''t be very powerful, it would still give people pause. That way, you could have a buffer for a while to be able to get some more money to develop your power. The more power you have, the more apprehensive others would be, and the safer you would be." Bogner spoke in a deep voice, his narrow eyes shooting out an astonishing brilliance.


    Chen Mu asked with a serious expression, "How much money do you need? How long?" Bogner''s organized way of speaking moved Chen Mu. He realized the guy in front of him, who looked so destitute, was a real talent.


    "Two billion. You''ll see results in a month."


    Chen Mu was taken aback. "I don''t have that much money."


    Bogner said calmly, "You don''t need to spend it all at once. You''ll only need 200 million to start."


    Chen Mu calmed a little and thought it over. He pushed the 350 million the fatty had given him over to Bogner. "There is 350 million here. Deducting 100 million for your pay, you can allocate the rest."


    Bogner didn''t immediately take the money card. He looked Chen Mu over deeply before he silently took it.


    Bogner stood up. "I need a high-grade card artisan to help me out."


    That matter was a little awkward for Chen Mu. He looked at Wei-ah and immediately nixed that idea. His gaze finally fell onto Lu Xiaoru. "You accompany Bogner, and protect him. Do as he says."


    Lu Xiaoru obediently responded. She was good at reading words and body language. Although Bogner looked like a bum, the presence he displayed made her inwardly alarmed. Previously, that guy was certainly someone important. What made her still more admiring was how cautious he was. After Bogner took the money card, he took the initiative to ask for someone to accompany him. He sized up the situation discreetly, and he deeply knew how to get things done with integrity.


    When she heard what Bogner had said, it was analytical, well-organized and in a such a practiced fashion that it stunned her. That was why she had responded so obediently.


    Bogner seemed as though he had long since noted Lu Xiaoru''s power, and he didn''t show any surprise. After he saluted Chen Mu and walked out the door, Lu Xiaoru looked at Chen Mu and rushed to accompany Bogner.


    Although he''d just tossed out 350 million, Chen Mu didn''t hang on to the brief pain. What the fatty said was right; no matter how much money you had, life was still more important. He threw himself back into the mysterious card. Even though there was someone to protect him, his own power was extremely important. Chen Mu still hadn''t placed all that much hope on what Bogner had said about being able to set up a fledgling power within a month.


    Chen Mu also wasn''t used to delegating his fate to someone else, no matter how close that person was to him.


    Chen Mu sat back down in the middle of the rotating turntable for the perceptual sensitivity training. He initiated his concentration on the training, and bit by bit and over and over again, he went through the boring, tedious repetitions. Chen Mu didn''t seem to have the slightest feeling as he kept it up.


    * * *


    At the Central Repository of the Classics, Madam Zhi Lian was holding a card in her hand. The card was none other than the Super 007, which had just rocked the federation.


    "It is as I thought, after all," Madam Zhi Lian murmured excitedly, though she still couldn''t help but show a somewhat puzzled expression.


    Madam Zhi Lian had rushed back to the Central Repository of the Classics from Pomelo, wanting to see if that card corresponded to her conjecture. As the dean of the card making division, the strength of her perception wasn''t beneath that of any first-rate card artisan. But the perception of a card master didn''t have any aggressive quality. It was used to perceive the energy composition within a card, where it was utterly efficacious.


    She had just been looking up in the annals for the record of a card. The bipolar card was magical. It would only form two completely opposite energy bodies having entirely different properties, which would then undergo countless transformations. The bipolar card was the life''s work of a card master famous in the history of the Central Repository of the Classics. He hadn''t thought the way to make the Bipolar Card wouldn''t be passed down, though the tricks of controlling it had been preserved.


    In her youth, when Zhi Lian had read about how to control the bipolar card, she''d wanted to reverse-engineer how to make it.


    The Big Six Academies had quite a few card masters who would engage in such research. But she hadn''t realized that no matter how diligent she was, she could only reduce the number of thunderballs to 60. That was far deficient compared to the original two.


    That didn''t mean Zhi Lian''s ability fell far short from that card master from the earlier generation; the difficulty of reverse-engineering far exceeded the invention of a new kind of card by a long shot. For Zhi Lian to squeeze out 60 thunderballs was already the most stable composition she could achieve. She couldn''t complete even 60 since there were certain crucial characteristics she had never been able to break through. She''d had to put that plan on hold indefinitely.


    So, when she saw 007, she was startled. She recognized at a glance that 007 copied the bipolar card. When she found out the count of the energy balls was 60, she was still more startled.


    She hadn''t thought the thinking of her counterpart would actually correspond so well to her own. She became curious and wanted to see how her counterpart had broken through those critical spots.


    So, she bought it regardless of the high price and immediately returned to the Central Repository of the Classics to do the research. Just as she was about to leave, she instructed Jie Yanbai that no matter how, he had to find the one who made that card.


    When the card was in her hands, she still didn''t have any way to understand how her counterpart had broken through those obstacles. There were quite a few patterns on the card she couldn''t make out. She had never thought someone would actually add so many utterly useless camouflaging lines on the cards he made himself.


    No card master would do that; from their point of view, there was utterly no need for it. A card''s pattern wasn''t the most important thing. What was important was how the lines of the composition were fitted to the card by perception. That kind of fit was itself a kind of password. If you weren''t the card master himself, it would be difficult for others to guess it. Already having a layer of password protection, who would add another password?


    But Chen Mu did it every time.


    Just because of that, he''d completely confused Madam Zhi Lian. She couldn''t figure it out no matter how hard she tried. Those compositions looked so strange. She had never seen anything like them. Judging from the patterns, its composition was utterly complex.


    There were countless types of complex card patterns. The methods for making cards were actually rather similar to the various schools among card artisans, though it wasn''t so obvious as it was for the card artisans. Madam Zhi Lian was only well-versed in a small slice among all the card patterns in the ocean of cards. She was like an oceanographer, who might be well-versed in only a few kinds of ocean creatures while still having a certain understanding of all the other creatures in the ocean.


    She had never seen those strange patterns, which was one of the reasons she was so surprised.


    But, although that made her curious, it didn''t make her feel greedy. If the 007 Chen Mu had made didn''t have 60 energy balls, but had 30 instead, she believed she would likely have done whatever it took to find that card master and kidnap him back to the Central Repository of the Classics.


    She had originally wanted to use that card¡ªwhich had parts of no value¡ªto understand how her counterpart had broken through those few critical places, never having thought she would open up to yet another fog in her head.


    But that card still had plenty of value. It was the most successful imitation of the bipolar card up until then. Perhaps she could try those methods of controlling it that had been passed along.


    She decided to find a student to try it out. She had been moved that day when Jiao Si had played out all that power. Although a student''s power couldn''t compare with Jiao Si''s, it would still be the most authentic way to control it. She really looked forward to 007 under the method of controlling the bipolar card. What kind of power could it put out?


    Zhi Lian thought of a different issue. It wasn''t so rare that Bei Dong knew about the bipolar card. The Big Six had been rivals for many years, and they all had so many records of each other. In the book repository of the Central Repository of the Classics were countless records of every sort of card from the other five of the Big Six.


    But where did the one who made 007 find out about the bipolar card? Moreover, it couldn''t have been a complete coincidence to be able to make such a successful replica.


    Could her counterpart have had some relationship with the Central Repository of the Classics? Madam Zhi Lian knitted her elegant brow.

 244 Details and a Conjecture

    Energy block Y09 was the toughest Chen Mu had encountered so far. If he wanted to take it down, he needed to use his perceptual tendrils to complete 16 recursive twists. He''d already tried it 522 times and still hadn''t taken it down.


    Even given Chen Mu''s disposition, he still felt a little irritable. He also knew his current emotional state wouldn''t help with the training, so he directly exited the mysterious card.


    He didn''t know where Wei-ah had run off to, and that brown fleshy dog was nowhere to be seen either. He imagined Wei-ah had taken it with him. Looking at the empty rooms, a feeling of desolation welled up in him. Chen Mu stood there for a few minutes before rushing into the bathroom to douse his face with cold water. His brain immediately cleared, and his restless heart also settled.


    He didn''t have to take down energy block Y09 just then. In fact, there were many ways to build the model, and he absolutely could start with a different energy block and leave Y09 for later.


    But he didn''t want to change his plans.


    Chen Mu made a deep sigh, and his gaze resumed it steadiness. He re-entered the mysterious card.


    On the one hand, he analyzed the information transmitted by the tips of the fine tendrils. On the other, he methodically controlled his perception. He still hadn''t succeeded. After making more than 500 attempts, he hadn''t even touched a single trick. He believed he hadn''t succeeded for no other reason than his insufficient diligence.


    If 500 times wasn''t enough, then he''d do it 1,500 times!


    * * *


    The Beard was holding his red wine in both hands as he spoke eloquently. "This is the listing from the auction house. There are 11 of the numbered series of cards on it, among which is a four-star card. The requirements are on the top. I heard this listing was sent to quite a few big clients. The Yang Clan Auction House will be holding a closed auction this time, where each card can only be traded for materials. In the end, the overall value will be determined by how rare the materials are. It looks as though they will use the surmise of a card master to determine that; otherwise, they would never consider an exchange for materials.


    "Although it will be a closed auction, the purchasing power of those participating shouldn''t be overlooked. But, since they require that materials be exchanged, that will cause a lot of pain for those who don''t have the special channels. According to the intelligence we''ve gathered, top-quality materials have strongly surged recently from the stimulus of this affair. I''m guessing the Big Six will likely attend."


    Butchie and Hugo were carefully listening. When it came to the analysis of intelligence, the two of them combined weren''t as good as the Beard.


    "I''ve already transmitted this listing to the boss-man, who says we should play it by ear. He''s already sent people here to transport over 2 billion worth of materials." After the Beard spoke, he looked at Butchie with some humor, "The boss-man also said Butchie''s situation is special. You''ll be allowed to use these materials to purchase one of the cards!"


    "Yeah!" Butchie excitedly jumped up, red-faced. "I just found out what a great guy the boss-man is!"


    Hugo''s look remained the same, but an indulgent look flashed past his eyes.


    "You''ll have to consider which card you''ll choose." The Beard raised his eyebrows as he made his suggestion.


    "I don''t even need to think about it; I''ve already decided!" Butchie''s beautiful, crystalline eyes flashed.


    "Oh? Which one?" The Beard and Hugo looked at each other and smiled in unison.


    "This one!"


    Butchie''s snow white, exquisite finger fell onto a number on the listing.


    Card 013!


    The two of them couldn''t help but smile again at each other. The Beard looked rather pleased with himself. "I''d guessed you would pick that one!"


    The three kept talking and laughing for a while, when Butchie suddenly said, "Who would you say the card master really was who made this numbered series of cards?"


    Getting to that issue, their expressions turned serious. The Beard said in a deep voice, "To tell the truth, that''s the issue everyone is concerned with. The recent trend with the numbered series of cards is something no one can stay away from. Looking at the cards he made, not one wasn''t top-notch. Moreover, the two four-star cards are the finest of the fine! Once the identity of such a card master becomes known, he''ll get quite a reputation. Until now, he''s remained mysterious. He would presumably have some misgivings about deliberately revealing himself."


    After a pause, the Beard looked as though he found something strange. "I''ve already investigated the ins and outs of the Yang Clan Auction House. This Yang An doesn''t really have much background, but he still surprises me."


    Butchie and Hugo were listening closely, and even Hugo felt surprised. Their curiosity had been piqued.


    The Beard had a serious expression. "Yang An previously opened a small shop that showed no progress for the first two years. Then, it suddenly shot up during the third year to get more and more business until he opened this auction house. That period had a lot to do with his having a large quantity of rare items for sale. Since too much time has passed, we haven''t been able to get any concrete evidence. What seems certain, however, is that there must have been some big firm behind him, meaning he had formed a cooperative relationship one of them.


    "We have no way to find out what that firm really holds sacred. But clearly the cooperative agreement between Yang An and his counterpart was somehow concluded for an unknown reason. Yang An is a sharp businessman with a lot of integrity. The business grew until it became the current Yang Clan Auction House. It would seem the connection between him and Jiao Si isn''t weak, but we still haven''t gotten any clues about that."


    It looked as though the Beard had a lot of respect for the boss of the Yang Clan Auction House, as his expression was full of praise. Although they still hadn''t found out all the specific details, they knew he wasn''t any ordinary person from the information they did have. Given the Beard''s ability with intelligence, to have come up short on the ins and outs showed how powerful Yang An was from a different angle.


    Butchie was a little hesitant as she said, "Do you still remember when I told you about that card master?"


    "The boss of Heaven''s Wings, Cao Dong?" The Beard responded quickly and then displayed some suspicion. "You wouldn''t be wondering if he''s that card master?" He then shook his head. "I don''t think that''s possible. Judging from the numbered series of cards that has appeared, the card master''s power is utterly extraordinary. I''ve already investigated; although Cao Dong''s fame has surged recently, that was only a fantasy card advertisement. While he might have outstanding power with regard to low-grade cards, that doesn''t show he''s just as outstanding with mid- and high-grade cards. We''ve also analyzed that fiery dragon card you were talking about. Although it has some rather unique aspects, it''s still far from the numbered series of cards."


    Hugo didn''t immediately refute Butchie, but he hoarsely asked a rhetorical question. "Why did you think of him?"


    Butchie recalled, "I saw him at Ren Wenzhou''s banquet that day. If I''m not mistaken, the fatty also showed up to the banquet that day. I was wondering, with Cao Dong clearly able to make three-star fantasy cards, why would he waste his energy on fantasy card advertisements? Their profits would be far from those of a three-star fantasy card. What I found strange more recently is that apart from me, no one actually knew Cao Dong could make three-star fantasy cards. Don''t you feel that such a low-key style seems a lot like the card master who made the numbered series of cards?"


    Seeing their expressions of deep thought, Butchie continued to talk about her doubts. "The cards Cao Dong made all have a letter "C" on the lower right corner. Although the numbered series of cards don''t have a letter "C" there, they do have the series number. I''ve closely looked at one of the numbered series of cards; the quality of the lines on the numbers on the lower right corner was identical to letter "C" on the fiery dragon card. Peanut Head already told me the quality of a line is because of using differing pen specifications. He also said every card master would have several pens he was especially good with. Comparing the fiery dragon card with that numbered series of cards, the lines used in the patterns on the cards were almost the same thickness. Don''t you find that a little coincidental?"


    The Beard''s expression turned serious. "Send someone to investigate immediately!"


    Those who got the restricted invitations had all done some rigorous investigation, and they all had plenty of channels. However, one or two of the media platforms were also resourceful and had actually gotten the listing. They put it up on their platforms at the first opportunity.


    On that sketchy listing, there were rows of numbers that turned countless people''s eyes red. On top were the parameters of each of the 11 cards, from numbers 012 to 022. Every one of them left people drooling, but 013 was the most conspicuous.


    That was the second four-star card in the numbered series of cards, and its parameters above the bar were filled in with the word "confidential," which hooked in countless people''s curiosity. It was four-star, and it was confidential. That made people connect it with the Super 007. That card, like 013, had "confidential" written above it. They all clearly remembered 007 setting off that crazy surge, never thinking the Yang Clan Auction House would once again toss out such a bombshell before a few days were up.


    Countless followers were discussing the card''s performance like crazy to find out what kind of card it really was and what was so extraordinary about it.


    By that time, no one was happier than the platforms, who didn''t need to worry about not having any news. You only had to look at the variety of bizarre discussion on the various platforms to know how they were heating up the circulation of the craze.


    The most depressed at the time were those who had huge sums of money but didn''t have anyone with materials. The auction house had clearly said it only wanted materials. The value on the black market for one of the invitations to attend the closed auction had already drawn someone who wanted to spend 2 million, but there wasn''t anyone selling.


    Under the influence of that affair, the ordinary price for materials in every city in the federation surged by 15 percent within a day. That was also the first time in the history of the Heavenly Federation that the announcement of an auction house had created such a huge price fluctuation.


    Everyone felt the anticipation and wanted to know if 013 could produce the same sensational effect as 007.


    * * *


    Across an entire three days, Chen Mu was devoting himself to a single energy block. After experiencing 1,611 failures, he finally had a breakthrough!

 245 On the Verge of a Crisis

    Looking at the Y09 energy block he had just taken down, Chen Mu was full of joy. A person''s power was like a cask of water; each failure raised the level of the water in the cask by some imperceptible trace. In the eyes of most people, that little bit was so tiny they would just ignore it. Even when the number of failures had gotten large enough, people would still have the illusion they hadn''t gotten the necessary return on their effort, and most would get discouraged.


    But 1,611 failures was 1,611 traces, which, when gathered up, had helped Chen Mu break through the layer of obstacles.


    What made Chen Mu even more excited was that after he''d resolved Y09, his power seemed to have immediately shot up quite a bit. Afterwards, the process of taking down the energy blocks was extremely smooth, with most of them done in a single breath and successful on the first try. Whenever he encountered an energy block with similar difficulty to Y09, he could easily take it down after a few tries.


    That made Chen Mu still more excited and surprised. He even wondered if it was an illusion.


    Spending only half a day, the model built with energy bocks was already more than half completed. His previous speed, which was as slow as a clumsy ox, turned around. The workload was half completed, and the model could be seen in prototype. Chen Mu had originally thought the model was a fortress. But he got an entirely different feeling when he built it piece by piece with his own hands.


    That feeling became more and more powerful after the number of energy blocks increased.


    When the model was 80 percent completed, Chen Mu could already guess it must be a kind of energy composition. As for that energy composition''s use and characteristics, he still couldn''t tell.


    There were quite a few kinds of energy compositions. No one could clearly explain that issue, never mind Chen Mu. Even Rosenberg and Heiner Van Sant couldn''t explain the matter. Every mid-grade card master needed to grasp several hundred kinds of energy compositions, but they would only master ten or so, or even fewer. Grand masters like Madam Zhi Lian would recognize more types of energy compositions, but their truly awesome aspect was being able to transform and optimize the energy compositions to make them more perfect and efficient!


    Their understanding of the rules of energy was far beyond that of ordinary card masters.


    Since the time Rosenberg proposed the theoretical system of cards, it had undergone the development of countless grand masters, such that the current card theoretical system was completely different from the original one. Among the theories were newly developed derivative theories. In the same way and for all sorts of reasons, quite a lot of the ancestors'' knowledge got scattered and lost in the long river of history. That situation was especially serious during the age of the sects.


    That was right up until after Heiner Van Sant, when the situation finally improved greatly. The chaotic age of the sects had concluded, and the era of the academies began with the establishment of all kinds of standard systems, especially regarding the cultivation of card masters and card artisans. Academic cultivation meant all the succeeding theories were almost completely preserved.


    Quite a few things from before were gone, however¡ªespecially from Rosenberg, the founder of the card theory system. Many of his things had already disappeared without a trace. That caused pain for every generation of card masters. Even Heiner Van Sant¡ªthe other great master¡ªwasted a lot of energy in his life hoping to be able to gather Rosenberg''s scattered, precious wealth. Unfortunately, the results were minimal. Regardless, such theoretical knowledge was still far richer in the Star Academy''s library than in the other five of the Big Six.


    The Star Academy was said to have some old pedants who specialized in researching the ancient card masters. Their knowledge about theory was rich to the point of being scary.


    But our poor Chen Mu was undoubtedly outside the academy. He had never undergone professional study. When compared to an ordinary mid-grade card master, he didn''t even have a quarter of the energy compositions they understood. He didn''t have any mastery to speak of even with the ones he did know about. Most of the time, he relied on the Token Theory to optimize those few energy compositions. Even that really wasn''t about how deep his comprehension of the rules of energy was. Instead, the Token Theory was truly that powerful.


    He had never seen the energy composition model now in front of him. It looked like a strangely shaped fortress composed of 266 energy blocks. Its composition was utterly stable.


    He had never studied analytical energy composition and therefore had no way to determine its specific performance. But he did have his own native ways, which was to use Token Theory to analyze it.


    The results of the analysis really shocked him. The perfection of that kind of composition was far beyond what he could have imagined, to the point where it exceeded the degree of optimization he could grasp using Token Theory. But, thinking about it, he felt relieved. The Token Theory was the core content of the mysterious card; since the energy composition had appeared inside the mysterious card, how could it not have undergone Token Theory optimization?


    Clearly, it was a type of extremely perfect energy composition.


    In the world of card masters, there was a saying: Composition determines everything. An excellent energy composition would definitely demonstrate excellent performance.


    Chen Mu was a little puzzled, however. All the cards he''d previously made had followed some precedent. Those like the tailless shuttle card and the folding Yanbo card were detailed to the point that each step was clear, and the only thing he had to do was realize them according to the steps. The rest of them, such as the raining shuttles card or the numbered series of cards, were all derivative.


    That time, Chen Mu was facing a strange energy composition he had never seen before. If he wanted to know its use, the simplest and most practical way would be to make it. But if he wanted to make it, he would immediately face more problems¡ªmore direct problems.


    What materials should he use? How would those materials be processed? What kind of compositional pattern should he use to get the desired results?


    He felt more confused than he had ever felt. The disadvantage of his scant foundation had been fully revealed! The other way would be to analyze it according to theory, but that was still less possible than making a card.


    The biggest pain in life wasn''t anything more than to be sitting in from of a mountain of gold yet unable to take away even a grain of gold dust. That was the way Chen Mu was feeling. He had an energy composition put in front of him, but he couldn''t start. He didn''t know how to make it into a card!


    Frustrated beyond endurance, Chen Mu simply put all of his energy into building the model. After finishing one, there would still be four more. He was curious about the other four models. What would they be? Energy compositions? Or something else?


    * * *


    Butchie and Hugo were talking about the affair of the Central Island Firm. The two of them were both thinking they didn''t quite understand the attitude of the organization. They were looking at the Federation Comprehensive Academy and the Central Repository of the Classics. One team was led by Zu Ning and the other by Jie Yanbai, both of whom were powerhouses, though Butchie was no slouch. If the organization leadership was interested in the technology of the Central Island Firm, they should have sent more powerful backup.


    But the current organization didn''t actually make any moves, which was something they completely failed to understand.


    The Beard rushed into the room like blast of wind, looking as excited as could be.


    "You''re all here! Excellent! Good lord, just guess what I found out!"


    They stopped and looked at each other, showing puzzled expressions. The Beard was always calm, and it was their first time to see him dancing for joy like that.


    "You''ve discovered your hemorrhoids have gotten better?" Butchie asked seriously, tilting her head.


    The Beard''s laughter abruptly stopped. His smile froze on his face, which created a really weird expression. Hugo couldn''t help but laugh when he saw it.


    The Beard was really annoyed, though he didn''t dare show it. The female T. rex wasn''t someone he could provoke. He bitterly looked at Butchie and quickly returned to his excitement. "According to what Butchie averted last time, I conducted a little investigation into the relations between Cao Dong and Yang An. I didn''t expect to make such a stunning discovery!"


    Butchie''s and Hugo''s expressions turned immediately serious.


    "At Ren Wenzhou''s banquet, quite a few people saw Yang An and Cao Dong chatting for a long time. Some of them vaguely heard them talking about some kind of cooperation. Not long before, Yang An had acquired some really good materials. The numbered series of cards must have been made from that batch of materials. Not long before that, before the auction was conducted, several people personally witnessed Yang An and his subordinate, General Manager Xi Ping, enter the auction hall together with Cao Dong. The numbered series of cards appeared just a few days later."


    Butchie''s and Hugo''s eyes lit up.


    "If you think there''s some coincidence in there, it couldn''t all be a coincidence. Combining the information, I am reasonably certain Cao Dong is the one who made the numbered series of cards!" The Beard was completely convinced, and his face had flushed red because of the intensity of his excitement.


    Slowly relaxing his energy, the Beard''s excited expression didn''t slack in the least. "And, the good thing for us is that the other powers still haven''t gotten this information. We can steal him right away before they even look into Cao Dong!"


    Hugo asked coldly, "How much power does Cao Dong have beside him?"


    The Beard laughed. "That''s the most critical thing. I''ve already investigated, and Cao Dong only has one high-grade card artisan. I believe Butchie could settle things by herself!"


    Butchie thought of the scene that day when she went to Heaven''s Wings, and she couldn''t help but stand. "I remember. Right. There was a high-grade card artisan next to Cao Dong whose strength must be about the same as mine! It was a female card artisan!"


    "And her specific position?" Hugo asked in a deep voice. His gaze was as deep as the ocean, and his silvery mask glinted bewitchingly.


    "I did determine it!" the Beard rushed to say.


    "Butchie and I will go together, along with five more professionals! We don''t just want to grab him, but we also don''t want to draw anyone''s attention!"


    A flash of excitement went through Hugo''s eyes, though he said without concern, "We still haven''t found out much about Yang An''s background. If we offend Yang An by this, and we then provoke Jiao Si, that would cause some trouble! How about we clarify that before we make our move?


    "Speed is critical. We have to move before the others respond! We have to be clean about it, so if anyone wants to investigate us, it won''t be easy," Hugo said proudly. "Then, if Jiao Si shows up, what would we do? Could that one person along with the Origins Academy contend with us?"


    The Beard thought about it and thought he was being too paranoid.


    Hugo immediately stood and glanced at Butchie, saying in a low voice, "Let''s go!" Butchie, who had been doing the numbers to the side, followed closely without hesitation.

 246 Deterrence

    Chen Mu furrowed his brow and exited the mysterious card¡ªBogner had returned. He had been gone since the day he took the money and departed with Lu Xiaoru. Chen Mu also really wanted to see what Bogner had accomplished. From what he saw, Bogner didn''t seem like a big talker.


    Wei-ah just took a glimpse and retracted his gaze to pay attention again to what was being transferred to the fantasy card receiver. The fleshy dog was lying on him as always, even lazier after Wei-ah had taken him out that last time.


    Bogner had brought 20 people.


    Chen Mu''s gaze widened, and he could see at a glance how awesome those 20 were. None of them was ordinary, with their gazes sharp and the alacrity of some among them stunning.


    "Where did you find so many aces?" Chen Mu asked with some curiosity.


    "We put out the call in every city, and some I knew previously." Bogner had changed his clothes and looked brand new. His beard had been completely shaved, leaving only the blue shadow. His hair had also been cut short, making him look a lot more spirited. That oppressive and imposing air he had shown in front of Chen Mu previously had disappeared without a trace. He had calmed quite a bit to become more like an ordinary middle-aged uncle.


    Although Bogner wasn''t making much of it, Chen Mu knew how difficult it must have been. Those people would be considered aces in any city, and a few among them weren''t far off from Lu Xiaoru. It must have cost a fortune for the Central Island Firm to have snared her! Such an ace wasn''t someone who would be motivated simply by money. Although the rest weren''t quite up to that level, they were smart and sophisticated and were evidently experienced old card artisans.


    Being able to find so many aces so quickly showed how awesome Bogner''s ways were. And, it was evident those 20 people rather admired Bogner, Lu Xiaoru being no exception.


    "From now on, everyone''s job is to protect the boss." Bogner turned about and raised his voice to announce that to them.


    The gazes of those 20 abruptly focused on Chen Mu. The gazes were steady, and there was no talking. Since they were all veterans, Bogner didn''t need to say more. He then waved his hand. "I won''t waste anymore words. Get to work."


    None of the 20 had spoken, and no one asked what they should do. They calmly and efficiently divided into different activities. They moved quickly, some disappearing into the dark and some staying in front of the door, while some began to lay out strangely shaped little card appliances. Others started to search the entire building.


    Suddenly, a fine energy fluctuation swept through. Chen Mu was startled.


    Bogner had just caught the surprise in Chen Mu''s eyes and explained, "Don''t worry, this is a reconnaissance scan. We can learn about activities within a range of 2,000 meters. If there is anything out of the ordinary, we would immediately discover it. Indeed, theoretically the largest scope should be ten kilometers," Bogner said, stroking his chin, "but the city environment is too complicated, and two kilometers is already pretty good. The power of its eagle eye is quite good."


    Their specialties were all different, and Chen Mu couldn''t help but feel intrigued.


    Three of them stayed in place and didn''t move, gazing at Chen Mu. Bogner opened his mouth again. "These three are good at personal protection. One is a close-combat card artisan, and the other two are defensive specialists who are good at energy cloaks. They have provided personal protection for quite a few of the VIPs in the Ming Zheng District. If I didn''t already have a relationship with them, we really wouldn''t have been able to get them."


    "I don''t need personal bodyguards." When he thought of having three guys always with him, Chen Mu felt uncomfortable all over.


    The three didn''t seem to hear Chen Mu protesting them, and they maintained their expressions as they protected his perimeter.


    Bogner rubbed the beard shadow on his thin chin and said indifferently, "Don''t worry about it; they are quite professional and won''t interfere with your work or private life." Obviously, he didn''t think Chen Mu would have any private life.


    Having been about to oppose it, Chen Mu thought about it and decided he''d put up with it. Judging from their actions, he knew they were extremely professional. That being the case, Chen Mu simply gave those matters over to Bogner.


    He was just getting ready to continue his perceptual sensitivity training.


    Suddenly, the apparatus on Bogner''s wrist lightly vibrated, and he gave a crooked smile that showed his dense, white teeth. "I didn''t think we would be in business quite so quickly."


    At the same time, the apparatuses on the wrists of the three at Chen Mu''s side vibrated simultaneously, and their expressions became alert. They remained silent and immediately closed the defensive perimeter. Chen Mu had attentively discovered that the cadence of the vibration must have been their agreed upon signal.


    The crisis had come sooner than he''d imagined.


    * * *


    As the air whooshed past his ears, Hugo quickly reviewed his actions. He relied completely on the Beard''s ability with intelligence. Although they had some misgivings about what he was about to do, those above were lukewarm about facing the Central Island Firm again. It would be a great service if they could bring back such a card master to the organization.


    Thinking about that, he couldn''t help but turn around again to look at Butchie beside him. He had already determined to himself that he would grab that mysterious card master and take him back, so Butchie''s wishes could be achieved as well. Early on and for the past few days, he astutely noticed Butchie longing for that 007 and the materials the Yang Clan Auction House would be able to get that Faya couldn''t. When the time came, he would be able to ask that card master to make a new 007, or an even better card.


    If that didn''t come to pass, the credit from what they were about to do would be sufficient to let Butchie pick some outstanding card from within the organization. There were quite a few outstanding cards in the organization, but those cards wouldn''t be casually given out to just any member. Most of the time, they would be a kind of reward. The bigger the credit, the more outstanding the card one could get. That was their practice.


    "There it is, up ahead. It''s that little five-story building," said the young man leading the way as he pointed off to the distance.


    Hugo was immediately alert and nodded. "You go back." The young man quickly flew back; he would only be underfoot there with what was about to happen.


    "How shall we proceed?" Butchie came over to ask.


    Hugo said ponderously, "First, the lure, and never mind the price. Let''s see if we can convince him. It would be best for the two sides not to damage a good relationship. Maybe we could make some deal later."


    Butchie nodded, but then she asked, "And if the lure doesn''t work?"


    "We''ll make our move!" Hugo said peremptorily. "First, tie up that female card artisan at his side, and I''ll be able to grab him."


    "Ok." Butchie nodded, and she turned to face the five card artisans behind her to give the orders.


    Focused on the five-story building in the distance, Hugo felt curious. He didn''t really know why Cao Dong had deliberately remained so low-key. If someone hadn''t pointed out that small building, he absolutely never would have guessed the one who had made the numbered series of cards, which had rocked the federation, would live in such an unremarkable building. The little building''s location was remote, and there were very few people in the vicinity.


    However, just as Hugo was thinking that, he wasn''t thinking about how his actions would attract someone''s attention.


    The night wind slowly built, blowing in a slight chill.


    "Move!" Hugo said in a low shout.


    The five flew directly at the small building at high speed. Hugo''s face then changed color as he felt a sudden surprise.


    "Careful!"


    Before the sound fell, he had already discovered he and the others were locked in!


    It was hard to think of stopping the body while flying at high speed. The inertia of the flight would take them rushing straight in front of it.


    The five barely stopped and were floating about 500 meters from the small building. Everyone''s face had turned white. That small building was unremarkable, and its contours started to blur as the night slowly deepened. The seven people looked as though they were pinned in midair, and nobody dared to move.


    At least 15 beams of perception had them pinned, each with a different quality. But all of them incorporated the peculiarity of being murderous! No one doubted that if they were to advance one step, there would be firepower filling the skies and covering the earth to await them!


    That unremarkable little building suddenly looked to everyone like a slanted-eyed cheetah poised for action, which could launch a deadly attack at any time!


    Danger! An incredibly fierce and irrepressible sense of danger arose from the deepest reaches of everyone''s heart. Like Butchie, they couldn''t help but change their expressions. The steadiest was Hugo, who stood in midair like a javelin. His silvery half-mask glowed in a way that couldn''t be hidden, even in the night.


    The intelligence was wrong! That was the first thought that flashed through Hugo''s mind. There were at least 15 card artisans inside that small building. There were still a few more awesome characters inside, whose faintly discernible energy fluctuations made him not dare to relax in the least! He had discovered something was wrong when he perceived a fine energy fluctuation. He knew they had intruded upon the adversary''s early warning perimeter.


    What kind of person was Cao Dong, after all? How did he pull out so many aces? Only those truly large-scale teams, such as armies or huge teams of card artisans, would use such an early warning system. He never thought he would actually run into one there. Where did those aces come from?


    Countless doubts were spinning around in his brain like lightning, and Hugo''s heart was unceasingly aghast beneath his steady-as-always appearance. He figured even if he were to draw in all the forces of Pomelo, success wouldn''t be more than a 50-50 proposition. And, if he didn''t want to draw attention, that would be impossible!


    Their defensive power was really scary¡ªmore than ten aces hiding in a small five-story building! That also meant the adversary''s formation was tight. He really wanted to pulverize the building with an Aurora Beam. The coverage of his Aurora Beam could nearly blow away half of the small building, but he firmly restrained that impulse. There were seven on his side; the numbers on the other side were far better, not to mention they didn''t have the advantage anymore.


    The faces of Hugo''s team became uglier and uglier!


    The small building was utterly silent and pitch dark. But the ten or more beams of perception had them firmly locked in, and the danger they brought with them felt strong enough to make their hairs all frizzle.


    The time went by second by second with no activity inside the small building. It seemed as though it were completely empty.

 247 A Little Lesson

    It was like the air had congealed, so oppressive it was suffocating.


    In the dark, Bogner''s while teeth dazzled as he chuckled. "Let''s give our friends a little something to remember us by."


    He made a strange gesture with his right hand, and the order was immediately passed down.


    Hugo''s face changed color, and a look of rage flashed through his eyes. But, despite the pressure he felt, he had to powerfully restrain his urge to make a move!


    Aah! Three blood-curdling screams! Three among the five card artisans behind him had suddenly been hit and fell from the air. There were six kinds of energy bodies. Hugo determined in the first instant that it wasn''t military. The military was composed of highly coordinated troops whose battle style was different from any of the card artisan teams. The were all equipped with standardized regulation cards, and their lethality as a unit was a lot more terrifying than that of other teams.


    The energy bodies emitted by their counterpart were all different, which was the style for a team of card artisans. Card artisan teams didn''t have any way to be like the military, which could use standard regulation cards. They did have good mobility, however, and their cards were their own private property. So, the energy bodies a team of card artisans would fire off could be of all sorts, which was one of the reasons the battle power of card artisan teams often couldn''t compare with army troops.


    However, Hugo''s furious heart was shocked; his adversary had shot off six different kinds of energy bodies altogether, which must have been six different card artisans who made their moves in unison. There were about two of them opposing only one of his own, on top of which the adversary held the initiative. The outcome wasn''t so surprising. What surprised him was how coordinated his adversary was, everything in place by pairs and the division of labor clear and orderly. Although it was the most basic kind of pairing tactic, it represented superb tactical accomplishment.


    That was seldom seen among teams of card artisans! Only the elite troops from those big-name card artisan firms could have such qualities. The critical reason the adversary had hit those three subordinates, who had already died, was that they didn''t show any means to survive.


    Hugo''s gaze turned gloomy, and his cheeks were trembling uncontrollably! Those three under him, now so totally beaten, had gone through hell with him and had never been cowardly. His breathing became abruptly coarser, and his fighting spirit surged with violent rage. His eyes had started to turn a little red.


    As though they had felt his martial spirit, the strands of perception that were locked onto his body seemed to become a little agitated as well.


    But he quickly calmed down when his gaze fell onto the ashen-faced Butchie at his side.


    He immediately felt the powerful, oppressive sensation transmitted by the perception locked onto his body! If he were to move, he would only have one shot. If he weren''t killed, he''d be badly injured. He wasn''t afraid to die; under his calm exterior, his boiling blood would embolden him to make such a counterattack. He believed that to risk his life to make a strike would certainly teach the enemy a profound lesson.


    It wasn''t that he didn''t dare; he couldn''t! If he were to make a move, Butchie and his own remaining two underlings would certainly die. He wasn''t concerned for his own life, but he had to be concerned about Butchie''s.


    For his adversary to kill only those three of his people was surely a signal that his adversary didn''t want to kill them all. He was only teaching them a lesson.


    Expressionless, Hugo stared coldly at the small building until he suddenly raised his right hand.


    Butchie and the two other card artisans looked in unison at Hugo''s right hand. The subsequent motion of that hand would determine their fate.


    Hugo''s right hand waved backward, and the silvery half-masked face was still expressionless as he said in a low voice, "Let''s retreat. Be slow and alert, and if you encounter an attack, everyone immediately fire with all your might. Our objective is the small building."


    Although the faces of Butchie and the other two card artisans had turned white, they all nodded at the same time, still showing resolve. They could be killed in battle, but they couldn''t be humiliated!


    The four of them slowly backed away.


    "He has personality. I like that." Bogner rubbed his shaved chin as he watched the four slowly retreat, unable to restrain his look of admiration.


    "Let them go," Bogner ordered.


    The card artisans did as he said without hesitation. The speed of the four retreating immediately increased in the dark, and they disappeared into the night in the blink of an eye.


    Chen Mu had watched the confrontation between the two sides and couldn''t help but look at Bogner in admiration. Of course power meant having more people. If it had just been him alone, the aftermath was easily imagined.


    Spending that money was really worth it!


    Bogner clapped and raised his voice to say, "Good. That''s it, fellows. Except for those in the rotation, everyone else eat and rest. There won''t be any free activities during this heightened alert. We''ll have a training tomorrow morning, so get your rest."


    No one responded, though they all immediately set to it. They really were well-trained, and with regard to discipline and obedience, they were impeccable. Chen Mu praised them endlessly to himself. In the dark, his six senses were far more sensitive than normal. Even without perception, he could detect their every movement.


    Far from the building was someone watching that conflict, which wasn''t quite a battle. It was none other than Jie Yanbai from the Central Repository of the Classics! On his resolute face was a vague look of mockery, and he was carrying a comatose person.


    Unfortunately, as Hugo was suppressing his anger in retreat, he didn''t pay any attention to Jie Yanbai in the distance. Otherwise, he would certainly have recognized that the person Jie Yanbai was carrying was the one who had led the way earlier¡ªthe youth Hugo had allowed to leave. He worked for the Beard.


    How did he fall into the hands of Jie Yanbai?


    "Boss." Bogner turned around to face Chen Mu. "I need more money."


    "You''ve spent it all?" Chen Mu was stunned. For 250 million Oudi to be spent in the space of a few days was staggering to the embarrassingly cash-short Chen Mu.


    Bogner nodded as though it were nothing. "It was pretty cheap to get these aces for 250 million."


    On that point, Chen Mu was actually in agreement. Those 20 aces were extraordinarily powerful, and that 250 million was worth it! Moreover, once they got there to help resolve the crisis, he understood more deeply what Bogner meant when he was talking about power that day.


    "How much do you need?" Chen Mu had only a few tens of millions on hand, which constituted the profits from Heaven''s Wings along with the reimbursements.


    "Two hundred million." Bogner counted on his fingers. "We''ve barely gathered enough aces, and we swept clean all the cities in the area. We''d have to go further afield to recruit more, which we can''t do just now. What we need to recruit now are some reinforcements¡ªnot too powerful, but some youthful card artisans with potential. They can do some peripheral things, and they can act as a reserve. Card artisans we cultivate ourselves, whether in regard to loyalty, tactics or adaptability, would be more reliable.


    "Such people are quite cheap, so we won''t have to spend much. It would be a long-term investment that would be helpful in the future. Apart from that, the strength of these 20 is pretty good, though they still haven''t sufficiently mastered their tactical coordination. They need more training!"


    Bogner''s straight-out evaluation made Lu Xiaoru turn red, and she was a little annoyed as she stared at Bogner.


    Bogner watched her annoyed, fiery gaze as though he didn''t see it and continued on. "They will need a specialized training area, as well as a large quantity of power cards, which is no small expense. Moreover..." He pointed at his feet. "This building is indefensible. If we weren''t afraid the counterattack would produce large causalities when our adversaries were facing death, they would all be dead already. This kind of building has no defensive capability and isn''t much different from a pile of tofu. What we need is..."


    His eyes lit up after he''d thought for a while. "Right. A fort!"


    He was quite pleased with himself. "That way, we wouldn''t need to be afraid of the enemy attacking. We just need a fortress on top of this gang, which would be enough to make anyone retreat after finding out how hard it would be to get to you. We need specialized training rooms inside with room to accommodate everyone, and we need a large warehouse to store a large quantity of food. Anyone wanting to break into such a fortress would have to pay a heavy price, no matter who they were, unless they were to send several aces like Jiao Si. Ha ha, but that would be a lot of bother, and who would spend that much capital on a card master? There would be no benefit for them to do that. On the one hand, they would become notorious in the minds of the people. It would give a lot of pause to the Big Six, who are so concerned with their face. Though that gang of lawless people at Faya wouldn''t care about that; still, whether Faya or the Big Six, what they pay attention to is the value you would bring them. Such a direct and severe conflict would possibly keep them from getting anything, and it might even cause them great harm. That''s how you can stay safe."


    He raised his voice to stress, "Therefore, we need a strong fortress."


    Chen Mu opened his arms with a calm expression. "I don''t have that much money."


    Bogner looked like a deflated ball, mumbling to himself, "I know. Ai! First, get some money for me to buy some power cards. Those things are essential."


    "Power cards?" Chen Mu took a look at Bogner. "How many do you need? How many stars?"


    Three-star would be ok for training. That uses a lot, and for 21 people using about two cards per day on average, we would require at least a week''s supply. That would be 294, rounded up to the whole number of 300. Four-star cards would be held in reserve for battle, with a standard quantity of five per person, though we don''t need so many just now. Two each should do it, which would be 42."


    Chen Mu sucked in a breath of cold air.

 248 An Unexpected Pleasure

    They needed 300 three-star power cards and 42 four-star power cards! The three-star cards were 15,000 Oudi each, making 300 of them 4.5 million Oudi altogether. The four-star cards were a lot more expensive. They contained 80,000 units of energy, with the price going as high as 150,000, which averaged about two Oudi per unit. Forty-two four-star power cards would cost upwards of 6,300,000 Oudi! In other words, Chen Mu needed to prepare 10,800,000 Oudi worth of power cards, although buying them from the fatty would naturally be a little bit cheaper. But, no matter how he calculated, he would need 7 or 8 million.


    He had the 7 or 8 million, but the critical issue was that it was only one week''s overhead. Heaven''s Wings didn''t have any way for him to earn 7 or 8 million Oudi.


    More people certainly meant more power, and it was certainly safer. Once there were more people, however, the spending would surge. If Chen Mu wanted to maintain that kind of power, he would need to be constantly making money like crazy. He started to understand why only those large firms would be able to cultivate their own forces.


    To cultivate power meant you needed to scrape together endless money. With him having only 20¡ªor 21 with Lu Xiaoru¡ªtheir daily overhead would be a few million per week, or certainly 20 or 30 million per month. Within a year, it would be 300 million!


    If he hadn''t made the numbered series of cards in partnership with the fatty, Chen Mu doubted he would have ever seen such a huge pile of money in his whole life. That was only the daily overhead. The recruiting costs would entail the same kind of astronomical numbers.


    Thinking about those other firms, which had hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of cards artisans, that would really be a lot of money!


    No matter what, he wasn''t all that ambitious; those people could already protect his safety. But Chen Mu still powerfully felt how strapped he was. If he didn''t find some way to earn money, he would quickly be facing an unsustainable situation.


    In that world, it wasn''t easy no matter where you were going. Chen Mu couldn''t help but feel strongly about it. But he wasn''t planning to spend all his time haggling with Bogner. Since he was the expert, Chen Mu would give him all the authority.


    "Put everything you need into a list for me, and I''ll make a trip to the auction house," Chen Mu said to Bogner.


    Bogner neatly listed everything and gave it to Chen Mu, proposing, "You''d better bring a few people along." He then opened his apparatus and gave an order. "Crow Feather, Happy Padding and Lucky Xi, come on over." After about ten seconds, three people arrived in front of Chen Mu.


    Crow Feather was as tall as a pagoda tree, and his two-meter frame was like a small mountain. He stood there giving out an oppressive feeling. Although his body was big and tall, he wasn''t the least bit clumsy. He looked pretty simple and straightforward. All of his joints were two sizes larger than ordinary, and even his apparatus was huge.


    Happy Padding was shorter than Crow Feather, with a muscular body that filled his battle suit to the point of bursting. When you added to that his fierce-looking face, his hot, ruthless aura was completely revealed. One look told you he wasn''t a guy to mess with.


    Lucky Xi was the most unusual among the three. He was refined and was wearing thin-framed glasses, which made him look exactly like those office workers who had no fighting power at all.


    "With the three of them to protect you, plus your three personal bodyguards, you shouldn''t have much trouble," Bogner said ponderously.


    Chen Mu shook his head and pointed to Wei-ah, who was in the middle of watching the card receiver. "I can just go with him."


    "Him?" Bogner looked stunned. He''d seen Wei-ah when he came the last time and had thought he was some ordinary person.


    "Let''s go, Wei-ah," Chen Mu shouted to him.


    "Oh." Wei-ah stood and shut down the receiver card. He patted the brown fleshy dog a couple of times before walking over to Chen Mu.


    Bogner said with a furrowed brow, "Boss, with that conflict that just happened, it''s a little dangerous outside. Please take along a few more people. Since you''ve hired me, I need to be responsible for your safety."


    Seeing Bogner''s sincere expression, Chen Mu felt something of a headache.


    Although the six card artisans in front of him hadn''t said anything, the expressions on their faces showed they were obviously unconvinced. Their gazes toward Wei-ah were full of doubt and disdain. They hadn''t felt the slightest perceptual fluctuations from that man.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help but frown. Since each of those card artisans was outstanding, it was normal for them to have a little pride. But, if he didn''t completely convince them, there would always be trouble.


    Chen Mu''s expression went cold as he ordered in a low voice, "Attack them, Wei-ah!"


    Everyone felt only a shadow flash by in surprise. Before they could react, they went numb from the neck down.


    Bogner was gape-mouthed. Bewildered and afraid, he stayed fixated on the faces of the six. Their whole bodies had gone stiff, and they all suddenly fell face-up to the ground with a crash. Bogner could tell they had already been knocked out.


    Bogner''s gaze fell onto Wei-ah as though he were looking at a monster.


    "They''ll come around after ten minutes." Chen Mu didn''t know how many times he''d seen that move with his own eyes, but he could tell at a glance how long they''d be out. After he spoke, he abandoned the dull-faced Bogner and left with Wei-ah.


    Once out the door, Chen Mu contacted Yang An. When the two arrived at the Yang Clan Auction House, Xi Ping had been waiting for them for a while. Since the fatty had things to do just then and couldn''t tear himself away, Xi Ping would have to entertain them.


    Since the auction of the numbered series of cards had already ended, and the auction of 012 to 022 still hadn''t begun, it was an empty time. Pitifully few people were in the auction house.


    Xi Ping spoke respectfully to Chen Mu. "I''ve prepared the things you need. The boss says these things aren''t worth much, and he thought he''d do you a little favor."


    Chen Mu shook his head. "I''ll be buying these things for a while, so just maybe give me a discount." He wasn''t about to take such valuable things for no real reason.


    To have gotten as far as he did, Xi Ping naturally knew how to be flexible. He nodded. "Yes, sir. And you came this time...?" He wasn''t so foolish as to think Chen Mu had made a special trip to get power cards.


    "I came to look at what materials you have," Chen Mu said.


    Xi Ping showed a troubled look on his face. "The auction hasn''t started, and the materials from last time have all been used up. We''ll have to wait for a few days after the auction for the next batch of materials to be delivered."


    Chen Mu smiled. "What I need this time are some ordinary materials. It would be fine if you could lead me to where the ordinary materials are."


    "If that''s all, please come along with me." Xi Ping rushed to lead the way.


    Xi Ping took Chen Mu to a room that could hold more than ten people. The most eye-catching things were the nearly wall-sized screens. There was an easy chair placed in front of them. The floor was covered with a soft carpet that was perfectly comfortable to walk on. Probably because some fragrance had been applied, the room gave off a delicate scent. In the kitchen-style cabinets were every kind of utensil one might need. More unexpectedly, there was a bed behind the easy chair.


    Xi Ping opened the cupboard and took out a set of glasses. He then opened his apparatus and gave a few orders. Before half a minute was up, someone had sent in quite a few beverages and snacks. The workers who personally served the high officers knew this was some kind of VIP, and they served him attentively.


    Xi Ping signaled for Chen Mu to sit in the easy chair. He pointed to the control console to its side, saying, "You can see the listings of all the materials from here. I''ve already set up the permissions for you, and so long as we''ve registered our acquisitions, you can see them."


    According to Chen Mu''s manipulations, row after row of material names appeared on the screen. Above was a detailed image of the materials, as well as the evaluations of expert workers along with their specifications and that sort of detailed information.


    The work of selecting materials was very interesting in Chen Mu''s eyes, but it was only so-so in the eyes of the other two. Xi Ping displayed plenty of patience and wasn''t irritable in the least. Wei-ah was looking over all the different kinds of things to eat on the table. The food and drinks Xi Ping had brought out to entertain Chen Mu were naturally all very fine, and Wei-ah had never seen such exquisite snacks and drinks. He was enjoying himself to the fullest.


    Wei-ah''s sweep was shockingly rapid. It brought out a cold sweat on Xi Ping, who was looking on, afraid Wei-ah would get sick. Before half an hour was up, Xi Ping had already ordered those under him to send things in five more times, averaging about six minutes per time. What terrified Xi Ping was that they sent enough for three people to eat every time.


    Could that guy be a bottomless pit?


    Chen Mu looked quite absorbed with his attention focused completely on the unknown materials. There were some kinds of materials even the experts from the auction house didn''t have a way to identify, and those would be put into the unidentified materials area. Although most of the things weren''t of much interest to anyone, one or two valuable things would sometimes pop up. Sometimes a sky-high price would even show up. When people found out they had something unidentified on hand, they would generally put them in that place, hoping to have the lucky strike of a high price.


    Chen Mu had found three kinds of materials: red-lined crow silk, fish patterned grass, and twinned titanium stone.


    No matter which of those three kinds of materials had shown up, it would be enough to keep him excited for quite a while. He never thought he would actually be able to encounter such materials there. Those three materials were all recorded in the mysterious card, just like the white chrysanthemum stone. It looked like he would be coming here often after that!


    The red-lined crow silk was a kind of blue-black stone with some black, hair-like lines on its face. Those lines were arranged in an orderly fashion. If the stone were cut open, inside there would appear a red line. The stone''s value was all in that red line. Taking a special approach to extract the red line, you would be able to get a kind of red oil, which was extremely precious. When it was mixed into card ink, it could greatly increase the card''s efficiency in the use of energy. Efficient energy utilization was an important parameter to determine a card''s star level.


    The fish patterned grass was just as rare. It looked like a different kind of high-grade material call sub-fish grass. In fact, the two were the same. The sub-fish grass would produce strange mutations in certain special environments and would grow into the fish patterned grass. The only difference between the fish patterned grass and the sub-fish grass was in their fruits. The fruit of the sub-fish grass was a milky white, while the fish patterned grass''s fruit was black. The fish patterned grass''s value was in its black fruit, inside of which was a kind of highly toxic material called twin hoop pulp.


    However, when it was mixed into card ink and fitted by perception, there would be a wonderful reaction. It could make the pattern on the card extremely hard, so even cutting it with a knife wouldn''t ruin the card''s compositional pattern. When mixed into the card, one would basically not have to worry about any repair issues.


    The twinned titanium stone was another kind of wonderful raw material. Its appearance was quite interesting. It looked as though two pieces of flat, strip-shaped bars of stone had grown together, connected along their middles like Siamese twins. The twinned titanium could be refined into an extremely unique titanium alloy with excellent energy conductivity, making it an excellent natural card ink. It could be used to make most fantasy cards, but the demands on the card master were quite high. The time it would remain melted was brief, and the card master would have to complete making the card within only a few minutes. Otherwise, after it congealed, it wouldn''t be so wonderfully useful after melting it again.


    That piece of twinned titanium stone had a black luster and a fine metallic glow. It was big, though Chen Mu doubted whether it could make two cards!


    His original intention that day had been to find some ordinary materials to get some more practice and reduce his losses the next time he made cards. He''d had seven unsuccessful cards last time, wasting a lot of materials. That had pained him for a long time. Having always been poor, he would never have dared to think about so many precious materials previously¡ªespecially that he would waste so many of them.


    Only by practicing more every day could he take a step toward reducing the waste. He didn''t know his success rate was already shockingly high.


    Being so terrified of the daily consumption also gave him a desperate need for money. To reduce one instance of waste would mean another successful card, and one more successful card would then mean another chunk of income. How could that not make him excited?


    Chen Mu also picked out quite a few ordinary materials since the materials there were extremely complete, having nearly everything he wanted.


    "Ok," Chen Mu said to Xi Ping.


    Xi Ping quickly manipulated the interface before getting up and saying, "We''ll send these materials to where you live later. Is there anything else you would like to choose?"


    Chen Mu shook his head. "No need." Those materials were already enough for him to use. After settling up all the fees, including the power cards he needed, it was 11 million.


    What a painful number! Chen Mu felt that inwardly, but he swiped his card without any hesitation. After doing so, his pain was actually reduced quite a bit. Most of what was left in his heart was anticipation!

 249 The Mysterious Madam

    When Chen Mu got back to the small building, he was stunned to find it unrecognizable.


    He could hear Bogner shouting powerfully from the distance. "Give me some spirit, everyone! Aren''t you the best at making traps, Hertha? Bring out all the tricks you know; do you understand? All of them! Good grief, we really looked bad in front of the boss today! Give me some spirit, you all! We are the elite! Elite! Do you know what elite means? It''s bringing in more money than ordinary card artisans and doing more difficult things! How can we demand anything ordinary from ourselves..."


    Bogner was taken aback when he suddenly saw Chen Mu, but he laughed. "You''ve returned, Boss!"


    Chen Mu looked around inside the building, where in all dark corners of the floor, ceiling, and walls were some strange little things. Pointing them out, he asked with curiosity, "What are those?"


    "Those are small traps¡ªcard appliance bombs. If touched, they will give a little bang of an explosion without too much power¡ªjust in the range of blowing off a leg. They''re called beehive kisses, and intruders just need to come close for them to shoot off a hot, fiery spray of an energy body that is hard to hide from. Once it touches you, ha ha..." Bogner was smiling darkly.


    Looking at Bogner, who seemed like an entirely different person, Chen Mu was a little stunned. Could that be the way he really was?


    "Did you buy the power cards, Boss?" Bogner cut Chen Mu''s daze short.


    "Oh, yes. The auction house will send them over in a bit."


    "Good! I need to give this gang of bastards some good practice!" He was just about spitting the words out through gnashing teeth when his gaze suddenly hit Wei-ah, and his expression froze.


    Wei-ah saw him without looking at him and sat straight down in front of the fantasy card receiver.


    Chen Mu walked into his training room, and those three personal card artisans discreetly didn''t go in with him.


    After some thought, Chen Mu contacted the fatty. The fatty seemed to be in a pretty good mood, as though he''d just completed something significant.


    "What''s up? It''s rare for you to look for me twice in a day," the fatty said, laughing.


    Chen Mu got right to the point. "I would like to sell a folding Yanbo card."


    The fatty''s expression immediately became serious. "You want to sell it off?"


    "Mmmm, I have two of them. I''ve thought about it and feel it would be profitable to sell one," Chen Mu said with an earnest expression.


    "How would you sell it?" The fatty''s expression was just as earnest since he knew the folding Yanbo card''s value.


    "I won''t auction it," Chen Mu said peremptorily. He''d taken to heart what the fatty had said to him that day. "You find a buyer. We should be able to name our price."


    The fatty said ponderously, "I see. It shouldn''t be too difficult to dispose of the folding Yanbo card, but it would be best if we didn''t let it get out. What about Jiao Si? He should be able to give a good price."


    Jiao Si? Chen Mu didn''t have any sense of him, so he simply said, "I don''t really understand that part of things. You should do as you see fit."


    The fatty didn''t refuse. "Ok. But I don''t want the profits from this card. We need to add to our agreement; if a card similar to the folding Yanbo card appears later, and I help you find a buyer, the profits all stay with you."


    Confused, Chen Mu asked, "Why? Haven''t we already settled on our agreement?"


    The fatty shook his head. "My young brother still doesn''t know the chit chat about this. The value of this type of card already can''t be measured by money. Just by my seeking out a buyer, you will already have been of great assistance to me. The benefit to your big brother won''t be any less than yours, and my young brother needs to use money right now. Your older brother doesn''t have any way to guarantee your safety, and this is just the icing on the cake for me. Besides, the safer you are, the better it is for me."


    Chen Mu thought for a moment and felt that what the fatty had said was right. He accepted it without any sentiment.


    The fatty really liked that about Chen Mu, and he laughed. "That''s right! When it comes to questions of safety, Bogner is the real expert." Saying that, he showed a reflective expression. "He was so famous that year. Ai, let''s not talk about that. You''ll know later, young brother, just how much you gained by spending that money. If you need anything, just say so. Your big brother will find some way to help you to get it done."


    It was obvious from the fatty''s tone that Bogner had been brilliant. Then, Chen Mu suddenly thought of something and asked, "Has my big brother ever heard of the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus?"


    "Gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus?" The fatty was taken aback. "How did my young brother come up with that?"


    "I just heard it being talked about and don''t know what it is." Chen Mu didn''t want anyone else to know what was wrong with him, so he glossed it over.


    "Oh, I''ve actually heard something about that. It comes from the House of a Hundred Depths and is extremely rare. It''s said that it can prolong a person''s life, but that''s just a story. Nobody knows the truth. To tell the truth, I really don''t think anything can prolong a person''s life, and I think most of it is exaggeration." The fatty suddenly hit himself upside the head and looked like something had dawned on him. "I know where my young brother heard of it. It was on a card receiver platform! Ha ha, the Federation Comprehensive Academy is a little short of capital just now, and they''ve even brought that stuff out. It looks like they are really after the Central Island Firm!"


    Seeing Chen Mu''s puzzled expression, the fatty laughed and said, "Something like the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus can''t be obtained with money. In the entire federation, I''d guess only the Big Six could have it. For the Federation Comprehensive Academy to bring it out isn''t so unusual. The thing I don''t understand is why they would be so high-profile and want everyone to know about it."


    Chen Mu was foggy about what he''d heard, not knowing why the fatty had suddenly brought up the Federation Comprehensive Academy. Chen Mu hadn''t listened closely to what the fatty kept talking about, but he had still gotten some useful information.


    First, the fatty''s auction house didn''t have any gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus and had no way to get any.


    Second, those in the federation most likely to have it were the Big Six.


    Third, the Federation Comprehensive Academy had brought along some gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus this time, and it seemed they were using it as a bargaining chip.


    Thinking those through, Chen Mu suddenly said, "Would it be possible for me to trade the folding Yanbo card with the Big Six for the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus?"


    The fatty shook his head with certainty. "Impossible! You might not know this, but the federation doesn''t produce any gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. Our relationship with the House of a Hundred Depths isn''t good, which is why the influx of gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus is so limited. The critical thing is its ability to prolong life. Any card making grand master could be made to serve you for a long time by using only a little bit of gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. Although the folding Yanbo card is precious, it wouldn''t be comparable to that."


    Chen Mu was speechless.


    What the fatty had said was fair enough, and Chen Mu never considered himself shoulder-to-shoulder with a card making grand master. Although he did know something about Token Theory, he was a long way off when it came to understanding the composition of energy and the control of perception.


    However, after the fatty had finished talking, Chen Mu ran right over to the platforms. Apparently, the news about the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus had already caused an uproar. After spending half the day on it, he finally understood what was going on.


    The Federation Comprehensive Academy had wanted to move Ren Wenzhou, and among their bargaining chips was none other than the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. There was all sorts of discussion about it on the platforms. Even ordinary citizens were obviously curious about the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, with everyone speculating if its efficacy was really as magical as it was said to be.


    By that time, Pomelo was the focus of attention for the entire Heavenly Federation. There were the events with the Central Island Firm, the struggle for power among the Federation Comprehensive Academy, the Central Repository of the Classics, and Faya, and the final sudden appearance of the numbered series of cards. Those happenings all rocked the federation. Now, with the Federation Comprehensive Academy suddenly tossing in the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, little Pomelo was surging.


    The Central Repository of the Classics quickly came up with a response. Everyone was surprised to find that the talks between Ren Wenzhou and the Central Repository of the Classics were suddenly becoming more frequent. Everyone knew the Central Repository of the Classics had thrown in some heavyweight bargaining chip, but neither Ren Wenzhou nor the Central Repository of the Classics were saying anything about it.


    By comparison, Faya¡ªwhich had been considered one of the big players in the struggle for power among the three¡ªwas being more low-key than expected. They seemed to be helplessly watching the Federation Comprehensive Academy and the Central Repository of the Classics fighting with one another. That also disappointed the crowds, who had been really interested to watch the show as the news played out.


    * * *


    A masked woman was sitting in front of Hugo, Butchie, and the Beard. The three of them had never heard of her. She had been wearing the tight mask all day, and none of her face was visible. Even though the identification she brought checked out, the cautious Hugo had still asked for verification from above. He had just gotten the boss-man''s response, verifying that the woman was definitely sent from above. The boss-man ordered them to strictly obey her orders.


    "I believe there won''t be any problem with my identity." The woman spoke rather playfully.


    "I am very sorry. Please forgive me if there''s been any offense!" the Beard said. Hugo and Butchie were sitting properly to his side.


    "Ha ha, it doesn''t matter. For you all to be so cautious is something I really appreciate." From under the mask came a seductive, delicate laugh. "You may call me Madam. I''ve seen all of your information. Not bad! It''s all excellent, especially Master Hugo. I am honored to be able to get your help, and I hope our cooperation will be fruitful." Her voice was smooth and sweet with a hint of languor. "I''ve heard you have already found the one who made the numbered series of cards?"


    Seeing that Hugo hadn''t opened his mouth, the Beard broke the silence. "Indeed, Madam. We put together all the intelligence just yesterday and finally determined that the one who made the numbered series of cards must be the boss of the Heaven''s Wings, Cao Dong. We then took action, hoping not to alert the other powers, to take him back to the organization. We never thought we would fail."


    "Oh. I''ve already seen your report, though the specific situation still isn''t quite clear. Master Hugo''s battle strength is pretty excellent in the assessment of the organization." The madam kept delicately laughing as she glanced around fluidly and looked gracefully at Hugo.


    A look of annoyance shot through Butchie''s eyes, though she restrained herself. Hugo didn''t have any expression on his face as he sat there properly.


    Seeing what was going on, the Beard rushed to say, "The situation was like this: According to our investigations, Cao Dong only had one high-level card artisan with him. So, we drew up the appropriate battle plan. We hadn''t thought so many aces would appear at his side that day. Being caught so off guard, we took quite a loss. Three of our comrades were killed in the attack."


    "Oh. How many did they have?" The madam was rather surprised.


    Hugo suddenly opened his mouth. "They probably numbered about 16 to 20, all elite. They weren''t military, but their tactical teamwork was outstanding. Three of them were likely not at all beneath me."


    "Oh!" The madam was greatly moved. "Did you find out where they came from?"


    The Beard smiled bitterly. "Not yet. Our adversary''s defenses are tight, and we can''t even penetrate their surroundings. Plus, they are really on alert, and the worst thing is that one of my subordinates has gone missing."


    "Missing?"


    "Right. He has been with me for about five years and is highly effective at managing things. He was leading the way for Hugo and Butchie, and he was ordered to return because of the possibility for battle. I never thought he wouldn''t be back by now." The Beard showed a lot of concern in what he was saying. "I don''t doubt he was grabbed by another power. If that''s how it is, I''m afraid the news has already spread."


    Laughter came from under the mask. "Interesting. If others find out about the one who made the numbered series of cards, what would they do about it?"


    The Beard said ponderously, "If our adversaries'' power is strong enough, they would do the same as us. If it''s not, they might sell the information."


    "In other words, the last to make a move would be the powers with enough strength?" The madam hit the nail on the head.


    "Right." The Beard was certain.


    "So, are there any powers stronger than us?"


    The Beard''s eyes lit up. "You''re talking about the Central Repository of the Classics and the Federation Comprehensive Academy? If they know about that battle of ours, they probably won''t make a move."


    Another laugh came from beneath the mask. "Some of the powerful in this world trust themselves a little too much. Most of those are aces, and all of them are stubborn to the bone! I think we might be about to see a good show!"

 250 Fascinating Compositions

    After the materials had been sent over, Chen Mu quickly discovered a problem. Having squeezed in 20 more people, plus the materials, the little five-floor was getting more and more crowded. The Heaven''s Wings employees were working on the first floor.


    What Bogner had said wasn''t wrong, after all; the defensive capabilities of the building were really deficient. If anyone were to try a high-powered attack from a distance, such as from a siege-style, highly destructive attack card, the building could likely be blown to bits with one hit. The people inside would have no way to survive.


    Those kinds of large-scale battle cards weren''t widely used and were seldom seen in card shops. It was a rather specialized card with a slow firing frequency. Some of the cards could only be used once before turning to scrap. But no other card could match their terrifying lethality or the stunning power they had always brought into play during a battle.


    They were often deployed from a long distance and used for sneak attacks. The energy cloaks of ordinary card artisans basically had no way to block such an attack, and only card artisans who specialized in energy cloaking might survive.


    Fortunately, the conditions for using that kind of card were extremely harsh, and they made a lot of demands on the card artisan. Some of them required an extremely high perceptual strength, and some required freakish perceptual acuity. Not only that, but they required a lot of energy from a five-star card at minimum.


    No matter the card, it would be conceptually different once it rose to the five-star level; energy cards were no exception. Just to mount a single attack would cost a huge amount, which wasn''t something an ordinary team could afford. However, it wouldn''t be difficult for Faya or the Big Six to mount such an attack.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help but smile bitterly when he thought about that. No one would want to face off against such leviathans as the Big Six or Faya. An ordinary person would have long since yielded.


    Chen Mu was determined. Although he had no way to avoid the hassle of such issues, he wasn''t going to be easily shaken.


    As Chen Mu thought about it, it looked as though he really would have to change locations. But it was useless to worry about it, and he would have to wait until the folding Yanbo card was sold to have the funds to change locations. He suddenly felt how different the world he had entered was. He remembered when he had been making dozens of 100-Oudi one-star power cards every day. Now, hundreds of millions would pass through his hands. Even though he was handling more money, however, he didn''t have any feeling of wealth. On the contrary, it seemed he was a lot poorer now, with his need for money so urgent. But, since it was useless to worry, he would just do what he had to do.


    Having bought the materials, he couldn''t make anything with them just yet. Those three kinds of materials were troublesome to process, and it would be a sin in his eyes to waste such fine goods.


    There weren''t many materials recorded in the mysterious card. Most of those were some peculiar and rare alternative types, like the black and white chrysanthemum rock, which was specifically used to make the token card. Chen Mu felt an indescribably pleasant surprise when he found materials listed in the mysterious card.


    There were too many people in the small building; it wouldn''t be easy to get work done, especially for a card master who needed the right environment. When he had repaired the card for Cheng Ying in the jungle, he had had to wait for the right opportunity. Card making was such a meticulous discipline.


    He simply kept up his perceptual sensitivity training in the small building. The training had been progressing perfectly ever since he''d gotten beyond the one energy block that had given him such headaches.


    He finished the second model in only half a day. It also looked like a kind of energy composition. It was simpler than the first type of energy composition, though several of its nodes were clever. It was unexpectedly strong where the composition looked fragile, which surprised him. After carefully analyzing it, he couldn''t help but be amazed.


    Those several nodes looked like they couldn''t support anything, but they were actually the core of the entire composition. If they were destroyed, the balance would be destroyed. If the balance were destroyed, that would destroy the entire composition''s external power!


    It was a rather stable composition, but it was a pity Chen Mu had no way to know its use for the time being. One thing he could determine, however, was that nothing that appeared in the mysterious card was useless.


    The third model was a lot more complicated and required 5,000 energy blocks to build.


    He had gradually learned to like such training, with each model like a huge, complicated piece of engineering. When he looked at the completed model, he felt the unique charm of the composition along with a feeling of accomplishment.


    It wasn''t a simple matter if he wanted the construction to succeed. He first needed to analyze the composition and what kinds of peculiarities it had. Where was the balance point? Which parts were critical? How were the energy blocks sequenced?


    That all required thought and analysis, especially regarding compositional models that had taken thousands of energy blocks to construct. He didn''t know where to start upon first look. Upon closer analysis, he was mesmerized. Still, Chen Mu had figured out how to open a few doors.


    Balance felt like his greatest accomplishment during that time. He mastered the balance of the nodes, the balance of entire composition, the energy, its center of gravity, and so forth.


    Without knowing it, he had already forgotten how much sensitivity was required for the training; those exquisite compositions had drawn him in. Diving in head-first to the construction model, Chen Mu forgot himself as he mastered its every aspect, losing all sense of time.


    After ten days, the model was finally finished! It was three meters tall and 20 meters at the base, having five levels of energy blocks.


    Chen Mu looked with satisfaction at what he''d made, having derived his analysis countless times during the ten-day process. The number of failures during the assembly process were beyond counting.


    During that time, he once accidentally pulled out a thumb-sized energy block. He hadn''t expected the half-finished model to come crashing down. That tiny energy block made him start all over again. When he analyzed it afterward, that energy block just happened to be one of the critical nodes. He also figured out why there were five layers of energy blocks protecting it on the outside.


    Personally building those energy composition models really deepened his understanding of them without him even knowing it. Before then, he hadn''t understood any energy composition very well. By comparison, taking down the energy blocks he needed from the turntable had become as easy as eating and drinking for Chen Mu.


    Nothing had happened during those ten days. Apart from the Heaven''s Wings workers feeling it was a little unnatural to have so many strangers suddenly showing up in the building, everything else was as usual.


    He could hear Bogner growling out his orders every day. "Everyone get up for me! Drill! Drill! You still need a lot of training! You''re still a long way from qualifying, as weak as babies! Tsk tsk, you should be ashamed of getting faced down like that! Do you understand? Ashamed! Such shame is something you''ll have to shake off! Let''s have some spirit, everyone. Three to a group, close-range positional training! Damn! Wasn''t I just talking about tactics with you last night, Crow Feather? Are you going to give that whole evening back to me? Haven''t you eaten, Hertha? Or were you having some erotic dreams last night that drained all your energy?"


    It looked like Bogner was still brooding over those card artisans who had been faced down by Wei-ah that day. But Chen Mu didn''t have the least notion to appease him. It looked like those card artisans were all drumming up their energy, apart from some unhappy looks toward Wei-ah.


    Since the building was so small and didn''t have a training arena, they could only do some close-range running-in-place tactical training in the room.


    The defensive qualities of the little building were really lacking, and only one or two could use battle fantasy cards inside before they would quickly tear up the building. Still, Bogner always had some way. Since there was no way to use battle fantasy cards, he conducted training by running in place.


    That so-called stationary training referred to showing small groups how they should make the proper adaptations when they ran into special situations. For example, in a group of three, there might be one defensive card artisan and two attackers. It helped them to know how they should adapt in their foot and hand moves when encountering some sudden situation.


    Defensive card artisans needed to move the initiative ahead, using energy cloaks to block the adversary''s blows. The remote card artisans would need to attack at the first opportunity to carry out suppressive firepower. Then, the close-combat card artisans could take advantage of their comrades'' covering fire to get closer to the adversary and so forth.


    Simple stationary training was extremely boring, requiring endless repetitions. Three of them could be seen constantly sprinting inside the room and adjusting their positions relative to their comrades. Apart from the strong card artisans like Crow Feather and Happy Padding, the other card artisans were all as tired as oozing mud every day. Some of the defensive card artisans were still more tired; they not only had to run, but they also had to control their energy cloaks.


    The ones who got the most training were the three Bogner had originally planned for Chen Mu''s personal protection. Without a doubt, Bogner had been dissatisfied with them that day, so their training was about double that of the rest. Those three also knew their performance had been lousy and were all gritting their teeth to power through.


    Chen Mu didn''t really understand tactical coordination. But nothing made him happier than how few energy cards that kind of running-in-place training wasted. That was definitely good news for Chen Mu, who was tight with money just then.


    However, because of the need to conserve their battle power, the training was done in batches. Bogner would prepare every day, and his work was impeccably rigorous and thorough.


    * * *


    Chen Mu had just gotten some good news.


    The folding Yanbo card had been sold, and the one who bought it was Jiao Si, whom the fatty had spoken of. Jiao Si used 200 million Oudi to buy it and also wanted the fatty to send along another message: If Chen Mu wanted to sell him the method to make the folding Yanbo card, he would pay any price.


    Once the fatty had explained what that meant, it finally dawned on Chen Mu.


    Jiao Si''s other identity was as Dean of the Origins Academy card artisan division. If he could buy the method of making the folding Yanbo card, it would be astronomically good for the Origins Academy. Given Jiao Si''s power, realizing how to use the folding Yanbo card would happen sooner or later. If the way to make the folding Yanbo card were added to that, it would only have to go through a few generations of striving to perfect it before the Origins Academy would have gained another powerful legacy.


    Given Jiao Si''s insight, of course he knew the folding Yanbo card could become the real ace among the cards at the Origins Academy! Its power would surge, and at the very least, every generation could cultivate some outstanding aces. They could really increase the reputation and competitiveness of the Origins Academy. Lots of youthful geniuses would turn toward the Big Six in admiration every year because of the outstanding legacies they passed along.


    No wonder Jiao Si thought it was worth any price. But Chen Mu was still clear that no one was stupid enough to give their card making methods to someone else, especially the way to make such a top-notch card. No matter where, they wouldn''t pass along their secrets.


    The fatty admitted that if Chen Mu didn''t mind, it would be a cinch to use that method in exchange for tens of billions of Oudi. Moreover, he would have the powerful friendship of Jiao Si and the Origins Academy. Although the Origins Academy wasn''t up to the Big Six, it did have considerable power. On top of that, such an ace as Jiao Si was there, which did give the Big Six some pause.


    After thinking it over, Chen Mu still nixed the proposal. The folding Yanbo card involved quite a bit of Token Theory knowledge to make, and those who hadn''t learned it would really have no way to make it successfully. In Chen Mu''s mind, Token Theory was the core secret. How could he let it get out?


    There were other ways to resolve money issues, like making cards.


    * * *


    "Pay attention, and don''t leave any tracks." A middle-aged man wearing simple clothes was looking around alertly while whispering to his comrade.


    His comrade was in his early 20s and looked intelligent as he laughed. "Stop worrying; nothing is going to happen."


    There were all sorts of emergency measures taken at the Yang Clan Auction House. Card artisans had been hired to tightly protect the entire auction hall. That day, every place and every shop in the auction house had taken the day off. The normal hubbub of an auction house had gone strangely quiet.


    That was the day of the auction of 012 to 022 among the numbered series of cards.


    All those attending the auction were powers. Some were large-scale card artisan firms, and some were materials marketplaces. There were also all kinds of academic institutions and so forth. Entry was by invitation, and every invitation admitted two people.


    The two of them walked to the entrance of the auction hall, and the middle-aged man took out his invitation. After the gate worker looked it over, he rushed to invite the two to enter.


    The auction hall wasn''t too different from last time, and it was already more than half full when they entered. Everyone looked eager. The two sat right in a corner, and the young man looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to him before he quietly pulled out a fist-sized object.

 251 The Second Auction

    That young person was a worker for the explosively popular Elemental Fantasy Platform. He had been specifically sent to Pomelo. The middle-aged man beside him was the general manager of the Zheng De Trading House.


    The Elemental Fantasy Platform had some connection with Chen Mu, in fact. Its founder was none other than the low-grade fantasy card club where Chen Mu had been while in Eastern Shang-Wei City. As the inventor of the card receiver, the low-grade fantasy card club had the opportunity to establish the first platform. It was the largest platform in the federation, apart from the federation government''s official platform. By that time, the low-grade fantasy card club''s influence had shot up many levels from former times.


    Bai Zheyuan, the person at the helm, evidently had awesome moves!


    The rapid rise of the Elemental Fantasy Platform made competitors sigh for their hopes, and even the Heavenly Federation government''s official platform was feeling a lot of pressure. The Elemental Fantasy Platform had always been able to capture the topics of conversation people were most interested in. Their first report was when the Gemini Twins challenged Moon Frost Island to a battle, and nobody had ever been able to break through the frenzied surge that was triggered among the viewers.


    How could they let the wildly popular numbered series of cards slip by? They thought up every possible means and used every trick before finally finding a way in. They used the rights to three years of advertising to swap for the Zheng De Trading House''s assistance, and they were going to cover the entire affair.


    Before long, the seating in the hall was full. The Elemental Fantasy Platform staff member was highly professional and knew what people wanted to see; he kept adjusting the device in his hands, always aiming at the VIPs, like Zu Ning, Jie Yanbai, and so forth.


    For ordinary people, the five flourishing districts and the capital were mysterious and something people yearned for. It was said that any town in the five flourishing districts was more prosperous and well-developed than the commercial centers in the ordinary residential districts. They had the most powerful card artisans, the most powerful card masters, the most precious materials, and the most beautiful women...


    Of course, that was only how the story went.


    The cost of living in the five flourishing districts was so high the citizens of the ordinary residential districts couldn''t bear it for sure. People would spend their life''s savings just for a single vacation there. But, apart from a few special places, such as the group of temples affiliated with the Bitter Solitude Temple, most of the tourist districts of the five flourishing districts were on their outskirts. Most places within the five flourishing districts required a transit visa, as well as a residential permit. Quite a few people had the lifelong dream of getting one of those transit visas.


    Even though Zu Ning and Jie Yanbai were rather well-known in the five flourishing districts, in the eyes of the people of the ordinary residential districts¡ªwho were all very interested in them¡ªthey loomed as powerful idols.


    So, that staff person was familiar with all that sort of talk, though his lense didn''t only linger on Zu Ning and Jie Yanbai. He kept cutting over to all the VIPs. The influence of Faya was unfathomable.


    Each of the Big Six had sent someone that time, which made a lineup that was quite rare. Watching all the VIPs, the staffer was really excited to be able to personally experience such a huge scene. It was worth dying for!


    The auctioneer was right on schedule.


    His formal tails, personable style, mild and slightly smiling face, together with his overall cultivated manner and husky, sexy voice, really made it impossible for the people not to have good feelings toward him.


    "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Representing our capable host, Mr. Yang An, I would now like to extend our sincere gratitude to each of you. Ha ha, we appreciate you waiting for so long, but I don''t think I need to say anything more about the theme for the evening. As the second auction of the numbered series of cards, we will auction Cards 012 through 022 this time.


    "Apart from that, I will reiterate the rules for this auction. This auction will be conducted according to the exchange value of materials for cards, and each bid will need to report the name, appearance, and quantity of the materials. The different exchange values of the different materials will be converted into an overall value to find the highest overall value. If there is a situation where the equivalence of two bidders of materials is hard to determine, the card master affiliated with the hall will appear to determine the final requirements according to the demands of each of them."


    That last phrase jolted the spirits of those down below. The card master who had made the numbered series of cards had always been a mystery. Those who protected the confidentiality of the auction house did their work rigorously, and there hadn''t been even the hint of any rumors getting out until then.


    The numbered series of cards had made people''s eyes turn red as never before, and for Madam Zhi Lian to personally bid sky-high for Card 007 spread that card master''s fame to the extreme. That also led to a few situations where people didn''t know whether to laugh or cry, such as during the appearance on the market of a large quantity of fake numbered series cards, or every day someone incessantly calling himself the one who''d made the numbered series of cards.


    No matter how much fame and noise there was, that card master never appeared. His identity was one of the hottest topics of discussion on the platforms.


    People gave Chen Mu all sorts of nicknames, such as the numbered card master. Some simply called him the mysterious card master. Among the nicknames, the mysterious card master seemed to be the most widely accepted.


    In the polling done by the Elemental Fantasy Platform to ask what everyone''s strongest impression of the card master of the numbered series of cards was, "powerful" and "mysterious" were the two items that accounted for 75 percent of the results.


    "Powerful" and "mysterious" were both undoubtedly distinctive. Not only was he himself unusually mysterious, the numbered series of cards was just as much so.


    Apart from 007, quite a few people could smoothly recite from memory the performance parameters of the other ten cards among the 11 that had appeared by then. Among those 11 cards, however, only two of them had results everyone had seen. One was 007, with the incredible number of images of Jiao Si''s demonstration nearly flattening the record number of images set by the Gemini Twins'' challenge of Moon Frost Island.


    The other card, which was 010, was won at auction by the commander of a troop of card artisans. While showing off the card when he was drunk, it was secretly shot by an enterprising person. It was then sold to one of the platforms, where it was widely reproduced.


    No one knew who had won any of the other cards, and those who did get them all regarded them as treasures. So, even though the topic of conversation about the numbered series of cards was hot, the actual cards remained mysterious. That was also why the nickname of mysterious card master was so universally recognized.


    But, no matter what people called him, it all still demonstrated their curiosity and adoration of him. So, when they found out they might see that mysterious card master, there was a lot of commotion among those below for the first time. Quite a few of them looked excited.


    The auctioneer astutely noticed the mood of the crowd below and smiled lightly as he continued on to say, "This being our first time to try this kind of auction, please forgive our any oversight. Just to add some clarification, I myself have 25 years in the materials trading industry, and I am specifically certified as a master of high-grade materials. If any of our friends have objections to the subsequent valuations, they may raise them on the spot, and I will explain the valuation in detail. Thank you."


    The auctioneer bowed to the audience with his hand inclined behind him. He said in a bright voice, "We are about to see these 11 cards!"


    At the same time, there suddenly arose behind him 11 square columns, on each of which was placed an open, natural silk velvet black box. One of the cards was placed in a bracket on the velvet in each box, facing the audience. Eleven fine, bright beams of light then suddenly shot from the ceiling, each of which illuminated one of the card boxes.


    Under the lights, the natural silk velvet was suffused with an exquisite, shiny black sheen, and the complex patterns on the cards'' surfaces were as bewitching as works of art. There was a series number below each card to show its identity.


    There then appeared the second bout of commotion since the auction opened.


    * * *


    Chen Mu was sitting in his room when a loud ding-dong came from outside.


    After he had gotten the money from the fatty, Bogner impatiently urged Chen Mu to find a new place to live. So, Chen Mu had taken Bogner shopping around Pomelo for two days until they finally found a pretty good private manor in the eastern part of the city. The manor occupied an extremely large plot, which was fully 1.5 square kilometers.


    The large battle that had occurred in Pomelo some time before had made the owner of the manor feel it was no longer suitable to live in, and he was getting ready to move to a different city. Seeing that Chen Mu might want it, he directly made a deal for 70 million Oudi.


    That was still a low price. After all, to be able to have such a large manor in Pomelo had already become pitifully unlikely. Being at the edge of the city, it was surrounded by woods. That made transportation a little inconvenient, which could have been why the manor was so cheap. In the middle of the city, never mind a manor; 70 million wouldn''t even buy an ordinary seven- or eight-story building.


    Moreover, the facilities in the manor were rather complete, such as the training ground Bogner had been so concerned about. Because the son of the person who had lived there was a card artisan, not only were the training facilities complete, but they were utterly advanced, which also rather pleased Bogner.


    The manor bordered the Outer Reaches, and to prevent the wild beasts from attacking, its defensive facilities were done pretty well. That point could be seen by the fact that Bogner didn''t just tear it all down.


    Chen Mu and Wei-ah moved over immediately, while Heaven''s Wings remained where it had been. Chen Mu simply turned all its affairs over to Bu Qiangdong, who had long since demonstrated his ability by his practical actions.


    The first thing Bogner did when he brought everyone in was ask Chen Mu for money. In his eyes, the existing protection could only be considered barely adequate, and he needed to carry out transformations to the entire manor. Chen Mu readily turned over the rest of the money to him.


    In the blink of an eye, the manor was entirely unrecognizable.


    The beautiful gardens were rudely swept empty, although the grass was kept. But the height of the turf couldn''t exceed 15 centimeters. Never mind hiding someone; at that height, even rabbits couldn''t hide. Chen Mu had seen with his own eyes how carefully they placed all kinds of small card appliances, which were about the size of pigeon eggs, in the underbrush. They basically couldn''t be detected, and some of them were even half-buried in the dirt.


    Within half an hour, the unobstructed lawn was transformed to where danger lurked all around. Not only that, the original grove surrounding the manor was flattened with a violent explosion that totally fried it. The trees within a range of one kilometer around the manor were all destroyed. Bogner didn''t even leave their roots alone; not only did he dig them all out, but he leveled the ground and planted more turf.


    Of course, how could there not be something placed in it, given Bogner''s style?


    Bogner then pulled out a building plan to seek Chen Mu''s opinion. Chen Mu immediately signaled that Bogner was fully in charge.


    So, 20 minutes later, Bogner brought in a large gang of workers to the manor to carry out some large-scale construction! Chen Mu had heard their signal to start working. Those workers weren''t any ordinary people; they were exclusively card artisans. What they were good at wasn''t battle, but rather construction.


    Watching them work, Chen Mu saw quite a few novel scenes.


    The energy body emitted by the card one guy was using could precisely blow out all kinds of shapes in the ground. Square, perfectly round, triangular... Chen Mu even saw him blowing out a hole one meter deep and in the shape of a five-point star. Its bottom was flat and its walls shiny. Apart from that, he also doubled as a hole driller.


    Another one specialized in cutting. He could cut out whatever shape Bogner needed from any material, whether it was alloy or rock. What really expanded Chen Mu''s horizons was that he actually had ten different models of cards. Apparently, different materials required different energy bodies emitted from different cards before they could achieve the best results.


    The job of another one was to weld several alloys together. He was carrying the most things with him, some of which were powders and some liquids, all stored in numbered reagent tubes. He would first cleanse the area to be joined. He then prepared the reagents and powders he''d brought with him and used his own card to heat the places to be joined to a high temperature. The parts could be seen melting together at a speed visible to the naked eye, with the high heat emitted beyond compare. It was said that after such a process, the joined places outperformed the rest of the piece.


    Even more of them specialized in manipulating all sorts of specialized card appliances.


    Chen Mu was actually in the middle of a full-swing construction site. Although the door was closed, he still could feel the earth shaking.


    But his attention was completely focused on the receiving device the fatty had sent over. He could see the entire auction hall and the entire process with his own eyes, and he would determine the final results of the exchanges.


    The auction of 012 didn''t make any big waves and earned a nice batch of materials.


    However, the action of 013 went straight to the climax, and the somewhat impatient crowd burst forth with all its passion. Everyone understood that the among the second batch of the numbered series of cards, 013 was doubtlessly the most valuable and powerful card.


    The scene that followed left Chen Mu staring with his mouth wide open.

 252 013!

    "We will next demonstrate the card numbered 013, which is also the only four-star card in this series of cards, as well as the second four-star card in the series up until now. I believe the previous Super 007 has left each of you with a rather deep impression, and for Madam Zhi Lian to have personally bought it has proven its value from a different angle. What kinds of pleasant surprises will 013 bring? Let''s find out!"


    As the auctioneer''s voice fell, Jiao Si appeared on the field.


    No one was surprised to see him, but the crowd felt all the more certain the boss of the auction house had pretty good relations with Jiao Si. Those who had been entertaining a different idea all now dispelled that notion. They may have been uncertain before, but Jiao Si arriving the second time thoroughly awed them.


    If Jiao Si were provoked, his demonstration would be miserable. Jiao Si couldn''t belong to any true academic circle, and his power at graduation could only be considered average. It was all due to his actual fighting afterward that his power increased. It was clear how highly skilled he was in actual battle, being an absolute martial force in himself. Moreover, he had so many of the students from the Origins Academy behind him. Who would dare to provoke an old maniac bringing along a gang of young maniacs?


    It wasn''t Hugo who was at Butchie''s side, but rather the madam wearing a mask. That really upset Butchie. If she hadn''t been so interested in 013, she wouldn''t have come.


    "Jiao Si..."


    Butchie looked at the madam as though by accident, having heard some special feeling in what she said.


    But her attention quickly returned to the field, where Jiao Si had already started his demonstration. Everyone was rather pleased he had taken the field. The subtle aspects of such a truly high-grade card would be difficult to show without such an ace.


    Jiao Si had his eyes half closed, and the apparatus on his wrist was in an activated state.


    The gazes of Jie Yanbai and Zu Ning simultaneously fell onto Jiao Si, and their eyes flashed with endless splendor. Leaving the five flourishing districts, they had found out how big the world was, hiding so many dragons and crouching tigers. Such an ace as Jiao Si would be considered the top of the list even in the flourishing districts. What they really couldn''t understand was why such a top-notch ace refused to enter the flourishing districts or the Big Six.


    Jiao Si opened his eyes, suddenly appearing impressively grand.


    He extended his right hand with a slight bend to his elbow, not making any visible move. Suddenly, a light blue folding wavy blade left his hand and shot swiftly toward a target.


    Butchie couldn''t help her disheartened look.


    Although the demonstration of the card had only just started, she was already greatly discouraged. The wavy blade type of card was one of the largest card categories, with many different types within it. Across so many years, they had nearly been completely developed. It would be rare to see any of those cards full of creativity or with outstanding power.


    For mid-grade card artisans, the wavy blade type of card was easy to manipulate. It didn''t require a high outlay, so of course it was popular. But for someone like her, who had already entered into the ranks of high-level card artisans, the wavy blade type of card really didn''t hold out the slightest bit of interest.


    She was completely at a loss. She had been there when 007 was demonstrated. As she saw it, not only was 007 incomparably creative and powerful, but she could also tell it really tested the card artisan''s ability to control perception. That was exactly where her strength was.


    Pow! The sound of a huge explosion broke through her thoughts.


    The target had been blown to shreds by the wavy blade. Even the two targets next to it hadn''t been spared.


    An explosive wavy blade? She was a little surprised.


    The characteristic of the wavy blade was to be sharp and accurate, and one seldom saw a wavy blade with explosive characteristics. That wavy blade looked utterly like a standard light blue folding wavy blade¡ªthin, with a steady, speedy flight. In general, most explosive energy bodies looked egg-shaped or cone-like. For such a thin wavy blade to have such explosive power was really interesting.


    Jiao Si''s wrist gently shook. Within an instant, the sky was filled with wavy blades, looking like hundreds of blue swallows flying around in a dazzling display.


    The crowd below all sat straight up. Any sign of contempt or indifference vanished and was replaced by seriousness and surprise.


    Butchie was suddenly excited and nearly stood up, but she immediately responded and tightly restrained herself. Who knew if it was her excitement, but her red, flushed face made her look unspeakably charming.


    Butchie had plenty of reason to be excited. Good lord, those wavy blades can actually be controlled! She felt she would quickly drown in rapture. The wavy blades emitted by ordinary wavy blade cards were like a released arrow, which couldn''t be controlled.


    The larger the energy body''s composition, the harder it would be to control. That was common knowledge. Like her own Tadpole, every energy body was very fine, which reduced the difficulty of control by quite a bit.


    Butchie''s gaze was hot as she looked at those high-speed flying wavy blades, utterly convinced there wasn''t any card more suited to her than that one. She probably hadn''t realized its creation was precisely due to Chen Mu simulating her Tadpole. Chen Mu had taken the folding Yanbo card and her Tadpole and blended them together¡ªwith the addition of another card he had seen¡ªto make 013!


    Several hundred blue wavy blades were circling around Jiao Si, making a scene similar to that of 007. Compared to the completely spherical black and white energy beads that composed it that time, there was less of the sense of mystery and more of a sense of speed and vitality. But they were both just as unforgettable.


    The transformations of 013 didn''t stop there; Jiao Si''s arm lightly turned and stretched. The scene on the field suddenly changed!


    Those hundreds of light blue wavy blades were like a flock of birds returning to their nest. They all were drawn to Jiao Si''s empty right hand, which had flung them off.


    "Ah!""Yeah!""Careful!"


    Those below couldn''t help but call out; those blue wavy blades had explosive power they had seen with their own eyes. As they saw it, what Jiao Si was doing was nothing other than suicide! Those with more advanced insight, like Butchie, flashed a startled look as they sat still. They deeply understood that an outstanding ace like Jiao Si would absolutely never make such a stupid, low-level error. There was certainly some other intention in what he was doing.


    The shadow of light blue revolving around Jiao Si became smaller and smaller until the last blue wavy blade disappeared. The crowd could finally see the situation on the field clearly.


    Hong! The crowd in the auction hall exploded in an instant. Many couldn''t help but stand from where they sat, Butchie among them, with her eyes glued onto Jiao Si''s hand.


    The only thing to be seen on Jiao Si''s hand was a long energy chain.


    It was just a chain composed of hundreds of blue wavy blades strung together. Between every wavy blade was a finger-sized space, giving the whole chain a strongly abnormal feeling. Several hundred blue wavy blades strung together was fully ten meters long.


    People marveled at how the blue energy chain was gently swaying like seaweed in the ocean. Without any visible movement by Jiao Si, the chain intelligently wandered over his body like a long, docile blue snake.


    Jiao Si slowly walked to in front of a target. Like a snake leaving its hole, the chain suddenly passed in a blue blur to exactly hit the target.


    So fast! None of the crowd had seen clearly, and some were even oozing sweat from their brows. If a close-combat card artisan had approached with one of those cards, such a swift blow would be impossible to evade. All of the close-combat card artisans there averted their eyes.


    The target on the field had already been shot through, and the explosion they''d expected never occurred. It demonstrated the standard characteristics of the wavy blade: sharpness! It was plenty sharp!


    That trick had been an improvement Chen Mu had made based on Mark Victor''s Twisted Spinning Thorns.


    The card integrated the three characteristics of the folding Yanbo card, the Tadpole, and the Twisted Spinning Thorns.


    Sadly, since he had already bought the folding Yanbo card, Jiao Si couldn''t help but feel a little reluctant to part with that card. Even though it didn''t have the wild power of the folding Yanbo card, it was really outstanding with regard to flexibility! He could only imagine how much stunning power it would bring to bear if that card were to fall into the hands of an outstanding solo-combat card artisan.


    Jiao Si had grown accustomed to seeing all kinds of cards, yet he still felt such reluctance to let that particular one go. The crowd below was totally thrown into a frenzy, and the temperature in the auction hall soared.


    The Elemental Fantasy Platform staff person was already excited to the point of fainting. Good lord, I''ve really hit it this time! He believed once the recording of the auction was published, it would cause some kind of a viewing frenzy! As the one who shot it, the rewards he would reap likewise couldn''t be any smaller.


    Jiao Si left the demonstration field, but the overheated atmosphere in the auction hall didn''t drop in the slightest. Quite a few people had taken off their jackets, loosened their ties, and rolled up their sleeves. They had the blood-shot eyes of crazed gamblers.


    Zu Ning''s handsome, snow-white face had also flushed a little. If anyone familiar with him were there, they would know he had already become so excited he was about to shudder.


    By comparison, Jie Yanbai was quite a bit calmer. But the dense blue veins on his fists clutching the arms of his chair made it plain that what he felt wasn''t as calm.


    Even the masked madam beside Butchie couldn''t help but exclaim in admiration, "What a well-conceived and ingenious card!" Butchie didn''t say anything, though her eyes were staring straight onto the field.


    "I believe everyone has been rather pleased with the demonstration." The auctioneer reappeared on the platform, and he was just as excited. He pulled himself together and said solemnly, "Let the bidding begin."


    All the talking below the platform disappeared, and everyone understood the battle had begun!


    * * *


    When Chen Mu emerged from the room, his eyes were bright red, which shocked Bogner.


    "What happened?" Bogner asked with concern, that being his boss. Up until then, he had been utterly satisfied with that boss. There weren''t any wasted words and no unreasonable demands. He was plenty trusting toward him and never interfered with his plans. He was generous with his money and tried to satisfy Bogner''s every demand. Where could he find a better boss those days?


    From the bottom of his heart, he didn''t want anything to happen to that boss of his.


    "It''s nothing." Chen My shook his head, though his rapid breathing showed how fired up he felt. Having just seen the entire auction process with his own eyes, the fanatical audience had really infected him. The auction had completely used materials in payment, which were a lot more attractive and had a lot more impact on Chen Mu than Oudi! To see the cards he had made being exchanged for such rare and rich materials left him with no way to contain his excitement.


    Card 013 had finally been sold to Faya, who paid for it with 300 million Oudi worth of materials. But Butchie had actually hesitated when the price went to 200 million Oudi of materials. Although the boss-man had said he would allow her to select a card, he hadn''t set a limit. But she knew if some limit were actually exceeded, the organization wouldn''t entertain it.


    He hadn''t imagined the madam would bid 300 million with no hesitation, completely using what where the most precious and rarest among their batch of materials.


    Seeing the shock on Butchie''s face, the madam lightly laughed. "Relax; I have the authority for this." When 013 really fell into Butchie''s hands, her good feelings toward the madam shot right up in the instant. She pulled on the madam''s arm and hopped and jumped like a child.


    Who knew whether it was the stimulation from 013, but those who hadn''t won were left to let their gazes fall onto the remaining eight cards. That also led to those eight cards all being auctioned for huge prices.


    The materials those people bid even included some Chen Mu didn''t understand. At the same time he was excited to hear their bids, he was quickly looking up the materials they were talking about in the Compendium of Materials. Every time he found one, it made him even more excited.


    So, when Chen Mu emerged, his excitement was at its peak!


    The chill air blew on him, and he quickly calmed down. He only then discovered that the once-classical manor had already been completely transformed into an exceptionally defensive, metallic-style building. The building was only built to three stories, though it occupied nearly half the area of the manor. Chen Mu believed it would hold several thousand with no problem at all.


    Carefully totaling it up, there were only 24 people plus a dog there. To live in such a large place was really...


    "Isn''t this a little too big?" Chen Mu asked, pointing to the main building, which was still incomplete. The efficiency of the construction card artisans they''d invited was really high, and the speed of construction could hardly be seen with the naked eye.


    "It''s not so big. When the time comes, and we add the reserve forces and the youth brigade, I''m afraid we''ll have to expand. The training field also has to be moved in, but when the time comes, this will become a true defensive fortress. We can also concentrate our forces," Bogner explained.


    Just then, Bogner''s apparatus flashed. After taking the communication, a young man''s face appeared on the screen. "Boss-man, the things you wanted have all been transported."

 254 Greeting a Visitor

    Chen Mu looked at the big pile of materials in front of him, as well as the countless pieces of equipment, and felt helplessly excited. Those materials would be difficult to buy on the market. If it weren''t for the fatty''s cooperation, he wouldn''t have even been able to imagine them.


    The quantity of materials was more than he had seen the last time at the Yang Clan Auction House, and they filled three entire small storerooms. The equipment the fatty had sent over was just as valuable, with quite a few items he had never seen. All of that equipment couldn''t be less than several hundred million, which was a pretty serious gift. Chen Mu had no way to refuse them and could only remember the favor in his heart.


    Directing the group to help stow them, they were busy for a whole afternoon before they had properly placed all the equipment and materials.


    A card analysis instrument, a precision liquid-quenching device, a temperature maintenance apparatus¡ªlooking all around, Chen Mu couldn''t help but feel plenty satisfied. To have an advanced lab had always been his dream. But he had never thought that dream could be so easy to realize. Although those pieces of equipment weren''t the most top-notch in the federation, they certainly weren''t something any ordinary firm could purchase.


    What could be more wonderful than that?


    It was already dark outside before Chen Mu realized he had forgotten the time and had never eaten. Just as he was getting ready to look for something to eat, a sudden warning sounded.


    "An unknown intruder has been discovered! First-level alert. All units immediately take your stations!"


    The announcement in the building was incessant, and everyone immediately went on alert. The card artisans on rotation were ready for battle in the first instant, while those who had been resting also quickly took up their battle stations.


    The vacant base appeared immediately more vacant.


    For 20 people to guard such a huge base was far too skimpy. Having taken that into consideration, they were only using a single passageway for the entire base, and all the rest were sealed. That meant they only had to concentrate their firepower on that one passageway. The building''s defensive capabilities were perfectly outstanding; if any single card artisan had wanted to break through the wall to enter, he would need to keep up the attack for a long while before he could accomplish his goal without some specialized card.


    * * *


    At the operations command center, Bogner sat casually on the command chair surrounded by a circle of 12 screens, each about two meters tall and two meters wide. The command chair could swivel in any direction, and images from beyond the base could clearly be seen on all the screens.


    The screen in front of him showed a dark, crouching shadow on the edge of the turf.


    It was Chen Mu''s first time to see such an advanced operations command room, with every person having several screens in front of them and some incessantly manipulating them. The thing he found most novel was that on some of the screens were symbols constantly flowing past. Looking more closely, he found out that those rapidly scanning symbols were complicated strings of numbers.


    Chen Mu had never systematically studied mathematics. Math was something seldom seen among card masters. But that wasn''t to say he was completely ignorant of math. On the contrary, he had a rather deep attainment in some math fields.


    That had a direct connection with his study of Token Theory. At the core of Token Theory were calculation and optimization. At the beginning of his study of it, the abstruse and esoteric content made him suffer quite a bit. In order to study Token Theory, he had to delve into math for quite a while. But his study of math wasn''t anything more than learning Token Theory. In other words, it was severely lopsided.


    Such a large operations command center only sporadically had three or five people, and Bogner was lazily half-lying in the chair with his eyes half closed. It wasn''t clear if he was watching the screen in front of him or was about to fall asleep.


    Bogner suddenly noticed Chen Mu having entered the operations command center. He rushed to sit up. "Why have you come?"


    "I heard there has been an intrusion, and I came to watch."


    "You may relax; there''s only one, and I reckon he''s just a scout." Bogner was pointing at the screen as he spoke.


    Chen Mu then paid attention to the squatting dark shadow on the screen. Looking again at Bogner''s unalarmed expression, Chen Mu suddenly wanted to see how he commanded a battle.


    "What is he doing?" Seeing how slowly he was moving, Chen Mu couldn''t help but ask.


    "Ha ha," Bogner said with satisfaction. "He''s worrying and probably wondering how he can get closer."


    Bogner had certainly taken thorough measures, which was something Chen Mu completely admired. If it were him out there, he wouldn''t even have known how to approach the base without being discovered. He felt to himself that a professional was a professional, after all, and he would never have thought up so many ideas.


    After half an hour, that dark shadow still hadn''t moved. Bogner had maintained his unconcerned expression, however, remaining plenty patient all along.


    After another ten or more minutes, the intruder finally couldn''t restrain himself and started to approach the new base. Only his crouching shadow slowly advancing could be seen. His movements were quick, which made him truly difficult to discern given the cover of darkness. Those who had discovered him had surprisingly good eyesight to have seen him from such a distance.


    Carelessly glancing at the screen, Bogner bared his teeth and laughed. "This guy is about to be out of luck."


    Sure enough, before his voice fell, a starburst suddenly exploded on the dark screen.


    The intruder had triggered the ambush card appliance devices in the underbrush. Chen Mu remembered the scene from watching Bogner placing card appliance mechanisms in the grass. One would bump into one nearly every two steps. There was grass everywhere, which meant it was a sea of card appliance devices!


    Chen Mu suddenly felt a little sympathy for that intruder.


    "Adding a high-sensitivity triggering device to the directional exploding card appliances, the scope of the explosion isn''t even one meter. But the power at the center of the explosion can break through a three-star energy cloak card." Bogner''s introduction somehow had a hint of satisfaction.


    The intruder then flashed a similar starburst from his body as he raised a light blue energy cloak. It shook violently, but it quickly steadied.


    "A four-star energy cloak!" Bogner''s eyes lit up as he abruptly got some spirit.


    The intruder probably knew he had been exposed. How would someone who could mount such a defense not be discovered by the triggering device? Looking again at the turf stretching for several kilometers, as soon as he thought of the indefensible card appliance devices that had been placed in it, his scalp went numb. He simply rose up into the sky.


    In midair, whether he would advance or retreat was up to him.


    Chen Mu''s attention was drawn to the light blue energy cloak on the screen. Three-star energy cloaks were pretty common, and four-star were comparatively seldom seen. But, when it came to five-star, they were still rarer. Using an energy cloak card actually implied a lot of skill. The same energy cloak card in the hands of an ordinary card artisan or a defensive card artisan, who specialized in energy cloaks, would have protective qualities that were worlds apart.


    A battle card artisan who had the ability to use a four-star energy cloak card must instead be proficient with a five-star card! Someone who could use a five-star card would be an ace among aces, no matter where.


    "A big fish has arrived, after all! Ha ha." Bogner was rubbing his chin with a rather interested expression. He was then talking to himself. "That''s not such a good reception; allow me to calm you down."


    Listening to the side, Chen Mu said nothing.


    "Pay close attention, prepare the attack waves, and give a warm welcome to our visitor." Bogner was giving orders to the sound transmission card appliance in front of him.


    The intruder who''d opened up that blue energy cloak saw that no one had mounted any attacks, and he boldly approached the base.


    "He''s a rookie, after all," Bogner muttered as the enthusiasm faded from his face. He immediately followed with orders in a tone that was darkly cold. "Attack!"


    Before the echoes died, a light beam, a wavy blade and an energy shuttle went conspicuously whistling at the same time toward the intruder. The first arrived before the intruder could respond, closely followed by the wailing of the second and third.


    It was 12 attacks altogether, divided into four waves, with each wave composed of three attacks and with two-tenths of a second between each wave. Each wave of attack, and each attack, had been carefully prepared; every response of the adversary had been calculated.


    The first attack wave didn''t mean anything to the intruder. Such an attack wasn''t so fierce. But he still rather praised it. Of course, he could see the angles of those three attacks were all carefully prepared. He had a hard time dodging all of them. For the level of card artisan that he was, however, that level of attack was still not enough to make him retreat.


    Only one of the three attacks had hit him¡ªthe energy shuttle¡ªwhich made his energy cloak shake violently.


    The next wave two-tenths of a second later made him inwardly surprised that his adversary had recruited so well.


    In a spark of time, he had impressively discovered the angles of the three attacks in the second attack wave, which was really too crafty! In the situation of raising his energy cloak, no matter how he dodged and evaded, he would likely be hit by two of the attacks. If he weren''t raising the energy cloak, although his flight speed and flexibility could be increased, being able to evade all of them was still unlikely. But if he didn''t have an energy cloak to protect him, one shot would be enough for him to give up his ghost.


    In those two-tenths of a second, he unconsciously chose to continue holding up the energy cloak. As he saw it, that was better insurance and safer. The protective qualities of a four-star energy cloak were outstanding, and ordinary blows basically had no way to break through it.


    Those two attacks from the second attack wave hit his energy cloak. His face abruptly changed color!


    As though another stone had been thrown into a lake that hadn''t yet calmed, his energy cloak shook more dramatically. But what had made his face change color wasn''t that plenty-powerful wavy blade attack¡ªit was another attack within that attack wave.

 255 An Ambush

    Like a long snake, an energy belt full of sparks had wrapped up the entire body of his energy cloak.


    An electric belt! It''s an electric belt!


    The electric belt wasn''t actually a powerful card; it was more like a card one might keep up one''s sleeve. It emitted an energy belt that brought a cleverly distributed electric charge along with it. It had no attack qualities but instead produced near-field electric charges that could suck things in or delay their motion.


    Card artisans who were good at the electric belt were rarely seen among civilians; they were more commonly seen in the military. Upon entering school, no young person would choose such a card. It had no lethal power and no self-defense power. Moreover, the skill required by the electric belt card had a much higher level of difficulty than that of ordinary battle fantasy cards. Only select military support teams would specifically cultivate such unique card artisans.


    The difficulty and the required expense to cultivate an auxiliary-type card artisan were a lot higher than for an ordinary card artisan. They were also more easily killed in battle and had no way to carry out independent operations. Once they were alone, that basically meant they were dead. Card artisans good at the electric belt were also seldom seen because it required the card artisan to have top-notch skills with perceptual control. That was the only way they could distribute the charges cleverly enough. Card artisans who practiced the electric belt card needed to start at a young age, and their training style was completely different from that of ordinary card artisans.


    Surprisingly, he had encountered a card artisan who was an expert in the electric belt card! His body suddenly tightened as the powerful forces nearly froze him in an instant.


    Could it be military? That irrepressible notion flashed through his mind. But he was very powerful. His jet stream card abruptly opened, its huge force immediately breaking him free from the electric belt''s power.


    Still, during that brief period, the third and fourth attack waves on the heels of that one were unavoidable. His expression changed again as he realized what his adversary had in mind!


    His adversary wasn''t thinking of using the electric belt to contain him. He only needed the electric belt to entangle him for a little while¡ªnot even half a second. His adversary needed that half second. As a matter of fact, Bogner''s team really only needed four-tenths of a second.


    The two waves, composed of six attacks, solidly hit his energy cloak, and each hit had plenty of power that time! Even though it was a four-star energy cloak card, there was no way for it to meet such fierce attacks.


    Crack! The light blue energy cloak had become a canopy of starbursts, like a light blue drizzle. In the dream-like drizzle of fragmented starbursts, the eyes on that resolute face glinted brightly with an overwhelming urge to battle. There were only scattered lights in the huge base from which those shots had been launched!


    A moment later, his image gradually blurred until it finally disappeared.


    What speed! Chen Mu watched, gape-mouthed. For the after-image to be sustained for such a long time would require some kind of terrifying speed! It looked like their adversary had one outstanding jet stream card. However you looked at it, their adversary''s flight skills were superb.


    Bogner''s face remained as though it were all a matter of course. Of course, a card artisan who could use a four-star energy cloak would have such ability.


    Someplace further from the base, the masked madam from Faya suddenly laughed. "It looks like our little friend has suffered a slight loss. Who would have thought the ace overseeing all of this would be so extraordinary?"


    Butchie was watching the madam with a look of admiration. Her generosity at the last auction had immediately given Butchie good feelings toward her. The series of commands she had passed down during that period all clearly showed her extraordinary wisdom. Not only Butchie, but Hugo and the Beard also felt won over by that madam who had been sent down by those above.


    "It''s about time for you to make your move, great Hugo." The madam elegantly nodded her signal to Hugo.


    "Yes, Madam!" Hugo''s face was filled with respect. He stood right up, bringing along a few card artisans before disappearing into the jungle.


    * * *


    Jie Yanbai''s shock was indescribable. That new base had brought him too many surprises. His adversary''s defenses were watertight, and its every device had been carefully arranged, all interlocking. Incredibly awesome! Such an awesome person would never be so little-known. But, from the materials he''d been able to dig up, he hadn''t found the least bit of a clue.


    An outstanding commander was still more precious than an awesome card artisan. The commander was the brains of any troop and decided the fate of the entire team. Although some of the academies had such a specialization, any commander who hadn''t experienced actual battle hardening would never be anything more than a paper tiger.


    A commander who qualified after starting as a rookie needed to spend a long time at an extremely high cost, which often meant hundreds of lives. To become an excellent commander, they would still need to have native ability and understanding beyond their military training.


    Hence, an excellent commander was extremely rare and precious. In the Heavenly Federation, most of that sort of talent was in the military. Only a few existed in some large-scale card artisan firms or as private consultants to the rich and powerful.


    His adversary''s moves were unusually masterful, and he would never have gotten to that point without ten or 20 years of tempering. Based on his investigations, Cao Dong couldn''t have had such power. But how could he recruit such talent? Not only that, but he surprisingly had a card artisan inside who specialized in the electric belt. Such talent was reserved for the military.


    Could Cao Dong actually have some connection to the military?


    If it were all coincidental, it would really have to be some kind of coincidence. But it was no wonder he would think that way. For an excellent commander and a card artisan specializing in the electric belt card to both appear at the same time had to make a person wonder.


    He was suddenly alerted.


    * * *


    It dawned on Bogner. "No wonder¡ªit''s Jie Yanbai."


    The card artisan, who had been surrounded in midair, was the intruder who had just approached the base, and they could finally see him clearly. They had just heard the sound of an explosion from the distance and cautiously came to see what was behind it. They came upon the scene in front of them just as those eight were arriving.


    Chen Mu recognized the one in charge of those eight card artisans. It was none other than Hugo from Faya, wearing his trademark half-mask with its unspeakably grim and freakishly demonic feel. But, unimaginably, the one who''d gotten the upper hand was actually the freelancer, Jie Yanbai!


    Jie Yanbai''s power was steadily holding off Hugo by a notch. Even encircled, he had plenty of room to maneuver and to handle his weapon with ease.


    The energy body he emitted was a thumb-thick red beam, which had a terrifying penetrating power. With his own eyes, Chen Mu had seen a famous card artisan get run straight through after raising his energy cloak. Even more surprising was its staggering firing frequency. With just a slight flick of his index finger, the sky was filled with red beams woven into a net of light. Inside the splendid red net of light, Hugo''s aurora beam card gave Chen Mu an unexpected sense of powerlessness.


    "Tsk tsk, that Jie Yanbai is no ordinary being after all. To actually learn such a common card as the rouged finger to that extent is really not so simple!" As one who seldom praised anyone, Bogner still couldn''t help but do so.


    That name, rouged finger¡­ Chen Mu felt it strange as soon as he thought of Jie Yanbai looking so imposing¡ªsuch a firm and unyielding person so unexpectedly using such an effeminate card.


    As though he had guessed what Chen Mu was thinking, Bogner explained as he stared at the group fighting in the sky. "Speaking of the rouged finger, it actually came from the hands of a female card artisan from the Central Repository of the Classics. No one knows what it had been called before, but ever since that female card artisan, the name rouged finger has been passed down. There were countless legacies in the Central Repository of the Classics that were higher level than that. The men felt that it smacked of effeminacy, so people would seldom learn it.


    "Jie Yanbai came from one of the ordinary residential districts, and after testing into the Central Repository of the Classics, he got the cold shoulder from every direction. That was except for one professor, who rather looked after him. He simply followed that professor in his practice. She was a woman, and what she practiced was the rouged finger. He took up her same legacy. It was said that he was mocked by the more accepted people in the school because of that.


    "They never thought that by dint of his diligence¡ªon top of his perseverance and savvy¡ªthe rouged finger could actually develop so vastly in his hands. He once made it into the top eight in a school competition by virtue of those skills. Afterward, he never stopped tempering his strength in every direction until several years later, when he found out about the challenge from the president of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, Pavchek. He earned praise after that fierce battle. His value suddenly multiplied as his fame rose in the federation to become the famous ace of the younger generation. The rouged finger became widely known because of that."


    Chen Mu gave Bogner an inadvertent glance, never having thought Bogner would be so familiar with such gossipy news.


    Still, facing Jie Yanbai''s power, Hugo and the others had made an adequate reckoning. Except for two card artisans having been shot through by the red beam during the first wave of confrontation, the other six had withstood.


    Jie Yanbai rather dreaded Hugo''s aurora beam, which could be seen by how carefully he dodged it. However, he hadn''t thought Hugo was only putting up a front, and the true main attack would come from a different card artisan.


    Hugo abruptly retreated, and the five card artisans suddenly raised their energy cloaks and plunged straight at Jie Yanbai!


    Bogner''s complexion suddenly changed as he shouted in a low voice, "Withdraw!"


    Chen Mu''s and Wei-ah''s reactions were equally quick, with Wei-ah dragging Bogner along with one hand while retreating with Chen Mu deep into the jungle.


    Hong!


    There was a loud noise behind them as the sky suddenly lit up with a fiery ball of bright red beams to sting the eye. The explosive blow swept the forest clear like a hurricane. The sound of huge trees snapping came incessantly from beside them. Chen Mu only felt the huge force pushing strongly from behind as his body plunged forward, almost hitting a tree. It was a good thing his reactions were quick. He let his body rock along with the continuous, driving force. That was how he could finally offset the force. Even though Wei-ah was carrying someone by his hand, his reactions were even quicker, and he just set his body.


    "So ruthless!" Looking at that fireball in the sky, Bogner''s face alternated between green and red, half in admiration and half spitting out those two words in contempt.


    Looking at that brilliant burst of a fireball in the sky, Chen Mu helplessly felt a bone-chilling sensation.


    Just then, a body unexpectedly burst out of that fireball. Even Hugo couldn''t react for a while as he stared at his adversary disappearing into the horizon at an alarming rate.

 256 Preparing for War I

    Bogner was still sighing when they returned to the base. Who would have thought Faya''s methods would be so ruthless? No wonder Faya''s style of doing business had always been so controversial. That was saying something when even such people as Bogner or Chen Mu, who had gone through quite a few battles, or the rich, whose lives were so superior, could feel chilled by it.


    The apparatus on Chen Mu''s wrist suddenly sounded. It was the fatty. Could something have happened?


    The fatty''s expression didn''t look good on the screen, and he opened by saying, "Things are not going so well, young brother! A troop of card artisans from Faya has just attacked a station of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, and there were heavy casualties!"


    From the side, Bogner and Chen Mu looked at one another.


    Seeing Chen Mu''s expression, the fatty immediately realized something might have happened. He asked in a sinking voice, "What''s up?"


    "Faya just sprung an attack on Jie Yanbai over here. He must have been wounded." Chen Mu continued on to narrate what had just happened in detail.


    The fatty screamed, "What a gang of crazies Faya is! Have they really gone nuts?"


    Chen Mu felt similarly perplexed after thinking hard about it, and Bogner looked puzzled as well. Faya''s behavior was really crazy! That wasn''t a provocation; it was a declaration of war! Still more perplexing, they stunningly declared war at the same time on two such huge powers! Was that gang at Faya just tired of living?


    How would the Big Six tolerate Faya''s attacks? It was predictable that the ensuing counterattack by the Central Repository of the Classics and the Federation Comprehensive Academy would certainly be fierce. No one could bear the simultaneous attack from two establishments. The Big Six were at the top of the food chain in the federation. In in the minds of the people, Faya just barely squeezed in among those ranks. Faya could only stand at the tail end.


    But now, the tail had just issued a challenge to the first two great powers at the same time. How could anyone in that world go on such a suicidal mission? Were the upper ranks of Faya having convulsions?


    The fatty quickly calmed down. "We can''t pay attention to that now. Pomelo is going to get chaotic again, and we can''t intervene in the fighting among these big shots. We can lay off making cards for a while. Those with the leisure to be concerned with cards will certainly decrease during this time. But my young brother has to pay attention to safety. Jie Yanbai wasn''t wounded until he left you over there. Although he has always been big and open about that, it would be hard to guarantee the Central Repository of the Classics and the others won''t be angry with you. I reckon Jie Yanbai has guessed your identity. If they want to force you back to the Central Repository of the Classics, then this matter will give them a sufficient excuse."


    Chen Mu didn''t say anything, and Bogner remained cool.


    "I''m going to contact Jiao Si to see if we can invite him there for a while. Having him, if the Central Repository of the Classics were considering making a move, they would have to think about it. You''ll have to recruit some manpower soon yourselves. Don''t be afraid of spending money. I''ll be sending over a big chunk of money. Don''t thank me; this will be an advance on profits, and I can deduct it from the auction later. No matter how you want to talk about it, let''s talk after we get past these difficulties." The fatty was indeed worthy of doing great things, thinking clearly in the moment.


    "Ok." Chen Mu didn''t waste words since what the fatty said was right. If the Central Repository of the Classics really wanted to use force, he couldn''t think of many good ways out.


    After disconnecting, Chen Mu immediately received the money the fatty sent over. It was 1.5 billion Oudi! Chen Mu felt a warmth in his heart, and he couldn''t help but smile bitterly. He really owed a lot for that favor.


    Chen Mu knew a lot about the ups and downs of life. In that world, it was clearly easy to add icing to a cake, but to send coal while it was snowing was almost never seen! The first move was 1.5 billion. Even if the fatty had that much savings, it was still a shocking sum.


    After taking the money, Chen Mu said to Bogner, "I''m handing the matter entirely over to you."


    "Yes, sir!" Even though he was about to face one of the Big Six¡ªthe Central Repository of the Classics¡ªBogner wasn''t the least bit timid. His tone was firm and alert. His eyes even showed a hint of excitement, while their cool pupils showed a repressed fighting spirit!


    "Right, and have everyone send over their cards. I want to see if I can make any improvements." He needed to use some tricks to increase his side''s power. That was the easiest and fastest way for him to do it.


    "Mmmm, I''ll have them send them over right away." Bogner was quite pleased, knowing who that boss of his was. As the maker of the numbered series of cards that had rocked the federation, that level of card master would never just casually do something. As long as the boss truly thought he could improve the cards, their power would immediately surge. He had carefully selected all those people, and he trusted them completely.


    Soon, the card artisans had turned over all the cards in their hands to Chen Mu. They still didn''t know Chen Mu was the one who''d made the numbered series of cards. If it hadn''t been for Bogner''s extremely stern order, they would never have given over their cards, which were as precious as life to them. Even though it was Bogner who''d sent down the mortal order, there were still quite a few who looked reluctant.


    It was a good thing there weren''t many of them and only 20 cards. Chen Mu started to study them right away. They were all ace card artisans, so their main cards would naturally be unusual. There were quite a few clever concepts, which really took up a lot of time for Chen Mu. But Chen Mu was no longer a youth who didn''t understand anything. His skills at making cards were maturing day by day, and the success of the numbered series of cards had given him quite a bit of self-confidence.


    Moreover, he not only had good equipment there, but he also had three storerooms piled with precious materials.


    Early the next day, having pulled an all-nighter, Chen Mu called Bogner over with bloodshot eyes to deliver the cards.


    Chen Mu''s efficiency really surprised Bogner, who had originally thought the boss would need at least three to five days to complete that many cards. He had never imagined the boss could finish modifying them in a single evening. He was internally speechless, though he never showed it on his face.


    "Have them try them out. If they need any improvements, let me know." Tossing out that phrase, the already exhausted Chen Mu drilled into this room and slept as soon as his head touched the bed.


    Bogner distributed the cards and took two people out with him.


    He had also been up late the night before, finally coming up with a plan that rather pleased him. He took in a cold breath of fresh air and quickly cleared his head, turning over in his mind the plan he''d developed to be certain there weren''t any holes in it. He finally showed a satisfied smile.


    Bogner''s snow-white teeth were dazzling under the bright sunlight, like a cheetah lurking in the underbrush of the jungle baring its fangs.


    The recruitment center was full of commotion, with people everywhere discussing the previous night''s encounter and ambush between Jie Yanbai, along with the attack sprung on the Federation Comprehensive Academy.


    One of the card artisans with Bogner couldn''t restrain himself. "What are we doing recruiting so many rookies, boss-man?"


    The other card artisan who''d come along had the same doubts. "Yeah, boss-man, I could kill off 100 such rookies!" He wasn''t exaggerating. The people Bogner was recruiting were all young card artisans who had just broken through the fourth level of perceptual strength, with some of them even below the third level. Seeing those greenhorn-looking card artisans, the two were doubtful. If they were to really lead them onto the battlefield, it wouldn''t be any use beyond sending them to their deaths.


    Those people had never been through battle. Nobody knew better than they did how much distance there was between novices and old hands. But, although the two of them had their doubts, they knew Bogner''s moves were well-admired. They naturally understood that since the boss-man was doing it that way, there must be something to it.


    Bogner shook his head. "You''ll get it when the time comes."


    Just then, the two card artisans at his side went on alert, protecting Bogner between them. A man with a chilly expression and joined eyebrows walked over to stand in front of the three and said in a cold voice, "I''m applying."


    By the time Chen Mu woke up, it was already nearly dusk. He saw Bogner bringing someone back who was about 45 years old. Chen Mu was taken aback. He had actually found someone he knew within that gang¡ªthe bar-browed man! That sole authentic legacy of the Night of the Cross was among them!


    Pointing to the bar-browed man, Chen Mu asked Bogner, "What''s up with him?"


    Since the boss recognized that guy, Bogner thought to himself before asking, "Does the boss know him? His moves are pretty good. We recruited him at the recruitment center. Is something wrong with him?"


    Chen Mu remained silent, not knowing how to explain the matter. He couldn''t help but speculate about the bar-browed man''s objective. He must have still been intent on the breath control method. Still, no matter what, Chen Mu couldn''t teach breath control to anyone else. If breath control were considered a weapon of war, it would be by far the sharpest!


    He also found the issue of the bar-browed man to be a little tricky, so he simply threw it back to Bogner. "Manage it as you see fit." He believed the bar-browed man certainly wasn''t up to anything crooked. He and Wei-ah had utterly stunned him that day.


    Bogner nodded, although his brow hadn''t smoothed. The power of the bar-browed man really was outstanding. However, unless it reached the level of Jiao Si, no solo power would have any influence on the overall situation. Once his plan was put into practice, it wasn''t going as smoothly as he''d imagined. He recruited a lot fewer than he thought he would.


    At just that time, the fatty called again. He gave Chen Mu a penetrating look and said, "I''ve contacted Jiao Si, and he expressed that he''d like to give it a shot. He would even bring along some students and teachers ahead of time to help out. But he has one condition."


    "What condition?" Chen Mu had already guessed.


    "He hopes to get the instructions to make the folding Yanbo card." The fatty hesitated before speaking. He knew the request was rather inconsiderate, and Chen Mu had flatly refused last time, showing his feelings very clearly. But, with Jiao Si taking to the field, his demands didn''t seem so extreme. He would also be taking a big risk. Once he set out, the position of the Origins Academy would be perfectly clear regarding any issues with Chen Mu.


    He wasn''t only representing himself, but the entire Origins Academy.


    Earning the enmity of the Big Six would be a high price given the current power of the Origins Academy. If the folding Yanbo card weren''t really so outstanding, Jiao Si would absolutely never have intervened in the matter.


    "Ok!" Chen Mu agreed without hesitation. The instructions to make the folding Yanbo card really shouldn''t have been given out, but what were they worth compared to his own life?


    Bogner''s eyes immediately lit up. Their conversation had suddenly provided him with a way to resolve his own issues. He rushed to interject. "Dean Jiao Si doesn''t need to bring any card artisans ahead of time, but we hope he could send over some student recruits from the Origins Academy¡ªcard artisans with a perceptual strength above level three, and under 25 years old. For other positions, we still need about 20 powerful card masters. Of course, that group of card masters would be returned to the Origins Academy afterward."


    "Perceptual strength above level three?" The fatty looked skeptical. "When did you become the garbage collection center?"


    "You''ll get it when the time comes," Bogner said with a composed expression.


    "Mmmm, That''s easy. There are such card artisans everywhere, and I believe Jiao Si will be grateful to you. He would also be eager for the card masters to be able to receive the guidance of my young brother. I''m only afraid Jiao Si will be having happy dreams at night." The fatty laughed. He was happy to see the two of them striking a deal. They were both important to him.


    What the fatty said wasn''t wrong. There was no competition outside for the kinds of card artisans Bogner needed. No matter which school, they would all have a large number of card artisans who hadn''t yet made anything of themselves and would only have gotten to that level. Those people''s employment issues were always a headache for the schools. Bogner had just solved a big issue for them, so of course they would be grateful.


    Sure enough, the response came back quickly from Jiao Si''s side, which agreed without hesitation. Jiao Si would first be bringing the required card artisans and card masters along the next day. Such an effective result proved how eager Jiao Si was for the method to make the folding Yanbo card.


    The newly recruited card artisans entered the base with Bogner, all of them looking pleasantly surprised. They were immediately captivated by the high-grade base. Even in their wildest dreams, they would never have dared to imagine they would work at such a base someday. From what they could recognize, that was a place where high-level card artisans worked.


    Only the Central Island Firm''s base could match it in all of Pomelo. The advanced facilities made them inwardly speechless, and quite a few of them couldn''t help but feel timid. Their hearts were heated up at how big they''d hit it that time. Although they still didn''t know who their boss was or what power he actually belonged to, one thing they were sure of was that it was no ordinary power.


    That filled each of them with a lot of spirit and hope for their futures. However, none of them had realized what awaited them wasn''t anything like a fairy tale¡ªit was more like hell!


    After getting them settled, Bogner arrived at the training field. He was stunned by the frenzied scene there.


    There was shouting, explosions, and whistling all mixed up chaotically into a lot of noise. Those were the card artisans who had been so calm before. They now seemed to have all gone crazy.


    Seeing Bogner, Crow Feather rushed to stop his training and ran over. Barefoot as he was, his face was smiling as if it had bloomed. "Boss-man, boss-man! How did you get my card back to me in one night and make it into something so awesome? Boss-man, if you hadn''t taken my card for the night¡ªno, no, no wait! Take it a few more nights¡­"


    They had suddenly discovered how much more powerful their cards were. It was like a swordsman suddenly discovering the ordinary sword in his hands had become a precious sword overnight, and it was sharp beyond compare. How could that not make them crazy with joy?


    At their level, it would be difficult for them to get a suitable card¡ªmore difficult than someone like Chen Mu could ever imagine. Although they had a good income, given the cost of a high-level card on the market, they could only hope and sigh. And, not every high-level card would be suited to them. The cards now in their hands would have been practiced for five or six years at the least, and those who''d studied longer might have stretched into ten or more years. If one were to change cards, that would mean they would require adapting and delving into another kind of energy composition. That was something they really didn''t want to do.


    Finding high-level cards was difficult, but it was still more difficult to find a high-level card that was suited to oneself. Unless one was going to rise to the level of Jiao Si, their understanding of energy had already reached a rather central place.


    It was then as though Chen Mu had taken their cards up another level. Although the energy composition had undergone some transformation, it came from the same place as the previous one, after all. Their comprehension and adaptation were both much smoother and easier!


    Bogner saw how frenzied the training field had become. Seeing that, he immediately made some adjustments to the training plan, increasing the card artisans'' free training time. They needed to adapt to their revised cards as soon as possible. That was the only way they could bring the greatest degree of fighting power into play. Otherwise, never mind the group cooperation; their solo fighting power would never rise and might even fall.


    After revising the training plan, Bogner went to look for Chen Mu. He needed his boss to personally carry out the most critical part of his plan.

 257 Preparing for War II

    When he had first drawn up the plan, Bogner had been clear about their advantages. Their biggest one was to have a grand-master-level card master. Perhaps that would only provide a limited actual advantage in the eyes of ordinary people, but Bogner had keenly seen its latent power.


    So, he had decided to bring that advantage into play to the greatest extent.


    As he saw it, a grand-master-level card master''s greatest strength wasn''t in how many powerful cards he could make, but it was rather in his powerful design ability. Of course, that would have limited use on an ordinary team. However, if an outstanding commander were added to the mix, enough energy would be released to shock people.


    Chen Mu was quite surprised by the plan laid out in front of him. He had never thought such a creative scheme could come from the hands of someone who was neither a card artisan nor a card master.


    Sensing Chen Mu''s surprise, Bogner carefully approached him. "Do you think it can work?" To tell the truth, he didn''t have all that much confidence himself in the scheme he was proposing. He had his reasons for proposing such a weird scheme. He''d already thought most of it through a while ago, but he had never had an opportunity to try it out. Now, compelled by circumstances, he thought of the method that had been abandoned for so many years.


    There was no other way he could think of to increase their power in a short amount of time. Although the boss had great ability, their base was pretty skimpy, and there wouldn''t be much possibility if he wanted to recruit some aces. To recruit high-level card artisans required more than just money, but his boss didn''t have those things.


    So, he finally proposed that plan, though its workability wouldn''t be known until after the boss had decided. Once the plan could be implemented, he believed it would absolutely be an historic innovation. Bogner still had another plan prepared if that one were to fail, but he wasn''t fully satisfied with it.


    "I can''t really say. We''ll have to try it and see." Chen Mu was staring at the plan in front of him, speaking almost unconsciously.


    In his eyes, Bogner''s plan was still a little crude, but that was inevitable. Bogner couldn''t really be considered in the know with theories about a card artisan''s power, and he was even more ignorant with regard to card making. His creativity had come from the angle of a commander, and he naturally had no way to take all the details into account.


    That creativity seemed full of earth-shattering thinking.


    The energy body emitted by every card artisan would take the original energy emitted within the apparatus and would pass it through a fantasy card, where it would be formed into a stronger energy body. High-level card artisans would add a step, which was to make some adjustments to the composition of the energy body, so it could achieve his optimal objective before being emitted. The deeper the card artisan''s understanding of the energy composition, the more optimally he could adjust the energy body to increase the power of the one emitted.


    But, in Bogner''s conception, each step was divided out. One person would specialize in making adjustments to the energy body, one would be responsible to do the scanning and locking in, and another would take responsibility for the shot. In that way, each step would be quite a bit less difficult, and every card artisan only had to master one of the steps for the attack to be completed.


    There was quite a bit of distance between the battle power of a high-level card artisan and that of a low-level card artisan. The biggest difference was in destructive value. In the hands of a high-level card artisan, the power emitted by an ordinary fiery dragon card was a lot higher than that of the same card in the hands of a mid-grade card artisan.


    If the plan could be implemented, their objective wouldn''t be insurmountable for the rookies there.


    Being so full of unique creativity, how could Chen Mu not be impulsive? Without saying another thing, he once again dove into his lab with several kinds of not-quite-mature thoughts already floating around in his brain.


    Bogner didn''t disturb him. He would never have brought out that plan if it were anyone else. In his eyes, his boss was a grand master card master divided from ordinary people by a chasm they couldn''t even talk across, so he thought the odds of a breakthrough were much higher.


    For that creative idea to be implemented, he also needed to do a lot of work in addition to Chen Mu''s part. Essentially, his plan really called for team coordination to replace the power of a single great person''s control. Still, he well knew that the difficulty of team coordination was sometimes not any less than for a single person''s control.


    To get those rookies to follow orders and establish discipline was also a complex and tedious project. But that was the realm where he had the most confidence.


    Walking on the metallic floor, Bogner''s steps were resolute and expressed great fortitude. He seemed to have returned to his former years, when he had been so full of iron blood and fervor.


    He had no expression on his face as he looked at the team of rookies in front of him. They were a little intimidated under Bogner''s relentless gaze. They were all novices, not yet 25, their perception having just broken though the fourth level. While that kind of result wouldn''t be considered outstanding, it wasn''t bad among card artisans. But such talent could be found anywhere among the well-known academies, and most among them would have no way to find opportunities to pursue further study.


    Most of them would probably have chosen to enter some card artisan firm''s training squad, with the younger ones likely to enter the youth brigade. Most of the rest of them would probably change professions and enter some other domain, such as the professional builders Chen Mu had seen, who had used all sorts of cards.


    The card artisans in front of him had all signed ten-year contracts. In other words, Chen Mu had the rights to them for ten years. That contract would be valid throughout the federation. Chen Mu had paid a lot of fees for that, but those costs were still not comparable to the cost to recruit a single high-grade card artisan.


    * * *


    Lu Xiaoru was a little surprised when she saw the bar-browed man.


    Why did he come?


    Although the two of them hadn''t dealt with one another, they did know each other. After all, those they had previously served had all been local powers in Pomelo. There were only a few aces in all of Pomelo; even if they''d never met, they would know something about one another.


    Lu Xiaoru looked a lot thinner. Her previously plump frame had gotten a lot hotter, with amazing curves. That was all thanks to her recent training, which wasn''t really different from anyone else''s. Because she had previously gotten used to fighting alone, however, she had little experience in team collaboration, which made her suffer in front of the picky Bogner. All she did every day was stationary running for five hours. She had to run continuously for those five hours, which meant every day she would run no less than 50 or 60 kilometers. The scariest part was that those 50 kilometers were all sprinting.


    Her whole body had thinned a layer, but she still gritted her teeth and stuck to it. Her toughness had gained her the respect of her comrades. She could clearly feel the change in their attitudes, which made her happy.


    She had no other thoughts in her head by then. Without even realizing it, she had already integrated into the team. Although most of her comrades didn''t really like to talk, she was still happy. At that place, even though the training was hard, there was none of the backstabbing she hated so much. There were only the appreciative gazes of her comrades, without that naked look of just itching to swallow her up.


    There was nothing left of the endless flirtatiousness about her. What came from her now was the determination peculiar to a young woman. Without knowing it, she seemed to have returned to the simple and fulfilling life of her school days. What reason would she have not to like it there?


    After taking a look at the bar-browed man, Lu Xiaoru threw herself back into her training. There was still a fifth of it she had yet to complete.


    * * *


    Jiao Si arrived the next day, bright and early, bringing along an impressive several hundred people.


    The first thing he said when he saw Bogner was, "The defenses here aren''t bad!" From far off, he''d been detected by the card artisans on watch. At the time, he''d wanted to check out the newly built base''s defenses, so he had deliberately probed them a little.


    He''d experienced hundreds of battles, and his insight was masterful. He just did a little probing to find out how the defenses were. He was quite surprised. Although he didn''t encounter that many attacks, their power wasn''t weak, and the subtlety of their coordination was really rare.


    "How are you, Master Jiao Si? I am the boss''s security chief, Bogner. Welcome to all of you." In the face of the famous Jiao Si, Bogner wasn''t the least bit reserved. His expression was composed, and Lu Xiaoru was behind him.


    Jiao Si''s eyes flashed as though something were strange, and he wore a thoughtful expression. "Bogner? I seem to have heard that name somewhere!" After a while, he still couldn''t think of it. He couldn''t help but slap his head with annoyance, mocking himself. "Look at me, so old and with my memory going." As soon as he said that, a 20-something girl to his side couldn''t help but chuckle.


    Bogner smiled. "Dean Jiao Si must be joking." He then apologized. "The boss is in the lab. It could be a while before he comes out. I wonder if Jiao Si might wait a little while."


    Some of those behind Jiao Si showed their displeasure and were about to say something. Jiao Si waved his hand and said unconcernedly, "It doesn''t matter; I was the same when I was young. Once I encountered a problem, I didn''t want anything to do with what was going on outside. Let''s sit and chat. Oh, right¡ªthis is Ru Qiu, the only student of Madam Pei, the dean of the card making division of the Origins Academy."


    As one of the federation''s topmost aces, he didn''t put on any airs. Everyone admired him.


    Bogner couldn''t help but let his gaze fall onto the girl called Ru Qiu. Quite a few of those behind Jiao Si had an annoyed look on their faces since he had only introduced her. That showed how special her position at the Origins Academy was. Seeing Bogner watching her, she smiled lightly and gave him a generous salute.


    Bogner hurried to return it, praising her to himself; although she looked ordinary, she had a good disposition.


    "Have all of these people been trained by my young brother?" Jiao Si couldn''t help but ask. He raised his thumb and said in praise, "They have a lot of ability!"


    "The dean is too flattering," Bogner said modestly. "Compared to the garrison at your honorable school, they are quite lacking."


    The garrison at the Origins Academy was famous throughout the Ming Zheng District, as well as somewhat well-known throughout the Heavenly Federation. They were composed of the top aces from the academy, and under the influence of Jiao Si, each one had a bright and heroic style. They were the true standard bearers of the Origins Academy.


    Jiao Si shook his head. "That''s not what I see. Their solo power might be a little bit stronger, but they are far from your team in their coordination." The people behind Jiao Si looked a bit edgy when they heard that.


    Being experienced, Bogner laughed. "The dean is so typically finding the steamed buns of someone else more fragrant than his own. We''re all from the countryside. How could we come up to the level of a regular army?"


    Jiao Si gave a meaningful smile, and the faces of those behind him opened back up. They still didn''t know who the owner of the base actually was. Even so, they had allowed the dean to take them there himself. They still didn''t know a thing about what the job was.


    Ever since they''d entered the base, the dean had been praising their counterparts, with his tone implying that they weren''t up to the others. That had made them abruptly edgy. But, the dean''s authority was ingrained in them; even though they were a little edgy, no one dared to confront anything.


    "I''ve already brought the card artisans, all according to your esteemed requirements." Jiao Si pointed behind him as he spoke. He did find it strange that those card artisans were so weak. Reasonably speaking, they wouldn''t have a lot of value. If a real battle were to erupt, he was afraid they wouldn''t even serve well as cannon fodder. Since they''d wanted so many, he had been curious about it all along.


    Bogner nodded and lowered his head toward Lu Xiaoru behind him to say something. She showed she''d understood and took out a large pile of contracts that had been prepared earlier.


    Jiao Si took one of them and carefully browsed through it. As for the card artisans he''d brought, the contract treated them pretty well. It had nothing special about it. The only thing to surprise him was that it was a ten-year-long contract.


    His any notion of their being used as cannon fodder had been overturned. No one would give a ten-year contract for cannon fodder; they would have had to pay a premium for such a long-term contract.


    So, what were they doing looking for so many beginner card artisans?


    Those beginner card artisans, as well as those who had just broken into the mid-grade, would have their place in an ordinary card artisan firm. But, in the eyes of those people, they wouldn''t have been worth so much.


    Such a long-term contract would make many of those who''d come with him a little hesitant, but most of them were attracted by the generous terms from above. Moreover, most of them felt a rush of excitement once they saw the base. Of course, it wasn''t up to the school''s base in many ways. Outside the school, though, such a base was actually pretty good. Given their level, to be able to work at such a place was quite a stroke of luck.


    Quickly, there were about 300 or more signed contracts, which pleased Bogner. Adding to that the several dozen he''d recruited last time, there were just about 400 total. Those 400 didn''t even cost much, so he still had ample funds on hand.


    Having signed the contracts, that meant starting then, they would be serving Chen Mu. Lu Xiaoru led them to arrange their living quarters.


    * * *


    Jiao Si was leisurely drinking his tea when Chen Mu came out of the lab with a face full of soot. Some little accident had happened with his experiments.


    When he came out, everyone''s gaze turned strange. Only Ru Qiu smiled, having had that kind of experience many times. Some astonishment then floated onto her face; the age of the person in front of her really surprised her.


    Chen Mu immediately realized what his issue was and hurriedly apologized with a smirk. He briefly left to wash his face and returned.


    "This is Mr. Cao Dong!" Jiao Si smiled brightly, arising in solemn salute. Hi move stunned those who had come along with him. No matter what the power, or who it was, only a handful in the entire federation would make him so solemn.


    How would everyone not lose their composure when he gave such a salute to someone who looked to be not much older than 20? They all looked at each other, no one knowing where that person had come from.


    Apart from Bogner, those with Chen Mu were just as gape-mouthed, their gazes toward their boss abruptly different. Bogner was the only one among them who knew Chen Mu was the one who''d made the numbered series of cards.


    Chen Mu rushed to return the courtesy. "Mr. Jiao is really being too polite!" To tell the truth, Jiao Si being so solemn in his salutations had also surprised him. But he''d only recently heard about Jiao Si. His power and position hadn''t made a direct impression on him. Even though he felt strange inside, he was still calm.


    He became inscrutable in the eyes of everyone else because of that bit of calm.


    "This is Ru Qiu, who will become the dean of the Origins Academy card making division next term. We hope Mr. Cao won''t hesitate to advise her." Jiao Si''s expression become still more solemn as he himself modestly drew Ru Qiu forward, making nearly a statement with a just a word.


    That stupefied all of the students he had brought along from the Origins Academy. The news that Ru Qiu was going to be the dean of the card making division next term was doubtlessly quite explosive. If it got out in the school, they were afraid it would make a lot of waves. They were both surprised and puzzled. Having come from the mouth of Dean Jiao Si meant it was basically set in stone. Without being at the Origins Academy, it would be impossible to understand how much influence and authority Jiao Si had there, even though he was only the dean of the card artisan division.


    They had been blown silly by the bombshell suddenly tossed out by their own past president. The entire hall, apart from Bogner and Jiao Si, was staring at Ru Qiu.


    They watched Ru Qiu respectfully bow toward the youth. "I await the teacher''s guidance."


    That, that... that...


    The next dean of the card making division of the Origins Academy had made a disciple''s salutation to someone just as young as she was!


    A disciple''s salutation¡­ The students thought they were seeing an illusion.


    The hall fell completely silent.

 258 Preparing for War III

    Chen Mu didn''t feel much about it. To him, her subservience was just to remind him not to keep the method of making the folding Yanbo card a secret. He simply nodded. "Mmmm, ok." He hadn''t had any intention of keeping it secret since there was certainly a deal between the two sides; it really wouldn''t be kind to be so small-minded.


    But the atmosphere in the hall had become a little strange. The puzzled and surprised gazes that had been focused on Ru Qiu had jumped over to Chen Mu. Where there really such thick-skinned people in the world? Or, was that youth such an awesome card artisan that he was qualified to speak that way?


    It wasn''t that no one had made the connection to the card master who made numbered series of cards; it was just that as soon as they saw Chen Mu''s age, they unconsciously nixed the idea. How could a grand-master-level card master be so young? In the business of card making, age and power went together. Taking Ru Qiu as an example, although she''d been designated as the dean of the card making division for the next term, that wasn''t because her card making power was so outstanding. Rather, it was because of the potential and understanding she''d demonstrated. Many scholars at the Origins Academy were stronger than her at card making.


    Bogner''s expression hadn''t changed, having heard the sense of what Jiao Si had said. He smiled. "There''s no need for the dean to be concerned; surely the boss will diligently guide Ru Qiu."


    Jiao Si''s expression quickly relaxed. "Then, I hand her over to Mr. Cao. Oh, right, I''ve brought along all the card masters requested by Mr. Cao. These are the backbone of our school, and they all have the title of high-grade card master. Just pass along to them whatever Mr. Cao instructs. I believe they will certainly be of great benefit to Mr. Cao."


    While others didn''t know who Mr. Cao was, Jiao Si knew very well. He was speaking sincerely. If the identity of the one who''d made the numbered series of cards were to get out, he believed countless card masters would swarm.


    Seeing the dubious expressions on the faces of the card masters he''d brought over, he couldn''t help but smile. If they knew Mr. Cao''s identity, he was afraid half of them would faint from joy. Too bad. He would have been willing to pay any price to bring such a talent into the Origins Academy.


    However, he knew that was just wishful thinking on his part. It already rather pleased him to be able to get the method of making the folding Yanbo card. He had been studying that card for a while, and its power was really exciting to him. To mine the full potential of a card was a long-term project, but his most recent gains had already made him extremely satisfied. He had plenty of reason to have even more expectations for its further potential.


    By the time he systemized the usage of the folding Yanbo card¡ªon top of the method to make it¡ªthe Origins Academy would have a genuine legacy. The difference between the Origins Academy and the Big Six was that the Big Six had many legacies. What they were concerned about was how to organize them all. But for the so recently established Origins Academy, any kind of powerful card would increase their power. He was doing what the Big Six had accomplished across countless prior generations.


    Perhaps it wouldn''t have that much efficacy, but if they wanted to be as big as the Big Six, their work was going to be essential.


    Chen Mu didn''t care much about the doubts on those card masters'' faces. The type of people who were card masters were actually pretty good at sorting things out. All of them were skillful, and everyone would be convinced by whomever''s skills were the most outstanding. Moreover, Chen Mu absolutely didn''t need them to be convinced; they weren''t going to do anything more than to help.


    Chen Mu had roughly surmised why Bogner had wanted Jiao Si to bring along 20 card masters, but he still hadn''t successfully researched the folding Yanbo card, never mind its large-scale distribution. Chen Mu wasn''t about to leave those card masters idle, however. Each one of them had outstanding power, no matter what might be said about their other qualities. Making three- or four-star power cards wouldn''t be any problem at all.


    The everyday consumption of power cards at the base was shocking. Adding that to the recent addition of 400 people, they would need a huge number of power cards. The other cards they needed were pitifully few, on the other hand. If those people were only able to make a pile of high-grade cards, the rookies wouldn''t even be able to use them. In order to make the card masters useful, Chen Mu would simply instruct them to make power cards.


    Without the least bit of courtesy, Chen Mu said, "So, I''ll first ask each of you to make power cards. Three- or four-star are both fine, and the materials..." His gaze swung over to Bogner, who continued on, "have all been prepared."


    The lead of the card masters was in his 40s, and his face darkened as soon as he heard what was being said. The rest of them looked at one another as though they had heard something inconceivable. They were all the top card masters of the Origins Academy, and a third of them were professors of the card making division Jiao Si had specifically transferred over. The remaining were all the most outstanding scholars of the card making institute.


    Any mid-grade card master could make a three-star power card, but few high-grade card masters would ever make power cards. In general, the more powerful the card master, the more full of pride. Those 20 people were in high demand. The number of people who would come to them seeking cards every day was incalculable. Whatever they made were all high-grade cards.


    No wonder they wore such unhappy expressions.


    Chen Mu found it a little strange that they weren''t saying anything. Could the card masters Jiao Si had brought be less than competent? He then more slowly said, "A three-star power card would be fine; just make as many as you are able."


    They were outraged. The bastard! They''d never come across someone so impudent! They had all heard the implication of what Chen Mu had said; he actually had such a low opinion of them.


    So, it''s power cards? That gang had such solid knowledge that the one with the shortest contact with making cards still had about ten years. The most experienced had nearly 30 years! Some among them could even make five-star power cards, never mind four-star! For them, a four-star power card was simply child''s play.


    The leader''s face turned red as he stiffly tossed out a phrase. "Ok, we''ll accept that." The rest of them were gritting their teeth, itching to get to work. There were quickly led to the place that had been prepared. They looked like enraged bulls as they turned to leave, with their eyes red and their faces dark.


    Bogner looked at Chen Mu in surprise, his eyes flashing a look of admiration. The boss''s move was really too beautiful; he succeeded with so few words in hooking into that gang''s competitive spirit.


    Jiao Si was also impressed, never having thought the young Cao Dong would have such unexpectedly awesome finesse. But he quickly calmed down. If he was thinking anything, it was that Cao Dong wasn''t an ordinary character, after all. The more awesome Cao Dong was as a collaborator, the better it would be for him.


    No one had thought all of that was completely unintentional on Chen Mu''s part. Since making four-star power cards had still been rather difficult for him not long before, he considered it natural that some among them might also find it difficult. He had forgotten that unlike himself, those 20 had all undergone systematic, professional study.


    Apart from the few of them, no one else was in the great hall. Chen Mu said apologetically, "I''m facing a tough issue right now, and I might not have time for a few days. The method to make the folding Yanbo card may have to wait."


    What Jiao Si heard was something else altogether. His counterpart wasn''t going to let the falcons loose until he could see how fast the hare would run. For such a young person to be that sophisticated, he must have been someone who would do great things. Jiao Si laughed. "No worries, no worries. Anyhow, we''re going to be here bugging you for a while. If Mr. Cao isn''t uncomfortable with Ru Qiu''s humble abilities and wouldn''t mind letting her be his assistant, she would be quite capable. She has always been deft and reliable.


    Jiao Si wasn''t going to let an opportunity pass him by. Being at the side of a grand-master-grade card master could really improve Ru Qiu''s character. Even if she didn''t learn anything, it would expand her horizons, which would be a big help to her growth.


    Ru Qiu was smart as a whip, and she stood to bow right away. "I really wish for Mr. Cao''s guidance!"


    His gaze falling onto Ru Qiu, Chen Mu nodded. "Mmmm, it would make things a lot easier to have Miss Ru''s assistance."


    A look of joy flitted across Ru Qiu''s eyes, even though what Chen Mu had said was nothing more than being polite from her point of view. The important thing was that he had agreed.


    She didn''t quite know that what Chen Mu had said was no polite talk. In his eyes, for Ru Qiu to have been chosen to be the next dean of the card making division meant her power would naturally be hard-hitting¡ªa lot stronger than his own half-baked ways. Having her help, the possibility of realizing Bogner''s idea got several times higher, without a doubt.


    His counterpart being so above-board, Jiao Si was completely satisfied with what was happening. He was ready to do anything to trade a peach for a plum in their reciprocal exchange. He then said, "Having just seen how powerful those under Mr. Cao are, I''m eager to start. We should keep up the conversation. It would help me to learn a few more tricks, ha ha." Given his power and position, to have said such a thing must have meant something.


    All of that was a bonus for which Bogner was really surprised. He rushed to make the arrangements himself. Just like the card masters, to get the guidance of an ace like Jiao Si would save those under Bogner from heading down the wrong route.


    What the boss had demonstrated that day was perfect! Bogner couldn''t help but praise his boss to himself as he left.

 259 Preparing for War IV

    Ru Qiu followed Chen Mu into the card making lab. The more she went along with him, the more she admired him. Inside the lab was piled all kinds of new-looking equipment that must have been recently acquired. While the equipment would be considered high-grade goods on the market, that would only be in the eyes of ordinary card artisans.


    It really surprised her for a grand master like Cao Dong, who had made the numbered series of cards, to be in such an ordinary card making lab. That grade of card making lab could be seen all over the Origins Academy, mostly for student use.


    In her mind, a grand-master-level person should be sitting in a top-notch card making lab, enjoying the adoring gazes of the large gang of assistants supporting him. He shouldn''t be in some beyond-ordinary lab working silently and alone.


    She really wanted to ask if the numbered series of cards was made in that card making lab.


    Chen Mu didn''t feel his card making lab was shabby in the least. It was the most advanced lab he''d ever seen, and he couldn''t even name many of the pieces of equipment. For him to be so calm and composed was an expression of self-confidence in Ru Qiu''s eyes.


    She thought about what it must have been like for him to be able make the numbered series of cards in such a difficult environment. Even with her scant ability, she still occupied the best lab at the Origins Academy, which made her feel somewhat ashamed. Because of that, her demeanor became more respectful as she blindly followed Chen Mu.


    The equipment had just been moved in. Chen Mu still hadn''t gotten around to arranging it, so the card making lab seemed a little messy. His recent little accident had left a mess in the corner, too.


    Chen Mu''s gaze fell onto the half-finished item on the desk, and he couldn''t retract it. His brain was full of Bogner''s scheme, and that half-finished card was his most successfully completed up until then. However, it was still far from the specifications Chen Mu required.


    Sitting at the desk, he was quickly lost in thought and forgot about Ru Qiu off to the side.


    Ru Qiu was quite deft. Within half an hour, that small card making lab of Chen Mu''s had become brand new. Ru Qiu had noticed how deeply lost in thought Chen Mu was, and she was curious about what kind of problem could stump such a grand master.


    She quietly walked over to beside Chen Mu and glanced at the card that had been placed on the desk.


    After only that glance, she was transfixed. She could see it was an incomplete card, but the completed part was mostly made up of compositions she''d never seen before. She could roughly make out the shadows of compositions she was familiar with, but they were only shadows. The compositions on the card were strange, though they actually gave a sense of where they were going.


    For Ru Qiu to be designated as the next dean of the card making division, there had to be something special about her. Although she hadn''t studied Token Theory, she could still vaguely recognize enough of it to show how advanced her intuition about card making was.


    The composition wouldn''t be considered complex, though it gave her a sense of difficulty. She clearly didn''t understand it, but it felt as though something were dawning on her. When those conflicting feelings were woven together, Ru Qiu turned whiter the more she looked.


    She had become too absorbed! Although she had been studying cards for only a brief while, when it came to her concentration, even Jiao Si had been moved by it. That was precisely why Madam Pei had selected her to be her only student at the outset.


    But she still didn''t have the ability to understand those compositions. No matter how elevated her intuition was, without her knowing it, the exhaustion of her mental capacity had already exceeded the range she could endure. That was also why her face had turned white.


    "So, how can different instances of energy be lined up?" Chen Mu was unconsciously muttering to himself.


    That was the biggest issue he was facing. The most critical part of dividing the attack into several parts was how to line up those separate steps, so the energy would be smoothly delivered among them.


    Chen Mu''s voice wasn''t loud, but it was quite clear in that utterly silent lab.


    Ru Qiu was taken by surprise, and she abruptly came to when she heard what Chen Mu had said. She responded instinctually, "Energy synchronization can be transmitted."


    As soon as she said it, she immediately felt her face get hot. Good lord! She had actually told a grand master a piece of knowledge any card artisan just starting out would know. Wouldn''t that insult the grand master''s intelligence? Ru Qiu''s face got even hotter, especially when she thought about the new composition on that card she''d just seen. Her shame grew more powerful. She didn''t even understand the compositions on other people''s cards. When she dared to call out, what she''d said was common knowledge that didn''t imply any skill.


    Ru Qiu couldn''t wait to climb into some hole in the ground.


    "Energy synchronization?" Chen Mu murmured as his eyes lit up. So, energy synchronization could then be transmitted? Chen Mu quickly did a calculation to himself. What Ru Qiu had said was exactly right. As though all of his issues had been tied together in a flash of insight, he felt a sudden urge.


    That urge made him plunge right into his work like mad.


    Before he entered into that state, he still couldn''t help but praise her to himself. That ace from the Origins Academy was indeed worthy. She could point out the key with a single phrase. Awesome! He wasn''t paying attention to how embarrassed Ru Qiu was next to him.


    That was precisely the difference between Chen Mu and a card master who had undergone systematic, specialized cultivation. Not having received any systematic education, his foundation in card making had a serious flaw; he was always stumped by the most common issues. Then, when it came to the astronomically tough designs and optimizations that were difficult for ordinary card masters, those were the things he was best at.


    If those like Ru Qiu wanted to make that card, the biggest difficulty they would encounter was how to get the control of energy to the right level of synchronization. For Chen Mu, that was something natural, and he had at least five ways to achieve it.


    With the basic issue resolved, the process of Chen Mu''s work advanced by a huge step. The things he had to face now were some matters of detail, which weren''t really a problem for him. So long as he had enough time, he could complete them rather perfectly.


    At that point, Ru Qiu saw with her own eyes how crazily that grand master, who was about her age, worked.


    ***


    During that time, Pomelo had become a boiling cauldron of chaos. The disturbances weren''t limited to Pomelo; they had already spread to the entire Heavenly Federation.


    The Central Repository of the Classics and the Federation Comprehensive Academy both posted statements saying they would make the sternest blows against Faya''s bad behavior. At about that same time, several of Faya''s strongholds were attacked by the two academies, with heavy casualties!


    The strongholds in Pomelo had received the most powerful attacks, and it was said that even Hugo had been badly wounded. Within a single night, Faya''s power in Pomelo was uprooted. In order to keep the peace, the Central Repository of the Classics and the Federation Comprehensive Academy sent some extra reinforcements to be stationed in Pomelo.


    The other four of the Big Six also made statements to express their condemnation of Faya''s behavior. However, they didn''t make any essential moves and merely looked on from the side.


    Those four not having moved, no one else could make a move. The Big Six were bigger than any of them, not to mention two of them joining hands.


    But those with clear eyes all knew that following the behavior of Faya, the situation in the federation had come to a turning point. It had been so many years that no one had dared to provoke the authority of the Big Six. For the same number of years, the Big Six had never made such a radical response.


    To maintain the traditional power structure of the Big Six meant the balance of rights among the Big Six would face challenges like never before. Would it change? If so, how?


    Under the combined attack of the Central Repository of the Classics and the Federation Comprehensive Academy, Faya disappeared without a trace. While countless people still harbored doubts, they didn''t understand why Faya would do something so stupid.


    Just then, another big affair broke out to completely muddy the water!


    An alliance of 13 organizations in the Western Sheng District suddenly mounted an attack on the neighboring district of Bai Dong. Within three short days, they occupied half of the Bai Dong District. All of the evidence showed it was a premeditated operation.


    If one were to say the local wars in the Eastern Reaches District had previously gotten the attention of the entire federation, then this war''s influence far exceeded that of the previous one.


    Since nearly everyone knew the Western Sheng District was the site of Desert Camp, the alliance among the 13 organizations had been formed from there. Moreover, the Bai Dong District was within the traditional scope of Moon Frost Island''s power. That battle was then really a war between Desert Camp and Moon Frost Island.


    The insiders of the Big Six were acting up! That news stunned quite a few people at the time.


    Of course, it wasn''t good to bully Moon Frost Island. Their power and influence was firmly ingrained in the Bai Dong District. The alliance of the 13 organizations quickly met with strong resistance. When the Bai Dong District came back to its senses, they felt a little bit of a chill in the counterattack.


    Both sides involved in the fighting were part of the Big Six, but the Central Repository of the Classics and the Federation Comprehensive Academy were both busy with their unpleasant fight with Faya. Only the Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple could mediate. But, no matter which of them, they both had the style of not being so involved with the affairs of the world. It wasn''t unexpected that the Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple both issued statements hoping for a truce and then remained silent.


    In sum, the situation in the entire Heavenly Federation immediately became tense, and quite a few places restricted the large-scale circulation of troops.


    It was then that Chen Mu finally stepped out of his card making lab.

 260 Preparing for War V

    Looking at the jungle outside the window, Chen Mu had finally gotten a little time to relax. He had just turned over the result of his experimenting to Bogner, and the items needed to undergo testing before there would be any definite results. He would soon find out if the scheme could work.


    Chen Mu was glad to have free time, which was so hard to come by. Although he was essentially a motivated person, most of the time he was still passive. It was life forcing him incessantly forward that had gotten him to that point. If things hadn''t happened when he was making "A Chance Encounter" or "The Legend of Master Shi," he would probably still have been in Eastern Shang-Wei City passing a simple and peaceful life.


    But his world was always so wonderful. People never really had much choice. If there wasn''t a fork in the road ahead, there was also never any way back; you just had to harden yourself and move ahead. But then, you unexpectedly discovered that where you were going was a lot different from what you''d imagined.


    Outside the window, the emerald green turf was as flat as a carpet, leaving a panoramic view of the jungle in the distance. Taking in the view from his state of mental high gave birth to a heroic spirit.


    He''d learned the outlines of the events of the past few days. Even though he wasn''t one to look at the big picture, he did understand a messy world would be on its way when the federation turned chaotic.


    What was a chaotic world like? He didn''t know. But he did know a loss of order would be followed by a certain confusion.


    His memories of childhood were still fresh, and quite a few details seemed etched into his brain. When he now thought about the fiercest fighting and the most brutal places, no matter where they were, they were all where there was no order nor rules.


    He was afraid his existence would become more difficult.


    Looking out the window, Chen Mu''s gaze darkened. Even during the struggles of his life as a street punk, they still followed a simple code. Still, whomever had power or whomever was stronger was the one who could get enough food to survive the harsh winters.


    Chen Mu knew an awful lot of street punks, but those who survived could be easily counted. Everyone who could survive had undergone layers of testing: hunger, cold, human trafficking, as well as the other street punks. Those were the enemies.


    Were there ever any good scraps for him to be able to live until then? Those who were cowardly, not determined, or not tough enough would all be eliminated.


    He sighed, never having thought the situation would return to where it had started after so many years. While his current power looked a lot stronger, the enemies he was facing were also a lot stronger!


    His dark gaze gradually cleared up and turned resolute. He even showed a kind of unusual ruthlessness.


    He really had nothing, so what did he have to lose? Without knowing why, he suddenly thought about that inhuman scene in Eastern Wei Academy, when he was fighting that gang of wealthy princelings along with Copper. The corners of his mouth turned up.


    It didn''t matter how strong or high and mighty his adversaries were, nor how long their history or how glorious their past. So long as they were trying to steal a bun from him, he would take them down!


    For Chen Mu, the only hope he then had was to be able to live freely, without having to watch out for someone''s stature or to depend on anyone else! It had been quite a few years since his days as a child with difficulty getting food or clothing. Now, he was fighting for his freedom. It just showed that people must relentlessly move forward!


    It wasn''t that his life was all that valuable. Someone like him couldn''t even hope for some human treasure like the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. There had been no sign of the demonic woman for a long time. It was up to the heavens how long he could live. Although he sometimes felt terrorized, he was mostly at peace that it wasn''t something he could decide.


    If he were to say compromise would resolve the problem that had befallen his body, maybe he''d still give in. But he knew that to resolve the hopeless situation of the green thread, he would still have to go muddling along. That green thread was the only thing he really couldn''t take.


    His life was the only bun he had left by then!


    The apparatus on his wrist suddenly sounded. It was Bogner. It looked like the testing had gotten some results.


    Pulling himself together, he mocked himself. It looked like he still wasn''t going to put aside his all-out efforts for a while. His expression returned to normal. Without knowing it, his pace seemed to have become quite a bit more determined than before as he quickly walked toward Training Room No. 3.


    Once he entered it, he saw Bogner''s face about split to his ears in a smile. For the ever-calm Bogner to have gotten so excited must have meant he was very pleased.


    "How did it go?" Chen Mu went ahead to ask.


    "Ha ha, it went well! Take a look!" Bogner''s face looked like a blooming flower as he signaled to the three people there to repeat the demonstration.


    There were three ordinary card artisans in front of them, one of whom had just broken through level four with his perceptual strength, while the other two were at level three. They looked both excited and flustered as they stood there, and they activated their apparatuses.


    Their three positions formed an equilateral triangle.


    They didn''t immediately start the demonstration. They first started to adjust the energy frequency, which was a crucial step. If the energy frequency couldn''t be synchronized, then cards within the three people''s apparatuses would have no way to form a link.


    Bogner was standing to Chen Mu''s side and said in a low voice, "They''ve only just gotten those, and their movements are too slow. They will get a lot more efficient after training for a while." Still, he immediately proposed an improvement. "I would suggest the card could be set to several frequencies, so interference between adjacent fighting units could be avoided."


    Chen Mu nodded. "That won''t be hard."


    Once the frequencies among the three were synchronized, Chen Mu''s exceptional perceptual sensitivity immediately detected the unique connection among them.


    To be precise, it was a connection between the three cards. Once the cards'' frequencies had been synchronized, the three cards would actually allow the three of them to realize a sharing of information. The one who controlled the energy composition was the card artisan whose perceptual strength was at level four. The biggest use of the card on his hand was to adjust the energy composition.


    The energy composition Chen Mu had used was the energy shuttle!


    That energy composition was an optimized version of the tailless shuttle. Previously, because he''d needed to control all the steps alone, Chen Mu didn''t have a way to conduct a thorough optimization. Every little bit of optimization would significantly increase the difficulty for the one who controlled it. That was especially true for something like the tailless shuttle, which was itself a rather perfect energy body. The slightest adjustment would increase the load on perception quite a bit.


    Now, however, one card artisan could be specifically responsible for that part, which lightened the load a lot. Chen Mu went on to do the most possible optimizations without holding back at all. That card artisan''s perceptual level was far lower than Chen Mu''s, but he was still competent because of only needing to be responsible for a single aspect.


    That was why the card artisan responsible for controlling the energy body needed a level of perceptual strength above level four. It was clear how difficult control was after the optimization.


    By then, the two card artisans responsible for locking in had already done so. Originally, Bogner''s scheme included one among them responsible for firing, while the other would be responsible for scanning and locking in. Chen Mu made some adjustments after he thought about it. Now, the two card artisans could both do the scanning and locking in. One of them was the principal card artisan, and the other was the auxiliary card artisan.


    The principal card artisan would generally be responsible for firing. Chen Mu had found that if he were to enable cross-scanning, the accuracy would be improved, particularly for objects moving at high speed. Ordinary scanning and locking in would be three times less accurate than cross-scanning. That was a pretty stunning piece of data.


    The auxiliary card artisan would still have the right to fire if the principal card artisan were wounded.


    The best part was that the scheme now only needed the cooperation of two people to bring the full battle power into play. However, Chen Mu and Bogner had ultimately still chosen to deploy the model of three people. The strength of the three-person mode was easy to see; the hit rate increased significantly.


    Xiu!


    The tailless shuttle''s unique whistling suddenly sounded out in the training field. The enhanced tailless shuttle made a sound even more terrifying than normal.


    The target then showed the destructive value: 998.


    Bogner was clearly excited. "To get a value of nearly 1,000..." He clucked his cheek. "That''s at the level of a four-star card. For this gang of rookies to be able to bring such battle power into play is a big win for us." Bogner was really excited, and he knew the appearance of such a card set would thoroughly subvert the traditional way card artisans made war.


    Whether they would enter a new world because of that, he couldn''t be certain. But he believed the new way of making war would impact and influence the current way of making war as never before. As one of its creators, how could he not be excited?


    Chen Mu wasn''t so surprised at the destructive value. It was still quite a few levels away from folding Yanbo card, which had reached 1,502. But the result still satisfied him. Unless he used the folding Yanbo card, even Chen Mu himself would have some difficulty getting to such a destructive value.


    Although destructive value didn''t mean everything, it was still the foundation for battle. He would turn the rest of the issues over to Bogner.


    Chen Mu was quite satisfied that he''d gotten to that point. He wasn''t all that excited, however. It was as though he still didn''t understand the influence that the set of cards he had just made would have on the federation. What he mostly felt was relief; the changes in the federation during that time had made him sense an atmosphere of danger.


    Even though he didn''t actually understand what kind of impact it would have on him, he had always had the sense of danger approaching. It was just that kind of feeling that had always pressured him into not being able to breathe easily.


    With the most difficult issues resolved, he now needed to make more of those cards. With more than 400 people and three to a group, that meant he would need more than 100 sets of cards, which was no small quantity.


    But the thing Chen Mu least feared were issues of quantity. Moreover, how could he squander those 20 card masters, along with the next dean of the Origins Academy card making division?


    Chen Mu thought it over and decided he should go see them.

 261 Preparing for War VI

    Walking into the room where the 20 card masters were, Chen Mu was taken aback. He saw countless energy cards piled on a table and randomly picked one up. Four-star! He picked up another one. It''s a four-star! Four-star! Four-star...


    All the cards on the table were four-star power cards! He thought again about how he had doubted whether they had the ability to make four-star power cards. He felt immediately embarrassed.


    Those guys really had professional spirit! Chen Mu praised them to himself, never having seen such diligent high-grade card masters. Looking at the small mountain of four-star power cards on the table, he could imagine how efficient and hard-working those card masters were!


    They also completely subverted any impression Chen Mu had in his mind about card masters. Not one of them lifted their head when Chen Mu entered. All of them had their heads buried in their work. Their eyes were red and puffy. At a glance, he knew that was from staying up all night.


    Chen Mu stood for a while, and still not one of them paid him any attention. They were really absorbed, with sluggish expressions and rather mechanical movements. Their speed, however, hadn''t slacked in the least.


    Seeing that, Chen Mu could only speak up. "Please stop for a bit, everyone."


    What Chen Mu said broke through the calm in the room, and the card masters from the Origins Academy all looked up. They all had the same dazed and dull expression, which really affected Chen Mu. He knew how easily that expression would form after such repetitive work.


    Those were some really fine comrades!


    After a full ten minutes, they came back to themselves. The lead card master looked at Chen Mu, and his face abruptly darkened as he said without any courtesy, "What are you doing here?" The guy then raised his head and pointed to the four-star power cards on the table. He proudly asked, "Is that enough four-star power cards?"


    There were at least 400 on the table, which was enough to make a person''s eyes start jumping.


    After thinking it over and doing some serious calculation, Chen Mu said honestly, "It''s not enough." More than 400 four-star power cards looked like a lot, but the troops had expanded to 400; when you divided it out, of course it was insufficient. Moreover, they would have to stockpile some battle reserves. Chen Mu had always thought the more, the better.


    The veins were bulging on the forehead of the one acting as the lead card master. But when he thought of the instructions of their past president, he forcibly swallowed the curses he''d been about to let loose. His face turned even darker, and he said with extreme dissatisfaction, "What are you doing here, then?"


    "Put aside the power cards for a while. You need to do a different sort of work," Chen Mu responded.


    Everyone in the card making studio breathed a sigh of relief. Making four-star power cards for those past few days had nearly driven them crazy! In their eyes, that sort of unskilled, mechanical card making was a living torture to their nerves. They had been pampered for a long time and had never done such work. If that gang hadn''t been riled up, they most likely would have slacked off.


    To now hear they didn''t need to make four-star power cards was as though they had each been relieved of a heavy burden. Good lord, to finally get out of that sea of misery! Quite a few of them felt their noses itch, having worked day and night against how riled they were. Such concentration without enough rest had made nearly all of them lose weight.


    Each of them, including the lead card master, had only one thing on their mind. If they weren''t going to make four-star power cards, then what did he want them to do?


    "Ok," the lead card master responded, which was refreshing to Chen Mu. Their professional spirit was impeccable.


    * * *


    Training Field No. 9 on the seventh floor was a large-scale training field, which could hold about 700 people training at the same time. It was also the biggest one on the base. Since there had been so few of them, it was the first time it had been opened.


    Of course, that was only with regard to those 405 card artisans. Bogner had shut all the passageways to the seventh floor, so no one could interrupt them. He was all angles with a sharp gaze. The huge training field was utterly silent as the group looked at the security chief in awe.


    Probably no one had realized the so-called security chief was an identity Bogner had just randomly applied to himself. Still, even if some did know, they weren''t any less in awe. They saw with their own eyes how obedient those 20 aces were in front of Bogner¡ªas docile as lambs.


    Their calculation was simple; if even such aces didn''t dare to be the least bit lax, then such rookies as they were certainly weren''t going to put on any airs. Moreover, there were two card artisans standing right behind Bogner! They were true aces who could wipe out a huge chunk of them with a casual extension of their pinky.


    "Starting today, you will be undergoing the most basic training." Bogner had no expression on his face as he swept them with his stern gaze, which no one dared to return.


    "The training is simple. You won''t be hurt, and you won''t die. It''s very safe." He bared his snow-white teeth, and a chill came through is smiling face.


    It was quickly etched into their minds what it meant that there wouldn''t be any casualties. They would repeat the most basic exercises over and over, about which Bogner was picky to the extreme. And, it was a regimented training; if just one person wasn''t in sync, they would have to do it all over again.


    The card artisans complained across the days, though they only dared to complain while hidden off to the side during their breaks. Once the training started, no one slacked off in the least.


    Of the two behind the one in charge, one was good at the reconnaissance scanning card. No little movement in the training room would escape his perception. Although the other card artisan looked small and crude, the powerful muscles on his body made him look like a small mountain. People felt afraid of the ruthlessness of his gaze.


    After one lazy guy was pulled out, he took off three layers of his skin. Mournful screaming floated through the entire training ground, turning the rest of their faces ashen. Their hearts tightened to hear the terrible wailing of that offending card artisan.


    Given that precedent, the rest of them naturally became a lot more honest. But they quickly found that as long as they trained diligently, it didn''t matter what they said during the breaks. The boss-man wouldn''t pay any attention to them.


    "Damn! Every day the same thing!" someone couldn''t help but complain.


    "Who knew? I actually feel pretty good to get so much money with no desperation. That''s a good deal!" a more honest person said.


    "Yeah, money is hard to earn these days! Where would we ever get such a high salary? So what if we suffer a little?" another one added.


    "I''m not afraid to suffer, but gosh! If we keep training like this, I''m going to go nuts! This is a slow torture by small cuts!"


    Once that was said, quite a few of them immediately showed their agreement.


    A sudden sound of cold laughter came though. "What do you all know? The leader is using high-level military training. Hrmph. The guy in charge is no simple person! Our boss is still more unfathomable."


    "Military training methods? Don''t joke, my brother. If the military is using these useless training methods, their weaponry blows," someone else retorted.


    The one who''d spoken before rolled his eyes. "Don''t put down what you don''t understand. This is standard, regimented training every new military recruit has to go through." Seeing that everyone was still looking at him skeptically, he said something with a cold smile. "I''ve been through five years of the military. Anyhow, I''m advising each of you that you should train well. You''ll know when the time comes¡ªthese things can save your life."


    He idly watched for everyone''s response and then turned to leave.


    Bogner had earlier noticed that card artisan, who was called Jiang Liang. His movements were exemplary, and Bogner knew on first sight he had been in the military.


    What those rookie card artisans were doing was the most basic military training. Newly enlisted soldiers specifically had to undergo such regimented training. It would cultivate the soldiers'' organizational discipline and group identity consciousness, with its most prominent characteristic being boredom.


    The Heavenly Federation''s military was strictly selective, and only those card artisans with power or potential could enlist. The military had the highest concentration of the elite in the federation. An ordinary soldier was generally an ace.


    The federation military had excellent benefits and enjoyed a high reputation and a high position in society. Inside the military, there was a perfect training regime; the resources were beyond compare to the outside world. Once enlisted, few would be discharged. Only old card artisans who had reached retirement age were likely to choose a discharge.


    Jiang Liang looked to be only about 24. A soldier of that age wasn''t likely to leave the troops by any account. Moreover, given his enlistment qualifications, as long as he still had the strength, he would certainly be warmly solicited by any card artisan firm. Why would he be mixed up with them?


    Bogner had someone bring Jiang Liang to him.


    "Have you been in the military?"


    "Yes, sir, Commander!" Jiang Liang stood ramrod straight with his chest sticking out and his eyes straight ahead.


    "How many years?"


    "Reporting, sir! Five years!"


    A look of surprise flashed through Bogner''s eyes. Although five years wasn''t a lot of experience in the army, he''d still become a veteran. He knew the regulations of the federation military. They had always valued their veterans and treated them well. Jiang Liang wasn''t older than 24 that year, with five years of service already. That meant he hadn''t yet turned 20 when he had enlisted.


    To have enlisted when not yet 20 indicated that the person who''d admitted him had a pretty high evaluation of his potential.

 262 Preparing for War VII

    "Why were you discharged?" Bogner asked warmly.


    "Reporting, sir! I was wounded!"


    "Wounded?" Bogner then asked, "Was it your perception?"


    "Sir, yes, sir!"


    "No wonder." Bogner nodded. Once perception was harmed, not only would all its attributes be knocked down, but it would also stunt all other aspects of development. After thinking for a while, he asked, "How strong is your perception now?"


    "Reporting, sir. The mid range of the fourth level." There was no expression on Jiang Liang''s face.


    "Mmmm, starting today, you''ll take the position of captain of one of the squads," Bogner said.


    "Sir, yes, sir!" Jiang Liang''s face didn''t even fluctuate.


    Bogner then chose another four card artisans who had made an outstanding performance to assume the position of captain for the other four squads. He divided the 405 cards artisans into five squads, each having 25 fighting units. Each unit was composed of three card artisans. He would personally lead the remaining ten units, calling them the elite group, and set them up with a team leader.


    The five captains and the team leader for the elite group would be the best treated, with the card artisans in the elite group treated the very best.


    Following that, Bogner promulgated a series of assessment methods and measures for rewards and punishment. Their treatment would be directly related to the results of the assessments. Whoever got the best results would earn better treatment. Places among the elite group were fluid. Whoever did well could enter the elite group, and the original members could also be squeezed out. The captain of whichever of the squads had someone entering the elite group would also earn extra rewards.


    Once those measures were in place, the card artisans'' enthusiasm surged. Having originally joined for the money, who would have thought they could get even better treatment for themselves?


    Each of the captains was extremely diligent about urging their squad members to train. As a result, Bogner''s load was lightened right away by quite a bit.


    Although the card artisans were making rapid progress, they were still far from Bogner''s requirements. Fortunately, he understood that the combat effectiveness of a team wasn''t so easy to establish. What he needed to do just then was move along steadily. A qualified commander would be adept at taking advantage of all kinds of conditions.


    Bogner''s training was completely sealed off, which made many of Jiao Si''s ace scholars curious about what kind of training required such secrecy.


    Even Jiao Si¡ªwho had seen quite a lot¡ªfound it hard to take, but he knew the rules well. Although the card artisans had come from the Origins Academy, they had no further connection to the Origins Academy until the agreement was completed. If anything were to happen, or if there were large casualties, it would have nothing to do with the Origins Academy.


    He had also recently been busy guiding the card artisans. To tell the truth, he never stopped being surprised the entire time.


    Twenty-some card artisans didn''t mean much. Even if they were 20-some high-grade card artisans, that wouldn''t mean much to the Origins Academy. But those 20-some card artisans really surprised Jiao Si.


    In his eyes, their individual fighting strength was only ordinary. But their coordination was amazingly brilliant. In each small team were three people with tacit understanding among them; they knew when to advance and when to retreat, while each one still managed their own duty.


    He would have to use a lot of tricks as a single person against a small group like that, which left him in awe. If there were a few more of them, no matter whom it was, they would have some headaches. He chose three from among the card artisans he had brought to fight against one of the small groups.


    Nothing needed to be said about how strong the card artisans were who had followed Jiao Si there. One-on-one, those three card artisans could each beat their counterparts by a large margin.


    However, the situation of the actual fighting was completely unexpected. In the situation where two of the adversary''s small group had been wounded, they would emerge victorious.


    It would have been better if their strength wasn''t up to snuff, but it was clear their individual power exceeded their adversary''s. But the result was still defeat. That made the faces of those arrogant Origins Academy aces look unusually bad.


    So, Jiao Si simply organized five trials, wanting to test the card artisans to the root.


    The final result was surprising. In the five trials, they only took one victory, and that was an incredibly difficult victory. While their adversaries wouldn''t be considered powerful to look at, they won four victories.


    On the training field, the card artisans in Chen Mu''s group were quite excited. The scholars from the Origins Academy felt ashamed.


    Looking on with their heads down, Jiao Si felt rather upset with those favorite students in front of him. It looked like he had overemphasized their individual combat effectiveness and neglected their combat coordination. That was what had produced such a situation.


    "I can see you aren''t so pleased with these results, either." Jiao Si scanned over the scholars and spoke in a sunken voice. The scholars dropped their heads even lower.


    Jiao Si furrowed his brow in an unhappy look and abruptly raised his voice to say, "Lift up your heads! Can''t you even take this little setback? Argh, then you don''t deserve to be my students. If you lose, you lose. What''s so great about that? What is our Origins motto? Have you all forgotten? Huh? If you can''t beat someone, go study; once you learn it, fight again! If you still don''t win, go study some more until you learn to win!"


    The scholars lifted their heads up one by one, and each of their faces had flushed red. They were ashamed of their recent performance. It seemed as though what Jiao Si had said was full of power. Even the gazes of the card artisans with Chen Mu were full of admiration.


    "Argh!" Jiao Si swept his gaze over the students in front of him, noting how the desire for victory was being inspired in their eyes. That made him satisfied, though that''s not what his face showed. "Tang Cheng!"


    "Yes, sir, Mr. Academy President, sir!" A rather gentile card artisan stood up with an excited expression.


    "Starting today, you will be responsible for the training of all your classmates. Be sure to get the advice of these aces. Even if you aren''t up to the others, give your heart to study for me. Hrumph, if anyone is disobedient, I''ll shoo them back to school."


    "Yes, sir!"


    The card artisans under Chen Mu had never seen such a ruckus. Even though they had a little bit of fame, the senior students of the Origins Academy would humble themselves to get advice from them, which was flattering. Moreover, those words had come from the mouth of such a heavyweight as Jiao Si.


    The fighting power of those people was really strong! Jiao Si had seen quite a few card artisan firms, but he had never seen such high-quality tactical coordination. If the school''s card artisans could have such tactical qualities, then...


    Jiao Si''s mind heated up.


    Seeing the rather chaotic situation on the training field, Lu Xiaoru couldn''t help but feel a little concerned. Their own training would be heavily influenced by it. However, Bogner was just then sealing off the training, and Chen Mu was busy. She was afraid that after Bogner came back, he would certainly be dissatisfied with the results of their own training if they went on like that.


    For the past few days, she had learned Boss Bogner''s temper quite well. Their own boss talked a lot by comparison. Boss Bogner paid a lot of attention to such things as training, but he was never satisfied. They were going to end up miserable.


    She hadn''t been expecting to be punished when the time came, but she couldn''t think of anything to do about it just then. Apart from Bogner and the boss, those people didn''t obey anyone.


    Someone suddenly walked into the training room and shouted, "Lu Xiaoru!"


    The voice wasn''t loud, but all the card artisans under Chen Mu surprisingly closed their mouths. That sudden, unforeseen event left all the Origins Academy scholars with no response for a while as the scene on the field went cold.


    In the abrupt silence on the huge training field, everyone''s gaze had turned onto that person who had just entered.


    Wei-ah had no expression on his face, and he wasn''t looking at the card artisans.


    Lu Xiaoru felt overjoyed. How could she have forgotten he was still there? In the eyes of those card artisans, Wei-ah was a demonized presence. The day he had so easily knocked down those six card artisans had turned him into the object of awe for that gang.


    Bogner had been furious about that affair, and the pace of their training had then increased dramatically. They had suffered for it. The guy had cost them face in front of their boss, so their gazes toward Wei-ah were naturally unhappy.


    Still, no one dared to make a move. The six who had been knocked over that day were top-notch among them. With even them having been so easily knocked over, the rest of them would have to do a lot more thinking if they wanted to make a move.


    That guy wasn''t even one-on-one, but rather one-on-six!


    So, when they saw Wei-ah, they unconsciously shut their mouths.


    The Origins Academy scholars, who didn''t understand, looked at Wei-ah with curiosity. Could he be some kind of big deal?


    Lu Xiaoru rushed over to Wei-ah and asked respectfully, "What are your instructions?" Wei-ah had come over to find her, which made her think something must have happened. She felt a little hesitant.


    "The fat dog might be sick. Where is a doctor?" Wei-ah still had no expression on his face.


    Everyone in the entire training room stopped what they were doing, shut their mouths, and stared at Wei-ah. There was nothing else going on apart from the dialogue between the two of them.


    Jiao Si stared at Wei-ah, feeling rather curious. Could he be an ace too? Almost unconsciously, he deployed his own perception, wanting to do some probing.

 263 Preparing for War VIII

    Wei-ah suddenly turned his head, his gaze falling onto Jiao Si.


    A powerfully murderous aura densely filled every corner of the training field as though it were tangible. It was oppressive to the point of stopping everyone''s breath. Everyone''s complexion changed, and they went stiff as though the tip of a knife were being held to their throats.


    Jiao Si''s eyes contracted as he stared closely at Wei-ah. Scholars who were familiar with him clearly grasped that there was a surge of battle lust in the academy president''s constricted gaze!


    That guy had actually provoked the president''s battle lust! The Origins Academy scholars were stunned; the adversary''s strength had been affirmed by the president, no matter how they looked at it. Good lord, could that place be the camp where monsters gathered?


    "Would you care trade some tips, my lord?" Jiao Si made his invitation with a solemn expression while the battle lust in his eyes grew stronger and stronger.


    "Not interested." Wei-ah retracted his own murderousness as though nothing had happened. Without looking at Jiao Si, he turned his gaze upon Lu Xiaoru.


    Lu Xiaoru felt her voice tremble. "I¡­ I might know, but... but not exactly."


    "Take me to find one," Wei-ah said calmly. His gaze then swept over the card artisans. Those touched by his gaze unconsciously avoided it. Quite a few of them felt their hearts tighten.


    Wei-ah''s gaze stopped at the bar-browed man in the corner. "Follow me."


    The bar-browed man''s body shook, and he remained silent as he straightforwardly went over to Wei-ah.


    He then led the two of them out of the training field. There wasn''t a single sound during the entire process. Even Jiao Si remained silent.


    By the time the three left, everyone on the training field loosened up, many of them finding their legs had gone weak. They were mostly aghast and finally understood how terrifying the pressure was that Wei-ah had just brought to bear.


    Alarmed as they were, how would the card artisans under Chen Mu still have any thoughts of teaching the Origins Academy scholars? None of them said a word as they continued to bury their heads in their training.


    Jiao Si''s lingering gaze followed their backs as the three of them left.


    ***


    The situation in the Heavenly Federation had deteriorated with shocking speed. It was as though the desire to fight, which had been building up over several hundred years, had burst out all at once. The battle between the Western Sheng District and the Bai Dong District was then in full swing.


    It was a dark night without a ray of light. Zu Ning''s handsome face looked unspeakably hideous in the dark.


    One of the Federation Comprehensive Academy scholars spoke in a low voice. "Everyone is prepared, senior classmate."


    All of the Federation Comprehensive Academy''s power in Pomelo was in front of him. For the past few days, in order to crack down on Faya, he had already concentrated most of his academy''s power in Pomelo.


    Looking out over his classmates, Zu Ning was full of pride. Those classmates were the elite, who had undergone the academy''s most systematic cultivation. Before coming to Pomelo, he had never thought he would be able to deploy such drastic means.


    He had become extremely enraged when both he and Jie Yanbai had been attacked. Then, after the battle between Desert Camp and Moon Frost Island exploded, he swiftly calmed¡ªthe chaos in the federation had begun.


    He was incessantly tipping the balance to gain victory in that back-and-forth battle for the Central Island Firm. If he were still hoping for things to remain the same, that notion was already outdated. They had no more time. If they were still unable to get the Central Island Firm, it would get harder the further they fell behind. Pomelo had already become chaotic. When the time came, no matter who joined in, it wouldn''t be easy if they wanted to get out of there.


    The technology Ren Wenzhou had in his hands was really important to the Federation Comprehensive Academy! The academy president''s orders had already been turned over to him; no matter how and at any cost, he had to get that technology.


    It wasn''t that he hadn''t thought of using force. Because of Jie Yanbai at his side, he was rather wary and preferred to use above-board tactics.


    However, Jie Yanbai''s heavy injuries had given him the perfect opportunity. It was then the weakest time for the Central Repository of the Classics in Pomelo. To make a move at that time would provide his greatest chance for victory. There were nearly no obstacles, and his proposal got everyone''s agreement.


    The time was chosen for that evening.


    "Go!"


    Having been long prepared, they all flew into the sky like a stream of shooting stars, heading for the Central Island Firm.


    Zu Ning had done a lot of preparation for that day''s action, particularly regarding the positions of the director general of the Central Island Firm and his confidante, Qian Mingyi. Those two were the true core of the Central Island Firm.


    The operation went smoothly. Facing the elite from the Federation Comprehensive Academy, the defenses of Ren Wenzhou''s residence were as weak as paper. The Federation scholars all looked excited. If that evening''s action went smoothly, the credit they would establish would be enough to provide them with stunning rewards inside the school.


    The two sides'' power was really lopsided, and Zu Ning made a brazen move to save time. He released the high firepower of the two beside him, which shortened the entire process of the battle.


    Ren Wenzhou restored his calm from having just turned white. Qian Mingyi''s gaze to his side was full of rage as he looked at Zu Ning.


    "What''s the meaning of this, young Zu?" Ren Wenzhou asked in a low voice.


    Zu Ning''s face was filled with a mild smile. "Our president very much admires Mr. Ren and hopes to meet you soon. As his student, how could I allow the president to remain so anxious? So, I had to come and urge Mr. Ren along."


    "Oh." Ren Wenzhou''s expression didn''t change, and he spoke neither urgently nor slowly. "So, you are saying young Zu intends to use force?"


    "Ha ha, Mr. Ren must be joking. Your little brother is just reminding you." The smile on Zu Ning''s face didn''t change as he said something meaningful. "Mr. Ren has been hesitant for too long. Holding out for a price is a common enough sentiment, but if someone''s appetite gets too big, that wouldn''t be good."


    Ren Wenzhou''s expression slightly changed, having all along been wanting to see who would finally come up with the highest price. He hadn''t thought the Federation Comprehensive Academy would already have run out of patience. He suddenly thought of something else, which made him jump.


    He stared at Zu Ning dead-on as his expression gradually become a little hideous. He squeezed out the words between his teeth. "Could it be that young Zu isn''t afraid of people dying and walls coming down?"


    With his expression as ever, Zu Ning said languidly, "Why would Mr. Ren fret like that? All of Central Island''s important people are already under our control. If Mr. Ren takes things too hard, I''m afraid those below you might not be of the same mind as Mr. Ren. Then, we''d have to waste a little more time. In other words, Mr. Ren might as well consider his wife and children."


    Ren Wenzhou wasn''t the least bit moved by that as he stared as fiercely as ever at Zu Ning.


    Zu Ning kept smiling, and that smiling face chilled Ren Wenzhou to the bone. "Mr. Ren still isn''t clear about his situation. For us, not getting the technology that''s in your hands wouldn''t be the worst result. The worst result would be for that technology to fall into someone else''s hands. If we really don''t get it, my responsibility is to prevent the worst situation from happening." Taking a look at Ren Wenzhou, he lightly spat out, "If we don''t get it, we''ll just destroy it."


    That was when Ren Wenzhou''s face abruptly turned white.


    "I''ve heard the Ren family has been multiplying through the years, with a long history. Ai, history is so indifferent. It annihilates so many families." Zu Ning''s speech was full of emotion.


    Ren Wenzhou''s face looked ashen. He had never thought a big team from the Big Six would use such methods. If he didn''t cooperate, he was afraid the Ren family would be erased in the blink of an eye. Seeing the panic on the faces of his wife and children, Ren Wenzhou was suddenly stung.


    It was all over.


    Having been about to open his mouth, there was suddenly a faint voice.


    "It breaks the rules for young Zu to act this way."


    Zu Ning''s expression changed slightly.


    He then saw Jie Yanbai leading a group of card artisans who were rushing over in a menacing manner. Jie Yanbai''s face was white, his grave wound evident. But the card artisans beside him were glaring at them like tigers watching their prey.


    The apparatuses on both sides had been activated, and they could make their moves at any moment.


    "Please forgive me. I didn''t want to shock brother Jie. The wind is strong tonight, and brother Jie should take care about catching a cold and aggravating his wounds." Zu Ning was full of concern.


    Jie Yanbai maintained his calm expression. "Thank you very much for your concern, young Zu. Since I''ve made my promise to the owner of this estate, of course I must do my best. If I haven''t yet lost my life, it''s only because I am so deficient. I must at least account for myself to the owner to clear my conscience."


    Zu Ning''s expression abruptly darkened. "Has brother Jie made up his mind to make an enemy of his little brother?"


    "Don''t forget the responsibility is on you." Jie Yanbai''s expression was determined, and the card artisans beside him watched in admiration.


    Zu Ning pointed to Ren Wenzhou and said, "Well, why don''t the two of us fight? The winner takes all."


    A look of fury flashed through Ren Wenzhou''s eyes.


    The card artisans around Jie Yanbai were becoming restless, with their gazes at Zu Ning full of fury. Quite a few of them were already cursing beneath their breath. "He has no f***ing face!"


    Jie Yanbai said sarcastically, "Is young Zu really unafraid of taking advantage? Knowing his little brother is wounded and still acting that way, how could one not look down on you?" He then said with pride, "After Yanbai has healed, I will certainly come to young Zu for some advice."


    Zu Ning deliberately opened his hands as though there were nothing he could do. "Could someone else besides brother Jie fight with me?"


    That really stirred the emotions of all the card artisans with Jie Yanbai into a fury.


    "Senior classmate Jie, let me teach him a lesson!"


    "I''m going to f***ing blow you up!"


    "You little bastard with the name of Zu, how did your grandpa raise you in place of your parents?"


    * * *


    Zu Ning wasn''t going to be pushed around. The corner of his mouth held a cold smile. But the card artisans by his side were becoming impatient, with all of them cursing at the Central Repository of the Classics card artisans.


    Jie Yanbai signaled for the card artisans at his side to calm down.

 264 Preparing for War IX

    Jie Yanbai had a solemn expression as a blush of bright red floated onto his pallid face. He said in a low voice, "Young Zu doesn''t want his scheme to come to naught. Yanbai is wounded, so I''m naturally not the equal of young Zu. But if young Zu insists on going it alone today, then even though my brothers and I would be laying our lives on the line, we will never retreat!"


    Once he said that, the breathing of the Central Repository of the Classics card artisans turned coarse as they went red in the eye! What Jie Yanbai said carried a lot of weight. He filled the card artisans with his indignation and solitary fighting spirit.


    His adversary had come prepared with plenty of strength. On his side, the general had been wounded, and their numbers were a lot smaller. Once they made their move, it would a battle with no chance of victory!


    But no one was retreating.


    Zu Ning suddenly felt his head aching, never having thought Jie Yanbai would actually be so stubborn. Moreover, he''d never thought Jie Yanbai''s response would be so rapid. They had only just made their move when the other side had gotten the news. Jie Yanbai didn''t have much by himself, but behind him was represented the entire Central Repository of the Classics. Once the battle started, it would bring rather severe consequences.


    "Hrumph, what''s up with the Central Repository of the Classics? Do they really want to be trampled beneath the feet of the Federation Comprehensive Academy? Bring it on, blowhards!"


    An abrupt voice suddenly came from the Federation Comprehensive Academy''s camp, closely followed by a light beam shooting toward Jie Yanbai.


    Zu Ning''s heart sank. Who would actually dare to be so rash with no authority? But he reacted quickly, immediately realizing what the subsequent chain reaction would be like.


    By that time, they could only advance. An explanation would be of no use. Once the fuse had been lit, there was no way to extinguish it.


    With no hesitation, he ordered, "Move!"


    * * *


    The base had been peaceful.


    Judging from the outside, one would never have imagined things were in full swing inside. Training, training, and more training! Everyone seemed to have gone crazy as they desperately trained. Chen Mu was making sets of cards with no sense of day or night.


    That set of cards had been named the tactical shuttle card set by Bogner. Since they needed more than 100 sets, it was a pretty big project for Chen Mu. Fortunately, there were a lot of people to help, which had made it easier on him.


    In the materials lab, the Origins Academy card masters all had their faces on fire.


    "I will never come back to this place in my life!" a card artisan among them said with spite.


    "I won''t come back in my next life!" Another one picked up the theme, though he didn''t stop what he was doing as he quickly stirred the liquid in the reagent bottle. What came out of his mouth was extremely dissatisfied. "We come here, and first we make energy cards any mid-grade card artisan could make. Hrumph, now we''re making what any underclass student could do."


    He had plenty of reason to be unhappy. He was an older professor at the Origins Academy card making division, who had surprisingly been sent by Chen Mu to do the most basic work of producing the card ink and processing the blank cards. That was even more basic than the power card making they''d done previously.


    Another professor sneered, "What can we do? We already promised the president when we arrived. Ai! Do it. It''s been a long time since I''ve done any of this myself. Ordinarily at the school, I could find any student to do it for me, and they would do it with more vitality."


    The professor in front of him suddenly asked, "Professor Wen, what do you think this card ink will actually be used for? I somehow feel that its ratios are very strange."


    "Yes, yes, I find it strange as well." Quite a few professors felt the same way.


    Professor Wen was acting as the lead of those card masters, and he was the most experienced and capable among them. The entire card making division, apart from Madam Pei, regarded him that way.


    Professor Wen pondered for a moment and said, "To tell the truth, I''m not so clear myself. The light iron ore they''re using here should be soaked in glass liquid before it can be effective. What''s being used on it is the juice of the luo leaf and a solution of black oil extract."


    They all stopped what they were doing to listen to Professor Wen''s explanation.


    "The ratio of gold between the luminous leaf and the python-patterned vine should be 1.47-to-2.56, which any card master should know. But the ratio here is 1.1-to-1. I have never seen such a strange ratio."


    Someone couldn''t help but interrupt. "Precisely! Then, there''s the prismatic crystal powder. That stuff is generally used in the scanner class of cards and generally for the processing of acidic liquids. However, you can see he''s using the alpha enzyme solution. What method is that?"


    They all nodded, never having heard of such a processing method.


    Professor Wen knitted his brow. He could tell how puzzled they were. "From what we can see as of now, the card inks we are producing should be three kinds, but we still don''t know what they''re being used for. We have no instruments on hand and no way to analyze them. Moreover, I secretly used those three kinds of card ink to make a fantasy card, but I found them to be useless."


    They all looked at one another.


    Professor Wen then said, thinking of what he''d been doing, "Judging from the quantity he requires, he must need to make a lot of cards. I''m guessing it''s possible he''s making some kind of... No, it''s three kinds of unique cards. These card inks are to be used for some special kind of composition."


    Someone suddenly had a brainstorm. "Why don''t we go ask Ru Qiu? She''s assisting him every day and should know what kind of card he''s making."


    Everyone else echoed that. Their curiosity had already been piqued by the card inks. Those irrational things had completely hooked them.


    After thinking it over, Professor Wen shook his head to say, "We won''t do it for a while. I believe given little Qiu''s wits, she will certainly record quite a few things. After this is all over, we''ll ask when we get back. To dig into someone else''s secrets just now might cause some misunderstanding, which wouldn''t be good."


    "That''s right. Ru Qiu is so smart, I reckon the little guy''s bottom has already been about probed! Ha ha." The professors all laughed together.


    Professor Wen also laughed and said, "Quite possibly. Little Qiu''s wits are the most outstanding I''ve seen. If Madam Pei hadn''t moved so quickly, little Qiu would be my student. Ai, to have missed the first ranks is killing me with regret."


    The professors were all praising Ru Qiu while the other scholars to the side were sneering.


    Ru Qiu had no idea such high hopes were being placed on her, and she wasn''t in such a good situation. Her complexion had turned pallid. The exhaustion of her mental exertions was too intense, which led to a lack of blood and qi.


    She hadn''t realized those cards would be so awesome. They were simply like comets to her. Every time she saw the composition on the cards, they would generate a kind of esoteric sense, as though she were realizing something. But once she calmed herself down to carefully consider it, she would find that all those things were figments. That made her want to spit blood. She''d asked Chen Mu to teach her a few times but never got the response she wanted.


    Everything involved Token Theory. How would Chen Mu explain that to her? How could he explain it clearly?


    He still had the headache of the folding Yanbo card. He certainly had to give his counterpart the method to make it, but Token Theory was something he could never divulge. That was going to be hard to manage!


    Plus, he didn''t have time just then to think about those issues. His most direct issue was the 100 sets of the tactical shuttle cards. It was a good thing those 20 high-grade card masters were helping him produce the card ink and process the blank cards. He would only have to make the cards every day.


    Given his current perceptual strength and acuity, he could make 15 sets of the tactical shuttle cards per day, which meant he would need about ten days to complete all the cards. What was important was the Token knowledge implicated in that set of cards, so he couldn''t turn them over to those card masters to make. Otherwise, he could be a lot more efficient.


    He would just have to make them himself, so Chen Mu gritted his teeth and persevered.


    Finally completing that day''s 15 sets of cards, his perception was rather depleted. He walked up to the seventh floor, wanting to see how the training of those rookies was going. He''d been taking a lot more initiative ever since the day he''d figured things out.


    Although the training was sealed off, of course it was fine for the boss to come for an inspection. Bogner looked a lot thinner than before, and his eyes were sunken. His gaze, however, was still sharp.


    "Boss."


    "How''s their training going?" Chen Mu felt rather satisfied seeing the regimented ranks on the training field.


    Bogner shook his head and splashed some cold water on Chen Mu. "It''s still very early. According to normal standards, this kind of regimented training should be undertaken for several months. But we don''t have that much time and will have to grind it out later on."


    Chen Mu hadn''t really been placing that much hope on those rookies. Although he didn''t understand those things, he did understand that coordinated troops couldn''t be established overnight. He then said something about the situation he was facing himself. "I''ve already completed 45 of the card sets, and I intend to make 150 sets, plus an extra five sets as spares."


    "Mmmm." Bogner nodded. "Can you send up the finished cards to give the elite group to try? We''ll see what kind of results they get. And, we can give the rest of the troops some incentive."


    "Right." Chen Mu quite agreed with that idea.


    "We have to do some other work, Boss." Bogner led Chen Mu to his own room, where drawings were strewn about.


    They all had calculations on them. The drawings were diagrams of the base, on which were lots of markings, as well as the traces of many deletions.


    "These are all drafts." Bogner grabbed a clean sheet of drawing paper and made some clear markings. "I''ve been thinking these last few days that our time is too short. Even though we have the tactical shuttle card set, that''s still not enough. These rookies basically haven''t experienced battle; if we were to let them go to battle, I''m afraid it would be a rout. Hence, we''ll have to spend some time on our defenses."


    Seeing that Chen Mu was listening carefully, Bogner''s spirits were stimulated. "Look at these marks. They are all the firing points I''ve calculated. We only need to prepare them at these positions to be able to form a dense net of fire. Regardless of what angle the adversary enters the scope of our defenses, he would always face fire from more than five firing points. Our troops positioned inside the firing fortress could rely on the defensive capability of the fortress to reduce their casualties. Moreover, in such an enclosed environment, they could calm their jangled nerves. That would be conducive to bringing out their best."


    Bogner picked up a pen and sketched a set of lines on the schematic. Those lines formed a tight net.

 265 Preparing for War X

    Although Chen Mu had handed off all the battle issues to Bogner, he still brought over one of the most outstanding low-grade card masters from where Bu Qiangdong was. He thought the drafts Bogner had drawn were too messy and wanted the card master to make some fantasy images of the base.


    The low-grade card master''s native ability was pretty outstanding, and he had gained quite a bit of knowledge while he was at Heaven''s Wings. He made a remarkably true-to-life image of the base, even including the surrounding environment. It had the lawns, the rivers, and the jungles¡ªit even showed all the undulations of the terrain.


    As soon as Bogner saw the three-dimensional representation, he called out his praises and couldn''t let go of it, now being able to directly see the layout. Chen Mu was inwardly impressed as he looked at the three-dimensional image.


    * * *


    News of the Central Repository of the Classics and the Federation Comprehensive Academy having become enemies had quickly overtaken the battle between the Western Sheng District and the Bai Dong District. It commanded all the headlines.


    The Central Repository of the Classics'' power in Pomelo had suffered heavy losses, and Jie Yanbai had been wounded still more. He was broken loose at the risk of his comrades'' lives and was now unaccounted for. A lot of people thought that was the end of the struggle for the Central Island Firm, but no one quite realized it was only the beginning.


    Just as Zu Ning was taking Ren Wenzhou and the others out of Pomelo, they encountered reinforcements from the Central Repository of the Classics.


    The one leading the forces that time was Mi Xiaqing, who was one of the three beloved disciples of the lord of the Central Repository of the Classics. Compared to Jie Yanbai making his name in a single battle, Mi Xiaqing had made his name while even younger.


    He came from wealth and had been taken in as a disciple by the lord of the Central Repository of the Classics when he was 7. He was the most approachable of the lord''s three beloved disciples. Few people at the Central Repository of the Classics really knew what kind of power he had. He had an extremely good record there. Not only did the lord dote on him, but his two fellow disciples loved him dearly.


    He had a tight relationship with Jie Yanbai, so he had taken the initiative to volunteer. He was still en route at the time but had received the call before Jie Yanbai had made any moves. Mi Xiaqing had been taken by surprise. The troops he was leading hadn''t even stopped as they traveled to Pomelo in a single breath. They weren''t far from Pomelo at the time, having been in a desperate hurry when they happened upon the troops of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, who were just preparing to sweep away Ren Wenzhou and the others.


    How could Mi Xiaqing have known what was happening when he first saw the situation? Thinking Jie Yanbai might have been the victim of treachery, the eyes of the scholars from the Central Repository of the Classics burned red.


    There was another fierce battle!


    The one defeated that time was the Federation Comprehensive Academy. They hadn''t thought the next battle would come on so quickly after having already gone through one fierce battle. Enraged as they were, Mi Xiaqing revealed terrifying strength. After the big battle, Zu Ning was wounded in defeat.


    However, Zu Ning was powerful in the end, and he firmly broke away.


    In the blink of an eye, the Federation Comprehensive Academy had experienced the entire procession from heaven to hell. The most dramatic part was then encountering more of their own reinforcements just as Zu Ning was finally breaking free...


    What a mess! Pomelo had descended into a stew of chaos. Many people didn''t dare to go outdoors, and those with means rushed off to some other city. Who knew if they would start fighting inside the city?


    The influence of that affair outshone the influence of the battle between the Western Sheng District and the Bai Dong District. Those two districts were also backed by the Big Six. On the bright side, however, Desert Camp and Moon Frost Island were still maintaining an image of restraint.


    The battle between the Federation Comprehensive Academy and the Central Repository of the Classics was within the Big Six and had been a direct confrontation right from the start, with no buffer at all. It was unknown whether Jie Yanbai was alive or dead. Zu Ning was also seriously injured, and there were numerous deaths among scholars on both sides.


    The enmity between the two was going to last!


    With almost no hesitation, the two sides responded at the same time with reinforcements! Both Academies were incessantly mobilizing card artisans, who were advancing toward Pomelo and making the situation still more tense.


    Chen Mu had been paying attention to the situation all along, naturally hoping the two sides would fight a little more fiercely. Then, maybe they wouldn''t have any strength left to come looking to bother him.


    The 150 tactical shuttle card sets were finally finished. The high-grade card masters who had been doing the chore of preparing all the ingredients nearly wept with joy. Once they found out they would return to the familiar power card making place, however, everyone''s face turned green in an instant.


    Chen Mu found Ru Qiu. Over those last few days, she had been falling down in worship of Chen Mu''s power. Regardless of the extent to which her counterpart''s power had finally developed, she was certain Chen Mu''s card making system was completely different from the system all the academies were then using.


    The current card making system was called the Van Sant System, from the hands of the grand master of his generation, Heiner Van Sant. While the knowledge of card making among the academies differed in some respects, they never diverged from that framework. However, the cards made by Mr. Cao were completely different from the card system of Heiner Van Sant.


    Ru Qiu wondered whether the card system of Mr. Cao might be passed down from the period of the sects. As the terminator of the period of the sects, Heiner Van Sant had used his card system to conquer the entire world, and all of the sects exited from the stage of history. Most of them disappeared into the long river of time.


    But there was still a small portion that had incredibly been passed down, and Mr. Cao was possibly one among those.


    Heiner Van Sant had consolidated the knowledge of the sects across his entire life, which directly caused the demise of many sects. His successors inherited the same habits. It was said that the Star Academy library contained the most complete repository of the technologies of the age of the sects.


    Not only were those not to be seen anywhere else, but there were pitifully scant materials even in the other five of the Big Six.


    That made her heart pound with excitement; to her, the folding Yanbo card had proven the power of that sect''s technology. No wonder the folding Yanbo card was only a three-star card but could still have such power! It had broken through the star framework of Heiner Van Sant''s system, which could also prove Mr. Cao''s mastery of a different theory from the current theoretical system. Most importantly, it was a system full of vitality!


    But what could she do? No matter what she asked, Chen Mu never answered. That made her not know what to do for a while, and she knew her counterpart had no intention of explaining anything to her. Apart from the folding Yanbo card, her counterpart hadn''t promised anything.


    Right! Didn''t they still have a folding Yanbo card? Once he explained the folding Yanbo card to her, she would have a certain understanding of the mysterious system.


    But she probably hadn''t thought Chen Mu didn''t have the slightest intention of explaining it to her. That was because he had thought up a wonderful way.


    "Have you studied the Analysis of Compatibility?" Chen Mu asked when he found Ru Qiu.


    Ru Qiu respectfully nodded. "I have." She found it a little strange, not understanding why Chen Mu was suddenly asking such a thing. The Analysis of Compatibility was a rather obscure discipline that was generally used for card analysis. Certain instruments would analyze the compatibility between the card materials and the cards to explain the required perceptual strength to make the cards.


    That was an ancient technique, but up until then, its use and deployment were rather limited. That was because it could cause some irreparable damage to the card.


    "Do you really understand the parameters of compatibility?"


    "I do, Mr. Cao."


    "Mmmm. I''ll give this to you." Chen Mu handed Ru Qiu a fantasy card. "The composition of the folding Yanbo card is recorded on it, along with how to wield the pen and the perceptual compatibility parameters for each section. First, practice the drawing method. When you''ve completed that, I''ll tell you the formula for the ink." Chen Mu then left behind a stunned Ru Qiu.


    Ru Qiu didn''t think of putting the card into her apparatus until Chen Mu had left. A three-dimensional image of a blank card popped out in front of her.


    A spot suddenly started to appear on the card, and it kept lengthening to form a line. The lines then spread to gradually cover the entire card face to form a composition. Following the final stroke when the pen would be taken up, the surface of the card showed the same composition that was on the surface of the folding Yanbo card in the hands of the president.


    The demonstration wasn''t finished, however. The card image grew into the size of a table, and the lines of the composition on it were the width of a palm. The card''s design suddenly started to rise from the surface of the card, as though a mountain range were taking form in front of her eyes. The edges of the lines looked as though they had been cut smoothly by a knife.


    Ten seconds later, the design on the card stuck out, though the distance it stuck out was different in each place. Those continuous undulations looked like a road had been built along the top of the mountain range.


    Ru Qiu was inherently brilliant and immediately understood that those uplifts were the required compatibility of perception in those places! The uplifts perfectly interpreted the changes in compatibility required for the process of making the card, from which it would be simple to calculate the perceptual strength when placing the pen for each position.


    That¡­ that¡­


    Ru Qiu was transfixed. Why hadn''t she realized Chen Mu would actually use such a method to teach her how to make the folding Yanbo card?


    She furrowed her brow, seeming to have thought of something. But she still wasn''t quite certain. She immediately activated the apparatus on her wrist.


    "Professor Wen? It''s little Qiu."


    Professor Wen immediately stopped what he had been doing and asked genially, "Ah, how are you, little Qiu? Have you run into some problem?"


    Hearing that it was Ru Qiu, the other card masters looked at one another and stopped what they had been doing. They had previously been discussing how they wanted to find out from Ru Qiu what card that little guy was making in the end. They hadn''t thought Ru Qiu would actually find them first.


    Aside from Professor Wen, the others also knew Ru Qiu had certainly encountered some problem or difficulty.


    "Do you remember a special kind of method that was passed along, Professor?" Ru Qiu asked in an agitated voice. "It uses fantasy card images to demonstrate the card making method being passed down!"

 266 Preparing for War XI

    "Using fantasy card images to pass things down?" Professor Wen knitted his brow in thought. "That was the tradition in the period of the sects. Some of the sects at the time had really mastered low-grade fantasy cards and could use that style of passing things down. It was only an auxiliary method, though. In order to prevent the situation of accidentally passing things along by word of mouth, I don''t hear of anyone using it by now."


    "Mmmm, please continue."


    Not knowing if he had heard some urgency in Ru Qiu''s voice, Professor Wen stepped up his spirit. "The card masters of that time weren''t like contemporary card masters with our division into levels. After the Van Sant System was established, the division of card masters into levels was established. The division of labor among the levels also became clearer. Since imaging technology belonged to the one-star and two-star fantasy cards, the ones who now specialize in that aspect of the technology are low-grade card masters. The current style of transmission is also completely different from before, when the academic style of passing things down gave the legacies more vitality and continuity."


    Old Wen had said all of that in a single breath and found his throat was dry. From habit, he reached over to the table. What made him want to cry was that apart from the thoroughly evil four-star cards, there was nothing else on the table¡ªespecially his favorite Zhongxi tea.


    The other professors nodded at how precise Professor Wen''s account was, but it was the first time the students had heard of it. They might have had the ability to make some outstanding high-grade cards, but with regard to such historical knowledge, they weren''t so rich. The Big Six were clearly different from the scholars at the ordinary academies. It was as though the ones who graduated from the ordinary schools with high abilities were like skillful craftsmen, while quite a few real artists would appear in the outstanding classes from the Big Six.


    While the difference between them may have only been one level, the Big Six were always able to get their students to break through that line. The rest of the academies had a lot of difficulty getting to that point, which was another gap.


    "So, do you know if there are still any sects having that skill? In other words, are there any who are used to such a skill?"


    Old Wen was putting up with his dry throat while he searched carefully in his brain, and he shook his head. "I haven''t. It isn''t an advanced technology, and few contemporary people would do it that way. What''s wrong? Why did you think of that question, little Qiu?"


    Old Wen''s questions were the questions on everyone''s mind, and they pricked up their ears. Ru Qiu had been at the side of that damned little guy for the past few days, and that question must have had something to do with him. Could Ru Qi have discovered something?


    Ru Qiu remained silent for a second before saying in a lighter tone, "I just happened to think of it and couldn''t remember very clearly. Your knowledge is so profound, Professor Wen, that I thought to ask you. Have I disturbed you?"


    The other card masters lost hope, and old Wen unfurrowed his brow and relaxed. He said with a laugh, "No, never! If you run across any issue later, little Qui, don''t hesitate to ask Professor Wen."


    "Thank you, Professor Wen. I''d better get to work!"


    "Go ahead, go ahead," Professor Wen rushed to say. After breaking the connection, he couldn''t help but curse. "That damned guy won''t even let such a child as little Qui go, which is really detestable!"


    The other Origins Academy students helplessly looked at one another. Their teachers were so fond of Ru Qiu that they had long grown used to it. Weren''t they all working too? They had never seen any professor stand up for them.


    A professor suddenly said, "There is something wrong in there! Think about it¡ªlittle Qiu is now always by that little guy''s side. Unless he uses such a technique, why would little Qiu ask such an obscure question?"


    "Right. My thoughts exactly!" The professors were all finely experienced and had quickly discovered what was suspicious.


    "But why wouldn''t little Qiu tell us?" someone asked.


    Professor Wen knew a little something about the inside scoop. "She certainly has a reason not to tell us!" He rubbed his chin and said as though thinking of something, "Could he actually be the legacy handed down from one of the sects?"


    "Real or fake?"


    "That can''t be. The time of the sects was long ago! That gang of disciples and apprentices of Heiner Van Sant later cut it off completely. How could it have been passed down?"


    "I still think very possibly¡­"


    * * *


    In the small card making room, there was a sudden shout.


    Ru Qiu was sitting there blinking her eyes, having just gotten the answer she''d wanted from old Wen. In front of her, the folding Yanbo card demonstration was playing over and over.


    Only four people knew about the matter of the folding Yanbo card: Jiao Si, herself, Madam Pei, and the current president of the Origins Academy. She didn''t dare to let the information get out. Ru Qiu pursed her lips and gathered her brow. She hadn''t thought her counterpart would actually come to that. Her previous plan had come to naught!


    What should she do?


    * * *


    Chen Mu was feeling pretty good. The problem of the folding Yanbo card could be crossed out in his mind. He had solved that important issue for now, which made him a lot more relaxed.


    When he walked past a floor-to-ceiling window, Chen Mu saw quite a few construction card artisans floating outside the base. They had been invited by Bogner to retrofit the firing points into the fortress, and they were all busy. From his current position, he could clearly see the base''s external appearance changing shape in their hands bit by bit.


    A sudden sort of pride welled up in him. Everything there was his. He had established it all! Chen Mu had finally realized that deep down, he actually did care. He cared that he had made all of it! It was probably that circumstance that influenced him to make some choices. He felt something budding in the deepest recesses of his heart.


    Chen Mu suddenly found that he seemed to have some leisure. In the entire base, only one other person had the same leisure he did at that time¡ªWei-ah.


    "Has the plump dog gotten better?" Chen Mu saw the dog lying by Wei-ah and didn''t know if it was from being sick or from its habitual laziness. Since he had first seen the dog, it had always been in that state.


    "It''s gotten better." Wei-ah took a look at Chen Mu. "Are you done being so busy?"


    Chen Mu nodded. "Mmmm, I can relax for a while."


    "You haven''t trained for a long time," Wei-ah said lightly.


    Chen Mu was suddenly aware that the training Wei-ah was talking about was the resistance training. It had certainly been a long time since he had advanced such training.


    Chen Mu was lying on the floor five minutes later, his brain in a daze.


    "You''ve regressed quite a bit." Wei-ah had knocked him over with no mercy. "You only lasted for 6.8 seconds!"


    The dizzy feeling gradually cleared up, and Chen Mu gritted his teeth and crawled up from the floor. "Come again!"


    * * *


    In Pomelo, the balance of power had been restored between the Central Repository of the Classics and the Federation Comprehensive Academy. The two sides remained at a standoff, and they weren''t about to start fighting again. That had allowed many of the citizens of Pomelo to breathe a sigh of relief. But the clear-eyed people knew it was only the calm before the storm.


    Some of the important people from the Central Island Firm were in the hands of the Central Repository of the Classics along with Ren Wenzhou. In order to prevent the Central Repository of the Classics from transferring them, all of the long-distance shuttle trains that connected to other cities were taken over by the Federation Comprehensive Academy, preventing anyone from leaving Pomelo.


    That action made the citizens of Pomelo, who already felt panicked, even more panicked. Even the local wealthy were panicked. They knew in the eyes of the Big Six, they didn''t amount to anything. Once they started the war, they were afraid the card artisans of the Big Six wouldn''t pay attention to them even if they were looking them in the face.


    The cost to hire card artisans in the city had soared. Those prices, which had turned all the ledger sheets red, even bothered Chen Mu. But, compared to the wealthy, Chen Mu was a lot calmer. The more chaotic things became, the better it would be for him.


    That was particularly true of the current standoff because no one would come looking to bother him. The Central Repository of the Classics wouldn''t, and the Federation Comprehensive Academy was still less likely. When it came to Faya, they wouldn''t be stupid enough to show up just then.


    Every day that passed meant the strength of the base was slightly increased. Before the battles cleared up, no one would be likely to bother them. Chen Mu was hoping the period could be stretched out¡ªthe longer the better. That would give them a little more time.


    Once the battle cleared up, no matter who won, they would probably take the knife to him.


    Jie Yanbai sneaking in had been a warning bell to Chen Mu. Ordinary people might not understand the matter of the numbered series of cards, but in the eyes of the big powers, it was certainly no secret.


    They needed to seize the moment, but Chen Mu couldn''t really think of anything to do. He knew Bogner would be more accurate than he could be in determining the situation!


    He at least seized the moment himself to train. To increase his power by a bit was still something.


    By the fiftieth time he was knocked down by Wei-ah, Chen Mu had started to gradually find the rhythm and feel he previously had. Slowly, his resistance time grew longer and longer. After Chen Mu had found his objective, he demonstrated shocking toughness. Even Wei-ah, who had always had wooden eyes, occasionally flashed a hint of surprise.


    Without knowing why, every time he saw the fine look of surprise in Wei-ah''s eyes, Chen Mu would feel a real sense of accomplishment.


    But the training was cut short. He was no longer the solitary lad he had once been; he was now in charge of a team.


    Bogner had come looking for him with something on his mind.


    Seeing how black and blue Chen Mu''s face was, Bogner''s expression turned a little strange. The expressions on the people behind him also turned strange. Only then did Chen Mu notice the people behind him. They were the construction card artisans who had been retrofitting the base for firepower in its fortifications.


    "Boss," Bogner said after considering things for a moment. "The situation in Pomelo has gotten too tense. They are all concerned it will spill over to them. Seeing that President Jiao Si is here, they felt they could be protected here. They hope you might allow them to remain in the base for a while to get through this danger."


    The one in the lead then opened his mouth. "Generous Boss, to be able to be Bogner''s boss, we believe you must be someone amazing. We hope you could take us in for a while. In return, we would be obligated to serve you for that time. Your humble servant would like to transform your fortress into a Starfish Fort!"


    "Starfish Fort?" Bogner was quite surprised. "You understand the Starfish Fort?"


    "No!" The one in the lead shook his head. "I''m the only one who knows it, but I can guide them. I believe we can complete it without spending a lot of time."


    Hearing that, Chen Mu understood that the so-called Starfish Fort was certainly something good. If the base got damaged, it could quickly be repaired if they were there. He nodded without the least hesitation. "Ok. I agree!"


    The group of construction card artisans was ecstatic. "That is very kind of you, gracious lord. You will certainly not regret your wise decision!" the leader vowed.


    Chen Mu said to Bogner, "I turn it over to you." Bogner nodded his understanding and immediately took the group to get everything ready.


    Just then, Chen Mu''s apparatus sounded out.

 267 The Fatty’s Concerns

    It was the fatty, which rather surprised Chen Mu. He didn''t look so good. "Have you heard the news of the blockade?"


    "I have." Chen Mu nodded.


    The fatty''s face looked as though it could squeeze out bitter water. "Things are miserable for me right now. There are still a lot of valuable things in the auction house; if they really do fight, my losses would kill me!"


    "What can we do?" Chen Mu also knitted his brow, unable to think of a good approach.


    The fatty sighed. "How about I move everything over to where you are? The defenses on my warehouse are far from yours. I would feel a lot better if they were with you there."


    "Ok." Chen Mu readily agreed, although the fatty''s confidence in him surprised him.


    Seeming to have guessed what Chen Mu was thinking, the fatty sneered still more. "You might not know, but it has become impossible to recruit anyone by now. The power I have on hand is pitiful, and the gang I have is useless. The arrogance of the Big Six is well-known. As a big player, I don''t mean a thing to them. At least you have Jiao Si there. They would have to think hard before making any moves on you. I''m thinking you are in the safest place in Pomelo."


    Chen Mu was taken aback, never having thought he would hear the fatty call it the safest place.


    The fatty grunted coldly. "I have always felt this battle would quickly be resolved. Right now, all routes out of town are in the hands of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, and the Central Island Firm is in the hands of the Central Repository of the Classics. The longer the stalemate lasts, however, the more obvious the advantage of the Federation Comprehensive Academy will become. Their forces can easily be resupplied. Mi Xiaqing is no fool. I''m guessing he will take advantage of the current situation, when the difference in power remains pretty minor, and try to break out."


    Sure enough, no matter who it was, their judgement about the situation seemed a lot better than Chen Mu''s!


    "The Federation Comprehensive Academy is certainly aware of that, and they are likely to be prepared for the Central Repository of the Classics breaking out. Ha ha, when the battle comes, I''m afraid it''s going to be a big one!" The fatty''s bitter humor deepened. "The more fiercely they fight, the more miserable for us."


    The fatty''s expression then turned more solemn. "There are now already people who have started secretly organizing the power we do have. If those in Pomelo with any face and heads on their shoulders pull together all their strength, it would be a rather frightening power!"


    "That would be a good thing!" Chen Mu said. "Wouldn''t you be safe then?"


    "Your thinking is too simple, young brother!" The fatty sighed. "Right now, everyone is looking out for themselves and minding their own business. No one else is likely to interfere with your affairs. But once they get organized, the power on everyone''s hands will be concentrated. When the time comes, what you do isn''t going to be up to you! It''s a time of war. If you want to root out outsiders, there are just too many ways to accomplish that. Those in the organization won''t necessarily be harboring good intentions."


    Chen Mu was silenced. The organizations he''d seen previously had always raised the flag of helping the common man, but after a while, they would transform into using them as pawns.


    "So, what do you intend to do?" Chen Mu asked with concern. Hearing what the fatty had to say, he felt the fatty''s situation had turned bad. The relations between the fatty and him had long since developed into more than simply being partners. All the help the fatty had provided was something he would never forget.


    The fatty shook his head as his expression turned serious. "I don''t know right now. I''m going to take it step by step. Those people wouldn''t dare to use force just yet." His voice went cold. "Moreover, it wouldn''t be good for them to provoke me."


    After considering it, Chen Mu said, "Why don''t you come over here?"


    The fatty was taken aback and gave out a hearty laugh. "Don''t worry about me, young brother. Ha ha, your older brother has seen a lot of storms, and these people just aren''t in the mainstream. Even if those manipulating from behind have some ability, if they think they are going to push me around, they''re too tender for that!" His expression then become still more serious. "Still, I''m planning to send my boy over. Look after him for me for a while."


    "Of course!" Chen Mu nodded without the least hesitation. To want to give his son over to someone else at such a time required a lot of trust!


    The fatty''s expression relaxed as he said with a slight smile, "Ha ha, with no family concerns, I won''t have anything to worry about. The layout in Pomelo will possibly be redivided during this period. I''m going to have Xi Ping bring everyone over there with you. Xi Ping has been with me a long time, and he is very dependable and experienced with getting things done. He seldom makes mistakes. You can turn over all your logistics to him."


    Chen Mu merely nodded, still feeling rather concerned about the fatty.


    The fatty gave Chen Mu a close look before saying, "From the first time I saw you, I felt a kindred spirit. My young brother is a real person, not out to cheat anyone and without the least bit of hypocrisy. Plus, you''re decisive and reasonable. There is nothing for me to worry about. Besides, you have Bogner now to help out, and you will soon have a fine disposition there. But, young brother, there''s something you must remember!"


    Chen Mu was listening carefully since he knew the fatty was telling him something important.


    "You must remember you are no longer just one person! Everything you decide will determine the lives and deaths of the hundreds below you. As I see it, a competent boss can''t only look out for his own interests but has to represent the interests of the entire team. That''s the only way for you to sit firmly as the boss with everyone else wanting to serve you. But you must know that if you need something for yourself, then don''t sacrifice yourself in the interests of others. A person has to live for himself first," the fatty said solemnly.


    Che Mu nodded with vigor. "I''ll remember!"


    The fatty then laughed and said, "Don''t resent me for being so long-winded. Ha ha, ok, I imagine Xi Ping will be there right away."


    After cutting off the connection, Chen Mu was still chewing over what the fatty had just said as though he''d realized something.


    Before long, Xi Ping arrived, and following along was the mighty procession of a shuttle car fleet. The specifications for the team became a lot higher than before.


    Xi Ping and Chen Mu were familiar with one another, and the work went along smoothly. The fatty''s son was about 7 or 8 with a well-proportioned body, not at all fat like Yang An. He looked very smart. His dark eyes were like gems, which reminded Chen Mu of Li Duhong. He was called Yang Bo, and he was a really good kid.


    Probably having been instructed by the fatty upon departure, Yang Bo called out to Chen Mu primly, "Uncle."


    Chen Mu was taken aback, that being the first time anyone had called him Uncle. He rubbed Yang Bo''s little head and said in a soft voice, "You''ll be playing here with your uncle for a while, little Yang Bo."


    "Mmmm, thank you, Uncle." Yang Bo was wearing a sweet smile.


    Xi Ping then came over and said respectfully to Chen Mu, "Everything has been moved into the warehouse, Mr. Cao. The boss said some things had better be taken out and used rather than being stored away. He specifically asked me to bring them along."


    Chen Mu felt his heart warmed as he nodded. "Mmmm, you can take care of those."


    Xi Ping responded respectfully with, "Yes, sir!" Then, he went to arrange the warehouse. The fatty had brought over nearly all of his possessions.


    Chen Mu seemed to sense something unsafe about that.


    Seeing little Yang Bo, Bogner''s eyes lit up as he said, pleasantly surprised, "Little Yang Bo!"


    "Uncle Bogner!" Little Yang Bo ran cheerfully over to Bogner.


    After Yang Bo had left to play, Bogner''s brow immediately furrowed. "Yang An''s situation doesn''t seem so good."


    Chen Mu felt that even ten of him wouldn''t be up to Bogner''s judgment about the situation. He passed along everything the fatty had told him.


    After hearing that, Bogner''s expression changed. "Yang An is in danger!"


    Chen Mu was stunned, "What do you mean?"


    "Hmmm, the fatty is giving himself a way out. That shows he doesn''t have much confidence. Certainly no ordinary person could make the fatty lose his confidence. The gang of losers in Pomelo by themselves would have no way to make him so concerned. Who could be the awesome person manipulating things behind the scenes?" Bogner was talking to himself.


    Chen Mu was mulling it over in his head, as well.


    Bogner suddenly raised his head with a burst of enlightenment in his eyes, and he said in a low voice, "I know who it is!"


    "Who is it?" Chen Mu couldn''t help but ask.


    "Faya! It must be Faya!" Bogner''s tone was definite. "I''m guessing Faya would never fold at the first blow like that, and they wouldn''t be that stupid. They certainly have something up their sleeves. If someone is manipulating things in the background, the greatest likelihood right now would be Faya!"


    Bogner knitted his brow again. "But, if it is Faya, what is their intention? Even if they manage to organize this group of people, they could never hold out against the Central Repository of the Classics and the Federation Comprehensive Academy. So, what is their objective?"


    That question was too difficult for Chen Mu.


    Bogner fell into deep thought, still unable to guess Faya''s intentions. But he did know they didn''t have the ability to help Yang An at that time. Jiao Si wanted to sit firmly where they were, but that didn''t actually mean anyone wanted to just casually take a shot at them.


    They would never take a random shot at such an ace as Jiao Si.


    According to the agreement between the two sides, Chen Mu had no way to make his counterpart do those things for him. The only thing they could do just then was quickly make themselves stronger. Even someone as slow as Chen Mu could tell the atmosphere was filled with danger.


    The storm was quickly approaching.

 268 The Card Masters Storming Off

    The standoff between the Central Repository of the Classics and the Federation Comprehensive Academy was lasting quite a bit longer than the fatty had expected. Pomelo was peaceful, though battles would break out in the outskirts. Seeing there was no way to enter Pomelo, the Central Repository of the Classics'' reinforcements simply took advantage of a little trick. They started to relentlessly take shots from ambush at the reinforcements of the Federation Comprehensive Academy. They were holding nothing back with those ambushes, given their power.


    If the technology in Ren Wenzhou''s hands were to fall to any of the Big Six, it would enable them to rapidly pull away from the other five. How could the Central Repository of the Classics be willing to allow that technology to be diverted into someone else''s hands?


    Moreover, the one being surrounded was the beloved disciple of the lord of the Central Repository of the Classics, Mi Xiaqing. It was said that in order to rescue his younger disciple, he and the other two disciples were boldly leading the troops in person to cut off the Federation Comprehensive Academy''s reinforcements.


    Of course, the Federation Comprehensive Academy didn''t wish for the technology to fall into the hands of the Central Repository of the Classics. If they were to fall back, not only would that be a blow to their prestige, but their previous losses would have been in vain. The Federation Comprehensive Academy strove to dispatch only aces at the time, and they relentlessly sent out troops of card artisans. To increase the difficulty for the Central Repository of the Classics'' ambushes, they split them into a large number of small units, all deployed at once.


    The state of war spread rapidly.


    Up until that time, however, all the battles had taken place in the ordinary residential districts. The five flourishing districts remained calm. Nothing caused people to lose more hope than the attitude of the Federation Comprehensive Academy. The federation government issued a tepid statement, hoping the two sides could quickly end their fighting and keep the peace.


    The weak display from the Heavenly Federation government drew a lot of dissatisfaction from the people, pushing its reputation to an historic low. The powerful in quite a few places started a mass aggregation of force to protect themselves, which severely weakened the government''s ability to moderate those forces.


    Under the impact of the fighting, requests for applications to enter the five flourishing districts abruptly increased. By far, most of the applications were rejected. Not only that, but tourist access to the five flourishing districts was shut down.


    Having nothing else they could do, the gazes of the people fell onto the ordinary residential districts that were relatively crime-free. Some of the ordinary residential districts with rudimentary social structures and lagging development became the key objectives of the migration.


    The prestige of the Central Repository of the Classics and the Federation Comprehensive Academy had also dropped off steeply in the minds of the citizens of the ordinary residential districts. Their utterly unprincipled fighting in those districts, along with their indifference to the wounding of ordinary citizens, had enraged them.


    That made number of students applying to those two academies that year abruptly plummet, and admissions levels were far from what they had been. Even the Star Academy, which had remained low-key ever since the affair of the exchanges with the Eastern Wei Academy, was a big winner with applications. And, because of having successfully repelled the challenge from the Gemini twins of Desert Camp, Moon Frost Island''s applications also surged that year. Because of its strict rules and ascetic ideals, applications to the Bitter Solitude Temple remained about the same as prior years.


    Applications to the Central Repository of the Classics, the Federation Comprehensive Academy, and Desert Camp were quite far from what they had been.


    Along with suffering a major recession, the population shrank dramatically among three ordinary residential districts¡ªthe Ming Zheng District, the Western Sheng District and the Bai Dong District¡ªdue to the fighting.


    Many people felt fortunate that so long as the five flourishing districts hadn''t turned chaotic, then the federation still hadn''t become completely ungovernable.


    No one was paying attention to the newly constructed base on the outskirts of Pomelo.


    Because of a significant reduction in the demand for cards, Chen Mu restarted his own training. He built a new pool that was 20 meters deep; when he was in it, the water pressure would make him feel like he was really struggling. Because of that powerful pressure, though, the rate of increase to Chen Mu''s perception soared.


    With the increase to his perception, all other aspects of his training level also showed an obvious improvement.


    Only Wei-ah looked on when he trained. No one else knew about it. Even someone as strong as Jiao Si hadn''t seen that Chen Mu was actually a card artisan.


    But Chen Mu had to face yet another kind of trouble.


    There were 20 card masters from the Origins Academy standing in front of him. Every one of their faces was livid. Having been oppressed for so long, they finally stormed out! Even Jiao Si found it a little tricky when they stormed out together like that.


    Their faces were as black as the bottom of a wok, and their gazes toward Chen Mu were as though they were waiting for the enemy.


    "What is going on here, Mr. Cao? Do you resent that we don''t have enough skills? You''re having us make power cards day after day. If not that, then we''re doing the work of an underclassman, preparing materials. While we''d like to honor the president''s promise of cooperation, for you to treat us this way is really unspeakable!"


    The one speaking was Professor Wen, who had been losing a lot of weight. The clothes on his body were so dirty they looked like they hadn''t been washed in months. He didn''t have any of the style of a high-grade card master; it looked as though he''d become an old street vagrant.


    Looking at the rest of them, no matter where he looked, they all had miserable expressions and reddened eyes.


    Seeing how those card masters looked, Jiao Si didn''t say anything for a moment. He squinted as though he were somewhere else. He didn''t express what he was thinking.


    "But we require power cards right now." Chen Mu spoke calmly. Power cards were what he needed most just then. The daily consumption of power cards had increased since those 400 card artisans had begun their regimented training.


    Professor Wen said with a cold smile, "If your honor only wants us to make power cards, I don''t understand why you look down on us with such contempt. If power cards are the only thing you need, you could surely find someone better at it."


    The rest of the card masters were glaring at Chen Mu with the same hatred. They looked like they were itching to pierce him through the heart.


    Seeing their expressions, Chen Mu finally understood how dissatisfied they were making power cards. Although he didn''t understand why, there wasn''t much he could think of doing since they had already refused to make them. They had only come to help, and he hadn''t invited them.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help but think about what a waste of resources it was having so many idle card masters.


    "What are you good at?" Chen Mu asked.


    "Any kind of card apart from power cards!" old Wen said with pride.


    Taking a look at them, Chen Mu activated his apparatus. "Xi Ping, could you prepare a list of ordinary materials, and send it over? The ones that were sent last time."


    "Yes, sir." Xi Ping didn''t ask why, and after half a minute, the list had been quickly transmitted to Chen Mu''s apparatus. A long list of materials appeared on the screen when he opened it.


    "Here is a list of materials. What can you make from it?" Chen Mu asked. He adjusted the screen to a large size, so everyone could see it clearly.


    Casually looking over the list, a card master said, "I can make the single-line fiery beam card, the serial shredded moon card, and the accurate cone card."


    Chen Mu had never heard of a single one of those cards'' names and could only ask, "And their parameters?"


    The card master looked at Chen Mu askance and said with a cold snort, "The accurate cone card has a standard damage rating of 721 and a firing frequency of two per second." He had deliberately selected the card with the highest destructive rating among the three.


    The Accurate Cone was a four-star card, and it could emit a kind of cone-shaped energy body. The destructive value was greatest at its tip. Among four-star cards, it was a pretty good one.


    "What materials does it use?" Chen Mu continued to ask.


    This guy isn''t even clear about the materials for the accurate cone card! The card master looked at Chen Mu with a gaze naturally full of contempt as his tone became haughtier. "You don''t even know that? Some chen stone, red-lined crystal, gamma enzymes..." He rattled off more than ten kinds of required materials in a single breath. Evidently, he was rather familiar with making that sort of card.


    Chen Mu looked at him placidly and said, "I am sorry; I''ll have to retract this scheme."


    "Why?" the card master asked in anger as his eyes widened. The gazes of the rest of the card artisans turned even less happy toward Chen Mu. Old Wen''s face darkened, and his repressed rage could be heard in what he said. "I believe your honor owes us a reasonable explanation."


    "Indeed! What is the meaning of this? What do you think we are?"


    "Don''t think you can keep us satisfied with some petty skills. We''ve eaten more salt than you''ve eaten food. You need to study a few more years, boy!"


    "Pushing us around like that..."


    All the card masters were livid as they called out their complaints toward Chen Mu. Behind him, Ru Qiu had nearly opened her mouth to say something a few times, though she shut it, not knowing what she would say.


    Chen Mu kept calm as he was berated by that gang, though he was getting a little impatient. He suddenly felt those card masters had become like the princelings of the wealthy, so finicky and afraid of hard work. They would complain about any little thing. How could he have known what kind of position a high-grade card master enjoyed in society? Perhaps they been diligent when they were students, but they''d become pampered after so many years of their superior life.


    Chen Mu knew if he didn''t settle things with that troublesome gang this time, they''d get even pickier when the time came. Not only wouldn''t they be any help, but they would become an annoyance.


    Thinking of that, he furrowed his brow for the first time as his expression turned rather cold. Seeing that, Ru Qiu abruptly became a little concerned and wanted to shout down those card masters, but she was stymied when she saw the president give her a look.


    That was when Chen Mu said something.

 269 Gambling with Cards I

    "Mmmm, I''ll give you a reason. Quite simply, I could make a card with a damage value of over 850 and a firing frequency of three per second using those materials." Chen Mu''s voice wasn''t loud, though it immediately became quiet all around.


    They finally reacted after a few seconds when someone shouted, "Impossible! How could a card be made from those materials with a damage value of 850? Impossible. Utterly impossible."


    The rest of the card artisans'' gazes toward Chen Mu were full of skepticism and disbelief. They couldn''t really be blamed for that.


    Although a four-star card having a damage value of 850 would be considered pretty good, it wasn''t all that rare. However, there was a direct relationship between the power of a card and the materials used to make it. The higher the grade of card, the higher the demands on the materials. Card making skill alone didn''t have the power to increase a card''s level without limit, and any legend saying you could use only ordinary materials to make a five-star card was pure nonsense.


    Even if Chen Mu could make a card with a damage value of over 850, he absolutely couldn''t make one using those materials. Moreover, they all knew how good that card master was at making those three kinds of cards. Even Madam Pei''s attainments couldn''t exceed his with those three kinds of cards.


    "Eight hundred fifty? Impossible!" The card master was shaking his head peremptorily. While his attainments may have been ordinary among the other card masters, he had spent dozens of years on those three kinds of cards alone. He believed he had optimized the accurate cone card to the limit of what could be achieved for that card, given the current system.


    If he were to use only those materials, no other card could be more powerful than that one. He had plenty of confidence in that regard.


    Everyone''s gaze was focused on Chen Mu, who remained unperturbed and didn''t show the least sign of backing down.


    "Let''s make a bet," the card master said in a deliberately loud voice.


    "Oh, what are we betting?"


    "If I win, I would like to see the cards you''re making with the materials we''ve been preparing for you." A sly look flashed past the card master''s eyes as the rest of them were given a lift. Many of them looked as though they were certain he would win. Even old Wen''s gaze toward that card master carried some praise.


    Ah, after we get back, we might consider elevating his position.


    A slightly displeased look flashed through Chen Mu''s eyes. His counterpart''s behavior would already be considered spying internally to get that information. He casually glanced at Jiao Si with his half-closed eyes, but there was no expression visible on his face.


    Those people were still three parts dirty, and Chen Mu couldn''t help but feel annoyed. According to their agreement, those card masters were to unconditionally do as he said during that period. Not only didn''t they want to make power cards, but they were trying to spy on the secrets in Chen Mu''s hands. That was a little over the edge.


    "And if you lose?" Chen Mu asked indifferently.


    "Lose? Ha! How could I?" The card master looked like he had heard a joke and laughed out loud, and some of those around him did the same.


    Chen Mu just looked at him and said nothing. Seeing Chen Mu''s cold gaze shooting at him, the laughter screeched to a halt. A slight look of disdain then floated onto his face as he said loudly, "If I lose, do whatever you want with me."


    Chen Mu shook his head. "You are under President Jiao Si, not under me."


    The card master then blurted out, "Ok, if I lose, I''ll leave the Origins Academy, and I''ll work for you for free!"


    Jiao Si''s expression changed slightly before he could stop it.


    Chen Mu didn''t immediately respond but instead deflected his gaze to Jiao Si. "How does the president feel about that?"


    Jiao Si''s expression immediately returned to normal, and he laughed with no trembling in his voice. "These hijinks of yours¡ªhow could I sweep away all your fun? It''s just that it would be somewhat inappropriate for the professor to leave the Origins Academy. How about Mr. Cao makes a different bet?"


    "I wonder if the president has a good offer." Chen Mu''s face remained unruffled.


    "Ha ha, then I''ll put up 300 million Oudi. I never thought everyone would dislike making power cards so much. That must have put some obstacles in the way of Mr. Cao''s plans, for which I am truly sorry. Half of the 300 million will be my bet, and the other half will be in compensation for Mr. Cao''s losses, whether I win or lose. What do you think, Mr. Cao?"


    Things quieted down right away. They never would have guessed the bet they were about to propose would actually cost the president 300 million Oudi. Everyone felt suddenly agitated. Moreover, what the president had just said seemed to imply he was rather dissatisfied with their behavior.


    "Ok!" Chen Mu nodded. Of course, he wasn''t going to have a contest of face with Jiao Si. He had to say Jiao Si had expressed his apologies for the incident. By that time, the best thing to do would be to go with the flow.


    A line of people had already arrived at the card making lab. Xi Ping had gotten Chen Mu''s order and had prepared the materials.


    They hadn''t had an opportunity to know what Chen Mu''s card making strength was like. But the bet that day had actually been premeditated for a long time. Making power cards for those few days had tormented them beyond endurance. Moreover, the materials they had processed with their own hands had made them nearly crack their skulls discussing them, and they were still unable to make heads or tails of it.


    It was like ants were crawling around in their minds, which made their minds itch until they cooked up that plan. But they hadn''t told Jiao Si about what they were doing, which is what had caused the scene that day.


    Of course, Chen Mu had never expected those people to finally make such a fuss about the matter. He did understand, however, that if he didn''t intimidate them now, he would be looked down upon by them. Then, they would be so reluctant he wouldn''t be able to get them to do anything. In addition, there was a good possibility Jiao Si would feel he had limited value and would inevitably lose interest in doing anything himself.


    Any piece of work would have completely different results depending on whether one''s heart was really in it.


    Whether it was what the fatty had said or the construction card artisans when they found out Jiao Si was backing him, it all made Chen Mu realize how important Jiao Si was to the base at that time. Although the two sides had already developed an association, if he wanted to gain his counterpart''s approval, he would have to show him his power.


    Powerful people only wanted to collaborate with powerful people, or those with the potential to be powerful.


    Ru Qiu walked out and said, "I''ll be your assistant."


    Chen Mu nodded and instructed her about how to prepare each of the materials. Such things would be considered complicated for ordinary people, but they were as familiar as could be for those card masters.


    Her expression looked a little strange after hearing Chen Mu''s instructions. The processing method Chen Mu required was odd. For instance, that little bit of chen stone was one of the most commonly seen materials. Everyone knew how to process it. There was only one way, which was to take some of the chen stone together with silk heart juice, and add the same dose of inky blue pulp.


    If you cooked it over a small fire for ten minutes, the ink you would get could be used to make low-grade fantasy cards. To make "Chance Encounter" and "Legend of Master Shi," Chen Mu had used a large quantity of that kind of card ink.


    If it were a card ink used for other cards, it would require the addition of other materials. But the procedure of adding silk heart juice and inky blue pulp would never change.


    However, the way Chen Mu used it was completely different. He was actually going to use the gamma enzymes to divide up the chen stone! Could that work?


    Everyone''s expression was different. Some were dazed and some skeptical, and some knitted their brows in deep thought. But everyone was squinting and staring at the materials in Ru Qiu''s hands.


    After the purple chen stone was added to the gamma enzyme, it started to quickly soften. Then, after about three minutes, there was only a pool of purple, muddy residue in the reagent bottle in Ru Qiu''s hand.


    Everyone put away their feelings of contempt as that pool of rare, mud-like, purple residue led them to understand that their counterpart was certainly not just cooking something up. The gamma enzyme could react with the chen stone, which was something not one of them knew in the end. Although the final result hadn''t yet appeared, their confidence had already been shaken.


    The peculiarity of that method had completely demolished the entire federation''s techniques for preparing chen stone. Most of the people among them planned to do a lot of studying after they got back about the actual use of the purple residue formed after the chen stone was dissolved by the gamma enzyme.


    Moreover, the techniques Ru Qiu had used to prepare the materials made them feel that their brains weren''t quite working well enough.


    How could the red-lined crystal be extracted with alcohol? It should have undergone grinding into powder after baking at high temperature by rights! In preparing the luminescent leaf, they had never heard of using the ashes after it had been burned up.


    An hour later, the card masters from the Origins Academy were all staring with their mouths agape at the bottle of thick, black card ink in Ru Qiu''s hands. The card ink in the constant-temperature reagent bottle gave off an obscure, mild aroma, which jolted the spirits of everyone in the card making lab.


    Smelling the fragrance, an enamored look flashed through Ru Qiu''s eyes. She had conducted the entire process of preparing the card ink and had already memorized how to make it.


    Chen Mu didn''t waste any words as he pulled out the set of Weak Water pens and a blank card.


    "Weak Water! It''s the Weak Water!" One of the card masters had gotten really excited as he pointed at the row of card making pens in front of Chen Mu, having lost his voice.


    "Weak Water? What is that?" one of the card artisans asked. The other card artisans looked just as curious. The card master who had called out really liked to collect the pens of the famous pen masters of history, and he had suddenly cried out when he saw it, naturally being curious. But none of them had heard the name Weak Water, and they couldn''t help but ask about it.


    "The Weak Water is one of the finest of the works of Kuo Haofeng. Not long after it appeared, it went missing somehow. Who would have thought it would fall into his hands?" The card master was looking at Chen Mu enviously.


    The works of Kuo Haofeng. Everyone''s gazes at the set of pens in front of Chen Mu turned hot. Even old Wen was moved to excitement as his gaze helplessly turned a little bewildered.


    Paying no attention to the hubbub from the stunned card masters behind him, all of Chen Mu''s concentration was focused on the blank card in front of him.

 270 Gambling with Cards II

    Chen Mu had dared to make the bet because he was confident. Given that those materials were only ordinary, being able to make a card with a damage value as high as 721 actually implied outstanding ability. Chen Mu certainly never would have made the bet before he had made the numbered series of cards.


    The numbered series of cards had been a watershed in Chen Mu''s entire career. Those 20-some successful cards, along with nearly ten failures, had been both designed and made personally by him.


    Because he hadn''t been so influenced by the Van Sant System, Chen Mu hadn''t been constrained by it. The creativity of the numbered series of cards had made people feel as though the skies had opened to something wonderful. Added to Chen Mu''s ever-deepening understanding of Token Theory, the two combined to form the numbered series of cards, most of which had utterly fantastic power.


    Chen Mu was now going to copy one of his own cards, 005 from the numbered series.


    More precisely, it was a simplified version of 005. Card 005 wasn''t the most eye-catching among those cards. Compared to the boundless horizons of 007 and 013, it was considered ordinary. Still, each one of those 20-some cards was the product of Chen Mu wracking his brains, and there was nothing ordinary about any of them. That was easily seen from the more than 50 million Oudi 005 had brought in.


    Once Chen Mu heard the list of materials reported by the card master, the first thing that flashed through his mind was 005! The properties of those materials were similar to those he had used to make 005, except for being a level lower in quality.


    Doing some calculation to himself, Chen Mu used a conservative result before deciding to make the bet with them.


    Since it was a card he had invented, Chen Mu had almost no hesitation in placing the pen. He worked fast.


    The entire process was completed in a single breath; he spent only five minutes. Placed on the desk was a pink card. The black pattern on its surface wouldn''t be considered complex, though the fluidity of the lines lit up their eyes.


    Ru Qiu walked over and picked up the card to give to the card master who had made the bet. The card masters from the Origins Academy had long since been unable to restrain themselves, and they gasped as they gathered around.


    "Nice penmanship!" Professor Wen couldn''t hold back his praise.


    The rest of the card masters marveled at the accomplishment of the penmanship on the card. Such penmanship was only seen on the cards made by card masters with dozens of years'' experience. Even old Wen would never dare to say his own penmanship was more accomplished.


    Penmanship could only be improved with lots of practice. Unless you spent a lot of time specifically practicing, any progress would be painfully slow. Moreover, since the quality of the penmanship wasn''t related to how effective the composition was, contemporary card masters paid less and less attention to it. It was really hard to find a card master with outstanding penmanship.


    So, none of them could help but sound out their praises when they saw that card. Even though contemporary card masters weren''t in pursuit of penmanship, it was something everyone had to practice in the old days. The masterpieces handed down from the grand masters of yore showed how outstanding the penmanship of the previous generations was. The most ironic thing was that the increasing belittling of penmanship was directly related to the establishment of the Van Sant System. But the one who created that system, Heiner Van Sant, had outstanding penmanship.


    Among everyone, only Ru Qiu had long since stopped being amazed at Chen Mu''s penmanship. She couldn''t have been more familiar with it after following Chen Mu for a few days.


    When everyone''s attention turned to the card''s composition, there were many expressions of surprise and marvel before the card masters all fell silent.


    Ru Qiu sneered.


    The situation in front of her hadn''t been unexpected; she had already guessed their own card masters would surely never recognize those patterns. Those compositions so full of mystery had been torturing her over those last few days. She still hadn''t been able to make any sense of them.


    Ru Qiu was as smart as a whip, with a lot of insight, and she had roughly guessed the reason. According to her surmise, Chen Mu must have been from a branch descended from the age of the sects. The card compositions he was good at were so different from the Van Sant System. The compositions she had seen must have had a rather high standing within their system, which was why she had found them so difficult.


    From any angle, Ru Qiu''s conjecture was basically right on. It would have been strange if she could understand those many deep layers of Token composition, never having studied even basic Token Theory.


    The Origins Academy card artisans were all looking at one another, unable to understand the composition on the card. Even the profoundly learned and well-known old Wen had never seen such a composition.


    That was when those card masters felt abruptly embarrassed. They had been paying attention to something else before, wanting to clarify which sect Chen Mu finally belonged to. But now, they couldn''t even recognize the card composition in front of them.


    The pattern on the card''s surface wasn''t complex. Its composition was clear and could be taken in at a glance. Although the composition was entirely different from the patterns on ordinary cards, it was highly accomplished. It had some implicit order.


    In their minds, when they looked at that card, Chen Mu was definitely a card master descended from some sect.


    The card master who had made the bet had remained surprisingly unruffled as he gave the card to Jiao Si. "None of us recognize this card, Headmaster, and we ask that you please give it a try." If one didn''t understand the pattern on a card and wanted to know the card''s application, the simplest way was to try it out.


    Jiao Si didn''t immediately take the card but looked at Chen Mu instead.


    Chen Mu invited him by turning up his palm. "Give it a try, Headmaster Jiao Si, and see what the card is like."


    Only then did Jiao Si take the card. But to detect the power of a card, they had to go to a different training field. The determination of a card''s destructive value required the use of some specific instruments.


    Fortunately, Chen Mu had never skimped on training-related instruments. Bogner also placed simply hair-raising importance on training. The training equipment used in the base was basically the best on the market. Of course, some very expensive training equipment got dismissed for reasons of funding.


    Jiao Si stood on the field with that fresh-from-the-oven card already firmly stuck into his apparatus. He was still quite interested to try out new cards, even more so when it was a card Chen Mu had made! The rest of them didn''t know who Chen Mu was, but he sure did. When the card artisans had previously made that ruckus, he had wanted to see how Chen Mu would settle things. That was why he had given that look at Ru Qiu to prevent her from interfering.


    He knew little enough about that Mr. Cao. As one who had led teams of card artisans, he had never even run into him before. So, he really wanted to see how that partner of his conducted himself in the end.


    When the matter changed into that card master starting to gamble, he knew what the results of the bet would be. He didn''t want to lose an ace card master at that critical juncture, so even at the expense of some blood, he had changed the stakes.


    Jiao Si settled himself in meditation after standing still. He lightly stuck out the finger on his right hand, where a starburst the size of a grain of rice appeared. Although it was small, it was eye-piercing. It dragged a long tail behind it like a comet as it shot toward the target.


    The target didn''t move, but the column of numbers about the damage value started to jump around like crazy. It showed 600, 700, 800...


    The damage value finally stopped at 902.


    The card masters all had their mouths hanging open, stunned at those numbers.


    The card wasn''t as good as 005 in the end. It not only fell short in the damage value, but more critically in firing frequency. The firing frequency of 005 was five times higher. And, there would be five shooting stars with every shot, unlike that card, which could only emit a single energy body.


    Those two performance factors had determined that the two cards were at completely different levels. Still, in Chen Mu''s eyes, that card, which would only be considered ordinary, was enough to win the bet.


    "What comes out of Mr. Cao''s hands is really outstanding. I''m afraid very few in the federation could make a card with such power." Jiao Si laughed with a good deal of affection in his expression.


    "President Jiao Si flatters me. I just like to try obscure things. Compared to true power, I am far from the level of any of your colleagues!" Chen Mu spoke calmly and with no polite meaning to what he said. As he saw it, apart from the aspect of Token Theory, he would never flatter himself that he was up to those card masters; they had been immersed in card making knowledge for dozens of years.


    After he said that, the card masters were so embarrassed they couldn''t wait to find some hole to crawl into. The face of the card master who had made the bet had turned ashen, and his eyes were blank and dispirited. To be defeated by someone at the thing he was best at was really too big a blow.


    After that, the card masters became a lot more well-behaved. Card masters formed a rather unique group, mostly fanatical about technology. Once someone else''s technology was better than theirs, they would be very accepting.


    But Chen Mu wasn''t about to make them produce power cards. On the one hand, because of the fracas about the power cards, of course he wasn''t going to make them do that again. On the other, what they had made were all four-star cards. Those were for use in battle, and they already had sufficient quantities. Three-star power cards would be just as good for ordinary training, with a lot less outlay.


    So, Chen Mu simply opened his warehouse to allow them to make cards as they pleased. If all of those materials were turned into cards, their value would be multiplied many times over. With such a large warehouse, even if Chen Mu were to make them himself, it would be a long, long time before he could use up all the materials. They would go to waste.


    At that time, the first battle in Pomelo after the standoff had broken out between the Central Repository of the Classics and the Federation Comprehensive Academy!

 271 A Melee I

    Pomelo turned chaotic. The battle between the Central Repository of the Classics and the Federation Comprehensive Academy had caused panic. Citizens were frantically running everywhere, and the thunderous sounds of explosions were mixed up with weeping, screaming, moaning¡­


    Pomelo had been turned into Hell on Earth in the blink of an eye.


    The two sides weren''t at all reticent or circumspect in making their moves, and the power they brought to bear would be enough to destroy Pomelo. The sky had already become the scene of a wild battle among card artisans. By that time, any semblance of order had been destroyed. The two sides had melded together in the melee, leaving the card artisans to fight only for themselves in groups of three or five.


    Every kind of energy body cut through the sky and fell like rain onto the residential district below. Ball after ball of dazzling fire kept blooming, and the explosions were endless. The whole of Pomelo was unrecognizable before two hours were up.


    Whistling sounds from the high-speed energy bodies could be heard overhead from time to time. Every time one went by, everyone panicked below.


    Looking down from the sky, one could see energy canopies lighting up one after another like inverted crystal bowls. They could have even been called rather eye-catching during that melee. They were all the powerful in Pomelo, with strong family backgrounds, whose defenses would naturally be rather outstanding. The energy canopies had been purchased at great expense.


    But one of them would be broken apart from time to time, and wild screaming could be heard from those under them. While the energy canopies'' defensive power was impressive, the melee wasn''t being fought by ordinary card artisans. The card artisans who came from the Big Six were at least one or two notches more powerful than those from outside!


    The large-scale energy canopies had no way to completely block the blows of those elite card artisans. Once they started rippling, the outcome could only be miserable.


    Nothing drew people''s attention in the whole battle scene more than Mi Xiaqing. He had handily taken down three of the Federation Comprehensive Academy card artisans by himself. Those three were the top aces among their reinforcements. Ning Zu''s grave wounds still hadn''t healed, though his skills remained a lot better than those of an ordinary card artisan. He was weathering the melee rather well.


    People were swarming toward the outskirts. By that time, those ferocious wild beasts didn''t seem as scary as the card artisans. They were all thinking that no matter how, they had to get out of the battle first. They could return to the city when the fighting was winding down.


    The flow of people rolled along with mournful cries all over. Their expressions were panicked, with many of them holding back tears.


    Compelled by hopelessness, many among the more than 500,000 people of Pomelo brought into play a lot more strength than they normally could. They struggled mightily trying to find some way to survive.


    * * *


    Chen Mu, Bogner and Jiao Si were standing in front of the window, gazing outside. The three of them didn''t look good as they watched the dark crowd of people in the distance. Their scalps went numb looking at the swarm of approaching ants.


    With no hesitation, Bogner gave a steely-faced order to prepare for battle. "Warriors, immediately take your positions in the Starfish Fort, and prepare to fight!"


    There was the pounding of dense footsteps inside the building, and everyone looked nervous as they flew toward their battle stations. When they got to the Starfish Fort they had practiced in every day and saw the situation outside, their faces turned white. Those rookies had never seen such a scene.


    It was Jiao Si''s style to be decisive, and he ordered the card artisans beside him with no hesitation. "Hang on, and listen to Mr. Bogner''s command."


    "Yes, sir!" The card artisans'' response was prompt, showing how well-trained they were.


    Bogner thanked Jiao Si warmly; apart from the 20 card artisans he had, the rest were all novices who had never experienced battle. The card artisans next to Jiao Si would provide a lot of power.


    Jiao Si waved his hand with a serious expression. "We''re now all in the same boat. Once those people strike the base, the result will be hard to contemplate."


    All three of their hearts were heavy. It was hard for Chen Mu to take when he saw those panicked, hopeless people outside. He was a grassroots person who felt a lot of sympathy for ordinary people.


    All the passageways in the base had been sealed. Unless someone attacked, there shouldn''t be any problem.


    His gaze fell onto the broad lawns outside. Chen Mu had wanted to say someone should go warn them. There were countless devices in the grass that could kill someone on touch. But when his gaze fell onto the crazed and panicked faces of the crowd, he knew a warning at that time would be useless. Those people had already completely lost their reason.


    Looking again at Bogner and Jiao Si, Chen Mu found out how soft he was. Their faces were as steady as mountains and not the least bit flustered.


    The tide of people finally touched the verge of the lawn.


    Hong, hong, hong!


    There was a string of explosions as several balls of fire lit up, knocking ten people down. While the crowd in front held back, the force transmitted from those behind pressed them relentlessly forward.


    The souls left the bodies of those people in their panic, but the force transmitted from behind was too powerful. They couldn''t stop.


    Hong, hong, hong!


    There was another string of explosions as line after line of the crowd fell. Chen Mu couldn''t quite watch those pawns. They were all innocent, and they died there so miserably.


    Bogner''s and Jiao Si''s expressions hadn''t changed.


    By then, the people in front wouldn''t dare to advance. They pressed desperately back, making a chaotic scene. But fortunately, the speed of the flow of people had finally slowed.


    Chen Mu breathed an involuntary sigh of relief. Although that had all been for self-defense, it was always good to be able to kill one fewer person. It wasn''t that he was some kind of really good person, but he did hope the senseless killing could decrease a little.


    Something suddenly changed.


    Several dozen card artisans flew out from the flow of people toward the base. They were high-level card artisans, and as soon as they ascended, they fired off the first wave of attack from all their hands. Moving in such a coordinated fashion showed the specialized training they had undergone.


    "Sure enough!" Bogner coldly squeezed out those two words from between his teeth, not seeming to have been surprised by the situation. He stood firmly and didn''t give any orders.


    The reaction of those with Chen Mu was much faster than his counterpart had imagined.


    Just when those card artisans had fired off their first wave of attack, nine of them were hit and fell from the sky.


    Such a sharp attack had flustered the rest of the card artisans. Their adversary seized onto that to send two more card artisans falling headlong.


    "Your division is really well-trained!" Jiao Si couldn''t help his look of praise as he called out to Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu smiled. "That was all Bogner''s doing." Then, in a spark of time, the essential difference in the fighting quality of the two sides was reflected. Chen Mu thought about what he would do if he were in the place of advancing an attack. After thinking for a while, he couldn''t find a way to counterattack. Bogner''s defenses were incredibly dense, and Chen Mu quietly admired him.


    Expressing his deep agreement, Jiao Si said, "Mr. Bogner is the most outstandingly talented commander I have ever seen! Mr. Cao really has a good eye!"


    Thinking of the scene when the fatty had brought Bogner along, he suddenly felt the comedy of it all. Human life is really wonderful!


    From where they were, they had a panoramic view. Since the protective glass was one-way, their adversary had no way to find their position. They could also lift some firing holes in front of them to make it more convenient for their card artisans to advance their attack.


    The card artisans scattered in panic. They started to dance around in flight to minimize their possibility of being hit as much as possible.


    "What are they doing?" Chen Mu pointed to the card artisans jumping around in midair. They had almost completely given up the attack while they desperately dodged.


    With no change to his expression, Bogner said, "They are feinting to draw our fire. Our adversary certainly still has some tricks left."


    Then, just about when he finished speaking, he could see several people pressing toward the front of the troops. Judging from their movements, they were card artisans. They could be seen starting to scan the card appliances in the grass. They were using just one type of wavy blade card, and dozens of wavy blades then formed a line. They flew close to the ground like a giant scythe.


    Hong, hong, hong! There was a dense string of explosions, which caused quite a few helpless gulps. Given the density of those card appliance devices, even the card artisans whose job it was to sweep them clean couldn''t help but slightly change their expressions. Still, they had cleared away a perfectly straight path.


    Bogner''s gaze fell onto the roiling crowds as he said with no expression, "There are some aces sitting tight."


    Those troops quickly swept clear a 20-meter-wide road.


    However, all those people who had been surging forward before now didn''t dare take a step. They had been scared off by the string of explosions, which sounded like firecrackers. No matter how much they were urged on by the card artisans, not one of them dared to go forward.


    It became clear that there was some commander unexpectedly hiding among the crowd. Chen Mu also saw that their adversary''s attacks briefly paused.


    From that, Chen Mu knew his adversary had been planning to use the crowd as their advance scouts. In that way, not only could they avoid any losses, but they could also remain well-concealed. Then, when they mounted an attack, they could achieve their goal of surprise.


    How fierce! Chen Mu''s heart went cold.


    By the time of that little pause, however, there were only a lonely six card artisans remaining in midair.


    There was a sudden, powerful energy fluctuation from somewhere among the crowd.


    That felt abruptly familiar to Chen Mu.


    "Hugo!" Chen Mu blurted out unconsciously. "It''s Faya!"


    The energy fluctuations were exactly the same as when Hugo had used the Aurora Beam the last time. Chen Mu was highly sensitive to energy fluctuations and could detect the slightest change. Hugo had made a deep impression on him.


    The Aurora Beam he had seen Hugo emit before had enough power to nearly destroy the whole place. If they were actually hit by that Aurora Beam, Chen Mu wondered if the base could withstand such a blow.


    Where were those energy fluctuations coming from?


    Sweeping over the crowd, Chen Mu''s gaze suddenly stopped.

 272 A Melee II

    Chen Mu raised his right hand with no hesitation, and a strange whistling suddenly filled the crowd''s eardrums. A faint, pale blue shadow cut through the sky, shooting toward someone''s figure in the crowd.


    Hugo''s face shifted. He was in the middle of preparing to emit the powerful Aurora Beam with all his might. He hadn''t thought his adversary would be able to react so quickly! Moreover, the timing was just right; unless he could dodge it, the blow would be inevitable.


    What he was using would create the most powerful blow he knew of¡ªthe Aurora Beam Tubular Cannon. It had massive power, but it required that he deploy all of his perception to emit it. There would be no way to erect an energy cloak to protect himself.


    Still, Hugo didn''t intend to stop his firing of the Aurora Beam Tubular Canon.


    The two card artisans beside Hugo immediately reacted at the same time. They simultaneously emitted wavy blades and energy shuttles, hoping to intercept their adversary''s shot. Right when they erected their energy cloaks, one of them stepped to the side to block Hugo.


    Those two card artisans had been with Hugo for many years and had rich experience. They had a tacit ability to complement one another, and their series of adaptations was impeccable.


    Their expressions deepened but showed no panic.


    The faint, light blue shadow was as fast as lightning¡ªbasically too fast to react to. But, for a card artisan, that tiny bit of time could still allow them to make some response.


    The shadow was visibly about to collide with two other faint shadows, one red and one white. The two card artisans looked pleased. Although the faint shadow had shocking speed, it would be no problem to intercept it given their ability. In the organization''s assessment, their accuracy was the absolute best.


    Hugo was obviously aggressive to the bone. Most people would bring defensive-style card artisans with them, but the two with Hugo were both classically offensive card artisans. The tactic of using offense as defense was something they had perfected.


    They had blocked such a blow hundreds of times, no matter how it was counted. The energy bodies they shot off would be sufficient to annihilate their adversary''s energy body.


    Suddenly, their expressions both shifted. The blue shadow''s speed was actually increasing!


    For the speed to break upward allowed it to perilously avoid all of the energy bodies the two of them had shot off. Their hearts plummeted, and a look of panic floated helplessly over their faces. Given so little time, the slightest mistake would be fatal. They couldn''t react that time and could only stare as the faint shadow slammed into the card artisan''s energy cloak in front of Hugo.


    Ping! There was the crisp sound of glass being shattered.


    The other card artisan looked on in panic at his comrade making such a splendid scene in front of him.


    That faint, light blue shadow was like a sharp arrow flying from outer space. It plunged headlong into the yellow energy cloak! The energy cloak couldn''t sustain such a huge blow; it turned into a shower of yellow starburst rain in an instant, enshrouding Hugo and the card artisan by his side.


    A gush of blood was shooting out from the smoky fog of yellow, glowing rain. The card artisan in front of Hugo covered his throat as fresh blood gushed out from between his fingers. His throat gurgled as he tried to say something, but he couldn''t get it out. His protruding eyes expressed a panicked hopelessness.


    Behind him, Hugo''s left arm was gushing blood in the same way. The penetrating power of their adversary''s energy body was shockingly powerful. Hugo''s hand shook, and the white starburst concentrated there scattered into the void like a school of fish.


    Hugo''s mask looked demonic inside the shower of yellow shreds. He had an icy expression as his right hand supported the slowly collapsing comrade in front of him. He raised his head and turned his gaze to where Chen Mu was, completely ignoring the blood gushing from the wound on his left arm. Then, with no hesitation, he disappeared into the crowd with the other card artisan.


    * * *


    Bogner was dumbfounded. Jiao Si was dumbfounded. All of the card artisans were dumbfounded.


    "Was that just... Did you just emit that?" the always-sharp Bogner asked hesitantly. Jiao Si was also looking at Chen Mu full of astonishment. The gazes of the other card artisans toward Chen Mu were full of admiration.


    To tell the truth, that blow had certainly been gorgeous. From Chen Mu lifting his head to shooting from his hand went as fast as lightning. In one go, he showed how solid his training was. Those card artisans had brilliant discernment, and they had clearly seen that the blow had been five in one.


    To shoot off five energy shuttles within three-tenths of a second was equivalent to firing off at least 15 energy shuttles within a second. That kind of firing frequency was high enough to be terrifying!


    Then, there was the strange urgency of the light blue energy shuttle to keep increasing its speed after leaving his hand. If it weren''t for that characteristic of the tailless shuttle, those two high-grade card artisans of his adversary would never have been so easily hit.


    Because of his perceptual strength and acuity both having increased so much at the same time, the tailless shuttle''s power had metamorphosed in Chen Mu''s hands. Compared to the previous damage of over 700, it had now reached about 1,200. Who knew how much faster its firing frequency was?


    As he was then, with regard only to his strength as a card artisan, he could already be at about the stature of some high-grade card artisans.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help but ask out of curiosity, "Is something wrong?" He had never thought Bogner would have such a big reaction.


    "No, no!" Bogner rushed to wave his hands.


    Jiao Si and the Origins Academy card artisans looked similarly astounded. Only when they lowered their heads could he see the shock flashing past in their eyes.


    In his eyes, that Mr. Cao could be called extremely mysterious. As the one who''d made the numbered series of cards, his identity already had a dazzling aura. He believed once this news got out, half of the big powers in the entire federation would be inviting him over. But, as outrageously young as he was, he seemed as sophisticated and low-key as some middle-aged person.


    Jiao Si had finally found out he was also a card artisan!


    That information was shockingly bigger than even seeing the folding Yanbo card. After the Van Sant System was established, card artisans and card masters started to split completely apart. The means to train perception also gradually diverged, which then led to fewer and fewer people studying them both. Those who did were generally a lower level.


    The numbered series of cards had sufficiently explained Chen Mu''s card making ability, but in regard to being a card artisan, that blow had lit up Jiao Si''s eyes. And, Jiao Si was a picky person.


    What astounded him still more was that Chen Mu had actually discovered the enemy''s position before he did. Such terrifying insight was shocking. Whether it was as card master or card artisan, his ability was exceptionally high! That utterly subverted the common sense of the Van Sant System. Such a situation hadn''t occurred for who knew how many years.


    Jiao Si''s gaze then fell onto Chen Mu''s face. He was still so young. His later development would be limitless!


    Thinking again about Bogner, who was so proficient in tactics as a commander, how far would he go? He was afraid no one knew what to expect!


    Suddenly, Jiao Si thought of what Ru Qiu had spoken with him about, wondering if Cao Dong was the legacy of some sect from the age of the sects. Looking at it now, that certainly seemed likely. According to what he knew, because the use of card technology was rare during the age of the sects, and everyone was comparatively dispersed, there would often be people from the sects who would study as both card artisan and card master. Only the larger sects would be likely to have their students and disciples specialize in one of them.


    However, it wasn''t important where he came from or which sect he was from. The power he demonstrated had already made Jiao Si pay attention to him. The development of any firm was inseparable from the cooperation of other strong people. If nothing happened to him, Jiao Si believed Cao Dong would be one of the strongest from then on.


    He still hadn''t sprouted his wings by that time. What Jiao Si needed to establish a fine relationship would cost a lot less for him, though friendship would still be a lot more important.


    Not even considering everyone else''s reaction, Chen Mu was pretty satisfied with that blow of his. That was apart from not having hit any of Hugo''s vital places, which he rather regretted. Still, if he was pursuing firing frequency, of course the accuracy would be affected.


    * * *


    There was a woman in the crowd wearing a veil, and following her was a pretty but ordinary young girl. Such a combination could be seen all over the crowd.


    "What should we do now, Madam?" the young girl asked in a low voice while unavoidably casting her gaze to the base.


    If Chen Mu was there, he would certainly have discovered that the voice of the girl belonged to Butchie of Faya.


    Seeing Hugo injured, a look of hatred flashed through Butchie''s eyes. She had just gotten 013 of the numbered series of cards. On one hand, she wanted to avenge Hugo; on the other, she wanted to see how 013 would actually perform in battle.


    "Our adversary has a base with aces deployed. There is nothing we can do for now." The woman spoke slowly, her voice sweet while also a little languid. It was none other than the masked madam from Faya.


    "So, should we just let them go like this?" Butchie asked with hate.


    "Ha ha, Butchie shouldn''t worry. This little corner of the chess game is insignificant to the overall situation. When we''ve settled the big picture, it won''t be too late to come back to it." The masked madam lightly laughed. "Anyway, I imagine a lot of people will want to bother them. I''m afraid it''s not just us."


    Butchie was taken aback by what she said. The apparatus on her wrist suddenly sounded, and Butchie''s spirit was stirred. "It''s them! I guess there''s some result!"


    The masked woman abruptly straightened up.

 273 A Melee III

    Those card artisans once again retreated into the crowd and disappeared without a trace. Given the power Chen Mu had on hand, which was barely enough to defend the base, they would be overreaching if they wanted to go after the enemy.


    Bogner was quite satisfied with their moves. Up until then, they had only had to mobilize the power of those 20-some card artisans. They had gotten through the danger they were then facing, but he was afraid the war was just starting.


    The less power deployed, the more help his adversaries would be getting behind the scenes. They undoubtedly knew it would be dangerous to expose all their cards. But what astounded him the most was the boss''s sudden display of power. He had always thought the boss was only a card master. He never thought he was also a card artisan, not to mention a high-grade card artisan. No wonder he was refused when he had hoped the boss would take some bodyguards with him when he went out. When he thought more about it, those card artisans were good, but compared to the boss¡­


    Bogner''s gaze turned toward the boss, and he quickly concluded he had been way off.


    His boss was no simple person, after all! He admired him for being so awesome at making cards and now being equally awesome as a card artisan. But Bogner didn''t understand as much about such things as Jiao Si did. He only felt that for Chen Mu to learn them both to such an extent was amazing.


    Before he quite came back to his wits, a team of card artisans came flying toward them.


    There were about 70 of them, each one looking rather wretched. Their clothes were badly damaged, and some of their faces were covered with mud and grass.


    Bogner''s expression changed when he saw the card artisans.


    There weren''t so many of them, and they looked wretched, but their spirits were whole and their gazes sharp. Bogner looked closely; their flight demeanor was quite relaxed, and their postures were casual. They didn''t at all look like ordinary card artisans, who would be careful about controlling their bodies.


    That group is made up completely of aces! Only aces would be so casual about controlling their bodies.


    A layer of fine sweat beaded up on Bogner''s forehead. Any one of those card artisans would be no more than a notch below Jie Yanbai. Bogner then clearly saw the one leading them. He was so shocked he stood right up.


    Qiao Yuan. It''s Qiao Yuan!


    Qiao Yuan was also a legendary person at the Central Repository of the Classics. He was the great disciple of the lord of Central Repository of the Classics. He was also Mi Xiaqing''s older disciple-brother. If one were to say Jie Yanbai was up and coming, Qiao Yuan had already made a name for himself for many years. He had just turned 45, which was when a card artisan would be at his prime.


    A lot of people guessed Qiao Yuan''s power wouldn''t be far beneath that of his teacher, the lord of the Central Repository of the Classics. It had already been 20 years since he''d graduated, and he had never left. He stayed on at the school. The thing people found the strangest was that he had never assumed any duties. He was only bent on training his own power, not paying attention to things outside.


    Twenty years of training passed in a day, and no one had a way to know what his actual power was like.


    Qiao Yuan''s teacher hadn''t yet taken up his post as lord when Qiao Yuan was his student, so he was meticulous about his instruction. He had a lot to do after he became lord, so he turned over the job of imparting skills to the disciples to Qiao Yuan. They all became that senior classmate''s responsibility. Qiao Yuan was the equivalent of half a teacher for Mi Xiaqing.


    Qiao Yuan loved his disciples dearly, which was why he had led that team there himself. He had made the 100 or so card artisans go through a lot of hardship to make that feint of brazenly traversing the jungle.


    Those beside him were Central Repository of the Classics card artisans who had undergone meticulous selection, and they were all very powerful. But there were only 72 by the time they got to Pomelo; the others had died in the jungle.


    Qiao Yuan was a little surprised to see a new base there, especially when his gaze fell onto the star-shaped firing points staggered around the base. He couldn''t help but sigh.


    "What''s the situation, Leader Qiao?" a card artisan to his side asked with curiosity. Qiao Yuan was well-respected at the Central Repository of the Classics, and everyone called him Leader Qiao.


    Qiao Yuan had big eyes, thick eyebrows, and a flat-top buzz cut. His face was angular, and his bronzed skin shone to make him look like a metal casting.


    His face was full of surprise as he said, pointing to the base below them, "I never thought I would see a Starfish Fort here. The architecture of that kind of firing fortress is extremely secure. It would be difficult to penetrate such a fortress of fire, even with powerful cards."


    "Starfish Fort?" The card artisan who had heard him also looked surprised. "How could this little place have a Starfish Fort?"


    "I''m not too clear just yet." Qiao Yuan looked again at the base and said, "It looks like the one who built this base really does have some power."


    "Why don''t we scout around first?" the card artisan proposed.


    Qiao Yuan shook his head. "We don''t have enough time. We have to do what we came for first." He was a little concerned to see the crowds below, the dark hoard looking utterly spectacular. He could see how desperate the miserable situation had become. That was what concerned him.


    Just then, a piece of glass in the base opened up to reveal several people.


    Chen Mu, Bogner, Jiao Si¡­


    Too bad Wei-ah wasn''t there; otherwise, from his murderous aura alone, they might have been able to scare the card artisans away. Chen Mu had that sudden notion.


    "Headmaster Jiao Si!" Qiao Yuan was slightly taken aback, obviously not knowing quite how to respond. He didn''t know how he would run into Jiao Si at such a place. The Origins Academy was far away, and he had never heard news of Jiao Si being at the base. Still, a Starfish Fort wasn''t so unusual with Jiao Si there.


    His full gaze fell onto Jiao Si, who had plenty of reason to enjoy the treatment he was getting. Not only was his battle strength formidable, but he was also the leader of a school; of course Qiao Yuan wouldn''t dare to be rude. The card artisans around him also saluted. They had all heard of the man''s name, which stuck with him like a shadow to a tree.


    "Your fine school is awesome, after all!" Jiao Si smiled modestly, returning the courtesy to those card artisans. He said languidly, "I never thought this would be Leader Qiao''s destination. It looks like your fine school is ambitious this time!" He and Qiao Yuan had long known one another, though they had never sparred.


    Qiao Yuan''s bronzed face looked alert but showed respect. "President Jiao Si must be joking." His gaze then fell onto those beside Jiao Si. When it touched Chen Mu, it paused with a slight look of surprise. He quickly retracted his gaze. Beyond just Jiao Si, there was also that youth to his side. Qiao Yuan was unfazed by the others, which allowed him to relax his mind. It made him a little uncomfortable for Jiao Si to appear at such a time.


    If that was all the power his counterpart had, it wasn''t going to alter the big picture for just Jiao Si and his student alone to be there. When Qiao Yuan saw Chen Mu standing by Jiao Si''s side, he mistakenly assumed he was Jiao Si''s student.


    It looked as though the Origins Academy would have another ace! Qiao Yuan didn''t show anything on his face while he thought about it. That student was so young, but his perceptual power had already reached a rather substantial place far beyond card artisans of the same age. More surprisingly, when he had scanned him with his own perception, Chen Mu had discovered him.


    He couldn''t help but carry a note of admiration in his gaze toward Chen Mu. Too bad a youth with such potential belonged to the Origins Academy.


    But that doubtlessly wasn''t the time to chat. Qiao Yuan said to Jiao Si with a look of apology, "There is something I need to do. I''ll have to step away, but if there''s a chance later on, I''m hoping the headmaster will give me one or two pointers."


    After Qiao Yuan paid his courtesies to Jiao Si, he led those card artisans rapidly away.


    Qiao Yuan was concerned about his younger disciple. His adversary''s blows had started earlier than he''d expected. He hadn''t only come for Mi Xiaqing that time. Another reason was that the technology from the Central Island Firm would be too useful for the Central Repository of the Classics. No matter how, they needed to bring that technology back. Still, in Qiao Yuan''s mind, the safety of his young disciple was still more important than any technology.


    The speed with which the gang of card artisans arrived was equaled by the speed of their departure, only they wanted to take a closer look at the base while passing by. Bogner was still a little spooked.


    Where had those people come from? All of the routes were under the control of the Federation Comprehensive Academy. When his gaze fell onto those people''s wretched clothes, had a sudden mental flash.


    The Outer Reaches! They had just brazenly traversed the jungle from somewhere, taking a long way around to get to Pomelo! The more Bogner thought about it, the more certain he was, especially having seen the weeds on them.


    The arrival of that batch of card artisans was going to directly change the battle scene in Pomelo. Aces at that level were basically not to be provoked. Moreover, a team of 70 was sufficient to flatten that base several times over.


    Jiao Si sighed. "It looks as though the Federation Comprehensive Academy is going to take a loss this time." His expression wasn''t very happy. Qiao Yuan''s power was at about the same level as his own, but that wasn''t why he was brooding. It was seeing the Central Repository of the Classics so easily able to draw out such a large batch of powerful card artisans. Even if the Origins Academy were to expend all their power, it would be beyond hard for them to come up with such a fantastic lineup. His eyes were red with envy.


    But the Big Six were the Big Six, after all. Their power was beyond compare with other schools.


    The battle situation in Pomelo had gotten to its fiercest state. Even Mi Xiaqing had suffered injuries in three places, though he gritted his teeth to hold out. Upon the arrival of Qiao Yuan and the others, it was as Jiao Si thought it would be¡ªit directly changed the battle scene.


    When they came flying out of the blue, Zu Ning and the rest never knew where Qiao Yuan and the rest had popped out from.


    Of course, the Central Repository of the Classics got a boost to their spirits, but the Federation Comprehensive Academy looked ashen. The power of those card artisans wasn''t just a token higher than the Federation Comprehensive Academy; those 70-plus people rampaging through the battle scene were invincible.


    There was no longer any question about who would win that war. It was only a matter of time. By the time Qiao Yuan had led those 70-plus aces flying roundabout through the jungle to arrive in Pomelo, the outcome of the war had already been determined.


    However, there was another battle quietly underway at the same time.

 274 Wanting to Do a Few Things

    Chen Mu''s expression was a little dull when he received the news.


    The fatty had died!


    In front of him, Xi Ping''s eyes were bloodshot, and his face was covered in tears. Bogner''s face had turned pale but remained utterly calm to a scary extent. Chen Mu and Bogner did have a bad feeling before but hadn''t thought the feeling would be so directly confirmed.


    "It''s Faya!" Bogner''s voice was low. "They''re the only ones who could make such a move at this time."


    The more Bogner spoke, the deeper his tone became and the darker his gaze. He had limited power at that time, and it was the boss''s base. He couldn''t take advantage to do something for himself.


    If it had been earlier¡­ Bogner was clenching his fist too tightly; his knuckles were white, and his veins were popping out.


    "Don''t we have any way to do something?" Having restored his calm, Chen Mu suddenly opened his mouth to say something utterly surprising to Bogner and Xi Ping.


    The two of them looked at Chen Mu, stunned. They had seen how Chen Mu had gotten to where he was with their own eyes. They knew how much bitterness and how much difficulty it had meant.


    Their adversary was Faya. Faya could contend with the Big Six. Chen Mu had put everything into what he had been able to do there, and he had no obligation to do anything like that. Xi Ping and Bogner were both people who had gotten used to the highs and lows of the world. No one could blame Chen Mu for not doing anything. His watching over little Yang An already meant enough to them.


    The thing the boss had uttered so calmly and coolly seemed completely foolish.


    Sobbing, Xi Ping threw himself on his knees, desperately kowtowing to Chen Mu.


    Bogner was stunned as he looked at Chen Mu. He didn''t say anything until he suddenly opened up into a smile and said firmly and full of self-confidence, "I can guarantee you will have a powerful force."


    Lifting up the tearful Xi Ping, Chen Mu turned to Bogner to say, "You do the planning, and I''ll do the implementation."


    The three of them then sat down for the important matter. If they were the least bit careless, it could possibly invite a fatal disaster. Xi Ping was restored to calm, and his expression had turned serious. He knew how powerful their adversary was. Faya''s power wasn''t something a local power could contend with.


    Bogner placed three cups in the shape of a triangle.


    "These are the three most powerful factions in Pomelo right now. The Central Repository of the Classics, the Federation Comprehensive Academy, and Faya. Among them, the Central Repository of the Classics is the most powerful. The card artisans Qiao Yuan brought here are very strong, adding up to more strength than the other two combined. Faya hasn''t had any losses during this battle, but their power is slightly weaker. However, given the ferocity of the battle between the Federation Comprehensive Academy and the Central Repository of the Classics, now adding in the attacks from that bunch of Qiao Yuan''s card artisans, they''ve become the weakest of the three."


    He then put two of the cups together, leaving the other one slightly farther away.


    "The current situation is that the Central Repository of the Classics and the Federation Comprehensive Academy are strangling one another while Faya lies in wait from the side. The commander behind the scenes for Faya is using an awesome strategy for them to dominate the dispute. They keep out of sight, quietly awaiting their opportunity."


    Bogner''s train of thought was clear, and his gaze flashed quite a bit of wisdom.


    "The current situation in Pomelo is now delicate. That unexpected play of the Central Repository of the Classics has completely destroyed the entire rhythm of the battlefield. I''m guessing Faya didn''t consider that the Central Repository of the Classics could gain such an overwhelming advantage in such a short time. No matter which of those two gain an advantage, it wouldn''t be good for Faya. So, Faya will certainly respond."


    Chen Mu and Xi Ping held their breath as they carefully listened to Bogner''s analysis.


    "What is Faya going to do? Send reinforcements to Pomelo? All the routes are still held by the Federation Comprehensive Academy. Neither of those two are going to permit card artisans from Faya to enter Pomelo. Faya needs time.


    "I had been wondering why Faya would pull these wealthy businesses together. Given their size, they shouldn''t really respect those powers. But I''ve finally figured out the simple reason. They don''t have enough power on hand. In other words, they don''t have enough power in Pomelo. With no way to get reinforcements into Pomelo, and even at the risk of being discovered, they gathered up all the power on the hands of the wealthy businesses.


    "So, they need time. Otherwise, given the current situation, they could only look on helplessly while the Central Repository of the Classics takes away all the fruit. That''s why I''m guessing they will certainly be making a move.


    "If it were me, what would I do? I would let the power of Faya reside on the outskirts of Pomelo to help the Federation Comprehensive Academy''s reinforcements enter Pomelo with the greatest dispatch. Once they enter, the time the two sides remain entangled would immediately increase."


    Xi Ping made his first management decision. He had a quick mind and expressed his deep agreement. "The Federation Comprehensive Academy has blown up all the routes to the outside by now, leaving only one. That relieves the pressure on their defenses."


    "That''s right!" Bogner nodded. "Although the Central Repository of the Classics card artisans have a lot of strength, the Federation Comprehensive Academy are no vegetarians. While they might not be the equal of their adversary in a direct fight, when it comes to defense, they are extraordinary. If it really doesn''t work, I believe the Federation Comprehensive Academy will certainly blow up the remaining route. That way, Pomelo would be isolated.


    "The Central Repository of the Classics wouldn''t dare apply too much pressure. If it were only them, they could still go back through the jungle. But they would be taking Ren Wenzhou and his group of ordinary citizens along with them. Ha ha, I''m afraid even with such a big card artisan escort, there would still be no way to guarantee nothing would happen to them. Never mind Qiao Yuan; they wouldn''t be able to guarantee it even if the lord of the Central Repository of the Classics personally led them out.


    "Ren Wenzhou had the control of the jungle communications technology in his hands, and the Central Repository of the Classics wasn''t going to let anything happen to him, no matter what. Otherwise, all their losses during that time would have been in vain. Therefore, they would certainly storm the route the Federation Comprehensive Academy was defending, though not daring to use too much force. On the other hand, the Central Repository of the Classics'' power on the outside ought to be able to occupy one of the routes at its terminus and start to repair it with all their power.


    "That would be an opportunity for Faya; they could take advantage of the consolidated power of all of Pomelo to become a rather powerful player. Moreover, they would still have their own manpower. I would guess Faya has some secret weapon. Otherwise, if they wanted to seize Ren Wenzhou, they would have no way to get him out of Pomelo. It would have no value for them."


    Bogner said coldly, "Faya has done their calculations well. Now, how can we fulfill their wishes? We only have to do one little thing."


    After he stopped speaking, the following words were pronounced one by one: "Let the Central Repository of the Classics discover the existence of Faya."


    Bogner then grinned to show his dense, white teeth. "We won''t have to worry about Faya looking to cause trouble for us afterward since the entire federation has already descended into chaos. This is a melee from which no one can escape. There are many more people looking at Faya than there are looking at us."


    Theirs would be a secret operation carried out by Chen Mu and Wei-ah. The two were both good at hiding, which would be perfect in such a confused time. Even if they couldn''t fight, they would have no trouble escaping.


    Taking advantage of the dark night, the two quietly left the base, bolting straight for Pomelo.


    Chen Mu flew ultra low, stuck along the ground, so he could avoid being discovered by card artisans in the sky. Like a ghost, Wei-ah followed Chen Mu closely with a calm expression and no sign of exertion. Running along on just his legs, his speed wasn''t at all slower than Chen Mu''s. He showed the vigorous, explosive power of a cheetah.


    Chen Mu wore no expression as the wind whooshed past his ears.


    When he heard the fatty had died, a certain coldness surged from Chen Mu''s heart. He''d had a rough fate, suffering life''s ups and downs, and those he cared about could be counted on his fingers. The fatty had been one of them.


    Although they had a cooperative relationship, what the fatty had done far exceeded the scope of partnership. As Chen Mu saw it, it was in the category of friendship. Chen Mu had very few friends. It had only been Copper before. He still remembered that after he went missing, Copper resolutely resigned from Bai Zheyuan and left Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    Chen Mu felt he should do a few things, although he didn''t know what they were.


    His was a simple way of thinking. He didn''t think too hard about things like the base''s issues, which Bogner and the others were pondering.


    Friendship wasn''t so easy for Chen Mu.


    He was glad in his heart to have Bogner, who was so good at seeing the big picture. Otherwise, he wouldn''t even know what to do.


    There was also a lot more he could do by having someone as awesome as Wei-ah.


    Then, there was Xi Ping. If it weren''t for him, they wouldn''t even know where Faya was stationed. By then, Chen Mu felt profoundly how complex the fatty was to have laid out such a huge network in Pomelo within a few decades. But his enemy was a lizard who was just as cunning and much more powerful. It used the most direct and violent means to beat him.


    But that time, the network the fatty had so painstakingly woven was finally proving its value.


    The formerly bustling Pomelo was already desolated, with corpses and ruins everywhere. Bleak wailing and sobbing filled the air, and the people''s eyes were vacant and hopeless.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help but inwardly sigh. He was afraid the Central Repository of the Classics and the Federation Comprehensive Academy would have one more city of enemies ever after. Although they were of the Big Six¡ªthe most honorable Big Six¡ªthe hatred wouldn''t be reduced in the least because of how distinguished they were.


    Settling his attitude, Chen Mu''s expression resumed its calm.


    He was no savior but was the same as all those ants pursuing their existence beneath the powers. He had no ability to change the heavens or the earth; he was as ordinary a participant as could be. He had to rack his brains in the same way they did just to survive.


    Chen Mu and Wei-ah didn''t actually go to where Faya was hiding. Instead, they ran over to the Central Repository of the Classics'' encampment.

 275 The Infiltration

    The vague fluctuations were almost insensible. Like ripples on water, they blanketed the entire region. They were used by the scanning category of cards. There wasn''t just one type among the complex fluctuations; there were five. It was evident from that how tight their detection was.


    Although Chen Mu''s bogus borderline breath control method didn''t have the unparalleled power of the true breath control method, it was quite good at stopping his breath. Beneath those five fluctuations, each with different characteristics, he was shuttling around like a fish, swimming with ease without making a splash.


    The ever ghost-like Wei-ah stuck close to his side. Using no apparent tricks, he could still remain beneath the scanning wave band without making any waves. Chen Mu had asked Wei-ah about that, but Wei-ah never gave him an explanation.


    Over time, Chen Mu had gotten used to it. That guy''s strength had been superhuman for a long time. It was probably because of the existence of the scanner bands that the defenses inside the base were surprisingly relaxed.


    The vicious battle that day wasn''t an easy matter for anyone. Even though the power of the Central Repository of the Classics had increased, their spiritual exhaustion had increased along with it. So everyone could sleep better, Qiao Yuan had arranged for five card artisans to stand guard.


    That certainly wasn''t a deficient way to stand guard. The attainments of those five card artisans put them among the top 200 in the entire federation. Five such powerful reconnaissance card artisans would be terrifying to any intruders.


    Still, the scanning type of card had its natural shortcomings, such as being extremely sensitive to energy fluctuations. The slightest energy fluctuation would get their attention, but they weren''t so sensitive to things without energy.


    That characteristic of the card was directly related to the way card artisans trained their perception. Apart from a few specialized methods to train perception, the perception normally practiced was highly sensitive toward energy.


    Of course, there were some exceptions, such as that freak Caesar 30 years before. The Materials Refinement Code he practiced was unique in that regard. Chen Mu himself had been mistaken for someone who practiced the Materials Refinement Code. Fortunately, there wasn''t such a monster among those five.


    The encampment of the Central Repository of the Classics was immense, being a cluster of small buildings. But because the Central Repository of the Classics hadn''t placed much importance on Pomelo, it wasn''t like Chen Mu''s base, which was completely sealed. Once the passageways were closed, if anyone wanted to enter from outside, they would have to endure powerful attacks along the way.


    That was precisely why Chen Mu and Wei-ah could infiltrate.


    Everything in the base was silent, with a light on in only one place.


    Chen Mu and Wei-ah took advantage of the shadows of the buildings for cover and approached the light in silence. The buildings in the Central Repository of the Classics'' encampment had also been discovered by Xi Ping. The place had previously been a mobile station for a team of card artisans. After the card artisans departed, it was sold to a businessman.


    After changing hands several times, it had become a large-scale rental field for firms, used especially as a short-term resting place for large teams. Xi Ping bought the plot plan for the buildings at a high price from a local construction card artisan who had done some maintenance work there. Having the plot plan considerably improved the safety of the entire operation.


    The light was on in a small meeting room, which probably held about 20 people. It was using some advanced projection equipment. It had been identified in detail on the plot plan. For example, Chen Mu had found out the drainage system below the meeting room headed toward a storehouse 15 meters away, connected by a 1.5-meter-wide pipe buried underground.


    The meeting room was right in the middle of the base and had no obstructions for 20 meters around it. If you were to approach it, there was a high probability of being discovered. Although the small storehouse was more than 70 meters from Chen Mu, there were conveniently houses all along the way.


    Chen Mu had learned his skill at hiding from the demonic woman, but he needed to take advantage of the surrounding environment. The demonic woman was certainly more awesome, but Chen Mu had only learned the most basic skills. Probably because he''d used them so much, he had become very practiced. They had become almost second nature.


    Chen Mu had found that while the trick may have looked simple, it was quite effective. When he did resistance training with Wei-ah, that trick proved very useful. If he used it, he could increase his time of resistance by about three seconds.


    Never mind those three seconds; an increase of a second would be extremely difficult facing off against Wei-ah. The resistance training between Chen Mu and Wei-ah used seconds as its unit of measurement.


    Looking cautiously from the shadows, he didn''t discover any movements. Chen Mu stuck close to the ground and suddenly jumped out to the side. He was like a lively civet cat as he jumped around in the shadows. Because he couldn''t use cards there, Chen Mu had no way to use his big mudfish card and had to depend on the strength of his body.


    It was a good thing his physical strength was so exceptional by then, although it wasn''t up to Wei-ah''s. His stunning, explosive power enabled him to metamorphose into a faint shadow. It would be hard to find him hidden in the shadows. Wei-ah was even faster and his shadow fainter.


    The two of them quickly arrived at the corner of the storehouse.


    Chen Mu''s face was covered by the ghost-faced flower. There were five brightly dripping lines the size of drops of blood that went from his forehead straight to his chin. It was weird. Every time he used the ghost-faced flower, the pattern formed would be different, which meant he didn''t have to worry about being found out.


    Wei-ah was wearing a matte black mask made of a strange alloy. Xi Ping had specifically chosen it from among the goods for that evening''s operation.


    There was no pattern on the pure black, the surface of which had undergone a sand frosting process, so it wouldn''t reflect light. It was perfectly soft when worn and not at all suffocating. Unfortunately, there was only one of them. Chen Mu would have actually preferred that kind of plain mask. But Wei-ah also rather liked it.


    The origins of that mask had long been uncertain. If it weren''t for Xi Ping having committed all the things in the auction house to memory, such a small item would never have resurfaced.


    The door of the storehouse was locked, but that wasn''t going to be an issue for Chen Mu and Wei-ah. They hadn''t intended to enter through the door.


    It was a plain storehouse only used to store some daily necessities when it was first built. It had belonged to a non-combatant unit. Because of that, it had been built using the most common masonry structure to keep its cost low.


    Wei-ah''s right hand became like a claw, and he started to lightly claw out the corner wall. His movements looked quite easy, but they were effective. Chunk after chunk of the brick surface fell away like mud.


    After five or six minutes, a hole big enough for a person appeared in front of them. Although he was already used to it, it still surprised Chen Mu when he thought about Wei-ah not having to rely on any tools to so easily dig out such a hole.


    The two of them didn''t speak as they plunged in.


    Once inside, they smelled mildew. It looked as though the place had been closed for a long time.


    Chen Mu went over to a vent and opened it. Hidden from the outside, he could see there was no sign of anyone having discovered them. Chen Mu then thought about the connection from where he was to the entire base, and he quickly arranged his escape route.


    In that brief time, Wei-ah had already opened the cover of the drain. There was an alloy lock on the drain cover. However, probably because of the passage of so much time and the lack of maintenance, the lock had already corroded. Wei-ah effortlessly twisted it off.


    A blast of foul-smelling air permeated the storehouse.


    Having arranged his escape route, Chen Mu then hopped into the drain opening without hesitation. Wei-ah was close behind.


    Chen Mu had thought Wei-ah was an ace in the dark like the demonic woman. But he didn''t quite feel that to be true now; Wei-ah was more a powerful ace than any assassin lurking in the dark. If the demonic woman had come along for that job, she would certainly have been more professional and accomplished.


    But Chen Mu himself was standing in half a bucket of water and wasn''t exactly qualified to talk about anyone else.


    The air in the drainage pipes was foul. Living things like rats occasionally scurried by while the top of the pipe was drip-drip-dripping with water. It was pitch dark in the pipe, but it was a good thing Chen Mu didn''t need to be careful and could use an illumination card.


    No one''s scanning could penetrate ten meters underground. The thicker the material was, the better its efficacy at blocking scans.


    A fist-sized, milky white energy body floated three meters in front of Chen Mu. It emitted a soft, white glow, turning the pipe snow-bright.


    Their speed immediately increased, and they quickly arrived under the meeting room. Out of caution, Chen Mu shut off the illumination card. But he left his apparatus in the activated state to make it easier to make a move at any time.


    There was a vertical pipe leading up over their heads. The walls of the pipe were too slippery to hold, but Wei-ah easily climbed up like a gecko. Chen Mu couldn''t do what Wei-ah had done, having long since lost his wall-climbing lotus. Otherwise, it would have been trivial.


    He half-squatted and jumped straight up. It was a three-meter leap. He was still wearing those elastic grass shoes, which greatly increased his explosive power.


    He remembered how useful those things from the demonic woman had initially been. Unfortunately, only the elastic grass shoes and the ghost-faced flower remained.


    At the high point of his jump, Wei-ah shot out his right hand from above him and grabbed Chen Mu''s arm. Wei-ah didn''t seem at all affected by carrying someone as he sped up the pipe without making a sound.


    They quickly arrived at the mouth of the vertical pipe, where it had turned horizontal. They slowly crawled on hands and knees to the middle of the pipe. Their movements were very light to avoid making the slightest sound.


    Above them, the conversation in the meeting room gradually became clearer.

 276 A Melee

    Qiao Yuan and Mi Xiaqing were in the meeting room while everyone else was resting. The pair of older and younger disciples looked serious. In the middle of the room was a projection of the geography surrounding Pomelo.


    "We don''t know how Yanbai is doing, which is worrisome." Mi Xiaqing''s handsome face was full of concern.


    Qiao Yuan knew his younger disciple was close to Jie Yanbai. He said to comfort him, "Don''t worry; Jie Yanbai is resolute and tough far beyond anyone else. Even if he has run into some difficulty, he''ll be able to get through it safely, given his ability."


    Mi Xiaqing smiled bitterly. "I hope so. What does our second elder apprentice have to say about where he is?"


    Qiao Yuan said in a deep voice, "Our number-two has already occupied the route terminus. When he took to repairing the route, though, he was afraid it would take some time."


    "Mmmm, so long as our second apprentice occupies it, no one can take it from him, unless Pavchek himself leads the troops." Mi Xiaqing''s expression was relaxed as he spoke with a smile.


    Qiao Yuan''s expression also relaxed quite a bit. "What I''m saying is that while our second apprentice might not be the best defender under the sun, he sure is among the top five. The year I tried to persuade him to enlist, he resisted. Otherwise, with his skills, he would have become one of the top commanders of the twelfth army with no difficulty."


    Mi Xiaqing smiled freely. "Don''t worry about him taking fire, Master Disciple. I actually think things are fine¡ªotherwise, it would be hard for the three of us to be together."


    "That''s the truth." Qiao Yuan''s bronzed face opened up into a warm smile. The two of them, worker Hao and Mi Xiaqing, were both brought up by Qiao Yuan. He was both brother and master in their eyes.


    "How are things outside right now?" Mi Xiaqing asked with concern.


    Qiao Yuan shook his head. "Not so good. Old number-two says quite a few of our defensive teams have been ambushed at the same time by some unknown power, and he surmises that it could be some organization."


    Mi Xiaqing''s handsome face turned cold. "Who could be so bold to dare intercede at this time? Why would they want to muddy the water?"


    "It could be Faya," Qiao Yuan said slowly. "They were the ones to instigate this conflict. Although they may have been clever, they still left some clues here and there. Too bad our second disciple has to organize the resistance and doesn''t have time to round them up. He always said Faya was behind this and warned us to be careful."


    "Mmmm, the second disciple has always been well-prepared. I imagine the possibility that it''s Faya has grown by a lot." Mi Xiaqing was in accord, though he couldn''t help but ask, "Does the second disciple have our next move?"


    "He says we had better take the one remaining route, gather our forces to break through, and return to the academy, where we''d have a better possibility for success. The longer this drags on, the worse for us. Those two famous commanders from the Federation Comprehensive Academy, Song Chengyan and Di Bo, are both taking care of something outside and can''t get here. By the time either of them gets here, things could become a lot worse."


    Song Chengyan¡­ Di Bo¡­ Mi Xiaqing had heard of those two.


    Di Bo''s power was in the top ranks of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, and he was himself an ace card artisan with a fierce temperament. But Song Chengyan was the more storied. He was said to have originally studied centralized planning. Later on, when he participated by happenstance in the commander''s club inside the academy, he became interested in command. Within a short time, he became the vice chair of the club, representing the club''s participation in the 54 tournaments of the inter-academy league. They came in fifth in battle successes with 45 wins, three ties, and four losses.


    Worker Hao, their own second disciple, was ranked tenth. He was undefeated, however, with 40 wins and 14 ties. His defense was steady, and he was the opponent all the contestants least wanted to encounter.


    Song Chengyan occupied an even more legendary position than worker Hao, although he had been an ordinary student with no background nor battle skills. Any card artisan could have easily killed him. But worker Hao was a student directly under the lord of the Central Repository of the Classics, which gave him a distinguished identity. Although he wasn''t nearly as powerful as Qiao Yuan as a card artisan, he had become far more powerful than card artisans in general.


    Song Chengyan was said to have already become the most critical defensive opponent for the Federation Comprehensive Academy. Every time he competed, professors from the card artisan department would personally protect him. He was the only one given such treatment, apart from the president of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, Pavchek. He had already become an important military trainee and would enter the corps each year to pursue training and study.


    Di Bo was another outstanding scholar at the Federation Comprehensive Academy in that regard. He stood out for both his specialties and his shortcomings, however. His attacks were extremely powerful, though he was still deeply afraid of the number-one ranked freak, Rossini, from the Star Academy. But his defense was messed up in the same way, and he always suffered losses because of that. His battles were quite distinctive in that if he didn''t have a grand victory, it would be a grand defeat.


    Still, worker Hao always won his contests with Di Bo, given his rather dominant psychological advantage.


    People like them were the opponents to pay attention to at the academies. Their existence possibly influenced the subsequent disposition of the Federation Comprehensive Academy. They were even more valuable than card artisans.


    However, youth were always more hot-blooded, and there would be no stage for them during times of peace. Therefore, in the eyes of ordinary people, they weren''t as famous as a card artisan like Qiao Yuan. But the ambitious academies always stressed that kind of command talent. The top ten in the inter-academy league competitions all came from the Big Six, which showed a lot. The Central Repository of the Classics had one such ace, though because he had been sent on assignment, he couldn''t return for the time being.


    "Our number-two says if we can''t take the route in the near term, then after two days, we should completely destroy it. That way, no one will be able to enter unless they can go through the jungle the way we did. The first one through would definitely be our number-two, though there might be some trouble after he makes it through." Qiao Yuan furrowed his brow.


    "Mmmm. Do as the second disciple says." Mi Xiaqing nodded with no hesitation. They had always placed a lot of confidence in worker Hao''s strength.


    The more Chen Mu heard of the dialogue from down below, the more awesome he considered Bogner to be. Most of it was just as Bogner had guessed¡ªas though he had seen it himself. But it was also clear from the dialogue that there were no fools in that world. If you were to assume you could do something flawlessly, you were the fool.


    The Central Repository of the Classics had long since guessed what Faya was doing, but they were holding off for the moment. Chen Mu guessed the Federation Comprehensive Academy had also realized it on their own, but they didn''t have enough time either.


    Thinking about that, Chen Mu couldn''t help but admire the dark power behind the scenes for Faya. It would be awesome if he could cover things up in a way that if someone else found out about it, they could jump out with no hesitation.


    Qiao Yuan said suddenly, "Oh, right! Before I entered the region of Pomelo, I saw a new base, probably recently constructed. Jiao Si was there."


    Under the floor, Chen Mu was a little startled and listened carefully.


    "Jiao Si?" Mi Xiaqing was surprised. "He''s in Pomelo?"


    "Mmmm." Qiao Yuan nodded, and he then cautioned, "I''m not sure why he showed up in Pomelo or what his objective is."


    Mi Xiaqing sighed. "I imagine Yanbai might know. We don''t have time right now to investigate."


    "Mmmm. He has a rather impressive student with him. He''s young but has outstanding power. I''m guessing it''s not beneath yours nor Jie Yanbai''s." Qiao Yuan looked serious.


    Mi Xiaqing looked excited. "The Origins Academy has such an ace? That old fox Jiao Si can really keep things to himself."


    "Mmmm. I imagine it''s the Origins Academy''s secret weapon. Although the Origins Academy has been getting stronger overall these last few years, they''ve never had a top ace to prop them up. That student must be somewhat interesting." Qiao Yuan smiled but still didn''t think much about it. The appearance of one or two aces wasn''t going to shake the positions of the Big Six, so he wasn''t too concerned about the other academies.


    However, someone so young but with similar strength to Mi Xiaqing still surprised him. When Mi Xiaqing was young, anyone who was called outstanding acted like someone favored by the gods. Qiao Yuan hadn''t seen the least bit of arrogance in that youth by Jiao Si''s side. On the contrary, he had a placid gaze, which was rare.


    The one Qiao Yuan was talking about was Chen Mu, but Chen Mu didn''t think he was talking about him at all. There were many students under Jiao Si, and he thought someone among them must deserve that sort of praise. But he thought for a long time and couldn''t come up with anyone.


    Chen Mu''s standard of comparison was Jie Yanbai. He had seen his power with his own eyes; even such a tough guy as Hugo nearly didn''t have the power to fight back.


    Could Jiao Si have such a person under him? Chen Mu wracked his brains. He never imagined it was himself. He thought he was too far behind Jie Yanbai. The difference between them was as far as Heaven from Earth.


    He didn''t know he had been inadvertently discovered by Qiao Yuan during his scan at the base, which had given Qiao Yuan some misconception of his strength. It was based on nothing more than the sensitivity of Chen Mu''s perception.


    The chatting between them started to turn insignificant, and Chen Mu wasn''t going to get anymore valuable information.


    He decided to make his move. Once they discovered the hole in the storehouse, the two of them wouldn''t be able to flee, even with wings. He gave Wei-ah the signal.


    Qiao Yuan and Mi Xiaqing were chatting happily away when their expressions abruptly changed.


    Peng! A floor board suddenly flew up with no warning and came shooting at the two of them.


    Their response was quick; they raised their energy cloaks at the same time and moved off to the side. The two were aghast at the fact that they hadn''t detected the infiltration. If their adversaries hadn''t made a move, they would never have discovered them.


    Assassins!


    That was their initial thought as the energy bodies instantly took shape in their hands. But it was their first time to encounter such awesome card artisan assassins, and they involuntarily went cold.


    After the floorboard, two faint shadows sprang out. With no hesitation, Qiao Yuan and Mi Xiaqing fired off the energy bodies in their hands toward the faint shadows. One of the shadows popped upward to easily dodge them, and the other took a strange slide.


    The unforeseen event had happened too quickly. Even Qiao Yuan had no way to lock in on the assassins, and their energy bodies sank into the wall. Their expressions changed again!


    However, as the beloved disciples of the lord of the Central Repository of the Classics, that wasn''t the limit of their ability. Qiao Yuan gave out a cold groan as his right hand quickly emptied and collapsed. All that could be seen where countless bright red energy shuttles pouring down like rain. They nearly filled the entire meeting room.


    Mi Xiaqing''s reaction was just as fast. He opened his fingers like a flower blooming, and seven or eight colorful, glowing balls slowly floated to where the two shadows had been. When first emitted, the glowing balls were the size of a fingertip. In the blink of an eye, however, they grew to something like a disk. In the next blink, they looked like a large basin.


    Chen Mu hadn''t thought they would so quickly encounter an attack. Such a fast response was worthy of the elite among the elite.


    The red energy shuttles made the meeting room look like it had suddenly been roiled by an energy storm, leaving nowhere to hide. But Chen Mu was extremely familiar with what he was facing and wasn''t frightened; those shapes were the same as swimming fish in their lively variations.


    Swordfish training! Weren''t those red energy shuttles just like the triangular swordfish?


    The demands of swordfish training were harsher because the resistance in the water environment was a lot greater than in air. By the end of the swordfish training, the swordfish weren''t as fast or deadly as the red energy shuttles. However, there had been a lot more of them, and their strange liveliness had been more difficult to wind through.


    With the footwork of a dancer, his intertwining was dazzling. His figure moved like water grass, full of a strange rhythm. Chen Mu so easily dodged the deadly red energy shuttles that it surprised even him.


    How could that magnificent attack from Qiao Yuan be so easily dodged? He wondered if his adversary had been deliberately showing weakness, though his adversary had absolutely no need to do that! But he also knew muddled thinking just then would be no different than seeking death.


    Wei-ah''s moves were even more agile. It looked like he had calculated his every step in advance. They were so accurate that they gave the sense he''d used a ruler. One of the red energy shuttles nearly grazed his mask, missing by no more than half a centimeter, though it didn''t have the slightest effect on his gaze.


    What left Qiao Yuan and Mi Xiaqing still more aghast was that the excited energy shuttles hadn''t even opened up any distance between the assassins themselves. The assassins'' bodies had achieved something unthinkable, brazenly approaching to within two meters as they dodged.


    Then, just as the two of them were shocked beyond description, Chen Mu got into a little trouble. The glowing discs Mi Xiaqing had thrown out could actually attack automatically. They looked harmless, but once among them, it would be like the road to death.


    They watched Chen Mu and Wei-ah being chased by some of the colorful, glowing disks beside them. Chen Mu didn''t dare let the glowing disks touch him, but even Wei-ah couldn''t avoid them.


    Fortunately, they had terrifying explosive power in such a small scope. That was especially true of Wei-ah, who made a move with his entire body as though he were a shooting arrow; his body had been suddenly stretched out.


    Chen Mu''s style was a little different. The big mudfish card accompanied his unique pace, his moves and breathing strange. Quite a few of his moves went completely against the laws of physics.


    Although the glowing disks were troublesome, their speed was rather slow in the end, which the two of them took advantage of.


    Like a burst of wind, Wei-ah approached Qiao Yuan. His right hand was clenched into a fist, which he bashed into Qiao Yuan''s energy cloak.


    But Qiao Yuan was Qiao Yuan, after all. As the one most recently hailed by the lord of the Central Repository of the Classics, how could he be so easily defeated like that? A strange color flashed by his eyes as the assassin in front of him was about to succeed. His eyes didn''t flinch at all¡ªsuch a terrifying psychological nature! Qiao Yuan was no ordinary person, and there was a peculiar sheen to his bronzed skin as he faced Wei-ah''s fist without flinching.


    Wei-ah''s ordinary-looking fist bashed powerfully into Qiao Yuan''s substantial energy cloak, which was smashed apart with a boom.


    Qiao Yuan''s brown eyes finally flinched, seeming to have been surprised by Wei-ah. To be able to smash apart a four-star energy cloak with a fist meant an awful lot of power!


    Then, the corner of Qiao Yuan''s mouth curled upward. Wei-ah''s pupils contracted as he pulled back his fist, which he had nearly stuck into Qiao Yuan''s nose.


    Five energy shuttles, like five poisonous snakes, drilled out from Qiao Yuan''s belly.


    Wei-ah was quick, but his clothes were still cut by one of the energy shuttles. If he had been the slightest bit slower, they would have left five bloody holes in his body.


    With that win, Qiao Yuan wasn''t going to give his adversaries any further chance to fight back. The swarming red energy shuttles were like piranhas that had smelled blood. They sealed off any space for Wei-ah, so no matter which way he might run, it would be hard to escape the result of being pierced by the energy shuttles.


    Qiao Yuan''s energy shuttles weren''t like Chen Mu''s tailless shuttles. They were flat like diamonds, each one about the size of a bamboo leaf and with extremely sharp edges.


    Wei-ah remained unflustered under the red, glowing rain. He held his chest and pulled in his stomach, forming a ball in the air. He actually dodged the canopy of red, glowing rain.


    "Nice skills!" Qiao Yuan praised, though he didn''t at all slow what he was doing. The red, leafy shuttles suddenly slowed, and three of them linked up head to tail to form a line. Then, one after another, they were no farther away than that energy storm.


    Wei-ah had clearly turned a lot more serious. He carefully stared at those red, leafy shuttles. Their speed wasn''t all that fast, but he knew his adversary''s attack would certainly by unusual.


    Suddenly, the foremost shuttle snapped and blew open, turning into five bright red streamers. There were two pops as the ones behind them also blew open.


    Fifteen red streamers enshrouded Wei-ah.


    Wei-ah looked a lot more miserable that time. The 15 glowing streamers had no visible order, which was the sort of attack that would give someone the most headaches. Because there would be so many indeterminate factors, the adversary had no way to grasp the rhythm of the attack.


    What was an ace most afraid of? It wasn''t a tricky, unexpected move nor some powerful technique; it was a stray shot!


    A stray shot was like an unreasonable rogue suddenly breaking into a group of disciplined businesspeople and charging about violently. There was no way to defend against that. Even awesome aces had no way to predict unexpected factors like stray shots.


    Wei-ah wasn''t the only one out of luck. Chen Mu was suffering along with him. Several red, glowing streamers suddenly came shooting toward him, startling him as he was harassing Mi Xiaqing. He stopped his offense dead as he leapt to the side to evade the deadly red streamers.


    Mi Xiaqing stared hard at his adversary with an ashen face, having just been forced into a fluster. Those strange paces and erratic figure made him think his adversary was using some kind of peculiar jet stream card. That guy was weird from head to toe.


    The adversary''s attacks weren''t so fearfully powerful in his eyes. However, he had been forced to where he had no chance to fight back by such a seemingly inadequate attack. His adversary''s pace was too lovely and too freakish.


    The body moved back and forth and side to side as though it had no center of gravity, drifting like a breeze. Mi Xiaqing fearfully looked at Chen Mu''s index finger, which was encased in a tubular energy shuttle ring. That was the first time Mi Xiaqing had seen such a peculiar ring and such a peculiar style of attack.


    With a cold groan, Mi Xiaqing grabbed the opportunity. His fingers once again lightly bounced like a flower blooming. One after the other, colorful rings appeared. The disks weren''t flat like the last time; they were turned upward and pressing toward Chen Mu like a wall.


    Once the glowing rings left Mi Xiaqing''s hand, they got abruptly bigger, each one half as tall as a person. But Mi Xiaqing had no intention of stopping as the glowing rings left his hands without pause. He released more than ten glowing rings in a single breath.


    The glowing rings formed into a wall, pushing slowly toward Chen Mu. They grew bigger and bigger until the wall filled the entire meeting room, giving him no place to hide.


    Wei-ah had just escaped from the red streamers. He had demonstrated a stunning ability to react, upon which he completely depended to avoid the streamers.


    That was the first time Chen Mu had seen Wei-ah so miserable. Qiao Yuan''s power must have been really strong, after all!


    Taking a look at the glowing wall of rings in front of him, Chen Mu lightly hooked a chair with his toes and smashed it into the glowing wall.

 277 The Premeditated Plo

    Chen Mu''s come-on was clever. The chair went straight toward the hole in the center of the glowing rings, looking as though it would penetrate them. With a light zing, the chair instantly flew apart into countless shards.


    The more frightening thing was that the shards were each only the size of a fingertip. However, the luster of the glowing rings seemed to dim a little.


    With so much commotion in the meeting room, no other card artisan could have reacted. But how could they match the elite of the Central Repository of the Classics?


    Suddenly, the energy fluctuations of dozens more card artisans appeared, approaching rapidly. If they didn''t leave now, they wouldn''t be able to.


    With no hesitation, Chen Mu shrank back down toward the drainpipe opening and jumped into it. He was like a genuine mudfish with his big mudfish card, as slippery as could be.


    Just as he entered the pipe, there was a blast from above. Chen Mu surged rapidly ahead to get away. Then, there was a light pop as Wei-ah slightly flexed his legs and settled beneath the floor.


    The two of them bolted madly ahead. Since they were familiar with the topology in front of them, Chen Mu opened up his jet stream card to the max. Wei-ah followed closely behind, the two of them plunging madly ahead along the drainpipe.


    Hong, hong, hong!


    Behind them, several stout, glowing beams exploded down from above, turning the drainpipes a bright white. Chen Mu looked like he was being propelled forward, and the gravel blown up by the shock waves stung when it hit his back.


    Chen Mu flew in alarm across those short several dozen meters as gravel kept falling from the top of the pipe. The pipe behind him had already completely collapsed. The pipe ahead of them looked like it could collapse at any time, and if it did, they would have a hard time escaping the fate of being buried alive.


    To be buried alive beneath ten meters of ground, they couldn''t even think of surviving, no matter how awesome they were.


    Their speed had been taken to the max, though of course that was only for Chen Mu. Chen Mu had never witnessed how fast Wei-ah could actually go.


    When they arrived at the small storehouse, Chen Mu finally breathed a sigh of relief. As he thought about that extremely risky scene, he felt some faint excitement. He had just done something really great without the least sense of fear. It looks like I am becoming a better and better fighter, Chen Mu thought.


    He took a stealthy look outside the window. Card artisans filled the sky, scanning furiously for Chen Mu and Wei-ah. They never thought the two of them had escaped to the little storehouse. Those who hadn''t seen the plot plan had no idea the small drainpipe under the meeting room was connected to the storehouse.


    Without needing to say anything, Chen Mu and Wei-ah looked at one another and charged through the hole they had opened earlier.


    Sticking to the base of the wall, Chen Mu opened his speed all out. He didn''t dare to lift his head for fear that paying the least bit of attention could decrease his speed by some infinitesimal amount. If they were to slow in the least at that crucial time, things would turn utterly miserable. Facing such enraged card artisans required a lot of strength and courage. Chen Mu certainly wasn''t going to play any games with his life.


    Even though Chen Mu''s moves were already rather stealthy, he was still discovered by the card artisans in the air.


    "There they are!" someone shouted. Several wavy blades then quickly shot toward Chen Mu.


    None of them hit him, but they did indicate their objective to all the card artisans floating in midair. Like a burning keg of gunpowder, countless energy bodies abruptly intertwined like raindrops, smashing toward Chen Mu and Wei-ah.


    Since when had Chen Mu enjoyed such treatment? His heart raced as the big mudfish card meshed with his pace. It increased his speed until he was like a wisp of smoke, too fast to follow.


    The card artisans in the sky were a little freaked out; their adversaries only flew so fast, but they kept changing direction erratically, which meant their energy bodies would just miss. The two assassins were sticking close to the ground in their flight, taking advantage of the cover of buildings. No one could guess in which direction they would run next.


    Someone then shouted when they saw that the two of them would escape everyone''s field of vision. "Go in pursuit!"


    The command immediately alerted everyone, and dozens of card artisans went chasing after them.


    Since when had those card artisans been so humiliated? The adversaries had mounted a stealth attack right under the noses of the two great men, Qiao Yuan and Mi Xiaqing. That was too detestable! The Central Repository of the Classics card artisans opened up their jet stream cards to the fullest, itching to chase after those damned guys and blow them to smithereens.


    Qiao Yuan had a cold expression as he said to Mi Xiaqing, "Young disciple, you lead those back here for a bit while I take a look around."


    "Ok." Mi Xiaqing didn''t waste words. Although he couldn''t wait to surge ahead and kill those damned guys, he still hadn''t lost his reason. If they both ran, they would abandon where they were.


    That worthless, run-down base wouldn''t mean anything if it were lost, but Ren Wenzhou and Qian Mingyi were still under guard there. If anything were to happen to them, that wasn''t a loss they could sustain.


    After he spoke, Qiao Yuan flew up into the air.


    He quickly caught up with his comrades. When the other card artisans saw him, they were suddenly humiliated to death. Never mind the rest of it; for that gang of elites to be so easily infiltrated was enough to turn their faces pale.


    Qiao Yuan didn''t say anything as his gaze fell onto the two running wildly in front of him. His expression remained calm, though no one could see what he was really thinking. His gaze stayed focused on those two disappearing and reappearing men.


    They had outstanding power, especially the one wearing the black mask, who he''d narrowly missed. He must have been an ace from some cardless sect! The other one was a little weird, having some of the peculiarity of a cardless sect, though he could also use cards. His pace was the weirdest drifting Qiao Yuan had ever seen.


    The more he thought about that ace of the cardless sect, who could blast apart his own energy cloak with a fist, the more Qiao Yuan''s heart pounded. The assassin with the black mask was the most awesome cardless sect ace he had ever seen. How many years had it been since the cardless sects had faded away? He wasn''t sure. But he had never heard of an ace from some cardless sect able to get to such a place. That was really something! He never thought that not only would he see one that day, but he would also get a taste of one.


    Their speed might not have been considered fast, but they never went in a straight line, shifting right and left. They took advantage of the buildings for all kinds of cover, as though they were masters of shuttling about in the dark. They seemed to be one with the dark, able to melt into the shadows so easily.


    He didn''t rush to make a move, wanting to watch and see where the two assassins had really come from and what their objective was.


    Chen Mu didn''t dare turn around, though he had disseminated his perception. His surroundings were clear. He didn''t know whether anyone else''s perception was like his, but he had just then discovered that his own perception was getting more and more awesome. That wasn''t because of the increase in his perceptual power or sensitivity; it was some other peculiarity.


    For example, his perception was sensitive to things that had no energy fluctuations. So long as they were within the scope covered by his perception, the finest detail would be within his grasp.


    That was a rather peculiar sort of perception, which was why he could so skillfully dodge the energy bodies shot off by the card artisans pursuing him from behind. It was as though he had eyes in the back of his head.


    Beside him, Wei-ah wasn''t making any noise.


    The ground was covered in ruins, which was a big advantage for Chen Mu, who could freely choose his route. In reality, however, he had arranged the route beforehand.


    Chen Mu felt like an out-and-out rookie. Since he had so little experience, he had done a lot more work preparing. Their preparation had been thorough, and both Bogner and Xi Ping had provided quite a few precious suggestions. They had also found some under them who were really good at planning to help perfect their scheme.


    Chen Mu and Wei-ah were like ghosts as they went shuttling through the ruins. The Central Repository of the Classics card artisans behind them hadn''t stopped what they had been doing. They ceaselessly emitted lethal energy bodies, hoping to extinguish the shame the two crawling bugs had brought them.


    A straight drive then ended in the huge gate of a manor. A strangely cold smile appeared at the corner of Chen Mu''s mouth.


    There was a sudden, low-sounding question shouted from in front of them. "Who goes there?"


    Chen Mu wasn''t listening, and even the Central Repository of the Classics card artisans paid no attention. When had anyone been able to yell at them like that? Who among those arrogant lords didn''t have his nose in the air?


    "Halt! Don''t move, or I won''t be so polite!" Their counterpart immediately issued a warning. Chen Mu sped up instead and charged right into the manor.


    "Damn!" His counterpart was clearly enraged. Countless energy bodies abruptly shot toward Chen Mu. He could accurately detect his adversary''s position in the face of so many energy fluctuations starting up.


    Lightly pressing down on his feet, Chen Mu dodged the attack. He dodged endless energy bodies as they continued head-on into the card artisans from the Central Repository of the Classics.


    That basically put a fire in their bellies, and the card artisans'' tempers raged at the impossibility of taking a loss.


    "Hey, I didn''t know someone was looking to die!" one of the card artisans from the Central Repository of the Classics yelled coldly as he threw a shuttle from his hand. There was a sudden scream from inside the manor.

 278 Moving in Advance

    That shuttle was the official prelude to battle.


    Qiao Yuan didn''t say anything to stop it, though of course he knew those two assassins certainly had something in mind by luring them there. But he had sufficient confidence that the forces he had on hand were enough to overrun all of Pomelo. Moreover, he had plenty of confidence in himself alone.


    By then, apart from the tiny forces defending the transit route, most of the rest of the power of even the Federation Comprehensive Academy in Pomelo had been completely wiped out. Any intrigue had faded away in the face of such absolute power.


    He had locked in on the assassins with his perception. They hadn''t left but were hiding in the dark.


    The card artisans from the Central Repository of the Classics, nursing their bellies full of fire, turned their fury onto those card artisans whose power was so deficient compared to their own. They brought the fighting immediately to a lopsided disposition.


    The card artisans in the manor kept falling.


    Qiao Yuan coldly observed it all, partly paying attention to the two assassins hidden in the dark. He wanted to see what they were up to in the end. After a while, however, Qiao Yuan felt something wasn''t quite right.


    How could there be so many card artisans?


    Doing a simple calculation, he couldn''t help but shift his expression. In that minor skirmish, the adversary had lost nearly 70 or 80 card artisans. But the adversary''s firepower seemed to be getting more and more powerful. Only massive numbers of card artisans could create such a situation.


    Something was wrong!


    Qiao Yuan immediately realized what it was. Some of the people in Pomelo had been taking advantage of that period to amass a concentration of card artisans, in which he sensed danger.


    Pomelo was almost completely under his control. The appearance of such a concentration of power undoubtedly increased the level of uncertainty. That was something he didn''t want to see. If people had been plotting in the dark to manipulate everything, there would have to be some suspicious motive.


    * * *


    Deep in the manor, the sound of violent explosions had startled everyone from their dreams.


    "What''s going on?" the madam asked Butchie with an unhappy tone. She had been racking her brain for that period and hadn''t been sleeping well. To be called awake really messed with her mood.


    Ever since Butchie and the rest had realized what she was doing, they had been bowing down to her. Butchie even consciously assumed the responsibility to be her bodyguard.


    "I still don''t know, Madam." Butchie''s face was full of confusion.


    Just then, Hugo and the Beard charged in. The Beard spoke in a deep voice with a worried expression. "Madam, the Central Repository of the Classics have found us, and they are storming us!"


    Butchie''s expression changed, but the mask the madam wore prevented anyone from seeing her expression.


    "How did they get here?" The madam maintained her calm.


    The Beard shook his head. "I don''t know."


    Hugo''s and Butchie''s expressions shifted. They had felt a powerful and terrifying bout of perception!


    * * *


    Qiao Yuan''s brow was furrowed. The card artisans in the manor were as thick as ants! Although their people had a lot more strength, the crowds of their adversary meant casualties had begun to appear on their side.


    Who could have gathered so many card artisans together? Their adversary had lost nearly 200 card artisans, but there were still mobs of them battling. The two sides were both red-eyed with rage by that point.


    The card artisans in the manor had never thought they would so abruptly suffer such a fierce attack. The moves had simply surged to a terrifying extent, one or two levels higher than their own. But when they watched their comrades fall one by one beside them, their grief made them bring a lot more power than normal into play.


    Men with enraged eyes were terrifying, no matter how slight their power! To put it another way, although they were far below the level of the elite from the Central Repository of the Classics, they could kill people just the same!


    They then simply divided into seven or eight groups, each one composed of more than 50. Every group would attack one person at a time. When the power of 50 ordinary card artisans was concentrated, it was strangely terrifying! If they hit with an attack, even the power of the Central Repository of the Classics propped up by four-star power couldn''t withstand it; they would be pulverized in an instant. The card artisans'' energy cloaks were then quickly turned into a sieve by countless energy bodies, with the Central Repository of the Classics card artisans inside them. Some of the card artisans were even directly vaporized by the hot beams of energy.


    Every time one of those from the Central Repository of the Classics fell, the card artisans within the manor would raise a cheer.


    A chill arose in Qiao Yuan''s heart. By that time, he harbored no resentment toward the two assassins. If it weren''t for them, they would never have known how long that power might have remained in hiding. He may have been a little uncertain before, but he had determined by now that there was a big problem inside that manor.


    In his eyes, whether it was those two assassins or the manor, none of it was good. If they threatened them, he wouldn''t hesitate to level them.


    His side had already sacrificed five men. Although his adversary had no strength to speak of, they had terrifying numbers. Qiao Yuan wondered if all the card artisans in Pomelo had been gathered there.


    Qiao Yuan decided to make his move.


    The card artisans only saw countless red, leafy shuttles in the dark in front of them, rolled up into a field of red rain. A powerful bout of energy fluctuation caused their hearts to pound and changed all their complexions.


    Like a lion, it then roared to the heavens in rage.


    The card artisans in the manor, who had just been so inspired, now looked as though a bucket of ice water had been dumped on their heads. It chilled them to the bones, finally destroying their will to fight. Hopelessness pervaded!


    Pop, pop, pop, pop!


    The leafy shuttles penetrated the energy cloaks of the card artisans within the manor without expending any energy. Spurting blood could be seen all over the place. Those red, leafy shuttles, which didn''t look like anything special, were incredibly powerful. A single one of them often penetrated two or three card artisans.


    Chen Mu''s expression shifted as he looked on from the side. If he hadn''t been careful and had been grazed by one of them, he was afraid he wouldn''t have even half a life anymore.


    Qiao Yuan''s first move had put down a large part of the card artisans in the manor. A legendary ace had appeared in front of them, casually firing off an attack that caused heavy casualties on their side. The biggest blow was to their morale.


    The energy fluctuations of ordinary card artisans were like ripples on the water in a deep well, but Qiao Yuan''s energy fluctuations were like a surge in a huge river, whose raging waves made a line of spray between Heaven and Earth.


    His move was stunningly sharp and immediately created about 70 or 80 casualties among the card artisans in the manor. Such a staggering blow was something none of those card artisans had ever seen.


    Chen Mu wore an ugly expression, finally understanding why ace card artisans could be so awesome! Qiao Yuan wasn''t going to rely on numbers to achieve victory. Chen Mu believed Qiao Yuan alone could wipe out all the card artisans in the manor. If such an ace weren''t facing an ace of the same caliber, then once he raised a guerilla attack or a stealth attack, he could brazenly rub people out.


    The entire manor was enshrouded within the scope of his perception, and even Chen Mu and Wei-ah had been firmly locked in.


    Hugo''s and Butchie''s expressions were both bizarrely off. Such a powerful energy fluctuation couldn''t have come from anyone in all of Pomelo other than Qiao Yuan.


    How had that freak been so provoked? An involuntary, horrified expression showed up in the eyes of those few. They had been trying to avoid Qiao Yuan in their thinking; they really had no business provoking that freak.


    We need time¡­


    Underneath her mask, a sense of some misgiving floated onto the madam''s pretty face. She had been fully prepared, but who had thought to leak where they were in advance? She still didn''t know how they had been found out by Qiao Yuan. For those last few days, in order to avoid being implicated in the battle between the Central Repository of the Classics and the Federation Comprehensive Academy, she had destroyed the holdouts and had constrained those beneath her, prohibiting them from going out, now only to be discovered in advance. That had thrown all of her steps into chaos. Not only that, but she was even imperiled herself.


    The air was as heavy as lead with its oppressive atmosphere. Everyone knew the critical time was approaching. Suddenly, a sharp ringing broke the silence. It was her apparatus. Taking a look at the number, her pretty eyes became overjoyed.


    She quickly took the call and said with a trembling voice, "Uncle Peng, where are you?"


    "Ha ha, I''ll be in Pomelo right away." A middle-aged man with a smooth, white face appeared on the screen, full of smiles. But he looked a little messy. Seeing him, Hugo and the rest were unspeakably overjoyed.


    "Old Peng!"


    "Great Peng!"


    The madam spoke quickly, as though she were spitting out pearls. "Hurry, Uncle Peng. We are under attack by Qiao Yuan." Even in such an anxious time, he voice was still sweet and melodious.


    Uncle Peng''s expression turned abruptly solemn. "I''ll be there right away."


    After disconnecting, the madam ordered without the least bit of ambiguity, "Hugo and Butchie, tie up Qiao Yuan. The rest of you, come with me."


    Hugo and Butchie looked at one another and immediately flew into the sky toward where the energy fluctuations were the most powerful in the entire manor.


    The one who made the first move was Butchie. She had long waited to try out the power of 013.


    The light blue folding wavy blades lined up in an orderly fashion to form a long arrow, which went whistling toward the place in the manor where Qiao Yuan was so conspicuous.

 279 The First Battle of 013

    Watching the long, blue arrow shooting toward him, Qiao Yuan''s bronzed face became unwittingly mocking. That kind of attack wasn''t even worth a sneer from someone of his abilities. Without bothering to say more, a red thistle shuttle left his raised hand and traced a red shadow as it went flying toward the blue arrow.


    The card in his hands was a five-star card with an ordinary name¡ªthe Four-Pronged Caltrop. It was a well-known card in the federation.


    When he was young, Qiao Yuan was good at the wavy blade category of cards and had already started to show youthful promise. His teacher was planning to let him choose one of the high-level legacies from the Central Repository of the Classics, but he hadn''t wanted to abandon the Triangular Steely Blade he was already using, which nixed his teacher''s suggestion.


    The Triangular Steely Blade was an ordinary three-star fantasy card that served as the entry-level wavy blade type of card used by many. It could emit steely-colored triangular wavy blades with about average attack power and firing frequency, as well as accuracy. It was at roughly the same level as the fiery dragon card category.


    Seeing how persistent he was about following his original intention and in order to broaden his horizons, his teacher simply allowed him to study up on all of the wavy blade cards among the legacies at the Central Repository of the Classics.


    All of the ordinary card legacies were placed in the library at the Central Repository of the Classics, and the students could borrow them for study as they pleased. Some of the higher-level legacies were placed in the Main Collection Building. It was a small building not more than five stories high, but it was sacred ground in the eyes of the scholars and professors.


    Qiao Yuan remained at the Main Collection Building for five years. When he emerged, the first thing he did when he sought out his teacher was express his hope that he could swap out his card. His teacher was rather surprised when he heard Qiao Yuan wanted to abandon the Triangular Steely Blade he had hung onto for so many years. When he personally checked out his beloved student''s abilities, however, he was immediately filled with praise.


    Afterward, the dean of the card division of the Central Repository of the Classics¡ªwho was the teacher of Madam Zhi Lian¡ªpersonally intervened to make a completely new wavy blade type of card according to Qiao Yuan''s requirements. That was the Four-Pronged Caltrop.


    After Qiao Yuan got his new card, he embarked on more than ten years of silence. He would occasionally do something during that time and was invariably outstanding when he did. The prestige of the Four-Pronged Caltrop spread far and wide.


    Among the three disciples, Qiao Yuan was the least qualified but the most powerful. That was certainly related to how long he had trained, but his concentration and perseverance were still more outstanding.


    It was said that the method to make the Four-Pronged Caltrop had been preserved; if Qiao Yuan could organize his skills systematically before he died, the Central Repository of the Classics would have another new and ponderous legacy.


    Whether it was the students or professors at the Central Repository of the Classics¡ªor card artisans outside¡ªnone of them thought that would be any problem.


    Qiao Yuan himself was an expert in using the wavy blade type of cards, so how would he be moved by the sort of wavy blade he now faced? But, as aware as he was of what was going on in the world, he didn''t know the card in Butchie''s hands was 013 from the numbered series of cards!


    Card 013, which represented malevolence and death, appeared mild and middling. But it would always make a fatal blow once it was scorned by the enemy!


    The long, blue arrow was like a ramrod-straight chain formed of several hundred wavy blades. A whistling sound came from the spaces in the wavy blades flitting through the air at high speed.


    Would someone dare challenge Qiao Yuan? Did they want to die? Everyone was looking at Butchie and Hugo in disbelief, not quite able to keep up with it all in their heads. Maybe they didn''t know who they were facing. It was Qiao Yuan, after all¡ªthe Qiao Yuan who was at the apex of the Big Six! The Qiao Yuan who could pinch them off like ants!


    For an ant to extend its sharp tusks against an elephant was in itself a laughable event! Some of the card artisans from the Central Repository of the Classics looked like they were ridiculing as they watched the two jerks overextending themselves. One hand¡ªno¡ªmaybe just a flick of his fingers would be enough to pinch those little, creeping bugs to death.


    Even the card artisans on Faya''s side were dumbfounded. The energy fluctuation that had filled the sky had already utterly broken their will to fight. In their minds, that bronzed-faced man wasn''t even human; he was a demon!


    The two deliberately provoked him at the same time from within their own camp. Even as they saw it, it was a provocation! The card artisans looking on couldn''t keep themselves from stopping what they had been doing.


    A sudden flinch flashed through Qiao Yuan''s eyes as he stared at the long, light blue arrow composed of hundreds of wavy blades.


    Whether it was the red thistle shuttle Qiao Yuan had shot off or Butchie''s blue wavy blade arrow, they were both so fast that there was no way to capture them with the naked eye. All they saw was a red line and a blue line in the sky, smashing headlong into one another.


    The red shadow was like a lion charging into a herd of sheep, sending them flying in all directions. Only the red shadow could be seen to pass through; the light blue arrow formed by the wavy blades was as fragile as paper and was broken straight apart. There were nearly 100 wavy blades scattering. The red thistle shuttle had easily penetrated the arrow.


    Sure enough, the two sides were just too far apart! All the card artisans watching were shaking their heads and sighing.


    Qiao Yuan then suddenly raised his eyebrows. At the same time, the scattered wavy blades were like a school of sharks smelling fresh blood as they went whistling into ranks and swept toward Qiao Yuan.


    The line formed by 100 wavy blades moving at high speed made a kind of flower-bud-shaped after-image, the tip of which was astoundingly pointing straight at Qiao Yuan!


    The sudden twist surprised everyone. Quite a few of them finally remembered what the card in that young woman''s hands was.


    Card 013! Good lord, it''s 013! Many of the card artisans couldn''t hide their excitement. No wonder those light blue wavy blades had looked so familiar. No wonder someone had the guts to jump out. With 013 in their hands, what would they be afraid of? Some card artisans in the manor were even feeling some hope.


    The power of that mysterious card artisan was certainly unfathomable, but they had 013 on their side! Among those card artisans, only a few of them knew about Qiao Yuan. But if you were talking about Card 013, 90 percent of them knew about it.


    Those days, if you were walking on the street without knowing about the numbered series of cards, you would be ashamed even to greet anyone else. It was said that not to know 013 in this life would make being a card artisan a vain pursuit! For those people to be able to recognize 013 was due to the images that had been showing up on all the platforms. Even some of the card artisans from the Central Repository of the Classics recognized what card Butchie was using.


    "Faya! That gang is Faya!" some of the card artisans from the Central Repository of the Classics were shouting.


    Card 013 was too well-known and really couldn''t be hidden. The news that it had finally fallen into the hands of Faya was known to everyone. The card artisans from the Central Repository of the Classics had earlier surmised that for the power in the manor to actually be so frightening, someone must have been behind them, after all. They just hadn''t thought it was Faya!


    Qiao Yuan''s expression went cold, and a chill surged up from his heart. What was Faya doing gathering together so many card artisans?


    Ah, but their goal was self-evident. A murderous aura skimmed over Qiao Yuan''s eyes. That damned Faya!


    In the minds of the Central Repository of the Classics personnel, Faya had already become their principal enemy, even more detestable than the Federation Comprehensive Academy. Jie Yanbai had been mortally wounded in their attack. That had given the Federation Comprehensive Academy another opportunity, which then led to the later series of unfortunate events.


    Qiao Yuan and Jie Yanbai were close, but as they saw it, such a fierce provocation to their authority by attacking the Central Repository of the Classics scholars was already damnable! It was still more so because someone who could reach such a level would be no fool.


    When they found out those card artisans had all been gathered by Faya, things were suddenly clear as a bell, including what Faya was calculating. A cold, dark smile formed in the corner of Qiao Yuan''s mouth as his gaze firmly locked onto Butchie and Hugo. With no visible movement, he slid to the side as though he had suddenly disappeared from where he was. He then reappeared seven or eight meters away.


    The blue wavy blades split off from where he had just been and flitted over like a lively flock of blue swallows. Amazingly, the blue wavy blades were so lively that they didn''t even lose control when they came up empty. They all lined up into an arc and came firing after Qiao Yuan once again. But when they were a few meters away from him, they suddenly started to dance around Qiao Yuan in a high-speed flight. They were tracing marvelous trajectories while Qiao Yuan, enshrouded within them, abruptly blurred.


    Interesting! Qiao Yuan had seldom seen such elegantly controlled wavy blade cards. His gaze fell involuntarily onto the apparatus on Butchie''s wrist.


    Just then, a powerful energy fluctuation took Qiao Yuan by surprise.


    With his half-silver mask and half-expressionless face, the energy fluctuation produced by Hugo had already given the rest of the card artisans a faintly unsettled feeling. It was a powerfully oppressive feeling, like leaden clouds hanging low and squeezing everyone''s hearts to a flutter.


    The bare half of Hugo''s face turned pallid while the other silvery, glowing half of the soft mask constituted a rather demonic pattern. He leaned over slightly in midair with his hands hanging naturally in front of him, his gaze fixed on Qiao Yuan.


    At the same time, the flock of blue wavy blades filling the sky around Qiao Yuan changed direction.


    Clang!


    As though a sword were lightly slashing, the 100 wavy blades formed into a line of 100 blue streamers, which went plunging toward Qiao Yuan in their midst.


    At that exact moment, Hugo made a circle with his arms.

 280 Hand-to-Hand Comba

    An eye-piercing, stout, white light beam came booming from Hugo''s encircled arms toward Qiao Yuan.


    That wasn''t Chen Mu''s first time seeing the power of Hugo''s Aurora Beam, never being able to help but praise it to himself. That device had a limited scope, but it was truly beyond powerful. Fortunately, he''d been able to make his own move to stop Hugo last time. Otherwise, he couldn''t really be certain what kind of scene such a terrifying light beam would have made by booming into his base.


    Chen Mu hadn''t quite realized how far he''d advanced with that endless praise toward the Aurora Beam when compared to his shock and awe the first time he saw it. He''d already unwittingly traversed several more levels. By that time, although he would still marvel, there was no longer any fear in his heart; he could calmly and coolly analyze its advantages and drawbacks.


    But most of his attention was placed on the 013 card he''d made himself.


    Card 013 wouldn''t be spoken of as his peak achievement, though he''d spent a lot of thought on it. That card, which had taken its basic form from the folding Yanbo card, contained a wide variety of his own creative thinking.


    If he didn''t have the folding Yanbo card or wasn''t familiar with the wavy blade category of cards, he might not have let that card go. But what kind of a card master would leave a card he was proud of in his own hands?


    No one understood that card''s strengths and weaknesses better than he did. However, Butchie''s control of 013 was perfectly apt, and Chen Mu believed he wouldn''t have been any better himself.


    But Chen Mu could already tell who would win and who would lose in what he was watching. Although Butchie was pretty fancy, no matter how fancy she got, it wasn''t going to make her attacks any more threatening. That was related to her fighting mode.


    The true usage of 013, or at least as Chen Mu saw it, was as a close-combat card. It could form chains of wavy blades, fire in bursts, and was an out-and-out lethal weapon when intuitively manipulated. Not only would it be easier to control up close, but its burst attacks would be more sudden and harder for the adversary to prepare for.


    Butchie didn''t know close combat and could only do remote battle. She hadn''t thought to use 013 for close combat at all. As she saw it, 013 was an improved variation on the theme of the Tadpole she''d previously used.


    If it were used in remote combat, the explosive and attack power of 013 wouldn''t be adequately embodied. That was the shortcoming Chen Mu recognized in the card.


    But how could Butchie be as much of a novice as Chen Mu? As she saw it, cards that could be subtly manipulated generally had some insufficiency in attack and explosive power. That was common knowledge.


    If such a card were subtly manipulated, its power would be beyond compare. It would have to be five-star or above and wasn''t something she would be able to use. What use would a card be that she couldn''t use, no matter what its advantages might be?


    Anyhow, was the power of Card 013 really deficient? She didn''t think so. The power of 013 would already be in the top half among four-star cards. On top of that, its transformations and advantages were more than anyone could expect from a four-star card.


    Chen Mu had seen the folding Yanbo card earlier, which was even more powerful than his tailless shuttle card. Given that, he immediately felt the power of 013 was clearly insufficient by contrast. He had been brooding about that issue. There was finally no way the cards he designed by himself would achieve the heights of the folding Yanbo card, which was something that left him rather depressed.


    Beyond that, he knew the folding Yanbo card wasn''t even the greatest among the cards in the mysterious card. He believed if he could someday train his perceptual acuity to the point where he could build the five kinds of model energy compositions in the mysterious card, he would certainly be able to build five still more awesome cards.


    The problem was that those would still belong to the mysterious card and wouldn''t be something he''d realized himself. The mysterious card was like a vast ocean, which from time to time reminded Chen Mu how insignificant he was.


    Chen Mu was paying attention to Qiao Yuan, wanting to see how a different ace might face such a situation. If it had been him, he would have expended all his effort to avoid being surrounded. If he had been surrounded by so many wavy blades, he couldn''t conceive of any way out. He had never combatted hand-to-hand with Qiao Yuan, but to be able to force Wei-ah into such a miserable position, Qiao Yuan''s power could only be described as terrifying.


    What was more, the energy fluctuations he''d just emitted were really terrifying!


    Thinking about he and Wei-ah just having snuck up on such a freak, Chen Mu couldn''t help but feel afraid in retrospect. The ignorant were fearless, after all. If he''d learned earlier about Qiao Yuan''s terrifying energy fluctuations, Chen Mu reckoned he never would have focused on him.


    Wei-ah had also lifted his head to look at Qiao Yuan in the sky.


    The devastating energy beam had turned everything snow-bright, so eye-piercing no one could open their eyes. The Central Repository of the Classics card artisans were a lot better off. They had much more power than those Hugo brought. Although quite a few of them were somewhat awed, they weren''t as drained of color as the other card artisans.


    The Aurora Beam was a rather awesome card, though it wouldn''t be considered alternative. Most of the card artisans had a certain understanding of it. For the Aurora Beam to be used to emit a powerful attack like that one was sufficient to clarify how extraordinarily proficient Hugo was with it.


    No matter which side''s card artisans, once one of them demonstrated sufficient power, it would always win everyone over; even their enemies would praise them.


    That eye-piercing flow gradually dimmed, and everyone''s eyes returned to normal. When their gazes returned to sky, they shockingly found that Qiao Yuan wasn''t harmed at all. Not even the clothes on his body had the least sign of damage.


    Not far from him, Butchie''s and Hugo''s faces looked drained of color, and their eyes filled with disbelief.


    The result exceeded anyone''s expectations. In their minds, the combined attacks of Hugo and Butchie were incredibly fierce. Even if Qiao Yuan could have withstood them, it would surely have taken him some effort.


    But it looked as though Qiao Yuan hadn''t even expended any breath. Was the round of attacks not even a threat to him? Could that bronzed, middle-aged man really be so powerful?


    The card artisans watched the three in the air in a daze. The Central Repository of the Classics card artisans were all stirred, and their morale soared.


    "It''s a good card, but you don''t have enough skill." Qiao Yuan shook his head as though he were sorry about something. His voice wasn''t loud, but it could clearly be heard from near and far.


    Down below, Chen Mu had seen with his own eyes how Qiao Yuan had pulled that off. Speed and accuracy! It was those two words Chen Mu felt the most. In the blink of an eye, Qiao Yuan had emitted 25 thistle shuttles, each of which accurately hit one of the blue wavy blades. That was how he brazenly opened a gap in the wavy blades so dense that air couldn''t pass them, and he then drilled out through that gap and easily evaded Hugo''s glowing beam.


    To so easily use thistle shuttles to hit 25 blue wavy blades flying at high speed in such a short amount of time without missing one of them, Qiao Yuan had brilliantly played out the meaning of those two words.


    Butchie''s face turned even uglier as she looked at Qiao Yuan in hatred. Hugo was collapsing to her side since his attack had exhausted all of his perception. That glowing beam had also exhausted all the energy of the power card in his apparatus.


    Biting her lips until they turned white, Butchie wore a stubborn expression, returning to normal after struggling for a moment. Her expression then turned serious as a bout of energy fluctuation slowly spread all around.


    It wasn''t like Qiao Yuan''s, so full of terrifying might, and it wasn''t like Hugo''s, violent as never before. It was a kind of perception that spread slowly and firmly.


    Qiao Yuan looked serious.


    Nearly whooshing along on the ground, the Central Repository of the Classics card artisans were frightened and rushed to open up some distance from Butchie. The card artisans from the manor below were still more appalled as they scattered.


    Hugo changed color as he said nervously, "Butchie!"


    By that time, Butchie was already not listening, and her eyes looked as though they were blank. The fluctuations spreading from her body were getting stronger and stronger. Hugo was the one closest to Butchie. With that recent blow already having wiped him out, the energy fluctuations spreading from Butchie''s body were something he couldn''t take in his current condition.


    A look of grief flashed through Hugo''s eyes. He looked deeply at Butchie while retreating farther away.


    Qiao Yuan had a serious expression as he coldly watched Butchie, who clearly had something wrong with her. As the senior disciple of the lord of the Central Repository of the Classics, how would Qiao Yuan not understand what state Butchie was in?


    Its technical name was the Ultimate Method for Concentration of Ability, which referred to card artisans cultivating the regulation of their own perception. That caused them to enter a wonderful state in which the strength of the perception emitted by a card artisan would be 1.5 times higher than normal.


    Only some of the larger-scale academies would include that kind of method, and they would also prohibit ordinary scholars from witnessing or studying it. In fact, it used perception to stimulate perception, thereby causing a transformation that increased power in a short period of time. The reason ordinary students were prevented from studying it was that its aftermath was extremely serious. Card artisans could quickly die from it.


    But there were always those who studied it, especially some card artisan communities that used broadly prohibited methods, such as killers and assassins.


    Qiao Yuan wouldn''t have thought such a delicate and pretty girl as Butchie would actually know such a scary, taboo method.


    The following blow would certainly be extremely frightening.


    From below, Chen Mu was stunned to see Butchie in the sky, and a vague sense of familiarity suddenly arose in him.

 281 A Bold Notion

    Familiar¡ªwhy would he have that sense of familiarity?


    When Chen Mu saw Butchie''s vacant eyes, he finally understood where that familiarity was coming from.


    Breath control! Chen Mu remembered having learned breath control from the mysterious card. Wasn''t such a feeling rather similar to when he would use breath control himself? Could the two be somehow related? Or was it nothing more than a coincidental similarity?


    Breath control was one of the two main feats of the Night of the Cross. That ancient school was endlessly mysterious in Chen Mu''s eyes. The power of breath control had helped him get through a series of difficulties. At the same time, however, its powerful side effects had forced him not to make use of it for the time being.


    It would be great if he could use breath control without the side effects. That absurd notion popped in Chen Mu''s mind countless times.


    Too bad his theory was too shallow. Never mind advancing; up until then, he still hadn''t clarified the basic principles of breath control. It was hard to imagine how a school with such powerful skills would actually be obliterated in the long stream of history. Who knew how deficient the power of the bar-browed man was compared to that of his ancestors?


    Of course, Chen Mu couldn''t go showing off his half-baked breath control.


    The energy fluctuations in the air became fiercer, as though a typhoon were taking shape. Qiao Yuan''s bronzed visage was quite serious as he stared hard at Butchie with his body ramrod-straight. Even the rest of the people had long since retreated some distance away.


    Chen Mu wanted to get away as well, though Wei-ah wasn''t stirring by his side. By then, Chen Mu believed Faya would certainly recognize him as soon as he showed his face.


    But Chen Mu didn''t have much fear toward Faya. Bogner had said clearly that once Faya was exposed, the three sides would certainly descend into a melee. No matter who it was, they wouldn''t go looking to mess with them before the overall situation had been determined.


    Could they determine the overall situation? Chen Mu and Bogner were of about the same opinion in that regard; unless the powers were too lopsided for the short term, it wouldn''t be resolved.


    Just as Chen Mu was about to let his imagination run off with him, Butchie finally made her move. She endlessly emitted blue wavy blades, but they didn''t actually shoot toward Qiao Yuan. Instead, they surrounded Butchie''s body in a rapid swirl, one after another¡­


    Chen Mu could no longer tell how many there really were.


    Qiao Yuan gave a cold groan as he took the first shot. He could have made his move earlier, but he had never encountered an adversary who used the Ultimate Method for the Concentration of Ability before. He wanted to observe its power, which finally allowed Butchie to finish getting ready.


    Of course, he had heard of the power of the Ultimate Method for the Concentration of Ability. It was just that he was still more self-assured about his own strength!


    That was the classic attitude of the powerful! They moved step by step from being a novice toward being powerful, going through the honing of battle after battle. His self-confidence in his own strength had long since permeated through to his marrow after endless honing.


    That was also why the powerful would sometimes manifest a kind of idiotic underestimation of their enemy. It wasn''t that they were fools, but rather that they just had too much confidence in their own strength. All their accomplishments had informed them how powerful they were to the point that it was habit.


    Just like at that moment¡ªif it had been Chen Mu, he would certainly have detected the signs that it wouldn''t be the right time to make his move in the cradle of deadly danger. Instead, Qiao Yuan was just interested in waiting for Butchie to finish, so he could observe the Ultimate Method for the Concentration of Ability.


    Chen Mu and Qiao Yuan had utterly different attitudes. One wanted to survive, but the other was looking for a challenge.


    For an ace like Qiao Yuan, survival was far too remote! He probably thought it wasn''t even something he needed to consider.


    A red thistle shuttle went whistling off from his hand toward Butchie.


    Such a tiny red thistle shuttle happened to have outstanding power. Chen Mu had just witnessed how terribly it had penetrated several card artisans'' bodies. He reckoned its power ought to be about the same as that of the folding Yanbo card. But the red thistle shuttle''s peculiarity was how sharp it was, and the folding Yanbo card''s characteristic trait was explosion; when it came to penetrating power, there was a huge difference between the two. However, the folding Yanbo card was doubtlessly a few notches better when it came to explosive power.


    He didn''t know much about the other characteristics of the two. Chen Mu had too little understanding regarding the skills of the folding Yanbo card. It was more like decoration in his hands.


    Should he sell it? That was the sort of nonsensical notion that would suddenly pop out from his brain. Probably because he realized how untimely such thoughts were, a small smile curled up from the corner of his mouth.


    The red thistle shuttles didn''t hit Butchie but were easily annihilated by the swirling blue wavy blades. Chen Mu''s mouth hung open as he watched, stupefied at Butchie surrounded in midair by blue wavy blades. That couldn''t be¡­


    The scene in front of him made Chen Mu suddenly think of the other 007 card he had made. The blue wavy blades dancing in flight to form a spherical wavy blade cloak was like the spherical wavy blade type of energy sphere of 007.


    Chen Mu was struck dumb that 013 could be used that way.


    It was quite remarkable for Butchie to get such results. The red thistle shuttle hadn''t collided with a single wavy blade when it was annihilated. It was finally annihilated by more than ten blue wavy blades hitting it at the same time. That meant the red thistle shuttle''s destructive power was about equal to that of more than ten wavy blades.


    Each of the blue wavy blades would cause diminutive injury if that were the case.


    The glint in Qiao Yuan''s eyes brightened abruptly, as though he had gotten still more interested. He shot off another red thistle shuttle, but that one was a brighter red and faster!


    Still, that red thistle shuttle didn''t penetrate the spherical cloak composed of the blue wavy blades; it was twisted into a bright red starburst canopy. That was quickly followed by three red thistle shuttles let loose at the same time from three different angles, which traced three strange arcs shooting toward the blue wavy blade sphere.


    Hua! Like fish scrambling for food, dozens of blue wavy blades all pounced on the three red thistle shuttles.


    Just then, Butchie made her counterattack.


    Five blue wavy blades were suddenly fixed in front of her, statically floating into a line. The rest of the wavy blades were flitting as usual.


    Then, swiftly, those five fixed wavy blades suddenly squeezed closer together. In the blink of an eye, a single blue wavy blade appeared in front of Butchie. The single new wavy blade was a much deeper blue than the rest.


    Yi! It can even do that? Chen Mu was a little dumbfounded. Even as the one who''d made 013, he hadn''t thought it could be used like that. Still, no one understood its parameters better than he did. He turned it over a little in his mind before understanding how Butchie had done it.


    From that, he could see the difference between the two of them in their attainments as card artisans. Still, Chen Mu wasn''t intending to observe the two of them fighting openly, even though he knew it would certainly be spectacular.


    It was a good time for him to escape while Qiao Yuan wouldn''t have the energy to pay attention to them. If he were to wait until after Qiao Yuan stopped, there would be no way to escape if they wanted to.


    Chen Mu lightly pulled Wei-ah along. He looked a little mystified, but Wei-ah was no fool; he immediately understood what Chen Mu was thinking.


    The two of them pulled away slightly, which wasn''t so simple. But the other card artisans had already scattered far and wide, and their attention was completely on the battle between the two in midair. On top of that, they were both top notch with their stealth, so no one had discovered them.


    Once they left the manor, they suddenly sped up. Up until then, everything had gone completely according to plan.


    Then, another unusually powerful energy fluctuation came exploding from the manor. Chen Mu was aghast. The energy fluctuation was completely different from those of Qiao Yuan and Butchie. Could another ace have shown up? Would such an ace just be wandering around those days?


    Going straight to a relatively safe position, Chen Mu finally breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. That evening could be called extremely thrilling since he and Wei-ah had gone over to provoke Qiao Yuan. Thinking about it then, Chen Mu felt he was dreaming.


    He surmised that the situation of the powers in Pomelo would certainly be transformed after that evening. Chen Mu had also started to consider the issues, never wanting to toss them all to Bogner again.


    The Central Repository of the Classics was the most powerful. There was no doubt about that. The Federation Comprehensive Academy was the weakest, which wasn''t going to change. The crucial thing was what sort of role Faya would play when they took center stage.


    Determining that the Federation Comprehensive Academy was the weakest and so forth suddenly brought Chen Mu some enlightenment. He unconsciously stopped, and Wei-ah stopped with him, looking at him a bit strangely.


    "What''s up?" Wei-ah asked.


    Chen Mu hesitated. "I have an idea."


    "What is it?" Wei-ah showed some unusual curiosity.


    "I''m thinking of sneaking into the Federation Comprehensive Academy encampment," Chen Mu said.


    "What would you be doing sneaking up on them?"


    Chen Mu''s eyes shone. "Zu Ning has something on him that I need, and this is just the right time while they are at their weakest. I think I can give it a try."


    "Oh." Wei-ah nodded in understanding and said with a natural expression, "Grab it."


    The gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus was something that could liberate him from the green thread, and he had heard Zu Ning had some on him. That had a fatal attraction for Chen Mu. He had never previously thought about Zu Ning, but fighting with Qiao Yuan and Mi Xiaqing had given him a rather large plug of encouragement.


    On top of that, the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus was just too important for him! That was why he had suddenly had such a bold notion, and he felt his chances were a lot better with Wei-ah''s help.


    When he had studied the routes in Pomelo with Bogner at the outset, he had gone through the large amount of intelligence Xi Ping had gathered. That intelligence not only included the Central Repository of the Classics and Faya, but it also included the Federation Comprehensive Academy.


    He was extremely clear about where the Federation Comprehensive Academy''s defenses were.

 282 Fate is a Two-Edged Sword

    The power of the Federation Comprehensive Academy had suffered a destructive blow from Qiao Yuan and the rest, and there wasn''t much left. But because of the shrinking of their defensive zone, they had actually gotten stronger among the local powers.


    Still, their situation hadn''t actually gotten any better, and a lot of the aces had been wiped out among the card artisan reinforcements that had come later.


    Within the current defensive area, only Zu Ning remained among those who could be called aces. But compared to the Central Repository of the Classics, Zu Ning wasn''t any more than the level of Mi Xiaqing. If he were to encounter Qiao Yuan, he would die miserably.


    Zu Ning was feeling terrible. He had never thought he would fall into such a predicament someday.


    The sudden move of the Central Repository of the Classics had been quite awesome, with Qiao Yuan leading the troops himself through the jungle on a circuitous route into Pomelo. It abruptly changed the disposition of the powers within the city. Lao Hao, who was the one behind it all and managing the big picture from afar, had played a beautiful hand.


    They had descended into a passive position precisely because of that move. But what calmed him slightly was that there would be a batch of card artisan reinforcements arriving the next day. What made him more excited was that the one leading the troops was the great Tang Hanpei!


    There were none in the federation who didn''t know or weren''t enlightened enough to speak of the great Tang Hanpei. He had established the record for the fastest accomplishment of fourth-level perception at 17 years, 4 months and 15 days of age. Up until that time, no one had ever broken through that. His other record was spoken of with the same relish. From when he embarked on his career right up until then, he had never lost. That made him one of the most top-notch card artisans in the federation.


    He had even more prestige than President Pavchek in the Federation Comprehensive Academy. Tang Hanpei had been his idol since before Zu Ning had entered the Federation Comprehensive Academy. To be able to fight alongside his idol was more exciting than anything.


    So long as he got through that evening, he wouldn''t have to worry about what was to come. Although Qiao Yuan was powerful, he thought he was a little beneath Tang Hanpei.


    He wasn''t concerned about anything happening that evening. Although the Central Repository of the Classics had taken the lead, they would be exhausted in the long run. They would also need to recuperate from that day''s vicious battle.


    "It''s right here." Chen Mu and Wei-ah were quietly hiding in the shadows. In front of them was the final encampment of the Federation Comprehensive Academy.


    The Federation Comprehensive Academy had lost a string of battles during that vicious daytime melee, and they had to retreat to their station. They hadn''t been able to do any repairs or rearrangements to the encampment during the flurry.


    The two of them arrived at the edge of the encampment, never having run into any patrolling card artisans. That surprised Chen Mu. Apart from some weak fluctuations showing up in the air and some people standing guard, they hadn''t seen any other defenses.


    The reconnaissance waves emitted by scanning cards were no issue for Chen Mu and Wei-ah. The two of them silently traced the Federation Comprehensive Academy encampment, the entire process as easy as wandering in their own courtyard. Chen Mu was really surprised, never having thought the encampment of the great Federation Comprehensive Academy would be so lax.


    Was it still one of the Big Six?


    He thought of the Central Repository of the Classics encampment, which was not so heavily guarded either. Could that be the style of the Big Six?


    He felt that if Bogner had seen such defenses, he would certainly not have been able to restrain his yelling. If those who had set up those defenses were under him, the only aftermath for them would be dismissal.


    But Zu Ning couldn''t be blamed for that. Having been soundly defeated during the day, he retreated right when his martial ardor had chilled. That was along with having determined the Central Repository of the Classics wasn''t likely to mount any attack just then. So, he could permit those under him to rest.


    That had provided Chen Mu with his opportunity.


    The scope of the encampment was small, and the two of them quickly found the building where Zu Ning was resting. Compared to the first time Chen Mu had seen Zu Ning so spirited, his face was now full of exhaustion and his eyes devoid of luster.


    Zu Ning was idle and full of helplessness. His original plan to take advantage of Jie Yanbai''s injuries to suddenly make his move against the Central Island Firm shouldn''t have had any issues. But he hadn''t considered the situation would develop in unexpected ways. He would have to take most of the responsibility for the situation getting to where it then was. He knew it would have a huge influence on his future in the academy. His future¡­


    A warning suddenly arose in him. Just as he was raising his head, his neck went cold before he could react.


    A very fine wavy blade was poised on his neck, and the coolness exuding from that person made his scalp go numb.


    Such a fast move! Zu Ning was shocked speechless, and his spirits abruptly plummeted. Could it be someone from the Central Repository of the Classics?


    He wasn''t just horrified by his situation; he was also horrified by the attacker''s skill.


    Why hadn''t he sensed it? There had been no energy fluctuations from any of the moves his adversary had made. And, he had brought out the fine wavy blade just as his right hand was about to touch his own throat.


    What card artisan could accomplish that? He had never heard of such a thing! His adversary looked like an ace from some cardless sect combined with a card artisan. Moreover, his adversary could control a wavy blade in his hand, and he never would have sensed such fine energy fluctuations if he hadn''t been so close.


    An ace!


    Such ability to control perception was simply dumbfounding. Still, how could he have evaded his own perception? Why hadn''t he perceived a thing?


    The physical skills of the cardless sects and the refinement of their perceptual control, along with their evasion of perceptual scanning, all combined to create a freak¡­


    That impacted Zu Ning as nothing before ever had.


    What kind of a person was Zu Ning? He certainly wasn''t an ordinary card artisan. He was a well-known figure who had received the highest-level systematic card artisan education from the Federation Comprehensive Academy. He had a far deeper understanding than ordinary card artisans did regarding the optimization of the card artisan system.


    He knew clearly what kind of power such a freak represented.


    It wasn''t unreasonable to call him a freak. The development of the cardless sects had declined to almost nothing, and there were very few of them, with aces being still scarcer. The cardless sects emphasized physical training, and their skills all involved the core of the body.


    It was a system that had nothing to do with being a card artisan, and there was no intersection between them. But one thing was certain¡ªthe system was huge and meticulous, and it required a large expenditure of time to advance one''s professional training.


    What about the perceptual control? If one were to say Zu Ning were a complete stranger to the cardless sects yet familiar with the card artisan system, no one would call that into question. The high-grade card artisans from the Big Six would always be familiar with the card artisan system.


    He well knew if he wanted to achieve such a level of perceptual control, he would require a lot of hard, long-term training. Card artisans who had gotten to such a level would seldom be seen, even in the Federation Comprehensive Academy.


    Everyone knew the training of perception was the hardest skill to accomplish, whether in strength or acuity. But such high ability with perceptual control would sometimes appear in someone who wasn''t a pure card artisan.


    Zu Ning found it incredible. Did this guy ever sleep? Did he make two days out of one? Is he that gifted?


    That was all impossible! He had seen plenty of geniuses. To tell the truth, geniuses were often seen in such a place as the Federation Comprehensive Academy. Geniuses could do things that would be difficult for ordinary people to do, but they had no way to go against the laws of nature. Even Tang Hanpei couldn''t get to such a place.


    Could the Central Repository of the Classics have cultivated such a freak?


    Thinking about that, Zu Ning was taken aback. He couldn''t help his reckless thoughts, and he wondered if the attacker was a secret weapon of the Central Repository of the Classics.


    Still, apart from the slight shift in Zu Ning''s expression, he had immediately returned to normal in Chen Mu''s eyes. He was an ace of the Big Six with naturally excellent psychological qualities, so Chen Mu wasn''t surprised by that.


    Wei-ah was outside standing guard. Chen Mu had originally been concerned about running into powerful obstacles, so he had brought Wei-ah along to back him up. He hadn''t thought he would only be used to stand guard. That had left Chen Mu rather speechless.


    "Who are you, esteemed sir?" Zu Ning asked coldly, as though he weren''t feeling the wavy blade in Chen Mu''s hand. His neck was stiff, however, and he didn''t dare make a move.


    Chen Mu didn''t waste any words with him, removing the apparatus from Zu Ning''s wrist at the first opportunity. Without his apparatus, Zu Ning''s threat would be reduced to its lowest.


    Zu Ning obediently let Chen Mu remove his apparatus. He was a smart man who knew when to resist and when to cooperate. By the time Chen Mu had removed his apparatus from his wrist, he mocked himself. "You can relax now, sir. What brings you for so late a visit?"


    By then, he could clearly see what kind of a person had snuck up on him. He wore a strange mask with seven drops of brightly colored blood from the forehead and brow over the nose to the chin, dividing the entire mask in two and giving off a strange, demonic feeling. Zu Ning was desperately searching his brain about where such a weird mask might have come from. It was hard to tell.


    "Hand over the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus." That deep, hoarse voice wasn''t brooking any hesitation.


    Zu Ning looked taken aback, not knowing whether he should laugh or cry. From that phrase, he''d determined this adversary wasn''t from the Central Repository of the Classics. If they had come looking for him, they certainly wouldn''t have come for any gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. Reasonably speaking, he should be happy, but he couldn''t be.


    That was because he didn''t have the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus on hand.


    He could only harden himself. "I am very sorry; I don''t have it on hand." Seeing that his adversary was about to make a move, he rushed to say, "If you need some, sir, I would really like to find a way."


    Chen Mu stared at Zu Ning, his gaze as sharp as a sword.


    Under that sharp gaze, Zu Ning smiled bitterly to say, "If I had some, I would certainly present it to you with both hands. Although those above me did bring up the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, it is a lot of bother to transport that stuff. Their idea was that if Ren Wenzhou wanted to join the academy, they would send it when the time came. So, I don''t have any. That is something the media mistakenly spread."


    Having hardened himself to say all of that, Zu Ning felt disturbed not knowing if his adversary would kill him in anger. Seeing that he seemed to be thinking about something, Zu Ning was overjoyed to see a little hope.


    "If you need some, sir, I have another idea," he hurried to say.


    "Tell." That hoarse and icy voice gave Zu Ning a chill.


    Just from the voice, he felt the guy in front of him wearing the mask was certainly shady and shrewd. He still more carefully considered what he said.


    "Our Federation Comprehensive Academy belongs to the Big Six, and we have all kinds of rare, strange treasures beyond counting. Our president, Mr. Pavchek, has always sought out an ace such as yourself, and I''m sure he wouldn''t mind such a trifle as the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. The esteemed sir needn''t worry about his treatment. No one in the federation would treat you better than the Federation Comprehensive Academy. If there is anywhere the esteemed sir would require the assistance of our power, I believe the president would have sufficient power to fulfill your heart''s desire. Moreover, only the Big Six would have the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. Among those, I don''t believe anyone would be more generous in their proposed treatment of you than would the Federation Comprehensive Academy."


    Zu Ning was speaking carefully while examining his counterpart''s reaction. He certainly didn''t want to annoy his adversary with his miserable fate still held in those hands. He responded astutely, realizing an opportunity in his counterpart''s desire for the fungus. If he could recruit such an ace, it would be to his great credit. He could atone for certain mistakes he had made in that battle.


    The wavy blade that had just been brought out suddenly appeared at his neck. "If that''s all you''re proposing, I think you have no further value."


    The grave voice was emotionless. Chen Mu was feeling irritable, not having thought Zu Ning wouldn''t actually have the fungus on hand. That damned gossip from the media!


    His mood plunged. The gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus doubtlessly represented hope for him. He hadn''t expected his hope to be burst so quickly. He was a youth, after all, and his original extreme expectations had suddenly come up empty. Such frustration messed with his feelings.


    What he said in that agitated state became weightier, along with the stinging aura.


    Join the Federation Comprehensive Academy? He didn''t consider that at all. To tell the truth, the Big Six had made a lousy impression on him. Wasn''t he just then struggling against the Big Six and Faya?


    Apart from the Desert Camp, Moon Frost Island and the Bitter Solitude Temple¡ªthe three he''d had no dealings with¡ªthe other three were not good in his eyes.


    Zu Ning was stunned. "Take it easy!"


    His counterpart stopped what he had been doing. His ruthless and violent gaze made him feel as though he were being stared at by a wolf at the end of the road.


    "I have another idea." Seeing Chen Mu''s displeased gaze, he spoke as though he were spilling all his beans. "Since the esteemed sir isn''t interested in entering the Federation Comprehensive Academy¡ªalthough that is to my regret¡ªwhy don''t we change the way we cooperate? If the esteemed gentleman could assassinate Qiao Yuan, the conditions of the exchange would be that we would enjoy providing the gentleman with the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus along with some other conditions. What do you think?"


    This guy is really nuts! Chen Mu looked at Zu Ning without saying anything. Did he really look like such an idiot? Hadn''t he just seen Qiao Yuan that day with his magisterial power? No matter what, Chen Mu didn''t want to have the slightest additional conflict with Qiao Yuan. That would be no different than looking to die.


    Chen Mu didn''t give Zu Ning any further opportunity to open his mouth. The wavy blade in his hand lightly sputtered, and a line of blood appeared on Zu Ning''s neck. After a while, the bloody foam was spurting like a fountain.


    Although Zu Ning had said straight out that he didn''t have the fungus, Chen Mu kept holding onto the slightest hope as he searched desperately through the house and on Zu Ning''s body.


    He went through all that was there. Afterward, there were too many things, and he simply picked up a backpack to load it all.


    There were indeed a lot of nice things on Zu Ning. Chen Mu took the dozens of cards from his body, all of which were four-star and above. Chen Mu couldn''t help but marvel that the people from the Big Six were so flowing with riches, after all. The thick stack of money cards dazzled Chen Mu. There were also some rare and strange things Chen Mu didn''t recognize, but he packed them up anyway.


    The defenses there were too lax. Having just cleaned him out, Chen Mu suddenly felt it was almost not worthwhile since it was so easy to leave. The action of killing Zu Ning was so trivial it hadn''t alarmed anyone. No one would ever believe such a large team had no strategic reserves.


    Sure enough, Chen Mu and Wei-ah quickly found the storehouse of the encampment. Inside was piled a large quantity of materials. What most attracted Chen Mu''s gaze were the power cards piled in the corners.


    Oh boy!


    The power cards, all of which were four-star, were stacked neatly in three cabinets. Two other cabinets were stacked with some other cards, which were all three-star and above. Even the illumination cards were three-star. Chen Mu marveled at how fabulously wealthy the Federation Comprehensive Academy was. At the same time, he felt ecstatic.


    With no hesitation, Chen Mu found two suitcases, each half as tall as a person, and swept all the cards into them. Chen Mu didn''t move the materials. While the cards were small enough that one suitcase could hold 700 or 800 of them, if it were packed with materials, it wouldn''t hold much.


    Each with a suitcase on their back, Chen Mu and Wei-ah thereupon quietly left the Federation Comprehensive Academy encampment.


    Blending into the night, they went running at high speed among the ruins of the city. Chen Mu felt as carefree as could be. He had put any regret about the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus far from his mind. He had no idea what so many cards would really be worth, but he knew it would be a lot.


    The day had gone so smoothly he couldn''t quite believe it. He felt he was in some kind of a dream. He and Wei-ah not only snuck up on Qiao Yuan and Mi Xiaqing, but they also got away safely and succeeded in luring them to where Faya was, forcing Faya into the limelight. They then infiltrated the Federation Comprehensive Academy encampment and killed Zu Ning, wantonly plundering an astonishing harvest. The world had suddenly become unreal.


    Qiao Yuan, Mi Xiaqing, Faya, Zu Ning¡­ Who among them hadn''t been some lofty creature in his eyes previously? He had never thought he would someday have the ability to turn them into enemies. Moreover, he had never thought he would one day be able to kill Zu Ning.


    The blood of youth would rage in the night, and a kind of overconfident temperament would start to gradually appear on their bodies.


    * * *


    "This girl is gorgeous. Really f**king ripe!"


    "You know what? She is Sue Lochiro, a really grand, high-grade medical card artisan. How would such poor card artisans as ourselves bump into her?"


    "Yeah, so what kind of high class? Hasn''t she fallen into our hands now, brothers? She''s so gorgeous my mouth waters just looking at her. It''s been a while since I''ve bumped into a woman!"


    "Ha ha, it would be a real bother if she hadn''t used up all her perception. For this stupid girl to have wasted her perception on these ordinary people''s bodies, tsk tsk, it''s really reckless.


    "Ha ha, such a high-class girl getting petted by men every day, how could she know the woes of people? Why don''t we just give her a lesson?"


    "We are so f**king great!"


    * * *


    The lewd conversation was blown into Chen Mu''s ears by the wind, and he suddenly stopped.


    Sue Lochiro¡­


    A murderous look flashed through Chen Mu''s eyes as he changed the direction of the jet stream beneath his feet. He stuck his whole body to the ground and cut an arc of nearly 30 degrees. Giving Chen Mu a look, Wei-ah followed him without seeming to make any movement.


    The two bearded card artisans had just put the girl in their hands on the ground as they laughed wantonly.


    It was Sue Lochiro, after all. With a flash in his eyes, Chen Mu now saw more clearly.


    Without the slightest hesitation, two tailless shuttles took shape in the blink of any eye and went off from his hand.


    "Who?" The two card artisans went cold and suddenly looked up.


    Two gorgeous blossoms of blood bloomed in their brows. Their expressions froze on their faces as they fell face-up, never having reacted to incurring the calamity of death.


    Sue Lochiro''s eyes were tightly closed, and there was a pained look on her face. She had just fallen unconscious.


    How could she have gotten into such straits? Chen Mu couldn''t quite understand. Reasonably, no one would make a move against a neutral medical card artisan. That was a huge taboo.


    Thinking it over, Chen Mu didn''t wake her. He instead put her onto his shoulder.


    Sue Lochiro was limp, as though she had no bones. Carrying her on his shoulder, the peculiar wafting fragrance of the small girl stimulated Chen Mu, and a kind of feeling he''d never experienced quietly arose from his heart.


    Without knowing it, Chen Mu''s movements become softer and lighter.


    Wei-ah unexpectedly gave Chen Mu a look as though he were strange, but he quickly retracted his gaze.


    The two of them were like ghosts in the night as they quietly floated toward their base on the outskirts of the city.

 283 More Wonderful Than a Great Dream

    Bogner and Xi Ping had been waiting for a while. Chen Mu and Wei-ah''s operation that day had a high degree of danger, and they were worried. They hadn''t told Jiao Si about it for reasons of secrecy.


    The two of them were a little dumbstruck when they saw Chen Mu. They saw him with a backpack strapped to his chest and a suitcase that was half the size of a person on his back, along with a woman over his shoulder. He looked like some thief returning with his booty. Wei-ah looked a lot better, though he also had a half-person-sized suitcase on his back.


    Seeing them, Chen Mu walked quickly into the meeting room. He walked past Xi Ping while ordering, "Call Lu Xiaoru over." Bogner and Xi Ping looked at one another before following. Xi Ping opened his communications card as he was walking.


    Entering the meeting room, they saw two huge suitcases on the table, along with a backpack and a woman¡ªan unconscious woman.


    A really beautiful woman!


    Bogner and Xi Ping felt things brightening up in front of them as their gazes turned back to Chen Mu with some flash of understanding. Xi Ping was worldly in the end, and he saw it all in an instant. He asked in astonishment, "Yi! Isn''t that the master medical card artisan Sue Lochiro?"


    "Mmmm." Chen Mu responded without saying anything. Pointing to the unconscious woman on the table, Chen Mu said to Lu Xiaoru, "Take Sue Lochiro to a room, and watch over her. Call me when she wakes up."


    Lu Xiaoru looked at the unconscious Sue Lochiro with a hint of astonishment flashing past her eyes. But she knew what she should ask about and what she shouldn''t, so she just nodded and said, "Yes, sir."


    After she carried Sue Lochiro away, Bogner closed the door of the meeting room again. His and Xi Ping''s gazes were focused on Chen Mu.


    "The operation this evening went smoothly." Although Chen Mu was trying to calm his voice, he couldn''t help but show some excitement.


    Bogner and Xi Ping looked at one another, the two of them both seeing the joy in the other''s eyes. The operation they had planned had put Faya into an awkward position, forcing them out of the shadows and onto center stage. If Faya had been thinking of gaining something from that battle, they would have to participate in the carnage.


    The price Faya had paid for that far exceeded their previous estimations.


    Being able to get such revenge for the fatty made them feel perfectly gratified. To see their plans succeed with their own eyes meant the feeling of accomplishment was far beyond compare. Both Bogner and Xi Ping well knew the operation would directly influence the warring in the entire Heavenly Federation.


    Seeing the excitement in their eyes, what Chen Mu said afterward was like a bombshell that blasted the two of them silly.


    "I killed Zu Ning."


    His voice wasn''t loud, but the room went immediately silent.


    "B-boss, w-what did you just say?" Bogner stammered. His expression showed how weird he found it before his excitement had even faded. He was struck dumb by the shocking works of Chen Mu.


    Xi Ping''s expression was also pushed out of its rut. A man older than 40 with his mouth hanging open, speechless, looked dully at Chen Mu.


    "I killed Zu Ning," Chen Mu repeated.


    "Why?" Bogner responded quickly, restoring his cool. Looking calm, he was actually feeling utterly imperiled.


    The boss has killed Zu Ning! The boss actually killed Zu Ning!


    Who was Zu Ning? He was the darling of the Federation Comprehensive Academy and the idol of countless people. He was the pride of the younger generation. In the midst of battle that day, even Qiao Yuan hadn''t killed Zu Ning.


    An ace who was famous throughout the federation had been silently killed at the hands of the boss. While the boss was quite powerful in their minds, no one was likely to bring him up together with Zu Ning. That was just too laughable. It was like comparing a card artisan and a card master to see who was better at killing people!


    He was a card master. He was truly outstanding to the point of being called a pure card master! Who would dare say a card master who could make the numbered series of cards wasn''t sufficiently pure? Was he a mongrel?


    Moreover, it was just such a pure card master who could actually kill the ace who was the pride of the youth of the federation¡ªthe genius student of the Federation Comprehensive Academy among the great Big Six! When Chen Mu spoke, he was always self-deprecating, as though there were nothing surprising in what he had accomplished.


    Bogner was saying if that affair got out, he believed the explosive news would be the topic of 90 percent of the federation platforms'' headlines. His gaze fell onto the ever-calm Chen Mu when he finally discovered how shallow and scanty his understanding of the boss was.


    Xi Ping was completely stunned. He had been with the fatty for more than 20 years and had gone through who knew how much turmoil. When it came to being shocked, however, nothing compared to what was happening that evening.


    It had started with luring the Central Repository of the Classics out of the dark and attacking the Faya encampment, all while quietly influencing the trend of the federation. Soon afterward, they''d killed the only remaining ace of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, Zu Ning. Although Zu Ning wasn''t such a legendary person as Qiao Yuan, he was still someone people looked up to. With some imagination, they could understand Zu Ning''s position.


    Previously, the most awesome card artisans in Pomelo had been the bar-browed man, Lu Xiaoru and those people. They represented the topmost aces of Pomelo. But Zu Ning was so many levels above them. Any scholar from the Big Six could have such skills.


    Zu Ning was still outstanding in such an environment, seen as the important object of cultivation for the Federation Comprehensive Academy. You could imagine how powerful he would become.


    By that time, however, such a powerful person¡ªan ace they had become used to looking up to¡ªhad been killed by Chen Mu.


    "I thought he had something on him that I needed." Chen Mu had long since been restored from his previous excitement. So, when he spoke about what had happened, his expression was rather calm.


    "Oh, so you just killed him?" Bogner asked cautiously.


    Chen Mu nodded and said with a composed expression, "Mmmm, I didn''t want the news to get out, so I just killed him."


    Bogner and Xi Ping looked at one another and then speechlessly at Chen Mu. They had surprisingly calmed down after the initial shock. Everyone had experienced blood, but since the adversary had been Zu Ning, they were shocked.


    Poor Zu Ning! They actually had some sympathy for him. It looked like they would have to reconsider the boss''s battle power since he was so easily able to kill Zu Ning.


    Bogner pointed to the backpack and two suitcases on the table and asked, "What are those?"


    "I found their defenses too lax and conveniently cleared out their storehouse." Chen Mu''s expression while speaking was as though he had cleaned out his own storehouse.


    The two of them were still more speechless. Never mind killing someone else''s chief¡ªbut to then rob someone else''s storehouse? That was just too astounding! If they didn''t know the reason, they would certainly have thought the boss had some kind of deep enmity with the Federation Comprehensive Academy.


    Bogner and Xi Ping made up their minds that the news could never get out! If it did, the aftermath¡­ When they thought about all the card artisans from the Federation Comprehensive Academy whose eyes would turn red, inundating their tiny base like a tide, they couldn''t help but shiver. They could never speak about the killing!


    Even though they had been prepared, they couldn''t help but gulp when they opened the two suitcases.


    Inside the first suitcase were well-arranged four-star power cards, 800 altogether by a cursory count. The market price for a four-star power-card was 150,000 Oudi, so there were 120 million worth. That amount of four-star power cards could influence the price fluctuation for four-star power cards in an entire city.


    That wasn''t what had thrilled them¡ªit was the other suitcase. Inside that one were mostly three-star fantasy cards, along with a small portion of four-star fantasy cards. There were about 800 fantasy cards altogether, and all of them had come from the Federation Comprehensive Academy.


    While the fantasy cards produced by the Federation Comprehensive Academy weren''t up to those of the Central Repository of the Classics, which had the most powerful influence on the market, the fantasy cards produced by the Big Six were never cheap.


    An ordinary three-star fantasy card''s price was in the range of 300,000 to 500,000 Oudi. While the three-star fantasy cards produced by the Big Six were never less than 800,000 Oudi, the finest among them might be worth several million. Four-star fantasy cards produced by the Big Six cost more than 3 million, and the price of the finest goods were hard to measure.


    There were 600 three-star fantasy cards and 150 four-star fantasy cards. Estimating it like that, the cards in the suitcases were worth almost 900 million. That was still a conservative estimate. In Xi Ping''s sinister gaze, there were quite a few fine pieces there that could be priced at the top 15 or 20 percent of the market.


    The Big Six had always strictly controlled their internally produced cards, and they were difficult to buy on the market. Combined with the recent chaos, which had greatly stimulated the price of fantasy cards, Xi Ping reckoned that with that suitcase alone, they could get at least about 1.5 billion.


    Once the numbers came out, the three of them were all dumbfounded. Wei-ah was the only one who remained calm. The concepts of one or one billion weren''t very different in his mind.


    "We''ve really made out this time!" Bogner murmured. They''d used several hundred million to recruit so many people and to build a base. If they were to have several billion on hand, there was just too much they could do.


    Xi Ping looked fanatical. As a businessman, what could give him more pleasure than wealth? But he still remained rather cool. "The problem is where they came from. It would cause some trouble if anyone were able to determine that. We better go through the black market. That way, although our take would decrease by 20 percent, we wouldn''t be leaving any tracks."


    "You take care of that. We''ll keep the power cards." Chen Mu simply turned the matter over to Xi Ping.


    "Good grief, so many cards. It would be enough to arm a card artisan team of several hundred. Ai, too bad we already have that set of cards. Otherwise, if we kept these cards for our own use, it wouldn''t be so bad. Good cards are hard to get now." Bogner couldn''t help but feel some regret. It looked as though he had never encountered a situation where money wouldn''t buy a good card.


    Chen Mu then opened the backpack, in which were all the things taken from Zu Ning''s body. Chen Mu recognized some of them and didn''t recognize others.


    Xi Ping and Bogner, who could be said to have broad experience, couldn''t help but change to their expressions that time.


    "These are all Zu Ning''s things?" Bogner''s tone was a little nervous.


    "Right." Chen Mu was looking at the two of them as though something were a little odd. They both looked nervous. "Is there some problem?"


    "There''s a big problem!" Bogner answered with a sneer, right along with the one from Xi Ping.


    Seeing that Chen Mu didn''t understand, Bogner pulled out a red fantasy card from the backpack to explain. "Do you recognize this, Boss?"


    "A two-star fantasy card." Taking a look, Chen Mu made an accurate judgment.


    "It is a two-star fantasy card." The sneer on Bogner''s face didn''t diminish in the least as he said, "If I haven''t guessed wrong, all of the legacies should be recorded in there. Connecting that with your having gotten them from Zu Ning''s body, I''m guessing it''s most likely the Cross-Section of Styles legacy."


    "Cross-Section of Styles?"


    "Right." Bogner continued, "This is one of the most famous of the Federation Comprehensive Academy legacies. Zu Ning had gotten the privilege to practice the legacies."


    "Oh." Chen Mu didn''t quite respond. "It''s something good."


    The sense of the sneer on Bogner''s face deepened. "It''s something good! Not only that, it''s really hot. Not only did you get the Cross-Section of Styles card from Zu Ning''s body, but you also got its legacies. Therefore, you can now study the Cross-Section of Styles legacies."


    "I don''t know how to do that." Chen Mu shook his head to nix the idea.


    Bogner then patiently explained, "That''s not what others would think¡ªor at least that''s not what the Federation Comprehensive Academy would think. A legacy like the Cross-Section of Styles is kept absolutely secret within the academy. The selection of card artisans for it is extremely strict. To leak such top-secret skills would be a responsibility no one would take on. The Federation Comprehensive Academy would absolutely never allow such a thing to happen. I can be certain they would find some way to get it back. Moreover, they would kill off anyone they could find who had seen it."


    "I understand." Chen Mu nodded, though he didn''t seem to be bothered by the issue. Laughing, he said, "I killed Zu Ning. If they find out, would they let me go?"


    Bogner was taken aback. "Not likely. They would certainly kill you if they found out."


    "Mmmm, so that means the results would be the same. Whether or not we have those two things, the Federation Comprehensive Academy wouldn''t let me go. So, why should I worry?" Chen Mu looked at Bogner.


    Bogner became abruptly dumbfounded.


    Chen Mu suddenly asked, "Can it be sold?"


    Xi Ping, who had been nodding all along, was suddenly struck dumb. "You want to sell it? It''s one of the top legacies of the Federation Comprehensive Academy and of the entire federation. It''s something countless people dream about."


    "Dream about?" Chen Mu immediately responded with, "That''s to say it would bring a good price?"


    Xi Ping said impatiently, "Of course you could sell it for a high price, though there''s no way I could make an accurate estimation. But I''d recommend you keep it. It would really be too bad to sell such a level of inheritance, along with the cards that go with it."


    "Sell it." Chen Mu was quite insistent. "I''ll study it a little and sell it off. Using that card would make it easier for the Federation Comprehensive Academy to detect that we were the ones who stole it. It would be better to sell it in exchange for the funds we need."


    Both of them remained silent. Chen Mu wasn''t wrong. If they were to keep that set of things, it would explode some time or another. Once it had been discovered, the aftermath would be gravely serious.


    Bogner didn''t insist any further but asked in response, "Can this stuff really be sold for a good price? Wouldn''t everyone be scrupulous about the Federation Comprehensive Academy and not dare to buy it?"


    Xi Ping smiled. "Don''t worry about that anymore. There are lots of bold people in this world. Furthermore, although the Federation Comprehensive Academy is one of the Big Six, there are many things they can''t control in this world. Plus, I reckon the other five, especially the Central Repository of the Classics, would be happy to put their oars in the water."


    Bogner excitedly rubbed his hands. "Ha ha, that would be best. Sell for a good price, and we''ll get by a lot better."


    Chen Mu pulled out a few money cards. "There are still quite a few money cards. Take a look to see how much there is."


    Xi Ping took them and exclaimed, "They''re unregistered money cards!" He quickly put one of them into his own apparatus, and his face showed a look of ecstasy.


    It looked like they had a lot of money, and Chen Mu felt pretty pleased. Given the glint in Xi Ping''s eyes, it was certainly no small number to have made him look so ecstatic. Xi Ping grew even more so as he slid them in, one by one.


    "How much?" Bogner couldn''t repress the question.


    "We''re rich, Boss!" Xi Ping''s voice was trembling.


    "Don''t just tantalize me; how much is it?" Bogner said in agitation.


    "Five billion!"


    Xi Ping spat out a number that struck everyone dumb. For the second time, the meeting room went silent. After a while, Bogner finally muttered, "Goodness gracious, am I dreaming?"


    Chen Mu was also dazed. "That much?"


    Xi Ping was actually the first to calm down. "Mmmm, it must have been part of the reward for Ren Wenzhou. That seems right. Zu Ning came to talk about conditions with Ren Wenzhou and wouldn''t have left out any inducements. Such a number for the technology to communicate through the jungle could only be considered a pot sweetener for a big, local guy like Ren Wenzhou. It''s a little bit like a deposit, though it looks like the Federation Comprehensive Academy and Ren Wenzhou had never talked about it, which is to our advantage."


    Xi Ping''s analysis corresponded precisely with the truth.


    Chen Mu and Bogner felt their brains fluttering. Such a shocking number might be considered a small deposit in the eyes of the Big Six. The ways of the world really did leave a person speechless.


    Xi Ping then said excitedly, "These are all unregistered money cards, Boss. There is no danger in them; we can pull out the money whenever we want."


    Chen Mu still felt like he was fluttering as he responded unconsciously, "Oh, that''s great!"


    So many hundreds of millions made him feel as though he were dreaming. He was a little bit numb. The take that evening had completely exceeded his any expectation. The first thing he then thought of was nothing more than to sweep the warehouse clean of energy cards. That was because the daily consumption of energy cards in the base was really giving him a headache.


    When he found out what he''d gotten was actually that huge, a powerful sense of unreality swept over him. Was he dreaming? If he were, that dream was really wonderful!


    To sneak up on Qiao Yuan and Mi Xiaqing, escape unscathed, transfer the brunt by forcing Faya to center stage, quietly infiltrate the Federation Comprehensive Academy encampment and kill their top ace, Zu Ning, and rake in the wealth worth several billion¡­ That sort of dream was about as gorgeous as it got.


    The more gorgeous thing was that it wasn''t just a dream¡ªit was real.


    Bogner''s blood was already completely boiling. His eyes had turned red and his face fanatical. He was desperately rubbing his hands and drooling, staring at Chen Mu. "We''ve just wiped them clean. What a lot of money!"


    He then counted on his fingers. "The things at the Central Repository of the Classics encampment would be worth no less. Oh, the Faya patrimony is also quite rich¡­"


    Without ignoring the utterly crazed Bogner, Chen Mu stared hard at Xi Ping. "Is that true?"


    Xi Ping had gone red in the face from excitement and couldn''t evade Chen Mu''s gaze. He strenuously nodded, unable to conceal the joy in his voice. "It''s true! We''re really rich, Boss!"


    Off to the side, Wei-ah was looking on coolly, seeing the three of them looking nuts as they danced about. Were they practicing? The moves were too unorthodox! He was wondering whether he would go over to correct them.


    After a full ten minutes, the three of them finally calmed down. You couldn''t blame them. The one with the most contact with money was Xi Ping, but the most he had ever had at one time was no more than 1 billion. Their one-time straight income that time was 7 or 8 billion. How could that not make a person crazy? Such a number would be the entire annual income for a large firm.


    What a wonderful world!

 284 The Cross-Section of Styles Legacy

    By the time the three of them were completely calmed down, they realized they still faced quite a few issues. That was certainly a huge sum of money. But at that time, even if they had money, they couldn''t spend it. Pomelo was completely cut off from the outside, and the economy in the city was already collapsed. The stores were all closed, and goods from outside had no way to be transported in.


    Before the dispute could be resolved, the money couldn''t be put to any use. Moreover, that case full of cards couldn''t be exchanged for money. Thinking about that, it didn''t seem as though the situation had even changed.


    "It''s always good to have money," Bogner said to comfort himself. He didn''t mention the ridiculous notion of Chen Mu going to rob the storehouses of the other two academies.


    "When will this battle finally be over?" Xi Ping looked at them and spoke with a bitter smile. A businessman having such large sums of money on hand with no way to put it to use was doubtlessly a painful thing.


    Chen Mu shook his head. "I don''t know, but I reckon it''s still early."


    "It is certainly early." Bogner stretched out languidly. He had completely calmed down from the recent ecstasy.


    Compared to the other two, Chen Mu''s attitude was a lot better. He had never really needed much, and that was all some unexpected surprise. So, he was the first to calm down. As far as that money went, he had a different outlook. Whether or not they could use it at that time, it was still extremely valuable.


    So long as Bogner and Xi Ping were still there, having that 5 billion meant they could always come back in from the cold. Given that, they could make a lot more choices. If things got really chaotic, Chen Mu could plunge into the jungle with them, whereas others could only gaze off into the woods and sigh.


    Having a specialist in jungle life like Wei-ah, they would have advantages in the jungle beyond compare.


    If those under him weren''t such a gang of rookies, Chen Mu might have led them plunging into the jungle right then to avoid all the turbid water. Since they were all new recruits, however, taking them into the jungle would be no different than suicide. Even if they had ten more of Wei-ah, it would be no use. He wouldn''t be able to expect the same kind of good luck he''d had when he''d led the Moqi children.


    That was not to mention the Moqi Clan children had a much higher probability of surviving the jungle than the newbie card artisans. They were more familiar with it, although they had no fighting power on their own.


    Compared to before, Chen Mu was a lot more mature about preparing for a rainy day. If it ever got to that point, having the money as a foundation, no matter where they were, meant they wouldn''t have to worry.


    Everyone was direct in their opinions about the matter¡ªthey certainly couldn''t let anything out. Everyone knew how serious the result of that would be.


    All the cards were turned over to Xi Ping. Only the Cross-Section of Styles and its legacy fantasy cards remained with Chen Mu. He was very interested in the Cross-Section of Styles. It was no item from a roadside stall; it was a top-notch legacy in the federation. How could he not research such a fine thing?


    Both Bogner and Xi Ping had a lot to do, and they each went off to do it. Bogner had to take responsibility for the training of the new recruits, and Xi Ping had to arrange all the materials and take responsibility for gathering intelligence. The fatty had left a whole lot of materials behind. Although most of them were ordinary goods, there were shocking quantities. The personnel from the previous auction house were also organized under Xi Ping, and they had all been brought back together.


    If one were concerned about who had the most ability to gather intelligence in Pomelo, it wouldn''t be the Central Repository of the Classics, who had been dominating the scene, nor would it be Faya, who had engulfed most of the small powers in Pomelo. It was that recently established base. Although Faya had boldly destroyed the fatty, the intelligence network he had set up earlier hadn''t encountered any fatal blows.


    What Faya was focused on was the battle power in the hands of those local powers. They hadn''t yet been able to digest the intelligence capabilities of the new local powers they had absorbed before they had been forced onto center stage by Chen Mu.


    It was a lot of work to organize the intelligence every day. Moreover, Xi Ping was never originally a specialist in that, and the struggle had exhausted him.


    Seeing the two of them leave, Chen Mu simply started to research the Cross-Section of Styles right there in the conference room.


    The Cross-Section of Styles was quite different from any card Chen Mu had seen before. It could condense into something like a sectional energy body, and those energy bodies could both attack as a single section and form all kinds of specific connections among them. From that alone, it would seem rather similar to his 013. That card could also form a chain of wavy blades.


    Still, the connections between the Cross-Section of Styles card''s body sections were more unique. It was as though there were wedge-shaped energy buckles between them, which could complete different combinations. The most amazing thing was that the Cross-Section of Styles could theoretically be formed into 32 differently composed single sections.


    The different single sections of those energy compositions presented completely different characteristics, and the strength and acuity of the perception they required also had huge differences. Given Chen Mu''s current power, he could only condense out 16 differently composed single sections. The other 16 were too difficult for him, and some couldn''t be used in battle.


    The 32 differently composed sections meant 32 different single-body tactics. When they were combined with one another, that could become a huge number of tactics. Although not all of them had actual combat utility, it was clear how rich their combined tactics could be. Seeing that, Chen Mu finally understood why the card was called the Cross-Section of Styles. Actually, its full name should have been the Cross-Section of Styles of Attack.


    Inside that red two-star fantasy card were recorded uncountable numbers of tactical combinations. Those tactical combinations had gone through the summaries of generation after generation from the Federation Comprehensive Academy and had been preserved until then. They had all been combinations of great power in actual combat.


    It was an out-and-out crystallization of intelligence.


    Chen Mu got deeply lost in it. Those combinations, so full of the wisdom of tactical combinations, were like a treasure trove. In there, not only could he study those rich tactical combinations, but what gave him a deeper feeling was the prior generations'' tactical thinking. It didn''t look like anything unusual, but as he studied it more deeply, he would feel still more of its rigorous layout.


    All kinds of tactics within it were formed of three differently composed single sections. It would first make use of the single sections to expand the range that had been formed, and it would then compress the adversary''s range of motion. A subsequent single section would produce a powerful energy wave disorder. The disordered energy didn''t distinguish between the enemy and oneself. Once every region had developed the energy disorders, inside the designated district, any energy composition would possibly collapse. The more complex the energy body, the more likely the possibility of collapse.


    The final killing section would be the most simply composed single section, which could only appear in the basic textbooks'' triangular energy body composition section. By that time, they could ignore the energy disorder and could make a fatal blow.


    Of course, that tactic had some difficulties. For instance, the second kind of single section would cause an energy-disordered section and would make extremely high demands on the card artisan. Another crucial thing was how to compress the adversary''s scope of movement. Regarding those two points, there were quite a few comments from previous generations inside the two-star fantasy card.


    Chen Mu only then understood why the card artisans who came out of the Big Six were always more powerful than card artisans from other schools. It was because they were standing on the shoulders of giants. That little fantasy card condensed the wisdom and essences of many people.


    As compared with 013, the Cross-Section of Styles was a lot more profound. It was a complete tactical system¡ªa complete and massive tactical system.


    What dumbfounded Chen Mu still more was that selection among the 32 kinds of single sections used up a lot of thought from the card artisans. If the card artisan using it could emit all 32 kinds of single sections, they would influence one another and could form into a complete linked ring of sections, within which everything could carry out a molecular disintegration. In other words, everything within the ring would decompose into a molecular state.


    That was then the ultimate skill, the Cross-Sectional Ring Collapse of the Cross-Section of Styles. When facing absolute power, the other so-called tactics would already be of no use.


    That was Chen Mu''s first time to encounter the concept of the so-called ultimate skill. But that was related to the cards he had encountered. The cards he had insisted on practicing¡ªthe tailless shuttle card and the folding Yanbo card¡ªboth employed simple skills and couldn''t compare with such a vast legacy as the Cross-Section of Styles.


    But, inside that two-star fantasy card, Chen Mu discovered that among the legacy card artisans of the Cross-Section of Styles, the card artisans who could make use of the Cross-Sectional Ring Collapse numbered only two. The ultimate skill was obviously extremely difficult.


    Chen Mu had received a shock as never before. He finally understood that a card could be so vast. However, his study was cut short.


    "Sue Lochiro has awakened, Boss," Lu Xiaoru alerted him.


    Chen Mu was a little reluctant to come out of that two-star fantasy card; he looked like he was obsessed. That two-star fantasy card was quite deficient from the fantasy card he had previously made for Ru Qiu about how to make the folding Yanbo card. This one only had some simple diagrams on it and was mostly textual commentary.


    He arrived at Sue Lochiro''s room.


    "Thank you all so much, Mr. Cao! If you hadn''t rescued me, it would have been too frightening." Sue Lochiro''s pretty face looked rather haggard, and her eyes were dull.


    Chen Mu shook his head and said sincerely, "You are too polite, Miss Sue. It was my obligation." Sue Lochiro had been so diligent about that green thread inside his body. Although she hadn''t finally given him any substantial help, Chen Mu had always remembered her human feeling.


    Sue Lochiro could barely smile as she looked around. "Where are we, Mr. Cao?"


    "This is my base." Chen Mu could see she wasn''t in great spirits and knew she had just received a shock. He comfortingly said, "You are safe, Miss Sue. Right! President Jiao Si is also here, so you don''t need to be concerned about safety." In order to comfort Sue Lochiro, Chen Mu had moved Jiao Si over.


    After hearing Jiao Si was there, Sue Lochiro''s nervous expression relaxed quite a bit.


    Chen Mu sighed to himself; Jiao Si''s huge card would be so useful wherever he went, and even Sue Lochiro was no exception.


    Seeing the alienation on Sue Lochiro''s face, which was so different from normal, Chen Mu hesitated before opening his mouth to ask, "Could I take the liberty of asking how you encountered such a situation? What about the Medical Card Artisan Association? Couldn''t they provide protection for you?" Chen Mu found it strange. Reasonably speaking, no one would dare offend a neutral medical card artisan.


    "We had really bad luck when the first wave of attack spilled over. The building was half-collapsed by an explosion, and a lot of people were buried alive." Sue Lochiro''s voice was low, and the tears were plopping down. "My professor also died, along with quite a few of my colleagues. No one was around me when I ran out."


    Saying that, her miserable expression made Lu Xiaoru''s nose turn sour to her side. Chen Mu was fine, though he sighed to himself. He wasn''t like them. He didn''t know how many more dangerous things he had experienced, so of course his heart was like iron.


    "After I got out, I discovered how chaotic the streets were. A lot of people were seriously wounded, and if they weren''t treated, they would certainly die. So, I went to save them. Who would have thought there would be more and more wounded? The scene was becoming increasingly chaotic until it seemed as though we were being attacked."


    Sue Lochiro''s tears stopped when she said that, and a slight smile appeared on her face.


    Chen Mu remained silent. An instant later, he said solemnly, "First, get a good rest, Miss Sue. I believe that in here, you don''t have to worry about anything. You have a kind heart." As Chen Mu saw it, Sue Lochiro''s conduct could be considered foolish. But it was just such foolish conduct that had earned his respect.


    "Thank you!" Sue Lochiro seemed to feel the respect from Chen Mu''s heart. In an instant, her smiling face bloomed to where its elegance and beauty brightened everyone''s outlook.


    The two of them fell into silence. Just then, the apparatus on his wrist sounded. Xi Ping was looking for him. Chen Mu rushed to bid farewell to Sue Lochiro.


    Returning to the conference room, Bogner and Xi Ping were already there. Seeing Chen Mu enter, Xi Ping said immediately, "We''ve gotten the most recent reports, Boss."


    Chen Mu''s spirits were jolted. "Oh? How is it?"


    Xi Ping and Bogner looked at one another, and they smiled knowingly. Xi Ping said, "It was more successful than we had ever thought! Faya and the Central Repository of the Classics both lost and suffered wounds. There were said to be heavy casualties in the Faya encampment, with blood flowing like a river. Half of the card artisans they had gathered are dead. When the few card artisans who were still alive heard they were confronting the Central Repository of the Classics, they all demanded to leave. Although Faya managed to use high-pressure means to achieve a temporarily steady state, their morale hit bottom. Their will to fight was shaken.


    "Then, an ace finally arrived, probably named Peng. He had no obvious fame and was possibly an ace cultivated in secret by Faya. Butchie was seriously wounded, and it''s unknown if she''s alive or dead. The ace named Peng was also wounded by Qiao Yuan. Faya was hit hard all at once.


    "The Central Repository of the Classics also had nowhere to go, and more than 20 of their aces were killed. Half of those who remained were wounded, and their strength plummeted. Qiao Yuan was also lightly wounded. It was Butchie''s final blow that wounded him, and Card 013 was also destroyed when it was hit, unfortunately."


    Chen Mu hadn''t heard anything unfortunate from what Xi Ping had said. On the contrary, the excitement was palpable in his voice. Chen Mu still hadn''t asked Bogner''s point of view on that result.


    The apparatus on Xi Ping''s wrist suddenly sounded. He said a few words upon opening his apparatus, and his expression abruptly turned strange.


    Closing his apparatus, Xi Ping saw the gazes of the other two on him. Still wearing his strange expression, he dropped a big bombshell. "Tang Hanpei has personally led reinforcements from the Federation Comprehensive Academy here. He has just arrived in Pomelo."


    * * *


    Old He operated a bar, and it was just when business was best, as the night gradually deepened. He was busy to the point of being dizzy, with his head spinning and his feet barely touching down.


    A screen took up nearly two-thirds of the entire wall in the middle of the bar. Ever since getting a fantasy card receiver, that thing had immediately become popular in all the bars. What could be more pleasing than watching interesting programs while drinking?


    Images of card artisans battling had previously been the most popular, but after the most recent tense situation, more and more people paid attention to the current news.


    The busiest in there were the waitresses, most of whom were young, pretty, and dressed stylishly. They were really skilled with the jet stream card. It was perfectly delightful whenever an absolutely gorgeous and lovable doll held out a drink and flew to your side with a dazzling spin.


    Old He had been a card artisan for 20 years before he got old and used his savings to open the bar. None of his previous sharp spirit could be seen on him. All that remained was a warm and affable spirit, although no one would ever dare make trouble in his place.


    Old He was pleased with his current life. He was just then buried in booking his receipts with all the noise in his ears, which was like heavenly music to him.


    The noise he had become so used to suddenly disappeared. Old He paused what he was doing as his heart took a leap.


    What happened? He was about to lift his head when the voice on the fantasy card receiver was clearly transmitted to his ears.


    "Exclusively reported to this platform: Today at 9:40, the flag bearer of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, Tang Hanpei, personally led troops to Pomelo. He brought along about 80 card artisans, and they are said to be rather well-known aces within the Federation Comprehensive Academy for these last few years.


    "Shockingly, in the short time before Tang Hanpei arrived, the idol of the Federation Comprehensive Academy''s younger generation, the ace Zu Ning, was mysteriously killed. There has been no related information so far. According to eyewitnesses, Zu Ning''s neck was fatally injured by a wavy blade.


    "The apparatus on Zu Ning''s wrist has disappeared, along with a large quantity of money cards. Inconceivably, the Federation Comprehensive Academy''s storehouse was ransacked. What went missing included a large quantity of all kinds of cards. The final losses haven''t yet been calculated. No organization has issued a statement taking responsibility for the affair.


    "The Federation Comprehensive Academy responded in the first instant. Pavchek was unusually angry and issued an order for a reward for the first time ever in front of the media. If anyone could provide a clue, they would be rewarded with 1 billion Oudi. If they could find the killer, not only would the reward be 10 billion Oudi, but they would get the right to enter the Federation Comprehensive Academy for the opportunity to study.


    "We have interviewed quite a few experts, and all of them agreed with the proposal. The reward is possibly directly related to the Cross-Section of Styles legacy Zu Ning had been practicing. A scholar like Zu Ning would conventionally carry with him a copy of the legacy. But the Federation Comprehensive Academy still has made no response to that question.


    "This platform has just received news that Qiao Yuan from the Central Repository of the Classics, who quietly appeared in Pomelo after sweeping the original powers of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, encountered the Faya firm. A fierce battle developed between the two sides. Both suffered heavy casualties, and Qiao Yuan suffered minor injuries himself. Apart from that, it is worth mentioning that the card artisan who wounded Qiao Yuan had been using 013 from the numbered series of cards.


    "Will Tang Hanpei take advantage of Qiao Yuan''s injury to make his attack and take the initiative in the battle? We have no way to know right now.


    "It has been reported that Qiao Yuan and Tang Hanpei have never fought hand-to-hand before. The winner and loser between them would directly determine the issue about which firm would have rights of attribution for the Central Island Firm. With Faya still stalking from the side, the issue is still more complicated.


    "Because of the many-sided battle, there have been heavy casualties among the ordinary citizens of Pomelo. It has been rumored that the Bitter Solitude Temple and the Star Academy are preparing to organize a team of medical card artisans to enter Pomelo to help the ordinary people. Such a mobilization has also gotten a response from Desert Camp and Moon Frost Island. We have no way to predict the final result¡­"


    The bar exploded with commotion.


    "Shoot, to be able to kill Zu Ning, what kind of hotshot did that?"


    "Hmmm, the Big Six have always thought of themselves as hotshots, and now someone has put them in their place. Right on!"


    "Zu Ning. The idol of so many! Oh boy, which one kills with a thousand knives? If my old lady finds out who did it, she''ll be right there with him!"


    "Take a guess; when Qiao Yuan faces Tang Hanpei, which one will be the bigger winner?"


    "013! Good lord, I''ve dreamed of it so many times!"


    All the receipts in Old He''s hand fluttered to the floor. He didn''t know when things would finally get better. He let out a long sigh.


    The world was getting messed up.

 285 Trying Out the Tactics

    The battling seemed to have resumed a state of balance. Being more concerned with Zu Ning''s death, Tang Hanpei hadn''t taken advantage of the perfect opportunity to attack with Qiao Yuan having been wounded.


    There were a lot of doubts about the entire affair. According to the reports of those under Zu Ning, they had set up a defensive card artisan that night. Since there was only one, that clarified quite a few issues.


    The card artisan had been educated in the orthodox reconnaissance type of card. His accomplishments in the Federation Comprehensive Academy had always been excellent. Not only that, but he also excelled in his tactical curriculum. What gave Tang Hanpei still more faith was that every teacher had included the same item when assessing him: He had a rigorous attitude, he was never negligent, and he was very self-disciplined.


    The chance of such a card artisan making any low-level errors was minuscule. Moreover, Tang Hanpei had interviewed him personally, and his manner had made him still more certain on that point. So, the only possibility was that the infiltrator had evaded his scanning. That wasn''t impossible.


    Reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance were like a sword and a shield. For example, Tan Hanpei knew there were several kinds of cards that could evade the fluctuations of that level of scanning. He had quite a few ways to avoid it.


    But any card required a card artisan. The effectiveness of a card was half dependent on the card itself and half directly related to the level of the card artisan.


    As it happened, counter-reconnaissance cards made high demands on the card artisan. The ones who were best at that were card artisan assassins, as anyone with a little common sense would say. The crowd that moved in the dark were doubtlessly among the best at that kind of card.


    The infiltrator hadn''t aroused anyone else before silently killing Zu Ning. That was the classic style of the assassin.


    But, without a doubt, it wasn''t done by an assassin. For example, no assassin would ransack the storehouse. An assassin could carry only a few things on his person. Carrying anything would greatly influence the success of an operation.


    The most incomprehensible thing was that among the cards taken away, most of them were worthless power cards plus a few three-star and four-star fantasy cards. As Tang Hanpei saw it, those had no value.


    Was it a smokescreen? At the outset, Tang Hanpei thought the assassin''s goal might be to obfuscate his actual thinking.


    But nearly 2,000 cards had disappeared into thin air. That many cards would require at least two cases to carry. So many cards could never be taken away by the strength of a single person without alerting someone. That was virtually impossible.


    From that, he deduced that the adversary hadn''t been alone.


    That corresponded with his suppositions. Card artisan assassins were seldom seen by that time, and only a few powerful firms would be able to keep them. There were really no independent card artisan assassins to speak of.


    That was how he could shrink his target.


    Only three organizations in Pomelo had enough power to use card artisan assassins: the Central Repository of the Classics, Faya, and the Federation Comprehensive Academy.


    The Central Repository of the Classics was eliminated right at the outset. If it were them, even if they had killed Zu Ning, they would never have been interested in the Cross-Section of Styles. They had no fewer legacies than the Federation Comprehensive Academy. What they most needed was to get the core technology from the Central Island Firm and then to get out of Pomelo.


    If Qiao Yuan had used a card artisan assassin, he would certainly have made a concurrent outside attack to capture the encampment in one fell swoop before retreating to the Central Repository of the Classics as quickly as possible.


    Most of his suspicion was on Faya. They had always lurked in the dark and were clearly ill-intentioned. They liked to take advantage of the difficulties of others, and no one felt they did things out in the open. While the Central Repository of the Classics didn''t care about the Cross-Section of Styles, it had a lot of attraction for Faya.


    Still¡­ He was more concerned about something else. What if the assassin had come from within the Federation Comprehensive Academy itself?


    That actually wasn''t impossible!


    The Federation Comprehensive Academy was bristling with sects, and the one Zu Ning was in wasn''t the strongest. If someone took advantage of the situation to suddenly make his move, no one would ever put the suspicion on their heads. Thinking of that, Tang Hanpei''s face turned ashen, and his eyes went as gloomy as an overcast sky.


    Uncharacteristically, Tang Hanpei didn''t do anything. All the platforms had experts discussing the matter daily, and everyone was trying to guess what Tang Hanpei was calculating.


    There were even quite a few dissenters within the Federation Comprehensive Academy who thought Tang Hanpei had missed his chance to fight. But his prestige in the academy was too high, so there wasn''t a large market for such questioning.


    Tang Hanpei didn''t make a move, and the other two organizations didn''t dare to jump right into things.


    A person''s name was like a tree''s shadow. Tang Hanpei''s prestige across the federation was beyond that of almost anyone. Compared to Zu Ning, or Jie Yanbai and those who came later, he had made his name much earlier and had a lot more power. He was in the same age class as the presidents of the Big Six, but he hadn''t weakened; he was still younger than they were.


    No one could guess what Tang Hanpei had in mind.


    People were also interested in a different topic. The sudden surfacing of Faya had been totally unexpected. People with any intelligence connected that to Faya''s stupid previous moves, which were the fuse that set off the chaos.


    Faya had been secretly fanning the flames. Quite a few people thought that way. What had followed had confirmed everyone''s thinking. When Faya surfaced, their disguise was ripped off, and they suddenly attacked some of the Central Repository of the Classics encampments.


    The Central Repository of the Classics clearly hadn''t adequately prepared, and they were hit hard. Such a veteran powerhouse as the Central Repository of the Classics wasn''t just going to swallow it, however, and they swiftly mounted their counterattack. The warring between the two sides immediately shot up, and the Federation Comprehensive Academy didn''t have the least notion of getting involved in the battle between the two.


    None of that had much to do with Chen Mu. When the situation returned to balance, as far as he was concerned, it provided him with some buffer. The training of those novice card artisans wasn''t reduced in the least with Bogner personally in charge of it.


    Their temperament was completely different from before. There was none of the previous impetuousness and immaturity to be seen, all of them accustomed to stiffening their faces and sharpening their gazes. If anyone thought about it, they would have found that their seriousness was an imitation of when Bogner was serious.


    No one talked on the huge training field. With three to a group, they were ceaselessly practicing their firing.


    Any fine card artisan climbed over countless power cards to get ahead. Such was the well-known saying of some famous card artisan. Bogner was clearly a faithful adherent of that saying.


    Beside every small team was placed an entire box of three-star power cards. Their responsibility was to use it up within ten hours. Not only that, but they would have to hit a fixed target over 98 percent of the time, along with an over 70 percent hit rate on a moving target with a difficulty level of eight.


    That was a rather stunning standard. It would be fine for a stationary target, where a 98 percent hit rate wouldn''t be that hard to achieve¡ªespecially since every small group included two who could triangulate, thus greatly increasing their accuracy.


    By comparison, using up an entire box of three-star power cards within ten hours was a lot more difficult. That required their firing rate to reach a standard of six shots each second.


    The hardest was the second requirement of hitting a moving target with a difficulty of eight over 70 percent of the time. Such a hit rate at that level of difficulty couldn''t be achieved by even high-grade card artisans.


    In the situation of level-eight difficulty, a moving target traced a completely erratic path with a speed quite a bit faster than the jet stream card of an ordinary card artisan. Each moving target wasn''t more than the size of a box of matches. Such a small target moving at high speed would be very difficult to track with bare eyes. That required the use of perception.


    It was perfectly deadly training, and once it started, some were left idle. Bogner used extreme means and kept several high-grade card artisans by his side, so no one could discern a pattern. Bogner had rich experience in that regard and had set up an utterly perfect incentive mechanism, which greatly stimulated everyone''s enthusiasm.


    Everyone in that world had a lot of self-esteem, and they all had a sense of honor. Although they were rookies, and although they had never been proud, that didn''t mean they wanted to sink down. So long as they were given hope, they would bring a lot of ability into play. They were well-aware of the difficulty of survival. They were also a lot better managed when compared to arrogant and unruly high-level card artisans.


    "Everyone show me some spirit! I''m telling you, I''m not leaving any trash behind! If you want a f***ing place here, then show me some strength!" Bogner''s growl made the entire training field tremble.


    Hoo-yah!


    The youths were grunting through their training, all of them sweating bullets. But no one rested; they gritted their teeth and strove to make their shots faster and more accurate!


    All of those identical youths were between 20 and 28. That age range covered the hottest blood and the most obstinance.


    If anyone had told them before that they could achieve a hit rate of 70 percent on a moving target with a level of difficulty of eight, they would certainly have thought it to be a fairy tale. Given that they had only just reached the fourth level of perception, to be able to achieve a 50 percent hit rate with a level-six would be pretty darned good.


    But they had hope now. That bit of hope came from their mysterious boss and from the mysterious set of cards in their hands. Even if they weren''t under Bogner''s gaze, and even with most of them having gotten the orthodox education from the Origins Academy, they knew how powerful the set of cards they were learning to use was.


    That bit of hope had been stimulating their advances. If they had been limited to talent, they would have fallen far short of genius. When it came to diligence or hard work, however, they wouldn''t fall behind anyone.


    They were full of gratitude toward their boss. What would their fate have been if it weren''t for him? They would probably just be hanging out at the lowest level among card artisans.


    The thing that most urged them on was that the boss was investing so much in them, which even they found inconceivable. They well knew the cost of the power cards they consumed every day. No one except their boss would spend so much money on such low-level card artisans! The human heart was mostly flesh, and you''d get back what you put in. That was the way they thought about it.


    Having washed his hands of the training, Chen Mu really didn''t know Bogner''s training method was something no one else would use. The number of three-star cards they used every day was shocking. If it hadn''t been for how rich the materials were that the fatty had left behind, then given their pathetic foundation, there would have been no way to support such a scale of strength training.


    Bogner was satisfied with the impeccable performance of those card artisans, though he seldom smiled in front of them. On the contrary, he would be still more strictly demanding of them. He was more aware than anyone of the huge outlay required for such training. But his thinking was straightforward. He knew what the boss cared about and what he didn''t.


    The most crucial thing was that he had sufficient confidence in the tactics they had devised. Ha ha, the tactics of that set of cards would give a real pleasant surprise to the entire federation when the time came. Bogner couldn''t stop his mischievous laughter as he rubbed his chin. When the card artisans to his side saw that, they quickly retracted their gazes and looked straight ahead.


    * * *


    Chen Mu and Wei-ah were sparring on the training field, that already being their 35th training that day. It was evident how wretched Chen Mu was from the black and blue on his face.


    Chen Mu didn''t feel any of that as he stared fixedly at Wei-ah like a wolf. His body leaned in, poised with one foot ahead and one behind, as though his body were an arrow that could be released from the bow at any minute. The apparatus on his right hand was in an activated state.


    Wei-ah''s expression was composed. Maybe he should try that himself, Chen Mu thought.


    He suddenly moved as though he''d disappeared and suddenly reappeared five meters to the right of where Wei-ah was. Three tailless shuttles formed into an inverted triangle, enshrouding Wei-ah. Chen Mu didn''t remain where he was. In a flash, his body made a sharply angled dash.


    Wei-ah easily dodged the three tailless shuttles when his right fist nearly grazed the edge of his clothes. Chen Mu had long grown used to such a situation. Without turning around, he had three more tailless shuttles in counterattack. He didn''t fire them off at Wei-ah, however, but to where Wei-ah would be moving.


    Wei-ah had stunning explosive power in a straight line¡ªthe most Chen Mu had ever seen. He just blocked the straight path where Wei-ah was headed, so Wei-ah would have to trace an arc. Compared to a straight line, an arc would be a little longer.


    Of course, that length was limited¡ªmaybe half a meter¡ªand it might have been 30 centimeters. But half a meter or 30 centimeters would possibly determine the outcome of the battle for Chen Mu.


    Like a ghost, Wei-ah chased after his own tail, and Chen Mu didn''t dare to stay in one place.


    That was a characteristic of their paired training unlike everyone else''s. If his lingering in one place were the slightest bit longer, the battle would likely have ended.


    Wei-ah was best at close, hand-to-hand combat, and the best way to oppose it was not to let him get close. But given Wei-ah''s demonic speed and Chen Mu''s current strength, there was no way Chen Mu could do that. What he could do, however, was interfere with him somewhat.


    Two shadows were chasing each other around in the stuffy training space, too fast for the eye to see.


    Chen Mu concentrated his spirits, a tailless shuttle hanging from his right index finger. With a high-speed move, that tailless shuttle, formed of pure energy, was dragging a light green trace of light.


    The distance between the two kept closing. Wei-ah seemed to have a hunter''s natural intuition in the pell-mell chase. That matched his speed, making it hard to escape his pursuit.


    Chen Mu''s right index finger flicked imperceptibly, and the tailless shuttle that had long since formed sprang from this finger and shot silently toward someplace behind him. That tailless shuttle didn''t look the same as normal, having no circular patterns on its body; instead, there were many rings of green halos.


    Hong!


    The tailless shuttle suddenly exploded when it hit the ground. The shock wave gave Chen Mu the boost he had been long prepared for. It slightly adjusted the big mudfish card, which used the boost to increase his speed.


    The explosion had happened too suddenly. Wei-ah hadn''t thought Chen Mu could do it, which put him instantly at a slight loss.


    A sense of accomplishment flowed over Chen Mu; it was first time he had made Wei-ah so miserable. But he still knew if he wanted to wound Wei-ah by such an attack alone, that would be a fool''s dream. However, that was only the first trick he had prepared.


    Without hesitating, Chen Mu flung another tailless shuttle from his hand with the enhanced speed of the big mudfish card. That tailless shuttle was completely different from the one before, its body taking the form of a wave split into three segments. It was also a lot longer than an ordinary tailless shuttle.


    Si xiu!


    The whistling sound of that tailless shuttle was clearly different than a normal tailless shuttle. For an ordinary person, even if they could hear the difference, they couldn''t react to it. But it was enough to put Wei-ah on alert.


    No emotion had shown on Wei-ah''s dull face during the explosion, his gaze as steady as ever. It was enough to cause anyone to lose hope. But no one knew Wei-ah''s power better than Chen Mu.


    Without a pause, he shot off 12 tailless shuttles in a single breath, and they criss-crossed like a canopy of deadly raining arrows. The training space filled with the wailing of tailless shuttles tearing through the air, which was enough to separate the soul from the body.


    In that fog, Wei-ah''s gaze sharpened and calmed, and his slightly squinted eyes felt really menacing. He suddenly took on a strange posture. Pivoting on one leg while the other tapped the ground, his upper body arced, and his lips opened.


    Just then, the wave-shaped tailless shuttle exploded in midair, splitting into three short shuttles, the speed of which had surged.


    That sudden change surprised Wei-ah. Before he could even blink, those three short shuttles all pressed in front of him. Wei-ah pulled his legs from the ground they had barely touched and formed a bow around the axis of that leg. He then bent his whole body from the knees, forming into a sideways "7" shape.


    He was too fast, and the afterimage was incredibly life-like while the three short tailless shuttles swept past him. Still more inconceivably, each of the three shuttles were so far from him that if he hadn''t moved, they still wouldn''t have wounded him. If he had dodged to the side, he might have been wounded.


    It looked like that move of Wei-ah''s was completely useless since the 12 tailless shuttles to follow had nearly sealed off any place he could dodge to.


    Chen Mu didn''t really understand Wei-ah''s move. The objective of the three-segment wave-form tailless shuttle wasn''t to hit Wei-ah; it was to force him to stay within the scope of the 12 tailless shuttles that followed. They formed a kind of net, which went shooting face-on to Wei-ah. No matter in which direction Wei-ah moved, he would have no way to escape it.


    Just then, the leg Wei-ah had pulled up suddenly sprang toward the floor. The other leg, which was bowed, stomped at the same time, so his whole body went shooting along the floor toward the tailless shuttles!


    Wasn''t that suicide? Chen Mu was stunned. This was only training, and he certainly didn''t want anything to happen. He had just been about to move when he suddenly seemed to have been enlightened.


    Sticking to the ground, Wei-ah was slithering like a snake but with amazing speed. Chen Mu finally understood what Wei-ah was doing. Those 12 tailless shuttles hadn''t completely sealed off the corners, leaving a tiny bit of space. When Chen Mu had planned out that tactic at the outset, he hadn''t considered the time difference. He didn''t think Wei-ah would so immediately grasp that flaw.


    So, with that stunning skill, a finger was already at his neck.


    "You''re stunned." After he said that, Wei-ah retracted his finger and went away.


    It was all a huge encouragement for Chen Mu. It was the first time he had ever put Wei-ah into such a desperate situation.


    That was all the result of his studying the Cross-Section of Styles those last few days. He had deeply indulged in its dazzling tactics.


    Before then, he would never have thought of tactical issues. Only when he touched the Cross-Section of Styles did he understand that his previous fighting style almost completely depended on his own ability to respond, along with some special skills in support of that. There wasn''t much tactical content. When he drew from the Cross-Section of Styles and honed some small tactics inspired by it, he changed the composition of the tailless shuttles, which had then allowed him to benefit.


    Compared to the mature tactics from the Cross-Section of Styles, the little tactics he designed could be considered rudimentary. But in his vision, that trial had made him into a completely different person from before.


    Sometimes, even though he only punched through a layer of paper, it would be a new world.


    Inside the Cross-Section of Styles were rich and variegated tactics, which were what determined the card''s characteristics. Having gone through generation after generation of advancement, those who had refined it in each generation were all outstanding in their wisdom. Therefore, what was left behind were fine goods tested countless times.


    The Cross-Section of Styles wasn''t the most powerful battle fantasy card in the Heavenly Federation, but if you were speaking of an emphasis on tactics, it was certainly among the top three. That was also why it could become one of the most important legacies of the Federation Comprehensive Academy.


    He had no idea about the position of the Cross-Section of Styles among the fantasy card legacies of the federation. But he certainly did know those tactics were highly advanced and powerful as far as he was concerned. Quite a few of them had the sense of having been through so many revisions that even such a rookie as him could clearly feel it.


    Although that trial wasn''t quite perfect, it already made him excited. He had realized the power of tactics. To be able to push Wei-ah into such straights had already explained the issue.


    To have a plan was better than no plan, and to have tactics was better than having none. The level of tactics was directly related to the outcome of a battle. That bout of resistance training had brought Chen Mu the most direct evidence of its influence. The importance of tactics thus entered into the scope of Chen Mu''s vision.


    Most of Chen Mu''s time every day was spent studying the tactics in the Cross-Section of Styles. Compared to the standard curriculum about tactics in the federation at that time, the tactics in the Cross-Section of Styles were more advanced and more rigorous in their line of thinking. But they were only examples with no theory.


    Chen Mu''s methods were also simple. He would just study them one by one, along with their combinations of ideas. It was about the same as when he had studied the basis for token cards.


    When he had first studied token card knowledge, he was completely in the dark, just gnawing steadily away until he could unexpectedly chew them up. With that foundation in card making and with that knowledge of token cards, that was the style he was best at and most familiar with.


    Without realizing it, having suffered through learning those tactics, Chen Mu advanced at a stunning rate. Even he himself didn''t realize it. The Cross-Section of Styles was like a dictionary of tactics, as vast as the oceans.


    Wei-ah also seemed to understand what Chen Mu was doing and didn''t bother him during that time. Opposing that, however, Chen Mu had realized that the more he drew Wei-ah into the resistance training to try out his newly designed tactics, the more he could summarize their benefits and shortcomings.


    A knock on the door cut off Chen Mu''s study. When he opened the door, he saw Xi Ping with a thoughtful expression. Chen Mu knew something important had happened.

 286 A Visi

    "Medical card artisan teams from the Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple have come to pay a visit, Boss. They hope to be able to resupply themselves here, and they hope we will permit them to set up a medical station." Xi Ping did his best to describe the situation concisely.


    "Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple?" Chen Mu was taken aback.


    What are they looking to stir up together by coming over here?


    Once Xi Ping saw Chen Mu''s expression, he knew the boss hadn''t been paying close attention to what had been happening recently in the federation. He explained how at that moment, the Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple had joined forces to form teams of medical card artisans and had rushed to Pomelo to rescue the wounded ordinary citizens.


    Tang Hanpei, who had been guarding the only way in, had approved the entry of the combined teams.


    "How did they find us?" Chen Mu couldn''t figure that out. What did it have to do with him that the Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple had come?


    Xi Ping sneered, "Don''t you remember, Boss? Faya led civilians here when they wanted to attack the base, and many of those citizens have remained outside our base, not daring to leave."


    Chen Mu then remembered that scrape and asked, "How many are still outside?"


    "About 150,000."


    After some thought, Chen Mu said, "You and Bogner deal with the matter, so I don''t see them. And what about Sue Lochiro?" Remembering she was a medical card artisan too, he figured that should make it easier to deal with them.


    "For the past few days, she has been outside the base treating the wounded citizenry. She''s the kindest medical card artisan I''ve ever seen!" Xi Ping''s tone showed his spontaneous respect, though it also expressed how strange he found it. "Will you really not pay attention to the responsible parties from the Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple?"


    Xi Ping was right to ask the question. For any card artisan from the Big Six to enter the ordinary residential districts, no matter which power, they would all treat them as guests. Now the two had combined, and not with any ordinary card artisans. The ones leading them would certainly not be ordinary.


    "I won''t see them." Chen Mu had a determined attitude. To joke about it, he had a lot of history with the Star Academy. When he was under the control of the demonic woman and didn''t have any room to rebound from his captivity, he''d had a conflict with the Star Academy. The Star Academy wouldn''t have looked into what was behind that, though he imagined he had long since been made out as an accomplice.


    Since he wasn''t going to see them, he would be regarded as insolent, which would make them unhappy. But if he were recognized by the Star Academy card artisans, that would be a lot unhappier.


    The Star Academy card artisans had made a rather deep impression on him, especially Qing Qing. Although he still didn''t know the outcome of the final battle between her and the demonic woman, it was enough to make him afraid. It said plenty that the demonic woman''s first action was to escape after being found out.


    If some conflict were to develop at the outset, Chen Mu wondered which side Jiao Si would be on.


    Seeing the boss so determined in his response, although Xi Ping felt it inappropriate, he knew there must have been some reason for it.


    Could he have some history with one of the two? Thinking of that, Xi Ping couldn''t help but say, "So, would you like to refuse them?"


    Chen Mu pondered. "There''s no need to refuse them."


    Chen Mu actually did know his counterparts wouldn''t likely recognize him. When he had encountered the Star Academy card artisans with the demonic woman in the jungle, he had been wearing the ghost-faced flower. But the Star Academy had a lot of power, and there was a high probability that they had investigated his identity afterward.


    * * *


    What a fine base!


    Wang Ze and Yin Chenjiu looked at one another and couldn''t help but praise it to themselves. Wang Ze was the responsible party for the Star Academy side. He had a lot of worldly experience and was a capable manager. He had lately taken on a lot of responsibility for school administration. Yin Chenjiu was his second in command. He had made a rapid rise over the past two years and had been admitted to the Inner Academy.


    During those two years, the Star Academy had completely transformed. The most important change was discarding the rule that scholars were unable to leave the Inner Academy before completing their assessment.


    Students graduated from the Inner Academy one after the other. It made the ordinary Star Academy students happy to discover that their school had so many aces all along!


    For dozens of years, the aces accumulating in the Inner Academy had gotten to a pretty scary point. On top of that, with the addition of new blood and the Star Academy sweeping clean dozens of years of its tired state, there was a newly thriving atmosphere.


    Sitting to the side of those two was Jing, who was the responsible party for the Bitter Solitude Temple. Female card artisans were scarcely seen at the Bitter Solitude Temple, which was known for its strict asceticism. There was said to be only a handful.


    Jing was probably 25 or 26 and had plain clothes and a plain face. Not concerned with being pretty, she sat up straight and exuded a quiet, secluded feeling.


    The Bitter Solitude Temple was a lot more low-key than the Star Academy. That had always been their style. Aces from the Bitter Solitude Temple had always remained unknown.


    They were the most special among the Big Six, still retaining a heavy patina of religion. With their mentality of ascetic training for themselves, they had arrived at a clarity of mind and self-abnegation. The Bitter Solitude Temple card artisans'' resolute mindfulness put them at the head of the Big Six in that regard.


    Moreover, unlike the card artisans from the other academies, every one of the card artisans from the Bitter Solitude Temple knew a little medicine.


    Jing''s second in command was a burly and straightforward man, nearly comparable to Crow Feather, who had been attracted to Wei-ah. He was also barefoot and wore the simplest straight pants just over the knee. He wore a back vest on the upper part of his body, which bulged with muscles. The apparatus he wore on his right hand was a size bigger than an ordinary person''s.


    He stood to the side of Jing like a small mountain. He was called Yushan or Mount Yu, the mythical tamer of floods, though even Wang Ze and Yin Chenjiu had never heard of him.


    "I would never have thought there would be such an advanced base here. There are crouching tigers and hidden dragons in little Pomelo, after all." Wang Ze paid Bogner the compliment with a smile.


    Bogner spoke with a grin that showed off his row of perfectly white teeth. "It''s not right for Brother Wang to make fun of me like that. How could such a small base catch the discerning eye of the Star Academy? Any one of the Star Academy bases would be a lot better than this."


    To his side, Jiao Si drank his tea with a slight smile, listening to the two of them chat.


    "Mr. Bogner is too modest! How could a base able to deploy the Starfish Fortification be called small? As I see it, not even the ordinary bases in the Outer Reaches could come up to yours, good sir." Wang Ze spoke with a laugh while his eyes occasionally flashed a sharp look.


    Bogner bared his teeth and laughed like a fool. "Such extravagant praise from Brother Wang makes me burst with joy!"


    Jing''s gaze fell onto Jiao Si as she said mildly, "I never thought we would run into President Jiao Si here. It really is a pleasant surprise. The professor has always missed you, and if he were to know I''ve run into you, he would certainly be happy." Jing''s speech had a naturally calming effect. What she said allowed them to feel the joy she felt.


    Jiao Si was taken aback and put down the cup in his hands to say, "And who is this honored professor?"


    "Our own Ying Chen."


    Jiao Si exuded a sense of pleasant surprise. "Ying Chen? You are a student of wise, old Ying Chen?"


    The looks on Wang Ze and Yin Chenjiu to his side shifted. Bogner also seemed confused about the person, though his expression didn''t change.


    "Mmmm."


    "Is he doing well?" Jiao Si''s face was full of joy as he asked. Everyone could see that he couldn''t cover his smile.


    Jing said with a light smile, "The professor''s health is quite good, and he insists on fishing every day."


    "Oh, that''s good, very good!" Jiao Si rushed to say, unable to repress his feelings. "The first time I saw wise, old Ying Chen, I was only 20-something. Time has passed so quickly, with more than 20 years gone before I turn around. If I didn''t have the wise man''s guidance, I would never have accomplished what I have."


    By then, everyone suddenly had a flash about how much connection there actually was. Wang Ze''s expression hadn''t changed, though his mind was churning. He had never known anything about Jing, but he now found out she was actually a big deal.


    That name of Ying Chen may not have been known to many card artisans, but among the Big Six, it rang out like thunder. He was the only remaining old-devil grade personage, and compared to the contemporary presidents of the Big Six, he had much older qualifications. He was also one of the few important people from the Bitter Solitude Temple who were known to the outside world. He had a preference for guiding the younger generations. In his earlier years, he especially liked to travel, and there were quite a few aces of Jiao Si''s generation who had gotten his guidance. He had good relations because of that; everyone was very respectful toward him.


    As he aged, most of his time was spent at the Bitter Solitude Temple. It had already been quite a few years that he hadn''t left. Jiao Si hadn''t thought he would still be teaching students there.


    Such a person as Ying Chen doubtlessly had high expectations of his students, and passing his discernment showed how much potential Jing had herself.


    Jing''s bearing was easy-going. Even though she was facing Jiao Si, who was famous throughout the federation, she wasn''t restrained at all; she talked casually as though she were of the same generation. She was obviously not a simple person.


    Everyone was talking away happily. On the one hand, they had a request to make. On the other, with Jiao Si now on the scene, no one dared to be presumptuous. Furthermore, none of them were stupid. For that base to have the Starfish Fortification defensive structure was seldom seen.


    To be able to invite Jiao Si to oversee it was a sign of how powerful it was. None of them could help but wonder what kind of divinity the owner of the base was.


    From time to time, Wang Ze and Yin Chenjiu probed with what they said, though no one there was a weak link. Bogner''s confusing attitude toward his boss was just to laugh about it. And Jiao Si? No one could do anything about it if he were pushed too hard.


    The two of them kept trying without the least result. Jing just kept mildly smiling as she listened to the quick-witted sparring among them all.


    Finally, just when Wang Ze and Yin Chenjiu were getting discouraged, Xi Ping arrived.


    Seeing he had arrived by himself, Bogner suddenly had a strange look, though he quickly restored his normal expression. A strange look flashed through Jiao Si''s eyes as he deliberately picked up his cup with both hands.


    "I apologize to you all, but the boss has some urgent matters to attend to and can''t tear himself away. Please allow Bogner and myself to be your hosts! The boss is upset and begs for your indulgence." Xi Ping then paused before continuing. "As far as what you have each requested, the boss completely agrees to it. To be able to participate in such a matter of benefit to the region''s peace and to be able to give each of your heroes some assistance would truly be our honor."


    By the time Xi Ping finished talking, it was a long time before anyone said anything. Xi Ping maintained his smile all along, as though he weren''t the least bit embarrassed.


    Wang Ze and Yin Chenjiu''s expressions were both ugly. Even some of the card artisans from the Bitter Solitude Temple looked rather unhappy. They had never been treated like that before.


    "Wow, they really do put on airs," someone couldn''t help but mock in a low voice.


    It wasn''t said loudly, but everyone had heard it clearly. Wang Ze and Yin Chenjiu acted as though they hadn''t heard, and they picked up their teacups with both hands from the table in utter silence. Jing maintained the slight smile on her face as though she hadn''t been influenced at all by the matter.


    Bogner released the restrained smile on his face, suddenly seeming to have become a different person. He sat up straight, and his gaze turned sharp. His gaze, looking like it would pierce the heart, poked straight at the card artisan who had just spoken up. That card artisan finally evaded the gaze unwittingly.


    Tapping his fingers lightly on the table, the rhythmic sound accompanied the chilled smile hanging from the corner of his mouth. To the side of him, the smile on Xi Ping''s face had also disappeared. He straightened his back and looked coldly at the crowd.


    The atmosphere suddenly turned agitated. Wang Ze felt a chill to his heart. That Bogner was no simple person!


    That kind of power¡­


    Although none of the base card artisans made a move, they had all entered a state of battle readiness, with no disguise to the enmity in their eyes.


    Yin Chenjiu was the most surprised. He was a true warrior as compared to Wang Ze. The rhythmic uniformity of the card artisans behind his counterpart really surprised him. Such characteristics would only be seen on troops who had undergone the strictest training.


    Moreover, under the circumstance of finding out their counterparts were card artisans from the Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple, they still dared to so clearly and unmistakably show such enmity. It was his first time to encounter such a situation.


    That card artisan who had just spoken so recklessly seemed to realize how ignorant he had been to evade the gaze of his counterpart, and he was about to open his mouth to berate him.


    "When have card artisans from the Star Academy been so ignorant of etiquette? Coming as guests, how could you be so impolite toward your hosts?" Jiao Si put down the cup in his hands and furrowed his brow as he berated them in his displeasure.


    What he said caused that card artisan to immediately swallow what he had been about to say, not having the guts to talk back to Jiao Si.


    Wang Ze rushed to smooth things over. "Ha ha, those under us don''t understand. We are very sorry to our two hosts. Since our honored host is busy, then of course we won''t disturb him."


    What Jiao Si just said had clearly shown his position. It was obvious he hoped not to see any conflict arise between them and the owner of the base. Whether it was Wang Ze or Jing, neither of them could ignore Jiao Si''s position.


    But there was something intriguing about it. Facing the Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple, Jiao Si had not hesitated to stand on the same line with his counterparts, which showed how different the cooperation was between the two sides. Bogner''s imposing manner had also really surprised them. Those card artisans were all astute, so how could they not have detected that?


    Bringing together all aspects of the base showed that its strength shouldn''t be ignored. Struggling against their exuberance, they knew if something were to happen at such a sensitive time, it wouldn''t be sensible.


    What he found strange was that the strength of such a power wouldn''t have been felt by any of the three sides in Pomelo. If they had found out while still exercising restraint, then¡­


    Hearing what Wang Ze said, Bogner''s expression relaxed. His powerfully oppressive feeling also diminished quite a bit.


    Both sides were a little unhappy and naturally didn''t want to talk any further. Since the boss had agreed, Bogner and Xi Ping discussed it a little more and simply opened up the first level of the base as a temporary medical station.


    "Does the boss have some history with them?" Bogner glanced at the crowd, which was still seated, and asked Xi Ping in a low voice. When Xi Ping had appeared by himself, he had been a little surprised.


    Xi Ping sneered, "I don''t know. But the boss didn''t want to see them. I think there''s a pretty big possibility there is some history there."


    Bogner muttered to himself, "Oh, then we''d better guard against them a bit. But, then again, the boss is really powerful. No one can evade the Big Six, and he''s so good he won''t even go along with the Big Six." He clucked his cheek in admiration; things were getting really interesting.


    Xi Ping kept his demeanor in deep thought.


    Of course, Wang Ze and Jing had no objection to what Bogner and Xi Ping had suggested. When Bogner brought up the question of safety, Yin Chenjiu looked full of pride, and Jing also smiled without responding. After settling things, Wang Ze and the rest prepared to get to work.


    Bogner suddenly opened his mouth to stop them. "Please wait a minute, everyone." Why would those card artisans who had just formed such an opinion be likely to obey him? They each flew right off as though they hadn''t heard.


    Seeing how it was, Bogner chuckled. To his side, Jiao Si was also smiling. "The students of the Big Six these days are each more arrogant than the next. It wouldn''t be bad to let them suffer a bit." Before his voice fell, there was a string of explosions from outside.


    Hong, hong, hong! The earth trembled.


    The two of them walked over to the window and saw the forward-most card artisans all looking wretched. Their faces and heads were ashen. Although they hadn''t been wounded, they had lost a lot of face in front of so many people. They were all looking at Bogner with a fast grudge.


    Bogner waved his hands in innocence. "Your moves were all too quick, and you didn''t wait for me to finish what I was saying."


    When the card artisans had entered, Bogner had dispatched people to lead them in, so of course nothing had happened. But their exit had immediately touched off the card appliance devices in the grass, which had led to them looking so sorry.


    "Clean out the grass in front of the No. 5 entryway, Hertha," Bogner said lightly.


    "Yes, sir." A very short card artisan flew out and landed right on the lawn. His hands were enshrouded in a ball of yellow light, and on his back he carried an open backpack. He quickly flitted over the undergrowth. The two yellow, glowing balls in his hands were like magnets that sucked up the card appliances in the lawn into his hands. The entire process seemed like magic. The card appliances were like one streak after another of shadow, automatically placing themselves in his hands. His hands were dexterous; they lightly touched the card appliance devices, and they accurately and silently flew into the backpack on his back.


    Yin Chenjiu''s face looked pretty ugly. To have so many card appliance devices in such a small area! That was his first time to see someone take such extreme measures to deploy such devices. He gave Bogner a guarded look. That middle-aged uncle wasn''t such a good guy, after all!


    Wang Ze asked in curiosity, "Those under you are all so talented. I wonder what card that is to be so magical!"


    Bogner gave out a laugh. "Brother Wang must be mocking me. Such a little card isn''t worth mentioning. Not worth mentioning."


    Jiao Si also looked quite surprised, that also being his first time to see such a card.


    Hertha''s moves were quick. In an instant, he had cleared out an approximately ten-meter-wide path. Finishing that, Hertha returned to the base and gave Bogner a salute before disappearing from everyone''s field of vision.


    Some of the card artisans were preparing to leave, but Bogner had to stop them again. "Wait a little bit longer, everyone."


    That time, the card artisans were perfectly obedient, and each of them pulled back. That lesson just then had made a deep impression. The poor guys who had lost face in front of them wouldn''t be able to lift their heads after that!


    "Is there still something wrong, Mr. Bogner?" The one speaking that time was Jing. She couldn''t help the flash of curiosity in her eyes.


    "Mmmm. There''s something in that river." Bogner was making an understatement. He then ordered, "Bring Borna over." The way he said it clearly left plenty of room for imagination. "Something" was there. What was it?


    In an instant, a middle-aged person was in front of Bogner. "Do you require my assistance, dear Bogner?"


    I need a bridge built over there, Borna. Can you help me?" Bogner pointed to the blank area as he spoke.


    "That would be a small matter." Borna shrugged. "Ten minutes."


    Bogner then added, "The bridge should be somewhat high off the water."


    "How high?" Borna''s expression was a little cautious.


    Bogner gave out a specific number. "It had better be ten meters."


    Borna''s expression relaxed as he nodded. "Don''t worry; we only require ten minutes, dear Bogner."


    The crowd watched as Borna quickly led his team and constructed a metallic bridge over the small river. Since the storehouse was so complete, the entire process was very fast, only taking seven or eight minutes.


    The card artisans had only ever received the most orthodox battle card artisan education since they were small, and most of their time had been passed on campus; they had never seen such things. Quite a few of them were even surprised that there were such card artisans!


    A professional warrior such as Yin Chenjiu immediately realized that if there were a few such card artisans among the troops, their survival rate would doubtlessly increase by quite a bit. That was a bridge, but what if it were some defensive unit? How much time would they save?


    Wang Ze and Yin Chenjiu couldn''t help but look at one another, both seeing the guardedness in each other''s eyes. That base was a lot more powerful than they had ever expected!

 287 The Exchange

    The entry of the Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple into Pomelo had made all the headlines. Just about the entire Heavenly Federation was paying attention to it. But among everyone, the attention payed by the five flourishing districts and the ordinary residential districts were essentially different.


    For the citizens in the flourishing districts, it was just a piece of news. They had never experienced the destruction of war in their entire history. They were the cradle of the Big Six; although there were incessant squabbles among them, the Big Six would never allow the shockwaves of battle to reach the flourishing districts.


    That was the tradition, and it was a deeply ingrained tradition. If anyone even thought about transgressing that line, they would certainly be attacked on all sides by the other five powers. The prosperity and development of the five flourishing districts was inseparable from those several hundred years of insulation.


    But the news had a completely different feel for the citizens of the ordinary residential districts. For a battle to impinge on them meant it was basically right in front of them. Based on their continuous experience, once a battle erupted, the scene would certainly take place right where they lived. For them, it was a disaster!


    Quite a few people were outraged by the inequity, but they had no way to change it. The population of the ordinary residential districts was seven times that of the flourishing districts, but their overall worth wasn''t more than one-third that of the flourishing districts. Eighty percent of the best card artisans lived in the flourishing districts. By far, the majority of those at the top of any industry lived there.


    That was why the citizens of the flourishing districts looked down on the ordinary residential districts, even if they had previously lived there.


    When it came to the matter of the combined team of medical card artisans entering Pomelo, no matter which district, they all praised it. The Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple both earned excellent reputations. Even Tang Hanpei, who had allowed the combined team in, was praised by everyone.


    It was said that Desert Camp and Moon Frost Island both seemed to be a little envious while the planning was underway for the medical card artisans to head to Pomelo. But they didn''t know what the scene would be like when the two organizations'' medical card artisans met.


    * * *


    Sue Lochiro was drinking juice in Chen Mu''s room. It was some snow apricot juice Xi Ping had just sent over.


    They could see the civilians on the ground being organized through the floor-to-ceiling window. The Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple medical card artisans were endlessly shuttling among them while the civilians remained orderly.


    Taking a look at Sue Lochiro relaxing, Chen Mu was a little curious. "Why aren''t you working?"


    For the past few days, Sue Lochiro''s time to relax had shrunk to just about nothing as she went around desperately treating the wounded. She had taken the initiative to return to the base that day. Seeing her idle, Chen Mu pulled her over for a chat.


    That had proven how unsuited Chen Mu was for such chatting. After a long while, Chen Mu just blurted that out.


    "With so many people down there, I''m not about to join the fun." Sue Lochiro sipped a mouthful of juice as she spoke in a relaxed manner.


    Chen Mu understood. Xi Ping had explicitly reported on what was happening with her. The work styles of the Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple exuded a power that made Sue Lochiro quite uncomfortable about maintaining her autonomy. Chen Mu wondered how Xi Ping had enough leisure to pay specific attention to such a small matter. The indignant tone with which Xi Ping had spoken about it was quite strange. Xi Ping seldom gave out such feeling.


    "Oh." Chen Mu grunted his response, not knowing what he should say next.


    "Right." Sue Lochiro put the juice down and looked at Chen Mu, engrossed. "Are you wearing a disguise on your face?"


    Chen Mu was startled, and his gaze toward Sue Lochiro became cold.


    Her heart skipped a beat as she quickly raised her right hand. "Slow down!"


    Chen Mu forcibly repressed his urge to make a move, and his tone was dark. "Who are you?"


    His brain was reeling, not quite understanding why Sue Lochiro would know about that. Only the demonic woman knew he had been disguised. Could the two of them have some entanglement?


    Sue Lochiro had obviously been frightened by the murderous look in Chen Mu''s gaze. Her little face had abruptly changed as she stuttered, "I¡­ It''s just that there''s something wrong with your skin¡­"


    Chen Mu didn''t respond and just kept staring coldly at her.


    Sue Lochiro normally drew plenty of adoration. When had she ever been treated like that? Chen Mu''s cold gaze had caused her to panic, and she had no way to contain the fear she felt. The blood drained clean from her face. "You¡­ you have a very fit body¡­"


    Saying that, her bloodless face suddenly flushed red. Damn! Why did I think of that at such a time? She felt more and more frantic.


    Chen Mu remained cold as stone and made no reaction to Sue Lochiro''s strange manner.


    The panicked Sue Lochiro met Chen Mu''s cold gaze when she felt an inexplicable pain in her heart, which eased her panic quite a bit.


    She tried to calm her expression, though her slightly trembling voice still showed how afraid and nervous she felt. "Your body is quite healthy, but your skin is very unhealthy. That''s not possible. So, I just guessed you might have undergone some disguise. A lot of card artisans like to use some drugs to put on a disguise."


    If that''s what it was, Chen Mu finally understood what Sue Lochiro had seen. He hadn''t thought no one would see through the flawed disguise, and it would be so easy to discover in the eyes of a medical card artisan.


    Chen Mu''s expression relaxed as the temperature in the room seemed to have shot up quite a bit. Sue Lochiro lowered her head, not speaking, and he didn''t know what she was thinking. Chen Mu didn''t know what to say. That had just been a pure, unconscious reaction. By then, it looked like his reaction had been a bit overboard.


    After a moment, Chen Mu opened his mouth. "I am sorry to have just scared you like that."


    "It''s nothing." Sue Lochiro kept her head down and spoke with a small voice. Given Chen Mu''s pathetic experience, he couldn''t hear his counterpart''s feelings.


    The room became silent again, as neither knew what to say. Minutes passed in that awkward silence.


    "Can you get rid of it?" Chen Mu suddenly asked.


    By that time, Sue Lochiro had completely recovered her normal manner, and she lifted her head, showing a professional smile. "I won''t know until I try it."


    "Then give it a try."


    * * *


    Xi Ping and Bogner were drinking tea, enjoying some rare relaxation that day.


    "What about the boss? Should we ask him to join us in some tea?" Bogner asked ambiguously as he slurped from his teacup.


    Xi Ping was holding his teacup in two hands, lightly sipping as he said languidly, "The boss is just now having an exchange with Sue Lochiro."


    Pffft! Bogner spit out a mouthful of tea.


    Xi Ping, who had been prepared, leaned in a little as he kept languidly drinking his tea.


    "The boss and Miss Sue Lochiro?" Bogner asked with his eyes wide open, stopping his long bout of coughing.


    "Is something wrong?" Xi Ping asked back with a composed expression.


    Bogner rushed to shake his head. "No problem, no problem!" He then hesitated before saying, "It''s just a little sudden." He let out a laugh, came closer to Xi Ping, and said with a vulgar look, "Too bad we can''t take a peek. Really too bad. Those two getting along? How would the boss be at that kind of skill? What kind of inside information would he have?"


    Xi Ping took a look at the apparatus on his wrist and calmly said, "Miss Sue Lochiro has already been in there for two and a half hours."


    Bogner held out two fingers to be certain and asked one word at time, "Two and a half hours?"


    Xi Ping picked up his teacup again and sipped lightly. He then corrected him a bit. "To be precise, it should be two hours and 38 minutes."


    Bogner''s expression became abruptly strange as he mumbled, "The boss''s endurance is really good. My goodness, how great is youth?"


    Sue Lochiro''s performance those past few days had really won everyone''s respect, on top of which she was beautiful, which attracted everyone''s gaze. Those under Chen Mu were actually pretty good; it would be no different than seeking death to pay attention to the boss''s girl.


    However, those who had been brought by Jiao Si weren''t so scrupulous; their gazes toward Sue Lochiro were hot, some of them even bold enough to invite her on a date.


    It was just that all of Sue Lochiro''s time was spent treating the wounded civilians, and she didn''t pay attention to any of that. Some of the scholars thought up a roundabout way to save the nation by taking the initiative to request to be Sue Lochiro''s assistant. After the requests were accepted, the card artisans with Jiao Si emptied out all at once, all having gone off to serve the wounded.


    The card artisans under Chen Mu were quite jealous, though no one dared to make a move. To make a joke, Bogner''s yelling was enough to scare those guys out of their wits. They also knew they were a long way from the scholars of the Origins Academy, whose training was not such a life-or-death matter.


    They had all been challenged across many years and weren''t like those students, who were still a little simple in their temperaments. They understood more about how cruel the world could be.


    During that time, they were still getting used to their new cards. The cards in their hands had been modified by Chen Mu, which gave a surge to their power and brought them a lot of pleasant surprises. Quite a few were exploring their new moves one by one.


    There were countless energy cards for them to squander. They could find any comrade who was about equal to them in strength, and the effect on their practice was extremely significant. There were quite a few novel things for them to explore in the cards they had.


    It was simply heaven! For those guys, who made fighting to survive their life''s goal, what could be any better than that?

 288 Wang Ze’s Determination

    Among those under Chen Mu were Lu Xiaoru, the bar-browed man, Crow Feather, Happy Padding, and Lucky Xi. They had been making the fastest progress¡ªespecially Lu Xiaoru. Her strength had been somewhat beneath that of the bar-browed man, but ever since Chen Mu had explained the secrets of the sound beam card to her, the increase to her strength had been the most rapid.


    Among all of them, only she had gotten that treatment. All the others had had to hone their skills with their cards by themselves.


    The bar-browed man was an exception. Chen Mu hadn''t made many changes to his card, but the guy was a thoroughgoing battle genius. Especially in the circumstance of training with so many aces, his abilities surged rapidly. Of course, the other important reason was that Wei-ah seemed to have taken a shine to him and had occasionally been giving him a few pointers.


    When it came to Crow Feather and the others, who were truly the most outstanding among the group, the speed of their advance was of course quite steady.


    None were more miserable than the three card artisans who Bogner had intended to give Chen Mu as bodyguards. Every time he saw their sullen looks, Bogner would inwardly hold his breath. The amount of their training was the most among any of them.


    The two among them who were defensive card artisans had already become pure tortoise-style card artisans. They deployed energy cloaks superbly, and the freakishness of their defensive capability was utterly frightening. How would it not be frightening to take the incessant bombing from their colleagues every day? The close-combat card artisan among the three had been the most tortured; he had been sparring to the point that he wished he were dead.


    The strength of each of those 22 card artisans had shot up one or two levels. Although Bogner was sullen every day, he was inwardly blooming with happiness.


    Their transformation was obvious to Jiao Si, who was watching in secret. His vision was quite shrewd, and he had rich educational experience. He could see at a glance how the card artisans'' abilities would continually advance every day.


    Although his expression remained the same, he was inwardly surprised. Unlike the students he''d brought with him, those card artisans should have been set in their ways. Even if they were to progress, it should have been extremely slowly. But those card artisans were progressing at a speed beyond what anyone could have imagined. That utterly destroyed his accumulated experience across dozens of years.


    Reasonably speaking, such an explosive increase should have appeared among those young card artisans who weren''t yet set in their ways. However, most of these card artisans were unorthodox and followed an untamed path. Unlike the sects within the academies, most of the unorthodox card artisans came from card artisan firms or were cultivated among local powers. Card artisans who were cultivated like that didn''t often have a solid foundation, though because of their previous rich battle experience, they were still awesome compared to the card artisans from sects in the academies. Still, their stamina was quite lacking.


    The card artisans in front of him seemed to have broken the convention. It was his first time ever to see unorthodox card artisans at that level who could still demonstrate explosive improvement. What he had found most inconceivable was that it wasn''t some individual exception¡ªthey all collectively advanced.


    There were so many things about that base that went beyond common sense! Every time he thought of those, he would always feel how inscrutable that youthful master was. A card artisan doubling as a card master? How had he done that?


    He would have been an underclassman in the Origins Academy at such an age. As young as he was, to be able to establish such a foundation was something Jiao Si couldn''t help but admire.


    The two commanders under him weren''t such simple people either. Bogner had a mysterious past, and he still hadn''t found out where that shaman was really from, although it seemed he must have heard of him somewhere. He was absolutely one tough character. Whether it was his occasional show of grandeur or his endless moves, it would all be frightening.


    There was also Xi Ping, who was such an experienced manager. Jiao Si couldn''t quite understand how some furry-headed kid not yet 20 could have someone near 40 with such rich experience in managing affairs so willing to work for him.


    Those two talents both turned Jiao Si''s eyes red with jealousy.


    Then, there were the construction card artisans who had been able to build the Starfish Fortresses. He had contacted them. Although Borna, who was their lead, was very respectful, he politely refused his inducements. They only seemed to trust Bogner.


    "Headmaster." Ru Qiu broke into Jiao Si''s thoughts.


    Jiao Si was startled, though his expression relaxed seeing that it was Ru Qiu. "Little Qiu, how are you? What have you learned recently?"


    "Mmmm!" Ru Qiu nodded forcefully. "I''ve learned how to make the folding Yanbo card!"


    Jiao Si was overjoyed. "You learned how to do it? Excellent! Now there''s one more legacy for our school!" The biggest reason he had agreed to come forward to help was to score the method to make it.


    Ru Qiu was biting her lip. She hesitated before saying, "But, Headmaster, even though I''ve learned how to make it, I still haven''t realized its principles. It is completely different from the card systems I''ve previously studied." Saying that, Ru Qiu was on the verge of tears. She knew how high the expectations of the headmaster and professors were toward her. She had spent so much time without gaining anything, which made her feel awful.


    Seeing Ru Qiu looking so unhappy, Jiao Si couldn''t help but sigh to himself, knowing they had been putting too much pressure on her. At root, she wasn''t more than a girl. When he thought of that, he couldn''t help but speak comfortingly. "Don''t be upset, Little Qiu; take it easy, and don''t worry about it. After we get back, we''ll gather up all the aces of the entire school to research it. Anyhow, as long as you can make the folding Yanbo card, we won''t have come in vain. Ha ha, you rest for a few days, and don''t wear out your brain. Otherwise, your professors will have to break my weary bones!"


    Seeming to have realized the professor was covering for her, Ru Qiu stopped her tears and smiled, though her eyes were still red.


    Seeing Ru Qiu''s face relax, Jiao Si felt a lot better. The mysteries surrounding Chen Mu got much deeper, however. Where did that young guy come from?


    * * *


    Wang Ze and Yin Chenjiu were so busy they had no time to rest, and it wasn''t only the two of them; everyone was unusually busy. Word had gotten out that the Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple card artisans were treating everyone for free, and there were lots of the civilians gathering there.


    With the Star Academy and Bitter Solitude Temple card artisans there, it was safe in the minds of the ordinary civilians. So long as they were still alive, the civilians were swarming to the base.


    In the space of a day, the civilians in the area had increased to 200,000. The terrain was all black looking off into the distance. The card artisans from the two academies maintained order conscientiously. Under those conditions, no one would dare to be disorderly.


    Still, there was another issue giving Wang Ze a headache that they could do nothing about¡ªthe lack of food. With so many gathered there, food had become their biggest problem.


    The problem of water supply had been resolved under Bogner''s suggestion. Wang Ze had borrowed Borna and his construction card artisans. With their help, they dug out several hundred deep artesian wells in a single breath.


    But Bogner couldn''t do anything about the problem of food either. Although the base had reserves of food, they were no more than a drop in a bucket for 200,000 people.


    Looking around and seeing all the hungry and pale civilians, Wang Ze had a heavy heart. Seeing his scowl, Yin Chenjiu tried to console him. "Don''t overthink it, Ah-Ze. Things will sort themselves out. We''ve done our best with a clear conscience."


    Struggling to smile, Wang Ze said in a gloomy tone, "When we were at the school, I always thought I should have grand ambitions, as though I were really shouldering some burden. But now, I find that we are still too lazy and not capable enough. Look at these wells. If Bogner hadn''t alerted us, we would never have thought of that solution."


    Yin Chenjiu had opened his mouth to console him, but he didn''t know what to say.


    "Just look at this base. I don''t think it''s inferior to the bases our school has in the Outer Reaches. Although they only opened the first floor to us, even the first floor is very well-arranged and has many unique aspects. Just look at how efficient they are. In only one hour, they provided some scenarios for improvement, and they built them in five hours. Have you ever seen such efficiency anywhere else?" Wang Ze smiled coldly. "In the school, they sit at the bottom of a well looking at the sky, always thinking the Big Six are invincible. I dare say this kind of efficiency is something we couldn''t achieve in the school."


    Yin Chenjiu forced a laugh. "You''re inflating someone else''s ambitions. The people in the school wouldn''t necessarily not achieve it either."


    "Right!" Wang Ze took a deep sigh. "They wouldn''t necessarily not achieve it. Enough of that talk. We should be careful on their base, and alert those guys under us. They are all haughty, and they shouldn''t create any conflicts with the people in the base. I''ve always felt I couldn''t quite discern the power of this base. Again, this is someone else''s site; if we create any conflicts, we''ll be the ones to take a loss."


    Yin Chenjiu nodded with a serious expression. "Don''t worry, Ah-Ze; I''ll look out for them. To tell the truth, I can''t quite read this base either. I find it strange that reasonably speaking, with the base being here, why wouldn''t Tang Hanpei and the rest know about it?"


    "Mmmm, that is very suspicious." Wang Ze''s eyes flashed, and a determined look arose on his face. "I''ll look for Jing in a while. The two of us can pay a visit to Master Tang Hanpei and Master Qiao Yuan. If they allow these civilians to be in the Outer Reaches like this, it won''t take more than a few days before half of them are dead."


    Yin Chenjiu was startled. "Isn''t that a little rash, Ah-Ze?"


    "Don''t worry; Masters Tang Hanpei and Qiao Yuan aren''t going to argue with us younger generations." Wang Ze smiled naturally, though there was a glint in his eyes.


    Thinking about it, Yin Chenjiu was still a little worried. "Why don''t I go with you? Again, if you were to allow these people into the city, they wouldn''t necessarily appreciate it. Although it''s dangerous here in the Outer Reaches, it''s still a little safer than in the city."


    Wang Ze shook his head and said with a determined attitude, "You''ll have to stay here and watch over these people. I''ll request them to divide out a safe area to place the civilians in. The storehouses in the city ought to still have a lot of supplies they haven''t yet been able to move over, and we can leave the food for them on top."


    Yin Chenjiu was stumped for words. "And get the attention of all the local powers?"


    "Mmmm, by this time, we might as well offend them." Wang Ze had an indifferent expression.


    "Not bad. That''s actually a pretty good idea. But I don''t know if the two of them are likely to agree. And what about Faya?" Yin Chenjiu asked.


    "The two bosses will certainly agree. As for Faya, if they dare make any trouble, humph!" Wang Ze groaned.


    After thinking about it, Yin Chenjiu was put at ease.

 289 Getting Rid of the Disguise

    "You''ve turned handsome, Boss!" Bogner circled Chen Mu, clucking his amazement. To his side, Xi Ping was also astonished. The boss had completely changed his look right before their eyes.


    Compared to his previous yellow, waxy look, his appearance was now a lot more pleasing, though still quite ordinary. There was nothing handsome, formidable, or ferocious about him, and his perfectly ordinary look made everyone who had become used to his sickly, waxy yellow quite excited. It was also easier to tell his age.


    He was so young, after all! He looked to be about 20, although there was none of the peculiar tenderness and impetuousness of youth to be seen on him. On the contrary, the boss exuded a kind of calm that felt entirely comforting. Without knowing whether it was because of the influence of the boss''s temperament, he was more and more pleasing to look at.


    When they had first seen Sue Lochiro walk out of the boss''s room with a stranger, everyone was stunned. But when that stranger opened his mouth to say something, they realized the guy was actually their boss.


    "The boss had some strange disease that caused his skin to turn yellow; it transformed his face and flesh. I hadn''t thought of the reason before, but I finally discovered it when examining the boss''s physique just now. It''s a very odd disease, and I just happened to find it among my professor''s notes; otherwise, I wouldn''t have been able to do anything about it." Sue Lochiro wore a natural expression and spoke about the so-called "disease process" professionally.


    It then dawned on everyone.


    Chen Mu looked at Sue Lochiro, having been feeling some headache about how to explain it to Bogner and Xi Ping. He hadn''t thought she would so easily explain away the issue.


    Sue Lochiro looked at Chen Mu without seeming to and maintained her professional smile.


    "Oh!" Bogner drawled, speaking as though something had dawned on him. "The two of you being in the room so long was to do a physical exam!"


    Once he said that, everyone''s expressions turned abruptly strange.


    Xi Ping, who hadn''t said anything all along, suddenly became serious. He said in an extremely mature tone, "Mmmm, we can''t let anything happen with the boss''s health. You''ll have to do more of that sort of examination. A lot more!"


    Sue Lochiro couldn''t keep her pretty face from turning red. Her white skin flushed as her long eyelashes dropped, helplessly showing off her absolutely gorgeous modesty. That made everyone feel as though their hearts had been clutched, and they were having some difficulty breathing.


    Chen Mu wasn''t feeling a thing.


    What he mostly felt was that he had been relieved of a burden. The disguise on his face had been like a curse that was always with him. Maybe he hadn''t thought so much about it, but even without him knowing, it had been like a dark haze enshrouding his life.


    So, once he was restored to his own natural appearance, he felt relief from the deepest recesses of his heart as though the sky had suddenly cleared. The pleasure he felt made Chen Mu''s expression naturally more soft, and that pleasure inadvertently influenced everyone around him.


    Everyone felt more relaxed. Whether it was Bogner or the experienced Xi Ping, none of them could help but tease Chen Mu and Sue Lochiro. The careful-seeming Bogner and Xi Ping had both found a slight change in the way Sue Lochiro spoke.


    She had previously always called Chen Mu "Mr. Cao," but she now called him the boss along with everyone else. Although that was just a tiny detail, it still made everyone feel a lot better.


    That was something everyone had wanted to see. Nearly everyone loved Sue Lochiro; she was such a kind-hearted lass. Even Lu Xiaoru, who was a woman just the same, couldn''t have any bad feelings toward her.


    Lu Xiaoru was smiling along with everyone else, though a slight sense of loss flashed through her eyes, unnoticed by anyone.


    "How are things outside?" Chen Mu asked with a smile. He didn''t know if it was getting rid of the disguise, but that uniquely calm temperament made him feel still more powerful to everyone.


    When they heard Chen Mu''s question, the card artisans all around self consciously scattered, and Sue Lochiro left with Lu Xiaoru. That left only Bogner and Xi Ping.


    Bogner bared his teeth while the whiskers on his face trembled. "Haha, Wang Ze and Jing have gone looking for Tang Hanpei and Qiao Yuan. They are hoping the two of them will permit them to divide off a safe space in the city for the civilians to recuperate."


    Hearing that, Chen Mu looked shocked. "The two of them are really taking a lot on themselves." Chen Mu remembered in detail what Wang Ze had done when he was at Eastern Wei Academy. It looked like Wang Ze had grown a lot over the past few years.


    Bogner laughed some more. "I was the one who gave him the idea."


    Seeing Chen Mu and Xi Ping both focusing their gazes on him, Bogner said with no urgency, "It''s a good thing for us, as well as for the Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple. We''ll be rid of a lot of hidden trouble. If the two can accomplish this, they would gain a lot of prestige, which is just what they want. Moreover, I believe Tang Hanpei and Qiao Yuan will certainly agree. Haha, the news would get out if anyone didn''t agree, and they would be attacked from all sides. They aren''t that stupid."


    Chen Mu was sharp enough to grasp the crux of the matter. "Won''t you be drawing Faya''s attention? They will probably not meddle though."


    Xi Ping furrowed his brow in thought, not yet having quite understood what was going on.


    Bogner smiled darkly. "Of course Faya won''t meddle. They''re not stupid enough to fight against four establishments at once. Also, so many people are going to need food."


    Xi Ping''s eyes brightened, and he suddenly raised his head. "Now I get it! So many people need an awful lot of food. There are still many places in the city with a lot of food, along with the storehouses of those local powers, all of which are now under the flag of Faya." He couldn''t help a word of praise. "Man, you guys, they won''t even know what hit them! I reckon Wang Ze will really appreciate it."


    Chen Mu finally understood what Bogner was scheming and couldn''t help but exclaim to himself how awesome it was. By doing that, Bogner would be roasting Faya on a spit.


    Chen Mu believed Wang Ze would certainly do his utmost to get it done. So long as he accomplished it, it would have a lot of benefit for his future advancement. Wang Ze wasn''t the same as Jing, not having any capable patron. If he wanted to get established in such a big team from the Star Academy, he would have to demonstrate sufficient ability.


    The Big Six had always looked down on other powers, including Faya. That attitude had also increased the possibility for conflict between the two.


    To be able to cause some trouble for Faya made Chen Mu pretty happy. What Bogner was thinking about was really messed up. Poor Faya! They probably won''t know what hit them or who snuck up on them.


    Wang Ze certainly wasn''t going to tell anyone it had been Bogner''s idea. Otherwise, the credit on his head would be immediately diluted.


    "What about the other aspects?" Chen Mu asked.


    Bogner''s response was perfectly simple. "Not bad at all." From Bogner''s mouth, it wasn''t easy to get an assessment of "not bad." Bogner had just made the assessment that it wasn''t bad at all, which showed how good the situation was.


    Sighing deeply, he said, "We probably still need one or two months before those newbies become a fighting power. But they won''t have gotten any battle experience, and it''s still hard to say how much fighting power they can bring into play. Also, the deployment of the Starfish Fortifications will take some trouble and requires time."


    Chen Mu wasn''t surprised by any of that. He well understood the gap between novices and card artisans who had actual experience. That was how he had advanced step by step himself.


    Chen Mu turned his gaze toward Xi Ping, whose report was very detailed. "Our current supplies are perfectly complete. Apart from leaving behind the necessary informants, I''ve already called together some of the capable people from the previous auction house. There are also some materials we couldn''t move over, which we just sealed off at the time. Given the recent relative calm, it would be a good time to move them over here. We''ve been rapidly consuming three-star power cards, but with our current reserves, we can still hold out for about half a month. There would then be the most recently transferred materials on top of those, some of which include three-star power cards. Altogether, we could probably hold out for about two months. We have enough reserves of four-star power cards and plenty of everything else. Apart from that, the card masters of the Origins Academy have been making all sorts of cards during this time, totaling 426 cards, including 12 four-star cards. Converting all of that, we''ve made a 15 to 17 percent profit."


    Three-star power cards were a big issue. Chen Mu knew how shockingly many they used every day. It was already surprising to him that they could hold out for two months.


    After thinking about it, Bogner said, "We''ll only need about another month at our current level of training. The consumption of three-star cards for the rest of the actual battle training will be reduced by quite a bit."


    Chen Mu and Xi Ping breathed a sigh of relief hearing that. They had plenty of money but couldn''t buy anything because there was nowhere to spend it.


    The 400 card artisans were the most important strength Chen Mu had on hand. They might have still been quite weak then, but they had huge potential. Both Chen Mu and Bogner had high expectations for their completely new style of fighting.


    Chen Mu suddenly noticed some movement outside the window. A flow of people had slowly started to move toward Pomelo, and the three of them looked at each other and smiled.


    At the same time, at the Federation Comprehensive Academy encampment, Tang Hanpei was looking serious. There was a card artisan standing in front of him. That card artisan was among the first group sent to Pomelo with Zu Ning. He was a little bit on tenterhooks, not understanding why Master Tang Hanpei had suddenly called for him.


    "Have you ever heard of a base on the outskirts of the city on the edge of the jungle?"


    The card artisan shook his head with a dazed look. "I have not, Master. I''ve never heard of there being a base there. There shouldn''t be any bases in the Outer Reaches around Pomelo."


    Tang Hanpei didn''t look surprised as he waved him away. "You may leave."


    "Yes, sir." As he was leaving, the card artisan was at a total loss, wondering if the master had called him over just to ask him that.


    Tang Hanpei was thinking about what Wang Ze had just said, and he had a serious expression. It had rather surprised him that Jiao Si was in Pomelo too, only just now finding out about that rather important piece of intelligence!


    He had fought with Jiao Si and knew how awesome he was. What was he doing coming to Pomelo? And, what kind of person was the boss of that base Wang Ze had spoken about?


    After a full half hour, he raised his head again and opened his apparatus to give a few orders in a low voice.


    The same kind of situation happened at the encampment of the Central Repository of the Classics. The situation had calmed by then, and when Qiao Yuan got Wang Ze''s alert, he remembered that mysterious base in the city.


    What kind of guy was it, after all?

 290 An Unexpected Visitor

    The news of Chen Mu being cured of his "disease" quickly spread throughout the base. Even Jiao Si found out about it from start to finish. After the deliberate embellishments of Xi Ping and the others, his close relations with Sue Lochiro were vividly spread.


    Jiao Si, who hadn''t been very clear about it all, was stunned scared. He rushed to constrain the card artisans under him. To steal the woman of the boss on someone else''s site wouldn''t be tolerated, no matter who did it.


    Maybe the base didn''t amount to much in Jiao Si''s eyes, but the demonstrated potential of that bunch, and especially its number-one, Chen Mu, was unfathomable in his eyes. The potential represented by someone who could break through the Van Sant System was something no one could doubt. Jiao Si had already warned the scholars under him with any information that they absolutely couldn''t let the news out.


    Perhaps Chen Mu didn''t even realize his own value. Jiao Si believed once the news got out, his collaborators would certainly never come to the Origins Academy. That was why he was so determined to stand on the side of Chen Mu.


    Beyond that, he was rather afraid of the power of the base¡ªespecially the glimpse he''d gotten of that indifferent man. That murderous aura, as though it were tangible, had surprised even Jiao Si, who had experienced hundreds of battles.


    Up until then, the two sides had cooperated happily, which was what Jiao Si was most satisfied about. Ru Qiu had already learned how to make the folding Yanbo card, and the Origins Academy only needed to explore its technological system to get another true legacy from it.


    He''d already notified the Origins Academy to go through various channels to collect the materials needed to make the folding Yanbo card. He was completely immersed those days in the world of that card. The more he explored it, the more he was stunned by the delicacy of its energy composition. It had an extremely resilient energy body composition, which included quite a few transformations.


    For someone with Jiao Si''s power, he would have already started to form some understanding of the origins of the energy composition. That was also the thing he was most confident about in his belief that he could explore the technological system of the folding Yanbo card.


    But that card had brought him too many surprises. He had astonishingly found that the energy rules the card followed were completely different from any cards he had ever come in contact with before. The Origins Academy hadn''t been established very long, but they had already accumulated quite a few kinds of legacies. That was especially true after he became its president, when he had to make contact with all sorts of cards in order to impart knowledge of them to the students.


    But the principles he had previously accumulated were completely inapplicable to that card. Instead, the energy bodies he had altered according to his own interest had surprisingly strong power. He had already determined the card wasn''t following the Van Sant System. If he was guessing correctly, it must have been a still more ancient system. That made him excited!


    He had a deeper understanding of the history of the time of Heiner Van Sant than ordinary card artisans did. Heiner Van Sant was a great card master, but in Jiao Si''s point of view, he was also the greatest thief, destroyer, and dictator in history!


    He had set up the Van Sant System by himself, and in order to promote it, he destroyed all the other systems. Or, maybe they couldn''t yet be called systems since they weren''t as rigorous as the Van Sant System.


    The most laughable part was that Heiner Van Sant established the Van Sant System and was then himself excluded from it. He was the last one who was a card artisan and a card master combined. In the ancient language, he was just a master of cards.


    That conjecture made Jiao Si indescribably surprised. Although it increased the difficulty of his explorations, that was something he could overcome. A card artisan who could get to his ability level would have to be in a class with outstanding wisdom. By then, however, what everyone else mostly saw was him sitting dazed and alone in the training room.


    Chen Mu''s had returned to his track of being both nervous and bored. But he felt that his whole body was powerful after he returned to his original look, so he selflessly trained every day. He trained his perception, sparred with Wei-ah, and delved into tactics¡­


    * * *


    A card artisan suddenly appeared in front of the base and drew the attention of the card artisans standing guard. The situation was immediately transmitted to Bogner, who was responsible for security.


    Bogner could clearly see his counterpart on the glowing screen. The visitor was wearing a mask, and his entire body was enshrouded in a large robe, which made him look perfectly mysterious.


    "May I ask what brings the good sir?" Bogner asked with a careful expression. The person was alone in front of the base''s gate and didn''t seem to harbor any ill intentions. Near every passageway were card appliances like communications cards, so one could communicate without having to open the gate.


    The visitor smiled lightly, which Bogner could still detect even through the mask.


    "I, Tang Hanpei, have taken the liberty to pay a visit, hoping to see your honored boss!" The clear voice seemed to carry a lot of weight, which intimidated everyone.


    Chen Mu was quite surprised. He didn''t know what Tang Hanpei was doing suddenly visiting him. Compared to Chen Mu''s surprise, Bogner and Xi Ping were utterly dumbfounded.


    Tang Hanpei was the most celebrated card artisan at the time; he was thought to be number-one in the federation by quite a few people. How could they not be stunned for such a storied person to unexpectedly pay a visit?


    While Jiao Si''s power might not have been far from Tang Hanpei''s, the two were quite far apart where fame was concerned. But Tang Hanpei was simply paying a visit, and he had stipulated that the one he wanted to see was Chen Mu and not Jiao Si.


    By the time Chen Mu came out of the training room, Tang Hanpei was already drinking tea with Jiao Si. That was Chen Mu''s first time seeing him. No one would feel ill intent toward such a person as Tang Hanpei. He was very tall, at about 1.8 meters, and rose elegantly above the dust of the world in his gray cloak. His gaze was as mild as a breeze, and the slight smile on his face gave out a feeling of lightness, as though nothing in the world was worth worrying about. No matter where such a person was, no one could ignore his existence.


    When he saw Chen Mu, his mild gaze flashed something strange, but it was just a flash. He then naturally stood and smiled to say, "Seeing Mr. Cao makes us all feel helplessly jealous."


    Jiao Si laughed hard. "The first time I saw Mr. Cao, I felt the same way! Us old guys have gotten really old. I''m worse off than you are, having been red in the eyes with jealousy for quite a few days already."


    "How are you, Mr. Jiao?" Chen Mu did know the basics of etiquette, and he immediately nodded to Jiao Si, though their relationship hadn''t required such courtesy. Jiao Si was obviously pleased to be so familiarly recognized by Chen Mu.


    Seeing that Chen Mu had arrived, Bogner and Xi Ping naturally stood behind him. That move caused Tang Hanpei''s gaze to linger for a moment.


    "I''ve been quite busy with trivia these days and only found out today from Wang Ze that there was someone so outstanding as Mr. Cao around here. It just so happens Jiao Si and I have known one another for a long time, so please forgive that I just took the liberty to come ahead and disturb you." Tang Hanpei''s ingratiating posture immediately earned good feelings from those sitting around.


    "Mr. Tang is too polite. For us to be able to have such a person as yourself pay a visit is an honor." Chen Mu responded with the same courtesy.


    Everyone then started chatting happily. Tang Hanpei was doubtlessly a charming person. He had a friendly, easy-going nature and was broadly knowledgeable. After chatting for fully half an hour, the topic of conversation turned to Pomelo. By that time, everyone knew the main play was about to begin.


    Sure enough, before long, Tang Hanpei smiled and said, "Hanpei has come with something in mind this time."


    Everyone''s attention became immediately focused, and even Jiao Si''s expression turned serious. He had vaguely surmised why Tang Hanpei had come.


    "I wonder what Mr. Tang has in mind?" Chen Mu demonstrated his consistent calm.


    "I would like to get Mr. Cao''s assistance." Tang Hanpei put down his teacup and spoke, all smiles.


    "What sort of assistance?" Chen Mu''s expression didn''t change.


    "I believe with Mr. Cao''s assistance, the difficulty of taking the Central Repository of the Classics encampment would be reduced quite a bit. Hanpei understands what he is asking would cause a lot of trouble. However, the situation has become compelling, so I ventured to come. Of course, Hanpei would never waste Mr. Cao''s time. If Mr. Cao requires anything, just mention it, and I believe Hanpei could take care of it, no matter what it is." Tang Hanpei''s manner was calm. He was understated, as though it were some small thing that might be spoken of over tea.


    Behind Chen Mu, Bogner and Xi Ping looked at one another, each seeing the shock in the other''s eyes. Although they had already surmised something, when it came straight from Tang Hanpei''s own mouth, their shock was extreme.


    Chen Mu remained incomparably calm, having been influenced a lot less by Tang Hanpei''s fame. If it hadn''t been for the matter of the Central Island Firm during that time, he wouldn''t even have known who Tang Hanpei was.


    He really wanted to bring up the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, but he knew that wasn''t something he could talk about with him! In front of such a sensitive person as Tang Hanpei, to show the slightest flaw would lead to a tragic ending.


    If Tang Hanpei were to find out he was the assassin who''d killed Zu Ning and that the Cross-Section of Styles was still in his hands, then the road to death would be waiting for him. Chen Mu also knew if he were to agree, however, Tang Hanpei could pay them a satisfactory price. Whether it was money, precious materials, or something else, none of that would be an issue for the Federation Comprehensive Academy.


    Should he agree or not?

 291 Conditions That Can’t Be Refused

    Neither Bogner nor Xi Ping said anything. A decision at that level was the prerogative of the boss. It would determine where the team went from then on. They were all watching Chen Mu with bated breath.


    Tang Hanpei kept drinking his tea in a leisurely fashion, not at all flustered, even looking like someone not involved with the situation.


    Chen Mu''s head was lowered in careful consideration of what was to be gained and what was to be lost. After about five minutes, he finally lifted his head.


    Everyone''s eyes lit up. Even Tang Hanpei put down his teacup and fixed his gaze on Chen Mu, waiting for his response.


    "I am very sorry, but we can''t be directly involved in the fighting." Chen Mu''s answer was curt.


    Behind him, Bogner and Xi Ping breathed a sigh of relief, and Jiao Si finally relaxed his stiff spine.


    Tang Hanpei had a composed expression, maintaining the light smile on his face as he said in a leisurely fashion, "Would Mr. Cao like to consider it a little more?"


    Chen Mu shook his head resolutely. "I''ve already thought it through."


    He certainly had. If he were to participate in the fighting, he would be branded by the Federation Comprehensive Academy from it, which was essentially no different than directly entering the academy. And, if the Federation Comprehensive Academy discovered he was the one who''d assassinated Zu Ning, he would have no way out.


    Moreover, he didn''t consider that the card artisans he had on hand had a whole lot of fighting strength. Given Tang Hanpei''s power, how would they even miss that little bit of fighting strength he had?


    "Ho ho, the card master who could produce the numbered series of cards certainly isn''t an ordinary person. How could Hanpei be up to you?" Tang Hanpei kept his smile as before, though everyone felt a chill.


    He had found out Chen Mu''s identity rather easily!


    Chen Mu wasn''t so surprised. The capabilities of the Big Six were huge, as he''d profoundly experienced all along. The identity of the one who''d made the numbered series of cards was too much in question. Though ordinary people might not have been able to guess it, trying to hide it from someone like Tang Hanpei would be impossible. But for someone who''d just arrived to find out was indeed awesome! He was awaiting what Tang Hanpei would say next.


    Sure enough, Tang Hanpei continued on with a smile. "Still, I don''t think Mr. Cao can refuse what I''m about to propose."


    "Please, do tell."


    "I would like to purchase Mr. Cao''s base. Oh, Mr. Cao may take away any of the materials he requires, and I''ll need whatever''s left. As remuneration, I''ll pay Mr. Cao 1.5 billion Oudi. I don''t believe Mr. Cao has any interest to remain in these turbid waters, and Hanpei can send Mr. Cao and his distinguished subordinates away from Pomelo."


    No one could help but feel moved by that. By that time, Pomelo was a bloodbath where no one''s survival was guaranteed. To be able to leave at such a time was an extremely attractive condition. While 1.5 billion would be considered an ordinary price, it was also rather low for a base having Starfish Fortifications. But Chen Mu wasn''t concerned with that. They hadn''t originally spent much on the base, and 1.5 billion would still leave a surplus.


    Seeing Chen Mu pondering, Tang Hanpei tossed out another bombshell with a smile. "For such a talent as Mr. Cao to live in the ordinary residential district is something of a waste. Each of your subordinates has outstanding ability, and Hanpei would like to present each of you with passes to enter the flourishing district. Since my humble school is in the capital, however, what I can present to each of you are passes for only the capital district. But you may each rest assured; as old Jiao knows, the capital pass is also effective in the other five flourishing districts. What do you say, Mr. Cao?"


    Jiao Si''s expression shifted, though it immediately returned to normal. He hadn''t thought Tang Hanpei would actually toss out such an impossible-to-refuse condition. He was afraid it was already settled for Chen Mu and the rest to enter the flourishing districts. That would also mean his original scheme to work with Chen Mu would come to nothing.


    Sure enough, Chen Mu didn''t hesitate at all as he turned around and ordered Xi Ping, "Go poll how many want to go with us." He then took a look at Bogner, who immediately caught on and went with Xi Ping to do the polling.


    "Mr. Cao is a straightforward person, after all!" Tang Hanpei said, smiling as he continued to relax and drink his tea.


    Xi Ping and Bogner were extremely efficient. After spending only about ten minutes, the two had computed the statistics. "There are 620 altogether, Boss. Borna and his people also hope to come with us."


    Chen Mu nodded and turned his gaze toward Tang Hanpei, who put down his teacup and straightforwardly said, "No problem." He opened his apparatus, and a man appeared on the screen in front of him. Tang Hanpei quickly told what had happened, and the man took the orders without question.


    When the battling had just begun, the five flourishing districts had already started to refuse to issue passes. But passes for more than 600 people seemed to be simple to do in Tang Hanpei''s hands.


    Chen Mu was finally able to size up the apparatus on Tang Hanpei''s wrist. The beige apparatus gave off an air of elegance. Unlike the high-priced apparatuses on the market that had four or five card slots, that one had only three. Besides the power card and a communications card, there would only be one card in it. Such an inconspicuous detail made Chen Mu feel how much confidence Tang Hanpei had in his own power.


    After he was done with the explanations, Tang Hanpei closed the communications card and turned to face Chen Mu. "Everything''s already arranged. Mr. Cao may traverse the transit route to leave Pomelo, where there will be someone to receive you on the other end. How about old Jiao? Will you join me in the fun, or leave with Mr. Cao?"


    Jiao Si said with a hearty laugh, "You go play. I''ll send off Mr. Cao first. Otherwise, nothing will come of this business, and I will have hurt my reputation in vain. But you had better be careful. You don''t want to be defeated by that bronze-faced devil, Qiao Yuan. I would look down on you."


    Tang Hanpei just smiled without saying anything, though some pride doubtlessly showed through.


    An alarm suddenly broke though everyone''s friendly relations. "Alert! Alert! Unknown card artisans are approaching, 50 in number. All units prepare to do battle!"


    Clomp, clomp, clomp!


    Just as the alarm faded, the entire building seemed to suddenly quake as countless footsteps passed by like a torrent overhead, closing in and moving off on the floor above. The entire process was intense and orderly!


    Any soldier who seemed to be sleeping peacefully was suddenly awakened by the alarm and started to methodically arrange their armor and weaponry. They then started to operate quickly and meticulously like a precise, energetic machine.


    The smile Tang Hanpei was wearing after he''d entered the base disappeared for the first time, replaced by a look of excitement.


    "Your subordinates'' reactions are stunning! Hanpei admires you!" He followed with some apology. "I am really sorry; I forgot to tell Mr. Cao just now that these card artisans are under me and responsible for the transfer."


    Just as his voice faded, the apparatus on his wrist sounded. Tang Hanpei gave a few orders, and the team of card artisans stopped just outside the edge of the base. But unlike the rash card artisans led by Wang Ze, that team of card artisans displayed extremely high quality. They accurately found the empty path through the lawn, never touching any card appliance devices. To be able to do that in the dark was particularly difficult, and even Bogner had a look of admiration.


    Both sides were efficient. In that small amount of time, Xi Ping had already arranged all the materials they needed to bring with them. Bogner smoothly brought all the personnel together after lifting the alarm. It was actually the Origins Academy students and card masters who wasted rather a lot of time gathering.


    They pulled several shuttle transport cars from the storehouse. Adding in the scholars from the Origins Academy, there were about 700 altogether, along with more than 20 transport shuttle cars, which had all started to move. Lu Xiaoru and those 20 were responsible for guarding, along with the ace card artisans form the Origins Academy. They all escorted Jiao Si, Chen Mu, and Tang Hanpei.


    Since there weren''t that many of them, who was going to pay any attention to them when looking at the entire federation?


    Having the number-one person in the whole world, Tang Hanpei; the headmaster of the Origins Academy, Jiao Si; and Chen Mu, who was able to kill Zu Ning, was quite a combination. Apart from large-scale armies, no smaller bands of card artisans could even approach the sidelines of such a combination.


    At the time, such a huge team was extremely conspicuous, but no one came to ask about them along their way. Jiao Si alone would have been sufficient to scare off most people.


    The team smoothly arrived at the Federation Comprehensive Academy encampment. Seeing that familiar place and thinking of that crazy night, Chen Mu''s heart skipped a beat.


    Seeming to have noticed Chen Mu''s odd reaction, Tang Hanpei smiled. "It looks like Mr. Cao would really like to get out of Pomelo."


    Chen Mu felt a chill. His counterpart could detect even such a tiny flaw! He struggled to calm himself and to keep his voice natural. "Pomelo is now the battlefield for your honorable school, the Central Repository of the Classics, and Faya. I have little power and few people, and the best possible result is to be able to leave, of course!"


    "Ha ha! We''ve both gotten what we need. It looks like this has been a happy deal!" Tang Hanpei''s hearty laughter penetrated the wind a very long distance.

 292 Where They Wen

    The long-distance shuttle cars were already waiting in the transit tunnel. Everyone knew how precious time was and how they would certainly suffocate if something were to happen during that critical juncture.


    Those under Chen Mu were in high spirits; to be able to leave a place where you could die at any moment had already caused them to rejoice. And, good lord¡ªto be able to enter the flourishing districts was something countless people dreamed of, and the chance had actually been dropped right onto their heads.


    None of them had ever imagined they would be able to get a pass to enter the flourishing districts one day. It was out of reach given their meager talents. They were overjoyed to have it now dangled in front of them.


    The results of their harsh training were reflected in their ability to control their emotions no matter how much joy they felt. Their faces remained impassive, and no one was even talking in low voices. They all understood that the reason they could get the passes for the flourishing districts was because of that awesome boss of theirs.


    If they wanted to go with the boss, they would need to be sufficiently strong to meet the demands of him and his supervisors. Quite a few of them couldn''t help but feel that it was no wonder he was the boss; he was so awesome at such a young age.


    Under Bogner''s command, the card artisans moved the materials without the slightest confusion. They weren''t taking many things with them apart from all kinds of cards and some food. Most of what they did take was comparatively precious material.


    Both sides were well-trained, and they worked fast. They finished loading the cars within 15 minutes. Bogner then pulled out a card and gave it to Chen Mu, saying something in a low voice. Chen Mu nodded to show he''d understood.


    Chen Mu walked over to Tang Hanpei and gave him the card. "This is the plan of the base, along with some of its tactical layout. I hope it can be of some assistance to you."


    "Thank you!" Tang Hanpei solemnly accepted the card. They could more quickly master the base by having it, so it was a big help. Their counterpart hadn''t needed to give that to them; it had doubtlessly been a favor.


    After some thought, Tang Hanpei took out a dark, gold-colored card and presented it to Chen Mu. "This is the internal communications card for the Federation Comprehensive Academy. If you are in the flourishing districts and use this card, you can easily find our school''s support structure. If you run into any trouble, you can look for them to resolve it."


    "Thank you." Chen Mu accepted the communications card, which would be very useful for him. None of them had been to the flourishing districts, and who knew what they might run into? It would be a lot more convenient to have the card.


    But the premise was that the Federation Comprehensive Academy didn''t know who had killed Zu Ning. Chen Mu had made up his mind that unless they encountered something they really couldn''t resolve, they would absolutely never deploy that card. Otherwise, they would be throwing themselves into a trap.


    Tang Hanpei suddenly said, "It has been quite pleasant working with Mr. Cao. I hope we might be able to reach another deal."


    "What kind of deal?"


    "I''m hoping we might be able to have priority rights to purchase the numbered series of cards that Mr. Cao makes. Of course, we would certainly satisfy Mr. Cao with regard to the price. We would like to pay 500 million Oudi for each four-star fantasy card."


    Jiao Si was immediately unhappy with that. "That''s not what you should stress, Hanpei. If you wish to speak of cooperation, we''ve had a longer-term cooperation with Mr. Cao, and always a pleasant one. If anyone is going to be given priority purchase rights, it would only be proper that they be given to our Origins Academy!"


    Chen Mu shook his head. "Please forgive me, Mr. Tang, but there''s no way I could abide by that." If it hadn''t been for the awesome cards driving the numbered series of cards, such as 007 or 013, it would have been impossible to imagine getting such prices. It looked as though he''d made a lot on such cards, but in fact, the overall income was quite a bit lower. Having been with Xi Ping and the others for a while, Chen Mu had started to understand something about the principles of business.


    Tang Hanpei probably also knew it was a little inconsiderate to propose such a deal, and he smiled with some relief. "Not important. It was ill-considered on my part."


    Seeing Jiao Si, Ru Qiu rushed over. She became somewhat formal upon seeing a stranger and stood quietly at his side.


    Seeing how affectionate Ru Qiu and Jiao Si were with one another, Tang Hanpei was surprised. "Is this your daughter, Old Jiao?"


    Jiao Si gave Tang Hanpei a derisive look. "What kind of question is that? She is Ru Qiu, the next dean of the card making division at my school."


    "Oh!" Tang Hanpei couldn''t help but take a closer look at Ru Qiu, who lowered her head shyly upon seeing that.


    Jiao Si casually introduced him to Ru Qiu. "This guy wearing a mask and looking down on everyone is Tang Hanpei. You can call him Uncle Tang."


    "Ah!" Ru Qiu covered her mouth in shock, looking at Tang Hanpei in disbelief.


    Tang Hanpei sneered to say, "You don''t need to be so sarcastic with me, Old Jiao. I''m no more than a dozen or so years older than her. Uncle Tang, indeed!" Then, he pulled a gray card out from his card wallet and gave it to Ru Qiu. "This is a fantasy card I got unexpectedly while traveling, in which is recorded how to make a kind of card. It would be useless for me to keep it, so I present it to you to mark our meeting."


    Ru Qiu was overjoyed to take the gray card. The card wasn''t very well-preserved; you could tell how old it was at a glance. It wasn''t important what was recorded on it. What was important was that it had been presented personally by Tang Hanpei.


    Xi Ping was holding little Yang Bo in his arms, and Wei-ah had the fleshy dog in his hands.


    Tang Hanpei''s gaze fell onto Wei-ah, and he flushed suddenly before quickly returning to normal. "Those under you are quite talented, after all!" Tang Hanpei said suddenly.


    Jiao Si nodded. "This man of Mr. Cao''s is really extraordinary. He has a pervasive murderous aura, which has been tickling my mind for a long time. Unfortunately, I haven''t had a chance to compare notes with him, which would have been the pleasure of my life."


    Seeing Jiao Si''s expression, Tang Hanpei couldn''t help but laugh. Jiao Si looked like an old drunkard whose mouth was watering upon seeing a bottle of the world''s best wine and being told he couldn''t drink it. His friendship with Jiao Si had come from a fight, and he knew how addicted Jiao Si was to that sort of thing.


    "Very well, everyone. I wish you a smooth trip."


    The shuttle train started to move slowly and gradually picked up speed. Chen Mu let out a long sigh of relief as all of his muscles relaxed. He sank his whole body into the soft seat. Bogner and Xi Ping also let out sighs of relief as they relaxed.


    The pressure they faced when dealing with such a person as Tang Hanpei wasn''t something they had ever felt from personal experience. They hadn''t had a way to know. Moreover, the three of them were all hiding something, which had increased the pressure.


    "Tell me, why do you think Tang Hanpei wanted to buy our base?" After a long while, Chen Mu had suddenly opened his mouth.


    Bogner and Xi Ping looked at one another, both sitting up straight and showing a contemplative expression.


    "I can''t quite figure it out myself. Could he feel that our very existence might have some kind of impact on them?" Bogner was puzzled.


    Xi Ping muttered, "Is Tang Hanpei worried about Jiao Si, so he made us leave like this?"


    "I don''t really know. Perhaps he has some way to assure his victory. If that were the case, he would hope to reduce any unknown factors. But if he were to have some way to assure winning, he would have made his move earlier." Bogner furrowed his brow.


    Listening to their analysis, Chen Mu started to get a headache. Thinking it over, he decided to put the matter aside for the time being. "No matter what, it would be a good thing to leave Pomelo. We now have passed to the flourishing districts, so it will be nice no matter where we go. Where would you prefer to go?"


    That question made the two of them immediately excited, never having been to the flourishing districts. For people from the ordinary residential districts, the bustling richness of the flourishing districts held an unrivaled attraction. The five flourishing districts were a synonym for heaven in their minds.


    Bogner gave his opinion. "We certainly won''t go to the capital, which is where the Federation Comprehensive Academy is. Even though we have this set of relationships with Tang Hanpei, we would receive close scrutiny from his school there. That would do us no good. I''ve also heard the capital is where power struggles are the most intense, and there''s no reason for us to put ourselves in danger like that."


    Xi Ping continued on. "We should also avoid the Upper Gan District, which is the arena for the power of the Central Repository of the Classics. Having sold our base to Tang Hanpei will certainly mean they won''t have any nice feelings toward us.


    "Adding it up, there is only the Northern Reaches District, the Heterodox Brilliance District, the Fanasi District, and the Heavenly Drum Village District. The Northern Reaches District is the domain of Desert Camp, and it''s said to have the hardiest customs and the most fighting. Our power is limited and not so suited to our developing there. However, the Heterodox Brilliance District is the Star Academy¡­"


    Chen Mu cut Xi Ping off. "We aren''t going to the Heterodox Brilliance District."


    Xi Ping and Bogner looked at one another with tacit understanding, more certain than ever of their conjecture that the boss had some goings-on with the Star Academy.


    "So, that leaves only the Fanasi District and the Heavenly Drum Village District. The Fanasi District is where the Bitter Solitude Temple holds sway and where religions are prevalent. The Heavenly Drum Village District is the domain of Moon Frost Island, where the climate is frigid, and living conditions are rather harsh." Xi Ping put out the advantages and disadvantages of each.


    Chen Mu''s gaze fell onto Bogner. "What do you think?"


    Pondering for a moment, Bogner said, "I''m rather inclined toward the Heavenly Drum Village District. It has unique climatic conditions. There are said to be quite a few icy valleys in the outer reaches beyond the cities there. Those would be quite suitable for building a base. Moreover, they conduct themselves rather reasonably at Moon Frost Island. Although conditions are better in the Fanasi District, it would be comparatively troublesome whenever something involved religion, given its prevalence there."


    Chen Mu''s gaze returned to Xi Ping, who nodded. "I am in complete agreement with Bogner."


    "Then, we''re going to the Heavenly Drum Village District." Chen Mu made the final decision, warning, "Stay on alert, everyone, to prevent anything happening along the way."


    Bogner nodded knowingly. "Mmmm, I''ve already ordered everyone to take precautions while resting."


    Once their itinerary had been decided, everyone immediately felt some peace of mind. Jiao Si then walked out from the next car behind them, seeing that they seemed to have finished talking.

 293 Swords Drawn and Bows Ben

    "Mr. Cao." Jiao Si greeted him as he sat down.


    "Is something the matter, President Jiao Si?" Chen Mu asked, finding it a little strange.


    "Ha ha, I have a somewhat unreasonable request." Jiao Si looked straight at Chen Mu, speaking calmly. "Mr. Cao is the most excellent card master I''ve ever seen. I''m hoping Ru Qiu could follow after Mr. Cao for a while. It would be her good fortune if you were willing to show her a few things. If you are busy, it would be fine if you made her your underling. Of course, we at the Origins Academy would amply reward you."


    Jiao Si had been dealing with them for a while. He had slowly gotten used to the guy''s temperament. There was no need for him to hold anything back. If he overpaid a little, it wouldn''t be much of a problem.


    Sure enough, Chen Mu showed an interested expression. "What kind of remuneration?" It would be a small matter for Chen Mu to allow Ru Qiu to follow him for a while. With no basic guidance on the fundamentals of the token card, the difficulty of its content meant it would be basically impossible to grasp on one''s own.


    Chen Mu really wondered about the genius who''d invented Token Theory. He must have been a math professor. Although contemporary card masters did study some math, what they studied was superficial by comparison and not even at the elementary level.


    What Chen Mu was more interested in was the remuneration Jiao Si had spoken of. He then understood how people like Jiao Si and Tang Hanpei could pull out a bit of hair as thick as his own leg. Being polite to them wouldn''t be worth his trouble.


    Would Chen Mu cause any trouble for himself? Of course not!


    Jiao Si was also a wily, old fox as he asked a probing question. "What sort of remuneration would Mr. Cao like?"


    Xi Ping interrupted. "President Jiao isn''t being very sincere. How could it be right to ask our boss to make a quote?"


    Jiao Si then realized a professional businessman was sitting next to Chen Mu, and he couldn''t help but curse himself for his muddle-headedness. However, he had thick skin and wasn''t embarrassed by such a small matter. He laughed and said, "It''s because I don''t know what Mr. Cao needs. If it were money, I would like to pay 20 billion Oudi, which is a sincere price. To tell the truth, there has never been a card master whose apprenticeship cost has been so high."


    Xi Ping said disapprovingly, "Of course. No card master would demand such a high price. But wanting to apprentice with a card master of the boss''s ability isn''t something to be resolved with money."


    The higher the level of the card master, the more stringent the conditions for student selection. A card master at the level of Chen Mu naturally wouldn''t be lacking for funds, so their demands would always be quite strange.


    No card master could provide for such a gang as they were¡ªincluding an armed force¡ªby virtue of his own strength! So, Chen Mu''s requirements would be different from that of other card masters; he did need money.


    Looking at Chen Mu, Jiao Si spoke firmly. "Of course. But Little Qiu wouldn''t be just any apprentice. If Mr. Cao wished to take on Ru Qiu as a student, no matter what conditions Mr. Cao might raise, we at the Origins Academy would agree to them."


    Xi Ping closed his mouth since it was the boss''s issue.


    Chen Mu shook his head. "I won''t be taking students." Although he spoke mildly, he was utterly decisive.


    Of course he wouldn''t take students¡ªfor rather complicated reasons. On the one hand, Chen Mu didn''t feel his ability was sufficient to be someone else''s teacher. Although he''d made the numbered series of cards, there were quite a few things about them he couldn''t even explain clearly to himself. How could such a person be someone else''s teacher?


    Another reason was the peculiarity of token card knowledge. Up until then, he hadn''t even seen 1,000 cards, but he had seen quite a few hundred. However, he had never seen one of them from anywhere else having the token composition. That was hard to conceive.


    For Chen Mu to have been able to get to his current ability was completely by virtue of the mysterious card. Nearly without him knowing it, that card had become his most core secret, and Token Theory was the core of the core, without a doubt. How could he transmit the secret he depended on for his survival?


    A look of discouragement flashed across Jiao Si''s eyes, even though he''d expected Chen Mu wasn''t likely to agree. But once Chen Mu had given his definitive response, he couldn''t avoid being a little discouraged.


    Xi Ping understood what Chen Mu meant in an instant.


    Chen Mu was leaning back in his chair while Xi Ping and Jiao Si were haggling beside him, their voices seeming to recede farther and farther away. His tightened nerves finally relaxed. For the past few days, he had been like a wild beast caught in a cage, laboriously looking for some way out. Seeing himself helplessly sink deeper and deeper into the muck was an abysmally awful feeling. The pressure had kept increasing, and he had just gritted his teeth and persisted, trying hard to keep himself from collapsing!


    Quite a few images went flitting past his eyes: Copper, his first fight, the demonic woman, the jungle¡­ The soft chair beneath him and the rhythmic hissing of the shuttle train as it started to move¡ªalong with the soft lighting¡ªled his young and exhausted heart quietly to sleep.


    Without knowing how much time had passed, Chen Mu opened his eyes. He had actually slept! He was startled and abruptly sat up, losing all sleepiness. He looked around on alert.


    The long shuttle train was continuing on at high speed, and nothing had changed in the carriage since before he fell asleep. Most of the resting card artisans had also fallen asleep.


    Nothing had happened! Chen Mu relaxed.


    Seeing that Chen Mu had awoken, Xi Ping, who had been in the middle of chatting quietly with Bogner, walked over. "I negotiated 20.5 billion Oudi with President Jiao Si. You''ll only have to take Ru Qiu for half a year, with no incidental requirements. What do you think?"


    "Ok." Chen Mu''s response was simple. "How long have I been sleeping?"


    "Six hours."


    Chen Mu was slightly startled that it had actually been that long!


    Xi Ping got Chen Mu''s answer and called Jiao Si back over, who grinned to get Chen Mu''s definitive response. It looked like the Origins Academy had taken a loss, but there was some profound meaning behind Jiao Si''s manner.


    Chen Mu being so determined to enter the five flourishing districts had doubtlessly dashed any plans Jiao Si had for collaboration. Now that he had Ru Qiu following Chen Mu, Jiao Si was quite confident in her understanding. While of course it was good to be able to learn something, even if he hadn''t thought of that, it was still a pretty good deal.


    So long as Ru Qiu were following Chen Mu, she would be like a bridge that could keep the Origins Academy from losing their connection to that mysterious team. In that way, his scheme to cooperate with the team would remain feasible.


    While the Origins Academy wasn''t as rich as the Big Six, several billion was still a small number for them. They weren''t lacking for money. What they lacked was something like the folding Yanbo card!


    In the early stages of power accumulation, money could often resolve most issues for any firm. But once their power had grown to a certain extent, if they wanted to advance any further, that was not something money could solve. That was the situation of the Origins Academy just then.


    After some hesitation, Chen Mu said to Jiao Si, "We might be entering into a frigid region where the environment is rather harsh. What about Miss Ru Qiu¡­"


    "Relax, Mr. Cao. Little Qiu isn''t that sort of spoiled little girl." Jiao Si immediately followed and suddenly thought of something. "Oh, right, we''ll be able to resolve Little Qiu''s pass."


    Jiao Si hesitated but still couldn''t help but ask, "I am very curious, Mr. Cao; why do you wish to go to the frigid region for your advancement? I traveled there when I was young, and half of the cities were established on top of ice. Apart from the city centers, everywhere else had cold winds that cut like a knife. There was only one season per year there: ice, snow, and permafrost. The living conditions are perfectly harsh. Apart from the natives, it is hard for outsiders to be based there. By comparison¡ªapart from the deserts of the Northern Reaches¡ªthe Upper Gan District, the Heterodox Brilliance District, and the Fanasi District are all pleasant climates, along with the capital. Besides that, their economies and technologies are somewhat more advanced."


    Chen Mu didn''t know how to explain it, so he just smiled.


    Seeing that Chen Mu wasn''t about to answer, Jiao Si knew he had asked something he shouldn''t have. Trying to defuse his embarrassment, he said with a smile, "Now that I speak about it, it has been many years since I went to the flourishing districts. They will have transformed much more quickly than the ordinary residential districts. I still remember the first time I entered the flourishing districts, when a lot of jokes were still being told about them. Oh, right, you should pay attention. The cost of living in the flourishing districts will be a lot higher than in the ordinary residential districts."


    Jiao Si was casually recounting his previous experiences entering the flourishing districts, which suddenly drew Chen Mu''s attention; he listened with relish. Jiao Si had realized Chen Mu was listening attentively, so he was speaking more seriously.


    It hardly needed to be said that Jiao Si''s experience was rich and colorful. He had traveled widely while young, going to countless places. He had quite a few clever, wild tales, social customs, and popular sentiments right on the tip of his tongue. Besides, those were his personal experiences, so they were all very realistic. Even Xi Ping was listening, entranced.


    Probably because they were entranced, the time passed quickly. Twelve hours went by in a flash.


    "We will arrive at the Weiwen City station. All travelers, please prepare to disembark."


    Everyone was immediately on alert, and those comrades who hadn''t yet awakened were clapped awake. All of the card artisans entered into a state of alert, with the apparatuses on their wrists in an activated state. If anything out of the ordinary were to happen, the attacks from those card artisans would shoot off toward their adversary without hesitation.


    The shuttle train slowly entered the station, and the carriage doors opened.


    "May I ask, who is Mr. Cao?" A card artisan with a cold manner had entered the car, inquiring politely.


    Chen Mu stood. "That would be me."


    The card artisan saluted him. "How are you, sir? I''ve gotten orders from above that we should escort you all into the capital."


    A look of vigilance flashed through Bogner''s eyes as he said in a raised voice, "Thank you very much, but we don''t need to bother you. We know how to enter the capital."


    The card artisan paid no attention to Bogner. Expressionless, he said, "I am very sorry, but my orders are to safely escort you all into the capital."


    Unbowed, Bogner made a signal to the card artisan at his side. With no forewarning, 22 card artisans had been deployed tactically in the blink of an eye. All passageways, along with the small team of card artisans outside, were locked in.


    The expression on that card artisan''s face shifted, but his counterpart had already taken control of the situation in an instant. The fighting strength of those 20-some card artisans had shocked him. They were invulnerable, whether it was their response, their stations, or their acting in concert!


    Damn! Where did such an awesome guy come from? There was no detectable quivering in those young card artisans'' cheeks.


    The atmosphere had become abruptly tense.

 294 Tang Hanpei’s Determination and Misgivings

    Sue Lochiro remained calmly behind Lu Xiaoru. The scene in front of her made her feel exhausted from the furthest reaches of her heart. If, and only if, there weren''t so much fighting in the world, things would be a lot better! But she couldn''t actually claim to be ignorant of how naive her desires were and how caught up in the fighting the world was.


    But she still felt truly exhausted! She had never felt so tired, even during those past few days when she had been shuttling among the civilians in order to treat the wounded. That had wiped her perception clean.


    It was strange that she didn''t feel any fear. Sue Lochiro smiled bitterly; that would probably be considered progress. She had to get rid of those distractions!


    Any delicacy had rapidly disappeared from her face. In its place was the special strength of the medical card artisan, her powerful professionalism. She was capable and settled by then. Since she had decided to join that team, she wasn''t going to be a drag on her comrades! She quietly activated the apparatus on her wrist.


    Fighting? That wasn''t for her. But she had some pride just the same: her medicine! Once the conflict had erupted, if someone were injured, she would be able to control her comrades'' injuries within a short time. If they weren''t too messed up, the wounded could even retain a certain battle power.


    During that stretch, when swords were drawn and bows bent, she still displayed her cool demeanor. What sort of life had she been living? Those thoughts flashed through her mind like a shooting star, and her expression turned focused as she went into her role. No one paid attention to the girl in the corner, whose eyes were ever-brightening.


    "Please restrain yourselves, everyone." The young card artisan maintained his emotionless expression. "You are surrounded. There is a second group of reinforcements stationed outside. There are 150 card artisans under the direct command of the Federation Comprehensive Academy."


    Bogner gave a slight sneer, not paying that any mind. "What does that mean? A threat? Ha!" There was no lightness in his eyes. If anyone were paying attention, they would have been astounded to discover that his eyes were just like a wolf''s in the jungle.


    "I am only humbly stating the facts." The card artisan maintained his emotionless expression, but his speech was suddenly cut short by a cold groan.


    "Really? Is 100-some card artisans a lot?" Jiao Si''s face was grim, his gaze gloomy and frightening. He then became oppressively fired up.


    Once the card artisan met Jiao Si''s gaze, his body started to tremble subtly. He said in an uncomfortable tone, "I am only humbly following orders, President Jiao Si."


    "Following orders? Whose orders are you following? Tang Hanpei''s?" Jiao Si''s tone was extremely cold.


    The air around seemed to have congealed from the chill. Such a powerhouse as Jiao Si becoming angered even terrified Chen Mu.


    There were already drops of cold sweat seeping from the card artisan''s forehead as he forced himself to remain calm. "Do you wish to start a battle between our two schools, President Jiao Si?"


    Afterward, a bright red folding wavy blade swiftly shot toward the card artisan. He was astonished and put out his energy cloak in a flurry. The folding wavy blade exploded apart before reaching the energy cloak.


    Hong!


    Like an inflated ball, the card artisan was bounced right against the wall, from which he limply slid down. Jiao Si saw the card artisan without looking at him.


    "Hrmph! Such a big player would dare to be so impudent in front of me?" He turned to face the rest of the card artisans, saying in a low shout, "You all listen well. If anyone else wants to mouth off to me, don''t blame me for not being so nice!"


    The card artisans had long since been scared stiff, and no one dared to make a sound. If Jiao Si were truly angered, nearly half of the card artisans stationed there would be dead. The blame would come from above, and that wasn''t a responsibility they could bear.


    They then took a look at those card artisans positioned so well, none of them looking easy to deal with!


    "Let''s go!" Jiao Si sneered proudly. "I would like to see who dares to stop me."


    The card artisans from the Origins Academy had wild gazes as they looked worshipfully at their president. What was a strong man? Jiao Si was using his own actions to make that definition!


    That was how Jiao Si led everyone: swaggering out of the Federation Comprehensive Academy station. The Federation Comprehensive Academy card artisans along their way were as silent as trembling cicadas.


    * * *


    Half an hour later, Tang Hanpei was looking at the pallid face of his own subordinate on the screen, carefully listening to every detail of his report.


    Jiao Si had brazenly made his move on behalf of that Mr. Cao, not hesitating to brave even the risk of his turning against him. What was really unexpected for Tang Hanpei was that in his estimation of such a wily guy as Jiao Si, the greatest likelihood was that the two wouldn''t help one another.


    So, why had he done it?


    Up until then, he hadn''t been able to think through why Jiao Si would be so concerned about Cao Dong. Was it because he was the card master who''d made the numbered series of cards? Impossible! On one side was the card master who''d made the numbered series of cards, and on the other side was the Federation Comprehensive Academy. A glance would show who was the heavyweight and who was the lightweight. Jiao Si would never make such a low-level error¡ªunless Cao Dong had something on him that Jiao Si was more concerned about.


    But if he did, what could it be?


    Tang Hanpei suddenly remembered what he''d felt upon first seeing Cao Dong. Could it be¡­


    Looking at his subordinate, who had just been hit hard, Tang Hanpei said with concern, "Get some rest, and recuperate! Your health is important. You''ll have to leave everything else alone."


    That card artisan still showed no emotion in his expression, though he couldn''t hide a flash of feeling deep in his eyes. "Yes, sir, master! And, will the plan be implemented?"


    "It will!" Tang Hanpei issued the orders without hesitating. "Pay close attention to where this line of people goes, and report it to me when the time comes."


    "Yes, sir!"


    Once the card artisan had closed his apparatus, Tang Hanpei turned around to the 150 card artisans standing in ranks behind him. That was the power of the card artisans directly reporting to the Federation Comprehensive Academy!


    "Get aboard!"


    The entire troop started to silently step onto the train, right onto the carriage where Chen Mu and the rest had been sitting. Only the sound of boots on the floor could be heard, no one daring to open their mouths.


    Closing his apparatus, Tang Hanpei fell into deep thought for a moment, still not grasping the main points. He called another number. A mild-mannered student wearing large, black-framed glasses appeared on the screen. The thick lenses nearly covered his entire face.


    "The plan is about to begin, Chengyan. I reckon they''ll arrive in about 20 hours."


    The student pushed up the thick glasses from the bridge of his nose. "Have you really decided to do this, Big Brother Tang? Even if you win, that gang from the school might take the opportunity to make trouble, and your situation might become dangerous."


    That mild-looking man was Song Chengyan, the youthful genius of tactics! His tone was full of concern. As the one who''d formulated the entire plan, no one was clearer than he was about what its result would be.


    Tang Hanpei smiled mildly. "Don''t worry, Chengyan; I know the score. You calculate the time to make our move, and I''ll give the orders."


    Although he didn''t know why Big Brother Tang had insisted on that plan, Song Chengyan believed he certainly had his reasons. The youth''s expression turned firm, and his gaze turned sharp. He calmly said, "I reckon the Central Repository of the Classics'' transit route can be traversed within 20 hours. We can be conservative at 18 hours, which is 20 percent beyond their highest speed. Our people will get there after 12 hours, meaning there are six hours left over. We''ll give them four hours to rest, so they can increase their fighting strength a little. The best time to make our move starts now, and we should start our 16 hours on time!" Saying so much in a single breath, Song Chengyan couldn''t help but wheeze a little, and there were fine beads of sweat seeping from his brow.


    Tang Hanpei stood up with a prance and said with a nervous expression, "It''s nothing, Chengyan. You don''t need to think about anything now, so get some rest! I''ll find out after 16 hours. Leave the rest to me. Get going now!" He closed his apparatus after he said that.


    He stood alone and dazed in the dark room. Who knew what he was thinking? After a few minutes, he seemed to have returned to his spirits and made another call on his apparatus.


    "Is this the information management department? I am Tang Hanpei. I would like to request that all the news about Caesar that year be transferred to me immediately!"


    The professor on the screen was taken aback, and there was a big change to his expression. "Caesar? The Caesar who practiced the Materials Refinement Code?"


    "Right!"


    "I''ll get right on it!" The professor looked panicked as he stumbled into the resource room.


    Looking at the screen, Tang Hanpei became expressionless for a while.


    At his first look at Cao Dong, he had found what was peculiar about the youth''s perception, which was surprisingly similar to someone who''d practiced features of the Materials Refinement Code.


    There had been no trace of Caesar, who was the most famous personage who''d practiced perception with those properties that year.


    As far as the Federation Comprehensive Academy was concerned, Caesar was like an old scar no one dared to remove. During the flourishing of his terrible name 30 years before, it had swept the Heavenly Federation. The scholars of the Federation Comprehensive Academy had a complicated complex about Caesar.


    Not one of the scholars who later practiced the Materials Refinement Code achieved half of Caesar''s heights. From that alone, it was clear how startling had been his splendid fall.


    Quite a few detested him, but others worshipped him. Tang Hanpei was one of those who worshipped him. He had a deep admiration for such an ace from another age. Still, he didn''t approve of quite a few of Caesar''s methods.


    If Cao Dong practiced the Materials Refinement Code, there was only one possibility¡ªhe was Caesar''s student. If that conjecture were true, it would doubtlessly be a disaster as far as the Federation Comprehensive Academy was concerned! The depth of the enmity between the Federation Comprehensive Academy and Caesar had no way to be resolved.


    He wasn''t afraid of anyone, including Caesar¡ªnever mind a card artisan who might have been Caesar''s student. If it were ordinary times, and if he knew where Caesar was, he would challenge him with no hesitation.


    But it was the right time! The opportunity of his adversary''s appearance was really too deadly. The chill in Tang Hanpei''s heart thickened.


    Just then, the professor''s face turned pallid as he appeared on the screen, huffing and puffing.

 295 Explaining Away

    "All of the materials related to Caesar have been transmitted to you. Everything related to Caesar belongs in the highest level of internal security, Master Tang. I apologize for not getting your agreement before reporting up."


    Tang Hanpei shook his head. "That doesn''t matter. It''s your professional duty. I''ll take a look at the materials now." Once his voice fell, the professor clearly breathed a sigh of relief.


    Tang Hanpei then concentrated on looking through all the materials related to Caesar. There were a lot more than he had imagined. Fortunately, he had more than ten hours, which would be enough to get through them.


    The Federation Comprehensive Academy had expended a lot of material and manpower to research Caesar, especially regarding the Materials Refinement Code. As a legacy that had already been preserved for many years by the school, no one had shown interest in it before Caesar. It was so obscure that probably only a few of the managers knew about it.


    Caesar ended up proving that the legacy wasn''t weak; they had been practicing it incorrectly. If any legacy weren''t sufficiently powerful, it would simply be discarded. However, if a legacy were sufficiently powerful but hadn''t brought all its power into play just because of wrong methods, that would be intolerable.


    Moreover, if someone were to see with their own eyes how that legacy could achieve the topmost levels in the Heavenly Federation, then why would anyone at the Federation Comprehensive Academy continue to leave it buried in a pile of papers with dust and cobwebs as its companions?


    During Caesar''s crazed years, he had driven the Federation Comprehensive Academy to a new high, only then to propel it with his own hands into becoming something everyone opposed. He himself became the greatest enemy of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, or even of all the Big Six!


    That affair caused the Federation Comprehensive Academy to suffer its greatest humiliation. The current president of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, Pavchek, swore he would kill Caesar, deploying all of the academy''s power to research Caesar and the Materials Refinement Code.


    What Tang Hanpei was then browsing through was just that study report. When Caesar was at the school, he hadn''t left behind even a single note regarding the Materials Refinement Code. That put him as second place on the "Listing of the Most Regrettable Events in the History of the Federation Comprehensive Academy." That showed how deeply they held their grievances about the matter.


    Those research reports were basically academic analyses of the Materials Refinement Code, and they also included some of the Federation Comprehensive Academy card artisans'' feelings about fighting with Caesar. Even President Pavchek wrote three related reports. An ace like Pavchek would have sharp and meticulous perception while fighting, which would often be more intuitive at certain times than the analytical instruments, and even more accurate.


    The perception that came from practicing the Materials Refinement Code had peculiar characteristics. When scanned, it was completely different from any other perception. Among the discussions, Pavchek''s was the most detailed. His most commonly used word was "extremely uncomfortable." Before Caesar had made a name for himself, Pavchek had already gotten that sense when he dealt with him. The Materials Refinement Code had an exclusive power, especially when confronting other perceptions¡ªit would display hostility.


    That word not only appeared in Pavchek''s reports, but all of the card artisans who had fought with Caesar used the same word in the reports they submitted.


    Pavchek mentioned a bold conjecture in his discussion: Caesar had quite possibly been influenced by the Materials Refinement Code before he gradually and unconsciously developed hostility toward the rest of the card artisans. Over the long term, that had slowly formed into what later became his strange temperament. Even Tang Hanpei wondered if Pavchek''s conjecture might just be the truth.


    Another important difference between the Materials Refinement Code and ordinary perception was that it was composed of fine, silk-like tentacles, unlike the mistiness of ordinary perception. That was also why he wondered if Cao Dong practiced the Materials Refinement Code. At his first look at Chen Mu, he had detected that Chen Mu''s perception was distributed in filaments. He had only ever heard of that kind of phenomenon appearing after practicing the Materials Refinement Code.


    But, after looking at Pavchek''s report, he felt it wasn''t the same. He had chatted for such a long time with Cao Dong and absolutely never detected any hostility in his counterpart''s perception. He believed if Cao Dong were really practicing the Materials Refinement Code, there would have been no reason for him not to have detected it. With just a look, he could discover the form of any adversary''s perception, so how would he not detect an adversary''s perception rejecting his own?


    Could it be that it was only similar? The more he looked at it, the more Tang Hanpei felt that was the greatest possibility. All of the reports had mentioned that later on, Caesar was half insane a quarter of the time and that his violent temper seemed to be directly related to the Materials Refinement Code.


    In the same way, Tang Hanpei had found none of that on Cao Dong. On the contrary, his biggest impression of Cao Dong was that the youth was cool and calm beyond his years.


    The more Tang Hanpei read, the more fascinated he became. But over the course of time, he was placing most of his interest on Caesar. The life of that legendary person was full of fantastic splendor, which dazzled Tang Hanpei. He wished he could have been born 30 years earlier to have gotten a glimpse of that legendary person''s style!


    Tang Hanpei became convinced that Cao Dong wasn''t practicing the Materials Refinement Code. Although Cao Dong was young, the strength of his perception was already stunning and not the least bit weaker than that of a young ace like Zu Ning. If he were practicing the Materials Refinement Code, its side effects certainly could not be hidden.


    The apparatus on his wrist sounded again, awakening Tang Hanpei from the pile of reports. He looked at the number and saw it was the president! When he took the call, a blue-eyed man with an eagle-like nose appeared on the screen. That was none other than Pavchek, the president of the Federation Comprehensive Academy.


    "President!" Tang Hanpei respectfully asked after him.


    "I''ve heard you found some information regarding Caesar, Hanpei." Pavchek had raised his head to say that.


    Tang Hanpei than gave a detailed explanation of the situation of running into Cao Dong and at the same time told about his own perceptions. Pavchek listened seriously and didn''t interrupt until Tang Hanpei finished.


    After hearing the whole story, Pavchek thoughtfully said, "If it''s really the way you say it is, it certainly doesn''t quite resemble the Materials Refinement Code, though it''s still too early to reach any conclusions." He then grunted as his gaze went gloomy. "Don''t underestimate the ability of that crazy Caesar. If anyone could improve upon the Materials Refinement Code, it would certainly be him."


    Seeing that Tang Hanpei was thinking, Pavchek said, "Don''t pay too much attention to this. I''ll find someone else to take responsibility. What you need to do now is to get the Central Island Firm. Their technology would be of great assistance to our further development."


    "Yes, sir!" Tang Hanpei bowed to the order.


    Pavchek''s image disappeared from the screen, and Tang Hanpei had lost interest in looking at those materials. He sat calmly in the chair. There was only a single soul in the dark room.


    * * *


    Hammond was extremely far from Weiwen City. They hadn''t dwelled in Weiwen City. Under Jiao Si''s escort, the Federation Comprehensive Academy hadn''t made any commotion, and the whole process had gone surprisingly smoothly.


    Jiao Si then finally parted with Chen Mu and his people. He was a core person at the Origins Academy, after all; if he weren''t keeping watch over the academy during those tumultuous times, many would panic.


    Jiao Si saluted Chen Mu solemnly. "I''m turning Ru Qiu over to Mr. Cao. I hope you will help me watch over her. Jiao Si will be eternally grateful!"


    Ru Qiu was chewing on her lip, and her eyes were growing misty. She forced herself to stay calm. Jiao Si turned back around to lightly rub her head while softly instructing her, "Take good care of yourself, Little Qiu, and remember that your health is the most important thing. It''s frigid in the Heavenly Drum Village District, and you must take care to keep warm."


    Ru Qiu couldn''t hold herself back. She sank into Jiao Si''s embrace, where only sobbing could be heard.


    The Origins Academy professors and students were showing their impatience in the distance. They didn''t understand at all why the president was so willing to let Ru Qiu leave them to go still farther away with a stranger. If it wasn''t for the president to have always been the most doting on Ru Qiu, those guys would certainly have tried to oppose it.


    Jiao Si then led the students away. There had been no casualties among the students during that expedition, which was what made him the happiest. Those students were all educated by him alone, and his feelings for them were far beyond the ordinary feelings between a president and his students.


    "We''ll be going as well," Chen Mu said.


    A majestic several hundred people would draw attention no matter where. From early on, people''s gazes would occasionally move in their direction. President Jiao Si was just too famous, on top of which the influence of his presentation of Cards 007 and 013 had been broadcast far and wide. So many people would recognize him at a glance. They were afraid of his name, so no one would dare make any trouble.


    Seeing Jiao Si leaving, the people''s thinking became animated. They weren''t up to Jiao Si''s level, so for that gang to have been able to get Jiao Si to escort them meant they had to have good relations. Some thought they must be people with identity and position, so why not make friends?


    Someone came up in front of them. "Please slow down, everyone. I am the president of the Simon Group from Hammond¡­"


    Chen Mu handed the matter over to Xi Ping, saying in a low voice, "You go take care of it, but be quick. We need to leave here right away." He knew the local mobsters weren''t going to want to make unhappy fuss with them.


    Getting his orders, Xi Ping immediately walked away from the troops and chatted with the man. After a short while, he returned holding a pile of name cards in his hand. Smiling, he said, "Let''s go, Boss. It''s all fixed."


    The troops started moving again.


    "Where should we go, Bogner, to get to the Heavenly Drum Village District?" Chen Mu asked.

 296 Professional Proficiency

    Bogner was clearly familiar with the federation''s geography. "There are quite a few routes, Boss. No¡ª" He suddenly looked at the pile of people behind him and said in a low voice, "I''m afraid some of the Federation Comprehensive Academy people are following us. I''ve already discovered quite a few."


    "So, what''s your idea?" Chen Mu didn''t believe the experienced Bogner would be helpless regarding the matter.


    Sure enough, Bogner had something in mind. Laughing, he said, "It''s not so hard, Boss. If we want to shake off the ones following us, there are quite a few ways to do it. One way would be to kill them, though that would be better not to use unless we had to. We might be tweaking the Federation Comprehensive Academy. Another way would be to mess with their nerves to cause them to make bad judgments. That would also be better not to use. There are too many of us, and we''re too striking. If we were to advance normally, we would have to constantly make transfers. Given the power of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, it would be trivial to find us. We might as well give ourselves up to them."


    "Oh. So, what do you think?"


    "From our current position, we could enter the Outer Reaches. I know a route. It was opened by some smugglers, and the wild beasts along the way aren''t so fierce. It''s a long distance along that private route, and there are a lot of bases along the way. Many of those active there are card artisans who don''t belong to any power. They are called jungle card artisans, who are normally based in the Outer Reaches, from where they hunt for wild animals or seek raw materials to sell. If they encounter a lone card artisan, they are likely to do a little killing for loot. Even if it were a small team of card artisans, this gang would eat them up."


    Chen Mu said in surprise, "Aren''t they just local bandits?"


    Bogner laughed. "They sure are bandits. It''s quite easy to kill someone in the Outer Reaches. Nobody is likely to pay any attention. No one can investigate it, and if they did, they wouldn''t find anything. The Outer Reaches are heaven for criminals. Those guys are halfway professional criminals. Relax, Boss; we have a lot of people, and they certainly won''t make any wild moves. But those little tails behind us are miserable. Those people don''t even care if you''re from the Big Six, ha ha. To repeat what everyone knows, there are a lot of fat takes from card artisans from the Big Six." Bogner was sneering.


    Chen Mu thought it over and actually found it to be a pretty good idea. Those 400 card artisans had never gone through a battle. They could use the real-world training.


    Since it was decided, everyone immediately mobilized. They arrived at a store, where they bought some things they needed to enter the jungle. Only then did Chen Mu discover that Bogner was a specialist in the jungle all along. While he didn''t have the experience living in the jungle that Wei-ah did, he doubtlessly knew more about using tools. He bought a pile of strange things Chen Mu had never heard of.


    They directly entered the jungle once their purchasing was complete.


    By that time, their team was completely different from before. Right in the middle of the troops were five transport shuttles, which were packed with things like food and medicine.


    In a flash, the entire team disappeared into the jungle.


    * * *


    Pa! He slapped a mosquito. But the ring of blood in his palm reminded him that he''d been bitten and how much blood he''d lost.


    "Damn! Is that gang nuts? Drilling into the Outer Reaches?" One of the card artisans couldn''t help but complain. "I know now that the jungle is no place for people to hang out. I really don''t know if these guys took some bad drugs!"


    He was full of resentment. They had suddenly entered the Outer Reaches from Hammond while following the team. It was unexpected to everyone. Some of them had to report up to the top while following closely behind.


    Those people were subordinate agencies of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, who ordinarily trained how to track in the city and had basically never entered the Outer Reaches. In order to not lose them, they had had to brace themselves and follow. Once they did, they knew what a nightmare really was.


    The sting was from a swarm of grass mosquitoes, which were more awesome than any card artisan. They could suck your blood right through your clothes. There were also locusts and ants. Once that kind of creature touched your skin, they would desperately drill into your flesh without your feeling it.


    There was also danger underfoot covered in dead leaves, which looked identical to the swamps all around. Extremely poisonous snakes were as thick as a finger and incredibly lively. If you stepped on the nests of the gray ants under the leaves, your disaster would have just begun¡­


    Of course, an energy cloak could solve a lot of issues, but the power cards they carried weren''t sufficient to maintain the energy cloaks all the time while they followed. Once the energy was used up, they would be on the road to death.


    "Stop complaining. Those on top have already dispatched people used to the jungle. If they don''t get here this evening, I reckon they''ll be here in the morning and catch up with us. We can return as soon as we finish our job. It''s a life-and-death order from above; no matter what, we can''t lose them." The card artisan had furrowed his brow to remind his comrade. He hadn''t thought the job would be so tricky, and a nameless feeling arose from his heart.


    * * *


    Ru Qiu was carefully stepping over the dead leaves, and she was full of curiosity as she looked around. It was her first time to enter the Outer Reaches. She had always heard how dangerous it was, but she now discovered it wasn''t as terrifying as she''d thought.


    On the contrary, her eyes were filled with greenery you never saw in the city. The birds calling from time to time were like a happy tune, full of the wildness of nature. There were bright flowers everywhere, along with all kinds of unfamiliar fruits, which caused her curious eyes to widen.


    Just like her, it was Sue Lochiro''s first time in the jungle, and she also looked full of curiosity. But she was a lot more restrained than Ru Qiu as she carefully stuck to Lu Xiaoru.


    The card artisans on the edges had their apparatuses lit up. They were all using a kind of card called the bug repellant card. The bug repellant card had no lethal power, but it could emit a kind of infrasonic wave that was a powerful repellent for insects and snakes. Experienced card artisans entering the jungle would always carry a bug repellant card. It used little energy and could be deployed for a long time.


    The card artisans out in front had a palm-sized screen floating in front of them, slanting downward, on which numbers were incessantly jumping around. The screen was always maintained at a set distance from the card artisan. To someone from outside, the screen looked like it was moving ahead of the card artisan.


    What they were using was the air assessment card. It could detect the concentration of harmful gases in the air and provide the danger index of the current air. Once that crossed a tipping point, it would sound an alarm. That kind of card was quite unorthodox, and most of those who used it weren''t battle card artisans but were mining card artisans.


    However, it was extremely effective for use in the jungle. Apart from the terrifying beasts, there were also toxic, invisible miasmas in the jungle. Once you breathed those in, you could die right away. Especially while entering strange jungles, the air assessment card was irreplaceable.


    Bogner''s endless cards made Chen Mu gape-mouthed and speechless. He had never thought there would be so many auxiliary cards to use. Those cards could really increase the rate of survival for a card artisan in the jungle.


    Seeing Bogner tooling along as though he knew the way reminded him of the so-called jungle card artisans he had been talking about, and Chen Mu really wondered if Bogner had been one of them.


    Xi Ping was also thinking along the lines of Chen Mu, though he and Bogner normally dealt with one another a lot more; they spoke more casually. "Were you once a bandit, old Bogs? Uh, then there''s that jungle card artisan something-or-other. Very skilled in the profession!"


    Bogner shook his head. "No, I don''t like halfway professional guys."


    Just then, Bogner saw the time and said to Chen Mu, "Let''s rest a bit, Boss."


    Chen Mu nodded. "Ok." Bogner''s command was professional along their way, precisely grasping the pace of their march. Chen Mu didn''t feel he could have done it any better, so he''d simply let Bogner lead.


    The troops immediately stopped, and a few of the card artisans consciously scattered to stand guard. Each of the small groups pulled out a strangely shaped card appliance, which was also something Bogner must have purchased in Hammond. The card appliance was composed of two parts: On top was a soft, horn-shaped opening, which was stretched out to 20 centimeters in diameter, and the bottom was a flexible water sack that could hold three liters of water.


    Pressing the button made the surrounding air quickly concentrate on the horn, and you could clearly see the misty water vapor. It was a condensing card appliance, the core card of which was a high-efficiency, suction-based refrigeration card. It could absorb and concentrate the water vapor in the air, turning it into pure water. It had a limited use in ordinary places. However, if you were in the jungle, where the density of the water vapor was several orders of magnitude higher than in other places, its utility was perfectly obvious. The condenser didn''t have very advanced technology, but when used properly, it was an efficient and convenient card appliance.


    Whether it was the bug repellant card, the air assessment card, or the condenser, the prices were all quite low. Their utility, however, went far beyond their prices.


    A card artisan suddenly came over quietly to report, "We''ve found some guys following us, Boss. There are seven of them, and they don''t seem to be in good condition."


    Take care of them! That was the first thought that popped into Chen Mu''s head. The feeling of being followed was like someone constantly staring at your back, which would always be unsettling.


    "It''s easy to take care of, Boss." Bogner was showing his signature bunch of white teeth.

 297 The Raw Recruits’ First Battle

    "Catch up, everyone. Let''s go!" The card artisan in the lead kept reminding his comrades while cursing to himself about that damned team they were targeting. Their current situation was pretty messed up, with one of their comrades already breaking out into a low-grade fever. Another had been pricked by some unknown thorns, and now his entire arm was swelling up like a pig''s foot. But what calmed him somewhat was that the time for the newly dispatched card artisans to arrive was getting closer and closer.


    In his walking until then, he''d felt some unspeakable hunch that was becoming more intense. If the orders from above hadn''t been on pain of death, he would have turned around earlier. He knew what it meant to disobey a mortal order, which was something he would never allow. If he were to die on the job, his family would get a secure placement and spend a pretty good life. His children would also get a proper education.


    But if he were to disobey an order, he would be kicked off the team with no assets. For someone like him with a wife and kids, that would be the worst thing that could happen.


    His heart was both conflicted and thankful. It was fortunate that his normal work was to track in the city. If his ordinary work was to be active in the jungle, just thinking about it made him scared. If he had studied jungle maneuvers, however, he wouldn''t have been so passive.


    Fortunately, his adversary was a large troop. He didn''t need to expend a lot of energy finding the tracks of a few hundred people. They hadn''t lost the trail up until then, which made him feel pretty good. It was just that they would be able to leave the damned jungle after a few more hours.


    Parting the brambles in front of them, his face became covered in a mess of scratches.


    His target had just passed by there. The lead card artisan looked around on alert and found nothing strange. He signaled his comrades to catch up. There wasn''t much time left, and he didn''t want anything to happen during that critical period.


    It was so quiet in the forest that a baby could sleep there, with only the sound of the occasional leaf rustling.


    One of the card artisans couldn''t help his curiosity. "Tell me, Chief, what are these guys really doing drilling into the woods? Why are those upstairs so concerned about them?"


    The one in the lead shook his head. "I don''t know. That troop is a little strange. As for those upstairs, that''s not something for us to ask about. If you don''t watch your mouth, Old Huang, something might happen someday."


    Old Huang was abruptly embarrassed. "Sometimes I talk too much, Chief; don''t take it to heart. But this time, we''re really stuck in it to put up with such a job. It''s no good. I''ll have to take a good rest when I get back. Going along like this will kill a person sooner or later!"


    The look on the one in the lead shifted, and he yelled, "Shut your mouth! What''s not going to die, Old Huang? Don''t we have enough bad luck?"


    The rest of their comrades were looking pretty bad. Old Huang knew he''d spoken badly, and he shut his mouth. Everyone moved ahead in silence with what Old Huang just said enshrouding their feelings like a gloomy haze they couldn''t get rid of.


    Suddenly, Old Huang plopped down on the ground.


    At first, no one paid any attention; falling in the woods was pretty common as far as they were concerned. After two or three minutes, however, when Old Huang still hadn''t gotten up, everyone didn''t feel so hot.


    "Old Huang! Old Huang!" The expression on the card artisan in the lead changed, and he couldn''t help but shout. He then felt a sudden cramp in his heart and couldn''t get a single breath out. His legs went soft as he knelt to the ground.


    The scene in front of him became gradually blurred, and right in that blurry scene, his own comrades seemed to be falling down one by one. He was alarmed and wanted to shout out, but he was swallowed up by darkness and lost consciousness.


    After an hour, a team of 20 card artisans suddenly appeared not far from where Old Huang and the rest had fallen. The lead card artisan signaled, and all of the card artisans immediately knew to raise their energy cloaks.


    "There is a toxic miasma here. Be careful." The lead card artisan was speaking in a low voice. Everyone immediately propped up their energy cloaks and started to advance along the trail rapidly.


    They discovered the fallen Old Huang and the rest. All of their faces turned serious, and one of them lowered himself to carefully examine the corpses, which had already started to blacken. "They died in a miasma, Captain. About an hour ago."


    Everyone looked a little worse off. If they had only been an hour quicker, nothing would have happened to their comrades.


    The captain looked over everyone and calmly said, "We did our best. This was our top speed, and you can have clear consciences. Let''s go finish the job. That would be the best way to comfort them."


    The dark looks on those card artisans'' faces disappeared, and they became determined once again. The speed of the line picked up.


    Chen Mu and his men also ran into some trouble.


    They''d encountered a pack of Bosnian wolves numbering 700 or 800. To run into such a large-scale wolf pack in the Outer Reaches was a one-time thing not often seen. Those who had never experienced battle, like Xi Ping, Sue Lochiro, and Ru Qiu, were all pallid as they looked in terror at the wolf pack in front of them.


    "My old friends!" Bogner muttered in a low voice so no one could hear it. His gaze suddenly made contact with those 400 card artisans, who were showing faint signs of the commotion of panic.


    Any look of sadness in his eyes disappeared as a shower of fire exploded in them. "A**holes! You heard of pigs! Get in formation! Do you still f***ing need me to show you how?"


    Bogner''s growl rolled like thunder over the entire camp! Even Chen Mu was a little surprised as he watched him, muttering to himself that it looked like the size of a voice wasn''t related to perception.


    The roar was clearly quite effective. The card artisans had been experiencing strict training for a while. It was drilled into their bones and had become something instinctual. But they had never seen such a battle and were immediately flustered. Bogner''s growl had come at just the right time, rescuing them from their panic.


    Jiang Liang''s reaction was the quickest. His small group was the first to get into formation and activate their apparatuses. Looking over his chaotic comrades, he was quick to make a decision. "Everyone pay attention; our objective is in front of us at 30 degrees. Fire!"


    Neat, sharp whistles suddenly sounded out. The 25 fighting units could shoot off six energy shuttles per second, and within one second there were 150 of them. It was like a canopy of raining shuttles, which accurately hit their targets.


    Jiang Liang had picked out the foremost part of the pack, needing to buy some time for his comrades to help them finish their adjustments. The raging pack of wolves was like it had run headlong into a solid shoal of rock.


    The scene was spectacular!


    More than 100 energy shuttles were triangulated in! The wolf pack suddenly splashed sprays of blood as though waves were crashing onto a reef. It was both sad and beautiful.


    If one were looking on from above, one would find that the wolf pack had suddenly collapsed over a large area. The attack of Jiang Liang and the rest killed nearly 70 or 80 Bosnian wolves. The energy shuttles approached a damage value of 1,000, doubtlessly an embodiment of their power. The defensive performance of the Bosnian wolves'' outstanding pelts in front of the energy shuttles was nothing. Quite a few of the energy shuttles even penetrated several wolves.


    If it weren''t that the raw recruits were so nervous, that round of attack wouldn''t have ended with just those few. The attack wave included a few units that were too nervous; they had some issues with the coordination among the three of them. They didn''t fire off any energy shuttles.


    The deficiencies and weaknesses of the novices'' experience was undoubtedly on display. Most of the card artisans unconsciously aimed at the forward-most wolves, wasting a lot of firepower.


    Those few pitiful Bosnian wolves were shot into honeycombs. The air was filled with the heavy smell of blood!


    The novice card artisans were provoked by the smell of blood, and they displayed utterly different reactions. Some were like Jiang Liang, whose eyes were red with excitement. But most of the card artisans had turned white, with no blood in their faces and some even about to vomit.


    Although the attack was terrible to Bogner, it did stir their low morale quite a bit. The novices had found out that the wolf pack wasn''t as scary as they had imagined. Even though their faces had turned pallid, and their limbs were shaking, in the end they''d dialed in their formation.


    However, the smell of blood had also provoked the wolf pack.


    The pack suddenly started howling to the sky, gathering into a torrent and destroying the novices'' fragile spirit. They also seemed to be paying attention to the novices'' panicked expressions as they all bowed their bodies to spring!


    The scene of several hundred wolves bounding into a run utterly shattered their courage. The earth was shaking, and in the blood-gorged eyes of the wolves were reflected back the novice card artisans'' pallid faces.


    "They are all here right in front of us. Fire!" Jiang Liang''s command rescued them again, and the other few team leaders sounded the order to attack as though they had been aroused from a dream!


    Shuttles were flying like a tapestry¡ªsharp and unstoppable! The wolf pack was rolling in like thunder!


    The two torrents hit head-on, and the desperation of the scene froze Chen Mu as he watched. He had experienced countless battles, but he had never encountered such a grand scene as that one.


    The fleshy dog in Wei-ah''s hands swept away his laziness for the first time and got really excited. He was struggling in Wei-ah''s arms, where he began to howl madly, loud and clear. The face, which was ordinarily so covered in flesh that you couldn''t discern his five orifices, had now stretched out into a strangely sinister rage!


    Wei-ah gave him a look and shook the hand that was holding him by the neck twice, which immediately softened the fleshy dog, his bones having nearly been shaken out.


    The fleshy dog''s eyes were looking at Wei-ah meekly as he barked through tears. Wei-ah didn''t understand him. He retracted his gaze, turning his attention back to the battle.

 298 Those Poor Trackers

    The situation for the novices was really awful, and there were already quite a few injuries. Lu Xiaoru and the 20 card artisans had become life savers. When they saw someone wounded, they would immediately go to save them. Sue Lochiro became the busiest on the entire team as she shuttled quickly among the wounded. Her technique was stunningly nimble. Even Bogner, who had always been so demanding, couldn''t help but show a fair amount of appreciation.


    For the team to have a high-level medical card artisan greatly reduced their losses due to injury. Without the distraction of such worries, the novices could finally muster their courage. The cadence of the attacks gradually fell into their hands. The wolf pack was suffering heavy casualties. Bogner stood coldly at the rear and didn''t inject himself into the front lines of the battle. As he saw it, that sort of small-scale battle didn''t require his involvement.


    His gaze lingered the longest on Jiang Liang. Although the perception of that former military man had been hit hard, he was certainly a notch better than the rest in his tactical literacy. He was always steady and never flustered. He wasn''t selfish and would provide cover for his comrades.


    He was a qualified soldier. Bogner wondered if Jiang Liang had been previously groomed by the military. It made Bogner truly grateful to have recruited such a talent.


    Any commander would welcome a subaltern who was versed in tactics, and Bogner was no exception. When it came to the performance of the rest of the captains, they would only be considered middling. They didn''t seem to have forgotten their daily training, though. For a recruit to become a qualified soldier was an arduous process of transformation, accompanied by injury and death.


    Silently observing the battlefield and the 400 card artisans in front of him, he knew if he were able to get 200 qualified soldiers in the end, that would be some pretty powerful battle strength!


    "Arrgh!"


    A mournful cry abruptly rattled to a stop. One of the recruits had his neck crushed in the jaws of a Bosnian wolf. That was their first casualty. That attack wave was simply too fierce, and Lu Xiaoru and the others couldn''t rescue him.


    Their dead comrade reminded the recruits that although there were aces to rescue them, they were still in a very dangerous situation. Nothing was more frightening than death, so there was a wave of panic among the troops.


    Jiang Liang was wide-eyed with rage as he screamed, "Get up your spirits, and don''t be distracted. Follow my pace!"


    Even though the recruits had never faced blood, they followed Jiang Liang''s pace to mount methodical attacks, as though they suddenly had backbones again. When the other captains saw that, they followed his lead.


    "Pay attention, and follow my pace, you in the second squad!"


    "Follow me, third squad!"


    "If you don''t want to die, fourth squad, then show me some spirit! Let''s kill off that livestock!"


    "I''ll cut your wages if you don''t perform well, elite group!" The shouting of the elite group''s leader was the most menacing without a doubt, and those card artisans rose to the pitch of dragons and tigers whose ferocious firepower would cause anguish in anyone.


    Their firepower didn''t slack off when they took on the wave of attacking wolves but became still more powerful. The more firepower they commanded, the deadlier they became. By that time, the wolf pack had come as close as five meters from them. That was an extremely dangerous distance, which would only be a jump for the Bosnian wolves with their outstanding explosive power.


    Wave after wave of raining shuttles, like a harvester, cut down the wolves, one after the other. Over time, the card artisans gradually adapted to the battle. Their moves became more and more practiced, and the energy shuttles they fired off were improving in accuracy.


    They approached a damage value of 1,000! That was nearly the damage value of a four-star card. Maybe one of their fighting units couldn''t contend with a high-level card artisan who could use a four-star card, but from the aspect of pure damage, there really wouldn''t be much of a difference. Their advantage was particularly evident in that kind of positional warfare.


    Jiang Liang had the most excellent psychological qualities as he resisted the fiercest of the attacks. The most thrilling time was when three Bosnian wolves had already pounced on him, and the comrade behind him promptly rescued him, blowing up the three wolves in midair.


    The balance of the battle started to tilt in favor of Chen Mu''s side.


    Chen Mu hadn''t made a move, understanding what Bogner was doing. Although there were casualties in the battle, if the recruits didn''t see blood, then they would all be on a road to death where no one would have the will to change.


    Chen Mu''s decisive mind was evidence of how quickly he had grown. In that world, everyone knew the truth that long-term pain wasn''t as good as short-term pain, but how many people would truly cut off the arm of a mighty warrior?


    The battle had already fallen completely into the hands of the recruits, and there were only a few of the wolves left standing. The rest had fallen into pools of blood.


    The battle had only lasted a few minutes, but the ferocious attacks were just endless hits with nothing fancy about them. The two sides were too close together, and the pack of wolves, known for its explosive attack strength, made it a genuine encounter.


    Although Bogner hadn''t been pleased with the card artisans'' performance at the outset, what they demonstrated later had earned his praise.


    All of the wolves were scattered in front of them with the dense smell of blood having become chokingly pungent. There were wolf corpses everywhere. After they finally won, the card artisans slumped right down onto the ground. They didn''t even want to budge a finger of their flaccid bodies.


    Sue Lochiro had become still busier, with so many wounded card artisans. The causality stats quickly came out. Three had died on the field, six had died from their wounds, and 57 were wounded overall.


    That was a rather high mortality rate, though fortunately only seven card artisans had died. The wounded would heal and could fight another battle. The psychology among the wounded about what they could take was a little stronger than that of the ordinary card artisans.


    It was fortunate that Sue Lochiro was there. Otherwise, the conditions would have been many times worse. No matter where, a medical card artisan was a rare commodity. High-grade medical card artisans would only ever be used by a few large-scale card artisan firms.


    Taking a glance at Chen Mu, Bogner thought to himself about how he was the type who brought things together, after all! Only someone as strong as the boss could carry a woman back in the middle of the night, and what a strong woman she was!


    Was she considering cultivating the boss''s nightlife? An evil thought that he couldn''t contain came popping into Bogner''s mind, and the sneer on his face chilled the back of the necks of card artisans who happened to be walking by.


    It was magical to watch such a superb medical card artisan as Sue Lochiro and the energy needles under her control. Bogner''s eyes wandered, and he couldn''t help his secret thoughts about whether he should consider letting the boss get to Sue Lochiro a little bit sooner. If they were to lose such a person to the outside, that would really be regrettable to the point of turning his intestines green.


    The expressions on Lu Xiaoru and those 20 card artisans remained cool. They had experienced hundreds of battles, and that kind of scene wasn''t enough to shock them. The wolf pack would have been a minor issue if Bogner had let them make any moves before.


    The Sound Beam that Lu Xiaoru had in her hands could emit an attack in the range of sound waves, which would be lethal against wolves with such acute hearing. Neither the boss nor the chief had given those orders, however, and they hadn''t directly participated in the battle.


    Borna and his gang of construction card artisans had lost the color in their faces; they were throwing up and in awful condition. Xi Ping''s face was also pallid. He looked at Chen Mu watching him and forced himself to smile, saying, "Too bad those wolf pelts are too battered. If they were whole, they would bring a good price."


    The Bosnian wolves that had fallen to the ground were full of many bloody holes, and such pelts naturally had no value. Xi Ping had just been looking for something to say. Why would they be interested in wolf pelts at such a time?


    Bogner walked among the new recruits and coldly tossed out his words. "Every small group should have a discussion summarizing what you gained and what you lost." After that, he paid no more attention to the new recruits.


    * * *


    The 20 card artisans were shuttling rapidly through the jungle, their movements lively and easy. You could see how familiar they were with the jungle environment.


    The one in the lead suddenly raised his hand, and the team abruptly stopped. Something was up!


    He held still and listened. The team hadn''t heard any commotion, and they looked doubtfully at their captain.


    The captain didn''t explain. He squatted down silently, his hands opening up the layer of humus on the ground and revealing the hard soil underneath. He put his ear to the ground, and after two seconds, his face shifted.


    "There''s a large herd of beasts!" The captain''s expression turned serious. "There must be a pack of wolves in front of us whose position would coincide with our target team."


    Everyone looked at one another. One of the team said, "They don''t have such bad luck!"


    A large wolf pack was quite scary, and they came on like the wind. They were good at running, with their sprinting surprise attacks the most awesome. They had cunning dispositions. While a lone wolf was all right, once they formed into a large-scale pack, it was an absolute nightmare.


    The captain hesitated and said through gritted teeth, "We''ll take a look. They should have encountered the wolves."


    All the team members looked unhappy. Knowing there was a wolf pack in front of them and then still going there¡ªwasn''t that the road to death? Bosnian wolves had acute senses of smell, and they were particularly sensitive to the smell of humans.


    Looking at his team, the captain threw out a phrase. "Those upstairs have placed a lot of importance on this job; don''t you know?" Saying that, he was the first to run ahead.


    Everyone just looked at one another, thinking they had better follow their captain. Suddenly, there was a strange whistling sound, like a storm coming on with no warning. It came from far up ahead.


    The courage that had just been stirred was instantly extinguished by that strange whistling sound. They could tell from the sound where the whistling was coming from, which was just where their target team was located.


    Seeing their faces so full of hesitation, the captain could only helplessly say, "All right, then. We''ll go after a while. I''m sure their tracks will be at the scene. Everyone stay on guard. It will cause a lot of trouble if that wolf pack comes our way."


    Although he was the captain, he still had to consider the team''s feelings. The strength of one individual in the jungle was limited; if he didn''t have the cooperation of the team, he couldn''t do a thing by himself. But he actually felt both offended and afraid. The stretch of jungle was vast, and their current route was still only on its edge.


    Although they had all learned to track in the jungle, they ordinarily had few opportunities for work there. As a subordinate agency, the Federation Comprehensive Academy had only needed to take advantage of their strengths a pitifully few times. They couldn''t rise in their vocation with no opportunity. It was difficult to find a single job, and judging from what they were told, those above put a lot of importance on that job.


    This was a great opportunity! He had already made up his mind that no matter how, he would complete this job rather well.


    However, he hadn''t thought he would encounter such an unexpected situation. If they were to encounter a large-scale wolf pack and didn''t run fast enough, they''d be going down the road to death. They were only good at tracking in the Outer Reaches, and they had a lot less battle strength compared to card artisans who served in battles.


    He had chosen to pause temporarily in consideration of safety. After about three hours, he could no longer hear any commotion and got up. "Let''s go. We need to catch up. There are a lot of them, and they can''t have gone far."


    The team members got up one by one, a lot less worried about whether they would encounter a wolf pack. They marched quickly ahead for their plunder. The tracks on the ground were clear, and they didn''t need to waste any effort to know where to go. They walked for about two hours.


    The forward scout suddenly came running back in terror, looking like he was being chased by something.


    "What happened?" the captain asked in a low voice.


    Just then, a slight breeze blew past. A heavy smell of blood smacked them in the face, changing everyone''s expression.


    "Ca-Captain¡­ hurry over and take a look!" The team member''s teeth were chattering with terror. He must have seen something scary. The captain''s eyelids fluttered, and everyone quietly looked at one another before carefully moving ahead.


    By the time they were close enough to see the scene clearly, there was the sudden sound of their ranked intake of cold breath.


    "C-captain¡­ th-they really did run into a pack of wolves!" The team member''s face was completely drained of blood as he stuttered some nonsense. By that time, however, no one wanted to laugh at him. They were all struck dumb by the devastating scene in front of them.


    There were countless wolf corpses as far as the eye could see, all in pools of blood. Some of the wolves that hadn''t quite died would twitch from time to time. The heaviness of the smell of blood made people directly throw up. Everyone''s hearts tightened. They had thought the wolves had left, but they hadn''t thought¡­


    Seeing the terrified eyes of the wolf corpses, the captain''s heart jumped. Could the whole pack have been wiped out? If it had been a rout, the remaining wolves might have returned after the enemy departed to howl after their dead comrades. But they didn''t see a single wolf still standing!


    A rout and an annihilation were two entirely different concepts, and there was a lot of difference in the fighting strength they represented. The captain felt terrified as he started to carefully examine the tracks all around, being able to roughly guess what had actually happened. The more he looked, the more he became alarmed.


    All the overturned turf and the signs of large-scale trampling must have been left by the wolves'' charge. Getting a sense of the distance, when the two sides confronted, they would have been about 300 meters apart.


    For a wolf pack, 300 meters wasn''t more than a few leaps. They also hadn''t considered their enemy''s firepower to be so strong, and they had contained their attack. The power of a wolf pack would be reduced by a lot if it were too slow, which also gave their enemy more time.


    But the battle had been concluded within a few minutes. Given the wolves'' cunning, if it hadn''t, they would have immediately scattered once they saw the situation wasn''t right.


    If that was what happened, did that mean the wolves hadn''t even reacted before they were annihilated? That conjecture gave him chills all over his body. What kind of fire power was that?


    He found quite a few holes in the tree trunks on the ground. The holes in the ground the size of a finger were too deep to see the bottoms of, and the small holes on the tree trunks were scars from complete penetration. Judging by the shape of the marks, they must have been made by shuttle-type energy bodies. The wounds on the wolves'' corpses were the same.


    He didn''t see any other kind of scar, which gave him a really bad feeling. Could the ones they were chasing after be military? Except for the military, it was rare to see any power that would have such a uniform attack style.


    Military! In the minds of ordinary card artisans, that was a mysterious and powerful term. He felt some regret; the job was proving more tricky than he had thought. If the adversary were truly military personnel, they were very dangerous.


    Thinking about it, he immediately called over a team member. "Go back right away to send back this news: The adversary is quite possibly military, using a unified type of what must be a shuttle-type of card. The destructive value is more than 800. They number more than 500, and they have a guide who is familiar with the jungle. The rest of the situation is unknown. I''m recommending you dispatch higher-level reconnaissance personnel."


    Everyone looked amazed. They had only been guessing before, but their thinking wasn''t as clear as their captain''s. When they heard the captain say their adversary could be military, their faces all went dark. When they then heard him say with certainty that he judged the cards the adversary was using to have a damage value of more than 800, they were all struck dumb in an instant.


    One of the team members was shouting hysterically. "The captain wasn''t exaggerating! Wouldn''t 800 be a four-star card? Good lord, could our adversary be several hundred high-level military card artisans? Are we looking to die?"


    The rest of them felt hopeless as they looked jealously at the teammate who had been called out. He''d been sent back specifically to transmit the news, which meant he didn''t need to continue the tracking. To track a military team of high-level card artisans was basically suicide!


    That teammate was ecstatic as he kept nodding. "I will certainly report the news up." He took the fantasy card report the captain had just recorded. That sort of fantasy card report required the use of a specialized corresponding apparatus to be able read the information it contained.


    "Get going." The captain patted him on the shoulder. He was the youngest of the team.


    "Mmmm." After saying goodbye to his comrades, the teammate immediately ran back like the wind.


    The rest of the team was looking hopelessly at their captain. "What are we going to do, Captain?"


    The captain took a deep breath and said, "We''re still going to follow them!" Once he said that, everyone''s faces looked even worse. Their adversary was too powerful. If they were discovered, they wouldn''t have a chance to escape with their lives. Given the style of the military, they would certainly have some kind of expert in their own arena who would be a lot higher level than they were.


    "We have to follow them; otherwise, we won''t be able to justify ourselves when we get back. You know the consequences for disobeying orders." The captain first explained his reasons, and everyone remained silent, knowing what the captain said wasn''t wrong.


    "Still¡­" The captain''s tone had changed, and everyone was taken aback as they raised their heads. "Our power is too far beneath our adversary''s; if we get too close, we will die without a doubt. I think those on top will understand that when they get our report. They will certainly send another ace ahead. Otherwise, we''ll bring back the news that we completed our mission. We only have to ensure it would be all right to follow them from a distance. On the one hand, we don''t want to lose track of them; on the other, we''ll be awaiting orders from above."


    What the captain said alleviated the tension on everyone''s face.


    "So, the captain still has a way. We must just follow from a distance. What about the military? I don''t think they''ll discover us from so far away!" someone yelled out, as though he were cheering himself on.


    The captain looked at the renewed excitement of the team. Without knowing why, he still had some lingering bad feeling in his mind. He suddenly remembered Old Huang and the others who had fallen. A frightening idea popped into his mind. Were Old Huang and the rest deliberately lured into the miasmic forest by their target? That idea made the expression on his ever-calm face shift.


    "What happened, Captain?" A sharp teammate noticed his strange manner.


    He forced himself to smile. "It''s nothing. Maybe it''s the powerful smell of blood here making me uncomfortable." He didn''t dare tell his teammates about his conjecture. If he did, that little rise in morale would immediately collapse.


    "Right. Let''s get out of here. The smell of blood is too heavy, and I''m afraid it will attract those fierce wild beasts," one of the teammates reminded.


    Everyone had long since wanted to leave that hellish place. They stood up and followed ahead along the tracks their target had left. That time, however, their speed was much slower since they didn''t want to bump into that scary gang.


    * * *


    Being in the jungle, Chen Mu didn''t know that just when that batch of recruits was completing their virgin battle, something happened in Pomelo to shock the entire federation.


    In an unparalleled show of determination, Tang Hanpei pushed himself into the heart of the battle.

 299 The Riddle of Tang Hanpei’s Play

    "All present, Master." A card artisan made a respectful sign toward Tang Hanpei.


    Tang Hanpei took a look at the time and nodded. "Move out."


    "Yes, sir!"


    Five card artisans flew off in five different directions, disappearing into the vast night in the blink of an eye.


    Standing at the highest point in the newly purchased base and overlooking the expansive jungle along with the indistinct lights from the region of Pomelo, Tang Hanpei resembled a statue. He looked on silently with a gloomy haze in his eyes as thick as the unending night.


    The night breeze blew open his robe, which danced along with the long hair at his temples. He closed his eyes to feel the cool of the breeze on his face, his expression ever so gradually transforming. By the time he opened his eyes again, all of his gloomy haze had been swept away. His clenched lips showed none of his normal mildness but were firm¡ªas firm as a sharp knife!


    There was a rumbling sound, and the ground under his feet suddenly started to shake! The scale of the rocking in the base made it nearly impossible to stand. Tang Hanpei had removed the roof and slowly flew into the sky to see into the distance.


    All of Pomelo was quaking¡ªand quaking violently! Buildings kept toppling, roiling up endless dust while the originally sparse lights were extinguished one by one. The jungle around Pomelo was seriously impacted as patch after patch of the woods toppled in the quaking. The stunned beasts would give out terrified squeals from time to time, and all sorts of birds left their nests in a panic, circling darkly into the sky.


    All of the card artisans departed the base into the sky, floating behind Tang Hanpei. They were arranged in orderly ranks, silently upright with determined looks.


    "Are you afraid?" Tang Hanpei''s calm voice followed the wind into everyone''s ears.


    They puffed out their chests instinctually and replied in loud voices, "We are not afraid, Master."


    "Then fight!"


    In the dark, Tang Hanpei looked at the Central Repository of the Classics encampment with indifference, a cold glint in his eyes.


    "We will follow you to death, Master!" the card artisans behind him vowed, their voices seeming to have come from the depths of their chests, deep and powerful! That night would be something they would never forget.


    Tang Hanpei, the flagbearer of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, had brazenly deployed the weapon of mass destruction battle card, the Geomagnetic Charge, which had caused the severe quaking in all of Pomelo. Both the Central Repository of the Classics and Faya had heavy casualties.


    Earlier, in order to open the transit routes into Pomelo, they had arrayed a lot of manpower. The card artisans who were in the middle of working were all buried alive, not one surviving. Not only that, but the quaking had utterly destroyed the underground environment around Pomelo. It had become impossible to even think about getting through the transit tunnels. Even the deeply buried communications lines had been destroyed in the disaster without exception.


    The jungles on the edge of Pomelo were also heavily damaged, and the geography was changed beyond restoration. Because of the quakes, the crazed, shocked beasts ran pell-mell to the periphery. That led to a dense band of beasts forming with Pomelo as its center, utterly cutting Pomelo off from the outside world. If anyone were to try breaking through that band of beasts, the price they would pay would be several times higher than before. Pomelo had been transformed into a truly isolated city!


    Tang Hanpei''s crazed move had shocked the federation! No one understood why he would do that.


    The geomagnetic charge card was in the category of a weapon of mass destruction; its power was massive. It could disrupt the underground structures in a region and was certainly able to cause earthquakes. However, given how powerful it was, it was difficult to set off. It required a card artisan with a perceptual strength above level five to launch, and the one who launched it had a 70 percent chance of being killed.


    Every academy organized their experts to develop a plan in the shortest time possible, finally getting a unanimous and horrifying result¡ªTang Hanpei had set off at least five Geomagnetic Charges at the same time. Wanting to achieve such a terrifying result, those five Geomagnetic Charge attack sites had been rigorously laid out.


    That confirmed what everyone had guessed: it was a premeditated and meticulously planned action.


    The reactions of the Central Repository of the Classics and Faya were the most violent. They immediately dispatched extremely large-scale troops of card artisans that were prepared to traverse the jungle to rescue their card artisans already deployed in the city.


    No one found the response of the Central Repository of the Classics to be strange. Whether it was Qiao Yuan or Mi Xiaqing, they were the biggest heavyweights of the Central Repository of the Classics. If both of them were hobbled at the same time, it would a huge blow to their academy.


    But Faya''s reaction was beyond what anyone had expected, and it inevitably led to some guessing. Could Faya have some heavyweight in Pomelo?


    The Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple presidents both called Pavchek at the first opportunity. They questioned him repeatedly. Pavchek became enraged for his first time at an internal leadership meeting. He denounced his own proud disciple.


    Facing the accusations of all of the powers as well as the populous, the Federation Comprehensive Academy could only remain silent. They couldn''t even guess what Tang Hanpei really wanted to do.


    No one knew what Tang Hanpei was thinking, just as no one knew what was going on in Pomelo!


    Chen Mu and his party were continuing through the jungle, cut off from the outside world as well. Of course, they didn''t know something so huge had developed in Pomelo.


    Chen Mu''s head was full just then, having gone through the battle against the wolves. The morale of the new recruits had plummeted. Chen Mu and Bogner hadn''t realized the first battle they would run into would be so violent. Their luck wouldn''t have been considered so good.


    Plus, some weaknesses had been exposed with the tactics of the set of cards. They weren''t suited to dynamic warfare since they required three people to remain in sync. While it was extremely powerful for positional warfare, the tactical requirements for the team members were extremely high. The card artisans didn''t need a lot of strength, but their tactical qualities and compatibility certainly had to be outstanding.


    Another bothersome aspect was that if the card artisan responsible for energy output in a fighting unit were wounded, the fighting unit would be wasted.


    Two of the issues they confronted couldn''t be resolved. They were determined by the peculiar nature of the tactics for that set of cards. In that world, there were never any faultless tactics.


    Chen Mu and Bogner discussed the final issue for a long time and were able to reach a compromise of sorts. The one who had been the second in firepower among the original three would no longer be required to simultaneously learn energy output. He would be designated the fighting unit''s sub; no matter who was wounded, he could replace them. Although he wouldn''t have as much power as the other two paired people, he could insure the team wouldn''t become a dud. In ordinary circumstances, the existence of a substitute would improve the cross-locking-in and could greatly improve their hit rate.


    He knew Bogner had some way to resolve the issue of morale. He didn''t intervene in that matter since specialized things should be turned over to the specialists.


    By comparison to before, Chen Mu was a lot more relaxed. Most of the time, he paid attention to the materials in the Outer Reaches. He still considered himself a card master in his bones. But because they were still on the fringes of the jungle, the materials were all pretty ordinary and far from comparable with those of the Moqi Clan''s village.


    Suddenly thinking of Alfonso and the rest in the underground city, he realized he hadn''t connected with them since getting cut off the last time. He felt stirred, so he told Bogner and Xi Ping he''d be leaving. He and Wei-ah went off a short distance.


    Wei-ah had the fleshy dog in his arms and asked, not quite understanding, "What are we doing?"


    "We''re going to connect with Alfonso and the rest." Chen Mu then took out the thousand kilometer card and the signal transmitter. Wei-ah''s rock-like expression finally showed a little emotion, still having a lot of feelings for the Moqi Clan¡ªespecially for that little devil Li Duhong.


    They still hadn''t left the Ming Zheng District, and their connection with the underground city hadn''t been cut off. If they were to wait until they got to the Heavenly Drum Village District, they would be too far away from the underground city, and he reckoned the thousand kilometer card wouldn''t be able to connect.


    "Mr. Teacher!" Alfonso''s voice was overjoyed. "You were suddenly cut off last time, and we were never able to connect afterward. We were all left hanging. We could only guess you might have run into some trouble. Everyone has been desperately training, hoping to be able to help you out. Now we''re just glad to know nothing''s wrong!" Alfonso rattled off a ton of stuff in a single breath.


    Chen Mu felt warmed, and he couldn''t help but grin as he calmly listened to what Alfonso was saying.


    Not until Alfonso finished did Chen Mu ask how things were with them. Everyone had been getting along quite well in the underground city, training madly every day. Alfonso had organized the youths Chen Mu had led there, and they had been incessantly researching some of the things within the "System." They called it research, but it was actually mostly study.


    Still, they had figured out a few little tricks. It was too bad they couldn''t show Chen Mu, which Alfonso clearly regretted.


    Then, Li Duhong was called over, and Wei-ah asked how his training was going with a cold face. The normally bizarre Li Duhong was completely compliant in front of Wei-ah and completely honest. He clearly understood that Uncle Wei-ah truly cared for him.


    Chen Mu didn''t bring up anything about materials. He knew the possibility of getting back to the underground city from the Heavenly Drum Village District was about nil, and he didn''t want to let Alfonso and the rest waste any energy on his behalf.


    But he did transfer some knowledge he thought would be useful for Alfonso and the rest. Chen Mu''s current ability was far beyond what it had been, and his insights in all aspects had been broadened quite a bit. His understanding of cards had also become a lot more profound. Although he didn''t know if Alfonso and the rest could understand it, he still transmitted everything he knew without hesitating.


    He hoped those people, who truly did care for him, would be able to get by a little better! That was a simple wish.


    Wei-ah also set up more content for them to advance their training. Wei-ah''s methods were straightforward, but they always required endless, persistent repetition. If someone didn''t have great perseverance, there would be no way to complete them. That was something Chen Mu had plenty of experience with.


    Chen Mu and Wei-ah finally returned to the troops. Bogner and Xi Ping were clearly relieved, and the rest of the troops showed more relaxed expressions.


    Chen Mu didn''t quite recognize he was the true core of those troops. Although he didn''t normally take charge, he had been influencing everyone around him without even realizing it.

 300 Looking Off into the Distance

    The party continued on without a pause.


    That road¡­ No, it couldn''t accurately be called a road. The places they passed over looked no different than the rest of the Outer Reaches. Bogner seemed familiar with the place, not even needing supplementary equipment to be able to easily tell the direction. He knew where the wells were and where there would be a cave, which meant no one doubted the guy had really gone that way before. Xi Ping had already joked about that with him, though Bogner couldn''t help but show his disdain for jungle card artisans.


    "Are they weak?" Chen Mu asked, finding it strange. As he saw it, just to be able to exist in the jungle would require a certain amount of strength.


    Bogner disagreed and said, "These people''s individual strength isn''t weak, and there are certainly some aces among them. But they''re a mob when they get together, and once they encounter a regular army, they just turn turtle." His expression made it seem as though he were commanding a regular army just then.


    Then, Bogner rubbed his chin and said thoughtfully, "We might consider recruiting a few from there. Every base has an oddball, which can be very interesting. But it would be tough to attract them."


    The troops'' forward progress was rapid¡ªquicker than Chen Mu had thought it would be. They encountered more wild beasts along the way than they could count. The newly recruited card artisans didn''t get a single day''s rest. From when they still had an adverse reaction in the beginning until now, after more and more battles, they gradually got used to the disciplined routine and the fighting.


    The way it was going, they were paying a high price. Among the five small teams, not one remained completely intact. The situation with the first team was the best; they still had 22 battle units left. The rest of the small teams basically only had 18 fighting units left, and even the elite group had lost two of their fighting units. It looked as though the losses were extremely high, though when you considered the more than 70 injured, they could return to battle once they healed.


    The card artisans looked quite disciplined when they fought; they were orderly in their advances and retreats. They''d seen a lot of battlefields by then, and they''d made considerable improvement in their psychological qualities.


    Chen Mu suddenly discovered that he seemed to have grown idle. The fighting didn''t come around to him, and up until then, they hadn''t run into anything as fierce as the twin-hooked beast. If they did, it still wouldn''t fall to him to do anything since Wei-ah was there. In the same way, Sue Lochiro didn''t intervene in treating the injured card artisans anymore.


    For the first time, Chen Mu found that he really didn''t have anything to do, so he simply went into a transport shuttle car. The inside of the transport car was packed with all kinds of materials, and he casually found a corner and sat there. The guy driving the shuttle car had pretty good skill, and it went along quite smoothly.


    After some thought, Chen Mu entered the mysterious card. He had completed half of the fourth type of energy model for the training of perceptual acuity. Since he had increased the quantity of his training during that previous period, his progress with the models was slow. Now, he had slowed down his other training, and he could concentrate on the energy models.


    The number of energy blocks contained in fourth type of energy model was a lot higher than the third. It was composed of 30,000 of them. The complexity of the composition was perfectly evident, and it made a person''s scalp go numb.


    What Chen Mu found the most magical, however, was certainly the fifth kind of energy model. The fifth model of energy composition was composed of only 3,000 energy blocks. Still, that didn''t mean the fifth kind was any less difficult than the fourth. Just the opposite was true. The fifth type of energy model was the most difficult of the five.


    That was the most peculiar energy composition Chen Mu had ever seen based on its countless subtleties. Those were like the composition of the little pendulum unit; every little unit was in a state of constant motion. What Chen Mu had to do wasn''t only to use energy blocks to build the compositions, but he also needed to make each unit''s oscillation frequency match the corresponding rules.


    Just by looking at it, Chen Mu understood it was a kind of extremely elastic composition, which would have quite a few derivative compositions. It could produce extremely rich features. Still, everything had to be done piece by piece.


    Looking at the fourth model in front of him, Chen Mu settled his mind and started to do the boring training.


    No one was surprised at Chen Mu suddenly going into the transport car. The boss had always been mysterious, and who knew what he was fiddling with inside? But everyone was conscious not to disturb him. Ru Qiu really wanted to go in. Although she had come with the idea of learning some skills from Chen Mu, what she was doing at that time was just some miscellaneous work. That half month of danger was a lot more danger than she had ever gone through.


    No one quite realized it had been half a month since the boss had entered the car. He would sometimes come out to eat with a dull expression, as though he were contemplating some problem. Seeing him that way, no one dared to disturb him. Both Xi Ping and Bogner knew their boss was a grand-master-level card master. Who could know if he was planning out some great creation in his mind or researching some world-class problem? Oh, good lord, to bother the boss at such a time! It would be a huge sin to disturb whatever creative thoughts were in his mind!


    Xi Ping and Bogner carefully influenced everyone else''s behavior. When it came to meal times, no one would dare make too much noise. They all breathed a sigh of relief when Chen Mu re-entered the shuttle car like a ghost.


    Actual fighting was the best training for card artisans. As far as those card artisans who had experienced such strict training were concerned, actual fighting could enable them to grow more quickly. Everyone already understood that the more panicked they were, the more likely they would be to die. And, given their endless daily recapitulations, the summaries within each small team, the recapitulations among the captains, and Bogner''s occasional pointers, the captains and team members were indeed quickly growing.


    With the tempering of a month''s worth of bloody battles, there was an essential transformation in the card artisans'' temperaments. The praise in Bogner''s eyes was more and more frequent.


    The five small teams were influenced by their captains. The teams started to gradually form completely different battle styles.


    The first small team, which included Jiang Liang, was doubtlessly the one Bogner was most pleased with. Jiang Liang was the most outstanding about the big picture, and the first small team''s battle strength was the most powerful. They had a tough style, and their tactical compliance was the best.


    The second small group was good at rapid firing, and they had the strongest attack ability. The team members'' firing frequency could reach seven shots per second, which was the fastest among the five.


    The third small team was good at wrestling. Their team''s coordination was perfectly remarkable, and they maintained outstanding, continuous firepower in wave after wave of attack.


    The fourth small team was the most valiant, which was directly related to their captain''s fiery character.


    The fifth small team was perfectly average and had no outstanding advantages, but they also had no outstanding shortcomings. While they didn''t demonstrate anything fancy, they were utterly reliable.


    The elite group was a lot trickier, being good at seizing the moment and always able to mount a mortal attack.


    Altogether, Bogner was rather pleased. He could see it from the battle losses. As time went on, although the beasts they encountered kept getting stronger, the casualty rate kept decreasing. Everyone had also realized their own progress. Ever since experiencing the grief of their first casualties, they had started to become more self-confident.


    "There is a base up ahead, Chief," the scouting card artisan reported excitedly when he returned.


    "Oh." Bogner was rubbing his chin, as was his habit. He said to himself, "Ok, so this base still hasn''t been abandoned. It''s been quite a few years since I''ve been there, and I don''t know what has become of it."


    The news spread quickly among the troops, and everyone got excited. To finally encounter a place with people after walking for so many days was clearly a great piece of joyful news for those rookie travelers.


    That was just when Chen Mu came out of the shuttle car. Bogner and Xi Ping knew at a glance that he was in a different state that day than normal. The two of them looked at one another, and Xi Ping asked carefully, "Are you hungry, Boss?" That had previously been the biggest reason he would come out of the shuttle car.


    Chen Mu shook his head and stretched, taking in a few deep breaths. "I''m not hungry."


    From that, Bogner and Xi Ping immediately knew the boss had awakened! Bogner came forward and said with a laugh, "Were you enlightened about something this time, Boss?"


    Chen Mu was taken aback and nodded unconsciously. "Mmmm, I did realize something."


    Bogner then asked, "Was it worth anything?"


    "I don''t know yet." Chen Mu was taken aback again as he thought carefully before shaking his head.


    Bogner couldn''t help but look crestfallen as he muttered, "You thought for that many days and didn''t come up with anything valuable¡­"


    Xi Ping was comparatively more serious. He reported on the current situation, including the most recent intelligence.


    "There is a base up ahead?" Chen Mu couldn''t help but feel a little excited when he heard the news.


    Bogner languidly nodded. "Yep. There was one 20 years ago, and it was previously abandoned. I never thought it would still be used after 20 years. I don''t know what it might be like now."


    "It was previously an abandoned base?" Chen Mu nodded, showing a flash of understanding. He said, "Then, let''s go see if we can replenish ourselves."


    The boss immediately signaled, and Bogner contained the joking look on his face, turning serious.


    All of the fighting personnel were organized and put into a state of alert. Only then did Chen Mu discover to his surprise how huge the transformation in the troops really was. It was like day and night compared to before. He had been bent on delving into the mysterious card''s energy models for that period and wasn''t paying attention to the transformation of the troops. Then, he suddenly saw them and felt it was a completely different team.


    By the time he looked them over, he was still more surprised. The temperament displayed by everyone, including Sue Lochiro, Ru Qiu, Borna, and all the non-combat personnel, was quite a bit different from before.


    The team moved quickly, and they finally saw what Bogner had called an abandoned base.


    "Yikes!" Bogner couldn''t hide his shock when he first saw it.

 301 Being Low-Key Doesn’t Preclude Anger

    Unlike what Bogner had said, what appeared in front of everyone wasn''t an old, abandoned base. Its bright, armored exterior and high-strength protective glass all stood out. The base hadn''t been constructed very long before.


    Bogner scratched his head and said, "It looks like I haven''t been here for a while. Things have changed."


    It was an extremely modern base and quite a bit larger than Chen Mu''s base. Card artisans could be seen flying in and out from time to time. The round structure had several entrances, and it looked like it could roughly hold at least 10,000 people. To be able to build such a huge base in the jungle showed how powerful the one who built it was.


    Their large force was rather eye-catching. The card artisans brushing past were all taking looks at their team. Bogner went to the front and led the party into the base.


    They came into a large hall that could hold 2,000 people. There was a lot more commotion in there than Chen Mu had imagined. Card artisans were gathered in groups of three or four, drinking and talking.


    Once Chen Mu and his party entered the large hall, it abruptly went silent. Everyone''s gaze focused on them. It was seldom that a large team of strange card artisans would show up there.


    Bogner remained calm and unafraid as he muttered, "The container is different, but it''s the same inside¡ªabout the same as it was!"


    What surprised Chen Mu was that the level of the card artisans was quite a bit higher than was common, with a few of them giving him a feeling of danger. Even the most ordinary card artisans could form into an elite team when mixed together with them. Their gazes looked a little ill-tempered and showed a strong sense of vigilance.


    "Gentlemen, it''s the first time you''ve visited our Regal Base! Perhaps you require a guide? I''m familiar with all that gets transacted here, such as good trading, helping you learn some news, or even if you require the services of an assassin. I can be your matchmaker." A youth took the initiative to walk over to Chen Mu and introduce himself, being neither subservient nor overbearing.


    He wore a dark green jacket along with a pair of leather shoes, and he had a head full of bright red hair like a ball of fire.


    Bogner grinned. "Such a young broker? How long have you been doing this?"


    The youth immediately understood that the middle-aged uncle in front of him was an old hand, which made it look like his take would be limited. This caused his enthusiasm to quickly wane. He said blandly, "Not long; just five years."


    "Oh!" That rather surprised Bogner as he sized the fellow up. "As young as you are, you have five years of professional qualifications. How rare."


    "You flatter me." The youth blandly saluted with clasped hands.


    "After five years, you must be at the B level of fees. Mmm, hmm, now that the B level pricing has surged, what would those prices be?" Bogner was really experienced.


    He was an old hand, after all, and not just an ordinary one! The youth showed a cautious expression. "It looks like the Big Uncle knows our ways pretty well. Did you used to do it? Looking Bogner over, he then quoted a price. "Thirty thousand Oudi per day, which is a five-percent volume discount.


    "Ok, deal!" Bogner nodded.


    "We''ll collect it every day, so you don''t default." The youth stuck out his hand.


    Bogner realized he didn''t have any money on him, so he put out his hand to Xi Ping. Xi Ping casually took out a 30-thousand-Oudi money card and gave it to Bogner.


    The youth''s eyes lit up. Those in front of him were rich lords, after all! He found that out by seeing his counterpart take out 30 thousand Oudi without even a frown. Thirty thousand Oudi wasn''t really much, but to just pull it out without grimacing established their financial strength to a certain extent.


    Having received the money card, the youth''s expression became a lot more enthusiastic.


    "What services do you require?" He added, "If you want girls, I''m afraid you''ll be disappointed." Taking a look at Sue Lochiro, Lu Xiaoru, and Ru Qiu, he reminded him, "You should be careful about your female companions. It isn''t safe here."


    Sure enough, when Chen Mu took note, the card artisans were all looking at the three of them with hot and unbridled lust.


    Lu Xiaoru''s powdered face turned frosty as she lowered her head to fiddle with the apparatus on her wrist. Sue Lochiro and Ru Qiu couldn''t help their panicked expressions, even though they had been through such battles wherever they went. They unconsciously drew closer to Chen Mu.


    The panicked expressions on the two just inflamed those men. The whistling swirled in the big room and got really loud. The card artisans started to hoot. Some card artisans in a corner were the most brazen. They smiled wantonly, shouting the most disgusting oaths.


    "Spend the night with me, little girl, and your big brother will take you to the seventh heaven!"


    "Awesome! Really f***ing sweet."


    * * *


    The faces on those in Chen Mu''s troops were darkening, but no one was going to make a move without orders. Under Bogner''s training, their obedience to orders had started to integrate into their daily lives.


    Sue Lochiro and Ru Qiu were looking very shamed, but they didn''t know what to do. The two were pursing their lips with tears welling up in their eyes.


    Bogner''s face turned ugly, and he was just about to open his mouth when he suddenly heard Chen Mu say, "Lu Xiaoru."


    "Yes, Boss." Lu Xiaoru stepped out from the ranks with eyes full of menace.


    Chen Mu spoke mildly. "Get them to shut their mouths."


    Bogner noticed the chill in his eyes and swallowed what he had been about to say. He knew that gang would be out of luck.


    "Yes, sir!"


    The apparatus on Lu Xiaoru''s wrist had been activated for a while, but it wasn''t only hers; the apparatuses on all of the team members'' wrists were in an activated state. Bogner had repeatedly stressed to them that in order to be able to respond to whatever might happen, they shouldn''t shut off their apparatuses.


    Lu Xiaoru had been nurturing her anger, feeling that her life had become happier and more fulfilled than ever before. The obscenities of jungle card artisans brought up memories of her previous, messed up life.


    It turned out that if you succeeded in provoking a woman, you had better be prepared for her wrath to burn you to ashes.


    She lifted her plump and seductive right arm in the blink of any eye.


    All of the noise rattled to a stop! The most brazen of those jungle card artisans looked like they were in pain. The invisible sound wave attack did real damage to the human body.


    That was Lu Xiaoru''s Sound Beam! She could control the sound waves within a certain range, and not only to increase their intensity; she could also avoid being affected by them herself.


    Originally, Lu Xiaoru had nearly brought Butchie down by virtue of the Sound Beam. Followed by her long-term, hard training and Chen Mu explaining the card''s secrets, her power had gone up quite a few levels from before.


    Her strength was still not powerful enough, though. If her perception were stronger, the sound beam card could have blown those card artisans dead in an instant. The attack from a sound wave was completely different from other kinds of attacks, being harder to prepare for. An energy cloak was invisible to it.


    The card artisans only felt their bodies shake. No matter how they tried to control them, they couldn''t stop. The fierce nausea and vertigo hit them in their nerves, making it ten times more difficult to control their perception in that condition.


    "Let''s go, bitches!" Some of them were shouting through their pain.


    "Crow Feather, Lucky Xi." Chen Mu opened his mouth for the second time.


    "Present, Boss!" The two stepped out of the ranks.


    "Fix them."


    "Yes, sir!"


    Crow Feather''s mountainous body was eye-catching, standing there like an iron pagoda, while Lucky Xi to his side was wearing glasses and looked like a mild, young student. The contrast between the two was extreme.


    Crow Feather opened his mouth into a laugh, suddenly setting up a dark brown energy cloak. What was strange was that it was sharp at the top, which made him look like an upright artillery shell. Half crouched, he supported himself with his hands and settled into a standard sprint-starting position.


    "Hey!"


    He stunned everyone with a frightful shout that sounded like thunder in the big hall. Crow Feather then shot out like a genuine shell from its chamber and turned into a brown streak, which landed in the middle of everyone with a bang.


    Lu Xiaoru had long been practicing how to coordinate with him; just as Crow Feather made his move, she cut off her attack.


    The card artisans felt their bodies lighten and stop shaking, and their nausea stopped along with their dizziness. Their spirits got a little lift.


    "Hey, those girls aren''t for you¡­" Before that card artisan could finish what he was saying, he saw with shock and fear that a gigantic brown ball of light carrying shocking power had already appeared in front of them.


    At the same time, Lucky Xi pushed up his glasses in a familiar way with his right finger, a sneer forming on his mouth. Then, his right hand disappeared from the bridge of his nose. His hands were enshrouded in a glowing starburst, with his ten fingers looking like they were plucking a zither. The myriad glowing silver filaments in the starburst started growing at a speed visible to the naked eye.


    "Ah, ah, ah!"


    There was an explosion among the terrified shrieks.


    Hong!


    The gigantic artillery shell that was Crow Feather blew apart just as it touched those card artisans. The card artisans had no chance to open their energy cloaks. The terrifying air waves were like a raging wind, and the card artisans were like little sampans in the wild wind, lifted up into the air.


    At nearly the same time, Lucky Xi''s ten long, white fingers all flicked at once. The silvery filaments in the starburst were like several dozen fine, silvery snakes breaking free of the starburst''s bonds and sparking off toward the card artisans in midair.


    Zap! Zap! Zap!


    Electric sparking to jolt the heart suddenly rang out, and the card artisans who had been hit looked like they had an extra layer of silvery mesh over their clothes.


    Peng! Peng! Peng! Peng!


    The card artisans who lost control made some intimate contact with the ground to form the final coda to the symphony.


    Their miserable appearance being clearly visible, those looking on drew in a cold breath of air.

 302 The Redheaded Jeeves

    The brazen card artisans'' faces had all turned dark, and their hair and clothes were smoking as they lay stunned on the ground. Everything was quiet in the large hall, with the rest of the card artisans'' gazes at the team looking completely different than before. Those who had just been catcalling along with the brazen ones had all turned white.


    The youth swallowed hard, looking at Chen Mu in awe. That talented fellow, who was just about his same age, was actually the leader of that team.


    Bogner''s eyes glinted with an unusual look. He normally had the impression that his boss was low-key. Although he knew his boss had killed Zu Ning with his own hands, he hadn''t seen it with his own eyes. The hot look the boss suddenly showed that day had rather surprised Bogner. Xi Ping, Sue Lochiro, and Ru Qiu were also looking at Chen Mu in disbelief.


    On the other hand, Lu Xiaoru didn''t feel a thing. She had suffered at Chen Mu''s hands and knew the boss was just in the habit of staying normally low-key. Those guys were no different than local gangsters, after all! But she couldn''t help but feel for them, seeing their expressions under Chen Mu''s glare.


    Chen Mu hadn''t been in touch with that many high-level people. He understood the struggles of the lower ranks better. When he had been a street punk in his childhood, he had only understood one principle: If you went to some strange place to beg for food, the more you cowered, the more you would be pushed around. But if you rolled up your sleeves and fought with the bums from that place¡ªas long as you displayed enough toughness even though your fists might not be hard enough¡ªeveryone would be in awe of you even if you were defeated in the end. Bums and ruffians were like that. So were card artisans!


    It was as though Chen Mu had realized something.


    The card artisans were indeed intimidated. Lu Xiaoru and the others were perfectly powerful. Moreover, they were completely in sync. Along with their more than ten remaining comrades, if the power of a single person was that good, and their team matched their tacit synchronization, then they were what those card artisans least wanted to run into.


    They completely ignored the several hundred other people. In that place, such mid-level card artisans weren''t worth looking at. That was even truer of the non-combatant personnel. But a puzzled look was flashing through quite of few of their eyes.


    There were a few more than 20 battle personnel, plus 300 rookies and more than 100 non-combatants. That sort of deployment was really strange and a little bit unreasonable. As they saw it, there were only 20 of them who would be any use in a battle.


    The team had only 20 battle personnel to carry more than 300 pieces of rookie, mid-level card artisan cannon fodder, plus a few hundred non-combatants, plus the transport shuttles. If that wasn''t looking for death, then what was? Even if those 20 card artisans were utterly awesome, that much power was nothing when facing a large team.


    And, there was just one old hand leading the team! It was inconceivable that such a team configuration could actually get to the Regal Base. To reach the base from outside was very difficult; if you didn''t have enough power, you couldn''t reach it at all. So, the only possibility was that there were some super aces among them.


    The card artisans watching looked at one another, keeping their expressions as usual, though their gazes showed a flash of alertness and caution. The card artisans who had been interested in the team were thinking it over. Even to be able to lead a team there, they would certainly have to be an uncommon power. They couldn''t afford to provoke such people.


    But when their gazes passed over Chen Mu and the rest, there puzzlement grew still deeper. They certainly hadn''t found anyone with the power of an ace. Chen Mu was excluded right at the outset since he was too young! When you added to that his position as the boss, if such a young, rich boss wasn''t shooting for a tasty playboy future career, then what was he doing stealing food from them?


    So, although everyone felt his perception, they still excluded him at the outset.


    The one most like an ace was the man holding the fat dog, without a doubt. When everyone targeted him, however, they were amazed to find he had no perception at all! Weird! That was really weird!


    How could such reckless card artisans survive there? The crowd was cunning and careful, and they remained alert and suspicious. Since they didn''t understand the situation, no one was stupid enough to start anything. Even just those 20-some card artisans were enough to cause a little trouble.


    All the other card artisans in the big hall just kept drinking their tea with their heads down to hide what they were thinking from showing in their eyes.


    "I think you need to rent a batch of rooms for now, so your fine dependents can rest," the youth proposed.


    Bogner knew that wasn''t what Chen Mu was good at, so he took over. "Oh, what would you suggest?"


    Taking a look at Chen Mu, the youth saw that he didn''t look the least bit upset, and he immediately realized Bogner''s position on the team.


    Without hesitating, he responded, "There are a lot of you, and you might want to rent an entire residential area. That way, you could be away from everyone else, and it won''t be so noisy. Your safety would be assured. It also wouldn''t be too expensive."


    "Let''s do that." Bogner took a look at Chen Mu. Seeing that he had no objection, he nodded.


    The youth then led the party to take care of the arrangements. Sue Lochiro and Ru Qiu still hadn''t recovered from their recent scare.


    There was no commotion during the entire process of moving in. The whole team had maintained its ever-perfect formation since they had entered the large hall. Each of the battle personnel looked on alert. Such discipline made the minds of the jungle card artisans who had been secretly watching them jumpy again.


    "How should I address my little brother?" Bogner asked with a smile.


    "Jeeves." The youth didn''t turn around.


    "When was this base built? I remember there was an old, broken-down and abandoned base here before."


    Jeeves was speechless as he looked at Bogner. "That was ten years ago, Uncle."


    "Oh, ten years ago. Time really passes." Bogner looked as though something had dawned on him, and he then asked in curiosity, "Who would spend so much money on such a large base?"


    Jeeves looked at Bogner on alert. "What is it you''d really like to inquire about, Uncle?"


    Bogner didn''t flush in the least even after Jeeves saw through him. "Didn''t your service include asking for information? The time for your service has arrived."


    Jeeves'' face darkened. "There is a charge for that, Uncle." The word "service" had some bad associations for him.


    "Ok, how much?" Bogner asked nonchalantly. When Xi Ping heard that, his face immediately darkened. He was the one in charge of money. What anyone in charge of money hated most was someone like Bogner just sticking out his hand to ask for it when he didn''t have any, like some kind of big spender.


    Jeeves'' expression returned to normal as he said in a calm voice, "That depends on what information."


    "I''m just asking the first one; who built this base?" Bogner asked.


    Jeeves took a look at Bogner and said, "You may consider this information a gift. Everyone here knows the Regal Base was built ten years ago by the Hughes Chamber of Commerce."


    "The Hughes Chamber of Commerce?" Bogner looked puzzled, and he dragged his feet before falling silent. He had lowered his head, seeming to be thinking about something.


    Jeeves glanced at Bogner. Seeing that he was in thought, he led the party ahead more calmly.


    The arrangements were made quickly. When those responsible saw that Jeeves was leading the team, they worked fast. Chen Mu and the rest packed into a residential area that could hold 800 people, where they could stay for a while.


    After setting up the team and arranging for sentries, Chen Mu and Bogner decided to take a stroll around the base. Sue Lochiro and Ru Qiu needed some rest after their trauma. After going through such a long period of battling, those novice card artisans urgently needed some rest. Wei-ah was also left behind in the residential area. Chen Mu didn''t think anyone would make any moves with him there.


    Lu Xiaoru took ten card artisans to follow along with Chen Mu. They weren''t there to protect Chen Mu, but to protect Bogner and Xi Ping, who had no fighting strength.


    Chen Mu was looking around with a lot of curiosity, that being his first time to enter a base in the Outer Reaches. He had recently heard there would inevitably be some curious things about a base in the Outer Reaches.


    Jeeves introduced it. "This is the trading area, where they sell some necessities for the card artisans, such as power cards. The price is a little higher than outside. Still, the materials here are comparatively cheaper. It''s too bad there are no awesome card masters who want to come here."


    What Jeeves said really surprised Chen Mu. But after he thought about it, he realized he had only reacted. What high-level card master would want to come to such a dangerous and desolate place? Sitting where there would be plenty of light and using all kinds of modern equipment, accompanied by a pile of students and assistants, would be the treatment enjoyed by any high-level card masters.


    Some mid-grade card masters did actually want to come, but the normal level of the card artisans there was relatively high. Mid-level card masters had no way to satisfy their needs.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help but ask, "So, what do you do when the card artisans'' fantasy cards break?"


    "Grab someone else''s. There are a lot of card artisans here, anyhow." What Jeeves said so casually gave everyone a chill.


    "How many card artisans are there here in general?" Bogner asked.


    Jeeves took a look at Bogner, clearly not having such good feelings about that uncle. But, considering he was a client, he still answered. "There are about 3,000 who are residents here, and more than 1,000 return once or twice per month. Plus, there are a few card artisans who might come once or twice per year."


    "Oh, how do you pay attention to that?" Chen Mu asked out of curiosity.


    "The less they come back, the more awesome they are! They might enter the jungle''s deepest recesses to kill the most ferocious wild beasts, or they might take a contract with the chamber of commerce to look for some rare, weird things. Those who come back once or twice per month have a much smaller scope of activity. The ones who stay here are the lowest level."


    When Jeeves spoke of the card artisans who stayed often at the base, his tone of voice conveyed some contempt.


    "You are in luck by coming in the middle of the month when there will be a relatively large number of card artisans returning. Every time they come back, they bring some good things. If you are lucky, you can trade for some of those. Plus, when they are here, the trashy scoundrels will be a lot more honest.

 303 The Hughes Chamber of Commerce I

    Following Jeeves, Chen Mu was browsing the goods at the trading area. There were stands with very low prices at some of the trading areas, where anyone who wanted to make some money could sell things. Of course, there weren''t that many card artisans there, and there was pitifully little to trade for. Most people would turn their goods over to the chamber of commerce, although they would get a much lower price. Considering how far that place was from the city, however, the prices still seemed fair.


    Limited goods were laid out among the sparse stands. Most of what was on sale were fantasy cards, though there were no high-grade goods.


    Seeing Chen Mu''s dubious expression, Jeeves explained, "Most of these fantasy cards were just taken, and those who took them couldn''t use them. The price would be too low to sell them to the chamber of commerce, so they just trade them for power cards. Those are the hard currency here¡ªmore useful than money cards. If you have a lot of power cards on hand, you can trade them directly for goods."


    It was hard to imagine how such an advanced base would be so primitive and simple with the trading that went on inside it. Although Chen Mu didn''t show anything by his expression, Jeeves immediately knew his client wasn''t so pleased about the place.


    That gave him a little jolt to the spirits. His being displeased with the goods there made it clear that he required higher-class goods, and higher-class goods always meant a higher price. He restrained his excitement and asked seriously, "I wonder if you might require some alternative goods. Raw materials? Or finished card appliances? We also specialize in selling certain cards, although the price might be a little higher than in the city."


    "Raw materials," Chen Mu said. Bogner added, "We could also take a look at finished card appliances if they are well-made. But don''t show us any mainstream goods."


    "Raw materials?" That hadn''t been unexpected for Jeeves. The sales price for raw materials there was 30 to 50 percent below that of the city. If one had extra room to transport them, then buying some raw materials along the way and taking them back to the city to resell them would bring in a good chunk of income. Quite a few of the card artisans would do that when returning to the city.


    Bogner''s additional instructions had somewhat surprised Jeeves, although he didn''t show it. "Please come with me." Jeeves led the way. They took the escalator to the top floor of the base.


    The security there was clearly a lot tighter, and Chen Mu and the rest had already discovered quite a few card artisans watching them from the dark. The card artisan in charge of security greeted Jeeves heartily. "You''ve brought more business, Jeeves?"


    Looking at the card artisan, Jeeves'' expression immediately relaxed. "Indeed, Uncle Dai. When I finish this bit of business after a couple of days, I''ll invite you all for a drink."


    "Ha ha, you''d better conserve your money better, kid. You''ll be wanting a wife later on!" The uncle surnamed Dai was laughing, though his tone had showed real concern. The surrounding card artisans laughed along with him.


    Chen Mu was secretly shocked to find that the card artisan named Dai had truly impressive power! He must have been a close-combat card artisan, which could be seen from his posture. A light bout of perception swept across Chen Mu''s body. With the recent surge in his perceptual acuity, he could clearly sense the toughness and sharpness of his counterpart''s perception. Although the strength of the other few card artisans wasn''t bad either, it was clearly a couple levels below that of Dai.


    He took a slightly surprised look at Chen Mu. He seemed to have just detected a slight bout of perceptual fluctuation, though it seemed too fine. As soon as he detected it, it disappeared. He didn''t know who had emitted that perceptual fluctuation, and he couldn''t even be certain he wasn''t feeling things. But he had a lot of actual fighting experience and really didn''t think it was his own misperception.


    That could only mean his counterpart''s perceptual acuity was way stronger than his! Such refined ability to control perception was awe-inspiring. There was an ace across from him!


    Perceptual sensitivity didn''t mean anything, but in the eyes of Dai, he understood the power it implied. Perception was a marvelous thing, but it was essentially no different than other things. Anything, no matter from what aspect, would doubtlessly show frightful power once it achieved a breakthrough in quality. Perceptual strength was like that, and so was perceptual acuity.


    The year he had battled with a card artisan who was good at perceptual control, relying only on his own power, his adversary had nearly annihilated his little team straight out. That sort of card artisan''s perceptual strength was not so unusually powerful, but his powerful ability to control his perception made up for his insufficiencies. They didn''t need too much perceptual strength to be able to achieve the most complete and effective use of perception. They could detect your flaws in an instant and could then use accurate attacks to be fatal in a single blow!


    "We welcome your visit to the Hughes Chamber of Commerce, and we hope you will be satisfied with what you find." Dai took half a step back and saluted to Chen Mu and the rest. He was no longer the card artisan who knew how to violently kill an enemy. Having been in the chamber of commerce for so long, he had developed his own style of hospitality.


    The card artisans nearby suddenly shivered, knowing what that move of their chief meant. They then saluted in unison and neatly and respectfully said, "We welcome your visit to the Hughes Chamber of Commerce!"


    The expression on Jeeves'' face shifted.


    Xi Ping was looking at the card artisans with some satisfaction, having come from their new profession himself. He had a more shrewd gaze than an ordinary person. That so-called ability to see a lot from a detail had allowed him to see the ability of the master of that chamber of commerce just from those subordinate card artisans. Chen Mu and Bogner were a lot slower in that regard.


    When those inside heard the commotion outside, they immediately sent people out to welcome them. "Please come in, everyone. We welcome your visit to the Hughes Chamber of Commerce. I am the humble manager of the chamber, dedicated to your service."


    That melodious, bright voice lit up everyone''s eyes. There was a professional woman standing right in front of them. Her exquisite features against a backdrop of makeup made everyone do a double-take. The collar of her white blouse was open, where a silver pendant matched her delicate, sexy collarbone. Under a short, deep blue skirt, black silk stockings wrapped her long, jade legs. On her feet were black high heels.


    The sudden appearance of that gorgeous woman made everyone go blank for a little while. Her looks weren''t inferior to Lu Xiaoru''s and Sue Lochiro''s, and her capable temperament made people''s eyes light up still more.


    Not even Xi Ping had seen many like her, and he would never have thought he would run into such an outstanding person at a base in the wilderness.


    "Sister Xiao!" Jeeves shouted out, and the woman nodded his way.


    That was the time for Xi Ping to come forward. "How are you, Miss Xiao? I am Xi Ping. I''m very glad to meet you." Xi Ping put out his hand with a placid expression.


    A note of appreciation flashed through Miss Xiao''s eyes as she extended her right hand and lightly held Xi Ping''s right hand. "To be able to meet such a stylish person as Mr. Xi is truly a happy occasion."


    Xi Ping was well-travelled. Of course he wouldn''t be bewitched by that sort of magic, and he said with a slight smile, "Miss Xiao''s beauty is a net from which I will have some difficulty escaping, ha ha. It is only by powerfully restraining myself that I can avoid making a fool of myself."


    Chen Mu heard Bogner at his side, muttering, "I can''t look. Always looking serious, this clown Xi Ping. This cute girl is good at what she does."


    Bogner''s voice had always been loud; although he''d spoken lightly, everyone around was silent. They had heard it all clearly. Everyone''s faces abruptly took on weird expressions. There were a few notches more displeasure in Jeeve''s gaze toward Bogner.


    Xi Ping had thick enough skin and acted as though he hadn''t heard. His expression remained respectful, and he introduced Miss Xiao to Chen Mu. "This is our boss."


    Chen Mu''s youth rather surprised Miss Xiao, and she saluted deeply. "We are honored by your presence, sir. It is our deep pleasure to serve you."


    "You are kind, Miss Xiao." Chen Mu calmly returned the salute.


    Meeting Chen Mu''s calm gaze, Miss Xiao was secretly amazed. Someone as young as Chen Mu should be full of full of sap, and which of them hadn''t turned red upon seeing her? Even if they were a little bit sophisticated and maintained their serious appearance, they were secretly stalking her with their eyes. However, that youth in front of her with the calm gaze wasn''t moved at all.


    Her dimpled face smiled like a flower. "We welcome your presence, everyone. I wonder what sort of items you might require."


    Her gaze then fell onto Lu Xiaoru behind Chen Mu, and she was taken aback. She couldn''t help but call out in praise, "This big sister is truly beautiful. Your servant can''t help her jealousy!"


    Lu Xiaoru''s good feelings toward Miss Xiao immediately soared, although she didn''t say anything. She just gave a friendly smile.


    Miss Xiao''s surprise deepened. Where had this group really come from?


    There was the young and placid-tempered boss and his richly experienced assistant, plus that gorgeous female card artisan. Even someone like her, who had plenty of confidence in her appearance, couldn''t help but give Lu Xiaoru a double take. No ordinary person would have such a beautiful female card artisan.


    From the moment he entered, his card artisan bodyguard hadn''t glanced to the side, demonstrating stunning discipline. Without even thinking about what that subordinate outside had just remarked, there was indeed an ace in there.


    Such a team had clearly come from someplace extraordinary.

 304 The Hughes Chamber of Commerce II

    "Raw materials, but we only want high-grade goods. If there are any items you can''t identify, you can bring those out as well. In addition¡­" Xi Ping glanced at Bogner, "if you have any fine card appliances, you could also bring those out for us to take a look at."


    Miss Xiao smiled sweetly. "All right, please wait a minute."


    After a moment, one of her workers sent over several fantasy cards. Miss Xiao''s scallion-like fingers pulled one of them out and slipped it into a card projection device in front of Chen Mu and the rest. An ordered list immediately appeared in front of them. By picking any one among the list, more detailed information about its parameters would pop out.


    What Miss Xiao hadn''t expected was that the one flipping through the list wasn''t the richly experienced Xi Ping; it was their young boss.


    A boss seldom came personally to select items. That was work that required a lot of experience. Moreover, that boss was still so young. Unless he is an expert in materials¡­ Good at materials? Could he be a card master? Only card masters would be so familiar with materials.


    Miss Xiao was as bright as the snow, and the first thought in her mind corresponded closely with reality. Without showing what was on her mind, she secretly watched which materials Chen Mu was browsing though.


    They were all high-grade materials! That realization made her heart race. If her conjecture was correct, then that young boss was certainly a high-level card master! What would be more valuable there than a high-level card master?


    The chamber had made a huge investment to build a base in the Outer Reaches, where they could get large quantities of high-grade materials. Up until then, however, they still hadn''t recruited any high-level card masters. Actually, they hadn''t been able to gain a foothold when they were in the city, so they simply came to the Outer Reaches to establish a base there.


    They had gradually opened markets in a few cities in the vicinity by virtue of their high-grade materials, but a high-level card artisan could make the value of the materials they had multiply many times over. The profits from that would turn people''s eyes red.


    But high-level card masters were a scarce resource. The chamber''s power in the city wasn''t sufficient to attract such high-level talent. No high-level card masters wanted to advance themselves at such a desolate and dangerous place.


    The chamber had gone so far as to make ready in advance some pretty good equipment for the special use of card masters. That equipment had inevitably remained sealed up in the storeroom until then.


    Chen Mu''s movements were quick; although he''d never gone through any systematic education about materials, he still had his own methods. There weren''t that many materials he could use there. In truth, he had quite a bit of good materials in those transport shuttles. Still, there were some pretty good steals among those unknown materials.


    The fluidity of Chen Mu''s practiced actions immediately confirmed Miss Xiao''s conjecture.


    Bogner was browsing through the card appliances when he did a double-take. "Yikes, not bad. You can actually get military-style card appliances. It looks like this little smuggler''s trail is not so deserted."


    Miss Xiao showed her entrancing smile. "It looks like the gentleman is quite familiar with these byways. May I ask the gentleman''s name? I have been really rude!"


    "Miss Xiao''s voice is really enchanting! I am Bogner. I''ve been along this way before, but I was quite well-known then!" Bogner was looking lustfully at Miss Xiao, pounding his chest rather loudly.


    Jeeves looked at Bogner with disgust. Well-known? How come I haven''t heard of him?


    "Oh, this is a pretty good price. Military items should be a little bit more expensive." Bogner''s gaze seemed to be desperately drilling into the snowy white in her opened collar. Xi Ping averted his head with "I don''t know him" written on his face.


    Under Bogner''s hot gaze, Miss Xiao kept a cool expression, always maintaining her slight smile. "Mr. Bogner is an expert, after all. Our humble chamber of commerce has always had fair prices, and we treat people honestly."


    "Oh, treating people honestly is what I like most! You don''t know how sincere I am, Miss Xiao. Inside and out, I am completely sincere-tasting!" Bogner pulled back his gaze, but it still wanted to move lower by itself.


    Miss Xiao''s expression didn''t change. She only adjusted the way her body was sitting, nipping Bogner''s intentions in the bud while saying sweetly, "Mr. Bogner is really concerned with our business."


    "So I am." Bogner kept nodding. Without moving his gaze from Miss Xiao''s face in the slightest, he said, "Hertha."


    "Present, Chief." Hertha stepped out of line.


    Bogner was looking at Miss Xiao, bewitched, while pointing to the fantasy card in front of him. "Choose a few suitable ones."


    "Yes, sir." Hertha wasted no words and immediately lowered his head to start choosing.


    "Those guards of Mr. Bogner''s are really well-trained. This is my first time to see anyone else''s card artisan guards so rigorously disciplined. You are really awesome!" Miss Xiao fluttered her beautiful eyes.


    "So I am!" Bogner''s lustful face was infatuated, and he completely forgot himself.


    "Ok, just these few." Chen Mu stopped what he had been doing and turned over his materials choices to Xi Ping. Just then, Hertha also opened his mouth. "I''ve chosen them, Chief."


    The final results were collected in Xi Ping''s hands, who was the most experienced with the work of bargaining. Xi Ping scanned them and formed a mental plan.


    "These are the items we''ve chosen, Miss Xiao. Give us a quote." Xi Ping handed over their list to Miss Xiao.


    Miss Xiao took the list and scanned it. Within half a minute, she raised her head. "The price for the materials is 5 million Oudi. As for these card appliances, since they came from the military, I can''t give them to you for anything less than 8 million Oudi." Miss Xiao''s smile was as enchanting as ever.


    A strange look flashed past Xi Ping''s face. That price¡­ is really too low! The materials Xi Ping would be taking were numerous. If they were on the market, their price would be about 20 million, and that was not including those few unknown materials. Smuggled military card appliances were so expensive that you wouldn''t be able to get those for less than 15 million.


    There was no free lunch in that world. As an old hand in business, Xi Ping naturally understood that very well. His expression turned prudent. "Your esteemed Hughes Chamber of Commerce will be taking quite a loss at that price. I think Miss Xiao must have something more in mind. Perhaps we should discuss it."


    A harmless smile floated onto Miss Xiao''s mouth. "Mr. Xi is really astute, after all. This price would certainly constitute a loss for our humble chamber of commerce. So, we have a few small proposals."


    "Small proposals? Ha ha, I doubt Miss Xiao''s proposals will be so small." Xi Ping was being playful.


    Chen Mu was watching the two go around in circles with curiosity. As he saw it, such a skill was quite interesting, even just listening in.


    Miss Xiao laughed lightly and glanced around seductively, her originally exquisite eyebrows now inadvertently charming. "The first small request regards those few unknown materials. We hope your esteemed boss could explain them somewhat, so the next time we come across them, we won''t have some treasure in our hands we didn''t know about."


    Xi Ping''s gaze turned to Chen Mu since that matter needed the boss''s decision. Chen Mu muttered to himself for a moment before nodding. It wasn''t something difficult for a strong person to do.


    Xi Ping knowingly turned his gaze to Miss Xiao. "And the second small proposal?"


    With that fine start, Miss Xiao was feeling pretty good. She appeared still more movingly beautiful. "The second small proposal might be a little bold. If I haven''t guessed wrong, the esteemed gentleman is certainly a high-level card artisan! I would like to try to see if we might be able to reach a deal."


    Xi Ping''s expression chilled. His counterpart had been able to perceive the boss''s identity as a card master. That was pretty awesome! Of course, she was wrong about the boss''s level. In Xi Ping and Bogner''s minds, the boss was a grand master card master.


    "What sort of deal?" Xi Ping''s tone maintained its calm, and he looked prudent.


    Miss Xiao said calmly, "I''m hoping we might purchase a batch of pretty good cards. At best, they would be four-star. Of course, three-star cards with outstanding performance would also be fine. As far as remuneration, Oudi would be fine; or, if you require other goods or materials, that would be fine as well. Please relax about the price. We certainly won''t allow you to take a loss."


    She kept up her enchanting smile. "As for that little tail behind your team, I''ve already gotten rid of it for you. You may take it as a token of the sincerity of our humble chamber of commerce."


    Everyone was taken aback. The power of the Hughes Chamber of Commerce in that region wasn''t so average, after all. Xi Ping''s gaze inevitably returned to the boss''s face. That matter was also his to decide.


    Chen Mu thought it over and shook his head. "I am truly sorry, but we won''t be able to remain here for that long. We''ll be leaving after resting a couple of days." It didn''t suit them to stay there long, and they would have to leave after a little tidying up. Their best choice would be to enter the Heavenly Drum Village District as soon as possible. If they were to agree to that deal, who knew how long it would delay them?


    Xi Ping shook his head. "We are very sorry, but we are powerless. We''ll have to purchase them at market prices."


    Miss Xiao couldn''t hide the disappointment in her eyes, and her gaze burned into Chen Mu. "Won''t the esteemed gentleman consider it? If it''s a matter of price, I''m sure we can satisfy you."


    Chen Mu took her gaze directly and apologized with a smile. "Miss Xiao, I really apologize, but it''s not because of money."


    Miss Xiao''s gaze went quickly bleak.


    Bogner, who had been less than serious all along, suddenly opened his mouth. "Mark Hughes. Does Miss Xiao know him?"

 305 Xiao Liqian

    "Uncle Hughes! You know Uncle Hughes?" Miss Xiao lost her voice squealing. All of her refined aloofness and her capable maturity were tossed far away. She was like a child with her wide-open eyes, looking at Bogner in surprise.


    Bogner was unconsciously rubbing the dark blue stubble on his cheeks as he laughed to say, "So, you are Hughes'' niece!" There was a tone of sad remembrance in his voice.


    "Do you really know Uncle Hughes?" Miss Xiao was wide-eyed, staring at Bogner. "Are you a friend of his? I never heard my uncle say he had any friends!"


    "We''re old friends. When I add it up, it''s been more than 20 years. Is he well?" Bogner asked softly.


    Miss Xiao''s eyes, which were like black marbles, immediately dimmed as she shook her head. "Uncle passed away five years ago."


    Bogner was silent. There was the sadness of loss in his eyes. After a while, he said calmly, "Where is he buried? Inchbald? He really liked the gardenias there."


    Miss Xiao shook her head. "No, he was buried in Bristol, his hometown. My uncle didn''t like gardenias; he liked magnolias." She was looking at Bogner with suspicion.


    "Ha ha, I''m getting old, and my memory is getting worse." Bogner''s expression didn''t change, and he felt more relaxed. With memories filling his face, he said, "I heard him say Bristol was his hometown. There is a Dawn Cathedral there, where the wafers are really good."


    "Did the uncle really once know Uncle Hughes?" Miss Xiao''s eyes had gotten bigger as she said uncomfortably, "I thought you were lying to me!"


    Bogner smiled, clearly sunken. He suddenly opened his mouth and said, "Did you build this base, or was it your uncle?"


    "Uncle built it. The previous base was too broken down. Uncle didn''t want to develop in the city, so he spent a lot of money to build the Regal Base here. Afterward, he established the Hughes Chamber of Commerce. More and more card artisans kept coming until we reached our current scale." The young lass''s speech was full of pride.


    Letting out a sigh, Bogner didn''t know what to say. He then lifted his head toward Chen Mu and said, "If it would be convenient, Boss, could you give her a hand? It would be inexcusable not to help her now after finding out my old friend is dead."


    "Ok!" Chen Mu nodded in a simple response.


    Bogner''s relationship changed things, of course. Previously, Chen Mu just hadn''t wanted any delays or complications. The matter didn''t really having anything troublesome about it.


    "How did you all get here, Uncle? And with someone tailing you?" Miss Xiao suddenly thought of something. "Right, I almost forgot. My name is Xaio Liqian! You were pretty horny just now, Uncle!"


    Bogner couldn''t help a humph, embarrassed as he was. Xi Ping was clutching his chest to his side, rather interested to watch Bogner''s embarrassment.


    "We''re going to the flourishing district, but we provoked a little trouble; our adversary is pretty powerful. We came this way to evade their line of sight," Bogner explained simply.


    "So, that''s how it was." Xiao Liqian got it and didn''t ask any more. But she then asked back, "Is there anything I can help you with?"


    Bogner pondered. "We''d like to recruit one or two aces of the highest skill level."


    Xiao Liqian couldn''t help but show in her face how difficult that might be. Most of the income for that base of hers relied on those aces. But she gritted her teeth and said, "Xiaobo should be returning in a couple of days, and I''ll introduce you to him when he does. But whether you can convince him will depend on you. His strength is absolutely among the top three here, except that the fantasy card he has is deficient. If you have some high-grade card, the possibility to convince him would be relatively better."


    Bogner an Xi Ping looked at one another, smiling. They wouldn''t have been so certain if they had been talking about something else, but when it came to cards, they immediately relaxed. Who was the boss? He was none other than the grand master who''d made the numbered series of cards!


    On the other hand, Chen Mu didn''t have much feeling about it, having no conception of himself as any grand master. But he was actually thinking about the matter of the card just then. Since Xiao Liqian had mentioned Xiaobo''s preferences, Chen Mu understood that the card he made would be the crux of the matter.


    Seeing Bogner and Xi Ping''s expressions, Xiao Liqian immediately understood the young boss was certainly an outstanding card master. Otherwise, the two of them wouldn''t have had that expression of having a card up their sleeves.


    Her pair of gorgeous eyes couldn''t help but fall onto Chen Mu, who had remained calm throughout. She looked at him with curiosity, his age about the same as hers. Although Uncle Bogner hadn''t behaved so well before, Xiao Liqian could see at a glance that he was the same as her Uncle Hughes. They were both the sort who had skills but were also proud. To be so willing to serve under such a young talent was in itself pretty awesome.


    Chen Mu suddenly raised his head and asked Xiao Liqian, "What sort of card is that Xiaobo you spoke of good at?"


    In the act of staring at Chen Mu, she hadn''t thought he would suddenly raise his head. Caught off guard like that, she could only meet Chen Mu''s gaze. That was a little embarrassing. Some panic showed in Xiao Liqian''s eyes as she subconsciously took over the conversation. "Xiaobo¡­ card¡­ that¡­" She finally exercised more self-control and quickly calmed. "I''m not so clear about technical matters. Please wait a moment, and I''ll find someone for you to ask."


    She turned around and said to Jeeves, "Call Captain Dai over for me, Jeeves." The Captain Dai she was talking about was the card artisan Chen Mu had seen at the doorway.


    Jeeves rushed out and called for Captain Dai to come over.


    "Are you looking for me, President?" Captain Dai saluted respectfully.


    "Mmmm, describe the type of card Xiaobo is good at for this gentleman, with some detail." Xiao Liqian''s expression was already back to where it had been.


    Although it seemed a little strange, Captain Dai didn''t ask why. He thought about it a little before opening his mouth.


    "Your subordinate wouldn''t be considered to know much about it, only having sparred with him once. He''s good at using a type of amorphous energy. His ability to control amorphous energy is refined, and he can transform it into various forms. His perceptual sensitivity is quite high, and the card he''s using now has several ancillary uses. It can isolate his scent, heat, and so forth. It''s rather magical, though its attack damage value isn''t so high." Taking a look at Chen Mu, Captain Dai hesitated and then said, "I''m guessing Xiaobo''s perceptual strength should be rapidly approaching the sixth level, and his acuity level would be even higher!"


    Bogner and Xi Ping were both shocked by what Captain Dai said. Once perceptual strength surpassed level six, that was an utterly stunning ability. Moreover, he was the kind of card artisan who was good at controlling his perception. That guy was really brutal!


    Their power would doubtlessly surge if they could attract such an ace! For them, the need for ordinary card artisans wasn''t so urgent; their card set tactics had solved their problems quite well. But the strong points and shortcomings of the card set tactics were both prominent. They needed some things to complement them, and a few aces could easily resolve those issues.


    A card artisan who could break through level six would be considered an ace in the military. That would be even truer of a card artisan who was always tempering himself in the jungle. Such an ace who had gone through countless battles and survived wasn''t like Zu Ning and that type of proud card artisan from the academies.


    What Captain Dai said had also put Chen Mu into deep thought. According to the description, it wouldn''t be so hard to complete that sort of card, as Chen Mu saw it. But if he wanted to impress an ace, that wasn''t going to be so easy.


    After the excitement, Bogner and Xi Ping immediately turned more prudent. Such an ace would be precious no matter where, and nobody would overlook him.


    Sure enough, Xiao Liqian said, "The initial idea of my wanting to buy four-star cards was mostly for him. But since the uncle and the rest of you need him now, little Qian might as well let him go."


    Bogner and Xi Ping looked at one another, each seeing the sneer on the other''s face. That little girl was really shrewd! With no mention of returns, she''d clearly allowed them to do as they saw fit.


    She reckoned that given the boss''s temperament, he would never be stingy about doing something. Sure enough, after hearing what she said, Chen Mu had nodded. "Mmmm, we will keep our friendship with Miss Xiao in our hearts."


    The boss had been hooked! Bogner and Xi Ping couldn''t help but sigh to themselves. The kind of person the boss was meant he couldn''t stand someone else being so good to him. It would be better if he didn''t say anything, but once he did say it, he would certainly not be stingy about what he did.


    Still, they two of them felt no heartache. On the one hand, their counterpart had certainly paid a considerable price. On the other, given the boss''s character as they saw it, he had a lot of humanity; the two of them felt very appreciative. To work under such a boss was utterly comfortable without a doubt.


    Xiao Liqian felt overjoyed, though she didn''t show it on her face. But she did bloom into a more enchanting charm given how good she felt.


    Once he found out the Regal Base had some card making equipment, Chen Mu said no more and threw himself into it. Ru Qiu had been called to be his assistant.


    In that base, Xiao Liqian had unrivaled influence. No one would ever dare to pay attention to Chen Mu and his party.


    Delving into the card making lab, Chen Mu didn''t get right to work making cards but sat in the chair, pondering. To his side, Ru Qiu was standing with her hands at her sides, not daring to even breathe hard for fear of cutting off Chen Mu''s thoughts.


    Those last few days in the transport shuttle car building the energy model had allowed Chen Mu to understand more of his feelings about energy composition. Those feelings were flashing through his mind, one after the other.


    It had been a while since Chen Mu had made any cards, and he suddenly felt a powerful urge¡ªan urge to make cards!

 306 Six Knots of Hard-Earned Capital

    Chen Mu holed up for quite a few days this time. Xi ping and Bogner were both idle, and the card artisans also got a chance to breathe. The most unexpected was Sue Lochiro; the injured card artisans on the team had started to heal, and she had nothing left to do.


    After he found out Sue Lochiro was a high-level medical card artisan, that Captain Dai under Xiao Liqian begged her to let Sue Lochiro come to his own home, hoping Sue Lochiro could heal his lingering illness. He''d missed the best time to treat the wound he had gotten in a previous battle, which left a hidden malady behind.


    Sue Lochiro had become familiar with Xiao Liqian those past few days, and she didn''t hesitate to agree. It would be a small issue for her. Within half an hour, she had eradicated the hidden malady from Captain Dai.


    Without the blocking of that hidden disease, Captain Dai''s perception immediately surged with stunning speed. Within a few short days, his power had risen ten percent. Such shocking results immediately rocked the base. In a short while, countless people were looking for Sue Lochiro.


    Many of those who often went to the Outer Reaches often had wounds. In that out-of-the-way place where even birds wouldn''t poop, it would be a vain dream to think there could be medical card artisans.


    But now, that team actually did have a medical card artisan! That alone was enough for everyone to sit up and take notice.


    Sue Lochiro was somewhat dumbfounded to see so many people. If those card artisans hadn''t been afraid of the card artisans responsible for guarding, the scene would certainly have gotten chaotic. Unlike when she had been treating ordinary civilians in Pomelo, those card artisans were all extremely vicious rascals who would kill someone without even looking. Sue Lochiro was quickly overwhelmed.


    At just the critical moment, Bogner came to save the day. He very solicitously asked her to enter into a room, asking Lucky Xi along the way to come with them.


    "From now on, you can use this as your dedicated treatment room, where you only need to be responsible to treat people inside. Lucky Xi will be your assistant. Turn everything else over to us." Bogner patted his chest, his face full of passion.


    Sue Lochiro tilted her head to think about it and felt it would be quite an improvement, so she nodded.


    Bogner called over Crow Feather and Happy Padding. "You two stay at the door, and if anyone doesn''t get it, you throw them out."


    "Yes, sir!" The two responded gruffly while the card artisans nearby changed color. It could be seen in their eyes how Crow Feather had scared them that day. Although Happy Padding was a full head shorter than Crow Feather, he was well-muscled and rather more ferocious than Crow Feather. Everyone abruptly cringed back some distance.


    Bogner saw Xi Ping, who had come to see what was happening. His eyes lit up as he called him over with a wave. "Old Xi, Old Xi, get over here."


    Xi Ping walked over to Bogner without hurrying. "What''s up here?"


    Bogner laughed and said something in Xi Ping''s ear. Xi Ping''s eyes lit up as he kept making affirmative grunts and nodding. Thereupon quite a few of those who had just returned to the base from the jungle arrived at a strange scene. There was a long line of troops in the middle of the huge base.


    Bogner made a sign to one of them. "Oh, that lass Miss Sue is working so hard; how do you all plan to reward her?"


    That jungle card artisan reluctantly took out a thing like a red ram''s horn from his breast and anxiously brought it in front of Xi Ping.


    Wearing glasses, the refined and polite-looking Xi Ping appraised it and nodded, satisfied. "Not bad. The horn of a mature blood-horned sheep. Not bad quality¡­ mmmm, you may enter."


    "You, go ahead." Bogner waved his hand.


    Although that jungle card artisan looked like he was in pain, he was still overjoyed as he rushed into the treatment room.


    "Next," Bogner called out.


    The second jungle card artisan pulled out a black stone while shivering.


    "This piece of rare cliff ore isn''t of good enough quality¡ªtoo inferior." Xi Ping returned the stone to the jungle card artisan with an impassive face.


    Bogner patted the man on his shoulder, saying earnestly, "Brother! You won''t have these mere worldly possessions for life, and you can''t take them with you when you die. What good does it do to hang onto them? Your health is the most important! Think about it; if your health is good, then what won''t you be able to earn later? Yikes, you aren''t enlightened enough yet. Go off and reflect a little."


    Then, Happy Padding lifted him up with his fan-like, huge hand and put him back into the team.


    "Next!" Bogner continued on in leisurely fashion.


    * * *


    Chen Mu had laid out all of his possessions in front of him.


    Black and white chrysanthemum rock was used to make token cards. Dedicated token cards were seldom seen, and the rock in Chen Mu''s hands had been slow to be used. But, that time, he would put it to the most critical use.


    The red oil refined from red-lined crow silk was a perfect match for the black and white chrysanthemum rock! It could greatly amplify the card''s utilization of energy. The black and white chrysanthemum rock was just right for setting the card''s computational ability, and a card made by matching the two materials would reach an efficiency never before accomplished.


    He wasn''t going to use any fish-patterned grass that time. It was used to make a card as hard as iron, so it couldn''t be harmed. But, in general, whether it was a close-combat type of card or a remote attack style card, what it directly produced was energy, which couldn''t damage the card. So, the specific characteristics of the fish-patterned grass would be pretty worthless in the eyes of ordinary card masters.


    However, Chen Mu didn''t consider it so, having his own way of thinking. He would look at the results of experimentation to see any specifics. But that was a different subject, not related to the card in front of him.


    The twinned titanium stone was also an extremely rare material because the metal smelted from it had extremely good energy conductivity. It was also a type of naturally excellent card ink with outstanding compatibility. The energy activated through it would often have excellent plasticity.


    Black and white chrysanthemum rock, red-lined crow silk, twinned titanium stone¡ªthose three types of materials just happened to correspond perfectly with the idea he had in his mind. When added to the materials he had just purchased from Xiao Liqian, Chen Mu had developed a detailed plan.


    He made his plan so detailed lest he leave any little thing out. Those materials were all things you might come upon but couldn''t go looking for. Once a card failed, the next time you might want to gather the materials, it wouldn''t be so easy.


    That was Chen Mu''s first time using so many precious materials, each of which would have a sky-high price on the market. He glanced at Ru Qiu, who had been completely conquered by Chen Mu''s voluminous card making plan. There were lots of terms and algorithms she didn''t understand, but it didn''t matter. She would just take it slowly. The things she could understand had already profited her a lot.


    The thing she admired most was Chen Mu''s professional attitude! Before then, she had never seen any card master who would be so diligent when making cards, just like she had never seen such a detailed card making plan. Was that card making? It simply seemed like it had been made into a huge engineering project.


    She didn''t understand quite a few of Chen Mu''s step-by-step calculations, but that didn''t stop her worship of Chen Mu from skyrocketing! Why had he joined the ranks of grand masters at such a young age? That attitude explained a lot!


    With just those plans, Chen Mu had personally computed them from beginning to end five times before finalizing them. There were countless notes beside each step. In those notes were not only all the considerations laid out, but things that might go wrong were ticked off one by one, not leaving out even the ways to resolve them.


    Because he needed Ru Qiu''s help, Chen Mu made her memorize the plan, so nothing unexpected would happen with each process.


    Chen Mu''s requirements were exactly what Ru Qiu had been looking for. Receiving the card making plan, she went right ahead and memorized it inside and out. She well knew the prices of those things. Of course, there were still quite a few things she didn''t understand. But so long as she remembered them, then some day, after constant enlightenment, she would be able to make sense of it all.


    Once Ru Qiu had memorized everything, Chen Mu prepared to begin.


    The equipment there was only ordinary, but it was sufficient for him. In front of him were laid out dozens of kinds of materials, and the smell they gave off when mixed together formed a kind of peculiar fragrance. Her face full of caution, Ru Qiu stood by Chen Mu''s side, her gaze scanning over those materials from time to time.


    There were several of them she had never heard of, even though she''d looked through the encyclopedia of materials. But she''d already firmly memorized them; she now knew the materials Chen Mu pulled out of his pocket were utterly rare and precious.


    Chen Mu looked serious, and Ru Qiu didn''t dare to breathe aloud beside him.


    Drawing in a deep breath and closing his eyes to go through every detail again in his head, he opened his eyes only after he was sure he hadn''t left anything out.


    "Start preparing the prismatic crystal, and pay attention to controlling the heat," Chen Mu said in a low voice.


    "Yes, sir." Having been influenced by the card artisans on the team, Ru Qiu had responded like they would.


    Under the high-temperature fire, the prismatic crystal started to turn red and gradually turned into a liquid like molten iron. Ru Qiu had a steady expression. Her ten fingers were as nimble as flight as all the materials on the table that had been prepared earlier were put into the red prismatic crystal liquid.


    The prismatic crystal was one of the unknown materials Chen Mu had bought from Xiao Liqian. The surface of prismatic crystal would generally be covered with other kinds of rock. That was why people wouldn''t recognize it. Ru Qiu did recognize it, but if she were to have to identify it, she would need to use a special instrument to be certain.


    She was curious about how Chen Mu could know there would be prismatic crystal inside a rock at a glance without using any instruments. That piece of prismatic crystal was the biggest she had ever seen, probably the size of two adult fists. If it were auctioned, it would require at least 50 million Oudi.


    Chen Mu had used it as a melting agent without hesitating. To use prismatic crystal as a melting agent, and especially one in such superb condition, couldn''t begin to be described by the term luxury.


    Ru Qiu didn''t dare distract herself. Her perception was completely caught up in that ball of prismatic crystal liquid, deeply exploring the degree of reaction among the internal materials.

 307 The Wheel

    Chen Mu didn''t look at Ru Qiu. Her solid foundation in basic skills was a lot more outstanding than that of her half-baked teacher. To be designated as the next dean of the Origins Academy card making division, what could she possibly lack?


    Moreover, he didn''t have the leisure to pay attention to Ru Qiu. All of his concentration was on the sky-blue solution in front of him, immersed in which was a card blank made from the bark tannin of the white snow maple.


    Chen Mu''s perception was tightly wrapping the card blank, and his refined perceptual tendrils could detect every finest transformation within the card. A card master needed to master every little transformation in the entire procedure. The information available to the naked eye was quite limited. Although instruments could capture quite a few aspects of the information, they were lifeless things in the end. For a card master, especially a high-level card master, perception was far more reliable than the naked eye or an instrument.


    Chen Mu could clearly observe the reaction of the card blank and the sky-blue solution by means of perception, but no amount of looking with the naked eye could see the fine blue threads nearly filling the card blank.


    It still wasn''t enough! Chen Mu had an extremely focused expression and didn''t dare to relax in the slightest.


    After a while, the blue filaments started to concentrate like myriad extremely fine snakes, condensing into a coarser and longer blue thread. But from the angle of the naked eye, only the traces of a few light blue threads thinner than a hair could be seen. The light blue traces slowly deepened until they finally became a dark blue. The snow-white card then had countless dark blue lines. The originally sky-blue solution had also become completely transparent.


    Chen Mu breathed a sigh of relief; the processing of the card had been quite successful. He turned to see that Ru Qiu had already gotten to the most critical moment, where the red prismatic crystal liquid had become a bright purple. The transparent reagent bottle was like a rock-sized, beautiful purple crystal.


    She next needed to pour in the red oil that had been extracted from the red-lined crow silk. A drop the size of a fingertip of the gorgeous red oil lightly dropped into the bright purple reagent bottle.


    Suddenly, a ball of bright purple starburst lit up in the reagent bottle, mixed up with a purple glowing ball. Chen Mu and Ru Qiu had both been long prepared for that, and the two of them closed their eyes at the same time to avoid their eyes being pricked by the light. Without hesitating, Chen Mu the put the powder from the black and white chrysanthemum rock into that ball of glowing purple. If you were to use perception, you could see that all of the liquid in the reagent bottle had started to combust like mad! It was because of that combustion that the purple glow was so eye-piercing.


    After the black and white chrysanthemum powder was mixed in, the eye-piercing purple gradually softened. After five minutes, the burning liquid in the bottle also calmed down as the solution with the black and white chrysanthemum rock deepened in color to appear a very dark purple. The combustion in the bottle was calmed, and there was only a small, light purple flame floating on the dark purple liquid.


    By that time, Ru Qiu didn''t dare to touch the bottle with her hands, knowing how hot the light purple, fiery liquid was. It was hot enough to burn her hands to ash. The bottle was held by a mechanical arm.


    That small ball of light purple fire burned for a strangely long time. After fully half an hour went by, it still hadn''t changed in the least. Chen Mu suddenly made a movement, carefully adjusting the instrument in front of him.


    The twinned titanium stone that was already in the mechanical arm was gradually suspended over the ball of fire. After he did that, Chen Mu put the processed card in front of him, where the Weak Water pen set had been previously placed in the most comfortable position.


    After ten minutes, the iron water with a slight black shine started to ooze out of the twinned titanium stone and gradually dropped into the ball of fire. The iron water then blended with the twinned titanium stone to become a ferro-titanium alloy liquid.


    The iron water melted into the solution for a moment, and the calm solution abruptly started to churn like boiling water. That boiling state lasted only five seconds. It then calmed and became like a broad, deep pool of water, which made it seem like what they had just seen was a hallucination. What appeared in front of Chen Mu now was a bottle of viscous amber liquid.


    Well-prepared for battle, Chen Mu instinctively grabbed the Weak Water pen. The twinned titanium stone had a special characteristic after it was refined; it had to be absorbed into the card within a few minutes. Otherwise, it would lose its effectiveness.


    Every detail and composition of that card had been turned over in his mind so many times he couldn''t have been any more familiar with it. Without the slightest hesitation, he lowered the pen to make one smooth go.


    It was a joy to look on as Chen Mu made the card. The incredibly smooth pen demonstrated that he already had the composition clear in his soul, which filled him with the power of self-confidence. His movements were as smooth as the running clouds and flowing water style of calligraphy, and they were unspeakably pleasing to see. Ru Qiu had watched quite a few card masters but had seldom seen anyone who could compose like that. Even she herself was far from there.


    Three minutes! A brief three minutes, which seemed like forever!


    The card was finally completed after Chen Mu''s closing stroke. The background of the white card was filled with many irregular, deep blue and amber patterns, which abruptly lit up as though they were breathing. The amber color flashed its shine before dimming.


    Ru Qiu couldn''t help her eyes rolling up, and her face was as red as an apple from the excitement. He had succeeded! He truly had!


    That quickly disappearing flash meant a card was completed. If the composition wasn''t complete, there would be no way to see such a breathing sheen. That was also one of the signs showing whether a card was successfully made or not.


    Chen Mu also breathed a sigh of relief as his straightened back relaxed, as though all his energy had been sucked dry. He had spent those three minutes concentrating all his energy to complete that card! After finishing it, a feeling of exhaustion surged up in him. It had been a long time since he''d felt so exhausted after making a card. That card had been an extremely tricky challenge to his perception, without a doubt. But he had finally succeeded! If he had failed, just thinking about how valuable the materials were would cause him pain for a long time.


    Closing his eyes, Chen Mu was restoring his energy while his right hand was unconsciously rubbing the card. Ru Qiu was looking at Chen Mu in adoration. She knew very well how much technique had been involved in that card from having read the entire plan in detail. She would dare confirm that the card was absolutely the most complex she''d ever seen.


    That wasn''t all! She had never even thought a card could be so complex. To be able to make it¡ªno, to be able to design that card¡ªChen Mu was someone to be looked up to like the highest mountain in her eyes.


    After ten minutes, Chen Mu opened his eyes, finally having enough energy to fully appreciate the card he''d made. The fine blue patterns against the white background made a perfectly gorgeous design against the amber composition! Even Chen Mu himself couldn''t help but be drawn in by that card''s complex and fine composition. It drew his gaze as though it were a magnet.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help but smile in a perfectly happy way. That was the card he was most satisfied with up until then, and it was also the most powerful and most expensive!


    The edge of a card was often used by card masters to leave their own mark. Chen Mu thought about leaving a small character in that blank space.


    "023? Wheel ¨C C." The first named card of the numbered series had been born.


    * * *


    The amount of money Bogner and Xi Ping were making those past couple of days had simply gotten to a point where they had to think twice. Each one of those jungle card artisans had one or two things on them that were pretty good. But most of those had fallen into their hands by then.


    A medical card artisan was a treasure! That was the biggest thing they felt during those two days, and they had both decided that after the boss came out, they would certainly bring up a lot better treatment for Sue Lochiro. Bogner was already considering whether he could use the same trick for the rest of the trip.


    * * *


    A shadow appeared at the entrance to the base, along with quite a lot of mist, which created a fuzzy feeling.


    Ta, ta, ta! A man enshrouded in mist walked toward the large hall.


    "It''s Xiaobo!"


    "He came back, after all. Do you think he hunted up anything good this time?"


    "I don''t know, but every time he does, it surprises me. I wonder what it might be this time."


    The jungle card artisans were discussing in low voices, unconsciously making out his path.


    Ta, ta, ta!


    That man wasn''t affected as he kept up his steady pace, as though nothing in the world could stop him.


    Bogner stopped what he was doing and squinted to look at the mysterious man.


    He was almost two meters tall and straight as a javelin, wearing tall, black leather boots. His clomping footsteps made that ta ta sound. His snow-white, long hair was tied carelessly by a red rope and reached nearly to his waist. His handsome, distinguished face was flecked with road dust. He wore old, faded clothes, damaged in quite a few places, although they were remarkably clean. That sometimes thick and sometimes faint mist that enshrouded him added a sense of mystery.


    Seeing the long line in the great hall, Xiaobo tilted his head to do a double-take, and a look of surprise flashed through his eyes. But he didn''t stop and went straight to the escalator.


    Once he left, the great hall became lively again. Everyone was excitedly discussing what sorts of spoils Xiaobo might have brought back that time.


    Bogner''s gaze had never left his mist-enshrouded image.

 308 A Misunderstood Battle and Card

    Chen Mu didn''t try the card right away but rested first. He needed some time for his perception to be restored to its normal level. But he wasn''t idle; he''d already slid the Wheel into his apparatus, which was in an activated state. He closed his eyes and rested while using his perception to closely examine the new card''s internal composition.


    The vast universe of its energy was like a void filled with fog, all gray and misty. In the midst of all that emptiness, 1,024 round energy wheels roamed through the void like a school of fish. They would gather and scatter in a lively fashion. On every energy wheel was a stream of light, cycling back and forth across its surface like hands on a clock.


    That was similar to when he was training his perceptual acuity with those five energy models¡ªespecially the fifth type of energy model, which had fascinated him the most.


    Making 1,024 energy wheels was his limit. If those were converted into the fifth energy model''s energy blocks, that 1,024 would be equal to more than 7,000 energy blocks. That far exceeded the fifth energy model''s 5,000 blocks.


    Under Chen Mu''s fine perceptual control, those energy wheels started to gather around one wheel among them. In the blink of an eye, 1,024 energy wheels had gathered into a circle. Then, still under Chen Mu''s control, they suddenly lined up into a square, then a round shape, followed by a cube, and then into other odd shapes¡­


    Something strange happened when Chen Mu formed them into the shape of shooting flower petals. After a jolt to his perception, everything around him suddenly became clear. Chen Mu was startled.


    Although his perception had become perfectly sensitive to the surrounding environment, his perception was basically all on the inside of the Wheel now. In that situation, he should be able to slow down the surrounding environment.


    His perception could "see" the world outside the card perfectly clearly even though he was deeply immersed in the card. It was so clear it was as though it was being presented right before his eyes. The strangest thing was that when he put all of his attention on some one thing, it seemed to be pulled closer to appear in still more detail.


    Very interesting! Although that card had come from his own design, quite a few aspects of the finished product far exceeded his expectations.


    That was an ordinary situation. When a card master realized an energy composition he had never thought of before, he might discover its energy compositions would have quite a few characteristics he''d never even thought of. No card artisan would dare say they were truly proficient in the rules of energy. That was currently the most advanced science. It was also the most obscure and difficult area of the card system.


    Soon after that, Chen Mu discovered the aligned structure of several kinds of new wheels. The thing that discouraged him was that his perceptual acuity was obviously not sufficient to bring all of the card''s power into play. Once he could control the smallest unit of ten energy wheels, that would then mean he had no way to control those energy wheels when they were adjusted to a still finer structure.


    Having completed five types of energy composition models, Chen Mu''s perceptual acuity had already reached a rather shocking place. But the Wheel had still higher requirements for perceptual acuity!


    That hadn''t been unexpected for Chen Mu. It was a four-star card, and it was much more outstanding than any ordinary four-star card. It had used up all of Chen Mu''s precious materials. It would be common for such a card to have high requirements of the one who used it.


    The rule was that the more awesome the card, the higher the requirements of the card artisan. Although card artisans with a perceptual strength of four could use a four-star card, it would be hard for them to bring all of the card''s power into play. The consumption of perception would also be a lot quicker than for card artisans with level-five perception. Thus, very few card artisans with a perceptual level of four would use four-star cards in battle.


    Card artisans who were skilled in using a four-star card generally had reached level five in perceptual strength. There weren''t many of those in the federation, but there weren''t so few, either. Zu Ning, for example, had perceptual strength at the lower end of level five.


    Card artisans from the Big Six were a lot different from other card artisans. It was like the Cross Section of Styles and that sort of legacy, which had gone through generation after generation of perfecting. Its system went from shallow to deep, from low to high, all having an extremely complete connection with skills. That was why they would often be much more awesome than those using different cards at the same level.


    Chen Mu opened his eyes. His perception had finally been restored to its normal level. He stood up and said to Ru Qiu, "Let''s go." Ru Qiu assented with her face full of excitement. She was curious to see what sort of effects that card might have.


    Just as Chen Mu was going out the door, he ran head-on into a white-haired man.


    "Yikes!" Chen Mu couldn''t help his look of surprise upon seeing the white mist surrounding the white-haired man.


    His gaze fell onto Chen Mu. In midair, the two sides'' nearly undetectable perception made contact. Surprise showed on both of their faces. His perceptual acuity was higher than Chen Mu''s, which gave him a chill!


    The expression on the face of the white-haired man seemed to have become a little confused as he smiled at something deep. The ball of white mist around him started to transform.


    Chen Mu''s expression changed, and he yelled to Ru Qiu in a low voice, "Retreat!"


    Ru Qiu was stunned. Her face, which had just been red as an apple with excitement, suddenly turned white. She ran back into the room with a flustered look as she was floundering to call Bogner''s communications card.


    Chen Mu immediately calmed down now that he didn''t need to worry about trouble behind him. He couldn''t change his card by then. The Wheel was what had been activated inside the apparatus! With a bitter smile, Chen Mu adjusted his perception without the slightest hesitation.


    "A newcomer? Yikes, it''s been a long time since I''ve run into a worthy opponent!" A silky, magnetic voice came from the within the mist.


    Chen Mu''s expression shifted. What changed his expression wasn''t what his counterpart had said but was his unfathomable energy fluctuations.


    Without making any response, Chen Mu suddenly bent at the waist and shot at his adversary like a snake slithering along the ground. He was as quick as lightning as he flitted over. He wouldn''t even need to use a card if he could get close enough.


    "Interesting." His adversary''s speech was slow and leisurely with a hint of praise. But there wasn''t the least bit of mercy in his move.


    A net quickly appeared in front of Chen Mu. It was composed of countless criss-crossing, glowing energy filaments, and he was certain to bump into it head-on. The energy filaments were incredibly sharp. He was afraid he would be chopped into pieces if he were to run into them.


    With his belly pasted to the floor, he used the strength of his hands to suddenly shoot up from the ground, perilously evading the net. He still had no luck; the glowing net suddenly drew together and turned into a sparking electrical rope, which shook his spirit and caused his heart to race as it came rolling up to Chen Mu in midair.


    Damn! Chen Mu desperately manipulated the big mudfish card, which abruptly blurred his image. For a short distance, the big mudfish card accompanied Chen Mu''s short-range explosive power to achieve a speed that made him drag several residual images behind him.


    "You''re pretty fast," that detestably smooth voice said.


    The sparking electrical rope suddenly opened out and turned into a ball of electric netting, bigger than the one before. It completely enshrouded Chen Mu. Each of the strands was as thick a finger, and it was making a crackling sound.


    He was trapped!


    Chen Mu actually calmed down when he saw the rapidly shrinking electric net. He saw no way to avoid it. If he''d had the tailless shuttle card in his hand, he could still try to save himself. But only the newly completed Wheel was activated in his apparatus.


    He had never thought he would run into such a situation as soon as he came out the door. But it wasn''t time to think about the timing. He would just have to try out the new card!


    The battle between the two started in a spark of time before Ru Qiu could get through to Bogner''s communications card. She could only see Chen Mu trapped in the deadly electric net.


    The sparks that would flash on the electric net from time to time made Ru Qiu''s pretty face lose color. She was a card master; of course she understood how deadly those electric sparks were! Their high voltage was far beyond those silvery threads Lucky Xi had emitted that day. If they only barely touched him, he would die without a doubt!


    He had to think of something quickly! Ru Qiu was so stressed her heart had jumped into her throat.


    Chen Mu''s perceptual world suddenly seemed to have slowed, and he could no longer hear the cracking of the electrical sparks in his ears. In the gray and misty energy world, there was one after another wheel under his control, which transformed at a shocking speed.


    It was as though time had slowed in that energy world, and everything had become clear¡ªso clear you could grab it with your hand.


    The 1,024 energy wheels had gathered again in a short time. Each of the wheels was like one buddha bead after another as they strung into a huge, beautiful, round chain of energy wheels.


    Just as the energy chain was forming, the streaming beams on 1,024 energy wheels suddenly adjusted automatically. They started to revolve at the same speed in the same position. All of the streaming beams formed into a circle when the huge chain of wheels abruptly lit up.


    Chen Mu didn''t know what use that chain of wheels might have, but it was the only one of the card''s reactions he had tried.


    In the minds of most people, round would always be synonymous with defense. Was it a defensive cloak? Chen Mu perceived a bout of energy fluctuation. When he opened his eyes, he didn''t know whether to laugh or cry when saw the fist-sized, glowing amber ball floating in front of him.


    Damn! It''s not an energy cloak! Chen Mu''s expression involuntarily changed.

 309 Chen Mu’s Rage

    The electric net had come into contact with his clothes. There was a puff of charred smoke from where a corner of his clothes had been immediately turned to ash. There was no more time to even try any of the other compositions. After a second¡ªno, perhaps only half a second¡ªhe would be turned to ash like that corner of his clothes.


    Everything in front of him seemed to have suddenly slowed. With the stimulus of danger, his perception turned over like crazy at a speed it had never had before. Oddly enough, Chen Mu was feeling quite calm. He felt even calmer than he did when he was in the water training his perception with his breath held.


    If an onlooker were to closely examine him, he would see everything that was happening. But, in reality, the danger he was then encountering was 100 times worse than when he was dozens of meters underwater training his perception.


    Hong! A change seemed to have taken place with his perception, and everything around him was suddenly quite a bit clearer. He could even perceive the electric sparks'' fork-like compositions that were nearly stuck to his face, with every branch so very clear.


    Just then, Chen Mu couldn''t help but show another bitter smile. Who could have thought he would have a breakthrough with his perception at the final moment of his life? What made him sneer was that this perceptual breakthrough wasn''t going to help him in the least.


    The bitter smile suddenly froze on his face.


    The glowing amber ball in front of him abruptly scattered into a kind of energy wave Chen Mu had never encountered before. That was just as the streams of light had finished scanning once around.


    The compressed electric net suddenly stopped as it was compressing toward the middle, with the nearest sparking only a centimeter away from Chen Mu. The electric net then seemed to suddenly be fixed in midair. Before Chen Mu could blink, the orderly electric net started to distort like a formless hand was twisting it.


    "Yikes!" The white-haired man''s voice no longer had that soft feeling but had some powerful surprise instead.


    The electric beam closest to the glowing ball had started to enter it. Very quickly, the glowing ball became like a dark cave as it sucked in the net of electric beams piece by piece.


    As Chen Mu saw it, the entire process seemed quite slow, though it wasn''t actually more than the blink of an eye before the entire electric net was sucked into the glowing ball. The glowing ball then turned from an amber color to a silvery white, still floating in midair without moving at all.


    What would happen next? Chen Mu didn''t know, though his reaction was fast. In the instant that net of electric beams disappeared, he swapped out his card as swiftly as possible.


    He couldn''t bear something happening with that glowing ball, but Chen Mu decisively exchanged the card with the tailless shuttle card, which he was most familiar with. Although he had swapped out the Wheel, the glowing ball didn''t disappear. It was still floating as before. Chen Mu was finally able to relax.


    When Chen Mu raised his head again, his eyes looked murderously cold. No matter who it was, nobody could look as if nothing were happening in that kind of situation. His adversary''s insolent behavior had utterly enraged Chen Mu, and with no hesitation, there were several tailless shuttles as he raised his hand. His feet moved nimbly, and his body pounced on his adversary in a flash.


    The strange whistling sound abruptly filled the entire base!


    Both Bogner''s and Xi Ping''s expressions changed in the middle of busily enriching themselves. They were familiar with that sound, which was the sound of the boss in battle!


    "Assemble! Assemble the whole team!" Bogner''s eyes were red, and he was yelling at the top of his voice. If you were standing nearby, you could see the crazed fire flash through his eyes. By that time, Bogner was like an enraged lion looking for someone to devour.


    Hearing that shrill whistle, everyone was immediately in motion. Crow Feather and Happy Padding reacted the quickest. Seventh floor! A flash of rage passed through both of their eyes. At the same time, there was a cold cry, and they pounced toward the seventh floor without the slightest hesitation.


    Lucky Xi plunged after them from Sue Lochiro''s healing room, rising up into the air.


    A shadow-like smoke appeared in front of everyone, sticking to the guardrail on the wall and flipping up to the seventh floor like a ghost. It was Wei-ah.


    "An ace from some cardless sect? Crap, are there really any more such awesome aces from the cardless sects these days?" There was no shortage of people with good vision among the crowd, and that one couldn''t help but call out.


    Someone made a sharp retort. "Cardless sect? I say, you''re out of your mind! How many years has it been since the cardless sects have been eliminated? How could there be any aces? He''s certainly using some sort of jet stream card, so what''s all the fuss?"


    The five small teams of card artisans had already assembled with a bustle. By that time, Bogner had actually calmed down. "The first, second and third small teams, go immediately to the seventh floor. The rest of you should prepare to support them as you see fit."


    Just as everyone was considering what to do, a person''s shadow suddenly came shooting straight out from the seventh floor escalator with an empty shadow following behind him.


    "Stop playing! Stop playing!" The one in front was yelling desperately, anxious to lose that dark shadow behind him. The empty shadow was like sticky candy; no matter how he changed direction, he couldn''t shake it.


    Those below all raised their faces to watch the two above, dumbstruck.


    "That¡­ Isn''t that Xiaobo? Am I seeing things?" someone mumbled.


    "You are. You''re seeing things¡­" the one beside him unconsciously murmured.


    The great hall went dead silent, with only the screams of Xiaobo audible as he went miserably all over the place to dodge and evade.


    Bogner was also struck dumb. He could see clearly who was behind that guy¡ªthe boss. It was their boss! Seeing his boss''s eyes so red and gnashing his teeth murderously, Bogner couldn''t help but shiver.


    The boss was quite angry, the result of which would be rather serious! He couldn''t help but conjecture to himself about what that the guy in front of him had actually done to make the boss¡ªwho was always good tempered¡ªso desperately want to chop him up.


    After a full ten minutes, the people below finally responded, and boy did they suddenly burst open! Who was that guy chasing after Xiaobo?


    Who was Xiaobo? He was nothing but one of the most powerful card artisans in the base¡ªthe super card artisan who would enter the jungle for half a year by himself before making the trip back! Was such a top-notch person now being chased by someone? And, the one being chased didn''t have any power to fight back?


    How could that be the deadly card artisan Xiaobo? He looked battered and exhausted, his hair disheveled, and he was crying out loudly as he was chased. Was that really the ever-neat, personable, proud and aloof Xiaobo, who always exuded a powerful aura to make anyone in front of him not dare to anger him?


    By that time, some of those below with sharp eyes had recognized Chen Mu.


    "It''s that young boss!"


    "It''s the lover of that medical card artisan!" Once that guy had seen her with him, he had never forgotten Sue Lochiro.


    When he saw what was going on, the leader changed his expression and slapped the guy. "Shut up! If you don''t want to live, then at least stop bothering us! If someone can chase after Xiaobo, then how different would killing us be than killing a chicken?"


    "A chicken can''t run the way we can, Chief!" The guy couldn''t keep his mouth shut.


    His leader then lost it and kicked him to the ground, cursing him. "Run? Look up there! Xiaobo now looks like a flushed chicken! You can run better than Xiaobo? He''s nothing like a chicken right now, and you want to compare yourself to a chicken?"


    For no reason, Chen Mu was hung up just as he exited the door. No matter who this might have happened to, he wouldn''t be getting along so well. A rage of malice had come from Chen Mu''s breast, making him want to incinerate that white-haired man in front of him!


    His eyes had turned a deadly red. The physical accomplishment from the swordfish training played out to the extreme in his rage, on top of which were the skills from the demonic woman and from Wei-ah. He was now as fast as lightning¡ªa bolt of black lighting. The breakthrough in his perception just then did greatly increase his battle power!


    He dumped all the tailless shuttles in his hand toward the guy in front of him, going all-out. He wanted to turn that guy''s a** into a many-holed brush pen pot.


    But Xiaobo, who could venture alone deep into the jungle for so long, had the same kind of incomparable power. It was just that Chen Mu''s style of battle was really giving him a headache. The speed of Chen Mu''s fighting cadence made Xiaobo charge like mad. He was so erratic, getting near and then far, suddenly firing from afar and suddenly wrestling him up close!


    Where did such a freak come from? Is he from some f***ing cardless sect, or is he a card artisan? He doesn''t look like he has any muscle, so how could he have so much burst strength? Even though his perceptual acuity is actually quite a bit below mine, could genuine card artisans still be training to run these days? That energy shuttle in his hands is a little cruel, and my energy cloak can only take three shots! And, what is that strange ball that can suck energy in?


    The deadliest was the guy''s special way of fighting on the move and the tricky damage it concealed. Not only couldn''t Xiaobo find a chance to make a move, but he had been spun dizzy enough to cry, with no room for tears.


    Good grief, I don''t want to think I have lost my temper! We''re not going to get away from both sides losing!


    Xiaobo gritted his teeth, his heart full of indignation. Just when he was about to turn around, he suddenly heard that whistle. It scared him right out of his wits, making him move faster than he ever thought he could. He slipped off to the distance in an instant. While he fled with high hopes, he kept drooping. No good! Run! Your life matters!


    The jet stream card of the white-haired man in front was white-hot with speed. Up until then, apart from hitting some holes in his clothes, Chen Mu''s tailless shuttle hadn''t made any real progress.


    His adversary''s perception was too sensitive, and he could feel his every energy fluctuation.


    Everyone below had raised their heads to watch the two flying back and forth in the sky. To tell the truth, if they could learn a trick even halfway through, then such a brilliant back-and-forth performance of a chasing struggle could really benefit them a lot.


    The one chasing was bizarrely erratic, taking advantage of the conditions to the limit. The one trying to escape was as slippery as oil. Although he looked miserable, he remained unscathed.


    The card artisans under Chen Mu were all clucking their cheeks in admiration and sometimes sharing their thoughts. Crow Feather, Happy Padding, and Lucky Xi were all leaning against the guardrail and watching with relish.


    "What''s going on?" Xiao Liqian was watching the black and white shadows in the sky with a good deal of surprise.

 310 Give Up or No

    Bogner shrugged. "Who knows? I don''t know why this guy thought he could mess with the boss. The poor guy. He''s dead for sure!"


    Xiao Liqian didn''t look like she quite believed that. "He''s Xiaobo, and he won''t die so easily."


    Bogner laughed. Although Xi Ping didn''t change his expression, what flashed through his eyes showed he wasn''t so sure about that either. Even Zu Ning had died at his boss''s hands. If the boss were to say who else he''d killed, they would certainly not be surprised.


    Xiao Liqian noted their reactions, which really surprised that sharp woman. Wasn''t their boss a card master? Could he be so awesome as a card artisan?


    Xiaobo dashed madly through the great hall, afraid to slow in the slightest as he was chased by that nut. Not only that, but he was in a panic having to dodge the energy shuttles that could appear at any time.


    You chase, I run


    In the sky or on the ground


    Chickens fly when dogs jump


    The perception of both was extremely keen. Xiaobo''s real battle experience was a lot richer, though Chen Mu''s style of fighting was undoubtedly more unusual. The most unfortunate were the card artisans in the great hall; Xiaobo drilled right into the crowd when he was looking for cover.


    The results at the outset weren''t bad; at least Chen Mu hadn''t just haphazardly let loose his tailless shuttles. Still, Xiaobo wasn''t quite thrilled when he discovered Chen Mu had actually increased his speed on the ground.


    Good lord, that guy was already as nimble as a mudfish in the sky. On the ground, he was simply like a ghost. Xiaobo had discovered that the distance between them wasn''t increasing and may actually have been decreasing a little. That was when he suddenly remembered how stunning that guy''s burst strength was.


    With the body and burst strength of the cardless sects, multiple changes of direction in midair, an incomparably refined perceptual acuity, and sharp energy shuttles beyond compare¡­ what¡­ what kind of freak was that?


    What kind of bad luck was he having that day? He had run into such a nightmare! But when he thought it over, he was the one who had actually taken the initiative to lure in that freak.


    Oh, the injustice! The iniquity! I''ve done it to myself! Endless regrets flew into Xiaobo''s mind. Seeing the gazes of the card artisans out of the corner of his eye overwhelmed him with grief. The image he''d been keeping up for so long had been completely destroyed! What most made him want to spit blood was that it had been destroyed by his own hands.


    Xiaobo suddenly felt sluggish, and his face turned white. The blasted power card! It was all used up.


    Xiaobo had a mind to crash to death hitting the wall. Staying in the jungle for half a year and going through countless battles, he had long since consumed all the power cards he had on him, with only that last one left. So, he had rushed back to the base to replenish, but he was now even feeling embarrassed about that.


    Xiaobo was suppressing tears when he suddenly noticed that the guy behind him had also gone sluggish.


    Ha! Now we''ll play it out together! Given the unexpected reprieve, Xiaobo looked pleased and burst into a smile.


    The card in Chen Mu''s apparatus had already been used for a long time, and the Wheel had consumed a large amount of energy. When you added to that his crazed release of the tailless shuttles, the power card had been completely used up. He was so focused on the pursuit that he hadn''t paid attention to the power card until his foot got heavy and reminded him.


    Chasing to that point, Chen Mu''s rage had been nearly vented. He was about to just quit. However, he hadn''t thought that as soon as he raised his head, he would see the satisfied expression on Xiaobo''s face.


    As though a scoop of hot oil had been poured onto the blaze, the rage that had just been quelled in his breast suddenly blew back up to the surface. Without saying another thing, Chen Mu shot nimbly up with sufficient power to his feet. He was like a tiger coming down a mountain as he pounced toward Xiaobo.


    When Xiaobo saw Chen Mu pouncing toward him, he was scared right out of his wits. He suddenly remembered his adversary had the body of the cardless sects!


    Without a jet stream card, Xiaobo wasn''t much better than an ordinary person. Just as he turned to run, a huge force was suddenly transmitted through his hips, sending his whole body flying.


    "Whoooooooa!" Before he even fell back to the ground, Chen Mu''s fists were raining down on him crazily. Xiaobo''s miserable screams suddenly changed their complexion.


    "Aiiiiyoooooo!" Those few low sobs seemed to have come moaning from the bottom of his lungs, and the final sound went squealing off in a spiraling climax!


    Many of the jungle card artisans hadn''t run into a woman for several years, with the shortest having been at least half a year. Everyone''s eyes were suddenly red as they looked at Xiaobo in midair. In their eyes, Xiaobo flying across the sky outlined a magnificently sexy curve. In the large hall, there was the sound of everyone gulping in unison. However, the scream of a stuck pig suddenly crushed everyone''s fantasies. The sound of everyone sighing in unison then filled the great hall, with quite a few of their eyes not being able to hold back a flood of lament.


    It had been a long time since Chen Mu had fought with his fists! Even that time at Eastern Wei Academy with Copper, he had used a wooden stool. The feel of punching flesh with his fists made the violent qi in Chen Mu''s heart achieve its best cathartic release.


    Suddenly, Chen Mu felt as though he''d returned to the life of a street punk. Although he had been small, fighting had been his daily bread. The most miserable time was when he had just arrived at a strange place alone and was beaten by six older street punks. It had taken a whole three months to heal, though the price his adversaries paid was a lot more miserable than his. It was said that two of them were so severely beaten they didn''t make it through the winter.


    Ever since then, he had grabbed the right of begging in that area. Although the others didn''t look so happy, no one would dare make a move against him. It was also at that time that he ran into Copper. In order to resist the other street punks, those two street punks, who didn''t know one another before, became good friends. Copper''s ability with words enabled their take to immediately grow, though their conflicts with that gang of street punks got still more severe.


    A fight every three days and a big fight every five¡ªthat was the situation right up until Copper was adopted, and Chen Mu ran into that card master who was on his last breath. Those memories of childhood were suddenly so fresh that Chen Mu seemed to have returned there.


    Pounding his fists on flesh, the blood in his bones suddenly burst out. By that time in his life, Chen Mu no longer bared his teeth in a grin but maintained his ever-stone-cold face. The bright look of blood in his eyes formed something that made an even more powerful impact.


    Xiao Liqian covered her small mouth, not able to believe the scene in front of her eyes. Was that crazed and bloodthirsty guy who acted like a hoodlum really the ever-calm youth she had seen that day? And, that guy who had been beaten like a pig and was wailing so loudly¡ªwas that really the invincible Xiaobo from the base? Was it that she couldn''t keep up with it, or had the world changed too fast?


    A chill arose in Bogner''s heart as he watched, and he saw the card artisans nearby also shaking. He said, "If anyone doesn''t want to train seriously after this, I''ll have the boss himself train you."


    The card artisans all shivered.


    Xiaobo finally landed from midair with a thump. Before he could even take a breath, there was suddenly a load on his back.


    Shhhh¡­ The sound of cold air being sucked in was as concerted as if it had been commanded, and everyone''s expression was also surprisingly consistent. They all had looks of disbelief, and their eyeballs were nearly falling out of their sockets.


    Chen Mu had actually sat on Xiaobo''s back!


    The big hall was so silent you could hear a pin drop.


    Once he saw that detestable face, Chen Mu abruptly became furious. He raised his fists and went into a fit of pounding. Xiaobo''s grief-stricken voice echoed in the abnormally quiet great hall, so even the hearts of all those listening were drawn together.


    Pitiful, tsk tsk, truly pitiful!


    "Big brother¡­ Big brother! Don''t hit my face! I beg you not to hit my face!"


    All those who still had sympathy for Xiaobo turned thoroughly stony.


    Xiaobo''s pleas for mercy reminded Chen Mu again of his former days, when he never stopped his pummeling. He unconsciously shouted, "Do you give up or not? Give up or not?" As he was yelling, he was pummeling faster and faster, his punches as dense as rain. Finally, there was a low roar from Chen Mu''s hideous face, with his eyes red and blue veins popping out on his forehead. "Give up or not?"


    When street punks fought, that was how they would end things.


    The crowd, which had just turned to stone, all looked at one another.


    "I give! I give! I give up, big brother. I really do! From the bottom of my heart to my whole body, I give up and can''t give up any more!" Xiaobo kept talking lest he speak too slowly and remain on the receiving end of more punches.


    Chen Mu was gasping for breath. That bout of fisticuffs had rather exhausted him. But his face remained ferocious, and he pressed Xiaobo''s head to the ground with his left hand. According to the practice when he was little, he didn''t say anything cruel that time to apologize for his victory.


    "Who are you?"


    "I''m Xiaobo, big brother. You can call me Little Bo!" Xiaobo wanted to pile on the flattery but couldn''t do anything about his face being deformed by being squeezed to the floor. It was unspeakably weird.


    "Xiaobo?" Chen Mu was taken aback and said furiously, "That''s who I''ve been fighting!"


    Without saying anything more, he lifted his fists and started pummeling like mad again until Xiaobo''s eyes and nose were running like crazy. Chen Mu immediately felt a lot better as he kept on pounding. He asked again in his habitual way, "Give up or not?"


    "I really give up, big brother! I really do! Really!" Saying that, Xiaobo was already sobbing, with tears flowing down his face.


    Chen Mu asked viciously, "Say it! Who are you going to hang out with?"


    The tears quickly disappeared from Xiaobo''s eyes as he said in an extremely flattering way, "Big brother! From now on, Little Bo is going to hang out with you! If you want Little Bo''s body, Little Bo will dedicate his body! If you want Little Bo''s mind, Little Bo has only you in his mind!"


    Bogner''s teeth were chattering as he pointed at Xiaobo and asked Xiao Liqian with a sluggish expression, "Is he¡­ Is he really the ace you were talking about?"


    Xiao Liqian was also flustered. "He''s a little bit different, and I haven''t quite figured it out!"


    Chen Mu clapped the dust off his hands and came off Xiaobo''s body with a calm look. He had reverted to his normal, harmless appearance by then. That time, however, everyone''s gazes at him were completely different from before. Wherever he went, the people would unconsciously make way. People''s gazes at him were perfectly complicated, with some admiration, some fear, some puzzlement¡­


    What kind of person was he that could ride Xiaobo and hit him like a pig? Quite of few of them were secretly guessing Chen Mu''s identity. Such a person could never be someone unknown in the Heavenly Federation.


    Thinking of the way Chen Mu had just been so vicious, they were desperately searching their minds about what sort of fearful, famous person would take the bait of that culprit in front of them.


    By the time Chen Mu walked over to Bogner, he had completely restored his calm. "Make everyone scatter."


    "Yes, sir." Bogner hurriedly gave the order, and they all reacted quite a few times faster than normal.


    Chen Mu waved over Xiaobo, who had just crawled up. "Come over here."


    Xiaobo walked quietly over to Chen Mu. He bowed in salute to Bogner once he came over and then said to curry favor, "How are you, big brother?" Then, he bowed to Xi Ping. "How are you, big brother?" He also bowed to Xiao Liqian. "How are you, big sister?"


    The three of them looked at one another, not knowing what to say.


    By that time, Xiaobo looked appalling. His whole face was completely transformed, with black and blue all over. His body also looked like it had just gone through a bold struggle that ended in the violence of submission.


    "Miss Sue? Please ask her to come over for a bit," Chen Mu said.


    Bogner rushed out to invite Sue Lochiro over. She had seen the vicious battle with her own eyes. Oddly enough, she wasn''t at all afraid of Chen Mu''s ferocity in the end.


    Once she saw him, she couldn''t help but smile. "You were so awesome just now!"


    Chen Mu''s face showed a rarely seen blush, though he immediately returned to normal.


    When Sue Lochiro appeared, Xiaobo couldn''t take his eyes off her. His gaze lingered, and his mouth hung open with saliva about to drip onto his clothes.


    Without showing anything by his face or tone, Xi Ping said with a low voice into Xiaobo''s ear, "It''s the boss''s woman; think about it."


    Xiaobo abruptly shivered, and his gaze immediately restored its calm. He scrambled over to Sue Lochiro, calling to heaven and saying, "Big sister, your beauty is like a goddess fallen to Earth! You are like a bright moon whose radiance sprinkles over everything. Oh, you are electric, you are bright, you are¡­" Seeing everyone becoming gradually less happy out of the corner of his eye, he hurried up. "No wonder only such a wise and amazingly martial person as my big brother could match the noble and elegant goddess that you are!"


    Although Xi Ping had previously tried to keep his voice low, everyone was too close, and even Sue Lochiro had heard it. Her face had quickly turned red, showing the special modesty of a young girl. She wanted to retort, but she didn''t know what to say, not seeming to want to refute it.


    Xiao Liqian was looking back and forth at the two of them as though something were weird.


    Chen Mu took a look at the bashful Sue Lochiro, and his heart suddenly seemed to have been touched by something. But it turned out that so long as Chen Mu wasn''t enraged, his emotional control was still pretty strong. He said with his normal expression, "Could you help him a little by treating him, Miss Sue?"


    "Mmmm." Sue Lochiro gave a sound of assent that was too weak to hear before activating her apparatus.


    For such a high-level medical card artisan as Sue Lochiro, that sort of bruising was a piece of cake. She casually restored Xiaobo''s pig-like face to normal. Once Xiaobo saw that his face had returned to its former look, he was overjoyed. With a solemn expression, he took off a spare red cord from his wrist and tied his hair back up, intoxicated with himself.


    Chen Mu spoke to Bogner and Xi Ping. "Get ready. We''re going to leave after a few days."


    Bogner nodded. "We can leave at any time." He glanced at Xiaobo.


    Chen Mu turned to Xiaobo and said, "Will you be coming with us or remaining at the base? If you''re coming with us, how would you like to be treated?"


    Xiaobo muttered bitterly in a low voice, "Can I stay at this place? My reputation is destroyed." Hearing that, Sue Lochiro spat out a laugh.


    Xiaobo raised his eyes to look at Chen Mu. He cocked his head and thought about it for a while before saying, "Do you want to attract me? You could. I''ve already told Miss Xiao my conditions; I would serve someone for three years if they can pull out a card I can stand."


    "Take a look at this card." Chen Mu took the Wheel out of his apparatus and gave it to Xiaobo.


    Xiaobo took the Wheel and stuck it into his apparatus, but his face turned red. "Who can lend me a power card?"


    Xi Ping took one from his own apparatus and gave it to Xiaobo. Bogner looked around. Seeing Wei-ah not far away, he quickly relaxed. Wei-ah was unstoppable at such close range.


    As Xiaobo inserted the power card into his apparatus, his expression got gradually serious. By then, he was like a different person from the slimy, boastful, and dissolute type he had been.


    "Yikes!" There was some joy in Xiaobo''s shock.


    Xiao Liqian was looking at the pleasantly surprised Xiaobo and feeling a lot of conflict. Xiaobo was one of the base''s few aces, and the profits he produced by himself were quite a bit larger than the value several hundred ordinary jungle card artisans could produce. It was only the existence of those aces that had made it possible to get those rare materials, which was where the Hughes Chamber of Commerce got its reputation.


    But if Xiaobo was successfully attracted by Chen Mu, that would mean she could get a nice reward. The Hughes Chamber of Commerce hadn''t been able to get any card that could move Xiaobo and would never be able to attract him. Even if Chen Mu didn''t pull him into his hands that day, there would certainly be some second troop for an ace like him, or some third troop would show up. If that were to happen, she might possibly get nothing.


    Looking at it that way, to be taken away by Chen Mu was actually the best result. Thinking it through, Xiao Liqian gave out a long sigh, and her mood got a lot better. As she worried less about gains and losses, Xiao Liqian''s powerful curiosity immediately surged after being so low to the ground.


    Hearing just a few isolated phrases from what Uncle Bogner and Xi Ping had revealed in their speech, that boss of theirs should be one awesome card master without a doubt! But having gained first-hand knowledge that day about how aggressive Chen Mu was, she became curious about the card such an aggressive person would make. His ability to make Xiaobo so pleasantly surprised really itched at her mind.


    The look of surprise on Xiaobo''s face became stronger and stronger. The longer they waited, the more curious the crowd became. Even Chen Mu was utterly curious about what kind of power that card he had made would play out in Xiaobo''s hands. In the process of the contest with Xiaobo, he had discovered that Xiaobo''s perceptual acuity was quite a bit stronger than his own.


    Given how high the Wheel''s demands on perceptual acuity were, Chen Mu didn''t think he could give it to anyone else to use, apart from Xiaobo in front of him. He didn''t know when it might happen if he wanted to get to the level of being able to play out the Wheel. The later his perception improved, the harder it would be. Having used up so much precious material, along with his own mental power, it would be a complete waste to put the card he had made into his card wallet. A better card couldn''t turn into fighting strength by itself, and he would have made it in vain.


    Chen Mu pondered it a spell before deciding. He hadn''t previously thought Xiaobo would be such a personality, which made him momentarily hesitate. But his counterpart''s power had really moved him. Xiaobo''s control of perception had gotten to the point of perfection, and he had shown his creativity in many regards.


    For example, there was the electric net before, which had nearly killed Chen Mu. He had never thought energy could actually be used like that in what could be called a cunning trick. If such a card artisan joined the ranks of his team, its fighting power would immediately be upgraded by a chunk. The cruelty of the Heavenly Drum Village environment and the many aces over there would make it a good thing to add a bit of strength.


    Xiaobo had suddenly discovered something. Several dozen streams of fine but bright amber light were swirling around his body, tracing it at high speed. His whole body was then enshrouded in amber streams of light, which made Xiaobo look abnormally mysterious. The glowing streams gradually gathered into an amber glowing wheel, which slowly moved around Xiaobo.


    Then, the amber wheel suddenly shredded into a ball of glowing haze while still keeping Xiaobo enshrouded within it. The amber glowing mist started to fade, returning to the white mist that normally surrounded Xiaobo in a faintly discernible state.


    Chen Mu marveled at his ability to discover so many transformations within such a short time. It looked like that card was certainly suited to Xiaobo.


    Those several transformations made the onlookers continuously marvel. The number of the card''s transformations gave them a glimpse into its power. Still, Xiaobo''s explorations hadn''t stopped. What appeared next were the fist-sized glowing halos Chen Mu had previously emitted.


    Chen Mu was stirred and said to Lucky Xi, "Take a shot at this glowing halo."


    Lucky Xi didn''t quite understand, though he didn''t hesitate to raise his hand, where there were now several silvery threads. Not far from the glowing halo, the silver threads were abruptly and powerfully sucked in. Lucky Xi''s expression changed as he saw it happen.


    The second time, Lucky Xi released more than 24 of the silvery tendrils, which was the limit of what he could release. He didn''t shoot the silver threads toward the glowing halos that time, but he sent them to enshroud Xiaobo''s body.


    Surprisingly, those silvery tendrils were all sucked in by the glowing halo, which was like a black hole, not letting go of a single one.


    The amber glowing halo then turned silver and was suffused with a powerful silvery glow. A fine electrical sparking was also audible. The glowing halo seemed to have the ability to suck in energy, as Chen Mu mulled it over.


    Unlike the way Chen Mu was used to thinking about problems from an academic angle, everyone else''s feelings were more direct. It could suck in someone else''s energy? They couldn''t believe what they were hearing!


    Before they could react, the glowing halo suddenly lit up as a thumb-sized silver beam shot out from it. Silver threads were passing through all the gaps among everyone and shooting toward a chair.


    Zap! An electric snake danced chaotically, and the chair was turned to ashes in an instant!


    Everyone sucked in a breath of cold air in concert! What¡­ What was that? To be able to absorb the enemy''s attack and then release it? Those on the field were all sharp; of course they knew what that meant! It meant you would always remain in an undefeated position. That card was really too powerful!


    Everyone''s face then turned complex; there was envy, there was reverence, there was the surprise as though they had seen someone from outer space, and there was also concern. What those like Bogner were concerned about was that if that card were truly given to Xiaobo, it would bring some hidden trouble to his troops'' own security.


    Xiao Liqian was utterly dumbstruck. Any idiot would know its value, and she was already admiring Chen Mu to the point of bowing down to him. Of course, she didn''t need to say anything about Chen Mu''s card making ability, considering he''d been able to make that card. He also had the ability to pull out that sort of card just to attract a card artisan. That kind of appeal far exceeded what an ordinary person could do.


    From Xiao Liqian''s point of view, Xiaobo was doubtlessly an ace. But, if it had been her, she would never have used such a precious card to attract him. It could attract a still higher-level card artisan! She believed no card artisan could resist that card''s deadly temptation! Even if it were a card artisan from the Big Six, they would put their life on the line for it.


    A card making grand master! He was absolutely a grand master! Xiao Liqian''s gaze as she looked at Chen Mu was full of stars, and she couldn''t help but think about the advice Bogner had been giving her those last couple of days.


    Bogner had suggested that she go with them to the Heavenly Drum Village District to advance herself. She previously hadn''t been attracted by the suggestion, but she couldn''t keep her heart from pounding with excitement at that moment.


    Moreover, the card wasn''t finished with its surprises. Everyone suddenly felt a heavy weight on their bodies like they were made of lead. The couldn''t even lift their arms. Even Chen Mu couldn''t help but change his expression when that happened!


    Gravity! It could actually change the gravity!


    Everyone''s gazes at the apparatus on Xiaobo''s wrist were as if they were looking at something terrifying, which filled them with unfathomable fear. Apart from Chen Mu and Bogner, no one was paying attention to Xiaobo''s pallid face.


    Chen Mu slowed inwardly. It looked like that load was also quite heavy on Xiaobo. Trying some moves, it seemed like the gravity had increased about three times. An ordinary card artisan might be able to carry a load of 200 kilos on their back. For Chen Mu and Wei-ah, while that kind of gravity might have some influence on their speed, it wouldn''t have as much influence as for ordinary card artisans.


    It looked like the Wheel was truly a perfect match for Xiaobo!

 311 The Devious Xi Ping

    By the time he''d finished, Xiaobo''s face was pale, though his eyes were surprisingly bright. Once he''d turned off his apparatus, he strode straight over to Chen Mu and said with a fawning face, "I''ll be hanging with you, big brother! I''ll kill whomever you tell me to kill! I''ll be the spear in your hand, the whip you hold¡­"


    With no expression on his face, Chen Mu put out his hand. "First, give me the card."


    "No!" Xiaobo''s cry of grief really had an impact on those around. He sounded like he was spitting blood and would die. Xiaobo''s left hand was tightly covering the apparatus on his right wrist as though he were a fierce woman guarding her chastity.


    Seeing Xiaobo''s expression, Chen Mu unconsciously raised his fists. Xiaobo was startled to see Chen Mu''s clenched fists, and he plunged down to grab Chen Mu by the leg.


    "Big brother, take Little Bo with you. You have conquered my body and my heart! As long as you feed me, I won''t take any pay¡ªno bonus, no subsidy. I''ll be at the front of any charge and the back of any retreat. I can pour your tea, make your bed, and fold the sheets¡­"


    Hearing his emotional declarations, Xi Ping couldn''t help but cough. Among everyone there, only he had understood what Chen Mu was doing. Chen Mu''s idea of making Xiaobo give him the Wheel was nothing more than to draw Xi Ping into the bargaining. That had become a habit Chen Mu had been developing for a while by then. Whenever they had to do transactions, he would certainly have Xi Ping do the bargaining. Xi Ping was a worthy bargaining expert who was really sharp with his quick words. Chen Mu would sometimes be seen lamenting those.


    "Ah! No! Big brother, so long as you take me along, I''ll do anything!" Seeing Xi Ping about to say something, Xiaobo plaintively added those few words.


    "Little Bo!" Xi Ping stood, pushing up his glasses and speaking slowly. They were taking in crazy amounts then, and he had picked out a pair of glasses especially to identify all the materials.


    Xiaobo was looking at Xi Ping in a daze.


    Xi Ping said affably, "You say you don''t need any pay?"


    Xiaobo''s spirits were jolted, and he repeatedly nodded. "Right, right!"


    "You say you don''t need any bonuses? Subsidies?" The smile on Xi Ping''s face became more pleasant.


    "Right, right!" Xiaobo saw his hopes about to be realized, nodding to the point that those around him were afraid his neck would snap.


    "Oh, so that''s how it is. As far as being at the front of any attack and being the last to retreat, those are tactical matters, which I can''t consider. So, Xiaobo, how many years do you plan to serve the boss?" Xi Ping was all smiles.


    "Three years? No, five!" Xiaobo had held out three fingers at first and immediately stuck out two more.


    Xi Ping took a look at him and drew out his words earnestly. "Has your perceptual strength reached the sixth level, Little Bo?"


    Xiaobo''s heart skipped a beat. "It hasn''t, but I''ll break through right away. Half a year. In half a year, I''ll be able to break through."


    "Oh!" Xi Ping dragged out his exclamation before tailing off to continue on, smiling. "Well, Little Bo, you''ve tried this card. Tell me, if we were to use it to recruit card artisans at the fifth level of perceptual strength, how many could we recruit?"


    Xiaobo crumpled. "Five? Ten?" For Xiaobo to get so tangled up like that, of course he would have to understand the card quite well. Its value was enough for them to recruit dozens of level-five card artisans. There was no way he could even estimate an accurate value for the card.


    "Ah, well then let''s make a conservative estimate. How about five?" Xi Ping maintained his smile. "So, tell me, Little Bo; where would you find the other four level-five card artisans?"


    Xiaobo''s head drooped. Although there weren''t so many level-five card artisans, there also weren''t so few. He knew how slim his hopes were if he wanted the card to himself. He also knew that if the card were to be used to attract card artisans, it would be easy to attract card artisans at level six and above. They could even recruit higher-level card artisans. A card at that level would be something only the Big Six would have. Moreover, the highest-level cards of the Big Six were impossible for outsiders to get.


    "Still," Xi Ping said languidly, "seeing that you are so devoted to our boss, and the boss is rather appreciative of you, perhaps we could consider something."


    Xiaobo''s eyes lit up as he rushed to say, "Please, do tell. What are the conditions?"


    "Tell me, Little Bo; if we were to give you the sole use of a card that could attract five or more card artisans, wouldn''t we take a great loss? Considering our sincerity, now wouldn''t you like to express yourself?" Xi Ping still had that smile on his face.


    "Just tell me what your conditions are!" Xiaobo was grinding his teeth and speaking straightforwardly. Watching the mild smile on that big uncle was upsetting him.


    "Quick and straightforward! That''s the sort of person I like dealing with!" Xi Ping praised before calculating on his fingers. "Since it''s only you right now, Little Bo, shouldn''t your term of service be extended? Oh, let''s see¡­ If it''s five years per person, and we''re counting five people, then we would be eating quite a loss. I believe 25 years would be more fair!"


    "Twenty-five years!" Xiaobo was dumbfounded.


    So were Xiao Liqian and Bogner. Even Chen Mu was a little dumbfounded! Everyone''s gazes toward Xi Ping immediately changed. That old crook was really something! Xiao Liqian was secretly glad, thinking it was a good thing they didn''t transact much business. In any case, she felt a lot of sympathy for the petrified Xiaobo.


    Twenty-five years wasn''t very different from a lifetime of service. Such a length of service was hardly ever seen. Xiaobo''s face kept changing colors as his eyes showed how much he was struggling with the decision.


    Xi Ping kept smiling, not having changed his expression at all, as though he hadn''t taken note of everyone''s gazes. "We would still be taking quite a loss. We only counted five. If we were to count ten, it would be 50 years, and 20 would be 100 years."


    What Xi Ping said made Xiaobo''s expression change as he gritted his teeth and decided, his voice sounding like it was being squeezed out between his teeth. "Ok!"


    "Ho ho, Little Bo is a discerning youth, after all!" Xi Ping''s expression was full of praise. He then pulled out a stack of paper as though he were a juggler. "Oh, we have to take care of some office work. This is a contract. Just sign your name, and provide a fingerprint."


    Everyone was looking at Xi Ping, stunned silent. When had he prepared the contract?


    Once he had agreed, Xiaobo simply signed his name on the contract and left his fingerprint without saying another thing.


    "Little Bo is straightforward, after all!" Xi Ping jogged the contract square and smiled. "We are now in the same group. Oh, the contract is recognized and protected by the most authoritative bodies in the federation. If you were to default, the aftermath could be miserable. Furthermore, although Little Bo is a fifth-level card artisan, you will still have to take orders from our chief of security, Bogner. Ah, and in our team, only Mr. Wei-ah doesn''t need to recognize Chief Bogner''s jurisdiction. If Little Bo would like to enjoy Mr. Wei-ah''s good graces, you only need to hold out for ten minutes with him.


    Bogner was looking at Xi Ping as though he were some monster, a chill rising steeply from his heart. That old crook is¡­ is really too crafty! I can never fall out with him. Otherwise, I''m afraid I wouldn''t even know how to die without him. Still, in order to prove that what Xi Ping said was really true, Bogner coughed lightly. "Right. That''s the rule."


    The expressions on Crow Feather, Happy Padding, and the rest turned abruptly strange.


    "So? Would you like to give it a try, Little Bo?" Xi Ping''s voice had a note of devilish enticement.


    Hearing that, Xiaobo took a jolt to his spirit and jumped up from the ground, saying proudly, "Which one is Wei-ah? I challenge him to a fight! Hold out for ten minutes? What a joke. Watch me defeat him!"


    Everyone looked at Xiaobo as though they were looking at an idiot.


    Seeing Xiaobo''s lowly appearance, Chen Mu said to Wei-ah, "Don''t kill him."


    The expressions on Crow Feather and the rest all got a little bit richer.


    Xiaobo looked upset. What Chen Mu had said made it clear he didn''t think Xiaobo had any chance of winning. That really upset him! He decided to prove his worth. After he got that new card, he felt like a tiger that had grown wings; even if a card artisan with a level-six perceptual strength were in front of him, he would defeat him!


    Xiao Liqian was full of doubts. Which one was Wei-ah? She really didn''t have any impression of him. She had seen everyone''s reactions, which made her feel that the evening had really turned upside down. When Bogner and Xi Ping had previously shown such an expression for the first time, she hadn''t believed it. Afterward, the brawl with Chen Mu surprised everyone. Now, they were showing the same expression again! Could that Wei-ah truly be so awesome?


    Everyone shouted and spread out to open up some space. The crowd wanted to let the two of them have a good match-up, but they never thought a man''s shadow would suddenly flash by. They only felt a light wind across their faces.


    That was how Wei-ah made his very direct entrance!


    So fast! Xiaobo''s eyes were popping. Just as he was about to say something, a hand pinched his neck.


    Chen Mu''s requirements were simple¡ªjust don''t kill him. Wei-ah was lifting Xiaobo by the neck with his right hand. Without warning, his left fist was sinking into Xiaobo''s belly.


    Xiaobo''s eyeballs were sticking out to where they looked like they would leave their sockets. There was no sound coming out of his mouth. His expression froze.


    Wei-ah loosened his right hand and pulled back his fist to return to where he had been. After a couple of seconds, the blank-faced Xiaobo slowly plunked to the floor, unconscious.


    Wei-ah''s agile move was as fast as lightning. The fight was already over before anyone could react. No one had thought Xiaobo could win, but that was really just too quick!


    Everyone gulped, feeling lucky that they weren''t Xiaobo. How heavy were Wei-ah''s fists? Those who hadn''t tried it naturally didn''t know. Those who had, apart from Chen Mu, hadn''t been able to remain awake long enough to tell how strong he was!

 312 Novelty

    "You really won''t go with us?" Bogner was watching Xiao Liqian¡ªthe younger generation of his old friend. The hardships for a woman to be holding up such a base were easy to imagine.


    Xiao Liqian shook her head. Her smiling face remained light but sincere. "This is the only thing my uncle left, and I can''t abandon it. I don''t have great ambitions, and I only want to run the Hughes Chamber of Commerce well. You don''t have to worry about me, Uncle. I''m pretty awesome!"


    It was just like Hughes for her not to have ambitions. Seeing her serious face brought up the image of that middle-aged man to Bogner. Things remained while people changed. He was the only one left now.


    His partner that year¡­ Thinking about it, his heart ached. His face remained calm, however, as he took out some cards and gave them to Xiao Liqian. "The boss wanted me to give these to you. Use them to recruit a few aces. Take care."


    She took the cards and smiled sweetly. "Thank you, Uncle, and thank the boss." After some hesitation, she then said to Bogner, "Look out for Xiaobo if you can, Uncle. He''s always taken good care of me, and he really isn''t a bad fellow."


    Bogner laughed. "You can relax while he''s on my watch, ha ha!"


    The two of them waved goodbye. After turning around, Bogner sneered to himself. "That bastard Xiaobo has never looked very pleasing to me. Humph, he''s finally fallen into my hands¡­"


    Xiao Liqian didn''t return to the base until they''d gone far away. When she looked more closely at the five cards in her hand, she inadvertently saw the number "24" on one card''s corner.


    She was immediately taken aback, as though her brain were struck by lightning. She had suddenly remembered the set of cards that had made such a sensation a while before, and she rushed to flip through the other few cards. Astonishingly, in the lower right corner of each of the cards was a serial number!


    The workers in the Hughes Chamber of Commerce then heard the sound of joyful shrieking coming from the office of the president!


    * * *


    Bogner returned to the troops and glimpsed the listless Xiaobo with his head drooping. He walked over to Xi Ping. Half emotional and half in praise, he said in a low voice, "You are really tough, Old Xi!"


    Xi Ping''s expression didn''t change, and he kept looking straight ahead. "Well, we''re just helping the boss resolve some troubles. Rather than allowing this guy to become an unstable factor on the team, we might as well keep him honest. And, with Wei-ah around, we won''t be wasting any resources."


    His gaze fell onto little Yang Bo, who was being held by Lu Xiaoru, and he softened his gaze.


    "Also, don''t underestimate me. Hmph, nothing that''s fallen into my hands has ever turned upside down. A level-five card artisan at last, ha ha." Bogner was unconsciously rubbing the dark stubble on his chin.


    "It''s only insurance. We shouldn''t be too suspicious." Xi Ping retracted his gaze as he spoke languidly.


    Bogner grinned. "That''s just it. Now that you mention it, we really did take in quite a lot this time. I never thought this gang of bandits would have so much loot in their pockets. Too bad we didn''t have more time, or we could have squeezed them dry!"


    "Didn''t I say Miss Sue was a gem?"


    "Maybe every time we get somewhere, we should set up ''free'' clinics?"


    "No, no, what we should do¡­"


    * * *


    They finally arrived at the Heavenly Drum Village District after three months of trudging.


    "Please show your transit pass." The card artisan at the checkpoint was looking at the line of people in a state of alert, and he gave a look to his comrade. His comrade immediately understood and ordered the other card artisans to be on guard.


    There were more than 500 in the team, and they all looked pretty miserable. The clothes on their bodies were utterly threadbare. By all accounts, they looked more like refugees, but they gave off a really menacing feeling.


    Quite a few people from the ordinary residential districts were gathered in the vicinity of the checkpoint. With the situation being so shaky recently, the number of people wanting to enter the five flourishing districts had surged. But all of the five flourishing districts were blocking the entry of people from the ordinary residential districts.


    They showed a lot of contempt as they gazed at that raggedy team. If they weren''t dignitaries with status who wanted to enter the five flourishing districts, they were the rich from wealthy families. The vicinity of the checkpoint was covered with endless luxurious tents, as could be seen from the ones nearby. The place was full of singing and dancing every night. Those wealthy people had brought their salon parties with them.


    "That gang of beggars wants to enter the Heavenly Drum Village District? Ha ha, they want to go begging in there?"


    "Who knows, maybe they''re thinking of enriching the profession in the Heavenly Drum Village District!"


    * * *


    What made all those wealthy people stare with their mouths hanging open was that the card artisans at the checkpoint unbelievably let them in!


    "Oh, what did I just see? Good lord! That gang of beggars actually entered! They actually entered!"


    "Look, gentlemen; what kind of unfair treatment have we been getting? Those beggars, who are like caterpillars, were let through so easily. What about us? We upper-crust elite have been blocked at the checkpoint. We won''t stand for it!"


    The wealthy people immediately raised a hubbub and finally elected a certain Mr. York to represent them with the card artisans at the checkpoint. Mr. York was an old man of 60-something with a lot of rich political experience.


    "My honored eminences, I venture to inquire why they," Mr. York was pointing at the team that hadn''t quite disappeared, "were allowed to enter, while we," he pointed to himself and behind him to ask, "have been blocked here for so long?"


    The card artisan at the checkpoint glanced at Mr. York. "They have a transit pass. Do you?"


    "They have a transit pass?" Mr. York had never thought that would be the reason. He stammered, "They¡­ That gang of beggars could get transit passes?"


    "Watch what you say, Mister!" The checkpoint card artisan''s expression went cold. "They had a transit pass to the capital as citizens of the most noble flourishing district. What you said might be considered provocative to our people from the flourishing districts."


    Seeing Mr. York''s pallid face, the card artisan snorted coldly, "Beggars? Ignorant people will remain ignorant. That team of ''beggars'' would be enough to crush all of you! There is no rubbish in our flourishing districts, dear sir!"


    After he spoke, the card artisan turned around and left.


    * * *


    "Is this really Bartleman Village?" Bogner was mumbling to himself as he looked ahead.


    Far off in the distance, a huge city appeared in front of everyone. The city was established on a boundless plain, so it was still a long way away from them. Still, they were able to see how magnificent it was.


    "This city must be at least five times bigger than Pomelo and at least ten times as affluent." Xi Ping''s voice was full of excitement. For an astute businessman, a bustling city meant boundless business opportunities and boundless wealth.


    "This is still called a village?" Xiaobo had clearly been stunned by the so-called small village of Bartleman in front of his eyes.


    Droves of card artisans whizzed past overhead from time to time. The speed of the card artisans'' flight would sometimes alarm the crowd below, especially Xiaobo. He was the most genuine card artisan among them, so he felt it more powerfully. Seeing his face turn white and then green was quite interesting.


    "So many card artisans!" Bogner no longer knew how many times he''d had that feeling.


    There really were a lot of card artisans. The closer they got to Bartleman Village, the more obvious that became. Getting a little closer to the city, it became like a bustling street, with countless card artisans going back and forth and all looking very rushed. It felt like those high-volume trading ports where countless ships would be coming and going. The most they saw at once were more than 1,000 card artisans flying in midair, as thick as a swarm of hornets. Chen Mu and the rest were all drawing in breaths of cold air.


    Up until then, only Wei-ah''s expression hadn''t changed. Even Chen Mu looked a little unnatural.


    It wasn''t like the Outer Reaches outside the city. Instead, there was a sea of flowers and parks, with rivers flowing through them as though they were the link stringing it all together. The air was filled with the refreshing scent of flowers. There were expanses of light yellow, fiery red, and dull blue as though some great master had painted it freehand. The first time seeing such wonderful scenery at such a grand scale shocked everyone. The few women, like Sue Lochiro and Ru Qiu, had stars in their eyes.


    Bartleman Village was part of the region without ice and snow, which was located at the edge of the Heavenly Drum Village District. Three quarters of the district was icy and snowy, and only a quarter wasn''t.


    In the area without snow and ice, not many cities like Bartleman had been established in the plains. There were several small-scale villages, however.


    That city didn''t have a city gate, and it didn''t have a wall. In the same way, they couldn''t see an energy cover.


    Chen Mu and his party cautiously entered the city. That raggedy team drew quite a few people''s attention, but they all just did a double-take and didn''t show that they found them strange.


    Chen Mu quickly discovered the special characteristic of the card artisans there; they were always rushing. No matter what their strength was, there was no calm or leisure on their faces. That was completely different from the high-level card artisans he''d seen in Pomelo or Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    Everyone was truly shocked when they entered the city. None among the profusion of buildings was less than a 100-story skyscraper. With them so densely piled up, you wouldn''t feel so good if you were passing underneath them.


    Above them were numerous high-speed shuttle cards whizzing by. The surging flow of cars startled everyone. When they raised their heads to look, they really couldn''t even see the sky. What they could see was the bottom of car after shuttle car.


    Fortunately, what calmed people down was that the car travel area and the pedestrian area were separated by a layer of transparent energy covering. Otherwise, it would doubtlessly be scary if a shuttle car were to suddenly fall.


    Above the car travel area was a free-flight zone, which was the card artisans'' world. Out of considerations for safety, the car travel area and the flight zone were also separated by an energy cover.


    There was brisk music playing in the pedestrian zone, and the sound of flowing water could be heard gurgling underfoot, which calmed the mind and spirit. There was a lighted, colorful fountain and an energy bridge with variable colors. Fireflies dragging specks of the early dawn would sometimes gather and disperse in groups of three or five.


    Everything there was such a novelty that it was just like a fairy tale.

 313 Brenton

    They didn''t stay long at Bartleman Village, only doing a little resupplying before heading north. That was a decision Chen Mu made only after he''d gotten a general idea of the distribution of power in the Heavenly Drum Village District. He had previously thought the entire district was within the scope of Moon Frost Island''s power, only to find out how far off he was.


    Moon Frost Island was surely the biggest power in the Heavenly Drum Village District, but if you were to think they could take the dominant position there, that would be a big mistake. Most of what was in the Heavenly Drum Village District were small, scattered forts in the icy and snowy regions. It was said that the small forts in the icy and snowy regions numbered about 200,000, and those within the scope of Moon Frost Island''s power only constituted 30 percent.


    The rest of the forts were either free-standing or formed small alliances. Among them were some with an older history than Moon Frost Island. Each small fort had a small-scale village, though there weren''t many "small villages" like Bartleman Village.


    One important reason urging Chen Mu to decide to head toward the icy and snowy regions was that Moon Frost Island''s control of the other regions was a lot stronger than in the icy and snowy regions. Although Chen Mu hadn''t had any dealings with Moon Frost Island, the Big Six overall had made a poor impression on him. Of course, he couldn''t dispose of that batch of cards he had on him from the Federation Comprehensive Academy in a place like Bartleman Village. That would be the same as submitting himself to someone else''s realm.


    The icy and snowy regions were a vast stretch of icy plains and snowy mountains, and more than 200,000 small forts were scattered among them. The forts were actually somewhat larger versions of bases in the Outer Reaches. In general, the resident population would be only a few tens of thousands.


    The control of even Moon Frost Island wasn''t very powerful in the icy and snowy regions, not to mention the other organizations. That was just the sort of environment Chen Mu wanted.


    There were seven times more residents in the icy and snowy regions than there were in the warmer regions. That was far from what Chen Mu and the rest had expected.


    He had been enlightened later by what their guide had explained. In such a cold and cruel environment, card artisans'' perception would grow a lot faster than in the places where it wasn''t cold. That had led a lot of card artisans to swarm to the icy and snowy regions, while the more pleasant regions instead had lower populations.


    That was a special characteristic of the Heavenly Drum Village District, though it wasn''t the only one among the five flourishing districts. There was also Desert Camp in the Northern Reaches District, where it was blisteringly hot and arid all year. The environment was just as harsh, and the growth of a card artisan''s perception was no less than in the Heavenly Drum Village District.


    What surprised Chen Mu still more, however, was the way the card artisans in the flourishing districts looked. Compared to the strange temperaments of aces in the ordinary residential districts, the card artisan profession conducted itself a lot better. They were always extraordinarily busy, rushing around all day.


    Brenton was that way. He was the guide Chen Mu had hired. He had level-five perceptual strength, and Chen Mu had only had to pay 2 million Oudi for him to be their guide. If they were in Pomelo or Eastern Shang-Wei City, that rate would probably only hire a guide at that level for one day. There, 2 million Oudi could hire him for two months, which was a far lower price than anyone had expected.


    But Chen Mu quickly detected the difference. Although Brenton''s perceptual strength had reached the fifth level, his fighting strength fell far short of Xiaobo''s. The two of them were at completely different levels. That was when Xiaobo wasn''t using the Wheel. If he were to use that, any fight would be over in a very short time.


    That was something Chen Mu, Bogner, and the rest really couldn''t figure out. But after Brenton explained it, everyone was quickly enlightened.


    "This is my first time to see such an awesome battle card artisan as Mr. Xiaobo. Your control of energy has reached a simply superb place! You must certainly have gone through the tempering of countless life-and-death contests to be able to achieve such heights, right?" Brenton asked in admiration. He was just under two meters tall with a head of golden blond hair that was quite eye-catching in the sun. He was a sunny and handsome big fellow.


    He wasn''t wrong about that. Xiaobo had hunted alone in the jungle for several years, where he had experienced countless battles.


    "How can card artisans grow without battle experience?" Xiaobo asked with a look of incomprehension. He thought it was common knowledge that card artisans would be no use without battle experience.


    "Really? That''s what being a combat card artisan means?" Brenton scratched his head with a puzzled look. "Our training is in a training base. That''s why combat card artisans are so awesome!"


    "Are card artisans here divided between combat card artisans and the rest?" The puzzled look on Xiaobo''s face deepened, and it wasn''t just him; everyone else''s expressions looked the same. Although they did have construction card artisans on their team, that sort of card artisan from a different profession wasn''t seen very often. They were considered special talents in the ordinary residential districts.


    "A card artisan is a card artisan, and a battle card artisan is a battle card artisan!" Brenton was in deadly earnest as he looked at Xiaobo, puzzled. He then asked, "Do you mean to say that the capital isn''t like that? That would be really strange. From birth, everyone in the Heavenly Drum Village District has to learn how to become a card artisan. By the time they are older, they choose their area of expertise. Very few become battle card artisans, but those who do are extremely strong."


    "Everyone is a card artisan?" Xiaobo was taken aback. Only a few in the ordinary residential districts could become card artisans.


    "Right!" Brenton spoke as though it were a matter of course. "How can you find work if you''re not a card artisan? The social welfare money I have to pay each month is 700,000 Oudi. Otherwise, I wouldn''t be able to maintain my two-star residential benefits."


    "What are two-star residential benefits?" Xi Ping asked out of curiosity. That was the first time anyone had heard that strange term.


    Brenton didn''t find that strange. "I guess the standards for implementation in the capital and the Heavenly Drum Village District aren''t the same. For a local like me, the benefits I receive are directly linked to my contributions. According to the differences in the benefit payments you hand over every month, the benefits you enjoy also differ. For example, I turn over 700,000 Oudi each month for the whole year to be able to get the two-star residential benefits. If I continue that for three years, I can rise into three-star residential benefits. The higher my star level, the better my benefits. That would especially include some of the professional courses. There would be no way to study them without benefits. Without studying those skills, you wouldn''t be able find good work, which could then become a vicious circle."


    "What do you specialize in, Brenton?" Xiaobo asked in curiosity.


    "Perception of smell," Brenton said.


    Everyone looked at one another, and Xiaobo asked, "What is that? The name sounds strange."


    "It would be common not to have heard of it! It is a pretty obscure profession that uses perception to distinguish the different molecules among smells to determine their composition. But my current level is too low. If it were higher, I could be an aromatic card artisan. The salary of an aromatic card artisan is quite high," Brenton said with a look of longing.


    "That''s awesome." Xiaobo was startled. He had never heard of using perception to analyze the molecules in a smell. "What level of perceptual refinement does that require?"


    "Pretty much the normal level. I still don''t have enough perceptual acuity to do an accurate analysis. I can do a simple one, but if it gets more complicated than that, like with natural fragrances, I would be uncertain. Their composition is too complex." Brenton was a little embarrassed when he responded.


    The more he heard Brenton speak, the more surprised Chen Mu and the rest felt. The level of development in the Heavenly Drum Village District had left the ordinary residential districts way behind. That wasn''t embodied in any particular technology but was an overall lead in all directions.


    The way they used their systematically formed perception was to extend it into all areas of life. By comparison, the ordinary residential districts were who knew how many years behind.


    Having been born in the ordinary residential districts, Chen Mu and the rest had more of a sense of belonging there. None of this sat too well with them.


    Brenton was quite talkative and never stopped introducing the local customs of the Heavenly Drum Village District, which greatly expanded everyone''s horizons.


    "Don''t assume the icy and snowy regions are uninhabited. You might find that it''s a lot more bustling there than in Bartleman Village. Quite a few of the cities there are established on top of ice that has never melted. They are truly cities on top of water. Ha ha, you would never imagine what a sight it is where over 1 million people live on the ice. To tell the truth, I was surprised myself the first time I saw it. Moreover, if you have enough power, you can go to underwater communities. The Heavenly Drum Village District is the only one of the five flourishing districts that has underwater communities. They are a lot of fun, although the cost of living is unfortunately way too high, along with the demands on power!" Brenton looked full of regret.


    Those days, everyone had been hearing all sorts of new terms. They would remember hearing about the underwater communities.


    Brenton''s expression suddenly changed. "On no! We''ve run into a flock of dingbirds! Run!"


    Everyone was scared and rushed to keep up.


    "What kind of bird is a dingbird? Where? Why didn''t I discover it?" Xiaobo was looking around in curiosity and couldn''t find anything.


    Brenton didn''t look so good as he smiled bitterly. "The dingbird is really fierce and fast. We can''t fall behind. I found their scent in the air with my perception!"


    The card artisan responsible for scanning then discovered the situation. "Something is coming toward us at a very high speed!"


    Without Bogner having to give any commands, all the small teams immediately prepared for battle. The non-combatant personnel and the shuttle cars were surrounded in the middle, and five small teams plus the elite team of card artisans were stationed on the perimeter. Lu Xiaoru and the others were in the second line.


    Brenton was curious to assess that team. Although they weren''t high-level, they were well-trained, and none of them looked flustered. Even the non-combatant personnel in the middle looked unruffled.


    What a strange team! Some real curiosity arose in him, but he was quickly enshrouded in terror. His luck had turned bad running into the dingbirds, which were such unpleasant creatures!


    It was his first time to encounter such a thing while guiding, and he couldn''t help his regret. His bitter smiled deepened as he looked over that team. Apart from Xiaobo, who had some fighting strength, the rest of the card artisans had a perceptual level of about four. He didn''t expect much from that sort of team. Although Mr. Xiaobo was awesome, he alone couldn''t guarantee the safety of the entire team.


    The clear squawks coming from far away and the dark spots in the distance were approaching at a shocking speed. Everyone could finally see clearly what kind of bird the dingbird was!

 314 The Dingbird

    The dingbird was about three meters long, its whole body a bluish-black with a long beak, sharp talons, and eyes like rubies. It had long, featherless wings. The thing people found most strange was that the wings were wrapped in a layer of light blue-green glow. They were so fast they looked like green lightning.


    Brenton had turned white. The first time he encountered a dingbird, he had only ever heard how scary it was. But when he saw it with his own eyes, he really felt the terror. They were really fast! In front of them, card artisans with good speed simply looked like snails.


    Dingbirds were carnivorous and social animals who generally hunted in formation. Their talons were incredibly sharp, and they could easily penetrate the thick skin of a striped rhinoceros. The most terrifying thing was their high-speed attack. If you hesitated at all, you would be dead. Their weight was similar to a shuttle car, and their speed was who knew how much faster!


    Everyone had prepared for battle, including Chen Mu. That wasn''t the time to conceal his power. Having seen the speed of the dingbird, everyone well understood that they didn''t dare to underestimate it. It was the fast wild beasts that gave people the most headaches. They had made contact with quite a few wild beasts during that time, but none could compare with the dingbird.


    The flock of dingbirds had clearly discovered them. Just seeing the dingbirds draw back their wings and suddenly climb, the card artisans who were familiar with birds knew that was the precursor to their making an attack.


    Sure enough, after their climb, the flock of dingbirds immediately commenced their attack.


    Hong, hong, hong! The attack launched by the dingbirds was so shockingly powerful that it brought about the sounds of a thunderstorm. Dozens of dingbirds were diving toward the crowd, with their spread wings pulled back and their whole bodies drawn in like a sharp arrow, the arrowhead being the tip of their beaks. Their speed abruptly increased!


    What was still more frightening was that in the very front of those dingbirds diving at high speed was a light green conical energy shield. As they increased their speed, the conical energy shield deepened in color.


    "Lu Xiaoru!" The ever-steady Bogner''s face was serious as he called out in a deep voice.


    "Yes, sir!" Lu Xiaoru gave her response, but she didn''t immediately move. Her eyes were fixated on the group of dingbirds that was approaching at high speed.


    Her body was covered in a standard female battle suit, which made her look unspeakably valiant. It was the combat suit most often seen on the market in the Heavenly Drum Village District, costing 300,000 Oudi apiece. It had terrific stretchiness and could resist a certain degree of energy attack. That was something Xi Ping had purchased for everyone in Bartleman Village.


    Her skin had darkened considerably from before, but that hadn''t made her face lose its color. On the contrary, it increased the special look of gritty capability of a card artisan. Her constant training and fighting made her a completely different person from the Lu Xiaoru who''d previously lived it up and courted favor. She was now an excellent, pure card artisan.


    As she sharply focused all of her attention, the speed of the dingbirds seemed to have slowed a little. The thunderous sound they''d brought along with their charge disappeared for her. She knew in the face of such high-speed beasts, the slightest negligence would be extremely deadly.


    Her pupils suddenly widened. Now! Her right hand, which had been ready for action, rose quietly.


    Weng! In frequencies that were inaudible to human ears, she emitted high-frequency sound waves!


    Some fine distortions appeared in the scene in front of them, which was the result of the high-frequency sound waves disturbing the air. But that was just a side effect. What was truly scary about that move were the vibrations of those formless, insubstantial soundwaves.


    Like arrows, the dingbirds were diving headlong into the zone enshrouded in high-frequency sound waves.


    Gua! Gua! Gua! The powerful sound waves were lethal to them, and the dingbirds squawked in panic. Their iron-like skin did nothing against the sound waves!


    Hong! The forwardmost dingbirds suddenly suffered the sound waves'' attack, and they lost control over their bodies in their panic. Their speed was so fast that they slammed into the ground after losing control. That frightened the rest of the dingbirds, who rushed to control their bodies. Although they didn''t hit the ground, their formation was destroyed. The sharp green energy shields in front of them disappeared in an instant.


    "Attack!" Bogner coldly spat out the word.


    Pu, pu, pu!


    Countless blossoms of blood appeared where the energy shuttles had shot holes in the dingbirds'' bodies. The only thing left was the two wings wrapped inside the layer of that glow, which left most of them safe.


    Neither Chen Mu, Wei-ah, nor Xiaobo had made any moves, but the rest of the card artisans were on fire. Countless strange, glowing energy bodies shot toward the sky. None was more beautiful than the bar-browed man''s Cross. The bright red, cross-shaped energy body imprinted a cross-shaped wound on the dingbirds'' bodies. Compared to the bloody hole left by the hits from the energy shuttles, the cross-shaped wounds were spurting three times faster.


    Faced with such dense firepower, the dingbirds had received a devastating blow! The sound of aggrieved squawking came from one bloodied dingbird on the verge of collapse as it suddenly fanned out its wings and came shooting down! The light green conical energy shield had re-appeared in front of it.


    The expressions on the card artisans below shifted. Without needing any orders, most of their firepower was abruptly shot toward that stranded beast''s head.


    Pa, pa, pa! The energy shuttles hit the conical energy shield, setting off spurts of glowing spray. However, apart from the energy shield dimming a little, it emerged unscathed. The other few energy shuttles hit the back half of the dingbird, leaving a string of bloody wounds. But its speed hadn''t slowed in the least.


    "Look out!"


    What happened next was too fast¡ªtoo fast for most of the people to react.


    Xiu! A sharp whistling reached a crystal-clear crescendo!


    It was Chen Mu. He finally couldn''t help but make a move! The tailless shuttles that had been rapidly spinning on his finger flew off from his hand in stream after glowing stream. They hit the conical energy shield protecting the dingbird''s head.


    Pa! The energy shield finally couldn''t withstand the blow. It exploded into bits, disappearing after being ignited by the air shooting past. Just then, the dingbird finally went headlong into the crowd.


    "Aaaah!"


    A mournful scream changed all of their expressions. The body of a card artisan had been completely skewered, turning his flesh into a blur. Everyone was so enraged their eyes nearly popped out. They couldn''t even say goodbye.


    Enough energy shuttles to fill the sky and cover the earth shot like crazy at that dingbird! In the blink of an eye, it had been shot into a pile of mincemeat.


    Hong! Hong! Another two dingbirds struggled down at high speed. With a cool expression, Chen Mu''s move was extremely quick. He shot off three energy shuttles at once and precisely hit the first dingbird.


    The first tailless shuttle made the conical energy shield of the dingbird dim until there was nearly no glow.


    The second tailless shuttle made the conical energy shield shatter with no suspense.


    The incredibly accurate shot of the third tailless shuttle hit the dingbird in the head, leaving a bloody wound.


    The dingbird''s ruby eyes immediately dimmed. The lifeless body smashed into the crowd like a shooting star because of its inertia. One of the card artisans had pretty awful luck and was injured when it smashed into him.


    The second dingbird was brought down by Xiaobo. Out of nowhere, dozens of amber glowing streams suddenly appeared in midair. They looked like living creatures as they tightly entangled the dingbirds. The dingbirds and the conical energy shields were wound up solidly together.


    The amber streams were razor-sharp threads as they twisted and tangled. Then, with a light popping sound, the conical energy shields were the first things to break apart. The unprotected dingbirds were left entangled by the amber glowing streams and were mutilated into dozens of pieces, which smashed to the ground.


    The dingbirds in the sky were finally wiped clean, but no one relaxed; they shot at the dingbirds that were still struggling, not stopping until they were certain they had all been killed. It was a brief battle, though it was dangerous far beyond anything they had encountered before.


    No one had imagined the dingbirds would be so violent-tempered. Moreover, the conical energy shields they produced were far stronger than they could have expected. The energy shuttles shot from the set of cards had no way to smash them. If it weren''t for Chen Mu and Xiaobo acting, the aftermath would doubtlessly have been a lot more frightening.


    Still, most of the credit for the fight didn''t go to Chen Mu or Xiaobo, but to Lu Xiaoru. If it hadn''t been for the wonders of her high-frequency sound waves, they might have taken heavy casualties in the battle.


    Closely examining the dingbird bodies on the ground, Bogner looked pretty bad. "Their skin is hard, and their wings can form an energy barrier. No wonder they''re so fast! Its conical energy shield must be used by the long beak." Bogner kicked the dingbird''s extremely hard beak with his foot.


    With his new lease on life, Brenton was looking at Chen Mu and the rest with incredible adoration. That brief battle had given him a shock like he''d never felt before. That was a flock of dingbirds¡ªdozens of them. If they had been a team of ordinary card artisans instead of specialized battle card artisans, everything would have pointed to disaster. That team had only sacrificed one person before annihilating the entire flock of dingbirds.


    "The dingbirds'' beak and talons, along with the skin on their wings, are all hard-to-get materials. They can be sold for a high price. If the wing skin from a dingbird is used to make a shuttle car, it would increase its speed by quite a bit. The beak and talons are outstanding card making materials, though I''m not a card master. I don''t know much about that." Brenton spoke with a sense of envy.


    There were at least 30 dingbirds on the ground, which was a rather good haul! That would be enough to get excited about.


    However, there was no joy on Chen Mu''s face as he looked at that bloodied card artisan. Everyone was in a bad mood. There had been little attrition after experiencing their first battle. There had been a lot of wounds, but with Sue Lochiro there, they had all survived.


    They hadn''t thought that just as they entered the Heavenly Drum Village District, they would experience attrition. As they now thought carefully about that battle, Chen Mu felt his heart go cold. If it weren''t for Lu Xiaoru''s ultrasonic wave, and if they had been fighting according to their normal style, then the aftermath¡­

 315 Shocking News

    Mobley had a grave expression as he bent down to carefully turn over the dingbird corpses. Every one of the dead bodies was riddled with wounds and heavily damaged. He finally understood why his counterpart hadn''t wanted the dingbirds'' wing skin, which looked like a sieve. It would be useless.


    One of the team members couldn''t help but open his mouth. "Are we just going to leave things like this, Chief?"


    "Yeah, we''ve spent three months searching for that flock of dingbirds with great difficulty. Now, that gang of jerks kills them! How are we going to just swallow that?" another team member added.


    All the other team members were watching Mobley. They had expended a lot of effort on that flock of dingbirds, spending an entire three months. That wasn''t so that gang of jerks could just take them as though they were ready-made for them. How could they not be outraged?


    Coldly looking at those troublemakers in a bad mood, Mobley shouted, "Shut your mouths! Are you so pigheaded? We''ve been dealing with these dingbirds for so long, and you still don''t understand how powerful and cunning those bastards are? Look at these bodies all pounded into a sieve! That gang is powerful. Are you that clueless?"


    Everyone was silenced, knowing the leader was right. That flock of dingbirds had tormented them for so long; of course they shouldn''t underestimate their power. The power of that little team should certainly not be underestimated either.


    The one who had first spoken couldn''t help but mumble, "If we hadn''t wanted the wing skin whole, why would we have turned on them?"


    "Ok." Mobley was tired of being tangled up with that stubborn guy. "We drove the dingbirds here, and fortunately they ran into them. If they had run into a less powerful caravan, that would have meant trouble."


    The others were taken aback by what Mobley said, only just realizing the fix they might have been in. Right. If they had driven the dingbirds there, it could have been a disaster for any caravan. The harm to the reputation of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team would be huge. They weren''t just some unknown team of card artisans. Their credibility and reputation were excellent. That was something every team member was proud of. Their attitudes were finally calmed down by that.


    Not paying attention to the team members, Mobley looked at all the dead bodies on the ground and was momentarily stunned. He only then realized he had forgotten to ask the name of that team and its young boss. It was rare to run into such a powerful team. Not having made friends made him feel some regret. Then, there was that impassively calm youth who had made such an impression on him.


    "Chief! Chief! Take a look at this!" one of the teammates shouted.


    "What''s up?" Mobley lifted his head with some curiosity. That team member had always been rather savvy and would seldom be seen making a fuss. As he was asking, he started wading over to him.


    "Take a look, Chief." The teammate was pointing to a piece of bloody flesh on the ground with a serious expression. Those dozens of pieces of flesh of various sizes that were scattered on the ground should have been from the bodies of many dingbirds.


    Mobley''s heart skipped a beat. Disregarding the acrid smell of fresh blood, he picked up a piece to look at. He expression gradually turned serious. The flesh was perfectly smooth where it had been cut. It must have been cut by something very sharp. On the ground where the dozens of pieces of flesh were strewn, Mobley found at a glance that it was the result of one dingbird being chopped up.


    It was hard to imagine what card could achieve such results. The dingbirds were as fast as lightning, and the energy shield on their beaks was high-strength. No ordinary attack could break it up.


    Glancing at the shredded flesh from the dingbird on the ground, he was looking for the head, which was cut into pieces just the same. After being hunted down, the head of a dingbird would often be the best-preserved part. That was because it was protected by the conical energy shield during the process of the impact.


    But there was only a single dingbird like that among all the bodies. That calmed Mobley a little bit. It looked like there was an ace watching over that team. That was common enough as he thought about it. A large team like that would have to have an ace watching over them.


    Mobley had already made up his mind that the next time he ran into that team, he would be certain to make friends.


    * * *


    Chen Mu was already moving on, and they were about to enter the icy and snowy regions. They stopped on the edge of the region at a small village called Oak. That "little village" wasn''t much smaller than Bartleman Village. It was located on the edge of the icy and snowy region, making it an important replenishment point. Caravans and card artisans going back and forth had brought prosperity to Oak.


    Since it wasn''t on the plains, it didn''t have the magnificent grace of Bartleman, but it did have a feeling of cold heights that Bartleman didn''t have.


    Before they got to the small village of Oak, everyone clearly felt the temperature plummet. Chen Mu and his team would have to buy clothes to keep warm. Although they were wearing battle suits that had cost 300,000 Oudi apiece, the warmth of those rompers was nothing to speak of.


    Apart from that, they also needed to buy a few shuttle cars. That had been Brenton''s suggestion. Unless card artisans were truly aces, few would use jet stream cards in the icy and snowy regions. The strange and unfathomable flow of cold in midair was enough to freeze you solid, and it could blow you in any direction. Compared to a jet stream card, a shuttle car would actually be more reliable.


    Chen Mu adopted his suggestion. With so many non-combatants among them, safety would be extremely important.


    Brenton had always thought that party to be strange. They knew nothing about the Heavenly Drum Village District. He really didn''t understand why they weren''t riding in the long shuttle trains with so many non-combatants on the team. If they were to take the shuttle train, not only could they get to their destination more quickly, but they also wouldn''t run into danger. The cost certainly wouldn''t be more than buying several shuttle cars.


    But those thoughts only flashed through his mind. He kept warning himself that he was only their guide, so what was he doing thinking about it so much? Brenton smiled. For him, the income would be enough for several months of benefit payments. He wasn''t some little princeling who knew nothing about the world. He had seen with his own eyes how they had annihilated dozens of dingbirds.


    Although his counterpart hadn''t said so, he surmised the team was a team of card artisans. A card artisan team at their level would be really awesome, although he still hadn''t remembered which card artisan team he had in his head that might be connected with the gang in front of him. If he could establish good relations with those card artisans, it would doubtlessly be a big haul for him. That was why he was being cooperative and never mixed up about the directions. If his counterpart had any questions, he would answer them patiently.


    Chen Mu was drinking hot tea, a kind that was a necessary staple for life in the icy and snowy regions. It could promote the body''s blood circulation. It tasted a little salty and had a unique palate. Once it was drunk, the whole body would feel warm and comfortable in the cold places.


    Sue Lochiro, Lu Xiaoru, and Ru Qiu were also holding hot tea. After the three of them drank it, their faces were red all over and unspeakably alluring. They turned the heads of the card artisans who were resting all around.


    But those three women didn''t feel the least bit uncomfortable. Of course, nothing more needed to be said about Sue Lochiro and Lu Xiaoru, but even Ru Qiu had countless suitors on campus.


    The lounge provided snacks and tea, and if you wanted something to eat, they could provide that as well. Card artisans would generally be there for short stays, and there were quite a few card receivers in the lounge. Many of the card artisans liked to watch the news or talk about it.


    There weren''t more than 100 with Chen Mu, and they didn''t really draw any attention in the large hall. Such a huge hall could hold more than 2,000 at once.


    After a while, Xi Ping, Xiaobo, and Brenton returned.


    "We''ve purchased what we need." Xi Ping was always meticulous in what he did. He then leaned in to tell Chen Mu something in his ear. "I found out where the black market is here, Boss. Should we deal with those things?"


    Chen Mu was taken aback, immediately understanding what "those things" referred to. After a little thought, Chen Mu nodded.


    Xi Ping stood back up. Before Xiaobo could bring his tea to his mouth, he heard Xi Ping saying languidly, "Little Bo¡­" Xiaobo felt a sudden shiver, and the hot tea near his mouth nearly scalded his lips. He would unconsciously shudder when he heard Xi Ping call out "Little Bo." By the time he had signed over the deed to his body, he had slowly started to become familiar with Chen Mu and the others, and he found out how crafty that old crook was. Thinking back on when he had so foolishly entered into their trap, he felt such remorse that his guts turned blue. It left a dark shadow in his heart.


    Only afterward did he discover it wasn''t such a great deal to be there. Needless to say, no one dared to guess what the boss was thinking. And, there was Wei-ah. When Xiaobo saw Wei-ah, he would deliberately take a detour. We are handsome guys and don''t recognize those who aren''t human.


    Who would have thought Bogner would be a crafty character as well? He didn''t even have the strength to call out after every day''s training.


    Then, there was Sue Lochiro, the boss''s woman. No moves on her. That old crook Xi''s warning still rang in his ear. Lu Xiaoru was so bright and radiant, but apart from the boss and Sue Lochiro, she wouldn''t even look at anyone else.


    Fortunately, there was still Ru Qiu. Although she didn''t have great looks, her refreshing temperament was enough to cause a rush of excitement. Who knew she would be so hard to chat with? Ru Qiu gave him a note after a looking at him for a while.


    "There are ten questions there. If you answer six, you pass. If you pass, you can come looking for me again." Ru Qiu took a look at Xiaobo, whose face had turned white, and smashed his every last hope. "Oh, right. After the written test is complete, there''s still an interview."


    Carrying the test paper along with his broken heart, Xiaobo silently left Ru Qiu''s room. Under a twin attack to his flesh and his spirit, Xiaobo immediately became more honest.


    Watching Xi Ping looking at him, all smiles, Xiaobo hastily stood up with a shiver. Leaving the lounge, Xiaobo couldn''t help but ask, "Where are we going, supervisor?" His gaze fell onto the box Xi Ping was carrying.


    Xi Ping carelessly brought the box in front of Xiaobo''s face. "We''re just, um, going to do some little business."


    "Oh." Xiaobo nodded, seeming to understand without understanding. He took the box perfectly honestly. What was in it? It was rather heavy, but seeing that Xi Ping wasn''t paying attention, he thought it probably wasn''t worth much.


    In the lounge, Chen Mu was in the middle of discussing something with Bogner. "What thoughts do you have about where we might go?" That was the most important question looming in front of them as they were about to enter the icy and snowy regions. They needed to determine their objective.


    Bogner shook his head, continuing to smile. "I''m not familiar with this place. I''ll have to consider it some more. Ha ha, but if we keep going along like this, it won''t be so easy if the Federation Comprehensive Academy comes looking for us again! We don''t know where we''re going ourselves, so I''d say they wouldn''t be able to guess!"


    Chen Mu couldn''t help but smile. Yep. Even he hadn''t thought through where they were going, so how could the Federation Comprehensive Academy guess? The reason they hadn''t taken the train was to avoid the Federation Comprehensive Academy''s line of sight.


    Tang Hanpei had left a deep impression on Chen Mu. Whether it was by power alone or by other more thoughtful means, that man wanted power to a simply outrageous extent. Moreover, that case of cards Xi Ping had just gone off with were all produced at the Federation Comprehensive Academy. He hadn''t taken out the Cross-Section of Styles. He still hadn''t completely gone through it. That card would also be too eye-catching. Chen Mu didn''t want to provoke any trouble by selling it. By comparison, the three- or four-star cards in that case would only be considered ordinary.


    Just then, the voice on the card receiver attracted all of their attention. Chen Mu and Bogner were both taken aback and looked at one another, not being able to stop their gaze from returning to the screen.


    "The latest news! We''ve just received late-breaking news! Three months ago, Tang Hanpei suddenly made his attack, cutting off Pomelo entirely from the outside world. Just now, we''ve received news that someone has left Pomelo!"


    The host''s thrilled voice made everyone stop what they were doing.

 316 A Big Shock

    "Someone has finally gotten out of Pomelo! Who could it be? What has really been happening in Pomelo? I''ll be getting to the bottom of that right away!" The host''s tone was high and excited, but it then changed. "Don''t go away! Don''t go away by any means! Don''t take your eyes off of us, or else you will regret it for the rest of your life. What will follow will be a moment seen by throngs! There will be a lot to marvel at after the following advertisement!"


    Cursing abruptly sounded up in the big hall. Every card artisan who had just had his appetite whetted was dying to go up and tear that host to pieces. Even Chen Mu just stared. He couldn''t help but think the host was really funny. Bogner didn''t have that many scruples. He just hurled the abuse, cursing.


    The awful advertisement made the fire in everyone''s belly grow. Fifteen seconds of that seemed to drag out forever. The ads finally finished, and the abnormally noisy big hall abruptly quieted down.


    Amazingly, Wang Ze and Jing appeared on the screen. The card artisans in the big hall obviously didn''t recognize the two of them, but they still held their breaths, waiting for what was to come. What sort of earth-shattering news would come from the mouths of those two?


    Chen Mu and Bogner looked at one another as their expressions turned more serious. The teams then following Wang Ze and Jing were the teams that were there when they entered Pomelo. It looked as though they were still intact. He had never thought the two who appeared on the screen would actually be people he knew. That rather surprised Chen Mu.


    After he thought it over, however, it didn''t seem so unlikely. The two of them represented the Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple. Unless Tang Hanpei wanted to make enemies of those two, they could definitely provide him with a certain convenience. The power of their teams was among the strongest within Pomelo, apart from the Federation Comprehensive Academy and the Central Repository of the Classics.


    Wang Ze and Jing walked forward, and Chen Mu could see that neither of them could help their looks of relief. Chen Mu''s gaze fell onto the big boxes they each held. A reporter up front who was doing some interviewing had sharp eyes and immediately recognized Wang Ze and Jing.


    "The honored Mr. Wang Ze and Miss Jing, how are you? I am a reporter from the official federation platform. May I ask you a few questions?" The reporter was cautious in the way he asked. They represented the Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple, and he was nothing but an insignificant reporter. He hurried to retract his normal expression.


    "The official federation platform?" Wang Ze paused momentarily and nodded. "Mmmm, but I can''t guarantee I will answer your questions." The relationship between the official federation platform and the Big Six was a little complicated. Jing didn''t look so unhappy about what Wang Ze had done. She too understood they needed to protect their public image.


    The reporter was thrilled, but he quickly restrained his emotions. "Thank you for your generosity! Can you tell me what really happened in Pomelo?"


    Wang Ze''s expression became a little strange as he said with a bitter smile, "I''m not sure what to say about that, though I do think everyone will find out soon."


    The reporter was discreet; although he hadn''t received the response he had hoped for, he immediately switched his questioning. "What are those big boxes you and Jing are holding?"


    Something flashed through Wang Ze''s eyes, and he hesitated before he responded. "In these two boxes are the ashes of Mr. Qiao Yuan and Mr. Mi Xiaqing. We have been commissioned by Mr. Tang Hanpei to send them to the Central Repository of the Classics. The great Tang Hanpei says they were true soldiers and should be honored."


    Whether it was that reporter or Chen Mu and everyone in the big hall, everything went dead silent! That scene wasn''t only happening there; the entire Heavenly Federation seemed stunned by those few words.


    "Excuse us, but we must be on our way. Good-bye." Wang Ze was perfectly polite toward the transfixed reporter. After speaking, he gave a look toward Jing, and they quickly departed.


    "Mr. Wang Ze, Mr. Wang Ze!" Not until the group had traveled a ways did the reporter, who had been lost in shock, come back to his senses.


    The party went ahead in silence. Jing suddenly opened her mouth. "What did Mr. Tang Hanpei really do in the end?"


    "I don''t know," Wang Ze said after thinking, shaking his head.


    What he said just then had been deliberate. He didn''t believe the enmity between the Federation Comprehensive Academy and the Central Repository of the Classics would be resolved by anything he might say. The pride of the Central Repository of the Classics had been nurtured for hundreds of years. Now, in front of the entire federation, it had been trampled to pieces by Tang Hanpei. That kind of hatred wasn''t going to be resolved even after another hundred years.


    As far as the Star Academy was concerned, it was a good thing. He knew Jing felt the same way.


    He was still more certain that what he was doing was part of what Tang Hanpei had anticipated. That had prevented him from feeling any pride. His graceful and confident figure seemed to be hidden in the shadows for the moment in such a blurred and unfathomable time. A chill arose irrepressibly from the deepest recesses of Wang Ze''s heart. What was he going to do in the end?


    They quickly encountered card artisans from the Central Repository of the Classics who had just gotten the news.


    After those few short words, there was a huge uproar in the entire federation. No one questioned the veracity of the news since the one who had told it was none other than Wang Ze from the Star Academy. And, by his side was Jing, the student of Ying Chen from the prior generation of the Bitter Solitude Temple.


    Most everyone was certain that the decline of the Central Repository of the Classics was a foregone conclusion. But they were equally convinced their counterattack would be fiercer and more violent than any caged beast!


    The strange silence in the big hall left everyone, including Chen Mu, thinking about what had happened.


    Just then, Xi Ping and Xiaobo returned. The silence immediately put them on their guard.


    "What kind of excitement have we missed?" Xiaobo shrugged, looking as though he didn''t care. But if anyone were fooled by his harmless look, they would certainly die a miserable death.


    Xi Ping also looked curious. Bogner didn''t lift his eyes as he tossed out the words, "Qiao Yuan and Mi Xiaqing were both killed by Tang Hanpei."


    "What?" Xiaobo was shocked. "No way! Could Tang Hanpei be so fierce? He killed two people by himself? That''s utterly impossible! Could there have been someone helping him?"


    Both Chen Mu and Bogner were shocked, and their expressions had turned ugly. Right! It was too unlikely for Tang Hanpei alone to think of killing Qiao Yuan and Mi Xiaqing. Killing and defeating were completely different concepts, with several levels of difference between them. Had someone helped him? That was a notion that would pop out of any ordinary person''s mind. Everyone was likely to believe it, but who could it have been?


    Chen Mu and Bogner had already guessed the answer. The Starfish Fortification. Tang Hanpei had likely used its power! Thinking back on the Federation Comprehensive Academy card artisans they had encountered upon departing Pomelo, some bad feelings abruptly arose from Chen Mu''s heart.


    Bogner also had a pretty ugly expression. He looked around to see that no one was paying attention and said in a low voice into Chen Mu''s ear, "We''d better hurry up and leave. Tang Hanpei did certainly use the Starfish Fortifications, and I reckon he possibly outed us. That way, he could use the power of the Central Repository of the Classics to force us closer to him. The possibility of our being wanted by the Central Repository of the Classics is very high. When we entered the Heavenly Drum Village District, we showed our transit passes. I reckon they will quickly find that out. If we don''t leave soon, we''ll be in trouble. We''ve thoroughly offended the Central Repository of the Classics this time.


    What Bogner said hit the mark of what Chen Mu had just realized. He lifted his head to look at Xi Ping. Xi Ping immediately understood and nodded imperceptibly to show he had finished what he set out to do.


    Chen Mu then ordered, "We will set out immediately."


    The biting, cold wind and pervasive snow hurt when it hit the face. In that kind of environment, there was very low visibility beyond 100 meters. If one were to look off into the distance, it would all be a sheet of white.


    Poor Xiaobo was pulled out for hard duty. The reconnaissance capability of the Wheel was their biggest safeguard. His whole body was giving off a whitish glow, which was the aura of the warming card. It could maintain about a 35-degree temperature within the area of a person''s body.


    But the warming card had limited utility in that kind of windy weather. The wild, raging wing could blow the warmth emitted by the warming card entirely away. Still, how could that create difficulties for someone who could operate in the jungle alone for long periods like Xiaobo? He had found a low-level energy cloak card with very little strength, which was perfectly effective in blocking the wind.


    From a distance, Xiaobo looked like a glowing white egg. But he wasn''t complaining, seeing the boss following him in the bitter outdoors.


    The rest of the card artisans had entered the shuttle cars. In that place, the shuttle cars were a lot more useful than jet stream cards, after all. The happiest among them was Borna, who was looking at Xi Ping with great appreciation for the fantasy card he had purchased for him. Inside that card were recorded quite a few of the building methods that were unique to the Heavenly Drum Village District.


    In order to leave as few traces as possible, they always avoided big cities. After some discussion between Chen Mu and Bogner, they finally decided they would head toward a place in the mountains of the Heavenly Drum Village District called the Pascal Mountainous Region. It was a vast region of snowy mountains and endless evergreen conifers. The Pascal District had no big cities¡ªonly some small forts scattered about.


    However, there was plenty of disorder there. Constant fighting among the forts had been going on for many years. No power there could occupy a commanding position. Such a place was doubtlessly the best choice for Chen Mu and his party. Compared to the huge Central Repository of the Classics and Federation Comprehensive Academy, the power in those places would seem like ants in front of an elephant.


    What was most important to them just then was to stay out of the wind. In Chen Mu''s eyes, their later development wasn''t as urgent. He certainly had no ambitions to unite the federation.


    Hastening along for 25 days and nights without stopping, they finally arrived at the Pascal District.

 317 The Snow Silkworms in the Ravine

    "How would this be?" Bogner was pointing to a ravine up ahead. It was very deep, and the way in was only ten or so meters across. It only needed a little sprucing up to become a rather outstanding point of defense.


    A map of the Pascal Region popped out in front of Chen Mu from a fantasy card, and he marked their current position. Xi Ping''s gaze also fell onto the map. "There are three small forts in the vicinity. They are about 600 kilometers away, so not too far and not too near. They belong to different powers, which is rather favorable for us."


    Chen Mu pondered a moment and nodded. "We''ll station ourselves here to start."


    Seeing that the boss had made his decision, Bogner quickly gave the orders. "Go check out the ravine, Xiaobo. For such an excellent ravine to go unused, I reckon there must be something up inside."


    Xiaobo muttered plaintively, "Why am I always the one to be injured? I''m the electricity, I''m the light¡­" Although he looked rather reluctant, he flew up and readily executed the order.


    Before long, the communications card suddenly transmitted Xiaobo''s exclamation. "My god, there are bugs in here. A lot of them!" It could be seen from the image transmitted by the communications card that there were piles of snow-white, small bugs squirming all over the place.


    Brenton''s expression changed, and he said with a trembling voice, "It''s the snow silkworm! No wonder there''s no one here. Who would dare to come where there are so many snow silkworms?"


    "Snow silkworms?" Chen Mu tilted his head to ask.


    "Yes. It''s a kind of insect that lives in the icy and snowy regions. They can spit out an energy body that contains cold breath. It doesn''t have much power, but it can be trouble in large numbers. There''s nothing useful on their bodies, so no one wants to waste energy to hunt them down." Although Brenton was still young and didn''t have much experience, he did have a lot of theoretical knowledge.


    He suddenly called out. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again, wearing a puzzled expression. "There must be something in the ravine. The concentration of metallic compounds is very high."


    Everyone then remembered Brenton''s area of expertise was smelling with perception. Up until then, everyone felt it was a strange kind of perception.


    "What special characteristics does the snow silkworm have?" Chen Mu asked seriously. He was rather happy with the ravine. It would be too bad if they were to abandon it so easily.


    Brenton furrowed his brow in thought. "They are social in large numbers, and apart from being able to shoot out cold energy bodies, they have no other abilities."


    "Is poison effective?" Chen Mu responded quickly, coming up with that in the first minute. Since he wasn''t a pure card artisan, the pattern of his thought wasn''t so restricted.


    "Poison?" Brenton''s expression turned a bit unnatural. That term was a little far off for a card artisan. After thinking about it, he said, "I don''t know. You can give it a try."


    Chen Mu nodded. When it came to concocting poison, they didn''t lack for that sort of personnel on the team. Wei-ah was the ace among them, though he was better at using all kinds of plants and animals in the jungle to concoct them. Chen Mu could do a little himself, but he was far from Wei-ah''s ability.


    Still, there was a professional on the team¡ªSue Lochiro. As a high-level medical card artisan, understanding poisons was a required course and the object of some research. However, when it came to poisons and that kind of thing, except for some girls with rather special temperaments, it wasn''t something ordinary girls liked. But Sue Lochiro knew the basics. Although she had an uncomfortable expression, she still gave a slight nod. "I''ll give it a try."


    The poison was quickly prepared and put into a special reagent bottle.


    Looking at the dense snow silkworms all over the ravine, the rustling sound of their creeping gave people a chill. The snow silkworm was about the length of an adult palm and a little thicker than a thumb. Chen Mu sucked in a breath of air and threw the reagent bottle, which traced a parabola before falling among the snow worms.


    There was a light pop as the reagent bottle smashed, and a ball of green mist rose up with a hissing sound.


    The snow silkworms were immediately stirred up. In the area enshrouded by the green smoke, they were writhing in pain. The power of that ball of poisonous gas was perfectly evident; within a few short seconds, the snow silkworms enshrouded by the green mist had already turned stiff. A light green layer suffused their originally white bodies.


    Wind raged outside the ravine, but there was no wind at all inside.


    Watching the green must quickly dissipate, Chen Mu and the rest couldn''t help but look overjoyed. That method was effective, after all. There were so many of the snow silkworms filling the huge ravine that it gave everyone the creeps.


    But the other card artisans were looking at Chen Mu in fear. Poison was really too far off for a card artisan. They had already gotten used to using the cards they had to solve all sorts of problems. Only Xiaobo hadn''t changed his expression. When he was deep in the jungle, he needed to fight with all kinds of wild beasts and was no stranger to those kinds of tricks.


    The toxicity of the poisonous smoke Sue Lochiro had concocted, along with its fine diffusion, made Chen Mu consider whether he should make it into a conventional weapon.


    Suddenly, there came spewing quite a few light blue spouts of water from among the snow silkworms. The fine energy fluctuations reminded everyone that these things that looked like columns of water were actually energy bodies.


    Sure enough, when the light blue columns of water touched the blue smoke, they turned into a ball of light blue mist. By now, all the other snow silkworms were spitting out light blue columns of water. There were too many of them there. In the blink of an eye, the green smoke had been completely enclosed by the light blue mist.


    There was a rustling! The green smoke disappeared at a speed too fast for the naked eye. Given Chen Mu''s stunning eyesight, he could clearly see that the green smoke had condensed into crystals the size of grains of sand. Those hard, green sand crystals then fell onto the ground like a burst of light rain.


    Chen Mu''s heart skipped a beat. The light blue energy bodies spewed by those snow silkworms were ice-cold, after all, and they could even freeze the toxic smoke!


    Chen Mu''s gaze inclined toward Wei-ah, who shook his head. "There''s nothing I can do."


    But Chen Mu still wasn''t thinking of abandoning such a perfect ravine in that geography. Not wanting to give up, the mass of snow silkworms had to be eradicated. Chen Mu believed if the energy bodies that had been able to freeze the toxic smoke were spewed onto a person, apart from freezing the person, he couldn''t even think of what else they might do.


    His gaze fell to where the snow silkworms were. That burst of toxic smoke had already wiped out at least a fifth of them. Staring at the incessantly creeping snow silkworms, Chen Mu was making a quick analysis in his head. The light blue energy bodies had a certain danger, but the main trouble was their numbers. As far as the eye could see, they were all over the place, which inevitably gave rise to a desire to kill them all.


    The weakness of the snow silkworm was obvious: They weren''t fast, and they were a lot less dangerous compared to the rapidly moving swarms of ants in the jungle. After thinking about it, Chen Mu said, "Everyone else should scatter. Those with a range of attacks, come up with me." After saying that, Chen Mu flew first to above where the snow silkworms were. Xiaobo immediately followed him. Among the other card artisans, only Lu Xiaoru and Hertha came along. The others attacked with only a single body.


    Since he was concerned about being hit by the light blue energy bodies, they flew up high, at least 100 meters up. Only then did they discover that all around the ravine stood extraordinarily tall cliffs, and they had only reached a small part of them.


    Chen Mu made a simple command. "Begin."


    He then swapped to the folding Yanbo card. It was the right place just then to use that sort of explosive card.


    Everyone below saw line after line of disordered, fiery red folding wavy blades falling from the sky into the middle of the ravine and causing a string of explosions! The folding Yanbo card''s power left everyone transfixed, and even Chen Mu himself was a little surprised. To tell the truth, he hadn''t had a chance to use the folding Yanbo card now in his hands, except for the time he''d tested its power. Now, once he took a shot, Chen Mu found out it was a lot more powerful than he''d imagined. Only then did he understand why Jiao Si had been so caught up with that card.


    Chen Mu had no notion to conserve energy. With no scruples at all, he madly smashed the folding wavy blades down; every one of them was a bomb. In a single breath, Chen Mu had emitted all the energy in a four-star power card. Lu Xiaoru immediately flew to Chen Mu''s side to hold up his body, so he could swap out the power card.


    What was it like when all the energy in a four-star power card was emitted within ten seconds? Everyone saw what happened.


    Hong! Hong! Hong! Hong!


    Ball after ball of utterly gorgeous, bright red fireballs blossomed in every corner of the ravine. The concentrated sound of the explosions hurt everyone''s eardrums, and there was already a sea of red fire within the ravine. The powerful explosions cut off a large chunk of the mountain wall, which crashed down, burying who knew how many snow silkworms.


    Ru Qiu was already completely stupefied by the scene! Was that the power of the folding Yanbo card? It was a little different from the president''s refined usage. As she saw it, Chen Mu''s deployment was completely unreasonable. However, she hadn''t thought Chen Mu''s wildly unreasonable deployment would play out so vividly!


    Bogner''s expression shifted. "Get out of the ravine." The poison that had just been turned into ice crystals had immediately turned back into a gas under the high temperature. Because of the airflow formed by the explosions, it kept being stirred up. The toxic smoke was blown into nearly every corner of the ravine.


    Just as everyone had gotten out of the ravine, Chen Mu and those with him returned. They also saw the toxic smoke diffusing under their feet. Everyone looked a little dazed, having been scared by that wave of crazy explosions.


    They had gone far away from the exit of the ravine. Now, no one dared to go near it. The residual sound of the explosions in the ravine were reverberating off the walls in a dull but striking manner. The light green flow of gas that came from the entrance told them it wouldn''t be a good idea to get any closer just then.

 318 The Snow Silkworms in the Ravine

    "How would this be?" Bogner was pointing to a ravine up ahead. It was very deep, and the way in was only ten or so meters across. It only needed a little sprucing up to become a rather outstanding point of defense.


    A map of the Pascal Region popped out in front of Chen Mu from a fantasy card, and he marked their current position. Xi Ping''s gaze also fell onto the map. "There are three small forts in the vicinity. They are about 600 kilometers away, so not too far and not too near. They belong to different powers, which is rather favorable for us."


    Chen Mu pondered a moment and nodded. "We''ll station ourselves here to start."


    Seeing that the boss had made his decision, Bogner quickly gave the orders. "Go check out the ravine, Xiaobo. For such an excellent ravine to go unused, I reckon there must be something up inside."


    Xiaobo muttered plaintively, "Why am I always the one to be injured? I''m the electricity, I''m the light¡­" Although he looked rather reluctant, he flew up and readily executed the order.


    Before long, the communications card suddenly transmitted Xiaobo''s exclamation. "My god, there are bugs in here. A lot of them!" It could be seen from the image transmitted by the communications card that there were piles of snow-white, small bugs squirming all over the place.


    Brenton''s expression changed, and he said with a trembling voice, "It''s the snow silkworm! No wonder there''s no one here. Who would dare to come where there are so many snow silkworms?"


    "Snow silkworms?" Chen Mu tilted his head to ask.


    "Yes. It''s a kind of insect that lives in the icy and snowy regions. They can spit out an energy body that contains cold breath. It doesn''t have much power, but it can be trouble in large numbers. There''s nothing useful on their bodies, so no one wants to waste energy to hunt them down." Although Brenton was still young and didn''t have much experience, he did have a lot of theoretical knowledge.


    He suddenly called out. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again, wearing a puzzled expression. "There must be something in the ravine. The concentration of metallic compounds is very high."


    Everyone then remembered Brenton''s area of expertise was smelling with perception. Up until then, everyone felt it was a strange kind of perception.


    "What special characteristics does the snow silkworm have?" Chen Mu asked seriously. He was rather happy with the ravine. It would be too bad if they were to abandon it so easily.


    Brenton furrowed his brow in thought. "They are social in large numbers, and apart from being able to shoot out cold energy bodies, they have no other abilities."


    "Is poison effective?" Chen Mu responded quickly, coming up with that in the first minute. Since he wasn''t a pure card artisan, the pattern of his thought wasn''t so restricted.


    "Poison?" Brenton''s expression turned a bit unnatural. That term was a little far off for a card artisan. After thinking about it, he said, "I don''t know. You can give it a try."


    Chen Mu nodded. When it came to concocting poison, they didn''t lack for that sort of personnel on the team. Wei-ah was the ace among them, though he was better at using all kinds of plants and animals in the jungle to concoct them. Chen Mu could do a little himself, but he was far from Wei-ah''s ability.


    Still, there was a professional on the team¡ªSue Lochiro. As a high-level medical card artisan, understanding poisons was a required course and the object of some research. However, when it came to poisons and that kind of thing, except for some girls with rather special temperaments, it wasn''t something ordinary girls liked. But Sue Lochiro knew the basics. Although she had an uncomfortable expression, she still gave a slight nod. "I''ll give it a try."


    The poison was quickly prepared and put into a special reagent bottle.


    Looking at the dense snow silkworms all over the ravine, the rustling sound of their creeping gave people a chill. The snow silkworm was about the length of an adult palm and a little thicker than a thumb. Chen Mu sucked in a breath of air and threw the reagent bottle, which traced a parabola before falling among the snow worms.


    There was a light pop as the reagent bottle smashed, and a ball of green mist rose up with a hissing sound.


    The snow silkworms were immediately stirred up. In the area enshrouded by the green smoke, they were writhing in pain. The power of that ball of poisonous gas was perfectly evident; within a few short seconds, the snow silkworms enshrouded by the green mist had already turned stiff. A light green layer suffused their originally white bodies.


    Wind raged outside the ravine, but there was no wind at all inside.


    Watching the green must quickly dissipate, Chen Mu and the rest couldn''t help but look overjoyed. That method was effective, after all. There were so many of the snow silkworms filling the huge ravine that it gave everyone the creeps.


    But the other card artisans were looking at Chen Mu in fear. Poison was really too far off for a card artisan. They had already gotten used to using the cards they had to solve all sorts of problems. Only Xiaobo hadn''t changed his expression. When he was deep in the jungle, he needed to fight with all kinds of wild beasts and was no stranger to those kinds of tricks.


    The toxicity of the poisonous smoke Sue Lochiro had concocted, along with its fine diffusion, made Chen Mu consider whether he should make it into a conventional weapon.


    Suddenly, there came spewing quite a few light blue spouts of water from among the snow silkworms. The fine energy fluctuations reminded everyone that these things that looked like columns of water were actually energy bodies.


    Sure enough, when the light blue columns of water touched the blue smoke, they turned into a ball of light blue mist. By now, all the other snow silkworms were spitting out light blue columns of water. There were too many of them there. In the blink of an eye, the green smoke had been completely enclosed by the light blue mist.


    There was a rustling! The green smoke disappeared at a speed too fast for the naked eye. Given Chen Mu''s stunning eyesight, he could clearly see that the green smoke had condensed into crystals the size of grains of sand. Those hard, green sand crystals then fell onto the ground like a burst of light rain.


    Chen Mu''s heart skipped a beat. The light blue energy bodies spewed by those snow silkworms were ice-cold, after all, and they could even freeze the toxic smoke!


    Chen Mu''s gaze inclined toward Wei-ah, who shook his head. "There''s nothing I can do."


    But Chen Mu still wasn''t thinking of abandoning such a perfect ravine in that geography. Not wanting to give up, the mass of snow silkworms had to be eradicated. Chen Mu believed if the energy bodies that had been able to freeze the toxic smoke were spewed onto a person, apart from freezing the person, he couldn''t even think of what else they might do.


    His gaze fell to where the snow silkworms were. That burst of toxic smoke had already wiped out at least a fifth of them. Staring at the incessantly creeping snow silkworms, Chen Mu was making a quick analysis in his head. The light blue energy bodies had a certain danger, but the main trouble was their numbers. As far as the eye could see, they were all over the place, which inevitably gave rise to a desire to kill them all.


    The weakness of the snow silkworm was obvious: They weren''t fast, and they were a lot less dangerous compared to the rapidly moving swarms of ants in the jungle. After thinking about it, Chen Mu said, "Everyone else should scatter. Those with a range of attacks, come up with me." After saying that, Chen Mu flew first to above where the snow silkworms were. Xiaobo immediately followed him. Among the other card artisans, only Lu Xiaoru and Hertha came along. The others attacked with only a single body.


    Since he was concerned about being hit by the light blue energy bodies, they flew up high, at least 100 meters up. Only then did they discover that all around the ravine stood extraordinarily tall cliffs, and they had only reached a small part of them.


    Chen Mu made a simple command. "Begin."


    He then swapped to the folding Yanbo card. It was the right place just then to use that sort of explosive card.


    Everyone below saw line after line of disordered, fiery red folding wavy blades falling from the sky into the middle of the ravine and causing a string of explosions! The folding Yanbo card''s power left everyone transfixed, and even Chen Mu himself was a little surprised. To tell the truth, he hadn''t had a chance to use the folding Yanbo card now in his hands, except for the time he''d tested its power. Now, once he took a shot, Chen Mu found out it was a lot more powerful than he''d imagined. Only then did he understand why Jiao Si had been so caught up with that card.


    Chen Mu had no notion to conserve energy. With no scruples at all, he madly smashed the folding wavy blades down; every one of them was a bomb. In a single breath, Chen Mu had emitted all the energy in a four-star power card. Lu Xiaoru immediately flew to Chen Mu''s side to hold up his body, so he could swap out the power card.


    What was it like when all the energy in a four-star power card was emitted within ten seconds? Everyone saw what happened.


    Hong! Hong! Hong! Hong!


    Ball after ball of utterly gorgeous, bright red fireballs blossomed in every corner of the ravine. The concentrated sound of the explosions hurt everyone''s eardrums, and there was already a sea of red fire within the ravine. The powerful explosions cut off a large chunk of the mountain wall, which crashed down, burying who knew how many snow silkworms.


    Ru Qiu was already completely stupefied by the scene! Was that the power of the folding Yanbo card? It was a little different from the president''s refined usage. As she saw it, Chen Mu''s deployment was completely unreasonable. However, she hadn''t thought Chen Mu''s wildly unreasonable deployment would play out so vividly!


    Bogner''s expression shifted. "Get out of the ravine." The poison that had just been turned into ice crystals had immediately turned back into a gas under the high temperature. Because of the airflow formed by the explosions, it kept being stirred up. The toxic smoke was blown into nearly every corner of the ravine.


    Just as everyone had gotten out of the ravine, Chen Mu and those with him returned. They also saw the toxic smoke diffusing under their feet. Everyone looked a little dazed, having been scared by that wave of crazy explosions.


    They had gone far away from the exit of the ravine. Now, no one dared to go near it. The residual sound of the explosions in the ravine were reverberating off the walls in a dull but striking manner. The light green flow of gas that came from the entrance told them it wouldn''t be a good idea to get any closer just then.

 319 The Trial

    By the second day, when Sue Lochiro detected that the concentration of poisonous gas in the air wouldn''t have any influence on humans, everyone went back into the ravine.


    The once snow-white ravine was now unrecognizable. Everything in the ravine was charred black, and there were the bodies of bugs all over the place. The snow silkworms were covered in green and looking scary as hell. Even the card artisans who had been through hundreds of battles couldn''t help their expressions changing when they saw that scene.


    They moved very quickly, knowing that it would become their main base for a long time.


    The intense explosions had changed the terrain in the ravine, with both the snow and earth layers blown open to show purple colored rock underneath.


    "Purple fluorescent ore! It''s purple fluorescent ore! I said that the air in here had a high concentration of metallic compounds." Brenton bent down to touch the purple colored rock layer, having suddenly become excited.


    "What is purple fluorescent ore, Brenton?" Xi Ping narrowed his eyes as he asked in curiosity. Having been in contact with Brenton for a while, Xi Ping already had a certain understanding of that golden-haired youth. Brenton was very young and tender, but his theoretical knowledge was quite rich, which is to say that it was pretty solid.


    "Purple fluorescent ore is a kind of metallic compound with a complex composition. It can''t be used directly, but it contains quite a few precious metallic elements. Unfortunately, the technology for the smelting and refining of purple fluorescent ore is rather high-end. It would only be in the hands of a few large firms." Brenton looked full of regret, though he soon got back his spirit, "If we sell the information to some large firm, we would certainly be amply rewarded."


    Bogner glanced at Brenton as though he were looking at an idiot, "Why would we give away such a good thing?"


    "Money grubber." Brenton wasn''t afraid of Bogner, as his face blushed red, and he said in a loud voice, "Without the technology, keeping the purple fluorescent ore is useless. The purple fluorescent ore is completely useless without refining it."


    "This is an investment, do you understand?" Bogner said arrogantly.


    "You''re just dreaming of getting rich, Uncle." Brenton smiled coldly in contempt.


    Xi Ping was watching the dispute all smiles, not being involved. But Chen Mu had been stimulated. He had never heard of purple fluorescent ore before, and he wasn''t clear about what it was used for. But hearing what Brenton said, it seemed to be rather valuable.


    And for Chen Mu, the smelting technology that Brenton had spoken of wasn''t such a big issue. Having been with Alfonso for so long, although he hadn''t completely learned the metallurgy of the Moqi clan. But when it came to various technologies for purification, that wasn''t so hard for him.


    The ravine was very quickly cleaned and put in order, and it was time for Borna to take the stage.


    Borna was holding the latest specialized construction card artisan card appliance that Xi Ping had bought for him, and after spending only half an hour, he had already completed a scan of the ravine''s topography.


    From the screen which popped out from the card appliance, the entire ravine showed up in three dimensions.


    Borna''s plan took three whole days, during the process of which he and Bogner carried on some complex discussions. The communication and tacit understanding between the two of them was no problem at all, which sped up the construction progress by quite a bit.


    During those three days, Chen Mu wasn''t going to let those card artisans be idle.


    All the card artisans were training their perception in the snow, as Chen Mu had ordered. Despite the cold and their shivering, quite a few of them had become quite diligent when they saw their boss leading the training.


    Having them train their perception in the snow wasn''t some one-time idea for Chen Mu. Ever since entering the icy and snowy regions, he had clearly felt that training perception in such a bitter cold place did indeed get twice the results for half the effort. By then he understood that what Brenton had said about card artisans liking to enter the ice and snow was certainly correct.


    Ever since he discovered that peculiarity, Chen Mu kept trying to find some way to take advantage of it. He was completely satisfied with the card artisans now on hand. Those days, they were proving by their own performance that they were qualified team members.


    But Chen Mu also saw their limitations. Their perception was too weak, and among them were still some whose perception was still at the third level, while others were only at level four. If their perception weren''t sufficient, it would be the soft spot of those card artisans.


    If their perception were higher, Chen Mu could design a more powerful set of cards.


    And furthermore, the card artisans were all quite young. The oldest wasn''t more than twenty-five, while the younger ones were only eighteen or nineteen. If he were to allow them to continue developing the way they had been, Chen Mu felt that it would be a pity.


    After carefully studying the perceptual training that they had learned, Chen Mu had a new idea.


    What those card artisans were studying was mostly some basic perceptual training methods, except for individuals like Jiang Liang. What he did was the military method of training perception.


    That was a kind of perceptual training called the B standard. Jiang Liang didn''t keep anything from Chen Mu, and he explained every detail of that training.


    After he''d studied it, Chen Mu found the biggest peculiarity of that sort of military perceptual training to be its simplification and rationalization. It could allow people with all kinds of characteristics to learn simultaneously. Although it couldn''t be compared with the high-level training among the Big Six, it was still an excellent method.


    It was at opposite poles from the extreme training method that Chen Mu used. It was mild and harmless, while his extreme training method was extremely violent.


    Chen Mu spent those few days trying to simplify the extreme training method. After experiencing daily progress himself, he knew that the extreme training method wasn''t something everyone could do. It was an excellent method, but at the same time it was an extremely dangerous method.


    Jiang Liang''s B standard of perceptual training rather inspired Chen Mu. Chen Mu could even seek out some principles for perceptual training in that kind of more reasonable perceptual training method.


    Going through over twenty days of racking his brains, he finally came up with a simplified extreme training method. While the simplified training method hadn''t gotten such stunning results as the true extreme training method, it also wasn''t so dangerous, and its theoretical results rather satisfied him.


    But seeing the card artisans keeping up their practice of perception in the snow, Chen Mu was a little hesitant. His simplifications hadn''t been put into practice yet. Whether they were truly effective or not, or had any side effects, he didn''t know. And such a trial brought with it a certain danger.


    Injury to perception wasn''t the same as bodily injury. It was much harder to cure, and perception was harder to restore.


    After thinking about it, Chen Mu walked over the Jiang Liang.


    Jiang Liang was just about the hardest practicing card artisan of all of them. Ever since finding out that training perception in the snow could be conducive to growth in perception, he had simply practiced naked from the waist up in the wind and snow. Every time he finished, he was so cold that his face had turned blue, and there was frostbite all over his body.


    That had also led to Sue Lochiro making her opinion clear to Chen Mu that up until then, there had been quite a few card artisans with frostbite. But because it had been Chen Mu''s orders, no one would back down.


    "Boss." Seeing Chen Mu in front of him, Jiang Liang immediately stood, and saluted without any expression.


    Seeing such a gritty look, Chen Mu''s gaze fell onto Jiang Liang''s naked upper body. His well-built body was already full of frostbite, and he suddenly realized something.


    "I just finished designing a new perceptual training method which hasn''t yet been proven. Would you like to give it a try?" Chen Mu was looking at Jiang Liang with a calm expression.


    Jiang Liang''s indifferent eyes abruptly turned hot, while his face that was white with the cold flushed red, and with a trembling voice filled with determination, he said, "I would!"


    Bogner watched Borna, who seemed like magic, while he was chatting with Xi Ping.


    Borna was like a magician. The ravine had now become entirely different, with some prototypes already visible. The construction card artisans had driven the outer shape with a snail-like card appliance shuttle car, which floated above the ravine. The card appliance shuttle cars had quite a few nozzles, which would spurt out some warm liquids. Those liquids would quickly solidify when they hit the air, turning hard as could be.


    All of the buildings were made of the ice walls which were formed from those solidified warm liquids. Bogner tested their hardness, hitting them with a somewhat weak energy body. Apart from some shards of ice that flew off, it hadn''t been any use. And the most interesting thing was that those ice walls were very conveniently repaired. You only had to pour the warm liquid in them, and they would be as good as new.


    Bogner slapped his mouth, "When did Borna get such technology? I''ve never seen him use that before."


    "Oh, I brought him a Heavenly Drum Village District construction methods fantasy card last time, and I imagine he''s just showing off what he learned." Xi Ping spoke languidly, while little Yang Bo''s nose had turned red from the cold at his feet, though he opened his eyes wide in curiosity, finding everything in front of him quite wonderful.


    Rubbing his hands, Bogner was grumbling about the heat, "Ai, that guy works really slowly. Who knows in what year and month we might move in." The he suddenly glanced at Ru Qiu having a nice chat with Brenton, "What do you think about that golden-haired kid?"


    Xi Ping pondered before saying, "Ask the boss. Right, what has the boss been doing these last couple of days?" Chen Mu''s strangeness those last couple of days had gotten Xi Ping''s attention, and he was a little concerned.


    Bogner shrugged, "Who knows. That guy Jiang Liang is in secret every day with the boss. Ha-ha, he''s bare chested every day, and it looks like Miss Sue is looking at him rather murderously." Then he stroked his chin, as though he had something on his mind, and said, "Could the boss have peculiar tastes?"


    * * *


    In front of the bare-chested Jiang Liang there was a snow pit which was as deep as a person and filled with snow.


    He took in a deep breath, and jumped into the pit without any hesitation, lying down flat in it.


    Seeing him laying down, Chen Mu quickly put all the snow piled next to the pit into it. In an instant, the snow pit was flattened again.


    After doing that, Chen Mu sat beside the snow pit, and closed his eyes.

 320 Spying

    With his perception distributed outside his body, Chen Mu carefully paid attention to Jiang Liang in the snow pit, not daring to slack off. There wasn''t actually anything creative about the method he had thought up. It was mostly a kind of trade-off. No one was clearer than he was about the dangers of the extreme method; to tell the truth, he felt his still being alive was something of a miracle. The more he trained to the finish, the more pronounced that feeling became.


    Although it was a trade-off, that didn''t mean it had no technical content. During that period, someone would have to be extremely awesome to be able to make the slightest change in the methods of perceptual training. Moreover, what Chen Mu was doing wasn''t just a little bit of change.


    It involved perception producing and growing according to its principles. If it weren''t for Jiang Liang''s B-Standard perceptual training method, Chen Mu might not have even touched the threshold.


    After entering the icy and snowy regions, he found that the cold could increase the speed of perceptual growth. That had touched him a great deal. He couldn''t help but associate that with some conjectures he''d made about perception.


    Perception was a kind of human ability, after all¡ªa kind of potential. No matter what ability one might be talking about, the harsher the environment, the easier it would be to grow more quickly. It was just that the extreme training method had pushed that to the limit. Moreover, the card master who made the mysterious card had also understood the principle of a gradual, sequential approach. That was also why there was the Simple Water World. Even so, the training process was still full of danger.


    At the beginning, every time he finished the hour of painful training, he would have a penetrating headache and couldn''t even forget if he''d died. Having been torn apart to his last nerve, every slightest breath of air moving the grass would explode in his head.


    The greatest difference with the program he''d designed was the different medium. In the water, there was no way to breathe, and the incessant pressure forced Chen Mu to stimulate his potential. The closer he got to the end, the more apparent that was getting. The pool he was then using for training was 20 meters deep. The pressure deeper than that was pretty scary.


    The medium for this scheme was snow. Compared to water, snow''s texture was soft and light. Moreover, it was fluffy and porous, allowing for a small amount of air inside. That little bit of air naturally wouldn''t be useful for an ordinary person. But for a card artisan, it could increase the time they could remain under the snow. The constant, bone-penetrating cold could simulate the growth speed of perception in the same way.


    As far as he could see by then, Jiang Liang was in pretty good condition. Chen Mu could know his every slightest change as well as he could see the back of his hand. That light layer of snow wasn''t going to be able to block Chen Mu''s perception from probing.


    At the outset, Jiang Liang''s perceptual fluctuations had been huge. To be suddenly buried under a meter-thick layer of snow, no matter who it was, their first reaction would be fear. But Jiang Liang''s terrific psychological qualities were reflected that time as he quickly settled his mood. Then, he slowly pushed his perception according to the method Chen Mu was teaching him.


    Jiang Liang''s sudden leap into the snow pit, followed by Chen Mu burying him alive, had shocked everyone. However, none of them were stupid. They knew the boss was certainly trying something with Jiang Liang.


    It was just that the trial was a little shocking. Now, all of those who had been shocked were desperately training their perception lest the boss see they weren''t being diligent and pull them out for a trial.


    Borna and his team were working with fervor. Apart from a slowdown from not being familiar with the equipment and materials at the outset, their speed increased greatly after they got used to things. As far as the overall framework was concerned, however, they had only completed a small part. Apart from a lookout built at the highest point, they hadn''t built anything beyond some ice houses everyone could live in temporarily.


    The crystal clear, four-cornered ice houses made everyone overjoyed. The most brilliant were Sue Lochiro''s and those few girls'' housing. Borna had used bright colors for those three rooms.


    Lu Xiaoru''s room was bright red, like a small room made from fragrant red wine ice. Sue Lochiro''s room alternated between sky blue and white, which were the traditional colors of a medical card artisan, as well as her favorite colors. Seeing it from afar was like seeing blue sky and white clouds, quiet in the distance. Ru Qiu''s was emerald green. Its greenish glints made it look like it had been carved from a huge chunk of emerald.


    The colors were gorgeous, and the clear luster of the ice houses was accompanied by ice wind chimes hanging from each of their four corners. When the wind blew, they would tinkle in a delightful way. The three women looked endlessly starry-eyed and in high spirits. That also made Borna very pleased with himself.


    Just then, there was some commotion where Chen Mu was. He could be seen suddenly getting up and desperately starting to excavate. Within ten seconds, he touched the ice-cold Jiang Liang. He grabbed his arm and jerked him up forcefully.


    Jiang Liang''s face was frozen white, and there was no color in his entire body. His demeanor was also rather subdued. But his eyes were blooming with a sense of joy.


    "B-b-b-b-boss! M-m-my perception is restored!" Jiang Liang''s teeth were chattering with his excitement.


    "Mmmm." Chen Mu grunted his response and started moving. After a few hops, he had brought Jiang Liang to Sue Lochiro.


    She had been watching Chen Mu all along. When he brought Jiang Liang in front of her in such a rush, she said no more and immediately started her treatment. Under her care, Jiang Liang''s pallid face finally got its color back, and his trembling body started to calm.


    Chen Mu stopped Jiang Liang as he was getting ready to say something. "First, rest. Everything else can wait until you''ve rested."


    "Yes, sir!" Jiang Liang was looking at the boss with gratitude as he lay back down.


    Jiang Liang''s success made Chen Mu very happy. If that method worked, that would mean those card artisans would have more room for growth. But Jiang Liang had also made him realize his scheme still had quite a few limitations, such as the control of time. He couldn''t personally be at the side of all the card artisans under him when they were training, so it would be extremely important to establish a standard time frame.


    There was also the issue of frostbite. Being buried in the snow could certainly stimulate the growth of perception, but the possibility for frostbite was extremely high. The recovery afterward was especially important. That would also mean they would need more therapeutic equipment and more medical card artisans. Fortunately, that wouldn''t be such a big issue; he had a lot of cash on hand at that time.


    Just then, Bogner walked over. "Borna has already built houses for us to live in, Boss. Let''s take a look."


    "Ok." Chen Mu thought a while and then said, "Let everyone go in and rest for a while. They have been working really hard."


    Cheers were heard from within the ravine.


    It was as warm as springtime inside the ice rooms, and they even needed to take off their outer coverings.


    "So nice and warm¡ªyou''ve done a good job with these, Borna," Bogner said in praise. He put out his hand to knock on the crystal-clear ice walls a couple of times, which made a dinging sound.


    Borna laughed and said, "Borna is a clever construction card artisan. But you haven''t honored Xi Ping''s assistance. Borna would have had no way to build such ice houses without him. And, only under the great and sage leadership of his eminence, our boss, could we have achieved such results."


    Pffft. Xiaobo spewed out a mouthful of the tea he was drinking. After a while, he called out, "I never knew you could kiss ass better than I do, Borna."


    Chen Mu couldn''t help a little smile as he watched the scene of happy relaxation in front of him. The howling wind and snow outside seemed to be far away from them.


    Xiaobo suddenly put down his teacup, and a cold flash went through his eyes. "There''s someone spying on us, Boss."


    The room became immediately quiet with that.


    * * *


    In a small fort 200 kilometers from where Chen Mu was, a skinny fellow spoke with a thin voice. "A group has arrived at the snow silkworm ravine, big brother. It''s not clear where they came from. It seems like they intend to settle there."


    "Snow silkworm ravine?" The one talking was a middle-aged man with a forked beard. He was a little puzzled. "There''s nothing there apart from the snow silkworms. Does someone actually want to occupy it? How many of them are there?"


    He was Wen Zuofu, the leader of the biggest power in the area, the Downstream Alliance.


    The thin fellow responded respectfully. "A few hundred. We haven''t dared to get too close. His eminence of the Western Guard says there is a rather awesome guy among them."


    Wen Zuofu was moved a little bit. "It certainly must be an ace to make the Western Guard say awesome."


    The skinny fellow didn''t interrupt, knowing his leader was considering how to oppose the group.


    "What do you think, Yi Song?" He hadn''t thought the boss would ask his opinion.


    Perplexed, Yi Song said, "I don''t think we should allow them to so easily occupy the snow silkworm ravine. This is our territory. How can we just casually let them occupy it? Anyway, our conflicts with the House of Qiao are getting worse every day. Who knows if they are wound up with the House of Qiao? The snow silkworm ravine is dangerous terrain; although there is no room for development there, if someone wanted to defend it to the death, it would be hard to break in."


    "You are correct." Wen Zuofu nodded hard. "It''s not clear where that gang is from, and we don''t know how much power they have. Send someone ahead to check them out and to get to the bottom of this. Then, we''ll decide what to do. If they aren''t so powerful, we''ll send people to destroy them. If they have enough power¡­" he pondered, "we''ll talk about it again."


    Once he said that, however, he couldn''t help but smile inwardly about how overly cautious he was being. How strong could a team of a few hundred be? A team as lean as the Snowflake Card Artisan Team was as small as could be. Again, if they were really that strong, why would they even look at the barren snow silkworm ravine? He had seen the luxury of the encampment of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team with his own eyes.


    Yi Song rushed to compliment him. "Big brother is so brilliant!"


    Wen Zuofu''s face relaxed. He said to Yi Song in satisfaction, "Do a good job. If you do, of course it will benefit you!"


    Yi Song was pleased. "Thank you for your patronage, big brother."

 321 What the Star Academy Discovered

    Pomelo was silent and desolate after the war. The whole city had turned into one of ruins and death. The corpses everywhere were covered with flies, which filled the air with the heavy stench of rotting flesh. There wasn''t a sound, and there were no living people. When some card artisan reporters finally broke out through the jungle to enter Pomelo, what they saw was only a lifeless city.


    The only thing that remained of the former bustle were the ruins and the corpses all over the place. It was a true hell such as had never existed in the entire history of the federation!


    Once the scene had been transmitted to the whole federation, the people were shocked! Both in the flourishing districts and in the ordinary residential districts, they were all horrified by the disastrous scene after the battle.


    There were only 10,000 people left alive in the huge city of Pomelo, and the one who started the tragedy¡ªthe Federation Comprehensive Academy¡ªimmediately became the target of a mass crusade. The public''s fury sent the prestige of the Federation Comprehensive Academy to an historic low.


    * * *


    At the Federation Comprehensive Academy, Pavchek was staring at Tang Hanpei with a hideous expression. That disciple who had brought him so much pride and glory¡ªthe one he had been most pleased with his whole life¡ªwas getting further and further away from him.


    "What did you think you were doing?" Pavchek asked in a deep voice, suppressing the rage he felt.


    Tang Hanpei''s expression remained calm, and he didn''t say a thing. After a full three minutes of that, Pavchek''s eyes grew even colder.


    "What about the Central Island Firm? Ren Wenzhou?"


    That time, Tang Hanpei opened his mouth and calmly said, "Ren Wenzhou was killed by Qiao Yuan."


    "Which means you didn''t get the Central Island Firm''s technology?" Pavchek''s tone was getting still colder.


    "That''s right," Tang Hanpei straight-up confessed.


    "Argh. Get some rest, then."


    With stunning efficiency, the upper ranks of the Federation Comprehensive Academy administration passed a resolution. Tang Hanpei was exempted from all duties and strictly permitted to be active only inside the academy.


    However, before they could even react to what had happened, counterattacks had already been launched by the Central Repository of the Classics and Faya. There had been another victim in that battle in addition to the Central Repository of the Classics. That would be Faya. The extent of their losses was unknown, but judging from their backlash, they seemed to have taken some serious injuries.


    Within a brief three days, the Federation Comprehensive Academy''s 15 garrisons were all fiercely attacked, leaving heavy casualties. Both the Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple remained silent about it. Tang Hanpei''s conduct had enraged the two of them just as much as the others, but they didn''t do anything because Tang Hanpei had guaranteed the safety of personnel from both academies.


    The battling between Moon Frost Island and Desert Camp kept escalating. The two of them were putting everything into it, with both sides continually increasing the level of their card artisans as well as their numbers. The whole disposition of the war was gradually expanding. The strategic materiel in the Heavenly Drum Village District was surging in price like crazy under that influence, which drew endless complaints from quite a few card artisans.


    With Qiao Yuan and Mi Xiaqing having been killed, the attacks on the Central Repository of the Classics became foundational. There was no other ace at the level of Qiao Yuan, apart from the lord of the academy. He was already elderly at 72, so he really couldn''t join the war in person. The Central Repository of the Classics was fresh out at the level of an ace.


    Just as everyone assumed the Central Repository of the Classics was going to fall down in the race, a sudden piece of news got everyone''s attention. The House of a Hundred Depths had sent a diplomatic mission to visit the Central Repository of the Classics, and the two sides engaged in confidential talks. That was the first time ever that a mission from a different region had met with a local power without first having consulted with the Heavenly Federation government.


    Could the mysterious region of the House of a Hundred Depths want to participate in that already chaotic and messy competition? That put everyone on their guard. If one were to say Tang Hanpei''s conduct made the Federation Comprehensive Academy fall into a quagmire, then the Central Repository of the Classics was doubtlessly about to be pushed into a pit of fire.


    After a few days, the Central Repository of the Classics announced the news that they and the House of a Hundred Depths were engaging in a deeper collaboration.


    There was an uproar once that news got out. In addition to the Federation Comprehensive Academy, the other four of the Big Six clearly expressed their warning to the Central Repository of the Classics not to complicate the situation. The Federation Comprehensive Academy was extremely fierce in their own media attacks about what had happened.


    Still, the Central Repository of the Classics had already lost so much that they weren''t afraid of losing anything else. They kept openly emphasizing that their collaboration with the House of a Hundred Depths was limited to business. Nobody was believing that nonsense, however.


    The vicious media attacks from the Federation Comprehensive Academy didn''t improve the situation, and the bystanders remained bystanders. The new collaboration didn''t pull the Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple into the battle. General Wei Yueqing, the military representative to the Federation Comprehensive Academy and the leader of the First Army, remained silent and smug.


    The smug attitude of the military flustered the top leadership of the Federation Comprehensive Academy. Shortly thereafter, Tang Hanpei''s young prot¨¦g¨¦, Song Chengyan, refused to go to war, adding hail on top of snow to make matters worse.


    That incurred the wrath of the higher levels of the academy administration. They had no way to get Tang Hanpei, but would it still be impossible to get themselves Song Chengyan, who had no background? Having been trying to understand how to strengthen themselves, the highest levels of the administration suddenly turned directly to the card artisans of the First Army and methodically turned over the encampment of the First Army to Song Chengyan.


    By that time, the upper administration wouldn''t dare lose face with Wei Yueqing, but they were helpless. The administration immediately convened a meeting of the top brass to appoint Di Bo as the commander.


    Di Bo rushed to the front lines and quickly stabilized the situation. He knew he was there to defend and didn''t have the authority to attack. But he was best at attack, so he simply used an attack as defense. He concentrated most of his power in a single breath, with significant results.


    That allowed the upper administration to breathe a sigh of relief. Among the huge numbers of factions in the upper administration, Pavchek''s was the most powerful. Following Tang Hanpei''s house arrest, however, the power of Pavchek''s faction was greatly reduced.


    Previously, everyone had been trembling in fear because of how critical the situation was. But after Di Bo kept winning at the front, some of them were getting restless, so the power of the faction that included Di Bo especially surged.


    The undercurrents inside the Federation Comprehensive Academy were bubbling up, and they had no place better to go.


    * * *


    At the Star Academy, Qing Qing had always maintained a quiet, sunny disposition. The one sitting in front of her was the president of the Star Academy. He had a full head of white hair and looked like any ordinary old man. He was looking at Qing Qing, full of kindness. Next to the middle-aged man stood Yu Long, who was the director of instruction.


    The old man spoke slowly. "I have something for you to look at."


    Yu Long then presented a fantasy card. Qing Qing took it and slid it into her apparatus. Her face, which was as placid as an ancient well, finally showed some shock.


    Seeing Qing Qing finally having changed her expression, he seemed happy. "Ha ha, you''re surprised. Now that I think about it, this matter came up because of you. Bian Yun has been studying this ''Legend of Master Shi'' fantasy card set with his teacher these past two years, and he finally found something. Of course, he''s very grateful to you. If it weren''t for you that year, he might have written off this card play."


    Qing Qing smiled with some bitterness, gathering the bangs on her forehead. "I never would have thought this card play was still such a big deal." Under her calm exterior, she was quite shocked! Who knew anything would have come of her coming across that card play two years before? If it hadn''t been for the president bringing it up, she would never have remembered how much attention she had paid to it.


    "Ha ha. Wrong! It''s the technique used to make the card play that is such a big deal." The old man cheerfully corrected her, his laughter being a lot more frequent that day than normal. That also made Yu Long''s eyes light up happily to the side of him.


    Qing Qing became entranced for a while. She had forgotten all about her experience at Eastern Wei Academy two years before. It was after her time there that she had gotten her two years to fully recuperate. That was also when it had first hit her that she had just become the first to come out of the inner academy. But two years of recuperation hadn''t caused her strength to regress. On the contrary, her power had progressed from before, and her mental attitude was lot more mature.


    That terrifying female flexster! Every time Qing Qing thought of the demonic woman, some ripples would be blown up in her calm mind. She had never thought that just as she first emerged from her recuperation, she would learn such an explosive piece of news. Her strong psychological qualities still didn''t stop her from sucking in a breath of cold air. If that news were to get out, what kind of bloodbath would ensue?


    Just at that time, Yu Long opened his mouth. "This conclusion has been confirmed by the most senior professors in the inner academy. We''ve also consulted with the scholars in charge of the library. Afterward, we finally discovered a few traces in one of the journals of the first president, Heiner Van Sant. That made us very excited. We immediately dispatched a lot of personnel to investigate the true identity of Wood-Cop, who made the ''Legend of Master Shi'' card play. Their identities were revealed, but those two themselves were nowhere to be seen. According to the investigation, the two had a clear division of labor. Chen Mu made the cards, and Copper was the playwright."


    Seeing Qing Qing so absorbed in listening, Yu Long continued. "We''ve been focusing on Chen Mu. According to the investigations, Chen Mu was a street punk when he was a child, up until he was 12."


    Qing Qing was taken aback.


    "Afterward, he ran into someone who can no longer be checked out. But what has been precisely determined is that he started making one-star power cards. Starting when he was 12, he made one-star power cards for a living."


    "He made a living from making one-star power cards?" Qing Qing looked excited.


    "Yes. We previously found that inconceivable, but we finally calculated that a single one-star power card costed about 98 Oudi to make. The cards he made were purchased by a small shop, but the owner of that shop has already passed away. We expended rather a lot of power to find only a few clues. We found some relatives of the shop owner. There, we found his books. We then made a new discovery."


    "What did you discover?" Qing Qing couldn''t help but be drawn in by Yu Long''s account.

 322 For I

    "The shopkeeper''s purchase price was a hundred and three Oudi, which is to say that for every power card, he could get five Oudi profit. The shopkeeper purchased twenty-five one-star power cards from him every day. That is to say that he could get a hundred twenty-five Oudi in income every day. But there was a precondition." Yu Long''s expression turned serious, "The precondition was that he not have one failed card. If he were to have a single failure, then his income would fizzle out, and if he were to fail with two cards, he would take a loss of seventy one Oudi every day. That showed the stunning success-rate he had making cards. What I admire the most is that he maintained such a life for four years."


    Qing Qing''s quiet eyes could help showing the admiration she felt.


    "It looks like these investigations don''t have a whole lot of significance. Still, what I''m most interested in is Chen Mu himself. Those experiences can help us to understand the man. Chen Mu''s career with one-star power cards ended when the little shop''s owner passed away. After that he started with his important partner ¨C Copper ¨C he started to make card plays. We found their first work, ''Chance Encounter.'' We discovered that it used the same technology. It should be said that it must not have been long before making ''Chance Encounter'' that he got the technology. But we haven''t found any related clues.


    "During that same period, Chen Mu joined the Eastern Shang-Wei City low-grade fantasy card club. That was also the only source we found for an image of Chen Mu. His performance at the low-grade fantasy card club was shocking. He was a genius in the arena of low-grade fantasy cards.


    "Afterwards, an enmity formed between Chen Mu and the Zuo household. He was chased by the Zuo household, who was destroyed by the Ning household not long after."


    Qing Qing had been deeply affected by what she had been hearing up until then, and couldn''t help asking, "And then?"


    "The Zuo household was destroyed, but we communicated with the Eastern Ning''s, and did get some useful information. The ones who were hunting down Chen Mu were instead killed by him. He hadn''t previously demonstrated any attack capability. The Zuo household never succeeded in hunting him down, and Chen Mu disappeared without a trace." At that point, Yu Long couldn''t hide his excitement, "We had originally assumed, that was the end of the trail. But we hadn''t realized that just two months ago, a group of people suddenly showed up in the Heavenly Drum Village District. Because their transit pass was actually for the capitol, and because Tang Hanpei was making his worst ruckus during that time, we happened to have our own people among the card artisans responsible for the check point who then reported up the news. Our first thought was that Tang Hanpei might have been up to no good, but when we quietly investigated the matter, we hadn''t thought that we''d get an unexpected bonus."


    "The leader of that team was very similar to Chen Mu!" Yu Long was now talking very fast, with an excited expression, "That really got our attention. Since we only had one image, and that one was rather blurry, we couldn''t be one hundred percent certain."


    Yu Long''s tone had changed to include a note of regret, "Too bad that news hadn''t gotten our attention a month earlier. By the time we thought to investigate their trail we found out that they had already disappeared. Afterward, we activated nearly all the powers in the Heavenly Drum Village District and found that the last place they had been seen was the small village of Oak. It was said that they had cleaned up in a lounge. We guessed that they have already entered the icy and snowy regions."


    Hearing that, Qing Qing had already gotten the gist. She tilted her head, and those two eyes devoid of any of jadedness from all the world''s uproars, drifted over to the president, "And what are you thinking?"


    "You''ve remained in the school these last two years. Perhaps you''d like to go for a walk." The old man''s expression had turned serious, "This matter is quite important. If our surmises are correct, we have to do anything we can to get that thing he has. Not only would this matter be the greatest regret of Mr. Heiner''s whole life, it would also be enough to change the composition of the Federation: a treasure which could move our Star Academy forward."


    Yu Long continued on, "Up until now, no one has found out this secret. Its existence is only given a vague reference in Mr. Heiner''s journals. Even we don''t know what it really is. Our relative advantage is that Moon Frost Island is in the middle of a raging battle with the Desert Camp, and they won''t even be able to fend for themselves. And moreover, there are very few people who know your identity, Qing Qing, which makes it the right time for you to enter the Heavenly Drum Village District."


    Yu Long lowered his head, and then after a moment he raised it again, "The thing I''m rather concerned about is Tang Hanpei."


    "Tang Hanpei?" Qing Qing wore a puzzled expression, her elegant face showing that she didn''t quite understand, like a breeze blowing the tips of willow branches.


    "Yes. We''ve paid a very heavy price to find out that the transit passes for Chen Mu and his team were arranged for by Tang Hanpei." Yu Long''s response was surprising.


    Qing Qing wasn''t so surprised, though she made it look as though she were. After a while, she did open her mouth, "Has the news of the House of a Hundred Depths and the Central Repository of the Classics collaboration been confirmed?"


    Seeing Qing Qing with a rarely-seen serious expression, the old man and Yu Long looked at one another.


    The old man nodded, "It''s not likely to be wrong. The Central Repository of the Classics is an evildoer this time, humph, the House of a Hundred Depths has always been shady and has been coveting the rich land of the Federation for a long time. They aren''t likely to have good intentions this time."


    Yu Long was nodding all along. The House of a Hundred Depths was a truly desolate area, and it was said that the four seasons there were as dark as night, like hades. The environment was so bad and the earth so barren that it was hard to exist there. The so-called ''hundred depths,'' referred to the many caves and abysses there. Those caves are where the people of the House of a Hundred Depths lived. They were huge inside, and often connected.


    The surface was scraped by sandstorms all year, and the blowing sand and tumbling stones prevented survival there. Only the strongest flexsters could survive on the surface.


    That name ¨C the House of a Hundred Depths ¨C always reminded Qing Qing of that hideous woman.


    Qing Qing arose, saluted the old man, and floated off.


    * * *


    Everything was transforming daily in the ravine. Borna''s efficiency was stunning. The scene of construction in full swing easily excited everyone. The card artisans were training up, and were exceptionally diligent. Having truly entered the Heavenly Drum Village District made quite a few of them feel as though they were dreaming.


    Chen Mu was dragging Jiang Liang along for constant adjustments. Jiang Liang''s perception had already been restored to eighty percent of what it had been, which overjoyed him, and really encouraged Chen Mu.


    But to make it safer, Chen Mu was bringing Jiang Liang along as a reference, to constantly improve his scheme.


    Among them all, Xi Ping was the hardest working. The nearest city to the ravine was Chilei City. It was twelve hundred kilometers away as the crow flies, and driving a shuttle car required a day and a night.


    The construction in the ravine required lots of materials, and Xi Ping took responsibility for purchasing what they needed. There was a special shuttle car team transporting large quantities of materials to the snow silkworm ravine every day. Xi Ping had become the most welcome guest of honor at all the business establishments.


    Poor Xiaobo had become the captain of the transport team, running between the ravine and Chilei every day.


    He sat on top of the shuttle car, having emitted his "eggshell," everything vast in front of him. The howling cold wind was interspersed with countless huge flakes of snow to scratch the face like a knife. For him, the bumpy shuttle car didn''t make any difference, as he just casually sat on the top as though he were rooted there, motionless.


    Xiaobo''s eyes suddenly glinted cold as sharp knives, so sharp that they could nearly split all the snow in front of him in two.


    Xiaobo complacently arose and faced the wind, his long hair fluttering. His bright red hair-tie was eye-catching in the snow. The card artisans in the shuttle car were ever-alert, and hurried to stop it. The rest of the shuttles cars quickly discovered that something was off, and they all stopped.


    "Does just any old cat or dog jump out as a bandit these days?" Xiaobo''s voice sounded as languid as ever.


    "Some card artisan who hasn''t even gotten to the sixth level of perception dares to be so bold?" A faintly discernible chilly voice loomed in the cold wind.


    His long slender and fair fingers adjusted his hard collar. At that time, Xiaobo looked like a gentleman about to go to dinner, elegant and at ease.


    "Come on out, you five little guys. Don''t hide." He suddenly squinted his eyes and raised his head, "I say, floating about in the air like that, aren''t you cold?"


    "His eminence does have good eyesight, after all!" The chilly voice penetrated the wind and snow, clearly transmitted into Xiaobo''s ears. At the same time, there was a swishing sound in the snow beside the team of cars, as five card artisans wearing masks came shooting out of the snow, glaring at the car-team as though it were their prey.


    Xiaobo''s slender fingers brushed lightly across his lips, as a light smile hung from his handsome face, giving him an unspeakably demonic look.


    Having just flitted across those bright red blushing lips, his long white womanly fingers looked to be carelessly flicking lightly.


    An amber colored starburst as fine as hair drilled into the snow in the blink of an eye.


    "Careful!" The card artisan in the sky blurted out.


    Too bad it was already too late, as there appeared a spot of blood the size of the tip of a needle on the necks of those five card artisans. The five card artisans looked startled, but didn''t seem to have made any reaction. The red spots quickly leached out into dark red drops of blood, and then in the blink of an eye, a fountain-like slender long string of blood spurted out.


    By that time the five card artisans had reacted, and they covered their throats in horror, calling out, as they slowly collapsed. They lay writhing in pain on the ground, flopping away.


    "You dare to make a sneak attack!" The card artisan in the air was both shocked and enraged.


    "Should I have introduced myself first, uncle?" Xiaobo''s handsome face showed an unexpectedly weird charming expression. Before his voice fell, several amber starbursts went shooting toward that indistinct image in the sky.


    "I''m going to kill you!" The card artisan in the sky was enraged and made his move with all his power. Countless very fine energy bodies like snowflakes appeared to face Xiaobo''s amber glowing lines.


    The two of them collided without any further suspense.


    And then there was an extremely bizarre scene.

 323 The Wheel’s Timed Explosion

    The amber glowing threads abruptly slowed within the scope of what was enshrouded by the snowflake-shaped energy bodies, as though they were in some high-resistance liquid that they could only penetrate with great difficulty. The incredibly fast amber glowing threads had slowed to a snail''s pace, giving the illusion that time had stopped.


    Xiaobo''s expression shifted. Every one of his adversary''s energy bodies was in the shape of a six-cornered snowflake, and each corner was unique, matching every possible category and forming a weird magnetic field. That magnetic field had led to the scene in front of him.


    Xiaobo gave out a cold groan, letting off a few more amber glowing threads from his hand. They followed a strange trajectory in a detour around the region to his adversary''s body.


    In the middle of all the blowing snow, that card artisan gave out a cold snort."Humph, little one, is that the only trick you''ve got?" Before the sound fell, the spherical region enshrouded by the snowflakes was quickly flattened, as though it were being squashed by a large, invisible hand.


    In the blink of an eye, a crystalline wall of air was erected between them.


    The blowing snow in the sky couldn''t penetrate the wall of air. Apart from those freely floating, snowflake-shaped energy bodies inside the ice wall, it blocked all the other fluttering snowflakes. Besides the mischievous snowflake energy bodies, the most eye-catching things within the transparent wall of air were the nearly static amber glowing threads.


    Without exception, all of the amber lines Xiaobo had just shot off penetrated the wall of air. Once they did, those incredibly fast and lethal amber glowing threads were immediately locked in and became as slow as crawling bugs.


    Xiaobo''s expression finally changed, that being his first time to encounter such a weird card! He hadn''t thought his first battle after having entered the Heavenly Drum Village District would be with such an unmanageable enemy. That gave him a real headache. But having the ability to remain in the jungle for half a year, his battle experience was so rich that on the entire team, apart from Wei-ah, no one was up to him. Even Chen Mu couldn''t compare with him in that regard.


    Abruptly activating his jet stream card, Xiaobo shot like an arrow toward the side of his adversary. Since a head-on attack wasn''t going to work, he would just resort to mobile warfare!


    Having honed his mobile skills in the complex environment of the jungle, they had become rather terrifying. With his changes of direction and sudden stops back and forth, Xiaobo was like a white streak, flashing in and out of the snowy wind.


    That trick was rather effective; although the wall of air was huge, it wasn''t enough to block Xiaobo. His adversary was suddenly in a tough spot. However, he was also a crafty sort and wasn''t going to give in so easily. With no visible move, another change appeared in the wall of air. It became a sphere, protecting the card artisan inside it.


    Xiaobo was a little dumbfounded. Wasn''t that turning turtle? He looked at the transparent sphere, inside of which were countless white, snowflake-shaped, disorderly energy bodies. Among the silvery snowflakes were mixed in several fine amber glowing threads, making a gorgeous scene.


    Xiaobo was in an awkward spot. He wondered how the mess had gotten started.


    "You''re still too tender, little one! Are those the only tricks you''ve got? Whatever skill you''ve got, bring it on! Come on in!" The card artisan inside the sphere was taunting him with a smiling, smug face.


    Xiaobo could now see the card artisan clearly. He had a long, horsey face with a pair of rat''s eyes and was dressed in a proper business suit. Looking him up and down, Xiaobo thought the guy in front of him wasn''t so pleasing. So ugly and still wearing a business suit?


    The accompanying smug look gave him an impulse to just go ahead and destroy his adversary''s turtle shell. However, the turtle shell really did imply a lot of technology. If he were Wei-ah, he would have used a rock to straight-out smash the guy to death. But he had plenty of experience and could see at a glance that the defensive layer of snowflakes would be effective against energy bodies.


    Too bad he wasn''t Wei-ah.


    He well knew there was no perfect defense in that world. Where was his adversary''s soft spot? His gaze fell onto the amber glowing threads interspersed among those silvery snowflakes, not knowing how many zillions of levels they had slowed, to where they were now crawling with great difficulty.


    Xiaobo was then struck with an idea. His expression became serious, and he extended his right hand. His slender, white fingers moved like weeds in water and swung into a rapid rhythm. At just about the same time, the apparatus on his right hand suddenly lit up.


    Like a snake, a fine and bright amber glowing thread suddenly shot out of the apparatus along his wrist and wound forward. In the blink of an eye, Xiaobo''s right wrist was covered in a fine pattern of glossy amber spirals, as though amber metallic threads were densely entangling his refined wrist. His fingers then stopped their swinging, and his index finger pointed ahead. The fine web of amber glowing silk that had been wound around his wrist snaked around his finger with stunning speed.


    All of the amber threads kept moving ahead. On the tip of Xiaobo''s index finger, they gathered into a dazzling amber glowing ball the size of a fingertip. Xiaobo only breathed a sigh of relief when the glowing ball took shape.


    With no further hesitation, he gave his finger a slight flick, and the amber glowing ball shot straight toward his adversary''s snowflake defensive sphere.


    His adversary could tell it was an extremely important move¡ªone that was certainly among Xiaobo''s most awesome fail-safe killing techniques. He became agitated and didn''t dare be the slightest bit careless. Inside the defensive sphere, the silvery snowflakes were floating more slowly, and those amber glowing threads were looking completely stagnant.


    The small amber glowing ball accurately hit the adversary''s snowflake defensive sphere. Without any sound or ringing, it sank into the sphere and remained still.


    "Ha ha! You''ve caused me a false alarm! I had thought it was some awesome move! Tsk tsk, nothing more than mediocre!" The card artisan then became still more complacent, and his gaze toward Xiaobo was full of scorn and disdain.


    Xiaobo didn''t say anything but stared hard at the nearly stagnant glowing ball among the silvery snowflakes. It looked like a small shooting star, emitting an incredibly bright amber starburst.


    Seeing Xiaobo''s locked-in gaze, which looked like he couldn''t believe what was in front of his eyes, made the card artisan feel still more comfortable in his satisfaction.


    "Ha ha, you haven''t seen anything! Your grandpa has in his hands the Field of Snowflakes, little one! It will be your honor to die by it in your ignorance." The card artisan was laughing with an incredibly smug expression.


    Xiaobo wasn''t paying attention. His gaze stayed locked onto the little glowing sphere, and his eyes suddenly jumped. Retracting his gaze, Xiaobo''s expression returned to normal.


    "You''re nuts!" Xiaobo suddenly stuck up his middle finger at the card artisan and said with a sneer, "Play by yourself, Uncle. Your little master isn''t going to play with you anymore. How about a little turtle-jacking? You sure are a funny fellow!"


    After saying that, he said to the alert-looking card artisans, "Let''s go. Don''t pay any attention to this idiot." He was the first to return to the top of the shuttle, but out of the corner of his eye, he did seem to inadvertently watch the glaring amber glowing ball flitting among the silvery snowflakes. The glowing ball was gradually dimming when there was a flash of joy in Xiaobo''s eyes.


    The card artisan''s face turned green and then white, only then realizing what he had just done.


    Damn! If I go back like this, I''m afraid my position in the association will plummet, and I''ll be ridiculed for coming back empty-handed.


    But his card was better at defense than attack, and he was about to be stunned. Although he still hadn''t seen the power of his adversary''s moves, his outstanding flight skill had startled him.


    What should I do? Uncertain what to do just then, he suddenly saw that detestable little one looking at him, smiling.


    Yikes, now what is he thinking of doing?


    He wasn''t paying attention to the amber glowing ball in front of him, which had been slowly dimming. Now, it was brightening. He hadn''t realized since the transformation was slow.


    "Right, I forgot to remind you!" Xiaobo looked utterly earnest, which took his adversary aback. He smiled brightly and was extremely gracious as he unhurriedly said, "You really do look terrible wearing that business suit!"


    Just as he finished talking, that nearly static amber glowing ball brightened again¡ªas bright as when Xiaobo had just shot it off! As though waking from a dream, his adversary was now paying attention to the strangeness of the little glowing ball, and his expression changed unwittingly.


    Hong!


    Before he could react, the static amber glowing ball suddenly blew apart and was engulfed in an endless starburst.


    Having long been prepared, Xiaobo closed his eyes in the first instant. After a while, he opened them. Xiaobo looked at the huge pit where the card artisan had been and couldn''t help but breathe a sigh of relief.


    "Huh, I hate turtles!" he muttered. A look of exhaustion flitted through his eyes. That battle had looked ordinary, but it had actually used up quite a bit of mental energy. To make the time launching that play as short as possible, he had played out his perception to the max.


    The Wheel''s Timed Explosion was the name of that trick. He had used the streams of light that swept inside the Wheel at a constant speed as the timer to accurately control the time of explosion.


    His adversary''s snowflake defensive sphere was definitely awesome, and it had nearly prevented him from making a move. But the slowly moving amber beams within that defensive sphere had shown him one tiny remaining opportunity. The card his adversary had used must have been able to slow the energy bodies'' speed of motion and take it abruptly to its lowest level. Once most energy bodies lost speed, they lost almost all of their power.


    Xiaobo had surmised that his adversary''s card must have limited roles. If one were to use something similar to an explosive style of attack, it couldn''t completely control it¡ªespecially an energy explosion. Even though the speed had been slowed so enormously, it still had enough energy to kill someone!


    Although his adversary''s card could abruptly take an energy body''s speed to its bottom, it couldn''t make it completely stop. He needed to control time to the smallest unit in order to be effective. Although he had a stunning perceptual acuity, he was still consuming energy. So, he kept talking trash in order to attract his adversary''s attention.


    When he saw an arm remaining on the ground, on the wrist of which was a perfectly good apparatus, his spirit was stirred. As he went bolting toward the arm, he shouted, "A few of you, go strip those five guys. Don''t let anything go to waste!"

 324 An Obscure Move

    After completing his annotations, Chen Mu finally settled on the new scheme. He called his method of training the snow pit method. Even such a person as Jiang Liang was pretty indifferent toward that name.


    Chen Mu didn''t care about the name. The results were what mattered.


    He planned to promote the snow pit method when Borna and his group completed their project. Jiang Liang was its first beneficiary; his perception had already been restored to its prior level. That was when everyone discovered that his original perceptual ability had reached the top of the fourth level, only a notch below the fifth level. Thinking about it, Jiang Liang''s injury was several years ago, which meant he had such an ability that long ago. Such a talent would be considered a gem anywhere.


    Seeing his rapid advancement, the rest of the card artisans were red-eyed with jealousy. Excellent methods for training perception had always been the never-disseminated secrets of well-known academies, and only truly core talents would ever touch them.


    Only talents who had demonstrated excellence would have the opportunity to follow those methods, according to the school administration''s arrangements. The talent of the card artisans under Chen Mu was perfectly ordinary. How could they have the chance to even come close to such excellent training methods?


    No wonder they were so jealous. But apart from being envious, no one would dare to even hope for it. Jiang Liang had already stood out to the captains for his extraordinary talent. Although he didn''t say much, he did have a lot of prestige.


    The rest of the card artisans worked on their training even harder, hoping to more quickly improve their own perception.


    Borna''s engineering project was incredibly huge. From considerations of safety, after completing the base''s ice houses, they put all of their energy into building the defenses. For example, there were the Starfish Fortifications, which had outstanding power and were especially suited to the stationary battle tactics of the card set. In an abundance of caution, however, Chen Mu specified to Borna that he be sure the appearance of the Starfish Fortifications was camouflaged.


    Borna cleverly put them on two mountain peaks and piled the upper sections with layers of disguises, on top of which snow was piled. It looked no different than an ordinary mountaintop from a distance.


    "Chief! Chief!" Xiaobo was shouting as soon as he got back.


    Chen Mu raised his head in irritation from his discussions with Jiang Liang. He took a glance at Xiaobo before throwing himself back into the discussion. Xiaobo immediately crumpled after that mere glimpse from Chen Mu and just sat down with a look of frustration. He was still pretty wary of that chief. On the one hand, he was his boss; on the other, the boss''s fists that day had made a deep impression on him. Once that boss of his got angry, he would make use of his fists! When he thought of that day, he felt pain all over his body.


    After more than ten minutes, Chen Mu finished his discussion with Jiang Liang. He then walked over to Xiaobo to ask, "What is it?"


    Xiaobo rushed to stand. With a face full of excitement, he said, "We encountered an ambush on the road, Boss. I wiped them all out. I also seized their cards. Right, this Field of Snowflakes is quite interesting. It can make the speed of energy bodies that enter its range of control drop to an outrageous extent. I nearly bit it. Luckily, I''m handsome and formidable, very decisive¡­"


    Chen Mu wasn''t paying attention to Xiaobo''s prattling on. He opened his communications device, directly calling Bogner over.


    "What''s up, Boss?" Bogner was huffing and puffing from running over.


    Chen Mu pointed to Xiaobo. "He was ambushed on the road."


    Bogner''s expression shifted, and his gaze turned dark. "It looks like someone can''t wait."


    * * *


    The Downstream Alliance was composed of 35 small forts¡ªthe biggest power in the Pascal Region. The second was the House of Qiao, composed of 27 small forts. There were another five or six powers that had more than ten small forts.


    "What?" Wen Zuofu''s expression had turned ugly. His unhappy gaze was fixed on Yi Song in front of him, who was drenched in sweat. "His eminence of Western Guard was killed?"


    "Yes, sir!" The sweat on Yi Song''s brow was dripping uncontrollably as he responded in a trembling voice. "I sent Western Guard along with five card artisans with level-five perception to do a little probing, big brother. I never thought they would be killed as soon as they showed their faces." He then cautiously raised his head. A glimpse of the chief''s steely expression made Yi Song scared to breathe, but he knew he needed to present the chief with all the intelligence he had. So, he hardened himself to say, "Western Guard''s chief''s corpse was never found. All that was left was his arm, while the other five were wounded in their throats with a single fatal blow. In addition, they¡­" Yi Song hesitated, not knowing whether he should say what he was about to say.


    "What about them?" Wen Zuofu''s tone had deepened.


    "They¡­ They¡­" Meeting the chief''s dark gaze, Yi Song shivered before unconsciously letting loose the words, "Everything was stripped from their bodies."


    Pow!


    "A**hole!" In his rage, Wen Zuofu had dashed his most cherished tea pot to the ground. Shards hit Yi Song in the face, which really hurt, but he didn''t dare to flinch from the pain as he lowered his head in respect.


    Wen Zuofu''s expression was terrible, and his cheeks were quivering, his eyes about to spit fire. Yi Song was too scared to budge.


    After a full half hour, Wen Zuofu had gradually calmed.


    "I never thought some awesome character would actually come here. Humph. Who could have thought there would be one or two aces who might try to make an enemy of me? They''ve really underestimated Wen Zuofu. Pick ten from the Dark Fog Group. Remember that your goal is to harass them, and if you have a chance, wipe them out. If you don''t, make them nervous, so they all feel insecure. Humph. Once they can''t resupply around here, I don''t think they''ll be able to survive!" For Wen Zuofu to be able to occupy that geography, of course he didn''t waste anything. Within an instant, he had thought of something crafty.


    He''d previously run into quite a few such adversaries, who often had one or two aces watching over them, with the whole group having some power as well. But such adversaries had all been put under his foot already. There was nothing new about it, and he was utterly effective with that peculiar sort of adversary.


    I want you to count staying alive as worse than death! Already short one ace, there was a ferocious glare in Wen Zuofu''s eyes as he ground his teeth.


    Yi Song was happy. "Big brother is a wise and great tactician, after all! Once we do this, they''ll have a hard time resisting, and they will end up worshipping at your feet!"


    The chief had been bloodied that time. There were only a few dozen in the Dark Fog Group, of which big brother had pulled out ten, paying special attention to that small gang. Every member of the Dark Fog Group was at a skill level not below that of Western Guard. Moreover, they had received the strictest guerilla training, and none were more suited to that action.


    Encouraged by Yi Song, Wen Zuofu felt a lot better. He had overcome quite a few adversaries by virtue of that play. They were a long way from any city, and resupply was no simple matter. Once they were harassed that way, it would be easy for some accident to happen.


    Yi Song''s sucking up hit the right spot. Wen Zuofu had already started to fantasize about leaving that damned gang of card artisans no place to go and finally creeping in front of him to beg for mercy.


    Good lord, what could be more wonderful than that?


    * * *


    Borna was rubbing his hands, a little proud of himself. "Honorable Boss, your eminence, we have already completed the engineering project. I believe you might be pleased. Under your magnificent radiance, Borna has certainly been able to build the most outstanding structure in human history!" In the end, Borna still hadn''t forgotten to kiss some a**.


    Xiaobo was looking at Borna with derision, evidently having forgotten his own sickening a**-kissing.


    Chen Mu had none of the manner of an inspector, and he nodded at Borna. "Thank you for your diligence." Then, he turned to Bogner and said, "Station everything inside, and pay attention to the defenses."


    "Yes, sir, Boss!" Given that the boss had personally ordered something, he naturally didn''t dare to be careless. Since Xiaobo''s ambush, everyone clearly understood it wasn''t safe there!


    In the ravine was a group of spherical buildings like bird''s nests, which were the results of Borna and his team. He called it the Valley Nest. It could hold about 5,000 people to live and train. On the cliffs on both sides was a continuous fortress, all hidden under a thick layer of snow. The cliffs had undergone hardening for safety, so any explosion like the one they feared last time wouldn''t cause the whole mountainous area to collapse.


    The completion of the Valley Nest allowed Chen Mu to breathe a sigh of relief. That also meant they would have complete defensive capabilities. By relying on the mountains and the Starfish Fortifications, they had greatly increased their security.


    It had come time to carry out his plan!


    All the card artisans were in front of Chen Mu. They watched their boss with a lot of curiosity. He would seldom give orders personally to their gathering unless Bogner wasn''t present. They liked to call Bogner the head and Chen Mu the boss.


    But no one dared to break the silence to say a thing to Bogner, who was among them, not like the one in charge of life and death as he normally was. The boss seldom managed things, but that didn''t mean he lacked for prestige in their minds.


    The mysterious boss and his mysterious power had always enabled them to bring about miracles. That feeling wasn''t like the daunting feeling of Bogner, who was also beloved. This was a kind of subconscious obedience, even despite the fact that the boss was so young.


    Looking at Jiang Liang respectfully standing to the boss''s side, some among the gang of card artisans had already faintly guessed the gist. Many of them were exhibiting uncontrollable excitement, though having already been branded to their bones with discipline, kept themselves orderly.

 325 The Orders

    "Starting today, you will all need to change your method of perceptual training." Chen Mu spoke calmly. As he saw it, it was a small matter. It was nothing more than an ordinary way to train perception. He didn''t think he had designed a method with anything special about it.


    He was nothing more than a nameless pawn himself¡ªnot some grand master. Compared to making cards, he had pitifully little understanding of perception. To be able to pound out something that seemed pretty good satisfied him. If perceptual training methods weren''t so hard to get, he wouldn''t have done it himself.


    If he hadn''t used the extreme training method from the mysterious card as the basis for his own patchwork, he wouldn''t have had any confidence in what he had made. Fortunately, it had undergone proving with Jiang Liang; its final results seemed good.


    The card artisans were trying to hold back how ecstatic they were, though they couldn''t avoid some change in their expressions. Jiang Liang''s miracle had long since spread among all the card artisans. How could they not be excited for such a good thing to now fall into their laps?


    Chen Mu had to repeatedly explain every little detail of the snow pit method. By the time he had finished explaining all the details they needed to pay attention to, the place had fallen completely silent. It was the opposite of their previous ecstasy. Everyone''s expression had turned a little ugly as they all looked at one another. What kind of method is this?


    Although the snow pit method was a simplification of the extreme training method, there were some challenges in it that still went to the limit. The core principle still hadn''t changed. That also led to it looking so dangerous and violent. There was a real possibility of all kinds of danger showing up. When they thought of burying themselves in a pit of snow, nearly half the people there wanted to escape.


    Chen Mu''s expression went cold. "This is an order!"


    The card artisans looked at one another, some hesitation floating onto many of their faces. That kind of trial would possibly be fatally dangerous, but¡­


    They were clear that if they were to refuse the orders, they would be immediately eliminated from the team. That result would be harder to take than being killed. Before joining the team, they were just part of a crowd and had no outstanding qualities. They were the object of aces'' ridicule.


    Then, everything changed when they joined the team! They''d gotten enviable salaries, along with respect. They were baptized in battle, which quietly changed them. Countless among them had dreamed about entering the flourishing districts, and now they had done it. The card artisans were very proud of their team! Would they like to return to the past? To return to what they didn''t even want to remember? To once again face the scorn and disdain of others? No!


    Several of the captains were the first to grit their teeth and jump red-eyed into the snow pits. After seeing the determination with which their captains carried out the orders, the other teammates jumped into the game of snow pits without hesitating.


    Sue Lochiro was shocked as she watched from the sidelines with her own eyes. Among several hundred people, not one had disobeyed the order. They had all jumped into snow pits, which might well become their burial ground. All of that was because of the order of a single man! She was shocked when her gaze fell onto Chen Mu, suddenly discovering that she had never really understood that stubborn but extremely powerful man. Staring at Chen Mu in a daze, she had basically forgotten why he had her standing by.


    Chen Mu''s expression was calm, but he didn''t feel that way on the inside. All of his perception had been emitted, and its fine tendrils were densely covering every corner of the training ground. He wasn''t thinking about whether he had made a good appeal to that gang of card artisans. Not daring to be the least bit lax, his full concentration was focused on the card artisans in the snow pits.


    It was their first time practicing the snow pit method and therefore the most dangerous time. It would be easy for something to happen to them when they weren''t yet used to it. In the end, he couldn''t expect every teammate to the have the same outstanding psychological qualities as Jiang Liang. Once they were under the snow, the outcome could be extremely dangerous if anything unexpected were to happen.


    It was his first time to deploy perception to take control of a situation at such a large scale. At the same time, it represented a challenge for Chen Mu. Up until then, all had remained normal. His attention was concentrated as never before; that time, it didn''t only involve one person, but the lives of quite a few people.


    Sue Lochiro was watching as though in a trance. Lu Xiaoru and the other 22 card artisans were standing behind Chen Mu, all as though they were confronting a mortal enemy. The apparatuses on their wrists were already in an active state.


    Chen Mu suddenly opened his mouth. "The number-53 snow pit!"


    Just as the sound fell, the bar-browed man shot out like an arrow to the 53rd pit. He efficiently dug it open, pulling out the card artisan inside. The card artisan''s face had turned blue, and he was unconscious.


    The bar-browed man immediately brought the card artisan over to Sue Lochiro in a leap. Sue Lochiro looked like she had just woken from a dream. Remembering her duty, she rushed to start emergency treatment.


    "Seventy-one! Ninety-three!"


    Two more card artisans were taken out.


    The number of unconscious card artisans far exceeded Chen Mu''s expectations. Most of them were struck by too sharp a fluctuation in mood, which had made it impossible to enter the state. If they did enter it, they had no way to use the air among the layers of snow, which led to their going unconscious for lack of oxygen.


    Chen Mu sighed. Those card artisans were too deficient in their psychological qualities compared to Jiang Liang. Even though he had repeatedly decreased the standards from where Jiang Liang had been, it remained extremely difficult for them. Thinking about it now, it was lucky he hadn''t told them the extreme training method. Otherwise, he was afraid there would only be a few of those people left alive.


    It looked like the standards for the snow pit method were still too high! He hadn''t realized how much more difficult the extreme training method he had studied himself was compared to the new one.


    Since they''d had to use snow, the training area was unusually cold inside.


    With everyone being so busy, no one realized that a dark scene of hunting and counter-hunting was quietly being played out in the ravine at the same time.


    * * *


    In Eastern Shang-Wei City, Eastern Wei Academy had already resumed its quiet desolation. The battle between the Zuos and the Eastern Nings had had the most direct impact on Eastern Shang-Wei City, and Eastern Wei Academy had obviously declined quite a bit for the past two years. It had never returned to its former glory during the time of the exchange with the Star Academy.


    Two uninvited guests suddenly showed up at the office of the Eastern Wei Academy president. Those two men were both about 30 with nothing special about their appearance, but the president could feel their powerful and terrifying perception!


    When they saw the president of Eastern Wei Academy, they didn''t waste words and presented him a letter.


    "We ungraduated scholars in the inner academy of the Star Academy have received specific orders to seek your assistance."


    At the same time, at the Star Academy, the old man was standing at the railing where Qing Qing used to lean out and look longingly at the scenery. Beside him stood the director of instruction, Yu Long.


    Having been silent for a while, the old man suddenly opened his mouth. "Ah Long, do you feel this information is real or fake?"


    Yu Long considered it for a moment before opening his mouth. "I''m having a hard time determining if it''s real or not, but it''s already been five years since we got the news, and we''ve looked into it countless times. Up until now, we still haven''t found a way to be certain."


    "Indeed; there''s no way to determine its authenticity!" The old man looked off into the distance and said with an awed expression, "I don''t know who transmitted it, but it''s been five years! The most awe-inspiring thing is that unless we truly do find out now, there will never be a way to determine the authenticity of this news. Every day we don''t find out is another day we just can''t stop looking."


    Yu Long asked carefully, "Are you thinking someone is secretly pushing this?"


    "How could there be wind from a hole?" The old man turned around, and his wrinkled face looked a little helpless. "Even if we were to know it was a setup, we would still jump into it without the slightest hesitation!"


    Yu Long looked at the old man, aghast. He had been investigating that information for a full five years without finding the slightest order to it. He had always been convinced by the old man''s judgment, so if what the old man said was true¡­


    After a while, Yu Long''s spirits still remained distracted, and he stammered, "No way. Who would so deliberately plot against us?" Then, he was immediately aroused. "We can completely ignore the situation. We might as well first focus our attention on the matter of Chen Mu here. So long as we get what''s in Chen Mu''s hands, we won''t need anything else."


    The old man shook his head. "I''ve given the matter of Chen Mu over to Qing Qing. We still can''t relax about this matter. I believe even if someone were deliberately setting us up, the bait they tossed out still wouldn''t be without any basis!"


    The old man''s tone suddenly changed. "Ah Long, how do you think Qing Qing is doing?"


    Yu Long looked puzzled. "Is there something about Qing Qing you''re not pleased with, President?"


    The old man sighed. "How could I not be pleased with her? But even though Qing Qing hasn''t said anything, I still know she doesn''t like her current life. I am very conflicted, Ah Long."


    Yu Long looked at the president in consternation.


    "I don''t have much time." When he said that, the old man''s face was optimistic. Soon, however, there was a look of some depression on his face. "Qing Qing has been smart and sensible since she was small. No one would object if only she would take over the Star Academy. I''m not worried about the stability of the Star Academy over the next 50 years. But I''ve watched her grow up¡­"


    "President¡­"


    "Ai, forget about it. We''ll talk about that later." The old man had lost interest and waved to indicate that Yu Long should leave.


    Waiting for the footsteps behind him to leave, the old man''s gaze returned to the scenery. Inexplicably, he started to wonder about what sorts of things would have made Heiner Van Sant show his enthusiasm.


    What would this trip to the Heavenly Drum Village District bring for Qing Qing?

 326 One Tough Woman

    Ten dark shadows quietly stole into the ravine.


    They had never seen such messed up defenses. The card artisans from Dark Fog looked at each other, each seeing the hint of contempt in the others'' eyes. With such outstanding geographic conditions, they still hadn''t perceived the slightest bit of defensive pressure. No wonder they looked down on them.


    They were a little confused about why those people had actually wanted Dark Fog to go out. Wasn''t that a waste of resources? But even though their expressions showed contempt, they still moved in complete silence. Plus, they had gotten rigorous training on their special jet stream cards, which made them look like a light bit of smoke fluttering by. The dark was giving them their best cover. If they hadn''t happened to lift their heads, it would be difficult to see those ten shadows swiftly wandering along the cliffs.


    The line of ten shadows scattered off at high speed to plunder every different corner of the ravine. They could already see the lit up, transparent base. When had such a multi-faceted and huge construction been built in that ravine? That took them by surprise.


    One of the Dark Fog card artisans was looking at the eye-catching Valley Nest with bloodthirsty focus. His mouth opened into a silent grin as he subconsciously licked his lips. It had been a long time since he''d had any fun! He would finally be able to gratify his craving that evening.


    With no warning, a hand suddenly came out from behind him to cover his mouth. Before he could react, there was the light sound of bones breaking in his neck.


    The sound came a second time.


    And a third.


    It was right up until half of their comrades had disappeared before the gang of Dark Fog card artisans discovered something was wrong.


    "Be careful! It''s an ambush!" Before that card artisan''s voice fell, it rattled to a stop.


    The remaining few people were stunned, and their eyes grew wide as they looked around in terror. It was utterly silent in the ravine without a breath to be heard. Even the air seemed to have congealed.


    The Dark Fog card artisans were feeling skittish. Without them knowing it, their backs were soaked in sweat. It was too quiet! Any fool would know something was wrong.


    Where was the enemy hiding? They looked around on alert. Seeing that there were only four of them left, their fear was like the endless dark, oppressively taking their breath away.


    "Scatter!" the lead card artisan ordered decisively through gritted teeth.


    Xiaobo was watching the scene, expressionless, and shuddering inwardly. He had very sharp eyesight and saw that each of the infiltrators had extremely high ability. It was no weaker than that turtle he''d run into that day.


    Thinking back on the scene of him challenging Wei-ah previously, Xiaobo couldn''t help a bout of retrospective fear. Wei-ah was a freak, after all! One should never provoke a freak! Xiaobo had made up his mind to firmly implant that lesson in his brain.


    Wei-ah''s moves were too fast. He was simply the unrivaled king of the dark! Without any flourish, cries of passion, nor complicated techniques, he would use a tree branch, a rock, a puddle, and they could all become the most lethal weapons in his hands. His moves were always simple¡ªso simple they could turn a person''s blood cold. Watching the killing wouldn''t give anyone a sense of it being stunning or glorious; it would only make someone''s heart sink to realize how fragile life really was!


    Like kites whose strings had been cut, the second and third shadows fell from the top of the cliff. Xiaobo swallowed hard. He''d seen a lot of killing. Some was nasty, some heroic, and some even glorious. Then, there were the crazed bloodbaths. But he had never seen someone like Wei-ah¡ªsomeone with such terrifying ability to kill.


    From beginning to end, Wei-ah had no expression as he silently harvested his enemies'' lives as though he were the grim reaper.


    Only one last man remained. That card artisan was scared out of his guts. He had never seen such a terrifying enemy, and he didn''t know how his comrades had died. He didn''t dare to turn around for fear that if he did, he would slow his speed and be killed!


    Xiaobo laughed bitterly. Until then, he could do nothing but watch from the sidelines.


    Yikes. He suddenly rubbed his eyes and looked at where Wei-ah had just been, stunned. No one was there anymore. Was Wei-ah going to let that guy live? He glanced at the only remaining infiltrator, who was about to arrive at the entrance to the ravine.


    When the Dark Fog card artisan saw the exit from the ravine right in front of him, his spirits got a boost, and his face looked ecstatic. If he could only leave the ravine, his probability of survival would shoot up! Thinking about his adversary''s disappearing tricks, a truly cold feeling surged up in him, making it still more certain that his adversary had set a lot of pitfalls in the ravine. That must have been what had gotten his comrades along their way.


    He could survive if only he could get out of there! Despite not wanting to reveal himself, the card artisan opened his jet stream card fully to fly desperately to the mouth of the ravine.


    He was getting out!


    The card artisan''s whole body suddenly relaxed. In front of him was the narrowest part of the mouth of the ravine. It would be wide open after getting through there.


    Something suddenly seemed to appear in front of him. Since his speed was too fast, he couldn''t dodge it, and he then felt a pain in his chest. He fell headlong onto the ground after losing control. At such a high speed, the fall made him give up his ghost immediately.


    Xiaobo''s heart tightened; he was completely stupefied. Wei-ah had no sense of time and had just ambushed him outside the ravine. His lethal weapon was nothing more than an icicle the thickness of an arm. Wei-ah had merely put the icicle right in the way of where the infiltrator had to go. He was going so fast and hadn''t thought Wei-ah would suddenly show up there. He was caught off guard and fell right into the trap.


    Xiaobo was bowing down in admiration. That trick was too awesome! Wei-ah hadn''t used a card during the entire process. He couldn''t understand how the cardless sects could have waned if they were that impressive. As he thought about it, however, he felt rather glad. If the cardless sects were really as awesome as Wei-ah, then over 95 percent of the card artisans in the federation wouldn''t be able to find work. He would certainly be among those.


    Ten kilometers away, on the outside of the ravine, two people were lurking in the layers of snow, their gazes fixed on the ravine from start to finish.


    "They still haven''t come out after two hours. They have quite possibly already¡­" His tone was so grave that it was self-evident what he was thinking.


    "Dead, all right! Who knows how many of our people that gang of shady ghosts has killed!" the other one said with hatred. "I''m afraid Wen Zuofu will feel heartache for half a day this time! Heh heh."


    The card artisan who had first spoken showed no look of joy as he gazed at the ravine, somewhat in a trance. After a long time, he said, "It looks like some pretty impressive character has shown up here."


    "Why do you think so much? Anyhow, with the boss-lady around, there''s nothing to worry about!" the other one said, not concerned in the least. "Besides, Wen Zuofu and those guys are already finished, which is good for us!"


    "Well, if that''s the way you want it. We still have to send back the news, and we don''t know how the boss-lady will react when she hears it."


    "Heh heh, how will she react? She''ll be happy, of course!"


    ***


    Chen Mu was completely ignorant of anything happening outside. His attention was fully focused. The first time for those card artisans to try the snow pit method had revealed all sorts of issues. Many of the situations were things he''d never thought of. In the end, Chen Mu had only handled Jiang Liang before then. Jiang Liang''s excellent psychological qualities had caused a lot less trouble for him, but the rest of the card artisans didn''t have those sorts of psychological qualities.


    Except for Chen Mu, the busiest probably included Sue Lochiro. It was a good thing she had previously prepared quite a few pieces of therapeutic equipment. Even so, she was still flustered.


    After 20 minutes, there were still 52 card artisans in the snow pits. That really surprised Chen Mu. Even Jiang Liang could only hold out for 40 minutes. To be able to last for 20 minutes already showed pretty good ability. Compared to what he''d expected, for more than ten people to be able to last that long was pretty impressive.


    He hadn''t thought there would actually be 52. That was far beyond what he had expected, but it also made Chen Mu feel quite excited.


    At 30 minutes, there were only the final nine remaining.


    At 33 minutes, there were four left.


    At 34 minutes, there were only two.


    By 35 minutes, the last two people couldn''t take it anymore and were pulled out.


    Seeing everyone so flustered, Chen Mu finally breathed a sigh of relief. As soon as he slacked off, he could only feel a pain from his forehead. He had overdone his use of perception. He could just barely say to Jiang Liang, "Compute the results tonight, and give them to me tomorrow." After he said that, Chen Mu¡ªalready exhausted to the limit¡ªcouldn''t take any more and returned to his room to rest.


    First thing when Chen Mu got up the next day, there were two reports placed in front of him. One of them was the report on the perceptual training, the results of which were perfectly gratifying. Chen Mu believed after another half a year, or even less, they might even have a few card artisans show up with perceptual strength at level five. The one among them making the most rapid progress was of course Jiang Liang. He had only a notch to go for the fifth level.


    Lu Xiaoru and the rest were also going to try the snow pit method that day. He didn''t know what the results would be like for them.


    The other report surprised Chen Mu. There had actually been a sneak attack last night! He didn''t even know there was any commotion. When he thought about it, he immediately felt some retrospective fear.


    They were lucky Wei-ah was there! At the end of the report, Bogner had added conjectures about where those people had come from.


    Just then, someone knocked on the door. Bogner was standing there when he opened it.


    "There is someone from the area who has come to pay a visit, Boss. They want to see you."


    Someone is paying a visit? Chen Mu hastily washed his face. He was so tired the night before that he looked a little as though his spirits weren''t so hot.


    Walking into the great hall behind Bogner, Chen Mu saw the visitor. It was a woman! That rather surprised Chen Mu. As he saw it, it was surprising for there to actually be a woman¡ªand such a pretty one, at that¡ªin such a miserable place!


    She was dressed casually and had short hair to her ears, which made her look perfectly spirited. Her dark skin and rather wild features made it look as though some powerful altar liquor was about to be lit up. On her neck hung a tooth from who knew what wild beast, and she wore a pair of black leather gloves on her hands, cut off to expose her fingers.


    She was sitting there carelessly, eating snacks and drinking tea. She didn''t drink it in a leisurely way, as Xi Ping did, but drained the cup a single, heroic gulp. She ate each one of the exquisite little snacks in a single bite.


    From when Chen Mu first saw her until when he walked up to her, she had poured nearly a pot of tea and had eaten seven or eight snacks.


    "This is our boss, Miss Qiao." Bogner politely introduced Chen Mu and then introduced her to Chen Mu. "Miss Qiao is the boss-lady of the fort of the House of Qiao. Her name is Qiao Fei."


    "How are you, Boss Chen?" Qiao Fei cracked a smile, revealing a pair of tiger teeth as she rose from the chair and walked over to Chen Mu. She suddenly gave him a big hug and a friendly pat on the back, as though they had long known one another. "We welcome you here to make your fortune!"


    That heroic gesture¡ªgiving such an ample greeting with the flavor of the outlands¡ªleft Chen Mu, whose spirits weren''t so good just then, unable to respond for a while. His expression was rather sluggish, and his brain had short-circuited. He looked at Qiao Fei in a daze, tilting his head as though he were thinking seriously about something.


    After quite a while, it seemed he finally understood why he might feel so strange. If the one in front of him were exchanged for a husky, bearded fellow, everything would be perfectly normal. But for that to happen on the body of a woman was a little bit¡­


    "I''d heard that you came, Boss Chen. Your little sister came to see. I hope I''m not being too bold!" When Qiao Fei spoke, she wasn''t really facing Chen Mu but was pouring tea while desperately stuffing her face with snacks.


    "Not too bold¡ªwelcome, welcome! We are honored that Miss Qiao could come." Having dealt with so many people for so long, Chen Mu could muster the most basic aspects of the art of showing face.


    Seeing that Chen Mu seemed to be about to sit, Xiaobo, who was standing to the side, rushed to pull open a chair for him. Qiao Fei raised her head to take a look at Xiaobo and said in praise, "This henchman of yours isn''t bad, Boss Chen!"


    Henchman¡­ The flesh on Xiaobo''s cheeks involuntarily twitched a few times.


    "Oh, he''s pretty good." Chen Mu was trying to make conversation as he watched Qiao Fei ravenously gobbling the snacks, which made him suddenly feel hungry.


    "If Miss Qiao hasn''t eaten breakfast, then why don''t we eat together?" Chen Mu said.


    Qiao Fei''s eyes lit up, and she kept nodding. "Ok. We should have some meat. I haven''t eaten much, so just give me a roasted leg of lamb." Looking at the stony-faced crowd, she added, "We should have the back leg. The whole thing."


    Drinking his porridge and looking at Qiao Fei with her whole face focused on ripping apart the leg of lamb in front of him, Chen Mu was staring at her, wide eyed. He suddenly felt that this Qiao Fei was a lot of fun.

 327 Coming Up with a Way

    "Are you enemies with Wen Zuofu?" The contented Qiao Fei looked askance at Chen Mu and asked him nonchalantly.


    "Wen Zuofu? The Downstream Alliance?" Chen Mu involuntarily frowned. The name made some vague impact on him. He had seen the name in the report that Bogner had given him about the Pascal District. And moreover, the name had been repeated in the report he had just skimmed through that morning.


    Hearing what Qiao Fei just said, he guessed what was behind it. She had certainly gotten information from somewhere, but then it would be no wonder that such a deeply rooted power as the House of Qiao would be in a position to get it. Chen Mu could now confirm that the sneak attack the night before had been perpetrated by Wen Zuofu, which was about what Bogner had surmised.


    From then on, his enmity with the Downstream Alliance would become more deeply entrenched. But he also knew that the two sides would inevitably have reached that impasse, given the style of the Downstream Alliance''s behavior. Still, to have established an eternal enmity with the biggest power there before they had even gotten a foothold, wasn''t going to make anybody very happy.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help wondering why Qiao Fei had come.


    The House of Qiao was the second biggest power in the Pascal district, and they mixed with the Downstream Alliance like fire with water. She had come that day when he had just suffered a sneak attack the night before. That implied a little bit of intrigue.


    Alliance? The House of Qiao had over twenty little forts. How could his little power even attract their attention? But even with his rather scant experience, he knew that whatever the alliance, they needed roughly commensurate power with their counterparts. His own power was still too weak and small, and clearly wasn''t quite qualified to be in alliance with the House of Qiao. Never mind that he would have to personally work together with the boss-lady of the House of Qiao.


    "That''s the one, that old demon!" Qiao Fei didn''t hide her disgust with Wen Zuofu. After she said that, she looked askance again at Chen Mu with her two wild eyes, "You''re a lot better than that old demon. Although you don''t have quite so much power, to make the old demon take a loss at your hands is still a kind of skill. How about it? Throw in with me, and when we have meat, we''ll eat it together, and if we have soup, we''ll drink it together. When Qiao Fei does something, I never treat people badly. State your conditions straight out. Too bad you''re not strong enough, ho ho, otherwise, you wouldn''t make a bad lover!"


    The expressions on Bogner and Xiaobo abruptly turned a little strange. Not strong enough? Could Qiao Fei be using Wei-ah as her point of reference?


    Even if he were fiercer looking, with an iron tower of a body like Happy Padding or Crow Feather, if even their strength were to contend with the boss''s, they would certainly die miserably!


    Chen Mu was smiling a little squeamishly as her heated gaze swept up and down his body. It made him feel rather uncomfortable. But he didn''t want to put his work in someone else''s hands at all unless and until he had nowhere else to go.


    He shook his head, very tactfully bit firmly refusing Qiao Fei''s proposal, "Thank you for your lovely idea, Miss Qiao, but I''m used to tormenting myself alone. I''m very sorry."


    Qiao Fei didn''t show any surprise, seeming to have expected that result, as she glanced at Chen Mu with better understanding, "I get it. A man with any skills these days wants to twist his head to the heavens, and not pay attention to the affairs of the world. But still."


    Her tone had changed, "You''ve killed the old demon''s Dark Fog guys, which will make you his eternal enemy. The enemy of my enemies is my friend after all. You don''t look so bad to me and might be worth befriending. We''re pretty well known around these parts, so if there''s anything you need help with, just give us a call. Of course, we aren''t going to help you for free, and you''ll have to pay. You might cause some trouble for the old man. I would be the one who would benefit the most, so I''m happy to see it done. I shouldn''t speak so vulgarly in front of you, but to help you in secret would naturally not be a problem. But I''m certainly not going to do anything desperate out in the open because of the feud between you and the old demon. You''ll basically still have to depend on yourself to survive."


    Xiao Fei''s brown eyes were staring at Chen Mu as though she weren''t so optimistic about him.


    Chen Mu didn''t get angry. On the contrary, he found Qiao Fei to be pretty good for sure. She was straightforward, spoke very directly, and compared with those who put on a good face, he preferred someone with a belly full of nasty tricks.


    "Mmmm, no matter. If you want to be a big alliance like Downstream, you can''t concern yourself with the little people like us." Chen Mu smiled and answered very casually.


    Continuing to stare at Chen Mu for a few more seconds, Qiao Fei cracked a little grin, "Are you playing a role? Fake!"


    After she spoke, she stretched lazily. She was wearing something very short on her upper body, and that stretch exposed her charmingly fit belly.


    Xiaobo and Bogner''s eyes widened, and they couldn''t take their eyes off Qiao Fei''s tiny pert waist.


    The moves of the two of them were surprisingly similar, and they even swallowed in unison, which went right over Chen Mu''s head, of course.


    "You old perverted goats!" Qiao Fei glanced at the two disdainfully, making the two of them want to find some hole to crawl into.


    "OK, I''d better go. Remember what I said, little man. Right. Here''s my number. Find me if something comes up. If you''d like to live, you''d better make it a little bit uncomfortable for the old demon." Qiao Fei tossed a card to Chen Mu, winking at him before swaggering off.


    Only after Qiao Fei had been gone for a while did Bogner and Xiaobo came back to their senses.


    "Lechers." Chen Mu was suddenly feeling playful, as he looked at the two earnestly while lightly tossing off that phrase before swaggering off himself.


    Both Bogner and Xiaobo were thunderstruck and stayed right where they were.


    Chen Mu had a lot to do, or at least as he saw it, he did. The snow pit method was being deployed for better or worse, and it was just about done, though in rough shape. Chen Mu had very irresponsibly turned it over to Jiang Liang.


    The ravine''s defenses had already been set up, and nothing was going to happen again like the night before, when everyone was practicing the snow pit method. Having learned that lesson, Bogner would also certainly organize the defenses so that he didn''t have to worry about it anymore.


    The matter of the Downstream Alliance wasn''t actually that much of a concern. They could rely on the favorable position of the ravine and concentrate on defense. Even if some enemy outnumbered him many times over, he still wasn''t too concerned. And as far as resupply was concerned, so long as Wei-ah and Xiaobo were there he wasn''t so worried about that either.


    What he needed to consider just then was how to increase his own strength in the shortest amount of time. It was deeply engrained in him to be strong in times of chaos. There wasn''t really any essential difference between the ordinary residential districts and the flourishing districts in that regard. That was even though the flourishing districts were known as heaven to quite a few people.


    Chen Mu felt that the fighting was even more bloody and cruel in the flourishing districts. If he wanted a foothold there, then he would have to grow his power.


    In that regard, only Xi Ping and Bogner could give him advice.


    the two were overjoyed to see that Chen Mu was actually spending some thought on that. They had previously felt that Chen Mu was a little too indifferent and didn''t have much of a competitive spirit. If you didn''t push him to some limit, he basically wouldn''t be very concerned. Now Chen Mu was taking the rare initiative toward the issues they had always raised, and so of course they were thrilled.


    Xi Ping said with a smile, "It isn''t such a complex issue, boss. We now have the set of cards, and you''ve also deployed the snow pit method. The card artisans'' power is constantly improving, so we''re in a pretty good situation overall. Still, what we need right now is to find some way to make money. Our ready cash has just about been used up."


    He held out his fingers to count, "The Valley Nest, and the starfish fortifications are our largest expenditures. The rest, like the therapeutic equipment and the training equipment, also cost huge overhead. What we need most right now are funds. Once we have the funds, we can expand the team, so that our fighting strength can get stronger and stronger. Although old Bogs is something of a perv, he still has a knack for warfare."


    Bogner was enraged, "How am I a perv?"


    Xi Ping didn''t pay him any mind, as he continued to say, "But right now what we lack the most isn''t ready cash, but some steady income model. No matter the power, they all must have a profit model. Once we have the money to improve our battle strength, we''ll improve it, and then from that we''ll improve our ability to profit. In that way we can create a virtuous cycle. What we most lack now is a profit model. Although you are awesome at making cards, boss, to rely on your power alone to support a whole team is not a long-term plan."


    Bogner spoke in agreement, "What Old Xi says is right. We are now completely supporting the team, which can''t go on for the long term. Our burden will only get heavier. We might as well establish a card artisan firm. In that way, we could increase their opportunities for actual battle, while greatly decreasing the pressure on our funds."


    As Chen Mu mulled it over, he felt that it was right. Apart from their daily training, the card artisans didn''t have anything else to do.


    Chen Mu said to Bogner, "I''ll turn the matter of a card artisan firm over to you. But you''ll have to leave sufficient defensive forces behind."


    Bogner nodded, "Don''t worry. Given our current defensive capabilities, two hundred people would be enough to guarantee our safety. And if we don''t want to expand, and just want to stay holed up here, even the Downstream Alliance woud have no way to look down on us."


    "What does Old Xi think about how to make money?" Chen Mu asked Xi Ping.


    Xi Ping said contemplatively, "Your card making is a great profit center, boss. I don''t imagine that Old Bogs'' card artisan firm will be profitable in the short term. I really haven''t thought about the rest of it."


    Bogner was also thinking hard off to the side, though his ability in that regard was really quite limited. He wasn''t able to provide any construction suggestions.


    Seeing how it was, Chen Mu could only say, "No worries, we''ll just take it slowly."

 328 The Spendthrif

    Seeing the two of them go off about their business, Chen Mu was mulling over how they might increase their profits. He suddenly remembered Brenton talking about the purple fluorescent ore that day. Although he still didn''t know what sort of thing it really was, he could tell from Brenton''s tone that it was rather valuable.


    Thinking of that, his spirits were lifted; he had pitifully few things on him that were worth anything. Some things looked pretty valuable, but they were targeted toward individuals. If you were speaking relative to an entire team, their value would be insignificant.


    Battle dress was an example. A decent battle outfit would cost 300,000 Oudi, and with Chen Mu having more than 300 battle personnel under him, that would mean about 100 million. The battle outfits Chen Mu and the others had purchased were nothing more than ordinary goods in the flourishing districts. On the market in the ordinary residential districts, however, battle dress with those specifications basically couldn''t even be purchased. They would only be seen on the black market, where the price would go as high as 700,000 or 800,000.


    With so many fine things like battle outfits, apparatuses, battle boots, card appliances, and so forth, the benefits of the flourishing districts were evident. There was every sort of thing. Chen Mu and the rest went red-eyed looking at them, but the high prices were nothing an ordinary person could bear. He now knew where Jiao Si''s feeling about the high price of goods in the flourishing districts had come from. A team of more than 300 was nothing more than a crazy, money-eating monster.


    He planned to put aside the card making for a while in order to hide his tracks. They had only just gotten to that snow silkworm ravine. If he were to depend on the fame of the numbered series of cards, he could certainly get a good income, but the risk of exposure would greatly increase. The urgency of getting money would also surge under those conditions.


    "Call Brenton over," Chen Mu instructed.


    Brenton was quickly called over. That cheerful, red-headed youth hadn''t been so happy during that time. He was basically under house arrest because of the existence of the purple fluorescent ore.


    He knew things he shouldn''t know, which didn''t turn out to be such a good thing, after all. But he was happy he was still alive. His counterpart hadn''t killed him to keep him quiet, which was already generous. If it had been someone more hot-tempered, he was afraid he''d have long since given up his ghost.


    "You were looking for me, Boss?" Brenton found it a little strange that Chen Mu had called for him. That was the first time Chen Mu had looked for him those last few days.


    "Mmmm, take me to look at some of the purple fluorescent ore, and tell me more about it," Chen Mu said.


    "As you wish." Brenton was perfectly cooperative.


    The two of them left the Valley Nest to go deep into the ravine, where quite a few rock formations had been blown open by the explosions. On top of that, Brenton was an expert in the perception of smell, so they quickly found a place where there was purple fluorescent ore.


    Brenton picked up a fist-sized piece of purple rock from the ground and brought it to Chen Mu. "This should be purple fluorescent ore, Boss. I don''t actually recognize it so well, but this stone has a high concentration of metallic compounds, and it has characteristics that are close to those of the purple fluorescent ore."


    Chen Mu took the rock and asked as though something were strange, "Do you mean to say that expertise in the perception of smell is used for prospecting?"


    Brenton shook his head. "What you study for prospecting is the perception of strata. That can detect the mineral distribution in very deep layers. Perception for smell is completely different. What we distinguish are the types of compounds and their concentrations in gases.


    Chen Mu nodded, half understanding. The two of them found a few more pieces of purple fluorescent ore and went back.


    Xi Ping was in Chilei. Recently, there were just too many things they needed to purchase, and no one was as richly experienced as he was to watch over it all and to keep things from getting messed up.


    Xi Ping had quickly displayed his impressive business acumen and within a short time had become integrated with those in his profession in Chilei. In the eyes of the others, Xi Ping was a real tycoon. In the flourishing districts, several hundred million wouldn''t be considered that much, for sure. Spending several hundred million in a single breath in such a short time, however, he wasn''t the sort of tycoon you might run into every day. And, judging from what Xi Ping was purchasing, which involved all sorts of materials, only a team could possibly have such needs. There was obviously some group behind him that supported him.


    Bogner had brought 200 card artisans to Chilei to register the card artisan firm. Xiaobo had the responsibility to protect Xi Ping. When it came to Wei-ah, no one could direct him apart from Chen Mu, and no one dared to.


    Jiang Liang was responsible to lead the other 100 or so card artisans who remained in the ravine.


    Xi Ping had received the boss''s requirements. He needed him to purchase a batch of industrial metal processing instruments to bring back. Seeing the long listings on the order, Xi Ping had a faintly bad feeling. When he inquired about it with his peers, he couldn''t help but suck in a breath of cold air.


    One hundred fifty million! That was the price after a 20 percent discount on Xi Ping''s behalf!


    But since it was the boss''s demands, Xi Ping reluctantly bought every piece of the processing equipment. The goods he''d purchased were immediately transported back to the ravine.


    After staying really busy for a few days, Xi Ping raced back to the ravine as though something terrible might have happened. He wanted to see if the boss had cobbled something together or not. One hundred fifty million was not a small chunk of change. Even if you just threw it in the water, you would still hear the endless sound of a string of cash streaming away before it sank.


    As soon as Xi Ping entered the Valley Nest, he was scared stiff by what he saw. All shapes and kinds of parts were scattered everywhere on the floor of the great hall of the Valley Nest, to the extent that there was almost no place to set foot. The air was full of the heavy smell of machine oil.


    Doing a double-take, Xi Ping abruptly realized some of the parts looked familiar. He couldn''t help but bend down to take a closer look. When he clearly saw the inscribed nameplate on the parts, he immediately felt a pain in his chest and difficulty breathing.


    Good lord! Is this the completely new machinery I just bought a couple of days ago? How could it all have turned into this?


    When he stood up and looked it over, the countless parts made him feel dizzy. One hundred fifty million! One hundred fifty million worth of machinery all turned into parts!


    The money on the books was getting stretched by the day. Helplessly watching 150 million Oudi just drifting away like that, how could that not make him grievously bitter?


    Spendthrift! You can''t be that much of a spendthrift!


    Before he could open his mouth, he heard the boss''s voice. "Come on over, Old Xi."


    He raised his eyes to see the boss stand up from a pile of parts, his whole body filthy and motor oil all over his face. His voice sounded a little worn out. Seeing his boss in that condition, Xi Ping couldn''t utter all the recriminations he had on his mind.


    Chen Mu was already waving him over. "Come see what I''ve done."


    Xi Ping then noticed the strange-shaped piece of machinery in front of the boss. It was as ugly as could be, as though it were cobbled together from scraps. But those pieces of junk were huge. They were about five or six meters tall, just about the size of a small cabin, and tangled with countless complicated pipes.


    There were so many parts on the floor that Xi Ping didn''t even have a place to step. Lu Xiaoru, who had been looking on all along, flew over and brought him to Chen Mu''s side.


    "What is this, Boss?" Xi Ping asked. Scrutinizing the incredibly ugly piece of equipment in front of him, Xi Ping felt his head go foggy. Lu Xiaoru had the same curious look, having already been by Chen Mu''s side for several days. She had seen how the boss had cobbled together that piece of machinery with her own eyes. But just like Xi Ping, she didn''t understand what the machine was to be used for.


    Completely forgetting himself, Chen Mu hadn''t heard what Xi Ping asked. He was mumbling to himself, "I hope this is going to work."


    He took out a purple rock he had prepared earlier and nimbly climbed to the top of the machine, dropping it into the opening. Xi Ping and Lu Xiaoru were staring wide-eyed at what Chen Mu was doing. After the fist-sized piece of rock fell into the machine''s opening, the machine immediately closed around it.


    It buzzed away.


    After about three seconds, there was a light sound, and the machine quieted. Afterward, the machine made no further movements. What Xi Ping and Lu Xiaoru really didn''t understand was that the machine had swallowed the rock, made noise for three seconds with no reaction at all, and they didn''t see anything come out.


    Nothing happened?


    "That shouldn''t be. What could be wrong?" Chen Mu was mumbling to himself on top of the machinery.


    He then slapped himself upside the head. "I''ve got it. I''m sure the rock is too small." Staying nothing more, he hopped back down, picked up a piece of rock about half the size of a person, and flew back to the top of the machine.


    Down below, Xi Ping and Lu Xiaoru looked completely dumbstruck.


    Taking a look at the opening that was obviously a little small, Chen Mu casually emitted an energy blade and deftly dismembered the rock. The big pieces of rock all fell into the machine, which made noise again. That time, the machine was noisy for nearly a minute before it fell silent.


    The two of them finally saw some results!


    There was a row of ten reagent bottles, in each of which appeared a tiny amount of liquid. The colors of the liquids were all different¡ªsome bright purple, some dark green, some golden¡ªbut they all had the special characteristic of a powerfully metallic sheen while still showing the properties of a liquid.


    The most among the ten reagent bottles was the bright purple liquid. To say it was the most, it still wasn''t more than two or three drops. But there was even less of the other colors, with the smallest being just an extremely thin layer.


    "I''ve finally succeeded!" Chen Mu felt a lot of relief, and a rare smile showed up on his wooden face.


    Xi Ping couldn''t help but open his mouth again. "And this is, Boss¡­?"

 329 Business Comes to the Door

    Having returned to normal, Chen Mu finally explained, "It''s a metal separator. The composition of this purple fluorescent ore is just too complex, having at least 40 or 50 elements. My ability is limited, and I could only separate out the ten with the most content. But it looks like there are few useful ingredients in the purple fluorescent ore. You can only extract such a tiny amount from such a large piece of raw ore."


    "Oh, so this is what gets separated out from the purple fluorescent ore?" It suddenly dawned on Xi Ping. Looking again at the parts scattered all over, he finally understood what the boss had been doing those last few days.


    But still, 150 million! At that critical time, even a few tens of millions would be rather important. Looking again at the pitifully small amounts of metallic liquid in the reagent bottles, Xi Ping felt it wasn''t worth it. But he wasn''t going to spoil the boss''s fun, and it was money the boss did earn, after all. It was his business how to spend it.


    Xi Ping was already thinking it through and would certainly have to inquire about anything relating to the purple fluorescent ore. Even if it didn''t bring much, the money had already been thrown out, so anything that could be fished back would still be something.


    Chen Mu had already used all of the purple fluorescent ore in the great hall, and he had still only gotten a tiny bit of the metallic liquids. Seeing that there were only a few drops of the metallic liquid, Xi Ping felt it would be ridiculous to announce any expectations for such a pitifully small amount.


    Xi Ping threw himself into his work when he returned to Chilei. He had become an outstanding businessman. It wasn''t a simple matter to join a completely new business circle, and he had worked hard on it. As for those few drops of liquid, oh good lord, someone else could take them.


    After a week, Crow Feather met up with Xi Ping with a case on his back.


    "Why have you come? Are there instructions from the boss?" Xi Ping asked, finding it strange. In general, it was rare for a card artisan to come running to where he was. Most of the card artisans who came to Chilei would go to see Bogner, though they were neighbors.


    "The boss had me send these over," Crow Feather openly replied.


    Xi Ping pointed to the case. "What is it?"


    Crow Feather shook his head and mumbled, "I don''t know."


    Xi Ping opened the case with a dubious look only to see five reagent bottles lying inside it. The most among them was the bright purple liquid metal, which filled a bottle. The least was the red one, where there was only half a bottle. Once he saw the liquid metals, he thought of the hideous contraption of the boss''s and the 150 million that had been causing him so much heartache for so long! There were pitifully scant results, but in any case, there were some results. He hoped those gimmicks could be sold for something to increase their income a tad.


    "I do know." Xi Ping nodded.


    "I''ll go back, then," Crow Feather replied straightforwardly. He then bid Xi Ping farewell.


    Thinking about it, Xi Ping didn''t just blindly go looking for someone to ask about it. He instead ordered someone under him to seek far and wide for all the information he could gather about the purple fluorescent ore. Fortunately, he had brought along quite a few of the people from the auction house. Having those old hands under him decreased the pressure on him by no small amount. Otherwise, he would already be wiped out if he were by himself.


    Xi Ping felt that if he were to run out to ask someone about such a tiny thing, he might become the butt of some jokes. It would be better to look into it himself first.


    * * *


    Wen Zuofu was in a gloomy mood. That gang in the snow silkworm ravine, who came from who knew where, actually had surprising power. None of the ten Dark Fog card artisans he had sent there had returned.


    To be able to swallow up ten Dark Fog card artisans explained how strong his adversary was. He didn''t quite understand what they were doing running over to that little ravine with such power. Still, they must have paid a considerable price. Ten Dark Fog card artisans would be an extremely scary force no matter where.


    What made him feel still more terrible was that Qiao Fei went there first thing the next day. Wen Zuofu didn''t know what they talked about, but he was well aware of what was on Qiao Fei''s mind.


    That made him still more firmly determined to fix that gang a little sooner. Once the gang was successful, he would absolutely be the first to be out of luck. For one thing, Qiao Fei had already been annoying Wen Zuofu beyond endurance, and then some awesome guy came along. Wouldn''t that just leave him no way out?


    Wen Zuofu was no fool. When none of the ten Dark Fog card artisans escaped, it set off an alarm. If his adversary were relying on the favorable position of the ravine to make a hard attack, he would take heavy injuries for sure. But wouldn''t it also just let Qiao Fei off the hook for nothing?


    "I just got the news, big brother. There''s some new activity with that gang in the ravine. They seem to have registered a card artisan firm. It''s called the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. I did a little secret investigation. They registered 200 people. The funny thing is that they have no track record, so they have to start at the first level," Yi Song reported mockingly.


    Wen Zuofu was inwardly stunned. "They registered a card artisan firm?"


    "They did! They chose to make it an anonymous registration. Could they just be too weak?" Yi Song asked, puzzled.


    The procedures for anonymous registration were a lot simpler, and they didn''t require as much detailed information about the team. But the shortcoming was that it would be a little harder for them to advance in level. They would have to rely entirely on completed commissions for an assessment of their strength.


    Wen Zuofu smiled coldly. "Idiots. They want to hide their power. Mmmhmm, anonymous registration. That''s fine as long as they''re a card artisan firm. If they want to fight me, they''re still a long way off!"


    Yi Song rushed to say, "Just so, just so. That gang isn''t even worthy to pick up big brother''s shoes!"


    * * *


    Bogner was sitting in the encampment. The card artisan team had already finished the registration. He was quite familiar with all of that, but he still hadn''t gotten any business up until then. No wonder. They were nothing more than a level-one card artisan firm. No one was going to come looking for them to take a commission.


    He was only divided from Xi Ping by a wall. That old thief was getting great things done, but on his side, they still hadn''t gotten started. That was starting to give him pains in the chest.


    Promoting a card artisan firm had always been difficult. Ordinary level-one card artisan firms would mostly only get some trivial commissions with very low pay. Those were all commissions the mid- and high-level card artisan firms were unwilling to undertake. If a card artisan firm wanted to advance to the second or third level, it would generally take five or six years.


    Their biggest weakness was that their members'' ordinary levels were too low, and they couldn''t flaunt the tactics from the card set. So, they fell to that embarrassing place.


    Then, there was knocking on the door.


    "May I ask if this is the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm?"


    Bogner''s spirits got a boost as he rushed to signal someone under him to open the door, where there stood an elegant and cool woman. She wore a low-cut, tight, shiny, long silk dress, which hugged her body. She had thin, high eyebrows and narrow eyes, and her thin, red lips seemed a little chilly.


    "We are the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm." Bogner looked at the pretty woman, and his excitement, which had originally been at 70 percent, shot up to 100. He ran anxiously to where she was. "If we can be of any service to you, please just let us know!"


    Paying attention to Bogner''s lusty glare, an inadvertent look of disgust floated past the elegant woman''s eyes, though she immediately resumed her calm. "I''ve heard your honorable firm is quite strong. We just happen to require some assistance, so I''ve come to take a look. Still, it looks like your firm''s strength is only so-so. You don''t even have a card artisan above level five."


    Seeing that it was business at the door, after all, Bogner was overjoyed and quickly retorted, "Hearing you say that, miss, business for card artisan firms right now isn''t so good. How would we dare to go out and get mixed up in things if we didn''t have a few skills?" After he said that, he growled out with no warning, "Come over, Little Xiao!"


    Xiaobo''s job was to be responsible for Xi Ping''s safety. He was Bogner''s neighbor, however, so of course that roar was transmitted into his ears. Xiaobo was the scariest on the team apart from Chen Mu, Wei-ah, Xi Ping, and Bogner.


    He flipped over the wall in a rush and cried out, "What''s up, manager?" When he saw the cool and elegant woman next to Bogner, his eyes lit up. He pretended to be serious, apart from the look that would float into his gaze to show his nasty intentions.


    Bogner coughed and said pretentiously, "Now, Little Xiao, this young lady doesn''t quite believe the power of our Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. I''ve considered it and don''t think we should be so low-key. Could you show this young lady a couple of things?"


    Xiaobo was inwardly overjoyed. To be able to shine in front of a pretty woman was more than he could ask for, though he kept his serious expression. "Yes, sir."


    Just as the sound fell, there was a light green, faintly discernible mist floating around his body. Xiaobo stood as straight as a javelin in the mist with his grave face and long white hair in its bright red tie, all of which made him look quite handsome. The mist around his body would suddenly congeal and scatter, as though it were there and then not there, which gave his enshrouded body a mysterious feel.


    The woman couldn''t help but show her surprise, her gaze firmly drawn in.


    Seeing that he had gotten the woman''s attention, Xiaobo inwardly felt pretty cool, though he kept his face deadpan. The card was the one he used to use, although Chen Mu had changed it a little to make it stronger. To act cool in front of the beautiful woman, he had chosen the card he was most adept at without hesitating.


    Without him making any visible motion, the mist swirling around his body suddenly changed. A small ball of mist then turned into a small bird that was extremely life-like apart from being made of white mist. Everything else was identical to an actual bird. The little bird broke free of the mist and flew two cheery turns around Xiaobo''s body, finally stopping on his shoulder. Even when it stopped on his shoulder, it looked very nimble, pecking with its beak and clawing with its little claws from time to time.


    The woman was entranced and couldn''t take her eyes off that magical performance.

 330 Problem Easily Solved

    In the blink of an eye, the cloud of mist had changed into dozens of small birds, which fluttered all around Xaiobo''s body. That was undoubtedly quite a pleasing scene. The fifty or sixty little birds composed of white mist flew merrily around him like a dancing troupe of elves.


    Even some of the team members who were in the middle of working couldn''t stop themselves from putting down what they were doing to stare with their mouths open.


    Xiaobo''s exceptional perceptual acuity was being vividly played out, with the difficulty of controlling fifty or sixty little birds self-evident.


    While people in the know look for how things are done, the people on the outside only see how great it looks. The cool and elegant pretty woman couldn''t help clapping and oohing and awing, "Such amazing perceptual control! Mr. Xiao is an ace after all!"


    Before the sound of her voice had dropped, all of the little birds scattered into thin air. They disappeared so completely that it was as though what they had just been watching were an illusion.


    While Xiaobo was elated by the pretty woman''s praises, he didn''t change his expression when he made an extremely gracious slight bow, "Thank you very much for your appreciation!"


    Seeing how things were, Bogner was also very pleased as he patted Xiaobo on the shoulder, "Very nice Little Xiao. Now go about your business."


    Having just felt such elation, Xiaobo''s heart now plummeted to the pits. Looking at Bogner''s smiling face had given him a thrill. Then Xiaobo slinked away in resentment as though Bogner had cursed him.


    "What do you think, sweet miss. Xiaobo isn''t the only ace among us. There are some who are still more awesome." Bogner maintained his ever-earnest look. The card artisans who heard what he said did have some strange looks, though.


    Xiaobo was certainly not the most awesome. There were the boss and Wei-ah who were more awesome, though they wouldn''t be in the card artisan firm, and wouldn''t be going out on the job with them.


    The cool and elegant pretty woman''s tone had become quite a bit more moderate, "I apologize for what I said earlier. We need a lot of defensive capability this time, and we plan to hire seven card artisan firms of about a hundred each for the period of a month."


    "Seven card artisan firms?" Bogner looked as though something were on his mind.


    "Yes. Given how shaky things have become lately, we need a powerful defensive capability. The commission has a certain amount of danger, so we do have certain requirements for the firms we choose. When we heard about the power of your esteemed firm, we quickly decide to take a look at you." The cool and elegant pretty woman said.


    Bogner pretended to ask casually, "Oh. I wonder where you heard about our firm?"


    "It was said that your esteemed firm was able to kill ten of the Dark Fog card artisans sent by the Downstream Alliance. I hadn''t paid much attention to the news at the time, though I was quite surprised. Now seeing the gentleman''s skills, I rather believe it." Her expression remained calm, as though she were telling the truth.


    Bogner''s heart skipped a beat, though he spoke casually, "I hadn''t thought the news would have spread so fast. That''s really quite surprising." If anyone were around who really knew him, they would certainly see the chill beneath Bogner''s smiling face.


    It really surprised Bogner that the matter of killing the Dark Fog card artisans under the Downstream Alliance had actually gotten out. The first thing he thought of was Qiao Fei, but he very quickly eliminated her. Bogner could see from Qiao Fei''s performance that day that she wasn''t the sort to do such a thing. The most important thing was that there wouldn''t be any benefit for Qiao Fei or for the House of Qiao for her to behave that way.


    Then who could it be, and what was their goal? Bogner turned over a few ideas in his mind within a few short seconds.


    "Every card artisan firm will earn a hundred million Oudi for the job, with thirty percent in advance. But once you accept the commission, you can''t get out of it in the middle. In addition, we will hold another fifty million as a reward for the firm which makes the most contribution." The cool and elegant pretty woman spoke earnestly.


    A hundred million Oudi!


    All the team members all around were stunned by the amount. When had they ever considered getting a hundred million in remuneration for any commission? Quite a few of their eyes turned directly red with desire.


    Bogner didn''t show much enthusiasm, however. On the contrary, his expression had become more serious. He had a lot of experience, and he knew the market very well. His counterpart offering such a high price told him that the commission wouldn''t be so simple.


    There were no free lunches under the sun!


    He was more clear than anyone on that point, and had a more deeply engrained feeling. Previously . . .


    He got suddenly caught up in some reminiscence, and several old scenes flashed past his eyes is his daze. Fighting. Endless fighting. The constant howling of monsters. Darkness. Fresh blood. Hopelessness. A picture of struggle. It was as though he had returned to those former years!


    "Are you OK, sir?" The cool, elegant pretty woman couldn''t help saying something when she saw how off Bogner looked.


    Bogner quickly came out of it. His body was soaked in sweat form the trance just then. Having somewhat recovered, Bogner said, "It''s nothing. Sorry."


    The pretty woman only said ''Oh,'' thinking that Bogner had been stunned by the hundred million Oudi remuneration.


    "What does the gentleman think about it?" Her gaze had fallen onto Bogner.


    Bogner shook his head, "I am sorry, but we won''t be accepting the commission."


    She was quite surprised, as her pretty eyes sized up Bogner. Unlike the big uncle just before who was looking at her so lustily, she had turned around to find a completely different person. Although his appearance hadn''t changed, his temperament had a completely different feel from a moment ago.


    He seemed somewhat spiritually depleted, as though he were harboring some grief. Of course, he had shown some faint firmness in what he had said, but it now looked as though there were nothing which would shake his determination.


    "Might I be so bold as to inquire why you aren''t accepting this commission? I believe that we are offering rather ample remuneration." The cool and elegant pretty woman couldn''t help asking.


    Bogner said while smilingly mocking himself, "The price did certainly get my attention, but. . ." He looked over the surrounding teammates, and said, "I''m more concerned about the lives of my teammates. We can always make more money, but once people die they don''t ever come back."


    Bogner''s tone sank when he came to that last part, still harboring some nearly imperceptible grief.


    The pretty woman looked puzzled, "That''s all it is? Most card artisan commissions are dangerous. Isn''t your firm going to take any of them?"


    Her half sarcasm and half mocking didn''t make Bogner angry, as he said steadily, "If I''m not mistaken, the difficulty of your job this time could be quite high, ha-ha. The generosity of what you are offering by spending seven hundred million Oudi in a single breath to hire seven card artisan firms, wouldn''t be open to just any card artisan firm. But to be able to make my esteemed counterpart so nervous makes me think that your enemies wouldn''t be so easy to deal with."


    "And moreover," he firmly fixed his eyes on her beautiful face, and said a little mockingly, "If I''m not mistaken, you''re really not so concerned with the power of the seven teams. Because the personnel of those seven teams are very simply nothing more than cannon fodder,"


    The look on the pretty woman''s face quite changed, and she started to look a little panicked, "Nonsense!" Her face immediately sank, "You blurt out such nonsense, but have you considered the consequences?"


    Bogner smiled without explaining a thing, only saying lightly, "I''ll send you off."


    Just having returned to where he lived, Xi Ping heard about what has transpired with Bogner that day. Xiaobo was still outraged that he actually hadn''t taken the hundred million Oudi which just showed up at the door.


    Xi Ping shook his head after hearing all about it, "The old goat did the right thing this time. Pies falling from the sky never taste so good!"


    After saying that, he buried himself back into the work he had on his hands.


    His subordinate had sent him a fantasy card in which was all the information he had gathered relating to the purple fluorescent ore. Xi Ping just casually put the card aside, while he continued with the work he had on hand.


    That work took five hours. When he finally finished it all, Xi Ping finally let out a long sigh. When he got up to get something to eat, he suddenly saw the fantasy card he had put on the table, and directly slid it into the card-play projector.


    While he was snacking away, he was casually browsing through the material in the images.


    Some of the technical language in front of him made him dizzy, and so he just skipped it over, more interested in the prices quoted toward the end. As a business person, he would doubtless be more sensitive to price.


    "Oh my god!"


    The shout of surprise was so loud that Bogner next door heard it perfectly clearly. The already rather upset Bogner couldn''t help cursing, "What kind of dog shit did the old thief step on? Good grief, why can''t I have such good luck?"


    After saying that, he took a look at the listless teammates on the field, and roused himself upright, and then glared wide-eyed, and roared out so everyone could hear, "Show me some spirit! Everyone''s training is increased by fifteen percent. If you don''t complete it, ha-ha, I''ll come fix you myself!"


    The training field instantly became a scene of flurried activity.

 331 Brenton’s Choice

    Chen Mu had been improving the metallic separator he had constructed for those few days. The level of the industrial metallurgical machinery that had been purchased was far deficient from what Alfonso had in his lab. He''d had to wrack his brain to just barely build a separator.


    Chen Mu felt strangely ashamed looking at the ugly machine. If Alfonso were to see it, chances were he''d laugh at him. Still, he seemed to have something of a glorious tradition in that regard, having made the Blue Moon Gun, which was famous for being so ugly in its first rendition.


    Unfortunately, the metallurgic arts there were far from comparable to the Moqi Clan. Otherwise, he would have considered making the Blue Moon Gun. That was the sort of card appliance an ordinary person could use. Who knew how many times more ordinary people there were in the world than card artisans?


    He still didn''t know that the equipment he was looking down on like that had actually cost 1.5 billion. If he had known the bill of goods he''d sent to Xi Ping would rack up that much, he would certainly have put the idea right out of his mind.


    The process of optimization had gone rather smoothly. He got a lot done during that period, having put back into order a few places that were clunky. Having gone through that optimization, not only did the machine look a lot better, but its efficiency had increased considerably.


    Just then, he heard Xi Ping calling out.


    "Boss! Boss!" Xi Ping''s familiar face on the screen had turned red. As soon as he saw Chen Mu, he couldn''t stop himself from saying, "The purple fluorescent ore, Boss, the purple fluorescent ore!"


    Chen Mu didn''t get it. "What about the purple fluorescent ore?"


    "Oh my god, the purple fluorescent ore! We''re rich, Boss! We''re rich!" Xi Ping kept saying the same thing over and over incoherently.


    Chen Mu had guessed approximately what had happened. "Slow down, Old Xi."


    Xi Ping''s words came out like machine gun fire. "I sent someone to look into it, Boss. I found out the price of the material extracted from the purple fluorescent ore is extremely high. The metallic purple extract of fluorescent purple is the least expensive, though each gram costs 80,000 Oudi. There were 150 grams in that bottle, which converts to 12 million Oudi! Every gram of the blue extract is 120,000 Oudi, and every gram of the green extract is 160,000 Oudi¡­ The red extract of fluorescent purple is the most expensive. Each gram is 2,050,000 Oudi! We really hit it rich this time, Boss!"


    Chen Mu was stunned himself, but he had clearly remained a lot calmer than Xi Ping. He responded, "So, let''s immediately increase our purple fluorescent ore mining, so we can have sufficient funding."


    "Don''t worry, Boss!" Xi Ping had quickly calmed down. "We won''t make a great fanfare about it. First, have Bogner bring back a bunch of people. We''ll have some trouble when word gets out. It won''t only be the Downstream Alliance; I''m guessing even the House of Qiao will turn red-eyed with desire. This stuff is just too much of a windfall! We''ll have to increase our manpower at the same time we secretly increase our mining. Once the manpower is sufficient and our defenses strong enough, we can establish a foothold going forward."


    Old spice was more seasoned, after all, and Xi Ping''s thinking was comprehensive. Chen Mu nodded. "Mmmm, do as you see fit. Have Bogner send back 100 people. And, have him start recruiting."


    "Yes, sir!"


    Having finished making all those arrangements, Chen Mu started to prepare for mining the purple fluorescent ore. Suddenly thinking of something, he called Brenton over.


    "We''re going to start mining the ore, Brenton. So the news doesn''t get out, I can''t let you go right now. You have two choices: The first is to join us. We''ll give you a long-term contract. Don''t hesitate to state your conditions. The second is that if you don''t wish to join us, you''ll have to remain in the ravine for the time being. You''ll be able to leave when the time is right. As for compensation, we''ll give you ample guest accommodation. What do you think?" Chen Mu spoke frankly to Brenton.


    With a look of shock, Brenton said, "You''re planning to mine the purple fluorescent ore? Do you mean you have the technology to refine it?"


    "We do. We can already refine the purple fluorescent ore." Chen Mu wasn''t hiding anything.


    "I''ll join you." Brenton nodded without the slightest hesitation. They had to be joking! To be able to use the refining technology at the same time as occupying a mountain of purple fluorescent ore, along with having a powerful force there¡ªnobody could block their rise with that combination of advantages unless their boss was really incompetent! But that young boss was one awesome man! Brenton had to believe his own eyes. Chen Mu also had quite a few capable people under him: Xi Ping, Bogner, Jiang Liang¡­ None of them was simple.


    Chen Mu was completely happy with Brenton''s choice. Credit for finding the purple fluorescent ore was basically thanks to Brenton. Chen Mu felt that Brenton wasn''t a bad fellow, and he didn''t want to make things unpleasant for him just to keep a secret. But letting him go would be unrealistic just the same.


    "If you have any requirements, you may bring them up directly." Chen Mu already had in mind some notion of how to compensate Brenton when he said that.


    Brenton just shook his head. "I don''t have any particular requirements, Boss. The ordinary standards are fine with me."


    Chen Mu said thoughtfully, "First, go find Jiang Liang, and have him teach you the snow pit method. See what kind of results you get. If they''re good, train with them."


    "Thank you, Boss!" Brenton was thrilled. Having been in the ravine for so long, he had pretty good relations with the rest of the people, so of course he knew a little something about the snow pit method. Any method for training perception, especially any of the good methods, were unpublished secrets anywhere. The perceptual training methods he had studied were perfectly ordinary. To be able to get to where he was corresponded directly with his training so diligently for so many years.


    Chen Mu felt a lot better after he finished arranging Brenton''s affairs. He immediately made a schedule for starting the mining operations. Since it was in the ravine, it would be very convenient to mine. Chen Mu specially made some cards that could emit egg-shaped energy bodies, which would collide a bit before exploding. Nothing was more suited to mining.


    Bogner sent back 150 card artisans, keeping only 45 with him, precisely composed of 15 combat units. But he did transfer ten of the card artisans from among the 22 with Lu Xiaoru.


    Those 22 card artisans had a lot of battle experience, and their tactical literacy was quite advanced, matching their tacit mutual understanding. They had solid foundations, on top of which was the recent training with the snow pit method, which had caused their perception to surge rapidly.


    Bogner breathed a sigh of relief now that the boss had solved the money problems. But he couldn''t help but feel frustrated as one of the boss''s two big managers. He had made no contribution to the issue of funding, which made the proud Bogner pretty upset.


    When Xi Ping subsequently turned over 200 million Oudi to him from the books to increase their manpower, Bogner inwardly determined that he would certainly do a bang-up job. It hadn''t occurred to Bogner that the boss would be ushered in just then.


    "Why did you come, Boss?" Bogner was looking at Chen Mu in astonishment.


    "Mmmm, I came to look around Chilei and maybe to buy a few things," Chen Mu explained. Jiang Liang was overseeing things in the ravine, so he was quite relieved. The separator was simple to use, and all kinds of other matters had also been arranged. So, he brought Lu Xiaoru, Crow Feather, and the bar-browed man with him to Chilei.


    Sue Lochiro was really busy, and Ru Qiu had even become her full-time assistant. Seeing that Sue Lochiro didn''t even have time to rest every day, Chen Mu felt very sorry. But he didn''t do anything to stop her; compared to when she had looked so full of sorrow before, she seemed to be in a lot better mood when she was busy.


    As Chen Mu was about to leave, he asked Sue Lochiro if he could bring back any presents for her. She just charged him to recruit a few more medical card artisans, and if there weren''t any, then nurses would do. In addition, she needed to have a few more therapeutic instruments available.


    Ru Qiu wanted a card pen set, which Chen Mu readily promised. Ru Qiu was rapidly becoming the all-purpose handyperson. She would go wherever anyone needed her help.


    Chilei was the biggest city in the area, with its long-term population having reached 7.5 million. Since it was in a pretty remote area, its hustle and bustle couldn''t compare with some commercial centers. It was still busy enough to expand Chen Mu''s horizons, however.


    The 100-story ice buildings glimmered under the sunshine as though they were carved of crystal. When seemingly thousands of such crystalline buildings were lined up together, their grand manner was beautiful beyond imagining. Countless card artisans were flying out from the city, covered in all colors of energy cloaks as they whistled past like shooting stars, creating yet another aspect of the scenery.


    The city had no wall, but it had countless ice bridges crisscrossing everywhere, as dense as a spiderweb. The most peculiar were those between the buildings, where several ice bridges would often be interconnected. Those myriad differently shaped bridges linked the entire city together.


    But the most spectacular place was the shuttle car terminal. It was a flat area that had been opened right up among the mountains, where hundreds of thousands of shuttle cars were moored. It was also the center from which all the goods were distributed. The shuttle car terminal had been the busiest part of the city for just about forever. The flow of goods and people never stopped.


    Seeing that Bogner had something to say, Chen Mu waved him off. "You do what you have to do, and pay me no mind. I''ll just be looking around."


    Hearing that, Bogner rushed off to do his own work. That day, he was going to snag some card artisans. Never having seen that, Chen Mu simply followed him to expand his horizons a little. Seeing that the boss was interested, Bogner hurriedly brought enough people along for the sake of safety, just in case something might happen.


    "Where are we?" Chen Mu lifted his head, marveling. That ice building was a lot more magnificent than the ones around it. From Chen Mu''s angle, it looked more like a base than an ice building. It wasn''t like the brilliantly colored ice buildings everywhere else. The entire building was an unusual black color, which made it stick out quite a bit.


    After entering, Chen Mu found that it was obviously a lot bigger inside than he had imagined. There were countless glowing screens floating freely in midair with quite a few people gathered in front of each of them. More than 100 round service desks were distributed inside the great hall, each one having ten staffers. There was also a screen above the service desks. Although there were a lot of people there, it was actually quite orderly; there weren''t a lot of loud people or too much hubbub in that base.


    Bogner randomly walked over to one of the screens.

 332 Getting on the Right Track

    While he skimmed through what was on the screen, Bogner introduced the place. "This is Chilei''s general headquarters for the card artisan activity centers. It provides nearly every service related to a card artisan, such as assessment and advancement, the study of card artisan skills, and so forth. It''s also a comprehensive platform where there are large numbers of freelance card artisans, which is why I came here to recruit. In addition to the commissions announced and taken here, they also have the most advanced training field in Chilei and the largest card artisan shopping center in the city." He then lowered his voice to say, "But this doesn''t have anything better than the black market. They only dare sell above-board things." After that, he added, "And, the prices are very high."


    Looking around, Bogner brought everyone to a service desk.


    The girl attendant wore a professional smile. "Greetings. How may I serve you?"


    "Hello, I need to recruit some card artisans."


    "May I ask what sort of requirements you might have for the card artisans?" The service girl maintained her slight smile.


    Bogner adeptly reported his requirements. "A perceptual level above five, single and without a family to support, and able to take a long-term contract."


    "Alright, just a second." The service girl quickly went to work. "Ok, according to your requirements, there are 123 who meet the criteria. Among them are 82 battle card artisans and 41 other types."


    "Battle card artisans and medical card artisans."


    "All right, there are five medical card artisans. With the 82 battle card artisans, there would be 87 altogether. Would you like to confirm that you require us to issue a letter of notification?"


    Hearing what was being said, Chen Mu couldn''t help a deep sigh. In such a remote city in the Heavenly Drum Village District, there were still so many card artisans with level-five and above perception. There were actually card artisans who had broken through level five, which rather surprised him.


    "Mmmm, right." Bogner was very definite.


    "Please fill in the location for interviews. You may freely choose your location and time for the interviews. If you require specialized equipment, you may rent space and equipment on the 57th through 69th floors. In addition, you will need to remit a fee of 500,000 Oudi." The attendant spoke very fast.


    It sure was expensive! Chen Mu felt inwardly speechless. If they had been in the ordinary residential districts, a fee of 40,000 or 50,000 Oudi would be sky-high. Around there, it was about ten times more.


    Bogner readily handed over the money and filled out the address. He''d set the interviews for the next morning at 8 o''clock. Just as they were planning to leave, someone suddenly said something.


    "I believe we''ve already met."


    Bogner turned around. The one speaking was astonishingly that elegant and cool woman who had suddenly showed up at the door a few days before. She had another woman with her who was wearing huge glasses that nearly covered her whole face.


    "How are you? I''m glad to see you again." Bogner had no hint of being happy in his tone.


    The pretty woman still had her icy look. "Would the gentleman really not consider it a little more? If it''s an issue with the remuneration, I believe that''s something we could discuss. If your firm would like to accept this commission, we would like to pay 200 million Oudi. Moreover, we would like to notarize the authenticity of the commission for your honorable firm. I''m sure if you complete this commission, it would be sufficient to advance you the second level of card artisan firms."


    When Chen Mu heard her say 200 million Oudi, he was a little astonished. He couldn''t help but carefully size up those two women. The second one hadn''t uttered a word up until then, and what she wore was a lot plainer than the elegant woman.


    A commission of 200 million Oudi rather got Bogner''s interest.


    Seeing Bogner hesitate, a glimmer of joy flashed through the pretty woman''s eyes. Striking while the iron was hot, she said, "The 50 million Oudi reward we spoke of previously remains in effect. That would mean that if your esteemed firm could finally achieve the highest yield, you would possibly be able to get 250 million Oudi. That amount would be enough to purchase a newly established card artisan firm!"


    She wasn''t far off. For a level-one card artisan firm, that kind of compensation was sky-high without a doubt.


    "What do you think, Boss?" Bogner had abruptly realized his boss was there, and he quickly lowered his voice to ask.


    The woman only then paid attention to Chen Mu, and an odd look flashed through her eyes. The woman beside her wearing glasses also seemed to raise her head a little.


    "You make the decision." Chen Mu didn''t want to influence Bogner''s judgment with his own unprofessional assessment.


    Bogner had long gotten used to Chen Mu''s style and nodded to show he understood. The woman once again showed a strange look as she said, "And this is¡­?"


    "My boss." Bogner succinctly introduced him, following in a more ponderous tone, "I''ll need to know some specifics about the operation."


    The pretty woman showed some hesitancy, though the other woman intervened to say, "No problem."


    Following that, Bogner went to the side to discuss in detail with the two of them, so Chen Mu just roamed around. The first place he went was the marketplace. The shopping center there was quite prosperous and had a lot of traffic. It had many departments, such as the card department, the materials department, the card appliance department, and so forth.


    The card department was a real eye-opener for Chen Mu. Four-star fantasy cards were mainstream in the Heavenly Drum Village District. That showed the difference between the ordinary residential districts and the flourishing districts. There was no shortage of fine goods among the excellent cards, but none of them had low prices. Chen Mu felt a rush of excitement just looking at them.


    When upward of thousands of four-star cards were placed together, it sure did have a visual impact. Since every card was four-star and above, the effect was naturally still more extraordinary. Chen Mu even saw a few five-star cards. They had all been pulled out by themselves in the middle of the display case.


    Chen Mu was really curious what six- or seven-star cards would be like. Too bad he had never seen one. Those were legendary cards.


    There were also all sorts of card appliances there, especially shuttle cars. Because of the unique geography and climate of the Heavenly Drum Village District, shuttle cars were used far more there than in other places. Compared to the ordinary residential districts, however, the shuttle cars there were much higher in both price and performance.


    The prices in the materials department made Chen Mu speechless when he saw them. Both the types and appearance of the materials were outstanding, though their quality-to-price ratio wasn''t great; their prices were too high. After seeing a few kinds, Chen Mu lost interest.


    He spent 1.5 million to buy a set of card pens for Ru Qiu, and those were only ordinary goods. From Chen Mu''s point of view, it was a set of extremely good card making pens, although it wasn''t as outstanding as the Weak Water pen set. Still, it was worth 1.5 million.


    After buying the set of card pens, Chen Mu didn''t plan to buy anything else. The spending he had done was causing him some real pain. When he went back to the station, Bogner had already reached an agreement with the pretty woman. As the two women were about to leave, they couldn''t help but do a double-take on Chen Mu.


    "This commission is certainly tough, Boss, and I asked them about that. Still, the compensation is so high that I felt it was worth considering," Bogner reported to Chen Mu. He had inquired carefully that time, and the pretty woman didn''t want to talk about many of the issues. He hadn''t thought the woman wearing glasses would actually talk about them so frankly.


    "Mmmm, you understand that better than I do. Do as you see fit, and that will be fine." Chen Mu continued his hands-off style.


    "Yes, sir. This outing will probably require a month and a half before we can come back. We''ll be doing escort work, and I''ve already reached an agreement with them that all the itineraries along the way must follow my arrangements, including theirs," Bogner said.


    "Good. Are you going to send a few more hands to Xi Ping?" Chen Mu asked. Bogner would be gone for a month and a half on this trip, and Chen Mu was a little concerned about Xi Ping''s safety. He really didn''t want anything to happen to either of those two people.


    "Relax, Boss. No one would dare cause trouble inside the city of Chilei. Even people from Moon Frost Island wouldn''t dare, never mind anyone else."


    Chen Mu patted Bogner on the shoulder. "Take care, and be sure to take enough people!"


    That rare action by the boss made Bogner really surprised, but he didn''t say anything, only grunting his heavy assent.


    Everyone was busy, and Chen Mu didn''t even have time to relax. He took Lu Xiaoru and the others and returned to the ravine. After he got back, Chen Mu started to follow up with the purple fluorescent ore.


    That was their most important source of funds. If something were to happen in that regard, it would be a huge blow to them. Still, the equipment Chen Mu had made was undergoing testing. It had been working over the past several days without stopping or having any issues.


    Two days later, a shuttle car sent a medical card artisan and five nurses. That finally gave the extremely busy Sue Lochiro a chance to relax.


    * * *


    An old, half-squinting man was putting the purple reagent bottles under the light. With the light shining through them, the metal floating in the purple reagent bottles was especially shiny, as crystal-clear as amethyst and extremely enchanting.


    "The appearance is quite good and at a first-class standard. It''s perfectly pure, and the contaminants should be less than 0.5 percent. It''s been a long time since I''ve seen purple extract of fluorescent purple that looked this good." The old man felt moved, and he looked at Xi Ping. "Boss Xi is quite capable, after all!"


    Xi Ping responded with a look full of respect. "You are too kind, Mr. Stinger. As compared with yourself, I am only a latecomer."


    He really wasn''t exaggerating. Stinger was truly among one of the adepts in the business circles of Chilei.


    "Ha ha, I''ll take the whole shipment. Boss Xi needn''t worry about the price. The appearance of these liquid extracts is quite a bit better than what''s on the market, and I''ll be able to get 20 percent above the market price. I had never thought Boss Xi could actually get the red extract of fluorescent purple. If Boss Xi gets another shipment, take care to come straight to me, and I''ll take all of it. And, Boss Xi, if you have the time, come over and sit down with me. I''ll introduce you to a few friends. I get along pretty well with the old men of Chilei."


    Xi Ping was thrilled. "Thank you for the guidance, Mr. Stinger!"

 333 Problem Solved

    Chen Mu was overjoyed to watch the amount of liquid extract in the reagent bottles continually increase. Xi Ping connected with a big seller for the extracts, so they weren''t going to have any trouble with sales down the road.


    In his investigations, Xi Ping had discovered only two establishments in the Pascal Region that could produce the purple and the blue extract of fluorescent purple. But it couldn''t compare with the quality of that produced in the snow silkworm ravine. They couldn''t even produce the other few rarer extracts. Only a few in the Heavenly Drum Village District could produce the best among them, the red extract of fluorescent purple.


    The reason Stinger had so respected Xi Ping was mainly because the red extract was included.


    So long as the mining of the purple fluorescent ore continued, Chen Mu didn''t need to worry about funding issues. That didn''t mean he relaxed, however. Since the profits from purple fluorescent ore mining were so high, many people would certainly be red-eyed with greed. He was afraid that when the time came, all manner of tricks would be deployed. Chen Mu specifically told Jiang Liang to be vigilant and to keep up his guard.


    At the same time, Chen Mu could finally get all of that off his mind to do his own thing. Apart from his daily training, he was researching the purple fluorescent ore. The resources Xi Ping had provided said it was an outstanding material for card making, which was why the price was so high.


    As a card master, how could Chen Mu remain indifferent to such an outstanding card making material? However, he didn''t know anything definite about how it was used. Among the information Xi Ping had gotten, anything relating to how it was used was rather fuzzy.


    In the field of card making, the higher the price was for materials, the more excellent their performance would generally be. Chen Mu had seldom encountered really high-priced materials like the liquid extracts from the purple fluorescent ore.


    The purple extract was about 80,000 Oudi per gram, and the red extract could go as high as 3 million per gram. White sort of amazing performance might they have? Chen Mu was curious.


    The identification of any material required expending a huge amount of one''s energy. By that time, apart from specialized agencies, people would only rarely attempt such projects. Of course, Chen Mu had no way to do it, with just the analytical instruments alone requiring a huge outlay. He didn''t have the spare change to do such things.


    He didn''t understand it, but someone did¡ªRu Qiu. Having been selected as the next dean of the Origins Academy card making division, how could she not know something about it?


    Ru Qiu did have a rather good understanding about that sort of material, after all. "The liquid extracted from the purple fluorescent ore is a kind of natural card ink. It has many different colors, which also distinguish the different properties. For example, the purple extract is suited for making jet stream cards. Until now, it has been one of the card inks most suited for doing so. But the quantities required are rather shocking. To make a single jet stream card probably requires about 500 grams of the blue extract. What''s the price like here for the blue extract, Boss?"


    "It''s 80,000 per gram," Chen Mu replied.


    "That''s a lot cheaper than in the ordinary residential districts. I seem to remember it being 140,000 per gram there. But even at 80,000 per gram, 500 grams would require 40 million. Forty million just to make a single jet stream card is really too expensive. That''s why people are seldom likely to be so extravagant as to use the liquid extracts to make card ink; they are more likely to use them as additives.


    "Another characteristic of the liquid extracted from the purple fluorescent ore is its compatibility. It can be fused with most materials, and that can increase the card ink''s efficacy. The different colors produce completely different results. For example, the purple extract can increase the harmony between the ink and the card blank. Research into the results of adding the purple fluorescent extracted liquids has been one of the hottest topics for the last few years." Ru Qiu was talking away nonstop about it when she suddenly asked a stupid question. "Why did you think of asking about the extracts from the purple fluorescent ore, Boss?"


    Even Chen Mu didn''t know how to answer that question. He could only say, "We can now produce the extracts."


    "Ah!" Ru Qiu covered her mouth in surprise and asked in a daze, "Since when have we been able to extract liquids from the purple fluorescent ore?"


    "Don''t you know?"


    "I don''t. I''ve been assisting sister Sue for the last few days, and I have been so busy my head is spinning." Ru Qiu put on a look of suffering. But she was soon excited again. "Boss, does that mean we have a lot of the extract from the purple fluorescent ore?"


    Taking a look at Ru Qiu, Chen Mu knew what she was thinking and had to straight-out destroy her fantasy. "We don''t have much, and we have to sell what we do have."


    Ru Qiu''s spirits abruptly wilted. She had just been thinking she might get the boss to give her some of the extract do to some research.


    Seeing her expression and thinking about how hard she had been working for that period, Chen Mu couldn''t quite stand it. He said, "Wait a little while until our production has increased, and I''ll be able to put some aside for your research."


    Ru Qiu immediately raised her head, her face overjoyed. "Really? Boss¡­"


    "Mmmm."


    Ru Qiu''s introduction about the purple fluorescent extracts set Chen Mu''s mind itching. Still, the thing he needed most at that time was a lot of money. He couldn''t do anything but repress his curiosity.


    Fortunately, it was a consumable product. That meant the market would be bigger. The thing Chen Mu most needed to be concerned with just then was how to increase production. The simplest way would be to get more equipment. But he''d had to throw out 150 million for just one piece of equipment. He didn''t have the ability to squander the money for several.


    His communications card sounded. He glanced to see that it was Qiao Fei! That rather surprised Chen Mu. Why would she call him? He had really formed a deep impression of that outlandish woman.


    "Do you have extract from the purple fluorescent ore on your hands?" Qiao Fei appeared on the screen and broke right out with the question.


    Chen Mu didn''t deny it and nodded. "Right."


    Qiao Fei''s eyes were tightly locked on Chen Mu. "Did you produce it, or are you re-selling it?"


    Chen Mu said calmly, "We produced it. What''s the problem?"


    Qiao Fei suddenly smiled, and her expression relaxed. "Boss Chen is pretty fierce, after all. You''ve actually gotten the technology to extract the purple fluorescent ore. That''s quite a magical power! I''ve been longing after the snow silkworm ravine for a long time. Too bad I could never get the equipment, and it''s still in the territory of that old demon Wen Zuofu. So, I haven''t paid it much mind. I never thought you would get the benefits in the end, ha. But it''s fine that you got it, so long as you don''t let Wen Zuofu get off too easily."


    Chen Mu shuddered inwardly; his counterpart had long known about the snow silkworm ravine.


    "What''s the highest grade of extract you can produce now?" Qiao Fei asked, curious.


    "The red extract."


    The expression on Qiao Fei''s face became abruptly strange, her eyes looking as though she were itching to inspect Chen Mu''s whole body.


    Chen Mu frowned. "Is there a problem?"


    "I''ve just found out you are getting more and more interesting, man! I''ve never been able to find out what''s up with you. If you were to tell me you were from some large firm, I wouldn''t be surprised. There are no more than five organizations in the whole Heavenly Drum Village District able to produce the red extract." Qiao Fei was looking at Chen Mu as though he were from outer space.


    Chen Mu didn''t change his expression, though he''d inwardly raised his guard. Since Qiao Fei had found him out, what about the others? Could they be secretly investigating too?


    Seeming to have discovered Chen Mu''s guardedness, Qiao Fei said nonchalantly, "Stop worrying. If I didn''t find out, that old demon Wen Zuofu certainly won''t find out. Ha ha, if that old demon were to find out the entire snow silkworm ravine was full of purple fluorescent ore, I''m afraid his guts would turn green from regret." After she finished laughing, her expression turned a little serious. "You''d still better be careful. Wen Zuofu''s card artisan troops recently seem to be having frequent mobilizations. I reckon he has a mind to hit you."


    "Thank you very much!" Chen Mu''s expression of thanks was sincere. The intelligence from Qiao Fei was important to him.


    "No need to thank me. I''m helping myself by helping you." Qiao Fei waved her hand as though it were nothing, and she proceeded to say seriously, "Right. Sell me some of the extract. I''ll pay cash."


    Chen Mu didn''t hesitate. "How much do you need?"


    A bill of goods immediately appeared on the screen, on which were listed the quantities needed for each of the extracts. Doing some mental calculation, what Qiao Fei needed would cost about 500 million Oudi.


    Given their current production, he didn''t know how long it would take to produce that much extract. Chen Mu suddenly had an idea, and he said, "That much extract probably requires 500 million Oudi. I urgently need more machinery right now. If you could use the equipment as compensation, I''ll add in another ten percent for free."


    Qiao Fei looked interested. "What kind of equipment do you need?"


    Chen Mu scanned over the bill of goods he''d given Xi Ping, and he then heard Qiao Fei discussing it with someone in a low voice.


    After a moment, Qiao Fei raised her head again and readily said, "Ok, no problem! We''ll send over the equipment tomorrow. Five hundred million buys a little more than three sets, but not quite four. I''ll just send over four, which comes out to 600 million. You can wait until we get the goods."


    Chen Mu nodded. "Ok."


    Closing his communications card, Chen Mu hadn''t thought the problem that had been giving him such a headache would be so easily solved. But when he thought of the intelligence Qiao Fei had presented him with, he became abruptly cautious. He called Jiang Liang over.


    "Boss." Jiang Liang saluted with perfect seriousness. With his perception restored, Jiang Liang looked especially sharp that day. His eyes shone with a chill gaze, and the manner of his every gesture was as though he were a completely different person from before. What hadn''t changed, however, was his style of getting things done. He was meticulous and extremely serious.


    Chen Mu repeated the intelligence Qiao Fei had just provided him. Jiang Liang showed no surprise, his expression as normal.


    "Understood!" Jiang Liang''s voice wasn''t loud, but it sounded like nothing could impress him.


    Seeing Jiang Liang in front of him, Chen Mu suddenly thought of Bogner. The two of them looked alike at certain times. It was just that Bogner wasn''t ordinarily so proper, but Jiang Liang always had his eyes straight ahead and no expression. But once any fighting started, both men''s demeanors and gazes became very similar.


    Having given Jiang Liang that information, Chen Mu could relax. He was certain Jiang Liang would arrange everything properly. His ability in that regard by himself could top several other people combined.


    The next day, the equipment Qiao Fei had spoken of was sent to the ravine. Chen Mu immediately started to do the intense work of assembly. With his prior experience, the work of assembly that time advanced smoothly. Chen Mu assembled four separators after spending only half a day. That meant their daily output would increase five times over.


    Yet another issue to cause headaches, however, was the mountain of unneeded parts. The equipment Qiao Fei had sent over cost 600 million. Adding to that the 150 million Xi Ping had spent, it would be 750 million altogether. From that 750 million, not quite 20 percent of the parts had been used to assemble the separators.


    In other words, Chen Mu had now piled up 600 million worth of parts, which made him quite anxious.

 334 Fierce Faya!

    Not only were there a lot of parts in the pile, but all sorts of different types were involved. Chen Mu was reluctant to allow 600 million Oudi worth of parts to be piled there like rubbish. He was figuring out how he might make use of them.


    So, Chen Mu was sitting in the middle of that 600 million worth of parts, frowning in hard thought.


    * * *


    "We''ve finished bringing them all together, big brother," Yi Song cautiously reported to Wen Zuofu.


    "Mmmm, good job." Wen Zuofu''s face was like deep water, showing no emotion. He suddenly said, "Has there been any sign of activity with the House of Qiao?"


    "They''ve increased their level of alert. For the time being, we haven''t detected any further activity," Yi Song responded.


    "Has the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm set out yet?"


    "Reporting, big brother! They set off three days ago, and they''re now about to leave the Pascal Region. If we launch our attack now, they won''t make it back in time for a rescue. Still, if we wanted a little more insurance, it would be better to wait two or three days," Yi Song said with an abundance of caution.


    "Mmmm, we''re in no hurry for the moment. We might as well wait three more days." Wen Zuofu''s gloomy face then turned hideous. "This time, we have to be sure to destroy that gang in the ravine; otherwise, they will become a cancer! We''ll use it first to take out their leader, and then we''ll just take out the House of Qiao. The House of Qiao certainly hasn''t realized we are about to attack them. Ha ha, when the time comes, I want that little girl Qiao Fei to kneel in front of me!"


    "Big brother is so wise!" Yi Song rushed to kiss some a**.


    "Ok!" Wen Zuofu waved his hand and cut off Yi Song before he went on with the flattery. He said ponderously, "I need you at 120 percent these three days, and take care to watch over those things. If anything were to happen, argh!"


    Yi Song rushed to say, "Don''t worry, big brother; nothing can happen!"


    "Good!" Wen Zuofu looked a lot more at ease. Watching as Yi Song obediently departed, Wen Zuofu became a little spellbound. He had used nearly half his patrimony in exchange for those things just then. That organization had massive power. Seven years prior, they had sent someone to initiate contact with Wen Zuofu when he was only the lord of a small fort.


    They sketched out for him an extremely attractive prospect. The facts also proved the organization''s abilities were powerful. With their assistance, Wen Zuofu established the Downstream Alliance, which annexed several small fortresses to become a small power with a certain amount of strength.


    For the past few years, however, the help from that organization plunged, which was also an important reason that he had no way to take on the House of Qiao. As he saw it, if the organization had wanted to assist him, what could the House of Qiao amount to?


    Then, in the last few days, the mysterious organization suddenly sent someone to contact him, claiming they wanted to help unify the region. But they were also proposing rather harsh conditions. They wanted to take 40 percent of the overall spoils, including the subsequent income from mining. They weren''t even going to send anyone to participate but would only be providing weaponry and intelligence support.


    The weaponry was extremely expensive, but Wen Zuofu made the decision on the spot to buy it. In order to get that batch of weaponry, he spared no effort and put everything he had gotten those last few years into it. He had no fallback against failure!


    In order to mobilize the Snow Silkworm Card Artisans to leave, he had deliberately spread the news of his own Dark Fog card artisans being annihilated after infiltrating the ravine. That had unintentionally gotten rid of some of their power.


    Chen Mu probably hadn''t realized the news had actually been released by the Downstream Alliance themselves. That was why the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm got the job that took them out of Chilei. Wen Zuofu didn''t concern himself with Xi Ping. What use could a little businessman be? He was just quietly waiting at the time¡ªwaiting for the battle to come in three days!


    During those short three days, the Heavenly Federation was turned upside down.


    Di Bo was leading the Federation Comprehensive Academy card artisan troops when they were singing victory marches along their way to winning every battle! Things inevitably returned to their previous disposition. Along their entire loud advance, both the Central Repository of the Classics and Faya could hardly lift their heads after being so beaten.


    It was then that the Federation Comprehensive Academy made its resolution that the board of trustees would take over the management of the academy. Everyone understood what that implied. The previous president, Pavchek, had lost out in a power struggle. Tang Hanpei''s wild moves had proven to be a fatal blow to Pavchek''s faction. His later house arrest along with spreading things around behind Pavchek''s back made Pavchek''s faction weaker than it ever had been.


    Di Bo''s powerful performance on the front lines sped up the conduct of the internal power struggle. Pavchek wasn''t stripped of his title as president, but almost all the power was taken from his hands by the school''s board of trustees. Although he was a member of the board, his influence was a lot less than it had been.


    Two days after the resolution was adopted, the situation took a shocking change. As if they had some sort of tacit agreement, Faya and the Central Repository of the Classics happened to make a show of strength at the same time.


    Worker Hao, who had previously been oppressed into submission, suddenly turned the tables on Di Bo when he clamped down uncharacteristically on Di Bo''s main forces. Worker Hao didn''t smash into Di Bo head-on; he just kept moving and making sneak attacks to ruthlessly nip at him whenever there was an opportunity. He became firmly entangled in the enemy''s army.


    But the most stunning news that day come from somewhere else: Faya! That organization, which had been so used to operating in the dark, finally bared their sharp fangs! A new kind of weapon that could transform the entire situation of the federation showed up in the midst of battle.


    It had a pretty ordinary name¡ªthe battle shuttle car!


    Fifty thousand shiny battle shuttle cars, like sharp bayonets with their cold, metallic gleam, sliced right across the middle of Di Bo''s troops. Countless energy shuttles flew like rain to cover the earth and sky in an unforgettable scene.


    They were slightly larger than an ordinary shuttle car, honeycombed with holes in front. When fighting, energy bodies would shoot out of the holes like crazy. Their power wasn''t great, and their locking-on capabilities were rough, but there were just so many of them. People couldn''t believe their eyes about how much power a clumsy card appliance like that could bring into play.


    The 50,000 metallic card appliance monsters spewed energy bodies like crazy, which filled the sky. The scope they covered was so huge and dense that no card artisan could conceive of escaping it. Nothing else could be seen apart from them.


    The Federation Comprehensive Academy card artisans raised their energy cloaks in horror, but what utterly terrified them was that they were being hit upward of 100 times per second. Their normally trusty energy cloaks were annihilated right before their frantic eyes. Unable to make a response, they were pummeled into a sieve. In the investigation after the battle, there wasn''t a single intact corpse.


    That may have rocked the federation, but when Faya subsequently announced inside information about the battle shuttle car, a genuine tsunami was on its way. The drivers of the battle shuttle cars weren''t card artisans. They were just ordinary people who had undergone some training!


    There was no longer a mysterious halo surrounding card artisans. It had become one of the largest professions, already having penetrated all aspects of life. Despite all of that, a gulf between card artisans and ordinary people did still exist. The appearance of the battle shuttle car immediately destroyed that uncrossable gap. People quickly saw the advantages of the battle shuttle car.


    It was a type of card appliance, and seeing that Faya could bring out 50,000 of them in a single breath, you could surmise that such a card appliance had already gone into mass-production. The growth of a card artisan required at least ten years of cultivation, and the difference between a good one and a poor one could be told at a glance. Ordinary people could become competent as drivers, which meant personnel investments could be greatly reduced.


    Although their individual strength wasn''t that great, their battle power was stunning once they were implemented at large scale. The appearance of battle shuttle cars destroyed the existing card artisan mechanisms.


    The troops from the Federation Comprehensive Academy suffered a nearly devastating blow, and even Di Bo couldn''t escape it. He finally died after suffering endless pursuit from the Central Repository of the Classics.


    The defeat of the Federation Comprehensive Academy was already a forgone conclusion. By that time, however, no one''s attention was on them anymore. Everyone''s gazes were focused on Faya and their somewhat ugly battle shuttle cars. Faya''s massive power made the entire federation draw in a breath of cold air.


    The appearance of such a never-before-seen card appliance impacted the Big Six the most. The advantages they had established over so many years were in danger of collapse following that new state of affairs.


    Then, the situation suddenly seemed to calm. Everyone was waiting for what Faya would do next. The struggles among the Big Six came to a halt. Moon Frost Island and Desert Camp both withdrew their troops, and the Big Six felt endangered as never before.


    The news spread that the Big Six were about to conduct an emergency meeting. But not long after, Faya released an even more shocking piece of news¡ªany power could approach them to buy a battle shuttle car!


    The world went wild.

 335 The Spinulosa Disk

    Chen Mu was by himself in the huge warehouse of the Valley Nest, surrounded by mountains of parts. There were several half-finished items in front of him that he had been trying out those last few days. But up until then, there hadn''t been a single successful work. His ability with metallic machinery could be considered only ordinary, and that was only thanks to Alfonso.


    If Alfonso were there, he would certainly have been able to make use of all those things. Chen Mu couldn''t help a bitter smile as he looked at those ugly, half-finished works in front of him.


    Casually reclining among the parts, he became strangely relaxed in that moment. He was really enjoying that period of his life. He liked nothing more than the sort of research and improvement work he was doing just then.


    A slight grin curved up from the corner of Chen Mu''s mouth as he remembered that bright period when he was making card plays with Copper. That was a really lovely time! He didn''t know how Copper was doing. Such arbitrary thoughts fluttering past left him without ambition and reminded him how nice it would be if he could retrieve the simple life he once had. His own ideal was to be nothing more than a card master.


    Something bright suddenly flashed through his mind, which made him feel that he had vaguely grasped something crucial! He sat right up. Under his disheveled hair, his eyes were like the milky way, shining with a strange brightness.


    Card master! How could he forget he was a master of card making? The parts in front of him were nothing more than dead things, looking like they had no way to go together. It was only that he had yet to grasp the right way to do it. What was the ghost in a card appliance? It was the card inside it!


    Why not design a card according to the characteristics of the parts?


    After thinking that through, everything opened wide for Chen Mu. He had been steeping in that pile of parts for the last few days and had long since impressed their characteristics into his mind. Within the blink of an eye, he had formed the outline of a plan in his mind.


    * * *


    Every move Faya made touched countless people''s minds. The battle shuttle car had quite a few shortcomings, such as how cumbersome it was. It was far from the nimbleness of a card artisan. If a single battle shuttle car were to encounter a mid-level card artisan, the card artisan would have more than an 80 percent chance of winning. However, the battle shuttle car could be mass-produced and could be driven by an ordinary person. Those two qualities gave them the absolute upper hand. There was also no way to compare the two from the aspect of the investment required.


    Apart from the Big Six, the other powers were less scrupulous, and the orders swarmed in like snowflakes. Faya did as it said it would and kept delivering them to all the other powers.


    That really caused the Big Six to panic! They all developed curricula around battle shuttle cars, but no one succeeded. The hardest part was the production of the fantasy cards; up until then, only one-star power cards could be mass-produced. Although there wasn''t much power in the energy bodies shot off from the battle shuttle cars, they were certainly three-star fantasy cards. The most shocking thing behind the affair was that Faya had the ability to mass-produce three-star fantasy cards.


    That meant the price of three-star cards plummeted on the market, and it also meant many card artisans were about to lose their jobs. If they were able to mass-produce three-star power cards, then what about four-star fantasy cards? What about five-star fantasy cards?


    No one could know how things might develop in the future, but what was happening right in front of everyone would certainly turn the world and all its structure upside down. It was a new epoch.


    ***


    There was a perfectly strange card appliance sitting in front of Chen Mu. It was his latest work.


    It was a metallic disk about 20 centimeters across and made entirely of silvery-white metal. When Chen Mu first looked at it, it made him think of the spinulosa wheels thrown by the brilliant apes. Because it was too light, however, Chen Mu discarded any notion of making it into a weapon.


    The advantage of its light weight was that it could fly without using much energy, so Chen Mu had the bright idea to turn it into a probe craft. Inside its body was a jet stream card, a simple scanning card, and a simplified communications card. The three were connected by parallel compositions.


    The communications card enabled the probe craft to connect with a specialized communications card in Chen Mu''s apparatus. In that way, he could see images transmitted from the probe craft on the screen emitted from his apparatus. He could also have some rudimentary control by means of the apparatus.


    That was the first work Chen Mu completed during those last few days. Looking at the probe craft sitting there, Chen Mu thought about it and decided to call it the Spinulosa Disk.


    He still hadn''t tried flying it and didn''t know what specific effects it might have. It had finally become time to experiment with what he had been doing for those few days, and Chen Mu was pretty excited. That was about the most fun he could ever have.


    Activating his apparatus, Chen Mu carefully used perception to control the communications card within it. The Spinulosa Disk fluttered up and hovered in midair. A look of joy flashed through Chen Mu''s eyes, and he made a move with his perception without hesitating. The Spinulosa Disk whooshed through the window and flew up into the sky. The images from the screen in front of Chen Mu kept changing. It went higher and higher until it flew over the ravine and into the clouds, wandering freely among them.


    Seeing the snowy mountains and icy plains open out like a painting in front of him made him feel unspeakably carefree and relaxed. The Spinulosa Disk was light and fast¡ªeven more so than a shuttle car or a card artisan.


    After flying for nearly half an hour, Chen Mu wanted to find out how large the range was within which he could control it. He suddenly saw what looked like a lot of black dots on the screen. He was taken aback and hurriedly guided the Spinulosa Disk into circling and slightly lowering. The images on the screen became a lot clearer.


    It was a troop of card artisans! Yikes! They were advancing in the direction of the ravine! Chen Mu was surprised, but he knew what was going on when he saw Wen Zuofu.


    He paid no more attention to the Spinulosa Disk and charged out of the room, yelling at the top of his lungs, "Jiang Liang!"


    His voice was so loud it could be heard clearly throughout the whole ravine. All of the team members put down what they were doing almost unconsciously and looked at the boss, stunned. They had never heard him shout for someone like that; that was Bogner''s classic style.


    "Boss!" Jiang Liang had sprinted over.


    Chen Mu said immediately, "Wen Zuofu is leading troops in our direction!"


    Jiang Liang''s expression showed his fear, but he said unflustered, "Do you have any specific intelligence, Boss? How far away are they? How many of them are there?"


    Chen Mu then remembered the Spinulosa Disk and rushed to open his screen. He breathed a sigh of relief that it had remained hovering without his direction. The images that appeared from the screen were clear, and a look of curiosity flashed past Jiang Liang''s eyes. But he also knew how urgent the situation was and hurriedly concentrated his observation.


    "There should be 1,500 card artisans, including about 200 aces. According to the speed of their advance, they are still about two hours away. Yikes, what are those shuttle cars?" Jiang Liang had seen a large number of shuttle cars among the troops at a glance, and he couldn''t help but ask, puzzled.


    During ordinary battles, shuttle cars didn''t really work; they were a burden and were too clumsy. There had to be some mystery about why Wen Zuofu was bringing so many shuttle cars with him that time.


    Just then, Jiang Liang''s apparatus sounded.


    "It''s Manager Xi." Jiang Liang was a little surprised; Xi Ping would always call the boss directly or would talk with Bogner. Why was he calling him?


    "Hurry to take it. How is Old Xi doing over there?" Chen Mu''s gaze turned gloomy. Xi Ping only had Xiaobo to protect him. If anything were to happen, then¡­


    Jiang Liang immediately took the call. He connected to a frightened Xi Ping, who said straight-out, "What about the boss, Jiang Liang? I can''t get through to his communications card! Something has happened. Hurry up and call the boss over!"


    Chen Mu then remembered that he had pulled out the communications card he normally used since he was now using the Spinulosa Disk communications card. He went in front of the screen. "Is everything ok there, Old Xi?"


    Xi Ping breathed a sigh of relief seeing Chen Mu. "Everything''s fine, Boss." But his expression then turned excited. "Something big has happened, Boss! Faya has just come out with an awesome new weapon. Ai, I can''t describe it clearly. Take a look, both of you, and you''ll get it."


    Xi Ping immediately transmitted an image. It was a battle shuttle car in the middle of fierce firepower while they were smashing a troop of card artisans from the Federation Comprehensive Academy. The image had been spreading like wildfire those last few days.


    Chen Mu and Jiang Liang were shocked! A troop formed of 50,000 battle shuttle cars was like a torrent of steel. The firepower that covered the heavens and earth was so dense it froze the heart and nearly took their breaths away!


    "Faya threw out some more news, Boss. They say anyone can purchase that kind of card appliance from them," Xi Ping continued.


    By that time, Chen Mu had already calmed down. "We don''t care about Faya. Protect yourself, Old Xi. You and Xiaobo should go into hiding. The Downstream Alliance is about to arrive at the ravine, and they are bringing 1,500 card artisans along with several hundred of that kind of shuttle car."


    Xi Ping''s face turned immediately white.


    "Protect yourselves there." After those orders, Chen Mu had Jiang Liang close his communications apparatus.


    "What will you do?" Chen Mu''s expression had returned to normal, and his gaze was fixed on Jiang Liang. Bogner wasn''t there, and Jiang Liang was the only one he could trust in that regard.


    Jiang Liang was standing ramrod-straight, his eyes as sharp as a sword. He said in a deep voice, "We still have some power, Boss. We have the one advantage of lying in wait. We know about them, but they don''t know about us; they don''t know we''ve already detected them. That is our second advantage." He was haltingly figuring it out as he continued on. "That kind of battle shuttle car needs to achieve a certain scale before it can become powerful. Several hundred is too few. We are in the better position, and we can depend on the Starfish Fortress. Please report the situation to Qiao Fei right away, Boss. That way, once we clamp down on their troops, they''ll be done for. Qiao Fei will certainly be happy to run a knife through Wen Zuofu this time."


    Jiang Liang spoke coldly and in a deep voice, which made Chen Mu realize something. Professionals and non-professionals were quite different, after all. He decided on the spot and said, "You are the commander. Everyone, including Wei-ah and me, takes orders from you."


    Jiang Liang''s expression didn''t change as he snapped his salute. "I won''t betray the boss''s faith."


    The entire ravine was mobilized at shocking speed. The atmosphere transformed into swords drawn and bows bent, full of murderous rage.

 336 Ambush

    The sky had darkened completely at that moment. Dusks in the Heavenly Drum Village District were particularly short.


    Fifteen hundred card artisans and 300 battle shuttle cars set off for the snow silkworm ravine with great energy. Wen Zuofu was dead set on removing that thorn in his side. Not one of the Dark Fog card artisans sent by him had returned last time. He was rather shocked that the opponent''s capabilities were beyond his imagination.


    It wasn''t that he didn''t like the look of those people. If anything was to be blamed, it was their choice of location, which made Wen Zuofu somewhat uncomfortable. The snow silkworm ravine was situated between the Downstream Alliance and the House of Qiao and slightly to the north. If they were to form a union with the House of Qiao, the two would undoubtedly be able to render each other instant mutual assistance.


    That was also the main reason Wen Zuofu could not rest until he got rid of them. Moreover, Qiao Fei had paid a special visit to the snow silkworm ravine sometime earlier, which only strengthened Wen Zuofu''s determination in removing that thorn.


    Therefore, the first thing he did after purchasing the fleet of battle shuttle cars was to lead all of his troops in an overwhelming attack to rid that stumbling block. They would then head over to the House of Qiao. His men needed time to get used to the newly purchased battle shuttle cars. In picking the snow silkworm ravine for his first battle, Wen Zuofu also had some intention of using it as practice.


    In his eyes, the little valley would be obliterated instantly in the face of his great army.


    The card artisans in his employ were mostly level-five card artisans, though the majority were not originally battle card artisans. Only about 50 or 60 could really qualify as battle card artisans, and those were Wen Zuofu''s best men.


    Battle card artisans were not numerous in the Heavenly Drum Village District; they were generally found in the military or in the larger card artisan teams. The huge expense of developing a purely military prowess was not something ordinary forces could afford. Such battle card artisans referred to those who had been trained since youth for the purpose of battle.


    Their training required long-term investments and also included undergoing a number of actual battles. The assessment for battle card artisans was extremely difficult, ranking as one of the top few out of all the different types of card artisan assessments. Not only did it test for the overall battling capabilities of an individual, but also for their discipline in combat.


    Wen Zuofu had spent a fortune but only managed to enlist the services of 50 or so battle card artisans. However, those 50 or so individuals were already a rather formidable force.


    Sitting inside a battle shuttle car, Wen Zuofu was high-spirited and smug. He had been worried about the abilities of his men because apart from the battle card artisans, the others had pathetically little experience in actual combat. Now that he had the battle shuttle cars, he felt more at ease in leading them out to war.


    Those battle shuttle cars were certainly excellent! Even card artisan teams from the Federation Comprehensive Academy had suffered a heavy blow against them. Wouldn''t a mere ravine be captured easily? The only thing that made him cringe was that 40 percent of the final loot had to be given away to that organization. But, then again, to think he could form connections with such a huge organization, perhaps he could eventually expand his territories even farther!


    Just as Wen Zuofu was indulging in the wonderful imaginings of the future, the troops had come to a halt.


    "Big brother, the snow silkworm ravine is just after turning at the valley ahead," Yi Song said respectfully, pointing to the valley shown on the screen.


    Wen Zuofu didn''t like being interrupted from his fantasies, but he looked up and glanced at the screen. "Hmm."


    The valley was relatively flat. The hills at the sides weren''t that steep, and apart from some random trees, there was no cover. Wen Zuofu instantly felt more assured. It''s impossible to have a large contingent waiting in ambush in this sort of terrain. With that thought in mind, he couldn''t help but chuckle to himself at having been way too careful. Those people in the snow silkworm ravine are probably still snug in bed.


    The troops marched into the valley. As the card artisans activated their energy cloaks, it seemed as though translucent eggshells were lighting up one by one in the darkness. When seen from afar, they looked like drifting stars. Fifteen hundred stars gathered in one place was quite a magnificent sight to behold.


    For the sake of concealment, the battle shuttle cars and the card artisans had all been flying close to the ground. The higher one flew, the farther away the enemy could spot them from.


    Wen Zuofu was just about to order his men to brace themselves. After that valley and a quick reorganization, the attack on the snow silkworm ravine would be launched.


    Suddenly, however, something unexpected occurred!


    Without any warning, extremely fine rays of red light lit up beneath their feet, dazzling in the darkness. Every beam was as fine as spider silk, and hundreds of them together formed a gigantic red spider web. The web was so large it covered almost the entire valley.


    The first to react were the battle card artisans in the troops. Their expressions changed all at once! With no time to warn the others, they immediately tried to fly up. However, before they could rise into the sky, endless flames had already swallowed them up.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    The whole valley was a sea of fire. The ground shook violently, and the roar of explosions could almost shatter one''s eardrums. Nothing could be seen apart from the raging flames of the explosions. No one could hold themselves erect against the shockwaves, and many were blasted into the sky.


    Wen Zuofu was dumbstruck.


    His guards reacted extremely quickly, protecting him with energy cloaks in the first instant. However, the battle shuttle car was not so lucky. With such intense explosions, it was blown into bits. The powerful shockwaves easily tore the metal into shreds.


    Those few embattled guards carried Wen Zuofu gingerly. Shockwaves and blast winds kept crashing against the energy cloak, which was already encircled by flames.


    Promptly, carrying Wen Zuofu with them, they flew straight up into the sky.


    It wasn''t until they were more than 1,000 meters above the ground that they managed to get a break from the shockwaves of the explosions. The color drained from their faces as they glanced down.


    The wreckage of battle shuttle cars was striking in the flames, and the hills at the sides had been flattened. The earth too was scorched black.


    "Card appliances! It must be card appliances!" Yi Song shivered. "How many must that have been? Big brother, we¡­ we''ve¡­ lost all the battle shuttle cars." There was a catch in his voice.


    Wen Zuofu had finally recovered from the shock and realized the fleet he had spent his last penny on had been wiped out without even firing one energy body. The more he thought of it, the angrier he became. He was in a fit of rage and shaking all over, yet he could not make a single sound.


    Indeed were they card appliances. Jiang Liang had gritted his teeth and deployed all the card appliances available in the ravine. He didn''t even save one from the military card appliances bought from Xiao Liqian previously. Hertha had spent a whole hour laying them out.


    As for those beams of red light, they were a skill of Hertha''s called "Serial." It allowed the randomly placed card appliances to form a whole, so all of them could be detonated at the same time. The impact would then be 20 percent more powerful than their individual impact added up.


    Hertha had just learned the skill a few days ago. If it hadn''t been for the snow pit method, his perception wouldn''t have been strong enough for him to acquire it. Having seen the strength of his skill for the first time, the usually reticent Hertha couldn''t help but look proud and smug.


    The power of military card appliances was stronger than those on the market many times over! The roar of explosions could be heard near and far.


    In the sky, hard-pressed card artisans were everywhere. Since the 1,500 card artisans had kept their energy cloaks activated the whole time, the explosions didn''t cause many casualties.


    With faces full of fear, the card artisans looked at the valley, which was almost red from burning. Not one of the battle shuttle cars was spared. Metal was as fragile as paper in the face of such explosions.


    The sudden explosions rendered the card artisans dumbfounded. Only the 50 or so battle card artisans remained clear-headed.


    In the intense heat, even the air seemed a little twisted and bent. It was impossible to see clearly.


    They had had plenty of actual combat experience and understood the intention of their adversary. Their adversary must have gotten wind of the battle shuttle cars and thus set such an elaborate trap for them. Card appliances could do little harm to card artisans with level-five perceptual strength such as themselves, yet the adversary had spent an astonishing amount of them. There could have been only one goal¡ªto destroy the battle shuttle cars first.


    "Be careful. They must have prepared some other moves," one of the battle card artisans said, reminding his companion. The shockwaves from the explosions had messed up their formation. They needed to reassemble, but that of course only applied to battle card artisans like themselves.


    Just as the words left his mouth, shouts and yells sounded from across the sky. The two turned, only to see people continually falling from the sky.


    Oh no! Their expressions changed slightly. The sky was filled with energy fluctuations. The two battle card artisans couldn''t distinguish which came from their own people and which came from the adversary.


    "A bunch of greenhorns!" his companion couldn''t help but curse. He wasn''t completely wrong, either. With such chaos all around, the card artisans firing energy bodies were actually enabling the real enemy to hide in plain sight.


    "Leave them be. Let''s gather our own people first and not give anyone any chances," the battle card artisan said in a low voice. They couldn''t care less about the life or death of the ordinary card artisans. In their eyes, the ordinary card artisans in a contingent were merely cannon fodder and not fit to be their companions.


    * * *


    At that moment, Chen Mu was strangely calm. He was flitting about in the darkness like a ghost. Making the best use of the big mudfish card, he moved about with ease among the crowd. Darkness gave him the best cover. The energy cloaks of his adversaries looked so striking in the dark that he could find his targets with no effort at all.


    He approached a card artisan noiselessly and saw his entire back clearly through the energy cloak. Gently, he raised his index finger. A tailless shuttle was spinning merrily.


    Before that card artisan became aware of him, Chen Mu had already touched the energy cloak with his index finger with the speed of lightning. Ping¡ªcrisp and sharp, the energy cloak shattered instantly.


    The card artisan was startled. Just as he was going to react, he felt a pain at the back of his neck and lost all consciousness, plummeting down head first.


    After a few more card artisans were finished off in a similar way, the others began to stir. By the time Chen Mu had gotten rid of another ten or more, the situation was completely out of control.


    Fear was spreading among the card artisans. They started being on their guard against everyone around them, and some of the chicken-hearted ones even unconsciously activated their own energy cloaks. The situation became chaotic immediately. In the darkness, energy bodies were flying everywhere. They did not know where nor whom the enemy was.


    The difference between the professional and the amateur was now obvious. Even though the card artisans were each capable in their own right, their discipline in combat was too poor, which gave Chen Mu opportunity.


    Sensing every minute change in the jet stream card, Chen Mu''s figure appeared increasingly eerier. Watching the energy bodies occasionally flying by in the sky, he had an idea. He stopped getting close and used tailless shuttles to attack from a distance. He especially picked on the card artisans who were farther away since the nature of tailless shuttles was quite different from that of other energy bodies.


    For ordinary energy bodies, the shorter the distance, the larger the impact. However, tailless shuttles were the opposite; within the maximum range, the longer the distance, the larger the impact.


    In order not to be noticed, Chen Mu wasn''t using his perception in locking on but was gauging visually instead. In that way, it would be even harder to detect him.


    The energy fluctuation caused by releasing a tailless shuttle was already trivial in itself. Coupled with the fact that Chen Mu didn''t even use his perception to lock onto targets, the chance of discovery was minimal. By the time they did discover something, the tailless shuttle was already too close for them to respond.


    Chen Mu flitted about amongst the card artisans, releasing a tailless shuttle every now and then. In the sky, the shattering of the card artisans'' energy cloaks was unceasing. The screams of their companions were constantly agitating the nerves of the remaining card artisans.


    One by one, the stars extinguished. Who''s next? Me?


    Chen Mu was not very well-off, either. To avoid being discovered, he had to make his flight path as unpredictable as possible. Likewise, he hadn''t been using an energy cloak. Flying without an energy cloak in such weather, his face was numb from the cold.


    Seeing the increasingly chaotic situation in the sky, Chen Mu drifted downward without a sound. Unprotected by an energy cloak, a mere blade was enough to kill him. Besides, his mission was accomplished. Once on the ground, with a few leaps and bounds, he vanished in the snow.


    At that moment, Wen Zuofu had finally recovered from his shock.

 337 Almost Within Reach

    Seeing the terrible performance of his men, Wen Zuofu, who had already been close to losing his wits due to anger, exploded. "Damn it! Everyone, stop!" His bellow passed through the amplifier and resounded in every corner of the battlefield.


    Everyone was stunned, unconsciously coming to a halt. The authority Wen Zuofu had gained over the years in the Downstream Alliance had already been deeply rooted in the hearts of the masses. Card artisans gradually stopped, and the situation slowly calmed down. Each of them was at a loss, not understanding what had just happened.


    "Fools!" mocked one of the battle card artisans who couldn''t suppress himself.


    "Robert, you can''t expect them to be as well-trained as us," someone beside him said, laughing.


    "That may be so. I wonder what they can do on a battlefield. I can''t understand why the boss hired such trash," Robert said coldly.


    "Ha ha, they''re just right in proving our worth. How else will the boss understand that we''re so valuable?"


    "Enough!" the square-faced head card artisan broke in coldly. "On your guard! You''ve seen the adversary''s tactics, so don''t make a blunder now." He was Xiwente, the leader of the group of battle card artisans.


    "Rest assured, Chief. They can''t scare us with just these. Not a chance," Robert said offhandedly.


    Xiwente nodded, unspeaking. As his eyes swept across those blank-faced card artisans, he couldn''t help but show some contempt.


    Wen Zuofu felt as though he was about to go mad with rage. He was shivering all over like a wolf with its back to the wall. He glared at his men. The valley below was still burning, and the heat rose. Wen Zuofu felt hot and dry everywhere. The painstaking effort of many years had gone up in flames. Such pain was akin to grilling him on a fierce fire.


    As for the terrible performance of the card artisans, it seemed like the enemy''s silent derision. However, Wen Zuofu had seen big scenes, after all. He took in a deep breath. Cold air entered his lungs, and his mind was cleared instantly. Even if the battle shuttle cars are gone, my remaining forces are still more than sufficient in taking down the snow silkworm ravine.


    "Xiwente, you take command," Wen Zuofu said with a dark face. He had made up his mind. No matter what happens this time, the snow silkworm ravine must be trampled! Not crushing the snow silkworm ravine was not enough to release the hatred in his heart.


    Xiwente was slightly baffled but immediately answered, "Yes!" He had usually been in charge of only the battle card artisans in missions and didn''t expect the boss to actually want him to be the chief commander.


    The ordinary card artisans began to reorganize under Xiwente''s command. Nonetheless, they evidently did not have experience with large-scale combat. The reorganization of more than 1,000 men took nearly ten minutes.


    Xiwente frowned a little and flew to Wen Zuofu''s side. "Boss, they have no experience with large-scale combat. Why not break them down into smaller groups? They are more familiar with that style of battle."


    Wen Zuofu gave it a little thought, felt that it made sense, and nodded. "Ok."


    The card artisans were usually about ten or so in a group when carrying out missions. How could they have had experience with the type of war involving more than 1,000? Such a terrible performance was to be expected. As Wen Zuofu figured that out, he regretted it deeply.


    After a head count, it was discovered that in the mayhem a moment ago, more than 100 had died, and the injured numbered more than 200. Once that result came out, Wen Zuofu''s face became white with rage. Among those, more than half were accidental injuries caused by his own men.


    If he had known the adversary had only been a single individual, he might have coughed up his heart, liver, and lungs in a fit of anger.


    * * *


    "They are coming."


    Inside the Starfish Fort were Chen Mu, Wei-ah, and Jiang Liang. Having rested after accomplishing the mission earlier, Chen Mu had regained his usual energy.


    The Starfish Fort had an extremely clever disguise and was difficult to spot with just naked eyes. On the other hand, scanning-type cards normally only worked for energy fluctuations. In the case of a pillbox buried meters deep in disguise, how could they find it?


    Come to think of it, it was Chen Mu''s first time entering the Starfish Fort.


    The Starfish Fort, which they made Tang Hanpei spend a huge sum on, was far more difficult to construct than ordinary pillboxes. Its shape was that of a starfish, with the center being the control room and the five arms being firing points.


    One Starfish Fort was already one battle unit. Its biggest advantage was a characteristic other protection units did not have. If the energy bodies fired from its five arms were ones of the same frequency and the same construction, resonance would then be produced, and the five energy bodies would be driven to unleash greater power.


    The Starfish Fort was highly sought after for that magnifying effect, but few knew how to construct it. The control room and the firing points had many ribbon-like objects linking them. There was also a special screen in the control room that allowed commanding staff in the room to make assessments of the situation in the field based on the scenes displayed. Thus, card artisans in the heat of battle could be effectively coordinated.


    Every firing point had a battle unit set up, which meant there were at least 15 card artisans in a Starfish Fort. The assistant observer in one of the units was also in charge of controlling the whole situation. Originally, the control room had needed a specially designated person for itself, but Chen Mu was already short of manpower.


    Where could more men be found? Bogner had taken 50 card artisans away with him, and Xiaobo was by Xi Ping''s side. Chen Mu was indeed short of combat power.


    Jiang Liang gazed at the enemies on the screen, his expression as per usual. His gaze swept across the boss accidentally, and some feeling of lamentation rose in his heart. In the past, he had never imagined he would one day be working for a boss younger than himself. As for the boss himself, Jiang Liang still couldn''t fathom him. He didn''t like to speak, knew many things, and was highly skilled. Even his perception was stronger than Jiang Liang''s before the injury.


    Before getting injured, Jiang Liang had been a genius who attracted much attention. A youth more talented than me? Even the thought of it baffled him.


    What astonished him most was the boss''s manner of doing things. By right, with such achievements at such a young age, it could be described as enjoying success while young. However, not a teeny bit of impetuosity or frivolity could be seen on him. He was calm and collected, slow in speech, and quick in action. He never sought quick success.


    The identity of the boss had always been a mystery. Nobody knew where he came from nor where had he learned his skills. There was that Wei-ah, too¡ªso strong it was almost beyond reason. Even in the military, Jiang Liang had never seen such a frighteningly capable ace, especially an almost extinct cardless sect ace.


    All of that only made Jiang Liang curious and had no effect on the gratitude he felt toward the boss. Without the boss, his life would have always been dull and colorless. Previously, he had never imagined his perception could recover. Besides, he could sense the boss''s trust in him. During the time he had been injured, he had worked for some others but had never had such treatment.


    Gentlemen would die for those who appreciated them, wouldn''t they?


    Jiang Liang straightened his back, his eyes profound. As for the guys on the screen, his lips curved into a cold smile. What really made him wary were the few hundreds of battle shuttle cars. That''s why he took a chance in getting Hertha to lay out all the card appliances on the adversary''s only path.


    He had bet on the adversary''s belittlement. As it turned out, he was right in his bet! Quietly, the difference in strength between the two sides had been reduced to a point where he was no longer afraid.


    The snow silkworm ravine was just in front of Wen Zuofu.


    The ravine was quiet. The narrow path between the two steep mountain peaks was only about ten meters in width. It was eerily deep, twisted, and dark, making those who saw it feel somewhat scared.


    Wen Zuofu asked Xiwente through gritted teeth, "From which direction are we attacking?" He would have loved to turn his adversaries into scattered ashes right then and there so as to appease the hatred in his heart.


    Xiwente glanced at the snow silkworm ravine, hesitant. The adversaries still hadn''t revealed themselves. Chances were they were already waiting for them inside. Entering via the mouth of the ravine was as good as seeking death.


    Having pondered for a moment, he suggested, "Send 200 up to fly over. We''ll attack from above."


    Two hundred men flew into the sky noisily and in disarray, making Xiwente shake his head. Large-scale wars and small-group combat were two different matters entirely. Those card artisans had rather limited use in such large-scale wars.


    Two hundred card artisans, with their energy cloaks activated, flew straight for a mountain peak. Once over it, everything in the ravine would be revealed to them.


    A beam of cold light flashed in Jiang Liang''s eyes. With no expression on his face, he ordered, "Fort Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9, strike them down."


    Just as the words left his mouth, 25 energy shuttles flew straight for those 200 men in the sky. The 200 card artisans seemed like 200 targets. With their energy cloaks up, they were exceedingly conspicuous in the sky. The card artisans inside the Starfish Fort locked on effortlessly.


    A sudden and weird whizz made everyone jump.


    Ping!


    Sharp cracking sounds were perfectly in time. More than 20 figures suddenly plummeted from the sky. The echoing wails sounded as though they were still next to one''s ears. The more than 100 card artisans left in the sky all felt their hearts skipping a beat.


    What a formidable attack! The adversary''s energy shuttles could penetrate their energy cloaks with such ease. How could that not strike fear into their hearts?


    They could finally see it clearly. The energy shuttles were fired from the peak.


    Many deactivated their energy cloaks at once and changed to battle fantasy cards. Since the energy cloak card was of no use, it might as well be removed to make it harder for the adversary to see them.


    Just in those few moments, however, the adversary launched another round of attack. Another 20 or more card artisans fell from the sky!


    With that, the card artisans were thoroughly frightened.


    What... what is this firing frequency? This accuracy?

 338 Crossfire

    In the blink of an eye, the number of men in the group had decreased by a quarter and the remaining card artisans were daunted. The group, which hadn''t been closely-packed, to begin with, immediately spread out further. Many card artisans had turned tail in their heart and secretly decided that, once the situation looked bad, they would retreat to the back.


    Card artisans started firing at last, but as the sparse attacks hit the mountain peak, apart from the falling of some rocks, there was no effect.


    Xiwente frowned. One side had a cover, one side was exposed to the firing of the other. This was very disadvantageous for them. The confrontation between the two sides had only been a few short seconds, but his heart was constantly sinking.


    This is a very troublesome adversary!


    In the blink of an eye, the adversary had already fired two rounds of attack. Such frequency could only be achieved by well-trained card artisans teams. None missed. The efficiency was astonishing. What made him feel worse was the fact that the adversary''s attacks could actually pierce the energy cloaks of his card artisans with ease!


    The capabilities of these card artisans could, indeed, only be regarded as ordinary to him. But the energy cloak cards they used were not lousier than the mainstream ones on the market. These energy cloaks couldn''t be described as impenetrable, but it wasn''t a simple task to pierce it so easily either.


    Even his men weren''t all capable of it, but the adversary managed it. This meant that they had at least more than 20 card artisans who weren''t inferior to the card artisans under himself.


    This and the intelligence they had received had huge differences. He threw a side glance at Wen Zuofu. Wen Zuofu''s face was livid. He slapped Yi Song and let loose a torrent of abuse, "Are you a swine? What intelligence did you get me? Card artisans with level four perception?" Without completing his speech, he raised his hand and gave two more slaps, "You''ve got the eyes of a pig? Level four card artisans? You find me such powerful level four card artisans!"


    Yi Song wished that he could cry, but had no tears, and disregarding the finger-marks on his face, "Boss, their card artisans'' perception is really only level four! Are these people the helpers they brought in?"


    Wen Zuofu''s face relaxed a little, and at this moment Xiwente rushed to chip in, "Boss, this is highly probable. Master Yi Song''s judgment has always been accurate. It is not likely that such mistakes are made." Yi Song was a man favored by the boss. Speaking up at this moment had great benefits for their mutual relations.


    Sure enough, Yi Song gave Xiwente a glance of gratitude.


    Having pondered over it for a moment, Wen Zuofu felt that it made sense too. Yi Song couldn''t possibly have made a mistake in such a simple matter. He grunted, "Who knows from where did this bunch of trash bring in helpers. They think borrowing ten or 20 battle card artisans is enough to contend against me?"


    Yi Song hurriedly continued, "Big brother, they can only have borrowed from the House of Qiao, but how many can the House of Qiao lend them? Ten or 20 at the most. As long as we double down on our efforts, finish off this ten or 20 men, they will be at our mercy."


    Wen Zuofu turned towards Yi Song, "Don''t worry about casualties. Finish them all off. Or let''s just flatten this mountain with explosives!"


    Xiwente grew serious, realizing that this time the boss was hell-bent on annihilating this group of people.


    While the trio was having their conversation, the number of card artisans had decreased by yet another one third. The remaining 100 or so could hold out no longer, breaking loose in a rush. The fleeing card artisans only dared to draw close to the main troops after retreating far and wide.


    Wen Zuofu cast his eyes upon these cowering card artisans and a cold light flashed in them. Yi Song, who had been by his side, felt his heart skip a beat, knowing that these card artisans would suffer a terrible fate after they returned.


    So far into the battle, without having seen anyone from the adversary''s side, their own side had lost 300 battle shuttle cars and over 300 card artisans. It was no wonder that the boss'' anger was unappeasable. Had this happened to anyone else, not losing their wits in a fit of rage would be considered as having good self-restraint.


    Xiwente saw this as well, but he couldn''t care that much anymore. He believed that if even this tiny ravine couldn''t be brought down, his own future would be awful too.


    "Card artisans with explosive attacking capabilities, step forward," Xiwente ordered in a deep voice.


    From amongst the battle card artisans, ten stepped forward, and from the ordinary card artisans, 130. Xiwente looked pleased. 138, this number was larger than his estimate.


    130 card artisans were divided into five groups, each led by a battle card artisan. What they needed to do was very easy¨C wherever their own group''s battle card artisan attacked, they attacked too with full strength.


    Having settled all these, Xiwente deployed another five troops with exactly 100 card artisans in each. The command Xiwente had given them was simple: attack with full strength, seeking shelter permitted, but no falling back. Card artisans with explosive attacking capabilities were hidden by him in these five troops. They were the real main attackers.


    Observing the changes at the adversary''s camp, Jiang Liang knew they were about to launch a serious attack.


    Seeing over 600 card artisans from the adversary''s side rise up into the sky, he unconsciously leaned forward a little and swiftly ordered, "All units, prepare for battle."


    600 odd card artisans seemed like a dark cloud just overhead. Though it was night time, the pressure was still unnerving.


    Feigning carelessness, Jiang Liang cast a glance at the card artisans around him and relaxed a little. The subordinate card artisans, though each looked grim, had a steady gaze and showed no sign of panic. It seemed that the ordeal in the forest earlier had had remarkable effects.


    The adversary''s card artisans started drawing near. Meanwhile, Jiang Liang was carefully calculating the distance between the two sides.


    When the adversary entered his own side''s range of attack, he promptly ordered, "All units, attack!"


    Nothing was held back in this round of attack. 80 odd energy shuttles, like 80 odd bolts pale cyan lightning, tore across the inky night sky, burying deep into that dark cloud.


    Pew pew pew, these pale cyan lightning seemed not to have met any obstacle, piercing the dark cloud with ease and headed straight towards the horizon.


    In the sky, 80 odd card artisans merely felt their body stiffen. They looked down at their body with disbelief. In the pale cyan light, the blossoming of flowers of blood made one palpitate.


    As these brilliantly red flowers blossomed, the energy in those card artisans'' bodies also seemed to have been all drawn out in an instant. The rush of the wind was in their ears and their mind was blank. They looked on helplessly as the ground got closer and closer to themselves until all consciousness was lost.


    When he saw those 80 odd energy shuttles, Xiwente''s expression changed completely!


    Wen Zuofu''s changed too!


    Yi Song gaped, staring vacantly and murmuring like an idiot, "Impossible¡­ Impossible¡­"


    80 aces? Heavens, where did these aces come from?


    There was a commotion among the card artisans in the sky. The adversary''s powerful attack had terrified them. The battle card artisans mixed in with them saw that things were not going well and promptly took the lead to attack!


    Deep red energy missiles, white energy orbs of light, dark green energy clouds¡­


    Bang!


    The crowd was conscious only of a flash. The dazzling explosion of light blinded the card artisans instantly and they subconsciously shut their eyes. As the roar of the explosion was heard, heated airwaves formed by the explosion swept towards the crowd mixed with gravel.


    Jiang Liang merely felt that everything suddenly lit up. The brilliant light was so dazzling that it even stung his eyes.


    The starfish fort was shaking. The entire mountain peak seemed to be shaking.


    "Go on with the assault." Jiang Liang''s expression had no change at all.


    Having made that statement, he took a look at the starfish fort he was in. Cracks hadn''t appeared on the ceiling and, from the bottom of his heart, he felt mildly relieved. Seems that the starfish fort Borna built is rather reliable.


    When the crowd opened their eyes, they saw that, due to the explosion moments ago, some of the enemy''s pillboxes had been exposed. The morale of the Downstream Alliance card artisans was greatly boosted and those who had explosion fantasy cards began their own assault one after another.


    Thousands of energy bodies were flying across the sky. At this moment, the night was fatally vivid.


    The sound of explosions was incessant, just as balls of light were lit up continually. Blasts from the explosions made it difficult for these card artisans to get any nearer, but even so, they still hurled wildly whatever energy body they could generate.


    Xiwente pursed his lips. His fists were white from clenching and his eyes were bloodshot. In a short half a minute, though their assault was extremely violent, the number of casualties was so large that it chilled him. Only less than 200 card artisans were left in the sky then.


    He had never experienced, no, he had never seen such a fierce battle. In less than half a minute, they had lost more than 400 card artisans and only less than 40 were left of those 100 over card artisans with explosion fantasy cards. Fortunately, only three of his men perished.


    The only thing he rejoiced about was that the adversary''s attack had an obvious decrease in strength.


    Without any hesitation, he gritted his teeth, " All card artisans to reinforce at once!"


    The remaining 600 card artisans each showed hesitance on their face. They were terror-stricken from watching the battle up ahead and wouldn''t dare to approach.


    A savage look was on Wen Zuofu''s face, "Damn it, death to those who disobey!"


    With no choice, these card artisans went up at last after much pushing and shoving.


    The awful behavior of these card artisans made Xiwente''s eyelid twitch, but he restrained his anger and turned to his own men, "You guys outflank them now. Be careful. Leave none out."


    The 40 battle card artisans understood what he meant and quietly disappeared into the night.


    On the other side of the ravine, 10 odd shadows flipped over the mountain peak. Chen Mu and Wei-ah were at the front and behind them followed Lu Xiaoru, bar-browed man and the others.


    Their mission was to outflank the rear of the adversary.


    The band stopped abruptly, hiding themselves underneath the snow heaps without a sound.


    Chen Mu didn''t expect that they would actually meet the group the adversary had sent for a sneak attack. What came next would undoubtedly be a tough fight!

 339 Killing

    Lu Xiaoru''s whole body was buried in the snow. The air she exhaled was cold enough to condense into frost, but she had forgotten the bone-chilling cold by then. She did her best to dilate her pupils, staring fixedly at the group of men approaching them at rapid speed.


    She wasn''t using her perception. No one was. That was a technique learned from the boss and Wei-ah. Not using perception meant less chance of arousing the adversary''s notice, unless they also had card artisans with perceptual characteristics similar to the boss''s. However, that possibility was too minute.


    Her vision wasn''t quite outstanding. In the darkness, with the help of the light produced by the battle on the other side of the mountain, she could only make out extremely vague shadows. The others weren''t much better off, apart from Wei-ah and the boss. It was easy enough to understand in Wei-ah''s case¡ªhe was an ace of the cardless sects. But the boss? A card artisan same as the rest. Why is his eyesight just as good?


    Shaking her head, she cast aside her speculations. How could it be possible to resolve the mysteries surrounding the boss? She had gotten used to it anyway. No matter what unexpected things the boss would do in the future, she wouldn''t be surprised.


    They were 11 total. Hertha had been left in the Starfish Fort since he wasn''t good at battling in such situations. On the other hand, the bar-browed man, who wasn''t far off, hid extremely well. The distance between the two was no more than two meters, but she couldn''t perceive any sign of him. As expected, he was worthy of having been in that line of work in the past.


    The adversary''s speed was exceedingly fast. They moved in silence like a huddle of indistinct shadows.


    A bada** bunch!


    Lu Xiaoru felt a little chill. They were flying in close proximity to the ground, as if they were gliding. Being close to the ground was good for concealment. Moreover, even in the midst of flying, the formation of those 11 people was kept extremely well. Having calculated the space between each of them, she couldn''t help but feel some pity inwardly. The group was rather spread out, so her Sound Beam couldn''t include them all in the range of attack. But¡­


    Glancing in the direction of where the boss and Wei-ah hid in ambush, she didn''t feel worried.


    * * *


    Robert led the group along the mountain peak with rapid speed. A glint of smugness drifted by in his eyes. The battle right in front of them was in full swing and had reached a stalemate. They shouldered a huge responsibility, upon which their victory or defeat depended.


    As to that point, he was rather satisfied. They were elites. How could those small-fry card artisans be mentioned in the same breath as them? Recalling the botched performance of those card artisans, he was even more determined in doing a good job that time. He wanted the boss to know who was to be trusted! If things were done well, future salary and compensation would definitely be greatly increased.


    "Buck up, everyone! We have to do a great job this time! Raise or no raise, it all depends on this!"


    "Ha ha! All for the salary! Robert, don''t you be the one falling short at the key moment!"


    As they chatted, they simply felt free and easy. No one believed the adversary could have withheld some power with such a fierce battle at the front. Nevertheless, they were rather experienced. Even though they weren''t worried, they still kept their guard. Nobody wanted to fail.


    Looking up, they realized the top of the mountain was less than one kilometer away. The group felt their spirits lifted. Climbing over the top would give them entrance into the ravine. What awaited them was endless rewards. Eagerness was evident on each and everyone''s face.


    Suddenly, the expression of the card artisan walking at the front changed. His figure stiffened, and he cried, "Be ¡­"


    "Careful" hadn''t left the tip of his tongue before his voice abruptly stopped. He was clutching his throat, his pupils dilated and his face full of fear.


    Pew, pew, pew!


    The sound of sharp objects entering human bodies sounded almost at the same time, and it was mixed with the sound of shattering bones. Argh! Argh! Argh! Several piteous screams rang out in the icy wind, more bone-chilling than the wind itself. Then, with a rigid expression, the card artisans at the front fell forward heavily into the snow.


    "There''s an ambush!"


    Robert''s mind exploded! How can it be? How can they possibly still have power for an ambush?


    The card artisans reacted quickly. Their first response upon meeting an ambush was to retreat rapidly. The whole group fanned out at once, and the battle card artisans who had been prepared got ready to launch the first round of attack.


    Exactly at that moment, the few at the front felt pain in their eardrums and numbness in their legs. The view in front of their eyes shook suddenly, their perception became instantly disordered, and their expressions changed all at once.


    Sound Beam¡ªinfrasonic wave! Lu Xiaoru''s attack timing was just right in nipping those card artisans'' counterattack in the bud.


    At the same time, in the darkness, two brilliant golden crosses were stamped upon the chests of two card artisans in silence, as though crosses of gold leaves were stuck to them. The two crosses had come so silently and so without warning that they seemed to have appeared out of thin air. A light could be faintly discerned flowing on the surface of the cross, which was unbelievably beautiful. They were stamped on the chests of the two men at exactly where the heart should be.


    The move was called Cross, a unique assassination skill from the legacy of the Night of the Cross.


    The bodies of the two men stiffened, and an expression of pain emerged on their faces. Their hands seemed to reach out for the ever-shining cross. That action, however, which usually couldn''t have been simpler, was just not accomplishable. The light in their eyes dimmed swiftly and turned into emptiness. Thump. The two fell to the ground together with no sign of life left. The puzzling thing was that the crosses on the corpses remained just as dazzling as before and were strikingly conspicuous in the night.


    This guy has gotten stronger again, Lu Xiaoru remarked inwardly. She had retreated quickly after her attack and happened to witness the scene. Nonetheless, she wasn''t too surprised. Not only the bar-browed man, but everyone, herself included, had advanced their skills from the past to a higher level.


    She still remembered the encounter with the dingbirds. Releasing infrasonic waves had almost depleted her perception. But at present, she was managing it with skill and ease.


    Five card artisans were affected by her attack, and none survived. That was a tactic they had devised earlier, and their collaboration had already achieved great teamwork during their normal training. The advantages of the daily strict tactical collaboration training required by Bogner were then obvious.


    However, she dared not be compared against the boss and Wei-ah. When those two killed, it was just like cutting grass. Moments ago, Wei-ah and the boss had finished off eight; Wei-ah got rid of six and the boss two. All they had were merely some daggers, which the boss had made last-minute from some scrap metal. Who would have expected they could become such lethal weapons in their hands?


    Aces of the cardless sects are really too terrifying!


    The other seven card artisans had rather good results, as well¡ªtwo killed and two heavily injured.


    The first contact had cost them the death of 15 men and the injury of another two. Robert and his group were taken aback!


    Their perception was released and spread with no disguise, along with the fear in their hearts.


    Nine! That number reassured them a little. The distance between the two sides was increased. The adversary''s sneak attack was really incredible! They could achieve such a result with just nine people; it was glorious even for a sneak attack!


    However, the distance between the two sides had become relatively safe. What came next would be a confrontation to see who was stronger head-on. Robert steadied his shaken nerves slightly. The adversary had actually predicted they would take action and had set up a trap. It was way too scary!


    The two sides came to a brief standstill.


    It was only two seconds, and the battle then began abruptly. Robert and his men were seeing red. Having lost almost half their forces in the first contact, it would have been strange if they weren''t fuming.


    They rather wished to make mincemeat out of those nine people. Rationally, they also needed to win against those card artisans in front of them to achieve their ultimate goal in battle. No probing. That time, it was with full force!


    The surviving 20 or so card artisans were all attacking to kill. Energy bodies filled the sky¡ªblue blades, golden meteors, flaming red sand, rainbow-colored ribbons¡­ Those all flooded toward the nine card artisans to turn them into sieves. However, the nine card artisans broke into groups of two or three, dodging and counter-attacking.


    "Stop them, and don''t let them get away!" Robert called out loudly to his companions. He was standing at the place where Lu Xiaoru had been hiding in ambush earlier.


    A few murderous-looking card artisans closed in on Lu Xiaoru from all directions, cutting off her possible escape routes. Drops of blood emerged at the corner of her mouth. She had just been whipped by one of the adversary''s card artisans with a five-colored rainbow ribbon. If she hadn''t activated her energy cloak in time, that would have been enough to take her life.


    Even so, she had still been hurt. At that moment, she was like a wounded little bird forced to a dead end with nowhere to escape. Just death was left. She wasn''t the only one; the situation of the other card artisans wasn''t much better. They were disadvantaged in number, and the capabilities of each of the adversary''s card artisans were better than theirs. Within the time of a few blinks, four had already lost their lives, and others were merely putting up a stubborn fight against the odds.


    A sinister smile appeared on Lu Xiaoru''s lips. Her gaze fell straight onto Robert, which struck some terror into his heart.


    Is this woman mad? Just as that idea came into his mind, his expression changed suddenly! There''s still more to this ambush!


    Just as he was about to respond, his head abruptly whirled, and his eardrums ached at once! An agony was in his chest, as though he had been hammered. Before his sight could clear, he was shocked to find that his consciousness had begun to fade away.


    No¡ª


    He wanted to scream madly! Ignoring the scenery swiftly flying past him, he stared stonily at the dagger that had been sunk to its hilt in his chest!

 340 Growth

    Robert''s death was the turning point of the whole fight. Chen Mu''s and Wei-ah''s attacks were as fatal as the blade of a knife. In the blink of an eye, the two had ended the life of the few card artisans around Lu Xiaoru.


    After their first attack, Chen Mu and Wei-ah went back into hiding again. As their attacks had neither perceptual nor energy fluctuations, they did not catch the adversary''s notice. They used the chance to continue hiding, waiting for more opportunities.


    They were waiting for an opening to kill with a single hit. This time was undoubtedly extremely successful. The annihilation of several card artisans at the same instant had a great impact on the morale of the Downstream Alliance battle card artisans. The tenacity of the adversary had already gone beyond the expectations of these battle card artisans, but no one could have imagined that there was more ambush!


    After Chen Mu threw the dagger from his hand, without any delay, he sprang out like an arrow leaving a drawn bow.


    Because of this, his figure couldn''t possibly be hidden anymore.


    He hadn''t intended to conceal himself again anyway. The Big Mudfish jet stream card was being used to its fullest potential. The immense push forced him to bend his back and crouch.


    Just as energy fluctuations from his target started appearing, Chen Mu alternated his steps and his body continuously swayed and slithered like a mudfish. In a split second, he seemed to have become a thin mist and his whole figure was blurry and indiscernible.


    The face of the battle card artisan who had been preparing his attack was full of fear. He was shocked to find that his own perception couldn''t lock on to the adversary. His movement was too fast and, due to the successive rapid changes in direction, the airflow around his body was incessantly agitated, causing great disruptions to locking on with perception.


    The fact that successively altering directions at high speed could cause disruptions to perception was no secret. Indeed, it was something every card artisan knew as common knowledge. However, card artisans who could capitalize on this fact were pitifully rare.


    Everyone understood the principle, but those had the ability to achieve it weren''t many.


    On the one hand, it required a very strong perception control. Several consecutive changes in direction completed in one fleeting moment meant that one''s perception had to manipulate the jet stream card in several rounds of reversals. The larger the number of times the direction changed, the more difficult it would be for perception control.


    On the other hand, card artisans who employed this tactical move must have a powerfully built body. The faster the speed of flight, the quicker the changes in direction and the larger the number of consecutive changes, the better the effect of this tactic. Similarly, the pressure on the body would be the larger too. If a card artisan, whose body wasn''t strong enough, forced the use of successive direction change beyond his abilities, he would most probably die from his brain bursting due to the high blood pressure in it.


    Therefore, it was no wonder that the battle card artisan was absolutely shocked when he realized that his own perception couldn''t lock on to the adversary.


    An ace! That''s the first thought which flashed across his mind.


    The capability of the card artisan lunging at himself was far beyond what he could imagine. From his understanding, only the well-known card artisans who had achieved great fame at competitive rings in the big cities could possibly manage it.


    Perhaps it''s not really a grievance to die in the hands of that kind of ace.


    This was the last conscious thought in his mind. Chen Mu, advancing noiselessly, did not make any blunder. His right hand, covered by an extremely weak pale cyan light, gently struck across the neck of the enemy whose figure was darting back hastily.


    Having finished all these, without a pause, he pounced on the next enemy.


    As compared to Chen Mu''s drifting eeriness, Wei-ah was of another style. His moves, simple and direct, had nothing showy and no flourish. His attacks had two striking features - one was fast and the other was heavy.


    Chen Mu''s movement was already fast enough, but Wei-ah''s was doubtlessly even faster. His moves didn''t have the variety of Chen Mu''s drifting eeriness. They were straightforward and simply fast, so fast that others couldn''t react. Up to that moment, none of his attacks fell through, as could be imagined.


    Wei-ah''s every attack looked so de-emphasized that it seemed careless, but when it landed on the enemy, it was like being hit directly by a swinging heavy hammer. As long as it was an enemy who had been killed by Wei-ah with his bare hands, the corpse never failed to appear in an unnaturally twisted shape.


    Chen Mu and Wei-ah''s appearance out of thin air tilted ratio of forces on the entire field in their favor immediately. The morale of the Downstream Alliance'' battle card artisans was low, but it surprised Chen Mu that, among these battle card artisans, no one tried to escape.


    In his experience in battle, he had never seen one where, having proceeded to this extent, there was still no one fleeing. The card artisans in front of him and those fighting in the head-on battle didn''t seem as though they come from the same agency at all.


    Nonetheless, having pondered a little, he was at ease again. Those who could be entrusted with a sneak attack mission were naturally the elites amongst the elites.


    Compared to the tenacity of the adversary, Lu Xiaoru and her companions didn''t lose out by much. The blow which had just been dealt had exhausted the last ounce of strength left in her body.


    She fell limp to the ground, fainting straight away. In just the blink of an eye, another two card artisans were wounded, but their opponent wasn''t much better off too, having been heavily injured at the same time.


    They had already done their best. To be honest, the difference between them and their enemies were not inconsiderable. The main reason why they could hold out and have even done some effective damage to the adversary was the presence of Chen Mu and Wei-ah.


    Disregarding these two, even the strongest among the nine, Lu Xiaoru and bar-browed man, couldn''t quite match up to the ordinary members of the adversary''s group. It was only that in their partnership Lu Xiaoru''s uncommonly rare sound beam and the bar-browed man''s excellent assassination skills complemented each other well.


    Apart from Chen Mu and Wei-ah, they had killed the most number of card artisans. Though the other card artisans weren''t quite as competent, they had good teamwork and still effectively hindered part of the enemy''s forces. Given the enormous difference in individual capability between them and the adversary, that was all they could do.


    The adversary''s card artisans all had perception strength above the fifth level. There were even five with perception at the sixth level. If this had been a force in an ordinary residential district, wiping out a city would have been no problem at all. However, though these card artisans'' own individual capability was formidable, they were mostly battling separately, which gave a window of opportunity to Chen Mu''s card artisans.


    Chen Mu and Wei-ah''s two rounds of assaults, apart from further decreasing the adversary''s advantage in numbers, had an immense psychological impact on the enemies too.


    The first card artisan Chen Mu killed head-on had taken the largest amount of effort. This was accomplished with great difficulty while he had been under attack from five of the enemies. Nevertheless, after succeeding, he felt much more confident. The strong and omnipresent sense of oppression in a face-off with Wei-ah was completely absent in his confrontation with these enemies.


    Though it had been a little difficult, he still accomplished it successfully. Soon, he got used to the battle rhythm and became calmer.


    One, two, three...


    Towards the end of the battle, Chen Mu discovered with a shock that he seemed to have grown so much stronger that even he himself found it hard to believe. A short time ago, when he had a face-off with Xiaobo alone, he had almost been driven to the wall. These card artisans from the Downstream Alliance were no less capable than Xiaobo, but how could he succeed so easily this time?


    He had always not had much desire for competition. He had only turned to the path of becoming a card artisan when he had had no choice left. Besides, he believed that he couldn''t really be regarded as a real card artisan as he hadn''t had any formal and systematic training. He had only figured out a little unconventional know-how, and that bit had been literally squeezed out, like toothpaste from a tube, under duress from Wei-ah.


    The goal he had set for himself was very simple. If he could last three minutes in a one-on-one fight with Wei-ah, he would be satisfied. However, this goal seemed extremely distant at this point in time.


    Even so, with my amateurish skills, I can actually, actually kill so many card artisans...


    What he didn''t know was that the card artisans killed by him weren''t mere elite card artisans, but rather battle card artisans who had passed professional assessments.


    His movements were very fast. Big Mudfish''s property of having endless variations had been put to the best use possible by him. Chen Mu''s figure drifted eerily in the darkness and with the addition of the bogus borderline breath control, he was pretty much like an assassin walking in the dark, impossible to defend against.


    In the perception of the enemy card artisans, Chen Mu''s presence was intermittent,like a ghost hovering in the wind. And when he decreased the intervening distance to less than 10 meters, you would find that, no matter how you changed your direction, there was no shaking off this ghost. You could only watch on helplessly as he got nearer to you bit by bit.


    If he got within ten meters of you and you still hadn''t activated your energy cloak, then you would be dead meat.


    Wei-ah''s efficiency was even higher than Chen Mu''s. An incidental glance every now and then caused even Chen Mu to feel a tinge of terror. Wei-ah did not repress his murderous aura, which seemed almost tangible and made one feel as though one fell into an icehouse. He was like a cold-blooded and heartless butcher, or perhaps a machine specialized in reaping lives, battling in silence and indifference.


    Lying low against the ground, Chen Mu didn''t use the jet stream card. He crouched and sneaked up on the adversary to behind his back without a sound. This was the last card artisan. Once he''s taken down, they would be closer to victory.


    10 meters.


    Staring at the other''s back, Chen Mu looked highly focussed, calculating the distance in between them. A distance of 10 meters was the best from which he could launch his assault.


    His legs exerted a great and sudden force and the jet stream card was activated to the highest power at the same time. A tremendous push turned him into an arrow shot at the adversary.


    The adversary seemed to have just awakened with start and darted forward hurriedly, hoping to increase the distance between himself and Chen Mu.


    However, to Chen Mu who had already begun his attack, such resistance was futile.


    It matched Chen Mu''s prediction exactly.


    Suddenly, a weak energy fluctuation was generated up ahead.


    Chen Mu''s expression changed instantly.

 341 Wounded

    The closely approaching card artisan''s body suddenly disseminated a light glow. His entire body was enshrouded in a glowing halo, which accented the fine adornments on his clothes.


    A powerful sense of danger surged up in Chen Mu. He couldn''t make any move just then, so he exerted a powerful force to his feet while applying the strongest self-control to reverse the direction of his jet stream card.


    Pa!


    Unable to take such a sudden reversal of energy, the big mudfish card burst apart. Even the apparatus on Chen Mu''s wrist was blown to smithereens. He had no time to mourn the big mudfish card after the utterly unprepared-for change in direction. His body sustained huge forces in that instant.


    It was harder to take than being underwater, with all the blood vessels in his body nearly splitting open and everything going dizzy in front of his eyes. There was no time for any careful perceptual understanding; the powerful sense of danger seemed to dwell in his mind like an oppressive black cloud. It was so oppressive he couldn''t breathe.


    The sense of danger grew stronger, and the energy fluctuations from that card artisan''s body were as though a meteor had been thrown into a pot of boiling oil. By then, the energy fluctuations being emitted were even stronger than the Aurora Beam that Chen Mu had seen Hugo emit.


    The smell of destruction pervaded everything. Suddenly, a tiny, cross-shaped mark showed up on the back of that only remaining card artisan. It had been released by the bar-browed man, who was lurking in the dark.


    That time, however, the usually glowing cross seemed to have lost its effectiveness. The glow being emitted from his adversary''s body far exceeded the glow from the cross. Soon, the cross impressed on his back could barely be seen by the naked eye.


    The bar-browed man couldn''t believe what he had witnessed! Unlike others, he didn''t need to discern it with his naked eyes. His cross was certainly imprinted on the back of the adversary, but it had utterly no effect.


    Chen Mu was fleeing!


    That was the first time in the entire battle that Chen Mu was in such a terrible situation. He hadn''t been so miserable even when he was attacked by those five card artisans.


    Within three seconds, Chen Mu had put 15 meters between himself and his adversary, but that sense of danger was still looming in his mind with absolutely no sign of dissipating. His mind was blown. He didn''t dare to be the least bit lax or even to turn his head as he bolted desperately away! His intuition had always been completely accurate, and it was especially powerful that time.


    Before he could think clearly, however, there was a sudden upheaval.


    The only thing everyone felt was a flash before their eyes that burned so brightly it seemed like broad daylight. Where the other card artisan had been was now only a spherical, incandescent energy ball five meters in diameter. There was only pure energy; the flesh and blood of the card artisan had been turned to ashes by the destructive energy of the ball.


    The perception of danger still hadn''t dissipated; on the contrary, Chen Mu felt only terror at the approaching disaster. The breath being emitted from that incandescent ball of energy was simply terrifying. The fine rippling on its surface was like the constantly changing rainbow ripples of a soap bubble under the sun. The ball was also constantly expanding.


    He just bolted! Provoked by that devastating breath, Chen Mu was running at a speed far beyond what he normally demonstrated in his daily training. He was like a bolt of black lightning as he shot forward.


    Thirty meters! Fifty meters!


    If Chen Mu turned around then, he would certainly see a sight so unforgettable he would remember it for his whole life. But he didn''t dare turn around. He suddenly saw a depression ahead of him, which filled him with joy. Like a fish out of water, he leaped into the depression.


    That was just when an explosion shook the earth.


    Now expanded to the size of a small mountain, the incandescent energy sphere suddenly exploded. The pure and plentiful energy kept flowing until it had finally destroyed the fragile balance.


    Lying in the pit, Chen Mu could only feel something scraping hard across his back, which burned with incredible pain. He couldn''t help but shout in agony, but he gritted his teeth and held still with his face firmly pressed against the ground. It was as though he had become a fish having its scales scraped off on a chopping board. The pain penetrated to his bones.


    After a full ten seconds, the tempest finally dissipated. Only when there was no more commotion outside did Chen Mu crawl out with great difficulty. When his gaze fell to where the explosion had just happened, he drew in a breath of cold air.


    Smoke curled up from a huge hole that was 20 meters in diameter and completely charred inside. Even though he was quite distant from it, waves of heat still flowed toward him. Chen Mu looked at the pit, dumbfounded. Who could have thought a card artisan would reach such a terrifying extreme that he would blow himself up on the verge of death?


    Wei-ah fell in beside Chen Mu and restored him from his shock.


    "You''re wounded." Wei-ah was just calmly stating the facts.


    "Huh?" Chen Mu was taken aback, but he then felt the waves of pain on his back like a tide. He wanted to rub his back. Before he could reach it, however, the pain turned everything black, and he lost consciousness.


    There were wounds criss-crossing his back. Blood was flowing everywhere and soaking his clothes to a dreadful extent.


    It was dark. Endlessly dark. He was running. Running like crazy. Then, it looked like there was a light ahead.


    A crowd of children surrounded the two boys. The two boys were back-to-back, their faces fierce. Someone shouted out to start the melee¡­


    There was a dying, middle-aged man with disheveled hair and dry lips, whose face had turned white. He was watching the child in front of him and stretching out his twig-like fingers while drawing on the ground with great difficulty¡­


    An old man was coughing incessantly as he gave a lesson audit voucher to a youth¡­


    Two youths were in fierce discussion, brimming with hope and idealism, and there were thick drafts piled in front of them¡­


    * * *


    Chen Mu opened his eyes, and the dreams disappeared. A sigh inexplicably came from the bottom of his heart. But he quickly retracted his feelings, not being a very sentimental person.


    He was entirely naked, and apart from his head, his whole body was immersed in liquid. There was an occasional bout of itching from his back.


    It was a therapeutic instrument!


    Looking through the glass on the device, he saw Sue Lochiro. She was lying on the table, asleep. When he saw that, Chen Mu felt a stream of warmth through his heart. She was certainly exhausted to have crawled onto the table to sleep. He calmly remained in the therapeutic machine without making a sound, not wanting to disturb Sue Lochiro''s rest.


    After a moment, she stood shakily, her face full of exhaustion. Her normally carefully combed hair was unusually messy. Still sleepy, she unconsciously walked over to the therapeutic machine, wanting to see how Chen Mu was doing.


    Her gaze penetrated the glass and made contact with Chen Mu''s gaze.


    "Ah!" She shouted in surprise, but as soon as the sound came out, she knew something was wrong. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand. After a few seconds, she finally dropped her hand. With both surprise and joy, she said, "You''ve come around, Boss! When did you wake up? Why didn''t you wake me up?"


    There was plenty of annoyance in her voice. Chen Mu smiled and didn''t say anything.


    "When they brought you back, Boss, I was scared to death! Now, you''re better, and it looks like nothing''s wrong!" Sue Lochiro was patting her chest and looking glad. She thought of something and rushed over to look at the data beside the machine. Her expression finally relaxed. "Mmmm, everything''s fine. You''ll be completely recovered after a few days, Boss."


    She lifted her gorgeous eyes and hesitated, but she couldn''t resist saying, "Such a dangerous affair¡­" She wanted to say something, but she seemed to realize what she could say would be too simple. She didn''t finish the sentence.


    Feeling Sue Lochiro''s concern, Chen Mu''s heart was warmed. He smiled and said to comfort her, "It''s nothing. This was an accident. Oh, right; how are things outside?" He really wanted to know what had developed while he was unconscious.


    Sue Lochiro shook her head. "I don''t really know. I''ll call over Jiang Liang for you." She opened her communications apparatus and called Jiang Liang over.


    "The boss is looking for you, Jiang Liang." She spoke simply.


    No one was pickier than she was about Chen Mu''s attitude in the entire base. She was also quite intimate with Lu Xiaoru and Ru Qiu, but she spoke bluntly with everyone else. Her position on the team made her aloof. No card artisan hadn''t been treated by her, and no one would dare be disrespectful toward her. Moreover, Xi Ping had confirmed himself that she was the boss''s woman. Even the two big bosses, Xi Ping and Bogner, were always quite earnest in front of Sue Lochiro, so how would anyone else let loose in front of her?


    Jiang Liang arrived quickly. When he saw Chen Mu, a look of joy flashed through his eyes. But the look quickly faded as he went back to his usual silent, expressionless posture of being at attention.


    "Boss!" He snapped his salute.


    "How''s the situation?" Chen Mu was very direct.


    Chen Mu finally breathed a sigh of relief during Jiang Liang''s report. The Downstream Alliance had been defeated. Qiao Fei herself had led her team to seize the Downstream Alliance during their retreat, and Wen Zuofu was killed on the field. It was said that Qiao Fei herself was the one who made the move.


    "Qiao Fei and her troops have already come over quite a few times during the last few days. All 35 small forts of the Downstream Alliance have been captured. Qiao Fei and her team have decided to divide them with us. She hopes to discuss with you about how to do so. Their warehouses have already been sealed, and all the materials have been inventoried. Their idea is to each take half. Such a huge matter is not something we would dare to decide on our own, so Qiao Fei and the rest are awaiting your decision. Manager Xi Ping and Xiaobo have already returned to the ravine. Do you need to see them?"


    Chen Mu put on a strange expression. "Not in my condition."


    Jiang Liang''s expression didn''t change, though he did crack a quick look of some ridicule. Chen Mu was completely naked, which was certainly a little strange. He immediately thought of Sue Lochiro to his side, and it looked like the rumors weren''t all just empty talk.


    Chen Mu pondered for a moment before saying, "I agree with Qiao Fei''s proposal. Tell Xi Ping he will be responsible for the division of the supplies. As far as dividing up the small forts, we''ll discuss it when I''m better."


    "Yes, sir!"


    "Ok, his wounds are still not healed, and he needs to rest some more. Is there anything that can''t wait?" Seeing that Chen Mu didn''t have any notion of stopping, Sue Lochiro had an unhappy expression as she stared at Jiang Liang with some reproach.


    Chen Mu sneered when he heard that. Jiang Liang was discreet, rushing to ask if Chen Mu had any further orders before he quickly left.


    Only Sue Lochiro and Chen Mu were left in the room, and the atmosphere turned a little awkward.

 342 Dialogue

    The two of them remained helplessly silent, making things feel strange in the huge room. Neither of them knew where to start. Needless to say, Chen Mu felt physically uncomfortable soaking in the restorative liquid.


    Playing with a model skull that was used for reference, Sue Lochiro didn''t quite know what to do with herself. It raised the hair on her skin somewhat to look directly at Chen Mu. The amorous feelings of a medical card artisan were quite different from those of ordinary people, after all.


    Still, Chen Mu''s mental qualities were just a little better in the end, and he quickly calmed down. He actually thought Sue Lochiro being at a loss about what to do was rather interesting. He just kept staring at her, bright-eyed.


    She became a little flustered with Chen Mu staring at her and didn''t know what to do with her hands. She lost her grip on the model skull, and it plunked to the ground. Her face flushed red as she hurriedly leaned over to pick it up.


    From his angle, Chen Mu could clearly tell her neck had turned pink, which he found still more interesting. His gaze became even more unrestrained.


    In actuality, the interactions of a man and a woman were like a battle. One side would advance while the other side would then almost always retreat. If the other side didn''t retreat but advanced instead, the counterpart would often retreat.


    With Chen Mu''s gaze so unrestrained and often sweeping up and down her body, Sue Lochiro''s face became so red it was nearly flushed with blood. Even her hands were shaking. She became extremely nervous. If she had been able to maintain clear thought, she would have been surprised at how fast her heart was beating. Too bad she was really too nervous, and her mind had turned blank. It was as though it had short-circuited.


    Without knowing how long it took, she finally returned to being more clear-headed. She lifted her head, a little dazed, just in time to make eye contact with Chen Mu''s smile that wasn''t quite a smile, along with his unrestrained gaze, which made her abruptly both ashamed and angry.


    That bit of anger immediately rescued her from that dazed state. She had always been a woman who showed her inside on the outside; otherwise, she wouldn''t have gone so long without a boyfriend.


    Sue Lochiro''s beautiful, round eyes looked exasperated. "Is there something you haven''t seen already? Something that makes you want to look at it today?" Once she said that, she instantly felt like she had done something wrong, and her face started to burn until it was on fire.


    Chen Mu was a little embarrassed by the outburst. He had grown that far without ever really looking at a woman. He hadn''t even noticed the clumsiness of Sue Lochiro''s speech in his embarrassment.


    "Hmph, you''ll suffer for what you''re looking at!" Sue Lochiro raised her jade face to show her slender, fair, pink neck, not thinking there were still large splotches of red on it. As soon as she said that, she felt once again that it wasn''t right. She didn''t know what she was thinking that had made the signs of flushing go away, but they abruptly came back.


    What had happened to her that day that she could only say the wrong thing? She felt like her feelings were a mess as she kept trying to correct the blather she blurted out.


    That made Chen Mu feel embarrassed. When he thought about it, he didn''t know how many times Sue Lochiro had looked his body up and down by then. It did seem like he was surely suffering for it.


    "Well, you''ll just have to make up for my suffering." Some demon must have caught Chen Mu''s tongue for him to suddenly say such a thing.


    Sue Lochiro''s face flushed completely red. Without saying a word, she lowered her head and ran out the door.


    Truly, just as he said what he did, Chen Mu regretted it. When he saw her run out, he immediately knew he had said the wrong thing. He was afraid he''d offended her that day. It should be easy enough to make amends for offending someone, but no one could afford to offend Sue Lochiro. With his injuries still not healed, he remained in her hands. If she were to make him suffer, he would have to obediently take it.


    What was most messed up was that if he made her leave in anger, then where would he ever find such a talented medical card artisan again?


    However, he didn''t have a way to move just then; otherwise, he could find her and apologize. It was too bad his health wasn''t entirely restored. He didn''t have the strength even to move a finger, let alone to climb out of the therapeutic apparatus. It looked like he would just have to wait to apologize until she came back.


    Soaking in the restorative liquid, Chen Mu was unable to move any part of his body, and he became somewhat bored. Having nothing to do, he simply started to think about the experience of that battle, and especially the ambush that had given him a vaguely new understanding of battling.


    Any battle wasn''t necessarily just between card artisans. As far as what moves to make and how to fight, that wasn''t important so long as you could prevail. That was the most powerful thing Chen Mu felt from that battle.


    Having gone through so many years of development, card artisan battles were certainly quite rich. But, in many regards, they restricted people''s ways of thinking to a certain extent. The world was so vast, and card artisans occupied such an important position, but that didn''t mean there wasn''t room for other types of battle personnel under the sun.


    There were a few critical aspects of that battle. The first one was the first surprise attack he and Wei-ah had made. Wei-ah had simply inhuman ferocity, which was invincible in that kind of small-group combat. But it wouldn''t be quite right to attribute all the factors to Wei-ah''s strength.


    The advantages of the cardless sects were the most important reason among them. Not only were Chen Mu and Wei-ah successful in attacking the enemy during the first ambush, but during the second ambush, when they still succeeded, the issue was resolved once and for all. What most surprised them were the many holes in the perceptual detection of the card artisans in their adversary''s troops.


    The decline of the cardless sects went back to the period of sects. After having gone through so many years of development, card artisans had long since become 99 percent of battle personnel. After the card artisan style of battle became popular, there was no room for any other style to exist.


    Over time, when people thought about battle, they were already used to only considering that the enemy would also be card artisans. Therefore, no one had thought that just as they were assuming the card system had reached its high point, the cardless sects and other styles of fighting would start their resurgence.


    Truth be told, Chen Mu had the advantage of catching them off-guard that time. If his adversaries had been prepared, there would certainly have been plenty of ways to respond to the situation. Even Chen Mu himself could think up quite a few kinds of cards. But there was no such thing as "if" in that world.


    So, they won.


    Another bright spot in that battle was Lu Xiaoru''s Sound Beam. That sort of alternative card also left people defenseless. Sound waves were invisible, without substance, and belonged to a type of attack that covered an area; they clearly didn''t have enough power to kill people. But they were quite suited to disrupting the enemy and giving one''s teammates an opportunity.


    If it hadn''t been for Lu Xiaoru''s sound wave attack, the bar-browed man wouldn''t have had a way to make such an outstanding play. Chen Mu decided he would build some strategies around that characteristic of Lu Xiaoru. He wouldn''t be doing that job himself, of course. He would have to consider who would be the best one to hand it off to.


    His own extraordinary play had been one of the crucial parts of the battle. When he thought of it, for him to make such an outstanding play had its own similar reasons. With the cover of darkness, he wasn''t going to attract as much attention as normal. He took a lot of advantage of that during the battle.


    Carefully analyzing it all, Chen Mu''s thinking became clearer and clearer. He had succeeded in constraining his energy fluctuations to within a very small range, and he had taken advantage of the cover of darkness. His attacks were undoubtedly also very sudden. However, his previous sparring with Xiaobo had been indoors and fully lit.


    He suddenly realized it wasn''t that his strength surged in the dark. Rather, he was successful in using environmental factors to his advantage. Thinking through that crucial point, he felt perfectly excited. So long as he thought clearly, he would be able to take advantage of those obscure points later.


    Once he''d cleared up his thinking, Chen Mu reacted more quickly. There were still the other card artisans who fought so tenaciously. If they hadn''t contained the enemy, the pressure he and Wei-ah were under would have increased several times over, and the results of the battle would be hard to tell.


    Those card artisans had all died on the field of battle. When he thought of that, Chen Mu''s expression became bleaker after having just been so excited. He was suddenly somewhat dejected.


    But he wasn''t the sentimental type, and he quickly pulled back his feelings and tried to cheer himself up. He had yet to determine some things, and he could only do so if he understood and was strong enough himself. No one could grasp everything, but the stronger he was, the more things he could grasp. The reason he was so helpless at that time was probably because he wasn''t strong enough.


    Chen Mu didn''t like to indulge strong feelings because they wouldn''t help him change his current situation in the least. If he were to let himself get stuck in unhappy thoughts, it wouldn''t be as good as finding a way out.


    The cruelty of reality was that you could only drum up courage going forward; there was no other way to go.


    In the subsequent few days, Chen Mu earnestly soaked in the restorative liquid. And, during those few days, Sue Lochiro didn''t come once. Chen Mu thought to himself that he must have really made her angry. But he was enjoying the quiet with no one to disturb him. Having just gone through such a huge battle, he urgently needed the quiet to recalibrate. No matter how strong he was, he was still an almost 20-year-old youth.


    Soaking in the restorative liquid and drilling his perception, Chen Mu got some rare leisure for himself.


    On the third day, Sue Lochiro finally came in.

 343 A Windfall

    Sue Lochiro looked no different than normal. She walked over to the therapeutic apparatus and examined several screens of data at a glance. She then said with a mild expression, "All right, you can come out."


    "Oh." Only then was Chen Mu comfortable pulling all the probes off his body, feeling a sudden strength in his limbs. He felt as though he''d never been wounded at all, which brought him great joy. He easily crawled out of the therapeutic instrument and stood in front of Sue Lochiro, sopping wet. "Are there any clothes?"


    "First, dry yourself." Sue Lochiro had her usual calm expression, though what she said was full of concern. Chen Mu broke into a grin, knowing from what she said that she wasn''t really angry. Taking the towel Sue Lochiro handed him, he straightforwardly wiped all the water dry on his body. She then gave Chen Mu some clothes.


    Neither of them said anything during the whole process, as though there were some new kind of serenity between them. They didn''t want to disturb such a rare feeling. Chen Mu realized that if they could always remain so serenely relaxed, their lives would be quite happy.


    His motions were slow, quite different from his ordinarily swift and decisive style. He was rather hoping time could slow just then. The cool look on Sue Lochiro''s face had long disappeared, and her gaze was mild.


    After fastening the final button, Chen Mu sighed to himself as he said, "Let''s go." Sue Lochiro remained silent and left with him.


    In the first moment after leaving the room, Chen Mu''s face resumed its normal, cool expression. That change in his look made Sue Lochiro inwardly shudder, and her own gaze became a little complex.


    Chen Mu had changed a lot since they had first gotten to know one another. Although he still wore a cool expression, it was now mixed with some aggressiveness and even dignity. Both of those were quite mild, however, and would be hard to detect without looking carefully. While other similarly aged youths were still under the wings of their parents, he had already experienced a lot of suffering. Looking at his face, which had nothing left of youth, Sue Lochiro felt an inexplicable pain in her heart.


    Chen Mu didn''t have the leisure to feel aggrieved. Too many things had piled up, some of which he needed to take care of himself.


    That battle had incurred heavy damage. Only five of the more than 20 Starfish Forts could still be used, and those all needed heavy restoration. The peaks that were the scene of the battle were half collapsed, leaving the integrity of the mountainous structure weakened. Borna''s recommendation was to give up on restoring the Starfish Forts on those mountain tops.


    The losses among the card artisans were still more disastrous with fewer than 30 surviving, which was barely enough to form ten fighting units. To have even 30 left alive under that fierce bombardment was all because of the strength of the Starfish Forts'' defensive capability.


    Chen Mu had already determined that those 30 would certainly be well-cultivated going forward. Card artisans who had experienced such bitter fighting couldn''t compare to those who had no battle experience. The perverse lesson from the Downstream Alliance could be called quite vivid for the powerful things it taught them.


    Any troops without discipline would always be a mob. Card artisans without actual battle experience would be nothing more than rookies.


    Even with such huge losses, the gains were still higher. Every room in the Valley Nest was piled full of mountains of materials. Half of the materials from the Downstream Alliance had fallen into Chen Mu''s hands. In fact, Chen Mu rather honored Qiao Fei to have taken the initiative to hand over half of them. If she had kept all the fruits to herself, there was nothing Chen Mu could have done about it. Although Qiao Fei looked careless, she had some admirable qualities in her attitude and ability to get things done.


    The materials were worth 150 billion. Chen Mu took in a breath of cold air when he saw the number.


    "That much?" He looked like he couldn''t quite believe it.


    Xi Ping laughed and said, "The Downstream Alliance had 35 forts, Boss, with a population of 2.5 million. They were the biggest power in the Pascal Region. That was the patrimony they accumulated across seven or eight years. If they didn''t have that much, it would be a little unusual. Too bad they used up almost all of their cash. Furthermore, these materials are all over the place, and many of them have no value for us."


    Chen Mu nodded. It did look like a lot of materials, but there were too many different kinds. They would be too difficult to bring current.


    "Take a look, Boss." There was some news on the screen in the meeting room, and Jiang Liang said, "This is some intelligence we only just gathered. Our current position is remote, and the intelligence we get is very limited. We got this news two days late."


    Chen Mu browsed through the news in some detail. The more he read, the more surprised he got. On the same day Wen Zuofu made his move, alliances everywhere burst out in hundreds of battles, and the situation kept spreading in the days after. The battles were all over the place.


    The ones who started them were all small, local powers. Another thing they had in common was that they all had a certain style of battle shuttle car. Those powers spread like crazy, swallowing all the small forts around them. With the help of the battle shuttle cars, they were virtually able to go wherever they wanted, and their power abruptly surged.


    Closely following that, the small powers formed themselves quickly into an organization called the Ant Alliance. They all echoed one another; once any one of them made an enemy, the alliance members nearby would rescue them. Within only a few days, the five flourishing districts erupted, and the Ant Alliance''s power suddenly swelled to an inconceivable level.


    Clear-eyed people knew the so-called Ant Alliance was none other than one of Faya''s banners. How long had Faya been playing such a ruthless game of chess?


    Judging from when the Downstream Alliance and Faya first made contact, it would have been at least seven or eight years prior when Faya made its first move in the game. The disturbances involved upward of several hundred small powers, and Jiang Liang reckoned Faya must have started to set them up 15 years ago.


    If the situation had actually been going for 15 years, then the ones who made the plan were truly awe-inspiring.


    Faya''s chess game was no different than starting a fire in the backyard of the Big Six. The Ant Alliance was everywhere, which must have been giving the Big Six quite a headache.


    Chen Mu actually didn''t feel so bad facing that kind of situation. The more chaotic things got for the Big Six, at least he could be safer. He was most afraid of Tang Hanpei. Chen Mu was hoping Tang Hanpei had forgotten about his existence.


    The chaotic state of the world would inevitably spill over onto them, however, with the Downstream Alliance being a good example. To tell the truth, if you wanted to survive in a chaotic world, you needed power more than luck.


    "What do you think about Qiao Fei saying she wants to split the forts with us?" Chen Mu was thinking of a different issue. He probably hadn''t realized that both the way he was talking and his tone had become inadvertently more serious and more in the manner of a leader.


    After thinking about it, Xi Ping said, "From the point of view of investment, for us to have such a foundation is of course a complete gain. Too bad no one among us is good at that sort of thing."


    Jiang Liang was looking at it from the military point of view. "We are too weak right now; we don''t have the power to defend even ten small forts."


    Each of their assessments was perfectly true and not much different from what Chen Mu was thinking. Thinking about it more carefully, he felt they weren''t leaving anything out, so Chen Mu called up Qiao Fei''s number.


    "Is Boss Chen all better? That would be wonderful! I''ve been over there in the ravine looking for you lots of times. I didn''t even have a way to split things with you before you got better, which has been making my heart itch unbearably." Qiao Fei then showed her sharp tiger''s teeth as she laughingly said, "You take 18, and I''ll take 17 of the 35 forts of the Downstream Alliance. What do you think?"


    Chen Mu said ponderously, "No problem, but I''m not really interested in the forts. If everyone at the House of Qiao is interested, then I''d like to sell them back to you. If you''re not interested, I''ll look for a different buyer."


    Qiao Fei looked surprised. "Boss Chen isn''t interested in the small forts?" Staring closely at Chen Mu for a long time and seeing that he was being completely honest, she knew he wasn''t joking.


    Eighteen small forts made her heart pound. She had 27 forts of her own. With the addition of those 17, there would be 44. If she could buy Chen Mu''s 18 on top of those, she would have 62 small forts. At that scale, no one in the Pascal Region could oppose her.


    Five or six organizations had more than ten small forts in the Pascal Region. If any one of them were to buy Chen Mu''s 18 forts, they would be at the scale of 30 or 40 small forts, which would mean there would be one more level of potential enemy. Her mind moved like lightning, and in a moment, she had already decided how she would gobble up Chen Mu''s 18 small forts.


    "Ok, but don''t make your starting price too outrageous, Boss Chen, or we won''t be able to bear it." Qiao Fei looked at him demurely with nothing of her normal bandit''s aura to be seen.


    Too bad that play had no use on Chen Mu. He took a look at Xi Ping, who was holding up two fingers.


    "Two hundred billion Oudi," Chen Mu said. "That''s not such a high price, so you won''t have to bargain."


    Qiao Fei had an awkward expression. "I don''t have any opinion about the price. It''s just that 200 billion in ready cash would take a long time to prepare."


    "That''s fine; you can deduct some materials from the price. We need a lot of materials right now. As far as the 200 billion, the great House of Qiao could start paying on it today." Chen Mu didn''t want to cause Qiao Fei too many difficulties on that point.


    Qiao Fei quickly breathed a sigh of relief. "Great, no problem." It wasn''t that she hadn''t thought about taking all the spoils, but she was perfectly appalled by the power Chen Mu had in his hands.


    When she had arrived on the battlefield, she was really surprised. He had completely compromised the Downstream Alliance, and she was able to take Wen Zuofu with just a puff, not expending any power.


    To be able to destroy the Downstream Alliance and its hundreds of battle shuttle cars and more than 1,000 card artisans by his own strength alone, how could such a power not awe her? Furthermore, Chen Mu still had the extraction technology for the purple fluorescent ore. Of course, Qiao Fei wasn''t going to do anything rash, having wondered all along what great power he came from.


    How could she have known the battle had basically played out all the power Chen Mu had? He truly was weaker than ever just then, afraid any old team could wipe him out.


    Chen Mu then sold Qiao Fei all of the materials he didn''t need. There was probably about 100 billion worth, and Qiao Fei only needed to spend 80 million to get them. Those things weren''t useful Chen Mu, but Qiao Fei, who had just gotten 35 more forts, urgently needed all sorts of construction materials. Thus, she took them all without hesitating.


    Within a few dozen minutes, Qiao Fei owed Chen Mu 280 billion. But she still looked overjoyed, not the least bit bitter about what she owed. Having gone through that battle together, the two organizations'' relations turned into a true alliance.


    Qiao Fei quickly sent over 20 billion Oudi personally. While 20 billion was certainly a small number up against 280 billion, Chen Mu and the rest were still a little dumbfounded that she could so easily pull out that much ready cash.


    Regardless, 20 billion was a huge chunk of change for him. Getting that plug of money, Chen Mu immediately decided to expand his forces. He had used up nearly all his power in that battle, and he urgently needed reinforcements. Without power, even having lots of wealth wasn''t enough to make him lucky. It could actually be a disaster.


    Chen Mu really kicked into gear after making his decision. That was their time of greatest weakness, and it was the most dangerous time.


    The card artisan service center in Chilei was busier than ever that day. Quite a few card artisans had gotten the news that the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm was recruiting. They had run over specifically to apply.


    If it had been just a few days earlier, no one would have heard of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. But no one in the Pascal Region could have missed their resounding reputation during that time.


    The battle between the Downstream Alliance and the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm had created quite a stir. For the unknown Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm to have beaten the Downstream Alliance¡ªwhich was the biggest power in the Pascal Region¡ªwas an explosive piece of news. Everyone wondered if they had heard wrong at first.


    Given the thousands of outstanding card artisans in the Downstream Alliance, plus the dedicated battle card artisans, apart from the House of Qiao, which could only barely contend with them, no group in the district had the scale to compare with them. When the details later came out, people found it still harder to believe. The Downstream Alliance had just purchased 300 battle shuttle cars, which were all completely wiped out during the battle!


    What kind of divinity was the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm? How could they be that strong? Having just experienced the tempest of mass warfare, who among those powers using the battle shuttle cars wasn''t on a rampage? It was only the Downstream Alliance whose entire army was overshadowed. Were they just too weak? Or, was the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm too strong?


    The card artisans of the Downstream Alliance were perfectly experienced and could be described as knowledgeable. Of course it wasn''t weak. Otherwise, it could never have become the biggest power of the Pascal Region. Therefore, there was only one explanation¡ªthe Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm was stronger!


    Apart from each of the powers, ordinary card artisans didn''t really care what kind of power the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm was. They only knew it was a very powerful card artisan firm, and that was enough. How could it not be considered a first-rate card artisan firm? It could defeat the Downstream Alliance, and it still wasn''t considered a first-rate card artisan firm?


    So, when they found out the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm was recruiting, countless card artisans swarmed, scrambling to join. They all knew how hard it was to be admitted to a first-rank card artisan firm.


    Once they joined one, it would mean a high salary and benefits along with the high standard of their training mechanisms. Many of the offspring of the members of such card artisan firms could enjoy the professional education of the firm, which would be a lot of help in making something of themselves.


    The most widespread pieces of news in the market grapevine were related to the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. It was said that the firm could extract the liquids from the purple fluorescent ore. That news made it hard for the card artisans to restrain themselves. Good lord, if it were true, that would mean the card artisan firm''s finances would be extremely robust! A firm that was both strong and wealthy would be the destination of any card artisan''s dreams.


    Sanchez was one among them. He was 30 that year, and he looked like an honest person from the countryside. He was nothing more than an ordinary card artisan. His perception had gotten to the middle of the fifth level, but he wasn''t actually a battle card artisan. He had only a little experience hunting in the Outer Reaches. The One Word Law he practiced was pretty much ordinary stuff, and he had only ordinary talent.


    To have level-five perception at age 30 wasn''t more than an ordinary result. He had gotten there with great difficulty, expending a lot more effort to do so than other card artisans. He wasn''t holding out much hope for being recruited by the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm, but he just thought he''d give it a try. He detested the Downstream Alliance, but he also knew how powerful it was. To be able to defeat the Downstream Alliance, there was no need to doubt the power of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm.


    If he hadn''t just happened to be at the card artisan service center that day, he wouldn''t have even had the chance to give it a try. He had previously been in several card artisan firms, but he hadn''t stayed at any of them very long before he was cut for not having enough strength.


    The one who received him was a young man with a chilly expression who wasn''t more than 24 or 25. His body was ramrod-straight, and he looked at attention. He had a sharp gaze that looked like it could penetrate to the bottom of someone''s heart.


    Sanchez unconsciously lowered his head, inwardly horrified. That Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm was impressive, after all! For just any youth among them to have such a bearing was beyond awesome!


    "Sanchez, perception at the middle of the fifth level, good at the Celadon." The young man lifted his head. "What is the Celadon?"


    Sanchez hurried to reply, "It''s a kind of energy cloak." Paying attention to the young man, who looked like he was listening intently, he felt a little embarrassed. "It''s just an ordinary energy cloak card."


    The young man nodded and turned his eyes back to the resume, continuing to scan it. Then, his gaze stopped. "You''re 30 years old?"


    Sanchez knew by then that he had no more hope. He said calmly, "Yes. I''ll be 31 in a couple of months." His age was his biggest weakness.


    The young man was about to erase his resume from the screen when his gaze suddenly stopped, and he asked in a strange tone, "Oh, you have a nursing license?"


    In any sense, a nursing license made one like a quasi-medical card artisan. Most of them had chosen to be a nurse because they didn''t have the ability to become a medical card artisan. Nurses were basically 95 percent women; male nurses were seldom seen. Apart from some perverts who were chasing after pretty nurses, few other men would choose to practice nursing, let alone get a nursing license.


    Seeing Sanchez''s earnest aspect, he didn''t seem to have any connection with being a pervert. Maybe you couldn''t tell a person by his appearance.


    Sanchez was wearing a bitter smile, which made it obvious that it wasn''t the first time he had been misunderstood because of that issue.


    "I''m pretty slow, and I can only keep up with others by greatly increasing my training. It''s really easy to get injured that way. With all my money spent on the training, I didn''t have any left to treat the injuries. So, I simply chose to practice nursing. That way, I could treat some of the smaller injuries myself." Sanchez seemed bland when he said that. He had no sense of complaining about his fate, and he said it with no indignation, as though he were explaining something ordinary.


    The young man''s look took on a hint of strangeness. "Mmmm, wait for some news when you get back."


    Sanchez left feeling calm. He''d heard that phrase countless times. Each time, it was nothing more than a way to end things, which meant he had been dropped. That was no surprise, and he''d find work over time. There was always something. He was at peace.


    He didn''t even think anything of the little episode when he left the card artisan service center, and no one paid him any mind, of course.


    The number of people in the card artisan service center had set a record across the last five years, and they had all come because of the reputation of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm.


    * * *


    "The Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm? Have you heard of them, Ah Zhe?" The one talking was a middle-aged man wearing a purple high-class battle suit. He had a superb gaze and an intimidating manner.


    If Chen Mu had seen him, he would certainly have recognized him as the leader of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, Mobley, who he had encountered before. He had several card artisans guarding him, each showing an alert expression.


    A tall youth of about 27 or 28 said with a thoughtful look, "The Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm? Yikes, I do seem to have some impression of them. It seems the card artisan firm escorting Miss Wei Wei was called the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. I don''t know if it''s a big name or not."


    "Miss Wei Wei?" Mobley was rather moved. "Has she returned to Thousand Lakes?"

 344 Wearing Out Iron Shoes in the Search

    "Mmm, those old guys from the Luo family sent quite a few groups with the intention of attacking Miss Wei Wei''s troops. Miss Wei Wei''s entire team was trapped in the Pascal Region and basically couldn''t get out. Afterward, quite a few battles broke out between the two sides with heavy casualties. Seeing that the Luo family clan gathering was about to begin, everyone assumed it was over for Miss Wei Wei, not imagining she would suddenly show up at the Luo household. I didn''t know until later that all of those large troops were under a single banner and that the one leading them was her assistant, Meng Jiezi. Miss Wei Wei had quietly gone through the Welsh Forest and then crossed the Heavenly Dragon Canyon, bypassing Lier City to finally return to Thousand Lakes. The Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm was responsible to protect them. I''ve heard it said that Miss Wei Wei really appreciated the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm and offered a high price to keep them. She didn''t realize they would ultimately refuse."


    Ah Zhe also seemed not to quite understand the choice of the leader of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm.


    As though he had something on his mind, Mobley said, "It looks like Miss Wei Wei already has the Luo family in her hands, but we don''t know where the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm came from."


    Ah Zhe smiled. "What are you so worried about, Captain? Can''t we just find out by asking around?"


    Mobley smiled back. "Ha ha, you''re right. Let''s go ask around."


    Mobley and his party were doubtlessly quite striking in the card artisan service center. Wherever they went, they were the focus of everyone''s attention. But they all maintained their composed expressions with no sign of discomfort. Many of the card artisans in the know had already guessed who they were.


    Mobley was thinking as he walked. He hadn''t previously been thinking about lingering in the Pascal District. The reason they had emerged was for a commission that was very relevant to him. They couldn''t know their luck would be so bad. Not only was there no word about the commission, but they also happened to run into the chaotic storm started by Faya''s gang of crazies. They had gotten the news over the previous few days that the way back to Thousand Lakes was already sealed.


    The five or six local powers in the area between Chilei and Thousand Oaks had formed into a battle group. To stir them up at that time would be no different than looking to die. But it wasn''t like there was no way to get back to Thousand Lakes. The Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm had escorted Miss Wei Wei along a route where there would certainly be no battles.


    As Mobley saw it, however, that route was more dangerous than going through the war zone. Having no other choice, he figured they might as well stay in Chilei for the time being.


    In his boredom, Mobley took a few people to the card artisan service center in Chilei to look around. He hadn''t expected to encounter such an overheated scene. That got them curious. The Snowflake Card Artisan Team was rather famous in the Heavenly Drum Village District, and it wasn''t like they hadn''t experienced that sort of situation themselves. Because of that, they were clearer than most of the people there about what was implied by the overheated scene. He didn''t think it would be any hotter if it were the Snowflake Card Artisan Team recruiting.


    "May I be so bold as to ask this big brother where the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm came from? How is it that so many people are applying?" Ah Zhe, who was beside Mobley, had caught a card artisan walking by and had quickly asked him.


    The card artisan wasn''t so pleased about being grabbed. But looking over who they were, he detected that they didn''t have just an ordinary bearing, so he didn''t dare to be arrogant. He said perfectly politely, "Have you all just arrived a Chilei?"


    Mobley and Ah Zhe looked at each other, and Ah Zhe nodded with a slight smile. "Indeed; you are very sharp to see that! We just arrived yesterday, and seeing so much hubbub today, we wonder what''s up."


    After having been detained by Ah Zhe, he now felt that the gang in front of him was a lot more pleasing to look at. He explained, "That''s quite normal. Never mind you not knowing what''s up; even local card artisans don''t quite get it. But now that you mention the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm, they''ve recently created quite a sensation!"


    "Oh? What do you mean?" Ah Zhe looked interested, and everyone else was looking like they were listening in.


    Seeing that he had gotten everyone''s attention, the card artisan was stirred. "Do you know about the Downstream Alliance?"


    "Downstream Alliance?" Ah Zhe thought for a while before saying, "I seem to have vaguely heard of them." How could he remember any Downstream Alliance? They would hardly ever run into such small local powers normally.


    "Ha! I could see at a glance that you don''t frequently run around in the Pascal District. The Downstream Alliance is the biggest power in the Pascal District, with 35 small forts. Such a power wouldn''t be considered so small, would it?"


    Mobley''s eyes seemed to smile without smiling, and Ah Zhe rushed to nod in agreement. "Indeed. Not small at all."


    "The Downstream Alliance commands thousands of card artisans. Apart from the House of Qiao, which can only barely contend with them, no one else is their equal. But such a large power was finally defeated by the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. They even killed their big boss, Wen Zuofu. They had been deploying several thousand card artisans, and it was said that they had several hundred battle card artisans. Still, they weren''t the strongest." The card artisan stopped talking.


    Ah Zhe put on a look of surprise and rushed to ask, "Good lord, is there actually something more powerful than that?"


    "That old demon Wen Zuofu is incredibly treacherous, and the reason he dared to set his mind this time was because he had a trump card in his hands! Several hundred battle shuttle cars. You''ve seen the buggies. Good grief, they must have spent a lot of money for so many of them!" The card artisan was shaking his head as if he was the one who''d spent the money.


    Hearing that, Mobley''s expression started to turn more serious. That kind of battle weapon was the hottest topic lately. The Snowflake Card Artisan Team had been specifically researching it. They had concluded that once the number of battle shuttle cars went above 150, their power would be utterly terrifying. How much power would several hundred battle shuttle cars bring into play?


    "Not necessarily. I''ve heard that buggie is really a live wire." Ah Zhe looked incredulous, but he wasn''t just putting it on that time.


    The card artisan grunted and said, "Live wire? Indeed. Everyone knows it is. But it was just that live wire that the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm completely destroyed, not leaving a single one behind. That''s not just me talking; it''s something everyone here knows. If you went to the ravine right now, you could see the wreckage of the battle shuttle cars."


    After the card artisan finished heaping all that praise, he got excited. "You tell me how powerful such a card artisan firm must be! Good lord, they''re too powerful. That kind of a card artisan firm would be considered first-class no matter where! I have to try my luck given this rare recruitment, ha ha. If I''m admitted, I''ll be eating and drinking like a king!" He looked drunk, as though he had already been admitted.


    Mobley and the rest of them were still digesting what that card artisan had just told them. If what he said was true, then the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm had terrifying power! It was a little strange for such a powerful card artisan firm to pop up in such an out-of-the-way place.


    The card artisan then said to Ah Zhe as if he were telling a secret, "There''s still more news coming through the grapevine about the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm."


    "Oh? What kinds of rumors?" Ah Zhe quickly raised his head to see that the card artisan was keeping his mouth closed, like he hadn''t said a thing. He immediately realized he should pull out a few money cards and quietly stuff them into the card artisan''s hands. "We''ve been holding up our big brother for such a long time. I feel really bad about that. This is a small token from your little brother, so my big brother can drink some tea to refresh himself."


    The card artisan rubbed his hand, and his face turned pretty happy. With his counterpart so above-board, of course he wasn''t going to go on peddling. "It''s said that the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm can produce the liquid extracts from the purple fluorescent ore."


    "What?" both Ah Zhe and Mobley asked in chorus. When Mobley opened his mouth, he showed his might and imposing manner, which really scared the card artisan.


    The card artisan hastily said, "It''s true! Everything I''m saying is true!" Seeing the two of them with burning gazes on his face, he went a little weak, but he quickly explained, "Other people might think this is just a rumor, but it really is true. I have a relative who is at a firm that purchased some of the extracts from the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm."


    "We''ll take a look," Mobley said in a deep voice, being anxious to look into the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm.


    Seeing that Mobley had already turned around, Ah Zhe hurriedly stuffed a few more money cards into the card artisan''s hand. "Thank you very much." He then went off to join Mobley and the rest.


    The card artisan looked at the additional money cards in his hands. After a while, he looked wildly happy. That gang was really generous!


    The reason Mobley and his party had come that time was precisely for the liquid extracts of the purple fluorescent ore. Over the past little while, there had suddenly been quite a lot of the extract flowing from that place to Thousand Lakes, and they had been urged by someone to find out who was producing it. They wanted to set up a long-term, cooperative relationship for large quantities.


    Unfortunately, they hadn''t been able to find the mysterious producer, and that firm was very good at concealing its work. They didn''t have the power to infiltrate it. They had worn out their iron shoes without finding anything. Now, they found it with no effort at all!


    They quickly asked where the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm recruiting station was. But the huge card artisan service center seemed to be servicing only them. The further inside they got, the more crowded it became, with excited-looking card artisans all over the place. Mobley and his group were inwardly stunned. Such a large-scale recruitment gathering showed how much influence the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm had in the Pascal Region.


    Although it was much more crowded than the outer areas, it was all very orderly. Those wild card artisans were obediently lining up. No one was discussing loudly, and no one was creating a disturbance. The card artisans looked like well-behaved students.


    Mobley''s group felt more and more that the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm was extraordinary. What little they saw was enough to show how disciplined the firm was.


    Mobley''s group didn''t line up but charged right in, which was quite offensive in the eyes of all the card artisans who had lined up. But those card artisans weren''t stupid. Once they saw how imposing the group was, they guessed they must be a big deal. The card artisans with shaper eyesight were aghast. That party''s power was so high no one among them could discern its depth. That also explained how far its power was from their own.


    A young man standing ramrod-straight with a cool expression stood immediately in front of them and blocked their way. "Please, this is the recruitment station for the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. If you would like to apply, please get in line."


    Mobley stopped, and his eyes slightly widened. As the captain of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, it had been a long time since anyone had been so arrogant in front of him. Paying attention to his counterpart''s upright stance, Mobley was chilled. That was the classic style of the military. Could that young man be from the military?


    The military was a rather taboo subject. Whether it was a local power or a famous card artisan team like them, they would all be careful not to incur the wrath of the military. That wasn''t an offense they could afford.


    He couldn''t help but closely size up the youth in front of him, suddenly feeling like he looked a little familiar. He had seen him somewhere. But no matter how much he wracked his brains, he couldn''t come up with where he had seen that youth. His counterpart was also sizing him up at the same time.


    Everyone''s gazes nearby were focused on the two of them. Many of them looked excited, able to tell at a glance that they were both aces. Although no one knew who the youth was, he was a representative of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. If there was any conflict between the two sides, it would certainly be fun to watch. None of them could keep calm. They were all itching for things to blow up. They were also curious about what sort of moves the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm would come up with.


    What one heard may be false, but seeing was believing. None of them had seen the battle between the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm and the Downstream Alliance. The card artisans with a little bit of power naturally hoped their own clubs could have more power. If a conflict were to develop, of course they could also judge if the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm really did have power or if they only had empty fame.


    "So, you are the captain of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, Mobley! I, Jiang Liang of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm, have seen Mr. Mobley before." The youth calmly saluted Mobley.


    What he said would only be considered banter, but it was like a bombshell had been dropped in the card artisan service center!

 345 Collaboration

    The Snowflake Card Artisan Team was famous all over the world. It was one of the three big card artisan teams in the Heavenly Drum Village District, founded more than 50 years prior, and it was a truly well-established card artisan team. Everyone who had served as its captain was a very influential person. The captain at that time, Mobley, was a well-known ace throughout the federation.


    The Snowflake Card Artisan Team had been staying low-key those last few years and didn''t have a brilliant or prominent fighting record. But they had completed 95 percent of their commissions successfully, which put them at the head of the card artisan teams in the Heavenly Drum Village District.


    The Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm was like a child standing in front of some great man. They were nothing more than a local power that had just emerged as a small upstart, with no way to compare to an established powerhouse like the Snowflake Card Artisan Team. It was sensational news for the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, not to mention their captain, Mobley, to show up in such an obscure place.


    The card artisan service center burst out in pandemonium, with countless people pulling out their communications cards. The person in charge of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team was a heavyweight in the capital, not to mention in such an out-of-the-way place as the Pascal District. In the eyes of the crowd, such a high-class person as Mobley was as remote as the stars in the sky.


    The benefits of being able to have even the slightest relations with such a great power were self-evident. Still, most of the card artisans were staring intently at Mobley and his team along with Jiang Liang.


    Could the two be old acquaintances? In the eyes of those in the know, for Jiang Liang to be able to call out Mobley''s identity must have meant the background of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm was extraordinary. Otherwise, how could they recognize the captain of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team? They doubted even Wen Zuofu would know such an important person if he were still alive.


    The scene in front of them had attracted everyone''s attention. They all stopped their discussions, looking closely to see how things might develop.


    "Do you know me?" Mobley asked in a deep voice as his gaze hardened.


    An oppressive feeling swept through the great hall like a hurricane, and everyone felt horrified. It was said that Mobley''s power had achieved that of a first-class ace, which was not an empty rumor, after all! The card artisans fell silent under the powerful sense of oppression.


    Jiang Liang''s expression didn''t change in the least. He responded in a manner neither servile nor haughty. "Captain Mobley might not remember. We ran into one another because of a flock of dingbirds a few months ago."


    Mobley looked deep in thought when a flash of light suddenly shone through his eyes, showing a lot of surprise and realization. He laughed heartily and said, "Ha ha, no wonder you looked a little familiar. Your fine troops were so orderly and disciplined, with such outstanding power. That really opened my eyes. I was just discussing with Ah Zhe how godlike that Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm seemed when it made such a scene. And, you turned out to be someone I knew!"


    Jiang Liang''s face then bloomed into a smile, and he held out his hand in an expression of invitation. "If the boss were to know Captain Mobley has arrived, he would certainly be happy!"


    "Ha ha. I''ve come bearing no gifts¡ªso very rude of me." Mobley laughed, though he wasn''t showing the least bit of embarrassment on his face. Ah Zhe followed Mobley, snickering to himself.


    Jiang Liang was also laughing as he said, "Captain Mobley must be joking. We are honored by your presence!"


    The party entered the room all smiles. The card artisan service center then turned noisy with excitement.


    "My goodness, that Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm''s origins are not so simple! Even the great captain of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team is so polite to them. Who knows how the big boss of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm really is to overturn all our expectations?"


    "Who knows? He''s no ordinary person in any case. It''s a good thing we came today. Heh heh, if Captain Mobley praises the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm''s power, tsk tsk, that''s not so easy to get!"


    "Theirs is no ordinary relationship, the one being the Snowflake Card Artisan Team and the other being the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. Even their names are close, so they must have some sort of secret connection."


    "Knock it off! If there aren''t 100,000, there are at least 80,000 card artisan firms in our Heavenly Drum Village District with the word "snow" in them. Do you think they''re all a single organization?"


    * * *


    People were fiercely discussing the matter, all very excited. To be able to witness such a huge piece of news with one''s own eyes would give a person lots of bragging rights!


    Mobley''s sudden visit really surprised Chen Mu. But he did have a deep impression of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team. When he encountered the battle card artisans during that last battle, the most awesome among them wouldn''t be more than equal to the most ordinary member of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team.


    That was a truly elite card artisan team. They were who knew how many times more capable than his own Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. But what was Mobley''s goal in coming there that day? Chen Mu couldn''t figure it out.


    Everyone sat together chatting and drinking tea, and the atmosphere was perfectly cordial. Mobley was actually a charming person. He was a wonderful conversationalist with clear thinking, and he often got to the core of a matter in a single phrase. Ah Zhe beside him was endlessly witty. He was so funny he would often make everyone laugh out loud.


    In the eyes of Mobley and Ah Zhe, however, the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm had once again startled them. The depth of their young boss was hard to discern, and none among his few subalterns was anything ordinary. Xi Ping was quite worldly, with a deep understanding of the skills involved in making deals. His thinking was shrewd and meticulous like an old fox. And, although Jiang Liang was young and seldom opened his mouth, once he did, he made everyone feel how sharp he was.


    When that incredible person who was accompanying Miss Wei Wei was added, even Mobley''s eyes turned red with envy. To be able to guide and mold talent had always been something one might come across, but it could never just be sought out. He would never have thought such a small card artisan firm would get two such people. Xi Ping was flawless in his work, good with the numbers, and doubtlessly a classically good logistical ace!


    One might say the team''s greatest weakness should be its fighting strength. But his gaze then fell onto that seldom-speaking boss. He felt he couldn''t quite get him. What was most awe-inspiring, however, was the man over in the corner who looked like he was made of stone. That was certainly a super-ace!


    Ah Zhe suddenly said, smiling, "I''ve just heard an interesting rumor. I''ve heard your honorable team can produce the liquid extracts from purple fluorescent ore. I wonder if that bit of information is actually true or false."


    Chen Mu and Xi Ping looked at one another, knowing the main scene was about to be played out. For the Snowflake Card Artisan Team to show up for no reason in such an obscure place as the Pascal District had sown some doubts in everyone''s minds. For them to take the initiative to seek them out, Chen Mu couldn''t believe it didn''t mean something.


    Cherishing words as though they were gold, Chen Mu finally opened his mouth. "Captain Mobley is certainly well-informed."


    That amounted to answering Ah Zhe''s question, affirming that they could produce the liquid extracts from the purple fluorescent ore. Mobley''s eyes lit up, and he couldn''t hide the joy he felt as he said, "So, all the purple fluorescent ore in Thousand Lakes is from the hands of Mr. Chen and so easy for us to find now."


    Once the two of them were talking, the rest of the people discreetly refrained from interrupting. The two of them were each the highest leaders of their own teams, and the talks between them would determine the relations between the two teams going forward. Everyone immediately held their breath, carefully listening to the dialogue.


    "Oh, so is Captain Mobley interested in the purple fluorescent ore?" Chen Mu asked. He found it strange to hear what Mobley seemed to be saying. It seemed like they had specifically come for the extracts.


    Mobley sat up straight, and his expression turned serious. "To be quite honest, we have come precisely for the liquid extracts of the purple fluorescent ore. I wonder which types of the extract your honorable team can produce."


    "The highest we can produce is the red extract," Chen Mu said calmly, not feeling the need to hide anything about the matter.


    Hearing that, it was suddenly hard for Ah Zhe to hide his joy.


    Looking ever-sincere, Mobley said, "May I take the liberty of offering my proposal? I hope Mr. Chen won''t be too surprised."


    Chen Mu had already vaguely guessed, and he gestured as he said, "Captain Mobley may say what''s on his mind."


    Mobley sincerely made his suggestion. "I''m suggesting our two teams establish a trading relationship. I''m hoping we can have the rights to purchase the extracts directly from your esteemed firm over the long term. Correspondingly, if your esteemed firm needs anything, you can buy it through our channels. Or, if you have any commissions, we would give them priority. We could also provide your esteemed firm with intelligence services and could even cultivate card artisans on your behalf. We could also lease you our reserve team members to guarantee your firm''s safety."


    The meeting room became a little too silent. Chen Mu fell helplessly into thought. Mobley''s hope to be able to buy the extract was completely unexpected, and his wanting to pay such a price wasn''t something he had even thought about.


    Everyone''s gaze was on Chen Mu, who was deep in thought. After thinking it through carefully for a while, Chen Mu felt the suggestion had nothing bad in it for him. On the contrary, it had a lot of good points. At the very least, once they established a collaboration with the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, none of the powers in the Pascal District would dare have any idea of attacking him. No one would want to offend such giant in the Heavenly Federation.


    Moreover, what Chen Mu and his group most needed then was time. They only needed a little bit of time before they could gradually strengthen themselves. The other thing that made Chen Mu''s heart pound was the intelligence services Mobley had spoken of. That was their weakest link.


    After thinking it through, Chen Mu didn''t hesitate any longer and nodded his response. "Ok!"


    Mobley resumed his smile and put out his right hand to Chen Mu. Chen Mu put out his right hand, and the two shook hands, meaning the collaboration had been declared.


    The originally cordial atmosphere became still more intimate.


    But what the two of them had then confirmed was nothing more than basic intentions. Anything involving more detail would require further repeated negotiations with those under them. On Chen Mu''s side, the one responsible would be Xi Ping. It would be the responsive Ah Zhe for the Snowflake Card Artisan Team.


    There was a sudden knocking on the door, and Jiang Liang got up to open it. A card artisan said something in his ear in a low voice.


    A moment later, Jiang Liang returned with a paper card in his hand, which he read. "The head of the House of Qiao, Qiao Fei; the manager of the Pascal District First-Rate Business Association, Mr. Stinger; the head of the Yuliang household, Yuliang Xing; the head of the House of Leng, Leng Men; the chair of the Ha Clan Association, Yu Tianxing¡­" He reported a string of names before finally summing it up to say, "Basically, everyone in the Pascal District with a little prestige is here."

 346 Judgmen

    The man in charge at the Chilei card artisan service center, Lee Carville, was completely flushed in the face. He was panting heavily and had his tie loosened, as though it was affecting his somewhat erratic breathing.


    He was a respected man in the Pascal District if one came to think of it. However, that''s all he was. On normal days, if a party of any importance was being held by any of the families, he might receive an invitation. But he was far from capable of inviting so many big figures with real authority.


    Many of the VIPs present, like Qiao Fei, Mr. Stinger, and other such regional leaders, were people he usually couldn''t possibly be in contact with. Even so, on that day, those rarely seen VIPs were all gathered at his tiny card artisan service center. His reputation was greatly enhanced.


    However, the VIPs were not the stars of the show that day. There were two stars: one was the Snowflake Card Artisan Team known throughout the federation, and the other was the previously unheard of Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm, which had suddenly risen to the forefront. They were the real stars of that night''s show.


    Other irrelevant card artisans had been persuaded into leaving. The Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm''s recruitment work had to be temporarily halted.


    Gazing at the VIPs around him, he saw that not one of them showed impatience on their face. Even the most senior and the most experienced Mr. Stinger remained as calm as before. They were waiting for the real stars of the show to appear. Lee Carville stood tactfully at a distant corner. He didn''t try to get a share of the limelight just because he was the owner of the place. Nonetheless, his hospitality was thoughtful. All the sofas there were brought over ad hoc by his order.


    The meeting room door was pushed open.


    Clatter. Everyone couldn''t help but stand up. Their gazes converged on the swinging door.


    Who will be the first to step out? Mobley? Or the leader of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm?


    Just as their minds were still turning over the matter, two men walked out of the meeting room side by side. One of the men was about 30 or 40 years old, had piercing eyes and a composed expression, and gave an impression of authority. That was the leader of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, well-known in the federation, Mobley. The one walking beside him was a youth, a stranger to the crowd, and of about 20 years of age.


    Apart from people like Qiao Fei, who was well-acquainted with Chen Mu, the rest were shocked. Since he could walk shoulder-to-shoulder with Mobley, the identity of the youth went without saying. They hadn''t had any prior dealings with Chen Mu. It was really difficult for them to imagine that the leader of the card artisan firm that had won the respect of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team was actually a mere youth of 20.


    The youth was calm and collected. Despite having to face so many VIPs out of the blue, he showed no sign of nervousness, which rather impressed them. They couldn''t have known this was but a small occasion to Chen Mu. He had even had dealings with the most powerful man in the federation, Tang Hanpei. How could those VIPs make him nervous?


    Though they didn''t know what was special about the youth, nor did they know what was formidable about the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm, those politically minded VIPs could immediately make an accurate judgment about the relationship between the two organizations from the two men''s walking out of the meeting at the same time.


    Many had previously been skeptical about the capabilities of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. There had been no shortage of people who intended to take advantage of that convenient moment to do them harm when the firm was weak from the recent battle.


    However, those who had witnessed the current scene with their own eyes banished the idea from their minds instantly. Everyone present understood that regardless of whether their victory had been opportunistic or whether their might was just superficial, nobody could stop them from rising. To still be targeting them at that time would be the height of stupidity. Putting aside the question of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm''s capabilities, if one were to inflame Mobley, escaping from slaughter would be impossible. To a federation-level card artisan firm, annihilating them was no harder than squashing an ant.


    Amongst them, the gloomiest was Mr. Stinger of the First-Rate Business Association. He was the only one there who knew the purpose of Mobley and his men. The association had to keep its lips tightly sealed and not reveal the extracts of the purple fluorescent ore. However, in the present situation, Mobley had directly reached out to the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. The First-Rate Business Association couldn''t do much about it.


    In that case, Mr. Stinger''s sales would undoubtedly decline sharply. In his heart, he was extremely resentful, but he just couldn''t let it show on his face. The party in question was the leader of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, and he was but a mere regional head of a business association. The difference in status was indeed too large.


    Mobley''s interaction with those people had nothing of the casual and familiar attitude with which he spoke to Chen Mu. Instead, he maintained a reserved, slight smile, neither too cold nor too faint.


    That kind of occasion was rather dull and boring for Chen Mu. Thankfully, since there was an old fox like Xi Ping with him, he didn''t have to worry about any problems cropping up.


    Qiao Fei was both surprised and glad. The surprise was that Chen Mu and Mobley knew each other, and their relations seemed to have more beneath the surface. She saw clearly that Mobley''s attitude toward Chen Mu was completely different from how he treated others.


    What made her glad was the fact that the stronger her ally became, the more advantageous it would be for her. The only thing worrying her was the deal over the ten small strongholds. If Chen Mu suddenly went back on it, they would only require a short time to replace the House of Qiao''s current position with the help of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team. She wouldn''t even be able to put up any resistance. However, what reassured her a little was that Chen Mu had shown no sign of going back on his word.


    Mobley obviously had no interest in those local powers and merely made their acquaintance out of courtesy. As to the invitations, he declined all politely, which disappointed a good deal of people. In spite of the disappointment, they didn''t pursue much. After all, in their eyes, that was normal.


    Seeing that Mobley''s side was hard to crack, the important people promptly turned the focus of their attack on the newly risen Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. Chen Mu couldn''t have been more vexed by those disingenuous courtesies and eventually left Xi Ping to handle all the socializing.


    Lee Carville saw the situation and had a bright idea. In a low voice, he made an order for the occasion to be turned into a banquet. His men were quick in action; soon, all sorts of food and beverages were brought in. In the history of the Pascal District, the first banquet of that scale was actually held at a card artisan service center. That was also to become the proudest incident in Lee Carville''s life.


    Mobley and Chen Mu sat in a corner. People continually cast envious glances their way, but they were tactful enough and did not approach to disturb the pair.


    Mobley was sipping red wine, experiencing its variety of changes in his mouth, but his thoughts weren''t altogether quite there. This is a great mission accomplished. With enough extracts of purple fluorescent ore and that woman''s help, the Snowflake Card Artisan Team can definitely advance further!


    The somewhat alluring figure of a woman floated into his mind. He cast a glance at Chen Mu from the corner of his eye. The face of the youth was also full of thought. Mobley felt no contempt toward him just because of his young age. On the contrary, he was full of praise for Chen Mu.


    With the ability to build this estate at such a young age, he is good enough to be hailed a genius! Even he, who had always thought highly of himself, hadn''t had such achievements in his youth.


    "What does Brother Chen have in mind for the future?" Cordiality was seeping from Mobley''s words.


    Chen Mu was interrupted by Mobley''s question and woke abruptly from the depths of his thoughts.


    "The future¡­" Chen Mu muttered as he drank some fruit juice. He didn''t like red wine. The only alcohol he moderately liked was Sapphire Cloud Running Water, but it wasn''t fancy enough to be present at that kind of occasion.


    "Stay alive." Chen Mu uttered the words softly.


    Mobley was stunned. He didn''t expect to get those words from Chen Mu and took a good look at him. No matter which way you look, he doesn''t seem like a pessimist. Mobley couldn''t help but laugh. "Why? Why is little brother so pessimistic? Judging by your ability, you are definitely a man who will accomplish great things!"


    Chen Mu didn''t know what to say and merely shook his head to indicate his objection.


    As though he had just recalled something, Mobley hesitated a little and asked, "Perhaps little brother thinks the times have gone as bad as this state?" Being unaware that Chen Mu''s body had a lethal green thread in it, Mobley felt that was the only reason he could come up with.


    "The times?" Chen Mu was stunned by Mobley''s words, and his attention immediately turned toward that phrase. Having given it some consideration, he said, "The times will certainly become more and more chaotic. This move of Faya''s is too vicious. Besides, they have already become a threat to the foundations of the Big Six. This isn''t a matter of grudges but a conflict between two institutions¡ªtwo different directions of development. The war is unavoidable."


    Mobley was inwardly aghast. After some careful thought, however, he increasingly felt that what Chen Mu had said was accurate and indubitable. Grudges could be let go of, but if it was the conflict between two institutions and two directions of development, there was certainly no resolution possible.


    He looked at Chen Mu in a daze and, for the moment, forgot to speak. The Chen Mu in front of him was a mystery; the more one got to know him, the more unfathomable it felt.


    He couldn''t possibly have known that Chen Mu''s other identity was actually a card master. Card masters were more sensitive to such changes in institutions and technology. That''s why Chen Mu made that prediction.


    Just realizing he forgot himself, Mobley forced out a laugh. "According to what you''ve said, the battle between the Big Six and Faya may just be a fight to the death. But no matter how strong Faya is, they might find it difficult to stand against the Big Six working together. Eventually, it may just end in defeat."


    He had had many dealings with the Big Six. Their might and vastness had been deeply rooted in his heart. He had also had plenty of business transactions with the Big Six and was emotionally inclined toward them, too.


    "Only perhaps not so," Chen Mu uttered softly. If the Big Six really could be of one mind and work together, then the power of Faya alone would naturally be insufficient to stand against them. However, he had firsthand experience as to how deep the conflict between the Big Six went and knew that was but a joke. Besides, Faya evidently had an extremely powerful man in control.


    Not knowing what came across his mind, Mobley surprisingly did not rebut but sat silently, sipping wine. In an instant, both lost their interest in the conversation.


    The banquet lasted four or five hours before it finally ended. It would be the talk of the town for a long time to come. Nevertheless, from the influence of that incident, the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm''s fame rose rapidly, and the recruitment, too, went unusually smoothly.


    The intelligence gathered by Mobley''s men was placed in front of him. He glanced at the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm''s recruitment criteria and was unimpressed. Card artisans of that level had really no value in Mobley''s eyes and were far worse in capabilities as compared to his reserves.


    What baffled him was that Chen Mu actually hired 5,000 ordinary card artisans in one go. He had basically swallowed up most of the available card artisans on the market. As a result of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm''s recruitment, the Pascal District''s card artisan hiring fees skyrocketed.


    Has this guy got so much money that it''s burning his hands?


    From the interaction in the past two days, Chen Mu was certainly a clear-headed leader. How could he make such a basic and stupid mistake? When it came to military affairs, Mobley was very experienced, but he couldn''t think of anything that would be able to turn those card artisans into a battle force.


    Just as he was puzzling over the matter, he suddenly recalled the scene of the first encounter with Chen Mu. At that time, Chen Mu''s men had almost exclusively level-four perception. Yet it had been just such a group that successfully killed the flock of dingbirds, which even they didn''t dare to look down upon.


    Perhaps this Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm has some secret means? Mobley''s expression grew serious.


    Chen Mu was troubled at the moment. The card artisan recruitment was successful¡ª5,000 card artisans, especially all the fifth level of perception or higher. With such a result, Chen Mu felt it was perfect. Those card artisans were in the period of probation. They would undergo a short training of about three months, which would phase out disqualified members. As to how many would remain after the elimination, not even he could decide that.


    Regardless of how many would eventually be left, he imagined he would need to pay a phenomenal sum. However, that wasn''t the question he was concerned about. At present, he had an abundance in funds and enough capital to build an army of a decent size.


    What bothered him were the card sets. The card artisans recruited were all at the fifth level of perception or above. The previous card sets were no longer suitable, and Chen Mu needed to design new and more powerful card sets. That wasn''t too difficult for him; he already had some plans in mind.


    The real headache was the making of the card sets.


    Heavens! More than 1,000 card sets! If it was to be the same as before, all to be made by him, when would the time of completion ever come?

 347 The Second Card

    Card sets were certainly a troublesome problem. Thankfully, however, Chen Mu had sufficient time to come up with a solution.


    He was presently facing a problem that had to be resolved immediately¡ªthe production rate of the extracts of the purple fluorescent ore. When he had seen the amount indicated on the list provided by Mobley, he had been struck dumb on the spot. The quantity Mobley needed was extremely large¡ªso large that all the extracts of the purple fluorescent ore he could then produce was not enough to fulfill his demand alone.


    Moreover, Chen Mu had no intention of abandoning the other two business partners. Whether it was the First-Rate Business Association or Qiao Fei, both were exceedingly important in his eyes. He was still somewhat on his guard against the Snowflake Card Artisan Team.


    That party''s capabilities were far too strong compared to theirs. Past experience had taught him that if the capabilities of two collaborating sides had a huge difference, such collaboration was usually precarious. In fact, Chen Mu was more willing to trade with Qiao Fei and the First-Rate Business Association than the Snowflake Card Artisan Team.


    However, once an organization like the Snowflake Card Artisan Team was keen on something, a mere refusal would be quite dangerous. Furthermore, the current moment was right in the period when Chen Mu and his men were at their weakest. In the event of a confrontation, they had no chance whatsoever.


    Fortunately, no matter which way one looked at it, Chen Mu had reaped great benefits out of that deal. The price offered by Mobley wasn''t low, even being much higher than that of the First-Rate Business Association. Apart from that, the deal had guaranteed the safety of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm to some extent, which was just what Chen Mu needed most.


    Meanwhile, the First-Rate Business Association, which had been provoked, promptly raised their purchase price for the extracts.


    The quantity Mobley requires is seriously too large! Chen Mu was inwardly shocked. He couldn''t figure out what the Snowflake Card Artisan Team needed so much extract for.


    The incredibly perplexed Chen Mu didn''t spend much time dwelling on that question, however. He had to bring up the production rate immediately. On one hand, he got Xi Ping to extensively recruit mining card artisans. The efficiency of those professionals was three to five times higher than that of ordinary card artisans. They had specialized cards and had undergone professional training. High-level mining card artisans even needed some amount of mining expertise and experience in addition to being good at detonations, analysis of the physical composition of the Earth''s surface, and so on.


    At that point, they no longer needed to contain the news that they had purple fluorescent ore mines. With the help of the professionals, the production rate of the purple fluorescent ore would increase considerably.


    Apart from that, he still had to make separators. However, according to the amount indicated on Mobley''s list, Chen Mu needed to increase the number of separators by at least another 100 to just about satisfy the demand, which was obviously an impracticality. Since the numbers couldn''t be made up, the solution had to be sought from other aspects. Chen Mu plunged into his own room, where a separator had been placed.


    The separator had been pieced together by his own hands and, from the face of it, looked like an old, broken machine with plenty of patches. Chen Mu was staring at that patchwork separator, lost in thought and his whole mind turning upon what could be done to increase its production.


    In his mind, the separator in front of him broke apart in an instant and turned into thousands of parts suspended in midair. Though the parts numbered in the thousands, there was no disorder in his mind, and each part was strangely clear. That was owing to his perceptual sensitivity training. The process of constructing those energy models frequently involved tens of thousands of even more complicated energy blocks. Thus, with ease and familiarity, he was able to dismember the complex machine using merely his imagination.


    Chen Mu didn''t notice that point and was already deep in thought. The connection between parts, their function, the principle behind how the separator worked¡­ His brain was calculating and analyzing with rapid speed, losing track of time entirely.


    Suddenly, he remembered the Spinulosa Disk, the first card appliance he had made. It was a plain-looking little card appliance that had helped him claim victory in the battle. His intention back then had simply been to not have those spare parts pile up like rubbish in the warehouse.


    When he had first begun, he hadn''t found the right chain of thought, so he had made no progress with those spare parts. However, later on, it had been exactly due to the right chain of thought that he had successfully made the Spinulosa Disk.


    I am a card master, and card making is what I am best at! This ought to be my breakthrough point!


    He decided to proceed along that previous chain of thought. After a painstaking analysis of the separator''s working principle, he soon found the entry point.


    The fundamental cause of the limitation on the separator was computation capability of its core parts. The composition of a piece of purple fluorescent ore was very complex, consisting of as much as dozens of substances. In order to extract the pure material from those, a strong computation capability was necessary.


    In the earlier separators, that core function had been served by a part dismantled from an experiment analysis device. Evidently, its performance hadn''t been enough in pushing the separator to its fullest potential in efficiency.


    Computation capability! When Chen Mu became aware of that point, he was even stunned for some seconds.


    Heavens! This is literally like it''s been tailored for me! In the card knowledge Chen Mu had acquired, the core of it was the token card! And, the function of the token card was to compute! It had the strongest computation capability Chen Mu had ever seen.


    After figuring it out, Chen Mu started researching madly. Though the token card was the core in his system of knowledge, he had only once made an unadulterated token card. That had been just shortly after acquiring the mysterious card, at the time of making the simple water world.


    The making of a token card was extremely difficult. That was the conclusion from the making of the previous one.


    It had been a long time since he had come across such an interesting and challenging topic. Moreover, that topic even had to do with the token card, which was the most important knowledge in the mysterious card! Recalling the time he had spent studying fervently to learn the token card, his fighting spirit swelled! As it involved roughly ten materials, the complexity of the computation was far greater than that of the token card Chen Mu had made for the simple water world.


    Two days later, Chen Mu resurfaced from his room, and his appearance gave everyone a shock. His face was haggard, and his eyes were bloodshot and sunken. The moment he stepped out of the door, he grabbed Xi Ping, who happened to pass by, and asked, "Anything edible?"


    Xi Ping was startled and hurriedly replied, "Yes, yes!" He swiftly turned around to order someone to send food over.


    Half a minute later, food was brought to Chen Mu, who was concerned with nothing else but devouring it. During those two days, apart from resting for four hours, he had spent the rest of the time thinking through the crafting of the token card.


    Xi Ping approached Chen Mu and asked with great care, "Boss, is everything all right?" He had rarely seen the boss so wretched. In his impression, the boss always had a cool and composed look.


    "All right," Chen Mu replied indistinctly through the rice in his mouth.


    Xi Ping felt slightly reassured and opened his mouth to ask, "Did you run into some problems?"


    Chen Mu just gave an "Mmmm" and continued devouring for dear life. Seeing how desperately hungry the boss was, Xi Ping felt a sudden pang of guilt. He wasn''t doing his job well enough!


    Chen Mu polished off three person''s worth of food single-handedly. Having finished eating, he wiped his mouth and turned around to plunge back into his room. He shut the door tightly with a bang, leaving behind only Xi Ping with a bitter smile and worry on his face.


    Chen Mu continued to be deep in thought, his mind working swiftly at a shocking speed. However, the difficulty of making the token card that time obviously far exceeded his expectations. The progress made so far was infinitesimal.


    It wasn''t that he couldn''t make the token card, but that the token card made couldn''t satisfy him. He had calculated that if the token card was made according to his current plan, the performance of the separator could only be enhanced by five percent. That result couldn''t satisfy him.


    After another two days, Chen Mu finally let out a long sigh. Though no progress had been made with the token card, he had cleared up one thing¡ªwith the knowledge of token cards he currently possessed, designing a scheme that would content him was impossible.


    Lying face-up on the ground with arms outstretched and his body in the shape of a star, he stared blankly at the ceiling. On and on Chen Mu stared, until, exhausted by the past few days, he unconsciously fell asleep.


    By the time he awoke, five hours had passed. He washed his face with some cold water, and his muddled brain was cleared substantially in an instant. Looking at his wretched self in the mirror above the basin, with water dripping from his wet hair, he suddenly broke into a laugh. He had been going too smoothly for some time, so much so that in his heart, he always subconsciously believed he had the ability to solve any problem.


    I am, in fact, just an amateur card master who has had no systematic training. If I am to run into difficulties, that is only normal. My knowledge of token cards has only been acquired at the basic level. He couldn''t help but mock himself.


    When he got to that point, his heart suddenly skipped a beat. He retrieved the mysterious card and slotted it into the apparatus on his wrist. The previous apparatus had exploded in the last battle and was useless. Even the big mudfish card inside had been damaged.


    The one he was wearing presently was the battle-style apparatus, Heaven''s Wind II, bought for him by Xi Ping. That apparatus model was entirely white and had a simple and streamlined style. It had four slots for cards and no overtly fancy function. Its biggest advantage was that it was extremely stable, being able to adapt to all sorts of nasty environments. Even if it was used under water, it wouldn''t be affected. Additionally, its own defensive energy was highly remarkable, capable of withstanding attacks with damage values of less than 1,000. Naturally, its price wasn''t cheap, either.


    Once more, he entered the mysterious card. It had been quite a long time since he had last done so. Bogged down by various matters, he was no longer that solitary youth who only needed to be concerned about his own studies and training.


    The surrounding was an expanse of whiteness and densely foggy. He couldn''t even see the fingers on his own hand, but that scene was already quite familiar to Chen Mu. With no hesitation, he prompted his shuttle-shaped perceptual vortex. Countless perceptual threads reached out into the white fog around him.


    The shapeless and intangible white fog seemed to have awoken from its dreams with a start, tossing and rolling. In innumerable fine streams, it was doing some special movement.


    Chen Mu''s perception was quickly immersed in that stirring world, doing its best to capture the movement pattern of those fine streams. As compared to past times, he had made much progress. Most of the movements of the fine streams could not escape from the capture of his perception.


    "Test result: perceptual sensitivity, 72 points." The familiar, aged voice rang in Chen Mu''s ears once more. Chen Mu was inwardly startled. He remembered that when he had previously completed the five different energy models, he had received exactly 70 points; he wasn''t expecting to actually get to 72 that day.


    Just as the voice disappeared, the white fog faded, and Chen Mu was standing in empty space. In front of him floated five cards of varying color.


    The content of the first card was already familiar to Chen Mu. It was the method of making the folding Yanbo card, the awe-inspiring capabilities of which he had experienced first-hand.


    His new goal was the second card: the intermediate token card theory course!


    * * *


    Everyone was really busy! Bogner wasn''t back yet, so Jiang Liang had to take up the mission of training the newly recruited card artisans. As for Xi Ping, he had even more to do: settlement of goods, clearing up the accounting, and so on. Even whatever was required at the base, he had to be responsible for its purchase.


    Sue Lochiro was also up to her neck in work. The majority of those injured in the battle hadn''t recovered yet. Aside from that, she still needed to mentor some of the newly recruited medical card artisans.


    At present, there was a total of 15 medical card artisans at the base, an astounding number for an organization of that scale. Those medical card artisans mostly had perception above the fifth level, but they were especially respectful toward Sue Lochiro, whose perception was only level four.


    In their eyes, their superior was not only extremely beautiful but also had even more breathtaking medical expertise. Though her perception was only level four, in terms of medical expertise, none of the other medical card artisans measured up. Especially when they had observed the whole process in which Sue Lochiro had attended to the injured, every new medical card artisan had been overwhelmed with admiration.


    The patients were those who had been terribly injured in the recent battle. Among them, many had been close to swallowing their last breath. With injuries of that sort, at any other hospital, the possibility of saving them was minimal. However, not only had Sue Lochiro cured them all, but apart from the two with extremely heavy injuries, none of the others suffered any damage to their perception. That was way too incredible!


    Sue Lochiro hadn''t relied on solely one technique. Instead, she used a good deal of complementary techniques that would, in normal circumstances, be commonly overlooked. Yet, when those seemingly plain techniques were cleverly assembled together, they could produce amazing effects.


    A medical card artisan whose perception was no higher than the fourth level could actually manage what the medical card artisans with fifth-level perception couldn''t. How could they not have a heartfelt willingness to serve her?


    The medical card artisans sought Sue Lochiro''s guidance one after another, and she withheld nothing. Soon, her authority was well-established in that group.


    If one came to think of it, the idlest was instead Ru Qiu. Sue Lochiro''s side didn''t need her assistance, and Chen Mu hadn''t given her any mission. With nothing to do, she seemed ill-fitted in the hectic and tense atmosphere of the whole base.


    Suddenly, the apparatus on her wrist rang.


    "Boss! Oh, ok. I will come there immediately."


    The boss is looking for me. What can it be? She was puzzled in her heart.

 348 The Transformation I

    When Ru Qiu saw the appearance of the boss, she instantly had a scare. The boss looked haggard, and his eyes were bloodshot. But it was just those burnt-out eyes that were shining with excitement and a certain strange light.


    "Boss," Ru Qiu called out demurely. Until that moment, everything still felt somewhat unreal to her. In the past, she had never imagined she would one day part with the principal and teachers to follow a stranger to a strange place for studying.


    In the time spent living there, however, she had been unconsciously integrated into that organization. She had seen with her own eyes how they had traversed the forest and how they were surviving in an environment as awful as the Heavenly Drum Village District. Similarly, she had also witnessed how that plain-looking youth had led everyone to where they were that day.


    Toward Chen Mu, she was full of heartfelt respect and admiration. The respect was for his calmness and power, and the admiration was for his incomparably rich knowledge and creativity. In the time spent with Chen Mu, she improved swiftly.


    What she came into contact with presently was far more than what she had been studying at school. Apart from card making, there were usually many other tasks she had to do, and Chen Mu never really considered the fact that she was just a card master. Those seemingly normal and trivial tasks not only widened Ru Qiu''s horizon but also washed away her frailty.


    As for card making, her progress had been so phenomenal that she herself had hardly thought of it! That was because, among everyone under Chen Mu, the only one who could make cards and assist him was Ru Qiu.


    Can we be making some card again this time? As the thought sprang up, she was instantly glad at heart and couldn''t wait to begin. Every time she assisted Chen Mu with card making, she could always come across a wealth of new and uncommon knowledge. Out of that quirky knowledge, she couldn''t understand the content of more than 90 percent of it, but just that remaining ten percent was enough to benefit her substantially. As for the incomprehensible 90 percent, she would try to remember with her means, keeping it for herself to slowly chew on in the future.


    Many methods completely contradicted the knowledge she had been taught in the past, but their practical application was so good that she was astonished every time. Nothing could excite her more than that!


    As expected, Chen Mu tossed her a list of materials. With just one glance, Ru Qiu''s eyes were quickly wide open.


    "Boss, what are we making? How are there so many materials?"


    Ru Qiu could hardly be blamed for the exclamation, as the list in her hands enumerated 176 materials and the methods for their preparation. Under usual circumstances, one card involving the use of 20 or 30 materials was a routine thing. Slightly complex cards might reach 50 or 60. But that was a card involving the use of 176 materials! Not only had she never seen it before, but she had never even heard of it.


    The more materials required by a card implied greater uncertainty in the process of making it. The inadequate processing of any of the materials could result in a complete failure.


    "Yeah, 176. This is the initial plan. You should prepare them accordingly first. The plan may change halfway," Chen Mu said.


    Ru Qiu was speechless! The list in her hands was but an experimental plan the boss casually tinkered with. On one hand, she admired the boss for being able to design such a complicated card. On the other hand, the boss had so irresponsibly tossed her a plan that wasn''t yet finalized.


    That was the processing of 176 materials! Moreover, the methods of preparation indicated on the list made the veins sticking out on her forehead twitch. It was an extremely shocking workload! Ru Qiu estimated she would need at least a week to complete that task.


    A week''s worth of work was no more than a yet-to-be finalized plan. No wonder Ru Qiu felt like she was being driven mad.


    "Oh, by the way, you have three days'' time." Chen Mu turned and left when he had finished.


    Three days¡­


    Ru Qiu, who had felt so free that she was bored, had some urge to faint right away. How could so much work be done within three days? Just when she wanted to protest to the boss, she raised her head and found that the boss''s figure could no longer be seen.


    * * *


    Xi Ping was hosting Ah Zhe. It had been precisely the negotiation between the two that had decided the final terms and conditions of the collaboration. Therefore, the two were naturally quite familiar.


    "Old Xi, you guys are really buzzing with activity!" Ah Zhe said, full of smiles. His body was well-proportioned, and his face was handsome. Whenever they passed by medical card artisans, some of them made eyes at him every now and then.


    As he chatted, he was secretly paying attention to everything in the ravine. He noticed Xiaobo, who had been by Xi Ping''s side. That''s an ace, he remarked to himself. But he wasn''t too surprised. After all, the Snowflake Card Artisan Team had a good number of card artisans at that level.


    He was there under the order of the leader to observe the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. However, on the surface, he looked completely leisurely and was just roaming around.


    Xi Ping laughed. "Compared to you guys, we can hardly be worth mentioning."


    Ah Zhe pointed at Xi Ping and said with a scoffing smile, "Old Xi, what you''ve just said is false enough. Our leader has been singing praises about your tough discipline and made me very curious at heart." He seemed to have had a sudden fancy and abruptly said, "Perhaps we can have a look at your training to let me broaden my horizon."


    Xi Ping showed some signs of embarrassment. "Rarely have you made a request, brother. By right, it goes without saying that I shouldn''t refuse. But the boss personally ordered that observation of training is to be prohibited. Even I do not have the authority."


    "How about you ask your boss for instructions?" Having finished the question, Ah Zhe spoke again with some hinting. "Heh heh, maybe we can even exchange some pointers. The training of our Snowflake Card Artisan Team is still pretty good."


    What he hinted at was, Do you have to be on that much guard against me? What do we not have at the Snowflake Card Artisan Team? Can our training methods possibly lose out to yours?


    Xi Ping''s face showed even more obvious signs of a bitter smile. "Brother, you''ve come here at the wrong time. Our boss has been staying in the laboratory all the time lately and has already ordered that we are not to disturb him."


    A trace of displeasure flashed across Ah Zhe''s eyes, but he quickly laughed. "Ha ha! Seems like I''m down on my luck today." His gaze unexpectedly fell on the mountain peak that had been almost half cut off. His eyes focused instantly, and he exclaimed, "That must be the mark left by that battle. How unbelievable! I can imagine how intense it must have been!"


    When he heard those words, Xi Ping seemed to have returned to that night and couldn''t resist lamenting, "Yes, too intense!"


    At that moment, Ru Qiu came running with gasping breath. "Uncle Xi! Uncle Xi!"


    "What''s the matter, Little Qiu?" Xi Ping asked as he saw Ru Qiu''s anxious manner. He looked rather favorably on that little girl who could endure hardship and was motivated. Then again, it seemed that among the women around the boss, not one was delicate and pampered.


    "Uncle Xi, a few of the materials I need are not found in the warehouse." Ru Qiu, without even a glance at Ah Zhe, answered Xi Ping quickly.


    Xi Ping internally relaxed and said with a laugh, "Don''t worry. You give uncle a list of the few that aren''t in the warehouse, and uncle will get them for you in a few days."


    "That won''t do! Uncle Xi, the boss wants them in three days!" Ru Qiu was so desperate she was close to tears.


    "The boss?" The smile on Xi Ping''s face vanished at once, and he said with all seriousness, "Give me the names of the missing materials. I''ll get down to it straight away." At first, he thought it was just experimental materials Ru Qiu wanted. Only then did he find out it was actually the boss who needed them. He didn''t dare to put off items wanted by the boss. Besides, he could roughly guess what the boss was doing.


    At that instant, Ah Zhe suddenly butted in. "Heh heh, is your boss a decathlon athlete? Is he also a card master perchance?"


    Ru Qiu didn''t answer. Her IQ was high enough that it didn''t lose out to Chen Mu''s in any way. She wouldn''t make such a simple mistake about what could be spoken and what couldn''t be.


    Xi Ping laughed. "Our boss usually likes to tinker with some card making stuff. It''s a habit of some sort."


    Xi Ping''s words were spoken with finesse. He had neither affirmed nor objected as to whether Chen Mu was a card master, but he created a misconception that Chen Mu was merely playing around out of interest.


    Ah Zhe returned to the camp. Mobley saw him return and laughed. "How was it? Did you have fun?"


    "Not too bad." Ah Zhe shrugged. In the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, only he could speak to Mobley like that, except for that woman, of course.


    When Mobley heard Ah Zhe''s remark, some interest was aroused at once. "Oh, found anything interesting?" If Ah Zhe could be made to say "not too bad," then he must have gained something. If there had been nothing, or nothing worthy in his eyes, given Ah Zhe''s mischievous personality, he would have just said "boring."


    Having sat down and arranged his chain of thought, Ah Zhe began solemnly, "Their organizational discipline is the best I have ever seen. Even we can''t match them in that regard."


    "Yes, they are stronger than us in that way," Mobley admitted calmly. He had seen that troop before, and that point had left a rather deep impression.


    "They have a group of about 15 medical card artisans and their own construction card artisans. Oh, their Valley Nest base was built to exceptional standards. I even saw the marks of their previous battle. The whole mountain peak was almost half cut off. Seems like their victory against the Downstream Alliance was due to their own capabilities." Ah Zhe was swiftly classifying the information revealed by what he had seen that day.


    Mobley nodded stolidly. "It appears they place a great emphasis on nurturing support card artisans. They definitely do have power. They managed to slaughter such a large flock of dingbirds. That can''t be done without solid power."


    Hesitating for a moment, Ah Zhe said, "Their leader may well be a card master."


    "A card master?" Mobley finally revealed his surprise. "A card master for real? That''s a rather odd combination."


    "I''m not sure, either." Ah Zhe spread his hands and lay down on the sofa lazily.


    Mobley nodded with sudden realization. "Hmm, very likely. No wonder they can obtain the extracts of purple fluorescent ore."


    Ah Zhe abruptly said, "By the way, I almost forgot about it. It seems the quantity on our list is a little too large and may take quite a long time."


    Mobley laughed bitterly. "Let it be longer, then. Apart from this place, such a huge amount of extract can''t be bought even if you have the money." It wasn''t that he hadn''t considered other means, but the quantity he needed was really too great. The moment other business associations heard of it, they could only shake their heads helplessly.


    "I''m tired; I will doze off for a bit first." Ah Zhe''s voice was heavy with sleep. In a moment, the sound of snoring was as loud as thunder.


    Mobley showed some trace of a bitter smile once more, except his eyes were filled with resolution. He believed he could definitely succeed! Suddenly, not knowing what came across his mind, the slender silhouette of a woman was faintly invertedly reflected in the depths of his pupils.


    Mobley''s expression immediately became somewhat complicated.


    * * *


    Wei-ah glanced at the fat dog in the corner. It was still asleep and had been so for five days. Though the fat dog was fond of sleep, sleeping for five consecutive days was still a rare situation. Nonetheless, its breathing and heartbeat were no different from ordinary days. Otherwise, Wei-ah would have taken it to the doctor long ago.


    Wei-ah withdrew his gaze and returned to staring vacantly.


    Recently, in his mind, some very fragmented clips had occasionally surfaced. It was a peculiar feeling. Though those bits and pieces of clips made him feel distant and confused, they always made him feel a hint of familiarity as well.


    However, the fragmented clips and peculiar feeling were strangely slippery, always flashing by in his mind accidentally. Yet, when he wanted to capture them, no matter how hard he tried, he would be empty-handed.


    He knew they ought to be his memories¡ªhis recollections of the past. What was it like, exactly? Who am I? Where did I come from? What happened that caused this memory loss of mine?


    Countless questions floated around in his mind. In the darkness, Wei-ah''s stone-carved face showed a trace of some rare fluctuation.

 349 The Transformation II

    Sanchez felt as though he were in a dream. If it hadn''t been for the daily training that left him sore all over, he might have just believed it was all a mere sweet dream. However, the feeling from his whole body that his bones were about to fall apart made him clearly aware that he wasn''t dreaming.


    He had been the oldest among all the card artisans recruited. Every day, he could sense the odd glances cast from those around him.


    Nevertheless, he didn''t care about it. He had already been used to such looks. He simply trained earnestly every day, knowing that regardless of why they had recruited him, he had to do his best. He had no lofty goals, nor did he want to prove himself. To be honest, sometimes not even he could figure out what he was being so hardworking for. Perhaps it had just become a habit of his.


    As for the daily training, it was completely different from all he had come into contact with before. What they were currently doing the most was actually physical training and formation training. The card artisans around Sanchez were full of complaints. They had never heard that a card artisan needed such an abundance of physical training and formation drills.


    However, those guys only dared to grumble in secret. No one dared to complain out loud. Their instructor, the young man who had interviewed Sanchez, was genuinely a man to be revered. It wasn''t a question of the strength of his individual battling capability, but he projected an aura¡ªone that made others compliant!


    Of course, among the card artisans, the rebellious were never lacking. But the end of those guys was, without exception, very miserable. Causing the slightest trouble would mean being removed at the first instant. Each day, large numbers of card artisans were kicked out of the group. Some quick-tempered fellows were enraged upon being expelled and had attempted to attack the instructor.


    When he thought of that, Sanchez subconsciously raised his head to glance at the two young card artisans beside the instructor. One was a beautiful female card artisan. Her titillating figure always made others inadvertently want to gulp. There was also the male card artisan who had never spoken. He was like a block of wood¡ªno¡ªlike an ice-cold, metallic sculpture.


    But it was exactly those two people who would, whenever someone tried to attack, complete the execution at the first instant!


    Heavens, Sanchez still could not forget that scene! He could swear it was the most efficient killing he had ever seen! Compared to those two, the self-proclaimed elites in the card artisan teams he had been in previously seemed like toddlers who had just learned how to walk.


    Simple and effective, quick and direct, no fancy techniques, but encompassing a lethal splendor¡ªthe moves of those two people had intimidated everyone present. After that, no one dared to act otherwise. The pair had carried the bodies out of the training room. Even that lady could carry two in one hand. In the entire process, the two card artisans hadn''t spoken one word, and the young instructor hadn''t even bothered to raise his eyelids.


    All of the card artisans were silent with trepidation. They were not blind. The indifference toward death, which revealed itself in every action of the two card artisans and the instructor, made them feel a bone-chilling cold.


    Upon recovery from that tough battle, Lu Xiaoru''s and the bar-browed man''s perception improved by leaps and bounds, successfully breaking into the fifth level and reaching the intermediate standard of level five. Having experienced several life-and-death battles, their resolve had become steadfast and their battle experience plentiful. Their capabilities could no longer be compared against those of the past.


    It wasn''t just them; nearly all of the card artisans who had survived that battle had a good amount of advancements in perception. Actual combat was a card artisan''s best teacher.


    The reason battle card artisans were so much stronger than ordinary card artisans was precisely that they grew continually through battles and weren''t just purely engaged in training. Sanchez was yet to understand that, but he knew as long as he played no tricks with his training, there wouldn''t be much of a problem.


    The uninteresting physical training made the card artisans feel as though they were in hell. That instructor was like an ice-cold machine, being extraordinarily strict and never explaining why.


    Such primitive training greatly disappointed a good deal of card artisans. They had thought the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm would have some advanced training methods. They hadn''t expected nothing but days after days of physical training to await them.


    Disappointed card artisans and those who found it too hard left one after another. Oddly enough, the icy instructor made no attempt to stop them and allowed them to leave whenever. Under the influence of those card artisans, even more chose to leave.


    Thus, rumors about how the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm didn''t live up to its reputation spread wider and wider on the market. The card artisans who had left spared no effort in giving publicity to the hellish life they had endured at the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm and its primitive training methods.


    Nonetheless, many remained, such as Sanchez. With clenched teeth, they endlessly repeated the incomparably dull physical training and formation drills. The companions around them decreased further and further, but that could not shake their will.


    * * *


    Murray''s build was somewhat similar to Happy Padding''s but without Happy Padding''s murderous aura. His skin was tan as a result of working outdoors long-term. He was the new mining card artisan, and he was an advanced one, too. His duty was to take up the planning and the work arrangements of the entire mining site.


    He had roughly 30 intermediate mining card artisans under him. That was the standard arrangement of a medium-sized mining site. In that not-very-sizeable ravine, it could be considered a lavish arrangement.


    The treatment Murray enjoyed was great, and that satisfied him well. The newly recruited mining card artisans under him all had decent capabilities, and none had a penchant for trouble. To be honest, that was the most satisfactory job he had had until then. The boss rarely asked much, but he gave him enough authority and didn''t order him around.


    But, looking at the ore, which piled up like mountains, he was a little perplexed. Their daily amount of ore dug out was rather shocking. On average, only two days were needed before they could fill up a warehouse completely.


    One by one, the warehouses were stuffed full. The depletion rate of the ore was actually far smaller than the rate of mining. If that went on, they would soon have no place to pile the ore they dug out.


    He located the executive, Xi Ping, who was somewhat surprised that Murray came to look for him. "Director Murray, did you run into some problem?"


    "Yes." Murray didn''t beat about the bush and said straightforwardly, "Executive, our ore has filled up the warehouses, and the depletion rate of ore is too slow. Should we consider slowing down the mining?"


    Xi Ping hadn''t expected Murray would approach him for that matter.


    The resources seized from the Downstream Alliance had filled up almost all of the warehouses at the Valley Nest base and left little room. Under normal circumstances, Murray''s suggestion wasn''t wrong. But Xi Ping knew how astonishing the amount of extract was that Mobley required. Although the piles of ore looked like a lot, if they were to be used for the production of extracts, they were hardly enough. The most crucial point was that he knew what Chen Mu was up to. He had the fullest confidence in the boss.


    Just then, the boss asked him to head over to the refinement workshop.


    Placed in front of Chen Mu were 12 silvery-white cards, which were made using a type of blank four-star card. That kind of four-star card was made from specially processed inner barks of the silver celestial trees. It looked like an extremely thin sheet of forged silver.


    The structural patterns on the surface of the glimmering, silvery-white cards were quite peculiar. Countless fine lines branched off from the sides of three thick, parallel purple lines. A quick glance would leave an impression of three purple tree roots with root hair grown all over.


    Ru Qiu''s gaze was intently fixed on Chen Mu. She was curious as to the functions of those cards. She had participated in the entire process of making the 12 cards, but she had no idea what their purpose was. Chen Mu had customarily handed her the plan of production, but what had surprised her was that she couldn''t understand any part of it that time.


    That had undoubtedly piqued her utmost interest. In the past, though she couldn''t make much out of each production plan, a situation where she totally couldn''t understand anything was a first.


    Who was she? She was the designated next head of the card making department at the Origins Academy, the one hailed a genius, Ru Qiu! Not a beginner. She believed that if she were to undergo professional assessments right then, she could easily receive the title of an advanced card master.


    Yet, every card Chen Mu made at present actually puzzled her from start to finish. How could that not depress her? Dejection and curiosity were like two worms that made their way to the bottom of her heart. She very much wished Chen Mu would demonstrate the functionalities of the 12 cards at once.


    Chen Mu didn''t notice Ru Qiu''s abnormalities. Once he began working, he would be extremely focused. It was a habit he had developed when he had been making one-star power cards. The reason was simple. If a lack of attention caused the failure of making a card, it would have meant a loss, which might have disrupted his daily life.


    A large number of metal parts were piled up at the refinement workshop. Not one of them wasn''t new and shiny. They had all been custom-made at a molding company by Chen Mu''s order.


    The dimensions of the parts had been confirmed by Chen Mu personally. Though the fee for having them made to order was not low, as compared to buying machines and then dismantling them, it was way cheaper.


    Due to the rather large quantity Chen Mu ordered, plus the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm''s rising fame, that company had specially sent along some technicians to assist Chen Mu for free. The technicians were long obsessed with metallurgy and were very deft in the assembly of parts. Seeing that, Chen Mu simply handed them the assembly work. The core technology and the key to the newly designed separators were the silver cards he made, so there was no need to worry about secrets being revealed.


    After rushing to the refinement workshop, Xi Ping was just in time to see the technicians putting parts together.


    "Boss, this is the new separator?" Xi Ping asked in a low voice as he watched the huge machinery being assembled. Though the assembly was incomplete, the parts that had been put together were already five or six meters in size. It would certainly be gigantic.


    Chen Mu nodded. "Yeah, but it''s not finished yet. The efficiency will only be known after trying it out."


    Xi Ping nodded in reply and stopped speaking at once, standing aside and watching quietly.


    The assembly work was finished swiftly. The technicians were skillful at their craft, and it was hard to estimate how much faster they were compared to Chen Mu doing it himself. The machine was six meters in height, and its body was shaped like a huge water tank lying on its side. It had a three-meter-wide conveyor belt connecting to the entry point at the top of the body, and on the other side was another conveyor belt.


    Chen Mu approached the separator without hesitation. He opened a small door at the bottom to reveal a card slot, into which he inserted one of the silver cards. A gentle whirring sounded, lively but soft.


    Chunks of ore that had been ready long ago were rapidly transported to the entry point by the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt continuously brought ore over to the separator while the residual slags were brought away via the other conveyor belt.


    So, it''s for making separators! A trace of disappointment flashed across Ru Qiu''s eyes. She wasn''t interested in separators; they required excellent metalwork, which she knew nothing of.


    Xi Ping was staring excitedly at the test tubes used to hold the extracts. The speed at which the extract was increasing in the test tube was faster than when using the old separator. No, it was much faster! Moments later, the tons of ore prepared had been all been depleted. The efficiency of the new separator was stunningly high.


    The great functionality of the separator instantly enraptured everyone, and the remaining 11 separators were assembled at top speed. The originally somewhat spacious refinement workshop became suddenly crowded, and the gentle whirring sounded ceaselessly.


    Xi Ping asked Murray to speed up the mining at once. He had seen with his own eyes how the ore had been reduced to a heap of slags in the blink of an eye. The speed at which those new separators used up ore was really too fast.


    Seeing that the performance of the new separators was indeed excellent, Chen Mu relaxed thoroughly. The production of the extracts of purple fluorescent ore was currently one of their most important trump cards. As long as the production of the extracts could be maintained, no one would dare to have any designs on them in the short term.


    Extremely exhausted, Chen Mu could no longer withstand the waves of lethargy and fell into a deep sleep after having a few words with Xi Ping. The mad fits of studying and research in the past few days had strained his nerves to the extreme.


    That time, Chen Mu slept for two days. When he woke up, he saw Xi Ping in front of him with a face full of smiles and a box in his hands. Seeing that sort of expression of Xi Ping''s face, Chen Mu knew something had happened for sure. Pointing to the box in Xi Ping''s hands, he asked, "What''s this?"


    "Heh heh. Boss, these are the liquid nutrients Miss Sue Lochiro specially concocted for you to recharge your physiological functions," Xi Ping said, smacking his lips. The expression on his face was as though he was recalling the savoring of some delicacy. "Speaking of which, Miss Sue''s rather concerned about you. How enviable!"


    Liquid nutrients?


    Chen Mu took the box from Xi Ping''s hands with a doubtful face. After opening it, he indeed found a few vials of pale blue liquid. He randomly picked one up and poured the liquid into his mouth. It seemed to be fruit-flavored. But every test tube was only the size of an index finger. Chen Mu''s single pour had already emptied it, so it was gone before he had time to carefully appreciate it. Chen Mu reached out and was about to have another.


    Xi Ping hurried to intervene when he saw Chen Mu''s motion. "Boss, Miss Sue said this stuff isn''t suitable for large dosages. It must be no more than one vial each time taking it and no more than two each day."


    "Oh." Chen Mu could only withdraw his hand sulkily. Very soon, however, he felt warmed all over, and his spirits lifted greatly. He sized up the empty test tube in his hands with mild surprise. This stuff is indeed rather effective!


    Seeing that, Xi Ping let out a meaningful laugh and left to busy himself.


    Chen Mu, who had just walked out of the Valley Nest for some fresh air, received an exhilarating piece of good news.


    Bogner was back!

 350 The Transformation III

    Bogner''s return certainly had a calming effect on the base, which had just survived a great battle. Returning with Bogner were 82 card artisans.


    Chen Mu could tell with one look that those card artisans had been fundamentally changed since he had last seen them. He was already familiar with the air of having being baptized by battle and could see it immediately.


    Among the 82 card artisans, 42 were card set card artisans, and the remaining 40 had been recruited by Bogner previously. Bogner had recruited 80 in total, but only 40 were left. That was definitely a cruel number.


    Bogner''s unshaven face was covered with frost. When he saw Chen Mu, he couldn''t hide the joy on his face. Approaching swiftly, he saluted at once. "Boss!"


    The card artisans behind him, especially those recruited later, were shocked by the scene before them. In their eyes, Bogner was absolutely the epitome of the rebellious; even to Miss Wei Wei from the Luo family, he had never been serious. How could he be so respectful to someone? But the more senior card set card artisans showed no expressions of surprise.


    However, just as Bogner put his hand down, his gaze became much queerer. "Boss, you seem to be much more haggard." Quickly lowering his voice, he laughed and said, "Can it be that the boss has already gotten Miss Sue to¡­ um-hum?" He made an expression of "you know what I mean."


    "Um-hum?" Chen Mu quizzically repeated Bogner''s weird pronunciation. Clearly, he didn''t get it.


    "Um-hum, yeah, that um-hum! Ha ha, Boss, don''t pretend! Don''t you pretend!" Bogner burst out laughing. Suddenly, his eyes brightened, and he called out to somewhere behind Chen Mu, "Old thief!"


    Xi Ping, who had originally been rather glad to see Bogner, darkened his face instantly when he heard that shout.


    Bogner realized his mistake at once. "Ha ha. You see, Old Xi, I''ve missed you so much in the past few days!" Before his words finished, he had already stepped up, swift as an arrow, and had an arm around Xi Ping''s shoulder, utterly disregarding Xi Ping''s charcoal-black face.


    Xi Ping''s dark face vanished quickly. The two were arm in arm, each wearing a perverted expression and glancing occasionally in Chen Mu''s direction.


    "Let me tell you about it¡­"


    "Oh my! I certainly have an excellent eye! The boss looks a bit pale on first glance¡­ Liquid nutrients¡­ Miss Sue certainly is an advanced medical card artisan¡­ We ought to remind them¡­ Though, their youth allows them to be reckless¡­ Some restraint is still needed¡­"


    The two were busy whispering and were soon far away, leaving Chen Mu at the original spot with a face full of perplexity. He was still pondering that extremely weird sound Bogner made just a moment ago. "Um-hum¡­ Um-hum¡­"


    Bogner''s trip could be considered rather profitable. Apart from the commission of 200 million Oudi, Miss Wei Wei had increased it by an additional 100 million Oudi as a reward. However, the most important thing was actually that they had established good relations with the Luo family.


    Chen Mu knew nothing about the Luo family, but after Bogner''s introduction, he began to understand its importance.


    The Luo family was a rich and powerful family in the Heavenly Drum Village District with a longstanding history. In the Heavenly Drum Village District, among the presently surviving rich and powerful families, only two had a longer history. The Luo family had a history that was far longer than even that of Moon Frost Island, one of the Big Six.


    Hundreds of years of management had them spreading their reaches into every corner of the Heavenly Drum Village District like a huge tree. Different from those showy family corporations, the Luo family was covert and low-key. However, nobody dared to ignore the voice of the Luo family; even Moon Frost Island couldn''t.


    The establishment of good relations with the Luo family at that time was greatly beneficial to their future development in the Heavenly Drum Village District. The conflict between Miss Wei Wei and the Luo family''s council of elders was much more complicated. Nonetheless, it could be confirmed that Miss Wei Wei''s wielding of power in the Luo family was already as good as final.


    Yet, the experience had also been a harrowing one. When Bogner proposed to traverse the Welsh Woods, cross the Heavenly Canyon, and make their way around Lier City, he hadn''t had much confidence, either. But, unexpectedly, Miss Wei Wei had disregarded the objections of her subordinates and had decidedly chosen that incomparably dangerous course of action.


    They had encountered many formidable beasts along the way. Thanks to Bogner''s excellent commandeering and the power of the shuttle cards manned by the card set card artisans, however, they had finally managed to get to the city of Thousand Lakes after much hardship.


    When he had received news of the Downstream Alliance''s attack on the ravine, Bogner couldn''t be bothered by anything else and had begun to return at top speed. However, they had been just in time to coincide with the chaotic battles started by Faya, so they had been forced to return the way they had come. Thankfully, luck had been good on their journey back, and they hadn''t met with danger before finally arriving in safety at the snow silkworm ravine.


    As he reached that part of the story, Bogner couldn''t help but show some signs of relief for having survived all that. When he understood the base had won against the Downstream Alliance, Bogner''s face showed his joy. When he found out about the spoils of the war, he was dumbstruck on the spot, and countless money cards were flying in front of his eyes!


    It was rumored that Bogner pestered Xi Ping for a good while that night. The gist of it was that with so much money, a beauty ought to be given out to each person no matter what!


    Bogner''s return allowed a weight to be lifted from Chen Mu''s mind. Though Jiang Liang''s performance was outstanding, due to his young age, there were many areas in which he wasn''t as shrewd as Bogner. Bogner had seen and known much of the world and had plenty of experience all around. He could always provide the right suggestions at the right moments.


    The two men were of two completely different styles. Jiang Liang excelled at seeing the bigger picture, kept to rules and regulations, and had the makings of a good general. But his methods were just a wee bit tender. On the other hand, Bogner was as sly as a wolf, had an inexhaustible store of shady means, and was quite experienced. He was definitely a headache-inducing existence.


    But the two also shared many similarities, like how both placed extreme emphasis on organizational discipline and had methods just as hardcore.


    After Bogner''s return, much of the work concerning card artisans was transferred over to him. Jiang Liang had no objections against that point. On the contrary, he was relieved. In spite of the fact that he had received a lot of attention during his time in the military, responsibilities like being in charge of the training of thousands and so on were far beyond his ability. But Bogner hadn''t been around, so he had had to put up a bold front.


    The moment it had been passed on to Bogner, he instantly felt relieved. He was willing to be Bogner''s deputy, and in that way, he could gain more knowledge. Bogner was never stingy when it came to sharing his experience.


    Those card artisans still in the probation period were to be pitied. Endless variations began appearing in their training. In the first few days, they had been exceedingly happy and believed that from then on, they could bid goodbye to the damned physical training and formation drills.


    Soon, however, they understood how laughable their thoughts had been. Indeed, the content of the training changed every two or three days and seemed to look a lot more interesting. But they realized with horror that after every training, they were even more tired than before. They didn''t even have enough strength left to lift a finger. Just when they got used to the new training methods, they would discover with a shock that it had been changed once more.


    At first, they had cursed that new instructor in their hearts day after day, but it wasn''t more than a few days until they didn''t even have the strength left to curse. The most hateful thing was that the new instructor was totally different from the previous one.


    Want to leave now? No way! Do you think this is some shop? Everyone must wait until the end of the probation period to leave.


    That time, not just two, but 40 card artisans appeared by the side of that instructor. After the protesting card artisans had been ruthlessly fixed, no one dared to speak out. What was more depressing was that when they went back and flipped through the contract they had signed, they suddenly discovered the actions of the new instructor actually agreed with the contract. Thus, some had begun to have ideas about slacking off, but the harsh reality crushed the remaining hope in their hearts.


    That smiley, middle-aged instructor announced that all card artisans were to be divided into four sections. Every ten people formed a group, and confrontation training would be carried out within every section. The groups ranking last ten in each section would have their rations halved and given over to the top ten groups in the same section.


    The moment that move was made, its effect was extraordinary. All of the card artisans acted as though they had been injected with chicken blood, all putting their lives on the line. It wasn''t a joke! If anyone dared to slack, even his own groupmates wouldn''t let him off. Moreover, due to the fact that it was group confrontation, insufficient teamwork also meant starving.


    Half of the usual amount of food couldn''t possibly make one full, but it was sufficient in keeping them from being so hungry that they couldn''t continue with the next day''s training.


    This sly and vicious fellow!


    Whenever card artisans saw that smiley face, they desperately wished to lunge at it and tear it into pieces! They had only then realized that the young instructor who followed the middle-aged man around had been so gentle! Nevertheless, under the intimidation of 40 fiendish card artisans, no one dared to make a move.


    However, Bogner''s training methods and techniques were far more effective than Jiang Liang''s. Within the short span of a few days, those card artisans appeared as though they were entirely different people than who they had been before. Particularly during the confrontation training, everyone''s gaze was ferocious, as though they were hungry wolves.


    Seeing the performance of those card artisans, Bogner laughed with great satisfaction. "Card artisans from the flourishing districts certainly have a decent foundation, far better than those we recruited in the past. It''s just that the training methods are a bit too gentle. Tsk, tsk. Pity that resources aren''t sufficient, else we can try out some extreme survival training. The effect may be not bad."


    Jiang Liang, who had been standing on one side, instantly felt his hairs stand on end. He had heard of the infamous name of the extreme survival training long ago. But, even in the military, such training would not be carried out casually because its death rate was more than 15 percent.


    He glanced with pity at the card artisans undergoing training at the moment. To have fallen into Bogner''s hands, their luck was really bad enough. He had completely forgotten that he himself had previously endured Bogner''s hellish training.


    * * *


    Chen Mu didn''t know whether it was due to the effects of Bogner''s return or the nourishment of Sue Lochiro''s liquid nutrients, but his condition in the past few days had been remarkably good.


    He was designing new card sets.

 351 The Transformation IV

    The previous card set was no longer suited for that newly recruited batch of card artisans to use. Their average perceptual strength was above level five. That was a lot higher than those previously under Chen Mu; their average perceptual level was at a standard of level four. If he was going to use a card set, the card artisans he had now could use a much more powerful one of a higher level.


    The reason he had chosen the tactic of using a set of cards was to remedy the issue of the card artisans'' insufficient level, which led to inadequate lethality. The shuttle cards had brought a tremendous lethality into play in the midst of the battle with the Downstream Alliance. However, thinking about it after things calmed down, there was a direct relationship between the somewhat low average level of the Downstream Alliance card artisans and the excellent performance of the tactical shuttle cards.


    The fighting strength of any truly large team wasn''t something a local power like the Downstream Alliance could compare with. For example, the card artisans with Mobley in the Snowflake Card Artisan Team basically had nothing lower than level-six perception, with some at a level even he couldn''t tell. Chen Mu didn''t doubt they possibly had aces at the seventh level, among whom Mobley would be included.


    Looking at those on his own side, the one with the highest perceptual strength was Xiaobo, who was still a notch away from level six. The rest of them, including Chen Mu, hadn''t yet reached level six. At that level, they weren''t even up to the level of the ordinary card artisans of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team.


    Of course, perceptual strength was only one aspect of fighting strength. Whether it was Xiaobo or Chen Mu, perceptual strength wasn''t what they were good at. Xiaobo was good at the fine control of perception. Chen Mu was good at a variety of things, like close combat, remote combat, and the cardless sects, all rolled up together into a stew.


    If it were one-on-one, the ordinary members of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team certainly wouldn''t be equal to two opponents. But if two were to face off against the aces with a perceptual strength of seven, it would be difficult for them to win. The only one on Chen Mu''s side who would be able to go up against a card artisan at level seven would be Wei-ah.


    The essence of the tactical card set was in its ability to combine lower-level power and then shift the advantage in overall battle power on the strength of numbers. A single card artisan with level-seven perceptual strength would cost more than 50 card artisans with a perceptual strength at level six. In the same way, you could hire 20 level-five card artisans for the cost of a single level-six card artisan.


    Level-seven card artisans could never be found on the market, and level-six card artisans were rare. Card artisans at level five were abundant.


    No one was more familiar with the principles of the card set than Chen Mu, but it wasn''t always smooth sailing during the process of designing it. As far as the newly recruited batch of level-five card artisans were concerned, four-star cards would be more suitable. But Chen Mu didn''t have such a high success rate making four-star cards.


    It wasn''t that his knowledge was insufficient but was rather a matter of his proficiency over time. Up until then, he could count on his fingers the number of four-star cards he had made, so he had no proficiency to speak of. He''d made countless three-star cards, where he had an outrageously high success rate.


    Another issue was giving him a headache during the process of making them. Four-star cards involved an extremely large amount of power, and the demands on perception were similarly high. That wasn''t only for using them; making them was no exception.


    In theory, Chen Mu had no major issues. The scope of his vision toward mid-level cards was huge. The puzzles he previously accumulated in his mind had all been unraveled. He could conduct a lot more optimization in the cards'' compositions, and he had a much more profound understanding of the composition of energy.


    When the most recent battle was added to that, he had exposed a series of issues with the shuttle cards in battle, which he was targeting in his design plans.


    The plan was already complete, but the biggest headache lay in the making. The card artisans now in training camp numbered more than 2,200. Even if only half of them were to last, that would still leave 1,000. But 1,000 men meant 1,000 cards!


    Moreover, only he had the ability to make them just then. Since what he was making that time were four-star cards, Ru Qiu''s perceptual level wasn''t high enough. She would have no way to make them. Regardless, Chen Mu wasn''t ready to ask someone else to make them. The card set would always be at the core of his fighting strength, and he couldn''t let it be leaked!


    Even if he were talking about one-star power cards, 1,000 cards would be a lot of work. How much more so with four-star cards? If it were three-star cards, Chen Mu would be able to make them a lot faster, but the battle power of three-star cards wouldn''t satisfy him.


    Chen Mu couldn''t come up with anything no matter how hard he wracked his brain, so he just gritted his teeth and went to work. He would make as many as he could make!


    Ru Qiu''s handsome face had turned gloomy with rage. If Jiao Si were to see her, he would be screaming at Chen Mu. She was spinning like a gyroscope as she shuttled through the lab, not daring to stop for a minute and always mumbling something to herself.


    "Heat more acidic esters to 129 degrees¡­"


    "Crush the black shale powder into a very fine dust¡­ and then¡­"


    "After the purple extract of the purple fluorescent ore cools for ten minutes, then add¡­"


    * * *


    She was putting bottle after bottle of card ink in front of Chen Mu as fast as she could.


    Seeing the card ink in front of him, which nearly filled the tabletop, Chen Mu couldn''t help but smile bitterly! But he quickly controlled his emotions and started production.


    The first day''s results were appalling. After 42 bottles of ink, he''d only succeeded in making two cards. That rate of success didn''t even reach one in 20.


    Chen Mu was lying on his back with his perception depleted to the point where he was like a puddle of mud. He didn''t even have enough energy to look at the ceiling. He was really tired! The exhaustion wasn''t like when he was doing resistance training with Wei-ah; it was a feeling of weakness that came from his deepest core. There were also after-effects from over-using his perception. His head felt like it would split open, as though a small knife were twisting in his brain.


    Chen Mu didn''t know how much time had passed before he went to sleep in a daze. There wasn''t a drop of perception left in his body. It had been a long time since he''d gotten to that point.


    Ru Qiu couldn''t go anywhere, and a day''s worth of card ink had nearly driven her crazy. In order to provide Chen Mu with enough card ink, not only did she have to perfectly complete the making of the ink, but she still needed to compress the time to make it.


    It was easy to imagine how tired she would be after going through a day of such high-intensity work. After she could no longer bear to look at it, she just fell asleep, breathing heavily. While sleeping, she couldn''t pay attention to the nearly imperceptible fluctuations emanating from Chen Mu''s body. The fluctuations were very fine, and their frequency was extremely slow¡ªso slow they would be hard to detect.


    The extreme method¡ªthat was the name Chen Mu had given to the set of perceptual training methods in the mysterious card.


    Chen Mu''s state just then was precisely that kind of extreme state. The perception in his body was still only one notch from level six, which was still nothing to be underestimated. Ordinarily, it would be rare to encounter perception that had been so thoroughly depleted.


    The extreme method had already become a kind of bodily instinct with his persistent and relentless long-term practice.


    Inside his body, there was a fine tendril of perception that had started to grow at a very, very slow rate. Like a newborn insect, it struggled to grow. But if Chen Mu had been able to see it, he would have discovered that its growth was getting quicker!


    The perceptual tendril looked like a spiral-shaped piece of seaweed, incessantly growing at each end. One after another of those perceptual tendrils kept appearing and growing ever longer!


    Chen Mu didn''t realize in his sleep that there was a huge transformation happening in his body.


    * * *


    "Can I refuse?" Xiaobo was looking at Wei-ah pitifully and begging bitterly.


    Wei-ah didn''t show a bit of feeling on his stony face, not even bothering to say anything. He only pointed to the snow pit at his feet¡ªa ten-meter-deep snow pit. When looking down into it from the ground, it was so dark and gloomy that it was hard to make out the bottom. Ten meters! Just thinking about being buried in a ten-meter-deep snow pit made his scalp go numb!


    Xiaobo swallowed with great difficulty as his heart started to race. He was brave enough to fight off all kinds of wild beasts, but that clearly didn''t include his being buried alive in a ten-meter-deep snow pit.


    Without seeing Wei-ah make any reaction, Xiaobo could only retreat and beg again. "Three meters. Look! They are all three meters! Why is it ten when it comes to me?" Xiaobo''s expression was animated as though he was suffering some great injustice.


    Wei-ah then showed a look of impatience, and he raised his right foot and gave Xiaobo a kick into the snow pit.


    "Aah!" The sound of Xiaobo screaming bloody murder came floating up from the snow pit.


    Expressionless, Wei-ah looked at the card artisans beside him, and they rushed to push the pile of snow next to the pit into it. In the blink of an eye, there was no sign of Xiaobo.


    Those card artisans were feeling inwardly glad that at least they were only training in three-meter pits. By that time, they were already bowing down to their boss. Now, the guy had Wei-ah come to supervise Xiaobo using the deadly snow pit method. Whether or not he agreed to that fate, he still got amazing results as far as they were concerned.


    Wei-ah lingered for a bit before saying, "Pull him out after ten minutes." He then strode off, regardless of what might happen, leaving the card artisans looking at one another.


    After ten minutes, Xiaobo was lying on the snow and looking pale, his whole body shivering, desperately and greedily gulping for breath. The card artisans around him were full of admiration. Xiaobo was second only to the boss and Wei-ah in being worthy of their admiration. He had remained buried in the snow pit for ten minutes without losing consciousness.


    That was powerful! He even still had a little vitality! When they thought about how Xiaobo had been alone in the deepest jungles for half a year, everyone admired him still more.


    Xiaobo''s shaking body finally calmed, and his face also started to be restored to normal! He had a stunned expression. His eyes suddenly burst with light, and a bout of stunning grandeur arose from within his body. The surrounding card artisans were aghast.


    No one was paying attention to the flash of ecstasy that passed through Xiaobo''s eyes.

 352 The Transformation V

    Chen Mu opened his eyes and felt suddenly moved as he quickly sat up on the floor. He closely examined the perception in his body. With no warning, the composition of his perception had undergone a stunning transformation overnight.


    The previous shuttle-shaped perceptual vortex had disappeared and was replaced by a composition made up of an orderly pair of snail-shaped strands. It was formed from two thick, parallel perceptual threads, which wound into a spiral. The two parts represented diametrically opposite properties, and the most wonderful thing was that there was a force field between the two.


    It was because of that sort of energy composition that it was so firm¡ªa lot firmer than the previous shuttle-shaped perceptual vortex. Those complicated and fine-as-hair perceptual tendrils had all disappeared. The new perceptual composition was refreshing and clean, with no superfluous parts.


    The two thick perceptual threads were like one male snake and one female snake snuggling together, slowly winding around and around and wandering along a spiral directional wheel.


    What was going on? Chen Mu watched the perceptual composition inside his body in a daze. It would occasionally stun him a little. Why had such a transformation happened? Was it good or bad? How could the completely new perceptual composition be used?


    His mind was a mess, and Chen Mu couldn''t hide his bitter smile. Although he had invented the snow pit method, he clearly had insufficient understanding of that kind of mysterious human power.


    He wouldn''t be able to do anything else that day, having only the single goal of feeling out the characteristics of his new perception. He returned his attention to the strangely paired spiral composition. The reason he had inferred that the two strands of perception had opposing characteristics was that their inner composition was completely opposite. Composition determined characteristics; that was the most basic law of perception.


    Reasonably speaking, those two strands of perception with opposite characteristics should be mutually exclusive. How could they form such a stable composition? Carefully shifting one of the perceptual strands, it easily left the spiral composition.


    That was impossible! Chen Mu looked even more shocked.


    The more stable a composition was, the more difficult it would be to destroy, so how could he so easily control one of the perceptual strands and separate it? The perception in his body seemed to have completely overturned what Chen Mu understood about the composition of perception.


    Just as he was getting discouraged, the fine perceptual strand that had just been shifted away from the spiral composition suddenly retracted back in like a fish, and it resumed its winding wandering along with the other parallel strand.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help another bitter smile. The transformation of his perception that time was undoubtedly going to be a new challenge for him. It was strange beyond strange, and Chen Mu had to start trying it bit by bit. If he didn''t clear up the situation with his perception, he would have no way to advance his work.


    Rotation and vibration were the two biggest characteristics of his perception before, and he planned to start with those two aspects to see the differences between his new and his previous perceptual compositions. He prompted the double row of helical perceptual strands to spin, which wasn''t as hard as he''d imagined it would be.


    More astonishment floated onto Chen Mu''s face. The perception in his body was spinning faster and faster, already far beyond the speed of his previous perception. Until then, he still hadn''t perceived any issues with it.


    Apart from the spinning, he didn''t discover anything else. If his previous perception were to have spun that fast, everything around him for quite a range would have been clearly reflected in Chen Mu''s mind.


    There was no reaction!


    Chen Mu''s expression shifted, and he had a bad feeling. His perception of the environment was the basis of his "hodgepodge" attack system. Cardless sects, close-combat perception, and remote battle were all inseparable from his being able to clearly judge his surroundings. On that point, he was nothing like the traditional card artisans as that term was used. They emphasized reactions to energy and perceptual fluctuations.


    Without those advantages, Chen Mu would lose his biggest advantage compared to other card artisans. Without a doubt, that would be a big blow to him.


    The paired spiraling perception was still speeding up, its speed already three times faster than the perceptual vortex''s limiting speed.


    With his attention focused on the rapidly spinning spiral-paired perception, Chen Mu suddenly discovered an utterly subtle phenomenon. As the spinning of the perception kept increasing in speed, the distance between the two strands of perception closed little by little.


    Could it be? Chen Mu was struck by the continually increasing speed of his perception''s spinning. It was already five times faster than before, and the distance between the two strands had gotten quite close. But there still wasn''t any specific transformation.


    Chen Mu drew a line in his mind and stepped up the speed! When the speed reached eight times the previous limit, a transformation finally occurred!


    The distance between the two perceptual strands had suddenly broken the critical value, and the energy field between them finally played its role. Within it could be seen a transformed perceptual strand that had turned into a fine perceptual spray, which was spinning around the other strand at a stunning speed. Following the increased speed, the spray of perception became denser and denser, and its volume shrank.


    The spray of perception then transformed into a cloud, rotating around an axis in a crazy motion. The other strand of perception had been pulled nearly straight by the high-speed spinning to form the axis of the perceptual fog.


    Just at the instant that the spray of perception turned into a fog, Chen Mu''s brain exploded in a burst of light. Right in the middle of that burst of light, everything around him was reflected in his brain. All of the tables, chairs, and instruments in the lab were far clearer than if he were seeing them with his eyes. Even the smallest screws in the darkest corners were captured as clearly as possible.


    Good lord! Chen Mu felt like he had been hit by a powerful surge of happiness!


    His lab had an area of nearly 1,600 square meters, and no corner could escape his perception. As compared to before, whether in clarity or scope, his perception was far more powerful.


    Restraining the ecstasy he felt, Chen Mu continued to increase the rotational speed of his perception. The walls of the lab seemed to be right in front of his face. He could clearly see patterns on the wall that were finer than hair. He immediately understood that the scope of his perception expanded still farther than that. But it was blocked by the walls of the lab, which was why that situation had taken shape in front of his eyes.


    Continuing to increase the speed until it was ten times faster than the previous limit, Chen Mu finally perceived something wrong. He then stopped the rotation of his perception.


    Like a tide, the images reflected in his brain receded. The fog of perception condensed into a strand, once again forming the composition of a helical pair.


    Chen Mu seemed to have gotten a perfectly novel new toy, which he was greatly interested to research. He named the one among those two strands of perception that could become a perceptual fog the number-one strand, and he named the other one the number-two strand.


    Apart from the rotation, he was also familiar with the other kind of perceptual motion, which was vibration. The helical pair had the same characteristic of vibration, which meant Chen Mu didn''t have to give up his other stunt of bogus borderline breath control. Derived from breath control, it had already completely replaced the position breath control had previously occupied. Breath control was powerful beyond measure, but the strength of its side-effects was equally powerful.


    The bogus borderline breath control¡ªwhich wasn''t as powerful as breath control¡ªcombined with his unique battle style to be put to endlessly wonderful uses.


    Apart from that, there were still quite a few novel effects of the helical paired composition. Chen Mu finally understood the characteristics of the other strand.


    It couldn''t become a spray of perception or a perceptual fog like the other strand, but it could change shape at will and be kneaded into any desired shaped like modelling clay. It was very tough, however; no matter how much force was applied, it couldn''t be split apart. That characteristic gave it quite a few interesting aspects, such as being able to be pulled into a long and fine thread, which could even be tied into a butterfly knot with enough control.


    To adapt to a new perceptual composition was far more than what could be completed in a day. He would need a long time. What Chen Mu most lacked just then was time. There was no time for him to slowly polish it, having so much other work to complete.


    The four-star card set!


    Ru Qiu was so tired she was about to lose all her strength. She speechlessly watched Chen Mu, not knowing how to express the shock she felt. But the bigger possibility was that she wouldn''t have the strength to open her mouth to talk.


    After a night''s reset, she felt that her energy was pretty good. However, she had never thought today would be more miserable than the day before!


    Preparing card ink was work that required complete attention and familiarity. Having become familiar with it the day before, someone as intelligent as Ru Qiu had smoothly memorized the entire process. She was 50 percent more efficient than the day before, preparing 63 bottles of card ink. But, shockingly, the speed with which she was preparing the ink still couldn''t keep up with the boss''s speed making the cards!


    Good lord, that was a four-star card, after all¡ªnot just any three-star card. It wasn''t like casually making a one-star power card. Its demands on perception were so high, its composition was so complex, and the energy transmitted to the pen nib was so sensitive. Each one was so difficult that they practically announced the difficulty of making them.


    She had seen with her own eyes how the boss had used up 42 bottles of card ink the day before to become so tired that he was a puddle of mud. But, today?


    She was the one who announced her surrender. The boss had gone crazy, his card making speed so terrifying that it was as though he were making one-star power cards. Most of the time, he would have to wait off to the side for her to finish. She would deliver every bottle after she finished it into Chen Mu''s hands in the shortest time possible. Then, Chen Mu would complete a card right away in the shortest possible time.


    By that time, the next bottle still wasn''t done. All day long, Ru Qiu felt like she was being chased by a pair of hasty, silent footsteps, urging her to tighten her spring as she desperately increased her speed.


    She sped up again and again until every last ounce of energy was squeezed out of her. She didn''t understand. How had the boss become that awesome in just one night''s time?


    But she was really too tired. She quickly pushed the question aside and dropped her head to sleep.

 353 The Transformation VI

    Chen Mu used up all 63 bottles of card ink, but his rate of success was still rather low. He succeeded in making six cards, bringing his success rate to nearly ten percent. But that was still progress from the day before.


    Going through 105 bottles of ink had cost 500 million in materials. On average, that would mean one bottle was worth 1 million. Such huge consumption was giving Chen Mu some heartache, but he also understood it was a process he had to go through. Fortunately, while he was short of most everything at that time, he wasn''t short of money. Most of the more than 50 billion worth of materials he''d gotten from the Downstream Alliance were card making materials.


    Chen Mu''s gains weren''t only in his rate of success. The high demands on perception for four-star cards included every aspect, such as strength, perceptual acuity, control, and so forth. Every time he made a card, Chen Mu got another training session. That further tempered the strange new perception in his body, making him slightly more familiar with it. His power progressed a little every time he finished making a card.


    The difficulty of that training was huge, and there was a lot of it before Chen Mu was making rapid progress. After he had consumed those 63 bottles of card ink, Chen Mu was surprised he still had some strength left. Without his even knowing it, his perception had made a qualitative leap.


    Since he was able to make cards at the same time as training his perception, he was essentially getting two for one. Chen Mu felt that his progress controlling his perception in just one day was significant. Thinking about that bit of progress costing 300 million Oudi, however, his excitement was mixed with pain. It could be called a kind of pained happiness.


    * * *


    Mobley was slowly manipulating the perception in his body, "holding" a glowing red ball in his hand. With no visible motion on his part, the glowing ball suddenly flew into quite a few bright red birds. Each one of them was just a bit bigger than a walnut. Each time a little red bird flew out, the ball on Mobley''s hand would get a little smaller.


    The ball finally disappeared when the last bird flew out. There were then 20 small, bright red birds spinning merrily about his head. That beautiful scene made all the members of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team look at him in awe.


    Mobley suddenly opened his eyes, and the small red birds whirling about the top of his head turned into 20 streams of light, which flew toward the target in front of him!


    Pa! Pa! Pa!


    The 20 streams of light hit the target in succession. Each of them easily pierced the target and turned back into red little birds afterward. They turned around and flew back, once again swirling merrily around the top of Mobley''s head.


    Amazingly enough, there were 20 holes on the target in the shape of snowflakes, which was the logo of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team.


    Mobley retracted his gaze, rather satisfied. His perceptual control had become somewhat more refined during that time. When power got to his point, it would be hard to advance it any further. During that time, he was enjoying a rare moment with no work to bother him, which had enabled him to devote himself to training and to get that little bit of progress.


    As the number-one person in charge of a famous card artisan firm, he had a lot on his mind, and it was difficult to come across such a slice of leisure. Still, that sort of life was about to end.


    Ah Zhe said, "All the goods we ordered will probably have arrived in three days."


    "That fast?" Mobley looked surprised, and the 20 little red birds under his control then made all sorts of fun maneuvers. If Xiaobo were there, he would certainly have found that those small birds of Mobley''s were similar to the birds he had demonstrated before. While the two were quite similar, they did have one essential difference. Mobley''s birds were beautiful, but they were deadly killing machines!


    "Right. I didn''t think they would be that efficient, either. They customized some parts over the past little while, wanting to use them to increase production." Smiling, Ah Zhe said, "We can finally move. Staying in this remote place where even birds don''t sh*t is depressing me."


    Mobley laughed. "It looks to me like you''re missing those women of yours. Still, this Pascal District really is a little remote. Who knows why the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm wants to stay here? But it would be worth it for the purple fluorescent ore." As he was speaking, he was still manipulating those small birds.


    Ah Zhe made a long, languid stretch, mumbling to himself, "I don''t have the energy to be concerned about his little card artisan firm. I don''t know if Ah Yu has gotten fat or not. She hasn''t got any heart or soul. Allie is a little better. She''s certainly gotten thin. The painting of Yue Qian was only half completed when I left. I wonder if it''s finished."


    Mobley cursed laughingly, "Man, you''re certainly going to die on a woman''s belly."


    Ah Zhe wasn''t going to disagree. He laughed and said, "Don''t be talking about me, Captain. That woman of yours is still your heart and soul. But I''m not sure she really appreciates it."


    The little birds fluttering in the air suddenly paused, and Mobley lost interest. He walked to the resting place to the side of the training ground and plopped into a seat. The little birds slowly dissipated in midair.


    Ah Zhe gave a little smile and sat beside Mobley. The two of them had a great relationship and were as close as brothers. But since Mobley was older, he had always looked out for him. Ah Zhe also knew Mobley had such high standards that he wouldn''t even notice ordinary girls. It wasn''t easy for him to run into a woman who would stir him, though of course that implied both gains and losses.


    Mobley spoke in a low voice. "Qing Qing is exquisite. She''s intelligent and quick-witted, just as tall as I am, and no one on the team is her equal. She''s also very knowledgeable, a good talker, and still gentle and soft. I don''t deserve her."


    "Ha ha, you sell yourself short, big brother! Who are you? You are none other than the captain of the great Snowflake Card Artisan Team!" Ah Zhe was smiling at first. Then, he turned a little puzzled. "Now that I think of it, I still don''t get that woman."


    Mobley laughed as all the haze disappeared from his face, and he patted Ah Zhe hard on the shoulder. "There''s finally a woman you don''t get!"


    Ah Zhe shook his head. "Think about it, big brother. If it''s really the way you say it is, that lass Qing Qing is certainly extremely capable."


    "Right!" Mobley then said categorically, "Even though I haven''t seen the lass make any moves, I can describe her power in a word¡ªunfathomable."


    Ah Zhe nodded and asked pointedly, "But how could such an impressive ace pop up out of nowhere, big brother? Have you inquired into Qing Qing''s background?"


    Mobley''s expression turned a little serious. Ah Zhe wasn''t wrong in what he said; an ace at her level wouldn''t only have a hard time remaining unknown, but she would certainly have a track record. He then realized he had been ignoring an important issue.


    "I did some investigating. There are quite a few card artisans named Qing Qing, but there are only five with a perceptual strength above level six. But I''ve already looked into those five. I''ve been thinking she might not be a Heavenly Drum Village District card artisan," Ah Zhe said without expression.


    Mobley remained silent, but he was listening closely to Ah Zhe''s analysis.


    "A female card artisan with first-rate power and insight would never be so unknown. The most hard-to-find quality about Qing Qing is that the lass has such a generous temperament. No wonder my big brother likes her."


    "That''s right." Mobley nodded. "She''s so easy-going that I don''t feel anything''s going to bother her."


    "I''m sure Qing Qing was born into a lot of wealth. Such an awesome person couldn''t have been educated by just any ordinary power." Ah Zhe hesitated and took a look at Mobley before finally deciding to speak out about the conjecture on his mind. "In the entire federation, the most likely to have the ability to educate such a person as that lass Qing Qing would be a giant like one of the Big Six."


    Mobley raised his head at the realization, sparks shining from his tiger eyes. "Do you suspect she''s from the Big Six?"


    "That''s the most likely possibility. You tell me, big brother; apart from the Big Six, who would dare to say they could advance our team''s power? Isn''t that what Qing Qing promised?" Ah Zhe retorted.


    Mobley remained silent. After a long while, he said something else. "If she''s really from the Big Six, there''s nothing she couldn''t do. Why would she need our help?"


    "That''s not for sure." Ah Zhe''s smile turned a little cold. "The Heavenly Drum Village District is basically the realm of Moon Frost Island. If anyone else wants to get something done, they''d have to go around Moon Frost Island. We''re obviously not a bad choice."


    Mobley''s voice deepened. "What does she mean to do by finding us?"


    "I don''t know." Ah Zhe shook his head and glanced at Mobley, sighing to himself as he said, "It must be something big. She''s been throwing enough weight around, so she must be after something big. Still, so long as she doesn''t want us to attack Moon Frost Island, whatever the specifics are, we''ll have to see what she finally pulls off."


    He looked a Mobley with some concern. "Don''t worry, big brother. She hasn''t even shown her weakest card. It''s still too early to know what she''s thinking. Moreover, I certainly don''t believe she would have come just for us. Our relationship with her is nothing more than a collaboration."


    Mobley''s eyes grew lighter. Seeing Ah Zhe looking at him with a smile that didn''t seem like a smile, he couldn''t keep his face from reddening. "Don''t worry, Ah Zhe. No matter what, I''m not going to cause any harm for my private wants! The Snowflake Card Artisan Team is not going to decline under my watch." When he said that last phrase, Mobley''s expression firmed up, and his voice resonated with power.


    Ah Zhe resumed his languid look. "Ooh, ooh! I know! I know! I say, big brother, why don''t you come clean about Qing Qing to some other people¡­"


    Mobley''s old face reddened again, and he stuck out his hand to grab Ah Zhe''s neck, rattling Ah Zhe''s speech to a halt.


    Mobley''s gaze had become a little too complicated to understand.

 354 The Transformation VII

    Chen Mu''s perception drew in the card ink flowing down to the nib of the pen. That induced a wonderful alliance between the two the instant the ink made contact with the card blank. The fine oscillations of his perception were continually changing, causing the correspondence between the card blank and the ink to keep producing rich transformations.


    The continuous, fine, high-frequency oscillations of his perception made high demands on the card master. The flow of perception in such a state was stunning. Perfectly keeping up the oscillations of his perception could reduce the wear and tear on it to the greatest extent possible. Wear and tear was a problem every high-level card master had to face.


    The higher the level of the card, the more complex the skills it would involve. The demands on perception would also be higher.


    If there were other high-level card artisans with him just then, they would certainly be astonished to find that the card wasn''t more than a four-star card. It involved a lot of skills that exceeded a four-star card. Those fine and rich perceptual oscillations implied the classic high-level skills used to make a five-star card.


    Ru Qiu was an astonishing talent, but she was still too young in the end; such high-level skills were a bit too challenging for her. However, that didn''t stop her from understanding what was implied by those skills. That four-star card actually contained a lot of high-level skills! She was curious about what sort of magic that card would have when it was done.


    When it came to Chen Mu, he didn''t think there was anything worth paying attention to with those skills. His delving into the Van Sant System of card making knowledge could be traced back to his teaching himself how to make one-star power cards. He truly did lack some essential understanding of the Van Sant System.


    Ever since he got the mysterious card, the vast knowledge it contained had taken up all of his attention. Just delving into that bit of knowledge had nearly used up all the energy he had, leaving him none to learn the Van Sant System with. Up until then, it seemed he hadn''t encountered any issue that couldn''t be resolved by the mysterious card.


    He had already gotten used to applying his knowledge of Token Theory to solve problems, with pretty good results. The mysterious card only presented theoretical knowledge, however, and practical operations would always be more difficult than theory.


    Those fine oscillations, so full of changes, gave Chen Mu a lot of trouble. If he were the least bit careless, and if the slightest error occurred with the oscillation, the card would be declared a failure. The thousands of oscillations last time all had orderly transformations, which Chen Mu had already memorized. Even so, there was still a rather high probability of error. Maintaining all of his concentration on those thousands of oscillations was certainly an extremely difficult challenge.


    That wasn''t the only trouble. It required the consumption of a lot of perception to make the ink meld with the card blank. The wear and tear on his perception in the state of oscillation was far faster than for any other state. The demands on perception were extremely high for a card master to control it and to constrain the oscillations to within the smallest range possible.


    Chen Mu''s new perceptual composition had given him an entirely new experience. Although he made incessant mistakes, the easy feeling he had while making the cards did give him a strange joy. He knew he was only making so many mistakes because he wasn''t familiar enough with his new perception yet. Once he became more familiar with it, his success rate would undoubtedly go up.


    Sure enough, after going through more than ten days of familiarizing himself with his new perception, Chen Mu''s rate of success did surge. It had reached more than 50 percent. That kind of success rate would be rather excellent for any card master. Every card master had one kind of card he had truly mastered. For example, some were good at high-level battle fantasy cards, and some were good at high-level auxiliary fantasy cards. In the realm of what they had mastered, their success rate would be a lot higher than for other cards. But to achieve a success rate of more than 50 percent for any kind of card would be enough for a card master to claim to have mastered it.


    Still, Chen Mu was clearly not satisfied by that result. He was already used to a success rate of higher than 80 percent, so how could he tolerate a rate of 50 percent? In his eyes, a success rate of 50 percent was considered failure.


    As Chen Mu became more and more facile, Ru Qiu''s work load became bigger and bigger. By that time, Chen Mu''s card making speed was so fast that he needed a lot of ink every day. Ru Qiu had been rather proud and arrogant, though there was no way she could compare with Chen Mu in card making. But if she couldn''t even keep up with the ink making, that wasn''t something she could accept. She wanted to prove to Chen Mu how much she was worth! So, she lived every day as though she were a laborer, her pretty white face always smoking with gloom and looking unbearably awful.


    Seeing such a girl as Ru Qiu so exploited and oppressed, even someone like Xi Ping¡ªwho would squeeze out all the value from another person¡ªcouldn''t stand to see it.


    "Why don''t you get Little Qiu some assistants, Boss?" Xi Ping asked Chen Mu probingly. "You can see how tired she is every day. If she goes on like that, I''m afraid she''ll wear herself out!" He knew Chen Mu''s card making involved a lot of secrets, so he wouldn''t dare to press any wild ideas.


    "Oh." After Xi Ping said that, Chen Mu also realized Ru Qiu had certainly been working very hard for a while. The reason he hadn''t realized it before was because he was measuring Ru Qiu by his own standards. That degree of exhaustion was perfectly normal for him. Whether it was card making or actual combat practice, he would often be even more tired.


    But Ru Qiu wasn''t more than a girl, and he then remembered the occasional strong expression she had worn those last few days. It looked like she was just as stubborn as he was. Chen Mu couldn''t help but size her up in his mind.


    After thinking it over, Chen Mu said to Xi Ping, "I''ll take care of it. Let''s make a trip to Chilei."


    Walking out of the lab, Chen Mu was abruptly stunned by the frenzied scene in the ravine. Shuttle cars were streaming by incessantly, constantly loading and unloading like it was a busy harbor. The construction in the ravine had never stopped, and it wasn''t just the Valley Nest alone anymore. Large-scale buildings were rising out of excavations, turning the snow silkworm ravine into a small fortress.


    Being infected by all the bustle in the ravine, Chen Mu''s mood became a lot more relaxed. Going along the way, Chen Mu found that quite a few of the shuttle cars would give way or give a signal of greeting when they encountered his fleet. With a little thought, Chen Mu understood what was going on. It looked like the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm''s position in the Pascal District had already been firmed up.


    "Have Mobley and his team left?" Chen Mu suddenly thought of the news Xi Ping had reported a few days before.


    Xi Ping nodded. "They left four days ago. After our large surge in production, the first batch of goods they needed has already been delivered. They were in a hurry to get back just when the recent battles were winding down. They departed back to Thousand Lakes. But they specifically established an office in Chilei. Would you like to take a look at it?"


    Chen Mu shook his head after thinking it over. "Not today. We have some recruiting to do first."


    When Chen Mu and Xi Ping arrived at the card artisan service center that time, they enjoyed completely different treatment. The one who received them was Lee Carville, the one in charge of the center.


    Lee Carville''s face was all smiles as he came personally down the stairs to receive them. "We are honored by your presence, Mr. Chen. Welcome, welcome!"


    Xi Ping had already become quite familiar with all the leading figures in the Pascal District by then. He introduced him to Chen Mu, smiling. "This is the head of the card artisan service center, Lee Carville. With Mr. Carville''s help, it looks like we''ll certainly get whatever we want today!"


    "How are you?" Chen Mu motioned to Lee Carville.


    Lee Carville then said flatteringly, "You are so kind. Manager Xi is so far above me. Come, come; we''ll go in. After you, Mr. Chen!"


    As Chen Mu watched the ever-respectful Lee Carville, there were still other important personnel from the card artisan service center who didn''t dare to come forward, which gave Chen Mu some complicated feelings. He never thought he would get such treatment.


    Chen Mu went right to the point as they entered the VIP lounge. "We came hoping to recruit a few card making personnel."


    Lee Carville had been expecting to have some polite conversation with Chen Mu, but he was good at reading what other people were thinking. He immediately realized Chen Mu was a person who didn''t like to waste words on polite talk. He rushed to say, "No problem. Although we are mainly focused on card artisans here, there are 5,000 registered card masters."


    He then gave Chen Mu some introduction. "On the screen in front of you is information about those card masters: their names, their field of expertise, and the level of each skill. You need only lightly press open their names to be able to examine their materials and resumes.


    There was a table placed in front of Chen Mu, and ten centimeters above the table floated a translucent screen. There were quite a few names on the screen, and Chen Mu casually opened one of them.


    Lu Ming. High-level card master. Perception in the middle of the fifth level. Materials preparation: high-level. Certified as a master of five-star materials. Card ink preparation: high-level. Certified as a five-star compounding master. Drafting skills: high-level.


    Chen Mu regretted not bringing Ru Qiu along; he had no understanding of those strange terms. Pointing to the screen, he asked Lee Carville, "What is a five-star materials master? What is a five-star compounding master?"


    Lee Carville was taken aback, never having imagined Chen Mu would ask such a simple question about common knowledge. If he didn''t even understand that, how could he recruit a card master? Bosses these days are all laymen who just like to push people around.


    While Lee Carville was silently criticizing him in his head, nothing of that showed up on his face. He professionally explained, "The skills of a card master are primarily identified in three parts. One is the processing of materials, another is skill in compounding, and there is a part about drafting skill. Each of these has different standards of appraisal. For each person, those three parts must be identified. For example, that Lu Ming you''re looking at is high-level at materials processing, high-level at ink preparation, and high-level at drafting. So long as all three are high-level, he could be promoted as a high-level card master."


    Lee Carville continued explaining. "If different card masters were all high-level at the same skills, how could you make a judgment about their skill levels? That would need to involve the job title. To be able to have a certain job title would clarify their attainment in that regard. For example, Lu Ming is clearly a card master who is proficient at processing materials and preparing card ink. With no title, his drafting skills are his weakness. A card master like that would be suited to take an assistant''s position."


    It was all suddenly clear to Chen Mu, and he was immediately interested to open a few names. But he then came across quite a few weird job titles, like some kind of subtle fantasy card master, a baking master, a wash master, a grinding master¡­


    After asking Lee Carville, he found out the so-called baking master referred to card masters who had mastered the preparation of materials in a furnace. The washing master was a card master who was proficient in extraction, or the separation of liquids and that sort of skill. The grind master was a little alternative. They were demanding about how finely materials could be ground.


    Seeing how fascinated Chen Mu looked, Xi Ping''s expression became a little strange. What kind of person was the boss in his mind? He was the world-famous creator of the numbered series of cards. He couldn''t be described as just a genius youth anymore. He was that rare, young, grand-master-level card master who had made history in the federation!


    How could that kind of card master not even understand any of those matters of common knowledge? Could the boss not be pleased with Lee Carville and be playing a trick on him? Xi Ping couldn''t come up with anything no matter how hard he thought about it. However, he tactfully didn''t say anything and just acted as though he hadn''t heard, staying on the sidelines.


    "Mmmm, I''ve made my picks. These few." Chen Mu finally declared his selection complete.


    Lee Carville rushed to take a look, but his expression turned a little strange when he saw the people Chen Mu had picked. He couldn''t help but politely remind Chen Mu, "I''m afraid those card masters couldn''t take on any big jobs, Mr. Chen. None of them have any job titles related to drafting. Although they would be inexpensive to employ, if you want them to make cards, you would be wasting a lot of material for little return."


    Hearing Lee Carville''s warning, Chen Mu was rather surprised, and his gaze toward Lee Carville immediately became a lot nicer. He smiled and firmly said, "I know, but they are what I need."


    Seeing how certain Chen Mu was, Lee Carville discreetly refrained from saying anything more, and he took care of contacting the card masters.


    Just as Lee Carville had said, those card masters had been muddling along unsatisfactorily, so when they got the news, they immediately came charging over to the card artisan service center.

 355 The Transformation VIII

    After returning to the base and bringing along five card masters who were good at processing materials and compounding, he turned everything over to Ru Qiu. That was a great relief to her work pressure.


    The card masters were worthy of their titles in materials processing and compounding, after all. Each of them was frighteningly efficient, with two of them even more efficient than Ru Qiu. The five combined had still scarier production capacity. They finished 200 bottles of card ink on the first day.


    They were like regulars regarding the price of the materials. After a little calculation, they were astonished to find they had made 1 billion Oudi worth of card ink!


    Where would those card masters ever have such luxury? To be able to prepare 1 billion worth of card ink the first day after moving in wasn''t something they would have dared to believe before. That also gave them a direct sense of their new boss''s strong financial resources. They were endlessly excited and full of confidence about their futures.


    If they could go forward like that and later specialize in materials processing and compounding, they would certainly be able to get still higher-level titles. They would never have to worry again about having food to eat.


    They had never been the pride among card masters. They had always previously been someone''s assistant, which had led to their unbalanced skill structure of being good at only processing and compounding materials. Even though what they were doing just then was essentially no different from what they had done before, the materials they were handling were of a far higher grade. That would be a big help in the growth of their skills.


    Since they had gone through many setbacks and knew the ups and downs of life, they were very realistic. Even though Ru Qiu was smaller than any of them, they weren''t the least bit unsatisfied. They knew the opportunity in front of them was hard to get, and they worked extremely hard, hoping to master as many skills as possible.


    Their incredible diligence directly led to their production of card ink soaring! From 200 bottles the first day, it went to 250 the second day and reached a stunning 300 bottles by the third day!


    Xi Ping was in a state every day as he watched more than 1 billion Oudi being consumed. Those few billions he had on hand would quickly be used up. The more than 180 billion from Qiao Fei couldn''t even be counted on after a little while. It was a good thing they''d just completed the first order for the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, for which Xi Ping had received 70 billion.


    It''s burning¡­ burning¡­


    Xi Ping would be muttering every day as though he were crazy. They were spending money faster than they could have burned it.


    Because they had to consume a great quantity of materials each day, Xi Ping had no choice but to go to the First-Rate Business Association to buy large quantities of materials. Mr. Stinger''s old face had blossomed into a smile. The Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm had transformed overnight from being one of their suppliers to becoming their biggest customer in the Pascal District. Why wouldn''t he be beaming?


    Batch after batch of materials ordered by the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm were flowing in a steady stream to the ravine.


    Chen Mu had no way to be as relaxed as he had been those previous few days. With 200 or 300 bottles of card ink per day, there was a terrifying amount of work to do as far as he was concerned. He made a rough calculation that he needed to work at least 20 hours per day to be able to use up all the ink.


    The card ink was 5 million Oudi per bottle. If he didn''t use it the same day, it would go bad, which would mean the 5 million Oudi would all have been wasted. When he thought of 5 million, Chen Mu''s eyes went red! How much could he earn making one-star power cards from that?


    Chen Mu gritted his teeth and stared with his bloodshot eyes. He then gathered all of his strength to tough it out and just make one card after another.


    Ru Qiu was happy during that time, having been pushed into such a miserable place the previous few days. Before she could turn around, the situation had completely transformed. Having gotten five assistants, she could pass her days in quite a leisurely fashion.


    Women always held their grudges, however. That was probably their nature, Ru Qiu being no exception. Whenever she thought about how Chen Mu had oppressively exploited her to the point of misery those previous few days, she was so full of hate her teeth itched. So, she hadn''t given herself any breaks those last couple of days. On the contrary, she put all her time into making card ink. She felt satisfied when she looked at how much she produced every day.


    Although she couldn''t really understand that boss of hers, she did understand some of his quirks. She knew Chen Mu would never let any of the finished ink go to waste no matter what.


    Sure enough, with no urging from her, Chen Mu wound up all his strength and made cards like crazy. She had transferred all the pressure onto Chen Mu, which quite satisfied her and put her in a good mood.


    In a small, dark room, after working continuously for who knew how long, Chen Mu had a dull and dispirited expression. But he was working with the precision and speed of a machine.


    * * *


    Looking at the card artisans standing ramrod-straight in front of him, Bogner showed a rare look of satisfaction.


    "I have some good news to tell you. The first period of your training is already complete, and we have the results from each of the small groups. You have all qualified! The other piece of good news is that you may now freely chose whether you would like to stay or leave."


    There was a slight commotion among the card artisans, though those last few days of training had reminded them what discipline was. No one made any moves or talked out of order.


    "Good, good!" Bogner''s look of satisfaction deepened, and he even smiled a little. "You have passed my final exam. I now announce that you have all qualified. According to the terms of the contract, you may now choose whether you will leave or remain. But¡­" he paused, "this is where I have a few things to say."


    His gaze slowly swept over each card artisan with a slightly mocking look on his face. "When I first saw you, you were a mess¡ªa team full of tumult with no spirit or discipline. You couldn''t even compare with the most primitive local bandits. You were afraid of hard work and exhaustion. If you were the slightest bit wounded, you would scream bloody murder, no different from sissies.


    "To tell the truth, I didn''t think very much of you then. In my eyes, you weren''t worthy to be called card artisans! You were cowards, full of fret and fear of death, and ignorant. I have never f****ng seen such lousy people! Heh heh. Anyhow, you guys who were not even as good as trash can now actually be called card artisans!"


    Quite of few of the card artisans below him were looking indignant to the point that some looked like fire was spewing from their eyes. But under Bogner''s tyrannical oppression, the card artisans kept their cool.


    "Am I wrong?" Bogner''s mocking look deepened. Then, just as the card artisans were about to charge, he suddenly raised his voice to say, "But you''re still not hopeless! Look at who you''ve become, and think about who you were. Beyond being able to complete such bitter training, you have already completed the most boring and difficult physical training! Could you have done that before? As you are now, your stops and starts are pure, your advance and retreat are up to snuff, and you act as a team! Could you have done that before?


    "When I think of those who left because they couldn''t take the hard work, I know they will certainly feel regret. They lost their chance to become men and to prove themselves! They are gutless and afraid of pain, and they will go on slogging through life without knowing themselves! But you have already defended your own dignity by your actions! Whether you decide to stay or to leave, you will have plenty of reason to be proud!"


    The card artisans below all stuck out their chests, unable to restrain their feelings.


    "I have nothing to say in any other regard. Those who choose to remain will see how you will be treated right away. I believe it will satisfy you. In all other regards, I can make no promises or guarantees. I can''t guarantee that you will live on nor that you will be known throughout the land. The only thing I can promise is that I will make you into true card artisans!"


    Bogner finished with a solemn look as he said in a deep voice, "So, it''s time for you to choose!"


    After he spoke, he left without giving them another glance.


    When the final statistics were compiled, 1,500 card artisans had decided to stay, while 600 decided to leave. That was far more than Bogner had expected. As he saw it, to be able to have 1,000 remain would have been pretty good.


    Bogner was quickly concerned with another issue, however, which was the cards for those card artisans.


    Fifteen hundred card artisans meant 1,500 cards. That was far more than they had expected. They had previously reckoned 1,000 card artisans would be enough, and there were now half as many more. That created more issues.


    Thinking of that worried him. He rushed to find Xi Ping, wanting to ask him how the boss was planning to solve the issue of cards.


    * * *


    In his world of black and white, where the conditions never changed, the little bit of perceptual oscillation where perception would condense onto the tip of the pen was crystal-clear in Chen Mu''s field of vision.


    How many days had it been? Chen Mu couldn''t remember.


    His brain was blank, filled with nothing apart from the cards, the card compositions he knew inside and out, and the laws of oscillation. He couldn''t hear the noise outside, and the world in his eyes was devoid of color, leaving only black and white. He was like a machine that didn''t know exhaustion and didn''t know how to stop. He would draw the compositions and control the perceptual oscillations over and over again!


    He hadn''t paid any attention to the awe and devotion from Ru Qiu every time she placed card ink on the desk. He also hadn''t paid attention to the perception in his body quietly undergoing a fine transformation. It was as though he was undergoing tempering thousands of times over. Although he was no different from before on the surface, he had already become as tough as iron inside! Furthermore, he hadn''t paid attention to what had previously been so difficult and had required him to carefully control those fine, ever-changing, rich perceptual oscillations, which he could now complete every time without even thinking.


    In the same way, he didn''t know that what had filled Ru Qiu with such awe and devotion was that under his ever-wooden and sluggish gaze, there breathed a tough and focused mind.

 356 A Shocking Change

    In the dark, Chen Mu raised his head in something of a daze. A full ten minutes went by before his gaze grew gradually clear. He let out a long sigh and stood up, looking around at the cards strewn all over the room.


    His gaze swept over the cards, which were like snowflakes, and a feeling of accomplishment arose in him. He had never thought he could make such myriads of cards in such a short time! And, they were all four-star cards, which would bring a sky-high, scary price if he were to put them on the market.


    Still, although there were lots of cards strewn everywhere, a significant portion of them were failed and wasted cards. Now, he had to sort through them. How many cards had he actually made? He wasn''t clear about that himself and was curious to know. Chen Mu started to sort out the cards that were scattered all over the floor and the desk.


    At that moment, Ru Qiu came in. Seeing the situation, she said respectfully, "Let me do this work, teacher!"


    Ru Qiu had been utterly impressed with Chen Mu''s performance those last few days. She had never imagined anyone could work so desperately. Shouldn''t card masters be pulling down huge salaries and living lives of leisure? As she saw it, even those professors who did research like crazy in the academies were still far beneath Chen Mu. She finally realized how Chen Mu could have such accomplishment even though he was no older than she was!


    She would sometimes wonder if any of those so-called genius youths she had seen could get to that point. Not one could do it! Once they had the least bit of accomplishment, they would show off their talents everywhere and take part in the exclusive parties, singing their own praises among the pretty girls.


    Even card artisans known for their diligence would certainly not be so willing to give up their lives like Chen Mu. Making cards the way the boss did was extremely dangerous. Once perception was exhausted, and the card master felt tired, serious, head-splitting headaches and a sickening, depressed nausea could occur. What if one''s perception were completely depleted? What would that situation be like? Ru Qiu had never experienced that, so she didn''t know. But every beginning card master was taught by his teacher that no matter what, they couldn''t let their perception be completely depleted. That would be perfectly dangerous and could even lead to death.


    But, with her own eyes, she had seen the boss exhaust his perception every day until there wasn''t a drop left! She really didn''t understand why that was necessary. The situation at the base couldn''t have been better, and there was no need to be so desperate! Ru Qiu had never seen someone at such a young age so diligently create such a foundation by himself. What could he still be unsatisfied with? She really felt there was no reason for the boss to work so desperately. If there weren''t so many cards to make, he could go about making them slowly. There was no one to rush him or compel him, and he wasn''t depending on it for his living. But she would always discover that no matter when, the boss was always utterly desperate! It was like¡­ he didn''t have much time left.


    Chen Mu didn''t have the energy to laugh. Going through those days making cards with no breaks, he was like a taut bowstring that had finally snapped. When he now had a break, his entire body went weak.


    That was a rare look on Chen Mu. Ru Qiu just stuck out her tongue in a naughty way and started to bury her head in gathering up the cards.


    Chen Mu''s body suddenly went stiff with pain! It was as though molten steel were being poured down his spine, and he was engulfed in a wave of pain with no warning. Before he could react¡ªno, there was no way he could have reacted¡ªeverything in front of him quickly blurred, and he only seemed to hear Ru Qiu scream!


    Everything went endlessly dark.


    Chen Mu hadn''t entirely lost consciousness in his coma. He knew he''d fallen into a coma, but his consciousness remained quite clear. That didn''t improve his situation in the least, however. He had no control over his body. There was no light and no sound, but what was most horrible was that he had to endure wave after wave of pain.


    He felt as though he had been tied to a cross and was being branded repeatedly by a hot iron! With his consciousness so clear, he felt every bit of pain. Every second stretch out. If he could only scream, the entire base would have heard his misery! But he couldn''t. He couldn''t even make the slightest sound, and he couldn''t move a finger!


    Pain! Apart from the pain, he had no other feeling! Chen Mu wasn''t a weak-willed person, but under wave after wave of pain, his consciousness was becoming a little blurred! If he were able to lose consciousness, Chen Mu would certainly have chosen to.


    Without knowing how long he had been in that world without light or sound, time lost its meaning. But Chen Mu was still enduring the most terrible torture in the world.


    His consciousness showed signs of disintegrating. It was in imminent danger under the constant stimulation of such severe pain. If the pain kept up, his consciousness would collapse from it. Becoming a vegetable would be the most likely result. Wave after boundless wave led to hopelessness.


    Chen Mu never stopped struggling in that world so devoid of hope. On the one hand, he was enduring the blows to his consciousness from the pain; on the other, he was trying like mad to find some way out. He didn''t hold out much hope. In that sort of situation, his only hope was to be able to find some way to lessen the pain.


    Things would be better if only he could decrease the pain¡ªthat was his minimal, simple demand just as he was about to collapse from the torture.


    Consciousness was still more marvelous than perception, though it wasn''t something Chen Mu had ever concerned himself with. But Chen Mu couldn''t take it anymore, having been driven to such an extreme. He had to do something! It didn''t matter if it worked or not! He couldn''t just resign himself to death!


    So, Chen Mu started to try to control his consciousness. There were scant results, as he really didn''t know what consciousness was or how to control it. But there was no going back, so he simply did the only thing he knew how to do.


    He started to force himself to think of something else, attempting to disperse his attention that way and thereby decrease the pain. But the waves of pain like a stormy sea weren''t something his little sampan could contend with. He really had no way to calm his consciousness.


    Waves of agony tore into his consciousness, making it impossible for him to grasp even a second of peace. Chen Mu felt he was near collapse for some nameless reason, though he could feel it powerfully. He couldn''t go on that way! The little bit of reason that remained in him told him that if he kept on that way, he would soon be lost.


    Because there was no time for him, Chen Mu didn''t know how long he had been in a coma. But in his perception, time had completely stretched out. Each wave of pain lasted an eternity, continually splitting his consciousness into bits and smashing apart the issue he was just thinking about, only to be following by more shocking pain.


    Was it 10,000 or 100,000? He didn''t know.


    Gradually, however, Chen Mu groped after some order. With the pain coming in waves one after the other, there was an extremely brief interval where he could relax a tiny bit. That little interval was the only time his consciousness could calm. Only in that state of calm could he move his consciousness onto something other than that hopeless pain.


    But it was just during those tiny intervals of calm where it was so difficult to remain calm. He had no other choice, though, that being the only thing he could do just then. Whether it was right or wrong, he wouldn''t know until he tried it.


    He failed again and again¡­


    Chen Mu''s determination didn''t waver; on the contrary, he was more determined than ever. Although up until then he still hadn''t succeeded a single time, the good points were perfectly obvious. He could feel that his consciousness had become enhanced! The ever-present sense of danger that haunted him had decreased without him even knowing it.


    He didn''t know if it was some kind of illusion or just some kind psychological comfort, but it still cheered him up.


    "What''s really up with the boss?" Bogner looked worried. He wasn''t in the frame of mind to attend to the training, paying a visit to Chen Mu several times nearly every day. He hadn''t shaved for ten days, on top of which he hadn''t slept well recently. His eyes were sunken, and there was none of his usual majestic grandeur to be seen.


    It wasn''t only him. Xi Ping was also full of worry, which made him look as though he had aged. Wei-ah would only sit silently in the corner, his gaze sometimes lingering on Chen Mu in his coma.


    Chen Mu hadn''t woken up since falling into the coma, and his face would sometimes be contorted as though he were in a lot of pain. Sue Lochiro had her lips tightly clenched, not having slept for several days. Her skin was bleak, and her red lips had lost all their luster. She had been trying to treat Chen Mu any way she could for those past few days without resting, but none of it was any use.


    "He''s gone into a deep coma. It''s likely that his body has separated from his consciousness. If¡­" She couldn''t help the grief in her exhausted voice. "If he doesn''t come out of the deep coma, there are only two possibilities."


    "What do you mean?" Bogner''s voice was gravelly and low.


    "One is that his bodily functions will decline until he dies. The other¡­" Sue Lochiro was biting her lip hard as two crystalline tears dropped from her ashen face after she couldn''t keep them from rolling down. She tried to speak steadily, but her trembling voice betrayed her emotions. "The other possibility¡­ is that he will be in a persistent vegetative state."


    As though there had just been a clap of thunder out of the blue, the room went absolutely silent. Struck with a sense of dizziness, Xi Ping felt his legs go soft. He wasn''t able to stand and slumped to the floor, his eyes devoid of spirit.


    Wei-ah was taken aback as he looked at Chen Mu in a daze. No one knew what he was thinking.


    A look of grief flashed past Bogner''s eyes, but with his having weathered so many storms, he still maintained a little calm. "What kind of illness did the boss contract, Sue, my lass? Would there be any hope to cure him if we sent him to a bigger hospital?"


    What Bogner said might have been considered insensitive, making it look like he didn''t believe in Sue Lochiro''s medical expertise. But Sue Lochiro didn''t mind. Everyone, including her, hoped someone could treat Chen Mu. But¡­


    Sue Lochiro couldn''t control her tears, and they flowed down. She covered her mouth and couldn''t stop her crying. After a moment, she gradually pulled herself together.


    "What the boss actually has isn''t some sort of illness." Sue Lochiro had restored most of her calm and cool after venting her emotions. Being a medical card artisan, her ability to control her emotions was rather strong.


    "It''s not an illness?" Bogner stood up with rage in his eyes. Do you mean someone harmed him?"


    Wei-ah''s expression chilled, and he stepped forward. His gaze was fixed on Sue Lochiro, waiting for what she had to say. Xi Ping also stood up and watched her.


    After some hesitation, Sue Lochiro decided to say what was on her mind. "There is a fine green thread inside the boss''s body. The boss already had it when we were in Pomelo, and he specifically came to me for an examination. My professor and I researched it for a long time, but there weren''t many breakthroughs. It is a strange kind of plant that can act as a parasite in a person''s body. It''s finer than a hair and ten meters long. By now, it has grown together with his flesh, and there''s no way to pull it out. I haven''t been able to tell where such a plant came from, but I suspect it could possibly be from the House of a Hundred Depths."


    What Sue Lochiro said from her seat left Bogner and Xi Ping gaping.


    "The House of a Hundred Depths?" Bogner responded, stunned. He and Xi Ping looked at one another, that having clearly been unexpected.


    "Mmmm, I haven''t found any records for that kind of plant, but I did find a related plant¡ªthe gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. In general, two corresponding plants would live in the same region," Sue Lochiro explained.


    Xi Ping then slapped himself upside the head and blurted out, "Now I remember. When we were in Pomelo, the boss would be asking Master Yang if he could buy any of that gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. Master Yang found it strange that the boss would be interested in it."


    "Now that you say it, the boss must have had it before Pomelo." Bogner was thoughtfully rubbing his chin when he suddenly looked at Wei-ah.


    Wei-ah was the only one who had been together with Chen Mu before Pomelo. He shook his head. "I don''t know."


    "It doesn''t matter to find out when the issues started for the boss. Our top priority is how to get him to wake up." Xi Ping got right to the heart of the matter.


    "Right." Bogner nodded in agreement as his gaze returned to Sue Lochiro. "Sue, my lass, do you need some gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus?"


    Sue Lochiro hesitated. "I can''t really guarantee anything, but that would be the medicine I''ve found with the best chance of treating the boss."


    "Ok, turn that matter over to us. Let''s get together on that, Old Xi. I''m not so familiar with the stuff." Bogner spoke peremptorily as he pulled Xi Ping out the door. Wei-ah took another look at Chen Mu and left as well.

 357 Deep Layers of Serenity

    "Gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus? Why are they interested in that?" Mobley found it strange.


    Ah Zhe gave a handsome shrug. "Who knows? Maybe they feel like they''ve made a lot lately and wanted to buy something to make up for it! Ha ha!"


    Mobley shook his head. "That couldn''t be. It''s not that you haven''t seen that gang; they''re not that short-sighted. Furthermore, they certainly know the value of the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, which can''t even be bought with money."


    Ah Zhe remained as aloof as ever. "What does that have to do with us? They only came to us for some information. Yikes! Isn''t this a waste of the time we could use picking up girls?"


    Not understanding Ah Zhe''s annoyance, Mobley said after thinking it over, "Ask around. If we don''t do a good job with the first thing they ask us to take care of, this ally of ours will have no way to relax. We need to put on a little display of our power."


    Ah Zhe tilted his head and thought about it before nodding. "You''re right. Mmmm, I''ll take care of it."


    Ah Zhe''s gaze suddenly fell behind Mobley, and his mouth curled into a grin as he laughed in a low voice. "Your sweetheart is here, Captain; I won''t be in your way. Don''t forget to tell me what you do."


    The expression on Mobley''s face suddenly became excited. Given Qing Qing''s power, at that distance, she would have had to hear them. Ah Zhe looked pleased and left with a big smile.


    "Why are you up so late, Miss Qing Qing?" Mobley said, turning around. His expression had already returned to normal. He acted as though nothing was going on and looked at Qing Qing with a slight smile. It was really hard to imagine how such a cold, hard fellow could maintain such a gentlemanly expression at such a time.


    Qing Qing wasn''t giving anything away on her jade face as her somewhat glazed eyes stared off into some indeterminate distance. Without knowing why, when he saw Qing Qing that way, Mobley felt a sense of loss in his heart.


    "I couldn''t fall asleep and got up to take a stroll," Qing Qing said lightly, her voice as faint as smoke.


    The bitter taste in Mobley''s heart grew deeper, and his hardened face opened up into a smile. "Ha, going to bed late isn''t good for a woman''s complexion. It looks like old Mobs doesn''t provide such good hospitality to cause Miss Qing Qing to sleep so poorly."


    Qing Qing lightly shook her head and said quietly, "I have been very flattered by Captain Mo''s hospitality. You make me too ashamed to show my face by saying such things." She then changed the topic. "I heard Captain Mo has already purchased the liquid extracts of the purple fluorescent ore, correct?"


    Mobley''s expression turned businesslike. "Mmmm, although we haven''t gotten to the quantities Miss Qing Qing spoke of, we have already gotten one-tenth."


    "Oh, that''s enough to begin the first part of the preparation." Qing Qing nodded calmly.


    "I am grateful for Miss Qing Qing going through so much trouble," Mobley said sincerely.


    "You are too polite, Captain Mo. We each take what we need." Qing Qing suddenly turned around and stared at Mobley with her bleary eyes. "I find it strange that Captain Mo is so trusting of me."


    Mobley remained calm under Qing Qing''s watch and met his counterpart''s gaze. When he looked at that face, which wouldn''t be considered gorgeous, his eyes showed a seldom-seen flash of obsession. But it was only a flash. His gaze returned to normal, thinking back to what Qing Qing had just said about each of them getting what they needed, which made his feeling of bitterness still heavier.


    "Ha ha, although Old Mobs is a little dim-witted, I can still see Qing Qing is not someone to make a lot of empty talk. Moreover, didn''t Qing Qing just say the same thing? Everyone should get what they need." Mobley put on a hearty smile.


    Qing Qing smiled sweetly, and her exquisite, refined face was like 100 flowers blooming at once. It lit up Mobley''s eyes, his gaze drawn as though by a magnet, unable to break away.


    "Captain Mo will certainly not regret our cooperation."


    * * *


    In his coma, after countless ordeals, Chen Mu finally started to adapt little by little. The pain remained, but his consciousness had become slightly stronger. A calm state was good for consciousness; if he could achieve a deep, underlying state of serenity, he could even nourish his consciousness. But that wasn''t what Chen Mu was most focused on. He most cared about his discovery that once his consciousness could enter a state of serenity, he could greatly reduce the pain.


    Nothing attracted him more than that did.


    The interval between each wave of pain was minuscule. If he wanted to enter a state of serenity in such a short period of time, it would be as hard as climbing to heaven. Moreover, although the pain slightly weakened during that interval, it still hurt to the marrow. Unfortunately, Chen Mu had no other choice. He started to grit his teeth and try bit by bit to get himself to enter that deep state of serenity.


    He made one try after another until he didn''t know how many times he had tried. The only thing he was grateful for was that he wasn''t someone with a more complex mind. That was why he wasn''t distracted by any miscellaneous thoughts under those conditions. In any case, Chen Mu never really had many stray thoughts.


    Chen Mu felt that the process of groping his way into a state of serenity was a bit like entering the state of breath control. But at the outset, he had needed to try that over and over again until the frequency of the perceptual vibration was a perfect match. Now, there was a lot more interference, and the interval in which he could try was a lot shorter.


    Each time he encountered an interval, Chen Mu would desperately start his try, which often finished in failure. Still, it was a good thing he couldn''t regret; he basically never got to the point of regret before the next wave of pain engulfed him like a tide. But each time the wave of pain passed, and his consciousness had slightly stabilized, he would start right back up with another try. Unable to sleep and in such pain, he had no strength to speak of anymore.


    Chen Mu never stopped through cycle after cycle.


    Without knowing how many waves of pain he had been through nor how many tries he had made, Chen Mu finally started to gradually get the knack. There were a few times when he did enter a state of deep serenity, and the great relief of pain was in itself a kind of happiness. One time, when he entered into that state of deep serenity, he felt nearly five waves of pain and forced them out from that state.


    That excited Chen Mu! In that dark and noiseless world where all hope was lost, that was doubtlessly a beam of hope that had pierced the darkness. However, he didn''t know what that ray of hope might bring him in the end.


    Chen Mu''s diligence quickly paid off, though. The number of times he could enter into the deep state of serenity grew greater and greater, and his speed became faster and faster!


    He didn''t know why, but his consciousness seemed a lot stronger than it had been. During the bouts of pain, although he was still shaking, Chen Mu no longer felt in danger of collapse. Moreover¡ªwithout knowing if it was because his consciousness was stronger¡ªalthough the pain still hurt him to the bone, it seemed that it was somewhat lessened. Or, was it that his endurance had increased? Chen Mu couldn''t really know the difference.


    But a strange transformation finally occurred. One of the times Chen Mu entered the deep state of serenity, the dark and soundless world finally changed after he''d endured ten successive waves of attack!


    A fine line appeared in that dark world. It gave off a dim glow that was only vaguely visible. Chen Mu was stunned and abruptly came out of the state of serenity. At about the same time, the fine line disappeared.


    What was it? Was it the green thread in his body? How could that have appeared there?


    A series of questions appeared in Chen Mu''s consciousness. He couldn''t wait to re-enter the state he had just been in. Unfortunately, he didn''t know if it was because he was too eager, but it had become too difficult to enter the state of deep serenity. Chen Mu quickly understood that the existence of the question had altered his state of mind.


    After he once again entered the deep state of serenity for more than ten waves, the green line reappeared. It was light at the beginning and only barely visible, but it changed over time until it became clearer and clearer. Chen Mu held out for 15 waves during that time after entering the state of deep serenity. He finally saw the green thread clearly. It was the green thread in his body, after all!


    Although he didn''t know why it would show up, Chen Mu did consider it an opportunity. He wasn''t afraid of anything changing in that dark and soundless world since any change would have to be for the better!


    The green thread had finally given that pitch black world a little color. He would certainly have enjoyed the light green glow if it wasn''t inside his body.


    Chen Mu had one more objective. He wanted to know what might happen if he were able to remain in the state of deep tranquility even longer. He kept struggling toward that goal, having nothing else to do. In general, no distractions meant high efficiency.


    The time he could endure got longer and longer¡ª20 waves, 30 waves¡­


    The green thread became increasingly clear until Chen Mu could see every part of it in detail. They were all tangled together like a knot. Chen Mu noticed that it wasn''t completely still but was in a state of very slow motion.


    There was another strange transformation when he persevered in the state of deep serenity for 100 waves. Red! It became bright red! That was the color of blood! Then, there was the muscle tissue, the blood vessels, and all the organs¡­


    All sorts of colors showed up in the previously dark world. Chen Mu was taken aback to find that everything he "saw" seemed to be the inside of his own body! He could clearly see how deeply inserted into his own flesh that green thread was. It was like a parasitic vine had formed a huge net in his body, clinging to his organs and looking like an awful anomaly.


    If it weren''t for Chen Mu''s tough mental qualities and his having entered into the deep, emotionless state of serenity, he would have been scared to death by what was in front of him!


    Suddenly, everything in front of him broke apart, and he once again sank into the dark.


    Except¡­

 358 The New Card Set I

    A familiar yet strange feeling filled Chen Mu''s consciousness, and there was a stirring in his heart. Almost unconsciously, he made a simple movement¡ªhe opened his eyes.


    The white ceiling and the eye-piercing hanging light¡­


    A wave of ecstasy welled up in his heart, and he sat right up, unable to believe he could see his own hands. Good lord! He had awoken! There was rebirth of joy surging through every nerve of his body. That familiar yet somewhat strange feeling turned his nose inexplicably sour with emotion.


    He was alive. How great!


    "Boss!" Sue Lochiro''s indescribable scream nearly broke Chen Mu''s eardrums. Chen Mu turned around and saw the tears flowing down Sue Lochiro''s face, her right hand strongly covering her mouth, and her wet eyes full of the joy of disbelief.


    There was a disordered clomping sound from outside the door. The door was then shoved open, and Bogner, Xi Ping, and Wei-ah all burst in.


    "Boss!"


    Seeing those skinny and haggard faces, Chen Mu''s heart was warmed.


    Out of concern that the base might turn chaotic, they''d sealed off any news of Chen Mu''s coma. Now, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Without knowing it, Chen Mu had become the core of their team, its true heart and soul. He was irreplaceable, not by Bogner nor by Xi Ping.


    "Inside your body, Boss¡­" Bogner said a little hesitantly.


    Hearing that, Chen Mu knew they had found out about the green thread in his body. He was honest with them and simply nodded. "Mmmm, a weird green thread was planted by an ace before, and it gives me occasional seizures."


    Although they had long known, they still showed surprise. That weird thing had actually been planted by someone. They had never heard of such a bizarre move.


    Chen Mu, on the other hand, looked calm and comforted them. "I''ve only had a few seizures. It''s mostly dormant, and I''m no different than ordinary people."


    "How can you get rid of it? Could that ace do it? Does the boss know him?" Xi Ping asked hurriedly.


    Ever since she''d left, Chen Mu hadn''t heard any further news about the demonic woman. He rubbed his nose and wore a bitter smile. "I don''t know the jerk. She fought with another ace last time I saw her, and I don''t know where she is right now. Still, Miss Sue conjectures that the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus could be useful."


    "Then we''ll find some way to get the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus!" Bogner said resolutely. He then couldn''t help but complain to Chen Mu, "How could you not say a word to us about something so important? Although we might have limited ability, we could still come up with something."


    Chen Mu involuntarily rubbed his nose again, a little embarrassed. "I don''t think we have enough power. It would basically be impossible for us to get the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, so I''m not holding out much hope. I''d thought Zu Ning had some on him, but he didn''t."


    Hearing that, Bogner rolled his eyes and said grumpily to Xi Ping, "With all we do, the boss still doesn''t have confidence in us."


    Xi Ping added, "And, we don''t have any confidence in ourselves."


    "That''s really embarrassing. How can we deserve such a boss?" Bogner smacked his own mouth and said nothing more.


    Xi Ping went right to the point. "We''re not motivated."


    Silent up until then, Sue Lochiro suddenly interjected, "You''re not even men!"


    That really hurt, and everyone''s expression turned a little strange. Meanwhile, in the midst of that bombing exchange, Chen Mu kept smiling bitterly. Still, he knew everyone meant well by him, so he wasn''t angry.


    Chen Mu was a conflicted person. Most of the time, he would be a lot more hardworking than most people since no one knew the difficulty of existence better than he did. Added to that was how he always maintained his steady heart and calm intellect, and how he knew how to give and take. It was those good qualities that had gotten him that day''s achievement.


    His experience had also made him realistic. In his eyes, social divides were always vast and out of reach. Those influential, old, aristocratic powerhouses were subconsciously still something he couldn''t touch, even though he''d had plenty of dealings with them. That hadn''t happened overnight but across years of his life. It had become an iron law etched into his mind.


    So, even though he knew the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus could help him, the grand old houses that held it weren''t a source of hope for him. He was too realistic.


    Seeing Chen Mu''s bitter smile, Bogner said positively, "I''m not joking, Boss. You probably don''t even know your own power! You are plenty powerful in the eyes of the rest of us!"


    Surprisingly, what Bogner said got the unanimous endorsement of Xi Ping, Sue Lochiro, and the rest, apart from Wei-ah, who remained as expressionless as ever.


    "You''re only 20, yet you have the card making skills of a grand master. You''ve broken the iron law that one can''t practice as a card master and a card artisan at the same time. You are also an outstanding card artisan! You are a genius in that regard. Moreover, look¡ªyou''ve laid the foundation right in front of you by yourself. There''s no need to doubt your power!" Bogner looked full of praise when he said that.


    "You are the greatest genius I''ve ever seen, Boss!" Xi Ping added to the praise.


    Chen Mu looked to be at a loss. It was clear that what Bogner and Xi Ping said hadn''t resonated with him. He felt he was about at the level of half a bucket with card making, and that was all due to the mysterious card and that magical Token Theory. As far as being a card artisan, no more needed to be said. He hadn''t even completed the most basic course of study for being a card artisan. In front of Wei-ah, he would be overjoyed to last even half a minute. Could that be called powerful?


    Seeing Chen Mu''s expression, Bogner gave up trying to persuade him. As he saw it, Chen Mu was good at everything, but he lacked initiative, ambition, and aggression, which were all enough to be considered his weakness. But Bogner was just as clear that while his boss looked perfectly easygoing, he was very stubborn in the deepest recesses of his heart.


    Xi Ping was the same kind of old fox. Everything Bogner could see, he could see as well. The two had a tacit understanding between them as they looked helplessly at each other and shrugged.


    But the two of them also knew that in that world, nothing was ever perfect. If Chen Mu were truly ambitious and aggressive, they wouldn''t necessarily have wanted to go along with him. They had rolled with lots of types, had seen many things and people, and had worked under truly ambitious and ruthless types. They had never been better off than they were just then.


    The apparatus on Xi Ping''s wrist suddenly sounded out. Xi Ping took a look and smiled. "Just when you''re falling asleep, someone sends you a pillow. Here. This is intelligence sent from the Snowflake Card Artisan Team regarding the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. The intelligence says that apart from the Big Six, five organizations have the fungus, and seven might have it."


    "That many?" Chen Mu was clearly taken aback. At the outset, he had thought only those at the level of the Big Six would have it. He hadn''t expected all of the Big Six to have some and that there were still five more organizations, along with seven who might have it. Chen Mu ignored those seven.


    "A lot?" Bogner smiled coldly and shook his head. "Would you call that a lot? That''s in the entire federation! Those most distant wouldn''t really be practical. We should only lock on to a target in the Heavenly Drum Village District. Oh. After taking a look, apart from Moon Frost Island, only one organization has it in the Heavenly Drum Village District, along with one that might have it."


    "We''ll first put aside the one that might have it. Since even Mobley and his team can''t be certain, I don''t imagine we''ll find anything out," Xi Ping said.


    Chen Mu''s gaze fell onto that name, and he read it in a light voice. "The Great Uncle of Dongrui."


    "It looks like we''ll have to set ourselves in the direction of this Great Uncle''s aristocratic household. If we were to want it from Moon Frost Island, the probability of getting it would be about nil. But who is this Great Uncle of Dongrui? Why haven''t I heard of him?" Bogner was rubbing his chin.


    Xi Ping had never paid much attention to Bogner''s feelings, and he dropped the phrase, "What do you know besides women, anyhow?"


    Bogner was plenty thick-skinned. He laughed and said with a calm expression, "Don''t you think that is actually good? My whole body itches when you say such things."


    Xi Ping rolled his eyes, but his gaze quickly fell onto that name. "Dongrui must refer to the Dongrui District. It''s a little far away from us¡ªquite a bit farther than Thousand Lakes. ''Great Uncle'' is a surname, and it looks like we''ll have to look into which organization it really is. If they actually do have such fine things as the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, I imagine they must have quite a background."


    Seeing Xi Ping and Bogner both so worried about making plans for his well-being was heartwarming for Chen Mu. He thought about it and then said, "We can take our time with the investigation. Right! You still haven''t seen my newly designed card set. Let''s go take a look."


    Once he brought up the card set, Bogner suddenly got his spirits back and rushed to say, "Let''s go!" He was full of anticipation about the new card set; Chen Mu would bring them a pleasant surprise every time. Sue Lochiro wasn''t interested in the card demonstration and just went to rest. Those few days taking care of Chen Mu had utterly exhausted her. Xi Ping wasn''t so interested, either. He was more interested in that so-called Great Uncle of Dongrui, and he was itching to put an investigation into motion right away.


    That time, Chen Mu didn''t make just a single type of card for the card set but instead made several. During the battle with the Downstream Alliance, he had discovered weaknesses in the card set tactics. The card set tactics were plenty powerful, but they were lacking change and mobility, making it easy for the enemy to restrain them. So, when he made the new card set, Chen Mu designed quite a few types in order to enrich the card set tactics.


    There were three card artisans waiting in the training room who had gotten their orders earlier. They were card set card artisans who had survived and who were therefore familiar with the card set. Their perception had finally broken through the fourth level to enter the fifth ever since their persistent practice of the snow pit method. When the three of them found out they would be trying out the new card set that day, they were extremely excited.


    Chen Mu first took out three from a light green set of cards. Bogner handled them with a great deal of curiosity. "What kind of card is this?"


    As he was handing the three cards to the card artisans, Chen Mu was saying, "This is similar to the shuttle cards we previously used, though it has a lot better performance."


    The three card artisans fiddled with them for a while and quickly knew how to use them.


    Boom! There was a dull sound like the thud of a hammer.


    Bogner felt the shock in his heart, and it was unspeakably hard to take. The howling of that shuttle card was strangely low and completely different from before.


    "A damage value of 3,000!" When he saw that number, the sense of it having been hard to take disappeared without a trace for Bogner. He opened his eyes wide, pointing with indescribable joy at the number displayed above the target and saying incoherently, "My god, 3,000¡­ Am I hallucinating? My god! I''ll go nuts!"


    A middle-aged man was seen dancing around in the training room, his face contorted and crazed.


    The number also exceeded the three card artisans'' expectations, and they looked at the cards in their hands fanatically. No card artisan wouldn''t be thrilled by a card with a high lethality! A damage value of 3,000 was enough to make it worthy to be called a truly sharp and powerful weapon of attack. Any four-star energy cloak would be as fragile as paper facing its attack. Even an ordinary five-star energy cloak would be feeble in front of it.


    "I was able to accomplish some optimization of the composition of the energy shuttles it emits. The new energy bodies are slightly pointed in front and have spiral grooves along their surface, so they will spin during flight to increase their stability. That also increases their speed to three times faster than the previous shuttle card. I also carried out some optimization of the scanning card among the two accompanying cards in the set. Where it was previously locking in by triangulation, I''ve increased it to a duplex triangulation to increase the accuracy. Within a range of 10,000 meters, it can carry out highly accurate long-range attacks." Chen Mu was chattering away. When talking about cards, his expression would always be full of self-confidence. But he was a little apologetic when he said, "Still, because I was in pursuit of power, I couldn''t increase its firing frequency. It actually went down quite a bit, limiting its scope somewhat."


    Bogner keenly realized how to deploy that card in the first instant. That kind of card would be most suited for sniper attacks against aces in the enemy camp, when it could accurately lock on with its super high-powered attack. Wasn''t that what it was made for? He could imagine during the chaos of battle how a shuttle would come suddenly flying, easily penetrating the energy cloak, and how the adversary''s aces would fall headlong from the sky.


    Ho, ho! That was just too wonderful!


    As for the slower firing frequency, there was nothing they could do about that. Otherwise, no one else would have a way to survive! As Bogner saw things, its extremely long range made up for its weakness with firing frequency to a certain degree. Besides, its long range would mean they could choose the best point of ambush within a wide scope.


    His excitement unabated, Chen Mu brought out two more cards that were covered in a fiery red pattern.


    A two-card set? Bogner was suddenly caught up in his curiosity. Up until then, what Chen Mu made had all been at the scale of three-card sets. That was his first time seeing a card set containing only two cards.

 359 The New Card Set II

    "What card set it this?" Bogner asked with a lot of curiosity.


    "I haven''t come up with a name for it." As usual, Chen Mu''s response was consistent with his style. He then gave the two cards to two among the three card artisans, giving them a few instructions in a low voice.


    The two understood, and they ran through them for a few minutes before giving the signal that they could begin. Bogner''s spirits were quickly aroused. He was quite curious about what mysteries those two fiery red cards would reveal.


    The two card artisans positioned themselves with one in front and one behind. The one in front gave out a shout, and with no visible move, there were suddenly countless thumb-sized flames floating in the air. The flames were completely different from ordinary flames, having a layer of deep blue inside them, while the outer layer was a vibrant red. Each ball of flame floated in midair, jumping around in an orderly fashion. From a distance, they looked so dense there seemed to be no fewer than several thousand, like a scary swarm of intersecting red and blue balls.


    Bogner looked shocked. He had been about to open his mouth when he then saw the card artisan in front of him stretch out his right hand and lightly push it forward.


    Weng!


    Thousands of streams of alternating red and blue afterglow were as dense as rain, blanketing the earth and sky as they went roaring toward the target. Those several thousand balls of fire covered a huge area, enshrouding all the targets in the training space.


    The popping was incessant.


    The alternating blue and red glowing streams penetrated the targets easily. The most hair-raising thing was that when the fiery balls fell to the ground, they weren''t extinguished but kept on burning.


    In an instant, the training space was filled with the acrid smell of smoke. Chen Mu immediately turned on the air circulation system, and the smoky smell disappeared after a few minutes. Looking back at the floor of the training space, it was covered with thumb-sized pits. The targets had been blown into sieves.


    Bogner looked dazed.


    Chen Mu introduced the card. "The inspiration for this card came from Fiery Raining Sand and Faya''s card appliance. I think we really need to be able to attack in a range, and we also need force suppression, so I designed this card. It can put out 1,024 little balls of fire at the same time, which can be used for force suppression with pretty good results. In order to increase the power of the fireballs, I redesigned the energy composition. The lethal power of the flames in the new composition isn''t great, but it does have one special quality, which is that it can powerfully extract energy for a source of combustion. If it were to fall onto our adversary''s energy cloaks, it would pump up all the energy in its vicinity and turn it into its own source of combustion. It would then expand in volume to a certain extent, which would thin the local area of the adversary''s energy cloak, thus speeding up its penetration of the energy cloak."


    "That¡­ So powerful?" Bogner asked with a trembling voice as he swallowed hard.


    "It''s pretty good." Chen Mu didn''t even seem to notice as he continued the introduction with his usual expression. "Since it forms an attack over a range, it doesn''t have too many demands for accuracy, so I designed them all to be used by two-man groups. We can increase the flexibility of each small group that way. But the card set''s weakness is also obvious. There''s only one¡ªit''s very energy-intensive. I tried it with a three-star power card, and it would only allow a single shot at full power. With a four-star power card, it could fire off four rounds. We won''t even consider a five-star power card for the time being."


    Bogner finally recovered some of his cool. He had just been scared to death by that card. The more than 1,000 balls of fire it would shoot out could blanket a large range. What if it were emitted by 100 teams? That would be 100,000 balls of fire covering a rather massive scope.


    Such a large scope of fire had always been the bane of card artisans who were good at dodging, but it had never been much use for those who were good at defense. Although a range of attack could cover a large scope, the individual firepower wasn''t enough to penetrate the card artisans'' defensive cloaks.


    However, if it was really the way the boss said it was, those fiery balls could abruptly change that situation to become the true nemesis of energy cloaks!


    But when Chen Mu told of the card''s weakness, Bogner breathed a sigh of relief. If such a powerful card were to have no weaknesses, he would have been gripped with fear. After his sigh of relief, though, his heart abruptly contracted again. A three-star power card only giving it a single shot would mean the card artisans would have to pair it with a four-star power card during a battle! That was a shocking rate of consumption! If you were to add to that the normal training consumption¡­


    No matter how much firepower there was each time it was shot off, it was simply shooting off Oudi! A single four-star power card was 150,000 Oudi and would only make four shots. That was to say it would shoot off upward of 20,000 units of power. Converting that to Oudi, every time they were fired, it would be equivalent to 37,500 Oudi. If that wasn''t shooting off Oudi, what was?


    Thinking it over, if there were 100 small groups in a battle, every volley would be 3.75 million Oudi! Ten volleys would then be 37.5 million Oudi! For training, if a group of card artisans were to shoot ten times per day, it would come out to¡­


    Bogner kept desperately swallowing as he counted on his fingers, his scalp having gone numb. He couldn''t hide the sneer on his face. Nothing was perfect those days, after all. Regardless, that card set''s power gave them all a rush of excitement, and Bogner could only say it was awe-inspiring. "It''s a great card, after all! Why don''t I name this one, Boss?"


    "Oh, all right," Chen Mu said indifferently.


    The set of cards was finally named the Oudi Burner, which profoundly expressed Bogner''s intense regret about the card. It already gave him a headache, and he was afraid that old thief Xi Ping was certainly going to be fighting him for his life!


    Still, Chen Mu wasn''t finished with his show, and he brought out another set of cards. They were silvery-gray and had a complex, tangled pattern on their surface, which was rather eye-catching.


    By that time, Bogner was feeling pretty conflicted. He was both scared and enraptured. While he hoped Chen Mu could pull out even stronger cards, he was also afraid he was going to pull out another money-burning card like the Oudi Burner.


    However, Chen Mu wasn''t paying much attention to Bogner''s psychology, his two demonstrations having been rather thoroughly inspired and passionate. He was full of a sense of accomplishment looking at how outstanding those cards were¡ªcards he had both designed and made. For any technician, such an achievement in the field of technology was its own greatest reward.


    He then said enthusiastically, "This set of cards is in imitation of the Field of Snowflakes that Xiaobo grabbed last time, though I''ve made a lot of changes. This set requires three card artisans to use it, though it is simple to use. It can establish a belt of delay 15 meters in diameter. That belt of delay has no other use besides defense. Its mechanism is different from an energy cloak. Within the belt, the flow of time becomes utterly slow. Even that card set I just demonstrated, the, um, Oudi Burner, would have no way to break through it. This set is called the Ring of Sluggishness. It can provide an excellent defense for our team members, though it does have shortcomings. Once the delay belt is opened, those three card artisans can''t move, so it can only be used in positional warfare."


    Bogner''s eyes lit up, already pondering how to use the Ring of Sluggishness. Even though its shortcomings were perfectly obvious, he still thought it could play out huge value if used properly.


    "Oh." Chen Mu pulled out yet another set of purple cards. "There''s nothing much to say about this one. It''s about the same as the folding Yanbo card but with a little more power. It also requires three people to use. Mmmm, I had been thinking of using it against Faya''s bothersome shuttle cars, but you''ll have to see for yourselves how that would be done."


    Chen Mu said nothing more. He believed Bogner had more expertise and authority in that regard.


    After introducing the cards, Chen Mu breathed a sigh of relief. Ru Qiu had already finished sorting through the cards he''d made, and they totaled more than 2,700, which filled Chen Mu''s heart with pride! Then, for the first time, he determined the name of that card set, calling it the Whorled Sniper Shuttle.


    Bogner had been in a state of trance across several days. The cards Chen Mu had made shocked him as never before, making his heart itch unbearably but also presenting him with a huge challenge. The entirely new cards meant an entirely new battle style. Chen Mu had made quite a few different kinds that time, both in the cards'' distribution and the tactics that went along with them. Then, there was the matter of how to train with them and so forth. Even Jiang Liang remained sealed up with Bogner during that time as they carefully explored the issues.


    Having solved the issue of cards for his subordinates, Chen Mu felt a lot of relief. Still, he had to consider his own cards. In the midst of the previous battle, his apparatus had been blown apart. The folding Yanbo card, the tailless shuttle card, and the big mudfish card had been inside it and were all destroyed. He would have to make entirely new cards.


    But what kinds of cards should he make? A jet stream card was essential, and he couldn''t go without the powerful directional change function of the big mudfish card. By then, he had had a first glimpse of mid-level Token Theory, and he could already advance deeper layers of optimization for the Big Mudfish. He believed that after such optimization, it would have even more powerful capabilities.


    Apart from that, he had to give a good deal of consideration to the two other cards.


    He first had to match his battle style. A close-combat card should be a card that could be used when fighting almost in touch. It wouldn''t need much power, but the energy fluctuations would certainly have to be as small as possible. That would be the most crucial aspect. In that way, he could bring his cardless sect moves into play to the greatest extent.


    He needed a remote card just the same. With pure close combat, once he was discovered, it would be easy for him to sink into a passive state. With no remote attack moves, he would always be subject to others. A remote card for him required high firepower, high accuracy, and low energy fluctuations. Even if the firing frequency was a little low, that would still be acceptable.


    Chen Mu suddenly found that his own attack style tended in two extremes. But he still rather liked the kind of tactical variability of the sectional succession card. That wasn''t the style he was best at, though. Moreover, the Sectional Succession was rather eye-catching; if someone in the know where to pay attention to him using it, that would be disastrous for him.


    Chen Mu fell into deep thought.

 360 The New Card Set III

    Chen Mu didn''t spend much thought on the green thread inside his body¡ªnot because he was lazy but because it did no good to think too much about it. Although both Bogner and Xi Ping were very much concerned, he himself wasn''t holding out much hope. He figured the so-called Tai-shu "Great Uncle" family of Dongrui was likely to be a powerful aristocratic type, which he saw as out of reach.


    And, the green thread hadn''t just been in his body for one or two days. Compared to the beginning, his dread of it had lessened quite a bit. He would have to do what he had to do. Just then, he was putting all the energy he had into those three cards of his. He had used up a lot of thought on those card sets, even going so far as to use some of the mid-level Token Theory he had only just learned. Of course, there were quite a few shaky places at the outset, but after making several thousand cards, he had gained a much deeper understanding of mid-level Token Theory.


    Chen Mu wasn''t at all stingy with the things that had saved his own life, but he would always find some way to get whatever he could think of and whatever good materials he could for his own work. He had a arranged a large quantity of rare materials in front of him, but he didn''t immediately do anything. Although he had already decided the larger aspects of the cards, it was still worth thoroughly pondering how to design a completely new battle card.


    Chen Mu once again shut himself into the lab.


    Having just gotten so many cards, Bogner had a lot of work to do. He was so busy he could never finish it all. Xi Ping kept secret every day, and nobody knew what he was doing.


    Recently, Bogner was truly both happy and in pain. None of the card sets Chen Mu had made were anything but fine. Whether it was the Whorled Sniper Shuttle, the Oudi Burner, the Ring of Sluggishness, or the Folding Explosion, they all had distinctive characteristics. In the same way, however, they all had distinctive shortcomings. As a result, how to put them together and how to form tactics was all quite painstaking work.


    Up against Bogner''s meticulous thinking, Chen Mu''s introduction of those cards would only be considered general, leaving plenty of places perfectly fuzzy. In order to clearly hit on the cards'' capabilities, he would have had to try them himself.


    The Whorled Sniper Shuttle''s power was exceptionally strong, and its accuracy was so high it was eye-popping. But, in the same way, it made high demands on the two who fired it. Bogner and Jiang Liang discussed it at length and decided that in order to deploy the Whorled Sniper Shuttle and bring its full power into play, the ones who fired it would specifically have to increase the training courses in their skills on locking in.


    The Oudi Burner was another card giving Bogner headaches. There was nothing Bogner wasn''t satisfied with regarding its capabilities. Its powerful lethality toward energy cloaks made him still more satisfied. But he would still have to slow down with the training for the time being. The cost of using it was just too high!


    The capabilities of the Ring of Sluggishness had already made his eyes light up, but in the same way, he had found an extremely fatal loophole! It was only effective against energy bodies, and it was useless toward real bodies. After asking Chen Mu, he found out that the essence of the Ring of Sluggishness was forming an "energy gentling" zone, which would naturally only be effective with energy bodies.


    Once hit by a cardless sect, the Ring of Sluggishness wouldn''t be the least bit effective. As he thought about it, though, Bogner was somewhat relieved. The issue of the cardless sects was rather thorny for any contemporary troop of card artisans. Still, not being able to move once it was used did greatly limit its scope for deployment. Regardless, its excellent defensive capabilities against energy bodies made Bogner excited.


    The Folding Exploder was the card set that imitated the folding Yanbo card. Its specialty was an explosive attack with huge power. Its firing frequency and accuracy were both quite good, though it wouldn''t be considered top-notch overall. What most filled Bogner with joy was that the Folding Exploder''s energy bodies were the same kind of fiery red. If they were mixed in with the Oudi Burner, it would be quite deceptive. The enemy wouldn''t detect them for a moment, so they would surely take a huge loss.


    Looking over the sets of cards, not one wouldn''t be considered fine goods and a leader among cards for its capabilities! But Bogner had discovered an important issue. The four card sets were all battle-style sets, but none could become a conventional attack card! In other words, the cards were most suited for use in a large-scale battle¡ªthe more organized, the more shocking the power! The four card sets were too extreme with none of them suited to a battle between two card artisans.


    Bogner could only smile bitterly about that. The more than 2,000 cards had taken Chen Mu three months to finish making, and Bogner well knew the boss didn''t have time to make more cards on such a large scale. He knew Xi Ping had been busy with something those last few days. Once he had some results, they would have to turn their attention toward how to help the boss get the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus.


    It looked like they would have to find some way themselves to solve the issue of generic cards. After pondering it for a long time and discussing it with Jiang Liang, they finally decided each card artisan would be allocated a conventional four-star card, though that still required Xi Ping to go out and buy them. More than 2,000 four-star cards would also represent a terrifying expenditure.


    Chen Mu made his own cards quickly, only spending three days to finish them. After making cards continually for three months, the practical experience had worn him out, but it also rather enriched him and gave him quite a bit of inspiration.


    Chen Mu optimized the Big Mudfish according to his new designs, which greatly increased its performance. It would accompany Chen Mu''s physical abilities to become still more weirdly erratic, even incorporating some of the style of the demonic woman. Chen Mu had also compressed the new big mudfish card''s energy fluctuations to the extreme, so even he himself would have a hard time perceiving them unless he had been warned ahead of time.


    The hundred changes card would become Chen Mu''s principal move from then on. Its creativity derived from a card Chen Mu had repaired himself when he was in Eastern Shang-Wei City. That was the hundred changes cloaking card the gentle Madam Ning''s father had once used. The hundred changes cloaking card was an energy cloak card, but it could change the shape of the energy cloak in irregular ways. For instance, it could turn it into a shuttle shape to reduce its flight resistance or could form into a conical shape to attack the enemy. It had been the first combined offensive and defensive card Chen Mu had seen.


    That card of Chen Mu''s and the hundred changes cloaking card had no essential differences except that his was more clever. It could form a thin layer of energy that would be hard to see with the naked eye. But the thin layer shouldn''t be looked down upon, as it had rather powerful defensive capabilities! Without using a powerful weapon such as the Whorled Sniper Shuttle, no ordinary energy body would have a way to penetrate that layer.


    The energy layer had another capability. It could constantly change color, so Chen Mu could blend in with his environment, greatly increasing his concealment.


    In the training space, Chen Mu was in the midst of familiarizing himself with the Hundred Changes. A thin, almost indiscernible wavy blade suddenly appeared on the edge of his palm. Chen Mu carefully tried controlling it with his perception, and two sharp cones about seven or eight centimeters long suddenly appeared on his shoulder. Those two energy cones were colorless and transparent; they would chill the heart like the fangs of a monster.


    Then, with a glow too slight to notice, a sharp point was oscillating out from the tip of his toe. Chen Mu had become like a monster covered with all sorts of weapons. By using the Hundred Changes, every part of his body could turn into a lethal weapon. In that way, he could deploy his powerful cardless-sect-style body to the greatest extent.


    He would have the remote-attack type of card he had made for himself in reserve. It was a simplified version of the Whorled Sniper Shuttle he called the Patterned Shuttle. Its destructive value was a little less than that of the Whorled Sniper Shuttle, and it was much more difficult to control. It was a good thing Chen Mu had stunning perceptual acuity and was good at the fine control of perception, which was perfectly suited to that sort of card.


    The new cards were tailor-made for Chen Mu, and all three had the same peculiarity, which was that the energy fluctuations were extremely small. That allowed Chen Mu to fill his means of attack with concealment and suddenness. Against card artisans who were used to judging their adversary''s moves by way of their perception, that was the style they least wanted to encounter.


    His perception had recently made a qualitative leap, and his control had gotten a step stronger. He gradually got used to the Hundred Changes.


    Even so, his overall power had abruptly increased. When he was doing resistance training with Wei-ah, he could hold out ten seconds longer than before. That really encouraged him. The most miserable was Xiaobo. His perception had just broken through to the sixth level. Once, when he was a little over-eager, he thought he would show off in front of Chen Mu, which only resulted in Chen Mu beating him to a pulp.


    Seeing as Chen Mu could sail along as he wished with the unparalleled directional changes of the Big Mudfish, be impossible to defend against with his bizarre Hundred Changes, and use his lethal remote-attack Patterned Shuttle, Xiaobo really suffered.


    Before Chen Mu had even gotten used to those three cards, Xi Ping finally had some news.


    In the meeting room, Chen Mu, Bogner, and Xi Ping were discussing the recent intelligence.


    Xi Ping said with a serious expression, "I did some investigation and finally found where the Tai-shus of Dongrui came from. They are an ancient clan said to be of the same era as the Luo Household of Thousand Lakes, both seeming to have the same origins. But in the information I uncovered, there was no intelligence to show that the Tai-shus of Dongrui have any gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus."


    Bogner said ponderously, "Judging by Mobley''s character, he doesn''t seem likely to be making this up. Since he is so insistent that they have it, it couldn''t just be an empty rumor. Otherwise, he certainly would have listed it among those powers that only might have it."


    "Mmmm," Xi Ping said in agreement. "Our intelligence sources are naturally quite lacking compared to those of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team. Inconsistencies would be likely. I also trust their intelligence. Anyway, judging from the intelligence we have gathered up until now, I feel we have an opportunity!"


    "Why do you say that?" Bogner suddenly got some spirit, and even Chen Mu pricked up his ears. Although he wasn''t holding out much hope, hearing Xi Ping talk about an opportunity naturally excited him.


    In his mind, Xi Ping and Bogner both had good judgment and were seldom mistaken.

 361 A Plan of Action

    "The Tai-shus of Dongrui are certainly an ancient clan. About 80 years ago, however, they started a substantial decline in all regards, which reached its bottom about 30 years ago. The current master, Tai-shu Yong, took over ten years ago. At that point, the decline of the House of Tai-shu stopped and showed signs of a looming recovery. But restoring its former glory wasn''t something they could achieve in a short time for such a large clan as the Tai-shus. No matter what they might do, the House of Tai-shu had been reduced to a second-tier organization. That is just plain fact. So, I feel like we might just have an opportunity." Smiling, Xi Ping said, "If it were a big monster like Moon Frost Island, we wouldn''t have even have half a chance."


    "Ha ha!" Bogner was rubbing his hands excitedly, though he maintained a certain amount of caution. "We shouldn''t be careless, however. As the saying goes, a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse. With its hundreds of years as foundation, this House of Tai-shu shouldn''t be looked down upon despite its decline."


    "Mmmm," Xi Ping said in agreement. "The House of Tai-shu has a long history, and it has pretty good relations with all the other old houses and even with Moon Frost Island. It''s still deeply rooted in the Dongrui District. The transformation of the House of Tai-shu is principally reflected in its economics. Most of their card artisans are now unknown except for one pretty famous one called Kang Nali.


    Chen Mu and Bogner were listening closely. Xi Ping had clearly expended a lot of energy investigating the House of Tai-shu.


    "Kang Nali has achieved level seven with his perceptual strength. He has a hot temper and a frank nature. He formed an enmity with a large power when he was young. Tai-shu Yong succeeded in helping him to defuse the enmity, and he then subdued the ace under himself."


    Seventh-level perceptual strength! Chen Mu was stunned. No wonder he was called an ace. Not even Mobley had gotten to level seven as that Kang Nali had. He would have immense power. Chen Mu had never sparred with a card artisan with level-seven perception, but he knew the further behind one fell with perception, the harder it would be. The time required to move from the sixth level to the seventh was far beyond that required to move between the fifth and sixth.


    People in the federation with perception at the seventh level were easily listed. But he didn''t really know how powerful Tang Hanpei''s, Jiao Si''s, and such top aces'' perceptual level was in the end. He then suddenly thought of Qing Qing from the Star Academy. He wondered what kind of powerful gal she must have been to scare even the demonic woman.


    Of course, perceptual strength didn''t count for everything. For example, Xiaobo''s perceptual strength had only just broken through level six, but if he were to encounter an ordinary card artisan with level-six perception, that card artisan would almost certainly be defeated. Oddly enough, his weakest link was the strength of his perception.


    Xiaobo''s precise control of perception was so refined that it made chills go down one''s spine. His outstanding battle awareness and his incomparably rich experience¡ªnot to mention the Wheel from the hands of Chen Mu himself¡ªwere all things that made him powerful.


    "The Dongrui District is too far away from us, and I haven''t been able to find out that much. Moreover, the House of Tai-shu has been very low-key these past few years, and there hasn''t been much news of them in any regard. But we don''t seem to have any other choice," Xi Ping said with a smile.


    No matter how many mysteries there were in the House of Tai-shu, they still represented a lot more opportunity than Moon Frost Island. The Big Six could only render a person hopeless by their very existence.


    Xi Ping''s expression turned straight as he continued his analysis. "The finances of the House of Tai-shu have been recovering these past few years. Anyhow, a family like that with such deep heritage and hundreds of years of legacy isn''t something an ordinary family could compare with. Things have gotten so chaotic and the situation so precarious these days; regardless of whether the House of Tai-shu would be acting to protect themselves or for any other reason, they will still need to increase their battle power."


    "Right." Bogner was rubbing his stubble as though he had realized something.


    "That''s our opportunity." Xi Ping was really looking like a wily old fox now, squinting his eyes. "We can''t use force. Even though the House of Tai-shu is now only a second-rate organization, they''re still a lot more powerful than we are. They are looking for ways to recruit card artisans right about now, so we might as well take advantage of that to infiltrate the House of Tai-shu."


    "Heh heh." Bogner sneered and said, "I like that. We''d only have to infiltrate to pull it off. We might as well just take the stuff or kidnap someone. I''m good at both of those!"


    Chen Mu broke into a sweat.


    As though he hadn''t been listening to anything Bogner said, Xi Ping continued talking. "Ransoming would be the best way. The Snowflake Card Artisan Team already knows we have the notion to get the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. Once that leaks out, we should expect the ire of the House of Tai-shu. That would mean we would have to abandon our base at this ravine again."


    Bogner immediately shut his mouth. It was the result of everyone''s hard work that the ravine had been developed to where it then was. No one would be willing to just abandon it like that.


    "We don''t need many to go this time. Numbers wouldn''t do us any good. The boss and Wei-ah should go together, with the boss out in the open and Wei-ah staying hidden. So long as Wei-ah is there, we won''t have to worry about your safety, Boss. After the boss finds some way to infiltrate the House of Tai-shu and earns their trust, he could find out some specifics about the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. Then, we''d discuss what he should do," Xi Ping said thoughtfully.


    They had too little useful information just then. Even with such shrewd old hands as Xi Ping and Bogner, they still didn''t have too many options and would just have to figure things out as they went along.


    "Mmmm." Chen Mu nodded to show he understood. Having heard what Xi Ping had to say, he also understood it was his only chance. He considered whether he should ask Bogner for some advice after a while, given his knowledge of stealing and kidnapping.


    "Boss!" Bogner''s gaze was burning into Chen Mu. Chen Mu had been keeping up his ever-calm look, as though what they were talking about had nothing to do with him.


    "What?" Chen Mu was waiting for what Bogner had to say.


    After pondering, Bogner finally said, "You''re too low-key, Boss. You''re going to have to change your style this time."


    "Too low-key?" Chen Mu didn''t quite understand.


    "Right. Too low-key!" Xi Ping added. "Of course, nothing need be said about the boss''s power, but with no fame, it''s not good for this plan of ours. The better known you are, the more importance people will place on you, and the easier it will be to impress people. Think about it, Boss. If president Jiao Si were to show up in Dongrui, the whole region would probably be stirred up. If you had the fame of Tang Hanpei, then once you opened your mouth, the House of Tai-shu would immediately be groveling to put the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus into your hands!"


    "What Xi Ping is saying is so right!" Bogner spoke from his heart. "Being famous is a lot different from being unknown. Everyone is common, and you and I are no exception. If you break out with a little fame, you won''t even have to open your mouth before the House of Tai-shu will take the initiative to solicit you. If you remain unknown, nobody''s going to pay attention to you."


    It wasn''t as though Chen Mu knew nothing about the ways of the world, but he didn''t normally think about such things. With the two of them now pushing the same point, he finally got it.


    "So, how am I going to get famous?" Chen Mu asked directly.


    "Oh, that''s a good question." Bogner was tapping his fingers, looking very expert. Putting on a serious act, he said, "For any other person, getting famous would be a pretty difficult thing. But for someone as stunning as you, Boss, it really would be nothing but simple. If you just show your hand, I guarantee people will be crowing your name right away¡­"


    "I need specifics!" Chen Mu cut Bogner off.


    Bogner sneered, and his gaze flickered like a wolf staring at its prey. "Very simple. The boss only has to defeat a few so-called famous card artisans. That would be enough. You have to be arrogant, for sure! If anyone dares to provoke you, you just have to take him down. Heh heh, to be so young with such power, it would be normal to have something of a hot temper."


    Chen Mu''s gaze turned to Xi Ping, who nodded. "This would certainly be the simplest way."


    Chen Mu suddenly thought of an issue. "What if we attract the attention of Tang Hanpei and those guys?"


    That name was certainly a dark cloud over everyone''s head, with his fiery methods and decisive killings such that no one could ever know what he was thinking. How could anyone not be afraid of such a person?


    "It would be better if you could change your appearance, Boss. Ask Sue Lochiro if she can do something about it," Xi Ping muttered.


    They kept up the discussion for a while and resolved a lot of details. It was a large-scale plan, and Chen Mu would have to master it as the situation developed. Even though he had no experience with such things, he would have to harden himself since it was his only chance.


    After making the decision, Chen Mu took himself back into the lab, where he needed to do a great deal of preparation.


    Only a few people knew about it when Chen Mu and Wei-ah left the base. The two of them had both entirely changed their appearances. No one knew what Sue Lochiro was thinking when she made Chen Mu into an ugly-looking youth. Wei-ah, on the other hand, looked unusually handsome, which went along with his chill-to-the-bone temperament that could entrance who knew how many women. It all left Bogner and Xi Ping endlessly laughing.


    It was a long way from the Pascal District to the Dongrui District, requiring three months'' travel. Chen Mu knew how urgent the action was, but he wasn''t in any hurry. Apart from their travel time each day, he spent all of his time doing resistance training with Wei-ah.


    According to the plan Xi Ping and Bogner had devised, he would have to quickly familiarize himself with the Hundred Changes. If he didn''t become completely familiar with that card, the challenges to come would be meaningless.


    A series of snow shuttle vessels 15 meters off the ground whistled along. Unlike other districts, since the Heavenly Drum Village District was basically covered in ice, long-distance flights were dependent on the snow shuttle vessels instead of long-distance shuttle trains.


    Sitting in the soft seat, Chen Mu fell into something of a daze. The training with Wei-ah the night before had worn him out, making the time along the road his chance to rest.


    The vessel suddenly stopped, and the dazed Chen Mu opened his sleepy eyes.

 362 The Ambush

    He didn''t know how long the snow shuttle vessel had been stopped, but the passengers had become a little restless, quite a few of them pressing their faces against the windows.


    Chen Mu was a passenger on a medium-sized snow shuttle vessel, which could hold more than 100 people. On that sort of branch route, a mid-sized vessel was the mainstream transport vehicle. The large-scale snow shuttle vessels, which could hold more than 500, would only be seen on the long-distance passenger routes.


    The large snow shuttle vessels had good defensive strength and were exceptionally comfortable, though their price was extremely high. But that wasn''t why Chen Mu had made his choice. The actual reason was that passengers on the large, luxurious snow shuttle vessels had to go through strict procedures. Given Chen Mu''s current identity in the category of a typical unknown, he wouldn''t have made it through the interrogation.


    The defensive strength allocated to a mid-sized snow shuttle vessel wasn''t very powerful, with about ten card artisans standing guard. They had to be prepared for wild beasts, but there would seldom be card artisan teams intending to attack a snow shuttle vessel. Although the power of each snow shuttle vessel wasn''t that strong, the companies who would dare to be involved in passenger transport were all quite powerful.


    To be so bold as to hijack a snow shuttle vessel would mean incurring the revenge of those passenger transport companies! On that point, all the passenger transport companies stood surprisingly untied. If any company''s snow shuttle vessels were hijacked, the other companies would spare no effort to come to their aid.


    Of course, in that world, there was never a lack of desperados. Fortunately, however, there wasn''t that much booty to be had from a snow shuttle vessel, so there weren''t many card artisans interested in them. Things would seldom happen on such a branch route, and the one they were on was quite safe.


    Chen Mu had taken note when he boarded that the card artisans on the vessel were rather strong. They all looked highly capable and perfectly buff. With the protection of those ten card artisans, there would be nothing to worry about regarding safety along the way.


    In order to conceal his existence, Wei-ah didn''t ride the same snow shuttle vessel, and he followed a different route. The two would come together again at the city of Zargan. Chen Mu was struggling with the feeling the soreness from Wei-ah''s ruthless dusting up from the night before. The guy didn''t know any mercy when he made his moves! Chen Mu muttered something silently to himself as his gaze fell deliberately onto his wrist.


    There was a green shape there.


    It was an utterly enchanting, five-petaled green flower that had suddenly appeared over the past few days with no warning. No one could tell what kind of flower it really was. Later, when Sue Lochiro had examined it with her instruments, he found out it was a ghost left by the green thread in his body.


    The green flower gave Chen Mu no other feelings. The condition of his body was the same as it had been, though the change still gave him a vaguely bad feeling. The green thread that had been intertwined inside his body all along hadn''t moved. So, for it to suddenly come out in such a weird green flower would inevitably feel chilling.


    The green flower was like a tattoo, even seeming beautiful and with a little of the demonic woman''s style. Since it came from her, no matter what it was, it had to feel strange given her skills.


    The snow shuttle vessel''s PA suddenly sounded out. "We are sorry to inform our passengers that we have encountered a flock of bright-eyed raptors. We will probably be delayed for ten minutes. We would like to express our deepest apologies to each of you. The card artisans on the vessel will resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We appreciate your understanding. Thank you."


    That calmed all the travelers. Bright-eyed raptors were a dangerous, carnivorous type of wild beast. They were about as tall as an adult person and could do some low-altitude gliding for a short distance. By comparison with that poor flying ability, they could run outstandingly fast. They had sharp claws and beaks, though those weren''t their most lethal weapons.


    A tentacle the thickness of a thumb grew from the tip of the bright-eyed raptor''s head, at the end of which was a red eye. That was its most dangerous weapon. It could emit fiery red energy beams, which could penetrate an ordinary three-star energy cloak. The tentacles were quite lively and could aim in any direction. Not only that, but the red eye also had detection capabilities.


    There were generally three to five of them in a flock, the numbers being small. For the card artisans on the vessel, they wouldn''t take much work to get rid of.


    The passengers clearly understood that, so they all calmed down. There was a card play being shown on the vessel to pass the time for the passengers. It made Chen Mu think of the time he had made "Chance Encounter" and "The Legend of Master Shi" with Copper.


    "The Legend of Master Shi" was amazingly in the number-one slot among the most anticipated card plays on the charts, which really stunned Chen Mu. He had never thought "The Legend of Master Shi" would actually have spread to the Heavenly Drum Village District. The news that followed, however, left him not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Quite a few of the large card play companies had posted a reward, hoping to find "Wood-Cop," the makers of "The Legend of Master Shi." The awards went as high as 1.5 billion.


    It looked like if he wanted to make card plays later on, he wouldn''t have to worry about starving. Chen Mu was half pleased and half grieving. He could still see it after a number of years had gone by, which had to cause him some complicated feelings. There were even several sequels to "The Legend of Master Shi" on the market that were all made by some card play lovers themselves. Chen Mu was dazzled to see them.


    After ten minutes, when the snow shuttle vessel still hadn''t shown any signs of moving, the passengers were becoming a little restive. If it was only a few bright-eyed raptors, it should have been taken care of long since. Why had they still not moved?


    Chen Mu suddenly felt something, and he raised his head to look out the window. He felt a huge energy fluctuation not far away!


    It was too powerful! There was no lack of card artisans on the vessel, and all of their faces shifted. Some quick-witted guys rushed to go out the hatch. Such powerful energy fluctuations were certainly not something the bright-eyed raptor could emit!


    Their reactions were quick. The defensive capability of the snow shuttle vessel itself was as weak as paper in front of card artisans and wild beasts, but it was like a metal cage for the passengers inside it.


    Through the plexiglass, Chen Mu caught a glimpse of several shooting streams flashing toward the hatch, and he knew those card artisans were doomed. The several streams indeed easily penetrated the metal hatch. That was followed by screams and the shooting of columns of blood from the card artisans who fell to the floor.


    By that time, everyone knew what was going on. Things turned immediately chaotic inside the snow shuttle vessel, with screaming and crying everywhere!


    Three card artisans came whooshing into the vessel with murderous looks on their faces. The lead card artisan had a stiff brush-cut and a cold look on his face. When he saw how chaotic the cabin was, he lifted his hand indifferently. Several streams flashed off from it, killing the few who were screaming the loudest.


    "Everyone, shut up!"


    His move was an immediate deterrent. With their faces drained of color, the passengers were looking with terror at the bodies lying in puddles of blood.


    "If anyone acts up¡­" His tone had a distinctly murderous note to it, and his eyes looked like daggers as they scanned over the cabin. Two card artisans were left inside the cabin, and another one went into the cab. The snow shuttle vessel then started to move again, but no one knew where it was going.


    Chen Mu looked like everyone else, curled up in his seat. He was smiling bitterly to himself about how he had squeezed his perception and his strength dry with the training the night before. He still hadn''t recovered¡ªespecially his perception, which had been nearly depleted.


    He was paying attention to the ten card artisans monitoring things from outside the vessel in addition to the two inside the cabin. Those guys certainly weren''t interested in the passengers inside the cabin. If they wanted to, they could have smashed the whole vessel to pieces without hesitating.


    Judging from their behavior, Chen Mu thought those card artisans certainly had something else in mind. If they had planned to kill people for their money, there would have been no one left alive in the vessel. Moreover, given the skills of the card artisans, benefits from robbing the passengers were certainly not what they had in mind.


    Without thinking too hard about what they actually had in mind, Chen Mu could still see clearly enough that the most urgent thing just then was to restore his strength and perception as fast as possible. He would be like a fish presented on a platter in his current state.


    Not knowing if it was because of the stimulus of danger, Chen Mu''s brain became strangely clear, and his heart calmed down. Without even knowing it, he had entered a unique state that was like sleeping without being asleep. His mind was utterly clear, and everything around him seemed to be completely contained by his observation. That time, nothing could stir up the slightest disturbance in his mind.


    His breathing naturally became drawn out, and his whole body''s muscular health, no matter how fine or how hard to control, also loosened up. His heartbeat slowed, and his blood flow turned sluggish. If anyone had been looking at him, they would probably have thought he was asleep.


    Fortunately, Chen Mu had his head buried in his arms. Otherwise, his strange look would have attracted attention. How could he sleep at such a time?


    The snow shuttle vessel deviated from the route and entered the forest to fly about another half hour. The forest became denser and denser, and the card artisans who had hijacked the vessel couldn''t help but show their own nervousness. They were careful to keep their looks serious and to stay on guard. The dangers of the forest would show up from time to time.


    The passengers were shaking in fear. They were only ordinary people who had never entered the forest. Even card artisans were afraid of the dangers of the forest. For ordinary people, it was absolutely forbidden.


    Many of the passengers looked as though they had lost hope. Even assuming the card artisans might let them free by then, not one of them would have dared to leave. Most of the people were silently praying that they wouldn''t encounter any wild beasts!


    They still had a chance to live in the hands of those card artisans. If they fell into the hands of the beasts, the only thing that could happen would be to become their next meal.


    The heavens always seemed to like playing jokes on people. The more one wanted something not to happen, the more likely it was to do just that.

 363 The Wavy Snow Bats

    The trees in the forest were extremely tall, and their trunks were so thick that it would take seven or eight people to join hands around them. The canopy went up from 20 meters off the ground. Every one of the trees was huge, leaving a lot of space between them where the ground was covered in a layer of snow. There was no visible undergrowth. For that reason, the snow shuttle vessel could move freely through the forest. To avoid colliding with any tree trunks, however, the shuttle couldn''t move very fast.


    Sunshine had no way to penetrate the thick foliage, so it was quite dark in the forest. The flickering shadows from the trees looked rather terrifying. The passengers on the vessel had long since clustered in a quaking ball of fear. Since they were afraid of offending those vicious card artisans, no one even dared to cry.


    The ten card artisans were carefully guarding all around the snow shuttle vessel, maintaining a state of high alert. It was hard for them to hide how exhausted they were. It had been difficult to get rid of the card artisans accompanying the vessel. Although they had cleverly used the bright-eyed raptors as their vanguard, the adversary''s rally on the verge of death had forced them to use a lot of their physical strength.


    In battles among card artisans, if you didn''t win, you died. No one would dare to be the least bit lax, even if they did have the upper hand.


    Xiu, xiu, xiu!


    There was a sudden, strange whistling sound like wind blowing through fine openings. It was approaching them at high speed. There was no need to shout a warning, as all of the card artisans halted and looked to be in a state of alert. The snow shuttle vessel also stopped, and the two card artisans aboard stood up nervously and went to the open hatch.


    "Look out! It''s wavy snow bats!" a card artisan shouted out in a somewhat terrified voice. The looks on the other card artisans shifted, and the glow of their energy cloaks brightened. They were playing out their energy cloaks'' capabilities to the extreme.


    Just as the shout faded, dozens of palm-sized white wavy blades came shooting from all directions in the forest toward the card artisans stopped in midair. The murderous, cold, knife-like blades were as fast as lightning and coming straight for them!


    Pu, pu, pu!


    Three card artisans'' energy cloaks were easily penetrated by the white wavy blades. The energy cloaks, which seemed so substantial, had been no use in the end. They were shattered with a ping into shards, forming a crystalline, smoky haze, within which three columns of blood shot from the chests of three people. The screams of misery echoed through the forest until finally being blown into silence by the cold wind.


    The rest of the card artisans were stunned, though no one dared to let themselves be distracted, as their own energy cloaks were shaking violently. If there were to be another attack wave, they could only escape their own cover to meet their own deaths.


    By then, the white wavy blades had dimmed quite a bit. Everyone could then see quite clearly that those white wavy blades were actually a cloud of white bats.


    Wavy snow bats were small and flat, with two wings that spread no more than the size of a person''s palm. They were as quick as lightning, coming and going like the wind. When they flew at high speed, they could form the surface of their bodies into flat-shaped, thin layers of energy. They were as sharp as a spear when squeezed into a high-speed attack. Wavy snow bats were the killers of the forest and liked sudden sneak attacks. Their prey would already be shot through by the time they were discovered!


    In the midst of that attack, the wavy snow bats clearly looked like they wanted to leave. They had never thought the beautiful energy cloaks would be as firm as they were, so they had been knocked dizzy when they hit them. That slowed their movements for a while.


    That batch of unknown card artisans had a lot of actual battle experience, but they had been attacked too suddenly. They never would have expected the wavy snow bats to be so terrifying. But it made them feel both surprised and angry when they saw their own comrades violently killed right in front of them. Seeing the bats'' signs of exhaustion, they made their moves.


    Each of those guys was extraordinarily ruthless. They well knew that if they didn''t take advantage of the wavy snow bats'' exhaustion, their chances of prevailing would be really low once the bats recovered the flashing speed they''d just displayed.


    Wavy blades, energy shuttles, energy balls¡­


    Any card artisan would detest such a speedy wild animal as the wavy snow bat. They would never be able to move so freely as the wavy snow bats did in the forest. Moreover, right in the middle of their attacks, they would immediately retreat far away. Such opportunistic attacks were vexing beyond endurance.


    Pa, pa, pa! They hit seven of the wavy snow bats, which exploded into several balls of bloody mist. The bats were typical of wild animals with great attack power but weak defenses. Their ability to defend themselves was quite deficient; once attacked, there was really nothing they could do.


    All colors and shapes of energy bodies were flying all over in a maelstrom. In order to avoid being left on edge again along the rest of their route, the card artisans hardened their hearts to wipe out all of the wavy snow bats. The let loose all of their firepower, with energy bodies cascading like crazy. Wood chips would fly when they hit the huge tree trunks, making an incredibly chaotic scene.


    Many more clouds of bloody mist appeared in the air, most of which were the wavy snow bats being annihilated by the energy bodies that filled the sky and covered the earth. However, three of them had succeeded in penetrating the energy cloaks. Those three had remained far less affected than the other bats because of their successful penetrations. They had maintained their lightning-fast speed.


    Seeming to know how hard it was going to be to safely escape such dense firepower, they once again demonstrated a stunning and chilling attack.


    The bursting tips of three white glowing beams were impossible to miss in the colorful net of fire. One of the white beams collided with a red beam and blew into a ball of blood with a pow. The other two white beams succeeded in penetrating through gaps in the net of fire, mercilessly shooting toward two card artisans in midair.


    Poof!


    The energy cloaks, which had just been heavily hit, couldn''t block the two fierce blows. There was another crisp shattering sound followed by two more mournful screams.


    The two wavy snow bats, whose glow was dimmed, were quickly blown up. But the two comrades who fell headlong from midair reminded everyone how electrifying that brief confrontation had been. The surviving card artisans were grateful. None of them could help but wonder whether they would have been able to block it if they had been hit.


    The lead card artisan looked bad. There had been no casualties during the hijacking of the snow shuttle vessel. Who would have thought that after such a successful hijacking, they would immediately lose five card artisans? Several of them had been with him for a long time! Looking around, there were now only eight of them left. Still, it made him feel a little safer.


    No matter what, they would have to hit it big that time. That was his resolute thought.


    * * *


    Chen Mu opened his bright, clear eyes with a fluid gaze.


    He had never thought he could have subconsciously learned deep tranquility when he was in his coma. That had actually given him a great way to restore his abilities! In a brief half hour, he''d lost any sign of his soreness and exhaustion. His whole body was unspeakably light and full of power. What made him still more surprised was that his perception had also been mostly restored. Although it hadn''t been fully restored, it was about 70 percent of normal.


    That wonderful deep serenity! If it weren''t for his being trapped by imminent danger, he would have been itching to immediately explore its mysteries.


    If I were to put the deep serenity to good use¡­


    Too bad he didn''t have the opportunity just then to research it. That cloud of petite, cute white bats had really surprised him. The dangers of the forests were truly endless, after all.


    But he immediately realized his best opportunity would be right then! Having just gone through a thrilling battle, the card artisans had been hit hard. They also took a hit to their martial spirit. They had just relaxed their uptight nerves, and they had also greatly depleted their power cards. Those were the perfect conditions for Chen Mu.


    Moreover, he had keenly taken note that the snow shuttle vessel wasn''t progressing in a straight line. Chen Mu had plenty of experience in the woods; to be so bold as to drive like that made it clear that the one driving was familiar with the forest. The actions of that gang of card artisans had obviously been premeditated.


    Chen Mu didn''t believe they would dare to provoke any large team with just those ten card artisans. There were quite possibly many more of their comrades up ahead. If that were true, he would really be stuck in a siege and wouldn''t be able to reverse the situation no matter how much ability he had.


    His chances of survival would be greatly enhanced if he were able to break out and escape into the forest. He wasn''t afraid of anyone in the forest except for Wei-ah. As for the other passengers on the vessel, he wasn''t stupid enough to think he could rescue them. He would be lucky to get himself out of there alone.


    His thinking was as lucid as could be, and he promptly decided to make his move. The passengers had long since been cowed to the ground, afraid of making any careless disturbance, so Chen Mu''s moves went unnoticed.


    Moving like a cat, Chen Mu silently lay in ambush to the side of the hatch. A nearly undetectable light green glow came from his fingers. Sure enough, the Hundred Changes was worthy of all the hard work he''d put into making it. Its minuscule energy fluctuations made Chen Mu perfectly satisfied.


    "Go inside the vessel, Ah Jiang, and take a good look around. If anyone is disobedient, don''t show them any mercy." The lead card artisan spoke lightly, but any card artisan used to his temperament would know he had been enraged by that cloud of wavy snow bats.


    A young card artisan of about 27 or 28 nodded and walked toward the hatch of the snow shuttle vessel.


    "Look alive!" the lead card artisan snapped, the heavy losses having enraged him. Although that battle had been brief, it had clearly been a huge blow to those card artisans. They couldn''t help but show some dispirited slack in their expressions, and the snapping of the lead card artisan obviously wasn''t very effective.


    The lead card artisan frowned slightly, but he knew it would be a waste of words to say anything more. Then, when the young card artisan had just entered the snow shuttle vessel, he waved his hand. "Let''s go."


    At that moment, however, things suddenly changed.

 364 The Breakthrough

    The card artisan who had just entered the snow shuttle vessel suddenly came flying out without uttering a word. In the blink of an eye, he went plunging headlong into all the card artisans before they could scatter. The card artisans were watching like some stupid monks who were out of touch with their brains as their comrade came inexplicably flying out from the vessel.


    "What happened, Ah Jiang?" one of the card artisans asked, looking weirded out. Ah Jiang had always been straightforward about taking orders. Could there be some enemy inside the vessel? Everyone''s gaze turned helplessly toward the snow shuttle vessel.


    The look on the lead card artisan shifted, and he shouted, "Look out!"


    A figure suddenly shot out from the young card artisan''s chest area. It was too sudden and unexpected, leaving no room for anyone to respond. There wasn''t even a second to do so.


    Still, Chen Mu had found a great opportunity within that second. Like a cheetah sprung for the pounce, he suddenly exploded with all of his power! His muscles abruptly stretched tight, just like a steel bowstring that had been plucked. Under the impulse of such power, his entire body shot out like an arrow from a bow.


    The scene became twisted under such high-speed actions, but Chen Mu had long become used to that. In his violently shaking field of view, he had still accurately locked in on his adversary''s vitals¡ªhis neck!


    He lightly dropped the palm of his right hand, where there appeared a light glow, vaguely like a poisonous snake silently staring down its prey in the dark. Seeing his adversary''s expression suddenly enlarge in his eyes, Chen Mu didn''t have the least bit of excitement or timidity. There was no fluctuation in his mind at all; he was as cool and calm as if his bones were made of crystalline ice.


    He made a few pendulum-like sways with the top half of his body, which made his body image more fluttery and harder to grasp. That was a trick he had learned from Wei-ah''s body moves. It wasn''t too fancy, though it was practical. It could change him into a series of residual shadows that would interfere greatly with the enemy''s judgment.


    Too bad his speed was far from Wei-ah''s. But Chen Mu had spent a lot of hard work on that move; by then, even Wei-ah would have some headaches if he were doing it.


    His adversary''s gaze was stunned, terrified, and flustered, but Chen Mu didn''t slow down. His right hand shot up, and he slightly straightened his elbow to fluidly and lightly touch his adversary''s neck.


    His gaze fell to behind the card artisans, which was the place he chose for his breakout. Before he could remove his hand from his adversary''s throat, however, a powerful energy fluctuation came from behind him, which suddenly raised his sense of danger.


    Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Mu threw the card artisan in his hands to behind the other card artisans while rapidly taking a roll on the ground himself.


    Pu, pu, pu! Glowing silvery shuttles penetrated that poor card artisan''s body, sending snow flying from the ground.


    Without looking at who had made the move from behind him, Chen Mu didn''t get up but stayed stuck to the snow. He made some S-shaped slides to behind a tree in a flash. Right after he first moved, the place where he had just been was blown to smithereens.


    What a quick reaction! Chen Mu felt shocked. He was afraid everything would have turned into a hornet''s nest if he had been the least bit slower. But his own reactions were just as fast. In the instant he flashed behind the tree, he jerked his feet against the trunk, folding his body forward. He then shot out to his right like lightning!


    Pa, pa, pa! Wood chips from the ten-meter-diameter tree trunk went flying as three or four beams of glowing silvery shuttles penetrated it before disappearing far into the forest. His adversary''s silvery energy shuttles were like the maggots on a bone before the soul had departed.


    The one releasing the silver energy shuttles was the lead card artisan of the gang, who was the most seasoned among them. He was the first to realize something was wrong. He had already sensed something was wrong when Ah Jiang flew out from the snow shuttle vessel, but he had never expected his adversary to be so powerful!


    That incredibly quick move could be called dizzyingly fast. It shocked him as nothing had before. His adversary''s body moved like a demon. Along with his weird moves, it brought a chill straight to his heart. The two of them weren''t 20 meters apart. He had never failed across multiple attacks in such a short distance. That would require incredibly reactive nerves!


    In his horror, he didn''t relax his hands in the least. Once such a guy successfully broke free, he was afraid they would never be able to rest peacefully. He had seen quite a few card artisan assassins, among whom there was no shortage of worldly fame. But not one of them could turn his heart cold the way the one in front of him just had.


    He didn''t even know how his own comrade had been killed, not having been able to see it clearly. He hadn''t felt any energy fluctuations or perceptual fluctuations. His adversary''s moves and style of battle seemed more dependent on muscle strength. Could he have been an ace of the cardless sects? His enemy sticking to the ground like a snake and wandering off had made him draw in a cold breath of air. That seemed to affirm his guess. His adversary''s body was lithe as though it had no bones. Only cardless sect aces would be able to make such a move that was contrary to the laws of the human body. Only cardless sect aces would drill their bodies to that extent.


    Still, he had no spare time just then to think about it in any detail. He stared at his adversary like a falcon, and his pupils suddenly enlarged. What a great opportunity!


    His adversary was about to leave from behind the tree. He would have no place against which to apply force while in midair. The greatest flaw for an ace of the cardless sects would be to have no place to apply force! But he wasn''t hasty, still not having locked in on his adversary. If he made a blind shot, his opportunity would slip through his fingers.


    An ace like him didn''t even need a breath to be able to lock in on someone. He detected no energy fluctuations, which made locking in rather more difficult. He didn''t have ordinary power, however, and his battle experience was extremely rich. He wasn''t without some way.


    Locking in on a moving person who had no energy fluctuations within less than 20 meters wasn''t that difficult for an ace card artisan who had received systematic education. Of course, his adversary was too fast, which caused him a little of trouble. But it was nothing more than a little bit of trouble. He had plenty of self-confidence about completing the attack.


    ¡ªNow!


    His adversary wasn''t half a meter off the ground. That was when it would be most difficult for him to adjust, as well as the time when his mind would be the most lax.


    Five silvery energy shuttles with five silvery flashes shot off like long, pointy-headed fish knives. His perception was steady and precise. He had proven their power time and time again.


    Just as he was about to make his move, though, his face suddenly shifted! In his trance, his perception appeared a little disordered. The originally strangely peaceful energy shuttles immediately became unstable, looking like they were about to lose control. That made him react. In a hurry, he threw the energy shuttles in his hand toward the swift, ghostly image.


    As soon as they left his hand, there was a string of popping explosions as the five energy shuttles exploded three meters away in midair. He became abruptly desolate-looking as he reviewed the spread. But he wasn''t paying attention to the shuttles by then. He looked in a stunned trance in the direction where that mysterious ace had disappeared.


    What had he just seen? His adversary had changed directions in midair! How did he do that? A jet stream card? But why hadn''t he detected any trace of energy fluctuation? If it wasn''t a jet stream card, what was it?


    His adversary had also made a series of directional changes. They looked quite like a chain of directional changes. That was an extremely difficult tactical maneuver for a card artisan!


    Their faces drained of color, all of the card artisans looked in silence in the direction where Chen Mu had disappeared. After a little while, the lead card artisan came back to his spirits. Ignoring the soot on his face and with a serious expression, he walked over to the corpse of the card artisan who had fallen.


    By the time he saw the fine line of blood on the card artisan''s neck, he could hear the other card artisans drawing in their breath.


    They turned over Ah Jiang''s corpse, where they found a similar fine, bloody mark where he had been. Those vicious card artisans were scared stiff by that fierce move. Their faces turned to clay, some of them unable to help but rub their own necks.


    Seeing the chief looking so carefully, one of the card artisans was so bold as to cautiously ask, "Can you tell where he came from, Chief?"


    "I can''t tell." The lead card artisan shook his head as he spoke in a low voice. He lightly pressed beside the line of blood with his finger. With a pop, the blood that had been building in pressure foamed like a fountain from the blood-soaked line and came gushing out.


    Having been caught off guard, it sprayed all over him.


    "Too¡­ too heinous!" one of the card artisans muttered through shivering teeth.


    The face of the lead card artisan with fresh blood all over his body was hideously twisted as he said through clenched teeth, "Get the news back right away. If we don''t catch this guy, we won''t have much of a life afterward!"


    Chen Mu was shuttling through the forest as fast as he could. The Big Mudfish''s outstanding directional-change capability was perfectly suited for such a complex topography as the forest. The Heavenly Drum Village District forests were snowy and very different from the southern brushy jungles. Here, there were mostly straight and upright tall trees, so there was little clutter in the forest. That was why the snow shuttle vessel could enter it.


    Chen Mu scattered the whorled sniper shuttles that had been in his hands. He had assumed his adversary would certainly chase after him relentlessly, and he had prepared the whorled sniper shuttle to be used against them. How could he know his bizarre and sinister moves would have long since scared off that gang and that they weren''t about to chase after him?


    Chen Mu flew for about ten more minutes before determining that no pursuers were behind him, and he slowed down. He needed to consider what to do next. He wasn''t worried about his safety by then. There weren''t many numerical advantages in the forest, and he could be more flexible alone. Moreover, he was completely used to fighting in the forest.


    The issue in front of him was how to meet up with Wei-ah. He hadn''t expected to encounter a looting, so he hadn''t thought to bring any maps and that sort of thing with him. Getting to Zargan would be the dreamy ravings of a lunatic without the guidance of a map.


    Fortunately, even though he didn''t have a map, he had prepared in other ways.

 365 Mo Ta

    The gang of card artisans looked worried, their faces ugly. The attack from the wavy snow bats hit them hard, and the mysterious ace had left them covered in a dense layer of impenetrable haze.


    Before he had gone far, the lead card artisan suddenly looked on guard. Needing no orders, the card artisans immediately became battle-ready, like birds on edge from the twang of a bowstring.


    "An Sa! It''s me!"


    The resonant voice came from far away before a dark-faced stalwart built like an iron tower arrived in front of them in the blink of an eye. He had 30 card artisans along with him.


    When An Sa saw who they were, he breathed a sigh of relief. "How did you get here, Mo Ta?"


    "The big chief thought something had happened to you, so he had me bring these people along to find you." Mo Ta spoke carelessly, though he was taken aback when he saw how miserable An Sa looked. "So, something really did happen to you?"


    An Sa smiled bitterly. "That''s right. We ran into a cloud of wavy snow bats and lost several of our brothers. Then, like people out of luck just from drinking unboiled water, we get something stuck in our teeth. There was some f****ng ace inside the snow shuttle vessel!"


    "An ace?" Mo Ta squinted. "What sort of ace?" An Sa was a pretty sharp and decisive fellow who had earned the affection of the big boss. The boss obviously had confidence in his ability, given that he had turned over the first ambush to him. An Sa hadn''t become well-known because of his battle ability, but rather for his ability to be the captain of a team, although his individual fighting strength wasn''t shabby.


    Mo Ta and An Sa had a great relationship, and An Sa knew Mo Ta wasn''t interested in any kind of internal power struggle. There was no conflict of interest between them.


    An Sa gave a detailed account of what had just happened. The more he spoke, the more serious the look on Mo Ta''s face became. They were both men who''d licked blood from the tip of a spear; once an adversary made a move, they would know his strengths and weaknesses right away.


    Mo Ta''s face had turned gloomy. When he opened his eyes, they flashed with a quick decision. "The big guy has been preparing for this action for a long time, and we can''t let anything get out about it until we succeed. Turn that guy over to me. You go back, and report to the boss."


    Mo Ta wasted no more words after that, only clarifying in which direction their adversary had escaped before immediately springing into action.


    Watching Mo Ta disappear into the forest, An Sa felt some relief. There were several top-notch people from the troops among that small team of Mo Ta''s, and Mo Ta himself was ranked third in battle strength among the seven team captains.


    Mo Ta had a forthright look, though he was actually very meticulous. He knew nothing was likely to go wrong, especially with Ah Xin along.


    * * *


    The thousand kilometer long-distance communications card required the accompanying communications array to be used. Without the Central Island Firm to listen in, Chen Mu could deploy the thousand kilometer card without too much worry. After activating the silvery metallic communications array, countless eye-dazzling parts came to life at once. They quickly arranged themselves along the floor as five tree-shaped metal antennae formed into an array.


    Remembering their joy the day Bogner and Xi Ping had found out about the Thousand Kilometer, Chen Mu felt some sudden satisfaction. It felt pretty good to be able to get affirmation from those two, especially to get the agreement of those beside him.


    The Thousand Kilometer he was using had undergone his redesign. His deeper understanding of Token Theory had made him dissatisfied with the previous thousand kilometer card. The new one could communicate at a greater distance with a stabler signal. So long as it was within the Heavenly Drum Village District, it could basically realize communications anywhere.


    It could theoretically communicate still farther. Due to the limitation of the communications array, however, there was no way to play out its full potential. Chen Mu didn''t know how to get beyond that since the communications array was technology from the underground city base, which had come from a different system.


    If he were able someday to thoroughly comprehend the technology of the communications array and improve it, he could possibly once again communicate with Alfonso and the rest.


    Chen Mu had made three sets altogether: one for himself, one for Wei-ah, and one he left back at the snow silkworm ravine. In that way, he would be able to find someone to discuss it with if he ran into any issues.


    "Boss!" Xi Ping appeared on the screen.


    Chen Mu briefly told about being looted and the problems he had encountered. Hearing he''d encountered some danger, Xi Ping was startled and rushed to call Bogner.


    "Where are you now, Boss? Your exact position!" Bogner looked serious as he rushed to ask. How could he not be worried for the boss to have encountered such danger while alone? Although the boss did have some power, he wasn''t indestructible like Wei-ah.


    Exact position? Chen Mu couldn''t hide his sneer. "I''m not so clear about where I am. It must be in the forest between Bida and Zargan." Once he had boarded the snow shuttle vessel, he had fallen into a deep sleep, so how would he know where he was?


    When Bogner transmitted a map over, Chen Mu was a little dumbfounded. It was all forest between Bida and Zargan, and there were seven or eight routes through the forest linking the two cities. He had no way to tell which route he was on nor what his current position was. Still, the map was a little useful since he could at least know roughly in what direction Zargan lay.


    There was then a fine bout of energy fluctuation that came flitting from the forest, spreading like ripples on water.


    A probe card!


    Chen Mu turned around to look behind him and said to Bogner in a low voice, "Get Wei-ah to wait for me in Zargan." He then shut off the communication and quickly packed up the communications array.


    That wasn''t his first time to perceive such a thing. When he was at Eastern Wei Academy, he''d had a taste of a similar energy fluctuation, which was right when he had first realized his shuttle-shaped perceptual composition.


    However, the fluctuations this time were more concealed than last time and were a lot finer. His own perception had almost unconsciously excluded such weak fluctuations until they formed a peculiar, corrugated structure all around him.


    Trouble! Chen Mu''s face shifted, not wanting to deal with such a fluctuation again. He bolted off in a dash.


    * * *


    A young card artisan with a pair of dimples was pointing in a direction in the forest. "He''s over there!"


    Mo Ta was the first to shoot up into the air, and the other card artisans followed him. In hot pursuit, the 30 card artisans made a formation, fanning out in the direction the card artisan had pointed. Each of them was a veteran; whatever their forward speed was, they all kept their unruffled looks, showing no urgency. They looked as though they were just going on some excursion.


    Mo Ta didn''t put up his energy cloak and let the cold, cutting wind blow on his face, where he maintained a rather pleasant expression. Hearing An Sa''s description of the ace, Mo Ta could feel his blood starting to boil! It had been a long time since he had encountered such an interesting adversary, and he was rather looking forward to the battle to come.


    He wasn''t so worried that his adversary would get away; no one could get away from him. That was because he had under him a super probe card artisan¡ªAh Xin!


    Although Ah Xin''s power was only so-so, his attainments with probing were almost freakish. Until then, no one had been able to slip through his hands. The other captains had long coveted Ah Xin, but no matter what sorts of inducements they put in front of him, they couldn''t budge him.


    The reason was simple. Mo Ta had saved his life.


    Ah Xin''s origins were mysterious; not even Mo Ta knew them. He had never told anything about them himself. But everyone knew Ah Xin didn''t have an ordinary background. Even the big chief marveled at that five-star probe card of his.


    Ah Xin hadn''t missed that time, either, as he quickly discovered the adversary''s general position.


    So, the hunt began!


    * * *


    Just as the hunt was underway in the forest, the situation in the federation changed again. Faya''s abrupt rise in power had provoked some sorrow while causing panic among the Big Six at the same time. Just as everyone thought the Big Six were about to unite once again to attack Faya, Faya joined forces with the Central Repository of the Classics to attack the Federation Comprehensive Academy.


    No one understood what kind of bad drugs the Central Repository of the Classics had taken, nor what kind of inducements Faya had presented them with that they couldn''t refuse. But the counterattack of the Central Repository of the Classics proclaimed its collapse before the alliance among the Big Six was even established.


    Not only that, but allied with the House of a Hundred Depths, the Central Repository of the Classics was tough as never before as they swept clear their previous decline.


    The joining of hands between Faya and the Central Repository of the Classics immediately made the situation of the Federation Comprehensive Academy precarious. No organization was willing to assist them at that time. Without being able to choose an alliance, no one could be the equal of those two organizations. But, no matter who it was, they weren''t about to form an alliance with the Federation Comprehensive Academy. That would be like throwing themselves into a pit of fire.


    The death of front-line commander Di Bo put the Federation Comprehensive Academy in imminent danger. Facing the combined forces of Faya and the Central Repository of the Classics, their front lines were as flimsy as paper.


    Faya and the Central Repository of the Classics aggressively approached the Federation Comprehensive Academy from two directions. Previously at the head of the Big Six, the Federation Comprehensive Academy was now at the end of its road. Its formerly vibrant campus had become desolate, with only a few students around, all of whom looked aggrieved.


    All the members of the Federation Comprehensive Academy Board of Trustees had panicked. It was like a joke; just a few months before, they had been infighting in a scramble for power, no one having expected things to plummet overnight. Once Di Bo died, those old guys immediately went into a panic. Some of the cowardly board members even took their families quietly out of the capital.


    Pavchek helplessly watched the old, fat creeps in front of him. Those greedy bastards were normally itching to seize power. Now, however, the position of the president had become a hot potato that no one wanted to occupy. The meeting that time was only attended by one-third of the trustees.


    Could the Federation Comprehensive Academy have been destroyed in their hands? Pavchek was pondering that in a funk. The thing he really couldn''t fathom was that the military had made absolutely no response.


    Wei Yueqing didn''t make any moves. Could he not know his alma mater had already been destroyed?


    "I''m going to leave!" One of the trustees stood in a panic and said, "Everyone, get out of here! Staying here is a death sentence!"


    With a pop, blood blossomed from that trustee''s forehead.


    An erect figure then appeared right in the middle of each of the trustees'' field of view.

 366 Tang Hanpei Strikes

    "Tang Hanpei! How dare you!" Pavchek bellowed sternly as he stood up with a rush. The murder of a director under the eyes of all present had never happened in the history of the Federation Comprehensive Academy. Moreover, the murderer was actually his favorite pupil. How could he not be shocked and angry?


    "Sir!" Tang Hanpei bowed to Pavchek slightly.


    The rest of the directors had faces full of rage. One director could no longer suppress himself and stood up. "Men, take Tang Hanpei away!"


    Yet, outside the meeting room, there was no stirring.


    Tang Hanpei took his seat in a leisurely manner without even a look at that director. A gentle, unconcerned smile hung upon his face throughout. But it was just that smile, gentle as the spring breeze, that made every director feel a sense of foreboding rise in their hearts.


    Pavchek''s heart abruptly sank. He had a deep understanding of that pupil of his. Tang Hanpei, in his way of dealing with matters, always planned everything before taking any action. Since he had dared to make a move, he must have had some backing. What exactly does he want to do?


    Pavchek''s doubt was also the doubt of the other directors. Having made it that far, those people were not idiots. They each sat as steadily as before, waiting for Tang Hanpei to reveal the solution to the mystery.


    "Where are the men? Guards!" the director yelled angrily toward the door to the meeting room. The rest of the directors looked at him like he was an idiot. Can this guy not see what the situation is?


    The smile on Tang Hanpei''s face grew wider. As if they heard the commotion in the meeting room, a few card artisans walked in.


    The director was greatly pleased. He pointed at Tang Hanpei and ordered, "You, take him away! With the guts to murder a school director in public, there''s no pardon possible! Hurry! Seize him, and take him away!"


    The few card artisans stood there, expressionless, as though they were blockheads.


    "He''s too noisy," Tang Hanpei said, full of smiles and unspeakably elegant.


    Bang! A bloody hole appeared on the forehead of the director, who opened his eyes wide in disbelief. The one who had struck was a card artisan. The other two card artisans, without speaking one word, dragged the director, who had fallen to the ground, out of the meeting room.


    The other directors were aghast and looked at one another, some of them clearly angry. The death of an ally begot grief, and the one who died a moment ago was a fellow director. Everyone wondered who would be next.


    "Tang Hanpei, what do you mean by this?" The one who spoke was Dion Lott. That director, who was almost 70 years old, was the most senior director on the whole board, being even far more senior than Pavchek. He was also the representative of the neutral faction in the board.


    Tang Hanpei leaned closer to that old, white-haired director and asked respectfully in reply, "Mr. Dion Lott, what is your view on the Federation Comprehensive Academy''s current situation?"


    Dion Lott stopped dead for a moment. He hadn''t expected Tang Hanpei to suddenly ask such a question. He put on a thoughtful look and said, "Oh, what''s your view?"


    Tang Hanpei''s features relaxed into a smile. "Obviously, we have come to the edge of a cliff." He seemed as though narrating an incident absolutely unrelated to himself.


    "You aren''t fit to butt in on this matter!" another director couldn''t help but sneer. "If I remember correctly, you are still waiting for your punishment! Hmph. Besides, isn''t it because of the trouble you caused that the Federation Comprehensive Academy has sunk to today''s state?"


    The rest of the directors each showed signs of agreement. If it hadn''t been for that crazy operation of Tang Hanpei''s in Pomelo, the Federation Comprehensive Academy wouldn''t even be in such an unfortunate position!


    Tang Hanpei wasn''t perturbed in the slightest and said, "It is possible that everyone still believes if we don''t contact Faya, Faya will keep the peace with us?"


    Dion Lott frowned slightly and said with displeasure, "Do not speak of these useless things. We ought to be discussing what should be done at present!" Having said that, his gaze fell onto Tang Hanpei''s face. "Since you''ve come, you must have something in mind. No harm bringing it up."


    Tang Hanpei smiled a little. "Your wisdom is remarkable." He then took out a document and handed it to Dion Lott.


    Dion Lott took the document and cast a few sweeping glances over it. The darkness on his face was unparalleled, but he did not speak. Instead, he offhandedly passed it to the director beside him.


    The document was passed on to Pavchek''s hand. With one look, his expression completely changed. It was a letter of appointment, and its meaning was simple. The school''s board of directors appointed Tang Hanpei the position of wartime principal to command all school affairs and to have authority over all affairs regarding the war. If it was to be according to what the document stated, all the power in the Federation Comprehensive Academy would be centralized on him alone. The board of directors would not be able to restrain him in any way.


    "Ha ha! What makes you think we will pass this motion?" a director sneered.


    "Because I can lead the Federation Comprehensive Academy out of this difficult situation," Tang Hanpei replied bluntly.


    "You think just because you said you can, you really can? Ha ha!" The director burst out laughing, as if he had heard some hilarious joke.


    Tang Hanpei looked around slowly, and the supremely penetrating gaze was filled with a subduing force. Many directors couldn''t help but avoid his gaze!


    "Because I am Tang Hanpei!"


    The meeting room was absolutely silent. The sentence was spoken loud and clear, as though it carried an unrivaled power. It was also charming, as though it carried queer magic.


    Tang Hanpei put away the smile on his face and said in a deep voice, "At such a critical moment, everyone still hasn''t left the capital. This is sufficient to prove everyone''s feelings toward the Federation Comprehensive Academy. Everyone must know how desperate the situation is at present. If we still don''t take strong initiatives, what awaits us will certainly be occupation and annihilation. Our beautiful academy will be leveled to the ground, and our wealth will be snatched! Not only will we have nothing left, but we will also be the sinners in the history of the academy and the losers mocked by the whole federation!"


    Tang Hanpei''s voice, with a trace of anger, reverberated in the meeting room.


    Silence. Silence, still. Several directors'' faces were changing color, being red one instant and white the next.


    "Sorry, Tang Hanpei; though your attainments as a card artisan are outstanding, you haven''t yet proven you are capable enough in this area," another director answered calmly.


    Dion Lott did not speak out. He seemed to be pondering something.


    Tang Hanpei''s expression was as per usual, except his face showed a trace of disappointment. "Everyone, in truth, I am not really here to seek your opinion. From today onward, the Federation Comprehensive Academy Board of Directors will become history. Everyone will witness the arrival of a new era."


    "What, do you want to force us?" that director asked coldly in reply.


    "I think everyone will understand once you''ve seen this." Tang Hanpei activated the apparatus on his wrist, and a screen jumped out of it. On the screen appeared a middle-aged man dressed in a military outfit.


    "Wei Yueqing!"


    "General!"


    A few directors involuntarily cried out in alarm. On the screen was actually the general of the federation''s First Army, Wei Yueqing, who had been from the Federation Comprehensive Academy.


    "Hello, directors. I am Wei Yueqing. I shan''t waste words. I speak on behalf of the First Army in supporting Tang Hanpei''s appointment as the wartime principal." Wei Yueqing''s tone was crisp, and not half a sign of fluctuation could be seen on his face, which seemed to have been carved from rocks.


    The directors'' faces were ashen. At that moment, they suddenly realized why Wei Yueqing hadn''t stirred all that time earlier.


    Pavchek''s face was pale. In an instant, he figured it out. Why did Tang Hanpei do something so extreme in Pomelo? Exactly because he wanted the Federation Comprehensive Academy to be in danger! Song Chengyan had refused to take up the post of frontline commander and had soon been brought into the First Army. Perhaps Tang Hanpei had already reached an agreement with Wei Yueqing back then.


    Since then, he had been setting the scene! No, maybe at an even earlier time, he had already started plotting. However, what gave him the confidence that he could save the Federation Comprehensive Academy from danger?


    That was the point Pavchek still hadn''t puzzled out, but he well knew his disciple definitely had some backing. He merely hadn''t thought of it. Looking at the gentle, harmless smile on Tang Hanpei''s face, Pavchek suddenly felt old and that he knew so little of his disciple. He didn''t understand. What exactly did Tang Hanpei want? If it had been the position of the principal of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, it would definitely have been his ten years down the road, assuming no accident.


    Wei Yueqing''s abduction order was understood by all the directors. The matter of Tang Hanpei''s becoming the Federation Comprehensive Academy''s principal was pretty much set. Having Wei Yueqing''s support was enough to pass the motion. No one would still refuse to grasp the present situation at that moment; that was akin to joking with one''s own life.


    If it hadn''t been in wartime, if it hadn''t been that only one-third of the members of the board of directors were left, and if it hadn''t been for such desperate circumstances, the board of directors would still have had enough power to contend against him, even with Wei Yueqing''s support.


    Yet, in that world, there was no "if."


    Dion Lott was the first to sign on the motion. After signing it, he raised his head and said to Tang Hanpei, "Hope you can make good on your promise."


    Tang Hanpei kept his smile away and answered solemnly and respectfully, "Please, rest assured. The Federation Comprehensive Academy will certainly be even more glorious!"


    All of the directors signed their names on the letter of appointment.


    Taking the letter, Tang Hanpei''s face showed no signs of joy. Such great shrewdness made all the directors feel a chill in their hearts.


    "Thank you for all of your support. Perhaps everyone will soon realize how wise your decision is." Tang Hanpei continued expressionlessly, "Well then, I shall issue a few commands. First, as to all of today''s absent members of the board of directors: Their behavior constitutes a betrayal to the Federation Comprehensive Academy. Revoke their appointments as directors, and seize all of their wealth and estates."


    Pavchek''s heart skipped a beat. He sure is ruthless enough! Tang Hanpei was nipping his own troubles in the bud. Once those directors were stripped of their position, the remaining third of the directors could not possibly contend against Tang Hanpei, even if the situation settled later.


    Seeing that most directors weren''t much concerned about that command, Pavchek couldn''t help but sigh to himself. This bunch of short-sighted fellows!


    "Second, appoint Song Chengyan as the frontline general commander. Due to the severe lack of battle forces at the frontline, hopefully everyone can contribute their own family''s battle forces. As for the quantity, that depends on everyone''s own willingness. However, I will be explicit upon one point. All fixed assets of the families with a director stripped of his position, apart from wealth, will be provided by the academy for allocation. The size of the allocated amount will be based on the amount of contribution and accordingly distributed."


    Boom!


    The meeting room was bubbling immediately! The directors stripped of their position made up two-thirds of the board of directors. That was an unsurpassably coveted opportunity! Many were counting in their heads how many card artisans they had on hand.


    Looking around at the extremely fired-up directors, Tang Hanpei smiled as gently as before.

 367 Luring Beasts

    Damn!


    The wave of probing fluctuation was just too sensitive! The bogus borderline breath control method, which never failed, actually could not escape from the adversary''s detection. It caused Chen Mu an enormous headache. Concealment was his greatest advantage, and almost all of his battle tactics branched off from that point. Once it was removed, his situation would be rather far from good.


    Such was precisely the disadvantage of extreme tactics. Chen Mu hadn''t been aware of how extreme his own tactics were before. He realized that when he could no longer keep himself concealed, he lacked other means of counterattacking and was completely caught in a false position.


    Initially, he had believed his own forethoughts were already quite thorough. To think there was actually a loophole as big as that, Chen Mu couldn''t help a wry, inward laugh. He hadn''t undergone systematic tactical training. He honestly had nothing too commendable in terms of tactics. In contrast, his battle instincts and his control of timing, which seemed to be as sensitive as that of wild beast, were, in fact, his strongest points.


    However, even he himself didn''t realize his competence in tactics was also improving at an astonishing speed. The reason it was still so weak was just that he had zero foundation.


    His other forte was his strong ability in learning. But, that time, he knew he was in huge trouble! The adversary''s probing ability was too strong, so he had nowhere to hide, which meant there was no way to avoid confrontations. But he had only himself; the adversary numbered in the tens. The power of the two sides was entirely on different levels.


    What to do next? Chen Mu wracked his brains, hoping to find a solution. He had been running away non-stop for three hours, but the obstinate probing fluctuation pestering him indicated that the enemy was doggedly hot on his heels.


    Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind. After hesitating a little, Chen Mu clenched his teeth fiercely and abruptly took off into the air, flying straight up!


    Few would fly in the fully visible sky¡ªespecially that of the forest. That was simply no different from seeking death. In the forest lived many wild beasts capable of flight. To fly in the sky in such an undisguised way, one would immediately become the prey of all sorts of flying beasts.


    The wind in the sky was piercingly cold, and the snow had ceased at some unknown time earlier. Sunshine fell on his body and brought him a trace of warmth.


    The adversary was approaching at high speed. Chen Mu looked back because he had sensed it. His perception itself, too, had a powerful probing capability. The qualitative change of his perception had also greatly enhanced that capability.


    There were no less than 20 men. That figure made Chen Mu incapable of restraining himself from showing an expression of wryness once more. But the trace of a bitter smile appeared for just a flash. His expression then resumed to one of resolution, and the coldness in his eyes gradually increased.


    After all those years, he was no longer that boy of the past who had been helpless whenever encountering a battle.


    Given the adversary''s speed, he still had about ten minutes. Besides, as though they had noticed his stopping, their speed decreased as well. The adversary is indeed cautious! Chen Mu was more glad than shocked, for the adversary''s seemingly prudent move gave him time.


    At that moment, a few shadows darted out from the forest.


    Dingbirds! Chen Mu''s memory of them was deeply engraved, and in his heart, he felt a little surer. Having counted roughly, he found that the number of dingbirds was only ten or so, which was still some way off from the quantity he had been inwardly hoping for.


    He simply started circling the sky above the forest.


    That was a provocation. An undisguised provocation! The dingbirds were obviously angered by Chen Mu''s actions. With bloodshot eyes, they charged at him in flocks.


    Those attracted and enraged weren''t just the dingbirds. All sorts of beasts came charging out of the nearby forest incessantly. Flitting about in the sky, Chen Mu was like a strong magnet, attracting a large number of beasts to gather around him.


    In a short time, the beasts around him had reached as many as 50 or 60. The bloodthirsty, carnivorous beasts had violent tempers to begin with. How could they withstand such obvious and blatant provocation? That was their territory. When had such a fellow actually dared to be so insolent?


    The ones bold enough to soar into the sky were all powerful beasts not inferior to the dingbirds.


    An example was the mille-feuilles flying locust. It had a body up to about eight meters in length and leaf-shaped wings all over. The number of wings was astounding, being as much as 1,000. The speed of its flight lost out to that of the dingbirds, but it surpassed in agility. An adult mille-feuilles flying locust would have about 100 tentacles the thickness of a thumb. A tentacle fully extended could reach as far as 15 meters, and its interior was hollow, storing substantial venom. The tip of the tentacle was incredibly sharp and could easily pierce the tough skin of its enemy. Once stabbed into the adversary''s muscles, a massive amount of venom would be injected within an extremely short time, numbing the adversary''s nerves.


    It was a frightening creature. Even the tough guys like the dingbirds were rather wary of it. What was more startling was that there were actually five mille-feuilles flying locusts there!


    Chen Mu''s scalp was numb. He was frantically operating the Big Mudfish, flying erratically everywhere. Behind him followed a dense mass of various beasts. The beasts each had thoroughly red eyes and were as hyped up as though they had taken drugs.


    Chen Mu''s face started to show a hint of fear! Merely a little slower, merely a slight relaxation, and those terrifying creatures would rush forward together. He might not even have bone fragments left then. A large swarm of snow wasps was also in there. The favorite hobby of those little fellows, snow-white all over, was gnawing away at various kinds of bones.


    The situation at hand was far beyond Chen Mu''s expectation and entirely out of control. He absolutely hadn''t expected to draw such a crowd of heavyweight creatures, and he immediately fell into the awkward position of being hardly capable of defending himself.


    Soon, Chen Mu''s forehead was dripping with sweat, his breathing was heavy, and his throat was almost giving off smoke. His figure turned abruptly and barely escaped a few tentacles, startling him into a cold sweat! Not daring to have any delay, a chain-styled direction change closely followed next. His flying trajectory drew little rings one after another, each linking to the next, so it seemed like a chain in the sky.


    Before he could even heave a sigh of relief, however, a sharp whistling sounded behind him. The view coming through from his perception almost scared him out of his wits! The dingbirds behind him had climbed to a greater height sometime earlier. With a quiver of both wings, they took turns swooping down at Chen Mu.


    No one was brave enough to be in the direct path of the dive of a dingbird! Other creatures darted aside in quick succession, being quite wary of a dingbird''s dive, too.


    Chen Mu had already utterly given up on the idea of relying on the power of the crowd of beasts to deal with those card artisans. There was only one thought in his mind at that point. Flee!


    Deciding quickly, Chen Mu plunged downward head-first for the forest, without even time to adjust his posture. Thus, an interesting scene appeared in the sky. It seemed as though a man was leading a flock of dingbirds in a suicidal nosedive!


    Chen Mu was picking up speed for dear life. The wind was blowing so hard he almost couldn''t open his eyes, and it felt like knives cutting into his cheeks. Diving down from the sky at such a high speed was extremely dangerous. If the slightest mistake was made, it would absolutely mean no chance of survival. Even if he had the energy cloak, a collision with the ground at such a speed would just mean a shattered cloak and a dead man.


    Yet, Chen Mu didn''t dare to slow his speed in any way. The dingbirds behind him were aggressive and murderous. If he slowed down in the slightest and was caught by the dingbirds behind him, the result would be worse!


    Chen Mu even had the heart to howl in grief at that moment. He had originally intended to leverage the power of the beasts in the battle against the enemies behind him. Who could have known it was self-defeating? Perhaps even before the enemies made a move, he would have already died in the hands of those beasts.


    Strange¡­ Why are there so many formidable wild beasts here?


    The thought appeared like lightning in his mind and vanished just as quickly. He couldn''t care about considering any questions at present. The whistling of the wind was in his ears, and the wind puffing in his face almost made it difficult for him to even breathe. But he didn''t have the nerve to relax at all. His perception spread out like ripples, sensing the astounding speed.


    Chen Mu opened his eyes wide, as though he was glaring angrily, with no regard for the discomfort caused by the wind. In his eyes, the ground and the forest were zooming in speedily, and the shocking rapidity could almost stop one''s heartbeat.


    Soon! Soon!


    ¡ªThis is it!


    At about ten meters away from the forest, Chen Mu clenched his teeth. The jet stream emitted from his card abruptly changed, and the direction suddenly tilted upward! The big mudfish card''s incomparable direction-change functionality was utilized to the fullest at that moment. Within the distance of ten meters, Chen Mu had changed from diving straight down to a horizontal flight. Thus, it was evident how outstanding the big mudfish card''s direction-change functionality was!


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Seven or eight dingbirds couldn''t react in time, plummeting head-first into the forest. They dashed against the ground violently like shooting stars, instantly crashing into a ball of meat pulp.


    Flying close against the canopy of the forest and with leaves whipping his body now and then, Chen Mu was simultaneously grimacing from the pain and unable to suppress his grin. No matter who it was, escaping alive from that kind of situation would make them supremely glad.


    However, before he had time to rejoice, the dense mass of wild beasts flew at him like a dark cloud. Discounting the seven or eight fallen dingbirds, the power of those beasts was still at least ten times stronger than Chen Mu.


    His heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly raised his speed, flying forward wildly. He could no longer care about the direction and was fleeing in any path without heed to which he chose.


    Mo Ta saw Ah Xin abruptly halt and asked cautiously, "Ah Xin, what is it? Is there a situation?"


    Ah Xin''s face showed some perplexity. "The target is currently flying toward us."


    Mo Ta was a little taken aback but swiftly broke into a smile. "Seems like this guy knows he can''t escape! Ha ha! That''s fine. Saves us the trouble. You guys can surround him later. I''m going to test his abilities!" Mo Ta''s face revealed some sign of fervor. The other card artisans had long gotten used to their boss''s temperament.


    Ah Xin did not speak, and his eyes were closed. Suddenly, he opened his eyes in a snap, exclaiming, "Hm!"


    The gang was stunned, turning their eyes to Ah Xin.


    "The target''s speed is too fast," Ah Xin muttered. "That''s so fast!" He then said hastily, "Hurry! He''ll be here in a moment, straight ahead! Be careful, everyone!"


    Everyone had an inward shiver and got themselves ready.


    "He''s coming!" Ah Xin warned. His expression changed instantly, and terror filled his voice. "Oh, no¡­"


    Before he could finish¡ªswoosh! The shadow of a man shot out from among the leaves like a bolt of lightning!

 368 Chaos

    Chen Mu hadn''t expected to encounter the enemies. He had fled in a completely random path a moment ago and had no idea in what direction it took him. But he reacted exceptionally quickly and subconsciously altered his course again. Chen Mu''s figure was seen twisting like waves with peculiarly high frequency, and the surrounding air was crackling under its effect.


    Mo Ta looked a little surprised. He knew of that direction change; it had an academic name called wave-shaped, high-frequency evasion. It was an extremely difficult battle tactic, and rare were the ones who could accomplish it. In assessments of flight, its points had never decreased. During card artisan level appraisals, almost no one would choose that battle tactic to take part in the assessment, despite its points being so high.


    He was certain that if that fellow went for the card artisan level appraisal, he would definitely get terribly high marks. A critical indication of accomplishing the wave-shaped, high-frequency evasion was the sound of popping air, which could only be produced after reaching a particular frequency. That fellow''s popping was loud and clear and was sufficient to prove his movements were absolutely up to standard.


    Among the card artisans of Mo Ta''s acquaintance, apart from the boss and that devious fellow of a leader of the seventh team, no one else could carry off that move, himself included. He dared not be certain as to whether the boss could accomplish it so beautifully, but the leader of the seventh team surely couldn''t manage it so perfectly!


    An ace! Must be an ace! To think such an ace could actually be encountered there, how could he not be impassioned? Mo Ta felt as though his blood was almost hot enough to burst into flames at that moment. He cast everything else out of his mind. At that instant, he couldn''t wait to engage the adversary in a good fight.


    Surging with the anticipation of battle, Mo Ta was just about to order his subordinates to surround Chen Mu when his expression suddenly changed. It wasn''t just him; the other card artisans also completely changed their expressions. They had finally discovered the dense mass of flying beasts following closely behind Chen Mu!


    Mo Ta desperately wanted to shout at everyone to retreat, but he forcibly swallowed the word. If they were to pull back, it would only mean death.


    In the forest, card artisans could never possibly match up against those wild beasts. Moreover, once they retreated, it would be exceedingly easy to develop into a trend of collapse and have not half a chance of survival left. If he were to turn and run alone, his chance of survival would be higher. However, his subordinates were all brothers who had rolled with him for years. How could he bear to run off alone?


    Mo Ta had experienced plenty of battles. Knowing that only staking it all would give them a chance of survival, he promptly clenched his teeth and roared in anger, "Attack!"


    The thunderous bellow sounded throughout the forest, and even the roars of the ferocious beasts could not drown it out. The expression of terror on the card artisans'' faces swiftly vanished. Mo Ta''s bellow had immediately allowed them to stop panicking and to find their towers of strength.


    Their teamwork was excellent. Short-range card artisans went forward dauntlessly, slowing down the speed of the throng and looking for opportunities for their teammates. Long-range card artisans, meanwhile, under the command of Ah Xin, concentrated their attack to provide support. Mo Ta let out a roar of rage and charged into the herd!


    Nobody had leisure left to watch Chen Mu. Everyone''s attention was focused on the multitude of beasts in front of them.


    Ah Xin''s face was drained of color. The lineup of the group of beasts in front of him could be described as extravagant. Mille-feuille flying locusts, dingbirds, snow wasps¡­


    Having entered and left the forests so many times, he had never seen so many and such terrible beasts at the same time. With a pale face, he compelled himself to suppress the shock and perplexity in his heart and to focus on issuing commands.


    Chen Mu didn''t leave; the development of the situation went beyond his expectation. He indeed had that idea in mind initially, but the subsequent throng of beasts that came swarming toward him had made him extremely desperate, forcing him to give up on the idea. He hadn''t thought he would actually run in the right direction when he had fled at random.


    As he lamented his luck, he was also watching the situation on the ground carefully. That tower-like, dark-faced, burly man was ridiculously strong. His powerfully built body, which could match that of a bear, was charging around violently and left Chen Mu speechless. His energy cloak was uncommonly strong; every time a tentacle of the mille-feuilles flying locust came into contact with the energy cloak, it would bounce off. The dark-faced, burly man''s method of attack was also rather queer. Chen Mu had never seen such a strange way of battling.


    Mo Ta''s expression was grave. The palm of his left hand enclosed a ball of bright silver light, and the palm of his right hand enclosed a ball of vivid red light. As both palms came together in a clap, and one fist was cupped in the other, the balls of silver and red light collided.


    With a tremendous boom, an explosion was triggered with Mo Ta at the center. The beasts around him were blasted straight into the air, and even the beasts some distance away could hardly keep still in the powerful blast. A huge tree more than ten meters in diameter was caught up in the fallout, and only half of the thick trunk was left.


    The ground under Mo Ta also had a considerable pit exploded out of it. He suddenly sprang out from the pit and plunged among the beasts, again slapping his hands together into a cupped fist for yet another explosion!


    Boom! Countless branches and beasts were blasted everywhere, and the scene couldn''t have been more chaotic. Mo Ta kept moving the entire time. His whole being was like a human-shaped bomb, exploding wherever he flew to.


    Chen Mu was dumbstruck as he watched the scene from off to the side. He had never seen so queer an attacking method as Mo Ta''s. But that kind of attack was rather effective in group confrontations. Having initially been clustered together, the beasts were scattered everywhere by his blasts. The threat the beasts posed was quickly and substantially reduced. The other card artisans worked extremely well with him too, focusing their firepower on bombarding the scattered beasts.


    While the unorthodox style of cooperation in battle widened Chen Mu''s horizon, he secretly guessed that card artisan definitely had other means of combat. That kind of fighting method suited group battles but wasn''t good for one-on-one battling.


    A distressing cry interrupted Chen Mu''s focus on Mo Ta. His attention swiftly turned to the other card artisans.


    The situation''s disorder was far beyond his imagination. Be it the mille-feuilles flying locusts or the dingbirds, not one wasn''t incredibly formidable. Though Mo Ta could scatter the beasts, he couldn''t inflict lethal damage on them. If it were under normal circumstances, when those wild beasts met, a fight to the death would certainly not be missed. That day, however, they were united against the intruders. Humans were the public enemy of all beasts.


    A card artisan''s chest was pierced by several tentacles of a mille-feuille flying locust, and the smooth tentacles were covered in blood. The piteous cry ended abruptly, and the tentacles were withdrawn from the card artisan''s body. Having lost his support, the card artisan fell weakly. Blood was pouring from the holes on his body, and he clearly couldn''t survive it.


    The mille-feuilles flying locust was a supremely troublesome kind of beast. They were agile and noiseless, and their tentacles were bizarrely unpredictable, excellent in sneak attacks, and very hard to deal with.


    The mille-feuilles flying locust''s withdrawing of its tentacles caused a moment of delay in its figure, and it was just that moment of delay that cost it its life. Without needing Ah Xin''s command, the enraged card artisans concentrated almost all firepower at hand on the beast.


    Pew, pew, pew! The mille-feuilles flying locust was instantly covered by innumerable wavy blade energy shuttles and turned into a sieve.


    However, that mille-feuille flying locust had attracted almost all the firepower, giving other beasts chances. A dingbird that had soared up into the sky plunged downward violently. The chaotic scene had caused that card artisan to be entirely unaware of the dingbird hovering in the air.


    Swoosh!


    In the blink of an eye, the dingbird appeared like a sharp arrow in front of a card artisan, who was caught off guard and couldn''t dodge in time. With a crisp ping, the card artisan''s energy cloak broke into countless fragments of light. Surrounded by the many fragments of light, sad and beautiful and as if illusory, the dingbird stabbed head-first into the card artisan''s chest! Blood spattered!


    The card artisan was coughing up foams of blood, and both hands were holding tightly onto the incessantly flapping dingbird. The apparatus on his wrist lit up. Energy, freed from all control, collided anyway. Boom! A brilliant light enveloped both the card artisan and the dingbird.


    By the time the light had dissipated, apart from the additional five-meter-deep cavity in the ground, the card artisan and the dingbird had both turned into fluttering ash.


    The skin of Ah Xin''s lips was broken from biting. He rather wished to be like his companions, launching attacks in a frenzy! It was a pity that he was only good with two types of cards, one being the probing card and the other the jet stream card. As his probing ability and cool-headedness were extremely remarkable, he had always played the role of the scout and commander.


    But the situation at hand was too chaotic, and the card artisans were beginning to lose control. The fluctuation in emotion caused a trace of instability in Ah Xin''s probing. He was completely unaware that a few snow wasps had detoured to behind his back.


    Apart from the rather hair-raising hobby of gnawing away at bones, snow wasps had another lethal weapon¡ªtheir stingers!


    The individual size of snow wasps was about that of an adult man''s fist. They looked very much like enlarged white ants except for the three additional pairs of snow-white wings. The stinger at its tail end was a little longer than a human''s index finger and exceedingly sharp. When fired in a short range, the stinger could even penetrate ordinary three-star energy cloaks.


    Their more vexing aspect was that they usually appeared in swarms. One stinger wasn''t to be feared, but if it were wave after wave of stingers raining down, even the best energy cloak might be shattered. No card artisan was willing to run into them.


    Five snow wasps fired their stingers simultaneously!


    "Argh!" Ah Xin cried out in distress. His energy cloak was almost non-existent. The five stingers easily shattered it and plunged savagely into his back.


    "Ah Xin!" Mo Ta heard Ah Xin''s piteous cry, and his eyes turned red instantly.


    A mille-feuille flying locust thought there was a window of opportunity and approached Mo Ta quietly. Before it could shoot out its tentacles, though, a golden-yellow energy chain had bound it tightly. The other end of the energy chain appeared in Mo Ta''s hands, and from between his clenched teeth, he squeezed out one word. "Explode!"


    Bang!


    The mille-feuilles flying locust was instantly blasted into bloody pieces, filling the air.


    Wielding the energy chain, Mo Ta was unstoppable. He could be heard continually bellowing, "Explode!" Soon, flesh and blood were splattered everywhere. Mo Ta''s bold demeanor also significantly boosted the morale of other card artisans.


    However, as he wielded the energy chain, Mo Ta could not activate his energy cloak. Though the energy chain was originally equipped with defense capabilities, Mo Ta, who was as good as insane, had given up on defense entirely and was solely attacking in a frenzy.


    Moments later, he seemed like a man of blood, with several stingers sticking out from his back. If he hadn''t reluctantly blocked with the chain at a critical moment, he would have already been a dead man. The injured Mo Ta had no change in expression, and the energy chain in his hands again wrapped around a few snow wasps.


    "Explode!"


    With no suspense, the few snow wasps were blasted into pieces. A dingbird suddenly swooped by beside him, and Mo Ta grunted in pain. A massive chunk of skin and flesh had been clawed away from his shoulder by the dingbird, and blood was gushing out.


    "Court death!" Mo Ta''s expression was savage, and the energy chain in his hands dexterously entangled the dingbird.


    "Explode!"


    The dingbird''s sturdy body disintegrated into countless bits.


    What a powerful energy chain! Chen Mu was inwardly aghast. That golden-yellow energy chain was simply too terrifying!

 369 Snow Wasps

    Though the individual size of snow wasps was the smallest among these few types of beasts, its senses were the most perceptive. A few snow wasps stealthily fluttered towards Chen Mu, and the unsurpassably sharp stings glimmered with a palpitating metallic shine.


    Chen Mu suddenly detected a whiff of danger. His heart was as settled as still water. The surrounding scenery was as though reflected on the peaceful surface of a lake, and so clear that it felt a little unreal.


    His perception had always been slightly different from everyone else''s. It wasn''t quite sensitive towards energy fluctuations, but could always capture tangible objects with ease and accuracy.


    Such as these few snow wasps.


    They made use of the cover provided by the leaves. The entirely pure white body was hard to discern in an environment heaped with snow everywhere, but Chen Mu discovered them very easily.


    Having witnessed the might of the snow wasp''s sting, he dared not belittle it in the slightest. He cast a glance at Mo Ta. These card artisans were each crazed by bloodlust. Could it be that they had forgotten his own presence?


    This thought merely flashed by in his mind, and his attention was placed upon the few snow wasps approaching him silently. He must get rid of these few snow wasps presently, and without causing too big a commotion. Otherwise, not only would it catch the attention of this group of card artisans, but also would those beasts not leave the matter be.


    He was the culprit after all!


    Chen Mu hid behind a stout trunk. The tree in front of him had a diameter of about eight meters and could easily conceal his figure. His perception was fixedly locked onto these few snow wasps. Evidently, they wanted to ambush him!


    Chen Mu suddenly seemed like a lizard, climbing up the tree with odd agility. The view from the tree wasn''t too good as the dense foliage could block one''s view. Ordinary card artisans'' perception could hardly be of any use in such complex geography and they could only rely on their eyes experience.


    However, to Chen Mu, these branches and leaves were but a minor problem. The few snow wasps were still under the close surveillance of his perception.


    Chen Mu''s movements were exceedingly gentle, like a leopard cat. The Patterned Shuttle was actually most suitable for such an environment. This kind of long ranged attack cards, similar to the Whorled Sniper Shuttle, could easily obliterate beasts with lackluster defense abilities like the snow wasps.


    After weighing his options for a moment, Chen Mu did not choose the Patterned Shuttle and intended to use the Hundred Changes instead. The Patterned Shuttle would make loud noises which would be extremely easy to alarm the card artisans and the beasts in the fray.


    A light cyan, whip-shaped energy body the thickness of a thumb appeared, and if one to look closer, one would discover that the edges of this energy whip was covered with serrated blades and was extremely sharp. The energy blade-whip was about five meters in length. Though this length wasn''t exactly long, the difficulty in control was smaller as well.


    Mo Ta''s energy chain had given him considerable inspiration and even triggered his memory of Mark Victor''s Twisted Spinning Thorns. The energy blade-whip''s advantages were an attack range further than a handheld wavy blade and a larger variety and increased flexibility of variations. Its weak points were the lack in power of its attacks and the high demands of perceptual control.


    But Chen Mu''s choosing of the energy whip at present was just right. Snow wasps'' defense capabilities weren''t strong and great attacking power wasn''t necessary. Besides, to fight close up with a beast so nimble in flight and possessed of mid-ranged attacking abilities like the snow wasp was truly too dangerous.


    Pity that he didn''t know how the structure of that energy chain in Mo Ta''s hands was actually built. Otherwise, he could have used it as a reference. He was very curious about that golden yellow energy chain, especially that "explode". He had racked his brains and still couldn''t figure out its principle.


    Nevertheless, he was still rather confident in the energy blade-whip formed from Hundred Changes.


    The energy blade-whip coiled up in loops and was held loosely in his hand.


    The branch of this tree was thicker than a man''s thigh and Chen Mu could walk on it steadily. His body had an excellent sense of balance. Even without a jet stream card, he could calmly run on it speedily.


    The snow wasps hadn''t yet found out that Chen Mu was no longer at the original place. They took a roundabout route to outflank him and with the cover of leaves, they wanted to fly to behind Chen Mu. The surrounding was full of dense foliage and branches the thickness of arms, and with incredible grace, they flitted about amongst them.


    They hadn''t expected that the prey in their eyes had become the predator, lying in wait on the path by which they must pass.


    A leading snow wasp stopped abruptly, and the snowy white feelers on its forehead seemed to be quivering gently. The other few snow wasps halted one after another too, hovering in mid-air among the leaves.


    Sure enough, the six senses of the snow wasps are truly sensitive! Exclaiming inwardly, Chen Mu chose to make a move!


    A ray of pale cyan light suddenly shot out from amidst the dense foliage and accurately impaled the body of a snow wasp. Before the other snow wasps comprehended the situation, this blade-whip formed from pale cyan energy had instantly retracted.


    Chen Mu, who had ambushed successfully, conveniently rolled back like a rubber ball.


    Thump!


    A sting hit the place where Chen Mu had been a moment ago. The power of the sting was tremendous and the branch, thick as an arm, was actually forcibly snapped by the shot from the middle like pulp. The still powerful sting buried into the ground, leaving just a deep hole the size of a finger.


    Chen Mu felt the branch under him quake and almost fell to the ground.


    A sting this size actually contained so terrifying a power. If it were to hit a human body...


    Chen Mu felt his scalp going numb. He hadn''t felt it while spectating the battle between the black-faced burly man and the snow wasps, but presently while he himself was at it, he understood how deadly was the plain-looking sting! Actually, when he had heard the sound of the sting hitting the branch a moment ago, he had already known something was not right. An ordinary sting shot into wood would usually produce a sound similar to a "thud", but the sound Chen Mu had heard a moment ago was a dull "thump".


    Nonetheless, he reacted exceptionally fast. His two legs encircled the remaining half of the incessantly shaking branch, his body swung as agilely as an ape and appeared instantly below this swarm of snow wasps, and the energy blade-whip looped into a coil in his hand was like the flicking tongue of a poisonous snake.


    Whizz!


    As though a piece of paper was stabbed by a sharp blade, another snow wasp was punctured by the long thin blade whip.


    Hit with just one shot, Chen Mu''s legs exerted strength instantly. Whoosh, a sting flew by against his shoulder. The agitated air was like a knife, a cut was slit on the shoulder area of Chen Mu''s battle suit, and a trace of blood seeped out.


    Chen Mu''s heart felt a little chilled, but his movements were exceedingly quick. His attention had never been so focussed. The occasional sound of explosions from nearby and Mo Ta''s bellows of rage were completely disregarded by him. His world was strangely quiet, with only the humming from the fluttering of the snow wasps'' snowy white wings.


    His speed was very fast, and he flew forward with odd agility in the gaps between the branches. Every now and then both hands and feet would be used together, and the humming close behind was like the sound of hastening death.


    His nerves were strung tight and the strong sense of danger still clung about in his heart. Different from the tension in the nerves, he had to do all he could to maintain his body in a relaxed state. Only in such a state could he make use of his greatest capabilities.


    This was the experience concluded from facing off with Wei-ah.


    The spread-out perception allowed every grass and every tree around Chen Mu to be reflected in his heart with unparalleled clarity. Precisely with the help of perception could he find the best route among the overgrown and air-tight foliage and maintain flying at high speed.


    Up ahead was a cluster of dense foliage and Chen Mu plunged in without any hesitation.


    The snow wasps behind him sank lower and were attempting to outflank him from below the leaves.


    Precisely at this moment, a sudden cyan ray shot out from the leaves above the snow wasps without any sign. A snow wasp which couldn''t dodge in time let out a whimper and was impaled by the cyan ray.


    The blade-whip was stretched taut and looked like a thin energy sword. The other end was buried among the leaves.


    The enemy''s there!


    Without any hesitation, the last snow wasp shot out the sting on its tail end like lightning in the direction of the energy blade-whip.


    Yet, the piteous cry expected did not ring out, and this snow wasp seemed confused about this. Past experience seemed insufficient in explaining the current situation.


    Not far from where the straight blade-whip sunk into the leaves was an abrupt 90-degree corner and two meters further horizontally was actually Chen Mu''s right hand.


    When Chen Mu plunged into the foliage a moment ago, he hadn''t chosen to move forward, but suddenly stopped instead and stealthily waited in ambush. Given his abilities, it wasn''t enough to attack two snow wasps in one go. And after attacking the first snow wasp, he would definitely be counter-attacked by the other accompanying snow wasp.


    The might of sting had almost caused him a significant disadvantage, the still shaken Chen Mu had a flash of inspiration and came up with this solution. Chen Mu was at present as though holding an L-shaped energy blade-whip.


    Lucky that I chose the blade-whip. If it were an energy sword, I might have already been penetrated by this sting. Chen Mu was inwardly extremely relieved.


    He was entirely unaware of how strong was the perceptual control required in maneuvering the energy blade-whip forward at high speed in an L-shaped trajectory as he had just done.


    A snow wasp without its sting was akin to a tiger without teeth and claws.


    However, Chen Mu didn''t intend to let these stingless snow wasps live. If they attracted companions, then the unfortunate one would be himself.


    The energy blade-whip lashed out and brilliant rays flashed. The snow wasps, unable to flee in time, were impaled one after another. They had long been locked on by Chen Mu''s perception.


    Bang bang bang!


    Three concentrated explosions sounded from behind him in quick succession. Chen Mu was a little shocked and immediately hurried back in stealth.


    While he was running swiftly, he was considering carefully. Not one of this gang of card artisans could be allowed to escape. Otherwise, he could forget about leaving this stretch of forest. The adversary''s scouting card artisan was really too strong. If this guy didn''t die, his own chance of survival would be minimal.


    The Chen Mu who stole back wasn''t aware that the Ah Xin in charge of scouting had already died.


    When he saw clearly the scene on the battlefield, he couldn''t help having a huge shocked.

 370 Energy Fluctuations

    Corpses were all over the place, and the air was permeated by the thick and pungent reek of blood. The ground was dotted with countless charred pits. The dark-faced, burly man was covered in blood and in the midst of battling the last mille-feuilles flying locust.


    The mille-feuilles flying locust seemed to understand, too, that Mo Ta was already past his prime and close to the end, so it was merely toying with him. Mo Ta''s reaction speed was much slower than before, and he took in breath in huge puffs. Only the ruthless hostility in his eyes remained much the same.


    The golden-yellow energy chain was lusterless, and half of it had already vanished. Is there not much energy left in the energy card in the apparatus, or has his perception already been used up? Chen Mu was secretly making guesses. Looking once more at the scattered bodies of the wild beasts, he couldn''t help but gasp.


    That dark-faced, burly man was so powerful! The bodies of the wild beasts on the ground weren''t just common goods. Dingbirds, mille-feuilles flying locusts, snow wasps¡ªthey were each infamous. If Chen Mu had been in his shoes, he admittedly couldn''t have possibly managed that feat.


    Though Mo Ta had relied on his overbearing power to wipe out most of the crowd of beasts, he himself had been severely injured. The most serious was a cut on his back deep enough to show the bone, almost dividing his back into two. The next was his shoulder, badly mutilated. Blood trickled down along his arm, looking as terrifying as could be.


    He was the only one still standing on the battlefield. The other card artisans had all perished. A trace of grief flashed through Mo Ta''s eyes. It would be difficult to avoid a complete annihilation of the whole gang.


    He had carried out innumerable missions, but not once had it gone so poorly. Mission? He recalled the current mission with a jolt. That mysterious ace! Mo Ta''s feverish head seemed to have been doused with a basin of ice-cold water.


    How could I have forgotten him? That guy had been the starting point of everything! The enemy had long disappeared, however. Looking at the corpses of his companions littered on the ground, a bout of hatred arose from his heart instantly.


    An unnaturally vivid red appeared on Mo Ta''s face as he shouted hoarsely, "Come out, you coward!"


    Mo Ta''s sudden bellow gave the mille-feuilles flying locust a fright. It shrank back abruptly and put some distance between itself and Mo Ta.


    Is he referring to me? Chen Mu wondered to himself with some suspicion as he lay in hiding. Suspicions were just suspicions, and he wasn''t silly enough to jump out at that point in time. Once a card artisan staked his life on it, it would be extremely scary. Wouldn''t it be even more so with a card artisan overbearingly powerful like that dark-faced, burly man?


    If he were to implode¡­ The mere thought of it sent a shiver down Chen Mu''s spine.


    No reply came from the surrounding area, and the ruthless hostility in Mo Ta''s eyes increased. He knew the adversary was lying low and might deal him a fatal blow at any time. The adversary''s tactics were simply inconceivable, and Mo Ta wasn''t actually as angry at heart as he appeared to be.


    It seems like I''m going to be buried here today. Once the thought popped into his mind, the anger in his heart seemed to evaporate in an instant. He felt an unfounded relief. To be defeated at the hands of that kind of adversary, there was no grievance in his death. Having licked the blood off blades for so many years, he had long been mentally prepared for his fate.


    The adversary''s tactics drew Mo Ta''s endless admiration. How did he manage to attract such a crowd of dangerous beasts in one go? After all, every type of creature had their own territory; if he had attracted one or two, he wouldn''t have been so surprised. However, the adversary actually managed to lure dozens of them in one go. It was incredible!


    That had been the root cause of their failure. Besides, the tactic with which the adversary escaped from the scene of battle had also left Mo Ta a deep impression. Wave-shaped, high-frequency evasion¡ªhow amazing a battle tactic!


    To lose at the hands of such an adversary, he had nothing to say. How could he know the adversary had not done it deliberately? But, even if he knew, he had no solution. The adversary''s managing to attract such a mass of powerful beasts, plus having a great flying technique, had destined that result. Their strength in numbers had become their weakest point at that moment.


    As though it had discovered Mo Ta''s thoughts were elsewhere, the crafty mille-feuilles flying locust suddenly attacked! Dozens of tentacles abruptly shot at Mo Ta from various directions, piercing the air with a crack!


    The sound interrupted Mo Ta''s thoughts. Seeing the tentacles sweeping and shooting toward him, a trace of vehemence flashed across his eyes! His feet stumbled, and Mo Ta laughed bitterly to himself. In his usual state, he could avoid such attacks with ease. At that moment, however, his legs were as heavy as lead and didn''t have the strength for even a single stride.


    Innumerable tentacles stabbed into Mo Ta''s body, and his face gradually showed signs of pain. But that pair of eyes was filled with ruthlessness! The remaining half of the energy whip in his hands jumped up abruptly like a poisonous snake and deftly entangled the mille-feuilles flying locust.


    The mille-feuilles flying locust chirped in panic, and the little wings all over its body were flapping madly. It, too, sensed danger.


    Mo Ta, whose whole body was pierced with tentacles, grinned, and blood foam dripped from the corner of his mouth. Indistinctly through the blood foam, he managed to shout, "Explode!"


    The mille-feuilles flying locust entangled by the golden-yellow energy chain disintegrated into countless pieces with a bang. The energy chain turned into a shower of golden-yellow fragments of light and faded away, and Mo Ta, too, fell face-up at the same time.


    The fallen Mo Ta gazed vacantly up at the dense foliage, clustered and bunched together, sensing the icy coldness from the fallen snow and the flowing of blood incessantly draining his body of life.


    Precisely at that moment, there was an abrupt thump like muffled thunder.


    Mo Ta smiled¡ªyou''ve finally made a move.


    Just before his view went black, Mo Ta''s heart was full of praise. Still so cautious even at this moment! He was suddenly a little hopeful. What surprise will this fellow bring the boss and the other team leaders? It''s a pity I won''t be able to see it¡­


    Chen Mu stepped out of the darkness. Seeing the corpses littered everywhere, he didn''t feel much of the joy at heart of having survived a calamity. However, he quickly put aside his emotions. The forest, with dangers from all around, was not a good place to be melancholic. He began rummaging through the personal effects of those card artisans. His first target was the dark-faced, burly man. He was full of curiosity about the card that could release an energy chain.


    Chen Mu removed all of the cards in Mo Ta''s apparatus. He removed not only those, but also everything on him. Waste had always been a vice loathed by Chen Mu. Therefore, as expected, he searched all of the card artisans. That probing card of Ah Xin''s once again impressed him. Restraining the urge to study it right then and there with great difficulty, he put it into his own card case.


    Chen Mu looked at the 30 silver cards placed before him. They were divided by a black centerline into two, and a serial number was on the lower right corner of every card. Beneath the serial numbers were the symbols of stars. Some had one star, some had two, and the bottom right corner of the silver card found on the dark-faced, burly man had three stars.


    What cards are these? Every card artisan had one on him. Chen Mu''s first idea was that they were similar to cards that proved one''s identity.


    Regardless, Chen Mu knew he needed to leave at once. The reek of blood there was too strong, and many wild beasts would soon swarm the area.


    Carefully flying in the forest, it wasn''t long before Chen Mu suddenly became aware of a problem. He had felt puzzled all along. Why are there so many powerful beasts here? That phenomenon, which went glaringly against common knowledge, baffled him. His heart wavered. Hesitating for a moment, he changed direction and flew toward the area where he had attracted the throng of beasts earlier.


    Thankfully, the multitude of beasts had left many marks while pursuing Chen Mu. Otherwise, in that place where north, east, south, and west were hard to discern, finding the place where the beasts had been lured earlier would have been simply the delusion of a fool.


    That time, Chen Mu didn''t run into a single wild beast.


    Carefully recalling the place where the throng of beasts had charged out from, he began searching the forest cautiously. He didn''t know why those beasts had gathered together, but a phenomenon so against the conventional made him very suspicious. He vaguely sensed there must be something peculiar.


    The surrounding area was utterly silent; apart from the howling of the wind, nothing else could be heard.


    Soon, Chen Mu discovered that the marks on the ground were increasing, which lifted his spirits. He hadn''t found the wrong direction! As he went onward, the marks on the ground kept increasing, rather shocking Chen Mu. Now that I think about it, my luck is actually pretty good. If it wasn''t for the accidental luring of beasts precisely in this area, I probably would have died at the hands of that gang of card artisans.


    The curiosity in his heart was getting stronger still. A little farther on, large amounts of battle traces began to appear. The snow on the ground was a mess, wounds were all over the tree trunks, and there were broken branches and fallen leaves everywhere.


    Suddenly, Chen Mu stopped dead, and his gaze was turned to somewhere not far off.


    A little hot spring no more than five meters in diameter was sending up clouds of heated white mists. Speaking of oddities, the fallen snow around the little hot spring had suffered no damage.


    The appearance of a hot spring in the forest wasn''t really a thing worth puzzling over. Hot springs were typically produced by geothermal heat. In the vast expanse covered by the forest, a few geothermal hot springs were indeed normal.


    Yet, that little hot spring had firmly attracted Chen Mu''s gaze.


    Energy fluctuations! Strong energy fluctuations!


    Chen Mu sensed incredibly strong energy fluctuations from the hot spring in front of him. Such energy fluctuations were so intense that they could measure up to those generated when that dark-faced, burly man had used the energy chain to trigger explosions.


    How did this happen?


    Chen Mu approached the hot spring with great caution. The mist blocked his view, but thankfully his perception was sensitive to tangible objects.


    There were no living creatures in the hot spring! That allowed Chen Mu to heave a sigh of relief; what he feared most at present was to run into some unknown organism. An unknown organism meant unknown abilities, which was undoubtedly quite dangerous. Moreover, creatures that survived there couldn''t possibly be weak. Just the chance of such an organism being there meant the level of danger was rising further.


    Though he discovered no creature in the hot spring, Chen Mu was still very much on guard. Such intense energy fluctuations were really the height of peculiarity.


    Carefully and cautiously, he came to the side of the hot spring. The clear spring water showed everything in full view, yet Chen Mu''s gaze seemed to have been attracted by a magnet and couldn''t be shifted away in the slightest.

 371 The Black-Line Star Listing

    Three faceted blue crystals lay quietly at the bottom of the spring, which was where the intense energy fluctuations were coming from. Chen Mu carefully picked them out of the hot spring and looked at them closely. They had a standard faceted shape and were completely free of impurities, like pure sapphire. The biggest was about the size of a fingernail, and the smallest was the size of a soybean.


    But it was those little bits of crystal that had been disseminating such intense energy fluctuations. He could only imagine what level of energy density they contained!


    The three blue crystals weren''t among the materials Chen Mu was familiar with. Even so, he knew he had found a treasure. Materials that could be used to make cards had the common characteristic that they had to be compatible with energy. The three crystals contained a terrifying amount of energy and must have had an outrageous energy compatibility.


    He swept the bottom of the spring with his perception, and there were no more blue crystals.


    Then, just as Chen Mu was about to leave, he reconsidered and picked up a stick to stir the sediment at the bottom of the spring. As he was stirring it, he perceived a bout of energy fluctuation. Chen Mu was thrilled, knowing there were still some blue crystals at the bottom of the spring.


    Sure enough, he found two more soybean-sized blue crystals.


    Chen Mu''s gaze was drawn by the black sediment on the bottom of the spring. When he had just stirred it, the water hadn''t turned at all turbid but remained as clear as before. The sediment was like a viscous colloid, very distinct from the spring water. No matter how much Chen Mu stirred it, the black mud wouldn''t mix with the water.


    Thinking about how he hadn''t detected the least bit of energy fluctuation from the blue crystals in the black sediment, Chen Mu''s curiosity was aroused again. He used the Hundred Changes to carve the stick in his hands into a shovel shape and dug out some of the black mud. It had no smell. Chen Mu put one of the blue crystals into the black mud.


    A look of joy floated onto his face. Sure enough, the powerful energy fluctuations he had just felt completely disappeared! The black mud could indeed shield energy fluctuations. Chen Mu had found treasure. Without hesitating, he put each blue crystal in a thick layer of black mud, and all of the energy fluctuations completely disappeared.


    Interesting! Chen Mu looked entranced. He knew the blue crystal was certainly something good, but its incredibly powerful energy fluctuations might make him a perceptible target even from a long way off. Chen Mu didn''t want to lose his life because of the blue crystals. But the thing he was most worried about had been solved by the black mud, which made him crazed with joy.


    He dipped his fingers into a little of the black mud, which felt delicate in his hands. Chen Mu immediately determined that the black mud was also valuable. He cut off a section of a branch the thickness of an arm and hollowed it out into a barrel, filling it with a tube of the black mud. He then carefully sealed it. He didn''t know what sort of properties it might have, but just its ability to shield energy fluctuations was enough to get his interest. He intended to take that bit of black mud back with him to research it fully.


    After finishing that, Chen Mu left the spring with no reluctance.


    Not long after he left, a cold-looking card artisan appeared with dozens of men beside the corpse of Mo Ta. The corpses in front of them filled that gang of card artisans with surprise.


    * * *


    Flying for about five straight hours, Chen Mu finally stopped. He opened the Thousand Kilometer.


    Seeing Chen Mu safe and sound, Bogner and Xi Ping both breathed sighs of relief.


    "Are you all right, Boss? What just happened?" Bogner''s gaze was sharp. Chen Mu looked haggard, as though he had just undergone a bitter struggle.


    Chen Mu gave a brief account of the battle, which left Bogner and Xi Ping aghast.


    Bogner kept saying, "Shall we transfer over some men? Should we have Xiaobo go? Or tell Wei-ah?"


    Chen Mu shook his head. "No need. By the time they get here, it won''t have been any use to send them." Who knew how far from the snow silkworm ravine his current position was? It wouldn''t be so near to Zargan, either, so it would be no different than looking for a fish hook in the ocean to find a person in the vast forests.


    Suddenly thinking of something, Chen Mu pulled out the stack of silver cards and said to Bogner, "Can you help me find out what these cards actually are?" Seeing the dazed look on the two of them, he slapped his head and said, "Right. Call Brenton over. He should know."


    Brenton came over after just a moment. "You''re looking for me, Boss?" He looked excited, thinking Chen Mu had a job for him. He had been idle ever since joining the team. Apart from training his perception, there was nothing for him to do. Although he''d gotten a good deal, he wanted the chance to prove his worth.


    "Do you know what these cards are, Brenton?" Chen Mu waved the silver cards he had taken from the bodies of the gang of card artisans.


    After a moment looking them over, Brenton looked frightened. "The black-line silver-inscribed cards. It''s a black-line silver-inscribed card!"


    Bogner and Xi Ping looked at one another with serious gazes, and Bogner asked, "What is a black-line silver-inscribed card, Brenton?"


    Brenton''s face paled a little. "It''s the identity card used by illegal organizations. Those illegal organizations have mutual alliances and form a mysterious ring. The black-line silver-inscribed card is the identity nameplate for members of the illegal ring. There is specific information about them on the cards. It''s their proof of identity, and it has the holder''s rank in the ring and other information on it. There is no way to participate in many of the ring''s activities without it, including trading, purchasing of intelligence, and so forth. Quite a few of the larger illegal organization members might have a black-line silver-inscribed card."


    After a brief pause, Brenton''s expression relaxed as he continued, "The black-line silver-inscribed card has another use with the Black-Line Star Listing. Nobody knows who compiles the Black-Line Star Listing, but a new list is announced every month. Everyone recognizes the listing as the authority for the gray chart of card artisans. To be listed, they are all three-star level card artisans or above on the black-line silver-inscribed card. Those are all aces! The number of listed aces is also a measure of an organization''s size and power, and those freelance card artisans with a high ranking become the object of the organizations scrambling to attract them. It was said previously that Moon Frost Island was interested in the ninth-ranked freelance card artisan, Yangshan Fei, but he unceremoniously rejected them."


    "Three stars?" Chen Mu suddenly remembered the black-line silver-inscribed card he had taken from Mo Ta''s body, the bottom of which was marked with three stars. He pulled the card out and asked, "Three stars just like this?"


    On the screen, Brenton was wide-eyed with shock. He stammered, "This¡­ This¡­ That''s a three-star black-line silver-inscribed card?"


    "If that''s the card you''re talking about," Chen Mu said.


    "Wow! Awesome! Did you get that in the battle, Boss? Heavens! Every ace on the Black-Line Star Listing has a sky-high reward. Ooh, ooh, ooh! I bow down to you! Boss, you are certainly among the top 100 names in the Heavenly Drum Rolls!" Brenton''s eyes were lit up so excitedly that Chen Mu wondered if he might faint any second.


    "Heavenly Drum Rolls?" Hearing yet another strange name, Chen Mu was a little puzzled.


    Brenton rushed to explain himself. "The card artisans on the Black-Line Star Listing are all engaged in illegal activities, like assassins, looting, kidnapping, and that sort of thing. The Heavenly Drum Rolls are the Heavenly Drum Village District''s listing of card artisans involved in legal activities."


    "Oh." Chen Mu then looked like he understood, but he suddenly thought of a question. "Which side has more authority?"


    "The Black-Line Star Listing is a little more powerful. The card artisans on it are extremely vicious types, and they have experienced more battles. The card artisans on the Heavenly Drum Rolls are mostly from the academies, and quite a few people consider it to be rather watered down. But the Heavenly Drum Rolls listing is still quite useful. The first 300 names will get the finest treatment no matter where. A three-star black-line silver-inscribed card! It is possibly among the top 100 on the Black-Line Star Listing. You are too powerful, Boss!" The more Brenton spoke, the more excited he got. His gaze toward Chen Mu had become still hotter.


    That dark-faced stalwart certainly had a lot of power. Chen Mu didn''t have the least bit of doubt that he would be among the first 100.


    "You can look at the information on the black-line silver-inscribed card, Boss. There''s information there about the rank!" Brenton continued to urge him on with a lot more eagerness than Chen Mu had.


    Chen Mu inserted the card into his apparatus.


    Mo Ta; listed as 89th on the Black-Line Star Listing in April; a member of the Constellation; one of seven captains.


    "Constellation¡­" Brenton, who had just been excited, inexplicably went pale with fright.


    "What is Constellation?" Bogner saw the abrupt change in Brenton''s expression and frowned as he asked.


    In Brenton''s stammering explanation, the few of them managed to figure out what Constellation was. It was among the most famous illegal organizations in the Heavenly Drum Village District, as well as one of the most powerful. Among the first 100 names on the Black-Line Star Listing, there were four from Constellation, which told a lot.


    Its leader, Wen, was 15th on the list and was a true ace. No one knew what "Wen''s" real name was. Not only was he the most powerful card artisan in Constellation, but he was also the most mysterious. There were six stars on his black-line silver-inscribed card.


    Furthermore, the captain of the first small team, Yuchi Bai, was 41st on the list, with four stars on his black-line silver-inscribed card.


    Mo Ta, who was the captain of the third small team, was listed 89th, with three stars on his card.


    Jin Yin, who was the captain of the seventh team, was listed 93rd, also with three stars.


    On the Black-Line Star Listing, the first ten had seven stars on their black-line silver-inscribed cards, and the 11th and 12th had six. The 30th through 60th had four stars, and the 61st through 100th had three stars.


    "None among the several captains in Constellation were one-sided aces. Under Wen, however, they were all obedient and willingly acted as captains."


    Seeing Brenton stammering, Chen Mu knew the guy wasn''t going to give any constructive advice. But, at the same time, he was shocked that Constellation''s deterrence was so impressive!


    Xi Ping opened his mouth as though he had something to point out. "The way you tell it, this Constellation must be a first-rate organization. Going out to grab a snow shuttle vessel like that, could there be some deception implied?"

 372 Powerful Measures

    Bogner''s response was quick. "We''ll look into which company was running that snow shuttle vessel. Maybe we can find some clues."


    Looking at the two of them so worried, Chen Mu said to reassure them, "Don''t worry; I have some ability to defend myself in the forest."


    Xi Ping and Bogner could only helplessly worry from a distance about the predicament Chen Mu was in.


    Chen Mu then called Wei-ah, whose reaction was just as indifferent as Chen Mu thought it would be. Wei-ah acted as though it was no big deal to him.


    After the call, Bogner and Xi Ping immediately initiated an investigation into the whole matter. They quickly found out the snow shuttle vessel Chen Mu had ridden on belonged to a transportation company called Chum Salmon Passenger Company. That didn''t provide any clues in itself.


    The two of them looked at one another with tacit understanding. The way things looked, they would have to really investigate the background of that Chum Salmon Passenger Company and what power the firm belonged to. But, compared to the scant information about that company, there was a lot of material about Constellation. It was easy to find on every fantasy card viewing platform.


    Although most of it was only hearsay, they still got a lot of insight into Constellation and the Black-Line Star Listing. No matter which platform it was, the power of Constellation was always embellished as mysterious and powerful. There were seven small teams and seven captains who were perfectly awesome aces under its leader, Wen. Constellation only had a few hundred people, but it was still ranked as the seventh in the Heavenly Drum Village District, which could be called impressively notorious.


    Unlike the other underground organizations, Constellation had always remained low-key in its undertakings. Most of what was on the viewing platforms was the nonsense of the rumor mill, which only added to the mystery surrounding Constellation.


    The more Bogner and Xi Ping looked into things, the more frightened they became. They weren''t only afraid of Constellation; they were also shocked at the Black-Line Star Listing. They had previously been like Chen Mu, not having much of a feeling about the Black-Line Star Listing. When they came across more information about it, however, they immediately took it more seriously.


    To be able to get on that list, card artisans had to be first-rate aces in the Heavenly Drum Village District. Those in the top 100 were all well-established aces. To be listed among the top ten aces would put you into the realm of legend.


    The ninth-ranked Yangshan Fei had gotten the favor of Moon Frost Island, which had plied him with money and position, hoping to attract such an ace. They were surprisingly refused.


    It was said that the two sides came into conflict over that. Yangshan Fei had easily departed after seriously wounding six card artisans from Moon Frost Island, among whom was the 56th on the Heavenly Drum Rolls, Han Cen. That showed how powerful Yangshan Fei''s strength was!


    The most surprising thing was that afterward, Moon Frost Island didn''t actually send anyone looking for trouble with Yangshan Fei but kept the peace instead. After that battle, Yangshan Fei became still more famous.


    His listing on the Black-Line Star Listing didn''t change because of that, however; he remained in the ninth spot. Many people guessed the few ahead of him must have been still more terrifyingly powerful.


    The Black-Line Star Listing seemed to be the authority in people''s minds, which was pretty ironic. Those cutthroats, who would stop at nothing, were still worshipped by countless souls. The Heavenly Drum Rolls got the well-established families and had considerable clout among academy graduates, but it still couldn''t approach the evident strength of the Black-Line Star Listing.


    Among the top ten on the Heavenly Drum Rolls, there were five from Moon Frost Island. The current number-one was the 57-year-old Jia Yingxia, who was a previous president of the academy. She had occupied the top spot on the Heavenly Drum Rolls for the past 15 years.


    Among the five from Moon Frost Island, the one attracting the most attention wasn''t Jia Yingxia; rather, it was her disciple. She once fought alone and won against one of the Gemini Twins from Desert Camp, Bai Yue. To have been able to be listed among the top ten on the Heavenly Drum Rolls just as she turned 20 was something no one had ever done before. She had long been the dazzling star in the Heavenly Drum Village District, or even in the entire federation. As the idol of countless teenage female card artisans, she was also the lover in the dreams of in nearly every teenage boy in the entire federation.


    She was hard to get close enough to for love. She had been with Jia Yingxia ever since she was little and loved her like her mother. As the scion of the senior gal of the same school, few people knew her closely. That was right up until that battle with the Gemini Twins, when she entered everyone''s field of view. That very battle had settled the eighth position in the Heavenly Drum Rolls.


    Those days were a period when geniuses emerged. When the Star Academy had nearly fallen out from the Big Six after almost 50 years that the inner academy was shut down, that mysterious, genius girl finally graduated, and the inner academy reopened.


    The storm was raging, and the times were changing. How could they be the only two outstanding women in the Heavenly Federation by that time?


    * * *


    Looking at the dark red reagent bottle in Qing Qing''s hands, Mobley''s eyes flashed fanatically. With strongly repressed excitement, he asked, "Did you succeed, Miss Qing Qing?"


    Qing Qing showed her never-changing, easygoing calm and nodded in response. "I did."


    It was finally hard for Mobley to hide his ecstasy.


    Qing Qing wasn''t looking at Mobley. Her gaze was far off as she gave a leisurely sigh. "This secret recipe was invented 300 years ago by a card master. With limited qualifications, this predecessor didn''t accomplish much with his life. The only thing he left behind was this formula."


    She then turned around and showed her smile to Mobley. "Qing Qing is worried about letting Captain Mobley see her smile. This formula has no name, but I call it stimulant liquid for the time being. When it''s diluted in warm water, and a card artisan soaks in it while training his perception, his perception will significantly advance after only a few times."


    The look of pleasure on Mobley''s face deepened.


    "It''s just that, in this world, there are always both gains and losses. Although the results of the stimulant liquid are pretty good, there are also side effects."


    Mobley felt a chill, and he quickly asked, "Side effects? What side effects?"


    "The first time using the stimulant liquid is the best, but as the number of uses increases, the efficacy gradually drops. It''s most suited for use by card artisans facing a bottleneck, when it can often help them to break through it. It''s best not to use it more than three times. In addition, card artisans who aren''t older than 20 shouldn''t really use it at all since it can impact their future development. Card artisans older than 40 don''t have to be so scrupulous and don''t have the three-time limit."


    Mobley responded respectfully. "I appreciate Miss Qing Qing''s advice, and my entire team is grateful."


    Qing Qing''s expression was tranquil. "Captain Mobley needn''t thank me. Qing Qing also has a request to make of the team. We hope when the time comes, Captain Mobley can come to our mutual aid."


    Mobley said in awe, "Miss Qing Qing needn''t worry. Mobley is not any kind of untrustworthy person! Right. I''ve never asked Miss Qing Qing what she is really up to."


    Qing Qing, who had nothing of the dust of the world on her face, flashed a look of desolation. "It won''t be too late to tell by the time the stimulant liquid has taken effect. Qing Qing is tired now and will have to rest."


    Watching Qing Qing''s lonely, desolate back, Mobley felt as though he had been stabbed in the heart by a needle. He determined to himself that no matter what Qing Qing was up to, he would certainly see it through with her.


    Just at that time, the unfortunate events of the Federation Comprehensive Academy were getting the attention of the entire federation.


    After Tang Hanpei''s long silence, he had once again appeared out of the blue. Like a clap of thunder that left no time to cover one''s ears, he grabbed all the power in the Federation Comprehensive Academy. He immediately appointed Song Chengyan as the front-line commander of the troops drafted from each of the trustee''s clans. They formed a veritable motley set of troops.


    Everyone looked at the motley troops as a joke, wondering how long it would be before they were all killed. The elite of the Federation Comprehensive Academy had long since been depleted. What they now needed to face were Faya, which was at the peak of its power, and the Central Repository of the Classics, which they were so eager to avenge.


    One against two put them at a disadvantage, still more so as a motley private army formed from all over the place.


    Tang Hanpei then gave a presentation in the Federation Comprehensive Academy, where he appealed to scholars of all ages to throw themselves into the struggle to defend the school. It was a successful presentation. Not only scholars from all classes, but quite a few of the professors, who didn''t pay much attention to the affairs of the world, came out of their labs and libraries to rush to the front lines.


    Tang Hanpei then made an announcement on the field, depriving the trustees who had left the capital of all their wealth and assets. All the scholars and professors hated those cowardly and greedy trustees. The decision could be said to have made everyone happy, and it got unanimous support.


    The determination for the common survival of the Federation Comprehensive Academy that Tang Hanpei presented once again pushed his personal prestige to an apex. With the stimulus of survival, the Federation Comprehensive Academy showed vitality such as it never had. Powerful older scholars rushed to the front lines, and the younger ones were full of energy as they immediately filled the entire Federation Comprehensive Academy with an ethos of hard work.


    Tang Hanpei suddenly announced that he would open all the legacies of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, so any scholar could learn and draw on them.


    Once that came out, there were outcries all over. The other schools maintained their prudent attitudes. By the second day after the announcement, however, the gates of the Federation Comprehensive Academy were full of card artisans. Not only that, but the card artisans in all the five flourishing districts¡ªespecially the young ones¡ªspontaneously got moving like a tidal wave rushing to the capital.


    The Federation Comprehensive Academy was the first academy in the federation¡ªthe head of the Big Six! Any legacy from its libraries that was put on the market would be first-rate. How could that not rile up those young card artisans, who were suffering from no place to study?


    Tang Hanpei''s actions left the other schools at a disadvantage. It wasn''t in their interests. The reason the Big Six could become such behemoths looked up to by everyone depended on those precious legacies. That''s what made them superior and allowed them to grasp the greatest power. The order announced by Tang Hanpei would possibly pull them down from their lofty altar, which frightened them.


    But those crafty old fellows took no substantive measures apart from expressing their dissatisfaction.


    Like a dog in a rush, the current Federation Comprehensive Academy was a red-eyed gambler. While the rabbits were clenching their teeth with anxiety, and even though they had been hit hard, the behemoth Federation Comprehensive Academy had a comeback on the verge of death, which made them utterly relentless.


    By that time, those who had become entangled with the Federation Comprehensive Academy were now suddenly taking advantage of the rest. They hadn''t believed the Federation Comprehensive Academy could survive the two-pronged attack of Faya and the Central Repository of the Classics.


    While everyone was waiting and seeing, no one noticed Tang Hanpei quietly disappearing.

 373 The Snake Lens

    Jin Yin''s gaze was as gloomy as a storm cloud as he stared at the corpse by his feet. Mo Ta''s head was separated from his body, his neck severed straight off. Although Jin Yin and Mo Ta hadn''t exactly been on the same path, he couldn''t help but remain silent seeing Mo Ta dead.


    "Where was the snow shuttle vessel that An Sa brought back going?" Jin Yin suddenly asked. His voice was sharp, like a chill, howling wind, which made a person feel gloomy just hearing it.


    "Zargan," one of his subordinates answered in a hurry.


    "Let''s search in the direction of Zargan." Jin Yin casually shot a glance at the team member who had just spoken and said coldly, "Take two others with you, and go back to report this news to Chief Wen or to Captain Yuchi."


    "Yes, sir!"


    * * *


    Wen always wore a mask on his face. The silvery mask was engraved with fine patterns, and right in the middle of the forehead was inlaid a faceted, dark red jewel, rather like a demonic eye.


    The five captains stood in front of him with their heads lowered. Among the five, the one who had been with Wen the longest was the captain of the first small team, Yuchi Bai. Ever since the first time Yuchi Bai had seen him, Wen had been wearing that mask. No one knew what sort of face was underneath.


    "Has Jin Yin gone after him?" Wen''s voice was perfectly light and feminine, mixed in with a kind of strange tremolo, as though it had some magic. His long hair fell naturally to his shoulders, shiny and black, lustrous enough to stir the heart.


    "Yes, sir!" Yuchi Bai stepped forward to answer respectfully. He wasn''t tall at only 1.7 meters. He had a square face with thick eyebrows and a simple appearance. Standing there, though, he had a steady, upright presence.


    "Mo Ta and the entire third team have been annihilated." Yuchi Bai continued his report, showing no emotion as always.


    "Oh." The voice that came from under the mask had a rare note of surprise, followed by a light laugh. "Heh heh. To be able to defeat Old Number Three, it looks like this little rat must be quite interesting. Still, he shouldn''t have been able to wipe out an entire small team on just his own power."


    The other team captains'' expressions didn''t look so comfortable. Among the captains, Mo Ta stood right after Wen and Yuchi Bai as number three. Not only did he lead the third small team, but he was also the one with the third-most power, so everyone liked to call him Old Number Three.


    Apart from Yuchi Bai, the other captains didn''t consider their strength up to Mo Ta''s. So, when they now heard Mo Ta''s entire team was wiped out, they were naturally quite shocked. Among them, the most surprised was An Sa. He had always thought Mo Ta would hunt down that ace. It should have been a cinch. He certainly didn''t think it would actually get Mo Ta killed.


    Yuchi Bai narrated in a systematic way. "According to the report sent back by Jin Yin, our adversary lured in a large number of fierce wild beasts, among which were the mille-feuilles flying locust, dingbirds, and swarms of snow wasps. Judging from the corpses of the team, they were all killed by those beasts. Only Mo Ta was attacked with an energy body to his neck, where he was hit by a type of shuttle. In addition, everything of value was taken from their bodies, most likely by our adversary."


    Wen''s slender fingers were as white as jade as he lightly rubbed his smooth chin, squinting like a cat whose eyes were blinded by the sun.


    "Ai. It looks like someone else is more professional than we are. Maybe he''s from the Black-Line Star Listing. Who on that list is good at dealing with wild beasts?"


    "Only Zong Da and Quincy. Zong Da''s Mermaid Call controls beasts superbly by its sound. He''s listed as No. 71. Quincy''s Thousand Segments can simulate brain waves to control consciousness, and he''s listed as No. 44." The one answering was a small, skinny man¡ªas skinny as a rail¡ªwhose gaze was weirdly mobile.


    The captain of the sixth small team, Gan Lin, was good a ferreting out information. He immediately added, "It''s probably not either of them. Right now, one is on the ice fields helping to catch beasts, while the other just showed up two days ago at the Northern Peaks conclave."


    "Interesting! It looks like somebody new has popped up. It''s too bad for him that he had to stir up trouble and fall into our hands." Wen was examining his flawless right hand, his gaze full of regret. After a moment, he retracted his gaze and said languidly, "So, go rub him out."


    "It''s too bad about that card of Ah Xin''s," a meaty-faced stalwart said glumly. He was the captain of the fourth small team, Bao Le. The probe card in Ah Xin''s hands had been coveted for a long time. But, because of Mo Ta''s strength, they wouldn''t dare to be obvious about it. Now that Mo Ta had died, of course they weren''t going to be so scrupulous.


    A hint of chill flashed past An Sa''s gaze. He had never really gotten along with Bao Le.


    "Ha ha! According to practice, the booty goes to the winner." With his magical-sounding voice, Wen made Bao Le''s gaze turn abruptly heated.


    "Bao Le requests this attack!" Bao Le bowed his head to make his respectful plea, hiding his wink at another of the captains.


    Sure enough, that captain stood out from the group and said with a respectful bow, "Jeremy would like to lead the second team along with them, Leader."


    "Then go." Wen lightly waved his feminine right hand, his voice showing a hint of huskiness.


    The two of them looked at one another with joy.


    * * *


    Although Chen Mu didn''t know what sort of people they would send after him, he understood very well that they would certainly not let the matter go. He didn''t flee right away but found someplace to hide instead. He was researching that probe card, which continued to give him such a headache. He would be in bad shape if his adversary still had such a card.


    A wavy, dark brown composition filled the surface of the card, its fine lines unspeakably sharp and simple. On first glance, Chen Mu could tell the one who made it was utterly profound.


    There was a line of text on the lower right corner that said "Snake Lens."


    A five-star probe card! Chen Mu''s heartrate surged, and he swallowed hard. No wonder his adversary could detect his existence! Five-star cards were always scarce. Aside from the Big Six, five-star cards were utterly rare items anywhere else. Still more, it was some obscure probe card!


    Chen Mu could immediately tell the value of the card. Checking out the energy output of the card with his perception, he then input power to the Snake Lens. A fine surge of energy waves with him at its center suddenly emanated outward. At the same time, countless faceted mirrors, like shiny energy bodies, appeared within the world of his perception. Those faceted bodies went on forever and connected to one another with no gaps, looking like a wall.


    Suddenly, on every one of the energy mirrors, there started to appear some vague pictures. Chen Mu immediately sped up his energy input, and the pictures on the energy mirrors became quickly sharper.


    So, that''s how it was!


    Chen Mu felt joyous. Every energy mirror''s picture showed different content. Without his needing to consider it, what the pictures depicted floated into his mind at about the same time.


    Too fantastic!


    It wasn''t that Chen Mu had never seen a probe card, but he had never seen one as incredible as that one. He closed his eyes to closely experience the card''s wonder. The energy waves emitted by the probe card had left a deep impression on him. If it weren''t for those ghostly energy waves, there would have been no way for him to have been discovered.


    The core of that card was in the energy waves it disseminated. Their strength was low; if someone didn''t have acute perception, they would never notice them. Its most terrifying peculiarity was that it was powerfully inductive toward perception.


    Card artisans were always in the habit of emitting perception at any time to gain insight into their surroundings. The Snake Lens took advantage of that. Once the energy waves emitted by the Snake Lens made contact with the card artisans'' perception, they could induce it to make fine changes. Perhaps the card artisan being detected couldn''t even feel such fine changes, but the Snake Lens could accurately capture the changes and fix on the adversary''s position.


    The one who designed the Snake Lens was a genius! Chen Mu couldn''t help his feeling of praise. The energy waves emitted by the Snake Lens were similar to the ones he''d encountered at the Eastern Wei Academy assembly hall, but the Snake Lens was doubtlessly a lot more advanced.


    Now that he had the Snake Lens, Chen Mu was like a tiger that had sprouted wings. Although he still couldn''t play out all its power, the appearance of the Snake Lens could greatly enhance his tactical shortcomings.


    He then turned his attention to the card he had gotten from Mo Ta''s body. The golden-yellow card seemed to be made of gold. The composition on its surface was a luxuriant reddish-purple and felt rather heavy in the hand, with a lot of texture.


    It was the Golden Word Shackle, a five-star card!


    Chen Mu was surprised when he used the card to emit a golden energy chain. The composition of the energy chain emitted by the Golden Word Shackle was highly complex. At first glance, it was nothing more than a chain formed by small ring compositions condensed from energy. Actually, however, the composition of every link in the energy chain was completely different.


    The energy chain was composed of 81 hoops. Hanging from its front end were three sharp, triangular golden energy bodies, and at its tail was a golden energy sphere.


    The composition of every one of the energy links was extremely fine and complex. Given Chen Mu''s current card making ability, he couldn''t help but admire it. But the dark-faced stalwart had clearly never gotten the legacy.


    The passage of time was relentless, and the Golden Word Shackle''s legacy had probably long since disappeared in the ruthless years.


    If he wasn''t guessing wrong, the Golden Word Shackle''s core should have been that "word" was in its name. Chen Mu''s gaze took on a look of intense concentration.

 374 The Invisible Hand

    After mulling it over for a moment, Chen Mu carefully manipulated the energy chain in his hands. He hadn''t thought it would actually be so lively. Once his perception had been activated, the energy chain became like a sentient being as it suddenly rolled toward the trunk of a tree in front of him.


    At nearly the same time, Chen Mu''s face shifted. A stunning amount of energy was drawn like crazy from his power card and went along the energy chain in a flash, pouring like lightning into the area where the chain was winding!


    The scene was as though some towering dam suddenly sprung a small leak at its base. The rapid flow of energy brought along some powerful pressure. It was like time had stopped during that moment.


    Shapeless pressure came from all directions, squeezing in toward Chen Mu. It mostly focused on his chest, where it was unspeakably hard to take. Breathing became difficult, and his brain went inexplicably buzzing. Chen Mu was aghast. By that time, the energy was entirely out of his control as it continued to flow rapidly toward the tree trunk.


    His perception was more and more stifled, and Chen Mu felt like he was a balloon that had been squeezed to the limit. He could be popped dead at any moment!


    His physical perception of his surroundings hadn''t grown sluggish because of that; on the contrary, it had become clearer. It was so clear that Chen Mu could practically perceive his flesh and blood vessels being distorted. It really seemed as though he were being pinched in the palm of a huge hand that was continually tightening.


    His sweat was pouring down in a winding stream. In an instant, Chen Mu felt he was at the point of not being able to take it. But there was nothing he could do to stop the rapidly flowing energy! His face flushed red, and the veins on his forehead were pulsing. He tried as hard as he could to mobilize all the perception in his body to fight off that terrifying pressure!


    What to do? What to do? Chen Mu''s brain was churning as he tried to find something workable! He knew if he were to go on like that, once he''d lost control of those amazing numbers of energy bodies, they would be enough to tear him to shreds.


    Ten seconds!


    It was like he was in prison for ten seconds¡ªor being fried to death. Chen Mu just held on for those ten seconds, but he had already reached his limit. The red flush on his face retreated and left him pale. Even his bones were creaking.


    It didn''t make sense! How could that same card make such a scene when he used it himself? Although Chen Mu remained composed, his efforts to think it through had become critical.


    Then, that swarthy stalwart shouting "Bam!" suddenly flashed through his brain. Could it be¡­


    Chen Mu hardened his heart and still couldn''t find a way to resist the pressure. The pressure, which was coming from every direction and blocking out everything, kept pressing on Chen Mu''s chest until he wheezed out a breath and nearly unconsciously shouted, "Bam!"


    There was a roar!


    The tree trunk in front of Chen Mu suddenly blew to pieces. Wood chips stung him in the face, but he wasn''t the least bit annoyed. His face actually showed an irrepressible look of joy. Once that "Bam!" was out of his mouth, all the formless pressure around him abruptly disappeared without a trace. His whole body felt unspeakably carefree!


    Still, he couldn''t care about being happy just then; he had to scramble off to the side in a flash as the 20-meter-tall tree crashed down. Its trunk had been blasted to pieces right through. That was a trunk with a diameter of six or seven meters!


    Trees that grew in the icy and snowy regions grew so slowly and so dense that their wood was as hard as iron. A tree as big as that one would need at least several hundred years to grow.


    The power of that "Bam!" was quite evident!


    Chen Mu had a complicated expression as he surveyed the mess. His heart was pounding. If he hadn''t just thought of that word, he could have been ripped to shreds by that out-of-control energy. He had a vague sense that the probability of that was quite high.


    Regardless, he was quickly attracted to the power demonstrated by the Golden Word Shackle. That was still only his first time contacting the card. He didn''t quite believe a card with such complexity and sophistication would only have that one kind of move.


    When he had first extended his perception into the Golden Word Shackle, the first association he made was with the Sectional Succession. The Golden Word Shackle''s level of complexity wasn''t the least bit inferior to the Sectional Succession, though it was too bad that the legacy of the Golden Word Shackle was nowhere to be found. If it still existed, he wouldn''t have even had to wrack his brain about how to use it.


    Still, he kept laughing to himself; if the Golden Word Shackle legacy still existed, how could he have ever gotten the card? That dark-faced stalwart had nothing more than the word "bam." However, even if Chen Mu had killed them all by virtue of so many fierce wild animals, he was afraid he would long since have been killed if Mo Ta had the legacy of the Golden Word Shackle.


    Any similar level of card would have 1,000 miles difference depending on whether it had or didn''t have its legacy! The Bipolar Thunderball he had, for example, had been passed down through so many people''s hands and had gathered the pearls of so many people''s insights. By the time it came into his hands, he had no way to bring into play all its power.


    The Bipolar Thunderball, the Sectional Succession, the Golden Word Shackle¡ªas Chen Mu saw it, those three cards were all incredible. But if he were to assess them, the one that would get the highest points would still be the Bipolar Thunderball. The reason was simple: the Bipolar Thunderball wasn''t more than a three-star card.


    Chen Mu could only look up to a three-star card, which could line up with the other two cards and even be rated as brilliant.


    Still, the three cards had to be treated completely differently. The Bipolar Thunderball, which he would rate as the best, was the worst among the three, as well as the most obscure. The Sectional Succession had rocked the federation and was regarded as a treasure by the Federation Comprehensive Academy. The Golden Word Shackle had fallen into the hands of a bandit, though it still somehow managed to help get him listed among the first 100 names in the Black-Line Star Listing. That had made it rather famous.


    There were basically two reasons for that. One aspect was the continuity of a legacy. On that point, the Sectional Succession was the winner. A different aspect was that people had blind faith in the star ranking of the Van Sant System. The Golden Word Shackle was five-star, which was like a nameplate that showed how extraordinary it was. The Bipolar Thunderball wasn''t valued, being a three-star card.


    That was also why the numbered series of cards could be sought after by so many people. The appearance of the numbered series of cards broke through the so-called star-level grading to a certain extent. It was just that they could only play a limited role as compared to people''s ingrained ideals. Still, their appearance was tantamount to planting a seed. Quite a few people then discovered it wasn''t always the case that a higher star level meant a more capable card.


    The appearance of the Snake Lens and the Golden Word Shackle also made Chen Mu''s power surge. However, if he had practiced the Sectional Succession, his strength actually might have flown up in still more of a hurry. But the Sectional Succession was unfortunately the only one among those cards he couldn''t use. It wasn''t that he hadn''t learned the legacy of the Sectional Succession; once he was recognized using the skills it contained, the results of that weren''t something he wanted to imagine.


    Furthermore, he still needed to think up some way to sell the Sectional Succession and its legacy. Otherwise, it would be a time bomb if he kept it on him.


    What he was most interested in about the Bipolar Thunderball was what had been revealed by its card technologies and its information regarding card making. Since it didn''t have a legacy, exploring it was a huge undertaking. Although the Hundred Changes and the Patterned Shuttle didn''t have the power of the Bipolar Thunderball or the Golden Word Shackle, they were cards he had designed himself. They were more compliant when he used them.


    Having gone through all that, though, Chen Mu finally realized the shortcoming of his tactics. If he were only to use the Hundred Changes and the Patterned Shuttle, his tactics would be too limited. Once he stopped using them, he basically would have no other contingent means.


    Naturally, he put the Bipolar Thunderball on his itinerary. Given his current perceptual strength and acuity, a hard indicator of controlling a three-star card was how well he handled it. Moreover, he would have another choice if he were to add in the Golden Word Shackle. It was just that the Golden Word Shackle was a little difficult! That thrilling scene just then had left his heart pounding.


    Raising his head to look at the vast forest, a powerful sense of danger made Chen Mu''s gaze turn resolute. He would get the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, and he would survive! That goal was now within reach and was stimulating Chen Mu''s fighting spirit, unlike his previous hopelessness had.


    After several days, when Chen Mu still hadn''t discovered anything like the energy waves emitted by the Snake Lens, he was able to breathe a sigh of relief. But when he thought about it, that made sense. The Snake Lens certainly wasn''t a mainstream card. As Chen Mu saw it, a card at that level was something only the Big Six would use in any large scale.


    What made Chen Mu the most surprised was that among that pile of cards, he had actually discovered the legacy of the Snake Lens! Its performance was already powerful, but having the legacy meant he could make its range of detection go up by a factor of five.


    In the fantasy card that recorded the legacy of the Snake Lens, there was also recorded another stunning piece of information. The Snake Lens came from one of the Big Six, after all¡ªDesert Camp! No wonder the Snake Lens was so awesome. Anything from the Big Six would be extraordinary.


    That made Chen Mu still more certain his adversary wouldn''t have another Snake Lens. So, he was in no hurry to leave the forest. He had taken over the initiative in the forest with the Snake Lens, and it was a familiar battleground for him.


    There was nothing better for him to do than take advantage of that time to carefully research the Bipolar Thunderball and the Golden Word Shackle and to perfect his own tactical system. That way, it wouldn''t be so easy for him to fall into the passive position after leaving the forest.


    The gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus wasn''t easy to get. According to the plan formulated by Bogner and Xi Ping, he needed to become known, and he needed to challenge other card artisans. He was afraid that would mean lots of vicious battles. He wouldn''t be able to do all of that without power. The stronger he was, the better his chances.


    And, having the thousand kilometer card meant that even though he was in the forest, he could still conveniently communicate with Wei-ah and the ravine.


    * * *


    Poor Jin Yin was leading his small team each day, searching along the way in the direction of Zargan without gaining anything. His ordinarily sullen look had become still more sullen. That was right up until Bao Le and Jeremy''s two small teams came running to join his suffering. That made him feel more psychologically balanced.


    The formidable Constellation had run out of strategies by that time.


    As always, Wen remained sunk in his ease and leisure, as though he hadn''t been affected at all. His magical, feminine voice once again came out from underneath the demonic mask and said, "The plan remains the same. You''re the lead, Yuchi. You''re second in command, An Sa. Pay attention to where our quarry is headed, Gan Lin. As for those other three, let them play. Still, if I don''t have some results when the time comes¡­"


    An Sa and Gan Lin felt a chill. If the three small teams didn''t grab him this time or kill that mysterious ace, the aftermath would be miserable.


    Yuchi Bai didn''t immediately follow the orders. He said hesitantly, "What about your safety, Master?


    Wen smiled lightly, and the eye-like red jewel on his forehead became still more lustrous and unspeakably pretty.


    "Ha ha! Who am I but Wen, Yuchi?" His soft, feminine speech had the sense of the powerful self-confidence of a child looking down on the whole world.


    The three showed looks of awe, and they hung their heads to say respectfully, "Yes, sir!"


    * * *


    Bogner was looking expressionlessly at the card artisans practicing. They had already begun to gradually display a sense that they were soldiers. Although they were still far from the troops Bogner had in mind, they had accomplished a lot in a short time, which rather satisfied him.


    He was especially pleased with the noticeable growth of Jiang Liang. Ever since Jiang Liang''s perception was cured by Chen Mu''s snow pit method, he seemed like an entirely new person, as though he had been reborn. Bogner would give him more responsibility to manage by the day. From time to time, he would even turn over some of his own ideas to him. Without knowing it, Bogner and Jiang Liang had become like a teacher and his disciple.


    The snow pit method had already been disseminated to the entire ravine. Since many people in front of him had accumulated a lot of experience, the entire process was as smooth as could be. The several card sets Chen Mu had designed had also been distributed.


    Apart from Bogner expending endless mental energy formulating the tactics, there had also been the addition of tactics that the card artisans had created themselves.


    That was something Chen Mu had reminded Bogner about. That set was really its own different kind of legacy. They didn''t need to wait across the generations for the essence to emerge from the weeds. There were a lot of them. With several thousand creating together, as well as going through battle testing, they could quickly summarize a set of ideas.


    A card like the Sectional Succession would have 30 or 50 people practicing it each generation until it had been developed to the extreme. But the power of a crowd was boundless!


    While they had no way to compare with those who were so favored by the heavens, with 100 times more people and by working as a team, they should come up with at least 100 times more ideas. Although most of them would be useless, the fine ones that came through would still add up to a lot. Moreover, those card artisans didn''t have the flaw of being overly ambitious, so the usage they came up with would have practical value.


    Once he thought of that, Bogner felt satisfied. That method was used in the military, where the army did the same kind of preparation. The usage of every kind of card was utterly tried-out in practice.


    But, in the army, they didn''t have the card set! When he thought of that, he felt even more satisfied. Having found that the boss was safe those last few days, he was finally able to allow the stone hanging in his heart to drop.


    He turned the work over to Jiang Liang and walked to Xi Ping''s office. Even though the boss remained unharmed just then, Bogner still felt buried in a pile of worry.


    Yikes, isn''t that the manager of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team from Chilei? What''s he doing here? Bogner was puzzled, although he didn''t show it by his expression. The manager was in a hurry and didn''t even pay attention to him.


    Bogner glanced at him before retracting his gaze, going straight over to Xi Ping''s office.


    Seeing Bogner, Xi Ping didn''t raise his eyelids as he said, "What''s the idea of running over here, you old devil?"


    Bogner chuckled. "You hurt my feelings talking like that. We have such good relations that I can''t even come pay a visit?"


    Xi Ping wasn''t affected by that as he said with a cold smile, "You came to see me? When have you ever come here without getting something to take back with you?"


    "Ha ha! What would we ever do without each other?" Bogner had thick skin and laughed it off before saying with some puzzlement, "I just saw someone from the Snowflake Card Artisan Team. Why did they come?"


    Xi Ping stopped what he was doing and said with an expression as though something were strange, "They came to rush the purple fluorescent extracts. The order they left this time was for a still greater quantity than last time. It''s strange. What do they want with so much extract? You can''t eat the stuff!"


    "How much did they order this time?" Bogner asked with a lot of curiosity.


    "They ordered 150 billion worth." Xi Ping tossed the number out with his usual expression.


    Bogner was stunned. "Oh my god! Do those guys have so much money they don''t know where to spend it?"


    "I don''t know. I think it''s a little unusual myself. From the material I''ve gathered, the purple fluorescent extract can only be used to make cards. If over 150 billion worth of it were to be used to make cards, the quantity would be terrifying," Xi Ping muttered.


    "Could they be wanting to hoard it?" Bogner thought that might be a possibility.


    "I don''t think so." Xi Ping shook his head. "They want it pretty urgently even at an increased price. If they were hoarding it, they wouldn''t need to be so urgent."


    "I imagine there must be something fishy about it." Bogner rubbed the stubble on his chin in contemplation.


    "Mmmm, I''ve already planned to slow production." Xi Ping had felt vaguely uneasy about making that decision.


    "Heh heh. That''s a good idea. The Snowflake Card Artisan Team has gotten too powerful, which isn''t necessarily a good thing for us." Bogner laughed. Both of them being crafty old devils, of course they sniffed out what was fishy about it.


    The speed of producing the liquid extract from the purple fluorescent ore was something only the two of them knew about and something they keep secret from outsiders. They also didn''t need to be worried that it would make the Snowflake Card Artisan Team dissatisfied. Their production speed was so much faster than that of similar companies; even if they slowed it down, it would still be faster than anyone else''s.


    "Right. I was just looking for you. I have some information about them." Xi Ping''s expression looked serious.


    Bogner quickly restrained the smile on his face and unconsciously straightened his back to ask, "What''s up?"


    "The surname of the Chum Salmon Passenger Company''s general director is Yan, named Hao. He was previously a rather powerful card artisan. When he was 30, he founded the company. His son is called Yan Pei and grew up to be a pretty good fellow. He married three years ago."


    Bogner didn''t interrupt as he listened carefully.


    "Yan Pei''s wife is called Xu Qianchen, and she''s not a card artisan. Her background is a mystery, and the Yan family is very vague about it. I spent a lot of energy looking into her background. He father was called Xu Bailun, and you certainly wouldn''t guess he came from Moon Frost Island."


    "Moon Frost Island?" Bogner''s eyes suddenly enlarged at that utterly unexpected result. As he saw it, no matter how arrogant Constellation was, they would absolutely never dare to turn their attention to Moon Frost Island. "I never would have thought they would be so bold!"


    Xi Ping nodded. "The news startled me too. By the time I looked into that Xu Bailun, I was still more surprised. He was no ordinary person inside Moon Frost Island! He was its past president and the disciple of the number-one spot on the Heavenly Drum Rolls, Jia Yingxia."


    "No way!" Bogner''s mouth hung open in shock. "Such a powerful person?"


    "Xu Bailun stays pretty low-key and isn''t so famous. Apart from his making a move when Jia Yingxia was contesting him for president of Moon Frost Island, he''s never made another move. That happened 20 years ago, and few people know about it. There''s no way to know how much power Xu Bailun has. But after Jia Yingxia assumed the presidency of Moon Frost Island, he took over as director of the library and seldom showed his face. Not long after Jia Yingxia assumed the presidency, he also quit as director of the libraries. Xu Bailun had only a daughter, and he never taught her anything about being a card artisan." Xi Ping spoke confidently and frankly.


    "Not a simple guy!" Bogner immediately determined, looking dignified. "Constellation has kicked a hornet''s nest this time!"


    "I''m afraid that''s what they intended to do!" Xi Ping said, seeming shocked. "Apart from the background of Chum Salmon Passenger Company, I can''t find any way to gather information related to Constellation. Its chief, Wen, makes bizarre moves that are hard to fathom, though he always plans before he acts. He''s certainly not reckless. Even though we were able to find out the background of Chum Salmon Passenger Company, they won''t be able to find out that we did!"


    "Their target is Moon Frost Island!" Bogner couldn''t resist blurting that out, and once he said it, he looked aghast. If what they had surmised were true, things would become more complicated than ever.


    What did Constellation have in mind by attacking Moon Frost Island? They certainly had something to depend on that Bogner and Xi Ping didn''t know about!


    The two of them seemed to have found some invisible hand manipulating everything.

 375 Breakthrough

    Fifteen days went by in the blink of an eye.


    During those 15 days, Chen Mu put all of his attention on deepening his understanding of the two cards in his hands. That wasn''t much time, but he still got obvious results. He didn''t know if it was because he had more insight or because his ability to control his perception had gotten stronger, or because of the two combined, but he gained a lot during those 15 days.


    He mostly focused on the Bipolar Thunderball and the Snake Lens. His messed up experience with the Golden Word Shackle had scared him away.


    Since the Snake Lens included a legacy fantasy card, that made studying it a lot easier. Since there wasn''t much time, though, he had only just begun to understand a little about it. If he wanted to really master it, he would need more time.


    The Bipolar Thunderball was a lot more complicated. Fortunately, since Chen Mu made cards and had already researched it quite a bit, he made a pretty quick breakthrough given the corroboration of both aspects.


    Chen Mu really enriched himself over those 15 days, even to the point that he wasn''t wanting to leave the forest. But the green tattoo on his arm seemed to have a new change. The fine green lines were deeper than before; they had become dark green. Although there were no further changes to his body, Chen Mu still had a bad feeling about it.


    Since the color had deepened, the deep green blossom also became more eye-catching and visible from a distance. It was a good thing it looked like a tattoo, so no one would wonder too much about it.


    The changes in the green blossom were enough to make Chen Mu decide to leave the forest.


    Before he had flown very far in the direction of Zargan, he suddenly stopped. He had discovered an enemy ahead! The Snake Lens really was a powerful probe card to have been able to discover the situation from such a distance.


    He didn''t recklessly charge ahead but carefully examined the position of his adversary''s team members. On the wall of mirrors in the Snake Lens, there was a picture emerging on every six-sided energy body mirror. Chen Mu could even clearly see his enemies'' faces.


    Anxiety showed on their brows, which stirred Chen Mu. That was something he could use. He probably didn''t consider he was the reason they were so agitated. Anyone would be agitated after searching for 15 days in such icy and snowy terrain.


    How could he know Jin Yin''s mood could no longer be described as just agitated? Even though he really hadn''t gotten along well with Mo Ta, the two of them had similar power despite having opposite dispositions. He didn''t have many good feelings, of course. But seeing how miserably Mo Ta had died, any of their daily conflicts had entirely disappeared. Once that enmity disappeared, it was turned to their common enemy.


    But he had searched for 15 days without finding any traces at all. Captain Yuchi had already sent someone to tell him the chief had announced that if the affair wasn''t concluded satisfactorily, they wouldn''t have a good time upon their return.


    When he thought about that, Jin Yin''s mood became still more agitated. Bao Le and Jeremy were both greedy fellows, and they could make things miserable for him.


    Aside from Captain Yuchi, each of the captains was scared of the chief''s methods. The relationship between the chief and Captain Yuchi wasn''t comparable to that of any of the others.


    Suddenly, Jin Yin''s expression shifted, and a look of joy appeared on his face. Energy waves! Even though the bout of energy waves was almost undetectable, Jin Yin still caught them. They were perfectly familiar to his perception since it was that probe card of Ah Xin''s!


    Ah Xin had died, and the Snake Lens had fallen into that mysterious ace''s hands, of course. If it were Ah Xin manipulating the Snake Lens, he wouldn''t necessarily have been able to detect the waves. Too bad you''re just a beginner!


    A hint of a dark, chilly grin flitted across Jin Yin''s mouth while he silently gestured with his hand. It was time to get his prize! Jin Yin wasn''t as good a fighter as Mo Ta, but he still couldn''t suppress his martial spirit!


    He had carefully examined the vicinity of Mo Ta''s corpse for clues and determined that the mysterious ace was good at controlling wild beasts! That was how Mo Ta had been taken.


    It wasn''t like he could do nothing up against such an adversary. He just had to be evasive and stall the card artisan from controlling the beasts to be able to accurately find his adversary''s position. Then, he could make his one deadly strike. The most powerful aspect of a card artisan like that would be his ability to manipulate wild beasts; his own fighting strength would be his weakness.


    Jin Yin was best at close combat.


    * * *


    Chen Mu carefully observed the card artisans'' positions, but his brain was spinning. The card artisans had fanned out, blocking off his movement in the direction of Zargan. If he wanted to bypass the defensive line, he would have to make a big circle, the size of which would greatly increase the possibility of his losing his direction.


    The most frightening thing was that the card artisans weren''t just blocking that one direction. There were also groups of card artisans in the other two directions. Were they all looking for him?


    Three groups with nearly 100 card artisans formed a huge surrounding net. Chen Mu sneered inwardly; they were showing him way too much respect!


    Those three groups looked like they had tacit internal communication. The layout of the encircling net was full of hidden traps, especially between each of the three groups. It looked like those would be the best places to break out, but he would immediately be caught in a siege.


    He didn''t understand how his adversary knew he would go in that direction. But he couldn''t consider that issue just then. He needed to concentrate his energy on examining his adversary''s surrounding net to find some way to resolve it. Thankfully, he had learned from Bogner and wasn''t as ignorant as he used to be about tactical stuff.


    Chen Mu pondered for a moment before he decided to break through straight ahead. Once he broke through the top of the arc of a semicircular ring like that, it would be wide open for him to bolt. When the rest of them chased after him, he could leave them behind.


    The most critical part of the battle would be to conclude it in the shortest amount of time! Otherwise, if he were to get the least bit entangled, the surrounding card artisans would come rushing in like a tide. Then, he wouldn''t have half a chance.


    Pondering it for just another moment to be sure there were no flaws, Chen Mu decided to attack! He didn''t immediately charge when he came to the ground but first examined which cards were in his apparatus. He swapped out for a new four-star power card.


    If he were at all careless in that battle, it would be the end of him. With so many card artisans, any one of them could turn him into a sieve with a single energy body. Still, although Chen Mu was cautious, he wasn''t the least bit nervous. He was as calm as a seasoned hunter.


    Finishing the work of preparation, Chen Mu raised his head to the sky and started patiently waiting.


    * * *


    That bout of energy waves was there all along, but their adversary had strangely not made the slightest move. Jin Yin felt inwardly awed that his adversary would be so brain-dead, after all. But, knowing he was nearby, Jin Yin wasn''t going to do anything rash. Like a single pulled hair moving an entire body, if he were to make a move then, he would waste the huge efforts put into the encirclement. If he caused a hole to appear, his adversary would take advantage of it. Not only couldn''t they move, but they had to pretend they didn''t know he was there just to lure him in.


    The news that the enemy was in the vicinity had been spread to everyone in some special fashion. The other two groups finally swept away their sense of bad luck, and their spirits were refreshed. After a long period of regret, Bao Le and Jeremy now expected to get the Snake Lens. They also hoped to be able to return without receiving the chief''s punishment.


    Every member of Constellation had experienced hundreds of battles, so of course they knew what to do in that instance. All of them maintained their ordinary expressions, looking perfectly listless, though that was just cover for the nervousness they felt.


    However, they wouldn''t have imagined their adversary wasn''t fooled at all, never having moved. Seeing the night deepen, everyone became a little impatient. But they still didn''t dare to make any reckless moves. They had deep experience with how capable the Snake Lens that had fallen into their adversary''s hands was. If they were to be the least bit lax, their adversary would possibly slip past them.


    Could their adversary be that patient?


    The same thing simultaneously popped into the minds of Jin Yin, Bao Le, and Jeremy. By that move alone, they knew how tough their adversary was. They found themselves in an awkward situation. They were like a carefully placed mousetrap with all their sophisticated production and huge power, but they could still only wait for their adversary to trip it.


    It was a good thing they were all vicious types who could keep their composure. What kept them feeling a little safer was the presence of the fine energy waves, which made it clear their advisory was still hiding in the vicinity. But they probably never imagined Chen Mu wasn''t more than 300 meters from the nearest card artisan.


    Watching the sky darken bit by bit, Chen Mu finally decided to make his move. He memorized the positions of every card artisan in his main direction and reviewed each step of his plan over again in his mind.


    The forest was so dark he couldn''t even see the fingers on his hands. Even given Chen Mu''s stunning eyesight, he couldn''t clearly see the enemy only 300 meters away. Still, he didn''t need to see his adversary clearly anymore, as the card artisans'' positions were firmly imprinted in his mind.


    He shut down the Snake Lens, no longer needing it. Like a ghost, Chen Mu drifted silently toward the apex of the arc of encirclement.


    Just as the energy waves disappeared, Jin Yin''s heart skipped a beat. His adversary was about to make his move!


    Without hesitating, he gave the signal. The entire encirclement became like a steel wire, suddenly tightening. The card artisans, who had been wanting to sleep, became suddenly murderous-looking, as though they were facing some huge enemy.


    Everything was pitch-black and utterly calm. Perception rippled past like ripples on the water, but they couldn''t discern any energy fluctuations.


    There were no fluctuations, no beasts, no noise, and no light! Jin Yin felt his heart drop for no reason. Could he have guessed wrong?


    Before he could think clearly, an alarm suddenly arose in his mind as the sound of wind entered his ears. Horrified, Jin Yin abruptly jerked his legs, and a powerful blast of air pushed him to the side. He couldn''t control his body as he went rolling to the side like a gourd.


    A blue beam of light as fine as a hair stuck to his scalp, pulling along a bush of hair and a chill from the forest, which nearly scared him out of his wits.


    Damn! How can this be?

 376 Jin Yin’s Humble Devotion

    Isn''t the adversary good at controlling beasts?


    The speculation he had firmly believed in was proven wrong in an instant. Even a strong-willed man like Jin Yin couldn''t help but feel somewhat addled.


    The adversary''s speed is so fast!


    Jin Yin had no time for any retaliation and could only dodge for dear life. Besides, whenever there was the slightest slowing down of his speed, the icy coldness that followed closely behind would remind him how near he was to death.


    Jin Yin had never thought he, well-known for close combat, would one day have not even a chance of fighting back. The profound sense of danger made the hairs on his body each stand on end and numbed his scalp.


    If one were to look from the sky, one would realize how bizarre Jin Yin''s movements were. His figure shot back in midair as though his chest was suddenly pushed by an unseen force. Before he could touch the ground, his figure sprang sideways again with no warning. If any card artisan were to witness the scene, they surely wouldn''t be able to help but think, What a brilliant dodging technique!


    Jin Yin was covered with snow and looking rather harassed, but it was in his present state that he applied those seemingly ordinary dodging techniques to amazing effects. Many maneuvers were but ones with exceedingly little difficulty, but the baffling combination allowed the movements to be filled with unpredictability. Additionally, the transitions between one maneuver and the next were effortlessly smooth.


    In his heart, Chen Mu was secretly in awe. He had pretty much had all the advantage in the fight, but he hadn''t expected the adversary to be so intractable. His perception could exert its greatest power in such battles, so darkness had no effect upon him. The adversary was obviously restrained by the darkness. Several times when he was just about to decapitate the adversary, however, the guy always managed to escape by millimeters.


    The movements on both sides were quick to the extreme. In a split second, their direction changes had reached as many as dozens of times. Such frequency of attack was rare even among card artisans.


    Chen Mu wasn''t aware the shock in Jin Yin''s heart was no less than his own. Jin Yin had always been extremely confident of his own skill at controlling the jet stream card, but the guy behind him was like maggots attached to his bones. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t shake him off.


    He only needed a tiny bit of time. Even if it were one-tenth of a second, it would be enough for him to launch a counterattack.


    However, the adversary obviously had no intention of giving him any chances, and the evasion that never failed him had unusually lost its effect that time. The adversary''s movements were actually more supple and faster than his!


    This is impossible!


    Jin Yin''s mind was still somewhat muddled. His control of jet stream cards had already reached the extent of being perfect. Within Constellation, he had only lost to Wen. Even team leader Yuchi couldn''t contend against him in the control of jet stream cards. That was Jin Yin''s only defeat in the jet stream card aspect in his whole life.


    The Black-Line Star Listing stated Jin Yin as having first-rate control over jet stream cards and second-rate combat capability. He felt no unjustness toward that assessment and instead thought it was incredibly fitting. The control of jet stream cards had always been his proudest area. Wen had managed to subdue that proud and defiant card artisan all those years ago precisely by beating him fair and square in the control of jet stream cards.


    However, he had now met an opponent who was superior in the aspect of jet stream card control. Jin Yin''s competitiveness was instantly aroused. The mess of thoughts in his mind vanished promptly. At that moment, he had only one idea: He wanted to win!


    Chen Mu immediately noticed the adversary''s movements had become faster and harder to predict. He praised him inwardly. If it was purely regarding the control of the jet stream card, in comparison with the adversary, he still had some way to go. He hadn''t even thought of many of the moves and methods before that. The adversary''s usage of the jet stream card had simply reached the extent of being freakish.


    It wasn''t until he saw the adversary''s moves that he was greatly enlightened. So, this move can also be used this way!


    However, jet stream card control was not the only aspect in question in chasing and dodging. Perhaps that was the understanding of card artisans, but it wasn''t how Chen Mu saw it. From Chen Mu''s point of view, any technique could be used so long the same end result was achieved.


    Combining the leverage technique of the cardless sect with the jet stream card, Chen Mu gradually caught up to the adversary''s figure and did his best to keep him within his attack range. The cardless sect techniques he had learned from the demonic woman and Wei-ah had allowed his body to be amazingly flexible.


    Jin Yin was somewhat shocked. His eyes were naturally sharp. Many of the means used by Chen Mu were cardless sect techniques. He had never seen or imagined cardless sect techniques could be so perfectly combined with the jet stream card. Aside from admiration, it also stimulated the desire for battle in his heart. Under the gloomy and cold surface, his heart, as though enkindled, began flaming fiercely!


    The grimness on his face had finally faded away. At that moment, Jin Yin was both intent and humbly devoted. Those melancholic features actually seemed extraordinarily handsome.


    Jin Yin''s speed increased sharply. Free from distractions and filled with the desire for battle, he was performing at a level he never had before. His figure was like a bolt of lightning, incessantly reflecting and drifting with astonishing speed. So fast was the speed that one''s eyes could hardly keep up.


    Chen Mu detected the change immediately. With a solemn expression, he drew in a deep breath, and a popping sound akin to the frying of beans came from the joints of his body. His eyes turned cold in a split second, and a murderous aura was emanated vigorously!


    Bam!


    In midair, Chen Mu''s right foot, which had been hovering spectrally, stepped onto a tree branch with lightning speed and produced an extremely deep and muffled sound! The whole right leg was 90 degrees bent at the knee, and his face was flushed at once. But the rounded, glaring eyes had not a hint of wavering in them and were fixated upon Jin Yin with an accuracy akin to that of an eagle''s eyes.


    Whoosh!


    An astounding power burst forth from the bent right leg, and Chen Mu dove at the adversary like a cannonball leaving the barrel!


    Chen Mu scarcely used that maneuver. It was a classic cardless sect technique and not a low-grade one, either. It allowed the user''s explosive power to be increased in a short time. However, the technique was also rather taxing on the user, and only bodies tough as those from the cardless sects could withstand its side effect.


    It was one of the techniques Chen Mu had figured out under Wei-ah''s guidance after trial and error. However, in practice with Wei-ah, Chen Mu had never used that maneuver before. Even if his explosive power increased by another few levels, it still couldn''t possibly cause the slightest trouble to Wei-ah in terms of speed and strength. Instead, the use of the maneuver would result in a significant decrease in how long he could last.


    However, in facing Jin Yin, he could only do his best! He had the upper hand in the situation. Thus, at that moment, he was faced with a choice¡ªto kill the adversary or to break away and flee of his own accord.


    Chen Mu eventually decided to kill the adversary. The jet stream card control of the fellow before him was superb. To be pursued by such a card artisan would undoubtedly be a nightmare! It might be better to kill the adversary at the present moment. Though a little more effort was needed, he would have it much easier later. After all, he had control over the situation.


    Precisely because of those considerations did Chen Mu not scruple to use that skill.


    As the speed was too fast, Chen Mu seemed to appear out of thin air beside Jin Yin, and he swung the pale blue light glimmering at his fingertip at the Jin Yin''s neck.


    Due to his intentness, Jin Yin, who was focused on manipulating the jet stream card, could respond far quicker than usual. A jet stream pushed backward from under his feet, and his body rushed forward, on the verge of falling.


    Yet, precisely that unconventional move allowed him to dodge Chen Mu''s fatal blow. Subsequently, both of his palms pushed downward, and two jet streams gushed out from them. With the help of that force, his figure slid and flew to the side.


    There seemed to be an indescribable sensation about to be unleashed in Jin Yin, whose face was full of humble devotion.


    Yet another successful evasion by the adversary wasn''t beyond Chen Mu''s expectations. Even he had no hope of catching up to Jin Yin''s excellent attainments in jet stream card control. Nonetheless, Chen Mu reacted extremely swiftly as well. The few millimeters of blue light extended suddenly, and the energy blade-whip, which had successfully killed the snow wasps, appeared once again.


    Hundred Changes!


    The energy blade-whip was like an intelligent snake, lashing out at Jin Yin, who was sliding sideways.


    Jin Yin''s heart skipped a beat. The blue light on a fingertip a moment ago had then changed into an energy whip. The adversary''s means of attacking were both endless and impossible to defend against! In spite of the shock, he wasn''t afraid. His heart was filled with confidence. The joy of performing better than usual allowed him to realize he was in top form at that moment. He believed even the swiftest and fiercest attack wouldn''t be able to trap him!


    Jin Yin''s figure suddenly leaned back in midair in the shape of a strung bow, and he narrowly avoided the energy blade-whip time and time again.


    The movements on both sides were unbelievably quick. In the blink of an eye, dozens of rounds had been finished. The energy fluctuations from Chen Mu''s Big Mudfish and Hundred Changes were extremely weak, but the energy fluctuations emitted by Jin Yin''s jet stream card had nevertheless alerted the other card artisans. However, as there were only energy fluctuations from Jin Yin''s jet stream card, the other card artisans were puzzled. Only five rushed over.


    Seeing the adversary''s card artisans were about to arrive as backup, Chen Mu was instantly anxious at heart. Once he was tightly encircled, that day would then be his time to die!


    Chen Mu suddenly halted.


    Jin Yin saw Chen Mu stop abruptly and was a little suspicious. He also knew his companions were hurrying over in that direction. In fact, in his heart, he didn''t wish those people would reach there at that time. He was in the very best state and seemed to be dimly figuring something out. He knew he was extremely likely to be at the critical point to a breakthrough.


    If the adversary saw the situation wasn''t well and wanted to run away, he wouldn''t have found it strange. However, the adversary wasn''t fleeing but had stopped instead. How could that not seem odd?


    Could the adversary still have some other deadly moves?


    Impossible! He dismissed the idea at once. If the adversary had any formidable tricks, he would have used them long ago instead of being in a dogfight with him for so long.


    In his eyes, the ugly fellow in front of him already had no possibility of escape. He was very much hoping Chen Mu would perform some expert maneuvers. He had already sensed himself to be on the edge of a breakthrough. The larger the pressure at that moment, the easier it was to awaken his potential and to break through.


    The magical feeling in his body was getting stronger and stronger, and it seemed as though only a thin piece of paper was all that was obstructing. Soon, perhaps in just a brief moment, he could get past the layer of obstruction!


    Come on!


    Jin Yin stared at Chen Mu fixedly. The humble devotion on his face was mingled with fanaticism, and his eyes blazed like fire!

 377 Go Cage of One Thousand Cuts

    Chen Mu''s expression was that of indifference. In a second, he had completed the swapping of cards. His perception had already discovered the card artisans approaching rapidly in his direction. He knew he only had one opportunity to attack. Regardless of the success or failure of that attack, he had to depart!


    Suddenly, two fist-sized energy balls, one black and one white, appeared beside Chen Mu.


    What''s this? Jin Yin was somewhat puzzled but nonetheless showed signs of being cautious. Though he desperately wanted a breakthrough, he didn''t wish to lose his life for it.


    A pop sounded softly. The black and white energy balls exploded simultaneously, and countless little energy beads burst forth, flying in all directions.


    Jin Yin was startled, but he reacted swiftly. Nimbly dodging aside, he was unharmed. Though each of the energy beads was only the size of a thumb, who could tell whether something lethal was hidden inside? He wasn''t bold enough to have an intimate encounter with those seemingly adorable black and white energy beads.


    Despite his slight bafflement over that maneuver, Jin Yin felt a bit more reassured at heart. As the energy fluctuations of that move were far stronger than those of the adversary''s silent attacks a moment ago, he could detect them easily.


    As long as there were energy fluctuations, all was easy! The battle had returned to a mode he was familiar with, which increased Jin Yin''s confidence by a little more. But he was still somewhat worried the signs of his breaking through would thus be gone due to the battle.


    Precisely at that moment, an abrupt change occurred. The black and white energy beads bursting forth unexpectedly halted in midair, giving one the strong illusion that time had stopped at that instant.


    Such a change caused alarm in Jin Yin''s heart. He was immediately much more alert, observing every trace of change in energy with caution. He had initially thought the energy beads contained nothing more than the likes of explosive energy, but the change before him far exceeded his expectations. Jin Yin knew well that unexpected change more often than not marked the coming of danger.


    The sense of danger grew stronger and stronger, and he activated the energy cloak card without hesitation! A red ellipsoid energy cloak covered him up. If one had looked closely, one would have realized the red energy cloak had been spinning continually at an astounding speed since its appearance.


    Tornado was the name of that energy cloak card, and it had an excellent defense capability. The rapid rotations allowed it to eliminate many attacks, and its energy use was quite low. The appearance of the energy cloak allowed Jin Yin to heave a small sigh of relief. He couldn''t help but look at the energy beads with curiosity.


    Each energy bead was completely smooth and round and either black or white. Roughly counting, they numbered in the hundreds. He suddenly found something not quite right.


    The energy beads hanging in midair were exceedingly regular in arrangement. The bead beside every white energy bead was a black one and vice versa. The neatly arranged energy beads looked very much like a square matrix. Both he and Chen Mu were within it.


    If Jin Yin had seen the video of Jiao Si''s demonstration of Card 007, the scene before him definitely wouldn''t have seemed strange. It was just that 007 had released 60 black and white energy balls to form a spherical shape. Before him now was a square matrix formed from hundreds of energy beads.


    Black and white energy beads seemed like black and white stones, mutually pestering and mutually attractive.


    Inside the matrix, Jin Yin felt himself inwardly trembling, and the heart that had just relaxed was suddenly filled with anxiety once more. Some black and white energy beads were floating somewhere not far from him, but he dared not to act precipitously. The scene before him was far beyond his imagination.


    Chen Mu''s expression was solemn. His right hand was outstretched, and the fingers were slightly curved as though to grasp something. The energy beads emitted a soft light all at once. In the night, those energy beads giving off a hazy glow each seemed like a firefly stopping in midair.


    Jin Yin''s face finally changed! A peculiarly strong sense of danger swiftly loomed over him! The perception dispersed could detect the strong bout of energy fluctuation, but he found with horror that his perception was actually somewhat uncontrollable! A certain bizarre magnetic field seemed to exist between the plain-looking black and white energy beads, and the magnetic field could affect his perception!


    Heavens! How can this be? Blood drained completely from Jin Yin''s face, and the fanaticism and humble devotion in his eyes was replaced by incomparable shock and fright!


    Capable of affecting perception¡ªwhat concept is this? As long as he was using cards, he had to prompt his perception to exert control. Perception control was incredibly delicate, and any distortion to perception was extremely likely to lead to an entirely different result.


    There are actually cards in this world that can affect one''s perception!


    Those thoughts flashed into Jin Yin''s mind with lightning speed. Having experienced the initial fright, he had completely calmed down by that moment. He had landed himself in such a desperate situation because all he had in mind earlier had been breaking through. If the adversary were allowed to attack without hindrance, perhaps he would have to die there that day!


    Ruthlessness flashed through Jin Yin''s eyes. It was then that people were reminded of his identity as the captain of the seventh team in Constellation! He lunged fiercely at Chen Mu. As his perception was uncontrollable due to the influence, he didn''t choose the jet stream card. Like a cornered wild beast, his eyes were savage and crazed.


    His speed wasn''t fast, or at least it wasn''t so in Chen Mu''s eyes. Being accustomed to fighting with Wei-ah, such speed could hardly impress him, but he didn''t dismiss it in the slightest. In the battle with the Downstream Alliance, that card artisan''s self-explosion had gravely injured him and had left him an extremely deep impression.


    The capability of the guy before him was many times stronger than that of the card artisan who had self-exploded. The power unleashed by his self-explosion would likewise have to be much stronger!


    Chen Mu noticed almost all the card artisans were hurrying in that direction! The energy fluctuations of the attack from the Bipolar Thunderball were way too strong. They were like a full moon in the dark night, pointing the way for all the card artisans.


    I have to finish the battle as soon as possible! Chen Mu''s eyes were glimmering with a cold light, and the outstretched fingers suddenly closed together!


    Go Cage of One Thousand Cuts!


    All the energy beads were instantly far more brilliant. Between every black energy bead and another, a fine line the thickness of a finger beamed out. Likewise, between any white energy bead and another, a straight white line was beamed out. Those black and white energy strands immediately turned the square matrix into a real cage and mincing machine!


    Jin Yin felt joy instead of shock at the very moment Chen Mu launched it! He sensed that the instant the adversary launched the attack, the magnetic field that had affected his perception suddenly vanished!


    Without hesitating, he prompted his perception madly! It was his last chance, even if it was a slim one! He knew what came next would undoubtedly be a gigantic storm that had been brewing for a long time, but he was a pirate¡ªa pirate who could kill without batting an eye and who had the guts even to smash a storm to bits!


    A layer of ocean-blue energy enveloped Jin Yin''s body and made him look like a flat swordfish. He jumped deftly into midair. Just within that short moment, the energy body on the exterior of his body had become so dense that his face couldn''t be seen clearly, making him look strikingly like a blue swordfish. The red energy cloak was still rotating at an insanely high speed. The vivid red and the blue as pure as the ocean mixed together, giving one a sense of bloodthirsty coldness.


    Looking at the criss-crossing black and white energy strands in front of him, the sense of danger he felt was like the dark clouds before a downpour, so heavy it was impossible to dissipate.


    Jin Yin suddenly felt a revelation dawn upon him. With no hesitation, he plunged in among the lethal and criss-crossing energy strands. His direction was actually toward Chen Mu''s position!


    Chen Mu didn''t seem to have moved at all as he looked expressionlessly at the rapidly approaching Jin Yin. However, the black and white strands filling the sky abruptly drew closer, like a huge net suddenly closing in!


    In fact, Chen Mu hadn''t been very composed; he had been rather surprised by the adversary''s will and endurance in battle, which were rarely seen! However, maneuvering required his full attention and prompting from all of his perception to barely retain some control. Presently, he had no time to respond. All he could do was finish using his move!


    In midair, Jin Yin''s body was supremely flexible, like a real swordfish nimbly and gracefully swaying about. The battle tactic he was using was exactly the one Chen Mu had used to free himself of the beasts'' pursuit¡ªwave-shaped, high-frequency evasion!


    The popping sound from exploding air was clear and high in frequency; thus, one could see how it was so possessed of explosive power! If it had been any other time, Jin Yin would have been absolutely thrilled to have accomplished the move to such perfection. Yet, at present, all of his attention was focused on the energy strands so densely arranged like a spider''s web!


    Every bit of space was especially precious to him. In the blink of an eye, he had evaded seven or eight energy strands. That startled Chen Mu a little. In such a chaotic and complex environment, the adversary could still remain so cool-headed. An ace indeed! The capability of the enemy before him was so strong that it was not inferior to Mo Lei''s. But how could the Go Cage of One Thousand Cuts be so easily breached?


    The energy web''s rapid shrinking caused the gaps between the strands to get smaller and smaller. At that instant, Jin Yin finally made contact with the first energy strand. It was a white energy strand, as clean and white as the clouds, giving off a milky brilliance.


    Pop!


    Sounding like a dancing spark, the red energy cloak shook violently while Jin Yin, who had been as slick as a fish, suddenly faltered too. At the instant of that faltering, another few energy strands approached to entangle him!


    At that moment, Jin Yin was but ten meters from Chen Mu.


    Ping! The explosion sounded crisp and clear, and the rapidly spinning energy cloak abruptly shattered! Chen Mu was glad for an instant, but what ensued turned his expression serious again.


    Jin Yin''s energy cloak didn''t shatter into countless fragments of light like other energy cloaks; it formed into dozens of smaller pieces. Due to the momentum from the rapid spinning, the eggshell-like energy pieces were fired all around.


    Pop, pop, pop! A string of explosions sounded so close that one could hardly breathe, and the broken pieces of the energy cloak collided with the surrounding energy strands. Even the energy web was being propped open a little!


    Jin Yin''s eyes were bloodshot, and his veins were protruding as he bellowed, "Die!"


    The figure, nimble as swordfish a moment ago, stopped all swaying, but its speed increased swiftly! If he had previously been like a swordfish swimming in the ocean, he was now like an arrow shot by the god of the sea!


    No change at all! Only speed! Only the will to press forward!


    A strong sense of danger abruptly arose in Chen Mu''s heart. Almost at the same time, his gaze intensified! With no concern, he prompted his perception with all his might, and the energy from the power card surged toward the Bipolar Thunderball like a flood.


    Energy beads were no longer discernible, and all that could be seen were the criss-crossing black and white energy strands, which filled the whole sky. The brilliance and energy fluctuations given off by the web of light were unprecedentedly strong!


    Both Bao Le''s and Jeremy''s expressions changed! Other card artisans stopped one by one. Their terrified gazes were cast in the direction of where Chen Mu and Jin Yin were fighting. All of them could sense that frighteningly strong energy fluctuations were spreading out in all directions, dispersing the residual power!


    "W-what is that?" a card artisan asked, stammering. He had subconsciously slowed his speed.


    "Don''t know. Amazing!" Another card artisan was swallowing hard, looking terror-stricken. He too had subconsciously followed suit in slowing his speed.


    The steps of almost all the card artisans became hesitant. Though they were extremely vicious, they were still fearful. The bout of energy fluctuations was so intense it could almost make one tremble!


    It''s not possible to win against such an enemy! Many card artisans had that thought emerge in their minds.


    Bao Le and Jeremy also decreased their speed. Both were watching in that direction attentively with shock and terror. That was where Jin Yin was. The two exchanged a glance and stopped in sync. In terms of capability, Jin Yin was stronger than the pair of them. If even Jin Yin couldn''t settle something, they would also be going in vain. Their own lives were valuable!


    Blood seeped from the corner of Chen Mu''s mouth. The web of light before him was already dazzlingly bright and impossible to look at in close range. His gaze was firmly fixed on the dazzling web of light, and he did not dare to relax in the slightest. Having overexerted his perception, he had already suffered significant internal injuries. He hadn''t expected the adversary to be so intractable. The adversary''s lightning-quick surprise attack had actually almost allowed him to break out.


    Fortunately, he had known the situation to be dire and had prompted his perception with no reserve, thus narrowly controlling the situation. He probably would never have guessed the adversary would make a breakthrough at that moment!


    The light surrounding the adversary dimmed substantially. In contrast, the energy strands were even more brilliant! However, if Jin Yin had noticed the fresh blood at the corner of Chen Mu''s mouth at that moment, he would have realized immediately that the adversary was past his prime and close to the end.


    Jin Yin was still charging forward, and every step was so tough! The short few meters seemed so close yet worlds away, like it wouldn''t come to an end no matter what.


    Who could have known the time of my breakthrough would also be the day of my death? Jin Yin was sad, and a trace of pity flashed across in his eyes. Swiftly, however, that trace of pity turned into a resolution. The intention to kill from that huge web formed by tightly packed energy strands was awe-inspiring.


    Jin Yin took in a deep breath and let out an astounding bellow of rage. He mustered all of his remaining strength, plunging forward head-first!


    Three meters!


    Two meters!


    Bam!


    Everything brightened, and all that could be seen was an expanse of white. Chen Mu couldn''t respond in time and was hit by Jin Yin, who had been flying straight at him. He landed some meters away.


    Splat! Chen Mu involuntarily spurted out another mouthful of blood. The light rays that had filled the sky vanished.


    He glanced at Jin Yin, who was on the ground. Jin Yin was covered in blood and had more than 100 cuts criss-crossed on his body, looking exceedingly terrifying. There was no sign of life.


    Chen Mu suppressed the feeling of exhaustion with great difficulty and moved unsteadily in the direction of Zargan.

 378 Stratagem

    Wei Lan felt dearly for the Song Chengyan she was watching. As his adjutant, she was aware of how terrible the body condition of that prodigy was. Behind the heavy black spectacle frame, the eyes that had glimmered with wisdom were presently bloodshot, and even his face was as white as a sheet of paper. He had not shut an eye in three days. In those three days, he had been calculating non-stop. The amount of time he''d rested didn''t add up to even two hours.


    "Sir, have a rest," Wei Lan couldn''t help but say, biting her lips. She was three years older than Song Chengyan and had mature manners and outstanding looks.


    "Will be done soon!" Song Chengyan''s voice revealed hints of his poor health, which he had tried hard to conceal. Perhaps he had understood the concern in Wei Lan''s words. He raised his pale face and smiled with an effort.


    At that moment, the apparatus on Wei Lan''s wrist sounded. She picked up at once, promptly resuming a professional attitude, short and simple in speech and straight to the point in replies. Though Wei Lan was beautiful, no one in the whole army dared to have ideas on her. She was Song Chengyan''s adjutant!


    In the beginning, the heads of the private armies from the rich and powerful families had neither liking nor interest in that weak youth, who had been hailed as a genius. Soon, however, they had a taste of his ingenuity. With the help of the card artisan guard transferred from Tang Hanpei''s side and using a stick-and-carrot approach, he had swiftly gained control over that army. The troublemakers kicked out had been deported back to the capital. It was said that before they had been able to bewail to their master, they had been stripped of everything by their outraged master, and their end had been extremely pitiful.


    After that, the heads were in awe of that genteel youth and no longer dared to respond half-heartedly.


    When Song Chengyan had first gained control by means of continuously piercing through the front line, he had swiftly secured his foothold. The Central Repository of the Classics and Faya, which had been smashing into their adversary''s territory, had been unknowingly dragged into the vortex.


    If the earlier maneuvers had only made the heads of private armies feel fearful, the incessant small wins every day won their respect. Song Chengyan had always treated Wei Lan specially and with a completely different attitude, so they naturally didn''t dare to be reckless.


    After some dealings with Wei Lan, people began to realize how outstanding her professional capability was and that she was always clear-cut and decisive in her ways. Remarkably, even when those old men faced that beautiful girl, they were cautious.


    "The 11th division has just sent back news that they''ve already bitten down on the Central Repository of the Classics'' left wing. But they have suffered many injuries and deaths and urgently need reinforcements!" Wei Lan reported without a hint of emotion.


    Song Chengyan couldn''t refrain from smiling bitterly. When it came to work, Wei Lan would always look cold.


    Nonetheless, that piece of news lifted Song Chengyan''s spirit. That point was the key to his stratagem. Maybe it was due to the stimulation of the good news that his mind was strangely clear at the moment. He commanded decisively, "Order the seventh division to head over and to reinforce at once, and be sure to hold the Central Repository of the Classics'' left wing back until 12:00 noon tomorrow! The first, second, sixth, eighth, tenth and 13th divisions should assemble at once, and execute plan ''B!''"


    "Yes, sir!" Wei Lan''s lovely face remained expressionless.


    Finally, it''s almost time to counterattack! Casting a glance at the battle plan, for which he had taken great pains, Song Chengyan surprisingly didn''t feel much joy nor any of the anxiety preceding a great battle. He only felt a faint sense of desolation and of having a weight lifted off his mind. His eyes seemed complicated and hard to read.


    Big Brother Tang, I can finally return to you what I''ve owed!


    Suddenly, a strong sense of dizziness overtook him, and he merely felt his legs go weak.


    Crash! The table was overturned, and the papers on which the battle plan was recorded fluttered in the air like snowflakes.


    "Chengyan!" Wei Lan could no longer keep up her apathy and cried out in sorrow!


    The Upper Gan District had the most beautiful scenery among the five flourishing districts. Its weather was mild and comfortable, seeming like spring year-round. Its jade-green mountains and many rivers gave rise to the Upper Gan District''s unique culture.


    The people of the capital and the five flourishing districts each had their distinctive features. Those of the Heavenly Drum Village District were tenacious, those of the Northern Reaches District were violent, those of the Heterodox Brilliance District were astute, those of the Fanasi District were pious, and those of the capital were haughty. The people of the Upper Gan District too had their unique feature, and that was gentleness. As the one with the richest cultural heritage among the five flourishing districts, the Upper Gan District was the most favored place of the wealthy who enjoyed pleasure.


    Central Repository City was located at the center of the Upper Gan District in the fertile basin of the Jize River.


    The war between the Central Repository of the Classics and the Federation Comprehensive Academy was concentrated in the border region between the capital and the Upper Gan District. Located in the hinterland of the Upper Gan District, Central Repository City was naturally not affected by much. The commerce there was still as prosperous as ever, and people swarmed in the streets.


    The Central Repository of the Classics was situated in the northwestern corner of Central Repository City. After the management of generations of masters, it had become a sizeable park covering hundreds of thousands of square kilometers.


    The students coming and going on the scenic campus had the unique vitality and confidence of youth glowing on their faces. They had enough reason to be confident; the ones capable of being admitted to that school were elites among the elites.


    At the gate of the Central Repository of the Classics, a middle-aged man dressed in a long, smoky-gray overcoat squinted his eyes and scrutinized the five large words, "Central Repository of the Classics," calligraphed by the hand of the first master.


    A cold smile bloomed from the corners of his lips, and the desire for battle suddenly surged in his mild jade eyes!


    "Tang Hanpei wishes a battle against the master. Dare to grant it?"


    Words arrogant, audacious, and sharp as a knife''s edge swept over the entire Central Repository of the Classics like a wind. The sounds of the bustling campus were as though abruptly cut off by those words, ceasing at once, and all was deathly silent. Even the birds, which were usually chattery, kept silent.


    Tang Hanpei went straight into the Central Repository of the Classics alone to challenge the current master! The world was stunned!


    * * *


    In the forest, Chen Mu was spotted with blood all over and looked rather sorry. Nevertheless, scabs had formed over the wounds. They were the marks left from the fight against Jin Yin.


    The card artisans lingering behind him were like wolves that had smelled blood and had been tailing him all along. If he hadn''t had the Snake Lens, he would have been surrounded by that group of card artisans long ago. He hadn''t detected any energy fluctuations similar to the Snake Lens, but the adversary could always find his general location, which bewildered him.


    It was probable that the adversary had left some imprint on his body. Thinking it over carefully, the most likely culprit was the contact Jin Yin had made with his body the moment before his death.


    Chen Mu was heavily injured from the fight against Jin Yin, but the benefits he had gained were similarly significant. Chen Mu had experienced plenty of previous battles, but exceedingly few had been like that confrontation. He had usually relied on his speed in claiming victory. That time, however, he had suddenly come up against a fellow whose speed had been no slower than his own and whose control over the jet stream card had been more masterful than his. He had nearly lost his life!


    Only at that moment did he realize what a joke the so-called tactics he had designed were in facing an ace. The Patterned Shuttle, for example, an excellent weapon for assassination, would usually be unfit for use when encountering card artisans with sensitive perception.


    Just like in the battle against Jin Yin, the Patterned Shuttle had no chance of being used. Launching the Patterned Shuttle required one''s perception to lock on to the target, which would immediately raise the adversary''s alarm. Not only would it be difficult to hit, but one''s position would also be exposed. Besides, even with Chen Mu''s excellent eyesight, aiming with accuracy was difficult in such a dark place.


    Chen Mu was rather pleased with the Bipolar Thunderball. The Go Cage of One Thousand Cuts was mighty, but it still had loopholes. On the one hand, the range of the Go cage was limited. If the adversary detected it just a little earlier and escaped beyond the coverage of the cage, the technique would be useless.


    Additionally, the magnetic field that disrupted perception would suddenly vanish at the instant before activating the killing attack. It was precisely that loophole that had given Jin Yin a chance and, in spite of the strong killing attack, had caused Chen Mu to be gravely injured.


    The Go Cage of One Thousand Cuts was rather intriguing, and Chen Mu had spent a good deal of effort in figuring out its technique. As it had an extremely high demand for perception, he was incapable of any other action while using it. Otherwise, while the Go cage was active, the adversary could perhaps be finished off with merely a dagger.


    Of course, that was just Chen Mu''s speculation. Usually, whether Chen Mu''s speculations were accurate or not, they always tended to the extreme. When it came to card making, his predictions were almost always accurate without exception, which often marveled Ru Qiu. When it came to using cards, though, instances in which his surmises had been beaten by reality were indeed innumerable.


    The fact that the capability of the three-starred Bipolar Thunderball could reach such an extent was indeed shocking. However, a loss came with a gain in all things. Though its status was low and didn''t have many requirements for the user, that only concerned conventional techniques. Superior techniques like the Go Cage of One Thousand Cuts had demands on perception that could only be higher than ordinary four-star and five-star cards! If it hadn''t been for Chen Mu''s recent breakthrough in perception, he couldn''t have grasped such a high-class technique like the Go Cage of One Thousand Cuts.


    The wounds on Chen Mu''s body had pretty much healed. He had merely overused his perception and overloaded his body. Should other card artisans have suffered such an injury, they might have needed to rest for months. Chen Mu''s body, on the other hand, couldn''t be compared against Wei-ah''s but was still incredibly sturdy and stunningly capable of recovery.


    In the past few days, Chen Mu had been continually pursued by that bunch of card artisans. He had been inwardly suppressing a stomach full of rage.


    Regardless of who it might be, to have been tracked so relentlessly for seven or eight days, he wouldn''t be in good humor. Moreover, Chen Mu''s temper wasn''t really mild to begin with.


    After having led that group of card artisans around and around the forest for the past few days, Chen Mu had already gained some understanding as to the capabilities of the bunch of tails behind him. The strongest two card artisans among the group were rather inferior in comparison with the one he had gone up against.


    Chen Mu felt some pity in not having found the black-line silver-inscribed card of that sinister and vicious card artisan. Otherwise, he could have learned some particulars about him. He was also inwardly lamenting, Constellation''s might is indeed great! Just two captains were already so powerful. He had thought Mo Ta had already been strong enough, but, unexpectedly, along came another even stronger than Mo Ta!


    Pitiful Chen Mu. Until that moment, he still didn''t know the adversary had merely coincidentally made a breakthrough during the fight.


    Lamentation was just lamentation. No matter how mighty Constellation was, it couldn''t improve the relations between the two sides. Since such was the case, why not give the adversary a painful blow? For every bit of the adversary''s power that was reduced, the gap between the two sides would decrease slightly.


    Under the cover of foliage, Chen Mu''s eyes were stern with the intention to kill!

 379 On Aler

    Mobley had been quite excited those last few days. The results of the stimulant liquid were quite obvious. The perception of any card artisan who used it surged, with quite a few of them even breaking into the next level. The only thing that left him a little frustrated was the shortage of the purple fluorescent liquid extract. The stimulant liquid consumed a huge amount of the extract, and the rate of production from the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm was already at its highest. But that still couldn''t satisfy their need.


    He could only repress his anxiety. The Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm''s production rate for the extract was much higher than that of any other company, and Mobley really felt that he couldn''t bring up his still-higher requirements. He had already gone around to several other vendors, hoping to get some additional extract from other channels.


    When Mobley had emerged from the youth training camp of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, he had been very loyal to the team. Because of that, when he had become a captain, they had turned over the responsibility of regimental command to him. He was outstanding in that position. He could now see how the power of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team had surged higher, which made him feel full of pride and a sense of accomplishment.


    "Commander Mo." Qing Qing''s uniquely ethereal voice came from behind him. He didn''t know when she had shown up behind him.


    Mobley was stunned at first but quickly relaxed. He couldn''t help but be amazed that Qing Qing not only had an excellent temperament, but she was entirely cultivated. She was unfathomable.


    "Miss Qing Qing!" Mobley greeted her with a composed expression.


    "Is Commander Mobley pleased with the results of the stimulant liquid?" Qing Qing asked in a way to downplay it.


    There was a touch of excitement in Mobley''s gaze. "I am! How could I not be? Old Mo never thought there could be such a wonderful thing in this world!"


    Hearing that, Qing Qing smiled lightly and said, "I can relax now that Captain Mobley is pleased. I''ve come looking for Captain Mobley wanting to chat about our agreement with your honorable firm."


    Mobley looked respectful and said with a sigh, "Don''t worry, Miss Qing Qing; everyone on the team will certainly do his utmost! There are a lot of people around here. Let''s talk inside."


    The two of them entered a small meeting room and sat down. Mobley leaned forward and said with a proper expression, "Whatever Miss Qing Qing wants us to do, please don''t hesitate to say."


    "I would like to ask your honorable firm to help me find someone," Qing Qing said lightly.


    "Find someone?" Mobley was taken aback, never having thought that would be what Qing Qing wanted! As recompense for Qing Qing getting him something so precious as the stimulant fluid, he had already completed whatever extremely difficult things she had presented.


    But Mobley had been the regimental commander for so long that he had plenty of insight. He well knew that since his counterpart would be paying such a high price to find someone, it would be no trivial matter. He said thoughtfully, "I wonder who Miss Qing Qing is looking for. Is detailed information available? Are there any clues?"


    Qing Qing gave Mobley a one-star fantasy card. "All of the material on him is in here. Captain Mobley can take a look. As for clues, I only know they have entered the Heavenly Drum Village District. There''s very little other information."


    Mobley was feeling a headache coming on. The requirements Qing Qing had raised were not proportional to the price she was paying. Hearing her tone, though, he was aware that Qing Qing had no real understanding of that person and had no clues. Looking for someone under those conditions would be like looking for a fish hook in the ocean.


    But he still said, "I''ll take a look." He put the fantasy card into the card player, and an image immediately popped onto the screen.


    A youth appeared on the screen, which struck Mobley dumb.


    "He''s called Chen Mu, though he might have changed his name. He''s good at making cards and is about 20 years old. He has two people with him. One is called Bogner, and the other is called Xi Ping. He probably also has some card artisans. There is no material about anything else." Qing Qing''s light voice curled up like smoke.


    Mobley was looking at that youth on the screen, dumbfounded and stunned.


    Noting Mobley''s expression, Qing Qing was puzzled and asked, "Has Captain Mobley seen Chen Mu?"


    Mobley then came back to his senses and said with a sneer, "What a small world! If I''m not mistaken, I do believe I''ve seen him."


    "Oh! Where is he?" Qing Qing couldn''t help but raise her eyebrows.


    Looking at the rather obviously excited Qing Qing, Mobley had a bunch of mixed feelings. Could Chen Mu and Qing Qing have some kind of intimate relations? Otherwise, why would Qing Qing be so anxiously looking for him and get so excited just hearing news of him? As he saw it, their ages were a perfect match.


    In order to cover up his feelings, Mobley said with a smile, "Now that you mention it, Miss Qing Qing must have also heard of this fellow."


    "I''ve heard of him?" By that time, Qing Qing had resumed her normal quiet and demure expression.


    "This Chen Mu is the current regimental commander of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm and is our current largest vendor for the purple fluorescent liquid extract," Mobley said neither anxiously nor slowly.


    Qing Qing was dumbstruck by Mobley''s response. She had never thought the person she had been looking for all along would be so nearby! It really was a case of looking all over the world for what was right in front of you¡ªgotten with no effort!


    When she thought about finishing her job a day early, she realized she could return to the Star Academy a day early. There was a rare look of joy on Qing Qing''s face, which had always been as placid as an old well.


    Mobley felt a sudden pain, feeling still more certain that Chen Mu and Qing Qing had some kind of intimate relationship. As soon as he thought of that, Mobley felt like there were myriad ants gobbling his heart. It was a knife-twisting pain.


    "So, could Captain Mobley please take Qing Qing to see Chen Mu?" Even a fool could hear the joy in what Qing Qing said.


    Mobley''s heart was bleeding, though he said with a forced smile, "Qing Qing needn''t be polite about what it is my duty to do." He activated his apparatus and called Chen Mu''s communications card.


    Yikes. He couldn''t get through after trying several times.


    "Odd. Why can''t I connect?" Mobley didn''t quite understand. Seeing Qing Qing frowning a little nervously, he spoke plainly. "There''s no need for Miss Qing Qing to worry; I''ll just give a call to their manager, Xi Ping."


    Qing Qing nodded without saying anything. The call to Xi Ping connected right away, and her face relaxed a little.


    "How are you, Captain Mobley?" As soon as Xi Ping saw Mobley, he smiled broadly. What a joke! Captain Mobley was currently the ravine''s biggest sugar daddy and would certainly get VIP treatment!


    "How are you, Manager Xi?" Mobley said with a smile. He had rather good feelings toward that smart businessman. He continued, "I''m ashamed to say we''ve recently been consuming the purple fluorescent liquid extract too quickly. We have an acute shortage just now! I wonder if your honorable firm could speed it up. We would like to increase the price by 15 percent."


    Xi Ping showed a somewhat embarrassed expression. "We''ve already increased our production to the limit, Captain Mo! The machinery is producing 24-7, and we really can''t increase the capacity! If Captain Mo were to place a mountain of gold in front of Old Xi, apart from my eyes going red with greed, there would be nothing else I could do."


    "Ai!" Mobley looked dejected. "I would really love for your honorable firm to increase your daily production several times over!"


    Xi Ping laughed and said, "We hope the same thing in our dreams. We''re not letting Captain Mo spend all the money in his pocket this way!"


    Mobley laughed to hear that. "Having money just now still doesn''t compare with your Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. Oh, right. I just tried to call Commander Chen Mu, but I couldn''t connect. Isn''t Commander Chen Mu there?"


    Xi Ping explained, "Our commander has gone out for a while, and he hasn''t been in the ravine recently."


    "Gone out? Do you mean he is interested in touring at this time?" Mobley looked shocked and quickly apologized. "I''ve been planning to pay Commander Chen Mu a visit during this time to chat about our two teams'' deep cooperation. Now, it looks like¡­"


    Xi Ping sneered, showing a helpless expression. "To be quite honest, our commander felt he''d recently hit a bottleneck, so he simply went off traveling. Not only can''t Captain Mobley find him, but even we don''t have any way to connect with him."


    "Bottleneck? Traveling?" Mobley was taken aback, never having thought that would actually be the reason. He couldn''t help but say, "Isn''t your honorable commander a card master? Do you mean to say that when a card master hits a bottleneck, he has to go off traveling?"


    Xi Ping laughed it off. "Whatever our commander is thinking isn''t anything we underlings can know about."


    Seeing how it was, Mobley took a look at Qing Qing, who slightly shook her head at him. He immediately understood and said to Xi Ping, "If your honorable commander returns, would Manger Xi please let me know? Old Mo would like to pay him a visit."


    "Certainly! Certainly!" Xi Ping rushed to say.


    The two shut off their communications, and Mobley spread his hands helplessly toward Qing Qing, unable to help but feel a little happy inside.


    Qing Qing murmured doubtfully, "Traveling? He goes traveling at a time like this?"


    "I think it''s a bit of an issue myself," Mobley said thoughtfully. "Still, Xi Ping wouldn''t really lie to me. Although I don''t know the reason, Chen Mu is certainly not with the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm."


    Qing Qing kept frowning as though she were thinking about something. Mobley didn''t disturb her. After a while, Qing Qing sighed and said, "We''ll just have to wait a while."


    "Mmmm. That''s the way it is," Mobley said. The two walked out of the meeting room together. In the instant they stepped out, Mobley suddenly thought of something.


    The gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus! Hadn''t the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm been asking for information about the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus last time? Mobley suddenly saw Qing Qing''s back in front of him and felt hesitant about whether he should tell Qing Qing about that in the end.


    As he watched her back gradually move farther and farther away, Mobley opened his mouth to say something a few times, but didn''t say a thing in the end.


    Xi Ping shut off his communications card and thought for a while before immediately finding Bogner.


    Bogner looked at Xi Ping in surprise. That old thief would very seldom come looking for him in the training area. He wondered if something had happened to the boss.


    Seeing Bogner, Xi Ping cut in to say, "Mobley, the commander of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team just came looking for me."


    "Oh. What''s up?" Bogner was startled, and immediately looked serious. The Snowflake Card Artisan Team''s abnormal requirements for the purple fluorescent liquid extract during that time had alarmed both of them.


    Seeming to know what Bogner was thinking about, Xi Ping shook his head, "It''s not related to the purple fluorescent liquid extract. They asked about the boss''s whereabouts!"


    "The boss''s whereabouts?" Bogner was more alarmed, "What did he say?"


    "He didn''t say anything, except that he wanted to pay the boss a visit, and talk about some sort of cooperation, but I certainly didn''t feel that was his actual objective." Xi Ping continued, "And he just said something."


    "What did he say?"


    "He talked about the boss as a card master, and wondered why he would have to go travelling to break through a bottleneck." Xi Ping had a serious expression, "How could he know that the boss is a card master? Basically, no-one knows the business about the boss being a card master! And moreover, those who do have been with us for a very long time, and wouldn''t have leaked it."


    "So, what you''re saying is that they took a different route to investigate the boss?"


    Bogner''s expression became serious as well.


    "I don''t know." Xi Ping shook his head, "But I feel like there''s something wrong."


    "From what you''re saying, I''m getting the same feeling." Bogner then suddenly thought of something, "Didn''t we ask Mobley to look into the business of the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus? Could that have been what got their attention?"


    Xi Ping became alarmed, "That''s quite possible! They might even have guessed where the boss was going!"


    Bogner didn''t get flustered, and said thoughtfully, "We can''t be clear about what their goal is just yet. But we certainly can''t leak out the matter of the boss going to get the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, or the boss would be in danger. Right now, we have to find some way to draw away the attention of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team."


    Xi Ping suddenly made a sly smile, and his old face blossomed like a chrysanthemum, "Since we asked the Snowflake Card Artisan Team to look into information about the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, we can find them to look into even more such precious information!"


    "Ha!" Bogner clapped his hands excitedly, "Not a bad idea! Ha, let''s look for Miss Sue, and get a list of such rare and valuable drugs as the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, and request that the Snowflake Card Artisan Team looks into each of them. Ha, that way, we can divide their attention, and if they want to look into where the boss is, it won''t be so easy."


    "Mmmm, we can also declare to the outside world that we are acquiring rare medicines. Oh, we can start buying them in Chilei, that way the Snowflake Card Artisan Team will think that we want to enter the ranks of biomedicine, and that we are interested in those drugs . . ."


    The two of them put their two heads together and continued discussing in low voices, letting loose an evil laugh from time to time, their gazes frequently flashing. They gave every team member who passed by a chill, and they all wished they could take a detour.

 380 Showing the Goods

    About 70 card artisans had entered the forest, and there was a depressed atmosphere among the troops. Each of the card artisans looked bewildered and wary. They treaded carefully, afraid to take heavy footsteps. The card artisans responsible for detection were behaving as though they were facing a big enemy.


    "He''s in the vicinity!" A small card artisan unconsciously swallowed. He had studied the perception of smell, and there were quite a few card artisans like that in the troop. They had stained the enemy with a green-ish palm juice, which made it so they wouldn''t lose their adversary''s trail. However, since they had studied it along with a different subject, their attainments with the perception of smell weren''t very deep. They could only roughly determine whether he had been in the vicinity and couldn''t determine his accurate position.


    Dong! A sound like dull thunder came from behind them, and all of the card artisans'' faces shifted!


    Pa! A card artisan''s energy cloak and his head suddenly blew apart! Some of the surrounding card artisans couldn''t help but scream, and everyone shrunk unconsciously to the side.


    Bao Le and Jeremy looked at each other with steely faces, each discovering the anger in the other''s eyes and the terror underneath!


    "That''s number 28! If it goes on like this, we''re all going to die! We''re all going to die, Bao Le!" Jeremy was screaming hysterically, the flesh on his face quaking and a deep hopelessness in his gaze.


    The veins on Bao Le''s bald head were throbbing as he suddenly grabbed Jeremy''s clothes and growled, "Enough! Calm down, Jeremy. That damned jerk is going to drive us crazy! Right. What you said is true; we''ll die for sure like this. If we go back, Wen isn''t going to let us go, either. We''ll die for sure! But dammit! I''d rather die at this jerk''s hands than at Wen''s!"


    Those under them saw the two captains arguing, and none of them dared to come forward.


    Bao Le let go with his hand. Jeremy''s legs went soft, and he plopped down onto the ground. He had a look of hopelessness, and his gaze was lifeless as he murmured, "What you say is true, Bao Le. Wen won''t let us go¡­"


    The faces of the card artisans were ashen. All of them had the god-like Wen in mind, along with the equally famous power of his harsh and cruel moves.


    Bao Le drew in a breath of air and crouched down to say in a low voice, "Let''s get out of here, Jeremy! There''s only one of this damned jerk, and he won''t be able to go after us. We''ll both be dead anyway. As long as we get out of the forest, we''ll at least have a chance! Hmph. We can look for protection at Moon Frost Island and can work for them. The intelligence we have would be enough for our safety!"


    "Escape? Are you nuts, Bao Le? Wen would kill us!" Jeremy unconsciously blurted out. His eyes were full of terror.


    "That''s right; Wen would kill us. But do you think Wen is going to let us off now?" Bao Le spoke sarcastically. Jeremy kept sitting where he was, his face drained of blood.


    "Don''t be a fool, Jeremy. We''ll die for sure this time. Wen has never cared about whether these captains live or die. He doesn''t care about anyone except Yuchi Bai. We have to escape! We''ll be able to live once we get out of here!" Bao Le clenched his fists and said through gritted teeth, "We have no future at Constellation, Jeremy. Wen only trusts Yuchi, and we don''t have as much power as Mo Ta and Jin Yin. He trusts An Sa among the rest of the captains. You know Gan Lin and An Sa are a team. What are we? We''re just cannon fodder. Let''s go, Jeremy. Let''s get out of here, so we can survive. Then, we can get what we want!"


    Jeremy''s expression was fluctuating, and he was obviously struggling intensely in his mind. Bao Le wasn''t urging him but was calmly awaiting Jeremy''s decision off to the side.


    After five or six minutes, Jeremy let out a long breath of air and said with a nod, "What you say is right, Bao Le. Let''s get out of here!"


    Bao Le finally showed something of a smile on his face. "You won''t regret this decision, Jeremy!"


    At the same time, several card artisans plunged out from among the trees, shaking their heads at Bao Le. Just like before, they hadn''t found any trace of their adversary.


    Bao Le had long expected that result. Their adversary was oddly slippery, and he had the Snake Lens in his hands. If they wanted to find him, it would basically be impossible. The guy was like some kind of ghost, attacking and vanishing the way gods and devils came and went. Every time they would hear that weird dong, one of the card artisans on their side would fall.


    Bao Le really wondered if their adversary was a card artisan assassin! The power of the energy shuttle he had emitted terrified them. Even a four-star energy cloak didn''t give them any sense of security. The gloom of the forest meant you would never know where the next energy shuttle would be shot from¡ªor whom it would be shooting at. The panic and stress made the troops start to show signs of collapse.


    Since there was no ace like Jin Yin among that gang of card artisans, Chen Mu could boldly use the Patterned Shuttle. Instead of using perception to lock someone in, he was trying to simply use his gaze to do so. The fight with Jin Yin had made him understand that locking in with perception was really a joke against those card artisans who had such acute perception.


    He wouldn''t have to worry about raising his adversary''s alarm if he used his gaze to lock in. However, it was who-knew-how-many times more difficult to use his gaze instead of his perception. Its accuracy also couldn''t be guaranteed.


    That poor gang of card artisans had become Chen Mu''s objects for the testing and training of his new style of warfare. The Patterned Shuttle, with its terrifying power in that sort of sniper attack, had performed brilliantly. Up until then, there still hadn''t been an energy cloak that could withstand it. Because it had so much power, some target areas that hadn''t ever been lethal before had become dangerously exposed. For example, when a card artisan was hit in the left shoulder, half of his body was smashed to pieces by the terrible blow of the Patterned Shuttle.


    With what the Snake Lens captured, he could very clearly see any detail of the team. He shook his head about how the team was already on the brink of collapse and had no fighting spirit left. Seeing them run off in such a hurry, Chen Mu hesitated and decided not to pursue them.


    He had been maintaining contact with the outside world for those few days. Speculation from Bogner and Xi Ping had grabbed his attention. The Snowflake Card Artisan Team''s moves gave Chen Mu a slight sense of urgency.


    There was still another issue; Wei-ah was waiting for him in Zargan.


    Wei-ah''s safety was absolutely not something he needed to worry about. He was more worried about the safety of the other people.


    He knew he had better hurry up and rendezvous with Wei-ah. After so many days of repeated sniper kills, the burst of anger Chen Mu had felt had dissipated significantly. The green flower tattoo on his arm had deepened quite a bit in color compared to before, which rather concerned him.


    Thinking it through, Chen Mu turned around with no second thoughts and disappeared into the forest.


    After going through seven consecutive days of high-speed flight, Chen Mu finally arrived in Zargan. Along the way, he had run into seven waves of all sorts of different wild beasts, and each battle had been extremely arduous. That came out to an average of one hard battle every day. The most thrilling had been running into a snow ape that could shoot off energy balls.


    The nearly man-sized snow ape was as fast as lightning and remarkably sharp, and the energy balls it shot off had explosive qualities. When they had hit Chen Mu during the battle, it had made him curse relentlessly. Chen Mu had battled fiercely with the snow ape for nearly five hours, during which time he''d swapped out seven energy cards before finally killing it.


    Getting wounded had become commonplace. Fortunately, he had a shocking ability to recover and understood a few means of treatment, so he hadn''t died from the loss of blood. The wild beasts'' blood also contained rich energy. Chen Mu had used some crude means to prepare some medicines and had gotten excellent results.


    Having been tempered by that period of concentrated battle, Chen Mu''s temperament had already gone through an earth-shaking transformation, even though he looked wrecked.


    In light of that bitter battle with Jin Yin on top of so many days of trials through the forests and so many close-quarter battles with wild beasts, his clothes had long since been shredded. Even the battle suit on his body that had cost 15 million Oudi hadn''t survived. Before Chen Mu had left, Xi Ping had specifically bought it for him at a high price. But that battle suit was now in tatters.


    Chen Mu was carrying a pack on his back about as tall as he was, and it was bundled together with strips of rattan. With his clothes in tatters and his whole body covered in mud and bloodstains, there was no way to hide his sharp gaze, which exuded a faint murderousness. That sharp manner made him look like a coldly glinting sword, although its sheath was pretty worn-out.


    When Chen Mu showed up in the outskirts of Zargan, his appearance was rather eye-catching. The card artisans who flew past him all looked askance. When they met Chen Mu''s gaze, though, they immediately retracted their gazes in shock. Anyone''s heart would go cold upon contacting his chilly, murderous gaze.


    The greedy gazes of some of the card artisans were also cast onto that bundle of things on Chen Mu''s back. He paid no attention to those card artisans, though. After going through so many difficult battles, his attitude had entirely changed. He puffed out his chest and flew toward the market district of Zargan, calm and unafraid.


    It made sense not to show off his wealth. Chen Mu didn''t know how much the things bundled on his back were really worth, only having felt that their strength was incredible when he had battled with those wild beasts. He thought the things on him would be rather valuable, so he''d taken the booty with him to see if he could sell them for a price in Zargan. Some of them could be used to make cards, and he had carefully retained those.


    There was a gang of card artisans flying toward the Outer Reaches from Zargan, and the eyes of one of them suddenly lit up.


    "Look, big brother!" He spoke discreetly to the card artisan beside him, his voice exuding excitement and greed.


    The lead card artisan couldn''t help but turn his head when he heard that. When his gaze fell onto the bundle on Chen Mu''s back, he involuntarily drew in a breath of cold air.


    "That''s the pelt of a southern snow ape, big brother! A really valuable thing! Showing through a corner on top, if I''m not mistaken, should be the horn of the thin-horned spotted deer."


    Once he said that, all of the card artisans sucked in their breath.


    "How much is that worth?" one of the card artisans mumbled.


    "That guy is really something! For one person to hunt down so many good things, he is certainly an ace!" another card artisan said in admiration.


    Hearing that, the lead card artisan was taken aback and immediately looked ecstatic. "Go stop him!"

 381 The Strong One Returns

    There was not a single soul in Pomelo, which was all ruins. It had already become a new territory for wild beasts. The formerly bustling city was now overgrown with weeds, along with the occasional small animal. There hadn''t been enough time for tall trees to grow, but it was heaven for rapidly growing things like weeds. They were tall enough to reach a grown person''s knees.


    A man with tattered clothes and pieces of grass in his wild hair was walking along the streets of Pomelo. He had a square face with inky, black, thick eyebrows and swarthy skin, though his eyes were as bright as stars. But his eyes were a little dazed as he looked around, muttering to himself, "How could this be? How could this be?"


    White bones were strewn all over the place along with the remains of battle. His gaze flitted about until he suddenly strode toward a pile of bones, where he bent down to pick up a card wallet. He recognized it as the newly designed wallet released the previous year by the Aida Company. It looked like the one who had died must have been wealthy while he was alive. Flipping through the wallet, a flash of joy went through his dazed gaze.


    Power cards! Five four-star power cards!


    He couldn''t help but let out a big sigh. That was the thing he most needed just then! He had always been in the habit of carrying a large quantity of power cards. But during his struggles in the jungle, even though he had been trying to find ways to increase his energy efficiency, he had still exhausted them all.


    He picked up a few more card wallets and pulled out all the energy and money cards, tossing away any others without even looking at them. He put all the energy cards he got into a backpack, which he''d also just picked up. Now having power cards, he finally started to look more relaxed. Pomelo had really been badly destroyed. He walked past a few places equipped with fantasy card viewers. Without exception, there was no way to use any of them, though. He guessed the lines had been damaged.


    His gaze then fell onto a shuttle car by the side of the road. The shuttle car was pockmarked with rust from being in the sun and rain, and even the cockpit door was rusted away.


    He furrowed his black brow, and a red beam suddenly appeared on his hand. A 15-centimeter-long and four-centimeter-wide red energy blade easily cut open an entryway in the cockpit door big enough for him to go through.


    Diving into the cockpit, he opened the playback apparatus in the front and flipped through its content. He suddenly looked pleased when a color map appeared on the screen that had popped out. That was just what he had been looking for!


    Carefully flipping through it for a moment longer, he then shut off the viewing apparatus and took out the fantasy card without hesitating. Leaving the shuttle car, he looked at the city in ruins and soared into the air with no further nostalgia, cutting a glowing track through the sky.


    If anyone had been watching, they would certainly have found his speed shocking and would have marveled at how bold he was. The preferred choice for card artisans in the Outer Reaches was to fly at low altitude. Only really powerful card artisans would be so bold as to fly out in the open like that!


    After seven days of flight, the man arrived at Amedal.


    No one recognized him. He was too far from the image people had of him by then. Still, no one dared to mock him or bump into him; the power he naturally exuded was enough to scare anyone.


    An ace! An absolute ace! Even card artisans unconsciously made way for him. The man maintained his indifferent expression all along, as though everything was as it should be.


    As he walked into the city, it made him feel like it was a lifetime ago walking past the dreamy fantasy card advertisements and all the streaming people. Just as he was about to exchange his clothes, he suddenly stopped with his gaze cast toward a giant screen in the middle of the square.


    "Friends in the audience! Friends in the audience! This just in! We are witnessing a moment in history! This day will certainly be written in the annals of the Heavenly Federation. Please remember this day. It will be legendary!


    "Tang Hanpei, the creator of the level-four records in the federation, known as the most outstanding card artisan in the history of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, has just now succeeded in defeating the master of the Central Repository of the Classics! A lot of people won''t be able to sleep tonight! After Tang Hanpei assumed all the authority for the Federation Comprehensive Academy and so unexpectedly appeared at the gates of the Central Repository of the Classics to challenge its current master¡­"


    The man''s brain went buzzing blank as he dumbfoundedly stared at the screen like a clay figure.


    How could this be¡­ How could this be? Tang Hanpei! The Federation Comprehensive Academy! His simple, square face, his thick eyebrows, and his dazed expression turned abruptly severe. He clenched his fists while his body trembled.


    Hong!


    His out-of-control perception raged like a hurricane, and he left the square with no warning! The pressure he felt was tangible. It spread around with him at its center.


    It became as calm and silent as death. Any sound in the huge square disappeared in that instant. Everyone''s faces were frozen with their mouths hanging open, unable to even make a sound. Some card artisans with uncommon power were even looking in fear at that man, who looked like a scavenger.


    After a few seconds, the man''s expression returned to normal. The pressure that had prevented anyone from breathing suddenly disappeared.


    The square immediately turned chaotic, with the sounds of screaming and crying mixed together everywhere. In the blink of an eye, there was only that lone man remaining in the square.


    With his thick, black eyebrows and determined gaze, his expression resumed its normal look. He put aside his intention to change his clothes and went flying straight to the long-distance shuttle train station.


    "May I ask if this long-distance shuttle car goes to Dunyan?"


    When the station worker heard the plain and simple voice of the one asking the question behind him, he noted some condescension in it. He had been working at the station for 20 years and had seen all sorts of people. Once he heard that voice, he knew the one asking was certainly someone. Moreover, Dunyan was situated at the border of one of the flourishing districts; in general, only passengers coming or going to the flourishing districts would go there. That sort of condescending voice was mostly heard among travelers from the flourishing districts.


    "It does, sir. The train is about to depart. If you need a ticket, you''ll have to go ahead to the specific passage," he answered respectfully. By the time he turned around, he was stunned to find a raggedy man who looked like a scavenger standing in front of him.


    He only heard the man say, "Thank you."


    By the time he returned to his senses, there was already no sign of the scavenger.


    * * *


    Chen Mu looked at the line of people blocking him with a cold expression. He had just come through endless battles those past few days. To put it another way, he still hadn''t come out from his battle state. Going through so many continuous high-level battles meant he had a fight-or-flight reaction when encountering any situation.


    That gang only felt a chill to their necks when they were pricked by Chen Mu''s gaze, and they unconsciously retracted their necks.


    Could he be someone from Constellation? That was the first thought that flashed through Chen Mu''s mind as his gaze abruptly took on an ill-willed murderousness. The surrounding air temperature seemed to have plunged a few degrees.


    "How are you doing, sir?" The lead card artisan looked a little pale, although he still forced out a smile.


    "What''s up?" Chen Mu asked in an icy voice.


    Under Chen Mu''s oppressive gaze, the lead card artisan was a little flustered. He hadn''t thought he would be facing that kind of situation. He felt some sudden regret; he would never have bothered that guy if he''d known earlier. His response was quick when he found that his hesitancy seemed to have made his counterpart''s gaze cool down a few degrees. He hardened himself and stammered, "It''s¡­ It''s like this. W-we are a trading firm. When we saw there are so many of the materials we urgently need in your travel bags, sir, we made so bold as to flag you down. I wanted to inquire if you are selling, sir. If you are, we would like to make a purchase at a high price."


    "Purchase?" That was unexpected for Chen Mu, and the chill on his face dissipated quite a bit.


    "Yes, yes!" Seeing that Chen Mu wasn''t really mad, the lead card artisan set his mind and rushed to say, "We are card artisans from the Chichi Trading Firm. Our boss is the master of the firm. The boss has recently been buying southern snow-ape pelts. Just now, when we saw you had some in your pack, we made so bold as to disturb you. Please excuse us if we have offended you. Our humble firm has 20 years of history in Zargan. If you were to ask around, you would know we would never cheat anyone."


    Although the card artisan''s expression showed some fear, he wasn''t cowering.


    Chen Mu''s expression softened as he nodded to say, "Mmmm. I do want to sell these things. If your price is suitable, it would be fine to sell them to you."


    That made the lead card artisan happy. "Wonderful! We will certainly satisfy you with the price. Our humble master will personally discuss the price with you. Please, don''t worry."


    Nodding, Chen Mu didn''t say anything but only signaled for them to lead the way. He had just caught a glimpse of Wei-ah, which made him feel immediately more relaxed. With Wei-ah there, he didn''t need to be concerned at all about his safety. That nod just then was really meant for Wei-ah.


    The party quickly arrived at the Chichi Trading Firm. It was a large firm, after all, located in the most prosperous part of Zargan. If one wanted to have such a large-scale trading firm in that district, where land was gold, it would be impossible without some power.


    The workers at the firm were clearly familiar with that gang of card artisans. When they saw Chen Mu, however, they couldn''t hide their astonishment.


    The lead card artisan took Chen Mu to the VIP lounge, where he served him tea before excusing himself to look for his young master.


    Sitting on the soft sofa and sipping the fragrant, light tea, it was like another lifetime ago. Chen Mu poured three cups of tea in a single breath before he stopped drinking. If Xi Ping were to see him, he was afraid he couldn''t have helped but mock him for gulping it like that.


    Now comfortable, Chen Mu couldn''t resist his inward thoughts. He vaguely felt that gang had something else in mind. They were certainly not only thinking of buying the bundle of things on his back.

 382 Ah Sang

    Just then, a woman wearing a veil walked into the VIP lounge.


    "Sorry to make you wait." One ordinary, sweet, and delicate phrase from her made it impossible not to look at her.


    The black veil had a silky sheen, which even Chen Mu with his sharp eyesight couldn''t see through. A light purple qipao fully outlined her tall, slender frame. A snow-white powdered neck showed under her face, exuding a deadly attraction, while her exquisitely small collarbone made it impossible to avert one''s gaze.


    She was a woman who gave rise to countless helpless fantasies. Even Chen Mu went blank for a moment. That was a rare thing for him.


    Suddenly, Chen Mu drew in a breath to clear his mind. Those days of bitter battling had made even his will still more determined and unwavering. Finding his condition improper, he reacted in the first moment to adjust it.


    Noting Chen Mu''s accommodation, a hint of appreciation was cast from behind the veil. She had read countless people. Although the man in front of her was strangely ugly, the power of his extremely oppressive feeling was intimidating. When she had first entered, the ugly man''s spirits had seemed to be in a daze. However, he quickly accommodated and restored the clarity of his gaze, which showed how cool and restrained he was.


    "It''s nothing." Chen Mu took a sharp look at her veil and asked, "So, you are the young master of this establishment?"


    As though she hadn''t noted the guardedness in Chen Mu''s eyes, the woman bowed to him slightly and sat right down on the ground. "I am. You may call me Ah Sang."


    The light purple qipao, the black veil, and her exquisite, powdered neck were all mysterious and alluring, and her upright sitting posture seemed to declare a kind of formidable inviolability. But, as it happened, Chen Mu couldn''t help a certain feeling that the woman was sitting that way to show off her style.


    The girl in front of him wasn''t the most gorgeous woman Chen Mu had ever seen, though there was something unique about her that distinguished her from any other woman. Still, Chen Mu didn''t know much about women. If he were to judge her character by the way she was sitting and so forth, that would never be reliable.


    "And, how should I address you, sir?" The voice from behind the veil had a magical allure, carrying a sense of lightness and sweetness.


    "Qiao Yuan."


    Chen Mu cherished words as though they were gold. The woman in front of him was no simple person, and he couldn''t help the rise in his spirits. Bogner had given him that name. He was the only guy in the entire base who was interested in names.


    "So, Mr. Qiao." Ah Sang bowed lightly to show her respect and went on to ask in curiosity, "I wonder where Mr. Qiao has come from to be able to hunt down the southern snow-ape and the thin-horned spotted deer. Mr. Qiao is quite powerful!"


    "No comment." Chen Mu''s expression was chilly, and his eyes were slightly closed.


    That was the style Bogner and Xi Ping had decided on after they agreed. No matter how he was disguised, his background and identity would always be an issue. Given their current power, they could never choose a perfect fake identity that wouldn''t raise doubts. They figured they might as well simply construct an ace with an arrogant, stubborn temperament. Although people liked to speculate and would certainly investigate, so long as Chen Mu clamped his jaw, they would be helpless and would only feel that to be his nature.


    Ah Sang was unusually perceptive and immediately understood the issue had made him unhappy. She said a little apologetically, "Ah Sang took too many liberties. Our humble firm is quite interested in this batch of goods of Mr. Qiao''s. I wonder if Mr. Qiao is willing to part with such treasure."


    Even after such brief contact, she could already grasp that strangely ugly man''s character. He was arrogant and obstinate, always calm and restrained. When facing such a person, vanities would be no use since he was eager to talk only about real gains.


    "How much?" Chen Mu''s response wasn''t subtle.


    Ah Sang was inwardly rather pleased since her estimation wasn''t far off, after all.


    Ah Sang chuckled. "Mr. Qiao will have to allow Ah Sang to take a look at the goods first before I can judge."


    "Oh." Chen Mu didn''t look up as he stretched his hand to the side, where he easily picked up his bundle and put it on the table. The alloy table shook when he put it down. Ah Sang was inwardly stunned at how heavy it was and how strong he was.


    Chen Mu deftly cut the rattan strap on the outside of the bag, which popped into two pieces. After finishing that, he sat back down on the sofa with his eyes half-closed.


    Taking a look at the smoothly cut rattan straps, Ah Sang felt awed. She hadn''t seen Chen Mu use anything to cut the straps, which were as thick as a thumb and exceptionally tough. What was important was that she hadn''t detected the slightest energy fluctuation.


    Black silk gloves went right up her arm, which covered her snow-white skin with a layer of delicate, silken sheen. Her slender hands were as elegant as the most perfect works of an artist.


    With his eyes half-closed, Chen Mu suddenly heard his counterpart''s breathing seem to become a little rapid, though it returned to normal after a few seconds. He was thinking rather languidly that it looked like she had been startled by his haul.


    "My humble firm would like all of these things," Ah Sang handily decided.


    "Oh," Chen Mu responded indifferently.


    "These data here are actually listings of such goods, along with their auction records. There are three sorts of your goods that are the most valuable. One is the southern snow-ape pelt, another is the thin-horned spotted deer, and the third is the four snow-crystal python claws."


    Snow-crystal python? Chen Mu''s gaze followed the elegant movements of Ah Sang''s hands and fell onto the four claws, which were like crystals. He remembered that the large white python had four claws under its body. It could emit energy shuttles, which forced Chen Mu to use a surprising number of moves. Pythons were cold-blooded animals. According to conventional wisdom, they couldn''t survive in snowy areas, so he didn''t think he would actually encounter one. That large python''s hide had little protective value and wasn''t worth anything. In the end, Chen Mu saw its four unusual, crystal-like claws and cut them off. He hadn''t thought they would actually be something good.


    "Apart from the southern snow-ape''s pelt, which was ruined by the wounds, the other things are perfect. My humble firm would like to purchase them at 20 percent over the market price. For all of the goods, that would be more than 250 million Oudi altogether. What do you think?" Ah Sang asked respectfully.


    That price far exceeded Chen Mu''s expectations. Could being a card artisan be so lucrative nowadays? For him at that time, he didn''t consider 250 million such a large number. But such a price would certainly be exciting for any card artisan.


    "Mmmm. Ok."


    Ah Sang was rather surprised at how calm Chen Mu was. She couldn''t see the least bit of joy on his face, even for 250 million! Her counterpart could actually stay that calm? Could it be¡­


    Ah Sang was thinking quickly about the meaning behind the information while saying, "Please wait a moment, Mr. Qiao. Those under me have already gone to prepare the money card. I wonder if Mr. Qiao would like to transfer the money or to prepare a new card."


    "Prepare a new card."


    "Registered or unregistered?" Ah Sang continued.


    "Unregistered."


    Ah Sang''s brain was spinning. It looked like Mr. Qiao absolutely didn''t want to reveal where he came from. The name Qiao Yuan could be fake. In a roundabout way, however, facing such a huge sum and still wanting an unregistered money card reflected how much confidence he had in his own power.


    "Mmmm, no problem. But you may have to wait a moment." Ah Sang smiled at Chen Mu while she opened her communications apparatus to issue some orders in a low voice. She sat down once she''d finished all that and elegantly poured tea for Chen Mu.


    "This is a small place, and we don''t have anything good to host you with, which must seem ridiculous to you. This is the Lanqing tea produced by the Han family. It isn''t well-known, but I like it for its refreshing elegance when I am by myself. I am always so bold as to bring it out for tasting whenever I meet a guest."


    Her hands, covered in black silk, picked up a teacup as white as snow and brought it in front of her. With her other hand, she lifted her veil a little.


    The teacup was still more pure white than her chin, and her dark red lips lightly sipped the tea to compose a beautiful picture. As soon as Chen Mu''s gaze touched her face, he retracted it in a flash. Even he was overwhelmed by such magic.


    "Good tea." Chen Mu made a simple response. Before he had left, Bogner and Xi Ping had analyzed the characteristics of his new identity for him. They determined that his speech should be simple and short, and he should seldom say anything or open his mouth. That would reduce mistakes. He should be domineering when he did anything, and if he encountered any trouble, he shouldn''t be reticent to display his power. He shouldn''t have a good disposition, ready to fight if someone looked at him wrong.


    Among those three points, only the first one really suited his own temperament. He could keep trying with the other two.


    Ah Sang smiled lightly and asked languidly, "I wonder how long Mr. Qiao will remain in Zargan."


    "Not very long." Chen Mu''s answer was no different from not answering.


    "Mr. Qiao has outstanding power, the most capable card artisan I have ever seen. Would you like to do a little business?" Ah Sang put down her teacup and sat up, speaking firmly.


    "What business?" Chen Mu asked impassively, squinting.


    "Ah Sang would like to hire Mr. Qiao for ten days. Mr. Qiao would only have to guarantee my personal safety during that time, and assure that I won''t be harassed. My firm''s card artisans won''t bother you about any peripheral work. I only hope if some ace shows up, Mr. Qiao would help out," Ah Sang said with a straight face. "Ten days! After that, you may leave, sir. I will reward you with 100 million per day. What do you think?"


    One hundred million per day! Chen Mu was inwardly amazed. That woman had a lot of money on hand!


    "Could your honorable firm have offended someone important?" Chen Mu spoke as impassively as ever. The higher the compensation, the greater the risk. That was a principle never broken. Moreover, he wasn''t short of money just then and didn''t need to take any risks, even for 1 billion.


    There was a hint of bitterness in what Ah Sang said. "I wouldn''t dare to hide anything, sir. The second lord of the Southern Star Firm once inadvertently saw Ah Sang''s true face, and he has been trying to find some way to get me ever since. When Father was here, he wouldn''t have dared to run so rampant. A month ago, Father became suddenly ill and has been in a coma." Saying that, Ah Sang''s voice was mournful and heartbreaking.


    "When Ah Sang took center stage, who knows if he instigated several directors of the firm in wanting to coerce Ah Sang? I will not go along with that. I recently got some information that my adversary might possibly use force. Being anxious, Ah Sang has asked for help from one of the older generation. But it will take about ten days for that elder to arrive. I am only requesting you might assure Ah Sang''s safety for ten days!


    Ah Sang was choked up and bowed low to Chen Mu.

 383 The Ugly Guy

    Originally wanting to ask about the background of the Southern Star Firm, Chen Mu realized that wouldn''t be keeping with his new character. Arrogant and domineering¡ªwhat a headache!


    "Oh, we can give it a try. But I want to be clear at the outset that if any adversary''s power is beyond mine, I won''t just go off to die." Chen Mu spoke calmly. With Wei-ah there, what did he have to be afraid of?


    Ah Sang was delighted. "Of course! If even you have no way to withstand someone, sir, it will be Ah Sang''s fate."


    By that time, the money card had been sent. Ah Sang was quite generous. Without thinking twice about it, she had put an additional 500 million Oudi on the card as an advance.


    Soon, one of the servants led Chen Mu to the baths. Since he had been fighting in the forest for so long, Chen Mu''s whole body was either bloody or covered in mud; he was as filthy as a savage.


    Chen Mu was led to a separate small courtyard that had white walls, green eaves, and a bubbling, steaming hot spring. Even someone like Chen Mu, who wasn''t interested in the pleasures of life, couldn''t help but feel inwardly how wonderful it was. There were towels and clothes ready to the side of the hot spring, and the maid asked if he required any services. Seeing Chen Mu shake his head, she departed.


    He took off his tattered clothes and jumped directly into the hot spring. The bottom was covered with a layer of smooth pebbles, and there were small indentations beside the pool suited for lying or sitting. The most wonderful thing was that whether you were sitting or lying down, the flow of water from the gushing spring would be like getting a massage.


    With his whole body soaking in the hot water, both mind and body relaxed, and Chen Mu fell helplessly asleep.


    He hadn''t been able to relax in the least during that time because his nerves were like taught wires every day. The endless fighting and effort did raise his skill level, though he still hadn''t dared to relax for even a moment. That was why his power had surged. In the end, however, a man was not a machine. He had limits.


    The sweetly sleeping Chen Mu didn''t notice that the perception in his body was strangely lively. Once he awoke, he only felt an unspeakable sense of refreshment over his whole body. He opened his eyes to see Wei-ah sitting not far away from him, with no notion of entering the water.


    In a rare moment, Wei-ah opened his mouth. "You''re awake."


    "Mmmm. This is really nice! Do you want to come try it, Wei-ah?" Chen Mu had long since become used to Wei-ah disappearing and reappearing like a ghost.


    Wei-ah shook his head. Chen Mu could only silently laugh to himself at Wei-ah''s predictable response.


    Then, Wei-ah suddenly had something to say. "I seem to have thought of a few things, Blockhead."


    "Ah!" Chen Mu''s eyes popped open as he said in surprise, "Has your memory been restored?"


    "No." Wei-ah shook his head. "But I''ve remembered a few things."


    "What did you remember?" Chen Mu asked excitedly, extremely interested. Wei-ah''s background had always been a mystery. In Chen Mu''s eyes, Wei-ah''s power had already surpassed the category of human. Such an awesome cardless sect ace would certainly have some kind of background.


    Just then, there was noise in the front yard. Wei-ah immediately closed his mouth and disappeared by flipping over the wall.


    That same maid ran in, flustered, and cried out, "Mr. Qiao, Mr. Qiao! There''s a fight up front. You have to rescue her quickly!"


    To have someone stick a foot in front of him just as he had asked the critical question really disappointed Chen Mu. Still, one couldn''t just take it easy when taking advantage of someone; having taken someone else''s money, he had better do that person''s work. Having no other choice, he just put on his clothes.


    The maid''s face went red with shame, and she quickly turned around.


    The clothes fit him just right, which surprised him a bit. He put on the alternating deep blue and silver battle suit, which made him look as though he suddenly had a lot more spirit. Checking his apparatus, he went forward.


    Chen Mu got there just in time to hear Ah Sang angrily reprimanding someone.


    "Don''t even think about it, Miao Xuan! I''m telling you that even if I have to die, I won''t let scum like you get away with this. Among you and Uncle Xu and Uncle Wei, the one who has been with my father for the shortest time was still with him 15 years. Did he do you any disservice? Now that you see Ah Sang grown up, you are still like uncles in my heart. Are you worthy of Father, acting like this? Are you worthy of your own consciences?"


    Ah Sang''s delicate body was trembling, and even her black veil couldn''t hide the fury of her gaze. There was a gang of card artisans groaning at her feet where they''d fallen, which were amazingly the ones who had detained Chen Mu.


    In front of Ah Sang, a group of card artisans was tightly surrounding a princeling. Surrounding them were a few middle-aged people who looked rather ashamed. The card artisans looked haughty in their gaudy clothes.


    The princeling was none other than the second son of the Southern Star Firm, Miao Xuan. He was handsome and had entrancing blue gemstones for eyes. He wore an unchanging expression as though he were smiling when he wasn''t. Looking at the embarrassment of the middle-aged people, he laughed lightly to say, "Why should Miss Ah Sang be angry? When I saw your beautiful face that day, I found out I can''t be without Miss Ah Sang in my heart. There must be some misunderstanding for Miss Ah Sang to call me scum. I am being sincere with you, as Heaven and Earth are my witness! These uncles of yours are doing this for your sake and for the sake of the business. Once we ally with Qin Jin, I can guarantee the trading company will certainly jump into the top spot in Zargan!"


    The look of embarrassment on the faces of the surrounding firm directors dispersed, and they couldn''t help but nod.


    With a powerful note of sarcasm, Ah Sang said, "Who in Zargan doesn''t know about the talents of Prince Miao? Why do you need to make this false show of empathy? This powerful joining of forces? I''m afraid the firm''s name will be Miao when the time comes to become yet another pocketful of money for Prince Miao''s dissolute talents."


    Miao Xuan sighed lightly and said with a self-composed expression, "It looks like Miss Ah Sang''s misapprehension of me has gone too deep! Miao Xuan can only be offended. In time, though, Miss Ah Sang will certainly understand my bitterness. I would be pleased if Miss Ah Sang would come to my humble residence to stay for a few days, so Miao Xuan can slowly resolve our misunderstanding."


    He made a sign with his eyes to the card artisans with him once he finished speaking.


    Ah Sang shouted severely, "How dare you, Miao Xuan!"


    Miao Xuan shook his head with a sigh. "Why must you make it so difficult for Miao Xuan, Miss Ah Sang?"


    Two card artisans, one from the right and one from the left, pushed their way over to Ah Sang.


    Suddenly, a golden energy chain appeared behind Ah Sang from thin air, swiftly encircling and gripping her pretty waist. Ah Sang only felt a bout of energy as her whole body soared into the air and flew away.


    Although Ah Sang panicked, she suppressed her desire to scream. A pair of rough, large hands held her by her waist, but just lightly. That was when she saw that ugly face, and her hopeless eyes suddenly lit up.


    The turn of events had happened rapidly, and no one could react before Ah Sang was being protected behind Chen Mu.


    "Who are you, sir?" Miao Xuan asked in a deep voice. He was long familiar with everyone in the firm and had never heard of such a top gun.


    Chen Mu paid him no mind, which made Miao Xuan''s face turn a few shades darker. There was no need for greetings. The two card artisans who had just seen their prey suddenly fly off were both shocked and angry.


    One of them gave a cold snort. With a flash, several slightly green wavy blades cut toward Chen Mu. The wavy blades were different from ordinary wavy blades, each of them about 15 centimeters long and very thin, like a two-finger-wide sword.


    The Crescent Moon Long Sword! How could a card master like Chen Mu not recognize that kind of card?


    He took a look to see that there were about 20 of the adversary there. He immediately decided he couldn''t get caught up in a group battle. He wasn''t afraid for himself, but there was a woman beside him who needed protection. His gaze went cold, and his murderous aura blossomed!


    The murderous aura from the bloody battles in the forest hadn''t dwindled or dissipated in the least! The group was aghast, seeing in front of them that incredibly ugly fellow suddenly become a glinting sword pulled from its scabbard and filling the air with a chill!


    The card artisan who had made the move was the first to be hit, and his face turned pale.


    With eyes half-closed, Chen Mu suddenly made half a step forward. The energy chain he gripped virtually in his hand made a whooshing sound like a living spirit and moved about at high speed.


    Facing those sharp and narrow wavy blades, he encircled them with the energy chain. The wavy blades hit the energy chain and exploded into starbursts with several pops.


    The energy chain wasn''t harmed in the slightest! Those looking on from nearby couldn''t keep their expressions from shifting, knowing very well how sharp the wavy blades emitted by their colleague were! Miao Xuan stared firmly at the golden energy chain in Chen Mu''s hands and seemed to have remembered something. His face then turned really ugly.


    The card artisan who had used the Crescent Moon Long Sword was staring at the wandering energy chain with a look of disbelief!


    How could that be? The Crescent Moon Long Sword was a close-combat card. The wavy blades it emitted had a small scope of attack and weren''t fast, either. But they had the outstanding advantage of being sharp! He had been immersed in the card for as long as ten years, so he could exploit its power fully beyond any rival. It was by virtue of that very card that he had gotten Miao Xuan''s deep appreciation.


    Although he hadn''t given it his all, it still surprised him that his adversary had so easily fended it off. That powerful murderous aura made his heart quake. If he were the least bit careless, he was afraid it wouldn''t be so trivial as to lose face in front of the prince! Drawing in a deep breath, he was about to go all-out!


    Chen Mu''s gaze abruptly chilled!


    Something lively flashed through Miao Xuan''s brain, and his heart skipped a beat. Just as he was about to open his mouth, the situation on the field suddenly changed.


    The golden energy chain changed direction and went toward that card artisan in a flash. The onlookers only felt a golden flash, and the card artisan was wound up in the energy chain. The crowd was astonished!


    "Stop!"


    "Damn! He doesn''t want to live!"


    "Let''s go, brothers! Fix him!"


    * * *


    A low-pitched "Bam!" could be heard amidst all the other noise and shouting, as though it had exploded from the bottom of Chen Mu''s chest.


    Hong! Pieces of flesh were flying, and blood was spurting! In the blink of an eye, the card artisan who had been wrapped tightly had exploded into pieces! The hall filled with the smell of flesh and blood, which covered the ceiling, the walls, and the floor.


    Everyone was scared stiff!


    Oh!


    Chen Mu didn''t know who started it, but quite a few people were bent over, vomiting. Those left standing had turned white, their gazes looking toward that ugly man in terror.


    "Get lost!"


    A domineering, cold, bitter voice swept the hall like a wild wind! The ugly man in everyone''s eyes then seemed to be standing proudly on the peak of a mountain and looking down on his realm.

 384 Who is that Ugly Man?

    Miao Xuan''s pupils contracted, and his face went a little pallid. He didn''t flinch because of that move, though, but unexpectedly came forward a step and respectfully said, "You must be the 89th on the Black-Line Star Listing, my good man. Mr. Mo Ta? If Miao Xuan isn''t mistaken in what he saw, that is the Golden Word Shackle, correct?"


    Once he said that, the card artisans looking at Chen Mu shifted their gazes. Those who joined the first 100 names on the Black-Line Star Listing were the top-named aces in the Heavenly Drum Village District! For such an ace to be in Zargan, he would have to be the most top-notch person there.


    Quite a few of them were no longer surprised that card artisan was so impressive! Those who were more familiar with the Black-Line Star Listing had already started to review material about Mo Ta in their heads. By the time they realized who Mo Ta was, they felt still more stricken. Mo Ta sure wasn''t such good stuff!


    Ah Sang''s joyful heart nearly leapt into her throat. She hadn''t thought the strangely named, ugly man would actually be able to join the top 100 superb aces on the Black-Line Star Listing! She had previously felt a little shaky about what the ugly guy''s power would be like, not having seen it with her own eyes.


    If the ugly guy were truly among the top 100 aces on the Black-Line Star Listing, he absolutely could support them until that elder of the family got there. The only thing she was worried about then was whether Miao Xuan might come up with even better conditions, and that ace would waver. The top 100 aces on the Black-Line Star Listing were the objects of every power''s scramble to solicit them. How could the Miao family let that ace go?


    "I am not."


    Beyond anyone''s expectations, the ugly man shook his head with an indifferent expression.


    Miao Xuan was surprised, but he shook his head for his absolute certainty. "I''m afraid your servant doesn''t recognize you, sir. But I''m certain I''m not mistaken about that golden energy chain of your eminence. The Golden Word Shackle is a five-star card, held by the 89th on the Black-Line Star Listing, one of the seven captains of Constellation."


    The dialogue between the two of them was making the rest of the people a little dizzy, but nobody dared to move by then.


    "This is indeed the Golden Word Shackle," Chen Mu said as he nodded. He then let loose a bombshell. "I killed Mo Ta."


    The sweat on Miao Xuan''s forehead was dripping down. He was tongue-tied and stammering to say something, but nothing came out. His brain a mess, he watched the golden energy chain in Chen Mu''s hands in a daze of disbelief.


    In their eyes, Mo Ta was already someone they would look up to. How could he have been killed? Could such an ace be killed without the least news about it? The energy chain in the ugly guy''s hands was absolutely the Golden Word Shackle. If Mo Ta hadn''t been killed, how did it fall into that guy''s hands?


    The field had fallen so silent that you could clearly hear the sound of people desperately swallowing or the sound of sweat dripping onto the floor. Everyone, including those from the firm, were looking at Chen Mu as though they were seeing a ghost.


    Chen Mu furrowed his brow, not wanting to get tangled up with those guys. They had a lot more people than he did; once the two sides got into a melee, although he wasn''t afraid, he felt it would be a hassle.


    He then remembered Wei-ah. No matter when, Wei-ah''s expression would always be full of deterrence. He didn''t need to put it on deliberately. After all, what expression could scare someone more than Wei-ah''s emotionless look? If his murderous aura were added to that, it would become still more perfect!


    Chen Mu diligently tried to remember those bitter battles in the forest. Scene after scene kept flashing by in his mind, bringing back that unique feeling of nearly having his head separated from his body¡­


    With his eyes half-closed, Chen Mu was immersed in those scenes of close combat. The temperature of his blood started to shoot up. Little by little, his battle urge was awakened, and his rage surged!


    Miao Xuan''s expression shifted! Everyone''s expression shifted! The ugly man had suddenly become extremely dangerous in their eyes, and that slightly swaying golden energy chain looked like a poisonous python that might select someone to bite at any time.


    Card artisans were basically sensitive individuals, and still more so when it was that kind of powerful urge to battle!


    Everyone''s scalp went numb, and their faces turned to clay. The legs of some of the card artisans were uncontrollably shaking! If anyone else had dared to be so arrogant in front of them, they would have long since beaten him to death in a brawl.


    Who was that man? No one knew. But he was an ace who could kill even Mo Ta! That alone was enough to make them lose hope when they thought about it. He had made his move much more ruthlessly than they would have. He hadn''t had the slightest intention of being reasonable but had come forward right from the start with a deadly move!


    They had seen ruthlessness but had never seen that kind of ruthlessness! They had seen arrogance but had never seen that kind of arrogance!


    Criss-crossed with a murderous spirit and a surging will to fight, everyone''s rage began to wobble as they wondered when they might meet their adversary''s thunderous blow. He was obviously not going to talk patience with them.


    Some of the card artisans of the Southern Star Firm were crying in their hearts. They had thought they would come to bully a pretty woman a little, which would be a comfortable and cool piece of work! Who would have thought they would run into a star killer who would blow one of them up without a second thought?


    Even bad guys like them, who wouldn''t stop at anything, wouldn''t dare to kill someone in such a bloody way in broad daylight. But their adversary had no notion of scruples. When they thought about it, however, that would be normal. If he were really among the first 100 on the Black-Line Star Listing, he was unlikely to have any scruples. Who among those on the listing wasn''t viciously evil and unforgivable?


    The card artisans had a lot of self-knowledge and could only consider themselves local tyrants at best. The guys on the listing were the true professional bad guys. The one who could kill No. 89 would have to be considered the professional bad guy among professional bad guys!


    Miao Xuan immediately realized that what he had planned for that day had been ruined. Still, he didn''t quite believe what that guy had said about killing Mo Ta. To defeat someone and to kill someone were two entirely different things. To be able to kill the 89th ace on the Black-Line Star Listing would require at least the top 50 aces!


    He was afraid any single person among the top 50 names on the listing might be enough to wipe out the Miao family. How could he so easily let them go?


    Glancing at his own guards, they looked as scared as sick chickens. What a useless gang of trash! Miao Xuan couldn''t help but curse them to himself. They were so boisterous normally and now wilting at the critical moment.


    But his adversary''s murderous aura was the real deal, and even he felt gripped with fear.


    Miao Xuan managed to calm down and said respectfully, "Since the elder has spoken, how could Miao Xuan dare not to listen? I wonder if he would be free to pay a visit to my cold shack, where he would be welcomed sincerely by one and all from my humble family!"


    Chen Mu suddenly felt all the flesh in Ah Sang''s body behind him tense up because of what he said. That was when he discovered the two of them were a little too close together. Ah Sang was entirely leaning on his back, and he could clearly experience her body''s amazing curves and her warmth.


    "I won''t have time."


    Miao Xuan had switched from arrogance to deference, hypocritically acting as though he were unhappy.


    Ah Sang''s body behind him quickly relaxed. Chen Mu abruptly realized the relaxation and the previous tightening had a completely different feeling. Her soft body and the wafting fragrance came along with a wonderful, hot feeling surging up from Chen Mu''s heart. Almost unconsciously, Chen Mu moved the top half of his body forward a little.


    That surprising feeling just then had made him somewhat flustered. The change in mood caused his imposing manner to abruptly dissipate. Everyone felt the lingering chill of his murderous aura suddenly disappear without a trace.


    Miao Xuan was the first to discover the change. He was taken aback and immediately happy. Maybe his show of goodwill just then had worked! He was a clever person, and he made his decision in the blink of an eye. With a still more respectful expression, he said, "Miao Xuan will say goodbye." He then led away the card artisans, who all breathed a sigh of relief.


    Watching Miao Xuan leave, Ah Sang felt a stone drop from her heart. She was finally surprised that she and Qiao Yuan had gotten a little too close. Her face turned red, and she rushed to pretend to inadvertently step back. Thinking back on the scene just then, her face burned still more. How could she have such thoughts about such an ugly man? Ah Sang rushed to console herself.


    There wasn''t one woman who wasn''t sensitive in that regard. Even if they hadn''t reacted at the time, it would be easy to remember when thinking about it afterward. Ah Sang suddenly recalled the motion when Chen Mu had slightly leaned forward. She finally understood what it meant.


    After she understood, her face immediately turned red with shame. She was thankful for the veil over her face.


    Chen Mu felt a little awkward. Since he was disguised, though, he didn''t really worry that he would be found out.


    "Ok, they''ve left." He pretended to be calm as he spoke and immediately added, "I need something to eat."


    During that time in the forest, Chen Mu had only been able to fill his belly with the meat of some wild beasts. The forests in the Heavenly Drum Village District weren''t like the temperate jungles Chen Mu had previously traveled through. There was snow and ice covering everything there, and all kinds of plants he wasn''t familiar with. Of course, it had been hard to find plants he could use for seasoning.


    Looking at the fine food placed in front of him, the enticing aromas made Chen Mu''s mouth water. Without saying another thing, he started to clean it up like crazy. Chen Mu''s way of eating would be called rude. He completely ignored the existence of anyone else around him, including Ah Sang.


    Ah Sang had never seen such an unbearably rude appearance; even her servants had been taught all sorts of etiquette and rules since they were small. That strangely ugly man in front of her was simply a savage¡ªone who had been starving for several days!


    Thinking back again on how she had turned red-faced over such a rude and ugly man, Ah Sang felt a little stuffy in her chest.


    Chen Mu paid no attention to what she was feeling. In truth, he had put that little bit of charm and gentleness entirely out of his mind.


    He rubbed his protruding belly in contentment as he drank the Lanqing tea. His legs were propped on the coffee table, and he was half-lying on the sofa with his eyes narrowed, reviewing everything he had gotten those last few days.


    As far as he was concerned, camouflage was an entirely new curriculum and was related to the success or failure of the operation. Reviewing and reflecting would undoubtedly be the easiest way for him to progress.

 385 According to the Scrip

    Thinking about it, Chen Mu was a little entranced. Remembering he had killed a person in broad daylight without hesitating, he felt that his heart was getting harder and harder. Although he''d previously gone through bold and ruthless battles, compared to now, those were just playing around.


    He didn''t feel the least bit satisfied, and he couldn''t hold back an inexplicable sigh. That was left behind from the high-intensity battling of the past few days, where his moves had gone after the greatest lethality! As he thought about it now, it made him rather uncomfortable.


    Ah Sang was cautiously attending to him by his side. At the beginning, she had thought that ugly man wasn''t more than an ordinary ace. She now knew he was a first-rate ace who could be on the Black-Line Star Listing, so her anxiety was hard to avoid.


    When she heard Chen Mu suddenly sigh, it surprised her. Her gaze through her veil fell onto Chen Mu''s face. It was still the same strangely ugly face, though it looked a lot more pleasing. His face seemed immersed in emotion. That was an expression that would only be seen on those who had been through a lot of twists and turns in their lives, like her father, who showed it on his face.


    Although the ugly man looked like he had gone through some vicissitudes, he still didn''t appear older than 30 or so. One of her cousins, who was already 35, had only been eating and drinking merrily until then. What had he really experienced?


    Ah Sang was curious. Not wanting to attract the ugly man''s attention, however, she was careful with her gaze, presenting a respectful attitude.


    Chen Mu''s thoughts quickly turned to the most recent action. Before he had left, Bogner had told him over and over that he would have to gain a certain reputation before he got to the Tai-shu household. Otherwise, how could he expose Mo Ta dying by his hand?


    From the news Bogner and Xi Ping had revealed, Constellation was already entangled with Moon Frost Island. Bogner and Xi Ping hadn''t made any substantial progress about what Constellation''s goal was. But, since Constellation''s object was Moon Frost Island, it wasn''t going to be easy to face their challenge.


    Moreover, if the Black-Line Star Listing was really the gold standard Brenton said it was, the reputation to be gotten from killing an ace on the listing would be a lot bigger and more effective than doing anything else. That was Chen Mu''s own understanding.


    Bogner had also proposed another way: to challenge an established ace to a battle! Maybe he should go ahead and ask how many established aces there were in Zargan. Thinking of that, he raised his head and asked Ah Sang, "Who is the most famous and powerful among the card artisans in Zargan?"


    "The most famous and powerful?" Ah Sang''s heart skipped a beat, wondering what to do.


    "Mmmm." Seeming to have felt Ah Sang''s hesitancy, Chen Mu''s gaze turned to her veil.


    Once she contacted Chen Mu''s gaze, Ah Sang''s heart skipped another beat. She rushed to say, "There really aren''t any awesome card artisans in Zargan¡ªcertainly not such a Black-Line Star Listing ace as yourself." Facing the ugly Qiao Yuan''s every expressionless look, Ah Sang felt still more flustered, hurriedly saying, "Still, if you want to talk about the most awesome, it should be Yuan Linghai. He''s on the executive board of the Zargan Card Artisan Association. He once served as the Southern Star Firm''s security officer and is 32 this year, right at his peak. Two years ago, he established a small, private card artisan training camp. His students are fairly powerful and are basically serving in the major firms of Zargan."


    "Yuan Linghai!" Chen Mu lightly murmured.


    To challenge some unknown card artisan to fight wasn''t something he had ever done before. However, it had already been decided; apart from his slightly self-mocking sneer, he felt no hesitancy.


    What does he really want to do? Ah Sang suddenly felt an ominous foreboding.


    "Give me his address," Chen Mu said bluntly.


    "Wha¡­ What are you thinking of doing?" Ah Sang had long since lost her normal, easy-going elegance and stammered her question carefully.


    "Have a fight with him." Chen Mu was as expressionless as ever. The disguise on his face could cover his expression to a great degree. As far as any outsider could tell, he was always in an expressionless state. Sue Lochiro had made an elaborate disguise, and Chen Mu''s whole body was covered in that disguise to prevent any mistakes.


    For the first time, Ah Sang felt as though her brain had short-circuited. "F-f-fight with him? Why do you want to do that?"


    "The meaning of life is to fight." Chen Mu tossed the phrase out lightly as his gaze went fervid and far away.


    That damned Bogner. The lines he had planned out were so rotten! The worst part had been having to practice them so many times over. Why hadn''t he felt it before? Once he said it, he immediately felt goosebumps all over. Then, not only did he have to deadpan, but he had to imagine a plate of extremely fragrant stewed chicken placed in front of him. According to Bogner, that was the sort of gaze that would be sufficiently fervid and would make a suitable image for a card artisan keen to fight.


    Ah Sang shivered, but she immediately realized there was still another issue. She asked pitifully, "What about me? What am I to do?" She really wanted to remind Chen Mu that she had to spend 100 million on him each day, but she didn''t dare. By then, Chen Mu was the only blade of grass she could hold onto to save her life, and she didn''t want to anger him.


    Moreover, counting on that evil gang on the Black-Line Star Listing compelled her to comply with its trading rules. It wasn''t reliable to count on them having good dispositions. They certainly weren''t businesspeople; they were evil people who killed without blinking.


    "You?" Chen Mu remembered he was still employed by her and thought it over before saying, "You''ll be by my side."


    "Oh." Ah Sang obediently nodded, not having the right to discuss terms with him. It was a good thing she wasn''t asking for much, other than for him to get her through those ten days.


    "Let''s go." Chen Mu got up.


    "Where to?" Ah Sang was once again flabbergasted.


    Chen Mu gave Ah Sang a strange look, finding it odd that she would ask such a simple question. He then said as though it were obvious, "Take me to find Yuan Linghai."


    "Now?" Ah Sang wondered if she were hearing things.


    Zargan wasn''t very big. The news of the second princeling of the Southern Star Firm, Miao Xuan, eating crow that day at the Chichi Trading Firm had quickly spread across the entire city. It became the biggest topic for table-talk.


    The several scions of the Miao family had been riding roughshod over Zargan for many years by then, and that was their first time to take a fall. It was said that one of Miao Xuan''s guards had died on the field. The most inconceivable thing was that the always-domineering second princeling Miao Xuan didn''t even toss off any nasty words, and there was no sign of activity at the Southern Star Firm.


    The Chichi Trading Firm would only be considered a mid-level firm in Zargan out of several dozen. Without the assistance of a strongman, the Chichi Trading Firm would have been doomed that time.


    Quite a few people were guessing that the one who had been able to make Miao Xuan take a fall must have been some kind of wizard.


    * * *


    On Bald Mountain Street in Zargan:


    Duan Fu had a black eye and a somewhat abstracted facial structure that was hard for people to understand. His back was ramrod-straight, and he was in high spirits. Walking along the road and full of manly vigor, he looked around in a satisfied, proud manner.


    Thinking of that battle just then at the firm, he couldn''t help but smile in exultation. Man, he really was a great star to have invited some random person on the street who turned out to be an ace from the Black-Line Star Listing! Such legendary personages could normally only be seen on the viewing platforms.


    Tsk, tsk. People really couldn''t judge others by their looks. That guy was about as old as he was, but how could he be that good? Duan Fu felt happy.


    The young master of the firm had just boasted about him, and of course he was rewarded more richly than ever before. Being credited for that, perhaps he could be promoted to security officer by the time the affair had quieted down!


    Still, every time his gaze made contact with that body, which wouldn''t even be considered sturdy, he would feel an inexplicable chill.


    That was one out-and-out killing devil! A piece of flesh had spattered onto his face, and he had nearly vomited on the spot. But he was a quick-witted person and knew he would have to restrain himself no matter what. So, only after everything was settled did he run to the washroom to puke to the point that he was vomiting bile. His mouth still felt bitter from it.


    Damn! He ventured to pledge that he had never seen such savagery! He himself hadn''t been able to help but shrink back from the danger¡ªno wonder that guy would be able to join the Black-Line Star Listing. Based alone on his imposing manner of killing without blinking, he was no ordinary person.


    He then saw Chen Mu walking ahead of him out of the corner of his eye and felt bewildered again. What was he doing running over here now? The young master was anxiously accompanying him. He knew the young master had always been happy-go-lucky. If it weren''t for her father having gotten sick, she wouldn''t even normally go out.


    He suddenly perked up his ears. The young master was saying something to that ugly man.


    "It''s said that when Yuan Linghai was young, he was ambitious, always wanting to be admitted to Moon Frost Island. You must know Moon Frost Island prefers to admit female students, and they give two out of three places to women each year. Yuan Linghai missed by the slightest weakness. Who would have thought Yuan Linghai would work still harder, shortly thereafter making something of a name for himself around here?


    "The thing that really established his name was being recruited by the Southern Star Firm to be their security officer, where he beat all his opponents as a dark horse in the competition for the position. He is a ruthless, fierce person, ungenerous with his feelings, and easily provoked. If anyone were the least bit off to him that year, they would end up miserable. With the Southern Star Firm backing him, he became still more savage. When he went off on a job, he would never leave anyone alive."


    Ah Sang gave a full-spirited introduction, obviously having deep attainments in getting news via the grapevine. However, she suddenly thought that, speaking of savage, it seemed like the one beside her could be¡­


    She quickly ended her introduction, stopping at the same time and raising her head. A hint of excitement was faintly revealed from beneath her veil.


    "We''re here! This is the place!"

 386 The Linghai Training Camp

    "Linghai Card Artisan Training Camp." Those five large gold-leaf words were rather eye-catching in the sunlight. Small clusters of students were coming and going, all of them putting on fierce looks.


    Chen Mu and his group stopped up the gate, which got everyone''s attention. Many of the students passing through gave them dirty looks, sneering when they turned their gazes to the group''s leader, Chen Mu.


    When Ji Ming arrived at the gate of the training camp in a rush, he saw what was happening. He couldn''t refrain from laughing. As the director of external relations for the training camp, he had seen a lot. The Linghai Training Camp was Zargan''s best-known training camp. They would encounter several groups of challengers every year, which was how they had become so well-known.


    At Ji Ming''s first glance, he knew the gang had come for a challenge. But it was the first time he''d seen such an ugly challenger. He couldn''t hide his look of amusement.


    Chen Mu and his gang paid no attention to that familiar response. The issue he was considering just then was how to begin. He had no experience issuing a challenge, and he had never seen anyone else do it. He didn''t know anything about the steps of the process.


    His gaze then fell onto that gilt signboard, and he had an idea. While Ji Ming and the students were laughing, a golden energy chain was curling up to write "Linghai Card Artisan Training Camp" on the sign, and Chen Mu lightly shouted, "Bam!"


    Ji Ming''s expression shifted, but it was too late to do anything about it. There was a loud bang, and the huge sign was blown to bits.


    With their smiles frozen on their faces, the students were stuck as dumb as wooden chickens. There was then a very brief period of calm at the gate.


    Ji Ming''s expression was also frozen, but he suddenly calmed down to squint with a gaze as sharp as a knife toward that strangely ugly man. He had received countless challengers, but none had ever been so bold and arrogant. Who would destroy someone''s sign before crowds in the open space except for some mortal enemy? But, seeing how his adversary looked, Ji Ming couldn''t remember when the training camp had had such an enemy!


    There had never been any challenger who would so brazenly give the Linghai Training Camp what amounted to a slap in the face. That left no room for turning around their relations; one of them would have to die!


    Ji Ming was turning those thoughts over rapidly, getting more and more puzzled, but he had to make a quick decision. With the sign destroyed, he would certainly be punished as the director. If he were to allow that adversary do something else that crossed the line, however, he would be finished as director.


    "You dare to make a disturbance at our Linghai Training Camp, sir, so you must have an awful lot of confidence in your power. I am ashamed to say I am the director of external affairs for the camp and will be obliged to teach you an important lesson." Ji Ming spoke darkly with a chilly expression.


    "F***ing kill him, Director Ji!"


    "I''m coming, Director Ji! I''m going to smash that unknown f***ing animal!"


    * * *


    Things became rather explosive right away at the gate of the Linghai Training Camp. The students were like an angry mob, surrounding Chen Mu and his group. They were burly and in groups of three or five. Once they surrounded them, they were immediately blocking the gate of the camp.


    Duan Fu was staring with his eyes wide open, utterly dumbfounded. Where had that Mr. Ugly on the scene come from? By the time he could react, he was already shivering, looking in fear at that group of students about to explode all around them. He couldn''t help but move a little closer to Mr. Ugly, as though that could provide a little sense of security.


    Not only his, but all of the other guards'' expressions had shifted. Quite a few of them cursed to themselves about how that ugly devil must be sick to run over to someone else''s place and go crazy like that. It would be fine if he wanted to go crazy by himself, but to drag them into it, poor souls, they could only follow the bad luck.


    On the other hand, Ah Sang seemed perfectly calm, though her face was covered by a black veil; there was no way to see her expression clearly. There was only a vague flash from behind it, which seemed to show that the beautiful young woman wasn''t feeling quite as calm as she presented.


    Hearing his adversary''s invitation to fight, Chen Mu breathed a sigh of relief to himself. It looked like the way he had issued the challenge wasn''t too far off. He had been afraid his counterpart wouldn''t fight, which would have meant his plans had come to naught. But he still felt guilty; no matter where, destroying someone''s sign would be big no-no.


    Since he''d already decided he would make a move, Chen Mu didn''t want to muddy the water any further. He swung out the energy chain from his hand.


    Continual expressions of "Ai-ya!" were then heard from the surrounding students, who were caught off guard and huddling together. Being surrounded by them wasn''t conducive to his play.


    Ji Ming''s expression turned uglier. That sort of move right in his face was certainly quite rude! Without wasting any words, Ji Ming made a move with his body and pulled up rapidly. In the blink of an eye, he had flown about 200 meters from the ground.


    Zing, zing, zing!


    There was a thrumming burst of sound as eight energy saw-wheels of about eight centimeters in diameter were floating around his body. Those white energy saw-wheels were thin and full of fine, sharp teeth around their edges. Each energy saw-wheel maintained a high rate of spinning, which made the zinging sound.


    "Hunh!" Ji Ming grunted and pointed two fingers toward Chen Mu with a light flick.


    Xiu, xiu, xiu!


    Three energy saw-wheels suddenly left his side and turned into three beams of light, which shot rapidly in a triangular formation toward Chen Mu''s group.


    They were approaching with a lot of momentum. Chen Mu shrank his body slightly, and the golden energy chain was swaying like seaweed at the bottom of the sea.


    Suddenly, the three energy saw-wheels blew apart in midair and dispersed!


    That turn of events was too sudden, and even Chen Mu was caught a little off guard. The three scattering energy saw-wheels enshrouded Chen Mu and his group. Because things had changed so suddenly, however, Chen Mu''s reaction was half a beat slow.


    Surprisingly, one of the saw-wheels'' targets was Ah Sang to the side of Chen Mu. Ji Ming had sharp eyesight and saw that Ah Sang was clearly a woman standing by Chen Mu''s side. He thought she might be someone important, like Chen Mu''s lover or something.


    Hovering in midair, Ji Ming was sneering to himself. Which one would he choose to save? That move of his wasn''t really practical, but his adversary that day had brought along a crowd, which gave him an excellent opportunity.


    At that point, the two sides weren''t at a place where if one were to die, the other would live. Of course, he would take care of the killer!


    Chen Mu made a slight frown and had his group stay on the sidelines. It would be too easy for him to be distracted. His own experience was still deficient, and he should have thought of that earlier.


    But it wasn''t the time to think about any of that. Chen Mu''s right hand lightly swayed, and his wrist suddenly became very flexible. His long fingers made a move as though they were lightly and continually plucking a harp on the energy ball at the end of the chain. The entire movement was unspeakably pleasing, like a dragonfly touching water.


    Ah Sang''s eyes looked like they had been lit up by that move of Chen Mu''s. Even though the thick black veil was obstructing what emanated from her eyes, they glowed more brilliantly than diamonds.


    As though it had been awakened by Chen Mu''s continuous strumming, the swaying energy chain started to move merrily. It was hard to tell, but the energy chain was growing at a shocking speed.


    The three energy saw-wheels were moving too fast. The sound of their cutting through the air combined with the sound of their spinning, which turned the scalps of those listening numb.


    Chen Mu sighed to himself. The energy chain hadn''t quite grown to the ideal length, but he had run out of time. He made a prompt decision, and his perception fluttered like a butterfly flapping its wings. His minuscule perception conducted itself onto the energy chain, where it turned into a howling rainstorm!


    Having already lengthened to more than a dozen meters, the energy chain was swaying crazily and crashing around, filling everyone''s ears with the sound of the chain links. In that patch of clinking, there was a cold voice so clear that it came through the storm.


    "Save!"


    The three triangular pieces at the end of the energy chain quickly opened and blossomed like a flower. The energy chain moved like lightning and became ramrod-straight, weaving into a three-meter-long and five-meter-wide net.


    A layer of transparent, golden-colored energy cloak appeared on the surface of the net, looking like a square piece of golden glass with interlaced stripes from a distance. It emitted a golden glow and floated above the heads of Chen Mu and his group.


    The three energy saw-wheels chopped hard into glass-like energy cloak!


    Squeal!


    The screeching sound of high-speed friction tortured everyone''s ears and made their teeth sour. The spinning saw-wheels were desperately trying to use the teeth around their perimeter to cut right through the energy cloak. In the places where the saw-wheels intersected with the energy cloak, there were sparks as bright as fireworks¡ªbrilliant and dazzling in the daylight sky.


    Ji Ming''s expression shifted as the energy saw-wheels floating around his body gathered in front of him. Five energy saw-wheels were neatly suspended in front of him, and Ji Ming looked serious. His hands spread apart and immediately pressed inward much faster!


    Clang!


    The five energy saw-wheels lit up in front of him. When the light dissipated, only one was left. It had a diameter of 30 centimeters and sharper teeth around its perimeter. It was spinning at a shocking speed. Because of that, the surrounding air was cut apart to the point where Ji Ming''s clothes were being shredded by the flow of air.


    Ji Ming''s face flashed with a flush of red, and his hands slowly pushed forward with a great deal of effort. Sweat was dripping from his forehead, his veins were throbbing, and his breathing became extremely fast. His eyes suddenly widened in anger as he burst out to yell, "Go!"


    With that push, the huge energy saw-wheel started to fly down.


    As compared to the three small energy saw-wheels, which had been flying at a streaming speed, that one was simply moving like an ox. Seeing Ji Ming use so much energy for that thing to turn out like that, the guards of the Chichi Trading Firm looked as though they wanted to smile but didn''t dare.


    Chen Mu''s expression became exceptionally grave.

 387 The Meteor Chopper

    The initial speed of the large energy saw-wheel was quite slow but increased in the blink of an eye. The wailing sound changed from its initial thrumming into the sound of a tempest with overwhelming power! Giving off an eye-piercingly white glow, the saw-wheel was like a continuously burning and incredibly powerful small sun falling from the sky.


    All the blood drained from the faces of the guards from the Chichi Trading Firm, and they started to shake. By then, Duan Fu''s gaze had gotten back a little of its spirit as he watched that appallingly strong energy saw-wheel coming from the sky in terror. Up until then, his brain still hadn''t reacted. Having been in Zargan for so long, he''d heard a little about Ji Ming''s skills. Ordinarily, Ji Ming would seldom make any moves; there were pitifully few challengers worth his doing anything about. He thought again about the lively atmosphere of the training camp, with everyone brave and the thugs forming groups.


    Their offending the Linghai Training Camp shook him. Even thinking on his toes, he knew the following days would be tough.


    "What is going on there, anyway?" Duan Fu mumbled dispiritedly.


    There was a thunderous noise! It shook everyone in the training camp, and all of the students came pouring out of the training field. The power of the energy fluctuations even alarmed some of the card artisans in Zargan, who flew into the air and toward the Linghai Training Camp.


    Quite a few people saw something they wouldn''t forget for their whole lives.


    The huge energy saw-wheel had the power to destroy everything, and the air was cut apart into pieces where it passed by. The shredded air made the glowing lines twisted and distorted.


    Everyone was stupefied as the energy saw-wheel smashed hard into the energy cloak that looked like a thin piece of golden glass!


    Hong!


    A powerful, circular blast of air spread in every direction with Chen Mu and his group at its center. Dust flew everywhere, enshrouding them.


    Poor guy! Many of them kept shaking their heads. No one could survive such a violent blow! Having seen the best part, most of them were planning to leave.


    "I''ve lost!" Ji Ming spoke slowly and with no expression on his face.


    The surrounding onlookers were stunned and looked at Ji Ming in midair, puzzled.


    "The one named Ji is slacking off!" There was a youth in the distance with a furious expression who showed no respect at all in what he said to Ji Ming.


    The middle-aged man beside the youth shook his head. "Ji Ming is spent. The Meteor Chopper is his strongest attack, and he must have used up all his power."


    Just as he finished talking, the raging jet stream finally calmed, and the dust dispersed.


    A transparent, glass-like piece of golden energy cloak remained calmly floating above Chen Mu and his group''s heads. The energy saw-wheel had already disappeared without a trace.


    The shock on the onlookers'' faces quickly turned dull, and it took several whole seconds before they reacted with a sudden cry of awe! Some of them were staring at Chen Mu under the golden glass block. His ugly face had become inscrutable in the eyes of the crowd.


    The expressions on the faces of the students from the Linghai Training Camp changed dramatically, now showing looks of disbelief. They couldn''t believe anyone in Zargan could resist that play of Director Ji Ming''s.


    The Meteor Chopper! It was none other than the Meteor Chopper! Ji Ming had used up all of the power of his perception on that one blow, only to have it blocked!


    The middle-aged man''s gaze was ferocious as he charged the youth beside him in a low voice. "This man is powerful. Remember what I''m about to say."


    The youth was biting his lips and nodding hard. "Mmmm."


    "Hurry home, now. Take away everything in the safe there. The password is your birthday. Then, leave Zargan, and don''t try to avenge me. I don''t think this man has a simple background. I have more enemies than I can remember. Ai, you are in the prime of your youth, just like I once was. I''m afraid you''ll have plenty of enemies when the time comes. I also know you won''t listen to what I have to say, but I still have to say it. Don''t get into trouble out there. Once you feud with someone, don''t linger. You look like a rough bully, kid, but you have a good heart. I worry that you''ll suffer."


    The middle-aged man lightly rubbed the youth''s head with a somewhat helpless expression, and his malicious gaze also softened.


    On the brink of tears, the youth''s nose turned sour, and his eyes turned blurry. His ordinarily taciturn father had turned into a chattering old man, and he couldn''t help but cry out.


    The middle-aged man said nothing else, just patting the youth on the shoulder. His gaze returned to being malicious and cold as he arranged his clothes and flew straight into the air.


    The students looking on then grew excited. Yuan Linghai''s position in the training camp was paramount; he was the goal everyone pursued. The card artisans who had gathered there from all directions also became immediately excited. Ever since Yuan Linghai had left his position as general manager of the Southern Star Firm, he had seldom undertaken any actions. To be able to see him make a move was a rare opportunity.


    They were all opening their communications cards and spreading the word.


    * * *


    A party of people showed up outside of Zargan. There were older and younger men and women among them¡ªseven altogether. The party of card artisans attracted a lot of attention, with four among them actually being female card artisans. Moreover, the faces of those four were elegant and refined. What was more surprising was that the seven were flying like lightning; any card artisan could tell how powerful they were! Their demeanor was natural and with no hint of anything to hide. Not only did they have outstanding power, but they certainly didn''t have simple backgrounds.


    Awesome female card artisans without simple backgrounds¡ªwhen those two points were combined, people couldn''t help but think of just one place.


    Moon Frost Island!


    That was undoubtedly the most likely place to accord with those two points. Thus, even though there were a lot of pretty women among the group of card artisans, no one was about to molest them. If they were truly unfortunate enough not to have guessed right, even dying would be hard! The reputation of Moon Frost Island in the Heavenly Drum Village District was daunting.


    The female card artisans were having a great time chatting along the way, there never being a shortage of things to chat about among women. The three male card artisans could only helplessly look at one another. But they couldn''t keep their mouths closed about their own topic, so the men got together in low conversation.


    A handsome card artisan of about 20 spoke with a grin. "What exactly are we doing coming to Zargan this time, senior classmate? Look; all of Zargan is slowly showing up around here. It would be a good thing to mentally prepare ourselves."


    What he said immediately focused everyone''s attention. The women stopped their chatting and pulled in their lively discussion. "Yes, yes! Why don''t you reveal your plan, senior classmate? Then, we can be a little more mentally prepared."


    The lead card artisan was about 35 or 36 and had a calm demeanor. He nodded after a moment of pondering. "Ok. I''ll explain. We came to Zargan on assignment from Master Jia."


    "Master Jia? Which Master Jia?" Someone almost unconsciously took over the conversation.


    "Ah!" One of the women suddenly screamed and covered her mouth, saying in disbelief, "Master Jia? Do you mean Master Jia Yingxia? Good lord! What an honor!"


    Once that came out, the others were struck dumb. A few seconds passed before they all cheered!


    The classmates were so excited they didn''t know north from south, and the lead card artisan couldn''t help but smile. By the time they finally started to calm down, he said, "Right. None other than Master Jia Yingxia. It will be our great honor, and I''m hoping we will all work together in completing the mission."


    "No problem!"


    "Of course!"


    "Ha! If anyone does a bad job, this old lady sure won''t let them off!"


    The group was all shouting at once.


    The lead card artisan then said with a smile, "The mission wasn''t originally meant for us. But the academy has recently been planning something big, which has made manpower very tight, so it fell to us. I''ll give you an outline of the situation."


    Saying that, his expression became abruptly serious. The rest of them likewise became serious and listened attentively.


    "Does everyone remember the previous director of the library, Master Xu Bailun? He is Master Jia Yingxia''s younger classmate. He has a daughter¡­"


    Everyone suddenly looked up and set their gazes in the same direction. There was an energy fluctuation. A powerful energy fluctuation!


    "When the time comes, I''ll give you more details about the situation. Let''s see what''s going on first." The lead card artisan spoke in a low voice, and he was the first to fly in the direction of the energy fluctuation. Seeing that, the rest of the card artisans followed.


    * * *


    When Ji Ming saw the middle-aged man, he breathed a sigh of relief and slightly bowed. "Ji Ming is incompetent, Headmaster!"


    Yuan Linghai waved his hand and said unconcernedly, "It isn''t your fault. Take a rest."


    "Yes, sir!" A stone fell from Ji Ming''s heart as he bowed and departed.


    Yuan Linghai was sizing up Chen Mu just as Chen Mu was sizing him up.


    Yuan Linghai was nearly two meters tall and had a burly, powerful build. He looked to be just a bit more insolent than Happy Padding. He wore a tight black coat, making his bald head unusually striking in the air. He had powerful rigid lines on his face and deep-set eyes. His gloomy gaze had quite a bit of ferocity.


    Chen Mu wagged his head to signal Ah Sang, who understood and immediately led the other guards away from Chen Mu''s side. Those guards looked ready to face a big enemy, surrounded as they were by students from the Linghai Training Camp. If they were the least bit careless, they could be ripped to shreds. Unexpectedly, however, those students weren''t paying any attention to them, all of their gazes drawn by Yuan Linghai and Chen Mu.


    Seeing Ah Sang and the rest leave, Chen Mu breathed a sigh of relief. With a slight flick of his fingers, the sheen of the glass-like energy blocks quickly dimmed, changing back into an energy chain swinging around his body.


    "The Golden Word Shackle?" Yuan Linghai stared at the energy chain with a soaring gaze.

 388 Who is He?

    "Right." Chen Mu nodded, not wasting any words.


    Yuan Linghai felt his heart skip. There was some commotion among the onlookers, many of whom involuntarily sucked in a breath of cold air. Those who didn''t understand were asking around about what the Golden Word Shackle was.


    "What is your relationship to the esteemed Mo Ta?" Yuan Linghai asked coolly, having resumed his calm. From his point of view, the greatest possibility was that the ugly man had some sort of close relationship with Mo Ta. Teacher and disciple? Maybe father and son?


    With Mo Ta listed as No. 89 on the Black-Line Star Listing, of course Yuan Linghai had to remain cautious. To provoke any of the guys on the Black-Line Star Listing would result in something worse than death. While he maintained his calm expression, he was inwardly shuddering. A vicious hothead like Yuan Linghai would only be afraid of someone still more vicious, and those on the listing doubtlessly fit the bill.


    Just at that time, the group of young card artisans from Moon Frost Island arrived. Hearing what Yuan Linghai had said, they looked abruptly surprised.


    The students at Moon Frost Island paid a lot more attention to the Black-Line Star Listing than outsiders might imagine. They were the true pride of the Heavenly Drum Village District. By just being able to graduate from the card artisan division, those students'' power would absolutely be above the level of a second-tier ace. The leaders among them would be reliably first-rate.


    They weren''t satisfied by any of that, however; they were from Moon Frost Island, after all.


    If one were to say they were from one of the regular sections, the card artisans on the Black-Line Star Listing might be considered out of their mainstream. But those were like a system unto themselves, with an inevitable sense of competition. If the card artisans on the Black-Line Star Listing weren''t considered powerful, the Moon Frost Island students wouldn''t be so interested in them. The strength of the Black-Line Star Listing had long since made an impression on people, including those from Moon Frost Island.


    Not long before, the ninth on the listing, Yin Shanfei, had rebuffed Moon Frost Island''s inducements and afterward seriously wounded 16 Moon Frost Island card artisans. Among them was the 56th on the Heavenly Drum Rolls, Han Cen. That affair had created a sensation at Moon Frost Island at the time.


    Sixteen card artisans! They were all leaders and the pride of various departments. It was hard to imagine such an accomplishment. Among all the students at Moon Frost Island, probably only Bai Yue¡ªwho defeated the Gemini Twins from Desert Camp¡ªcould have achieved it. Han Cen''s power really stood out at Moon Frost Island.


    Still, with Yin Shanfei only being listed as ninth on the Black-Line Star Listing, there were still eight in front of him! That affair had caused a huge stir at Moon Frost Island, and many of the students and professors started to pay more attention to the aces on the Black-Line Star Listing. Moon Frost Island had massive channels for information. Once they started to pay attention to the Black-Line Star Listing, they had a lot more access to insider information than others did. The more they researched it, the more they felt that the card artisans on the listing were extraordinary.


    That group of students had no way to know all of that, but they were still quite familiar with the Black-Line Star Listing. So, when they heard what Yuan Linghai said, they were rather taken aback.


    The first 100 on the listing made a kind of benchmark. Anyone who could get onto the first 100 was an ace, for sure! Listed as 89th, Mo Ta was naturally outstanding. The seven of them had all heard of him and his Golden Word Shackle.


    Hearing that the golden chain in Chen Mu''s hands was the legendary Golden Word Shackle, their gazes abruptly focused on it as it swayed like seaweed. Their gazes were quite hot.


    Although they were from Moon Frost Island, they still weren''t qualified to learn the truly finest legacies. While the cards they had were a lot more impressive than those of ordinary card artisans, if their cards were put in front of such an established card as the Golden Word Shackle, they would fall far short!


    Mo Ta had entered the top 100 on the listing by virtue of that card, and his power had naturally long since been proven. Moreover, it really was a waste for such an awesome card to be in the hands of such an ugly man! Of course, some of them felt the injustice of that. On the one hand, they were red-eyed with jealousy to see it; on the other, they were wondering what kind of relationship that ugly guy really had with Mo Ta.


    "I killed him."


    Chen Mu felt helpless about that perfectly calm statement. Such showing off didn''t sit well with him, but he must have said it twice already that day, which even left him rather speechless.


    "You¡­ You killed him?" Yuan Linghai lost his voice, his whole face showing disbelief. Everyone else nearby was also dumbfounded, and even the Moon Frost Island students were struck dumb like wooden chickens. That was certainly a bombshell.


    The first to react was the one in the lead of that group of students. "Who is this guy?" he muttered.


    After the initial silence, the crowd erupted.


    Chen Mu frowned when he saw the crowd''s intense reaction. "Don''t waste words; let''s go!" Of course, one could see from the glint in his eyes that Yuan Linghai was a lot more powerful than Ji Ming.


    However, Yuan Linghai unexpectedly lowered his head and made a polite bow, his head nearly touching the ground. "If your eminence could kill Mo Ta, Linghai is certainly not your equal. I admit defeat and willingly submit to your esteemed disposal."


    The crowd burst out again, but no one was surprised at Yuan Linghai''s choice. Although he was powerful, he certainly couldn''t get into the top 100 of the Black-Line Star Listing. For the ugly man to have been able to kill the 89th on the list, he would have no problem dealing with Yuan Linghai.


    Even the students of the Linghai Training Camp looked relieved. From their initial gazes full of hatred and anger, they had quickly turned reverential. The seven students from Moon Frost Island looked shocked, that news having had a big impact on them.


    It was then Chen Mu''s turn to be a little bewildered. He hadn''t thought Yuan Linghai would so easily admit defeat without even a fight. Had his plans come to nothing? Looking at Yuan Linghai being so submissive, Chen Mu couldn''t help but inwardly sneer. He didn''t really have any beef with Yuan Linghai himself. Given how defeated he looked, he would never be able to kill Yuan Linghai!


    Looking mildly at Yuan Linghai''s defeated face, Chen Mu walked straight over to where Ah Sang and the rest were. He said to Ah Sang in a low voice, "Go back."


    Ah Sang respectfully bowed in response. Everyone then turned their attention to her and her group.


    "Isn''t that the daughter of the boss of the Chichi Trading Firm, Ah Sang?"


    "I think you''re right. It looks like the Chichi Trading Firm now has some big backer! No wonder this esteemed fellow came looking for trouble with Yuan Linghai, with how many times he had bullied the Chichi Trading Firm!


    "Indeed! Indeed! It''s all been proven in one report after another!"


    * * *


    The sounds of discussion in the crowd came from all over, and everyone was looking at Yuan Linghai with contempt. He had made too many enemies and had now lost face before the entire city. While everyone could understand his final admission of defeat, they still felt his lack of courage. Those who''d had run-ins with him were really gloating.


    One of the female students from Moon Frost Island asked a little suspiciously, "Would you say that what he''s saying is true or false, elder classmate?" She was named Lin Yao and had just turned 20 that year.


    The lead card artisan they referred to as elder classmate was called Zeng Yushan. He was a steady person and just about the right sort of ace for Moon Frost Island.


    Lin Yao had the same suspicions as everyone else, and all of their gazes fell onto Zeng Yushan. That elder student hadn''t been leading them for long, but he had already succeeded in winning their confidence.


    Zeng Yushan said thoughtfully, "I don''t really know. It doesn''t seem to me that he''s lying. After a couple more days, this month''s Black-Line Star Listing will be out, so we''ll find out if it''s true or not."


    Everyone nodded.


    Chen Mu was unoccupied by the time he got back to the Chichi Trading Firm. He didn''t know where Wei-ah had gone, there being no sign of him. Wei-ah seemed more and more mysterious. Chen Mu was curious about what Wei-ah had recovered of his memories.


    Not seeing Wei-ah, though, it wouldn''t do any good to make wild guesses. Since Chen Mu was actually free, he asked Ah Sang for a training room where he could practice by himself.


    The Golden Word Shackle was certainly a sharp tool. The more he practiced it, the more he felt that way. Unlike the Patterned Shuttle and the Hundred Changes he had made, the Golden Word Shackle had a lot more transformations. The ones who had been using the card had never been able to verify it, but the card master who could make such an awesome card couldn''t have been a simple person.


    The golden energy chain once again appeared in Chen Mu''s hands. Every link had an entirely different composition. That was the true essence of that energy chain. Those different and fine compositions for each link seemed to constitute many precise, complex locks. The most wonderful thing was that as fine and complex as the locks were, the accompanying keys were strangely simple.


    The key to opening a function was a single-syllable word. That was a marvelous kind of creativity. Even if one knew its principle, though, it wasn''t going to be easy to fumble about for the words. Apart from needing the key, one still needed to find the corresponding lock while using it, so the key would fit. There were three words overall that Chen Mu had groped out by then: bam, save, and bind.


    What he needed to do now was to continue groping to see if he could find the corresponding key for every lock. It was boring work that required a lot of luck. He could never tell what the corresponding word might be for the lock in front of him. That was also why Chen Mu had still only found three words after spending a lot of time.


    Now that he thought about it, however, what he was more interested in was how to use a single syllable to activate an energy composition. Too bad he didn''t have the time just then to put into researching card making.


    He couldn''t refrain from sighing as he immersed himself in the Golden Word Shackle to continue the incredibly difficult groping for words.

 389 Fresh from the Oven

    The new issue of the Black-Line Star Listing came out as promised. Each month''s issue contained a detailed listing of any fluctuations for the past one or two months. No one knew who published the list, but it was certainly authoritative.


    People were skeptical about the listing at first, especially about some of the listed credentials, which made it hard for people to tell how they really got their information. Quickly, though, people were surprised to discover that the listing was pretty darned accurate.


    Many of the larger firms were terrified of the compilers'' powerful information channels. Starting from when the Black-Line Star Listing had first grabbed their attention, they had never stopped investigating it. But even a behemoth like Moon Frost Island had still come up with nothing.


    There was always one issue per month, and it was never delayed and never seemed to be influenced. Its initial circulation had only been among the local powers, but it had gradually spread.


    Having gone through several decades of development, the Black-Line Star Listing had already become one of the most authoritative lists in the Heavenly Drum Village District. It was more authoritative in people''s minds than the Heavenly Drum Rolls, which were officially published by the Heavenly Drum Village District. It was unfortunate that the Black-Line Star Listing was only concerned with underworld card artisans and wasn''t interested in card artisans with a formal background.


    Ever since the situation in the federation had started to get worse, people had become more and more interested in the Black-Line Star Listing. The large firms, especially, couldn''t wait to have those on the listing under their command. With the situation as it was, the federation government''s prestige had already reached an historic low, and no one was even scrupulous about their existence anymore. All of the laws were valid in name only, and it seemed that people had suddenly reverted to the state of warlords, all vying for power that had prevailed before the Heavenly Federation was established.


    By then, each city was controlled by the strongest local power. For example, Zargan was under the control of the Southern Star Firm. That was also why Miao Xuan was so unbridled.


    With the old order destroyed, the new order had yet to be established.


    That issue of the Black-Line Star Listing would inevitably get a lot of attention. With social conflicts increasingly apparent, quite a few aces who had previously faded had reappeared. That had also led to a lot of fluctuation on the Black-Line Star Listing. It was totally unlike the slowly reacting Heavenly Drum Rolls, and it naturally got a lot of eyeballs. The most interesting thing was that each issue of the Black-Line Star Listing would feature a "card artisan on the move," which really satisfied people''s curiosity.


    There were a lot of changes in that issue of the Black-Line Star Listing. For example, Lan Long, who had been listed as 26th, had suddenly jumped ahead six names to be listed among the top 20. Then, there was Mao Hao, who had been listed 97th but had since been assassinated.


    The thing that got everyone''s attention in the new issue wasn''t those two, however. It was someone with the strange name of Qiao Yuan, who was the "card artisan on the move" for that issue.


    That part of the listing said the following:


    "Qiao Yuan; origin unknown; card unknown. Encountered his first battle with Mo Ta and his small team. Mo Ta''s small team was destroyed, and the captain, Mo Ta, also died. Mo Ta''s famous Golden Word Shackle fell into his hands.


    Later fought with Jin Yin and successfully escaped after heavily wounding Jin Yin. Subsequently fought through the forest, killing 20 members of Constellation.


    In the last issue, Mo Ta was listed at No. 89. Jin Yin was listed at No. 93.


    Qiao Yuan is initially designated as No. 72 for reference purposes, pending more observation.


    The reason for designating him as this issue''s ''card artisan on the move:'' During continual fighting this month with two card artisans listed among the top 100, killing one and wounding the other, that brilliant record is sufficient to show his tremendous power!"


    Interestingly, after Jin Yin was wounded, his name had actually gone up instead of down. He had gone from 93rd right up to 85th. Constellation''s fame, on the other hand, had taken a hit.


    When that issue of the Black-Line Star Listing came out, the unusual name Qiao Yuan entered everyone''s field of view. Everyone was speculating about what sort of god Qiao Yuan really was. If one were to say the issue of the Black-Line Star Listing was only a topic of conversation in other places, the sensation it caused in Zargan was unprecedented.


    Any doubts among those who had been skeptical of Chen Mu totally vanished and were replaced with fanatical adoration! What made them still more pleasantly surprised was that the mysterious, ugly man had not only killed Mo Ta, but he had also seriously wounded Jin Yin. How could they fail to worship him with such a battle record?


    Overnight, the Chichi Trading Firm became surrounded by people. Quite a few firms harbored the hope for a fluke that they could strike up a relationship with the newly promoted ace. Still more of the crowd consisted of young card artisans. With such an ace as the 72nd on the listing to be moving around freely in Zargan, if they could become a pupil to such a powerful master, their future would be self-evident.


    Unfortunately, even though there were so many people around the Chichi Trading Firm, nothing was happening there. Under Ah Sang''s orders, the Chichi Trading Firm had suspended operations for those few days. No one, including those who wanted to ask around for news, make friends with Chen Mu, or be his pupil, could do anything.


    Sending someone in to spy out some news? You''d have to be kidding. It wasn''t just anyone living there¡ªit was the great Qiao Yuan, who was listed 72nd on the Black-Line Star Listing his first time on it!


    Meanwhile, Chen Mu was devoting himself to staying in the training room and groping through the Golden Word Shackle. He took care of himself to be able to concentrate on training. Unless he encountered a dangerous situation, no one could come in to bother him. If something was happening outside, he didn''t know about it.


    Suddenly, the apparatus on his wrist sounded. He opened the communications card, where Bogner''s image appeared on the screen.


    As soon as he saw Chen Mu, he laughed. "You sure are powerful, Boss. You''re now on the Black-Line Star Listing, and not so low down, either."


    "Black-Line Star Listing?" Chen Mu''s expression was wooden. He had been concentrating on his training those last few days and hadn''t yet come back to his spirits after the sudden interruption, so he looked rather expressionless.


    "Do you mean you don''t know yet?" Bogner was surprised by Chen Mu''s reaction.


    Chen Mu didn''t understand and asked back, "What happened?" He had just been getting the knack of the card and didn''t wish to be interrupted like that.


    "Wha¡­? Um¡­ it''s nothing," Bogner muttered.


    "I''ll go practice, then." Chen Mu snapped the communications card shut and continued to bury his head in his fumbling around.


    At the base, Xi Ping didn''t even raise an eyebrow as he said, "I''ve long said the boss isn''t interested in this kind of stuff." Bogner looked defeated.


    * * *


    The Yan family of Zargan was not an ostentatious clan and would seldom get mixed up with the other powers. They only single-mindedly operated their transport company. But that clan, which wouldn''t be called either small or large, seemed vaguely to have some intimidating power. Even such a firm as the Southern Star Firm¡ªwhich was the biggest firm in Zargan¡ªwasn''t going to provoke that low-key clan.


    Yan Hao was the current head, already 60 by then. He looked like he still had pretty good energy, though he did show some worry on his brow.


    In front of him, Zeng Yushan was sitting properly and listening carefully. Their mission at the time was to investigate the incident of the Yan family''s Chum Salmon Passenger Company snow shuttle vessel being robbed.


    "We''ve already had something happen to seven of our snow shuttle vessels, involving up to 600 passengers. Our adversary still hasn''t approached us, and we don''t know what their objective really is. We''ve already suspended all the snow shuttle vessels."


    Yan Hao''s gruff, old voice was full of exhaustion. It was a devastating blow for such a thing to happen to a passenger company. It was only by sheer will and determination that he was still hanging on.


    Zeng Yushan said calmly, "Where did all those snow shuttle vessels disappear?"


    "Here are their route maps." Yan Hao opened the card player, and a map of the area around Zargan appeared on the screen. He used a red line to mark the routes where the seven snow shuttle vessels had crashed.


    Zeng Yushan looked carefully at the details on the map. After a moment, his eyes lit up as he pointed to an area on the map. "Our adversary must be hiding in this vicinity. That area is perfectly positioned in the middle of those seven routes, making it convenient to go anywhere."


    Yan Hao was impressed by Zeng Yushan''s insight. Zeng Yushan had seen at a glance what Yan Hao''s own technical department had concluded after a lot of work.


    "We surmise that the adversary must be in that area, but our current manpower can''t satisfy the needs of a search in the forest," Yan Hao said helplessly.


    Zeng Yushan rubbed his temples. It was a vexing issue, and he couldn''t think of a good solution just then. Their adversary would have plenty of manpower; otherwise, they wouldn''t have been able to make that many hits all at the same time. Each of the snow shuttle vessels had been accompanied by plenty of protective force, and the adversary had still been able to easily seize them. That showed how powerful they were.


    The thing Zeng Yushan had a hard time understanding was their objective in acting that way. If it was ransom, why hadn''t there been any news yet? If it wasn''t ransom, what was it?


    Seeing that Zeng Yushan was also bewildered made Yan Hao rather tired to look at him, which reminded him how far they had gone with no rest.


    "Why don''t you rest, Yushan? We''ll slowly figure this out. There''s always some way." Yan Hao spoke mildly.


    Zeng Yushan promptly responded that he would. He then got up, saluted, and left the room.


    The dormitory where Zeng Yushan and the seven of them were staying had been specially prepared. Lin Rou and the few girls were surrounding Yan Hao''s daughter-in-law, Xu Qianchen, and chattering away noisily.


    "What are you talking about?" Zeng Yushan was laughing as he walked by. He had previously met Xu Qianchen and nodded with a smile. "How are you, classmate? Professor Xu had been really missing you."


    Xu Qianchen promptly stood. "It''s been a while since I''ve seen you, elder classmate. Now, here I am bothering you again."


    Just then, another female student said excitedly, "Elder classmate! Elder classmate! The new issue of the Black-Line Star Listing has come out! We were just discussing it!"


    "Oh. Let me take a look." Zeng Yushan looked rather interested.


    The women hurried to give him the Black-Line Star Listing, and he lowered his head to scrutinize it.


    Qiao Yuan. Zeng Yushan couldn''t hide his look of shock. As he read further, the look of shock deepened. When his gaze fell onto the four words "struggle through the forest," he suddenly realized something!

 390 Before the Storm

    "We''ve discovered that Qiao Yuan boarded the vessel at Wen Bu. He was riding on one of the vessels we lost! He then entered the city alone from the forest with a large quantity of wild animal pelts on his back." Yan Pei was flushed red, and his voice was as clear as a bell. After so many days with no progress, the old man had become distraught. Now, to suddenly have found a clue, the old man''s spirits were stirred.


    While Zeng Yushan had been looking at the description of Qiao Yuan in the Black-Line Star Listing, he had wondered whether he had any connection to the snow shuttle vessels being seized. An ace suddenly showing up among the top 100 in the Black-Line Star Listing had gotten his attention. When he had told his suspicions to Yan Pei, Yan Pei had immediately organized a party to investigate the matter.


    Qiao Yuan certainly knows what actually happened! Zeng Yushan and Yan Pei had the same thought simultaneously.


    Zeng Yushan''s gaze glinted. As though something were on his mind, he said, "If I haven''t guessed wrong, the one secretly against us should be Constellation. This issue of the Black-Line Star Listing says Qiao Yuan killed Mo Ta and heavily wounded Jin Yin. Whether by time or place, it''s all too coincidental!"


    "There hasn''t been anything between us and Constellation, so why would they?" The old man''s expression was puzzled as he looked at Zeng Yushan. He really valued Zeng Yushan for the wisdom he showed; whenever he ran into problems, he would unconsciously ask Zeng Yushan for advice.


    Zeng Yushan shook his head. "I too find it strange. It looks like if we want to know, we''ll have to go ask Qiao Yuan to see if we can find any clues."


    "Qiao Yuan¡­" The old man sneered. If it were anyone else, he was afraid he would have long since grabbed him to ask him outright. But that Qiao Yuan was an ace on the Black-Line Star Listing and was flourishing in the limelight with no one to compare to. Those days, wave after wave of people were wanting to woo him and were all summarily rejected.


    "Relax, old man; I''ll go ask him." Zeng Yushan smiled steadily. "Presumably, Moon Frost Island will give this Qiao Yuan a little of our face." He was as mild as water when he said that, though he did show a little bit of pride.


    * * *


    Opening his eyes, they glowed with a cold, clear flow, and there was an outpouring of joy from Chen Mu''s face. The state of deep serenity was wonderful, after all. In just an hour, he had completely restored all the perception he had just used up.


    That gave him a lot of benefits. Unlocking required a lot of perception, so deep serenity could enable Chen Mu''s efficiency to greatly increase by decreasing the time he needed to rest.


    Still, he had no way to enter into the state of deep serenity every time. Thinking about it, deep serenity inevitably made Chen Mu think about breath control. It had been a long time since he''d used breath control. If there was some similarity between breath control and deep serenity, he really couldn''t think of any huge side effects that were like the suicidal breath control.


    Chen Mu didn''t realize that putting breath control on the back shelf wasn''t because he was more scared of death than before; it was because he was stronger. His current battle moves were who-knew-how-many times richer than before. If he ran into a problem, he didn''t even need to use breath control to resolve it. Moreover, if the problem exceeded the scope of his current ability, using breath control wouldn''t be able to resolve it, either.


    He could only maintain breath control for a very short time, and the phenomenon of weakness from vomiting afterward limited its usefulness. To put it another way, it was no longer suited to Chen Mu''s abilities in battle. By comparison, deep serenity was a simple recovery technique that was much more useful than breath control.


    Chen Mu''s greatest accomplishment for those last few days was that he had found another two words. He had now mastered five kinds of skills with the Golden Word Shackle! His battle strength had been further enhanced.


    He still didn''t know where Wei-ah had gone. He was getting more and more mysterious, and Chen Mu had started to gradually get used to it. Still, Chen Mu had been doing a lot of practicing and was too busy looking after himself.


    In a few calls with Bogner later on, Bogner kept telling Chen Mu that battle power was his own greatest guarantee. He was in the full limelight just then, and the possibility of running into trouble had greatly increased. If he could maintain his current ranking until he could get to the Tai-shus of Dongrui, they would certainly extend an olive branch to him.


    Chen Mu took what Bogner said into deep consideration. He would have to get better; he had to incessantly improve for his success to grow.


    Thinking of that, Chen Mu''s spirits were stirred. Just as he was about to continue with another round of practice, he suddenly heard a voice from afar.


    "Zeng Yushan of Moon Frost Island requests a meeting with Mr. Qiao Yuan."


    With no edge to it, the voice was steady and humbly respectful.


    The were so many people surrounding where Chen Mu was living, and all of the firms'' numerous spies were among them. When they heard the name Moon Frost Island, there was an uproar. The name Zeng Yushan also caused the hearts of quite a few people to shiver.


    For the card artisans of the Heavenly Drum Village District, Moon Frost Island was a place to look up to. Every year, the leaders in the academy would receive all kinds of attention. That also led to many of the students already being famous in the Heavenly Drum Village District before they even graduated. Some were even famous in the federation!


    Zeng Yushan was the 60th on the Heavenly Drum Rolls. He had a steady character, and rumor had it that he had received guidance from Jia Yingxia himself. The Anti-Shield Strike that he studied had quite powerful defensive capabilities.


    Everyone became spirited at once, wondering if there would be another good show. One was the 72nd on the Black-Line Star Listing, and the other was the 60th on the Heavenly Drum Rolls. Once the two sides made some fireworks, it would be a rare treat for their eyes.


    The name Moon Frost Island carried so much weight in the Heavenly Drum Village District that no one could compare with it. How could people from Moon Frost Island show up in Zargan? Did they come for Qiao Yuan?


    Now that they thought about it, it was strange because the relations between the aces on the Black-Line Star Listing and Moon Frost Island had always been perfectly messed up. Yin Shanfei was a living example. But it was seldom that anyone would dare to be so extreme as Yin Shanfei, not wanting to cooperate at all with Moon Frost Island.


    Moon Frost Island? Chen Mu was a little surprised. He had never thought Moon Frost Island would come looking for him. After thinking it over, he rose into the air and flew out of his courtyard.


    "I am Qiao Yuan. What''s your business?" Chen Mu stared at Zeng Yushan, getting right to the point and not wasting any words.


    Zeng Yushan saluted Chen Mu. "It''s a great honor for Yushan to be able to see Mr. Qiao!"


    Chen Mu looked at him indifferently, not saying a thing. He didn''t have such a bad feeling toward Moon Frost Island, but he wasn''t likely to have good feelings. In his mind, the Big Six were all jackals from the same tribe. Fortunately, his current identity as Qiao Yuan meant he didn''t need to conceal his alertness toward Moon Frost Island.


    Zeng Yushan wasn''t at all concerned. He maintained his smile as ever, saying mildly, "Yushan has ventured to come this time wanting some advice on a few matters from Mr. Qiao Yuan. It''s rather noisy here. I wonder if Yushan could trouble Mr. Qiao for a cup of tea."


    What was Moon Frost Island doing looking or him? Chen Mu''s expression was as ever, but he was searching rapidly in his mind. He suddenly remembered what Bogner had said to him: The real backer of the Chum Salmon Passenger Company was probably Moon Frost Island.


    Their conjecture was right, after all! Chen Mu suddenly understood. He was eager for Moon Frost Island and Constellation to get tangled up.


    "Ok." Chen Mu flew back into the courtyard after speaking, and Zeng Yushan followed him without changing his expression. That really disappointed those outside wanting to watch the commotion.


    The two of them sat back down in the room, with Ah Sang serving them on the sidelines. She looked respectful while steeping the tea. After a moment, the Lanqing tea''s fragrance wafted through the room.


    "Nice tea!" Zeng Yushan looked enchanted and clapped his hands in admiration.


    Ah Sang bowed slightly, her sweet voice bashful and joyous. "For this tea to have gotten the praise of Prince Zeng fills Ah Sang with joy!" Her gaze never left Zeng Yushan''s body.


    Zeng Yushan had a steady temperament. While his looks might not be called handsome, he was well worth a second look. His words, actions, and bearing were also impressive. When had Ah Sang ever seen such an outstanding man? The so-called suave Miao Xuan was like a clown in front of Zeng Yushan. She inevitably got some ideas.


    Chen Mu thought nothing about Ah Sang ignoring him. Everyone loved beauty; wearing that ugly face himself, it would be strange for anyone to like him.


    With a light smile, Zeng Yushan said, "The person is even better than the tea!"


    Ah Sang felt still more joyful, but she was perfectly discreet and knew the two of them had things they needed to discuss. She curtseyed to both of them and left.


    No one knew what they talked about. When Zeng Yushan emerged, however, his expression wasn''t so good. Even when Ah Sang greeted him, he was absent-minded, which put her at something of a loss.


    The news of card artisans from Moon Frost Island coming to Zargan quickly spread all over the city. The secret talks between Zeng Yushan and Chen Mu had everyone guessing. The most interesting thing was that because of the appearance of Qiao Yuan and the Moon Frost Island card artisans, the public security in Zargan became better than it had ever been. It seemed like all the criminal elements had disappeared at once, and even the fancy-pants princelings had been forced by their parents to stay home.


    Many people had the sense that something big was going to happen, and it was just the calm before the storm.

 391 Yuchi Bai’s Silk

    "Damn! We''re finally about to get to Zargan! It''s been driving me f****ng crazy not to get here!" Jeremy and the rest of them had gotten to the edge of the forest and saw that they weren''t far from Zargan. They knew their behavior would absolutely never be forgiven by Wen. Once they were on their way, they moved very carefully, in fear of being pursued.


    It was difficult along the way because of the hoards of wild beasts and the low morale of their troops. Their manpower losses had been grave. There were only seven of them left, the rest having died in the forest. But Bao Le and Jeremy were like stray dogs in a constant state of anxiety; they were not in the right frame of mind to take care of those people''s lives.


    Bao Le''s expression was a little milder as he said complacently, "We only have to get to Zargan, find Yan Hao and the people from Moon Frost Island, and report Wen''s secret plot to them. They will surely guarantee our safety. Hmmm. It''s nice and cool under the trees. What can Wen do about it even if he is able to come after us?"


    Jeremy was stirred. "I''ve heard people are treated pretty well at Moon Frost Island; we''ll be eating and drinking plenty. Compared to the way we''ve been licking blood from our knives, wouldn''t that be a hundred times better?"


    The two of them looked at each other and smiled. Suddenly, a languid voice said, "I''m afraid you won''t be so lucky."


    The blood drained completely from their faces, and Jeremy exclaimed in horror, "Captain Yuchi!"


    A simple, rustic-looking, middle-aged man walked out from behind a tree and took a look at Jeremy. He said with a sigh, "I never thought you would betray the chief."


    Jeremy said with a tragic smile, "We blew it this time, Captain Yuchi. But if we''d gone back, it would have meant death anyway. How could the chief have let us go?"


    Yuchi Bai shook his head and said, "The chief wouldn''t necessarily have demanded your lives."


    "Not necessarily?" Jeremy just smiled tragically and didn''t say anything else.


    Yuchi turned to look at Bao Le with a chilly gaze and said darkly, "I know you haven''t been loyal to the chief for a while! If I haven''t guessed wrong, you were the one who instigated this operation!"


    Bao Le''s face went white, though he didn''t evade Yuchi''s gaze in the least. "There''s no need to waste words, Yuchi. We are all nothing more than knives in Wen''s hands, and you are no exception. Humph! Wen will certainly never let us off for what we did this time. No matter what we do, we die, as everyone knows!"


    The last thing he said was really said for those around him. The people with Bao Le looked hopeless as soon as Yuchi appeared. After Bao Le said that, it destroyed any last bit of hope they might have held out. No one said a word. They all drew closer in silence, the fear in their eyes slowly disappearing to be replaced by a crazed determination.


    Jeremy suddenly opened his mouth. "The chief must really think a lot of us to actually send Captain Yuchi personally. Still, you had to leave everyone else behind in order to chase after us, Captain Yuchi!"


    Everyone''s eyes then lit up, and their spirits were stirred. Everyone knew how powerful Captain Yuchi was. But, no matter how capable he was, they had never seen it. If what Jeremy had said was true, they would definitely have a numerical advantage. To add five strong card artisans to two captains would compose plenty of battle power against Yuchi! That thought popped into everyone''s head at about the same time.


    Yuchi Bai looked at Jeremy with some appreciation. "You won''t have to do any looking around. I came alone. I''ve always thought you were intelligent, Jeremy, and not like those who might be swayed by Bao Le. I''d really like to know why you betrayed the chief!"


    After a moment of silence, Jeremy finally opened his mouth and said with a mocking look, "Given his skill, Wen rarely has any adversaries. Constellation is also very powerful. But I never thought he would actually dare to have designs on Moon Frost Island! Ever since then, I''ve known he''s nuts!"


    Ever-noncommittal, Yuchi said, "Of course the chief has his own plans."


    "Ha ha ha ha ha!" Jeremy suddenly laughed to the point of doubling over, as though he had heard something hilarious. Yuchi looked coldly askance at him, saying nothing.


    By the time Jeremy raised his head, there was nothing funny on his face as he said without expression, "Of course the chief has his own plans, though I did sometimes wonder whether there was someone behind him."


    Once he said that, Yuchi''s gaze became explosive, though he remained as restrained as ever.


    As though Jeremy hadn''t seen Yuchi''s expression, he bluntly said, "It''s not important what plans Wen has. Captain Yuchi knows the rules in this circle of ours; no one messes with Moon Frost Island. Angering them is like going off on the road to death! Maybe Wen and Yuchi aren''t afraid, but what about us? What about the rest of the captains? I can''t come up with any other result than dying. What Bao Le said was right; we''re nothing more than knives in his hands. Without those knives, he''ll just buy some more. Given that, it''s worth the risk of a fight!"


    Saying that, Jeremy shook his head with a sigh. "It''s just that I never thought that at such a critical time, Wen would actually send you, Yuchi. This should be the most critical time for the plans. Given Jin Yin''s serious injuries and Mo Ta''s death, the only ones he could mobilize were Captain Yuchi, An Sa, and Gan Lin. I''d previously thought Wen might send An Sa and Gan Lin, leaving Yuchi by Wen''s side at such a critical time. I didn''t realize my thinking was so far off."


    Yuchi Bai couldn''t help but sigh again as he looked at Jeremy with a little mercy. "You''re intelligent, Jeremy, but you shouldn''t have betrayed the chief. If you''d gone back, you wouldn''t have been punished. The chief was testing you. Too bad! He had been wondering if Bao Le was a traitor and never thought you would also choose to betray him."


    Yuchi Bai''s face became abruptly grave and darkly cold. "The chief had been wondering whom to use as bait. Now, he won''t have to bother with that issue. Those who have betrayed the chief will have to die!"


    "It''s too late to say anything now. We have no way out, Jeremy." Bao Le spoke darkly. "I''m going to learn a little something today about Captain Yuchi''s superior skills! Let''s go!"


    Bao Le and Jeremy were the first to make a move. A thick layer of dark blue gravel appeared on Bao Le''s face. Every piece of the energy gravel was as small as a pinky finger, and they were tightly wrapping around Bao Le''s body, only leaving his eyes showing through. The layer of dark blue energy gravel was slowly surging like waves.


    There was a sparkling glow on the tips of Jeremy''s ten fingers, each of them with a glowing cocoon. On the cocoons were ring after ring of colorful lines, as though they were surrounded by rainbows.


    Yuchi Bai sighed. "Is that necessary?"


    He bowed his head and lightly cupped his hands, and luxuriant puffs of milky-white silken energy bodies came pouring out of his hands. The energy was as fine as downy hair and as supple as though it almost wasn''t there. Those fine energy threads flew away from Yuchi Bai''s hands and went floating into the air. The downy energy silk then flew quickly like the wind and danced, spinning among the trees.


    Bao Le and Jeremy both showed serious expressions, and the other five had activated their cards to emit energy bodies. None of them dared to be the first to attack, however. They knew Yuchi was awesome, but they didn''t know much about just how awesome he was. Constellation had been so invincible those past few years that among the other six captains¡ªwith Mo Ta and Jin Yin both able to join the top 100 aces in the Black-Line Star Listing¡ªthey had seldom needed a hand from Captain Yuchi. While they knew the name of the silk card Captain Yuchi used, they really didn''t know anything about its capabilities.


    Jeremy and Bao Le looked at one another and both intuitively knew to let loose at the same time! Bao Le gave out a shout, and a pair of wings formed from the energy gravel that appeared on his back. His body then pounced after Yuchi Bai! A ball of blue sparks exploded from the tips of the blue gravel wings as Bao Le''s speed increased, and his body blurred! Vaguely visible was a glinting blue spear in the middle of the blurry trail.


    At nearly the same time, ten pencil-straight rainbows crossed the sky. Jeremy put all of his energy into that move! The ten glowing cocoons left his hands simultaneously. Although they were as fast as lightning, there was no sound of their breaking through the air. They were quiet and beautiful enough to nearly take a person''s breath away.


    The other five card artisans let loose at the same time, spreading out so that the energy bodies in their hands shot toward Yuchi Bai like raindrops. None of those seven people dared to hold back when they let loose! They knew they would only get one shot in front of an ace like Yuchi Bai.


    Under the dense and furious attack, a flash of pity went across Yuchi Bai''s plain face. But what felt strange was that he didn''t actually respond.


    What''s going on? The seven of them were baffled. Could Yuchi Bai have come looking to die?


    Jeremy was a little more perceptive than Bao Le, having suddenly glimpsed the milky-white energy silk floating among the trees. That caused his face to abruptly shift.


    "Look out for those threads!" Jeremy''s voice had changed its tone, but his warning had clearly been a little late. The white energy filaments, which had been wafting freely among the trees, went surging toward the energy bodies like a shark smelling blood.


    So long as a white energy thread touched the rapidly flying energy bodies, they would immediately sink into a bizarrely static state. The most terrifying thing was that the energy thread would only have to touch them for the energy bodies to lose control and to completely stop obeying orders.


    "Damn!" Jeremy instantly glared, round-eyed. "Bam!"


    The colorful stripes from the remaining four glowing cocoons that hadn''t been touched by the energy silk went wild. Without even a whisper, colorful flames rose into the sky and enshrouded everything within the scope of 20 meters. The blazing-hot rush of oncoming air turned the nearby trees yellow. The colorful flames were terrifying, and the thick tree trunks were as fragile as paper within that 20-meter-diameter ball of fire. What really made people shake was that the entire process was noiseless.


    Bao Le turned gray when that explosion nearly spilled over onto him. If he hadn''t quickly seen his chance, he would have been swallowed by the ball of colorful fire. By that time, though, he couldn''t bother to curse Jeremy¡ªhe was staring wide-eyed at that ball of flame!


    He had a rather fine relationship with Jeremy, but he did know the power of the ball of colorful flame. He knew if it even slightly touched him, the outcome would be extremely serious. He had never seen Jeremy deploy such a huge explosion. He didn''t believe anyone could survive being engulfed by it. But could Captain Yuchi be so easily killed? He didn''t quite dare to believe that.


    Bao Le suddenly felt his whole body go stiff. What happened? His eyes went wide with terror as the layer of energy gravel on the outside of his body lost connection with it. He didn''t dare to move. The energy gravel wasn''t a well-behaved baby. Once the pieces exploded, his bones wouldn''t even be left.


    He glimpsed Jeremy out of the corner of his eye, scared out of his wits. Jeremy also looked like a puppet, not daring to move while a puff of white energy silk was wrapping around his body in a leisurely fashion.


    Hong!


    Everything went black in front of Bao Le, and he lost consciousness. There was a string of explosions, which blew up the five other pros at the same time. Characteristically, those card artisans all had energy bodies either in their hands or around their bodies.


    Not daring to move and dripping bean-sized beads of sweat, Jeremy looked terrified and forlorn. Not far away to his side, there was only a large, blackened pit where Bao Le had just been. Smoke curled out of the pit, and blood and shreds of flesh were spewed all around. The other five deaths were equally as weird and miserable.


    A figure came slowly walking out of the colorful flames. Yuchi Bai glanced indifferently at Jeremy.


    "Goodbye, Jeremy."


    Jeremy discovered that the fine white energy had gotten into the apparatus on his hand. The energy in the apparatus quickly lost control and wrought crazy havoc, followed by a huge sound. His eyes went dark, and he lost consciousness.


    * * *


    Moon Frost Island was situated in the toughest part of the Heavenly Drum Village District. The bitter cold there far exceeded other places. The first thing students had to adapt to when they entered the school was the ever-present cold and the bone-piercing ice.


    Jia Yingxia had turned 50 that day, but she looked like a beautiful young woman of 30, apart from some fishtail wrinkles in the corners of her eyes that showed her age. In front of her was an old man whose hair and whiskers were all white.


    "Yushan just sent news, young disciple, that the ones who attacked the snow shuttle vessels were Constellation." Jia Yingxia''s beautiful eyes lifted slightly. She sincerely admired that young disciple; otherwise, she would never have been concerned with such a small matter.


    Although Xu Bailun was Jia Yingxia''s disciple, he was actually ten years older than her.


    "Constellation?" Xu Bailun frowned slightly. He''d heard of that organization, and he was clear about his own family''s style. Reasonably, they should absolutely never provoke such an organization.


    Jia Yingxia lightly nodded and smiled gently. "The news Yushan sent says it was no coincidence that this happened, and Constellation must have been plotting it for a long time. It looks like it''s an attack on us."


    "Yushan has really calmed down these last few years, the child. Ah Yue will have another helper after a while," Xu Bailun said with a laugh. Although he was white-haired and gray, his laughter was perfectly elegant. One could imagine how handsome he had been in his day.


    The teacher had always been pretty, but she was already old. Some sourness came to Xu Bailun''s heart, though the complex emotion only flashed by. The mild, elegant smile on her face seemed never to have changed.


    Jia Yingxia said thoughtfully, "Someone is plotting against us. I''ve just gotten some information that another several organizations are on their way to Zargan, which can''t be any coincidence." Like a little girl, she frowned in distress after saying that. "These people are really disgusting¡ªas disgusting as flies! If it weren''t for that affair of ours, I would certainly immediately send someone to wipe them out! Hmph! Constellation is at it again. If they annoy me¡­"


    Seeing how angry Jia Yingxia looked, Xu Bailun couldn''t help but smile.


    "I''ll send a few more people. After all, that servant girl Qian Chen is still there." Saying that, she seemed to have touched some heartsickness in herself, and she suddenly fell silent. Xu Bailun did the same.


    After a long time, Xu Bailun suddenly opened his mouth. "If there isn''t enough manpower in the school, I had better go. It''s been a long time since I''ve seen Qian Chen."


    Jia Yingxia''s face turned a little milder, and she glanced at Xu Bailun. "We''re planning something big this time, and my young disciple still needs to help me. With Qian Chen there, of course I''ll send someone over! My young disciple should rest easy. If something has happened to Qian Chen, the worst that could happen is that I''ll be risking my life.


    Xu Bailun only smiled wryly.


    * * *


    Only Chen Mu and Wei-ah were in the training room. Chen Mu had remained there for seven days, training by himself every day. No one dared to bother him. Ah Sang forbade anyone to get anywhere near the training room.


    The two of them were sitting casually on the floor.


    "Where did you go these last few days?" Chen Mu asked in curiosity as he was drinking Lanqing tea.


    "Fighting together with someone." Wei-ah cherished his words like gold.


    Chen Mu spewed out a mouthful of tea with a sputter. He had absolutely no way to imagine how such a tough being as Wei-ah would join anyone else in a fight. He was afraid he could knock someone over with the tip of his finger.


    "There''s someone who can fight with you?" Chen Mu''s entire face showed his disbelief.


    "It''s a child, whose physical condition is no less than yours." Wei-ah side-stepped the question. "I''d like to take him on as an apprentice."


    "Take an apprentice? Why would you consider taking an apprentice?" Chen Mu had always felt that Wei-ah was a little weird. He understood Wei-ah rather well. He certainly wasn''t the kind of person who would be willing to be a role model.


    Wei-ah had a complicated expression, seeming to be thinking hard about something. "I remembered a few things, but not many. I want to take on an apprentice and then take him home."


    Chen Mu was utterly stunned. "Go home? Where would that be?"


    "I don''t know." Wei-ah''s response was simple, and his expression looked confused.


    Chen Mu sighed. He would hate it if Wei-ah wanted to leave him then. Ever since Wei-ah had left the Moqi Clan with him, the two of them hadn''t been apart. He had rescued Chen Mu lots of times. The friendship between them was growing deeper all the time.


    "I''ll tell you when I remember. You''re going to help me." Wei-ah spoke bluntly and without the least bit of self-consciousness.


    Chen Mu solemnly promised, "I will certainly help you."


    Seeming to feel that the topic had gotten a bit too serious, Chen Mu changed it. "What have you remembered besides that?"


    "A few things." Wei-ah suddenly stood. "I''m going to show you."

 392 An Unexpected Change

    Finally, in the 22nd episode, there was a big victory on the front lines!


    There was jubilation at the Federation Comprehensive Academy, with nothing to be seen on campus of the dejection that had filled it not long before. The Federation Comprehensive Academy had won a truly significant victory that time. After Tang Hanpei had defeated the master of the Central Repository of the Classics in the full view of the world, his popularity had been propelled to the top once again. Now, following Song Chengyan''s big victory, Tang Hanpei again showed the world his unrivaled ability.


    The Federation Comprehensive Academy had only a single voice by then¡ªthe voice of Tang Hanpei. What could better show heroic glory than turning the tide of adversity by virtue of one''s personal power? Tang Hanpei could be said to be at his zenith. Having just defeated the master of the Central Repository of the Classics, he had become the number-one ace in the federation in everyone''s mind! Not only was he the fanatically worshiped idol of the scholars at the Federation Comprehensive Academy, but he was undoubtedly the most influential person in the federation, given its current state! He had become the final winner of the game.


    The scene of jubilation at the Federation Comprehensive Academy influenced the entire capital. Previously, the capital had also been the jurisdiction of the federation government. However, following the decline of the government''s influence, together with the overwhelming power of the Big Six, the capital had become dominated by the Federation Comprehensive Academy.


    But the jubilation in the capital was nowhere near that of the Federation Comprehensive Academy. Although the Federation Comprehensive Academy had become the ones really in control of the capital, the citizens still needed some time to get used to that.


    Those on campus were aroused, and there were cheering and excited students all over. When two students ran into one another, they both looked overjoyed.


    "There''s been a big victory on the front lines, senior classmate Wen Ruo! We finally won! How fantastic!"


    "Yeah! The great Song Chengyan is so awesome! He really deserves to be called a tactical genius! But we still have to give credit to the great Tang! If it weren''t for him, humph, that gang of pigs would have long since sold out the school!


    "Ha ha! Let''s not bring up those pieces of trash at such a happy time, senior classmate. In any case, he''s not going to let them off when the great Tang Hanpei gets back! It''s just¡­" He hesitated for a moment. "It''s been so long since Tang Hanpei has returned that I wonder if something might have happened."


    "Don''t say that! How could it be? The great Tang Hanpei is the top ace in the federation, and no one could mean him any harm." Senior classmate Wen Ruo was glaring.


    "That''s so true!" that student sputtered, knowing he''d said the wrong thing.


    "There''s going to be a get-together tonight where everyone''s getting ready to celebrate the victory!"


    "Where is it? Where is it? I have to go! You can''t just drop that on me, senior classmate!" His face was full of expectation as he looked at Wen Ruo pathetically.


    Just as the Federation Comprehensive Academy students were getting ready to party, there was the sudden sound of a voice broadcast across the campus.


    "Jie Yanbai from the Central Repository of the Classics wants to take a lesson from the Federation Comprehensive Academy! Who''s going to fight me?"


    All of the celebration that had just been going on at the Federation Comprehensive Academy abruptly quieted, and everyone''s gazes turned toward the sky. The only thing in the sky was a raggedy youth holding his body proudly erect as his gaze swept slowly over the campus.


    Is that guy nuts? That was the first thought that popped into everyone''s mind. Then, after everyone had reacted a few seconds later, a huge uproar engulfed nearly the entire campus. Some of them were furious, and some were mocking.


    Jie Yanbai?


    The students at the Federation Comprehensive Academy were all too familiar with that guy. The fame of Jie Yanbai had an indelible connection to the Federation Comprehensive Academy. When Jie Yanbai had come forward to challenge Former President Pavchek, although he had lost, he had gotten Pavchek''s praise. That had made his reputation.


    Could that guy actually be so arrogant? Does he think he''s the great Tang Hanpei?


    Since the conflicts between the two schools weren''t as sharp when he had last made his challenge, everyone had been able to rest easy. But the Federation Comprehensive Academy and Central Repository of the Classics had now become mortal enemies! It was a disgrace to have one''s gate kicked in by a student of the enemy!


    At about the same time that Jie Yanbai''s voice faded, countless people''s trails were converging at high speed in that direction. In an instant, Jie Yanbai had gathered all the aces among the students in the Federation Comprehensive Academy! The dense mass of student card artisans were looking at him murderously, making a scene that simply took one''s breath away.


    Jie Yanbai''s expressionless face didn''t change in the least.


    "I never thought Brother Jie would still be alive and well! What a cause for joy! For the past little while, I''ve been hearing that Brother Jie had gone missing, which really distressed your little brother. I didn''t think there would be any way to ask for your advice, which would be such a pity!"


    A soft, feminine voice languidly mocked as a tall man came out from the crowd. When the other students saw who it was, they all made way. His eyes were narrow, and he had a high nose and thin, dark lips. Although there was a slight smile on his face, everyone felt an involuntary chill. He wore a white battle suit and an evil grin in the corner of his mouth, and he remained calm and unruffled in the midst of the turmoil.


    Dou Bo was an upperclassman and one of the top aces of the younger generation at the Federation Comprehensive Academy. He had sparred with Mi Xiaqing, getting a narrow victory. Mi Xiaqing was the disciple of the master of the Central Repository of the Classics, and his fame far exceeded that of Jie Yanbai. When everyone saw Dou Bo emerge, they consciously chose to remain onlookers.


    Although everyone looked furious, the scene remained orderly. No one was so stupid as to mob him just then. Since they had just gotten the news of the victory at the front lines, a lot of reporters were on their way to Federation Comprehensive Academy. Who knew if some reporters were there already? If they were being photographed, it would cost the Federation Comprehensive Academy a lot of prestige.


    As they saw it, Dou Bo would likely win against Jie Yanbai. The two weren''t at the same level whether on the basis of strength or fame.


    "I heard Brother Jie''s Rouged Finger had been used by a woman. When I see Brother Jie now, I''m still thinking it''s something used by beggars." Dou Bo was smiling, and he drew a burst of laughter. With his ragged white clothes, Jie Yanbai did look vaguely like a beat-up beggar.


    In his white bodysuit, Dou Bo looked heroic by comparison and rather threatening. He always wore a slightly evil smile, which made the hearts of women flutter. The two of them made a powerful contrast.


    "Fight if you''re going to, and don''t waste words." Jie Yanbai had a serious expression. Although he was disheveled, he still gave off a powerfully formidable aura.


    The students in the Federation Comprehensive Academy then fell abruptly silent and looked a little aghast. Perception! Powerful perception! So long as they were card artisans, they could all feel how powerful the perception emitted by Jie Yanbai was!


    The look of mockery on Dou Bo''s face quickly subsided as he squinted and slowly spoke. "No wonder Brother Jie dared to come alone to our Federation Comprehensive Academy, wanting to forge straight ahead. I should have known."


    Jie Yanbai clearly didn''t want to stay tangled up in talk and said with a low shout, "Let''s go!"


    * * *


    Tang Hanpei was stunned to see his face so haggard as Song Chengyan lay on the sickbed. He didn''t know what to say. On the way back to the Federation Comprehensive Academy after humiliating the Central Repository of the Classics, he had heard Song Chengyan was in a coma. In his shock, he had rushed day and night to get there.


    Some guilt arose from his heart, but he quickly controlled his feelings and put on a weak smile.


    "The hostilities are over with. You should rest, and get better. You don''t have to think about anything." Tang Hanpei spoke softly, looking very concerned.


    Wei Lan was watching coldly, a look of hatred flashing past her eyes. But she didn''t say anything, only standing calmly by Song Chengyan''s side.


    Song Chengyan smiled with difficulty, as though the effort to move his facial muscles wasn''t so hard. He said, "Big Brother Tang doesn''t need to worry about me. There won''t be anything wrong with me after a while. I still haven''t congratulated Big Brother Tang. After defeating the master of the Central Repository of the Classics, your number-one spot in the federation is solid."


    There was no joy on Tang Hanpei''s face as he shook his head and said mildly, "It''s only an empty reputation. If I could exchange that for restoring you to health, I wouldn''t say I didn''t want the empty name. I might even want a few more to grab for you." He wasn''t impassioned but spoke as though he were reciting something common. But there was a powerful self-confidence between the lines, which was revealing!


    Hearing what he said, Wei Lan, whose face had been stiff, finally relaxed a little.


    Behind the thick black glasses, those weak but lively eyes became a little more expressive, though the voice clearly didn''t have much breath behind it. "An empty name can sometimes be useful. Once we get through all this, Big Brother Tang''s power will be established. When you add the help of Captain Wei¡­" Getting to that point, he took a look at Wei Lan before continuing on. "Big Brother Tang will already have real power in his hands."


    He suddenly started to cough violently. Wei Lan became panicked, and she ran over to his side and patted him on the chest with a nervous expression while her tears dropped. Tang Hanpei also rushed to say, "Don''t talk; just rest!"


    Song Chengyan coughed for a while before stopping. He raised his head, and a touch of color floated onto his haggard face. A bad feeling arose in Tang Hanpei''s heart.


    "After getting through all of this, probably nobody would have the idea to fight us. After Big Brother Tang returns, just sort out the powers inside the school. Given the additional prestige we''ve gotten from this war, no one inside the school can pose a threat to Big Brother Tang."


    Seeing the flush on Song Chengyan''s face deepen, Tang Hanpei felt more apprehensive and jumpy inside. "Don''t talk, Chengyan. Rest. You don''t have to think about anything. Don''t worry. Just take good care, and get better. I''ll be waiting to campaign together with you and our brothers!"


    "Let me speak, Big Brother Tang." The normally mild Song Chengyan had become unusually stubborn. "This chaotic situation has never happened before. The Big Six would be lucky if half of them survive. Big Brother Tang must be careful of the Star Academy! They are the most dangerous among all the powers."


    "Why?" Tang Hanpei couldn''t help but ask.


    "Right now, it''s the Big Six plus Faya who are the seven independent powerhouses. Faya is not worth being afraid of. They look powerful, but their true foundation is too shallow. They might win for a while, but they will lose in the end! The feud between Desert Camp and Moon Frost Island runs deep, on top of which the two sides share a border and are sure to be incessantly battling from now on. If there''s no one leading the troops at the Central Repository of the Classics, the decline of their power has already been determined, and they''ll be powerless to turn things around. Although the Bitter Solitude Temple is powerful and has a solid foundation, they''ll never get rid of their religious background, which is their fatal flaw. Their religious nature makes them unshakable in the Fanasi District, but it also hinders them from further expansion. That leaves only Star Academy¡­"


    Song Chengyan''s voice rattled to a stop.


    That night, the commanding general of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, Song Chengyan, died of his illness. That rocked the federation.

 393 Non-Human Skills

    The scholars at the Federation Comprehensive Academy were disconsolate in their grief. Even some of the professors were watching Jie Yanbai with fear showing on their faces.


    Jie Yanbai was still looking bedraggled, but the gazes of everyone looking at him were now full of horror and shock.


    "You lost." Jie Yanbai''s eyes sparked, and he spoke in a low voice. In sharp contrast, Dou Bo''s face was like the ashes of the dead.


    Touching all the terrified gazes, Jie Yanbai felt unspeakably carefree. Although his time at the Central Repository of the Classics hadn''t been so satisfactory, he still had deep feelings for the place. Even though he was a comparative stranger to the master, there were still people in the school he cared about. He was friendly with the teacher who had passed along the legacy of the Rouged Finger to him, but as to Mi Xiaqing, who was killed by Tang Hanpei¡­


    He could overlook whether the master lived or died, but he couldn''t be oblivious to the decline of the Central Repository of the Classics¡ªthe place where he had studied and grown up. When he had seen that Tang Hanpei had defeated the master, it felt like he had been given a huge slap in the face at the same time.


    Then, there was the current onslaught of the Federation Comprehensive Academy. Looking at the young and proud faces now so full of terror and fury, Jie Yanbai suddenly remembered his time in the forest. He had been badly wounded and had retreated into the forest, where he narrowly escaped with a new lease on his life.


    He''d had to use huge amounts of strength to be able to kill even the smallest and weakest wild animals. He had been engulfed each day in the middle of life and death and couldn''t dare to slack off in the least. There had been nothing good to eat nor any beautiful women, and there hadn''t even been the most basic security. If he had been the least bit careless, he would have become a feast in the bellies of the beasts.


    He had been like a wild man struggling in the forest. It was a blessing that he had a tough temperament and a powerful will to live. The risk had inspired his potential, and his perception had strengthened at a stunning pace. Since he only knew the Rouged Finger, in order to be able to survive, he''d had to wrack his brains to find some way to increase its power.


    The Rouged Finger, which was such a well-known legacy in the federation, really shined in his hands. His constant thinking in the middle of life and death led to understanding, confirmation, and refinement. Eventually, he had gradually formed a unique set of skills that was different from the those he''d learned from the legacy.


    He re-named it the Glorious Rebirth. Now was his first time to show off to the world how stunning the Glorious Rebirth was.


    Dou Bo''s whole body was blackened, and there was nothing of his handsomeness to be seen. What really shocked people were the six holes on his body, all spewing gurgling blood.


    But Dou Bo was stunningly tough as he withstood the pain. "Brother Jie is far better than I, and Dou Bo willingly accepts defeat." After saying that, he abruptly crumpled to the ground, unconscious. The medical card artisans who had been at the side for a while all came forward to provide critical care.


    Jie Yanbai praised him inwardly while his thunderous gaze slowly swept the crowd. His martial spirit was then at its peak!


    "Who else?"


    The Federation Comprehensive Academy seemed to have suddenly been sent from heaven to hell. The demise of Song Chengyan was agonizing. Then, at about the same time, Jie Yanbai defeated all the aces at the Federation Comprehensive Academy. That pulled the despairing Central Repository of the Classics back from the edge.


    There were 20 large and small platforms broadcasting the competition at the same time. They had originally come to the Federation Comprehensive Academy to see if they could find some exclusive story because of the recent victory on the front lines.


    Countless experts were discussing the victory, all choosing the same expression: crucial victory. If¡ªand only if¡ªSong Chengyan''s demise and Jie Yanbai''s powerful return hadn''t both happened at the same time, that victory would still have been called a crucial victory. But right there was where the wonders of the world resided.


    The fatal, rouge, bright red beam was ever-changing and elusive, like smoke and glorious rebirth. Overwhelming, powerful, and oppressive perception pressed forward. Everyone watching the live broadcast went wild.


    By his own power alone, Jie Yanbai had utterly defeated the aces of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, nearly repeating the scene of Tang Hanpei''s challenge to the Central Repository of the Classics. While it was true that Tang Hanpei wasn''t there, which had provided Jie Yanbai his chance to win, that still didn''t detract from Jie Yanbai''s prestige.


    Previously, Jie Yanbai would only have been considered to have a little fame. There were myriad aces among the Big Six who were at that level. The most famous ace at the Central Repository of the Classics, apart from its master, was Qiao Yuan. Ever since the time they had been competing for the Central Island Firm''s technology for communications in the jungle, there hadn''t been any news about Jie Yanbai after he went missing.


    For someone who had already been forgotten to make such a sudden, powerful, dark-horse comeback really rocked the federation.


    Among the generation of aces from the Central Repository of the Classics, Jie Yanbai had not only learned the Rouged Finger, but he also didn''t have the direct connection to the master the way Qiao Yuan and Mi Xiaqing had.


    From any sense, Jie Yanbai and Tang Hanpei were similar. Both were students of just average power who wanted to learn a legacy, and the two together had become legendary. They both went against the tide by virtue of their own strength, and they even had the same style. What distinguished them was that Tang Hanpei had been favored by the gods. Although Jie Yanbai didn''t have Tang Hanpei''s halo, he did have exceptionally good luck.


    If it all hadn''t coincided with the demise of Song Chengyan, he would never have made such an impression. The experts who were analyzing the times that day had already changed their tunes about their premature determination of the "death" of the Central Repository of the Classics. They now took on a cautious attitude.


    All of the viewers in the Heavenly Federation were focused on the Federation Comprehensive Academy and the Central Repository of the Classics and on the two strongmen, Tang Hanpei and Jie Yanbai.


    * * *


    "Watch carefully."


    He saw Wei-ah slightly bend his right elbow and stretch out his fingers in front of his chest. Then, he suddenly shook his wrist and extended his elbow, which was all a blur to Chen Mu. He couldn''t clearly see Wei-ah''s hand at all when he heard a crisp explosion, and the target in front of Wei-ah exploded apart!


    Impossible! Chen Mu was staring at the shredded target, dazed and wide-eyed. Wei-ah was three meters from the target, and he hadn''t moved half a step during the entire process. His hand certainly couldn''t reach as far as the target!


    But he had seen the target blow up with his own eyes, as though it had been hit by a hammer! But there was obviously nothing there. Since Wei-ah''s hand had no way to hit the target, where had that "hammer" come from?


    Seeming to see Chen Mu''s doubt, Wei-ah didn''t keep him in suspense. He explained, "Speed and the movement of the hand are the most critical. As long as the wave of your hand is fast enough, you can form the air into a lethal flow. The changes in your hand can control the shape and direction of the flow of air."


    Wei-ah''s fingers were slowly fluttering as gently as seaweed, dazzling and beautiful. It was hard to imagine that someone as dull as Wei-ah could actually make such a beautiful motion.


    "Air!" Chen Mu was suddenly enlightened and became immediately horrified. "No way. That would require such explosive power!" Chen Mu understood the principle behind Wei-ah''s chop by then. He had caused the airflow to transform into something like a blade of air with that super fast chop, and that blade had hit the target.


    But Chen Mu was intimidated. How powerful were Wei-ah''s muscles? He had thought he mostly understood. As he now saw it, though, it seemed that he had still underestimated them! Was that something a human could even do? In his mind, Wei-ah was incontrovertibly non-human.


    Seeming to notice Chen Mu''s stiff expression, Wei-ah added, "It''s not so hard." Hearing that, Chen Mu rolled his eyes. Not hard?


    "It''s too bad you can''t concentrate on practicing the things I teach you; otherwise, you would be able to do it by now." Wei-ah said that with a tone of regret. When he had seen Chen Mu the first time, he had felt he was suited to learn that stuff. Although Chen Mu had been learning Wei-ah''s skills all along, he was still following a completely different path even though Wei-ah''s influence could be seen everywhere along the way.


    Chen Mu had some reservations about the way Wei-ah was talking. He really didn''t think he could compare with such a non-human as Wei-ah. Then, Wei-ah''s subsequent detailed explanation opened Chen Mu''s eyes. He had never imagined that Wei-ah¡ªwho barely even uttered nouns¡ªcould actually get so complex.


    Mastering the strength from his muscles had been incredibly hard to do from the start, with each little muscle''s movement needing to be done properly. The popping out of the slightly bent elbow and the shaking of the wrist were related to a whole series of issues. The most frightening part was the final fluttering of the five fingers, which would determine what form the air took and what kind of power it had, as well as where it would shoot and so forth.


    Each step was described in fine detail. If there were any mistakes, it wasn''t that an air blade wouldn''t be formed; its power would be greatly reduced, and it would have no way to become lethal.


    It was the first time Chen Mu appreciated that the skills of the cardless sects were in no way inferior to the fine and well-known skills of card artisans.


    Doing it with Wei-ah a few times, Chen Mu''s arm became so limp and sore that he could hardly raise it. That was caused by his arm not being strong enough, which made Chen Mu unable to refrain from smiling bitterly.


    But he didn''t give up. He could tell what was useful and what wasn''t after having gone through what must have been 100 battles by then. If he could successfully practice that move, it would be a perfect choice for a close-range sneak attack that couldn''t be blocked.


    "Practice carefully; this move can easily injure your muscles and sinews." Wei-ah told him that just as he was about to leave. He suddenly thought of something and warned Chen Mu, "Be careful. A lot of people have been coming to Zargan lately."


    "A lot of people?" Chen Mu stopped what he had been doing and looked at Wei-ah, puzzled. He knew that when Wei-ah spoke about "a lot of people," he was certainly talking about people with a lot of power. Wei-ah''s sensitivity to power was a lot stronger than his.


    "Mmmm. Lots." Wei-ah nodded. He then turned and disappeared without a trace.


    Chen Mu sank into deep thought. Why would there be so many powerful people coming to Zargan just then? However, he quickly put the matter aside and started to practice what he had just learned.


    He was really interested in that move. It would be great as a trump card he could hold in reserve.

 394 Inspiration

    Chen Mu really wanted that move of Wei-ah''s. As he was by then, if Chen Mu really liked some toy he wanted to get, he wouldn''t put it down until he was having fun with it.


    He practiced the move for three days in a row. But he had never imagined that no matter how hard he worked at it, he could never completely realize the move. He wasn''t discouraged by that but only felt it a little strange and surprising. He had previously always been able to do the things Wei-ah taught him as soon as he learned them. That time, though, he never did make any substantial progress.


    There was a light popping sound in front of Chen Mu, followed by his muffled grunt as a sharp pain came from his elbow. By the time he pulled back his elbow, he saw that his joint was a little swollen.


    After three days of refining it, he was pretty familiar with the principles of the move. But he knew where the problem was. Even given his physical strength, he didn''t have enough power in his muscles and tendons, which had led to his not being able to complete the move.


    He was clear about his physical condition just the same. His physical strength and muscle power had developed to a rather stunning degree. If he still wanted to make any further breakthroughs, it would be beyond difficult. It would only be possible to progress if he really did utterly abandon his current path to follow Wei-ah''s path. But that was impossible!


    By comparison, Chen Mu had far more interest in perception and energy than he did in the pursuit of strength; never mind pure bodily strength. He didn''t expect to ever give up on cards or energy composition or the study of perception. Moreover, Sue Lochiro had always said that improving the strength of his perception could contain the green thread in his body to a certain extent.


    That trick of Wei-ah''s surely attracted him, but the attraction was still not sufficient to drag him onto a different path.


    Chen Mu felt some regret. That play was the finest bare-handed skill he had ever seen. It incorporated highly complex transformations and accurate control, and it could make a person dizzy and disoriented. The body was the most precise apparatus within the move. Even Chen Mu¡ªwho was so familiar with the fine control of perception¡ªwas bowled over by the splendid move.


    By then, however, he finally understood that as far as the cardless sect aces were concerned, their bodies were like card artisans'' perception¡ªso fine as to make one''s hair stand on end.


    The decline of the cardless sects had various causes. The true cardless sect aces like Wei-ah weren''t at all inferior to top card artisans. But the cardless sects placed higher demands on the body and on talent. Moreover, without climbing to the very top level, it would be difficult for the cardless sects to contend with card artisans.


    Card artisans and the cardless sects didn''t really have any essential differences, though, apart from one of them controlling perception and the composition of energy and the other controlling their own bodies.


    Full of regret, once Chen Mu decided the issue of which road to take, he focused on his own path with no further hesitation. That trick of Wei-ah''s had given him a lot of inspiration, however. He was inspired that he could get to such a point by the simple use of muscle strength. What if he were to use energy to simulate the body''s muscles? What if his surroundings weren''t just pure air but an atmosphere rich with energy?


    Chen Mu had no way to accomplish such fine control with his body, but if he were to use perception, he could certainly do it easily. He would even be able to make it still more refined. What kind of scene might that create?


    That thinking made him excited! Wouldn''t it be something to look forward to if he could design a card according to that principle?


    But he quickly calmed down and lost his excitement, which was replaced by endless sneering. He had so many cards on his hands just then. He could freely deploy both the Hundred Changes and the Patterned Shuttle. But he still needed to grope his way through the Golden Word Shackle, the Bipolar Thunderball, and the Snake Lens. Apart from those three cards, there were a lot of tactics he still needed to learn and copy from the Sectional Succession.


    That was his short-term plan: to put battle power up front during that period of time.


    Even if he were to plan for the long term, there was a pile of things in the mysterious card he still hadn''t figured out. And, he couldn''t relax with his perceptual training for even a day. Just having made his breakthrough, his perception was in a state of rapid progress. He needed to practice continually during that time to be able to further consolidate the fruits of his breakthrough.


    Thinking ahead, he needed to do a terrifying amount of training. Chen Mu wasn''t just grateful to Wei-ah; if he hadn''t been practicing with Wei-ah, his body would absolutely never have been as healthy and strong as it was. Without a strong and healthy body, wanting to complete such heavy training would be a fool''s dream.


    He would have to put his idea aside for the time being. Just then, he needed to use every bit of his time on card artisan training.


    In his estimation, the Golden Word Shackle and the Bipolar Thunderball would be his main attack cards for a while. On the one hand, they were very powerful. On the other, he could hide his identity to a certain extent.


    Still, whether it was the Golden Word Shackle or the Bipolar Thunderball, neither had a legacy, which meant Chen Mu needed to grope along on his own. Between the two, he had made more progress with the Golden Word Shackle. The entire process was like decrypting a password. That required a lot of planning, which was Chen Mu''s forte.


    The decrypted key corresponded to a syllable change, which then formed the word of command. That wasn''t so hard for him. He had previously taught Lu Xiaoru how to use the Sound Beam, so he had already researched a little about changes in syllables.


    He suddenly thought, Why not make a token card especially for doing those calculations? That way, he could greatly reduce the time used for calculation. Decrypting the key was the most critical thing, and his current style was rather inefficient and random. Not only could a token card be combined with other compositions in the card, but it was an extremely powerful tool in itself.


    Why hadn''t he thought of that before? Chen Mu slapped himself upside the head in his annoyance.


    It wasn''t too late if he wanted to do it. It wasn''t hard for him to make a token card, the most important hindrance being materials. The materials to make a token card, such as the black and white chrysanthemum rock, weren''t commonly seen. But he had already used up the black and white chrysanthemum rock and many of the other materials.


    Perhaps he should go ask Ah Sang about it. She ran a trading firm, after all. She had a lot more resources at her disposal than ordinary people did.


    Just as he was turning that over in his mind, the intercom in the training room sounded. A screen popped out when he picked it up, on which Ah Sang appeared.


    "I am sorry to disturb your training, Mr. Qiao. So, as I brought up with you before, an elder from the family will soon arrive in Zargan to assist Ah Sang. The one coming is Ah Sang''s great uncle. He heard of your prestige and hopes he can pay you a visit. I wonder when you might have some free time." Ah Sang was cautious about asking.


    Great uncle? He would be a lot older than Chen Mu. Once he thought about an old man past his 60-year cycle paying him a visit, Chen Mu felt a little uncomfortable. He thought for a moment before saying, "I was just sort of getting ready to look for you, so why not ask him to come along to meet?"


    That made Ah Sang happy, and she hurried to say, "Ok. Will you be coming out right away? I''ll get ready."


    By the time Chen Mu came out, there were already two lines of servants with respectful expressions lined up along the sides of the door to the training room. Ah Sang and an older man were waiting at the other end of the lines.


    "Gu Anqi has met Mr. Qiao." The old man''s voice was as clear as a bell, and he had a ruddy face. He respectfully saluted to Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu rushed to return the salute. "Mr. Gu is really too polite!"


    Gu Anqi heartily thanked him. "Ah Sang has told me that if Mr. Qiao weren''t here, things would have already gone bad by the time I got here. I''ve only got this one niece. How could I allow her to be wronged like that? No matter how it happened, I really appreciate Mr. Qiao extending his hand in assistance!"


    Chen Mu waved his hand and said with an ordinary expression, "I am employed by Miss Ah Sang, and that is my obligation. Now that Mr. Gu has arrived, I should be leaving in a couple of days."


    "Is Mr. Qiao going to leave?" Gu Anqi and Ah Sang looked at one another, not having thought Chen Mu would be so blunt.


    "Mmmm." Chen Mu didn''t really want to get tangled up in the issue. How could he not know anything about what the old man and Ah Sang had in mind? Before the two of them could open their mouths, he added, "It just so happens that there is something I need Miss Ah Sang''s help with."


    Ah Sang rushed to say, "Whatever Mr. Qiao needs, simply say it. So long as Ah Sang has the means, I would never refuse."


    Chen Mu nodded. "I would like to buy some materials."


    Ah Sang breathed a sigh of relief, though she looked a little cautious. "I wonder what materials Mr. Qiao might require. If Ah Sang may have a list, someone will get it ready."


    "That would be such a bother for Miss Ah Sang. However much it costs, the market rate would be fine." Chen Mu pulled out a list of materials that he had prepared earlier and gave it to Ah Sang. Ah Sang received it with both hands and carefully looked it over. She then showed a little embarrassment on her face.


    "Is something wrong?" Chen Mu asked, having noticed something about Ah Sang''s expression.


    Ah Sang told him truthfully, "I don''t want to keep it from Mr. Qiao that while our humble firm has most of these materials, there are two of them, mo-ah stone and speckled grass shellac, that aren''t among the goods we have." Seeing that Chen Mu''s gaze had fallen onto her, her voice became a bit pained. "Those two materials are extremely rare. In all of Zargan¡ªapart from under the banner of the Southern Star Firm, which includes the biggest trading firm in Zargan, the Southern Star Trading Company¡ªno one has the channels to buy those two. Moreover, they would never sell them to us."


    "The Southern Star Trading Company?" Chen Mu said thoughtfully, "I''ll just go to them to buy it."


    That was just as well. Chen Mu planned to hit the road after buying the materials since he had to get to the Dongrui District soon. He then said, "May I trouble your honorable firm for the rest of the materials for me to pick up in a little while? If it would please Miss Ah Sang, could you calculate the fee?"


    Ah Sang shook her head. "Apart from those two, the rest of the materials are common and aren''t worth anything. Please consider it a small favor. I would be pleased if Mr. Qiao didn''t refuse."


    "Then, I will thank you very much, Miss Ah Sang." Chen Mu got up and said, "Might I ask Miss Ah Sang to send someone to take me to the Southern Star Firm?"


    Ah Sang smiled. "There''s no need for someone else; I will take Mr. Qiao there."


    Inadvertently, her hand swiped the veil on her face. The black veil, which was always hanging over her face, fell like a leaf from a tree.

 395 Dang Han

    She had curved eyebrows like a painting, skin like snow that could be broken with a puff, and a face that could easily show both joy and anger but was exquisite enough to take one''s breath away. Her fluid eyes and the off-hand style they exuded made one''s heart race.


    Chen Mu was rather taken aback. Ah Sang''s beauty surprised him. When he saw that face, he finally understood why Ah Sang normally wore a veil and why Miao Xuan was always thinking about her.


    Considering beauty alone, Sue Lochiro was slightly inferior to her. Ah Sang''s was a kind of stunning beauty without the slightest defect. Once a person saw it, it would be hard to take one''s eyes away.


    Chen Mu had powerful resistance to beautiful women, which had a lot to do with his childhood experiences. Afterward, although he hadn''t been surrounded by all that many beautiful women, those like Lu Xiaoru or Sue Lochiro were women with looks and temperaments that were hard to come by.


    Being suddenly able to see Ah Sang''s true face did stop him dead. Still, he quickly returned to his senses, marveling to himself how gorgeous she was! With his spirits returned to normal, Chen Mu said in praise, "Ah Sang is such an unusually beautiful young woman that I can''t stop looking at you."


    Her gorgeous eyes lit up. Chen Mu''s gaze never left her eyes even when she could see how affected he was, which deepened her look of appreciation and surprise. Although Qiao Yuan was ugly-looking, his magnanimity and clear gaze were nothing like those fierce and ruthless types.


    Ah Sang smiled slightly, showing two little dimples. "Getting such praise from Mr. Qiao pleases Ah Sang to no end. It sure is a lot more comfortable without my veil." After saying that, she stuck out the tip of her tongue. "If it weren''t for Mr. Qiao being here, Ah Sang would never dare to remove her veil."


    Her pretty face looked a little naughty as she bit the delicate, glistening tip of her tongue in a way to stop a one''s breath. Those storytelling eyes looked like they could seduce a person''s soul. If anyone else had been beside her, they would have long since been lost in infatuation by what her eyes were saying.


    Chen Mu smiled unconcernedly, never having believed he could ever have such charm. He then said, "It''s getting late. Let''s go to the Southern Star Trading Firm."


    Although he spoke casually, he naturally left no room for doubt in his tone. Ah Sang was startled, finding Qiao Yuan even more inscrutable than ever. She had thought Qiao Yuan was a card artisan with outstanding power; now, however, it would seem she would be endlessly discovering new things about him. For him to have the stature to get the students from Moon Frost Island to come knocking on his door, the respect he commanded couldn''t have been ordinary. Moreover, she was familiar with the authority that came through what he''d just said, which was the authority of someone at the top! Only those accustomed to high positions, or those in command, would have such authority.


    But wasn''t he just a card artisan? In Ah Sang''s eyes, the man in front of her had become still more bewildering. However, she didn''t reveal the least inkling of surprise or uncertainty on her face. She stood fully upright and smiled sweetly. "Mmmm. Ah Sang will take you there."


    Ah Sang and Chen Mu were walking on the streets of Zargan. She was like a powerful magnet; everywhere she went, people''s gazes would be helplessly drawn to her. She was truly as beautiful as a goddess. With the unbearably ugly Chen Mu to set her off at her side, she became still more beautiful to look at.


    Chen Mu was calm and unafraid with his mild expression, and Ah Sang was prettily laughing at his side and saying something to him from time to time. Many people couldn''t repress a deep sigh when they saw such a scene on the street. Their gazes at Ah Sang were full of pity for such a flower to be stuck in such cow dung. But some among the crowds looked a little deeper. Chen Mu had been the main show those past few days, and his face was so ugly it was hard to forget.


    So, although people would point from time to time and would talk about them in low voices, no one dared to approach. Quite a few of them were trying to guess Ah Sang''s identity.


    Chen Mu was actually a bit uncomfortable; so many gawkers made him feel like an animal in the zoo. He lamented to himself that if he''d known there would be that sort of scene, he would certainly have had Ah Sang put on her veil as soon as they''d left.


    His expression suddenly shifted, and he pretended to inadvertently glance into the crowd. Several men were looking straight at him with gloomy gazes.


    His heart skipped, and he withdraw his gaze as casually as possible. They were wearing battle suits, and he could tell they were card artisans at a glance. Their expressions betrayed a murderous aura, and they were by no means kindly types. Although they were among the crowd, they stood in unassuming groups of three or so. Bogner had always emphasized team collaboration, and Chen Mu was naturally not at all out of practice from being so constantly exposed to such tactical knowledge.


    Chen Mu suddenly remembered what Wei-ah had been telling him those last few days. Wei-ah had said there had recently been a lot of people of unknown origins coming to Zargan. That they alarmed Wei-ah was enough to show the power those people must have had.


    Could they be coming after me? That was the first thought that popped into Chen Mu''s mind, though he quickly nixed it. He was perfectly clear about the influence he had. He guessed those people had most likely come for Moon Frost Island.


    "You are Qiao Yuan?" A deep and gravelly voice was suddenly transmitted into Chen Mu''s ears. Everything abruptly quieted on the street. People consciously made way, many showing excitement in their eyes.


    Just as he had nixed that speculation, he had never thought it would so suddenly become true. Chen Mu didn''t know whether to laugh or to cry. His gaze turned toward the speaker.


    A man stood as straight as a javelin in the middle of the street, staring coldly at him. His black hair went to his waist and was held by shiny silver hoops, which were glinting brightly in the sunshine. On his left wrist was tied a light green apparatus, and his black battle suite was as clean as new.


    Chen Mu glimpsed the men he had just seen out of the corner of his eye. They were staring at him interestedly with no intention of making any moves. That confirmed to Chen Mu that they had more than ordinary power. If they wanted to attack him, he would have to make a getaway. Unless one were blind, it was easy to determine that his adversary didn''t have good intentions.


    "Who are you?" Chen Mu asked him, expressionless.


    "You killed Mo Ta?" In the same way, his adversary asked back without answering.


    Chen Mu realized he had come because of Mo Ta. He inwardly understood that it wasn''t going to be a good day, and he didn''t want to get mixed up in any talk. He figured he must have been something like a friend of Mo Ta''s, coming to seek revenge.


    "What business is that of yours?" Chen Mu felt he was getting more and more into the state and tossed that phrase out without much thought. Once he said it, he felt inexplicably more comfortable. A weird notion popped into his mind: Could he have some actual skill at acting?


    Those gathered around to watch became more excited. Everyone knew there would be a good show. Hearing how arrogant he was, quite a few of them were smacking their mouths in anticipation.


    The already nasty look on the man facing Chen Mu became still uglier as he laughed coldly and said, "Don''t think you can just walk away after killing Mo Ta. Give over the Golden Word Shackle, and I''ll spare your life!"


    Just as he said that, the crowd erupted.


    "Dang Han! It''s Dang Han!"


    "That''s Dang Han! The 70th on the Black-Line Star Listing!"


    "Aiya! Isn''t Qiao Yuan the 72nd? When those two get into a fight in front of us, they''ll be very close in strength!"


    "Not necessarily. Qiao Yuan only just got onto the Black-Line Star Listing this month; Dang Han has been on it for years, and he has been much more of a winner. While others may be powerhouses, Qiao Yuan will be a dark horse at best."


    Even the guys Chen Mu had seen in the crowd looked quite shocked when they heard Dang Han''s identity qualified like that. Chen Mu wasn''t surprised, given that his adversary knew who he was and would dare to challenge him. How could he not have a few notches on his belt?


    But his objective was actually the Golden Word Shackle, which was rather unexpected. He wouldn''t expect a card artisan ranked 70th on the Black-Line Star Listing to actually be interested in the card of someone ranked 19 names behind him. Still, if he was really that interested, why hadn''t he already made his move?


    Chen Mu was a basically clever person, and he quickly thought things through. He figured Dang Han had previously been afraid of Constellation. When he had seen the Golden Word Shackle fall into Chen Mu''s hands, he had gotten the idea to come and fight.


    Chen Mu immediately understood his situation. He''d killed Mo Ta and had gotten onto the Black-Line Star Listing. Having become well-known, there had to be some things he couldn''t avoid. So, it would be a real show¡ªa show with no way out. If he were defeated, the event would undoubtedly be declared his final failure.


    He was in a kind of wonderful and dangerous position. If he were the least bit careless, not only would all of his previous efforts be wasted, but even his very life would be in doubt. Although his adversary said he only wanted the Golden Word Shackle, how could that kind of off-handed remark be trusted? Which one of those sorts of people wouldn''t kill without blinking?


    Even if he could keep his life and get back into action, he would still be unable to avoid that kind of thing. It was a threshold he would have to cross!


    Having thought it through clearly, Chen Mu drew a deep breath and put all of his miscellaneous thoughts as far from his mind as he could. He concentrated his attention as never before. He had to win that battle!


    Under his gentle exterior, his bravura surge of blood was activated in an instant, and he forgot about any performance. All of the untamed valiance he had been carefully holding in check now showed its towering horns in the midst of such a dangerous situation!


    He let his perception loose without hiding anything. A strangely lively golden energy chain appeared in Chen Mu''s hands, flying up and down and clanking loudly.


    "Why the nonsense? Fight if you''re going to fight."


    The grave voice rolled like thunder across the whole sky, coldly conveying formidable self-confidence and determination. The raging energy fluctuations were like huge waves aroused by a storm, suddenly compressed and spiraling as they brewed!

 396 Jade Star

    With such a huge commotion in the city, how could Zeng Yushan and his gang not notice anything? They were just in time to witness the scene when they arrived.


    "What an overbearing battle aura!" Lin Yao''s face was full of shock.


    Zeng Yushan looked grave, and he agreed. "This Qiao Yuan''s capability is indeed powerful. Just this aura alone can hardly be matched by ordinary card artisans."


    The other few were already dazed by the scene. Since their admission into Moon Frost Island, they had been indoctrinated with the belief that Moon Frost Island was the strongest. The sudden discovery that such an accomplished ace existed outside the school threw their minds into utter confusion.


    Lin Yao turned and asked, "Senior, do you know anything about this Dang Han?"


    Zeng Yushan spoke in an undertone. "Our paths crossed once. This man is cruel, merciless, and sly, and he is an extremely difficult person. Pity that I''ve never fought with him before, so I don''t know his exact capability."


    Lin Yao looked confused. "This is somewhat strange. By the looks of it, Dang Han seems fully confident of gaining possession of the Golden Word Shackle. What is it about this Golden Word Shackle that attracts him? Moreover, being such a crafty fellow, how does he dare to so recklessly challenge Qiao Yuan, who''s just two places behind him?"


    Zeng Yushan was also somewhat perplexed. "Perhaps there is some inside information we don''t know about."


    The two spoke no more and paid close attention to every change in the scene.


    "How impressive!" Another female student of Moon Frost Island was incredibly excited, and her eyes were glowing. "Fight! Fight! Fight with all your might! Being able to see such a duel between aces, this trip''s certainly worth it!"


    Two boys nearby both shivered and subconsciously shifted a little farther away from her. It was scary that such terrifying and violent traits laid beneath the usually demure and endearing appearance!


    "Senior, is rank 72 of the Black-Line Star Listing this impressive already? Aren''t those in front even more powerful?" The lovely eyes of another female student were wide open, and her face was full of shock. She was evidently stunned by the battle aura emanating from Qiao Yuan.


    Zeng Yushan smiled gently. "Ha ha. Several teachers at the academy have this level of capability too. Junior Ke''er need not worry much. Besides, anyone who can enter the top 100 of the Black-Line Star Listing is naturally a capable fellow."


    "Ah," Ke''er answered, seeming to have understood.


    Zeng Yushan had actually left something unsaid. Even in Moon Frost Island, not many teachers could attain such a level of capability. He had relatively more experience in the outside world and was aware of the difference between them. In comparison with the card artisans on the Black-Line Star Listing, the academic card artisans were far too inexperienced. Though all sorts of friendly duels and competitions were available in school, in contrast with the card artisans on the Black-Line Star Listing, they were still rather far behind.


    Which of the card artisans on the Black-Line Star Listing was not one who had experienced hundreds of battles and had worked hard for their way out from countless massacres? As he thought of that, a hint of anxiety involuntarily rose in Zeng Yushan''s heart.


    He suddenly recalled the corpses discovered in the forest. Though several were unidentifiable, a few were relatively well-preserved. After identification, it was found that the dead men had all been members of Constellation, and amongst them were two captains.


    Could it have been infighting?


    Of the seven teams of Constellation, three captains had died, and one captain was heavily injured. The three teams remaining were all that was still intact at present. Zeng Yushan couldn''t figure out what exactly Constellation was trying to do. In the past few days, large numbers of unknown card artisans flooded into Zargan, which further gave him some premonition.


    Currently, he only wished the school''s reinforcements would arrive soon. Those juniors of his, though each capable in their own right, very much lacked actual combat experience, which worried him exceedingly. It was as though Zargan had suddenly turned into a dangerous place with fierce undercurrents. Zeng Yushan had always vaguely had some illusion that a pair of invisible hands was behind all of it.


    Dang Han showed some signs of being moved for the first time. The intensity of the adversary''s desire for battle was rather rare among the card artisans he had encountered before. He was somewhat doubtful of the intelligence he had received. According to that information, Qiao Yuan had managed to kill Mo Ta by means of his command of wild beasts. His own battle capability had nothing remarkable. The person who had provided that piece of intelligence was rather credible, which was the reason behind his deliberate provocation that day. Dang Han''s expression alternated between light and dark, and his eyes were twinkling.


    The Golden Word Shackle''s origin was mysterious. Even its previous owner, Mo Ta, was unaware of its source. However, Dang Han had once encountered it and had been looking for an opportunity ever since. Unfortunately, Mo Ta had already joined Constellation at that time. As Dang Han was extremely wary of Wen and Yuchi Bai, he hadn''t dared to attempt snatching it away.


    The moment he had seen from the latest issue of the Black-Line Star Listing that the Golden Word Shackle had fallen into the hands of a card artisan named Qiao Yuan, he had cast aside everything and hurried for Zargan at top speed, with the sole purpose of snatching the Golden Word Shackle from Qiao Yuan''s hands. However, on his way, he had met someone unexpected and had learned the exact details of Mo Ta''s death, which had made him even more joyous.


    What he hadn''t expected, though, was that the adversary''s unyielding attitude exceeded his estimation. Was it false bravado, or did he have something or someone to rely on? Dang Han couldn''t help but feel somewhat unable to make up his mind. As his gaze fell on that golden and crystalized energy chain, his eyes turned fiercely passionate.


    Card artisans who could reach that level of attainment were filled with confidence in themselves. As he thought of how he had chanced upon the various rumors surrounding the Golden Word Shackle, all suspicion was cast far out of his mind.


    "You can''t tell what''s good for you!" Dang Han grunted with some show of coldness and a pair of greedy eyes. At the same time, his body brightened all over, and a jade-green light spotted with silvery stars covered him up. From far away, his whole body appeared to have been sculpted from jadeite.


    "Jade Star!" sounded a few exclamations from the crowd. The Black-Line Star Listing had records of the name of the card Dang Han specialized in, but a name was all there was. No one had personally witnessed its functionality and battle style.


    The brilliance of jade-green energy flowed around him. From spots of silver stars burst forth a couple of dazzling balls of light every now and then.


    Chen Mu made up his mind at once and attacked with decision. He didn''t seem to have moved, but the energy chain hovering in front of him suddenly shot out exceptionally quickly! The three triangular energy bodies were as sharp and threatening as three snake fangs! That regular attack was nothing special, but it came without warning.


    Nobody had expected Chen Mu to act at once and to blatantly launch a sneak attack under the eyes of so many!


    A fierce light flashed across Dang Han''s eyes. While he didn''t appear to have moved, he slid three meters to the left as though his feet had been smeared with oil. An adversary who acted so unconventionally and had little regard for reputation was usually extremely difficult. However, at present, he had no time to think much and could only be 120 percent alert.


    Though his sneak attack was unsuccessful, Chen Mu wasn''t too concerned. It could only be a joke if an ace like Dang Han were injured by a sneak attack of that standard. His intention had just been to break the adversary''s rhythm and to create a slight window of opportunity for himself. However, Dang Han was extremely shrewd and gave Chen Mu not even a slight opportunity.


    Intense dark green energy fragmented instantly and turned into dozens of star-shaped energy bodies. From their form and shape, they looked very much like starfish, except that each was vividly jade-green, and the silver spots on them flashed like stars. Dang Han laughed coldly, and his right hand waved gently toward Chen Mu.


    The jade-green energy starfish drifted toward Chen Mu with little hurry and contrasted starkly with Chen Mu''s lightning-quick sneak attack a moment ago. The most bizarre thing was that a few of the energy starfish actually dove into the ground!


    Though Chen Mu was excited, his mind was strangely calm. An unconventional energy body such as that had to also have something special about the way it attacked. The world of cards was boundless, and no one knew how many compositions of energy bodies there actually were. Different energy structures had different characteristics. Chen Mu wouldn''t have been surprised no matter how unique the energy body was.


    "Save!"


    A transparent golden cube appeared in front of Chen Mu. Many among the crowd had seen Chen Mu before and couldn''t help but feel even more excited. They had seen with their own eyes how the Meteor Chopper, with all the might from Ji Ming of the Linghai Training Camp, had been unable to shake that glass-like substance merely the thickness of a finger.


    However, as those people were looking forward to the clash between the two sides, the neat, glass-like cube was as soft as sticky candy. It curled toward Chen Mu. In the blink of an eye, a ball-shaped golden energy cloak covered Chen Mu securely. Energy chains could be distinctly seen on the energy cloak and were distributed on it like patterns. Now and then, golden rays flowed along the energy chains.


    Those who had seen Chen Mu use the save command before clicked their tongues in wonder.


    Zeng Yushan suddenly said, "Junior Ke''er, you major in energy cloak cards. What do you think of this energy cloak?"


    That female student by the name of Ke''er came to herself with a start and responded, "The structure is very stable. The energy chains are functioning as the skeleton and allow the cloak to be even more secure. This fellow''s control over energy is very fine and impressive. Even I can''t do it¡­" As the flow of her words reached the end, her voice grew softer, and her head drooped with some sense of loss.


    Zeng Yushan was rather fond of that cute junior of his. Seeing her so disheartened, he involuntarily explained, "Junior is still young. This Qiao Yuan is much older than you. When you grow a little older, you will definitely be capable of this, too."


    "Yeah!" Ke''er raised her face. With determination in her eyes, she nodded her little head firmly.


    "Ha! My little Ke''er is the best. Fret not! Fret not! Sister Li is here!" The female student who everyone had avoided like snakes and scorpions pulled Ke''er into her embrace and unconsciously rubbed her head, entirely unaware of the mess she made of Ke''er''s hair.


    Her incredibly fiery gaze was on the field, and she spoke with fervor. "Ha ha ha! Though this man looks a bit ugly, he''s really a tough one! Tough guys are my favorite! Beat that Dang Han into pulp! I haven''t liked the look of him since long ago!"


    Seeing the incredibly passionate Li, the other few unanimously moved farther away from her again. Nonetheless, everyone''s eyes were all fixed on the two men in the field.


    It was the Jade Star versus the Golden Word Shackle¡ªthe first collision!

 397 The Might of Golden Word Shackle

    The first jade-green starfish touched the golden energy cloak so lightly that it seemed like a cloud, sticking to the energy cloak like cotton candy the moment it made contact. At the same time, the spots of silver within the jade-green starfish suddenly brightened, and the dazzling silver light blanketed the rich jade-green entirely. Under the silver light, countless starfish ceaselessly attached themselves to Chen Mu''s energy cloak.


    The intense silver light was so dazzling that Chen Mu couldn''t open his eyes. Thankfully, though, he didn''t need to. His perception could discern any bit of change.


    His expression then changed unexpectedly. The speed of the flow of energy in the apparatus had abruptly increased!


    The increase in speed was a common thing. Different battle tactics and different energy constructions each called for different energy consumptions, so the rate of energy flow in an apparatus would never be fixed. However, the current speed of flow was vastly different from other times in the past.


    Within a second or two, the speed of energy flow in the apparatus increased by eight times, which was a terrifying figure! If that rate were to persist, it wouldn''t take long for all of the energy in the apparatus''s power card to be used up. Once the energy was used up, unless the power card could be replaced, Chen Mu would lose almost all of his battle capabilities!


    Though Chen Mu was alarmed, he wasn''t panicking and drew aside a strand of perception to go along with the flow of energy. He wanted to find out precisely where the energy was being used.


    Chen Mu''s eyes suddenly flew open, wholly disregarding the blinding silver brilliance. It was the starfish energy bodies stuck on the energy cloak! Inconceivably, they were sucking away the energy!


    Chen Mu''s heart grew cold for a moment. Beneath the cute appearance of those jade-green starfish energy bodies was actually such a frightening feature! As the number of starfish on the energy cloak increased, the rate of energy consumption also increased at an astonishing speed. That tactic was vicious enough!


    In battles between card artisans, energy cloaks were the most common tactical equipment. The target of Dang Han''s maneuver was not the energy cloak, but the power card in the apparatus instead. Once the adversary''s power card was exhausted, it could only end in the adversary''s surrender. It was indeed striking at the root of the problem.


    No wonder Dang Han had a cold smile hanging on his face all the time, looking confident and well-prepared. Deciding on the spot, Chen Mu grunted and deactivated the energy cloak.


    The energy starfish, which had lost their support, approached to stick to Chen Mu one after another. How could Chen Mu dare to let them make any contact? Lightly flicking his wrist, his energy chain whipped up and down, covering him in the center. The Big Mudfish launched simultaneously. His whole body, like a mudfish, shook and twisted continuously for a few times, narrowly making its way out from the encirclement of the energy starfish.


    The gaps between the energy starfish were minute, and the space for turning and moving couldn''t have been smaller. Being able to escape so simply and deftly, Chen Mu''s remarkable evasion technique was in full display. Amongst the surrounding crowd, regardless of whether they could appreciate the move, gasps were heard all around.


    Zeng Yushan, much pleased by what he saw, was singing endless praises. "Qiao Yuan''s abilities are really bizarre and unpredictable. It seems like there''s more to come next."


    The other few already had their eyes glued to the scene. They had seen many similar imaginative and unfathomable performances in school, but that was their first time seeing such a splendid evasion in combat. A real battle and a performance were of two natures. For performances, you had sufficient time for practice and preparation; in a battle, you needed to decide on the next move in a fleeting instant without hesitating. Once there was any failure, the most probable end would be death.


    Being capable of executing so wonderful a series of evasion moves in combat, Chen Mu conquered the heart of those Moon Frost Island students in one go.


    Dang Han''s expression changed slightly. He, too, hadn''t expected that Chen Mu could really dash out of such a thick encirclement. Nonetheless, he calmed down quickly, and the cold smile returned to his face.


    Though he was temporarily out of danger, Chen Mu felt no excitement in his heart. A moment ago, to escape the encirclement of the energy starfish, his energy chain had bumped into one of them. No trace could be seen on the exterior of the energy chain, but Chen Mu knew the stability of the energy construction of the section that had touched the energy starfish had been greatly reduced.


    That was a pitfall. For highly intricate energy bodies like the energy chain, any bit of structural damage could potentially bring about massive changes. What made him feel worse was that even though the escape had been timely, the amount of energy left in the power card in his apparatus was not even half of the original. That also meant he had to make it a quick and decisive battle to end it before the power card was exhausted.


    He hadn''t expected that a seemingly effortless move of the adversary''s could promptly put him in a dangerous position. Although Chen Mu was laughing bitterly at heart, his will didn''t waver in the slightest. He was like a lit barrel of gasoline at the moment. The heat of the battle left his body somewhat trembling and pushed the sensitivity of his perception to a height unimaginable in usual times.


    Staring at the cold smile at the corner of Dang Han''s lips, Chen Mu had a sudden idea, and his eyes contracted instantly. Hovering in midair and with no point to exert force on, he unleashed it without any warning¡ªwave-shaped, high-frequency evasion!


    Crisp, clear popping sounds were heard everywhere, and Chen Mu left a trail of half-discernible shadows behind him. The instant he had begun moving, two green beams had suddenly shot out from the ground. As though he had foreseen them, Chen Mu evaded them narrowly.


    That battle tactic, which had once cost Mo Ta and Jin Yin bitterly, again astounded the crowd. Dang Han, who had maintained his composure all along, finally changed his expression, and his figure backed away rapidly!


    Two figures slashed across the sky one after another. The sound of air popping left people''s ears numb, and continuous, ghost-like shadow trails were so plainly visible in the sunshine that people''s hearts were chilled.


    Every pop of the air allowed Chen Mu''s speed to pick up slightly. His speed grew faster and faster, and he was like a fierce, overbearing bolt of black lightning slashing the sky open!


    That ugly face was enlarging in Dang Han''s view with astounding speed, and some panic flashed across his sinister eyes. He let out a bellow, and a round jade-green energy shield swiftly appeared between him and Chen Mu.


    "Bind!"


    It was like a sound from beyond the skies, indifferent yet full of oppression, and energy fluctuations in the air abruptly rose up! The energy chain surrounding Chen Mu''s body danced about wildly like a shark smelling blood and transformed into dozens of rays of golden light rolling toward Dang Han.


    Dang Han grunted, and the jade-green energy shield spun at high speed, just like a rapidly rotating grinding wheel. The moment the energy chain made contact with the rapidly spinning energy shield, it would be bounced away.


    From that, it was clear how rich Dang Han''s battle experience was. The perception and energy consumed in the maneuver was minimal, but, regardless of timing or orientation, it was just right. Hiding behind the energy shield, he hugged his knees, curled into a ball, and shifted his body now and then to avoid the attacks from behind.


    Chen Mu wasn''t disheartened. Instead, his eyes brightened at once. A chance!


    While it looked as though Dang Han''s move was clever to the utmost, Chen Mu spotted his weakness in the first instant! As Dang Han was huddled up, he had to use the rotating energy shield as cover, which also caused his speed to be incredibly slow.


    A section of the energy chain was stealthily drawn away by Chen Mu. Looking solemn, he closed the fingers of his right hand together into a cone and boomed, "Stab!"


    The golden light that had filled the sky swiftly gathered into a ray of sharp light and gave rise to a strange whistling sound. The shrill whistling was different from the crisp and highly frequent popping a moment ago, and it seemed to dive straight into people''s ears. That was one of the two new techniques he had figured out during his period at the Chichi Trading Firm.


    The power of that move was like the unstoppable rush of water in a large river, and the expression of the people around changed all at once! Zeng Yushan and his gang each widened their eyes and watched the scene closely.


    Dang Han''s face was ghastly. He had already been securely locked on to by Chen Mu''s perception. If he were to back away at that moment, he would definitely be pierced through completely. A trace of viciousness flashed across his eyes, and his pupils abruptly dilated. Pop, pop, pop! Two clouds of blood suddenly erupted at his collarbone.


    Spots of blood covered his face, looking extremely sinister. Provoked by that, his perception became extremely turbulent, and the sense of helplessness from a moment ago lightened instantly. He hesitated no more and set up another layer of energy shield swiftly in front of himself behind the first layer.


    Layer after layer, he did not have the slightest pause, as though he was dead-set on creating a wall of iron and steel in front of him!


    The ray of golden light that tore the sky apart hit the exact center of the outermost layer of the shield with extreme accuracy.


    Ping! A crisp sound, and the shield instantly shattered into a shower of jade-green fragments mixed with speckles of silver, looking rather pretty. In that shower of glittering fragments, the golden light, still going strong, came into contact with the second shield layer.


    Ping! Ping! Ping! The sound of shattering even closer and crisper than the popping of air earlier seemed to be mocking at how useless and in vain Dang Han''s actions were. He didn''t seem to have been affected and was still madly setting up energy shields, but a strange light, so faint it was undetected, flashed across his eyes.


    That time, he set up two layers of energy shields at the same time, and the ninth and tenth shield layer appeared together. Just as he finished, the golden light had already penetrated the eighth layer of energy shield and had touched the ninth! What a powerful stab!


    The spectating crowd was terror-stricken. What a fearsome power it was to be able to penetrate eight layers of energy shields in one go! In their eyes, Dang Han''s moves were but the final struggle. One could imagine the energy chain would undoubtedly pierce through the last two layers of energy shield and would deftly stab through Dang Han.


    The time left wasn''t enough for Dang Han to set up another energy shield! The ace of a generation was about to perish right in front of everyone. Some were sorry, some were excited, some were terrified, and some were indifferent.


    Yet, the crisp shatter people had expected did not appear. Instead came the resounding sound of an explosion! The loud explosion made the unprepared crowd jump.


    The blast spread out in waves! The sudden explosion gave Chen Mu no time for putting up a defense, and the power shockwave pushed him back fiercely. At the same time, a figure made use of the powerful shockwave to disappear into the distance like a released arrow.


    Some sharp-eyed people would discover in that glimpse that in front of the escaping Dang Han, injured all over and looking rather sorry, there still hovered half of a thin layer of energy shield!

 398 The Olive Branch

    Chen Mu looked at the hands of the remaining half of the energy chain, heart secretly awe-inspiring. The other side of the harsh and sophisticated is worth his learning. The ninth energy shield is not actually an energy shield, but an unstable energy body shaped like an energy shield. It explodes violently when touched.


    The tenth shield is the real shield! With the shockwave from the explosion, increasing their escape speed, this plan is extremely dangerous, such a risky gamble. It requires not only courage and determination, so is strength, how can Chen Mu not admire as in such a short time can think of this kind of plan.


    Chen Mu fell fast, as soon as his legs touched the ground, he changed his energy card as fast as he could. Not until he had done this did he breathe a sigh of relief. He had been a spent bolt, and there was less than a hundred units left in his energy card. And the part that''s been eroded by the starfish energy, had become the most vulnerable part of the chain, first part that broke in the collision,


    "Today''s battle is an epic one! Mr. Joe had wound the Dang Han, which will spread his name throughout the union! Rank rise in the near future, I must be the first one who say congratulation!" Zeng Yushan cross the crowd, smiling at Chen Mu for congratulations.


    There were some restless people in the crowd, when they saw Zeng Yushan stood out, fear show up on their faces and then they quickly become quiet.


    Chen mu shook his head: "brother Zeng had over rated me, I and the Dang Han can only count as a draw." Then he said no more.


    Zeng didn''t say anything more about who had won and glanced at the crowd. His next words seem to have some subtitles, "there seem to be quite a few people interested in Mr. Joe, too"


    "More people are interested in you" Chen mu looked calm, and his answer didn''t avoid anything.


    He suddenly figured out a lot of unclear things, the arrival of these masters are mostly came after frost moon cold continent. It all started from of his encounter with the Constellation, all revealed traces lead to prove that someone was secretly targeting the frost moon cold continent, although he does not know exactly what the purpose behind all of this.


    "Hehe,"Zeng chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, acted as if he is in an easy mood "it seems that we have something in common which should bring us closer." His expression was casual but his attempt cannot be hide.


    Chen mu felt stunned. How could he miss the meaning of zeng yu''s words? He was surprised that Zheng wanted to work with him. The big six has so many high rank masters, but even the Constellation couldn''t stand a chance to survival from the fighting with frost moon cold continent. Even if had help with all the newly joined masters, still don''t have enough power to even try.


    But, Zeng unexpectedly threw olive branch to him. Are the frost moon and the cold continent understaffed? The moment this thought came up, Chen Mo felt it is absurd. But this seemingly absurd idea haunted his mind and just won''t leave.


    Chen Mu kept a poker face but his mind never rest: "Qiao Yuan used to being alone, And I don''t want to fail your kindness. If you will excuse me, I have to leave now."


    Then he motioned for A''Sang to lead the way. Suddenly, A'' sang came to his senses and led the way. Their eyes toward Chen mu were full of respect, that''s expression only for the strong hero.


    Saw Chen mu and A''sang''s leaving, Zeng back to his own thought. But when his eye glanced at A''Sang who walk next to Chen Mu, he was amazed by her beauty.


    "How dare that ugly devil named Joe put on AIRS in front of us, let''s see how I''m going to kill him!" Li is the first to open fire. At first she was full with respect towards Chen Mu, now she is angry enough to jump up, changing face even faster than turning the book.


    Other students are also in upset mood, usually, any one of them can claim the best as they are the chosen one? This time they were defeated in front so many people, how could they ever regain their honor? Such thoughts is killing them inside.


    "Shame to have such the beauty around him! I didn''t expect Zaghan can get close to this rare beauty! "One male cadet spoke with deep jealousy.


    But there was nothing they can do to get rid of this upset, they had to hold down their anger, surrounded by the crowd, they still have to keep their manner, and watched these two leave.


    Three men stood in frond of the window in a building about two kilometers away, watching Chen Mu.


    "He''s stronger."Wen''s voice was full of viciousness just like the ruby on his mask. At his side, standing two people, the temperament of the left side of the heavy coagulant, is Yuchi Bai.The man on the right, his face crisscrossed with scars, squinted at Chen''s retreating figure, deep in his eye, are resentment like venom.


    "You would be dead now if you fought he like the man he had become now" Wen Ping said calmly.


    "I''m stronger, too."


    His voice was hoarse and unpleasant to hear, like a knife scraping the glass. Scar face, on the other hand, looked quite calm, but his fists were clenched with blue veins.


    If Chen Mu sees him, he might not be able to recognize him. He is Le Yin who is seriously injured by Chen Mu.


    "The last time you saw him, he used Golden Word Shackle, too?"


    Wen asked suddenly.


    "No."Jin Yin shook her head: "it was another strange card." he added after a short stop: "but very powerful."


    "Oh."Wen chuckled: "what a interesting guy, I did not expect that mota''s [Golden Word Shackle] can show such power through his hands. Well, even Dang Han show such big interesting in it, is there really anything special about it?"


    Yuchi turned his head and asked. "shall I snatch it?"


    "Well, First thing comes first, we need to focus on our original plan at this point."Wen mused.


    Yuchi Bai nodded, while Le Yin''s eyes flashed a unwilling.


    While Chen Mu was walking, he still considered those words of Zeng Yushan. But he certainly didn''t want to involve into such troubles, although he felt that those who play frost moon cold continent did not have much chance to win, but since others dare to play frost moon cold continent, he did not believe they are really weak rivals. Those people may not be a real threaten to the frost moon cold continent, but they might still strong enough to take his life.


    What''s more, he needs to be in the East Rui region as soon as possilbe, which leaves him no time to stay in here. So far, everything was going well with all goals achived. Every single battle was very fatal, Mota, Le Yin, and today''s Dang Han, He didn''t have absolute confidence to win any of these battles. But he got luck, Chen Mu knew he is going to lose if this battles happened a little early.


    There was no need to linger after won all battles, as no one can rely on luck forever.


    Chen Mu did not notice that A''Sang''s was quietly stare at him with love in her eyes. When Chen Mu was deep in his thoughts, he seems to have a certain attraction, even his less attractive face looks gentle and adorable.


    To be honest, A''Sang was blown away today.


    She did not know who Dang Han was, but that did not prevent her from having her own understanding of the battle. The image of Qiao Yuan''s wildness was seared into her heart at that moment. She had never seen such a man full of power, surging martial, awe-inspiring like god! Compared with him, the players she had met who were called heroic were nothing but sissies.


    Today, nobody can compare with this ugly man, even Zheng Yushan, who used to be the most gentle and handsome man had lost his charm. Now when she laid eye on Zheng again, she couldn''t find the same feeling when she first saw him.


    Involuntarily, something her mother used to tell her came up.


    Some men, the closer you''ve get to him the more you will be attracted by him


    A''Sang felt in a daze when she thought of it, now she cannot move her eye anymore, her mind is now all occupied by Chen Mu.


    Why he won''t look at me? After a while, A''Sang was subconsciously angry, but when she realise what she was doing, she felt a sudden self-blame, hell no, how could she has such thoughts.


    In an instant his face burned violently.


    Now recall these days even since they met, Qiao Yuan has been acting pretty indifference, even when he saw her real face. She always felt that he was a man full of contradictions. The crazy domineering arrogant figure, and the current silent thinker, is really the same person?


    A''Sang felt her mind is in big mess, she cannot tell what''s in it anymore.


    "How far is it?


    After heard this words A''Sang felt she was struck by lightning, and suddenly come back as the old A''Sang. She looked round scary. She had led to the wrong way because she was indulged in her feeling about him.


    But she managed to act in calm. "about ten minutes."


    Chen Mu answered with a single word "oh" without more questions. A''Sang Could not help but secretly glance at Chen Mu, he kept month close, obviously didn''t want to talk, she felt very disappointed but hard to tell why.


    "Why did you refuse Zeng Yushan? Join hands with frost moon cold continent cooperation is bad thing? The cards frost moon cold continent chose are all come with good offer!" A''Sang didn''t understand and asked Chen Mu.


    In fact, she was surprised when Zeng Yushan reached an olive branch to Qiao Yuan.


    It is a great honor for the average card artisan to be appreciated by the frost moon cold continent.


    She did not understand why Chen Mu turn this deal off, was is nice to have such power backer?


    What''s more, Zeng Yushan''s acted quite sincere and modesty, which is quite rare attitude for the frost moon cold continent.


    "I''ve got more things to do, no need to struggle on this." Chen Mu answered without a slightly trace he just survived from a fatal battle in his face.


    A''Sang was silent.


    As he walked, Chen Mu stretched his body to release the tense. He needed time to recover his strength, and now there was a great deal of turbulence in Zaghan, and if anything happened to him, he would be in trouble.All he wanted now was to hurry to south star and buy the materials, and then go back and have a good rest.

 398 Good Will

    Chen Mu looked at the remaining half of the energy chain in his hands and felt inwardly awed. His adversary was ruthlessly experienced and really worth learning from. The ninth layer of the energy shield wasn''t actually an energy shield; it was an unstable energy-shield-shaped energy body that would produce a violent explosion on contact.


    The tenth layer of the energy cloak was the true shield! With the help of the shock waves formed by the explosion, it had increased Dang Han''s escape velocity. That was a dangerous strategy and a risky gamble. It required courage and determination along with power. To come up with such a scheme in such a short time was something Chen Mu really admired.


    Chen Mu quickly landed. As soon as his legs touched the ground, he swapped out his power card as fast as he could. He didn''t breathe a sigh of relief until he completed that step. He was an arrow at the end of his flight just then; he had only 100 units left in his energy card, which was not enough. The part that had been eroded by the energy starfish had become the weakest part of the whole energy chain and was the first part to disintegrate in the collision.


    Zeng Yushan came out from the crowd and congratulated Chen Mu with a smile. "The battle today was a classic! As soon as you fought, you seriously injured Dang Han. This will spread throughout the federation! A rise in your ranking is now within reach. Yushan would like to be the first to congratulate you, sir!"


    There had been some restlessness in the crowd when several people had seen Zeng Yushan come out. Their faces showed fear, but they immediately calmed down.


    Chen Mu shook his head. "Brother Zeng is joking. It can only be considered a tie between Dang Han and me." He said nothing more after that.


    Zeng Yushan didn''t get tangled up in that question but took a glimpse at the crowd as though he had something to point out. He said, "It seems like a lot of people in Zargan are interested in Mr. Qiao."


    "There are more people who are interested in you all." Chen Mu''s response was still more direct, but his expression didn''t change.


    He had suddenly figured out a lot of things at once. The aces who had come were almost certainly coming for the sake of Moon Frost Island. Ever since he had run into Constellation, all visible clues proved people were aiming at Moon Frost Island in secret, though he didn''t know the objective of the dark hand behind the scenes.


    "Ha ha." Zeng Yushan laughed lightly and shrugged, pretending to be casual. "It looks like we have a common language that could bring us a little closer." His expression looked relaxed, but he still faintly showed a look of anticipation.


    Chen Mu was startled. How could he not hear the meaning of what Zeng Yushan was saying? Zeng Yushan wanted to cooperate with him, which was really surprising. Which of the Big Six didn''t have plenty of aces? Even if it were Constellation, to contend with Moon Frost Island would be as overreaching as striking a stone with an egg. Even if they added all the aces who had suddenly popped up there, they absolutely wouldn''t have the capital to fight Moon Frost Island.


    But Zeng Yushan had actually thrown him an olive branch! Could Moon Frost Island have a shortage of manpower? Once that thought popped out, Chen Mu found it a little absurd. But, even given the absurdity of what he was thinking, once it popped into his mind, it kept spinning there and wouldn''t go away.


    Even with his mind so active, Chen Mu still kept his poker face. "Qiao Yuan is used to being alone, and I''m afraid I can''t live up to Brother Zeng''s good intentions. I am sorry, but I''m busy and will have to step away."


    After saying that, he motioned to Ah Sang to lead the way. Ah Sang suddenly returned to her senses and hurried to lead him along. The pedestrians along the way consciously made way for them. Their gazes toward Chen Mu were full of awe and respect. That was the treatment enjoyed by the mighty.


    Watching the departure of Chen Mu and Ah Sang, Zeng Yushan looked as though he had something on his mind. But when his gaze touched Ah Sang at Chen Mu''s side, he was stunned by her beauty.


    "This ugly guy named Qiao actually dares to put on airs in front of us? This old lady will rub him out!" Li was the first to open fire. She had just been looking at Chen Mu appreciatively. She now jumped up, enraged, changing her look faster than a book''s pages could be flipped.


    The other students also looked unhappy. As the darlings of the heavens, any one of them would have their eyes on the top during normal times. To lose such face in front of so many people like that would naturally upset them!


    "Too bad about that pretty woman with him! I would never have thought Zargan would have such pretty women," a male student said with a heavy note of jealousy.


    No matter how upset they were, however, they restrained the anger they felt. They wanted to maintain a little dignity under their smiles, but they could do nothing more than watch the two leave.


    In a building about two kilometers from Chen Mu, three men standing at the window were watching him.


    "He''s gotten stronger." Wen''s voice was just as demonic as that faceted ruby on his mask. Two people were standing beside him. To his left was the sturdy and grave-tempered Yuchi Bai. The man to his right had shocking scars criss-crossing his face. His eyes squinted as he kept a firm eye on Chen Mu''s back in the distance, his gaze full of bitter resentment.


    "If he''d had the power he now has when you ran into him, you would be dead already," Wen said calmly.


    "I''ve gotten stronger as well."


    That ugly, gravelly voice was as hard to listen to as a knife scraping glass. The man''s scarred face looked surprisingly calm, but the veins were popping on his two clenched fists. If Chen Mu were to see him, he probably wouldn''t recognize him. He was Jin Yin, who had been seriously injured by Chen Mu.


    "Was he using the Golden Word Shackle the last time you encountered him?" Wen asked suddenly.


    "No." Jin Yin shook his head. "It was another type of strange card." His tone was halting, and he added, "Very powerful."


    "Oh." Wen chuckled. "What an interesting fellow. I would never have thought Mo Ta''s Golden Word Shackle would actually play out such power in his hands. Well, if even Dang Han has that much interest in the card, perhaps it really is fantastic."


    Yuchi Bai tilted his head to ask, "Do you want me to grab it?"


    "Forget it; first thing''s first. We can''t complicate things at this time," Wen mused.


    Yuchi Bai nodded without saying anything, but Jin Yin''s eyes flashed a hint of unwillingness to let it go.


    While Chen Mu walked, he was mulling over what Zeng Yushan had said. Still, he certainly wasn''t going to enter those turbid waters. Although he felt that those people attacking Moon Frost Island didn''t have much of a chance, he didn''t believe others would dare to attack Moon Frost Island without something behind them. Maybe those people couldn''t truly pose any threat to Moon Frost Island, but he reckoned it would be no problem at all to kill him.


    Moreover, he was still in a hurry to get to the Dong Rui District, and it wouldn''t do him any good to remain long in Zargan. Up until then, everything had gone smoothly, and he had accomplished his established goals very well. Each battle had especially thrilling¡ªagainst Mo Ta, Jin Yin, and then adding today''s with Dang Han, none of which he had been certain to win. His luck was also pretty good. If that battle had happened earlier, Chen Mu''s probability of losing would have been a lot higher.


    Taking the advantage was not as good as quitting while one was ahead. The stuff of luck wasn''t very reliable.


    Deep in thought, Chen Mu didn''t notice Ah Sang''s beautiful, limpid eyes always quietly hanging on his body. In his thoughtful state, Chen Mu had a different sort of charm, and that incredibly ugly face seemed suddenly to have become softer more and pleasing.


    To tell the truth, Ah Sang had been blown away that day. She didn''t know who Dang Han was, but that didn''t stop her from having her own understanding of the battle. The wild and uninhibited image of Qiao Yuan was deeply branded in her mind. She had never seen such a dominant person and such a surging urge to battle. He was as awe-inspiring as a god! Compared to him, those so-called heroic aces she had previously seen could only be considered sissies.


    Everyone else today had only set off that ugly man, and even she felt that the handsome and elegant Zeng Yushan paled under the glare of Qiao Yuan''s resplendence. When she looked again at Zeng Yushan, she couldn''t find what had made her heart jump the first time she had seen him.


    By itself, there suddenly floated into her mind a phrase her mother used to say. With some men, the more you are in contact with them, the more you will be captivated by them.


    That phrase suddenly popping out put Ah Sang into a blank stare, her gaze firmly stuck on Chen Mu''s body as though it were coated with glue.


    Why won''t he look at me? After a long time, Ah Sang became unconsciously indignant. By the time she reacted, her heart skipped a beat. Damn! How could she have such thoughts? Her face was burning in that instant.


    As she thought about it, ever since Qiao Yuan had first seen her, he had always been rather calm. Even after he had seen her true face, he remained that way. She had always felt that Qiao Yuan was full of contradictions. Did his wild tyrannical aura and that incredibly unbridled image really belong to the same person who was in front of her, so deep in thought? Ah Sang only felt that her brain had gone haywire, and she didn''t know what to think.


    "How much farther is it?"


    Ah Sang felt struck by lightning, and all the messed up things in her mind disappeared. She looked around in a bit of a panic, secretly calling out to herself how messed up it was. She had been walking in a daze and had taken the wrong turn! She quickly put on a calm face, though. "It''s probably still ten more minutes."


    "Oh," Chen Mu said bluntly.


    She couldn''t refrain from taking another glance at Chen Mu and saw him keeping his mouth tightly shut without the least notion of saying anything. That made her feel hopeless for no reason.


    "Why did you refuse Zeng Yushan? Wouldn''t it be good to cooperate with Moon Frost Island? I''ve heard the card artisans Moon Frost Island likes are all treated quite well!" Ah Sang said, not really understanding.


    Actually, she had been rather surprised when Zeng Yushan had offered the olive branch. To be appreciated by Moon Frost Island would be a great honor for any card artisan. She didn''t understand why Chen Mu would refuse them. Could it be that having such a big backer would not be so good?


    Moreover, Zeng Yushan was staying low-key, which was not easy for Moon Frost Island to do.


    "I still have something I need to do and can''t get caught up here," Chen Mu calmly said. Judging by his face, there was no trace of having just gone through a big battle.


    Ah Sang went silent.


    Chen Mu was trying to relax his body as he walked. He needed to take that time to restore his strength. It was now turbulent in Zargan, and he would be in a bad situation if he were to encounter anything unexpected. At that point, he only wanted to quickly go to the Southern Star Trading Company to buy those two materials and to go back and get a good rest.

 399 Risk

    The Southern Star Trading Company was an important branch of the Southern Star Firm. It was also Zargan''s biggest trading house. Since it relied on the Southern Star Firm''s powerful channels, the types of materials it carried were the most complete in the city.


    The Southern Star Trading Company was located in the city center in a 56-story building. Every floor of the building had different types of goods, and there were specialized workers to provide specialized services.


    Chen Mu and Ah Sang walked into the Southern Star Trading Company. When the staff''s gazes touched the exquisitely gorgeous and utterly flawless face of Ah Sang''s, they stood transfixed where they were.


    Ah Sang was clearly quite used to that and said with a giggle as she covered her mouth, "Greetings. We need to buy a few things, and I wonder if you might help us out."


    Her whisper-soft voice nearly soaked into one''s bone marrow. The staff at the Southern Star Firm then resumed their professional demeanor, with faces flushed red, and stammered, "Greetings¡­ Greetings¡­ We would be very pleased to¡­ pleased¡­ Oh, right. What service might the two of you require?"


    Pretty women are always deadly, Chen Mu thought to himself. Even he himself couldn''t produce any bad feelings toward Ah Sang, despite some behaviors of hers that he didn''t really appreciate.


    "We would like to purchase some mo-ah stone and some speckled grass shellac. I wonder if your honorable shop might have them." Ah Sang glimpsed Chen Mu out of the corner of her eyes as she asked.


    "Mo-ah stone and speckled grass shellac¡­"


    They suddenly heard a clear voice say, "Is that Ah Sang? What? Is young Ah Sang interested in our trading house?"


    Miao Xuan! Ah Sang''s heart was filled with disgust. Without even turning around, she knew who was talking. She had never detested a man so much, and she felt a bout of irritation out of nowhere. But when her gaze touched Chen Mu beside her, her mind immediately calmed.


    "Lord Miao is here." Ah Sang turned around. Her exquisite face had a faint smile like a flower blossoming, which firmly drew the gazes of everyone nearby. Judging from her tone and expression, no one would ever have known how much she detested the person in front of her.


    After Ah Sang turned around, and that charming jade face was reflected in his eyes, he was transfixed. His gaze oozed his powerful infatuation and lust.


    "Miss Ah Sang''s beauty leaves me without words to describe it! When I encountered it so briefly before, it was impossible for your servant to forget. But, after today, I''m afraid that dwelling in Ah Sang''s transformative smile will ruin any further prospects in this life!" Miao Xuan couldn''t help but exclaim.


    Ah Sang had no feelings about Miao Xuan''s flattery, taking a glimpse at the expressionless Qiao Yuan while saying lightly, "Ah Sang is accompanying Mr. Qiao this time. He requires mo-ah stone and some speckled grass shellac. Those are the types of goods the Southern Star Trading Company is tops with in Zargan. I''m sure you won''t want to disappoint Mr. Qiao."


    Hearing the words "Mr. Qiao" immediately cleared Miao Xuan''s mind. He only just then noticed Chen Mu, who was positioned behind Ah Sang, and he couldn''t hide a shift in his expression. Damn! What''s that guy doing here? It suddenly dawned on him that no wonder she would come to the Southern Star Trading Company without any kind intentions!


    If he were to anger Qiao Yuan by his deadly look, he was afraid there wouldn''t be a single brick left in the entire Southern Star Trading Company. Even as Miao Xuan was lamenting to himself, he still had to come forward and say respectfully, "We are honored by your presence, Mr. Qiao. You light up our humble establishment! How may Miao Xuan be of service to you?"


    Having the lesson from last time, Miao Xuan kept a low profile. Although he could do as he pleased in Zargan, in front of that Qiao Yuan, he was as small as an ant; his counterpart would be able to pinch him to a pulp with any old finger.


    "I''ve come to buy some mo-ah stone and speckled grass shellac." Chen Mu''s expression was indifferent, and he was casually looking at Ah Sang as he spoke.


    Ah Sang''s expression shifted under Chen Mu''s glance. It was like she had been drenched by a bucket of cold water from head to toe, which chilled her to the heart. The look of warning in Chen Mu''s eyes plunged her into an ice house as she abruptly understood that Qiao Yuan saw through all the niceties she was playing out like a candle in a cave.


    At the same time, Miao Xuan detected the meaning in Chen Mu''s gaze, which relaxed him. Inwardly happy, his face turned still more respectful as he responded, "No problem. I''ll have someone look for it right away. As long as my humble establishment has it, Mr. Qiao may simply take it."


    As he spoke, he was carefully observing Chen Mu''s face. He was still expressionless and remained indifferent to what he''d just said. Miao Xuan didn''t think much more about it and hurried to tell a subordinate to look for those two kinds of materials.


    After giving the instructions, he said with a smile, "We should have some news after a couple of minutes, so why don''t we sit for a moment and drink a little tea? Although my humble establishment doesn''t have any Lanqing tea, the golden lily snowbrush produced in the polar regions is just as tasty.


    Seeing that Chen Mu didn''t say anything to stop him, he settled a little. He was remembering the scene of his previous dealings with Qiao Yuan, when he''d also seemed to not have rejected his good will. He''d later detected very clearly that Qiao Yuan had an employment relationship with the Chichi Trading Firm, the two parties having no further connection than that.


    If that was really the case, since Qiao Yuan had been willing to accept employment from the Chichi Trading Firm, then why not the Southern Star Trading Company? He had an absolutely firm belief that his opening conditions would certainly be superior to those of the Chichi Trading Firm.


    Thinking of that, his heartbeat sped up! If he were able to attract such an ace, it would usher in a new era for the Southern Star Firm, and he would come out the winner among all his brothers! When it came to Ah Sang, how could she escape from his grasp again? He restrained his excitement and glanced at Ah Sang, unable to see any inkling on her face.


    The three were sitting still. As he served the tea, Miao Xuan was considering what to say when he saw his father walking over with someone in tow.


    Why was his father there? Miao Xuan''s heart skipped a beat as he rushed to stand. "Father!" He was surprised; the standing of the Southern Star Trading Company wasn''t that high in the Southern Star Firm, and his father would seldom go there. Could his appearance at that time really be a coincidence? And, who was the one beside his father?


    Miao Xuan''s father was Miao Hongbo, the president of the Southern Star Firm. He had a steady demeanor and fair skin, and he looked rather rich. He gave a slight nod toward Miao Xuan and immediately bowed toward the person beside him to say, "This is the Mr. Qiao Yuan you just saw, Mr. Sang."


    The middle-aged man beside him nodded with an arrogant expression. "Mmmm. Okay. So, why don''t you both leave?" Mr. Sang was about 40 or so. He was skinny, and there was a sudden radiance when his triangular eyes opened and shut.


    Miao Xuan looked at his father, stunned, being utterly dumbstruck by the scene in front of him.


    Who is this person? What is my father doing?


    Before he could open his mouth, his father pulled him off with a look and got ready to drag him out.


    The middle-aged man called Mr. Sang saw Ah Sang sitting beside Chen Mu, and his eyes flashed a look of greed. He quickly restrained himself and said with a frown, "You go as well."


    "What''s going on?" Looking on coolly all along, Chen Mu finally opened his mouth. Sitting there properly, his face remained as expressionless as ever, but his eyes were slightly squinting. That was naturally associated with the change in the eyes of those fierce wild beasts when they had just discovered some prey. His placid voice didn''t quaver, but a bout of glum chill suddenly couldn''t be restrained from his heart.


    Mr. Sang''s eyes jumped, and his expression shifted. Everyone stopped what they were doing. The sweat was pouring from Miao Hongbo''s forehead as his face turned from blue to white. Frozen where he was, Miao Hongbo looked imploringly toward Mr. Sang.


    Mr. Sang smiled dryly. "Sang Hanshui, at your service. I have some things I''d like to talk over with brother Qiao."


    Chen Mu simply shook his head. "Not interested." After saying that, his gaze turned toward the father, Miao Hongbo, and he said expressionlessly, "Isn''t your honorable establishment interested in doing business?"


    The faces of Miao Hongbo and his son went white. Miao Xuan was getting really worried, not having thought things would take such a turn. He had just been about to open his mouth when his father pinched his hand.


    "I must ask Mr. Qiao to please excuse me. I''ve decided to turn all of the affairs of this humble establishment over to Mr. Sang!" Miao Hongbo said through gritted teeth. Once he said it, his entire body''s strength seemed to have been sucked out in an instant, and he nearly crumpled to the floor. Luckily, Miao Xuan held him up. As for Miao Xuan, apart from unconsciously catching his father, his brain was spinning apart.


    Had his father gone mad? Was Qiao Yuan causing it all? He was an ace among the top 100 on the Black-Line Star Listing! That one man could be enough to flatten the entire Southern Star Firm.


    Ah Sang flashed a look of joy through her eyes, though she kept sitting nicely and quietly watching.


    A look of satisfaction floated onto Sang Hanshui''s face as he looked appreciatively toward Miao Hongbo.


    Chen Mu''s mood was as messed up as it could be. Having just gone through a big battle, his strength hadn''t yet been restored. To encounter such a situation at that time was just what he least wanted to see.


    When he saw the obvious look of satisfaction on Sang Hanshui''s face and the craftiness in his gaze, his face turned gloomy. Who was Sang Hanshui? He had never heard of him. But for him to have dared to come looking for him, he must have felt pretty sure of himself.


    Slowly standing and activating his apparatus, a bout of pressure inexplicably filled the entire room.


    Sang Hanshui''s face shifted as he shouted, "Don''t you wish to live, Qiao Yuan?" There was a confident sneer coming from the corner of his mouth, as though he were mocking Chen Mu''s overstepping himself. But his gaze had mostly fallen onto Chen Mu''s apparatus, and he couldn''t help but exude greed and fervor.


    Ah Sang''s expression changed greatly! She had originally assumed that with Qiao Yuan having demonstrated his power, no one would be likely to choose to challenge him to his face. How could she have known the adversary had planned to make his move while Qiao Yuan''s strength hadn''t yet been restored after the last battle?


    Qiao Yuan had been his objective from the start! For him to have so deliberately sought out his opportunity, it had certainly been a plot! She seemed to have heard the name Sang Hanshui from somewhere, and she was wracking her brain desperately in her nervousness. If Qiao Yuan were finished then, her own fate would be plunged into the most miserable circumstances.


    Chen Mu watched his adversary coldly. He would be an idiot if he hadn''t been able to guess his adversary''s objective by then.


    The most hopeless thing was that his perception had only been restored to half its normal level.

 400 A Hidden Trump Card

    "Ha ha! Your good luck has come to an end, Qiao Yuan! Tsk, tsk. What a waste for the Golden Word Shackle to have fallen into your hands! I''m telling you that if it wasn''t for not having a good card, I would long since have been among the top 100 on the Black-Line Star Listing, or even possibly among the top 50. The heavens took pity, and I am finally going to have a good card!"


    A ferocious light glinted from Sang Hanshui''s triangular eyes, his demeanor incredibly pleased.


    With a start, Ah Sang screamed, "I remember! Sang Hanshui is 122nd on the Black-Line Star Listing!"


    "Hmph! That number will soon be history," Sang Hanshui said darkly. He put on a merciful look and said to Chen Mu, "You probably wouldn''t have imagined, Qiao Yuan, how much trouble you would get into starting from when you killed Mo Ta. That idiot Dang Han thought he was the only one who knew about the Golden Word Shackle''s magic. Hmph. How could he know how much energy I''ve expended to find the right card? Nearly every time an awesome card has appeared in the entire history of the federation, I''ve researched it. Ha ha! Wen gave information about you to Dang Han to take advantage of him to get rid of you. Who would have thought the ever-boasting and exhaustively scheming Wen would have his own day of losses?"


    Saying that, he became still more satisfied. "Ha ha! This really is providence! Wen has big plans, and he wouldn''t want to disrupt the situation because of you. He let me off easy in vain! You might be considered awesome, but with the Golden Word Shackle having fallen into your hands for such a short time, you''ve only been able to master five or six of its uses. That''s still a lot cleverer than that idiot Mo Ta! Given time, who knows if you might be able to bring the ultimate power of the Golden Word Shackle into play? Unfortunately, I''m the one who''s going to fulfill that wish for you."


    Chen Mu remained silent, his mind in a froth. He had absolutely never thought he would encounter all that he had or that someone had been fanning the flames in the dark!


    He couldn''t help but feel curious about what Constellation was really trying to do. Sang Hanshui seemed to know a little, but their plans were so big that it would have to be somewhat generalized. That thought went flashing through his mind to be quickly replaced by other issues.


    "You know how to use the Golden Word Shackle?" Chen Mu suddenly opened his mouth to ask.


    Sang Hanshui said with a look of satisfaction, "Of course!" His narrow face then displayed anger and hostility. "Hmph! You people don''t know anything about the difficulties of those of us without good cards. In order to find a card that suits me, I''ve spent more than ten years consulting countless materials and ancient texts. I''ve expended endless effort to finally determine that this is the card most suited to me. The Golden Word Shackle has 12 single-syllable words altogether, and they can be composed into a complete ring of single-syllable words with no order to their power. Besides those 12 single-syllable words, there are still 36 double-syllable words, which can become rather complex. Only an ultimate ace can activate the circle of double-syllable words. There was no one who didn''t know of or wasn''t aware of the prestige of the Golden Word Shackle during the age of the sects. It was just too bad that this sect didn''t keep up with the appearance of Heiner Van Sant and mysteriously disappeared. Even Heiner Van Sant didn''t know about this card. The reason Dang Han knew about it was because I deliberately leaked it. I''d thought he would find Mo Ta at a comparatively high level. I never thought that guy would be such a gutless type and would be afraid of Wen and Yuchi Bai. Hmph. What a waste of my scheming."


    He quickly raised his eyebrows. "That idiot never thought he''d be outwitted by Wen. Still, if it wasn''t that way, I wouldn''t have had any way to pick up this ready-made bargain! Now that I mention it, it''s still thanks to Zeng Yushan. If he hadn''t stuck out, it wouldn''t be my turn. Everyone''s afraid of Moon Frost Island. Ha ha! Probably even Zeng Yushan never thought their troubles were only just beginning."


    When he got to that point, Chen Mu was utterly rattled by Sang Hanshui. For one person to be able to plan deliberately for so many years for a single thing, that all-out effort alone was something to admire.


    Sang Hanshui''s triangular eyes flashed menacingly as he stared at Chen Mu and slowed the speed of his speech. "I only want the Golden Word Shackle and have no interest in your life. So long as you turn over the Golden Word Shackle, you may safely leave. Your current perception isn''t even half of what it is normally, so for you to fight with me in your current state could only lead to death. You''d better think about that clearly."


    Sang Hanshui showed great caution. To have gotten to their level, they would generally seldom force someone else to the point of death unless there was some great enmity. No one wanted to tempt a card artisan to blow himself up¡ªespecially not one at Chen Mu''s level.


    All of the blood had drained from Miao Hongbo''s face, and he said in an urgent voice, "Sir¡­"


    "Hmph!" Some ruthless heat flashed past Sang Hanshui''s gaze. Two glowing lines burst forth suddenly from his hand and sank into Miao Hongbo''s and Miao Xuan''s hearts. The two of them clutched their chests. They sputtered but couldn''t get anything out as fresh blood spurted wildly from between their fingers.


    Ah Sang covered her mouth hard with both hands and watched in terror as the two of them slowly fell, her face pallid.


    "Have you considered it?" Sang Hanshui returned his gaze to Chen Mu as though he had done something simple.


    Chen Mu remained silent.


    With a slight frown, Sang Hanshui''s ruthless, dark voice was permeated with a hint of impatience. "Don''t expect any miracles. I''m giving you ten seconds before I make my own move. So, you want to delay? That scheme will come to nothing!"


    Sang Hanshui had rich battle experience. With Qiao Yuan having just fought a battle, the losses to his perception were very high, and he basically couldn''t restore them in such a short time. But why wasn''t he seeing any hint of panic in his counterpart''s eyes?


    Sang Hanshui found it a little strange that Qiao Yuan''s incredibly ugly face seemed placid right from the beginning when he''d experienced the initial surprise. Could his counterpart be relying on something else? Sang Hanshui''s gaze was flashing, and the uneasiness he felt was growing stronger. He stared menacingly at Chen Mu and drew a line in his mind, deciding to make his move!


    "I''ll count ten seconds. One, two¡­" Sang Hanshui raised his hand without warning when he got to two. Although he held an absolute advantage, he still chose a sneak attack.


    Something really bad then happened right nearby. There was the crisp sound of an explosion in the air.


    Pa!


    The hairs on the back of Sang Hanshui''s neck abruptly stood up. Someone was behind him! Before he could react, however, there was a pain at the back of his neck. Everything went black in front of his eyes, and he didn''t know what was going on.


    Ah Sang couldn''t take it and let out a scream! She felt like she was about to go crazy! Sang Hanshui, who had just been so ambitious, now plunked to the ground. She hadn''t seen anything hit Sang Hanshui, and Qiao Yuan hadn''t made a move. The scene in front of her was unspeakably weird to the point that it challenged her limits.


    She felt that her heart¡ªwhich wouldn''t be considered weak¡ªwould never be reliably safe under such a blow. She had actually fallen into hopelessness just then, even though Qiao Yuan had been steady all along. Still, from her point of view, it was nothing more than a bluff. Qiao Yuan had no moves he could use against Sang Hanshui.


    At that time, no one was paying attention to whether she lived or died, no matter how gorgeous she was! She had a powerful urge to burst out something crude, but she suddenly discovered she had been immediately taken out of hell and brought back to the realm of men, which produced a powerfully surreal feeling.


    After a moment, the panicked but somewhat determined Ah Sang watched Qiao Yuan walk over to Sang Hanshui''s body, which was unconscious on the ground, and unload the apparatus from his wrist with perfect facility. He meticulously searched Sang Hanshui''s whole body with perfectly professional motions.


    Sure enough, every one of those guys on the Black-Line Star Listing was an ace at killing people for the booty!


    Ah Sang couldn''t help her feelings, but she mostly felt curious. What means had Qiao Yuan used to knock Sang Hanshui down? She had seen it all clearly, and Qiao Yuan hadn''t made a move. She suddenly remembered that before Sang Hanshui went unconscious, there was a clear and crisp sound. Right. That boom had certainly done the trick! But what was it?


    She couldn''t come up with it no matter how hard she thought. Her gaze fell onto Qiao Yuan, who had been calm from start to finish, and she felt even more how inscrutable he was. In such desperate straits, he was still harboring a trump card.


    Chen Mu examined the unconscious Sang Hanshui. He would need at least three hours before he would come around. Wei-ah had been plenty tough that time to be so accurate from so far away. Wei-ah was even stronger than before now that he had recovered some of his memory. Chen Mu was still looking for a stout rope to tie Sang Hanshui securely, and he stuck tape over his mouth. He couldn''t help but sneer when he saw Miao Hongbo and Miao Xuan in their pools of blood.


    He had originally wanted to come there to buy two kinds of materials, but he was now afraid things would be chaotic once they left the room.


    Ah Sang approached Miao Hongbo''s body, struggling not to choke from the smell of blood. She crouched down and touched his corpse with her flawless hands for a moment and pulled out a golden card.


    Looking at the card, Ah Sang showed a glimmer of joy. She quickly walked over to the image player and stuck the card into it. After a moment, she raised her head and said with pleasant surprise, "Mr. Qiao, I''ve found both of the materials. The mo-ah stone is in the V-7784 storeroom, and the speckled grass shellac is in the W-5534 storeroom, both on the 16th level underground."


    "Let''s go." Chen Mu simply picked up the bound Sang Hanshui, having already decided that once the two kinds of materials were in his hands, he would leave Zargan. He had a feeling it was going to become the center of a whirlpool.


    Ah Sang suggested, "Leave him here for now, and we''ll pick him up later. If we just take him out like this, we''ll draw a lot of attention."


    Chen Mu thought it over and felt that was right, so he put Sang Hanshui back on the floor. The two of them walked out of the room and casually closed the door as the staff outside the room welcomed them.


    Ah Sang said to them naturally, "The Miaos, father and son, are having a discussion, so don''t disturb them." The several staff members hurriedly stopped their footsteps and remained outside the door.


    "We will take a stroll and will return after a while. Don''t bother to come with us." Ah Sang rudely dropped that phrase as the two of them walked straight out. The staff looked at one another and spread out their hands helplessly. They had just seen Miao Xuan being polite to them, so how would they dare to offend them now?


    Under Ah Sang''s direction, the two quickly found the mo-ah stone and the speckled grass shellac. That golden card was a top-level pass. They returned to the room with calm expressions, and Sang Hanshui was still lying there, which made Chen Mu breathe a sigh of relief.


    Carrying Sang Hanshui in one hand while pulling Ah Sang along with the other, Chen Mu opened the window and flew straight into the air.

 401 Bu Mo

    As soon as he got back to the Chichi Trading Firm, Chen Mu bluntly said, "Anyone is forbidden to enter without my permission." He then plunged into the training room. After so many days, Ah Sang was rather used to that routine and didn''t seem surprised. She also had a lot to do. With the violent death of the patriarch of the Miao family, the Southern Star Firm would undoubtedly fall into chaos.


    For the Chichi Trading Firm, not only would it resolve the immediate danger, but it would be a wonderful opportunity to expand. However, Ah Sang was intelligent enough to understand that the death of the Miao family patriarch would be the fuse for all of Zargan to descend into chaos. The Chichi Trading Firm would have to find some way to not only survive the whirlpool in the midst of the chaos but to use it to move up.


    Her heart started to race, but what she needed to do at the time was to calmly assess the situation. Almost any power in the whirlpool would be bigger than her, and any one of them could easily crush her to pieces with their little finger.


    When Chen Mu entered the training room, Wei-ah was already waiting for him along with a small boy at his side. Seeing Wei-ah, Chen Mu said with a smile, "It was a good thing you were there. It would have been disastrous otherwise." After saying that, he casually put Sang Hanshui on the floor.


    Wei-ah''s expression didn''t change, such things being normal as far as he was concerned.


    Chen Mu wasn''t counting on Wei-ah making any response either, his gaze mostly falling onto the boy at Wei-ah''s side. He was about 12 or 13 and had dark skin and a round, shining, hairless head. His thick black eyebrows looked like they had been painted on with ink, and he wore a conscientious expression, looking a lot like Wei-ah. He stood silently by Wei-ah''s side, though his eyes showed a lot of curiosity toward Chen Mu.


    "This is the apprentice you spoke of last time?" Chen Mu asked with some curiosity.


    "Mmmm." The expression on Wei-ah''s face was as unchanging as it had eternally been. "He''s called Bu Mo."


    Chen Mu felt extremely interested. With Wei-ah and Bu Mo standing together, one big and one small, the two looked very much alike. Whether in their movements or looks, it seemed as though they had come from the same mold.


    Wei-ah suddenly tilted his head and said to Bu Mo, "Hit him."


    Without saying anything, Bu Mo came briskly forward. He was like a cheetah pouncing with great strength. Since he was still growing, he was only about a meter and a half tall, though his stocky frame made Chen Mu feel the strength of his muscles.


    Chen Mu wanted to see what Bu Mo''s abilities were like. Even though Wei-ah was normally silent, he clearly had a lot of insight. During their year in the Moqi Clan, Wei-ah had never thought of taking on an apprentice. Apart from Chen Mu himself, Bu Mo was the only other person who made Wei-ah feel anything.


    Bu Mo''s style of fighting was the same as Wei-ah''s¡ªfull of power, speed, and precision¡ªexcept for being just a few levels lower in all aspects. Chen Mu had never specialized in the cardless sects, but Wei-ah had consistently been diligent in teaching them. He had always studied meticulously, which had given his body a solid foundation.


    The two of them punched and kicked, and their bodies went through various transformations as they came together and split up like two shooting figures on the field. Chen Mu barely won by a notch, but that was plenty to fill him with praise. Wei-ah really did have a lot of insight!


    Bu Mo was limited by his age; his body hadn''t matured, so he still didn''t have quite enough strength. On top of that, he had been studying with Wei-ah for too short a time. He only had to go through some more systematic training. Chen Mu believed it would then become difficult to fight against him relying only on the cardless sect skills.


    Bu Mo was stoic. The pain from the kicks and punches made even Chen Mu bare his teeth, but Bu Mo remained completely indifferent. Even though he was always at a disadvantage, he never flailed around in the least but remained strangely calm. As the sparring went on for a while, he displayed powerful adaptability and started to gradually adjust to Chen Mu''s rhythm of attack, retreating and advancing in sync.


    Chen Mu''s appreciation deepened. He really didn''t understand how Wei-ah could see such stuff as talent. No matter how you looked at him, Bu Mo wasn''t a child who would get your attention. Apart from being a little bit husky, he wasn''t very different from any other child.


    "Stop." Just as Wei-ah''s voice fell, Bu Mo retreated back to his side, his chest heaving. He was obviously as indifferent as Wei-ah in his powerful self-control.


    "Great! Really great! A lot better than I was at your age!" Chen Mu kept praising him.


    Wei-ah was rubbing Bu Mo''s bare head and said to him, "His name is Chen Mu, and you have to do what he says."


    "Mmmm." Although Bu Mo didn''t quite get it, he still tapped himself on his shiny little head.


    Wei-ah turned his head to face Chen Mu and said, "Now, do it by yourself." After saying that, he led Bu Mo into a corner of the training room. That was the Chichi Trading Firm''s best training room. It was well-equipped with all kinds of facilities related to physical training, which card artisans also had to do a lot of. Wei-ah and Chen Mu had been hanging out together for a while, so they were familiar with those facilities and devices and could guide Bu Mo''s training.


    Bu Mo was curious about the devices he had never seen before, which only increased his enthusiasm for the training.


    Watching Bu Mo concentrate, Chen Mu felt comfortable. He actually felt a little guilty about not choosing to go along the same route as Wei-ah. Of course, Wei-ah never said anything to him about it, the two of them then being a lot closer than ordinary brothers. Chen Mu would dare to assert that if he ever encountered any difficulty, Wei-ah would certainly be one of the first to rush in.


    Chen Mu felt happy watching Bu Mo so concentrated on learning everything Wei-ah knew. Wei-ah was among the few Chen Mu really cared about.


    Now that he felt better, the haze in Chen Mu''s mind cleared. As he had developed, he was no longer the type to be taken advantage of. As long as he still had a powerful person like Wei-ah behind him, what did he even have to be afraid of? Chen Mu suddenly felt full of confidence about their trip!


    Sang Hanshui was still unconscious, but Chen Mu didn''t have the patience to wait for him to come around on his own. He simply splashed a pan of water onto his face.


    Sang Hanshui opened his eyes in confusion. When he saw who was in front of him, he abruptly quivered. By the time he discovered that he had been tied up and that the apparatus had been removed from his wrist, his face turned ashen. He couldn''t even move a finger.


    "Why didn''t you kill me?" Sang Hanshui''s voice was gravelly and deep.


    Chen Mu said blandly, "I still had some questions for you."


    "Ha ha! I never thought I might still have some value." His face showed that he was mocking himself. He then looked at Chen Mu. "Are you done asking them?"


    Chen Mu hadn''t thought Sang Hanshui would ask in that way. After thinking about it, he said honestly, "I can try to ease your pain." Beneath what he said was the implication that he would still kill him, but he would do it a little more quickly when he did.


    "Ha ha. I never thought you would actually be honest." Sang Hanshui laughed, and his expression returned to normal. "If you had just said you were going to give me a way out, I would have looked down on you. There''s nothing I can tell you. But go ahead and ask whatever you want."


    At that point, Chen Mu had so many questions in mind that he didn''t know where to start. After a while, he finally opened his mouth. "You know how to use the Golden Word Shackle?"


    "Only a little," Sang Hanshui replied without thinking. "Unless you can find its legacy, who could crack the right way to use it? I looked at some notes about the Golden Word Shackle in a single biography where it said that there were 12 single-syllable and 36 double-syllable words. The double-syllable words were composed of two of the single-syllable words, but they couldn''t be just any two syllables. Among the 12 single-syllable words, there were six recorded on the front: bam, bind, save, glass, thorn, stab, and hoop. I don''t know the other six. The double-syllable words weren''t recorded on the front."


    "Glass!" Chen Mu muttered. He sank into thought, which lasted ten minutes. Afterward, he suddenly raised his head, and there was a bout of energy fluctuation. Chen Mu emitted the golden energy chain, which gave off a fascinating luster. Even Sang Hanshui couldn''t help but look entranced by it.


    Chen Mu''s eyes were ferocious as he shouted in a low tone, "Glass!"


    The rippling energy chain bounced up at either end as though shocked. In the blink of an eye, a round energy body about the height of Chen Mu appeared in front of him. It looked like a round mirror made of dark gold, and it was smooth enough to clearly reflect everything in front of it. The energy chain was the frame of the energy mirror, which actually had a classical, artistic appeal.


    Transfixed and tongue-tied, Sang Hanshui glared at the dark golden energy mirror in front of Chen Mu. He didn''t know how much energy he had expended collecting information related to the Golden Word Shackle for those past few years. He had a pretty good understanding of the card he''d never encountered.


    The word was very important; it was like a key. It wasn''t enough to have the word alone, however, since there wasn''t just one key and one lock. Apart from the word, one still had to find the corresponding lock. It sounded easy, but it was difficult to do. Energy compositions were constantly changing, and who knew which one someone might need to look for?


    But he wouldn''t say anything more. That Qiao Yuan did it so easily, after all! Could that guy really be among those so-called geniuses? His gaze fell onto Chen Mu''s incredibly ugly face and felt the designation of genius was really too far off from that face. Qiao Yuan also didn''t look young, so it wouldn''t be quite right to call him a genius.


    Or, was the power of his perception beyond what he had imagined? That was probably the only way he could so easily find the knack for it! The more he thought about it, the more frightened Sang Hanshui was. He suddenly remembered his own capture, still not knowing how he''d been knocked out. What had really happened in that instant?


    That also seemed to confirm his own conjecture. Could Qiao Yuan be hiding his own power? Thinking of that, he couldn''t help but shudder inwardly. Given the power Qiao Yuan was currently demonstrating, if he were still hiding some, his power would really be terrifying! The more he thought about it, the more likely that seemed to Sang Hanshui. He felt his mouth go a little dry, scaring himself with his thinking.


    Chen Mu wasn''t paying attention to anything strange about Sang Hanshui, all of his attention on the energy mirror in front of him. He had been groping around with the Golden Word Shackle for some time already and was pretty familiar with it. If anyone else were to find out the specific word, they wouldn''t necessarily be able to use it very quickly. For him, though, as long as he knew the word, what followed was simple. He would only need to push backward and convert "glass" into whatever symbol the syllable represented to be able to quickly find the corresponding energy composition.


    Still, although he was good at finding the corresponding energy composition, that didn''t quite mean he would be completely familiar with it. He had to carefully refine and ponder to find the nature of the energy composition.

 402 Sang Hanshui

    The Golden Word Shackle was one of the most powerful weapons Chen Mu had in his hands. Not only that, but it had increased in importance for him because of the need to do everything he could to cover his identity. Moreover, since his fame in his identity as Qiao Yuan continued to rise, the need for Chen Mu to increase his skill with the Golden Word Shackle had gotten more urgent.


    Chen Mu''s eyes lit up. Glass was an energy composition he had never seen before, and he became quite interested in it. But he quickly pulled back since that wasn''t the time to do any refining and pondering. He put aside the glass with some reluctance, strongly repressing the urge to plunge into researching it. His gaze fell again onto Sang Hanshui.


    He had already mastered the other five single-syllable words. Hoop was actually rather similar to bind, except bind was directed at a single objective while hoop aimed at several objectives. But hoop''s power wasn''t up to bind''s.


    Seeing Sang Hanshui''s gaze so full of fear, Chen Mu still found him a little strange. Still, he did think of another question. "Are you familiar with all the cards through history?"


    Sang Hanshui''s expression had recovered somewhat. He didn''t know if it was because that blow just then had been a little harsh, but his voice had deepened. "There are incalculable numbers of cards that have come down through history. Who would ever dare to say he was familiar with all of them? Even the Federation Comprehensive Academy and the Star Academy wouldn''t dare to boast about harboring them all; never mind a freelancer like me with no roots or support."


    However, he immediately displayed a look of pride, and his voice got louder. "Still, humph, while I have no way to enjoy such a nice situation as I would have at the Big Six, my years of research could still be considered pretty satisfying."


    "Why are you so interested in researching these cards?" That was the part Chen Mu couldn''t figure out no matter how hard he tried.


    "Why?" Sang Hanshui looked like he had heard something funny, and his expression became abruptly excited. "What else can I do? The Big Six! The damned Big Six! I don''t know your background, but if a freelancer like me wants to get a truly first-rate card, it''s almost impossible! Don''t you realize that after the first 100 to 150 names on the Black-Line Star Listing, at least half are there because they don''t have a first-rate card in their hands and not because they don''t have enough power? Ha! I''m one of them. The Big Six basically monopolize more than 70 percent of the first-rate cards. The other various academies and the big firms cover another 20 percent, and another few legacies hidden in the card artisan dynasties have five percent in their hands. The other five percent might fall into the hands of card artisans like me.


    "The scholars in the Big Six get such a headache just choosing among the legacies, while we can only purchase the common cards that are on the market. Humph! If you want to get a good card, fine! Give your life over to the Big Six!"


    By that point, his breath had somewhat calmed. Chen Mu could feel Sang Hanshui''s abhorrence of the Big Six, along with his lonely indignation. Chen Mu did actually rather understand those sorts of feelings. Freelance card artisans would seldom have good feelings toward the Big Six. For those past few years, by virtue of their power, the Big Six had continually squeezed out the space for the other powers and the freelance card artisans to even exist, which naturally invited fierce revulsion from everyone.


    In people''s minds, the Big Six had always had the attitude that they were so high and mighty! Even Chen Mu himself had no good feelings toward the Big Six.


    Sang Hanshui let out a couple of laughs. "Too bad the world is so big. The Big Six are always thinking they can get whatever they want. Ha ha! Even Heiner Van Sant back in the day had no way to cover the sky with only his hand. Didn''t some of the sectarians from the age of the sects pass things down? As for the good cards that were scattered all over the federation, there weren''t so few of those, either. But what a pity that nobody knows where the legacies went for so many of the cards. People now assume the power that could be played out once they got such a card would be limited.


    "The legacies of the Big Six were well-preserved. Moreover, with the help of the cards and legacies they looted from each of the sects, they kept developing and expanding. Still, the legacies that come from the Big Six aren''t even worth my thinking about. The reason I do my research into the cards from the age of the sects is to find a card from that period."


    Although Chen Mu had already roughly guessed the reason, it still felt a little inconceivable when he heard it from Sang Hanshui''s own mouth. It was hard to imagine one person wanting to spend decades in search of a single good card and then poring through piles of old books to find it.


    "What do you want with a card from the age of the sects?"


    Sang Hanshui looked at Chen Mu as though he were an idiot, finding it hard to imagine he had asked such a stupid question. "What else is there to do? Just get stronger! Live a free and easy life!"


    Chen Mu shook his head. "Given your strength, if you were to spend ten years on a single card, that would be enough for you to figure out quite a few things."


    What he said did have a point. There were people like Qiao Yuan from the Central Repository of the Classics who used the Four-Pronged Caltrop, which was no high-level card. He had previously insisted on using an even more ordinary three-star card, the Triangular Steely Blade. But the Four-Pronged Caltrop, which had nothing special about it, had played out a terrifying amount of power after his dozens of years of drilling down into it. It was by virtue of that that he had become listed among the top aces in the entire federation.


    Chen Mu was rather convinced of the point of view that cards couldn''t do everything. Qiao Yuan''s relentless perseverance in insisting on delving into his own card meant the Four-Pronged Caltrop, which wasn''t a famous card, had shone magnificently in his hands. While he was alive, he had even been planning to take what he had figured out about it himself and to set it up as a legacy. That was the true style of a powerful person.


    It was as though Sang Hanshui had been struck by lightning as he stared blankly at the ceiling, his eyes devoid of spirit. He was mumbling something incomprehensible.


    Seeing Sang Hanshui''s dazed look, Chen Mu couldn''t help but sigh. In that world, it was easy for everyone to be blinded by what was right in front of their eyes and to forget to explore its fundamentals. They might spend endless time and energy only to discover that what had looked so nearby when they had chosen their route was actually a long way down the road.


    Regarding the discussion they were having, one only had to find old books related to cards or any student who had been involved in a card artisan curriculum, and they would easily explain the same thing. That point of view, though, which couldn''t be any more basic, was the one everyone forgot.


    Sang Hanshui obviously didn''t lack for talent to have gotten to where he was. To be able to spend ten years in search of a card made it clear he was quite perseverant. But it was too bad he had chosen the wrong direction, finally landing someplace empty-handed and unable to even guarantee his own life. How could that not make Chen Mu feel for him?


    After a while, Sang Hanshui finally came back to his spirits. But his triangular eyes had lost their spark, his face full of remorse and shame and his bruised lips quivering.


    "I never thought¡­ I never thought¡­ that I would have forgotten even that most basic truth. But I really brought it on myself. I have only myself to blame!" Sang Hanshui''s voice sounded incredibly bitter.


    Chen Mu remained silent.


    "One word from your eminence wakes me from my dream. There''s an old saying that you can die in the evening from what you hear in the morning! You can''t fool me anymore!" Sang Hanshui was in awe and then said solemnly, "If there is anything your eminence wants to ask, I will tell what I know and will make a full report, not leaving anything out."


    Chen Mu had really lost any interest in questions. However, seeing Sang Hanshui''s earnest expression, he felt it would be best to ask a few more questions.


    Speaking of cards, he didn''t lack much. It could be said that there was no shortage of treasures in his card wallet. Though he didn''t know where it had come from, there was the mysterious card, which had been meticulously camouflaged; the famous Sectional Succession, which had come from the Federation Comprehensive Academy, along with its legacy; the Bipolar Thunderball, about which he also didn''t know the origins; and the incredibly powerful Snake Lens detection card he had gotten in the forest¡­


    What Chen Mu most wanted to find out about was the mysterious card. It was precisely because of that card that his fate had completely changed! Although he was fingering the mysterious card, he didn''t pull it out. That card had always been the bottom line in his mind, along with being his biggest secret. He wouldn''t dare to pull it out.


    He finally pulled out the Bipolar Thunderball, which he''d had with him for a rather long time. He had even copied it to make Card 007 in the numbered series of cards, though he still hadn''t figured out where it had come from. The mature card making skills it demonstrated, along with its power, all showed its extraordinary origins.


    "Do you know this card?" Chen Mu had casually pulled off the ropes that had been binding Sang Hanshui and put the Bipolar Thunderball in front of him. A card artisan without an apparatus was no threat unless he was the same as Chen Mu and knew some of the cardless sect skills. Moreover, Wei-ah was still in the training room, so Chen Mu absolutely didn''t have to worry about any unexpected situation.


    "What is it called?" Sang Hanshui took the card, asking the question as he carefully examined it.


    "Bipolar Thunderball. It must have a history," Chen Mu responded. He was a card master; whether a card had some history and how many years it had gone through was something he could easily discern. The washing and polishing that different materials would undergo over time would present different colors and textures. Any card master would be sensitive to those erosions, still more so for such a leader among them as Chen Mu.


    "Bipolar Thunderball?" Sang Hanshui frowned in hard thought, searching for that name in his mind. Unfortunately, he couldn''t find anything. He put the card back in front of Chen Mu, saying, "It''s possible someone changed the name. That''s a common situation. After passing through many years, quite a few cards lose their original name; most names get added on by people later on."


    Chen Mu put the Bipolar Thunderball into his apparatus.


    Sang Hanshui''s spirits were jolted when the paired black and white thunderballs appeared around Chen Mu''s body. The way Chen Mu was using the Bipolar Thunderball was entirely different from when he had first used it. The previous thunderballs had all been one color, and he only later discovered the secret of "bipolar." As long as there were two kinds of thunderballs, each of the same number, he could then achieve a balanced energy composition. The Go Cage of One Thousand Cuts he had later groped through was in the same category.


    Following Chen Mu''s thorough demonstration, the look of joy on Sang Hanshui''s face deepened. When Chen Mu demonstrated the Go Cage of One Thousand Cuts, his face looked as though it would burst with joy.


    Sang Hanshui''s expression made Chen Mu more certain than ever that there was a lot to the history of the Bipolar Thunderball.

 403 A Card Appraisal Exper

    "This is the Bipolar Card! I''m certainly not mistaken! It is indeed the Bipolar Card!" Sang Hanshui was so excited that he nearly leapt. It was hard to imagine he had just been so ashen and crestfallen.


    It looked like Sang Hanshui was a true card lover. That was Chen Mu''s determination. He knew without even thinking about it that it was an occupational disease left over from the more than ten years Sang Hanshui had tirelessly spent researching cards that had been forgotten by history.


    "Bipolar Card?" Chen Mu asked with curiosity. The name was missing Thunderball, and he thought that must then be its true name. But that name was utterly strange to him.


    "Right! It''s the Bipolar Card!" Sang Hanshui shook his fists vigorously, as though the card belonged to him. He explained with an excited look, "There are certainly few people who know about this card. Ha ha! You''d never know it came from the Central Repository of the Classics."


    "Central Repository of the Classics?" It was now Chen Mu''s turn to be surprised. He had never thought the card in his hands would be connected to the Central Repository of the Classics from the Big Six.


    "Mmmm. It is indeed from the Central Repository of the Classics. Among the Big Six, the Central Repository of the Classics isn''t known for its battle power, but it has the strongest reputation when it comes to card making. There have been many grand master card masters from the Central Repository of the Classics in history, some of whom made countless cards. Others had more meager results, but they could all be called grand masters."


    Sang Hanshui''s excitement had clearly reached a climax. He had forgotten his own situation, gushing loudly as he gave his exposition.


    "Cao Bairan, the one who made the Bipolar Card, was among the grand masters. He only left two cards behind in his life; one was the Bipolar Card, and the other was the Nine Stuns. He destroyed the rest of his cards with his own hands. The Bipolar Card was passed along through many hands until it finally became lost. The other card¡ªthe Nine Stuns¡ªbecame famous far and wide. Even today, it''s still one of the most important legacies of the Central Repository of the Classics. Cao Bairan was known for the Nine Stuns, which made him one of the grand master card masters of the Central Repository of the Classics. The strange thing was that Cao Bairan remained silent about the loss of the Bipolar Card, as though he didn''t care. It was a good thing the Nine Stuns alone was enough to get him to the top. It is a pity the Nine Stuns is so difficult that even in this age, few practice it, and even fewer are known for it."


    Sang Hanshui was inexplicably excited and was gushing with emotion. "I would never have thought you would have the Bipolar Card. That card is at the same level as the Golden Word Shackle. Because the Bipolar Card was lost not long after it was completed, though, I don''t know whether it has a legacy in the end. The Golden Word Shackle certainly has no legacy; that sect has been wiped out for many years."


    It was clear from what he said that Sang Hanshui couldn''t get over his regret. The power of a good card without a legacy would be greatly diminished.


    Hearing what he said, Chen Mu didn''t feel much, though he was curious. "What sect is the Golden Word Shackle from?"


    Sang Hanshui explained patiently, "The Golden Word Shackle is the most famous card from the sect called the Word Sect. There are as many as ten kinds of cards the Word Sect is famous for, among which the Golden Word Shackle is the most famous. It''s the only card still recorded by now. Judging from those records, the Word Sect flourished for a while during the age of the sects, but no one knows why they were quickly wiped out. They didn''t make it to the appearance of Heiner Van Sant. Otherwise, this Golden Word Shackle would certainly have had a hard time escaping the fate of being swept into the Federation Comprehensive Academy by Heiner Van Sant."


    "The age of the sects¡­" Chen Mu felt that he seemed to have some karma with that period. The signature skills of breath control and the Night of the Cross were also produced during the age of the sects.


    Chen Mu actually admired Sang Hanshui''s erudition. He had recognized both of those cards because he could be called methodical; it wasn''t likely to be just a matter of luck. But losses in one part could be made up in another. Although Sang Hanshui hadn''t found a card after spending so much time, his looking had still enabled him to become a rare card appraisal expert.


    "Those two cards are both first-rate! You really have good luck!" Sang Hanshui was moved, and his expression was at peace. "It''s just too bad they both don''t have legacies, and you can only grope along with them. If you wanted to give the Bipolar Card to the Central Repository of the Classics, you should be able to swap it for a card with a legacy, though I reckon it wouldn''t be as good as this one."


    That was the truth. As he saw it, although the card was good, it wouldn''t be as dependable as having a legacy. Even a lesser legacy could enable a card artisan to quickly increase his battle power. His own groping would depend on his own luck and ability.


    Chen Mu shook his head noncommittally, still having in his card wallet the Sectional Succession legacy. Why would he need to be greedy about another legacy? As he saw it, there was a good side to not having a legacy. Without the legacy, there wouldn''t be any constraints to his style, and he wouldn''t be bound by the original thing.


    That attitude was related to his style of battle. Having been influenced by Wei-ah and the demonic woman, his battle style was greatly transformed. He kept rapidly changing and getting better, in addition to being good at using his environment. Although it had massive power, speaking for himself, the Golden Word Shackle didn''t really suit him that much.


    Although the Hundred Changes, which Chen Mu had made himself, didn''t have as much power as the Golden Word Shackle, it had an absolute advantage with regard to flexibility. It would be hard to evaluate the true advantages and disadvantages of each. The Hundred Changes was like an assassin''s dagger, which might not have much power but could still be deadly with a single blow. The Golden Word Shackle was better at positional warfare, where two sides battled face-to-face in a conventionally disciplined battle. Battling hard up against hard was precisely the kind of fighting Chen Mu didn''t like.


    There was still another card in his wallet of which Chen Mu didn''t know the origins¡ªthe Snake Lens. That probe-type card was strangely magical; even Chen Mu couldn''t evade its scanning, which was something he had never encountered before.


    "Do you recognize this card?" Chen Mu took out the Snake Lens to seek Sang Hanshui''s advice. Without meaning to, Chen Mu had become a lot more courteous in what he said. He had always rather admired those who had real ability.


    "It''s called the Snake Lens," Chen Mu added.


    "Snake Lens?" Sang Hanshui took the card with some surprise and carefully identified it in front of his eyes. "If this is the Snake Lens I know about, it should be a probe type of card."


    "Right. It''s a probe card." Chen Mu was still a little surprised that Sang Hanshui was actually the real deal.


    "Your luck is really enviable." Sang Hanshui looked full of envy, thinking about how much scheming he had gone through to come up with nothing, while others could just casually gather so many excellent cards. He felt a bit disgusted.


    "The Snake Lens is a neglected card that also came from the age of the sects. Compared to the Golden Word Shackle, however, it has a lot less fame since pitifully few people knew about it during that time." Sang Hanshui looked rather authoritative.


    "Why?" Chen Mu thought that was inconceivable. He had a deep understanding of the Snake Lens''s power. From any aspect, its usefulness wasn''t inferior to that of the Golden Word Shackle. On the contrary, if he were to have to choose one of them, he would certainly choose the Snake Lens. While the Golden Word Shackle was definitely ingenious and powerful, there were lots of such cards to be found. Cards like the Snake Lens, on the other hand, could be counted on one''s fingers. It was hard for him to imagine such a powerful card not getting a lot of attention.


    Seeing Chen Mu''s look of disbelief, Sang Hanshui felt rather interested. He explained, "It''s related to the peculiar nature of the age of the sects. Card artisans during the age of the sects were far from having developed to our current level, and they weren''t as commonplace. The card artisans during that period were far more accustomed to single-handed combat and didn''t fight in teams. You''ve used the Snake Lens and should know that it''s most suited to team combat and not for single-handed combat."


    Chen Mu couldn''t help but nod. The Snake Lens was certainly suited to be used in team combat.


    Sang Hanshui really gathered steam in what he was saying. "Now that you mention it, I remembered this card because of the sect where it exists. The sect still exists in some of the remote areas of the Northern Reaches. With so many powerful sects already gone up in smoke, it''s hard to imagine this small sect still exists and continues on to this day. They were able to continue on by virtue of the Snake Lens. Although the battle strength of the sect isn''t very powerful, their alertness is extremely high; it would be hard for anyone else to catch them. They also conduct themselves in a low-key manner and are really good at hiding. They''ve never been discovered after so many years."


    Chen Mu was stunned. "Sects still exist in the federation? They haven''t long died off?" In his thinking, the end of the sects had been declared when Heiner Van Sant had come out of nowhere that year. The age of the sects had long since become nearly forgotten history in people''s minds, and he never thought there would actually be sects still tenaciously hanging on.


    "The sects died out? Ha! How could that be?" Sang Hanshui''s face was full of sarcasm, and you couldn''t tell whom he was aiming at. "No matter how powerful Heiner Van Sant was, he was still a man and not a god! How could this world turn only according to his will? Although the numbers of sects that remain from the age of the sects are as few as they could be, there are still more than 100 of them. They are distributed everywhere in the Heavenly Federation, some hiding in the dark and some in full disguise.


    "You shouldn''t look down on these sects. They have a much longer history than the Big Six. Although they can''t compare with how comprehensive the Big Six are, their research into certain cards is still more profound than that of the Big Six. The Big Six have also relaxed their system these past few years, which has given them an opportunity. Quite a few among them have infiltrated the Big Six, studying the knowledge of the Big Six to develop their own card systems.


    "Humph. I don''t wonder that Faya¡ªwhich has been making such a sensation just now¡ªmight possibly have developed out of one of the sects. Ha ha! If that''s the case, the Big Six are in trouble. The enmity between these sects and the Big Six is utterly irreconcilable. In the final days of the age of the sects, all of the sects large and small were washed in blood over and over. None of the Big Six was clean; even the Bitter Solitude Temple had blood on its hands in those times¡ªenough to turn the Afanni River red."


    What Sang Hanshui was saying really opened Chen Mu''s eyes. It turned out there were still so many untold stories! In any sort of history books, the description of that period was always vague, and they only desperately praised how great Heiner Van Sant was.


    Now, hearing what Sang Hanshui had to say, Chen Mu suddenly had the great realization that history was the story told by the victors.

 404 Mobley’s Ambition

    At the headquarters of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, Mobley was looking at the invitation in his hand and thinking hard. He opened his communications card. "Are you free, Miss Qing Qing?"


    "Is something up, Captain Mobley?" Qing Qing''s ethereal voice was as wispy as the clouds.


    Mobley felt a pang in his heart. His feeling of estrangement hadn''t changed since the beginning, and he still hadn''t closed the distance between them. He didn''t know how he should bring her¡ªthat woman who had no business appearing among humans¡ªcloser to him. She didn''t need to deliberately show anything; the cold alienation exuded from her bones was nearly suffocating Mobley.


    Seeing her face as elegant as a painting on the screen, Mobley felt like a fool. He had wanted to express his love for her so many times, and he had been cleverly fended off each time. She was so intelligent. Like some unfathomable swordsperson, she would seal off any path he might have taken before he could even make his move. Every time he wanted to open his mouth, she would change the subject or would flit away.


    Still, Mobley was a towering figure. While it might have been hard for him to take, he didn''t reveal a thing on his face, saying with a smile, "There is something very important for which I need the assistance of Miss Qing Qing''s wisdom."


    "I don''t deserve such praise, Captain Mobley. Qing Qing will be there in a bit." She pondered a moment before readily nodding.


    A minute later, Qing Qing arrived at Mobley''s office. He presented the invitation in his hands. "I just got this today. It''s quite interesting."


    "Moon Frost Island?" Qing Qing was a little surprised, though she immediately looked as though she were thinking of something.


    "Indeed. I didn''t think it could be Moon Frost Island, either. They are holding a summit, which is rather intriguing." Mobley wore a meaningful smile on his tough face.


    Qing Qing gave the invitation back to Mobley and said lightly, "Moon Frost Island wants to take the opportunity to integrate the strength of the Heavenly Drum Village District, and now is the right time."


    "Ha ha. Great minds think alike, after all!" Mobley gave out a hearty laugh, but his gaze went suddenly explosive, overflowing with a fierce, in-charge look. "Does Miss Qing Qing think we have the capital for a share?"


    "We didn''t have enough before, but we now have just barely enough." Qing Qing spoke as lightly as ever, as though she hadn''t been affected at all.


    Mobley''s ferocity abruptly disappeared without a trace as he rubbed his chin with a wry smile. "Ai. What Miss Qing Qing said is right. We can barely do it, but we can still do it, even if just barely."


    The two were clear about what Moon Frost Island was planning. To increase their ability to survive in that chaotic world, Moon Frost Island wanted to take advantage of the situation to get all the big and small powers in the Heavenly Drum Village District to form a large body in the nature of an alliance. Once the alliance formed, it would mean a leviathan would take shape. With all the powers integrated across an entire flourishing district, they would become more powerful and terrifying than anything before.


    Such a large body couldn''t be controlled by any one power¡ªnot even by Moon Frost Island. It would have to be the final product of compromise among all the powers, and how to get a seat and a voice in that body was what Mobley was thinking about.


    Moon Frost Island had courage beyond what anyone had imagined. In order to achieve that goal, they were even willing to give up absolute control. One could imagine, however, that if the new body took shape, Moon Frost Island would still occupy the most important position. While they couldn''t decide where the leviathan would go, they could greatly influence its direction.


    Mobley clearly understood that once the integration was accomplished, the Heavenly Drum Village District wouldn''t have room for any other powers. Since that was the case, he knew they might as well get in early to be able to occupy a spot that might correspond to the Snowflake Card Artisan Team''s interests.


    Since the stimulant liquid had been put to use, the Snowflake Card Artisan Team''s battle strength had gotten a big boost. Moreover, in the current situation, the Snowflake Card Artisan Team would have a lot more value by having more powerful battle ability. That left Mobley pretty smug.


    "I wonder if you have any news about Chen Mu, Captain Mobley," Qing Qing suddenly asked.


    "Chen Mu?" Mobley felt abruptly disgusted, though he shook his head and kept his normal expression. "Not yet. Our people are watching all around the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm base. Last I heard, they still haven''t found any sign of Chen Mu."


    "Where did he go?" Qing Qing muttered to herself as her face showed a rare frown. For Chen Mu alone to put down so many and then not to be seen was where she had her doubts. She didn''t believe the nonsense about him going off traveling. Would a card master go off single-handedly for so long without being heard from? Even a card artisan wouldn''t go off traveling like that in the current chaotic situation.


    What did he really go off to do? Qing Qing''s curious mind was provoked to the extreme, but she didn''t have a clue.


    Mobley''s heart skipped a beat, and he didn''t respond. He simply pretended to stare at the invitation in his hand and acted like he was in a daze.


    After a long while, Qing Qing raised her head and dropped a word as she flitted off. "I still have to trouble Captain Mo with the matter of Chen Mu. If it wouldn''t be any bother, I would like to ask if Qing Qing might join the delegation to the summit."


    * * *


    Chen Mu was watching Sang Hanshui in front of him and felt a little awkward. He had originally planned to simply kill him after the questioning. But Sang Hanshui really fit in. Moreover, his erudition had earned Chen Mu''s respect. Although Chen Mu had no taboo against killing anymore, it wasn''t just the taboo. He was essentially still an ordinary youth. If he were to simply let Sang Hanshui go, however, there could be too many pitfalls and too many uncertain variables.


    He glimpsed Wei-ah guiding Bu Mo''s training out of the corner of his eye, and something flashed through his mind.


    "I''m going to turn him over to you, Wei-ah. Don''t let him run off," Chen Mu said to Wei-ah.


    Wei-ah responded simply by saying, "Oh." He seemed to look at Sang Hanshui without really looking at him. Sang Hanshui breathed a sigh of relief. No one wanted to die, and he was no exception. He was now only worried about how the two of them would keep him in line, and he couldn''t help but shudder inwardly. But he also knew that without an apparatus or a card, he was pretty much a loser.


    On top of that, his attitude had changed, and his hostility had already dispersed. He was good at reading people and knew Qiao Yuan didn''t seem to want to kill him. The change in Qiao Yuan''s attitude had rather surprised him, though it was definitely a good thing as far as he was concerned.


    He picked a random place to sit down and watched their training. The scene in front of him was completely different from the intelligence he had gotten. According to his intelligence, Qiao Yuan should have been alone. When had two more people shown up beside him?


    Looking again at those two, Sang Hanshui got more frightened the more he watched. The one called Wei-ah was guiding the boy''s training, and they were actually practicing cardless sect moves! Good lord! People still practice cardless sect moves these days? Sang Hanshui felt his mouth go dry, and his back had become soaked in sweat without his realizing it. When he watched Wei-ah demonstrate by smashing the extremely sturdy target to pieces with a punch, his eyeballs nearly fell onto the floor. He now understood why Qiao Yuan had allowed that guy called Wei-ah to watch over him.


    Good lord! This guy is simply not human!


    Remembering that he didn''t have an apparatus or a card, he was basically facing someone who wasn''t human. He was fantasizing that he was a skinny little chicken being clutched at the neck by a huge, powerful hand in midair. His two stick-like legs were desperately struggling against the air, the hand as strong as iron tongs¡­


    Sang Hanshui was unconsciously rubbing his neck, his gaze stunned, looking at the smashed target. He was certain his neck was nowhere near as hard as the target. And I''m still somewhat far away from that guy, Sang Hanshui thought to his horror.


    After going through the initial fright and shock, Sang Hanshui quickly adapted. As Wei-ah''s destructive power continued to unfold, he had already started to go numb. The thing he was then most curious about was where Qiao Yuan had actually come from to be hiding such awesome cardless sect aces by his side and to be hiding them so well. Sang Hanshui suddenly laughed about the undercurrent of agitation in Zargan. He was really looking forward to what the result would be if they were careless and ran into those torrents.


    It was soon time to eat. They sent in quite a bit more food than normal, probably because Ah Sang had seen Chen Mu bring Sang Hanshui into the training room.


    "Slow down your eating." Chen Mu was watching Bu Mo wolf down his food and spoke with some concern. The way Bu Mo was eating really was awful; nearly all of the rice on his plate was just about swept straight into his mouth. By the time Chen Mu had finished three bites, Bu Mo''s plate was already empty. By the time Chen Mu had eaten half, Bu Mo had already finished three portions. Apart from Wei-ah, who kept his cool, Chen Mu and Sang Hanshui had already stopped completely. Chen Mu had previously thought he had a pretty good appetite, but he now knew what it meant to say there was a world and people beyond that one.


    Chen Mu suddenly realized Wei-ah seemed quite interested in appetite. He was like that with the fleshy dog, and he''d gone a step further with Bu Mo.


    So, Chen Mu had to call for five more portions. The final result of his calculations was that Bu Mo had eaten two standard servings by himself. Including Chen Mu, everyone else had eaten unremarkable portions.


    * * *


    Back at the snow silkworm ravine, Bogner and Xi Ping wore troubled expressions.


    "Someone is snooping around outside," Bogner said in a low voice. That was something he was all too familiar with. "Have you found out who it is?"


    "Mmmm, I have. It''s people from the Snowflake Card Artisan Team." Xi Ping looked just as bad. Neither of them had thought the Snowflake Card Artisan Team would actually send people to sneak around, which was a very unfriendly sign.


    "The Snowflake Card Artisan Team? What are they trying to do?" Bogner frowned. Reasonably speaking, they should have been in the honeymoon period with the Snowflake Card Artisan Team. How could they make such an unfriendly move?


    "I don''t know." Xi Ping then suddenly said, "Do you still remember last time when the Snowflake Card Artisan Team commander, Mobley, was asking about the boss? I felt it was strange at the time. We had just reached an agreement. So, what''s he doing looking for the boss now?"


    Bogner was suddenly startled. "It''s possible that these inklings only happened after the last time. Could their objective be the boss?"


    Bogner and Xi Ping looked at one another with gloomy faces.

 405 Mobley’s Ambition

    At the headquarters of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, Mobley was looking at the invitation in his hand and thinking hard. He opened his communications card. "Are you free, Miss Qing Qing?"


    "Is something up, Captain Mobley?" Qing Qing''s ethereal voice was as wispy as the clouds.


    Mobley felt a pang in his heart. His feeling of estrangement hadn''t changed since the beginning, and he still hadn''t closed the distance between them. He didn''t know how he should bring her¡ªthat woman who had no business appearing among humans¡ªcloser to him. She didn''t need to deliberately show anything; the cold alienation exuded from her bones was nearly suffocating Mobley.


    Seeing her face as elegant as a painting on the screen, Mobley felt like a fool. He had wanted to express his love for her so many times, and he had been cleverly fended off each time. She was so intelligent. Like some unfathomable swordsperson, she would seal off any path he might have taken before he could even make his move. Every time he wanted to open his mouth, she would change the subject or would flit away.


    Still, Mobley was a towering figure. While it might have been hard for him to take, he didn''t reveal a thing on his face, saying with a smile, "There is something very important for which I need the assistance of Miss Qing Qing''s wisdom."


    "I don''t deserve such praise, Captain Mobley. Qing Qing will be there in a bit." She pondered a moment before readily nodding.


    A minute later, Qing Qing arrived at Mobley''s office. He presented the invitation in his hands. "I just got this today. It''s quite interesting."


    "Moon Frost Island?" Qing Qing was a little surprised, though she immediately looked as though she were thinking of something.


    "Indeed. I didn''t think it could be Moon Frost Island, either. They are holding a summit, which is rather intriguing." Mobley wore a meaningful smile on his tough face.


    Qing Qing gave the invitation back to Mobley and said lightly, "Moon Frost Island wants to take the opportunity to integrate the strength of the Heavenly Drum Village District, and now is the right time."


    "Ha ha. Great minds think alike, after all!" Mobley gave out a hearty laugh, but his gaze went suddenly explosive, overflowing with a fierce, in-charge look. "Does Miss Qing Qing think we have the capital for a share?"


    "We didn''t have enough before, but we now have just barely enough." Qing Qing spoke as lightly as ever, as though she hadn''t been affected at all.


    Mobley''s ferocity abruptly disappeared without a trace as he rubbed his chin with a wry smile. "Ai. What Miss Qing Qing said is right. We can barely do it, but we can still do it, even if just barely."


    The two were clear about what Moon Frost Island was planning. To increase their ability to survive in that chaotic world, Moon Frost Island wanted to take advantage of the situation to get all the big and small powers in the Heavenly Drum Village District to form a large body in the nature of an alliance. Once the alliance formed, it would mean a leviathan would take shape. With all the powers integrated across an entire flourishing district, they would become more powerful and terrifying than anything before.


    Such a large body couldn''t be controlled by any one power¡ªnot even by Moon Frost Island. It would have to be the final product of compromise among all the powers, and how to get a seat and a voice in that body was what Mobley was thinking about.


    Moon Frost Island had courage beyond what anyone had imagined. In order to achieve that goal, they were even willing to give up absolute control. One could imagine, however, that if the new body took shape, Moon Frost Island would still occupy the most important position. While they couldn''t decide where the leviathan would go, they could greatly influence its direction.


    Mobley clearly understood that once the integration was accomplished, the Heavenly Drum Village District wouldn''t have room for any other powers. Since that was the case, he knew they might as well get in early to be able to occupy a spot that might correspond to the Snowflake Card Artisan Team''s interests.


    Since the stimulant liquid had been put to use, the Snowflake Card Artisan Team''s battle strength had gotten a big boost. Moreover, in the current situation, the Snowflake Card Artisan Team would have a lot more value by having more powerful battle ability. That left Mobley pretty smug.


    "I wonder if you have any news about Chen Mu, Captain Mobley," Qing Qing suddenly asked.


    "Chen Mu?" Mobley felt abruptly disgusted, though he shook his head and kept his normal expression. "Not yet. Our people are watching all around the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm base. Last I heard, they still haven''t found any sign of Chen Mu."


    "Where did he go?" Qing Qing muttered to herself as her face showed a rare frown. For Chen Mu alone to put down so many and then not to be seen was where she had her doubts. She didn''t believe the nonsense about him going off traveling. Would a card master go off single-handedly for so long without being heard from? Even a card artisan wouldn''t go off traveling like that in the current chaotic situation.


    What did he really go off to do? Qing Qing''s curious mind was provoked to the extreme, but she didn''t have a clue.


    Mobley''s heart skipped a beat, and he didn''t respond. He simply pretended to stare at the invitation in his hand and acted like he was in a daze.


    After a long while, Qing Qing raised her head and dropped a word as she flitted off. "I still have to trouble Captain Mo with the matter of Chen Mu. If it wouldn''t be any bother, I would like to ask if Qing Qing might join the delegation to the summit."


    * * *


    Chen Mu was watching Sang Hanshui in front of him and felt a little awkward. He had originally planned to simply kill him after the questioning. But Sang Hanshui really fit in. Moreover, his erudition had earned Chen Mu''s respect. Although Chen Mu had no taboo against killing anymore, it wasn''t just the taboo. He was essentially still an ordinary youth. If he were to simply let Sang Hanshui go, however, there could be too many pitfalls and too many uncertain variables.


    He glimpsed Wei-ah guiding Bu Mo''s training out of the corner of his eye, and something flashed through his mind.


    "I''m going to turn him over to you, Wei-ah. Don''t let him run off," Chen Mu said to Wei-ah.


    Wei-ah responded simply by saying, "Oh." He seemed to look at Sang Hanshui without really looking at him. Sang Hanshui breathed a sigh of relief. No one wanted to die, and he was no exception. He was now only worried about how the two of them would keep him in line, and he couldn''t help but shudder inwardly. But he also knew that without an apparatus or a card, he was pretty much a loser.


    On top of that, his attitude had changed, and his hostility had already dispersed. He was good at reading people and knew Qiao Yuan didn''t seem to want to kill him. The change in Qiao Yuan''s attitude had rather surprised him, though it was definitely a good thing as far as he was concerned.


    He picked a random place to sit down and watched their training. The scene in front of him was completely different from the intelligence he had gotten. According to his intelligence, Qiao Yuan should have been alone. When had two more people shown up beside him?


    Looking again at those two, Sang Hanshui got more frightened the more he watched. The one called Wei-ah was guiding the boy''s training, and they were actually practicing cardless sect moves! Good lord! People still practice cardless sect moves these days? Sang Hanshui felt his mouth go dry, and his back had become soaked in sweat without his realizing it. When he watched Wei-ah demonstrate by smashing the extremely sturdy target to pieces with a punch, his eyeballs nearly fell onto the floor. He now understood why Qiao Yuan had allowed that guy called Wei-ah to watch over him.


    Good lord! This guy is simply not human!


    Remembering that he didn''t have an apparatus or a card, he was basically facing someone who wasn''t human. He was fantasizing that he was a skinny little chicken being clutched at the neck by a huge, powerful hand in midair. His two stick-like legs were desperately struggling against the air, the hand as strong as iron tongs¡­


    Sang Hanshui was unconsciously rubbing his neck, his gaze stunned, looking at the smashed target. He was certain his neck was nowhere near as hard as the target. And I''m still somewhat far away from that guy, Sang Hanshui thought to his horror.


    After going through the initial fright and shock, Sang Hanshui quickly adapted. As Wei-ah''s destructive power continued to unfold, he had already started to go numb. The thing he was then most curious about was where Qiao Yuan had actually come from to be hiding such awesome cardless sect aces by his side and to be hiding them so well. Sang Hanshui suddenly laughed about the undercurrent of agitation in Zargan. He was really looking forward to what the result would be if they were careless and ran into those torrents.


    It was soon time to eat. They sent in quite a bit more food than normal, probably because Ah Sang had seen Chen Mu bring Sang Hanshui into the training room.


    "Slow down your eating." Chen Mu was watching Bu Mo wolf down his food and spoke with some concern. The way Bu Mo was eating really was awful; nearly all of the rice on his plate was just about swept straight into his mouth. By the time Chen Mu had finished three bites, Bu Mo''s plate was already empty. By the time Chen Mu had eaten half, Bu Mo had already finished three portions. Apart from Wei-ah, who kept his cool, Chen Mu and Sang Hanshui had already stopped completely. Chen Mu had previously thought he had a pretty good appetite, but he now knew what it meant to say there was a world and people beyond that one.


    Chen Mu suddenly realized Wei-ah seemed quite interested in appetite. He was like that with the fleshy dog, and he''d gone a step further with Bu Mo.


    So, Chen Mu had to call for five more portions. The final result of his calculations was that Bu Mo had eaten two standard servings by himself. Including Chen Mu, everyone else had eaten unremarkable portions.


    * * *


    Back at the snow silkworm ravine, Bogner and Xi Ping wore troubled expressions.


    "Someone is snooping around outside," Bogner said in a low voice. That was something he was all too familiar with. "Have you found out who it is?"


    "Mmmm, I have. It''s people from the Snowflake Card Artisan Team." Xi Ping looked just as bad. Neither of them had thought the Snowflake Card Artisan Team would actually send people to sneak around, which was a very unfriendly sign.


    "The Snowflake Card Artisan Team? What are they trying to do?" Bogner frowned. Reasonably speaking, they should have been in the honeymoon period with the Snowflake Card Artisan Team. How could they make such an unfriendly move?


    "I don''t know." Xi Ping then suddenly said, "Do you still remember last time when the Snowflake Card Artisan Team commander, Mobley, was asking about the boss? I felt it was strange at the time. We had just reached an agreement. So, what''s he doing looking for the boss now?"


    Bogner was suddenly startled. "It''s possible that these inklings only happened after the last time. Could their objective be the boss?"


    Bogner and Xi Ping looked at one another with gloomy faces.

 406 The Child

    "What should we do next, Madam?" a card artisan asked respectfully. "We have already determined that Moon Frost Island''s reinforcements are still a day away."


    "Oh, they''ll be here so soon. Even if we still don''t know who is behind the situation, we can easily help them out by attacking the reinforcements." The sweet and smooth voice had a hint of indolence to it.


    Amazingly, the one sitting at the top chair was the Madam from Faya who had been in Pomelo. She was still wearing a veil, but no one dared to look straight at those entrancing eyes. If Chen Mu saw her there, he would certainly remain surprised about why Qiao Yuan hadn''t killed her that time. He would also certainly wonder how she had escaped from that deadly place, Pomelo.


    "According to our intelligence, it''s Constellation." The card artisan didn''t even dare to lift his head. Her eyes were just too seductive, and he was afraid he''d make a fool of himself in front of her. She had a distinguished identity but also exuded a little sultriness, and one could imagine how she might kick up her heels offstage. Not only him, but all the card artisans kept their heads strictly lowered, not daring to make contact with those eyes.


    The Madam gave out a laugh. "If Constellation has that kind of insight, the situation won''t stay just about right, the way it is now, for very long."


    "The Madam is wise!"


    "Tsk, tsk. Don''t be such suck-ups. Oh, I just remembered. Did you find out anything about what I had you look into?" While the Madam''s voice still sounded jovial, her entrancing eyes were suddenly oozing a chill.


    "We activated all of our power in the Heavenly Drum Village District, Madam, but got very little." The card artisan was trembling in his cautious response. "That Cao Dong you spoke of did certainly enter the Heavenly Drum Village District, and the last place they disappeared from was the small village of Oak. We discovered that the Federation Comprehensive Academy also seems to be looking for him."


    "The Federation Comprehensive Academy?" Her gaze became abruptly sharp as she murmured, "Could Tang Hanpei also be interested in him?" She suddenly thought of something, and it dawned on her as she spoke to herself. "That''s right; Tang Hanpei bought the Starfish Fort from him. Hmph! If it weren''t for the Starfish Fort, how could he have killed Qiao Yuan? No wonder!"


    Hearing her talking to herself, none of those under her dared to make a sound. They kept their heads lowered and were afraid to even breathe.


    The Madam pondered for moment before saying slowly, "Cao Dong has two leaders under him. One is called Bogner, and the other is Xi Ping. If you can''t find Cao Dong, see if you can find those two. Remember; once you have any news, report it to me immediately, no matter what time it is."


    "Yes, ma''am!" Those under her accepted the order, trembling.


    The Madam''s thoughts were a little flighty. She would never forget what had happened in Pomelo for her whole life. She had always thought of herself as uniquely wise and quick-witted, but it was during that time that she had suffered her most serious blow. She found out afterward that all of it had been run by Cao Dong from the shadows. The funny part was that she hadn''t felt a thing. She had nearly become one of the countless departed spirits in Pomelo¡ªnearly. No matter what, she couldn''t forget about that person!


    Just wait for me, Cao Dong! the Madam was thinking to herself with gritted teeth.


    One of those under her then came forward and cautiously asked, "What about Qiao Yuan, Madam?"


    "Qiao Yuan?" She had seen the information on Qiao Yuan, whose incredibly ugly face had left her with a deep impression. Among the newly promoted aces in the Black-Line Star Listing, he had defeated Dang Han not long before and could be said to be in the spotlight. The thing she found the strangest was that Qiao Yuan seemed to have so suddenly popped up from the underground, and they couldn''t find any related information about him.


    The Madam pondered a moment before saying, "Could we possibly draw him in?"


    Several of the card artisans looked at one another before one said a little hesitantly, "That isn''t likely. Zeng Yushan also revealed his own intentions to him in that regard, but he was rejected."


    "Oh. Don''t bother with him, then." She languidly stretched, letting out a mild groan from her exquisite nose, which made the blood pressure of all the card artisans in the room rise.


    Noting their embarrassment, the Madam giggled charmingly and smiled. "Turn over all matters inside Zargan to Constellation. We''ll just watch to see how the show turns out."


    "Yes, ma''am."


    * * *


    Having gotten all the materials, Chen Mu set to work. Although he hadn''t been making cards for a while, his movements didn''t look at all rusty. In order to avoid interference, he''d had to find a different room.


    Although Token Theory was already a familiar path for him, the number of times he had made specialized token cards was pitifully small. That time, his goal was extremely clear. He wanted to make a specialized computational token card. It would only have one capability, which was calculation! A token card was basically used for calculation, but that clearly wouldn''t satisfy Chen Mu at his level. He had decided to play out the calculation capability of the token card to its extreme.


    After spending three days, he finally succeeded in making it. It was gray with a coffee-colored design and a little dull-looking. No star-rating logo could be found on the card. It was Chen Mu''s first time to be so bold as to make use of Token Theory for something experimental.


    It was different from any card Chen Mu had ever made and had a dense pattern on its surface. Quite of few of its lines were even finer than hairs, and they filled both sides of the card. The lines were so complex that even if Chen Mu himself were to glance at it, he would feel his scalp go numb.


    He held the finished product in front of his face and felt a little surprised that he had completed such a complex card by himself! The next second, he was filled with a powerful sense of pride.


    Ever since he had only been able to make a one-star power card, he had always discovered that his own progress would exceed his expectations without him quite realizing it. In his pride, it would be hard to avoid emotions. Of course, he was endlessly lucky, but to have been able to get to where he was today had also taken a lot of sweat and hardship!


    He inserted the card into his apparatus, wanting to try it out. Since it was an auxiliary card, when he activated his apparatus, it only needed a small wisp of perception to activate. For safety, Chen Mu had added a composition with a secret function onto the card, so only when the perceptual frequency reached a certain value could the token card be activated.


    The apparatus on Chen Mu''s wrist lit up, and countless shiny, silvery flashes were visible, as though a star cluster had suddenly blown apart. The silver rays scattered, and a strange scene appeared in the room. Only Chen Mu was visible, as though he were in the middle of the Milky Way, with countless large and small silver beams distributed throughout the room into every space. Each one of the silver beams was like a star moving slowly along. Among those silver stars, some variable rough lines would swim windingly around from time to time. The blurriest were the crystalline, transparent surfaces, each one a different size, which looked like they were distributed in a disorganized fashion. There were dots, lines, and surfaces, along with several more complexly composed and complicated three-dimensional structures. There were even multi-dimensional structures¡­


    Chen Mu was in a daze as he looked at that strange scene, his brain having nearly crashed. Had he really made such a wonderful and mysterious card himself? He unconsciously swallowed and suddenly thought of the awesome star evolution fantasy card he had seen before at the low-grade fantasy card club in Eastern Shang-Wei City. That card had come from the grand master Chemosich. The card he had made himself was still more shocking than that one, and more charming!


    Then, in his shock, the feelings Chen Mu was having abruptly became weird. Anyone would feel proud and satisfied to be able to make such a wonderful card. But, even as a card master, he had no way to predict even the cards he made himself. That would show how deficient he was academically. There was nothing glorious about that. It looked like his mastery of token cards was still too superficial!


    As he was carefully examining himself, Chen Mu raised his head and concentrated entirely on those messes of silver stars, lines, and surfaces. He suddenly discovered a more vexing issue. How should he use it if even he didn''t know where it came from?


    Good lord! All of the remaining pride and satisfaction he had just been feeling abruptly vanished. How could a card master not even know how to use a card he had made himself? It would be humiliating for any card master to even say such a thing!


    Those silver stars, lines, and surfaces were like a gang of naughty children who weren''t paying any attention to Chen Mu. They kept playing around among themselves and minding their own business, making Chen Mu feel a little more depressed.


    It was difficult to consider that while his card making craftsmanship had made a new breakthrough, the blows had nevertheless appeared in such quick succession. Looking at that glorious, mysterious scene, which shone like the Milky Way, Chen Mu felt somehow as though it were mocking his incompetence.


    He simply sat in that river of stars, closed his eyes, and contemplated its rules.


    As he sat there thinking with his eyes closed, Chen Mu wasn''t paying attention to those silver stars and lines scurrying everywhere, not to mention the strange, transparent surfaces, which were in the midst of changing little by little. Token Theory was really abstruse, and Chen Mu''s heart sank as he thought about it with a multitude of feelings. He''d always thought his own mind was rather bright; now, he was about to explode. He had no choice but to stop his thinking for the time being, and he put the card away.


    He called it the Child since it was like a child that wouldn''t listen. He had thought he could make a type of auxiliary computational card and could compute the remaining words for the Golden Word Shackle. He hadn''t expected come up with such a strange card. He thought about how he had fought with Dang Han along the way to getting the materials for it and how he had nearly fallen into Sang Hanshui''s hands¡ªall for those materials. The result was that he came up with such a card to beat himself up with.


    Seeing Chen Mu''s gloomy face, Sang Hanshui discreetly dodged to the side. He had been terrified those last few days watching the cardless sect training every day. That had made his fragile nerves even more fragile.


    He did have a deep understanding of the cardless sects in the end. As he saw it, the so-called cardless sects'' true meaning was to destroy yourself first and to then destroy others. Seeing that little child training every day, Sang Hanshui felt that if it were him, he would already have died several times over. The more he watched, the more chilled his heart felt. How could that little guy destroy himself like that and then go destroy others? What a cruel way it was!


    Subsequently, Sang Hanshui realized that the riskiest professions would impressively be the cardless sects.


    * * *


    Wei-ah suddenly lifted his head and looked toward the sky outside the training room.

 407 The Means

    "Someone''s here," Wei-ah said expressionlessly. After he said it, he shot over to Sang Hanshui''s side and used his right hand to give him a light chop to the back of the neck. Before poor Sang Hanshui could react, his eyes went blank, and he went unconscious. In the blink of an eye, Wei-ah picked Sang Hanshui up and disappeared with Bu Mo.


    At just that time, there was a knock on the door.


    Chen Mu still didn''t understand how Wei-ah could discover someone at such a distance. He was actually pretty advanced himself in that regard, his ability to perceive physical objects having surpassed his sensitivity to energy. Even though that was the case, Wei-ah''s range of detection was still a lot bigger than his. He would only be stronger than Wei-ah if he were to use the Snake Lens.


    He opened the door to see Ah Sang with a young, pretty woman standing behind her.


    "This is Miss Lin Yao from Moon Frost Island, Mr. Qiao. She hopes for a brief meeting with you," Ah Sang said cautiously.


    In people''s eyes, Moon Frost Island was unreachable, and they basically would never dare to be insubordinate. So, when Lin Yao had brought up her request, Ah Sang could only lead her in even though she knew it would likely be displeasing to Qiao Yuan.


    The influence of Moon Frost Island was so ingrained among the people of the Heavenly Drum Village District. That had built up across hundreds of years. Such imposing power was far beyond what any other card artisans could compare with.


    Chen Mu surprisingly didn''t show any displeasure, understanding quite well how helpless Ah Sang was. Ever since his youth, when he had been at the lowest reaches of society, he had a pretty thorough understanding of society''s various rules.


    "What''s up?" He didn''t embarrass Ah Sang and cast his gaze toward Lin Yao behind her.


    Lin Yao was wearing a perfectly fresh and delightful light green battle suit, looking rather comfortable. Given that she was a card artisan and had undergone systematic training, she had a great body. Her bright eyes, white teeth, and sharp chin in her perfect oval face were delicate and captivating.


    She made a respectful, slight bow and said a little pathetically, "We''ve run into some trouble, Mr. Qiao. I hope you can help us out, if you please."


    "Trouble?" Chen Mu didn''t immediately reply.


    "Yes. I believe you know there has been a sudden gathering of large numbers of card artisans in Zargan, with no shortage of good ones. Although we still don''t know what their goal is, some troops that were being sent to our school were ambushed. We suspect they are coming after Moon Frost Island." Lin Yao''s speech was crisp and well-spoken.


    Seeing that Qiao Yuan hadn''t been affected, her eyes flashed a look of nervousness, though she kept her cool. "If you could lend us a hand this time, Mr. Qiao, you would earn Moon Frost Island''s friendship. If Mr. Qiao doesn''t want to get caught up with us, you may still run into some troublesome issues later. For you to have another choice would give you another way out.


    "Senior classmate Zeng had been intending to come himself, but there was a sudden change in the situation. So, there was no other choice but for me to come. As I was about to leave, senior classmate Zeng brought up to me that if Mr. Qiao requires anything, he may just ask. I believe since Mr. Qiao was willing to assist Miss Ah Sang for ten days, he might be willing to help us for a few days."


    Lin Yao had plenty of ability to persuade Qiao Yuan. Before coming, she had already made a thorough investigation. As she saw it, if even Ah Sang could persuade Qiao Yuan to work for her, they should have plenty of chips to attract him. They could even bring out some nice cards and legacies, which would have a fatal attraction for any card artisan. If Qiao Yuan craved wealth and liked Oudi, that would be far simpler still.


    As she saw it, the reason Qiao Yuan still hadn''t agreed was nothing more than holding out for the right price. So long as she opened with a sufficiently superior price, he would have no reason not to agree.


    Unexpectedly, however, Chen Mu simply shook his head. "I''m sorry, but I''m not interested."


    Lin Yao was taken aback, and there flashed a hint of fury in her eyes. "Why doesn''t Mr. Qiao think about it for a while? Perhaps in Mr. Qiao''s eyes, Moon Frost Island is not so worthy of assistance as a trading firm."


    Once she said that, the look on Ah Sang''s face became pretty ugly. Lin Yao felt a little bad about it herself. By then, though, she felt nervous enough that she couldn''t pay attention to such details, and she stared firmly at Qiao Yuan. In her eyes, that incredibly ugly face had become still more detestable.


    Chen Mu was indifferent to her displeased tone, such things not being worth his getting upset about. Then, remembering his current identity as Qiao Yuan, he drummed up a displeased expression and said coldly, "I don''t require Miss Lin to make these sorts of decisions for me. Pardon me, but I have to train."


    Having said that, and before Lin Yao could react, he slammed the door shut. There was no way she wouldn''t have affected any other card artisan. But, as far as Chen Mu was concerned, Zargan was a big whirlpool just then. He was afraid he might not be able to stay clear of it, so why would he take the initiative to dive right into it? He certainly wasn''t worried about how deep the water was since there wouldn''t even be any dregs left for him. He hadn''t gotten carried away by his last few victories, and he knew his own weight very well. He had never wanted to get the attention of the Big Six, so why would he take the initiative to trust Moon Frost Island now?


    With the conflict seeming to be about to begin, Chen Mu was considering whether he should leave a little early; it wouldn''t be good if he were to be caught up in its spread.


    A sudden burst of noise then came from outside.


    * * *


    Old Wang''s heart was beating rapidly, but he relaxed a little when he saw his comrade beside him.


    Another comrade, Old Lu, said in a trembling voice, "Where are we now, Old Wang?" The two had been partners for a long time. They were part of a group of reporters who had been preparing to conduct an interview when they had run into an attack, and the two had both been knocked out. By the time they came to, they were in an utterly strange place.


    "I don''t know." Old Wang was trying hard to keep his voice calm. He had already noticed that apart from his partner and himself, a lot of strangers were gathered around. Still, to be a reporter, Old Wang had to have well-seasoned insight. The rest of the people were reporters just like they were, and he recognized a few among them. Practically all of the larger platforms were there, and Lao Wang seemed to sense some intrigue among them.


    Someone suddenly pushed in the door, and a card artisan with an icy expression walked in. He was exuding a chill from his whole body, and his gloomy gaze made everyone unconsciously decide to keep their mouths shut. The first thing any reporter had to do was to learn how to get the sense of a scene.


    "I don''t believe I have to explain anything. This is Zargan, everyone, where there are about to be a lot of big things happening. I believe everyone will most certainly be interested. Don''t waste time talking with me since I don''t have the patience. You need only to faithfully report everything that happens here, and I believe your editors and your platforms will surely be interested. You might even get a prize for it. Oh, and you might even become famous from it. I do believe you will certainly enjoy the program to follow. Of course, I won''t have much patience for any uncooperative jerks. Hmph. All the materials you might need are in your hands. While you may not value your own lives, you won''t wish to burden your families with burying you."


    There was suddenly a lot of commotion among the reporters, all of them looking quite angry, though no one opened their mouth.


    "Enough!" the card artisan grunted coldly, his gloomy gaze sweeping slowly over everyone. "Among the guys bringing you food will be people to take you where you should go."


    Then, Old Wang and his partner, Old Lu, were immediately led clumsily off somewhere. He raised his head to take a look and found that it was a trading firm called the Chichi Trading Firm. Even given his rich experience, he had never heard that firm''s name and thought it must not be a well-known one. He was curious about why they would take them to some little-known firm. After noticing that the surroundings of the firm were full of people in a sea of black, he wondered what they were all doing.


    "Hurry up! Don''t f****ng jerk around! Set up your equipment!" The card artisans beside them were impatiently urging them along.


    Old Wang and Old Lu looked at one another and sensibly set up their equipment. They had found that theirs wasn''t the only platform there; quite a few platforms'' reporters were there, all of them setting up their equipment with no choice in the matter.


    In an instant, many of the platforms in the entire federation were showing a weird scene as the name of the Chichi Trading Firm appeared on all of the channels. The first line of reporters all said with practically the same words that there was about to be a huge happening and so forth. That immediately whetted the appetites of all of the citizens of the Heavenly Federation.


    In an unassuming corner of the crowd outside the doors to the Chichi Trading Firm, a madam wearing a veil was blending in with the crowd. A tall man wearing a bronze mask stood next to her. The mask was a gorgeous color and was both sinister and quaint. The people nearby unconsciously distanced themselves from him. On his other side was a man whose long hair was clasped by a silver ring. Amazingly, it was Dang Han, who had escaped from Chen Mu a few days before.


    Dang Han''s face looked rather haggard, and his gaze would helplessly exude deep fear every time it made contact with the man in the bronze mask next to him.


    The Madam said with a light laugh, "I never thought the opening scene would unfold here. Tsk, tsk. This move from Constellation is quite creative. It''s just that this Qiao Yuan is bad luck. I''ve heard there''s some enmity between them."


    Dang Han rushed to answer respectfully. "Indeed, Madam. Qiao Yuan killed Mo Ta, the captain of one of Constellation''s small teams, and took from him the Golden Word Shackle. He also seriously injured another of the captains, Jin Yin."


    "Oh, no wonder. It''s been said that this Golden Word Shackle is quite impressive." The Madam seemed to be speaking casually.


    Dang Han''s heart skipped a beat, and the sweat started to soak his back in an instant. "This is something my insignificant self heard inadvertently from the mouth of a card artisan: This Golden Word Shackle is a very powerful card that has come down from the age of the sects."


    "Since that''s the case, this card can''t fall into the hands of Constellation," the Madam said lightly. "If you do your job well, I would never be stingy about a card." Between her words was a lot of confidence, as though the card had already fallen into her hands.


    Dang Han was glad. "I''m grateful for the Madam''s kindness. This insignificant man offers to sacrifice himself. I pledge my loyalty to the Madam!"


    "You are such a surprisingly discreet man." The madam laughed lightly and then turned back around. "Let''s watch the show. If I haven''t guessed wrong, Constellation will certainly be taking Qiao Yuan''s head off for some reason or another."


    Before her voice fell, the crowd was shouting and rushing the Chichi Trading Firm with a roar. Under attack from the crowd, the Chichi Trading Firm guards were impossibly fragile and immediately collapsed.


    Everyone followed the psychology of the crowd. While many of them had already seen how awesome Qiao Yuan was and didn''t want to go too wild, the more people there were, the more they forgot themselves in the heat of the moment and went rushing in.


    The Madam struggled to go in with them, being rather interested, while Dang Han rushed to clear the way in front of her. The bronze-masked man then went blindly along with the group, behind the Madam.

 408 Viciousness

    Lin Yao had been rejected, and it was easy to imagine how angry she was. She had never seen such an ungrateful jerk as Qiao Yuan. She had thought that by coming personally, Qiao Yuan wouldn''t be so likely to outright refuse. Then, as she went over things slowly, she realized she should have been able to accomplish the matter. She had the capital for such confidence. Given her appearance and temperament, along with her aristocratic identity, she had never been so directly refused like that.


    Qiao Yuan''s refusal had been so blunt that it left no room for ambiguity¡ªnot even a glimmer! She had always thought highly of herself, and she had wanted to demonstrate some ability in front of her elder classmate Zeng. Who would have thought her counterpart would have finally been so rude as to leave her no face? The affair far exceeded common sense with her taking such a firm shutting of the door.


    Lin Yao was just on the verge of storming off. Luckily for her, though, she hadn''t gotten carried away with her anger. She drew in a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. She felt some regret; if she had known what would have happened, she would never have spoken so fully. It would have been better if she hadn''t said anything to move Qiao Yuan and had merely returned embarrassed.


    No expression was visible on Ah Sang''s face, though she was feeling rather fine inside. Some of what Lin Yao had said had been pretty hard to hear. She''d had no scruples about Ah Sang''s standing and hadn''t shown any respect whatsoever. Now, seeing Lin Yao get into trouble, Ah Sang remained silent and looked on coolly.


    When that sudden noise sounded out, the two women both looked surprised. Before they could react, a large gang of people rushed in with a roar. There were quite a few reporters carrying their equipment.


    Lin Yao''s expression changed dramatically. Although she hadn''t figured out what was actually going on, she had a feeling it was nothing good. Ah Sang''s face also shifted as she wondered to herself why so many reporters would arrive at once. Fortunately, the two of them were no ordinary characters, and they quickly resumed their calm.


    "Wow, two pretty women! So beautiful! Hurry; take a shot! Hurry up!"


    "I never thought there could be such pretty women at this backwater, so the trip wasn''t in vain¡­"


    "Who are these two women?"


    "One of them is a student from Moon Frost Island. It seems like she''s called something like Lin Yao. The other is the daughter of the boss of this establishment. Good stuff!" The one speaking didn''t have a strong voice, but he was quite clear, even in the noisy environment.


    "Moon Frost Island!" The reporters looked excited. If one were to say they had just been doubting if those people were being deliberately mystifying, they were now believers. There would certainly be some news there¡ªbig news!


    "Miss Lin! Miss Lin, why would you show up here? Could there be some new trend at Moon Frost Island? Or, does Moon Frost Island want to enhance their influence in the district of Zargan?" A reporter with quick reflexes kept asking a barrage of questions.


    Old Wang looked on coldly, his mind like a mirror. Some of the people wanted to bag Moon Frost Island! He looked at the reporters leading the questioning like they were fools. To offend a gang of plunderers would be to court death. To offend Moon Frost Island, though, would mean the rest of one''s days wouldn''t go so well.


    But he was also curious about why someone from Moon Frost Island would suddenly come to such an unknown place as Zargan. Moon Frost Island was the only school among the Big Six where the female students outnumbered the male students. It was their tradition to emphasize the women and to de-emphasize the men. That had also created a situation where the female students had comparatively higher positions in the school than the men. Thus, when the reporters found out the woman in front of them was a student from Moon Frost Island, how could they not be excited? So long as there was news related to Moon Frost Island, it would basically not be small news.


    Lin Yao abruptly became a little flustered. When had she ever witnessed such a scene? But, when she saw the equipment on the shoulders of the reporters, she immediately understood it was a live broadcast.


    She forced out a smile. "I''m sorry, everyone. We are only performing an ordinary job here."


    "We?" The reporters keenly grasped the news that word revealed. Right then, another reporter asked, "Miss Lin, who has come along with you?"


    Everyone''s gaze was fixed on her, and she helplessly responded. When she brought up Zeng Yushan, all of the reporters'' faces lit up. They knew about Zeng Yushan''s fame and that the so-called ordinary job was actually Zeng Yushan leading troops. That certainly wasn''t so ordinary as what Lin Yao said.


    One of the reporters noticed the closed door behind the two of them and couldn''t help but ask, "Would you please step forward a little, Miss Lin? Do you have some kind of agreement with this Miss Ah Sang from the Chichi Trading Firm?"


    Ah Sang''s face shifted; she hadn''t expected to be dragged into it.


    Lin Yao suddenly had a brainstorm as she said with a smile, "Yes. We at Moon Frost Island have already reached an agreement with the Chichi Trading Firm, and the two sides will form a partnership. I was just discussing that with Miss Ah Sang. We consider the Chichi Trading Firm to be a trading house with great potential, worth our paying attention to."


    If she didn''t have a way to bag Qiao Yuan, that didn''t mean she didn''t have a way to bag the Chichi Trading Firm. She didn''t believe the Chichi Trading Firm would deny her in front of that many people. Ah Sang had just demonstrated how much she looked up to Moon Frost Island, and she was letting her fully grasp it in her heart. So long as the Chichi Trading Firm reached an agreement, with Qiao Yuan being employed by them, she would only have to ask Ah Sang to step up the pressure. When it came to Qiao Yuan, she would just turn it over to Ah Sang to think of something. Although she didn''t know why Qiao Yuan would accept employment from Ah Sang, she rather maliciously thought that perhaps the two of them had some unusual relationship.


    All of the blood drained from Ah Sang''s face in that instant. She had never expected Lin Yao to play that hand!


    In front of Moon Frost Island, the Chichi Trading Firm was nothing more than a small firm that couldn''t be any smaller. The two sides were at completely different levels. The only result of that would be that the Chichi Trading Firm wouldn''t have the ability to contend with them unless they could find some backer in another establishment that did have the power to contend with Moon Frost Island.


    Lin Yao was speaking in front of so many reporters'' faces that it completely sealed the relations between the two sides. Ah Sang was clear about Lin Yao''s objective, and she was equally clear about what the result would be if she denied her. That firm, into which her father had poured his life''s blood, could disappear by tomorrow. That play of Lin Yao''s was really too insidious!


    All of Lin Yao''s recent anger flew away with her smile, and she felt completely satisfied. For her to come up with such a wonderful idea in such a short time, how would she not be proud? She felt moved to strike while the iron was hot. "Miss Ah Sang, there''s no time like the present. At such an important moment, why not invite Mr. Qiao Yuan to meet everyone?"


    "Qiao Yuan! Ah! Could that be the Qiao Yuan who killed Mo Ta and defeated Jin Yin?"


    "I heard he recently defeated Dang Han¡­"


    The reporters became even more excited. Qiao Yuan had appeared from out of the blue during that time and had immediately gone soaring in popularity at a jaw-dropping speed. Although they knew the name Qiao Yuan, they weren''t so clear about what had specifically happened there. The reporters had only just found out that Moon Frost Island had originally come there because of Qiao Yuan.


    Ah Sang''s face was pallid, and her expression was wooden as she gnawed on her lips and silently turned around. She faced the closed door in a daze and used all of her energy to raise her right hand. It seemed as though her right hand was stuck in midair and wouldn''t knock no matter what.


    Lin Yao''s proud voice came from behind her. "Don''t keep people waiting, Miss Ah Sang."


    Ah Sang closed her eyes, having no way to curb her tears as they slipped quietly down. That didn''t attract anyone''s attention in the midst of the sound of her knocking on the door.


    The door squeaked open. The reporters outside were stretching their necks, wanting to see Qiao Yuan''s true face. Too bad it was perfectly dark inside.


    Ah Sang walked in cautiously, and the door slowly closed. Lin Yao really wanted to go in, but she hesitated and decided not to. Who knew what kind of attitude Qiao Yuan had toward her? She, on the other hand, believed she had just had a great idea out of nowhere. If the two of them had no shenanigans between them, why would Qiao Yuan''s attitude only be so negative toward her?


    In the training room, Chen Mu was watching Ah Sang, who looked like a wooden statue, and he sighed silently to himself. He had just heard clearly what had been happening outside. Lin Yao''s grand objective was so unscrupulous that it really disgusted him. For her to act that way, no matter how things developed, Ah Sang and the Chichi Trading Firm would become expendable.


    Chen Mu broke the silence as he slowly opened his mouth and said, "There''s no use begging me; I''m not about to enter these turbid waters."


    He knew how deep that turbid water was. His power alone would be insignificant in those waters. He was certain that once he fell into that whirlpool, the possibility of his survival would be vanishingly small. Never mind that neither Constellation nor Moon Frost Island had good intentions.


    Ah Sang showed despair in her eyes, and she was unwittingly biting through her lips with her snow-white teeth. There was no hint of blood in her exquisite face, so the traces of blood on her pale lips were a shocking sight.


    "What should I do? Would my body be enough? I''m willing to pay any price!" Ah Sang said with a trembling voice. Before Chen Mu could respond, she extended her hand to open her clothes a little. Her body and her hands were shaking all along, and her gaze was fixed on Chen Mu''s eyes, as though she were grabbing onto her last hope.


    That was an unexpected turn of events. Suddenly, memories from childhood came surging up like a tide and engulfed Chen Mu. He had seen quite a few people pay too high a price for survival. Society''s rules were the same everywhere!


    An inexplicable sorrow filled Chen Mu''s heart, and his expression became still more hard and indifferent. "If I were interested in your body, it would have been mine a long time ago."


    That rational and nearly unfeeling phrase dashed the last bit of hope in Ah Sang''s heart like the point of an arrow. She crumpled to the floor as though the energy had been drawn out of her. She was unable to restrain her sobbing.


    Watching Ah Sang on the ground, Chen Mu briefly looked like he couldn''t bear it. As he saw it, perhaps she had been a little permissive in her thinking and a bit shrewd. While she did have some moves, she was a little girl not yet 20, after all. The things she''d had to bear were really too cruel and too heavy for her.


    As the initiator of all of that, Chen Mu deflected his head and looked out the door. A severe glow flitted past his eyes, and his urge to kill soared.


    You think you can push everyone around?

 409 Chen Mu’s Counterattack

    When Lin Yao saw Chen Mu come out of the room, she became completely respectful. Having dared to be the way she had been toward Ah Sang, she didn''t dare to be the same toward Qiao Yuan. Someone like Qiao Yuan, who had been the object of such powerful enticements from the school, was someone you would want to give a lot of respect to¡ªat least on the surface.


    The situation for each side was extremely subtle. Chen Mu was quite disgusted with Moon Frost Island, but he couldn''t show any of that on the surface. He still needed to take advantage of his identity as Qiao Yuan to get into the household of the Tai-shus of Dong Rui. If he were to get into an open fight with Moon Frost Island, that identity would become useless. The Tai-shus of Dong Rui would never accept a card artisan with a grudge against Moon Frost Island, as would be the case with any clan that had any brains.


    So long as he showed no animosity on the surface, Moon Frost Island wouldn''t be able to openly carry out any suppression and would have to accord him some face. But no one could do anything about what was done in secret. Chen Mu did believe that by fending for himself in that big whirlpool, however, Moon Frost Island wouldn''t necessarily have the energy to deal with him in secret.


    Seeing the delicate, pretty face in front of him, Chen Mu was speechlessly disgusted. He hated any woman who would so unscrupulously use any means to get her objective, especially when those means were not well-intentioned. He had heard with his own ears how she had pushed Ah Sang to the brink. While Chen Mu had no particularly good feelings toward Ah Sang, once Lin Yao used such means on her, he couldn''t quite control his anger. The reason Lin Yao had dared to act that way and the reason she could was only because she had Moon Frost Island behind her!


    "Oh, Miss Lin is still here." The first words out of Chen Mu''s mouth gave the reporters a jolt. That phrase revealed a bit of news, making it clear that the two had met before.


    Could the two sides have really made some agreement?


    The reporters didn''t dare to utter a word, their gazes firmly on Chen Mu. If that information was correct, that would mean Moon Frost Island had yet another ace. That would be sensational news!


    Aces on the Black-Line Star Listing didn''t seem to pay that much attention to Moon Frost Island. Ever since Yin Shanfei refused Moon Frost Island''s attempts to recruit him and then seriously injured 16 of their aces, the aces on the Black-Line Star Listing seemed to have become rebellious all at once. Moon Frost Island''s recruitment schemes immediately plunged into an unprecedented predicament with no one buying their brand.


    If Qiao Yuan were to accept the backing of Moon Frost Island at that time, what effects might it have? Would it incite the rest of the card artisans on the Black-Line Star Listing? Or, would it be the leading wave for the resurgence of Moon Frost Island? If the two sides were to make some agreement, what would be in the agreement?


    The reporters had suddenly discovered that the matter contained many headlines. Each one was full of suspense, which was the sort of thing reporters liked most. All of them became attentive as they waited for Chen Mu''s confirmation.


    Chen Mu said seriously, "Since Miss Lin still hasn''t left, I happen to have something to say that I''d like to trouble Miss Lin to take back to Lord Zeng."


    "What word would Mr. Qiao like me to take back to senior classmate Zeng?" Lin Yao was somewhat puzzled about what Qiao Yuan was up to. What was he going to do by drawing her in to say something completely irrelevant?


    "Lord Zeng saw me last time with his own eyes, and Qiao Yuan was overwhelmed by his flattery. But I have just told Miss Lin that my cooperation with Miss Ah Sang has come to term, and I had been planning on going along with him after we met. I never thought I would encounter yet another important matter that requires me to leave a little early, meaning I won''t be able to say my goodbyes to Lord Zeng. That''s sometimes the way things are in life. I would like to ask Miss Lin to say goodbye to him for me." Nothing strange was visible on Chen Mu''s face, and he was speaking smoothly and naturally.


    Lin Yao''s expression quickly changed!


    The nonsense Chen Mu was speaking came out so seamlessly that there were no holes in it. He had just asserted what he had already said to her, and the others naturally didn''t doubt him. The most crucial thing was that everything Lin Yao had just said didn''t actually indicate that her objective was Qiao Yuan but had instead been to have Ah Sang ask Qiao Yuan to come out and to say a few words. Qiao Yuan had added that he had some important matter to attend to, which blocked any way out for her.


    The reporters were stunned, never having thought that along those winding roads through the peaks, that turn would be so quick. Once they realized such a big news headline had just disappeared like that, the dejection on their faces was palpable.


    "Miss Lin deserves to be called one of the best students of Moon Frost Island, having truly exceptional insight, after all. To have taken the initiative to reach a cooperative relationship with the Chichi Trading Firm, Qiao Yuan has to admire Miss Lin''s courage and determination!"


    Once he said that, Lin Yao''s face became quite a bit uglier. She couldn''t let it go without any response, so she forced out a smile to say, "Mr. Qiao flatters me beyond what Lin Yao deserves."


    Chen Mu smiled coldly to himself; she had lifted up a rock and had smashed her own feet with it. She''d announced her cooperative relationship with the Chichi Trading Firm in front of so many people, on top of which were those final words of Chen Mu showing such admiration. There was no way Lin Yao would swallow such bitter fruit. Furthermore, Chen Mu had pointed out that it was Lin Yao''s sole decision. Whether she wanted to or not, Lin Yao would later have to expand the Chichi Trading Firm since she otherwise would become the material for countless people''s after-dinner-tea jokes, which was something she absolutely couldn''t bear.


    Chen Mu still didn''t feel very satisfied. Even though he had imitated the "soft knife" known as Xi Ping, he hadn''t placed that much importance on that little scene. But he still found it quite refreshing to see Lin Yao choking like that.


    "Since Mr. Qiao is about to leave, I wonder when Ah Sang will see you again, sir." Ah Sang came out of the training room holding back tears and full of worship. "No matter what, Ah Sang will never forget your help!" What she said was sincere.


    Chen Mu felt a lot better. To have concluded the matter like that was pretty good. He wanted to leave Zargan a little early to put some distance between himself and that whirlpool.


    Just as Chen Mu was about to leave, however, someone stood up.


    "I didn''t think Mr. Qiao would be about to leave. Of course Jin Yin can''t miss out on this opportunity." The one speaking was a card artisan whose face was crossed with scars. He was staring venomously at Chen Mu, squeezing out his words between his teeth one by one. "Jin Yin is making a special challenge to Mr. Qiao!" The scars criss-crossed on his face were quite horrible and made him practically unrecognizable.


    Everyone clearly heard what he said. The reporters, who had just been so dejected, seemed to have all gotten a shot in the arm. Jin Yin made a challenge to Qiao Yuan!


    Not only the reporters, but all of the audiences watching the fantasy card viewers were excited. They had just been dazed and confused, but they were now watching their favorite sort of content.


    A battle between two card artisans among the top 100 on the Black-Line Star Listing would certainly be a top-notch contest! A contest at that level was not something usually possible to even get a glimpse at. With people now being able to see the battle with their own eyes, the news flew across the entire federation as though it had grown wings. If they were card artisans, they would be even more likely to quickly get in front of a fantasy card viewer and to sit patiently in anticipation. A battle between aces had always been something they might luck into but could never go looking for, and it could also be helpful in their advancement. The card artisans who were better informed about the news started to solemnly discuss what sorts of tactics the two might use, or they just chatted about the feud between the two.


    When Chen Mu saw Jin Yin, his heart sank a little. For him to take a challenge at that time wasn''t a good thing. Once he took the challenge, wanting to get away from that whirlpool would undoubtedly become wishful thinking. If he didn''t accept the challenge, though, the reputation he had built up over that time might plummet because of it. In other words, having braved such danger and having done so much would then result in nothing.


    The gazes of the two facing the confrontation were on fire, which made the onlookers still more excited.


    Chen Mu gave a cold snort and pretended to be arrogant. "What standing do you have to issue me a challenge, loser?" That was the best response he could come up with, asserting that his adversary had lost and that he disdained to fight with him. It seemed to be the only possibility for avoiding the battle.


    Jin Yin''s eyes were nearly spitting fire, but he still didn''t know how to retort. He had been defeated in Qiao Yuan''s hands, and that was when he''d had the advantage himself. That had been engraved in his mind. If he hadn''t had something of a breakthrough, he would certainly not have come forward. But, at the same time, he saw that Qiao Yuan''s power had also surged.


    All of the bystanders were making an outcry, never having seen such an arrogant person. The temperaments of some aces were always said to be rather strange, and it looked like that was correct.


    "Jin Yin doesn''t have a chance." Wen shook his head and spoke with a hint of dissatisfaction.


    Yuchi Bai also said with some regret, "Too bad. I had thought that after his breakthrough, his resolve would have become stronger. I didn''t expect him to actually be deterred by Qiao Yuan''s imposing manner and to have his will wrested from him."


    "Too bad." Wen really didn''t know in the end what sort of "too bad" he was feeling.


    The bronze-masked man next to the Madam had been shaking his head. "Jin Yin should lose." His voice was gravelly and wavering. Once you heard it, you knew he wasn''t young.


    The Madam asked with curiosity, "Why? Isn''t it the case that they haven''t contested anything yet?"


    "They don''t have to. There is only a limited difference in their basic strength, but their increases cancel out. Some distance between the two will be opened up right away," the bronze-masked man patiently explained. To the side, Dang Han nodded in agreement since he could also see it.


    "So, they won''t fight?" the Madam asked.


    "I don''t think they will," the bronze-masked man said.


    The Madam made an "oh" sound and rolled her eyes. She then came out from the crowd, and both Dang Han and the man with the bronze mask came with her.


    With the three of them emerging onto the field, they immediately drew everyone''s gazes. The Madam wasn''t wearing a mask that day but was instead wearing a black veil. Her graceful appearance sent one into endless reveries. The man with the bronze mask was tall and erect, and his mask was both hideous and a mark of distinction. Several people recognized Dang Han and cried out, "Dang Han! It''s Dang Han!"


    How could it not be striking for the three of them to come out? Most of the gazes had fallen onto the woman in front. Dang Han''s expression of respect behind her made them curious about the identity of that woman. They admired every movement of the bronze-masked man, along with his calm look and his style as an ace, though he was obviously still under that woman.


    The crowd quickly quieted down as everyone was trying to guess what the woman was actually up to.

 410 Crazed Burning

    Chen Mu''s gaze fell onto the three of them. He recognized Dang Han, of course, but Chen Mu was rather surprised when he saw him so respectfully following the woman wearing the veil. It looked like Dang Han was that mysterious woman''s valet, and even the bronze-masked man''s position seemed higher than his. What was most inconceivable to Chen Mu was that he kept feeling like that woman was familiar. Was it someone he knew?


    Chen Mu was inwardly shaking his head since he knew no one in the Heavenly Drum Village District. But why did she look so familiar? When he looked at the veil on the woman''s face, he found it strange that several women seemed to like to wear veils.


    But he didn''t want to complicate matters just then, wanting only to take the opportunity to leave. Even Chen Mu himself was a little surprised at what a great impact his words had had on Jin Yin. He didn''t know the dazzling beauty of the Go Cage of One Thousand Cuts kept reappearing in Jin Yin''s dreams and that it had planted a seed of terror in his heart without his knowing it.


    Jin Yin wasn''t normally aware of that seed''s existence. When he faced Chen Mu again, though, the seed of terror that had been lurking deep in his heart suddenly burst out and attacked his every nerve.


    By comparison, although Dang Han had also been defeated at Chen Mu''s hands, his gaze toward Chen Mu was still powerfully provocative and showed an urge to fight.


    The Madam laughed lightly. "This is Mr. Qiao Yuan. You''ve just heard what Mr. Qiao had to say. Mr. Jin Yin lost to him and doesn''t have standing to make a challenge. That''s reasonable; when does a loser ever talk so boldly? I''m sure it would be beneath Mr. Qiao to be without any challenge or difficulty."


    The Madam''s wonderful eyes were smiling and fluid. When she saw Qiao Yuan remaining there expressionlessly like a rock, she couldn''t help but wonder. Judging from his recent performance, Qiao Yuan wasn''t that sort of dullard with words, so why wasn''t he saying anything?


    But, since her counterpart didn''t retort, why would that keep her from her own free play? She smiled charmingly and said, "Might this little woman be so bold as to make a proposal? It so happens that among those under me is also a gentleman who was defeated at your hands. Among those two, neither would be the gentleman''s equal, of course. If two of them were to unite, I do believe they might still have the power to fight against one. This little woman feels that a one-on-two battle would suit Mr Qiao''s status and power. I wonder how Mr. Qiao might feel about that." She didn''t wait for Chen Mu to respond but suddenly turned around and loudly asked the crowd of onlookers, "What does everyone think?"


    The crowd was surprised when she said Qiao Yuan should be one against two. Although Qiao Yuan had defeated Jin Yin and Dang Han, he had only beaten Dang Han by a nose. The two were both among the top 100 aces from the Black-Line Star Listing, and to join forces to challenge another ace among the top 100 was quite an unexpected proposal.


    But when that mysterious woman suddenly asked them about it, the guys who wished for the entire world to be in chaos were all yelling at the top of their lungs, "Do it!"


    The people in front of their fantasy card viewers were unexpectedly pleased. When had there ever been a challenge like that? It was simply like an entertainment program. But the aces who were watching weren''t smiling.


    The mysterious woman''s light few words put Chen Mu in the embarrassing position of not being able to get off the tiger he''d started to ride. If he were to retreat, his prestige would plunge, and he would be left with a timid and cowardly reputation. Many of them were wondering what they would do if it were them.


    Qiao Yuan kept standing there as though he hadn''t heard. His strange manner quickly drew everyone''s attention. They slowly quieted down, watching him with a lot of curiosity about what he was thinking.


    Chen Mu didn''t hear a word of the noise from beyond him. His state of mind was as though he''d been pounded by thunder at the first thing that mysterious woman said. He could never forget that voice for his whole life!


    No wonder he felt that woman was a little familiar! He hadn''t thought he would actually know her. It was the mysterious Madam from Faya! Yang An had died at her hands, and she was the first woman Chen Mu had actively wanted to kill! He never thought that when he had deliberately led Qiao Yuan to Faya that time, he actually wouldn''t have killed her!


    Everything that woman said was clearly transmitted into Chen Mu''s ears. It was then like his consciousness had been set free, and he had no further reaction. He only felt his mind blowing apart and his blood surging. The qi he was holding back in his chest was becoming more and more powerful¡ªso powerful that every pore in his whole body seemed to be about to explode.


    Chen Mu didn''t have many friends, but Yang An had been one of them. Starting from the beginning of their partnership, they had become true friends. Yang An even wanted to give Chen Mu his own son to protect. That was some kind of trust!


    Looking at the woman standing in front of him, Chen Mu had a powerful urge to blow her to bits! But he was well-aware that he couldn''t! Right! He couldn''t! Dang Han''s power wasn''t far from his, and the bronze-masked man was certainly not inferior to President Jiao Si among the true top-notch aces of the federation!


    He didn''t have the opportunity, and he didn''t wait for him to approach since the first to be blown to bits would be him. He might have a chance if he were to unite with Wei-ah. But Jin Yin was there, along with other people from Constellation, who were certainly hiding in the dark. If Yuchi Bai and Wen were to unite along with the bronze-masked man, probably even Tang Hanpei wouldn''t dare to lightly face their vanguard. Moreover, Bu Mo was still in the training room. In a contest at that level, his own opportunities for survival were pitifully few, but Bu Mo basically couldn''t survive.


    On the one side were the lives of himself and his comrades, while on the other, he was determined to avenge his friend. Those two things were contesting like some venomous snake gnawing on Chen Mu''s heart. He felt more oppressed than he ever had, as though some fire in his chest was burning more and more fiercely! The temperature of his blood kept surging higher until it was boiling! His bones were already cherry-red! Every nerve was scorched, and his body was trembling out of control.


    But his expression remained strangely calm¡ªso calm that there was no fluctuation, like a pool of dead water. With no spark and no focus, his pupils were vacant!


    If Copper were there, he would certainly understand that Chen Mu was enraged! Utterly enraged! The more enraged he got, the calmer his face became. It was almost scary. Too bad the mysterious Madam, Dang Han, and Jin Yin didn''t know. Even Lin Yao and Ah Sang, who were standing beside Chen Mu, didn''t know.


    Chen Mu didn''t dare to move. His reason told him that the slightest movement could possibly cause that ball of anger, which had already swelled to the limit, to detonate, and he might lose his sanity and recklessly launch an attack at that damned woman!


    Behind those vacant eyes was hidden a rage to fill the skies and an incredibly intense desire to kill.


    Right! I can''t kill you! But I still want you to taste humiliation and hatred!


    The crowd, which had been silent for so long, then finally heard Qiao Yuan say something. His deep voice stirred up a kind of heart-pounding power. "Your proposal is fine. But for me to fight one against two, how could there not be some kind of incentive?"


    "Incentive?" The mysterious Madam was taken aback but immediately laughed to say, "Interesting. Let''s hear what sort of incentive you''d like."


    "I''d like you to do something."


    "Oh, what? It won''t do if it''s too outrageous." The mysterious Madam smiled charmingly, which caused a ripple in everyone''s state of mind. "If you want someone to take off her clothes in front of everyone, wouldn''t they have suffered a great loss? Or, if you want someone to sleep with you, that would also be a great loss."


    "A kiss in front of everyone. That''s not so outrageous." Chen Mu''s tone was increasingly calm, as though he were describing a totally unrelated matter.


    "How bold!" The bronze-masked man was enraged and took a step forward. A bout of terrifying power flooded the field. It felt like a bitingly cold wintery wave had suddenly descended.


    All of the card artisans'' faces changed dramatically. Under such terrifying pressure, the ordinary people went soft in the legs and fell, ashen-faced, to sit on the ground. Things got chaotic on the field with the sounds of screaming and crying mixed together. Then, the card artisans who had been rather close to the three of them desperately moved back as though jolted. In the blink of an eye, it was empty around them.


    The bronze-masked man was staring ferociously at Chen Mu, full of desire to kill. Right in the middle of the storm, Chen Mu was as calm as ever.


    "What? You don''t dare?" His voice was indifferent and had no hint of emotional color. But it was just that emotionless and colorless voice that made the mysterious Madam feel that Qiao Yuan was being strongly sarcastic.


    She raised her hand to block the bronze-masked man, who nearly stormed off, keeping her tone cool. "Fine. But if you lose, you will be my slave from now on!"


    "Fine." Still that indifferent voice. The woman behind the veil was seeming to hear a sense of resolve, and she suddenly had some regret. But the matter just then had already gone beyond turning around, and she had no way to retreat under the gaze of the crowd. Moreover, she didn''t believe Qiao Yuan could truly go one against two!


    The bronze-masked man didn''t believe it either, and he said with a cold smile, "He will lose!"


    The mysterious Madam called Dang Han over and stared at him coldly. "There will be a big reward if you win this battle. If you lose, you die!"


    Dang Han trembled. "Don''t fret, Madam!"


    The chaotic crowd then resumed their calm, though no one dared to say anything else, and no one was having fun. Everyone knew the battle to come would be an extremely cruel battle to the death!


    Everyone in front of the fantasy card viewers was also holding their breath, not wanting to blink for fear of missing a single detail.


    Chen Mu stood there expressionlessly. The anger he was so strongly repressing left his brain oddly relaxed. That was an incredibly strange kind of attitude. His body was extremely hot, which even made him feel as though he were burning up. All of his blood was nearly boiling, and every bone and every nerve was so full of desire for release that he was shaking with the urge to fight!


    He could clearly feel his own craze. His brain was a ball of ice wrapped up in flames, very calm and very clearly reflecting the burning heat!


    The woman behind the veil suddenly discovered that Qiao Yuan''s empty eyes had undergone a shocking transformation. They were like a thatch of incredibly dry grass where a match had been dropped.


    They were burning!

 411 Fire and Ice

    That was a challenge noticed by the entire Heavenly Federation. If one were to say fantasy card viewership had gone a little slack, by now, absolutely no one wasn''t watching attentively. Some of the reporters were even introducing the Black-Line Star Listing to audiences beyond the Heavenly Drum Village District; it was a ranking unique to that district, after all.


    When the audience started to understand the value of the Black-Line Star Listing, the viewership for that battle challenge surged. Any contest between aces would always be highly anticipated. Classes in many schools'' card artisan departments were suspended on the spot, all of the teachers turning on the fantasy card viewers in their classrooms.


    Some of the viewing platforms enthusiastically sought out well-known card artisans to act as guest informants. In the entire federation, the viewership was highest in the Heavenly Drum Village District. According to the statistics, nearly one in three in that district were watching the contest.


    Chen Mu had no intention of moving, and Jin Yin and Dang Han weren''t concerned about where the fighting would take place. Even the head of the trading firm, Ah Sang, was only concerned with watching Chen Mu. She was not at all concerned about whether the place would get smashed up. All unrelated personnel had cleared out to leave room for those three.


    Chen Mu didn''t make a move. If he hadn''t just said something, everyone would have wondered if he were even alive. The crowd watched Chen Mu from a distance with trepidation. That unbearably ugly face with its many hard lines looked as though it were chiseled in stone. What really chilled people to the core were those eyes.


    A spark suddenly appeared in those gray, vacant eyes. It was as though a ray of sunlight had penetrated the deep darkness before the dawn. Bit by bit, they went from indifferent to bright. In the blink of an eye, that little spark abruptly concentrated into a sea of fire. A raging flame flowed from Chen Mu''s eyes. He still didn''t make a move, though his aura of power was spreading rapidly.


    Hong!


    He emitted all of his perception without holding any of it back. There was a shocking aura of power with Chen Mu at its center, holding in check an incredibly crazed, scorching battle urge that rumbled as it spread.


    The faces of Jin Yin and Dang Han, who stood facing him, shifted. Card artisans were keen in their perception, and the two could clearly sense Qiao Yuan''s crazed bout of battle urge, along with his hearty breathing and fearlessness toward death!


    It this guy nuts? The two of them couldn''t help but look at one another, each seeing the fear in the other''s eyes. They had never thought Qiao Yuan would actually come forth with the intention to fight with his life.


    "Bring it on!" Dang Han said in a low voice. He had no way out; even if he were to lose that battle, he would still be on his way to death. The Madam had made her means quite clear. If he were to fall into her hands, it would be a little more painful than to die in battle.


    Jin Yin nodded firmly.


    Their battle urge raged, and their murderousness was awe-inspiring. Even the air had become solemn with that three-person standoff. The looks on the bystanders'' faces shifted, the three aces inconceivably looking to go all-out from the start and not seeming to have the least intention of testing the waters.


    In a dark corner of the training room, Bu Mo was biting his lips and staring hard at Chen Mu. He couldn''t help but say, "Let''s go help him, Wei-ah!"


    Wei-ah was watching Chen Mu, but he shook his head. "No."


    "Why?" In his hopelessness, Bu Mo wasn''t paying attention to the peculiar emotions in Wei-ah''s eyes.


    "Because he wants to fight!" Wei-ah''s response made Bu Mo seem to understand what he didn''t.


    Wei-ah''s gaze turned to the Faya Madam and then slowly swept over the body of that man wearing the bronze mask. He slightly squinted as an intense murderousness flashed through his eyes.


    Jin Yin was the first to make a move. He was seen popping out with no warning, his whole body shooting up like a rocket. He flew higher and higher, looking like he had no intention of stopping.


    * * *


    Dang Han didn''t hesitate to deploy his Jade Star in the first instant. The starfish he emitted that time was completely different from the time before. In the middle of the jade-colored energy starfish was, amazingly, a five-pointed silver star.


    There were three energy starfish, which was a lot fewer than the last time, but Dang Han was already showing a pretty stressed expression. One of the three energy starfish drilled into the ground. The other two suddenly went shooting toward Chen Mu without warning, showing only two brilliant silver beams cutting through the air.


    Chen Mu felt like his whole body was about to explode! Every inch of his skin was on fire. It was as though it wasn''t blood flowing through his body, but molten iron! In that feeling of being about to burn up, Chen Mu was perfectly clear about every change in his body. His brain was the only part that had remained clear, and he could capture every finest change in the rest of his body until it was transmitted to his mind. Every fiber in his flesh¡ªthe translucent tendons, the blood vessels in his bone sheath, the junctions of his joints¡­


    There was an intensely pleasurable kneading, which was also acutely painful and pounded Chen Mu''s mind like waves in the tide. His expression, though, remained as indifferent as ever.


    He needed to vent! He needed catharsis for the pain burning his heart! Victory! He needed to win! He had already decided that no matter how, whether it was for Yang An or for himself, even if he died, he had to win! He had never longed so much to win. Never!


    Chen Mu''s apparatus had been turned on for a while, and the energy was flowing through it, looking calm while full of devastating power. There was a sudden howling sound in the air. It got stronger and stronger and increasingly high-pitched, so sharp that it seemed it would break through the skies.


    The streak of a man in midair came shooting down like an arrow!


    "The Pointed Cloudburst!" one of the guest commentators on a platform screamed as though he had seen a ghost. He was so startled that he fell off his chair.


    The Pointed Cloudburst was one of the top flight skills, though it was a kind of attack skill in reality! It made use of the changes to a card artisan''s body in high-speed flight to control the surrounding flow and to form it into a sharp, conical air bomb to bombard the ground! The Pointed Cloudburst''s power was terrifying, and the air bomb it formed could enshroud an area of ten meters in diameter. Everything within that scope would be torn to shreds by that terrifying flow of air.


    In the same way, however, it made high demands on the card artisan''s flight skills. To be able to use it, a card artisan''s attainments in flight would need to have reached a rather terrifying realm. Not only that, but it also belonged in the category of very risky and high-level tactical behavior. In the instant the air bomb made contact with its objective, the card artisan would basically have no time to escape and could be ripped to pieces by the raging air.


    Before anyone had even gotten started, Jin Yin had played a huge maneuver as soon as he''d made his move! Doesn''t that guy want to live?


    Chen Mu''s brain remained as cool as snow. He raised his head, and those eyes so full of crazed fire became crystal-clear in that instant. It was too bad no one was watching. Everyone''s gaze and attention was drawn firmly to Jin Yin''s crazy move.


    The information fed back by perception flashed through Chen Mu''s mind like lightning. At such a distance, if he had simply used his eyes, he would have had no way to capture the changes in those flows of air. But the thing Chen Mu was best at with perception was that it made him more sensitive to physical changes than to energy changes.


    He clearly captured all of the complex and fine flows of air. He combined the information from all of that almost unconsciously and tried to build it into a model. His mind was strangely calm then, and the originally complicated work now became smoother than he could have expected. The completed model was done in Chen Mu''s mind with stunning speed, and he suddenly realized something. Could that be the true use for his perception?


    However, that bit of realization quickly became swallowed up in Chen Mu''s burning and crazed urge to fight, and his eyes were restored again to red. It was an utterly crazy plan, with even Chen Mu in his sanity showing an obviously crazed face.


    It had to be now¡ªthe Bipolar Card!


    There was a light popping sound as Chen Mu''s body rose into the air. All around him, there suddenly appeared countless black and white energy beads, each one the size of a mung bean. There were just too many of them¡ªupward of tens of thousands¡ªdensely enshrouding Chen Mu in their midst.


    If one were to look closely, one might discover that the closest thing to each white energy bead was a black energy bead and vice-versa. Those tens of thousands of black and white energy beads composed a huge sphere, ten meters in diameter, with Chen Mu right in the middle of it.


    Madam Zhi Lian was watching the battle at the Central Repository of the Classics. She wasn''t so interested in the battle. Given her political sensibilities, though, she detected that there seemed to be something else strange about it. Ever since the master had been defeated by Tang Hanpei, Madam Zhi Lian had become the one in power at the Central Repository of the Classics.


    When she saw Qiao Yuan on the screen release that sphere, she was stunned, and the look on her face changed dramatically. Others might not have known what it was, but how could she not know? Although the sphere was huge, and although she couldn''t tell just how many of those countless energy beads there were, it was not essentially different from the Card 007 she had previously bought in Pomelo.


    Still more shocking was that Card 007 couldn''t release energy beads at such a scale! In other words, that card was a higher level than 007. She knew very well that if one wanted to release energy beads at such a large scale, it would be extremely difficult. Thus, that card''s name was on the verge of becoming known. The expression on Madam Zhi Lian''s face was fluctuating.


    The scene on the field had already reached its climax. The reason Chen Mu had chosen the Bipolar Card and not the Golden Word Shackle was to catch Dang Han unprepared! Jin Yin knew about both of his cards, but Dang Han didn''t know anything about the Bipolar Card''s existence. That gave Chen Mu the perfect opportunity to put it to use.


    Sure enough, Dang Han turned pale with fright, never having thought Qiao Yuan would use something other than the Golden Word Shackle! His attack was especially put into play aiming at Qiao Yuan''s Golden Word Shackle.


    The two energy starfish plunged headlong into Chen Mu''s energy beads. There was a string of concentrated sparking sounds as the two energy starfish burst into starbursts. Their five points lengthened to form five long, fine tentacles, which rolled toward Chen Mu like lightning.


    That change caught Chen Mu a little off guard. Before he could make any adjustments, though, there appeared an inconceivable scene. The small energy balls swarmed like a shark smelling fresh blood. In the blink of an eye, the two energy starfish were submerged in a swarm of black and white energy balls.


    Zing!


    Sparks flashed from the ball of energy beads, and Chen Mu''s expression shifted! Within a short time, his energy sphere had lost several hundred beads. He knew that with each little energy bead lost, the energy sphere''s defensive qualities would be slightly weaker.


    The special quality of Chen Mu''s energy sphere was that it could absorb energy. Dang Han''s energy starfish had the same characteristic. When the two collided, the only result would be annihilation.


    The starbursts expanded as a swarm of energy beads and the two energy starfish were annihilated at the same time. Two large holes directly appeared in Chen Mu''s energy sphere.


    In midair, Jin Yin gave out a terrifyingly shrill whistle as he tore the air along the way into shreds! He looked like a shooting star exuding the breath of destruction. His perception had firmly locked in on Chen Mu in the middle of that broken energy bead sphere, and he dove wildly down!

 412 Belief

    Chen Mu was immersed in danger! The model in his head had already calculated the path of the Pointed Cloudburst, and his perception had firmly locked in on the quickly approaching ball of air. His calculation even included the best angle and position to cut into it.


    However, the energy bead sphere surrounding him was already only a remnant. That change in conditions led to the results of his calculations also changing. He couldn''t completely counteract the Pointed Cloudburst''s impact. Right. It was impossible! So, what could he do?


    He lifted his head to see Jin Yin plunging down with shocking power at high speed. In Chen Mu''s eyes was an endless urge to battle and a wild longing for victory!


    Hong! His brain felt like it had been suddenly poured full of molten iron, with burning pain to go along with the pleasure filling his entire body in an instant!


    He was shuddering! Every cell in his body was shuddering! In that instant, any reasoning and any calm were thrown off beyond the heavens! He felt that something was swelling up in his body like crazy, and it seemed like he might explode any second! He wanted to cry out! He wanted to roar!


    With angry, wide eyes but with no fear whatsoever, he looked into the sky at those airflows, which could tear him to shreds! Jin Yin''s image within the airflows was blinking in and out, and the finely stirring airflows made a shrill wail to make one''s scalp go numb. The huge rumbling was like punishment out of the blue and brought along the breath of destruction and death!


    Closer! Closer! Now!


    I am here! No one can block me!


    A soundless roar echoed inside Chen Mu, and a cry from his heart called for victory! He raised his empty right hand and flicked out his five fingers with lightning speed. Fast! Too fast! A string of empty shadows engulfed his entire hand, and no one could clearly see his move.


    Then, the broken energy bead sphere suddenly roared apart. The energy beads went toward Jin Yin, who was whistling toward Chen Mu from the sky. Both of them were moving rapidly; before he could blink, the two sides collided. Jin Yin''s high-speed ball of air went headlong into the energy sphere.


    However, the expected violent collision didn''t happen. Those fine-looking energy beads didn''t even seem to be influenced by the airflow, which would be enough to pulverize steel. They were calmly distributed within the high-speed airflow, which was unspeakably weird.


    Jin Yin''s eyes were bloodshot, and he felt indescribably elated. Almost! It''s about to be that ugly bastard''s date with death! He didn''t believe Qiao Yuan could crack the Pointed Cloudburst! Flying at high speed with the airflow in front of him raging endlessly, Qiao Yuan''s image was a little indistinct in his eyes. Another second, and he would be blown to smithereens!


    But he didn''t know that at just that moment, the eyes of the man wearing the bronze mask shifted! The face of Yuchi Bai, who was hiding in the dark, shifted! At the same time, Wen''s eyes shifted!


    They were watching a very weird scene. The chaotic black and white energy beads formed themselves into a perfectly square energy composition. The energy beads were in a staggered distribution that was like a huge Go cage, and Jin Yin was like a wild animal that had plunged into it.


    By then, the accumulated urge to battle in Chen Mu''s breast had surged to its extreme, and his crazed eyes had lost all restraint. All of the chiseled lines on his face became hideous and wild in that instant!


    "Die!"


    The crowd''s eyes were suddenly pierced as countless starbursts lit up. The Go cage among the black and white was dazzling! There were countless dense and criss-crossing lines, and each of the glowing beams was incredibly bright.


    It was the Go Cage of One Thousand Cuts!


    Each energy beam cut a small square from the ball of air beside Jin Yin. Just how many energy beams did that Go cage have? It was dense, and no less than tens of thousands of energy beams shredded the ball of air beside Jin Yin in the blink of an eye!


    Jin Yin only felt things light up in front of his eyes, the dazzling starbursts unforgettable! He saw scene after scene of nightmare as each of the gorgeous, lethal beams were woven into a cage. He was trapped in it once again!


    The seed of terror that had been buried once again took root in Jin Yin''s mind. His surging urge to battle and his determination to die appeared to slacken ever so slightly in that instant. Jin Yin unconsciously shrunk back. It took place in very little time¡ªnot even a tenth of a second.


    But that gap, which couldn''t have been any shorter, was keenly captured by Chen Mu. He didn''t know why his adversary would make such a low-level error at such a time, but he had no intention of letting it go by!


    Without thinking, he made a fine adjustment to the Go cage under his control. The beams that filled the sky shifted not more than three centimeters!


    Jin Yin''s face shifted. At nearly the moment his omission appeared, he finally realized it. But it was already too late! In a contest among aces, the slightest mistake could easily be fatal.


    The pupils of the bronze-masked man abruptly widened, and his heart skipped a beat. He looked at the scene in stunned disbelief. While ordinary card artisans might not have been able to tell, an ace like him could surely discover the shift in the situation. As he saw it, while Jin Yin''s momentum was still as terrifying as ever, his threat was already spent, with control of the airflow having gone beyond his direction.


    But he still didn''t consider that Qiao Yuan would win. Jin Yin had certainly made a mistake, but Qiao Yuan basically had no way to complete his cracking. Moreover, Dang Han was still pacing on the sidelines, looking for his chance to make the fatal blow.


    Jin Yin''s eyes went suddenly red. He had never thought he would actually make such a fatal mistake in that instant! He felt ashamed of his timidity! A hint of determination flashed past his eyes, and the shaking in his body suddenly increased! The already disarrayed ball of air focused once again under Jin Yin''s desperate burst of power!


    Wen sighed from a corner. "I never thought Jin Yin would be so relentless."


    Yuchi Bai remained silent. That burst of power from Jin Yin just then had thrown away his last hope to survive. The hardest part of the Pointed Cloudburst was to escape it in the end, and the card artisans who used it would have to reserve some strength for the finish in order to escape. Jin Yin''s burst of power had abandoned his last hope of escape!


    Mo Ta had died, Jeremy had died, and Bao Le had died; now, Jin Yin would die. Only three of the captains of the seven small teams were left, which was rather upsetting.


    The situation on the field had come to its climax.


    Chen Mu manipulated the Go cage beams in an attempt to cut apart the airflow. Jin Yin was desperately trying to focus it while also trying to dodge those fatal beams. He was covered in blood. It was basically impossible to even think of completely breaking out of that dense Go cage. But his desire to fight was incredibly powerful, and he disregarded the beams that wouldn''t hit his vital spots right up to the end. Apart from his vital spots, the beams hit everyplace else on his body as though he didn''t even feel it!


    The spurting fresh blood went with the fate of the high-speed airflow, which now looked like a bright red cone from a distance!


    Chen Mu''s eyes widened in anger, losing anything of their normally calm look. He catalyzed his perception like crazy along with the energy. Again and again, he mechanically and precisely repeated every cut! He forgot about anything else, only paying attention to that air bomb, which was getting closer and closer to him! He had to win!


    His incredibly powerful belief was like a raging inferno, and his heart was crying out furiously! His movements became faster and faster, and his control of his perception became increasingly refined. His cuts were more and more precise, and his perception became still more sensitive.


    He had never wanted so much to win! The urge to fight in his heart kept wildly raging, as though a ball of fire was burning in his heart, stimulating every cell in his body. He seemed to have separated from control of his body, his brain filled only with belief. I must win!


    Jin Yin was covered in blood, which was spurting far faster than normal under such high pressure. He started to lose consciousness but held on with gritted teeth.


    Closer! Closer! He only wanted to smash into him!


    That''s it! Too close! He was only five meters from Chen Mu.


    Suddenly, a beam showed up in front of his throat. If it had just happened, he could have easily dodged it. By that time, though, the maneuver had become too hard! If he were to dodge the beam on his last shred of energy, he would blow apart in an instant, given the constraints of the airflow!


    Jin Yin was chewing his lips, but his injury-riddled face looked inexplicably serene. He didn''t dodge. He seemed to feel something on his neck, but he could no longer tell what it was. His eyesight became fuzzier and fuzzier, the world seeming to have gone far away, leaving only some vague coloring.


    I''ve finally done it¡­


    Having lost consciousness, Jin Yin was torn apart by the flow of air, which had become as agitated as a knife in that instant. The conical air bomb became bright red. It was just on the verge of collapse, but it was too close to Chen Mu¡ªso close that if it were to collapse at that moment, Chen Mu would have no way to dodge it!


    The last glowing beam followed along the tip of the cone of air and cut it cleanly apart! If there had only been a few more energy beads and a few more beams, he could have completely destroyed the air bomb! But he was out of energy beads and out of beams!


    Hong!


    That last cut of Chen Mu''s made the edge of the air bomb finally collapse! Endless turbulent air exploded in every direction. The airflow was so fast that it was sharper than a knife.


    The man with the bronze mask stepped forward, adeptly deflecting the flow of bright red air from the Madam. The rest of the crowd wasn''t so lucky, and quite a few of the card artisans who couldn''t get their energy cloaks up were wounded. Cries of pain arose from all over in the extremely chaotic scene.


    As the one closest to the air bomb, Chen Mu was the most miserable! He had been physically blown into the air and went flying straight over to where Dang Han was, leaving the trail of a bloody rainbow along the way.


    Just at that time, Dang Han, who had been lurking in the dark all along, finally made his move!


    An energy starfish soundlessly appeared in front of him, its five tentacles like five silent arrows. They stabbed in midair toward Chen Mu!


    What a perfect sneak attack! With no warning and no sound, his timing was impeccable. The places those tentacles were stabbing were all vital spots. If any one of them succeeded, Chen Mu wouldn''t survive. All of that seemed to bode well for a perfect conclusion to the attack.


    Seeing that the five tentacles were going to stab Chen Mu, Dang Han couldn''t keep a look of joy from floating onto his face.


    Suddenly, Chen Mu''s body made a weird twist in midair to get his vital parts out of the way. Pu! Pu! Pu! He didn''t completely avoid them, though. Three of the tentacles stabbed him, causing three streams of blood to come shooting out!


    Dang Han then made sudden contact with Qiao Yuan''s eyes, and the joy on his face froze. What kind of eyes were those? He had never seen such penetratingly violent eyes, so wild and with such determination to fight! Isn''t he even scared?


    In Dang Han''s shock, Chen Mu slid away from him in midair like a mudfish.


    Dang Han then became flustered and unconsciously chose to deploy his energy cloak, as though it could give him some sense of security. Okay, okay. He''s still seven or eight meters away, which is enough for me to erect the energy cloak. Dang Han felt a bit glad.


    Pa!


    There was the crisp sound of an explosion in the air as Chen Mu''s arm burst open with a bang. It was blooming in flesh from the shoulder to the elbow to the wrist, and it was covered in a shooting mist of blood.


    While Dang Han''s face showed a stolid expression, a line of blood was creeping onto his neck.

 413 Stand Up!

    Bu Mo had never felt so nervous, even holding his breath. He didn''t dare to blink as he kept his eyes firmly on Chen Mu, who had fallen to the ground in the field.


    His whole body was flowing with blood, and he wasn''t moving. In the blink of an eye, the gurgling flow of fresh blood had formed a pool of blood.


    Bu Mo was clutching his fists, really wanting to rush out and pick Chen Mu up. But, up until then, he still hadn''t figured out what the relationship was between Wei-ah and Chen Mu. He did know they were both their own people. But Chen Mu had already completely won him over! Chen Mu had made a deep impression on his tender, young mind with his image of fighting desire and his thirst for winning, never giving up as he fought so desperately.


    Stand up! Hurry up! Stand! Bu Mo kept crying to himself over and over, gritting his teeth so hard that it seemed he would crunch them. His fists had turned white, and his body shook uncontrollably.


    None of the three on the field was standing, and the chaos among the onlookers gradually calmed down. Everyone''s gaze was on the person who had fallen in the middle of a pool of blood. Their gazes were filled with respect.


    He had completely won them over with his dazzlingly gorgeous card skills and that weird and unpredictable final blow. The thing that gave them the most palpitations was his wild urge to battle and his persistent desire to win at the risk of his life. He was a true warrior in everyone''s minds, and a true card artisan!


    All of the image-recording instruments were focused on Chen Mu, who had fallen into that pool of blood. In that instant, the gazes of the entire federation were all focused on that fallen man.


    Some unknown person among the crowd called out with a trembling voice, "Get up!"


    Many people couldn''t help but call out with him, although it was a little sporadic to start.


    "Stand up!"


    Then, more people joined in, and the voices turned into a chorus.


    "Stand up!"


    Those all around then dropped all of their prejudices and all of their differences and joined together in one voice to shout. The voices were like a torrent leading them all to show their respect to him, along with their encouragements and hopes.


    "Stand up!"


    Armani was an old card artisan who had long-standing qualifications among the emerging platform commentators. He had rich experience and shrewd insight. He spoke with sharp words, and his explanations were quite popular. He had been steady and calm all along, which was what he was most proud of. But he suddenly discovered that his hand was shaking and that his heart was beating very fast. It was as though his mind was being choked. When he heard the screaming coming from in front of him, it was like being hit by lightning, and everything he had been holding in came suddenly exploding out! He stood up from his seat and looked just as excited as everyone else, with his white hair and haggard, deeply lined face.


    "Stand up!"


    It was absolutely silent in the bar, every customer staring blankly at the man on the screen who had fallen into the pool of blood. The sound transmitted by the fantasy card viewer was like an exploding powder barrel. Those swarthy guys had been abruptly excited, and they now tore open their clothes to show their bare arms as the veins on their foreheads throbbed. Their eyes had turned red, and they kept growling like crazy with shaking voices, "Stand up! F****ng stand up!"


    All of the students in the classroom couldn''t help but stand up from their seats, their faces red, screaming to shred their voices. The girls were rubbing their eyes, sobbing as they screamed.


    "Stand up!"


    In the ravine, Bogner and Xi Ping ware staring blankly at the screen, not even daring to breathe. Their fists were nearly splitting. The women¡ªSue Lochiro, Ru Qiu, and Lu Xiaoru¡ªhad faces full of tears.


    "Stand up, Boss! Stand up!"


    On Wei-ah''s never-changing face, there was rare transformation, the spark in his eyes getting brighter and brighter as he stared tightly at Chen Mu. Little Bu Mo to his side couldn''t stop himself from clenching his little fists, yelling and screaming, "Stand up!"


    Everyone in the entire federation who was in front of a fantasy card viewer was shouting the same thing.


    "Stand up!"


    "Stand up!"


    "Stand up!"


    Over and over again, everyone was screaming tirelessly. They were shouting faster and faster, more and more emotionally, the worry in their eyes increasingly serious.


    "Stand up!"


    "Stand up!"


    * * *


    After who knew how long and just as many of them were losing hope, the man in the pool of blood suddenly twitched!


    All of the people who had lost hope were more excited than they ever had been, as though they had been struck by lightning. Every one of them, whether man or woman, had opened their eyes, and their faces flushed amid heavy breathing. They had used up all of their energy!


    "Stand up!"


    The sound was like the noise stirred up by a storm! The man in the pool of blood stirred again.


    "Stand up!"


    "Stand up!"


    "Stand up!"


    Tirelessly, crazily, hysterically, and despite how hoarse they had gotten, they desperately shouted over and over again!


    The man in the pool of blood seemed to hear the anxiety and hope in everyone''s voices, and he slowly struggled and slowly stirred. He pressed his left hand to the ground, clawing into the dirt, his arm slowly bending as he crept up from the ground little by little. Every time he got a little higher, everyone''s gazes brightened.


    He slowly rose up and gradually straightened out. His tottering body made everyone abruptly clutch their hearts. Their voices were like thunder in the sky before a rain, which nearly choked the people who had been holding back their feelings.


    When he straightened his waist and stood up completely, everyone leapt up! They were waving their arms like crazy, as if they were celebrating a victory. They were desperately screaming and shouting, not even knowing what to say.


    After several minutes, they gradually calmed down. When they cast their gazes toward the man on the screen, they fell silent again, quite a few of them with an expression of being unable to watch.


    His clothes were tattered, and countless wounds were crowded onto his body. Fresh blood flowed from the wounds and covered him. His whole body was mud and blood, including his face. The most shocking thing was his right arm, which was nearly entirely blown open from his shoulder to his hand. The flesh was exposed, and the thick white arm bone was showing. His gaze was sluggish, as though he had no life. Tears were blurring all the women''s eyes watching that scene.


    Chen Mu was wooden and his mind blank. He didn''t hear a sound, and everything in front of him was blank. He didn''t know how long it was before things in front of him brightened a little, and there were some vague sounds, though his brain remained numb.


    After a while, with things in front of him a little brighter, and even though everyone was still blurred, more sounds were getting to his ears. They seemed far away and hard to hear, though. He didn''t know how long it had been.


    Eventually, the scene in front of him was finally restored. The sound in his ears disappeared, and all seemed calm. Could he have been hallucinating? Chen Mu smiled bitterly to himself, his brain more sluggish than it had ever been and numb beyond anything he was used to.


    After he came back to his spirits, the pain went through his whole body like a tide. He wanted to draw in a breath of cold air, but it seemed that all the flesh on his face had gone stiff, and he couldn''t do it. He unconsciously looked around the field. It looked like he was the only one left standing. He thought numbly that he seemed to have won. That didn''t give him any special feeling, however, as he realized his reactions had dulled.


    After another while, he was finally partially restored to consciousness, but the pain became a lot clearer and more powerful at the same time. Still, Chen Mu reacted for the first time after he recovered his clear-headedness, but it wasn''t from the intense pain. It was rather that his gaze had fallen onto the Madam from Faya.


    He wanted to grin. Although he was in a lot of pain, he felt happy¡ªhappier than he had ever felt. Too bad the flesh on his face wasn''t taking orders. Just then, he really wanted to laugh out loud. But he couldn''t laugh, it being difficult to even move his finger just then.


    His consciousness started to go a little lax, and he knew he had been losing too much blood. That was no good. There was still something he had to do. He bit down hard on his tongue, and a fishy smell echoed in his mouth to give his spirits a jolt. He tried opening his mouth, but no sound would come out. He couldn''t believe it! He''d used up all the strength in his body. Everyone could see that he was trembling.


    "Get over here, you!"


    His voice wasn''t loud, but it was gravelly and low and made a grinding sound that was hard to listen to. Everyone could hear the energy it took to say that, as though it had been squeezed out straight from his chest.


    On the field that was as quiet as death, what he said was clearly transmitted into everyone''s ears. They all knew whom he was talking to.


    The Madam from Faya shivered, and the man with the bronze mask next to her flashed a look of anger. He was about to come forward when the Madam lifted her eye-catchingly white hand. With an urgent look in his eyes, the man in the bronze mask was about to say something, but she had already taken a cautious step forward.


    She walked slowly, every step looking incredibly difficult. She kept her waist erect, and no one could see her face through her veil, though everyone could still clearly feel her pride and her stubbornness!


    With several dozen meters between them, it seemed to take an incredibly long time. No one made a sound, and no one averted their eyes. They were not even daring to breathe.


    In the empty space, which was so completely messed up, there was a woman wearing a veil slowly walking toward a man covered in blood. That was undoubtedly a tense scene, the sense of which was difficult to describe. But everyone was transfixed by it.


    The Madam from Faya stopped in front of Chen Mu and remained silent, raising her face and staring firmly at him, seeming to engrave him into her mind. Her gaze was stubborn and darkly cold, and it had that touch of undisguised ruthlessness!


    She didn''t say a thing but raised her right hand and lightly lifted a corner of her veil. Underneath the black veil was a snow-white, flawless chin. Although only a small part was showing, its exciting curves still made it look like the most beautiful work of art in the world. Her red lips were softly warm and glossy, beautiful enough to make a person catch his breath.


    Chen Mu felt carefree, though he also wanted to cry. He didn''t know where the energy came from, but he suddenly stuck out his left hand and rudely pulled her over. With no hesitation, he lowered his head strongly and leaned toward those enchanting lips!


    She didn''t blink. She just looked at that bloody, muddy face leaning toward her.


    Smelling like orchids and musk, her breath sprayed onto Chen Mu''s face. His gaze didn''t change. Without the slightest hesitation, he opened his mouth and firmly bit down!

 414 Departure

    Those entrancing, luscious lips were split open, and fresh blood was shockingly winding down her white chin. Chen Mu let go of her and turned around with no reluctance, walking toward the door to the training room. His pace was slow, and his body was tottering as though he could fall to the floor at any moment.


    All of the onlookers were transfixed by that scene!


    The man with the bronze mask was furious and overflowing with murderousness, completely ignoring the terror in the gazes of those nearby. He flew to the Madam and said through gritted teeth, "I''ll kill him!"


    Staring at that back covered in blood, the Madam said emotionlessly, "I''ll take care of this account on my own."


    The bronze-masked man seemed to be about to say something, but he didn''t open his mouth. His gaze toward Chen Mu had a biting desire to commit murder.


    The big door to the training room seemed so far away to Chen Mu¡ªso far that he would never reach it. The scene in front of him started to gradually blur, and his body started to not obey his commands. But he knew he couldn''t fall down at that time, no matter how!


    The reason he hadn''t chosen to go to the training field before was that the spot of the battle had been put where it had. It was the escape route he had prepared for himself.


    Everyone watched in a daze as Chen Mu walked step by step toward the training room with great difficulty. No one knew why Qiao Yuan would walk toward the training room at that time. What was he trying to do?


    No one knew that when Qiao Yuan did anything, it was always unexpected. He had agreed to begin the two-on-one in the first place and had bitten his adversary''s lips afterward, and he was now stubbornly walking toward the training room while severely wounded. No one understood! But no one stopped him since they all knew something might be about to happen.


    He walked so slowly that everyone held their breath. They couldn''t take their eyes off of him, staring at his unforgettable back. Qiao Yuan then finally arrived in front of the training room door.


    Chen Mu vaguely perceived the door to the training room in front of him and laboriously raised his left hand. Just as the tips of his fingers touched the door, it slowly opened.


    In the eyes of everyone else, it was as though Qiao Yuan had opened it himself. They stared blankly at him entering the training room and immediately closing the door. No one could wrap their mind around it. With such serious injuries, the most urgent thing just then would be to heal. What was he doing running into the training room at such a time?


    A cold look flashed past Wen''s eyes, his desire for murder looming. He rose into the air without hesitating and flew like lightning toward that lonely training room to take it over! Qiao Yuan would absolutely become the mortal enemy of Constellation. He had never seen a card artisan so fiercely eager to fight. If Qiao Yuan didn''t die from the battle that day, he might be able to break free of the current situation. Once he let him break out, he would become the mortal enemy of Constellation, which wouldn''t be as good as killing him now!


    The energy was wildly concentrated on his hand, and the powerful energy fluctuation made everyone on the field pale with fright. Just about all the card artisans hurriedly retreated, and the bronze-masked man was also surprised to see Wen demonstrating such power.


    The Madam''s gaze abruptly darkened as she snapped, "Stop him!"


    Who knew whether deliberately or not, but the bronze-masked man hesitated. During that bit of time, the energy on Wen''s hands nearly finished concentrating. The blow that would follow would undoubtedly be devastating! That training room would be leveled, and Qiao Yuan could never survive inside it.


    Wen''s body suddenly froze in midair! His eyes beneath that silver mask abruptly exuded a look of terror as though he had seen some kind of monster when he looked toward the training room. At almost the same time, his body receded, moving even more quickly than he just had! The energy in his hand disintegrated in the first instant. He couldn''t bear so much, and he cut a sorry figure that looked like some terrifying thing was after him.


    He fled to beside Yuchi Bai, where Wen could only get out the single word, "Go!" He never even turned back to look and disappeared into the distance. Yuchi Bai was taken aback, though he still reacted quickly and rushed in pursuit. Everyone was stunned.


    The energy fluctuation just then was terrifyingly powerful¡ªeven more so than the energy fluctuations when Qiao Yuan had been fighting. That mysterious person wearing the silver mask with the ruby on his forehead was certainly an ace, and one who was even more impressive than Qiao Yuan! His sudden move completely surprised everyone. However, his sudden escape as though he had seen a ghost stunned people even more.


    The gaze from the man with the bronze mask looked like he had something on his mind. When he turned it back to the training room, it abruptly sharpened. But he still didn''t move, remaining vigilantly at the Madam''s side. Still, given the way Wen had been messed with, no one dared to get near the training room.


    The time went by second by second. After half an hour, there still was no movement in the training room.


    Ah Sang''s eyes were full of concern. Qiao Yuan had received such serious wounds that if he couldn''t get treatment, he would be in danger for his life. Qiao Yuan had taken her by the hand at the most critical moment, and she felt full of gratitude toward him. After some hesitation, she walked toward the training room.


    Ah Sang''s actions drew everyone''s gazes. Even the Madam from Faya was staring at her closely.


    Walking over to the door to the training room, Ah Sang was suddenly a little nervous. She composed herself and lightly knocked on the door. "Are you okay, Mr. Qiao?"


    There was no response, and Ah Sang felt even more nervous. She knocked harder and raised her voice a little. "Mr. Qiao! Mr. Qiao!"


    There was still no response.


    Ah Sang''s heart abruptly sank, and she used her strength to push the door, not being able to take it anymore. The door responded by opening, and Ah Sang rushed in.


    Once she entered, she was dumbfounded. There was no one in the huge training room.


    * * *


    There were three people''s tracks in the wilderness as they advanced at high speed through the blizzard.


    Sang Hanshui was looking at Bu Mo with some pity. To go forth in the wilderness in such nasty weather in the snowy Outer Reaches was really hard; even card artisans would mostly want to ride in a shuttle car. Little Bu Mo''s face was frozen red, but he kept his teeth gritted and kept advancing step by step. Sang Hanshui had no sympathy for Wei-ah, even though he was carrying someone on his back.


    They had already been away from Zargan for half a month, having been trudging through the Outer Reaches during that time. After Wei-ah had unleashed his murderous aura to scare off Wen, he had led Chen Mu and Sang Hanshui away, along with Bu Mo. They had left silently through the water pipes under the training room. Once out of Zargan, they had then disappeared into the Outer Reaches, where the amount of snow would quickly cover any tracks.


    Chen Mu had been wounded very seriously that time, and he had been in a coma for seven days before he came to. Even though he''d come around, though, he still remained obediently on Wei-ah''s back, unable to budge.


    Seeing Bu Mo''s breathing becoming coarser and coarser, Chen Mu couldn''t quite take it. He suggested, "Let''s rest for a while." That sort of training was really too much for a child of only 12. The thing that most amazed Chen Mu was how unusually tough Bu Mo was. No matter how hard it got, he could always take it. So long as he was given enough food, he had shocking resilience.


    In order to provide Bu Mo with enough food, poor Sang Hanshui had to fulfil the role of hunter. Wei-ah was basically not worried that Sang Hanshui might escape. In that vast, snowy forest, where it was hard to tell the direction, the chances for Sang Hanshui to survive alone were pitifully small.


    Especially after Wei-ah had killed several wild beasts that were known to be exceptionally terrible, Sang Hanshui became completely honest. When they encountered wild beasts along the way, without exception, they would become the food wrapped up in little Bu Mo''s belly.


    Hearing Chen Mu talk, Wei-ah took a look at Bu Mo and stopped. Sang Hanshui also let out a sigh of relief. Even though he was flying and also had a heating device, he still felt incredibly tired. The four of them found a place out of the wind and sat down.


    After he sat down, Chen Mu activated the Thousand Kilometer. They would connect with Bogner and the others every day through the Thousand Kilometer to get the news from them.


    When they had first pulled it out, Sang Hanshui had been struck dumb. During the previous period, when the Central Island Firm had the technology to communicate in the forests, it had caused quite an outburst! He never thought Qiao Yuan would actually have the same kind of thing on him. Where had that guy come from, after all? That mystery had been lingering in Sang Hanshui''s mind all along. What chilled him was that his counterpart didn''t even keep such a deep secret from him, which made him worry about his situation. He lamented to himself that it was still a good thing the situation was a lot better than he''d imagined; at least his counterpart hadn''t killed him to keep him quiet.


    So, Sang Hanshui became still more honest.


    Xi Ping, Bogner, and Sue Lochiro appeared on the screen. First, Sue Lochiro asked about the situation with Chen Mu''s health. She gave Wei-ah verbal instructions about what to do. Those last few days, Wei-ah had been helping Chen Mu to treat his wounds that way.


    Chen Mu was in such pain that he was calling out. When Sue Lochiro took a look at him, she gave a cold grunt, and her powdered face went frosty.


    "So, now you know what pain is? Why didn''t you feel it when you gave someone a kiss?"


    Chen Mu lagged when he heard that, having gotten back his reason those last few days. Remembering the situation at the time, even he was rather surprised. He didn''t know why he had done it, but it had caused him a lot of pleasure and had made him feel a lot better. But he didn''t know how to retort to what Sue Lochiro said. When his gaze made contact with Bogner and Xi Ping, who were next to Sue Lochiro, the two of them were obviously gloating a little in his misfortune.


    Those last few days, he had gotten quite a bit of that kind of sarcasm. He was already rather experienced with it and sensibly kept his mouth shut.


    Sue Lochiro gave another cold grunt and seemed to look right through Chen Mu before turning to leave.


    Bogner and Xi Ping were laughing with vulgar expressions. Seeing that left Chen Mu pretty speechless, and he could only ask, "What''s the situation like in Zargan now?"


    "How would it be?" Bogner shrugged. "Moon Frost Island has taken a big loss this time. If it hadn''t been for Zeng Yushan finally exploding onto the scene, I''m afraid their reputation would be scraping bottom. But Zeng Yushan is pretty powerful and was finally able to get even with Yuchi Bai, which must have pushed him way up in the rankings again."


    Xi Ping took over the talk to the side. "Still, you really made it big this time, Boss." He looked at Chen Mu with a gaze full of pride. Of course, he knew why Chen Mu had accepted that challenge. As an old hand from the Yang Clan Auction House, Yang An''s death was something rather painful to him.


    "Guess what rank you are on the Black-Line Star Listing, Boss," Bogner said mysteriously.


    Bu Mo opened his eyes and pricked up his ears, afraid to miss a single word. Sang Hanshui also showed an expression of interest.

 415 Who Could It Be?

    Chen Mu didn''t much care about the Black-Line Star Listing rankings. As far as he was concerned, so long as he had a pretty good ranking, that would be enough for him to smoothly get on with the next activity. As far as how many names were in front of or behind his, he didn''t much care. His not caring didn''t represent other people not caring, however.


    Bogner was very excited. "Ha ha! You got famous this time because of a single battle, Boss! This issue of the Black-Line Star Listing gave you a really high rating, ranking you 50th! You finally broke into the top 50, which isn''t easy at all. Tsk, tsk. Now that we''re talking about it, the boss has been the card artisan on the move on the Black-Line Star Listing across the past two issues. That''s pretty unusual!"


    "Fifty!" Their spirits were given a boost. Sang Hanshui, especially, looked really surprised. Chen Mu didn''t have much feeling about the Black-Line Star Listing. After seeing such top aces as Tang Hanpei and Jiao Si, how could he be so interested in something that only ranked in the Heavenly Drum Village District?


    Wei-ah, on the other hand, had looked numb when he saw Tang Hanpei. Chen Mu sometimes wondered if the flesh on Wei-ah''s face hadn''t been trained to the point where it was so hard that it couldn''t budge. But for someone like Sang Hanshui, who had been getting the Black-Line Star Listing for so many years, the listing meant a lot.


    The large Black-Line Star Listing did have a few watersheds. The top 100 was the first one. To be able to get into the top 100, they would all be true aces in the Heavenly Drum Village District, and they could join the ranks of the aces in the federation. The second watershed was at 50, which was a big divide. It was strange to think the card artisan ranked 50th had a great difference in status and prestige compared to the one ranked 51st.


    That kind of divide didn''t only appear at 100 or at 50. The 20th was the same kind of watershed. But the biggest watershed was at ten. The top ten aces would have huge influence in the entire federation, far beyond those outside the top ten. To actually get to that level would be extremely difficult.


    As far as who was above and below among those aces, it would be hard to gauge using quantified indicators. They were never compared among themselves, so there was no way to tell who was really more powerful in the end. Therefore, it was clearly marked on the Black-Line Star Listing that the first ten weren''t only ranked according to their own fighting strength, but their ranking was also related to the power they belonged to, their fame, and so forth.


    What did it mean to squeeze into the top 50? If one were to say a card artisan getting into the top 100 meant he belonged among the very top card artisans in a medium-sized city, being ranked among the top 50 would mean being a shaker in the most bustling of cities.


    Taking a look at Chen Mu, Sang Hanshui had eyes full of envy. He knew Qiao Yuan had already become a truly hot figure. Beautiful women, status, wealth, and anything else he wanted would be his for the taking. He would only have to want something, and countless people would send it to him right away. What was there to be unsatisfied with to become a card artisan who could get to that point?


    Sang Hanshui found Chen Mu''s expression a little strange. There didn''t seem to be any excitement on his face. He painted an interesting picture, with those around him all endlessly thrilled, while the one involved had no reaction at all.


    Little Bu Mo was especially thrilled and was waving his fists. "Fantastic!" His small face had flushed red, and he was utterly excited. No hint of the fatigue he had been suffering showed on his face. Going through those last few days, he had long since become familiar with Chen Mu. Every day when they rested, he would go to Chen Mu''s side. Chen Mu was rather fond of that smart little guy, who could endure such suffering.


    What really turned little Bu Mo''s eyes red with envy was the last move, when Chen Mu had killed Dang Han. But that move obviously made too many demands on muscle. Chen Mu''s whole right arm had also been nearly lost. Although little Bu Mo''s eyes were red, he wasn''t going to dare to try it.


    The hottest topic by that time were conjectures regarding the cards and the skills Chen Mu had used in the battle. The new edition of the Black-Line Star Listing had even focused their evaluation on those two points. But they had dubbed the name of the card "unknown." The last trick he had used was highlighted as a cardless sect skill.


    Chen Mu had never thought he would finally trigger such hot discussion in a single blow. Countless people witnessed that battle and that weird move with their own eyes. Discussions about the trick could be watched on every platform.


    After that move had appeared, the cardless sects were once again in people''s purview. Everyone finally discovered that the cardless sects also included terrifying killers. Cardless sect aces had no perceptual fluctuations on their bodies, and there were no energy fluctuations when they made their moves. That was terrifying to most card artisans.


    The most excited might have included those who insisted on following the way of the cardless sects. They were sobbing in their agitation that after all those years, they finally saw a ray of light. They now firmly believed that the things that had been handed down weren''t just legends. Under that influence, the number of people interested in the cardless sects surged.


    Wei-ah suddenly stood up and cast his gaze toward someplace deep in the forest, which put everyone immediately on alert.


    Chen Mu had the most faith in Wei-ah in that regard, and he knew Wei-ah had certainly discovered something. Was someone tracking them? That was the first thought that popped into his mind. Too bad he had no way just then to deploy perception. Otherwise, he could have used the Snake Lens to do some probing.


    "He''s gone." Wei-ah seemed to know what Chen Mu was thinking when he said that.


    "Is someone tracking us?" Chen Mu had a serious expression as he lifted his head to look at the fluttering snowflakes, a strong sense of danger arising from his heart. Such a big snowfall would cover any tracks they left. Chen Mu didn''t quite believe anyone could find them in such terrible weather.


    "Mmmm." Wei-ah grunted his response.


    Everyone''s mind became abruptly heavy. Chen Mu had no fighting strength after being so seriously injured, and they would need to protect him. To run into an enemy at such a time would really be awful.


    "How many?"


    "One." Wei-ah''s response was certain, and everyone felt a little more relaxed until he added, "An ace."


    Chen Mu''s heart skipped a beat. For Wei-ah to call someone an ace, he would certainly be an ace among aces. Thinking it over, even Wen had been scared off by Wei-ah''s murderous aura, so how could Wei-ah even call him an ace?


    Chen Mu suddenly remembered the man with the bronze mask. Could it have been him? He didn''t know how powerful that guy was, after all. But he could be certain of one thing. Even if the man with the bronze mask wasn''t as powerful as Tang Hanpei, he should still be above the level of Jiao Si. Chen Mu couldn''t clearly remember many aspects of the situation that day, but he had no doubt about the determination of the man with the bronze mask to kill him. The more he thought about it, the more possible it seemed, and it would correlate with the conditions for him to be alone.


    To have such a super ace on one''s trail, prepared to make a sneak attack at any time, would make anyone shudder. He wouldn''t be afraid if he were well. But, even if Jiao Si himself had come, no adversary would dare to make a move with Wei-ah there. He was now seriously wounded, however, and Wei-ah would never be a match for such an ace while he had him on his back, no matter how strong he was.


    Since there was a powerful enemy alongside, no one dared to rest any longer. They moved on after a little cleaning up. They now hoped they could shake him off. They thought it wouldn''t be such a big deal to get rid of the pursuit in that vast forest.


    But what they hadn''t thought of was that the guy in the dark would be hanging behind them in haunted ground. Chen Mu was already cursing the man with the bronze mask over and over, but the guy never showed himself. The more mysterious their adversary was, the more pressure everyone felt.


    The guy was keeping a steady distance at a pace Wei-ah could least abide. At that distance, once Wei-ah went in pursuit, he could circle back to attack the other three. If he didn''t go in pursuit, they would always be sensing his presence. It was as though a phantom were lurking in the dark, and no one could relax their nerves.


    Wei-ah was then the only protector. While Sang Hanshui did have some power, in front of an enemy with that kind of ability, he could only play a limited role. Moreover, could he turn against them? Chen Mu couldn''t completely trust him.


    It could be seen from that how utterly shrewd their adversary''s moves were.


    As he waited for his wounds to heal, Chen Mu would feel such hatred that while he was cursing his adversary, he would be looking forward to his early recovery.


    * * *


    Astonishingly, Jie Yanbai was present in a cheap little cottage in the capital that was a secret contact point for the Central Repository of the Classics. Just about everyone was trying to guess where Jie Yanbai had really gone, the order to chase him down having come from Tang Hanpei''s own hand. Just when everyone was caught up in the frenzy of chasing him down, no one thought he would actually remain in the capital, right under the eyes of the Federation Comprehensive Academy.


    There was a screen in front of him, and he was in the middle of communicating with Madam Zhi Lian.


    "I object to that proposal, Madam." Jie Yanbai had a solemn expression as he slowly and firmly shook his head. "The master is still alive. Although he''s had a little setback, I still believe the master will be able to revive the repository''s prestige. While Yanbai has made some slight progress, I still don''t have the ability or insight to run the repository. Don''t worry, Madam; Yanbai comes from the repository. As long as there is a place for me, Yanbai will never dare to resign!" Jie Yanbai voiced that last phrase firmly and loudly.


    Madam Zhi Lian looked at the current lead commander at the Central Repository of the Classics with a sneer. The exhaustion and anxiety during that time had made her well-maintained body seem to have aged all at once. She had never thought Jie Yanbai would actually refuse the position as master.


    She had been presiding over the Central Repository of the Classics during that time. Having grown up there, she couldn''t watch it fall. The master had been defeated in one stroke. If it weren''t for her, she reckoned the repository would have completely collapsed by then.


    She kept wracking her brains and using up all of her energy, but she could still find no way to reverse the repository''s decline. Then, just as she had started to lose hope, Jie Yanbai had suddenly come out of the blue as the lone challenger to the Federation Comprehensive Academy. It was like a shot in the arm for the Central Repository of the Classics, which was already on the verge of desperation.


    In a single bound, Jie Yanbai had become the flag bearer for the Central Repository of the Classics. Madam Zhi Lian had inwardly breathed a sigh of relief when she had made the plan to make Jie Yanbai the new master to lead the Central Repository of the Classics forward. However, Jie Yanbai hadn''t hesitated to refuse a position countless people had been coveting.

 416 Doing a Little Regrouping

    "Why don''t you think it over a little more, Yanbai?" Zhi Lian sighed lightly. Jie Yanbai wasn''t that highly valued at the school; if it weren''t for having good relations with Mi Xiaqing, his situation in the Central Repository of the Classics would probably have been still worse. That could be seen from the Rouged Finger legacy he''d studied, which wasn''t more than a perfectly ordinary legacy.


    But, in fact, Madam Zhi Lian had always been rather critical toward the so-called direct line of legacies who studied directly under the master. It was just that it hadn''t been such an issue previously when Qiao Yuan and the rest had been there. Now, following the deaths of Qiao Yuan and Mi Xiaqing, and with an aging and frustrated master, the Central Repository of the Classics had been suddenly plunged into a situation approaching a crisis.


    Of course, that was because of that damned Tang Hanpei, but it was also directly related to the master''s style of cultivation. Previously, when people spoke about conservatism, they thought of the Star Academy or the Bitter Solitude Temple. But the true conservative was actually the Central Repository of the Classics. It was just that there would appear several geniuses every generation at the repository, which hid the flaws of the system.


    Madam Zhi Lian believed Jie Yanbai did have deep feelings toward the repository and that those feelings made him want to step up to help the repository get through its difficulties. But Madam Zhi Lian believed in her heart that the snub the repository had received that year had made him feel some resentment, which was probably the reason he refused to assume the mastership.


    Jie Yanbai still firmly shook his head. "It won''t do any good for the madam to keep trying to persuade me."


    Madam Zhi Lian suddenly thought of someone and then set her mind. The professor who imparted the Rouged Finger to Jie Yanbai was still at the repository, so why not let her do the persuading when the time came? Thinking of that, Madam Zhi Lian didn''t want to get more tangled up in the matter and changed the subject. "Where does Yanbai plan to go right now? Will you go back to the repository?"


    Jie Yanbai muttered, "Last time, you brought up Moon Frost Island organizing something big, and I plan to go check it out."


    Madam Zhi Lian was taken aback. "You want to go to Moon Frost Island?"


    "Right!" Jia Yanbai nodded hard and said boldly, "If the intelligence is right, the Heavenly Drum Village District should be in a volatile situation just now. It would be a real pity to miss such a big affair with all the heroes converging!"


    Seeing Jie Yanbai''s determined expression, she knew her influence on him was limited, so she just said, "Why don''t you take some people along with you? That would set my mind at ease."


    Jie Yanbai laughed. "Please don''t concern yourself, Madam. Yanbai is not reckless. It could be inconvenient with more people and easier to be discovered. It would actually be better for me to go alone, which would also make it a lot easier to get in and out."


    Madam Zhi Lian pondered for a moment and nodded. "Fine. But since you''re going to the Heavenly Drum Village District, help me to watch for someone."


    "Oh?" Jie Yanbai was surprised. "Who?"


    "Watch out for a card artisan named Qiao Yuan who has the Bipolar Card in his hands. Do you remember the Bipolar Card? I''ve told you about it before," Madam Zhi Lian explained.


    "The Bipolar Card?" Jie Yanbai thought about it and then remembered. "It was the basis for Card 007? It seems that Madam did say the Bipolar Card had been made by some predecessor in the history of the repository."


    "Right. That''s the one." Madam Zhi Lian had a somewhat puzzled expression. "I had thought the Bipolar Card was in the hands of the one who made the numbered series of cards. I never thought it would actually be in the hands of that Qiao Yuan. It''s really strange. Now, I don''t know how that card master made Card 007."


    "Qiao Yuan¡­" Jie Yanbai was chewing over that name. He had been relaxing at home those last few days, and he had seen that big battle. He suddenly realized the card Qiao Yuan had been using was indeed the Bipolar Card! Now that he thought about it, it seemed quite like when Card 007 had been demonstrated.


    The sort of bloody courage it took for Qiao Yuan to go one-on-two fit Jie Yanbai''s temperament. So, he abruptly showed a look of interest when he heard Madam Zhi Lian say that she hoped he might pay attention to that person.


    "The best thing would be to bring it back if you can," Madam Zhi Lian told him after some hesitation.


    Jie Yanbai grunted that he''d heard while inwardly not really approving. Were there really so few legacies at the Central Repository of the Classics? The Bipolar Card was certainly a good card, but the Central Repository of the Classics didn''t lack for good cards and good legacies. What they lacked was an attitude of openness.


    He had found out about the new measures taken by Madam Zhi Lian in various ways. Just as they had been brought back from the edge of the cliff, the Central Repository of the Classics had gone through another unprecedented humiliation even though everyone still really wanted to summon the courage to come out on top. Madam Zhi Lian had opened up a part of the high-level legacies to arouse students'' desire to seek admission. The current Central Repository of the Classics would have to be deemed a different era from what had gone before.


    It was just that, as Jie Yanbai saw it, the Central Repository of the Classics had already accumulated a rather shocking number of cards and legacies, and they absolutely didn''t need to be covetous about what was in someone else''s hands. It would actually be more productive to just make friends with their counterpart. But he also knew quite a few people at the repository couldn''t abide their cards and legacies wandering around outside.


    As for him, he didn''t have that many feelings about it. If Qiao Yuan wasn''t a bad person, he secretly thought it might be worthwhile to make friends with him.


    * * *


    Chen Mu and the rest were wearing masks as they walked into the city in front of them. Griffin was an ordinary mid-level city, and it was also the city Chen Mu and his party finally ran into after trekking for more than 30 days. The mysterious person behind them had been haunting them all along, and even Wei-ah displayed a rare serious expression.


    That mysterious person had followed them right up until they were about to enter Griffin, when the feeling of being tracked finally disappeared. Although they didn''t quite know why, everyone still breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone had been uptight during those few days, apart from Wei-ah, who was still comparatively calm. Sang Hanshui even felt like crying, unlike little Bu Mo, who had just taken it.


    Little Bu Mo had run into the city to buy the masks on Bogner''s suggestion. Following the spread of the live broadcast, masks had become immediately popular. There were masks in the style of the silvery one worn by Wen, as well as more crude bronze masks, and so forth. It seemed that one would be embarrassed to go outdoors without a mask.


    The masks were especially popular among the younger card artisans. Quite a few specialty mask shops opened, and the trend-setters designed novel and unique masks, which became special new fashion lines in every city.


    It wouldn''t attract the least bit of attention to enter a city wearing a mask at that time.


    The first thing the party did upon entering the city was to rent a convalescent instrument. The wounds on Chen Mu''s body weren''t completely healed, though he could already deploy his perception. Unexpectedly, his perception appeared to have slightly increased. After getting to his stage, any increase in perception had become extremely difficult. It was still actual battle that would make progress easier, after all!


    Along the way, he had kept reviewing and summarizing that battle. He had fleshed out his understanding of the Bipolar Card, though that wasn''t his greatest gain. When he had previously deployed his own perception, there had been no essential difference from the way other card artisans used perception.


    That time, however, while in the process of struggling against Jin Yin, he had used his perception for sensing physical things. He had completely grasped the changes in the flow of the Pointed Cloudburst, and he had then constructed a model in his mind to find his adversary''s weakness. Although he hadn''t completely succeeded in his cutting of it, it still undoubtedly opened a new window for Chen Mu.


    How to fight? That issue had haunted Chen Mu all along. Up until then, although he was a lot more capable than he had been, his means of fighting were still limited. His fighting skills had mostly been adapted from Wei-ah. Although he had been in contact with the demonic woman for only a short time, her influence on him had also been huge. What Mark Victor had passed along to him were some of the basics.


    He didn''t lack for flexible improvisation, but he still had never found the core of battling or the fighting style most suited to him. Now, he seemed to have grasped some important things.


    However, that damned guy who had been haunting them had made it basically impossible to devote himself to that kind of thinking those last few days. It was a good thing he still had a direction, and he would be gaining something for as long as he kept up his diligence.


    Soaking in the healing instrument and watching little Bu Mo sweating like rain, the days had become much more comfortable.


    Spending only seven days'' time, Chen Mu felt like his whole body had been renewed, as though he had exchanged it for a new one. Even the heavy feeling that came each day had flown off, with his whole body unspeakably comfortable. Using only a little energy, he could feel the huge power transmitted from his muscle and sinews.


    Chen Mu was rather surprised. It seemed like his body had become stronger than before. Bu Mo stood beside him, looking on with envy. Because of his age and his body still growing, he would still have to keep at it for quite a few more years himself.


    When Chen Mu turned the issue over to Wei-ah, Wei-ah looked as though it were a matter of course. "This is nothing strange. Having broken through the limits of your body, of course you would show progress after the recovery."


    Chen Mu felt stricken. "If that''s the case, can I do it over and over again to make breakthroughs?"


    Wei-ah nodded. "There is indeed such a method, and the mortality rate isn''t more than 80 percent. Would you like to give it a try?"


    A cold sweat poured from Chen Mu. A mortality rate of 80 percent¡­


    He rushed to shake his head. Wei-ah''s gaze immediately turned to Bu Mo beside him, who was also sweating and desperately shaking his head as he said, "Yeah, well I''m already practicing hard the way I am. It''s great! Really!"


    Wei-ah''s gaze fell onto Sang Hanshui, who nearly fainted. He desperately waved his hand, making a miserable image of himself and saying, terrified, "I am a card artisan¡­ card artisan¡­ and I don''t intend to change my career."


    The three of them then fled in a panic.


    With his body restored, not only his strength but also his perception had progressed. Chen Mu needed to spend some time to get used to his transformed strength and perception. If he wasn''t able to get used to them, he would be like a small child with a machete; not only would he not be able to kill his enemy, but he would also be a danger to himself.


    The best way to quickly adapt would be to fight against Wei-ah. The terrifying pressure when he faced Wei-ah could make Chen Mu concentrate as never before. By going along that way, his training efficiency was extremely high. As a sparring partner, Wei-ah would get the gold medal.


    The results were indeed good, except it could be a little appalling to watch. Sang Hanshui was gripped with fear during those few days with the endless howling from the training field always reminding him that he was in the hands of a gang of some sort of non-humans. Fortunately, they didn''t eat human flesh. Sometimes, Sang Hanshui would even be thinking that gratefully.


    Chen Mu really liked such concentrated training, but it was too bad there wasn''t much time for him to be so extravagant. That flower-like green tattoo on his wrist was becoming still more freshly green and delicate, which scared Chen Mu out of his wits.

 417 Dongrui City

    At Moon Frost Island, Jia Yingxia had her eyes closed as she listened to Bai Yue''s report. Bai Yue''s expression was frosty, and it remained that way even though she was in front of her esteemed teacher. The Ice Lady was a name that resounded throughout the federation, as she was the designated successor to Jia Yingxia. For those last few years, she had been required to attend all sorts of meetings in order to train her. Jia Yingxia had given her a lot of power. But she had no great expectations, and she conducted herself with determination and was well-received.


    Her skin was like snow and her face like jade ice, and her icy eyes would stop a person mid-gaze. She was hard to get close to.


    Jia Yingxia felt there was not much she could do about that. Bai Yue had grown up with her, and that was the only part of her that was completely opposite of herself.


    "What happened in Zargan has had a huge influence on our reputation, and this summit we arranged has been under attack. Some small powers'' attitudes have become quite hesitant, and we must fight back powerfully. Constellation is behind all of it, judging from the results of our investigations, along with Faya and Desert Camp."


    Bai Yue''s expression didn''t change as she continued with her report. "Tang Hanpei has already dispatched a mission to participate in the summit, but they are now contacting some of the people on the Black-Line Star Listing in secret."


    "Ha ha." Jia Yingxia opened her eyes and laughed lightly. "Tang Hanpei is quite a schemer to look so far ahead. If Song Chengyan hadn''t died, with one oddball and one upright person, it would be hard to find their equal anywhere. It is too bad such a top-notch figure as Song Chengyan always so easily incurs the jealousy of the heavens. Remember, Little Yue, in everything under heaven, the upright and the odd always follow one another. If it weren''t for the upright, though, the oddball would be nothing but a joke."


    Bai Yue looked as though she had something on her mind.


    Jia Yingxia had a lot of confidence in her own beloved apprentice''s understanding and never had to provide much explanation. After some thought, she said, "Yushan did a pretty good job this time, and we''ll have to reward him well when he gets back." Her face then turned abruptly cold. "Hmph. Does that trifling Constellation dare to call out Moon Frost Island?"


    Moon Frost Island had been disgraced in Zargan. If it hadn''t been for Zeng Yushan finally getting a hold on things, the entire army could have been wiped out. Even then, with two killed and four others heavily wounded, even the Yans had been hit hard. All of that had taken place on a live broadcast.


    Was Constellation crazy? No one had ever dared to provoke Moon Frost Island like that!


    Moon Frost Island reacted quickly, and a pursuit team composed of 20 card artisans engaged in a frenzied chase to the death of Constellation. The one leading the team that time was impressively the eighth on the Heavenly Drum Rolls, the top person in the current generation at Moon Frost Island, Bai Yue!


    Any powers related to Constellation encountered devastating attacks, and Constellation was nearly completely wiped out after it was chased down by Moon Frost Island. All that remained of the once-prominent Constellation were Wen and Yuchi Bai. Wen had been seriously wounded by Bai Yue. At the cost of an arm, Yuchi Bai had risked his life to rescue Wen, and they had then fled in a hurry.


    Moon Frost Island''s counterattack didn''t stop there. They immediately announced the dissolution of the more than 20 small alliances in the Heavenly Drum Village District, which were all absorbed by Moon Frost Island. That was a big blow to Faya. Faya''s power had expanded as they had infiltrated the Heavenly Drum Village District. Without roots or a base, however, they were only a power in the dark in the end.


    Even if those small powers had such a lethal weapon as battle shuttle cars, they would still never dare to face a direct confrontation with Moon Frost Island. In the end, although Moon Frost Island wasn''t the lord of the Heavenly Drum Village District, it was still the biggest power in that realm.


    Unless Faya were to brazenly launch an attack against Moon Frost Island, no one would have a way to block the collapse of those small alliances. But Faya was just then in a confrontation with the Federation Comprehensive Academy. To advance into the Heavenly Drum Village District at that time would be to court death!


    Not only that, but Faya had been taken out one by one by some hidden obstacles. The situation Faya had so painstakingly built up in the Heavenly Drum Village District had immediately been beaten back by more than half.


    Then, the top ten from the Black-Line Star Listing were immediately invited to Moon Frost Island to participate in the summit. There had still been some restlessness and some worry about Moon Frost Island pulling out the giants from the underworld in the Heavenly Drum Village District, but that immediately calmed.


    People with sharp eyes knew that if the summit was truly successful, no one could block the advance of Moon Frost Island. Those who were excluded when the time came would have been better off attending the summit. They still saw clearly that although Moon Frost Island was the sponsor and the most powerful participant of the summit, they still couldn''t get complete control over the new alliances. Their battles with Moon Frost Island would have to be advanced in another fashion.


    The situation of Si Dongkou and the rest became immediately embarrassing. Those underworld kingpins who had been able to survive until then were no fools. If they were to become hired guns for Tang Hanpei at that time, the aftermath would be miserable for them.


    With the prompting of Jia Yingxia, publicity about the summit, which would previously have taken place in silence, was now made with a lot of fanfare and a high profile. Moreover, whether they were underworld or above-board, only the rather stronger powers would have received the invitations sent by Moon Frost Island.


    In the changing of hands, Jia Yingxia not only deftly resolved Moon Frost Island''s predicament, but she also took back the initiative.


    Everyone''s gazes were drawn to the summit not long afterward.


    * * *


    The Dongrui District referred to the southwestern part of the Heavenly Drum Village District. It ranged over 19 local cities, and its center of commerce was the city of Dongrui.


    Dongrui was bustling far beyond what any of them had imagined. Even Sang Hanshui was shocked by how bustling and developed it was, never mind a bumpkin like Chen Mu. Compared to Dongrui, Chilei or Zargan looked like they had fallen 20 years behind. For Dongrui to already be so bustling, Chen Mu couldn''t help but marvel. Even the capital, which was the center of the federation, hadn''t been so bustling.


    The towering buildings clustered together were crammed into the city to the point of overcrowding, giving the phrase that an inch of land was worth an inch of gold its finest interpretation.


    The most shocking thing was that there was a satellite city floating in midair ten kilometers off the ground!


    The satellite city was 40 times smaller than Dongrui. Floating in midair as it was, though, it still made people deeply marvel at its grandeur. It was said that the amount of power cards it consumed each day were worth several hundreds of millions of Oudi, and that was only to keep it afloat. When the luxurious amenities were added on top of that, it would go through an incredibly terrifying number in a year. Fortunately, the ones who lived there were the upper crust of the Dongrui District. They shared the terrifying expense together with the largest companies and firms.


    It was called the Garden Above the Center, and it was also one of Dongrui''s iconic structures.


    The Garden Above the Center had strict identity verification, and those without permission couldn''t even approach within five kilometers. Floating around that satellite city were several small metallic fortresses, in which were stationed a large number of powerful card artisans. Whenever a person without permission would approach, they could proactively launch an attack in any situation where they didn''t heed advice.


    Those small fortresses, which scraped the blue sky, numbered as many as several dozen, all of them positioned five kilometers from the satellite city like a necklace around it.


    When Chen Mu finally recovered from his shock, he couldn''t help but gush, "It''s so beautiful! There are no wonders this world doesn''t have! It''s really a miracle!"


    There was a sudden guffaw from the side, the tone revealing contempt. "Phooey! What a gang of bumpkins!"


    The one talking was a little miss surrounded by a gang of card artisans, and she was looking at the four of them in disdain. She had golden hair on top of her jewel-like turquoise eyes and a white frock that could be seen to be top quality at first glance. She was really as exquisite as a porcelain doll, though she made people feel perfectly uncomfortable. The expressions on the guards'' faces also revealed some arrogance, with only a middle-aged man beside the little girl having a relaxed expression.


    The four of them looked as though they had swallowed a fly, and their recently good feelings suddenly vanished. Having just entered Dongrui, Chen Mu didn''t want to provoke anything. He said in a low voice, "Don''t pay attention to them. Let''s go."


    "So, it''s a gang with no guts! Hmph! You think if you wear masks you''re Qiao Yuan? I really detest you guys who only know how to follow the trends!" The little girl spread her feet and pointed to the four, scolding them. She''d had a date that day with some handsome guy she''d had her heart on for a long time, and who would have thought he would never come? That made her feel terrible just as she saw Chen Mu and his party, and she took her irritation out on them.


    The four of them stopped. Oddly enough, three among them cast their gazes onto someone else besides those others. Chen Mu really wanted to rub his nose, feeling strange. The trend of wearing a mask didn''t have that much to do with him, for sure. If someone else were wearing the mask, it would have nothing to do with him.


    But Chen Mu found it funny to see the little girl speaking so confidently. They had pretty annoyed at first, but they were now amused by what the little girl said.


    Shaking his head and smiling, he didn''t have to concern himself with a little girl who didn''t understand things. Chen Mu turned around and was about to leave.


    "Hmph! Am I going to let you all leave?" The little girl saw that what she''d said didn''t have the desired result, which made her still more upset. She couldn''t help the cold hmph.


    Hearing that, the guards came forward, laughing, to surrounded Chen Mu and his party threateningly.


    "To wear masks in broad daylight is such a scam! Take their masks off! I''d like to get a good look at what these clodhoppers are really like!" the little girl said with incredible arrogance.


    "Ha ha. Indeed! We will let our sister take a look." The guards were laughing as they got ready to come forward to make their move.


    Sang Hanshui was the first to lose his cool. He had taken a great loss at the hands of Wei-ah and Chen Mu, but no one was going to be so impudent in front of him.


    He gave out a cold snort and said, "Who dares?" His perception then came gushing out as though the floodgates had opened!


    Suddenly, there wasn''t the slightest sound around them. Looking again at that gang of guards, he saw that their faces had turned white and that their legs were trembling. The guard who had been about to pull the mask off Sang Hanshui''s face fainted straight away. The entire street had fallen suddenly into silence.


    Although Sang Hanshui was listed in the Black-Line Star Listing beyond the rank of a 100, if it weren''t for not having a good card, he would have long since killed his way into the top 100. Since he had persisted in bitter training for many years, his perception had gotten quite terrifying. When he emitted it with no scruples, the entire street was enshrouded by his perception.


    The little girl, who had just been so arrogant, lost all her color and was trembling in terror as she looked at Sang Hanshui.


    Sang Hangshui wore a green mask, on which was painted the face of an ancient general with ferocious features and scathing murderousness. When they had just looked at them before, they hadn''t gotten any feeling that they would be scared out of their wits like that!


    The guards'' teeth were chattering desperately. The look on the middle-aged man beside the little girl changed dramatically as he stepped forward, putting the little girl behind him. He looked at Sang Hanshui nervously.

 418 Acting Before Thinking

    Sang Hanshui gave a cold grunt of confidence in his status, but he didn''t feel good making a move on a little girl. But he wasn''t going to be so polite toward those card artisans. His triangular eyes glinted with unspeakably ruthless gloom. His terrifying perception was still the deadliest thing. It came on like wave after wave of breakers, bombarding the fragile psychic defenses of that gang of card artisans!


    Chen Mu was shaking his head to himself. While those card artisans'' power wouldn''t be considered weak, they lacked spirit, and they were deficient compared to the card artisans under him. The card artisans cultivated by Bogner and Jiang Liang, one in charge and the other his lieutenant, were full of fighting spirit. Even if they were to face a card artisan more powerful than themselves, they would still restrain their fear.


    The card artisans in front of him were nothing more than a mob. Chen Mu could lead 100 card artisans with confidence that they could prevail against 300 like that gang of card artisans. Having gone through an awful lot of battles, he was no longer the rookie he had been. Since he had aces in strategy like Bogner beside him, his insights were beyond compare with the old days.


    In any battle at scale, while the power of a single soldier was definitely important, discipline, obedience, and the will to fight were still more basic.


    He had kept in contact with the base during that time, and he understood the situation there pretty well. The promulgation of the snow pit method had enabled all of the card artisans'' perceptual abilities to rise by a level; some of the card artisans could be described as having advanced by leaps and bounds. That was especially true of those who had been with Chen Mu the longest. Those who had survived had surged in power.


    Among them all, Lu Xiaoru and the bar-browed man were the most striking. The crazy upward trend of their perception was really giving Bogner a headache. He''d had to develop a special training plan specifically for them. Xiaobo, on the other hand, remained closed-off. He was the number-three ace on the base, but even Bogner wasn''t so clear about where his power had gotten to in the end.


    The card artisans Bogner had selected were stoic and were the types to take suffering as they trained like crazy. According to what Bogner said, he was planning to lead them out to participate in a real battle to increase their actual battle experience.


    Xi Ping kept complaining about how huge the overhead had gotten. Burning Oudi didn''t begin to describe it, though it was just like burning money, after all. He had also told Chen Mu that little Yang Bo had started to study the card artisan curriculum; his tone had seemed full of extreme gratification.


    During that brief time just then, who knew where Chen Mu''s thoughts had drifted off to? By the time he''d returned to his senses, those card artisans were staggering around, and their faces had turned white.


    Chen Mu couldn''t avoid feeling some contempt. Those guys had just been so arrogant and domineering, and they had now become soft-legged shrimp. Not only did none of them open their mouths, but they didn''t even pay attention to their own master. If those under him had been like that, he supposed he would have gotten rid of them immediately.


    Instead, it was that middle-aged man who still tightly protected the little girl behind him, though he looked pretty nervous.


    "My little lady is naughty by nature. We have been blind to it and didn''t intend any offense to any of you. We beg you all to forgive us!" Although the middle-aged man had some fear in his expression, he still spoke in an orderly fashion. The little girl also knew the trouble she had caused, and she must have been scared. Her timid little face was hard to take.


    That little chick was so bizarre that Chen Mu had to smile to himself. Although the girl was really trying hard to present an expression of fear, the curiosity in her eyes betrayed her true thoughts. That was one really clever little girl!


    "What family are you?" Sang Hanshui was a wily old fox and knew it was no good to bother with that little lass. He pulled in his perception and said in a cold voice, "To be so young and so defiant, what will that get you when you grow up?"


    The middle-aged man was extremely observant and took the initiative to humble himself. "The little one is from the Tai-shu family! Our offense this time is really on us. I still haven''t asked for the great names of each of you. Hearing you speak, you''ve just arrived in Dongrui. Where are you staying? We''ve made an unintentional offense today, and I''m asking you each to be magnanimous. A little later, the elder of the Tai-shu household will make amends to each of you personally!"


    The Tai-shu family? Sang Hanshui had never heard of it, and he was about to turn him down. He never thought the ever-silent Chen Mu would suddenly open his mouth. "You are the Tai-shu family?"


    A look of surprise flashed through the middle-aged man''s eyes. "Whom does this gentleman know in my family?" The Tai-shu family included a lot of people, with quite a few ancillary lines scattered all over. If that person was friends with the Tai-shus, that day''s business would be easily handled.


    Chen Mu didn''t answer but instead asked, "Is the head of your household Tai-shu Yong?"


    The middle-aged man looked overjoyed. "Indeed; he is! Are you an acquaintance of our patriarch?" In Dongrui, a lot of people would easily say the name of the head of the Tai-shu household. However, for an outsider who had just arrived at Dongrui to be able to so smoothly say that name wouldn''t be so easy.


    He didn''t think his counterpart would shake his head. The middle-aged man''s heart abruptly sank, and a bad notion popped into his head. Could he be an enemy?


    The little girl then stuck her head out and spoke timidly. "Why don''t you uncles come to my house to drink a cup of tea? Little Ying was wrong today and wants to apologize to each of you! Grandfather says that when you do something wrong, you should apologize."


    Chen Mu sighed to himself about how the girls from those aristocratic families would have so many thoughts by the time they got a little older. Sang Hanshui was a wily old fox, but he was still tricked by that little lass. She seemed very clear, but her adorable tenderness was her most powerful weapon. So, the expression on her face was extremely endearing. If it weren''t for Chen Mu just happening to catch that hint of crafty cunning that showed midstream, he would most likely also have been moved by that exceptional expression of hers.


    Chen Mu took a look at Bu Mo and did a little comparison. The two of them were about the same age, but Bu Mo was absolutely no match for her. Their abilities in that regard were really too far apart!


    Chen Mu had never imagined he would run into someone from the Tai-shu family upon entering the city only to have a conflict with them. So, when the girl brought up the invitation, Chen Mu was a little hesitant, not having been prepared for it. Still, he only hesitated for a moment before nodding and responding, "Sure."


    He wanted to go to the Tai-shu household anyway. Although the affair had been unexpected, he didn''t get flustered. He had plenty of self-confidence. His power had risen greatly from before, and he still had Wei-ah by his side. Sang Hanshui was also a pro. Although little Bu Mo was a bit weaker, if there were any problem Chen Mu and Wei-ah couldn''t resolve, any additional ability wasn''t going to hurt.


    Moreover, Qiao Yuan''s reputation at that time was like the sun in the sky. To say it as Bogner would, if he were to go right up to the door and ask Tai-shu Yong for some gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, Tai-shu Yong would consider it.


    Their four masks were quite interesting. Chen Mu''s was a bright silver mask on which there were only two simple, wavy black lines winding down his cheek. Sang Hanshui''s mask was the most exaggerated, its hideous lines painting a murderous-looking ancient general. Wei-ah''s mask was carved from pure black wood and was simple and crude. It went along with his indifferent eyes to give a really chilling feeling. Little Bu Mo''s mask was the most interesting among the four. It was a cartoon monkey.


    Following the little girl and the middle-aged man, Chen Mu and his party were rather leisurely. Behind them followed a gang of guards with pallid faces and dazed expressions. Even the middle-aged man couldn''t abide those guards'' miserable expressions, and the little lass gazed toward them with extreme discontent.


    The middle-aged man felt a bout of retrospective fear. That card artisan wearing the mask of an ancient general really had terrifying power! He was skeptical that even the household''s chief military instructor would be his equal. That overwhelming perception had been so oppressive that he almost hadn''t been able to breathe.


    But that wasn''t the thing he found the strangest. Up until the man wearing the silver mask had nodded in response to the young lady''s invitation, he had thought the one with the general''s mask was the leader of the party; the strength he had displayed was so powerful! He had never guessed the one in the lead was actually the man wearing the silver mask. When he had nodded in response to the young lady''s invitation, the other three hadn''t made any response. Not only that, but they hadn''t even questioned it.


    It could be seen from that what his position among the four was. To be able to get such a powerful card artisan to listen to him wasn''t something just anyone could do.


    The middle-aged man felt extremely glad as he took a look at the little miss beside him. Their luck that day had been really good. Who knew which muscle had flinched wrong on that little miss? By her acting before thinking that time, though, they had actually gotten the best result.


    "I am called Tai-shu Ying, uncles! It''s written with a combination of the character ''wang'' and the ''ying'' from ''baby.'' What are your names, uncles?" the little miss asked in all innocence.


    The middle-aged man''s ears pricked up.


    Chen Mu glanced at the innocent-looking Tai-shu Ying and smiled before saying, "Oh, you can just call me uncle."


    The girl hadn''t thought her tried-and-true trick would actually fail, which made her feel abruptly dejected. But she then discovered the smallest among the four of them, little Bu Mo, and she rolled her eyes and turned to him. "Are you my little brother or my little big brother?"


    Bu Mo was a bit dejected. Girls developed a lot earlier than boys; although he was older than she was, judging from his frame, the two of them were about the same.


    "As you please." His response was much in the style of Wei-ah. His thinking was simple; the girl''s domineering appearance had given him a bad impression.


    Tai-shu Ying''s little mouth flattened, and she was about to cry. "Are you still mad at Little Ying? Little Ying has already apologized¡­"


    Bu Mo kept very proper. Never having had such an argument, it made him abruptly flustered.


    Just then, Wei-ah''s voice sounded up. "Jump like a frog, Bu Mo."


    Little Bu Mo''s spirits were jolted, and he loudly responded, "Yes, sir." He then put both hands behind his back, bent his knees into a squat, and hopped along with everyone.


    Tai-shu Ying was stunned to see that little guy wearing a cartoon monkey mask hopping along like a frog, which looked unspeakably comical. The pedestrians along the way also had rather strange expressions when they saw that scene.


    But Tai-shu Ying didn''t smile. Her little eyes were suddenly blinking as she blankly watched that ridiculous comedy being carried out in total ignorance of her. She became rather distracted as that little boy concentrated on every jump.

 419 Tai-shu Cheng

    "Ha-ha, Little Ying, where did you get such a fine one?" A little girl a little older than Tai-shu Ying, probably about sixteen or seventeen, was doubled-over laughing. She was wearing really short hot-pants, which showed off her beautiful long white legs, while the top half of her body had on a loose tee-shirt, which looked rather cool. She was also surrounded by guards, and was squinting like a cat and covering her mouth unable to stop laughing at Bu Mo.


    The guards around her were also looking as though they found something funny, though they remained standing bolt upright and didn''t relax. That made Chen Mu''s eyes light up at how high quality that gang of guards was! He looked again at the Tai-shu guards, who were undisciplined and without any fight in them; far beneath the ones now in front of him.


    Tai-shu Ying said unhappily, "He''s my guest, Sister Ling Ling. You are being so rude." She looked at Chen Mu a little worried, not wanting Ling Ling to annoy them; that would really be bad!


    The girl called Ling Ling was taken aback and responded very quickly, immediately retracting her smile, and rushing to give a bow to Chen Mu and the others, saying apologetically, "I really apologize. Please forgive me if there was something offensive in what I just said. Little Ling was so rude."


    Wei-ah didn''t look like he was listening and Sang Hanshui didn''t dare to respond, while Bu Mo continued to hop like a frog, so Chen Mu came forward, "It''s nothing." He didn''t say anything else after saying those two words.


    Tai-shu Ying made introductions to Chen Mu by saying, "She is my good friend, don''t consider her all that gentle since she''s really quite wild." Tai-shu Ying spoke without any sense of her own age, and it was very amusing to hear her speak as though she were proud of her own age and experience. Even Sang Hanshui couldn''t help an involuntary chuckle.


    That lass called little Ling kept on laughing and smiling, "Little Ying has grown up a little after all."


    Tai-shu Ying was a little slow on the uptake, and her fair and tender little face looked a little annoyed, as she lifted her little fists with a harrumph and shook them at little Ling.


    Little Ying''s beautiful eyes rolled as she said laughingly, "It''s been a long time since I''ve seen Uncle Cheng and I actually miss him. You said you owed me one last time, so I should mooch some lunch from you."


    It seemed that as soon as Tia-shu Ying ran into that little Ling she became a little helpless, and bizarrely didn''t even try, as she muttered, "Do as you please. When have you ever needed a reason to come to my house?"


    Seeing that Chen Mu and the others didn''t seem to want to say anything, little Ling didn''t bother them, but kept on bickering with Tai-shu Ying. The clear sound of the two girls'' laughter was full of the na?ve carelessness of youth. Even Chen Mu was infected by it and seemed to feel a lot better.


    But the stalwart who was the lead of her guards showed some vigilance in his eyes when he looked at the four of them.


    Chen Mu was relieved when he thought about his party all wearing masks. No wonder people were paying attention. That stalwart''s gaze was sharp, and his body was flitting a little. When he looked closely he found that his feet weren''t touching the ground. That was the first time Chen Mu had encountered a card artisan who even used a jet stream card just to stroll, and he couldn''t help doing double-take.


    That stalwart noticed Chen Mu''s gaze, and nodded to him with a slight smile.


    After checking it out in detail with his perception, he found that the stalwart had been deploying his perception very delicately. It was all very smooth and natural. Chen Mu realized that it wasn''t such a bad way to train. To continually use perception during ordinary times would make it as normal as eating and drinking, and would be of great assistance in the deployment of perception. Still, it was a good way to burn money. There would be a shocking consumption of power cards to train like that and a huge expenditure.


    It was a good thing that Chen Mu was worth rather a lot by then, so the power cards wouldn''t be much of an issue for him.


    As soon as he thought about it, he did it. Chen Mu''s body started to flutter almost imperceptibly. The stalwart was a little astonished to see that, though he very quickly laughed it off. It wasn''t any exclusive secret method. In reality, as long as a card artisan had gotten a traditional education even if they hadn''t yet gotten to that stage, their professors would likely tell them about the trick. It was only someone like Chen Mu who switched careers midstream and followed an unorthodox method, who wouldn''t know about it. Most of the stalwart''s attention was on little Bu Mo frog jumping. He seemed to be more interested in that.


    Chen Mu had strong flight skills, and before Jin Yin''s breakthrough he had still been a notch better than him. But after his breakthrough, when Jin Yin could make even such a powerful flying attack as the Pointed Cloud Burst, Chen Mu felt far inferior. Still after Chen Mu tried it, he found that to use a jet stream card for such slow strolling was completely different from the violent storm of perception while travelling in midair.


    Even though Chen Mu had pretty good flight skills he only got his perception right after going along for a little ways, when his movements become a lot smoother.


    Sang Hanshui was a little surprised to see how rough Chen Mu was at the start. How could an ace who was number fifty on the Black Line Star Listing not even be able to do that?


    Defeating powerful enemies in actual battle and then moving up the ranks was the most persuasive way to advance without a doubt. So there had been no objections when he was stepped up to number fifty in the newest issue of the Black Line Star Listing.


    But could that person in front of him really be the ace on the Black Line Star Listing who had been able to advance to number fifty? Still, although he felt a little puzzled, he wasn''t stupid enough to go ask Chen Mu about how he gotten to where he was.


    The speed of the party wouldn''t be called fast, but with both groups of guards together now, the pedestrians along the route still all gave way. Both Tai-shu Ying and little Ling were used to that.


    Before long they arrived a large building.


    There were two towering silvery buildings in parallel with a skybridge connecting them. Card artisans and shuttle cars would fly in and out of the entryways on each floor from time to time.


    Probably having been informed earlier of their arrival, there were staff members awaiting them.


    "The director general has instructed that you may go directly to his office, Miss Ying." That slightly made-up and professionally dressed woman made a slight bow to Tai-shu Ying.


    Both Tai-shu Ying''s and little Ling''s guards went with that staff member to a lounge to rest. Only the middle-aged man remained by Tai-shu Ying''s side, along with that stalwart who stayed close to Little Ling.


    The metallic-style great hall had a highly polished floor and floor-to-ceiling windows which isolated it into a separate space. All the busy staff inside had expressions of being rushed. It was very eye catching for Chen Mu and his party of four to all be wearing masks in that great hall. The most amusing was little Bu Mo. Since Wei-ah had never told him to stop, he was still hoppoing along after everyone in the style of a frog.


    All of the staff looked like they found that weird, though no one said anything.


    Tai-shu Ying was very familiar with the place and didn''t need anyone to show her the way. She led the group directly to the general director''s office.


    The building was exquisitely appointed, but from Chen Mu''s point of view, it had too many vulnerabilities regarding security. If Borna had built it, it might not have been so comfortable and luxurious, but it would be a lot more secure.


    They heard some roaring from inside just when the party arrived at the director general''s office, "You are just too deceptive!" And then they heard the sound of a glass being smashed from inside.


    Tai-shu Ying''s expression turned tense, and she quickened her pace. She walked to the door and called out in aloud voice, "I''m back Daddy!"


    After she said that she pushed open the door and entered and then saw her father''s flustered look once inside. She hurried to her father''s side, and jumped into his arms, asking with some concern, "What happened, Daddy? Who made you angry? I''ll fix them!"


    When he heard his daughter say that, Tai-shu Cheng who had just been so angry immediately brightened up. His mood abruptly smoothed out quite a bit. He was about to say something when he showed some surprise at seeing Chen Mu and his party, along with Little Ling.


    "Little Ling came along! Yikes, Little Ying, are these your guests?" Tai-shu Cheng was looking at his daughter in his arms with a questioning look on his face.


    Tai-shu Ying batted her eyes at her father, and said, "Mmmm, Little Ying was naughty during our walk, and I offended these uncles. Didn''t you say, Daddy, that you should admit it when you make a mistake? Little Ying invited these uncles to be her guests. Won''t you help me apologize to these uncles, Daddy?"


    Tai-shu Cheng was a little puzzled. But his daughter had always been mischievous. He didn''t know how many disasters she had brought down on herself, so why should today be any different? But he knew his daughter''s temperament, and she had always been naughty, so he couldn''t help saying to Chen Mu and his party, full of apologies, "I am really very sorry, but my discipline is very lax, and the little girl is naughty and has caused many offenses!"


    Chen Mu waved his hand, "A small matter. It doesn''t mean anything."


    Little Ling also looked puzzled, not able to make out where Tai-shu Ying was coming from.


    Tai-shu Ying then shook Tai-shu Cheng''s arm, and said in a cute voice, "These uncles are awesome, Daddy! Angie says that that one is even more awesome than Ma Hu!" Angie was the middle-aged man who was accompanying Tai-shu Ying, and Ma Hu was the manager of the Tai-shu household guards.


    Tai-shu Cheng''s heart skipped a beat, and he secretly glanced at Angie, to see his nearly imperceptible nod. His tone immediately became a lot warmer, "So rude of me! Come come come! let''s not stand or I won''t dare to sit myself. Tell them to send in a pot of Mingxiang, Angie."


    Little Ling couldn''t help being moved, "You are actually hiding away such a good thing in here, uncle Cheng!" Little Ling really regrets not mooching lunch from you a long time ago!"


    "Ha-ha!" Tai-shu Cheng said with some satisfaction, "Don''t lets turn our eyes red with greed, little Ling, this is the last of your uncle''s stash, and if it weren''t for the honored guests on our doorstep today, I would never have brought it out."


    Although Chen Mu didn''t know what Mingxiang was, he knew that it was certainly something good. Tai-shu Cheng kept himself up very well. He looked very youthful, and his face always had a self-deprecating smile on it. He remained very low key when he spoke, and if he hadn''t seen him with his own eyes it would have been hard to imagine that this was third son of the Tai-shu household.


    Tai-shu Yong had three sons altogether, the oldest was Tai-shu Zheng, the second was Tai-shu Shen, and the youngest was then Tai-shu Cheng.


    The Mingxiang was light yellow, each piece a rectangle a little bit bigger than a fingernail. It would melt instantly when it was put into water, when an intoxicating delicate fragrance would waft almost imperceptibly. It then became as though it were scratching the deepest reaches of one''s soul in a very titillating manner.


    Tai-shu Cheng very carefully poured each of them a small cup.


    Once the tea entered the throat, a very refreshing fragrance would exude from the farthest reaches of one''s heart. There was an exotic slight feeling of incense along with an indescribable taste which would gradually emerge and then spread to the limbs, until the entire body seemed to be washed in it and felt unspeakably comfortable.


    Even someone like Chen Mu who didn''t know anything about tea still couldn''t help praising it, "Nice tea!"


    Fingering his already empty teacup, Tai-shu Cheng looked enraptured. After a long time, he suddenly opened his eyes and asked directly, "I wonder why you have come?"

 420 Tai-shu Cheng’s Proposal

    Ling Ling stopped what she had been doing with her hands, also rather curious about those somewhat strange masked men. Tai-shu Ying crooked her head to look at the four of them, really wanting to find out what their goal was.


    Sang Hanshui''s gaze fell onto Chen Mu since he had no standing there to speak. He also felt rather puzzled. No matter how he looked at him, Qiao Yuan didn''t seem like someone who could easily reciprocate someone else''s hosting. Wei-ah and Bu Mo didn''t even raise their heads, the two of them having always had a strange outlook¡ªthat sort of question would always be turned over to Chen Mu.


    So, everyone''s gazes were once again focused on Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu had been wondering how he might respond, but Tai-shu Cheng had asked so directly that he just answered with equal directness. "I came looking for the master of your honorable house, Tai-shu Yong, with some important business."


    Tai-shu Cheng''s mouth hung open as he stared blankly at Chen Mu. Tai-shu Ying looked foolish, and Ling Ling couldn''t hide how strange she found it.


    Seeing everyone''s expressions, even such a dullard as Chen Mu could tell something was wrong. He really didn''t know what he''d said wrong, but he didn''t get flustered. He calmly said, "Oh. What''s wrong?"


    Tai-shu Cheng quickly resumed his normal expression and laughed a bit helplessly. "I don''t intend to cause difficulties for you, my brother, but it''s been four and a half months since I have even seen my father."


    "Why?" Chen Mu didn''t quite understand.


    Tai-shu Cheng said lightly, "Our Tai-shu household is an ancient dynasty, and we have some rather strange rules. Now that I think about it, this is related to the lineage of the master. The head of the Tai-shu household isn''t determined by age. Every one of the sons of the master will be sent out to take over one of the family industries upon coming of age. Whoever performs the best would be the one most likely to be the master for the next generation."


    "Oh." Chen Mu nodded, though he still didn''t realize how that was related to his own request.


    "In order better to train us, the old man not only can''t give us any help, but he also prohibits all of our relatives from giving us any kind of help. We can''t even return to our beloved manor house except for once every six months. Then, only the one among us who has performed the best would have any chance of seeing the old man. During normal times, we don''t have the right to communicate with the clan, and we have to get what we need on our own."


    Chen Mu was rather surprised, never having had good feelings toward aristocratic families. He had never thought being the offspring of some dynasty would actually require facing such brutal competition.


    Tai-shu Cheng continued to sketch it out for him. "The winner would serve as the master for the next generation. The others who weren''t going to serve as the new master would become members of the council and would remain with their respective industries until they were gradually reduced to being offshoots of the Tai-shu family."


    After he said that, he said apologetically to Chen Mu, "We are still a month and a half away from the next time we might enter the beloved manor house." He then said with a sneer, "Moreover, even supposing we do return to the manor house, I still can''t be sure I''ll be able to see the old man, never mind recommending my esteemed brother."


    Chen Mu remained silent, not having expected matters to become so troublesome.


    Ling Ling also seemed to have something on her mind, and no one could tell what she was thinking as she lowered her head. Tai-shu Ying was pouting. If one listened carefully, one might hear her complaining about something.


    Sang Hanshui couldn''t help but frown and looked rather unhappy. He was an intelligent person and had a lot of insider information. At that time, though, he only had that one road with Qiao Yuan. To put it another way, his honor was bound up in Chen Mu.


    Compared with the prominence of other big families, he really hadn''t heard of the Tai-shu family. How could such an obscure little clan dare to be so arrogant? Even if the 50th on the Black-Line Star Listing were to go to Moon Frost Island, he would absolutely be someone to them. That Tai-shu family was rather impudent. Sang Hanshui couldn''t repress a cold groan.


    Sang Hanshui''s groan abruptly turned the atmosphere a little tense. A look of nervousness flashed through Tai-shu Ying''s eyes. She''d previously tasted Sang Hanshui''s might, and even Angie had secretly praised him as being more awesome than Ma Hu! Ma Hu was the top ace under Tai-shu Cheng, acting as the chief manager of the guards.


    Tai-shu Cheng was smiling as though he hadn''t heard Sang Hanshui''s cold groan.


    The stalwart beside Ling Ling looked at Sang Hanshui rather seriously. He couldn''t have been some unknown type to show such pride on such an occasion.


    Ling Ling then came forward to smooth things over. She said with a crisp and melodious voice, "This gentleman shouldn''t be enraged. Uncle Cheng wasn''t exaggerating. Not only the Tai-shu household is that way; we in the house of Jiang are the same way. I imagine you all must also come from extraordinary backgrounds, so why don''t you first identify yourselves? I believe Uncle Cheng might then be able to come up with something." She had long been curious about their identities.


    Chen Mu shook his head, nixing Ling Ling''s proposal. "I''ll present my credentials after meeting with your honorable master, of course."


    He actually wanted to take advantage of his identity as Qiao Yuan since that would make it smoother to see Tai-shu Yong. But if they went on the way they were going, it would undoubtedly expose the existence of Wei-ah and Bu Mo.


    Moreover, he was afraid Faya was itching to cut him to pieces just then. It wouldn''t matter if Tai-shu Yong were to know his identity. If more people knew and if it were to leak out, that would become a troublesome matter. Even if Faya were fiercely attacked by Moon Frost Island, the hidden powers could still not be underestimated. Given his own refusal to help Moon Frost Island, it would be hard to say whether or not they had their own opinions about him.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help but sneer about how hard it had been to earn some fame only to find that he might not have any further way to parlay its value. The biggest factor in all of it was because of retaliation against him by the Madam from Faya. But if he were to have to start over, he would likely make the same choice. There were some things he would regret for the rest of his life if he didn''t do them.


    The situation might have gotten difficult, but he wasn''t about to give up; he had gotten to the Tai-shu household. That luxuriant green tattoo on his wrist always reminded him about his predicament.


    "What can Mr. Cheng propose?" Chen Mu asked impassively. Chen Mu didn''t need to even think about it to guess the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus would certainly be inside the beloved manor house, where it would be basically impossible to seize it by force. Even if he wanted to infiltrate the beloved manor house, he didn''t know where it was.


    No one thought Chen Mu would be so unwilling to report his identity at such a time, and they became more deeply suspicious. Even Sang Hanshui didn''t understand why Chen Mu would act that way. He believed Chen Mu only needed to report his name for it to be a simple matter to be able to see Tai-shu Yong.


    Tai-shu Cheng looked closely at Chen Mu and said ponderously, "I wonder what my esteemed brother is good at."


    Chen Mu said calmly, "I''d be considered pretty good at fighting." Hearing that, Sang Hanshui rolled his eyes. What would that mean about himself?


    Tai-shu Cheng suddenly asked, "So, how does my esteemed brother think the guards under me are?"


    "Terrible." Chen Mu gave his unvarnished assessment, those guards having left him with a bad impression.


    Tai-shu Cheng laughed lightly, not minding at all. "Might I ask my esteemed brother for a few comments?"


    What he said had the sense of a test, to which Chen Mu calmly responded, "They have no determination nor discipline. They are just a disorganized mob."


    Ling Ling covered her mouth and couldn''t stop chuckling. The stalwart beside her also couldn''t help but show some amusement. To be so impolite as to criticize his counterpart''s guards in front of other people, that person had truly spoken rather directly.


    "You are right!" Tai-shu Cheng exclaimed, clapping his hands in admiration. "I''ve spent so much money to raise that bunch of crap. I''ve really failed. I wonder what my esteemed brother might think about my proposal."


    "What''s your proposal?"


    "That you help me take the Dongrui Playoffs. I don''t have high demands. I only need to get into the ranks of the top four. If my esteemed brother can accomplish that, I would be confident I could see my father in another month and a half. At that time, I could present my recommendation of my esteemed brother to the old man. I won''t concern myself with why my esteemed brother is looking for the old man. How about it?" Tai-shu Cheng said, smiling.


    Chen Mu raised his head. "The Dongrui Playoffs?"


    Tai-shu Cheng explained, "There are countless offspring from aristocratic families like ours in Dongrui. We hold one such playoff each year. There are team matches as well as individual fights. Each team is composed of 40 card artisans for the team fights, where the perceptual strength of the card artisans can''t go beyond the sixth level. There are no requirements for the individual fights. The final ranking is determined by a combination of the two results."


    Chen Mu then understood that the so-called playoffs must have been a way for the aristocratic families to evaluate the martial power in the hands of their offspring. Those so-called aristocratic families put a lot of thought into the raising of their offspring. No wonder the offspring brought up under such a competitive regime would be so singular.


    Tai-shu Cheng then added, "There is no requirement to make your identity public for the individual combat." He saw that Chen Mu seemed to not want to publicize his identity.


    "Okay." Chen Mu nodded. "But I''ll be the one to choose, with no interference."


    "No problem!" Tai-shu Cheng smiled happily. "Starting now, you have complete authority to lead the guards, including Ma Hu, who will take orders from you."


    Tai-shu Ying and Ling Ling both looked at Uncle Cheng, full of surprise. They didn''t understand why he would turn over such an important matter to someone he had just met and whose origins he didn''t know.


    Chen Mu didn''t know what the so-called playoff really was, but those two both knew how important it was. The results of the playoff would directly influence the evaluation of Tai-shu Cheng for the current year, which would also influence his position in the Tai-shu household from then on. How could he turn over such an important matter so easily to someone he had no details about?


    "Okay!" Chen Mu got up. "Then, let''s get started."


    A touch of appreciation flashed past Tai-shu Cheng''s eyes. He really liked such a swift and decisive style. From another aspect, it also made clear that his counterpart was a true leader and not timid at all.


    "Angie, starting today, you''ll be responsible for this gentleman''s logistics. Whatever he needs, you provide. Find me if there is some issue you can''t resolve." Tai-shu Cheng was also decisive with his instructions. He immediately thought of something. "Little Ying, you go along with Angie to learn something, so you won''t be so naughty every day."


    Tai-shu Ying stuck out her tongue.


    Ling Ling suddenly said, "Uncle Cheng, Ling Ling would also like to come along to watch."


    Tai-shu Cheng couldn''t help but laugh. "In this regard, you in the Jiang household are a lot stronger than we in the Tai-shu household. Since you''re interested, I have nothing against it. But you''ll have to help me out to watch over Little Ying and to not let her be naughty." Ling Ling''s father was close to Tai-shu Cheng and was his most important ally.


    Hearing that, the displeased Tai-shu Ying made a face at her father.


    Seeing that he had finished talking, Chen Mu then said, "Let''s go." Angie and the rest rushed to follow him.


    In an instant, only Tai-shu Cheng remained in the room. He sat there in a daze, his hand holding the empty teacup tightly, and got lost in his secret thoughts.


    That year was the most important year in the competition to be master! He remembered the news the elders had secretly sent not long before, which made him feel restless. If he didn''t beat them this time, he was afraid he wouldn''t have another opportunity!

 421 Ma Hu

    As they were walking, Chen Mu asked Angie, "What was your standing after the last playoff?"


    Angie, who always had a calm and seasoned expression, flushed unusually red as he stammered, "Fifty-eighth."


    "Fifty-eighth¡­" Chen Mu said thoughtfully, "It must have been hard." Although he didn''t know the level of difficulty for the so-called Dongrui Playoffs, he wasn''t so arrogant to think it would be easy to go from 58th to fourth.


    "There are 60 teams altogether," added Tai-shu Ying, who was following behind. Jiang Ling was covering her mouth and snickering. Tai-shu Ying looked quite displeased as she muttered, "What do you mean 58th? It''s third last! Because of that, Grandpa taught Daddy a lesson. Hmph. Ma Hu is just a big-chested, muscle-bound guy with no brains!"


    Angie turned green and rushed to correct her. "Being big-chested without a brain refers to women, miss."


    Tai-shu Ying justified herself. "Isn''t Ma Hu big-chested? His bulges so much that it''s bigger than Aunt Mary''s. Wouldn''t he be called big-chested without a brain to have such a big chest and to be that stupid?"


    Jiang Ling was already bent over laughing, nearly rolling on the ground. Chen Mu couldn''t hide his smile either.


    "You really have to help Daddy get a good ranking this time, Uncle White Mask! Hmph! Don''t be fooled by those guys!" Tai-shu Ying was clenching her little fists with indignation.


    Chen Mu smiled without saying anything.


    The party arrived at the training area. The Tai-shu household was worthy of being called wealthy overlords. All of the facilities in the training area were quite advanced, well beyond Chen Mu''s training field in the ravine. The training area had many specialized training rooms, such as a strength training room, a flight training room, and a shooting training room.


    Still, there wasn''t a person to be seen in that advanced training room.


    Chen Mu found it strange. "Don''t they normally have to train?" That situation would never happen in the ravine, where things would always be in full swing on the training field no matter what time it was. There would be card artisans doing additional training on their own initiative even in the middle of the night there. Chen Mu hadn''t seen a single person since the time he entered that place.


    "The boss has a lot of work to do every day and doesn''t have time to come watch over them." Angie felt his face burning.


    "Daddy doesn''t understand." Tai-shu Ying once again cut through things unceremoniously, not feeling at all that she had said something wrong. "Daddy hasn''t liked to fight since he was small, and he doesn''t have the least bit of masculinity."


    "How can you talk that way about your father, miss?" Angie''s expression showed how upset he was.


    "I''m only telling the truth," Tai-shu Ying said impassively.


    If anyone else had spoken so badly about their boss, Angie would have immediately argued with them. Since the one talking that way was the mistress, however, he could only smile bitterly.


    Ling Ling smiled still more, though she quickly caught the look in Tai-shu Ying''s eyes. "What are you so happy about?" Tai-shu Yang asked harshly.


    "Tsk. tsk. I wonder what sort of expression Uncle Cheng would make if he heard such talk."


    Tai-shu Ying shrugged. "I think he would almost certainly agree."


    Chen Mu thought he''d heard clearly. The third son of Tai-shu Yong wasn''t so interested in managing card artisans, so that card artisan called Ma Hu would normally be responsible for it. But it was obvious Ma Hu had no ability in that regard and was too lax toward those card artisans.


    Since he couldn''t think of any better way to see Tai-shu Yong, his best way would be to get through the predicament he now faced. It was a good thing he had such top-notch aces as Bogner and Jiang Liang under him, so it wouldn''t be as hard for him to face the issue.


    "Order them to gather in five minutes," Chen Mu said calmly to Angie.


    Before Angie could give the orders, Chen Mu turned around and said to Sang Hanshui, "Prepare for battle. If someone disobeys, knock them down."


    Sang Hanshui nodded to show that he understood. Angie''s heart skipped a beat. It looked like that gang would be going through some suffering.


    "Don''t be too hard on them, so you don''t kill anybody," Chen Mu told him, ever calm.


    Angie and the rest went cold. They were used to easy lives, so the sentence "Don''t kill anybody" gripped them with fear. Only Tai-shu Ying was excited. "Right! Hit them hard. If you kill someone, it won''t matter! I''ve never liked the looks of that gang of trash!"


    The five minutes went by, and no one had arrived. The expression on Angie''s face was pretty ugly, and he was especially embarrassed to have the little mistress of the Jiang family looking on.


    After a full ten minutes, some card artisans finally started to arrive sporadically. Some of them had seen Chen Mu and his group, and their faces went white. Those who hadn''t seen them looked at them strangely. Of course, they recognized Angie, but what was the mistress doing in the training area? Yikes! There was also a pretty girl there! Quite a few of them were looking at Jiang Ling with bright eyes.


    Jiang Ling kept smiling as though she didn''t notice. The stalwart beside her gave out a cold groan. If there weren''t still a few people next to him, he would have long since taught those sex-crazed guys a lesson.


    There were more and more card artisans, one of whom was brazen enough to come up to Angie and say, "What''s going on here, Master Angie?"


    Angie felt that he was losing face in front of those guys, so of course he didn''t have a happy expression as he said coldly, "Stand back! There will be an announcement in a while!"


    The card artisan retreated resentfully, though the group became immediately more calm once everyone knew Master Angie wasn''t in such a good mood and that it wouldn''t be the best time to make trouble.


    After a full 20 minutes, a big bruiser strolled in late. That big guy was nearly two meters tall and very fat, standing there like a mountain of flesh. Chen Mu then finally understood why Tai-shu Ying would stick to calling him big-chested and dumb; his chest really was exaggerated, as though there were two big balls of flesh hanging on it.


    That was then Ma Hu.


    Ma Hu called out from a distance in a booming voice, "Why are you in such a hurry, Master Angie? I''m just in the middle of something critical! You calling me out just about busted my balls!"


    When the rest of the card artisans heard that, they couldn''t stop laughing, knowing who was there. The faces of Tai-shu Ying and Jiang Ling both went cold.


    Angie was enraged. "How dare you talk like that in front of these girls, Ma Hu?"


    "Aiya! I didn''t see that there were girls here!" Ma Hu acted out his grievance. Tai-shu Ying''s gaze was dark as she stared hard at Ma Hu. Tai-shu Cheng''s power was far from that of his two older brothers, and there were pitifully few card artisans wanting to depend on him. Ma Hu was the strongest among them. There had been many times when Tai-shu Cheng had been rather indulgent toward the rest of them, which then led to Ma Hu becoming increasingly arrogant.


    "The boss''s new command is that everyone will take orders from this gentleman, starting today." After saying that, Angie retreated off to the side to look on coldly.


    Ma Hu snorted and swaggered over to Chen Mu, saying with disdain, "What are you, little one? What are you doing wearing a damned mask?" While he was talking, his hand was moving toward Chen Mu''s face to take off the mask.


    "Break his hands." Chen Mu''s eyes were suddenly overflowing with chill as he spat out those words without wavering.


    Having long since prepared, Sang Hanshui didn''t hesitate to wave his hands, and two red balls of energy went flying toward Ma Hu''s hands. Chen Mu hadn''t said which hand, so Sang Hanshui simply wasted both of them. He had long since formed a bad opinion of that fatty.


    Ma Hu''s face changed dramatically. He basically did have some ability; otherwise, he couldn''t have taken on the management of those guards. That obese body suddenly fluttered and actually took on the sense of being light.


    Seeing that he would dodge those two glowing red balls, a cold smile flashed through Sang Hanshui''s eyes. Without the least movement on his part, the red balls suddenly turned and increased their speed, always keeping Ma Hu''s hands as their target.


    Ma Hu then knew he would kick the bucket, and his eyes filled with terror. The speed of those glowing red balls was too fast! Before he could react again, they hit his arms with a pow.


    Sang Hanshui had never been kind-hearted, and he was upset by Ma Hu''s arrogance, so his moves were even more ruthlessly hot. If Chen Mu hadn''t just given his instructions not to injure them fatally, he would have just killed him.


    "Aaaah!" Ma Hu screamed as both his hands were broken at the wrists and mutilated, showing two ghastly, cut-off bones. Ma Hu was writhing on the floor in pain, screaming, as the blood gurgled out from his hands and went all over the floor.


    Those guys wearing the masks were ruthless and hot types, after all! Angie''s face went white, though he was inwardly rather glad the mistress hadn''t enraged those guys that much before. Otherwise, the results would have been unimaginable!


    Jiang Ling''s face was drained of color, never having seen such a bloody scene. The stalwart''s eyes brightened beside her as he stared hard at Sang Hanshui, who had made the move. Only Tai-shu Ying wasn''t the least big scared; on the contrary, she was strangely excited.


    Ma Hu''s screams echoed to make the scalp go numb in the calm training field. Taking a look at Ma Hu, Chen Mu took a couple of steps forward and kicked him lightly with his right foot, placing an accurate kick to the back of Ma Hu''s neck. That made the screams rattle to a stop. The card artisans, who had just been so full of laughter, were scared silent, losing all the color in their faces and looking terrified at Chen Mu''s group of four.


    "I am very sorry, but you all got here late." There wasn''t the least fluctuation in Chen Mu''s voice, and his eyes showing through the white mask were totally indifferent. "You will have to be punished for that. You''ll do 50 repetitions of Class B, Level 115 full tactical training. The last ten to finish won''t get any dinner."


    The card artisans looked at one another. Suddenly, without knowing who started it, the card artisans were like frightened rabbits as they scattered and jumped with desperate speed into the training room.


    The Class B, Level 115 full tactical training wasn''t a difficult training, but 50 sets was a terrifying number. Ninety percent of the card artisans didn''t think they could complete that many, but no one dared to object. Ma Hu, who was still rolling on the floor, reminded them that the four masked men in front of them were butchers with no humanity.


    To argue with butchers was to look to die.


    Chen Mu then said to Angie, "Take him away for treatment."


    Angie rushed to call over some men to drag the unconscious Ma Hu away. Chen Mu took a look at Tai-shu Ying chomping at the bit, and he simply assigned a job to her. "You go supervise them."


    "I like that!" After she said that, she ran off in a puff of smoke. Worried that something might happen to Tai-shu Ying, Jiang Ling glanced at Chen Mu and then followed her, along with her bodyguard.

 422 The White Commander Nickname

    Only Wei-ah and the others remained beside Chen Mu.


    "You don''t find this a little slow?" Wei-ah obviously thought doing things that way was inefficient.


    Sang Hanshui was considering taking off to leave some distance between them. He thought it might be better if he didn''t listen to them talking about such a dangerous topic. But Wei-ah gave him a look, and his foot froze where it was on his way out the door.


    Chen Mu said rather helplessly, "I haven''t thought up anything good for the time being. We don''t even know where the stuff is. Otherwise, we might still consider something like stealing it. We don''t currently have a way to connect with Tai-shu Yong. Moreover, I don''t believe Tai-shu Cheng even knows about it."


    He could tell Tai-shu Cheng clearly didn''t have a very high position in the Tai-shu household. Such precious things as the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus would certainly be kept secret.


    Sang Hanshui was a little hesitant off to the side, but he still gave his opinion through gritted teeth. "Why don''t we just kidnap Tai-shu Cheng? He might not have any standing, but he is the son of Tai-shu Yong, after all. Considering there''s no way to get the thing you want from Tai-shu Yong by simply taking it, it shouldn''t be a problem to get to see Tai-shu Yong."


    "Kidnap¡­" Chen Mu was considering Sang Hanshui''s suggestion to himself. Sang Hanshui''s suggestion would undoubtedly be more efficient and more feasible, but it would also be easy to mess things up. Such an old clan as the Tai-shu family would always care mostly for face, and that sort of extreme behavior would be a provocation from their point of view.


    Since they had already arrived at Dongrui and had made contact with the Tai-shus, he thought he should be a little more patient. It would be best not to make such a fierce move if they weren''t certain it would work. Thinking of that, he couldn''t help but lower his head to look at the lush green tattoo on his wrist. It hadn''t obviously changed over those last few days, which made Chen Mu feel a little safer. But what Sang Hanshui had said did give him some inspiration, and a plan was taking shape in his head.


    Seeing that Chen Mu was pondering, Wei-ah led little Bu Mo to the training room. The strength training room there had some equipment that was quite advanced, which made little Bu Mo rather excited. He was full of wonder about the equipment he''d never seen before.


    Sang Hanshui stayed dutifully by Chen Mu''s side. Compared to Wei-ah, Chen Mu was so much more peaceful.


    There were 12 card artisans who completed the 50 sets of training. None of the rest had finished, so they didn''t have any dinner. Moreover, in order to prevent them from going out to buy food themselves, they were required to pass the night in the training room.


    The card artisans who didn''t complete the sets looked longingly a those 12 card artisans, who were eating such rich food so happily. That was the first time they had ever been treated that way, though they didn''t dare to say anything about what they were angry about, with Ma Hu being their best example. It was said that Ma Hu was still unconscious and hadn''t come around yet. That also made those card artisans feel pretty uptight.


    They had given Chen Mu and his gang nicknames. They called Chen Mu the White Commander, and Sang Hanshui was called the Hit Man. Wei-ah was the Black Ghost, with little Bu Mo being called the Little Monkey.


    Arnaldo was one of the card artisans who had completed the job. Just having eaten his fill, he was in the midst of chatting in low voices with his comrades.


    "That White Commander is plenty ruthless. I''m afraid we won''t be having such a good time from now on," Arnaldo said on behalf of the rest.


    His colleague Rafael also muttered, "Who knows where that White Commander came from? Then, there''s that Hit Man, who is certainly an ace! Ma Hu really crumpled under his attack."


    "Indeed. I never thought we would be so anxious every day. That really makes me miss the way it was, with nothing we had to do every day to get our salaries. To be dropped into hell straight out of heaven has happened too fast. I''m wondering if it wouldn''t be better just to quit and to be done with it," Arnaldo said, distraught.


    Rafael gave Arnaldo a look. "You''re nuts in the head. Leave now? Hmph! If you want to quit now, you''ll certainly regret it later!"


    "What do you mean?" Arnaldo hurried to ask, seeing Rafael being so certain in what he said.


    "What do you think about the White Commander?" Rafael asked in return.


    Arnaldo shook his head. "I don''t know, though he''s plenty ruthless! The Hit Man is also really powerful!"


    "The Hit Man is powerful!" Rafael nodded in deep thought. "I feel only Connelly, who is with the old man, might be able to eke out a win. The rest of them, like the one under the eldest, Huo Jiang, or Ba Luojia, under the second son, might almost be on par with him."


    Arnaldo was rather convinced by Rafael''s judgment, and he said with some surprise, "Is the Hit Man really that good?"


    "Ma Hu does have some goods, though he''s pretty stupid." Rafael smiled coldly. "Moreover, the White Commander hasn''t made any moves, and the Black Ghost and the Little Monkey haven''t either. Only the devil knows what kind of power they have. But we do know the Hit Man is pretty convinced by the White Commander. I feel he must have some hidden goods."


    Hearing that, Arnaldo disagreed a little. "Maybe they have good hearts, or maybe the White Commander was kind to the Hit Man once. There are too many possibilities."


    "I don''t believe someone who can be so hot and ruthless doesn''t have some power!" Rafael said to himself. "Furthermore, even if it were only the Hit Man alone, that would be enough to turn around the number-three son. Those three have been oppressed so ruthlessly these last few years. Why? Because they have no aces under them! Of course, the third son is number one when it comes to making money. But think about it; is our Tai-shu household lacking for money right now? No! What we need most are aces! That''s also what the old man has been the most displeased with his three sons about these last few years."


    Arnaldo''s mouth was hanging open, and he couldn''t say anything for a long time.


    Giving his good friend a quick glance, Rafael continued on. "Now, not only does the third son have an ace by his side, but I''m watching the White Commander getting things done like a thunderous wind. He''s a very capable person. The third son turning around is within reach. Wouldn''t it be a great loss to quit at such a time?"


    "You''re right! Why didn''t I think of that?" Arnaldo looked upset, but it was hard to hide his excitement. As things were now, he had nothing apart from pulling down a pretty good salary. He had the strength to belong to the gang of card artisans that was pretty good, having completed the 50 sets of the Class B, Level 115 training.


    Who didn''t want to have a good future? What Rafael had said suddenly made everything clear to Arnaldo, and he could see some light in front of him. The reason for that wasn''t something only Rafael could imagine clearly. While his previous life had surely been quite comfortable, there was nothing good about it for their futures.


    The 12 card artisans who had survived sat in groups of two or three, discussing in low voices. Having been able to complete the training, they had never gotten so much from their normal training. But they were card artisans who were rather demanding of themselves. A powerful leader was what they had been long hoping for.


    The card artisans who hadn''t been able to complete the training were on the floor, worn-out and as flaccid as mud. Meanwhile, Tai-shu Ying was on one side, smiling like a demon and feeling perfectly satisfied with the day''s work.


    Jiang Ling had already contacted her family, and she would spend the night with Tai-shu Ying. The two households had always been close, and that sort of thing was quite familiar to them. Jiang Ling''s father only gave her a couple of words of instruction.


    Both Jiang Ling and Tai-shu Ying were curious about how Chen Mu would bring those card artisans under control going forward. Chen Mu had just been given the new nickname of the White Commander, which they found interesting. The two of them weren''t so afraid of Chen Mu, and Tai-shu Ying had already nearly become a diehard fan of him.


    "Are we going to just leave them like this, White Commander?" Tai-shu Ying''s question made the few card artisans nearby nearly cry. They felt that their whole bodies were exhausted. They couldn''t even lift a finger they were so weak. It was only those 12 card artisans who couldn''t help a shift in their expressions when they heard what she said.


    "They''ll have 30 minutes to rest." Chen Mu''s response made Tai-shu Ying abruptly excited, and she rolled up her sleeves, ready to go. Jiang Ling''s gorgeous eyes were fluid as they showed her curiosity. Angie was looking at those card artisans in sympathy.


    Hearing what Chen Mu said, the faces on some of the card artisans who were still eating shifted, and they hurried up, not wanting to overeat. Just after eating, a person''s blood would be concentrated on the digestive system; by that time, their reactions would be slowed, and their attention would be hard to focus.


    "Fantastic! I''ll keep time!" Tai-shu Ying cheered. Who knew where she got a watch from, but she pretended to look at it.


    After half an hour, she called out, "Time''s up!" She wasn''t loud, but no one dared not to move, no matter how sore or weak they felt. All of the card artisans obediently lined up with the greatest speed. Those who hadn''t eaten were shaking at their calves.


    Chen Mu didn''t watch them but asked Angie, "Where is the high-stimulus simulation training room?"


    The card artisans'' expressions changed dramatically, and their movements became surprisingly consistent, those 12 being no exception.


    The high-stimulus simulation training room was also called the forced training room. It was a kind of high-level technology that was extremely expensive. Card artisans both loved and hated it. They loved it because the level of simulation was very high, and the training results were outstanding. They hated it because the level of simulation was so high that when the energy bodies hit one''s body while training inside, although they wouldn''t leave any scars, the feeling of pain was not lessened in the least.


    Tai-shu Ying was the first to respond, tilting her head in wonder. "Why didn''t I think of that?"


    Just at that time, a card artisan plopped to the ground. His eyes were tightly closed and his face pallid, like his life was hanging on the line.


    Chen Mu took a look and calmly said to Sang Hanshui, "Take his apparatus away, and toss him off the building."


    Once he said that, everyone was dumbfounded. They were then on the 31st floor, and if someone were thrown off the building¡­ All of the card artisans swallowed hard in unison, and the one who had just fallen into a coma jumped up with a bang as though a spring had been put under his rear. He looked at Chen Mu in terror, his face already drained of blood.


    Chen Mu only took a look and resumed walking ahead. After that, all of the card artisans were very diligent.


    Outside the high-stimulus simulation training room was a gang of card artisans staring helplessly at Chen Mu in shocked alarm. Chen Mu had set the high-stimulus simulation training room to 100 percent. That would mean that if they were hit by an energy body inside, the pain would be no different from the real thing. Sometimes the pain alone would knock a person out. Normally, the high-stimulus simulation training room would be set at 50 percent. Only a few people would dare to set it at 70 percent. But it was now at 100 percent!


    My god, we might as well be dead! Their mouths were shivering, their legs were trembling, and their eyes were full of tears. They looked like frightened white rabbits as they gazed into the high-stimulus simulation training room, which was more terrifying than a wolf''s mouth.

 423 A Decision

    The 12 only needed to go in to train for 20 minutes, but the card artisans who hadn''t finished the 50 sets needed to endure a 40-minute ordeal.


    The sounds of screaming constantly wafted through the building. In the eyes of those card artisans, Chen Mu''s danger and scare index had already shot up to the highest level. What turned their hearts the coldest was the White Commander''s indifference.


    * * *


    In the old house of the beloved manor:


    "Four men recently came to serve the third master."


    "Oh." Tai-shu Yong was a little interested; the Shadow was well-informed, his nose even more acute than a dog''s. Since he had taken the initiative to talk about the matter, there would certainly be something to it.


    "Where the four came from is unknown. Identity unknown. Names unknown. One of them is still a child. His main style of attack is from the cardless sects. The other three are unknown. One wears a black mask, unknown. Another wears the face of a general. Card artisan, tentatively at the same level as Huo Jiang under the eldest and Ba Luojia under the second son."


    Tai-shu Yong was made a little dizzy by that string of unknowns. When he heard one among them could compete against Huo Jiang and Ba Luojia, though, he was a little surprised.


    "The third master appointed the one with a white mask as the commander of the guards, responsible to participate in the playoffs. The original commander, Ma Hu, was overridden and was just seriously injured in battle."


    "It looks like number three senses some urgency." Tai-shu Yong smiled. "That would be good, given his nature. It looks like it worked pretty well to tell Old Baldy to go after the information. It''s just¡­ how would he dare use such unknown people?"


    "The third master has made an agreement with him. He requires them to be among the four strongest in the playoffs, while the conditions proposed by his counterpart were that he wanted to see you."


    "He wants to see me?" Tai-shu Yong sat up straight, his gaze a little severe, as his fingers lightly tapped the arms of his chair. He fell into deep thought.


    The Shadow didn''t make a sound, knowing Tai-shu Yong was thinking.


    After a long while, Tai-shu Yong finally returned to normal. "Don''t alarm them for the time being, but keep a close eye on things. Once you have news, report it immediately to me."


    "Yes, sir."


    * * *


    Seeing all of the card artisans paralyzed willy-nilly on the ground, Chen Mu''s gaze didn''t change in the least. Up until then, not one of those card artisans had been able to stand up after the day''s training. The 12 who had completed the 50 sets of training were no exception.


    He turned over the rest of the work to Angie. Tai-shu Ying, who wanted to keep going, was pulled off to the side by Jiang Ling.


    Little Bu Mo was still gritting his teeth and bearing it. His perseverance and hard work really surprised Chen Mu. Wei-ah was sitting off to the side in a daze as though he were thinking about something. After taking a look, Chen Mu didn''t want to disturb them.


    Sang Hanshui was sticking to Chen Mu like a shadow. He was now bound up in the same boat with Qiao Yuan and the others. It wasn''t that he hadn''t entertained the idea of escape, but it gave him a chill when he remembered Wei-ah, who appeared and disappeared like a ghost.


    Furthermore, Qiao Yuan had caused such commotion in Zargan that he was afraid everything surrounding it would be checked out. He was afraid the matter of his falling into Qiao Yuan''s hands would be soon discovered by anyone who used their head. If he were to escape now and were to carelessly fall into the hands of those people, that would be like wanting to live while still looking to die.


    Rather than that, he might as well remain by Qiao Yuan''s side. Although little Bu Mo didn''t have a lot of strength, the other two were plenty strong, especially the unfathomable Wei-ah. Qiao Yuan was still the 50th ace on the Black-Line Star Listing! Adding himself would make the strength of the three of them enough to give anyone pause.


    Moreover, although Qiao Yuan was young, he did have some practical experience and that mysterious team behind him. Given so many factors, Sang Hanshui increasingly felt that following Qiao Yuan would be a pretty good thing.


    Chen Mu took note of Sang Hanshui''s transformation.


    "Let me have a look at your card," Chen Mu suddenly said.


    Card? Sang Hanshui felt puzzled, but his hands moved nimbly. Having such top-notch cards as the Golden Word Shackle and the Bipolar Card in his hands meant Chen Mu of course wouldn''t be interested in his own mainstream goods. But there must have been some reason for him to open his mouth.


    Chen Mu took Sang Hanshui''s card and examined it a while before putting it down. Although it was a four-star card, it was perfectly mainstream with nothing worth commenting about.


    "Go get it analyzed, and give me the results," Chen Mu said.


    Analyzed? Sang Hanshui''s heart beat faster! That so-called analytical testing meant a card artisan would conduct a full range of perceptual testing and checkups. Analytical testing had many applications, but it could generally react objectively to a card artisan''s particular perceptual features.


    He first took his card and looked at it, and he then went off to do the analytical testing. Could it be?


    "Ai! Let''s go!" Sang Hanshui almost frantically ran out to do the analytical testing. All of the instruments in the training area were perfectly complete and satisfied the requirements for advanced analytical testing. Could Qiao Yuan still have had more good cards in his hands? Sang Hanshui was incredibly excited, and he sped up his pace, charging into the training area like the wind. He was of two minds, seeing as Chen Mu might not have any other good cards in his hands. But he didn''t know Chen Mu was a powerful card master.


    Chen Mu had deliberated seriously before deciding to exchange a card for Sang Hanshui. The changes in Sang Hanshui over those last few days were always on his mind. If he were to do it, not only would he be able to increase their battle strength, but it would also improve the relations between the two sides. The most important thing was that it would help avoid anyone realizing Sang Hanshui''s identity.


    It had been a long time since he had made a card, and his hands were itching for it.


    Sang Hanshui''s analytical report came out quickly. When Chen Mu scanned it, he was able to roughly sound it out. He gave the report back to Sang Hanshui and then lowered his head as though he were thinking of something.


    "I''ll be going out for a while. You watch over things here."


    Watching helplessly as Chen Mu left the building, Sang Hanshui''s heart chilled. Could he have been wrong?


    Every floor of the building had an entryway for card artisans to come and go, and Chen Mu flew right out the entryway. He wasn''t familiar with Dongrui, but after only flying in midair for a moment, he suddenly felt something.


    Someone was tracking him from behind!


    That shadow had been following right from when he left the building. If it weren''t for Chen Mu''s perception being of a partially physical nature, he wouldn''t have been able to discover that guy. The energy fluctuations emitted by the one following him were very small, and he was perfectly concealed. However, he couldn''t have known Chen Mu''s perception wasn''t only good at detecting energy fluctuations but was even better at exploring physical characteristics.


    Chen Mu understood that the one behind him was probably someone from the Tai-shus. Those guys didn''t know where he had come from, but he wondered whether they might have been alerted. Still, Chen Mu didn''t intend to let such an issue continue to bother him! He started to fly in a more remote direction, and the card artisan behind him stayed right with him.


    Chen Mu then suddenly stopped, the entire move unspeakably abrupt, as though it had gone against the laws of physics. He was fixed in midair without any transition.


    The card artisan following so closely behind hadn''t expected Chen Mu to make such a move, and he couldn''t react. He watched helplessly as he went crashing toward him! Chen Mu saw him coming straight at him with no thought of avoiding him. Those two wavy black lines winding down his white mask were unspeakably weird. His eyes were full of murderousness, and his gaze had absolutely no good will toward him.


    Now, Chen Mu was advancing instead of retreating!


    Damn! The stalker was horrified and erected his energy cloak in the first instant. The energy cloak''s glow covered his field of vision with a layer of light blue, which used to give him a feeling of safety but felt surprisingly cold that day. The insecurity he felt didn''t decrease in the least, and he almost unconsciously used up all the energy in his body to flip to one side.


    In the afterglow in the corner of his eyes, he glimpsed the light green starburst in Chen Mu''s hands flash and die, followed by a string of incredibly dense crackling sounds. The light blue filling his field of vision disintegrated with no warning. The stalker became immediately uptight, unable to bear any more just then. He didn''t even know whether it was because of the stimulation, but he had actually succeeded in the lateral flip he''d originally thought he wouldn''t be able to do!


    Xiu!


    He was like a cannonball as he rolled from Chen Mu''s side and swept off, his energy cloak long since having disappeared.


    Chen Mu was rather surprised, never having thought his adversary would actually be able to complete a flip to the side under such high-speed conditions and within such a short span of time and distance! The card artisan who had been stalking him had pretty good power, but he wanted to teach him a lesson to give the Tai-shu household a warning.


    Watching his adversary''s gorgeous tail-spin drift as he disappeared into the distance, Chen Mu couldn''t help but show a look of admiration. He reckoned the card artisan was a specialist in tracking, with rather outstanding flight skills. Still, he had smashed the energy cloak, which he figured must have startled him, Chen Mu thought with some sinister amusement.


    For insurance, he went in a big circle before landing. It was a good thing there were so many people on the street, so Chen Mu could blend in with the flow to quickly disappear.


    He walked into a mask shop and bought another mask. Once again swapping for a new mask, Chen Mu could now stroll casually along the street. Dongrui was the most bustling city he had ever seen. The scale of any of the storefronts went far beyond those so-called flagship stores of Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    Shops that made the materials he needed were all over the place. Chen Mu randomly entered one of them, and the staff immediately welcomed him with their restrained smiles.


    "Is there anything I might help you with, sir?" Although Chen Mu was wearing a mask, the staff person wasn''t surprised. The recent popularity of masks had led to an increase in people wearing masks when they went out, and they no longer found it strange.


    "Do you have card making studios for rent here?" Chen Mu asked.


    "We do." The staff person''s eyes lit up since only a card master would ask such a thing; those who rented card making studios would need to make cards. Looking again at how empty-handed Chen Mu was, the staff member couldn''t help but become still more enthusiastic. "We have card making studios of various specifications, all fully equipped with instruments. If you need to use some kind of specialized instrument, we can have it moved in for you, but you''ll have to pay a certain fee for that."


    Chen Mu nodded. "The price?"


    "We have five star levels for studios altogether. At the one-star level, the fee is 5,000 Oudi per day. A two-star card making studio has a daily fee of 10,000 Oudi. Three-star would be 50,000 Oudi. Four-star would be 200,000 Oudi, and a five-star would be 500,000 per day. The fee includes three meals no matter which level studio. But there would be different standards at the different levels."

 424 The Key to the Child

    Fortunately, Chen Mu was no longer the poor little guy he had been. While his own establishment was far from comparable to some large firms, it was a lot stronger than most ordinary companies. In Xi Ping''s report, sales of the purple fluorescent extract still couldn''t meet the demand. During that period, although the demand from the Snowflake Card Artisan Team had decreased, there had been a significant upward trend in other buyers.


    Rare materials like the purple fluorescent extract were rather important for large businesses and firms. While they might not need them immediately, they would still stockpile them. So, for Chen Mu and his group, so long as they produced at full throttle, they would have a continuous influx of money.


    Only a few large companies apart from the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm had the advanced technology for extracting the purple fluorescent ore. When their firm, which could produce such high-grade extract, had popped up on the market, it had immediately drawn the attention of large firms outside the Pascal District. Even though they had such a powerful ally in the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, however, a few firms still couldn''t resist the temptation, and that led to endless small actions.


    According to what Bogner had said, small groups of card artisans of unknown origin would often appear in the vicinity. At the same time, Chilei''s policing had been deteriorating. Still, the situation didn''t strike Bogner as bad. He had always been worried about the card artisans under him not having an opportunity for actual battle, so he would simply let Jiang Liang lead troops out to destroy the small card artisan teams that kept stalking the area.


    With Bogner and Jiang Liang there, Chen Mu wasn''t concerned about issues of safety. When it came to commanding operations, he couldn''t say enough good things about them. With power came wealth.


    Chen Mu said to the young woman, "I require a five-star card making studio. In addition, I need these materials." He took out a one-star fantasy card and gave it to the young woman.


    It was hard for her to hide her joy. The one in front of her was a big customer, after all! For him to be able to rent a five-star-level card making studio made it clear that the card master had money or that his requirements for card making were meticulous. Such card masters were often at a certain level that would make them the most welcome customers at her business.


    She inserted the one-star fantasy card into her card-playing apparatus and quickly scanned the bill of materials on it. There were no weird materials, which calmed her down a little, but it also discouraged her. She had been in that line of work for a long time already, and of course they were well-stocked with the things on his list. What calmed her was that the shop had all the materials on the list, and they wouldn''t need to subcontract any. What discouraged her was that there were no rare materials on the list, which meant the card the card master was making wouldn''t be anything high-grade.


    "Please come with me." She showed no expression on her face, always maintaining her warm smile. Although Dongrui wasn''t quite such a top-level city as the capital, it was still a rather advanced economic center. As a professional sales attendant with rich experience, she knew better than to look down on anyone.


    Chen Mu followed her inside, right up to the tenth floor.


    "This is the floor where we have our five-star card making studios. We have the most state-of-the-art system to maintain confidentiality in the city, and we have the most complete and advanced equipment. You also needn''t be concerned about safety. This floor has 3,500 square meters, with three independent suites of card making studios altogether. Each five-star studio suite includes seven dedicated studios with 242 kinds of equipment. It will basically satisfy any of your requirements. Of course, if there is still something else you need, please bring it to our attention in any case. We would like to provide the best possible service."


    The counter girl made all the introductions with a slight smile as she lightly swiped her identity card by the side of the studio door, which caused the energy cloak to be lifted and the metallic door to silently slide open.


    Chen Mu was a little dazed by the huge card making studio. The dazzling equipment was shining under the lights with a beguiling luster, and quite a few of the instruments were things Chen Mu had never seen. They were quietly lying in that card making studio, neat and orderly, like soldiers waiting to be reviewed.


    Compared to Chen Mu''s own card making studio, the one in front of him was a lot more advanced and luxurious. Even Chen Mu had to admit that such a five-star-level card making studio wasn''t really all that expensive for him to rent! Any piece of equipment there came at a shocking price.


    The counter girl was naturally good at reading looks. Although she didn''t see any expression on Chen Mu''s face, she could still sense how satisfied he was with that card making studio. When she heard Chen Mu''s voice drop slightly, he seemed more like a middle-aged man. "Mmmm. Not bad." Chen Mu had stood there for quite a while before finally opening his mouth. "Might I trouble you to rush the materials in?"


    "Fine. Just a moment."


    After the counter girl left, Chen Mu couldn''t help but touch everything. Having built up his urge to make cards for such a long time, it was as though he was going to burst.


    He made up his mind that after he resolved the matter in front of him and returned to the snow silkworm ravine, he would certainly set up a card studio with the same capability as that one. The one Chen Mu had expended so much energy to set up was really too rudimentary compared to that card studio.


    He would then be able to live the life he wanted to. He could study the cards he was interested in every day and could watch Wei-ah instructing little Bu Mo how to feed the fleshy dog. He could watch Bogner and Jiang Liang torment that gang of card artisans, and he could then watch Xi Ping leading along little Yang Bo in his constant frenzied business affairs. He could also watch Xiaobo crowing about how handsome he was every day, and he could watch Sue Lochiro and Ru Qiu gossiping and making girl talk¡­ There would be nothing to annoy him and nothing to be afraid of¡ªsafe and sound!


    Chen Mu was lost in his thoughts for a while.


    "Your materials have all been prepared, sir," the counter girl said respectfully, bringing Chen Mu back to life at the same time.


    Having returned to his senses, Chen Mu hurried to respond, "Mmmm. Fine."


    The counter girl was extremely discreet. She saluted and then left the card making studio. Watching the metallic door silently close, Chen Mu then turned his attention to the materials. Now that he had imagined such a life, he would have to get through that impasse no matter how!


    Settling his spirits, he started to meticulously think it through. That card would be for Sang Hanshui. Chen Mu had already seen the analytical testing of his perception and understood its particular qualities rather well. Although there was nothing really outstanding about Sang Hanshui''s perceptual control, he had achieved shocking values for his perceptual strength because of his diligent practice across so many years!


    Only after he finished reading the report of the analytical testing of his perception did he understand that what Shang Hanshui had said wasn''t just empty talk; if he could have had a suitable card, he could have entered the top 100 on the Black-Line Star Listing.


    Still, Chen Mu wasn''t planning to make a card for him that would rock the world. He could use some ordinary materials to make a pretty good card. If he were to want to make a really top-notch card, though, he would have to use precious materials. He reasoned it would then be too easy to attract people''s attention. But, again, Chen Mu believed he could absolutely make a card that was a lot better than the mainstream goods Sang Hanshui had on hand, even with those ordinary materials.


    Thinking of that, he suddenly thought of the Child, the card that had made him feel so helpless. The Child had been carefully crafted, and he had used up lots of precious materials to make it. Up until then, though, he still hadn''t grasped how to use it.


    Hesitating for a moment, he pulled out the Child and inserted it into his apparatus. That field as vast as the starry sky once again appeared, ever esoteric and hard to understand. Chen Mu couldn''t help but frown repeatedly. He still didn''t know whether the Child was a success or a failure. Since he hadn''t been able figure out how to use it, he hadn''t been able to determine that. Well, he would just have to think about it more carefully later. If he didn''t make good use of such an expensive card making studio, he would really be sorry about so many lost Oudi. He would just have to put all of his thoughts into how to design a card for Sang Hanshui.


    Chen Mu already had the broad outlines of that card''s composition in his head. But that was only the general composition, and he still had to calculate quite a few details before it would finally be set.


    Calculate¡­ He had a sudden realization. Hadn''t his most basic objective in making the Child been calculation?


    What he needed in his current situation was calculation! Having the general composition, he still needed to do a lot of calculation regarding each of the details before he could achieve his goal of optimization and an increase to the efficiency of energy utilization!


    Right! That''s it! He felt he had found the key!


    Standing there in a daze, his brain was spinning so fast that he forgot himself. If that really was the key, the lock would have to be right in front of him, and what he had to do was to put the key into the lock. He was shaking his head to himself that it would be rather difficult. Well, what if I were to take a step back? A step back¡­


    He got it! Stepping back was so that the key could contact the lock. Then, he wouldn''t be so far from finding the keyhole! Making contact was just to connect the two together. Right! The real crux was that the Child and the compositions that required calculation needed to be linked. Only then might there be the possibility to finally trigger the Child!


    Chen Mu''s eyes got brighter and brighter as he powerfully restrained his joy. He knew he had gotten close to actually solving the issue! He slightly relaxed his brain and concentrated his spirits.


    How could he finally connect them? Chen Mu kept going over that phase in his mind. Of course, what could be connected to a card was perception. But how could he make perception and the required composition for calculation connect?


    The first idea that popped into Chen Mu''s mind was to allow perception to simulate the energy composition of the required calculation! Almost unconsciously, his perception started to change and to simulate the main composition he had thought through earlier.


    Just then, the starry sky that had been slowly turning suddenly paused and became entirely static! All of the silver dots, lines, and compositions of all shapes paused without exception. It seemed as though time had stopped in that moment.


    If anyone had been in the card making studio at that time, they would certainly have been frightened by that weirdly breathing picture. Too bad there was no one to see it.


    Chen Mu didn''t open his eyes; the Child''s transformations were clearly transmitted into his brain, and he knew he had hit it right that time!


    The static state was only maintained for about ten seconds. The starry sky then started to slowly turn without warning! But the turning that time was completely different from before!

 425 Optimizing Computation

    The starry sky rotated slowly. It was rotating so slowly that the movement would have been undetectable if it hadn''t just been in a static state for those ten seconds.


    The glowing silver spots, the winding silver lines, and the silver surfaces of all sorts gradually converged in front of Chen Mu. They were moving slowly, but their trajectories were still clearly discernible. It was as though they were under the influence of some kind of gravitational pull in the vast, complex starry sky, moving toward some point of convergence in front of Chen Mu.


    Everything around Chen Mu was silvery and as fantastic as a dream. That huge starry sky had been compressed into a small region around him, where the concentration of countless silver spots was like an ocean of stars. Those strangely shaped surfaces were like icebergs floating on top of the sea of stars, all moving under some kind of unknown influence while countless winding silver lines were wandering among them like snakes.


    The transformation of that sea of stars was different from its normal changes and filled Chen Mu with anticipation as he carefully controlled his perception. Part of his perception continued to maintain the principal shape of the card, while another part of his perception paid close attention to every transformation of the Child.


    The movement of the sea of stars was slow, but Chen Mu keenly discovered that the speed of its motion was increasing at an astonishing rate. After five minutes, a qualitative change finally appeared in the sea of stars!


    A three-dimensional, grid-shaped structure made up of countless silver dots and wavy lines and surfaces was suspended in front of Chen Mu.


    That composition¡­


    Chen Mu opened his eyes wide, unable to believe the three-dimensional structure that had just taken shape in front of his eyes. Wasn''t that the main part of the composition he had just simulated with his perception? The three-dimensional composition in front of his eyes looked identical to the one in his mind, including the parts he still hadn''t thought through clearly.


    The three-dimensional structure looked like a strange silver cage. Its skeleton could be clearly distinguished, like an utterly perfect metallic casting. If he didn''t look closely, there would basically be no way to discover that the skeleton was composed of countless dots, lines, and surfaces coming together.


    The parts he hadn''t thought through were enshrouded by the sea of stars. It created an illusion as though the three-dimensional composition was half-concealed and only faintly discernible in the sea of stars. But Chen Mu realized that the parts enshrouded in the sea of stars were completely empty.


    The transformations didn''t actually finish. The silver dots, curving lines, and surfaces in the sea of stars were like a school of fish scavenging for food. They were concentrating all around those parts of the composition that hadn''t yet been completed.


    Chen Mu then saw a shocking scene.


    A half-concave surface appeared at an unfinished place. Like the first fish in a school of fish, it immediately caused an upheaval in the sea of stars. Countless glowing dots, curving lines, and curving surfaces went flocking toward those parts like crazy, constantly forming all kinds of compositions. But in the instant they finished, they would then disperse in an even shorter amount of time. All the other "fish" that had long been stalking around then immediately filled the void, reconstituting some new composition¡­


    Each position that was enshrouded in the sea of stars was being incessantly set up, dispersed, and set up once again¡­


    That endless cycling was going faster and faster until they finally reached the terrifying speed of 100 cycles per second! Each time they dispersed, there would be a burst of a ball of glowing silver. The naked eye could never keep up with that speed, and Chen Mu could only see the magnificent yet painfully eye-piercing eruptions from those regions enshrouded by the sea of stars.


    But even Chen Mu''s perception could just barely keep up with such speed. Each composition that was set up was completely different, as though some group of designers kept sketching out a new design. Whenever they were dissatisfied, they would erase it, draw a new one, and endlessly repeat.


    The silver glow never stopped flashing, and the movements of the sea of stars reached a terrifying speed. By then, Chen Mu couldn''t even keep up with its speed by using his perception. The silver flashes quickly exceeded the ability for anyone to detect that they were actually flashing.


    After ten minutes and after going through who knew how many cycles of dispersal and reconstruction, there was finally a place where the sea of stars had scattered, revealing the new composition inside.


    At Chen Mu''s first glimpse of the newly formed composition, he couldn''t take his gaze off it. It was a double recursive composition that was as small as it could be, but it was a lot more delicate than any double recursive compositions Chen Mu had ever seen! No! It would more accurately be described as perfect! In the eyes of card masters concerned with aesthetics, such a composition would probably have no sense of beauty. In Chen Mu''s eyes, however, the double recursive composition that was used in that spot was quite perfect!


    His brain was spinning, but he finally had to admit it; if he were the one to have thought it through, he would never have been able to perfect it like that! The best solution he could have come up with would have been 15 percent less efficient than that double recursive composition.


    For that 15 percent to be spread over the entire large composition, it probably wouldn''t have influenced the entire card by more than one percent¡ªperhaps not even one percent, but only a few thousandths. But Chen Mu still couldn''t underestimate the effects of that fraction of a percent.


    How many energy compositions would be involved in a single four-star card with such a small composition as that one? There would be at least thousands, and some more complex cards might even go as high as tens of thousands! When upward of thousands or tens of thousands were combined together, the effect on the card''s performance would reach a rather amazing place.


    As new compositions were constantly taking shape, Chen Mu found that the places where compositions had been completed and not yet dispersed would cause him to gasp in surprise without exception.


    As they went up in star value, the energy compositions involved in a card would become more and more complex. Above four or five stars, the energy compositions involved in a card would be astonishingly complex. Among them might be included countless numbers of basic recursive compositions. For a card artisan to be able to complete a flawless design from patterns he required would be difficult to accomplish in itself¡ªeven for awesome card masters who might have some unique understanding of the principal designs of the energy composition.


    But no card master could optimize all of the compositions involved in a card that was four stars or above. Regarding local compositions, the difficulty of optimization wasn''t very high, but it would entail a huge amount of computation. In the life of a single poor card master, he wouldn''t necessarily be able to complete the optimization of even a single kind of card.


    No card masters could do that kind of work. Most of them didn''t put that much of their energy into computation, and it would require a deeper understanding of the energy composition of the main design. But Chen Mu had done it by virtue of the Child.


    With the originally bare grid-shaped composition, it was like dead vines growing new branches in the spring to light up one''s eyes. After 20 minutes, there was a huge and completed silver energy composition floating in front of Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu had already forgotten about his wild joy, obsessed as he was with a detailed examination of every aspect of the energy composition in front of him. The final result of the Child''s calculation¡ªand the most optimized result¡ªwas an energy composition that made him completely forget himself. To tell the truth, the design thinking that had gone into that card was still rather inferior to Chen Mu''s Golden Word Shackle, Bipolar Card, the Hundred Changes, or even Xiaobo''s Wheel. But it had taken the given framework to its limit!


    Its every detail exuded deeply fascinating calculation. He couldn''t take his eyes off it and deeply imprinted that energy composition, which was so perfect it took his breath away, in his brain.


    Seven floors above where Chen Mu''s card making studio was, there was another card making studio. It was the dedicated card making studio of the head card master of that materials store, Bernie Topster. As the chief card master, Bernie Topster normally had a lot of leisure. Apart from occasionally having to take one or two card making orders from the boss or occasionally helping the staff in the acquisitions department to identify some obscure precious materials, the rest of his time was spent making his own cards.


    "Is something wrong, Janet?" Topster put down what he had been doing, and his gaze fell onto Janet. Janet was the shop''s sales manager, though she seldom came up looking for him. Janet was actually the counter girl who had waited on Chen Mu.


    "If I might be so bold as to bother you, Mr. Topster¡­" Janet first expressed her apologies and then explained why she had come. "There is a client who rented a five-star card making studio and also bought some materials. This is the list of his materials. I''d like to take advantage of your wisdom about what sort of card this list of materials would be suited to make."


    "Oh. Let me take a look." Topster took the one-star fantasy card Janet had given him and inserted it into the card player.


    He quickly scanned the entire list of materials and then said with a laugh, "The world of card making is rich and vast, and a lot of materials on this list could make a lot of different kinds of cards. It would be really hard to tell. But if he were to use all of the materials, I personally believe it could be for making a four-star Bomb."


    "Bomb¡­" It was hard for Janet to hide her discouragement. The Bomb was a common four-star card that would only be considered mainstream goods. It was a bit inconceivable to her that he would have rented the most expensive card making studio to make such a mainstream item.


    Probably knowing what Janet was thinking, Topster said with a slight smile, "Perhaps he only wants to increase his success rate. After all, the better a card making studio is, the higher the success rate."


    "Success rate¡­" Janet muttered. She suddenly turned around to ask, "If it were you, what would your likely success rate be to make the Bomb?"


    "Probably 50 or 60 percent," Topster said, rather unimpressed. "For a card master at my level, a four-star card isn''t so hard, so my success rate would be pretty high."


    Janet looked as though she found something weird about it. "But he only bought one set."


    "He only bought one portion?" Topster was stunned. Could that card master be so sure his success rate would reach 100 percent? That would be impossible! In general, card masters would buy several setups to make a card just to assure success. The preparation of materials was extremely time-consuming. Since he had wanted to rent a five-star card making studio, he could tell it was someone who was willing to spend money. It would be more reasonable for such a person to buy several portions of materials.


    Just at that time, the apparatus on Janet''s wrist sounded out. She took a look and saw that it was the manager of the testing department, which stunned her. The testing department was responsible for the testing and evaluation of cards, and the shop had a dedicated room that would provide clients with the ability to test their cards. What was he doing looking for her at that time?


    Once she opened it, the manager of the testing department appeared on the screen. Janet, who was good at reading expressions, discovered that his expression was quite strange. He looked stunned to see Janet and said, "Hurry to testing room 21, Janet!" Taken aback upon seeing Topster beside her, he rushed to say, "Mr. Topster, if you have the time, I hope you''ll also be able to come."


    Janet and Topster looked at one another. What had happened?

 426 Five-Star?

    That shop was not bad. It had quite a professional testing room, which Chen Mu was rather satisfied with. The crew had brought him there after he had asked for a place to test his card. The testing room was not exceedingly spacious, only about 300 square meters, but it was well-equipped.


    Perhaps because he had rented a five-star card making studio, the person who welcomed him at the testing room was the supervisor, Zhan Ken. Chen Mu was shocked at first, but he soon changed his views on the supervisor. Zhan Ken''s professional knowledge was solid, and he was skilled at analyzing the data of every single card. Moreover, he had unique judgment. All of that surprised Chen Mu.


    Zhan Ken had been the supervisor in that shop for five years, but he had 15 years of professional background in card testing. He had the traits of a professional card tester, which was a rigorous job. He was less likely to test the cards by himself now, but his diligent attitude in card testing had affected his crews.


    Chen Mu''s card testing requests had reached him directly. When he had discovered Chen Mu was renting a five-star card making studio, he had decided to host the card testing by himself. Due to the high price, a five-star card making studio was usually rented by card artisans with definite ability.


    Except for the card masters sponsored by big families, generally, the more powerful a card master, the stronger their economic backgrounds. Hence, they often were the ones who could rent a five-star card making studio. Moreover, they were the only ones who would require such an advanced card making studio. Those who were with the big families usually had their individual card making studios.


    What attracted a card tester the most? It was definitely testing excellent cards! For a card tester like Zhan Ken, testing an excellent card was like having a feast. Therefore, he had requested to test the card himself. Chen Mu was surprised by his request and felt suspicious. Though card masters had the ability to make cards, the testing would usually be done by the professional crew. It was rare for a card master to personally test a card. While they might be familiar with the card, their perception might not be suitable to use it, and their card technique could be absolutely terrible.


    Nevertheless, they still passed the newly made card to him. When Zhan Ken realized the card was the Bomb, he was disappointed. The Bomb was only a four-star card, and it could only be categorized as an ordinary card among the known four-star cards.


    Testing a common four-star card like the Bomb was the job he had been doing ten years ago. But he didn''t reject the job since he had volunteered himself to do the card testing. It would be impolite to the card master, who was wearing a mask. He didn''t want to offend a high-end customer who could rent a five-star card making studio.


    The steps of card testing were complicated. The first step was to use an instrument to test the card, which could only be done by his crew rather than himself.


    The instrumentation test was only a preliminary test. After a short while, the crew brought in the test report, but they were wearing weird expressions. When Zhan Ken got the results, he was stunned.


    The testing there was obviously more professional than Yang An''s had been. There were a lot of figures on the report, and it looked quite impressive. Chen Mu took a quick look, but he didn''t understand the content. After noticing Zhan Ken''s shock, he said, "Excuse me. Is anything wrong?"


    He hadn''t wanted to let others test the Bomb at first, but he was impressed by Zhan Ken''s knowledge and experience in card testing. He had been wondering how well the performance of the Bomb had been improved after being optimized by the Child. Hence, he had accepted Zhan Ken''s request on the card testing after little hesitation.


    Zhan Ken was a bit unsure and said, "There might be something wrong with the instruments."


    "Oh." Chen Mu nodded. The data processed by the instrument was possibly incorrect. Zhan Ken would definitely know whether the data was correct since he had been working in that field for 15 years.


    The failure of an instrument was usually a headache to the testers, and Chen Mu could understand the situation. He used to check all the instrument conditions right before making a card to prevent a failure in the process of card making due to instrument breakdown. Though he no longer had problems with the cost of raw materials, he had kept his habit.


    Zhan Ken was not as calm as he seemed. He had been working in that field for so many years, and he had even been able to secure the position as supervisor. His ability in card testing was definitely undeniable.


    That data was unusual! Extremely unusual! Somehow, though, it was reasonable due to the good correlation between each data point. What made the data unusual was the drastically high value in each data point, which didn''t match with the Bomb. He was sensitive toward the data related to cards. It would be common if that data appeared on a five-star card. The Bomb was just an ordinary four-star card, however. It had been created many years ago and had become structurally mature over time.


    He pretended to be calm and told Chen Mu, "Let''s go to another testing room. Something is wrong with this instrument."


    Chen Mu nodded in agreement. Soon, they changed to another testing room, which was testing room 21. It was larger than the previous one and also had more instrumentation facilities. The crew started to test the card. Before the results were out, Zhan Ken left the room but quickly returned.


    The test results were generated again and reached Zhan Ken the second time. He took a look and found that they were exactly the same as the previous time! He had been wondering whether there had been failure with that instrument, but he now knew that wasn''t the case.


    The results blew him away. He reluctantly smiled at Chen Mu and said, "The data is not bad."


    Not bad? It was so much more than not bad! That was definitely the best data from the Bomb he had ever seen! Excellent! Just excellent! It was so incredible that he started to doubt whether it even was the Bomb. He looked at Chen Mu again, but Chen Mu did not seem to have grasped his meaning.


    They could test if that was really the Bomb. By default, he knew he should explain the meaning of each data point in the report to the customer, but he automatically skipped that step. The stats were just too excellent, and he didn''t know how to explain them.


    "Next, we are going to carry out the practical test. Generally, practical tests would give us a straightforward overall picture of the card," Zhan Ken said.


    A card artisan was already waiting inside a hemispherical energy shield about 50 meters in diameter. They could clearly observe everything inside the energy shield.


    At that moment, a gentleman and a woman came in. Chen Mu knew the woman; she was the receptionist. But he didn''t know the gentleman. They saw Chen Mu and walked up to him.


    Zhan Ken introduced them to Chen Mu. "I think you know her; she is our sales supervisor, Janet. This is Mr. Topster, the chief card master here. He is here because he heard you just made a good card."


    "Hopefully my presence is not an inconvenience to you." Topster smiled at Chen Mu while showing a hint of regret. Janet, who was standing beside him, also smiled at Chen Mu.


    Topster had the aura of a card master, which comforted Chen Mu. He waved his hands and said, "It''s no problem at all."


    Everyone was looking at the energy shield, and Zhan Ken passed the instrument test report to Topster, who took a quick look at it. His eyes widened, and his jaw dropped.


    Suddenly, a loud noise brought him back. When he looked at the energy shield, it had become a mess. Everyone was stunned, including Zhan Ken, Janet, the crew, and even the card artisan.


    The dummy target in front of him had completely vanished, along with another one that had been three meters away from it. There was a ten-meter-wide pit in the floor.


    "Five stars..." Zhan Ken mumbled.


    The testing room was quiet, and Topster unconsciously dropped the report on the floor.


    Five stars. The attack power of that card was comparable to a five-star card! But it was just a four-star card!


    Though there was only one star difference between four- and five-star cards, it was like Heaven versus Earth. That was obvious from their attack power! The difference in damage values of a four-star card and a five-star card was so great that even the worst five-star card would overpower any four-star card. It was an extremely important criterion in card testing.


    It was just like how the five flourishing districts would be more prosperous than the ordinary residential districts. There were still not many five-star cards on the current market, though. Only in large-scale markets could five-star cards be sold. However, those cards still appeared more in auction centers, and they were extremely pricey. Even a powerful and rich card artisan like Sang Hanshui would only use four-star cards. That was how precious the five-star cards were.


    However, that Bomb broke the commonly accepted law of a card''s star level. How could a four-star card have such impressive attack power? Looking at the ten-meter-long pit on the floor, everyone was shocked. Even the card artisan responsible for card testing was stunned. He hadn''t been mentally prepared, so the explosion echo had almost hurt him.


    Perhaps it was actually a five-star card.

 427 029: Bomb

    It wasn''t a five-star card! It was still a four-star Bomb. Apart from the damage value, the level of a card could also be judged by several aspects. Zhan Ken definitely knew that, and he could even confidently say the Bomb was absolutely a four-star card!


    Janet was also stunned. She had sold a lot of cards before, but she had never seen a four-star card with such a great attack power!


    Though they were deeply shocked, they kept themselves in check and did not lose their cool. Janet was already silently estimating the value of the card.


    However, as a card master, Topster almost lost his self-control and nearly went mad. "Oh my god! It was just a four-star card! How could it be so powerful?" he mumbled to himself with blurred eyes.


    How is that possible? How is that possible? In his heart, he knew he would never be able to make that kind of card. It was a breakthrough of his knowledge in card making.


    However, the test was not done yet.


    In the coming tests, the Bomb showed a terrifying performance! Its energy efficiency was jaw-droppingly high, and its shooting speed, range, and maneuverability were exceptional. Was that really the Bomb?


    Everyone felt weird. Janet and Zhan Ken could no longer stay calm, even externally. There was a lot of noise inside the testing room, including from the card artisan who was responsible for the card testing.


    Compared to everyone else, Chen Mu was extraordinarily calm at that moment. The Bomb had given him a big surprise. However, it had been a simple surprise. The design of the Bomb was more restricted than the Wheel, which Chen Mu had designed previously. Its structure had already been calculated to the maximum by the Child based on its outstanding calculation abilities, meaning Chen Mu did not feel he deserved much credit.


    The Bomb''s attack power could be compared to that of the five-star cards that were not focused on attack. It was still a four-star card in terms of its nature. There was still a huge difference from an authentic five-star card, such as the Golden Word Shackle, which was a top five-star card.


    However, he was satisfied with the result. With the Bomb''s power at that extent, he had no real reason to be fussy. The best part was that he had figured out the method of using the Child, which was definitely a sharp tool for him to design cards in the future.


    That day''s tests had also broadened his views. The professionals were called professionals for a reason. He was dazzled by the series of tests. At that moment, he realized it was so complicated to define a card. Thinking about the past, he had always judged a card based on its patterns only, which was a rather primitive method. The corresponding performance of the card could be detailed by the application of scientific tests. Those were the kinds of test results that could convince the buyers.


    The knowledge in the world of cards was borderless; there was still much to be learned.


    When the tests were finally done, Chen Mu was looking forward to the Bomb''s results. There was commotion in the testing room as everyone excitedly waited for the final result. The conclusive review was done by Zhan Ken. His cheeks were flushed, and his hands were writing non-stop. Janet was also nervous. She had an intuition that a legendary card was going to be born in their shop.


    She glanced at the card master, who was wearing a mask. The eyes beneath the white mask made it more attractive. However, what attracted her the most was how calm his eyes were. It seemed like everything happening was actually within his expectations. Perhaps that card master was actually a grand master. Janet was shocked to think of the possibility.


    Topster was losing himself; the existence of the card had impacted him greatly. Janet may have been contemplating whether Chen Mu was a grand master, but Topster was sure of it! A grand master card master! His lips were trembling. Being a grand master in card making was the final destination of 80 percent of card masters in the world! Today, he''d had the chance to witness the work of one! That card master had the ability to make a four-star card that could be compared to a five-star card. If he wasn''t a grand master, who was?


    Moreover, Topster believed that particular grand master might even be exceedingly powerful among the grand masters. Though he had never seen any of them, he had heard a lot about them. But he had never known any of them could achieve that level.


    Finally, the result was announced. Everyone had grown increasingly restless. That card had brought them a lot of surprises, and they could no longer be patient with the final result.


    The words were appearing continuously on the screen.


    "Bomb; four-star; damage value: 4,551"


    Though most of them had known the value, they still couldn''t stop themselves from being amazed. That was definitely impressive data. Moreover, it was shocking when it appeared on a four-star card.


    By default, an epic three-star card like the Folding Yanbo, which had been made by Chen Mu, had only a damage value of 1,502 with no modification. A normal four-star card usually had a damage value from 1,800 to 3,000. An epic four-star card like the Wheel could reach a damage value of approximately 3,800 with no modifications, which was terrifying.


    A damage value greater than 4,000 was usually within the realm of a five-star card. That Bomb successfully got into that category, which was the reason people were so impressed with it.


    However, the Bomb wasn''t objectively better than the Folding Yanbo and the Wheel. The Bomb may have had a higher attack value than the other two cards, but its potential was worse. For example, the Folding Yanbo could easily reach a damage value of 5,000 or greater when facing a strong opponent like Jiao Si. That was the ability of a card artisan. It was the same for the Wheel. Both of them had room for modification.


    Chen Mu had squeezed out all of the potential of the Bomb, so its room for modification was comparatively less. Hence, although it had great attack power, it might not be suitable for card artisans who were good at perceptual control. But it was certainly suitable for Sang Hanshui, who had weak perceptual control but strong perceptual power. He was definitely suitable as a damage dealer.


    Card artisans were less likely to opt for a card like the Bomb. Basically, it was rare to have an energy shield that could defend against a damage value of 3,000, not to mention one that could only be broken by a damage value of 4,000. Most of the card artisans were focused more on the balance between accuracy and attack power. Nevertheless, that Bomb was definitely an impressive card.


    "The highest firing speed is ten shots per second; the longest range is 50 kilometers. First-class energy effectiveness. Good control performance and accuracy. Conclusion: This card has great attack power and impressive shooting speed, and the power usage is comparatively less than that of cards with similar damage value. It has higher demand for a card artisan''s perceptual power and lower demand for perceptual control. It is not recommended to be used by an individual player but is suitable for the card artisan who plays the role of a damage dealer in a team. It requires low cost and has a high success rate in production. It is also suitable for large-scale equipment. Overall review is 8.9."


    Even more commotion arose in the testing room, everyone being highly impressed by the review. The highest review in a card artisan''s review test was ten, and 8.9 was the highest review they had ever seen. That review had been given by Zhan Ken, who was well-known for being rigorous; hence, it had ample credibility.


    Janet was stunned as she stared at the screen. She had expected that card to get a high review, but she had never thought it would be an 8.9. Had Zhan Ken gone mad? Why had he given such a high review?


    She was thinking in anger, but what was actually running through her mind was how to get closer to that card master, who did not seem very friendly.


    Suddenly agitated, Topster yelled, "Zhan Ken, are you crazy? This Bomb should be at least a nine! Nine! You hear me?"


    Zhan Ken was also agitated. "Mr. Topster, are you doubting my ability?" he replied.


    "This card is worth at least a review of nine. Do you know the meaning of the existence of this card in the world of card making? This is a breakthrough! This card is an unprecedented kind! Oh my god! You gave a review of 8.9 only to such an epochal card. Don''t you think I should doubt you?" Topster said. His face had turned red from speaking through gritted teeth.


    Zhan Ken was completely annoyed. "Mr. Topster, please mind your words! I acknowledge that this is an excellent card, so I give a high review of 8.9, and this is the highest review I have given so far. I don''t think I made any mistake. Mr. Topster, this is my job. Please do not simply evaluate on a whim!"


    Chen Mu was witnessing the sudden change of Topster and Zhan Ken, who had both just been so gentle and calm. Now, they were two red-faced, angry men who were about to come to blows. All of that had happened just because of the slight difference of 0.1 points in the review! Chen Mu didn''t know whether he should laugh or cry.


    It was all due to his poor knowledge in card making. In a card review, nine and 8.9 were two different worlds. That was shown by the huge difference in their prices. A nine could be several-fold higher, or even more, than an 8.9.


    Janet could no longer tolerate the situation and shouted, "Gentlemen, please mind your words and behavior in front of our dear guest!"


    Both of them finally regained their calm at that moment, though they were still staring at each other angrily. The frightened crew then sent them the Bomb. However, Zhan Ken and Topster were still being stubborn, and Janet was left with no choice but to retrieve the card from the crew. That might have been the unprecedented Bomb, so she couldn''t resist stealing a few more looks.


    Flipping the card over, she suddenly gazed at it in shock, and her breathing almost stopped. Written on the card''s bottom right corner was "029: Bomb ¨C C."

 428 Janet’s Plan

    Numerical series card! This thought suddenly emerged in Janet''s mind. And it was precisely this thought that caused her to lose her mind. It was a numerical series card! This set of cards were so famous that it was impossible for any card salesperson to not know them. When 013 was sold, she watched the entire livestream. When she saw a four star card being sold at a sky-high price, she almost lost it.


    She didn''t know for sure how powerful these cards were. But as a professional salesperson, she was directly impacted by how valuable these cards were! Any three star card from this series could be sold for several ten millions! This fact made her drop her jaw. She always thought that the residents in the common residential districts were poor, until she saw the livestream, and realized that they were actually loaded!


    It was also that very livestream that changed her many views on the common residential districts. She, like most people, had thought that good card masters were only found in the Five Flourishing Districts or Kyoto. Their impression of the common residential districts were a poor, backward place. However, when they saw Madame Zhilian, or Jie Yanbai, of the Central Repository of the Classics, Zhu Ning of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, and Faya chasing after the numerical series cards, only did they knew that the common residential district was full of rich people.


    The mysterious card master did not appear all these while. Does anyone know who he actually was? But his fame has spread throughout the Federation along with the appearance of the numerical series cards. Rumor has it that somebody were collecting the patterns of the numerical series cards, attempting to compile a collection. Now that they were being collected, these cards were spreading like wildfire in the card master communities. Every single card master who saw these patterns would idolize the unknown card master.


    But now...


    Janet felt her heart beating unusually fast, so fast that she almost couldn''t catch her breath. Her mouth was dry. She was nervous! Abnormally nervous!


    Damnit, how could I be nervous!


    She wanted to yell at herself, but no voice came through her mouth. The legendary, mysterious grand master could be the very masked man standing before him. How could she not be nervous? It was like snowing Oudi in her eyes!


    Godammit, that''s loads of money!


    She bit her own tongue and the flash of pain brought her back to reality.


    "Is there an issue?" Chen Mu was curious when he saw Janet''s stupefied face. He could not imagine that the remark on his own card would create a world of imagination in her head. The remark was written down by himself. The numerical series cards were trending in Pomelo, several ten thousand miles away. He didn''t think that an incident in a typical city within the common residential district would spread all the way here, to the Five Flourishing Districts, and it would still be remembered.


    In Pomelo, he made 22 numerical series cards. The [Wheel] on Xiao Bo''s hand was 023. To thank Xiao Liqian, he made five more cards for her. This [Explosive Projectile] was numbered 029 by himself. When he made it he marked the number down without a thought. It seemed like Chen Mu still had quite some habits of a technician.


    "Not at all! Not a problem!" Janet was all smiles when she finally got herself together. She respectfully handed the [Explosive Projectile] back to Chen Mu, "Please, ignore these two rude fellas! This way, respected grand master."


    Grand master? Chen Mu was dumbfounded and amused. In what way was he a grand master? But since his mask covered his face, his expressions were hidden. And it was too much a hassle to explain himself, so he received the card from Janet and followed her. Just when he took his first few steps, he asked, "Where to?"


    In Janet''s eyes, Chen Mu was a human figurine made out of pure Oudi. Then, her smile got a lot sweeter, "to celebrate your masterpiece, we have prepared a celebratory banquet. This way, please."


    "Masterpiece? Haha, how is this even a masterpiece?" Chen Mu laughed nonchalantly. But after making cards with his full concentration for a whole day, he was quite hungry. As long as there is food, he''s good.


    As expected from a grand master! Janet''s admiration was overflowing from her eyes. See, this is why he can earn so much!


    Janet''s pace has never been faster. With a "human Oudi" beside her, she''d achieved record-breaking efficiency. As they were on their way, she passed down orders via a communication card with a low voice. When they arrived at the VIP hall, a mini banquet has been set.


    When he saw the table full of food, Chen Mu''s stomach let out a cry. He did not pretend to be courteous, but started to stuff his mouth with food.


    Since he was eating, he had to pry his mask open a little.


    He seems young! Janet stared attentively at Chen Mu''s exposed chin. Generally, women are more sensitive about skin. She secretly judged that the masked man was no older than 35. When she thought of this, Chen Mu''s value in her eyes was immediately raised by a lot. In these times, capable people were rare, and capable young people were even rarer. The rarer the more valuable!


    Looking at Chen Mu stuffing himself, Janet''s smile was turning her eyes into lines. But when she saw Mu Chen slowing down, she adjusted her face and went back to the professional smile.


    Chen Mu was finally satisfied. Janet, who was waiting at the side all the while went up to him, "How was it, grand master? Was it to your taste?"


    "Not bad," Chen Mu was fairly pleased. Although his economic condition was much better than before, but most of his thoughts were spent on making cards and battling. So he didn''t put much attention on enjoying life. Moreover, Janet has ordered for a banquet of the highest class, how could Chen Mu be not satisfied? When he heard her referring to himself as a grand master, he felt a little strange. But he saw this as a commercial tactic, just another salesperson calling a potential buyer ''grand master''.


    Janet was covertly happy when he saw Chen Mu satisfied. Getting his approval, even a little, would be beneficial to her career advancement.


    "Say, grand master, did you just arrive at Dongrui City?" Janet saw the alarm in his eyes, so she quickly said, "As a grand master of your level, you must have your own card making room, right? I was born and raised here in Dongrui, but I''ve never seen such an amazing card master like yourself!"


    You are the maker of the numerical series cards, it''s impossible you''re from around here. Janet thought.


    "Oh," Chen Mu expressed his relief.


    "Wasn''t it fate that you''ve come to our humble shop? Allow me to gift this golden card to you, grand master. With this card, all your expenses and material cost here will get a 30% discount! From today onwards, you will enjoy the privilege of the highest class!" Janet continued to exploit the opportunity.


    After taking a suspicious look at her, Chen Mu took the golden card. He scanned the card and found out that other than a pattern used for recognition, there was nothing else on the card.


    After gifting the golden card, Janet asked cautiously, "So, grand master, what do you plan to do with this [Explosive Projectile]?"


    Sensing the doubt from Chen Mu, Janet quickly explained, "If you''d like to sell it, our humble store could retail it for you. We are not the largest card store in Dongrui, but with a history of 45 years, we are somewhat popular locally. You do not have to worry about the price. This card is very valuable! To show our sincerity, we will only take 8% as commission, what do you think?"


    Chen Mu finally understood her intentions, and he laughed unintentionally, "I plan to gift this to someone. I''m not selling."


    Janet''s disappointment was apparent on her countenance. But she was quick to react, "Do we have the pleasure of producing cards for you? Price is not a problem."


    Chen Mu did not think of this possibility, so he was startled. But he shook his head, "I will not be needing this service at the moment."


    Janet has recovered by that time, "If you are interested in the future, you are always welcomed here!" her voice was humble and respectful.


    Chen Mu smiled cooly, "Hmm, I will come to you if I need to sell my cards." If he didn''t had to change cards for Sang Hanshui, he would not even think of making cards. At the moment, his first priority was to get the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. As such, improving battle capabilities was the most urgent problem he has to solve. As for card making, he would have ample time for them after this. More importantly, he wasn''t in need of money.


    Just after Janet saw Chen Mu''s leave, Zhan Ken and Tapster came over angrilly.


    "Where is that grand master?" Zhan Ken asked nervously.


    "He left" Janet replied dismissively.


    "What? You just let him go like that?" Tapster raised his voice unintentionally, then stomped his feet and sighed. Beside him, Zhan Ken sighed as well.


    Janet rolled her eyes at Tapster, "Oh, should I have detained him?"


    Tapster was stunned when he heard that. The three of them did not have the rights to do that. Who would dare to detain a grand master of that calibre? Grand masters usually have powerful card artisans among their friends. Only big corporations that can bend the rules do that. It was not a tactic a small store like them dared to use.


    As for Chen Mu''s identity, Janet did not tell the both of them about her guess. She was just a sales supervisor. She did not even plan to report this to her superiors. Her guess would only be beneficial if Chen Mu does come again. That was why she gave him a golden card.


    The golden card gives a 30% discount if the holder wants to make cards or use the card making room the next time. This was where Janet was smart.


    30% discount! This is a big investment! Janet thought as she gritted her teeth.


    *******************************************************************


    There was a mistake in the last chapter on the mask Chen Mu was wearing. Instead of a white mask with black lines, it was a matte black mask with red cross underneath each eye.

 429 Mysterious Person

    Exiting the shop, Chen Mu was very satisfied with his harvest for the day. Finding out the proper method of using [Child] and creating [Explosive Projectile] was already far beyond his imagination. [Explosive Projectile] was not suitable for card artisans that prioritize perception control. But for someone like Sang Hanshui, who was heavy on power and weak on control, this card can bring out his potential. Moreover, it was only a four star card, compared to a five star card, it''s requirements were much lower.


    After walking a few minutes, making sure that no one was noticing him, Chen Mu walked into a random building, and found the washroom. When he reappeared, he was wearing the white mask with black lines he wore at the Tai-shus''. No one took notice as wearing a mask outside these days were common.


    Exiting the building, Chen Mu decided to go back.


    Hmm? Chen Mu turned around and looked, the walkway was still the same, there was no one suspicious. At that moment, he felt someone observing himself from the dark. Was it an illusion? With a thought in his heart, he jumped up without hesitation.


    It was not easy stalking someone in the air since everything is visible up high. And using the energy waves of a jet stream card will make one more easily detected.


    Once he was on the air, Chen Mu travelled at top speed.


    There was somebody!


    He caught a black spot at the edge of his eyes. No matter how he changed his direction, the black spot followed him tightly behind him. What''s more alarming was that he could not feel even a bit of energy fluctuation. He deduced from this that this guy is even better than the stalker back at the Tai-shus''. Did they send a stronger card artisan after himself?


    He has maximized [Big Mud Fish]''s speed, but the stalker was still following him with ease. Chen Mu shook his head silently. While it''s true that [Big Mud Fish] was the the fastest card, he was just testing the stalker''s speed. Once that is determined, he has a way to deal with the opponent.


    Chen Mu was not really an experienced fighter per se, but he stopped panicking at the smallest things. Sure, [Big Mud Fish] was disadvantageous when it comes to speed. But it''s maneuverability tops every other card. Well, Chen Mu can''t be completely sure if it''s the very best, but at least he hasn''t seen better ones yet.


    With a perception, Chen Mu''s figure dove, rushing to the ground.


    He was fast to begin with, the downward rush was even more shocking.


    Swoosh!


    The construction site beneath expanded in his eyes dramatically, but he kept his cool. He could even make out the panicked faces in the crowd. Some card artisans flying low saw him coming and moved aside.


    Low altitude flight speed limit was strictly regulated in every city. Speeding in low altitude could easily cause traffic accidents. Since it was close to ground, any accidents would be dangerous. Other than that, since the low altitude flight area was not wide, speeding would cause local airflow instability, compromising flyer safety.


    "Damnit, is this guy outta his mind?" a card artisan cursed as he dodged away.


    Before he could finish, he suddenly felt dizzy. A figure flew past him. The high speed airflow almost made him lose his balance. When he regained his balance, the figure was long gone.


    "Bah! I wish you get fined!" he waved his fists, but before he could finish, another stream went past him in a swoop!


    He was dizzy again, his body almost lost its balance once again when it was caught in a strong air flow.


    The scenery before Chen Mu changed constantly. He did not slow down at low altitude. It was difficult flying so fast in a narrow and crowded area, dodging the oncoming traffic and irregularly shaped buildings time to time.


    The masked Chen Mu was expression. This flight required his full attention. A single mistake would cost him his life. The concrete jungle was his best place to escape. He still did not know who was following him, but that person was undoubtedly skilled!


    Chen Mu dove between buildings like a slippery mud fish. The card artisans guards did not dare to stop him. They were a bunch of old foxes. They could tell from a glance who can they mess with and who they can''t.


    Five minutes passed. Chen Mu''s heart kept sanking little by little. He tried his best to get away from the mysterious card artisan for five whole minutes. Worse, he has lost track of his own coordinates. Or else, he could bring the stalker to the Tai-shus''. With Wei-ah, they could solve anything.


    Cold sweat dripped from his forehead, but was quickly blowed dry by the oncoming air. Chen Mu''s back was drenched in sweat. He could not see the stalker, but he could feel their presence. Chen Mu knew that the stalker was right behind! The skill they displayed was exceptional, sending a chill up Chen Mu''s spine. Unless the stalker was a specialized flyer, their strength must be at least twice of Chen Mu''s!


    He was now convinced that the Tai-shu family did not send this stalker. If the Tai-shus had a capable person like this, they would never have hidden them. Could it be someone from the store? No, they stalker appeared after he changed his mask.


    Was he recognized by his mask? This thought was stuck in his head. He did not feel followed before the mask change.


    Their distance remained the same from the beginning. Chen Mu gritted his teeth and drove his perception to the max while trying to figure out who his stalker was.


    With their capabilities, they could not have been a nameless figure. And they knew his mask? Who would? Little Bu Mo secretly bought his mask before he entered Dongrui. If the opponent recognized his mask, it would have to be after he entered Dongrui. The first person they saw then was Tai-shu Ying.


    It didn''t seem like the Tai-shus could support an artisan of this calibre.


    Then who would it be?


    Suddenly, Chen Mu remembered the mysterious expert that followed him to from Zargan all the way to Dongrui!


    Could it be them?


    The mysterious expert was extremely stealthy, and untraceable. Even Wei-ah could not accurately determine their location. The feeling of being watched was with them all the way from Zargan to Dongrui City, and only disappeared after they entered Dongrui.


    Could it be that they have never left? This thought emerged in his mind, and Chen Mu''s sweat started dripping harder. Now that he thought of it, even when the stalker left then, they could have saw his mask.


    Forcefully calming himself, Chen Mu continued to fly steadily. If his guess was right, the core problem was two. Who were they? What''s their aim?


    Unexpectedly facing a card artisan much stronger than himself that did not seem friendly would make anyone panic. The opponent''s strength was like a heavy mountain that hung over his heart, threatening crush him into powder at any moment! When he faced stronger card artisans before, he could at least escape. But this time he couldn''t even do that!


    Damnit!


    Without Wei-ah, he needed to face this himself. This fear was crushing. However, he wasn''t crushed yet. He continued to work his brain with all his strength. Under the terrifying pressure, his mind has never been calmer. Even speed of the buildings going pass him slowed down.


    A revelation came to him.


    The opponent strong, so strong that he could not run away from him. This means that it would be easy for them to kill him. But, they did not do so! This means they did not have bad intentions!


    He still had no idea what the stalker wanted, but this was enough!


    He suddenly stopped mid air, turned around, and quietly waited for the opponent to appear. He was still nervous, but put on a brave front! Although what he did seemed logical to him, it still took courage to execute this plan.


    Swoop!


    A figure appeared before him in thin air. Although he was mentally prepared, Chen Mu still could not help jumping in shock. What terrifying speed and skill! He had no chance at all!


    The stalker had a tall, muscular build. Suspended in air, he was wearing a brown mask, revealing his eyes deep as seas.


    "Why''d you stop runnin'', sonny?" it was an old voice with a shred of mockery. The two deep eyes stared at Chen Mu, not revealing a tint of emotion.


    Chen Mu guessed the person was at least 50 years old from his voice. Then only did he notice the white hair on top of his head.


    "I can''t escape, so I stopped," Chen Mu confessed.


    "Hoho, not bad, you''re a smart kid," the voice laughed a little, yet the eyes remained static.


    "What''s your order, senior? Kindly enlighten me!" Chen Mu bowed and asked directly yet respectably. He was not some unruly rich kid. He knew when to be humble and didn''t mind at all.


    The old man was taken aback by Chen Mu''s frankness. After a moment of keeping mum, he asked a completely unrelated question, "What''s your resentment toward the Federation Comprehensive Academy?"


    "The Federation Comprehensive Academy?" Chen Mu was lost. He was not acting, however. He was truly stupefied when he was asked about this out of the blue. He was not on good terms with the Academy, but it wasn''t a resentment per se.


    A mysterious card? Impossible! They could not have known the mysterious card in his hands. But, why would he hate the Federation Comprehensive Academy? Thinking carefully, he was almost captured in Pomelo. What else? He didn''t like Tang Hanpei''s method, and was cautious of him. What else? Maybe he hated their condescending methods, forcefully taking away others'' stuff and pressuring others from his guts?!

 430 Are You Joking?

    Chen Mu appeared indifferent. "It''s just that those whose courses are different cannot lay plans for one another."


    "Those whose courses are different cannot lay plans for one another¡­" The old man was startled as he repeated the words to himself. Suddenly, he laughed. "Ha ha! What you say is true! Those whose courses are different cannot lay plans for one another!" There was a clear hint of appreciation in the way he looked at Chen Mu. "I did not expect such a young guy like you to see things so clearly." The eyes behind the mask squinted suddenly, and the look in his eyes turned as sharp as a sword. "Kid, what do you seek?"


    The murderous look in his eyes stunned Chen Mu. The master in front of him was definitely not the so-called Master Academism. He seemed to be able to smell the faint scent of blood in the air. Such a scent of bloodlust could not be formed without years of killing. That mysterious card artisan also had a weird temper; thus, civilized discussion was meaningless to him.


    But, at that point, Chen Mu could only answer unwillingly. "To survive, live well, and do things that interest me."


    The earlier unhindered bloodlust disappeared suddenly. The old man was silenced. Chen Mu''s words seemed to have touched upon his thoughts, and the look in his eyes was abruptly empty.


    Chen Mu did not dare to act recklessly because the difference in strength between them was immense. The overwhelming feeling that mysterious person gave him was so strong that he almost thought he was facing Wei-ah. It was just that that mysterious person''s aura was more bloodthirsty and abnormal and gave out a greater sense of danger.


    "Hmph! Daydreaming! If those dogs from the Federation Comprehensive Academy have their eyes on you, the only thing waiting for you is death!" The mysterious person''s gaze softened as he snorted. Chen Mu felt as if his body had lightened, and the murderous aura that had been pressing down on him suddenly disappeared.


    Chen Mu was dumbstruck. Just the fact that the old man had the ability to control his own aura freely showed that his capability must be on par with the top aces of the federation! The only people Chen Mu had met who could do that were Wei-ah, the demonic woman, Tang Hanpei, Qing Qing, Qiao Yuan, and Jiao Si. The background of Wei-ah and the demonic woman was unclear, but weren''t the others top-level card artisans of the federation?


    Chen Mu did not know whether it was lucky or unlucky for him to have been noticed by such a high-level card artisan. He still could not understand the intention of that mysterious person, though he did not seem to have bad intentions.


    What he had said puzzled Chen Mu more. "The Federation Comprehensive Academy has its eye on me? Why would it?"


    The mysterious man said impatiently, "How would I know? If the Federation Comprehensive Academy didn''t have its eye on you, why would Constellation come after you?"


    Chen Mu was even more stunned. "Constellation is supported by the Federation Comprehensive Academy?" He understood why Constellation was harassing him. After all, he had killed a few of their leaders; it would have been odd if they did not harass him! However, the fact that Constellation turned out to be supported by the Federation Comprehensive Academy was surprising news to him.


    He had discussed the issue with Bogner and Xi Ping beforehand. They had thought the actions carried out by Constellation were slightly illogical. Now that he knew Constellation was supported by the Federation Comprehensive Academy, everything made sense. His train of thought became clearer. He had heard about what Moon Frost Island was planning. Faya, the Federation Comprehensive Academy, and other forces planned to stop Moon Frost Island. He instantly understood what he had not back then.


    "Kid, let me see your emitted perception." The mysterious man was not intrigued by why Constellation had its eye on Chen Mu but instead focused on another question.


    Perception? Chen Mu shuddered but still obediently released his perception.


    "As expected!" Happiness was obvious in the old man''s voice. Suddenly, he furrowed his brows. "No. There are still some differences." After saying that, he appeared to be pondering again.


    Is something wrong with my perception? Chen Mu was instantly nervous. His perception training had always been self-taught. Thus, even now, he didn''t understand if there was a problem with his perception. Seeing the old man furrow his brows had given him a bad feeling.


    After a long time, the mysterious person resurfaced from his thoughts. He shook his head while mumbling to himself, "There are some similarities, but they are still not the same."


    When it came to his perception, the ever-calm Chen Mu could not hold himself back. He asked carefully, "Master, is there a problem with my perception?"


    "Problem?" The mysterious one recovered and suddenly gave a cold smile. "Of course there is a problem! I don''t know where you learned this training method, but there are a lot of problems. Your perception is still weak and unfeeling. When your perception becomes stronger, even regrets will come too late."


    Just when Chen Mu was about to ask for more guidance, the dissatisfaction in the old man''s tone became heavier. "Hmph! Those two weak card artisans beat you up so terribly? What a waste of perception! Useless!"


    Although he was scolded viciously, Chen Mu was not frustrated. He smiled bitterly in his mind, for even the fact that he could win despite fighting alone against two men was a miracle to him. Now, someone had actually called him useless. However, he cared more about what was said by the mysterious person regarding the hidden danger of his perception''s existence. That scared him. Card artisans were not afraid of injuries but rather problems with their perception. Once there was a problem with their perception, it could be a fatal blow to them! Worst of all, ordinary card artisans did not know the untold secrets of perception. Only a few people in the federation could be said to be extremely proficient in that regard. It was harder to ask those people for help than to win the lottery.


    An opportunity to meet a master that could solve his problems was precious. Moreover, the master appeared to be willing to teach him; how could Chen Mu miss that chance? He said respectfully, "Master, I trained this perception through trial and error. I plead for you to not refuse to offer your kind advice!"


    The mysterious man snorted. "Advise you? What qualification do I have to advise you?"


    Chen Mu was speechless. Why would you follow me for thousands of kilometers, then? Are you that bored? Of course, he could not say that. He could only respectfully ask, "If you have any commands, you can ask me to carry them out!"


    The mysterious man seemed to be content with Chen Mu''s appropriate actions. "You are a smart kid indeed. It is not difficult for me to solve your problem. Other than that, I can also teach some of my techniques to you. However, you are not getting them for free."


    Chen Mu became vigilant. Since he had raised his price, the thing he was asking for could certainly not be something trivial. Chen Mu maintained his composure. "Master, pray tell."


    "Not bad. Despite your young age, you are able to maintain your composure." The mysterious one nodded. He paused before proceeding to throw out the next sentence. "It is not a huge matter. I just want you to defeat someone."


    "Defeat someone? Whom?" Chen Mu inquired curiously.


    "Tang Hanpei!"


    The first thing Chen Mu thought was that the old man was crazy. The second was that he himself was crazy. The third was that the whole world was crazy!


    What kind of joke was that? Tang Hanpei? Who was he? He was the number-one card artisan in the world! The federation''s best! He was called the peerless card artisan who could change the whole federation all by himself! He was the first to break the federation''s record as the youngest person to achieve level-four perception! The child of good fortune who never lost! The helm of the Federation Comprehensive Academy! Be it strategy or capability, he was strong in every aspect to the point that he was basically inhuman. Could anyone in the whole world defeat him? Maybe, but it was definitely not him! That guy was even acknowledged as a powerhouse by Wei-ah!


    Who was Chen Mu? A person who had been so poor a few years ago that he could only rely on making one-star power cards to survive! Even now, he was a card master and concurrently a card artisan who had never learned to do things the proper way!


    The mysterious person had asked Chen Mu to challenge¡ªno, defeat¡ªthe number-one person every card artisan worshipped. How can that be anything but a joke? Chen Mu didn''t even bother to respond. The price was too high. He had never seen such a high asking price! How could he pay back something like that?


    "What? You thought I was kidding?" The mysterious man raised the corner of his eyes. The murderous aura overwhelmed Chen Mu again, causing him to stiffen. Chen Mu decided to just shut his mouth and to try his best to resist that sort of murderous aura.


    "Tang Hanpei is a genius!" Surprisingly, the mysterious man was not angry. He looked at Chen Mu and took away his murderous aura before saying calmly, "The proudest thing in Pavchek''s life had been taking in a student like that. However, he had probably never thought that one day, the student he had trained so wholeheartedly was going to take away the position of headmaster!"


    Chen Mu remained silent. The old man''s tone was calm, but the words he uttered had a slightly scary scent.


    "Pavchek was also quite a character. Compared to Tang Hanpei, though, he was lacking too much." The mysterious one shook his head and sighed. The look in his eyes showed that he recalling something, and his voice turned serious. "Do not presume that I am joking. Tang Hanpei is very strong. But if it was two years ago, hmph! Why would I come to you?" The last sentence was full of dissatisfaction and outrage!


    "Do you hold grudges against the Federation Comprehensive Academy?" Chen Mu could not help but ask. The hatred for the academy was obvious based on the mysterious man''s utterances.


    "Grudges? Ha ha ha ha!" The old man laughed like a maniac before suddenly stopping his laughter short. He lowered his head and directed an awe-inspiring smile at Chen Mu. "My name is Caesar!"


    Caesar! That name is quite familiar! Chen Mu was certain he had heard that name before but could not recall it at the moment.


    Caesar¡­ Caesar¡­


    Caesar! The Materials Refinement Code! It was as if Chen Mu''s mind was brightened by a divine light as he remembered that name, which was filled with atrocity! He understood immediately. No wonder the mysterious man hated the Federation Comprehensive Academy so much. He was actually Caesar, the legendary card artisan who was always accompanied by murder! He was also the card artisan from the academy who had ultimately become its most feared foe!


    Chen Mu finally knew why the other had such a violent and bloodthirsty murderous aura. He also finally knew why the other had proposed such an absurd condition. However, wasn''t it rumored that Caesar was dead?


    Chen Mu would not have known the name Caesar if he had not been misidentified to have studied the Materials Refinement Code. Although the name was unfamiliar, Caesar''s glorious battle results were enough to express the strength of his capabilities.


    A man that strong had trailed him for thousands of kilometers for no reason just to give him so many benefits? Chen Mu was in disbelief!

 431 Caesar

    Because he was in a state of disbelief, Chen Mu simply remained silent.


    Caesar was emitting his murderous aura without the least misgivings, which had quickly cleared the streets. It wasn''t like everyone in the five flourishing districts was a card artisan, but everyone had learned perception since they were small. Such a dense murderous aura and such brutal breath had long since scared everyone away. Even the garrison card artisans hid discreetly far off. In such a huge street, Chen Mu and Caesar were actually the only two there.


    The garrison card artisans gathered at least two kilometers away. "Sheesh, where did this nut come from? I hadn''t heard there were such people in Dongrui!"


    "Yeah. He must have killed lots of people with such a powerful murderous aura!"


    "Powerful people will be powerful, after all, and plenty arrogant!"


    While they were muttering, someone suddenly said in a low voice, "Here comes the boss!" Everyone then shut their mouths and straightened back up into a team.


    A card artisan wearing the standard combat suit of the garrison dropped down from midair. He was Rong Ming, the garrison chief for the Dongrui garrison. Rong Ming had a square face with thick, black eyebrows and an awe-inspiring presence. He had been able to rise to that position when he was 35, whether based on his personal strength or as a person; it was all one piece.


    Once he landed, he paid no attention to those ramrod-stiff subordinates but instead watched the two on the street in the distance in some surprise.


    "It''s just two people?" He didn''t take his eyes off of them as he asked. He had just happened to be taking care of something in the vicinity that day and had heard his subordinate''s report about some incredibly powerful guys showing up. He had raced over as fast as he could.


    The team captain of the small team rushed to respond, "Yes, Chief. We got the alert that there were two people flying at excessive speed through the low-altitude flight zone, nearly causing several accidents, so we came over and saw the two of them. The one emitting the murderous aura is that card artisan wearing the brown mask. His connection to the one wearing the white mask is unknown. Both of them have brilliant flight skills, though they haven''t shown their power in any other regard."


    As Rong Ming watched the two masked card artisans from a distance, there was no way to hear what they were saying. But if those under him had judged accurately, if they were to use an eavesdropping card, those two would easily detect it. Brutal ace card artisans were the adversaries the garrison card artisans least wanted to offend. Although the garrison was responsible for public security, they had a lot less battle power than the military. True ace card artisans never really paid attention to them.


    Then, there were those damned masks! Rong Ming didn''t know how many times he had cursed that Qiao Yuan to himself. If it hadn''t been for that jerk''s huge battle, there would never have been such a rage for masks. As far as the garrison was concerned, the increased popularity of masks was really an awful thing. The difficulty of their work had shot right up. The more people wore masks, the more hidden dangers that would bring for public security.


    As a card artisan with perception at level seven, of course he could see how dangerous those two card artisans were. Any thoughtless move could bring down a disaster upon their heads. When he thought of that, he couldn''t help but sneer. The garrison watching over that scene went no further than hoping to survive being caught in the middle of it.


    His gaze was mostly on the card artisan wearing the brown mask, who seemed to have noticed him and was glancing their way. That glance gave Rong Ming a scare, and he couldn''t help but feel horrified! The first thing that popped into Rong Ming''s head was that he couldn''t afford to make an enemy of that guy!


    After pondering for moment, he gave some orders. "Don''t offend them. Do some investigation about where they came from." But he knew in his mind that it would all be in vain. The two of them were both wearing masks. He didn''t know what their faces looked like and basically couldn''t find out.


    Rong Ming then suddenly thought of something and added, "Record what their masks look like, and find out what shops they bought them from. Then, find out which big families might have recently recruited new card artisans. Give me the results as soon as you get them."


    "Yes, sir."


    Looking again at the two of them, Rong Ming didn''t wish to make trouble. He waved his hands and said, "Withdraw."


    Caesar looked at Chen Mu coldly. "I don''t wish to waste words with you. If you agree, say so. If you don''t, say so. Don''t think you''ve got some ace beside you, kid, or that I won''t kill you. Ha ha. I don''t need to make any moves; I only have to say you studied the Materials Refinement Code, and I won''t have to do a thing. You''ll just be waiting for the Federation Comprehensive Academy to come after you and kill you!"


    Chen Mu frowned, though he remained calm. "Why don''t you go looking for Tang Hanpei yourself?" That was what Chen Mu least understood; Caesar was a lot more powerful than he was. Why wouldn''t Caesar just go instead of putting all his hopes on such a mediocre card artisan like himself? It didn''t make sense!


    What Chen Mu said seemed to have stung Caesar. His gaze went cold, but his murderous aura surged. His brutal breath suddenly filled the sky and covered the earth with such oppression that Chen Mu couldn''t breathe!


    Caesar''s tyrannical speech had incited the staunch obstinance that was in Chen Mu''s very bones. He stifled his groan and said nothing, his perception whirling like mad. He didn''t avoid doggedly shouldering Caesar''s murderous aura in the least.


    "Do you dare to show off a little skill?" Caesar grinned as the chill in his gaze deepened. His murderous aura still hadn''t even half converged as he then released all of it!


    Rong Ming suddenly held off as he was just planning to leave. He turned around in disbelief to watch the two of them on the street in terror, his face drained of blood. He took off in a panic a few seconds later after returning to his senses.


    His lips had turned white from biting them too hard, and Chen Mu had a pretty ugly expression. Beads of sweat the size of beans were dripping from his forehead along the tips of his hair to the ground. The terrifying murderous aura was pervasive, and every slightest change or fluctuation in Caesar''s shocking perception came on as a storm! Chen Mu was a little sampan being tossed by the storm, and he could fall apart at any moment.


    Chen Mu had never thought anyone could deploy a murderous aura to the point of such perfection. Especially when Caesar combined his murderous aura with perception, the formless and invisible combination of the two was not as simple as one plus one! Wei-ah''s murderous aura was also terrifying but a lot simpler.


    As the time passed bit by bit, Chen Mu''s appearance became increasingly miserable, though he never did collapse from start to finish. A strange look flashed through Caesar''s eyes. Chen Mu''s toughness had exceeded his expectations. That was his unique, secret skill, and the card artisans he''d dispatched that way were too numerous to count. Among them had been many who were much more powerful than Chen Mu. But Chen Mu was resisting it straight-out even though he looked like he was just barely making it.


    After a few more minutes, Chen Mu still hadn''t shown any signs of collapse. The look of surprise in Caesar''s eyes deepened, so he stepped up his perception!


    Chen Mu only felt the pressure increase to the point where he almost couldn''t resist it. The terrifying pressure pervasively flooded his surroundings as though it would pulverize every bone in his body.


    That scene seemed rather familiar to him. Almost unconsciously, he started to adjust his breathing rhythm! The extreme training method had started from the simple water world and had then gone to the pool and to the snow pit. Weren''t they all the same form of environment? Without the lease hindrance, he started the rhythm of breathing he had long since developed the skill for. He started to meticulously drill his perception¡ªeven at a time like that!


    Caesar''s added strength only made Chen Mu''s body shake, but he quickly stabilized. Caesar was then really surprised. It was obvious to him how strong Chen Mu was. No card artisan at that level could reasonably bear that degree of perceptual attack. There was a glint in Caesar''s eyes as though he had thought of some issue.


    By the time Chen Mu came back to his senses, the storm had suddenly dispersed, and he felt his whole body relax. All of the pressure just disappeared. It was like he had been fished out of the water, his whole body soaked through with sweat. He looked around in a daze; the resistance just then had nearly exhausted all of his energy and had left his brain in a dull state.


    He had been able to maintain some clarity to his consciousness at first, but his mind finally went blank. After half a minute, he came back to his senses. He startled himself when he thought about what had just happened. He had actually just drilled his perception¡­


    The more Chen Mu thought about it, the more he felt afraid after the fact, by then profoundly understanding how far apart the two of them were. But he quickly resumed his calm; fortunately, he was still alive. That was something worth being glad about. Having returned to normal, Chen Mu started to check out his situation.


    Yikes! My perception seems to have increased. Chen Mu was stunned and didn''t know whether to laugh or cry. Despite the increase to his perception, the exhaustion of his body went through him like a tide. His strong fighting spirit had just barely kept him from looking like he was about to collapse.


    Just then, Caesar slowly opened his mouth, his tone clearly a lot kindlier than before. "Not bad, kid. Not bad. You''ve surprised me." He paused before resuming in a self-mocking way, "You just asked what I''m doing by not going myself? I couldn''t beat him! Pavchek wasn''t my equal that year. Hmph. Never mind now. But I saw Tang Hanpei once not too long ago, and I knew then that I couldn''t beat him."


    "If my elder can''t beat him, it''s not worth thinking about me." Chen Mu was as calm as ever.


    He hadn''t thought Caesar would shake his head. "You''re wrong, kid. The reason this old guy can''t beat him is that I''m old. That year, when I was run down by Pavchek and his men, I was left with a lot of wounds. For these past few years, I''ve gotten wounded still more in order to force an increase to my strength. Two years ago, I felt my body start to go downhill. I knew then that I wouldn''t have any hope of defeating Tang Hanpei in this life."


    Although Caesar was admittedly old, Chen Mu heard some grief in what he said.


    Caesar suddenly turned his head to the sky with a big, edgy laugh and snapped, "Ha ha! I''ve killed so many people, and they''re dead and gone. Hmph! But I remain defiant! I killed so many people that year, and wasn''t it by order of the college president? That old bastard turned around and sold me out. I''m the only one left in my household. Ha ha! As the heavens have eyes, I haven''t died yet!"


    The laughter stopped, and he turned around to stare at Chen Mu, not the least bit of nervousness showing in his eyes through the mask. Calmly and with no warmth, he said, "I have no way to beat him, but that doesn''t mean you can''t!"

 432 Gains and Misgivings

    Could he defeat Tang Hanpei? Chen Mu really wanted to express his own profound disbelief, but when he looked at those emotionless eyes of Caesar''s, he discreetly swallowed what he was going to say. But Caesar still clearly saw the noncommittal attitude revealed in his eyes.


    "What''s not to believe, kid? The things I''ve been refining for these past few years, hmph! They aren''t necessarily deficient from Tang Hanpei!" His voice exuded pride.


    Caesar continued on coldly, "While your perception isn''t quite the same as my Materials Refinement Code, it''s pretty close. You''ll still be able to use most of the things. Yeah, and although your perception isn''t quite so overbearing as mine, the good part is that it won''t harm your body so much. The critical thing is your youth!" Caesar was clearly most satisfied with that aspect. "Ha ha! Do you know what the biggest asset of a card artisan is, kid? Legacies? Cards? It''s none of those. It''s youth! Everything''s possible so long as you''re still young!"


    Although Caesar was laughing heartily, Chen Mu still detected a sense of self-pity in his voice. He looked at Caesar''s mask, noticing it didn''t cover his gray sideburns. Chen Mu was deeply moved when he thought of someone so wild and super strong still constantly struggling against fate while still losing out to time without even realizing it.


    "Of course, there would be something in it for you for me to make you do such a dangerous thing," Caesar said firmly. "Don''t think I want to scare you. Although your perception hasn''t quite made good, you had no one to guide you, and there are a few areas where you haven''t been practicing right. Those little issues aren''t a big obstacle by now. By the time your perception is more powerful, however, you''ll really suffer for it."


    He once again harrumphed and said, "It''s not that I''m boasting; not even a few in the entire federation are as strong as I am about perception. Even I still have no way to fully practice the Materials Refinement Code. Having been riddled with serious wounds for so many years, the sweat and blood I''ve spent in that regard is beyond any calculation. Ha ha! That''s about all I have to say."


    Hearing that, Chen Mu was moved. He knew what Caesar said wasn''t wrong. There were many aspects of the extreme training method in the mysterious card that he had groped his way through recklessly. If he were to have said there were no problems, Chen Mu wouldn''t have believed it anyhow. Caesar was so well-known that he couldn''t even quite conceive of such fame. But, as far as how powerful Caesar was, he had just personally had a taste of it. Chen Mu didn''t have the slightest doubt about that.


    Still, Chen Mu didn''t actually ask any questions about perception but asked something else instead. "What if I don''t beat Tang Hanpei?"


    Caesar was taken aback, not having thought that after he had said so many good things, the first thing Chen Mu would ask would be that question. He laughed and said with some appreciation, "You''re not bad, kid! Let''s do this. I''m not saying anything about you beating Tang Hanpei, but I am requiring that you go to the Federation Comprehensive Academy to issue a challenge to Tang Hanpei within five years, even without regard to whether you win or lose. How about it?"


    "Within five years?" Chen Mu didn''t quite feel he could be up to the level of Tang Hanpei within five years. He was no genius. Furthermore, if one was talking about geniuses, who was more of a genius than Tang Hanpei? He shook his head and said blandly, "I can''t beat him in five years."


    Caesar sighed. "Whether or not I can survive another five years is still an issue. In any case, I don''t want to be beaten, either. I only want for you to have a fight with him. How about it?"


    Chen Mu weighed it for a moment before finally nodding. "Okay." Since there was no issue of winning or losing but simply issuing a challenge to Tang Hanpei, he wasn''t actually so afraid. Anyway, if worse came to worst and he were to concede when the time came, he didn''t feel there would be anything humiliating about it.


    Caesar still didn''t look too happy, only nodding and not wasting any words. "Mmmm. Let me talk a little about your perception first."


    Caesar then started to point out a few things about Chen Mu''s perception. Caesar''s understanding of perception was extremely impressive, for sure. Chen Mu had been puzzled about quite a few areas, and Caesar could use perfectly clear language to easily provide an explanation. He could point out the hidden damage to Chen Mu''s perception piece by piece and could then provide a way to resolve them. Sometimes, his smooth explanations could even give Chen Mu a feeling of things becoming clear all at once.


    Having a teacher or not was completely different from having a good teacher or not, after all. Chen Mu couldn''t repress a strong feeling as he thought over those geniuses in the Big Six. They certainly did have a lot of talent, but their superior learning environment and conditions gave them a much better chance of winning right from the starting line.


    The pointers Caesar gave him took a whole two hours. Caesar didn''t have the least bit of his tyrannical bloodlust during that time but was like a mentor, full of wisdom and erudition. Chen Mu tried hard to remember it all since he knew how hard that opportunity was to get. He firmly memorized every explanation Caesar gave, afraid he might not understand it when he needed to. He didn''t dare to be lax.


    During those two hours, not a single person came along that huge road, and no one disturbed the two of them. Chen Mu felt like his mind was suddenly packed full of things, making him dizzy and light-headed. But he still didn''t dare to relax, repeating to himself what Caesar had just told him for memorization purposes, afraid to miss out on a single bit.


    Finding Chen Mu with his head lowered in thought, Caesar didn''t disturb him. He raised his head to look off into the distant sky, his gaze peaceful and spellbound.


    Chen Mu was rubbing his forehead in pain. Anyone who had ever stuffed so much stuff into his head would never have been any better than Chen Mu then was.


    "Have you memorized it all?" Caesar retracted his gaze, which then fell onto Chen Mu.


    "Mmmm. I have." Chen Mu had repeatedly gone over everything Caesar had said many times. Although he wouldn''t be able to recite it back so smoothly, he could still remember it perfectly clearly.


    "Your perceptual training method is quite good, but it''s too bad you still haven''t crossed the threshold. I still can''t speculate about how you should practice next. Take this." Caesar took out a card and gave it to Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu took it with a puzzled expression. "What is this?"


    "This is some of what I have learned these past few years. Your perception is quite similar to mine, and some of it I can learn from myself. Still, some of yours isn''t so suited for you to use. How far you can get later depends on you." Caesar spoke with an indifferent expression.


    "Oh." Chen Mu nodded to show he understood.


    "Don''t forget the challenge." Caesar tossed that out as he immediately soared away before Chen Mu could say anything. Chen Mu could only watch him disappear from his field of view. He finally found out how terrifying Caesar''s flight skills were as he quickly disappeared like a stricken rainbow.


    Chen Mu had originally wanted to ask Caesar if he knew anything about the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus and the green thread in his body, but he had been one step late in saying anything. He couldn''t see any sign of Caesar by then.


    He started to review what had happened that day. His heart told him he had undoubtedly gained a huge amount. From what Caesar had disclosed, he should have at least taken note of his own performance when he had battled against Jin Yin and Dang Han. Mmmm. It was possible! He reckoned that had been the time when he had only just discovered that his own perception and the Material Refinement Code were somewhat similar.


    What felt strange to Chen Mu was how Caesar had been able to find him. That was what he couldn''t quite think through. He had just swapped his mask not long ago and was then found by Caesar. Was that by accident? Or, did Caesar have some unique way? Chen Mu rather tended to make guesses after the fact. In the end, it would have been quite strange if Caesar hadn''t had some awesome moves.


    Another thing he felt strange about was the card Caesar had given him. He still hadn''t seen it, but it seemed like Caesar had gotten it ready earlier. Could it be more than something Caesar had thought up on the spot?


    Moreover, once Caesar had said he was leaving, he had left, as though he wasn''t worried at all about him not fulfilling their agreement. No matter how Chen Mu looked at it, Caesar didn''t seem like that sort of person, which was puzzling.


    With so many loose ends, Chen Mu, who was already a little dizzy in the head, felt overwhelmed. He shook out his head and decided to put those issues aside for the time being. Although he still hadn''t been able to understand quite a few things about the whole ordeal, that didn''t prevent him from making his trade-off. The things he had gotten went a lot further than what he would need to pay.


    The first thing Chen Mu had to face was the green thread and the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. If he couldn''t get beyond that threshold, everything else would basically be useless. Facing that threshold, Chen Mu''s urgent need was to increase his own power. Caesar''s appearance had given Chen Mu the thing he then needed the most. Even though they weren''t talking about winning or losing, to challenge Tang Hanpei would be an extremely dangerous matter. But if he couldn''t get the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, everything would be meaningless.


    Without realizing it, Chen Mu''s attitude had changed. Having gone through as much as he had, he had long since understood that he couldn''t be as passive as he used to be. So long as he proactively strove, there would be the chance to get what he needed. Even if his hopes were so slim that he might not have one chance in a thousand, if he didn''t strive with his life on the line, he wouldn''t even have that one chance. He had no other choice!


    Chen Mu let out a long sigh and gathered his thoughts before rising into the air. He flew straight back to the building. Sang Hanshui came groveling near him, full of laughter when he saw Chen Mu return. Chen Mu was direct and threw the Bomb right into his hands. "Well, this card is for you. Go try it out."


    "Ah!" Although he''d had some thoughts prepared, Sang Hanshui was then immersed in such great joy. The flesh on his face had so transformed that it led to the general''s mask on his face being a little twisted. He couldn''t even say thank you but charged into the training room as though he were flying.


    The card artisans who were training all stared at the card in Sang Hanshui''s hands. When they discovered Chen Mu''s gaze turning in their direction, though, they put on looks of diligent training.


    Notably, that gang of card artisans would be deemed different people from two days before. Given their daily high-intensity training along with Sang Hanshui''s supervision¡ªwith assistance from Tai-shu Ying¡ªit was as though they had been suddenly dragged into hell.


    Unfortunately, before they could even regain their composure, they had to give in to a violent burst of power right in front of them.


    Hong! Hong! Hong!


    The sound of a huge explosion came from inside the other training room, and the floor seemed to be shaking. All of the card artisans froze, and even Tai-shu Ying had a dull expression. The training room Sang Hanshui had entered was dedicated to firing practice, and it would have been considered be the most robust. So, why would the floor be shaking?


    Hong! Hong! Hong! Hong! Hong!


    The muffled sound of incredibly dense explosions came out from the training room, and the floor under everyone''s feet kept shaking. All of them still had dull looks on their faces, and their hearts were trembling along with the shaking of the floor.


    After a full five minutes, there appeared in everyone''s field of vision a blackened and smoking mask. A puff of smoke was spat out through the mask''s nose hole with a whoosh. The black smoke that was belched out went curling up into the air, much like a smoke ring blown while smoking.


    "Cool!"

 433 Good News and Bad News

    With the issue of Sang Hanshui''s card resolved, the power of the four-man team had increased by another step. Chen Mu had Bogner transmit a specific training plan, which he then gave to Sang Hanshui, making him responsible for its implementation. Sang Hanshui was doing the bidding of Chen Mu by then and guaranteed he would never compromise in vouching for Chen Mu. He loved that Bomb he had just gotten so much that he never let it out of his hands. He had a rich knowledge of cards, so of course he recognized the mark on its surface.


    It was from the famous numbered series of cards! In his mind, the value of that card could only go straight up. The number 029 had never before appeared among the known numbered series of cards, but Sang Hanshui had no doubt about that card''s identity. Apart from the numbered series of cards, he had never thought any kind of Bomb card could reach that level.


    Ever since the affairs in Pomelo, the mysterious card master who had made the numbered series of cards had completely disappeared. Many people were speculating about whether that genius-grade card artisan had met his fate in Pomelo. Sang Hanshui had never thought he would get one of the numbered series of cards one day and especially that it would be one of the four-star cards in the numbered series. Every one of the three-star cards in the numbered series had brought a price greater than 10 million, and the four-star cards brought in still more terrifyingly sky-high prices.


    Sang Hanshui was so eager to become familiar with the card in his hand that he couldn''t wait to throw himself into the training room. Since the job of training that gang of cards artisans had been tossed to him, however, he couldn''t abandon them and would just have to train together with them.


    His own training room was only divided from the card artisans by a sheet of protective transparent glass. After that, the card artisans were living every day in the shadow of terror, which really led to a surge in their training efficiency. It was just too terrifying!


    The Hit Man was like a crazy man, blowing things up like mad in the training room. The dense firepower constantly shook the floor, which dreadfully irritated the card artisans'' fragile nerves. By then, apart from the Hit Man, no one else could enter the training room. The thick protective floor, now full of holes, could clearly be seen through the protective glass. That was no testing room for testing cards but was a training room built to advanced standards. Every bit of material in it and every piece of the floor conformed to high standards for impact resistance. But no piece remained intact on that high-grade protective floor, which was as thick as 50 centimeters. For fear that Sang Hanshui would blow through the entire floor of the building, the training room would be patched up again about once every two days.


    Watching the Hit Man ravage the floor like mad every day with their own eyes, the card artisans felt chilled. Even Tai-shu Ying, who wasn''t afraid of anything, was rather afraid of Sang Hanshui at that point. No card artisans were sandbagging Sang Hanshui''s orders, the floor being their best example.


    Angie felt pleasantly surprised. Sang Hanshui''s power was far beyond what he had expected. Of course, he was quite happy that the old man could get such powerful help.


    The news about the third master recruiting an awesome card artisan had spread throughout the Tai-shu household. The strange thing was that the master of the household seemed to have nothing to say about it, while even the Jiang household was paying quite a bit of attention. They had seen first-hand how much power Sang Hanshui had. That part was clear from the number of times Jiang Ling had gone to the Tai-shu household.


    Chen Mu kept shut-up in the training room every day with too many things he needed to digest. What Caesar had pointed out weren''t just empty generalities. They were real, honest, detailed, full, and accurate pointers that were aimed at the current situation with the perception in his body.


    Chen Mu didn''t eat or sleep, making endless adjustments to his perception each day. He hadn''t even been able to look at the fantasy card Caesar had given him. Caesar''s pointers had only taken two hours, but those two hours had contained a huge amount of information.


    After five days'' time, Chen Mu finally completed his adjustments to his perception. When the final pitfall had been resolved, he couldn''t refrain from heaving a sigh of relief. Because it involved perception, he didn''t dare to be the least bit careless. His nerves had been tense throughout those five days.


    It was pitch-dark in the training room, and he had long forgotten the passing of time because he was so involved. As he slowly stood and opened his eyes, every finest bit of the room was completely present in his perception even though the room was utterly dark.


    He couldn''t keep a slight smile off his face. Those five days hadn''t been so long, but he felt like he had been completely reborn. After adjustment, his perception was incredibly docile and had nothing of its previous sense of recalcitrance. He felt incredible well-being in his whole body. The strength of his perception hadn''t increased by much, but Chen Mu really needed that little bit. The thing he could be certain of was that his perception would increase faster than before, and he could now play out the greatest capabilities of his perception to the greatest extent.


    The apparatus on his wrist suddenly sounded. Being worried that Bogner and the rest might look for him for something while he was alone, he would often set up the communications array.


    After he took the communication, Bogner and Xi Ping appeared on the screen. Once he saw their disposition, Chen Mu knew something had probably happened.


    "There''s something you need to decide, Boss." The one talking was Bogner, who was frowning as though he had encountered something quite difficult.


    Chen Mu was a bit surprised. He had turned over the base''s affairs to Bogner and Xi Ping when he had been about to leave, and the two of them had full authority to make decisions. Unlike Xi Ping, Bogner would undoubtedly have strong views. It was hard to see such an awkward expression on his face just then.


    "What''s wrong?" Chen Mu asked with curiosity.


    Bogner said, "The Luo family came looking for us today."


    "Wait a minute. The Luo family? Which Luo family?" Chen Mu couldn''t quite respond for a moment.


    "The Luo family from Thousand Lakes! Don''t you remember, Boss? It was that Miss Wei Wei, whom Bogner escorted before. She has already become the current master of the Luo household by now!" Xi Ping explained.


    "Right. That''s the one," Bogner continued with a serious expression. "The one who came this time was Miss Wei Wei''s diplomat and chief of bodyguards, Meng Jiezi."


    "Sure. I remember that woman; she was a little cold. What were they doing looking for me?" Chen Mu asked, puzzled.


    Bogner and Xi Ping looked at one another and hesitated before saying, "They''re hoping to get the card set technology!"


    "Card set technology?" Chen Mu was rather stunned, never having thought they would bring up such a request.


    Bogner explained, "Mmmm. When I escorted Miss Wei Wei last time, we went through a lot of battles. Although we were already being careful, Miss Wei Wei still discovered the card set technology. She has been busily competing for the position as master of the Luo household for a while. Then, not long ago, she fully consolidated that position. She hopes to be able to purchase the card set technology from us, and Meng Jiezi says they would like to offer a sufficient price."


    No wonder Bogner and Xi Ping both had such serious expressions. That was an extremely vexing problem.


    "The card set technology¡­" Chen Mu pondered. He suddenly lifted his head to ask, "What do the two of you think?"


    They had obviously discussed the matter earlier, and Bogner categorically said, "We can''t sell it! The card set technology is fundamental to us! If it were to get out, we would lose our biggest advantage, leaving us in a precarious situation. The Luo household is now far more powerful than we are, and we can''t sell. Once the Luo household gets hold of the card set technology, the first to be eliminated would certainly be us."


    Xi Ping continued on in the same wavelength. "But the current issue is that the Luo household is a lot more powerful than us. If we so directly refuse them, no one can predict whether they would subsequently mount an attack on us. Stepping back a little, I would say if they leak out information about the card set, we would become the fatty meat in the eyes of the large firms of the aristocratic families. The next time they come looking for us, though, it wouldn''t only be the Luo household; even Moon Frost Island could possibly get interested. When it comes to the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, we can''t expect them to maintain any position on the matter."


    The two of them were like the act of a front man and a player on stage. When they finished talking, they both shut their mouths and turned their gazes toward Chen Mu, awaiting his decision.


    Chen Mu was rubbing his forehead with an unbearable headache. Of course, the card set technology couldn''t be allowed to get out. Bogner was right; letting the card set technology get out would send them on their way to extinction. But Xi Ping''s concerns were also reasonable; even if the Luo family didn''t directly send someone to attack them, just their plotting against them in the dark would still be enough to make them miserable.


    After pondering for a long while, Chen Mu finally opened his mouth. "Of course we can''t give them the card set technology. Mmmm. We could sell part of the card sets to them. We eliminated the first generation of the card set last time, right? Just sell those to them."


    As Chen Mu thought about it, they had long since rendered the first-generation card set obsolete. Since they couldn''t get into a stiff relationship with the Luo family and couldn''t let the current card set technology leak out, the best choice would be to sell part of the card sets. When the Luo family got the card set, they were bound to research it. Chen Mu wasn''t actually worried on that point. He had always had plenty of confidence in the token card''s anti-cracking ability.


    Bogner and Xi Ping didn''t seem quite prepared for that idea of Chen Mu''s, but the two of them had discussed it and had also thought of a way.


    Xi Ping reminded Chen Mu, "We only have a few of the first-generation card sets left, Boss. I''m afraid those numbers could never satisfy the appetite of the Luo family."


    "Mmmm. Tell them we don''t have any ready goods, then." Chen Mu was thinking as he spoke. "Well, I could have Ru Qiu make a few of the first-generation card sets."


    "I''d be skeptical. The Luo family might know we''re using the second-generation card set. We''ve had a lot of actual combat these last few days, and some news of it inevitably leaked," Bogner said with a smirk.


    Chen Mu emphatically shook his head. "We can''t do anything about that. No matter what, we can''t turn over the card set technology to them. I also don''t have the time to make the second-generation card sets." Then, he had a sudden inspiration. "You could ask them if they could get gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. If they can, we could provide them with a certain quantity of the second-generation cards, or something else."


    If the Luo family could really get the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, he wouldn''t have to waste his time where he was anymore. Compared to how many uncertain factors and dangers he now faced, making some card sets would undoubtedly be worthwhile.


    Bogner and Xi Ping both nodded, also thinking it wasn''t a bad idea.


    Chen Mu said to Xi Ping, "I''m turning over the negotiations to you." As the so-called soft knife, Xi Ping was the true ace with negotiating.


    "Don''t worry, Boss," Xi Ping said with a calm expression.


    Bogner suddenly laughed and said, "Now that we''ve finished talking about the bad news, we''re going to give you some good news."


    "Oh, what''s the good news?" Chen Mu''s spirits were stirred.


    Bogner and Xi Ping looked at one another and laughed at the same time. "Xiaobo has left through the pass!"

 434 Xu Jia

    It was indeed good news for everyone that Xiaobo had made his passage. Xiaobo was the number-three ace at the base, and he had a lot more battle experience than Chen Mu. On top of that was the Wheel, which Chen Mu had gone to such great lengths to make. Xiaobo''s power had gone far beyond that of card artisans at his same level. The snow pit method had pushed him to the tipping point in one fell swoop. Being shut up in the ravine, one could imagine his power was bound to surge after coming out from that seclusion.


    "And the others?" Chen Mu asked, finding it a little strange. If Xiaobo had come out from seclusion, he ought to be connecting with him.


    Bogner said helplessly, "He''s already gone off looking for you. We had him watch the card play recording of your battle with Jin Yin and Dang Han, and the guy just charged off, deciding to look for you on the spot."


    "Right. We couldn''t stop him," Xi Ping said, laughing. "With this batch of card artisans constantly maturing, so long as we don''t incur some large-scale attack, there won''t likely be any problem at the base. And, he had long been worried about your safety, Boss. That battle with Jin Yin and Dang Han really scared everyone at the base."


    Xiaobo is coming to look for me? That news really surprised Chen Mu, as well as warmed him. He knew everyone was concerned for his safety.


    Soon to arrive, Xiaobo would undoubtedly increase their strength another step. Furthermore, since he had just achieved a breakthrough, finding out how high Xiaobo''s power had gotten was rather worth looking forward to.


    After finishing the call, Chen Mu started to research the fantasy card Caesar had given him. Although it was a one-star fantasy card with no power, if it were to get out, he was afraid countless people might bust heads for it.


    Line after line of text appeared on the screen. Since he wasn''t a card master, Caesar hadn''t adopted any high-level imaging technologies but had only used the most primitive and simple style¡ªtext! Still, having seen countless brilliant and realistic card plays, Chen Mu was deeply attracted to the primitive text.


    In the first part, Caesar just discoursed on how he had perfected the Materials Refinement Code. All of the things in that part were priceless jewels! Chen Mu was afraid that the Federation Comprehensive Academy, especially, would be willing to go to any expense to get the information in that section. After Caesar had perfected the Materials Refinement Code, no one else had. The Federation Comprehensive Academy had never stopped researching it, though they had never achieved any breakthroughs.


    The contents of that section, which were the object of countless people''s dreams, unfortunately didn''t have much value for Chen Mu. Even though his perception was quite similar to the perception that came from drilling the Materials Refinement Code, the principles of the two were quite different. If it were Caesar, perhaps he could make a comparison between them, drawing on each of their strengths to make up for weaknesses. Chen Mu, on the other hand, had been able to practice according to the mysterious card without going wrong, though it had been a matter of luck.


    He scanned the first section before jumping to the second section, which immediately gave his spirits a jolt. It was related to how to use perception. The Materials Refinement Code''s perception was completely different from other kinds of perception. Because of that, the way it was used was really offbeat. What was most valuable on it was Caesar''s innovative skill in deploying his perception.


    Seeing that, Chen Mu became still more certain that was when Caesar had seen the battle between him and Jin Yin and Dang Han and had thought of looking for him. Caesar''s style of deploying perception was quite similar to the skill Chen Mu had realized in the midst of that battle. But, by comparison, what Chen Mu had realized was only an embryonic form; Caesar had summed up a perfected set of advanced skills! Right up until the end, quite a few parts of that section were so obscure that he still had no way to completely understand them just then. Some of the high-level skills required really powerful perception to back them up before they could be used.


    If one were to say the battle with Jin Yin and Dang Han had opened a window for Chen Mu, that card of Caesar''s was tantamount to leading him down a wide-open road.


    Mesmerized by his reading and thinking, Chen Mu once again lost track of time. He was then interrupted and awakened by the Thousand Kilometer calling.


    There had already been a preliminary consensus in the negotiations between Xi Ping and his counterpart. The Luo family and the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm had officially formed an alliance. It had already been decided to sell all of the first-generation card sets, but what Chen Mu hadn''t expected was that the Luo family hadn''t brought up any further increase in the quantity of the first-generation card sets they would acquire. Chen Mu thought about it before quite understanding. Given the power of the Luo family, although they felt the first-generation card set was pretty good, it certainly couldn''t satisfy their needs. He was afraid the reason they had bought the first-generation card set was because they intended to research it. But the alliance still had plenty of benefit for Chen Mu and his side. That batch of first-generation card sets not only sold for a high price, but the Luo family also put in an order for a large batch of the purple fluorescent extract. According to the agreement, Chen Mu''s side could make use of the Luo Family Business Association''s sales network to sell the extract. At the same time, they could also get the Luo family''s intelligence support. For example, the Luo family would find some way to get the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus.


    Chen Mu was perfectly satisfied with the results, of course.


    He stayed in the training room continuously for more than ten days, only eating the most basic nutritional food to the point where his mouth lost all its taste. He firmly memorized all of the content on Caesar''s card before destroying it. The content he didn''t yet understand he would review slowly later on. But if he left that card on him and if it was lost, that would cause a lot of trouble.


    Thinking of that, he smiled bitterly for a while. Many things in his card wallet couldn''t be leaked out. Of course, no matter what, he couldn''t lose the mysterious card. And, if things like the Cross-Section of Styles and its legacy were to get out, that would be just awful! Then, there were those sealed-up faceted crystals, which were also coveted things. Without Chen Mu having realized it, his standing had gotten quite a bit wealthier.


    Pushing open the door, Chen Mu came out of the training room. All of the card artisans looked at him with curiosity. The White Commander being so enigmatic had become the hot topic over tea after meals. Everything about him was so mysterious that it was almost impossible for anyone to make any guesses. The Hit Man was so powerful, yet he was unusually respectful toward the White Commander. Moreover, the White Commander had remained alone in the training room without moving for more than ten days, which made people feel that he was still more mysterious.


    Quite a few people had seen the White Commander give a card to the Hit Man. Now, everyone was looking greedily at that card in the Hit Man''s hands. They could clearly see how madly the Hit Man was practicing with it. Wow! That is surely a five-star card!


    In their eyes, those four were no ordinary people. Starting from day one, the mysterious White Commander, the crazy Hit Man, the Black Ghost, and the Little Monkey had never shown their faces, almost as though they had disappeared.


    Chen Mu slowly ate the big meal he had just called for and would raise his head from time to time to watch the card artisans in the midst of their practice.


    The training plan Bogner had developed was extremely effective, after all. Objectively speaking, Sang Hanshui wasn''t as fit to be an instructor as Jiang Liang was. But that gang of card artisans was of a much higher quality than the ones Chen Mu had recruited, except for their sloppy discipline. Now straightened up, they looked entirely new. Sang Hanshui basically had nothing to manage other than to devote himself to adapting to the card he''d just gotten. However, because of how cold Chen Mu had been before, along with Sang Hanshui''s crazed attitude toward training plus the amazing power that card demonstrated, he scared those card artisans to death.


    Tai-shu Ying was sitting beside Chen Mu, holding her chin. She didn''t understand how the White Commander could be so immersed in eating such ordinary food.


    Tai-shu Ying opened her eyes wide and asked with an earnest look, "How long do they still have to train for, White Commander?"


    Chen Mu had changed his mask a little, most importantly around the mouth, so he could eat things more comfortably. He didn''t lift his head and said casually, "It will probably be quite a while yet."


    "Quite a while means how long in the end?" Tai-shu Ying was obviously dissatisfied with Chen Mu''s casual response. Off to the side, Angie looked at Chen Mu with some concern. He really wanted to remind the young miss that she should pay attention to her attitude toward the White Commander.


    "I can''t say." Chen Mu had already started to pick up the napkin to wipe his mouth. Just at that time, a beautiful lady walked over toward them.


    Tai-shu Ying just happened to see her and yelled out in some surprise, "Yikes! Sister Jia Jia, what are you doing here?"


    Angie also greeted her. "How are you, Secretary Xu?" That stunningly beautiful woman in front of him was Tai-shu Cheng''s top secretary, Xu Jia, who had Tai-shu Cheng''s full trust and a great relationship with Tai-shu Ying.


    Xu Jia first gave Angie a smiling nod and then rubbed Tai-shu Ying''s head. "I''ve heard little Ying has become quite capable lately!"


    "Indeed!" Tai-shu Ying proudly lifted her head for the praise.


    Chen Mu was looking at the girl, a little surprised. Tai-shu Ying was always bizarre, and her temperament was completely messed up. She was even arrogant toward Angie. In front of that woman, though, she became so well-behaved.


    Xu Jia''s gaze fell onto Chen Mu, and she said politely with a slight smile, "The third young master will attend a banquet this evening and hopes you might accompany him."


    "A banquet?"


    "Yes. It is being held by the first young master, and the second and third masters have both been invited to bring people. In addition, the next-generation leaders of all of the dynasties of Dongrui will attend." Xu Jia had chosen her words carefully.


    Chen Mu could do some guessing about the reason. After thinking about it a little, he nodded. "All right."


    Xu Jia glanced at Sang Hanshui, who was training like mad, and somewhat obscurely alerted Chen Mu. "There might be an entertainment program at the banquet, and the White Commander might wish to bring along his fine subordinates."


    Chen Mu became still clearer in his mind about what was going on, though he shook his head. "It will be fine if I go alone."


    Seeing how firm Chen Mu''s tone was, she wasted no more words and said with a slight smile, "The third master has prepared an X300 battle suit for you to wish you a happy evening."


    Chen Mu didn''t even know what an X300 battle suit was. But, seeing the envy in Angie''s face, he still knew the thing would be worth a fortune. He nodded to Xu Jia and said, "Thank for the third master''s kindness. Might I bother the miss to pass it along to my associate here? He''s the one in the midst of practice!"


    Xu Jia looked surprised; the X300 battle suit was the limited-release, top-end battle suit produced by the biggest battle suit manufacturer, the Happy Shell Company. It had extremely outstanding protective qualities, though its high price meant even famous card artisans wouldn''t be able to buy it. The most critical thing was that it was a limited production and would basically never be seen on the market.


    He gave it so easily to his subordinate, Xu Jia thought. It''s the X300!

 435 The Three Tai-shu Sons

    Chen Mu didn''t really know how good the X300 was, but he had a certain understanding of such things as battle suits. Most low-end battle suits were made from materials having high energy resistance, though such battle suits still had limited utility. By comparison, high-grade battle suits weren''t like clothes at all but were a type of card appliance. They could provide a card artisan with excellent defensive capabilities, unlike energy cloaks, which required the card artisan to be distracted by controlling them.


    Even though high-end battle suits could provide pretty good protection, however, they still had their shortcomings. Since they were card appliances and were used right against the body, they would inevitably have an impact on perception. The current battle suit technology had been progressing steadily, and that type of impact had been shrunken to an extremely low level. But such impact couldn''t be overlooked among card artisans with high-level requirements and with very sensitive perception, or among those who had very precise control over their perception.


    Chen Mu was one of those. Thus, he hadn''t hesitated to have the X300 sent to Sang Hanshui, who didn''t have high-level perceptual sensitivity and would have to take on the role of someone with good firepower. That was a role that would easily suffer attacks. The X300 would be perfectly suited for Sang Hanshui.


    Xu Jia quickly returned to normal and said with a slight smile, "As you wish."


    The X300 was sent over right away. It was like a stiff, deep blue vest with a light feel such that you almost couldn''t feel its weight. One would imagine that wearing it would have no impact on one''s movements.


    It was a card appliance, after all! Chen Mu''s gaze fell onto the back of the vest, where there was a card slot that should be for inserting power cards. He was no stranger to card appliances; otherwise, he wouldn''t have been able to make such card appliances as the separator and the Spinulosa Disk.


    Card appliances were an emerging field, and they were still in a comparatively early stage. Although card technology was already quite mature, card appliance technology needed more time to develop. Those two things¡ªtime and development¡ªwere essential for card appliances.


    Chen Mu suddenly thought of the underground city and the Moqi Clan. He thought of Alfonso and the rest. The machine-making skills of the Moqi Clan were a lot more advanced than those of the federation, and the machine-making technology displayed by the underground city was so high that it was almost unfathomable. He wondered whether Alfonso, Li Duhong, and the rest were all doing well¡­


    Chen Mu was staring blankly for a while with the X300 in his hands. Xu Jia noticed Chen Mu''s distraction and smiled to herself, assuming the White Commander was certainly feeling the pain of regret! While that thought was turning around in her brain, Chen Mu came back to his senses. He put down the X300 and told Tai-shu Ying to give it to Sang Hanshui.


    Who knew what Tai-shu Ying was muttering, but she still obediently picked up the X300 and walked over to Sang Hanshui, who was in the midst of practicing in the training room. She had always had some fear toward the White Commander.


    A strange flash went through Xu Jia''s eyes as she quietly stood by. "The banquet is at 8 o''clock this evening, and we''ll leave at 7:30. We''ll let you know when the time comes."


    "Okay." Chen Mu responded simply, without wasting words.


    * * *


    At the Dongrui Guards Division, Rong Ming was holding an invitation, lost in thought. The door was suddenly pushed open, and one of his subordinates burst in, full of anxious urgency.


    "I''ve found out, Boss! Tai-shu Cheng also got an invitation, and he specially ordered customized formal wear. It looks like he decided to attend tonight."


    "Mmmm." There was no visible emotion on Rong Ming''s square and imposing visage. "Got it."


    His subordinate left with a look of respect. Ever since the head had arrived at the guards division, their lives had been overturned. He still remembered before the head had come, when they had been treated with contempt, and the people from the guards division had gone out so tentatively.


    Rong Ming would ordinarily receive many such invitations, but he hardly ever attended. Given his identity and power, the banquets he would attend were mostly hosted by the master of a dynastic house himself; he didn''t have much patience for the second generation, like the one whose invitation he had in his hand.


    While the position as chief of the guards division didn''t amount to much, if that chief had perceptual strength that had reached level seven, no one could scorn him in the least. Those like the Tai-shu family wouldn''t even have a card artisan with perceptual strength at level seven. The other aristocratic families'' situations would be better than that of the Tai-shus, but not many could beat such an ace. An ace with level-seven perception had a lot of impact in Dongrui.


    He thought of those two on the street that day. He was still shuddering about that oppressively bloodthirsty murderous aura. A card artisan who could scare even him would have to really be terrifying! The guy wearing the white mask hadn''t demonstrated his power, but for him to have been able to abide that bitingly cold murderous aura with nothing seeming to happen, his power couldn''t be underestimated! He couldn''t tell what the relationship was between them, but it was certainly not a shallow one.


    He could never hide from that grade of an ace, so how would he dare to investigate him? Still, his luck had been good, and a card artisan on duty had just happened to see the white-masked card artisan return to Tai-shu Cheng''s building. He had then confirmed the news that Tai-shu Cheng had enlisted several card artisans and that the leader among them was amazingly that same mysterious white-masked card artisan.


    In the first instant, Rong Ming had put Tai-shu Cheng on his list of powerful contacts. Among the second generation on his list, he had previously only had the most powerful second-generation names from the Luo family and Jiang family, and he now added the name of Tai-shu Cheng. Compared to the Luos and the Jiangs, the Tai-shu family had declined beyond recognition. If it weren''t for that mysterious card artisan, they basically wouldn''t have qualified to get on his list.


    After confirming that Tai-shu Cheng would be attending the banquet, Rong Ming decided to attend himself. He was no stranger to the shady dealings among the second-generation sons from each of the dynasties. It looked like that evening might be rather interesting!


    * * *


    It was 7:30. Tai-shu Cheng looked at Chen Mu and couldn''t help but laugh as he said, "For the White Commander to have actually come himself surprises me a little."


    Tai-shu Cheng was wearing simple white formal wear without too much ornamentation except for the small Tai-shu insignia, which were visible on the sleeves of his shirt. But he was in rather good spirits, and the slight smile on his face made him look quite charming.


    Chen Mu cracked a rare joke. "The boss''s business is my business, of course."


    "Ha ha!" Tai-shu Cheng laughed hard hearing that. "I like what you''re saying!"


    His gaze then fell onto the card artisan guards, who were standing ramrod-straight, and he felt involuntarily stirred. "The White Commander is indeed a master! Within a couple of short weeks, that same gang now gives me an entirely different feeling. Tai-shu Cheng admires you! Ha ha. I am starting to look forward to the playoffs this year!"


    Chen Mu said modestly, "You flatter me, Boss."


    The guards had been personally selected by Sang Hanshui for the job of guarding that evening, and they were all card artisans who had performed well in the recent training. Rafael and Arnaldo were among them. They had hands-on experience with the White Commander''s savagery, so to speak, and not one among them would dare to be lax. They looked stern and stood absolutely straight.


    Tai-shu Cheng had become a lot warmer. "Come, White Commander. Let''s get on the shuttle!"


    It was a midsize luxury shuttle car, which could hold 80 people. Only Tai-shu Cheng, Chen Mu, and Xu Jia boarded. The rest of the card artisans spread out to guard the shuttle car in their midst, slowly flying toward the location of that evening''s banquet. There was relaxing, pleasant music playing inside the shuttle car.


    Tai-shu Cheng took a look at the relaxed Chen Mu and smiled while saying to Xu Jia, "You will be the White Commander''s escort this evening. It''s the first time for the White Commander to attend such a banquet, and he might not be familiar with all sorts of situations. Introduce him around."


    Xu Jia smiled sweetly toward Chen Mu. "It will be my honor! I am really looking forward to this evening''s banquet!"


    Chen Mu said with perfect courtesy, "The honor is mine!" Xu Jia was outstanding in both her appearance and her temperament, and her smile gave them the feeling that the inside of the shuttle car had been lit up.


    Xu Jia looked straight into Chen Mu''s eyes and said sincerely, "There are two people the White Commander has to pay attention to this evening. One is the oldest young master''s subordinate, Huo Jiang, and the other is the second young master''s subordinate, Ba Luojia. It''s unknown where Huo Jiang comes from, but he''s hot-tempered and ruthless and never shows any mercy in his attacks. Quite a few card artisans have fallen at his hands. The card he''s good at is called the Three Leaves, which can emit three different kinds of leaf-shaped energy bodies. Ba Luojia''s origins are utterly mysterious. Some people conjecture that he might be from the Bitter Solitude Temple. He hasn''t made many attacks and normally remains low-key while persevering with his penance. But Huo Jiang is utterly afraid of him, which makes his power obvious."


    Chen Mu listened earnestly. As he saw it, you couldn''t be too serious when dealing with enemies.


    Tai-shu Cheng then had something else to say. "The White Commander needn''t be too concerned as long as you don''t get beaten this evening."


    Chen Mu could only smile, not saying anything. From what Tai-shu Cheng had said, he could see he didn''t have that much confidence in the evening. He could also tell how overpowered Tai-shu Cheng was by his two older brothers in the capability of their forces.


    The shuttle car didn''t fly for very long and quickly arrived at the place where the evening''s banquet would be held. They hadn''t arrived early, with quite a few people having already arrived. It was an open-air affair, and there were groups of three or five to be seen all over the garden, everyone holding wine glasses. High in the sky were more than 100 card artisans floating about, having already forbidden passage anywhere near the area.


    Once they got off the shuttle car, Xu Jia took Chen Mu''s arm and saw his surprised gaze, which made her chuckle. "There''s no need to be nervous, White Commander."


    Hearing that, Chen Mu relaxed and mocked himself inwardly about how little he''d seen of the world, after all. He then contentedly surveyed his surroundings.


    "Ha! Old Cheng has arrived!" A tall, middle-aged man looking a lot like Tai-shu Cheng laughed heartily and came up to give Tai-shu Cheng a hug. Tai-shu Cheng maintained his slight smile and called out, "Big brother!"


    He was Tai-shu Cheng''s older brother, Tai-shu Zheng. Although the two looked alike, Tai-shu Zheng had broader shoulders, and his body was more robust.


    Seeing their two put-on faces, Chen Mu felt just how dull it all was. For brothers to get to that point was really sad! Chen Mu''s gaze was drawn to the man standing calmly by Tai-shu Zheng''s side. He was probably Huo Jiang.


    "So, this must be Old Cheng''s newly recruited White Commander!" Tai-shu Zheng said forthrightly as he scrutinized Chen Mu for a moment. He then said loudly in praise, "Not bad! Not bad! With the help of the White Commander, Old Cheng will be like a tiger sprouting wings, getting all that he wishes."


    With a twitch in his eye now, Tai-shu Cheng hadn''t lost his smiling face. "Big brother is joking. What wishes could your younger brother possibly have? In any case, while big brother is around, our Tai-shu family retrieving something of our former glory is just around the corner!"


    Just at that time, a neither male nor female voice inserted itself. "Tsk, tsk. What the third brother says is so true! It touches me deeply."


    A gloomy look flashed through both Tai-shu Zheng''s and Tai-shu Cheng''s eyes but immediately disappeared, the two of them putting on smiles at the same time, one hearty and one light.


    It was the second young master, Tai-shu Shen!

 436 The News

    The second young master, Tai-shu Shen, had a thin-looking face and eyes that were slightly sunken in, which was unsettling. His eyes were keen and sharp, though. Beside him stood a man who looked like a tower. Chen Mu guessed it was Ba Luojia, whose body was huge and strong. His eyes seemed to always be half-shut, and he was wearing simple clothes with his feet bare. No wonder someone would guess he had come from the Bitter Solitude Temple.


    The Bitter Solitude Temple was known for its harshness when it came to card artisan training. They trained really hard in secret and favored clothes that weren''t flashy. Among the Big Six, they were the most low-profile and secretive group.


    Ba Luojia opened his eyes abruptly and stared at Chen Mu. The white mask on Chen Mu''s face stood out among the group of people. Tai-shu Shen snorted coldly. "Such arrogance from third brother''s White Commander. We are not at a masquerade ball, so is there really a need to hide your appearance?"


    Tai-shu Cheng pretended to be startled. "Oh, was tonight''s party hosted by second brother? I thought big brother was the host!"


    A slight unpleasantness flashed through Tai-shu Zheng''s eyes, but he smiled as he spoke. "Ha ha. Could it be that third brother is dissatisfied with me? Come; why are we standing here? Let''s go get a drink!"


    Tai-shu Shen''s face turned expressionless, and his eyes bared incredible atrocity. He put on a false smile and said, "It seems our third brother has improved a lot. Ha ha!"


    Tai-shu Cheng was not irritated by that. He said calmly, "Jia Jia, this is the White Commander''s first time here. Please accompany him."


    "Okay," Xu Jia answered softly as she bowed to Tai-shu Zheng and Tai-shu Shen. She then took Chen Mu by his arm and left. Huo Jiang kept staring at Xu Jia''s back with a fiery gaze until the both of them were gone.


    Xu Jia leaned her body really close to Chen Mu''s arm in such a way that strangers would definitely believe they were a couple. Xu Jia, who was in her evening dress, looked absolutely gorgeous. Chen Mu, however, had not changed his clothes. The ordinary cloth he wore was especially garish at that high-class evening party. It didn''t help that he also wore a pure-white mask and that the two black lines zigzagging vertically across it were soul-stirring.


    They were an extremely contrasting group of two. By right, Chen Mu''s attire was nondescript, yet there was no feeling of discomfort from him. He was happy and contented, which made Xu Jia admire him.


    "How is it?" Xu Jia asked softly, moving her red lips while smiling and nodding to the people she knew.


    "Very boring." Chen Mu gave an objective evaluation. Actually, he wanted to add that his arm was rather tired. Xu Jia leaned herself so close to Chen Mu and held his arm so tightly that it made him uncomfortable. With his already-sharp six sensory inputs, the warmth and softness he felt on his arm and the light, elegant smell of the perfume the beauty was wearing had him extraordinarily nervous!


    His mind was blank. He had no idea what to do with the situation he was in, so he could only pretend to look calm. He didn''t dare to even slightly move the arm held by Xu Jia but instead decided to control his muscle, so his left arm could constantly be in a bent shape. However, to maintain such a precise position for a long time could consume a lot of his stamina. Chen Mu felt grateful that he had trained with Wei-ah. Otherwise, wouldn''t his arm have been gone by now?


    Xu Jia smiled softly. "This is indeed boring. That''s why I don''t attend this kind of dinner party often. Moreover, look at those men''s eyes; they want a piece of me so desperately."


    Upon seeing the beautiful smile on her face, he felt a little scared. A woman could smile so beautifully at you but could be so scornful of others around her at the same time. Chen Mu rationally refrained from replying.


    Xu Jia glanced at Chen Mu with a faint smile. Suddenly, she leaned herself toward Chen Mu''s ear and said, "You are a very honorable man. You took no advantage of me. But you can relax a little. Ha ha! No need to be this nervous."


    Her warm breath blew into Chen Mu''s ear and made him blush instantly. She had actually noticed his anxiousness. But he was not an inexperienced man, so he immediately relaxed after what she said. He smiled and said, "Okay. Can you not hold my hand so tightly? That way, I won''t be as tired."


    From an outsider''s perspective, those two were as close as a flirting couple.


    Xu Jia''s attractiveness was similar to that of a shining pearl. Unlike the other girls, who were just beautiful on the outside, what she had was the skillful knowledge of a professional female and the calm demeanor of a mature woman. Those traits attracted a lot of attention to her wherever she walked.


    Luo De and Jiang Yu were talking to one another by themselves. "These people are so annoying. They keep coming like a bunch of flies, and I can''t keep them away," Luo De said in disdain. He was the eldest son of the second generation of the Luo family and also the heir to be the next generation''s head of the household. As for Jiang Yu, he was the heir of Jiang family. They were undoubtedly the greatest influencers and had the most charisma among the second generation of Dongrui.


    Jiang Yu shook his wine gently and said casually, "You''re the one who dragged me to this sh***y dinner party. I don''t understand; what benefit did the useless Tai-shu Zheng give you that you would so eagerly attend this kind of rubbish event?"


    Luo De answered with smile, "No way. Isn''t the relationship between the Jiang family and the Tai-shu family quite good? Isn''t your younger sister good friends with the young girl from the Tai-shu family?"


    "What has it got to do with me?" Jiang Yu snorted coldly and said, "I don''t know what''s going through my dad''s mind to treat Tai-shu Cheng so well. To me, there''s no need to acknowledge any of the three guys in the Tai-shu family. The Tai-shu family must be dreaming if they are relying on these three to restore their heyday."


    "Ha ha. Indeed. What''s it got to do with us?" Luo De said. "Hey, I heard Tai-shu Cheng''s secretary, Xu Jia, might be here as well."


    "Xu Jia?" Jiang Yu looked at Luo De in suspicion. "Are you trying to nail her? I would advise you not to! Even Tai-shu Cheng didn''t nail her but instead treats her like a precious gem. You should stop thinking of even touching her."


    Luo De stared at Jiang Yu in dissatisfaction. "Am I that useless to you? I''m just here to see the Xu Jia who was said to be extremely gorgeous and elegant. By the way, you definitely won''t believe whom else Tai-shu Zheng invited! That guy must have cried and begged to come!"


    "Whom else did he invite?" Jiang Yu was intrigued by Luo De''s words.


    "Ha ha! I won''t say it. You will find out when the time comes." Luo De kept laughing at Jiang Yu.


    "This laughter of yours disgusts me!" Jiang Yu said with contempt.


    An energetic voice suddenly intervened. "What are you two talking about?"


    They were shocked. Who had dared to disturb them again? Just when they were about to get angry, they turned and saw who was standing in front of them and shoved their swear words immediately back into their throats.


    Luo De''s face was filled with smiles. "Uncle Rong, why are you here?"


    Jiang Yu also reacted and said respectfully, "Uncle Rong, you scared me."


    The two fearless fellows were scared when they saw Rong Ming. Actually, it was not just them; Tiger Rong was undoubtedly infamous among the second generation of Dongrui!


    There were so many naughty and stubborn people in the second generation of Dongrui that even their parents had constant migraines over them. One day, with someone''s suggestion, those heads of households had hired Rong Ming to discipline them. Rong Ming had simply agreed and had immediately enrolled them into the guards division. He trained them personally every day.


    Almost all of the kids of the second generation had suffered in the hands of Rong Ming. They hated that guards division chief as much as they were scared of him. Some of those who held grudges against him had gathered the card artisan guards in their houses, wanting to teach Rong Ming a lesson.


    Rong Ming had displayed his level-seven perception in that occasion. He had unsurprisingly given all of the card artisans hell and had sent them to jail for a few months. Even the second-generation kids who had gathered them had been brutally tortured for a few months. Their agonizing looks had made everyone in the second generation suck in a breath of cold air.


    Since then, these arrogant second-generation kids had started to obey Rong Ming wholeheartedly. The crime rate of Dongrui had also plummeted.


    Rong Ming''s attire was that of the guards division. He held a glass of red wine and smiled at those two. When Luo De and Jiang Yu saw his smile, they shuddered.


    "I saw you guys chatting happily, so I came here to join the fun."


    As the three gathered, the guests around them could not stop looking their way. Their gazes were filled with ferocity. Those three crucial people were actually attending that dinner party! Everyone was figuring out how to befriend them. If they could at least get to know one of them, they would have gained a lot tonight!


    Luo De''s reaction was quick as he answered, "Oh. We were wondering who was going to come tonight."


    "Yes! Yes!" Jiang Yu furiously nodded in agreement.


    A hint of suspicion flashed across Rong Ming''s eyes. He smiled as he said, "Oh. Tell me, then; who will be coming tonight?"


    Jiang Yu threw Luo De a look, to which the latter understood and said in a mysterious manner, "Uncle Rong, I made a great effort to find out this news. That old guy Tai-shu Zheng¡­" Realizing he was not supposed to say that, he glanced at Rong Ming, only relieved upon noticing how he did not seem to mind. "Tai-shu Zheng has made a lot of effort for tonight''s party!"


    Seeing how he was still keeping people guessing, Jiang Yu wanted so badly to slam his shoe into Luo De''s face. He scolded in his mind, You are playing with fire in front of Tiger Rong! Do you want to f****ng die?


    Rong Ming, however, didn''t seem to mind. Instead, he pretended to be interested and asked, "Whom did Tai-shu Zheng invite with his great effort?"


    Luo De smiled at Jiang Yu, who was breaking out in a cold sweat, and almost made him faint. Only then did Luo De lower his voice. "Ha ha! You won''t be able to guess! Tan Yumin! Tai-shu Zheng invited Tan Yumin!"


    "Oh¡­" Rong Ming was disappointed. He knew Tan Yumin; she was a famous celebrity. But why would a card artisan like him be interested in a small celebrity?


    Jiang Yu appeared sluggish with both of his eyes fixed. Luo De looked at Jiang Yu and couldn''t stop laughing at him. He had already known that would be Jiang Yu''s expression because Jiang Yu was Tan Yumin''s most hardcore fan!


    Jiang Yu then screeched in anger and grabbed Luo De by his collar. "Luo De, you pig! Why didn''t you tell me about such an important matter until now?" In his anger, Jiang Yu actually forgot Rong Ming was standing right there.


    "Ha ha! I just knew you couldn''t handle the overwhelming news!" Luo De said in a proud manner.


    While Luo De was busy flattering himself, he looked behind the shoulders of Jiang Yu. His expression then froze, and his whole body was rooted to the ground as if his soul had suddenly been taken out of him.

 437 Who is He?

    "What''s wrong?" Jiang Yu asked in slight surprise after regaining his composure and discovering Luo De''s anomaly. Rong Ming had also noticed the visitor. Thus, when he turned his face and saw the white mask, his heart couldn''t help but shake slightly!


    Sure enough, it was him!


    Jiang Yu also noticed the people behind him at that time. He suddenly realized why Luo De had such a smitten expression. Xu Jia''s temperament was one of the best in Dongrui, and Luo De had always liked such mature beauty.


    But who was the man beside Xu Jia? A trace of suspicion flashed through Jiang Yu''s heart. He knew that woman. As the chief secretary of Tai-shu Cheng, she had enough freedom. Her relationship with Tai-shu Cheng''s wife and daughter was excellent, which was difficult to achieve. He''d never heard of her viewing anyone with special respect, so who was the man next to her?


    He calmed down when he realized the other party had appeared in public with a mask. It was impolite to wear a mask at that kind of dinner, but the other party still insisted on it, which was somewhat interesting.


    He glanced at Luo De, who had completely lost his earlier oafish look and had returned to his usual lazy appearance. If one was deceived by his lazy appearance, the end would be absolutely miserable; that had been verified numerous times. How could those two be such simple-minded characters if they were the chosen heirs?


    Xu Jia whispered in Chen Mu''s ear, "Do you see those three? They were supposed to be the most important guests at the party tonight. The fatter one is Luo De, the second-generation heir of the Luo family."


    "Luo family?" Chen Mu was shocked. "Thousand Lakes'' Luo family?"


    Xu Jia smiled and lowered her voice. "Of course not. The Luo family in Thousand Lakes is a really magnificent family. Dongrui''s Luo family should be regarded as a sideline of the Thousand Lakes Luo family. It seems there is still some contact between the two sides. Dongrui''s Luo family is the strongest household in Dongrui, followed by the Jiang family. That slightly skinny one over there is Jiang Yu. You''ve met his sister, Jiang Ling. The Jiang family is second only to Dongrui''s Luo family. It is amazing they are here tonight!"


    Chen Mu listened carefully. He knew small details may sometimes determine a situation. Xu Jia was familiar with the upper circle of Dongrui and thus spoke frankly in measured tones. "See that man in the guards division uniform? He''s Rong Ming, director of the guards division. Don''t underestimate him. He''s a master with level-seven perceptual strength!"


    "Oh!" Chen Mu was suddenly interested. A perception of level seven could definitely classify one as a master. Notably, even Sang Hanshui''s perception was slightly less than level seven, and Chen Mu''s was even worse. Perception was not necessarily strong, but for perception to reach level seven would mean it was quite strong! To reach that level, the master''s talent, opportunity, and diligence were indispensable. That was enough to attract Chen Mu''s respect. In that age of power, the strong always won respect.


    "Let''s go over to say hello." It was rare for Chen Mu to speak.


    "Say hello?" Xu Jia almost stopped short when she heard those words. Only by Chen Mu''s hand did she not stumble. When she regained her balance, she said in an unhappy tone, "Our rank is not enough, and he wouldn''t pay attention to us even if we went. Even if the third young master came, he may still not give face."


    "Is there such a thing?" Chen Mu was somewhat incomprehensible; he saw the guests with wine glasses looking as if they could chat with anyone for a long time.


    "Yes." Xu Jia explained in a low voice, "At a dinner like this, there are many guests and classes. Everyone has their own circle. Showing good will to guests who are too senior to you will only get the cold shoulder of others. Do you want to be looked down upon by others?"


    "No." Chen Mu immediately dispelled the idea.


    "I don''t want to, either." Xu Jia glanced at Chen Mu. "Here. Let''s walk toward the right."


    Before they could change directions, however, Rong Ming strode toward them with a glass of red wine. Even before arriving in front of them, Rong Ming''s voice rang in their ears. "Ha ha! How can Miss Xu leave as soon as she sees us? Are we so disgusting?"


    The two didn''t respond until Xu Jia obediently smiled and said, "Director Rong''s words make me afraid. I saw Director Rong talking happily with Young Master Jiang and Young Master Luo, so I did not dare to disturb you."


    "It''s rare to see Miss Xu. It''s a pleasure to meet you!" Rong Ming made a serious salute before turning to face Chen Mu, smiling and raising his glass as a sign. "This gentleman looks unfamiliar. How am I to address you?"


    Chen Mu raised his glass and said, "My surname is Bai. I am the chief guard of Mr. Tai-shu Cheng."


    Rong Ming expressed his surprise. "I''ve heard the third young master has recruited a top-notch chief guard. Turns out it''s Brother Bai! Nice to meet you! I am Sergeant Rong Ming."


    "Nice to meet you!"


    Luo De and Jiang Yu had also come along. The two of them looked at each other and saw the doubt in each other''s eyes. Who was Tiger Rong? He was always unkind to people and looked at them differently but also a little coldly. But he was so earnest toward the masked man! Brother Bai¡ªhe even addressed the other as brother? They had never seen Rong Ming so polite, and doubt arose in their hearts at the same time. What was the origin of that fellow?


    "Young Master Jiang and Young Master Luo!" When Xu Jia saw the two men, she saluted them with neither overbearance nor servitude. Naturally, the two guys didn''t want to lose their cool in front of a beautiful girl. They bowed politely as they said, "Miss Xu." Luo De even praised, "Miss Xu''s demeanor has overshadowed the whole venue!"


    Xu Jia pursed her lips and smiled. "I really don''t deserve so much praise from Young Master Luo."


    Jiang Yu didn''t know why Rong Ming showed such enthusiasm, but he believed there must be some reason for it. Was there something wrong with Chief Bai? Did Rong Ming happen to know his identity?


    While his thoughts were running, his face was already full of smiles. "When my little sister came back, she kept boasting about how powerful Chief Bai was. Now that I have seen you, you really have a unique temperament that did not fade away among the crowd."


    Chen Mu pointed at his mask and his incompatible clothes and said, "If you were referring to this and this, maybe I cannot be considered as lost in the crowd."


    The group immediately burst into laughter.


    Luo De was not happy with Chen Mu, but it was because he was Xu Jia''s escort, of course. But Chen Mu''s half-ridiculous reply made him feel he was not so annoying. He himself was not the kind of mediocre material who would be impulsive because of beautiful women. At that time, he also regained his calm and went up to him and said, "Didn''t the ancient philosophers say that? Independence is a virtue!"


    Jiang Yu stared at Luo De innocently and said, "No wonder I always thought you were so virtuous!"


    There was another burst of laughter from everyone.


    Xu Jia was always smiling. In her heart, though, she felt that everything in front of her was so weird. It was reasonable to say a big shot like Rong Ming would never waste his time on small fry like them. Those people followed a realistic and utilitarian principle in their communication, and the people they associated with were always characters of value in their eyes.


    They had come for Chief Bai. That was one point she could easily notice. Even Luo De, though slightly lost in his first glance toward her, had continued to place his focus on Chief Bai in the subsequent conversation. She was slightly confused as to whether the man beside her was really worth their association.


    She noticed that many people at a distance had begun to take note of what was happening there, and they seemed to be discussing it in low voices. In that sensitive circle, if what was happening fell into the eyes of the people who cared, it would cause a lot of changes.


    Beside her, Chief Bai seemed to not have the slightest timidity or nervousness but instead was chatting with Rong Ming and the rest leisurely. Even she could feel his casual and relaxed attitude, which shocked her! That attitude was not unknown to her, as it would only appear from those who were in high positions or had come from a genuinely old aristocratic family. Because they had enough trump cards, no fear, and not many scruples, they could be so calm and casual.


    Only then did Xu Jia notice a question she had been neglecting. What was the real identity of Chief Bai? His identity had always been a mystery; even his nickname had been given by his staff''s card repairer. Who knew he would use the nickname as his own and without the slightest explanation for it? That attitude was just like the way he was speaking¡ªcasual and unhurried! How could he be so laid back?


    Xu Jia felt like her mind was a mess. Numerous questions came up, and everything seemed to be complicated and confusing. For example, she still didn''t understand why Rong Ming would look at Chief Bai differently. Even the arm in her hand seemed to have become unreal, like an illusory fog.


    It was almost time for the banquet to officially begin, which meant the chat was coming to an end. Xu Jia felt relieved for no reason. There were too many things she could not see through, which made her feel pressured.


    Rong Ming suddenly looked solemn and said, "In a few days, it will be my daughter''s birthday. I wonder if Rong Ming has the honor to invite Brother Bai to attend."


    The others fell silent at once. The amount of astonishment in their hearts had accumulated to its maximum. How could they not be surprised when they heard such a formal invitation from Rong Ming, who had not even invited Jiang Yu and Luo De yet? Xu Jia was so shocked that she nearly lost her voice. Rong Ming''s invitation was of such magnitude that she couldn''t wrap her mind around it. She was certain that when the time came, even the third young master would not be qualified to attend the party.


    Seeing Rong Ming''s solemn expression, Chen Mu also nodded earnestly. "When the time comes, I will definitely thank you for your hospitality!"


    Rong Ming''s face beamed with joy. "Good! I like such refreshing people like Brother Bai! The invitation will be delivered to Brother Bai tomorrow morning! Oh, our time is almost up. We should give some face to the master of the house as well. Let''s go see Tan Yumin, whom Jiang Yu has always been thinking about."


    There was another burst of laughter from the group. They then went to the meeting hall together. The eyes of the crowd gathered around Chen Mu and Xu Jia and were full of surprise, curiosity, envy, fervor, and speculation¡­


    Jiang Yu and Luo De lagged behind. They looked at each other, and both saw the dignity and vigilance in the other''s eyes.


    Where had that Chief Bai come from?

 438 Tan Yumin

    It was an open-air banquet set at a corridor pavilion beside the lake. The corridor pavilion extended from the side all the way to the middle of the lake, and its floor was made of transparent glass. One could see the lake underneath clearly and could occasionally see one or two crimson-red koi swimming past. Wind chimes hung at the corners of the modillions around the structure. When the wind blew across the lake and brushed the chimes, the fragmented yet clean and clear noise was rather enchanting.


    Long tables throughout the corridor pavilion held various red wines and mouth-watering dishes from one end to the other. The servants were moving around, ushering the guests to their respective seats.


    "This banquet is so boring. Brother White, why don''t we sit together? It''s easier to pass the time that way," Rong Ming said with a smile.


    Xu Jia''s heart skipped a beat. She couldn''t figure out why Rong Ming was especially interested in the White Commander.


    Chen Mu thought Rong Ming was a decent person. Besides, he carried an interesting conversation. Hence, he smiled and nodded without much contemplation. "Sure."


    Rong Ming turned around and said to the servant, "Move Mr. White''s and Miss Xu''s seats to my side."


    The two seats had initially belonged to Luo De and Jiang Yu. But they were merely smiling and not bothered by the arrangement at all, so they willingly emptied the two seats.


    The servant appeared to be in a difficult position. However, he had been reminded earlier to not offend the master in front of him no matter what happened. He briefly hesitated before deciding to follow Rong Ming''s order. He was not a stupid man, though, and immediately ordered someone else to send the news. The other person quickly ran to Tai-shu Zheng''s side and whispered into his ear.


    "Really? Lord Rong really said so?" Tai-shu Zheng''s face turned solemn. That was not a good sign for him. The White Commander was the third brother''s underling. Rong Ming paid special attention to him. It would be terrible if that affected his attitude toward Tai-shu Cheng.


    "Yes. I was right beside them and heard it with my own ears. It''s no mistake," the servant explained hurriedly.


    "I got it. You can return to your place." Tai-shu Zheng''s gaze scanned the crowd to search for the White Commander, who was engaging in a conversation with Rong Ming. They appeared to have a close relationship. A slight chill gleamed in Tai-shu Zheng''s eyes and spread to his smile.


    Xu Jia sat there uncomfortably. Because of Rong Ming''s request, she had to sit beside him with the White Commander. Rong Ming owned a status that no one could have in that banquet. He was seated at the first seat on the right. Beside him was Chen Mu, who took the second seat on the right. In a banquet like that, the seating arrangement was essential. When the guests saw a masked man sitting beside Rong Ming, they were stunned. They were also quite curious and asked about the origin of the masked man. The man must have been quite honorable to be able to take the second seat.


    Tai-shu Zheng also appeared to be surprised. He was sitting in the third seat on the left. Seeing how shocked Tai-shu Shen was, Xu Jia could only reply with an awkward grin. Tai-shu Shen''s eyes lingered on Chen Mu as his face darkened a shade.


    Chen Mu was not bothered by how the others looked at him. Even though he hadn''t joined any exclusive banquets before, he had come in contact with large groups of VIPs, so he wasn''t the slightest bit flustered. However, the feeling of being peeped at was not a pleasant one.


    "To be honest, I despise banquets the most. They are very dull," Rong Ming said nonchalantly.


    Chen Mu asked, "Then, why did you join?"


    Hearing that, Rong Ming remained silent while he thought to himself, I came for you, prick. He couldn''t say that out loud, of course, and mumbled, "I heard Tan Yumin was coming, so I merely came for the show."


    Xu Jia gave a faint laugh and said purposefully, "Ha ha. I didn''t expect Lord Rong to also be interested in Miss Tan!"


    Rong Ming kept a straight face as he replied, "I''m but an old, clumsy man. I have no knowledge about things like this. However, my daughter favors Miss Tan a lot. Since she couldn''t be here tonight, she would not stop bugging me; she insisted that I invite Miss Tan to her birthday celebration. When it comes to my daughter, I''m always defeated."


    Xu Jia laughed softly with her mouth covered. "I''m afraid the same scenario would happen if I had a father like you."


    "Tan Yumin¡­" Chen Mu remembered that name. Copper had been one of her top fans. However, Tan Yumin had only been well-known in the ordinary residential districts. He hadn''t expected her to have expanded her career to the Heavenly Drum Village District. Her advancement was impressive.


    Rong Ming asked curiously, "Is Brother White interested in her too?"


    "Me?" Chen Mu shook his head. "I''m not familiar with her. I merely have a good friend who is really into her."


    The long table was not wide, so both sides were quite close to each other. When Tai-shu Cheng heard Rong Ming addressing Chen Mu as Brother White, he looked aghast. Meanwhile, Tai-shu Shen''s expression turned even more sour, and Tai-shu Zheng''s was oblivious since he was greeting the guests.


    The guests entered the hall one after the other. After about ten minutes of rowdiness, the noises in the long corridor gradually subsided. At that moment, Tai-shu Zheng returned to his seat, which was the main seat on the left. He shot a glance at Chen Mu, who was sitting beside Rong Ming, before his gaze returned to the crowd. With a wide grin, he raised the glass of wine in front of him.


    "Ladies and gentlemen, our banquet tonight is about to begin. First of all, I''d like to thank Lord Rong Ming for taking time off from his busy schedule to be present in my humble home. I''m extremely honored! The presence of Young Master Jiang and Young Master Luo is also a rare sight! Those who have a daughter back home should not miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"


    Laughter spread throughout the corridor pavilion. Jiang Yu and Luo De laughed along while shaking their heads. Luo De''s eyes would occasionally fall on Xu Jia.


    Tai-shu Zheng applauded abruptly as he boomed, "Tonight, we have another honorable guest besides Lord Rong Ming, Young Master Jiang, and Young Master Luo! Ladies and gentlemen, please refrain from screaming out of excitement!" He then ordered, "Lights out!"


    The lights went out at once, and the corridor pavilion was pitch-black. The guests knew something was up. The audience held their breath in anticipation.


    An ethereal voice came from the middle of the lake. The audience could vaguely see a tiny boat floating there.


    "One life, one song,


    Awaiting your harmonization after the lavish decorations wore off,


    Quietly,


    The dye of a flower mentioned in the ancient scrolls,


    Saying that it can draw the color of the wind in spring,


    Ages flow into a river in the poems and songs,


    Slowly, floating,


    Oh, how many drops of water,


    Can engrave the precious time?


    The wind that blows for a thousand years,


    Separates the clouds and brings them back together.


    Who said a loss is always beautiful?"


    Even after the song ended, the beautiful voice lingered, and the audience couldn''t get enough of the performance. Suddenly, a woman shrieked, "Ah! Tan Yumin! That''s Tan Yumin!" The cry was like starting a spark in a barrel of gunpowder. The scene turned into mayhem as some of the guests couldn''t help but stand up to cheer and applaud. Jiang Yu, who appeared to be a serious and mature man, surprisingly stood on top of the stool. He balanced on his toes to stare right at the boat in the middle of the lake. Luo De, too, was cheering beside him. Meanwhile, Xu Jia was unable to take her eyes off of the boat in her curiosity. Chen Mu and Rong Ming exchanged glances and smiled.


    Tai-shu Zheng was satisfied with the crowd cheering in front of him. He''d spent a lot of effort to invite Miss Tan Yumin to perform at the banquet. From the looks of it, it had been worth it!


    At that moment, the lights turned back on. Shortly, the corridor pavilion was bright again, and the little boat had stopped next to it. A gorgeous lady in a blue evening gown slowly walked out of the boat and stepped into the corridor pavilion.


    Chen Mu was mesmerized by her beauty! The evening gown was not extravagant, but it didn''t conceal her stunning face. When she appeared, the entire corridor pavilion went silent. She greeted the audience with a faint smile, and that alone captivated everyone''s hearts. At that moment, she stole the spotlight, and all gazes were set upon her!


    There was a hint of admiration in Xu Jia''s gaze. She had always been an attractive woman who carried a strong aura. Oddly enough, she didn''t feel the slightest envy now that she had met another woman who shone brighter than her. Even other women couldn''t resist her charm. Tan Yumin was definitely the undefeatable enchantress!


    At that point, Tai-shu Zheng immediately stood up and bowed to Tan Yumin. "Miss Tan, please take a seat!"


    A sudden realization hit the crowd. The sole seat at the center had actually been left for Miss Tan Yumin. She made a polite bow to the audience before sitting down gracefully.


    Chen Mu''s eyes were fixated on Tan Yumin''s face as he wondered what kind of a lady she was for a crowd to be so charmed by her! Even Chen Mu was touched by her beauty. His resistance toward pretty women had always been strong. At that moment, he finally understood why the woman before him had so many admirers! It was obvious why Copper would be her top fan!


    Thinking about Copper, he couldn''t help but feel depressed. His emotion bottomed out abruptly, and Tan Yumin''s charm seemed to have subsided in his eyes. He could no longer admire her the same way as before.


    Xu Jia was always sensitive to the emotions of the people who surrounded her. She clearly felt Chen Mu''s sudden change of emotion, and a hint of curiosity beamed through her eyes. Everyone else in the room was extremely excited; even Jiang Yu was breathing heavily. But why was the White Commander the only one who appeared to be in distress? Xu Jia was a thoughtful and tactful person; it would be foolish to raise the question now.


    Tan Yumin''s pretty eyes scanned the crowd before her, and she had a charming smile on her face. She understood clearly that the closer a person was sitting to her, the more reputable the person was.


    Tai-shu Zheng stood up once again and clapped as he announced, "My dear guests, let''s give a toast to our beautiful Miss Tan Yumin!"


    Everyone in the hall raised their wine glasses and stood up. "Cheers!" The toast was also to officiate the starting of the banquet.


    Tan Yumin''s snow-like cheek blushed, possibly because of the glass of red wine. She now seemed to be even more appealing and captivating. She gently parted her red lips as she said softly, "Mr. Zheng, you have yet to introduce Yumin to the guests!"


    Tai-shu Zheng laughed heartily. "My mistake." He extended his hand to point at Rong Ming, who was sitting at the seat on the right. "This is the chief of the Dongrui Guards Division, Lord Rong Ming! He is a master with level-seven perception!"


    Tan Yumin showed faint surprise as she stood up and said, "Yumin greets Lord Rong Ming!"


    "Miss Tan, you''ve overpraised. My daughter is your top fan. I''ll have to ask for Miss Tan''s autograph later, so I can report to my daughter! Ha ha!" Rong Ming grinned politely.


    "That''s Yumin''s honor!" Tan Yumin still had a slight smile on her face.


    At that moment, Tai-shu Zheng''s hand shifted to Chen Mu''s direction. His hand gesture turned stiff, as did his expression.


    Having been to all sorts of events and functions, Tan Yumin was sensitive to the change of others'' emotions. Although Tai-shu Zheng''s awkwardness was somewhat subtle, she could see it clearly.


    Her gaze followed Tai-shu Zheng''s hand and landed on Chen Mu''s face.

 439 The Former Glory

    A mask? Tan Yumin was astonished, and curiosity filled her pretty eyes. Who could still wear a mask at such an occasion?


    Tai-shu Shen giggled and said in an unnatural way, "The White Commander is the new general manager of guards recruited by my third brother."


    Tan Yumin''s doubts didn''t reduce but instead increased; why would a general manager of guards remain seated there with a mask on his face? That puzzled her. No matter how, though, she was an exquisite person. There was still a smile on her face, and she didn''t lack etiquette. "Nice to meet you, White Commander!"


    "You''re being polite, Miss Tan," Chen Mu replied. A minute ago, he had inadvertently thought of Copper, causing him to become worried. Tan Yumin''s charm seemed to be faded in his eyes. Having great insight, he stayed calm.


    Chen Mu was just a brief interlude. Tan Yumin''s sight fell onto Xu Jia, who was standing beside Chen Mu. She immediately noticed Xu Jia''s beauty. "Sister is so beautiful! Meeting with a gorgeous lady would make this entire journey worthwhile!" The men in the room looked at each other with bitter smiles, but that didn''t disgust them.


    Xu Jia smiled. "Big sister''s beauty is incomparable to mine; it is really disappointing!" Both of them came into their topic earnestly.


    "The relationship between sister and the White Commander is¡­?" Tan Yumin asked with temptation. Xu Jia''s elegance was extraordinary among the women she had seen before. After learning she was the chief secretary of Tai-shu Cheng, she couldn''t help but glance at Chen Mu.


    Xu Jia replied wisely, "I am the female companion of the White Commander tonight."


    Tan Yumin smiled upon understanding the words. "The third young master is definitely capable!" Her evaluation of Tai-shu Cheng secretly became better. In order to win over the girl''s heart for the White Commander, Tai-shu Cheng would definitely be willing to set them up. That wouldn''t be something an ordinary man could do. Moreover, it would be a pleasure and an honor for him to do something for a lady with striking features and a rich mind like Xu Jia.


    Tai-shu Shen snorted, and his face turned gloomy. Tai-shu Zheng''s face was somewhat unnatural. He rolled his eyes while teasing, "There is one thing Miss Tan does not know. Among the three brothers, the third brother is the most capable. It is to be assumed he will inherit the Tai-shu family in the future."


    No one would expel the compliments coming from a lady, especially from such a peerless beauty like Tan Yumin. Although Tai-shu Cheng tried to keep himself calm, he couldn''t hide his admiration toward her. Throughout all those years, he was the one who had suffered from the most pressure among the three brothers in his family. Therefore, he''d hardly had a chance to hold his head high.


    He could not stop himself from stealing a look at Chen Mu. If it wasn''t for the promise he''d made with Chen Mu, he might get himself defeated.


    However, based on Tai-shu Cheng''s experience, Tai-shu Zheng was not showing any good intention. He immediately said, "Big brother''s words are awesome! We have big brother and second brother in the family; therefore, it would be enough for me to just fulfill my duties. The future of the Tai-shu family will still fall on the two brothers."


    Tai-shu Shen''s face became slightly calmer, but Tai-shu Zheng didn''t let him go so easily. "What are you worrying about? The third brother has got the White Commander to help him. Other than the extreme strongman Master Rong, I honestly couldn''t think of any other possible threat to the White Commander, the general manager of Dongrui."


    After Tai-shu Shen finished his words, there came a few snorting sounds from the card artisans in the room. On such occasions, nobody would take the chance to be ignored in front of Miss Tan Yumin.


    Huo Jiang sneered. Some card artisans even stared at Chen Mu with a provocative look. Ba Luojia was the only one half-squinting, as if the conversation had nothing to do with him. Rong Ming still maintained his smile with nothing to explain.


    Cold sweat suddenly appeared on Tai-shu Cheng''s forehead. Tai-shu Zheng''s words had pushed the White Commander into being the public enemy. Now, not only had Huo Jiang''s eyes become unfriendly, but some of the guards brought by Jiang Yu and Luo De were unhappy.


    Xu Jia had sensed something was wrong. It was nothing to fight between Huo Jiang and Ba Luojia. If all the card artisans were being offended, though, the situation would be worse. After realizing Chen Mu didn''t respond to her, she tried to forcefully take the topic over. "First young master''s words could hardly convince me. Let''s get straight to the point. Mr. Huo Jiang, who is under your command, is a warrior who has never lost a war in his life, which makes him a true warrior."


    Huo Jiang looked pleased. He picked up his wine glass and told Xu Jia, "I appreciate your compliment very much, Miss Xu. I felt ashamed and therefore could only serve this first." He proceeded to finish his wine upon ending his words.


    Xu Jia also took a sip of wine in return. She said, "Mr. Ba Luojia, servant of the second young master, has an unfathomable mind. Whenever you take over a task, it definitely reflects outstanding results. You are the true powerhouse!"


    Ba Luojia opened his eyes and smiled at Xu Jia. "Such a wonderful compliment, Miss Xu." He then closed his eyes once again.


    Xu Jia turned her words around. "Young Master Luo and Young Master Jiang were also being forgotten. All of their card artisans were either battle-scarred veterans or elite players who were above the top levels."


    Upon hearing the compliment from such a beautiful woman, those card artisans looked proud-chested and excited.


    Xu Jia could easily resolve a crisis. Chen Mu was amazed by her skills. He wished to learn those tricks from her, but it would be tough for him because he clearly knew his capabilities. There were so many beautiful women out there, but women with beauty and intelligence were hard to come by. The atmosphere of the banquet had become warmer with only a few words.


    Tai-shu Shen, who was gloomy, finally spoke out for the first time. "Speaking of masters, you might have forgotten someone."


    As soon as he spoke, the gloom on his face immediately faded, revealing a few worldly styles. Everyone was immediately hooked. Rong Ming asked curiously, "May I know the name of the master mentioned by the second young master?"


    While Rong Ming was asking, Tai-shu Shen didn''t dare to delay but replied immediately, "You can ask Miss Tan about this. There is a well-known federation master with her!"


    Rong Ming was surprised. He turned to Tan Yumin and said, "I have no idea. May I know whom you''re speaking of?"


    Tan Yumin smiled. "His surname is Mei, followed by single character, ''Ji.''"


    "Mei Ji!" Rong Ming said with a sigh of relief. "Is it Senior Mei Ji from Star Academy?"


    "Yes."


    "Senior Mei Ji¡­" Rong Ming was shocked.


    Jiang Yu couldn''t help but interrupt. "It seems like Uncle Rong is not a fan of Miss Tan. How could you not know about it? This is no longer news. Senior Mei Ji has been accompanying Miss Tan since three years ago. Senior Mei Ji also set up a Yu Defensive Force for Miss Tan. Rumor has it that the card artisans inside could be personally guided by Senior Mei Ji."


    Star Academy! Chen Mu was triggered upon hearing the sensitive word. Judging from Rong Ming''s reaction, Chen Mu figured Mei Ji should be a card artisan who was better and stronger than Rong Ming.


    As expected, Rong Ming couldn''t hide his deep emotion. "It''s a shame I did not know anything about the arrival of Senior Mei Ji. I will definitely visit him some other day!"


    Tan Yumin shook her head apologetically. "I''m afraid that won''t be be happening. I''m sorry to let you down, Master Rong. Uncle Mei preferred to stay alone and would never accept anyone''s visit." It was a refusal, but Tan Yumin was trying to explain in a tactful way that allowed them to feel comfortable even though their request was rejected.


    Rong Ming quickly replied, "I was being out of line!" He started to reminisce. "This generation may not be familiar with Senior Mei''s legacy. When I was a child, Senior Mei''s reputation in Star Academy was well-known by everyone. He was also one of the rarest self-taught card artisans in history who had never stepped into the academy. Star Academy was depending on Senior Mei to raise their reputation. He had the potential to become the next principal of Star Academy, but he gave up. There were many heroes back then."


    Everyone held their breath and listened to Rong Ming. That historical deed was special for them.


    "At that time, Pavchek and Caesar were in the Federation Comprehensive Academy. Pavchek was the teacher of Tang Hanpei, the former principal of the Federation Comprehensive Academy. Caesar was the greatest killer of the century; he had taken countless lives. Master Jia Yingxia was at Moon Frost Island. I am not going to mention more about her. The master of the Central Repository of the Classics was at his peak during the year, and the world was under his control. However, a rookie from Desert Camp named Gu Li was born. He managed to conquer the Northern District on his own, and no one could compete with him. Gu Li was the former chief instructor of Desert Camp. The Bitter Solitude Temple was run by Yingchen. Senior Yingchen was an eccentric character and wasn''t easily understood. Star Academy was run by Senior Mei Ji, and his junior is the head of Star Academy today."


    Everyone looked surprised. There were many characters with ultimate influence in the federation. They had finally realized that Rong Ming''s reverence was beyond words.


    Upon hearing Rong Ming mention Caesar, Chen Mu pricked up his ears. He knew little about Caesar; therefore, it would be tougher for him to acquire information in that area. Almost all of the information he''d found was indicating that Caesar could be an insane murderer.


    He had scanned through the card Caesar had given him and had memorized the notes throughout. Through his act, it seemed Caesar had been preparing the card for a long time and hadn''t given it to Chen Mu on a whim. The tips on it were detailed, and he had also written some lessons and experience. To a certain extent, Chen Mu had somewhat inherited Caesar''s legacy. Therefore, he intended to know more about his history. It was disappointing that Rong Ming had only mentioned Caesar in one sentence.


    However, Mei Ji was able to share the same level with Caesar. He was definitely not someone Chen Mu could compete with. Fortunately, he was holding the identity of Qiao Yuan, which made him a little less worried.


    A top-ranking card artisan was right beside them. Some card artisans were excited just thinking about it. Fortunately, Tan Yumin was used to that kind of scene. She skillfully shifted to another topic and managed to bring the atmosphere of the banquet back to normal.


    "Is Miss Tan planning to stay in Dongrui for the long or short term?" Luo De asked. Almost every man there wanted to know the same thing, except for Chen Mu, who looked indifferent.


    Tan Yumin was an extremely sensitive woman. Chen Mu''s cold reaction had caught her attention and made her inevitably pay more attention to him. In addition, Xu Jia had also noticed Chen Mu''s disinterested behavior.


    Upon seeing Chen Mu pick up the wine glass and sip slowly, Xu Jia''s eyes flashed a bit. She suddenly spoke in Chen Mu''s ear with a extremely soft voice. "What happened? Not interested in her? She''s still a virgin."


    Chen Mu, who had just taken a sip of wine, almost spewed it out. Fortunately, his fast reaction had enabled him to hold it in. From Xu Jia''s perspective, she could see that Chen Mu''s neck instantly turned red.


    In Tan Yumin''s eyes, she saw Xu Jia whispering to the White Commander. The White Commander''s eyes suddenly bulged, and his mask went slightly distorted. His reaction was indecipherable.

 440 The Yu Foundation

    Tan Yumin peeked at Chen Mu before she recalled her gaze. "It has been a tiring journey. The weather in Dongrui is not as chilly as the north. The scenery here is beautiful too. We shall stay here for some time. As for how long, we''re not sure yet," she said as she smiled.


    Jiang Yu clapped, unable to contain his excitement. "That''s great! If Miss Tan is staying here for a bit longer, I can be your tour guide free of charge. I don''t know much about the other places, but I am very familiar with Dongrui."


    "Attention seeker," Luo De mumbled in a contemptuous manner.


    Jiang Yu smiled awkwardly as he stared at him. Luo De only returned a smile and ignored him.


    Tai-shu Zheng said, "It is better for Miss Tan to stay a little longer in Dongrui. At this moment, nowhere is exactly safe. Dongrui is relatively quiet compared to the other cities."


    As the others agreed, Chen Mu thought Tai-shu Zheng had a point. Dongrui was considered the nirvana compared to the other cities that were drowning in warfare.


    Tan Yumin heaved a brief sigh. "Yes, everywhere is in mayhem. I intended to travel around the world while I am still young. Now, that dream seems to be hard to achieve."


    Tai-shu Zheng quickly comforted her. "You don''t have to be so pessimistic. Furthermore, you have Senior Mei Ji keeping you company. No one would risk going against the world to offend you."


    "Third young master is right. However, there are corpses everywhere, and cities have been burned to ashes. How can Yumin have the mood to travel around? When Yumin was passing by the Leaf District, there were civil wars day and night between a dozen forces, causing heavy casualties. The people are suffering, and the inflation is not being helpful to their current situation; they cannot even move out of the city. If it wasn''t for Uncle Mei Ji, I don''t think I could have reached Dongrui safely." Tan Yumin looked even more devastated to the extent that everyone''s heart wrenched for her. The crowd remained silent.


    Tan Yumin''s sorrowful voice slowly spread across the corridor pavilion. "I have seen too many tragedies during my journey. Some of the places had completely stagnant economies due to never-ending warfare. There is no way for the supplies to be shipped into the city. Yumin has also seen a family of four starve to death. No one cares about their lives. The powerful ones only want to kill and slaughter! They''re dying from hunger and getting hit by bullets, yet it seems like this is normal," she said with teary eyes while biting her lips. The sadness in her eyes broke everyone''s heart.


    While sadness still lingered in Tan Yumin''s gaze, her tone had become more determined and faithful. "Ever since then, I have made a vow to contribute my utmost to this chaotic world. Yumin is neither a useful nor powerful person. Yumin is but a singer. I''m smaller than a speck of dust in this big federation. However, seeing the miserable people, Yumin''s heart will never feel at ease. I can only do my best, starting little by little and saving one life after another!"


    At that point, even the wind had quieted down. Tan Yumin''s voice echoed throughout the corridor pavilion. From a low and depressing to a serious and devout voice, in the end, her words turned out to be blazing and determined!


    Rong Ming broke the silence by standing up and bowing to Tan Yumin. He replied in admiration, "Rong Ming admires Miss Tan''s initiative. Let me know if you need my help any time."


    "How can Yumin accept Lord Rong''s bow?" Tan Yumin hurriedly stood up to return the bow.


    All of the guests couldn''t help but applaud. Excluding her other strengths, her determined and fearless attitude had already gained her a lot of respect. Chen Mu, too, saluted her. He could tell that what Tan Yumin had said was genuine and sincere. He''d started from the bottom of society and had struggled to climb up to his current position. No one could understand the pain and suffering better than he could. However, the federation had been peaceful and serene back then, unlike the current situation, where the federation was chaos, and the safety of society was jeopardized.


    Those who were in abject poverty were living a tougher life at that moment. Back when the government of the federation had been working normally, the poor had barely survived with the alms from the government. However, in the current situation, who would bother to care about a group of people who would give them no advantage? Not even a thought about them would cross their minds. In the eyes of those materialistic people, they would rather spend the money to recruit more card artisans or to purchase more lands instead of distributing alms to those rodents.


    From Chen Mu''s point of view, Tan Yumin''s kindness was rare. At least she cared about that group of people! Being kind was not part of Chen Mu''s life principle. Nonetheless, he genuinely respected the kind-hearted people!


    Chen Mu didn''t say a word, but his applause showed his sincerity.


    "Thank you! Thank you, all!" Tan Yumin bowed to the guests.


    At that time, Tai-shu Zheng stood up and said with a loud voice, "To fulfill her dream, Miss Tan has specially founded a charitable organization called the Yu Foundation! I hereby announce that I''ll unconditionally donate 5 billion Oudi to the Yu Foundation!"


    Jiang Yu also stood up and said without hesitating, "I donate 8 billion Oudi to the Yu Foundation on behalf of the Jiang family!"


    Luo De, too, said, "I represent the Luo family to donate 8 billion Oudi to the Yu Foundation!"


    The two families were wealthy. Naturally, it was not a tough job to convince them to donate. Moreover, Jiang Yu and Luo De knew what it was like to spend money to earn others'' favor. Hence, they were quite generous in situations like that.


    Rong Ming nodded. "I represent the guards division to donate 50 billion Oudi to the Yu Foundation. Besides that, I''ll personally donate another 10 billion Oudi."


    Tai-shu Shen didn''t want to be left behind. "I''ll donate 5 billion Oudi!"


    Tai-shu Cheng followed. "Tai-shu Cheng will unconditionally donate 5 billion Oudi to the Yu Foundation!"


    Chen Mu was flustered. She was quite different than the others and had a different influence. She had collected 37 billion Oudi in a blink of an eye. He scanned through all of the guests in the corridor pavilion and was certain the final amount of the donation would not be a small value.


    "How about the White Commander?" Tai-shu Zheng raised his brows. "You''re not showing your interest?"


    Before Tai-shu Cheng could say anything, Chen Mu nodded and said, "I''ll donate 1 billion."


    "Seemingly, the White Commander is also rich!" Tai-shu Shen raised his eyebrows teasingly. "However, boasting can be done by anyone." He didn''t believe Chen Mu would be able to fork over that amount of money. For the rest of them, 1 billion was nothing. However, it was not a small amount for a card artisan.


    A displeased look flashed through Tan Yumin''s eyes. She raised her voice. "Donation is never about the amount. It''s the thought that counts." She bowed to Chen Mu as she spoke. "White Commander, Yumin is grateful for your contribution!"


    Chen Mu responded with another bow and replied politely, "What I did was nothing compared to what Miss Tan has done!"


    Tan Yumin seemed to have sensed Chen Mu''s sincerity through his tone. She smiled. "Thank you!" Tai-shu Shen appeared a little awkward. He hadn''t expected Tan Yumin to not preserve his reputation in public! Tan Yumin, on the other hand, pretended to be oblivious.


    Xu Jia tried to lighten the atmosphere. "I''m not as rich as the rest of you. I''ll donate the same amount as the White Commander." When no one was watching, she leaned toward Chen Mu''s ear and lowered her voice. "Why did you donate such a huge amount for your pride? Now, I also have to spend so much!" She changed her tone and heaved a sigh. "To work on this alone as a woman, it''s not easy for her, either."


    Chen Mu was slightly cautious around Xu Jia. He had been fooled by her before and had almost made an ugly scene during the banquet. He was now careful around that unpredictable woman.


    Seeing Chen Mu distance himself from her, Xu Jia stifled a laugh.


    The final amount of 101.9 billion was revealed in a short time. Chen Mu was impressed. Even with the purple fluorescent extract, he couldn''t earn that much in that amount of time! Moreover, the truly powerful people in Dongrui were yet to be involved. Like the owners of the wealthy families, they were quite extravagant. Chen Mu couldn''t imagine how large the final amount would be.


    However, he genuinely saluted Tan Yumin. Hardly anyone was as kind and down-to-earth as she was. That was a tough path. A normal person would lose their courage just by looking at it. Tan Yumin, being a woman, had the courage to go forward with that path. How could he not be mesmerized and impressed?


    To be able to collect such a huge amount of funds, Tan Yumin was filled with joy. All of the guests enjoyed the banquet. Tan Yumin was grinning from ear to ear the whole night. She also performed a few more songs and brought the banquet to its climax.


    Tai-shu Zheng stood up abruptly. He clapped before he raised his voice and said, "Ladies and gentlemen! Silence! Silence! Miss Tan is very touched by everyone''s enthusiastic participation tonight. To show her gratitude, she has decided to give away her favorite bracelet as the final prize of the night!"


    The banquet exploded with excitement!


    "Quiet down! Quiet down! Ha ha! However, there''s only one bracelet! We can''t split it. So, who will be the lucky one? This is the climax of the banquet!" Tai-shu Zheng announced in satisfaction. After today, his reputation in Dongrui would definitely be a step higher.


    "All right! I hereby announce the challenge to commence! The rules are simple. Everyone only has one chance. Whoever loses can kiss goodbye their opportunity to compete. The winner will be rewarded with this bracelet, which Miss Tan has been wearing for three years! Listen closely! Miss Tan has had this with her for three years!"


    Tan Yumin blushed, which made her appear even more stunning. All of the men''s gazes turned passionate! The banquet became crazy. Everyone went insane upon hearing the news, and the atmosphere became hyped up.


    Jiang Yu''s eyes were blazing. He walked to the side, out of view, and turned on his communicator. He gave his order in a low voice. As he was finishing up, he saw Luo De, who had also just finished doing the exact same thing.


    "Fatty, the bracelet is mine!" Jiang Yu said mercilessly.


    Luo De swatted Jiang Yu''s hand away with a smile on his face but replied in a challenging tone, "May the best man win!"


    Tai-shu Zheng was satisfied with the scene before him. Being the organizer of the banquet, he was pleased with the results. That night''s event would be shared across the whole city of Dongrui by dawn the next day! All of the guests were trying their best to gather their top card artisans.


    "Bracelet¡­" Copper would be happy if I could get him the bracelet! Chen Mu was distracted by that thought.


    "Why? You''re interested as well?" Xu Jia asked out of curiosity. She had reckoned Chen Mu wasn''t one to be interested in such an affair.


    "Yes." Chen Mu regained his composure and replied nonchalantly. Even though he said it in a light tone, his determination showed clearly in his words. Although he didn''t know when he would meet Copper again, Chen Mu reckoned it would be the best gift for Copper!


    His eyes were fixated on the inconspicuous black and white bracelet strapped on Tan Yumin''s wrist.

 441 Chen Mu vs. Ba Luojia

    Since it was a tournament, it would logically not be carried out in the corridor pavilion. Luckily, Tai-shu Zheng had prepared a place earlier.


    In front of everyone was an advanced arena specially designed for matches. Being about 200 meters long and 100 meters wide, it was massive. An enormous energy shield started rising up, so the people could see the match clearly without worrying about their safety. The protective ability of the energy shield for that type of arena was usually unbelievably strong. Except when masters like Tang Hanpei went all-out or with the use of war cards, ordinary card artisans couldn''t even budge the shield by a bit. Using the card was quite costly, however, as it consumed a six-star power card every three hours.


    Nowadays, an ordinary person couldn''t even afford a five-star power card, let alone a six-star! Only the wealthy families could get their hands on them. The military was bound to also have some. Some card appliances required six-star power cards to operate, and seven-star power cards were needed for the top card appliances. However, those were all rumors; no one had actually seen those cards before.


    With Tai-shu Zheng''s assets, the use of a six-star power card for the night would cost him a heartache for long time. There were only a few of those power cards left in the Tai-shu family, most of them inherited from the ancestors. They had collected a few six-star power cards during their glory days. What was left were not many to count. Every head of the family was trying their best to accumulate the six-star power cards. But, even if they used all the sources they had, they could only obtain of a few.


    The rising of the transparent energy shield caught the guests by surprise. All of them knew how magnificent the scene was, and such a large expenditure wasn''t seen every day.


    "Big brother seems to have put in a lot of effort for today." Tai-shu Cheng was a little bewildered. Among the three of them, Tai-shu Cheng was the best money-maker, so he could naturally identify the grade of goods. In his heart, he was quite shocked since he knew only his old man had six-star power cards. What he was truly curious about was when and where Tai-shu Zheng had gotten his from.


    Tai-shu Zheng laughed and said, "It is rare to get ahold of Miss Tan Yumin, so how dare I be neglectful?" A look of pride flashed across his face, and his heart filled with satisfaction when both the guests and his youngest brother gasped in surprise.


    The guests sat in the tall grandstand, where they could easily overlook the whole arena. Meanwhile, the dexterous servants served foods and beverages on the stand. There were a lot of available seats and no specific seating arrangements. The guests gathered around, wine glasses in hand, as they discussed enthusiastically, eagerly anticipating the match.


    Although there were only a few people on Chen Mu''s team, his group was the most obvious one, consisting of Tan Yumin, Rong Ming, Jiang Yu, and Luo De, plus himself and Xu Jia.


    All three Tai-shu brothers assembled together. From the perspective of an outsider, they seemed to be getting along quite well. If someone had overheard their conversations, however, that thought would never have crossed their mind.


    "Big brother has made thorough preparations. It seems like the bracelet is definitely yours to take," Tai-shu Shen said coldly.


    Tai-shu Zheng didn''t deny that. Instead, he answered, "Not necessarily. Don''t forget that the Jiang family and the Luo family also sent their representatives. Moreover, second brother''s follower, Ba Luojia, will also be competing." He turned his head and asked Tai-shu Cheng, "Isn''t third brother also interested in this bracelet?"


    Tai-shu Cheng shrugged his shoulders. "If big brother and second brother are participating, will I even stand a chance?" He smiled bitterly. Although the White Commander was his follower, he wasn''t confident about him!


    At that moment, a servant presented a list of contestants. Tai-shu Zheng skimmed through it and smiled. "Third brother couldn''t hold back, either! I always thought you didn''t have the slightest interest in Miss Tan! Second brother, we can now finally know why the White Commander was favored by Rong Ming."


    Tai-shu Shen grunted coldly.


    Tai-shu Cheng was startled. Did the White Commander also participate? He shifted his gaze to Chen Mu but doubted he would be interested in the bracelet. Was it for his own pride, then? He immediately dismissed that unrealistic thought.


    He had a feeling the White Commander didn''t acknowledge his existence. The White Commander would never have spoken a word to him if it wasn''t for his wanting to meet the old man. That made Tai-shu Cheng feel discouraged since the White Commander wouldn''t even give a thought about the third young master of the Tai-shu family.


    However, in the eyes of the public, the White Commander was still his subordinate. Whether he would be victorious or defeated, it would have great impact on him. Worst of all, he hadn''t even bothered to discuss his plan with him first. Damn! He wanted to confront the White Commander but hesitated as he thought about the rumors of how ruthless the White Commander was.


    He glanced at the name list in Tai-shu Zheng''s hand from the corner of his eye. Tai-shu Cheng was disheartened. It was too late to go back on his words. If he withdrew now, he would be the laughing stock of everyone, not to mention his two brothers, who wouldn''t mind him making a fool of himself! His fingers grasped the wine glass harder as he felt his body heating up.


    Xu Jia looked at Chen Mu puzzledly and couldn''t help but also glance at Tan Yumin. She had an uncanny feeling deep in her heart. The White Commander was known to be cold, yet he also showed interest in the bracelet. She had to admit Tan Yumin had tremendous charisma. However, the White Commander was just sitting there meditating with his eyes shut, not even glancing at Tan Yumin, who was just two seats away from him. That made Xu Jia feel like her prediction was nothing but nonsense.


    More and more guests surrounded Tan Yumin. Most of them were there to chat with her or to get an autograph. The surrounding commotion caused Chen Mu to force his eyes open. He got up and walked to a corner helplessly. Among the crowd, Tan Yumin realized Chen Mu was walking away with an unusual expression on his face. But, in a split second, she smiled again and continued entertaining the other guests, acting like nothing had happened. Jiang Yu stuck to Tan Yumin like bubble gum. Luo De took a brief glance at Chen Mu and decided to stay put with Jiang Yu. Rong Ming courageously walked to Chen Mu''s side.


    There was some time left before the match started. Because of the large number of participants, the match had to be arranged properly.


    "Young master brought you here just in case anything happened. Instead, you took the initiative and signed up for the match," Xu Jia complained pretentiously. "It''s just a bracelet. Why do you have to make a fuss about it? What if we lose?"


    Rong Ming laughed and said, "Miss Xu, you worry too much. I have full confidence in the White Commander!"


    Rong Ming didn''t seem to have made a polite remark. Xu Jia looked at him suspiciously. She peeked at Chen Mu, who was meditating, and said, "We''ll talk when you get your hands on the bracelet."


    Rong Ming laughed without explaining. Even Chen Mu himself was shocked by the confidence Rong Ming had in him. However, his eyes stayed closed. He knew that even if he asked, Rong Ming wouldn''t give him the answer.


    The match was officially scheduled. First Round: The White Commander vs. Ba Luojia!


    Tai-shu Shen had a nasty expression. He looked at Tai-shu Zheng resentfully and said coldly, "Wow! This arrangement is such a coincidence. Never would I have thought I would go against my third brother first."


    Tai-shu Zheng laughed. "Ha ha! This solely depends on luck!"


    Actually, Tai-shu Cheng was not bothered about the identity of his opponent. But it wasn''t totally true to say he wasn''t the slightest bit agitated! Not holding back, he couldn''t help but chug a whole mouthful of red wine to relieve his dry throat.


    Before that, he would never attend banquets like those, especially events organized by his two elder brothers. Ma Hu, that rubbish guy, only dared to act recklessly in front of him. He was useless once he came across critical situations and only knew how to become a laughing stock. He was still weak in his skills, and everyone was already used to it. But, since the White Commander had come along with another three guys, he had hope again. That night was the night to verify his hope.


    Upon hearing his name, Chen Mu opened his eyes and stood up. As soon as he stood up, all of the guests stopped discussing. They shifted their focus onto the arena. They had roughly heard about Ba Luojia''s strength but not that of the mysterious White Commander, who had appeared out of the blue. He had also sat beside Rong Ming earlier that day, which proved he was an extraordinary and honorable man.


    The first match was such a heavyweight confrontation that it immediately boosted everyone''s interest. Tan Yumin couldn''t move her beautiful eyes away from Chen Mu.


    Ba Luojia was a blur when he appeared in the arena. His speed was as fast as lightning; only a few seated guests could see his movements clearly. That skill was not easy to perform at all! They showed dignified expressions, and some guests even cheered for him. Compared to Ba Luojia, Chen Mu was inferior. He flew into the arena lightly, slowly, and without much elegance¡ªnothing special there. Most of the guests who had initially had high expectations for Chen Mu were rather disappointed.


    Once Chen Mu touched the ground, the energy shield rose up, covering the whole arena. Both of them were vastly different in body size. Ba Luojia''s body was sturdy like a small mountain compared to Chen Mu''s puny body.


    Ba Luojia finally opened his half-closed eyes and glared murderously with his big, round eyes. "Ba Luojia greets Brother White!" he groaned.


    Without waiting for him to finish his sentence, Chen Mu made the first move! He didn''t care about the match etiquette at all. He was experienced in battle and knew the importance to be first and fast.


    Suddenly, he squatted down and stayed close to the ground. He twisted his body as if there were no bones restraining him and acted as fast as a flash. Before the crowd could even respond, he had already appeared by Ba Luojia''s side. Green ball of energy in hand, he aimed at Ba Luojia''s throat, focusing on the target.


    The sudden turn of events was too much for the crowd!


    Watching the green energy sphere almost slicing his neck, Ba Luojia shrieked as blue veins started appearing on his forehead.


    Bang! Crack! In no time, the green energy sphere in Chen Mu''s hand shattered into pieces. His vision became blurry as if his head had been struck by a hammer. In his sensory world, the sound wave spread, and the surrounding air vibrated uncontrollably. That vibration spread to his body, skin, muscles and blood vessels. Even his blood seemed to be trembling strongly.


    Confused! Stunned! His body lost its control for a moment! In a battle, there was nothing scarier than losing control over one''s body.


    Now, Ba Luojia just had to hit him lightly, and Chen Mu would be dealt with easily.


    It was just the beginning of the match. Chen Mu had never thought he would be at risk!

 442 The First Trial

    For no reason, Chen Mu had a feeling that if he made a move to fight back, Ba Luojia would kill him without a second thought. He had no idea why the thought had crossed his mind; Ba Luojia was always taciturn, giving people a sense of kindness. But the thought was so strong that it felt real.


    Chen Mu''s mind was unexpectedly calm. He''d had such strong intuition before, and it had been strangely accurate each time. His body was pinned down by the vibration, and he looked as if he''d already lost his ability to resist. Fundamentally, Ba Luojia''s sound wave had reached his body through the vibration of air, which had caused every cell in his body to be in a state of vibration. Thus, he had no control over his body.


    Nonetheless, only one part of Chen Mu''s body was not affected by the vibration, and that was his perception. Perception took no form nor shape. It was a kind of mental fluctuation, so it wouldn''t be affected by the air vibration. Therefore, even though his body was out of control, he could still control his perception.


    A wavy blade formed in Ba Luojia''s hands as his wide-open eyes filled with the intention of killing. After the nurturing in the hands of masters like Wei-ah and Caesar, Chen Mu could sense a murderous aura from a mile away. Ba Luojia was going to kill him!


    Suddenly, a horrible, enormous murderous aura swept across the arena, including where the audience was sitting, like a storm. The murderous aura came with no warning whatsoever. Everyone in the stands looked pale, and all traces of noise seemed to have vanished instantly. They hadn''t been at all prepared to be thrown into the center of a storm, and the overwhelming tension made everyone breathless. They felt like they were right under a rain of swords as the murderous aura grazed their skin!


    Pressure! It was one of the techniques recorded in the card Caesar had given Chen Mu. Caesar had used that skill to test Chen Mu in the past. Pressure was a skill that combined perception and a murderous aura. Caesar had killed countless people; his murderous aura was so strong that only a few people from the federation could reach his level. Card artisans were sensitive toward murderous auras. Caesar had taken advantage of that and had combined it with perception, which had created pressure! Perception combined with a murderous aura produced a much greater effect.


    Chen Mu didn''t have a strong murderous aura, but it wasn''t weak. Before that, he had lived a life in the wild and thus had great combat experience. The fight with Jin Yin and Dang Han, especially, had greatly changed him.


    In the stands, Rong Ming''s expression was dignified. He was not surprised; he had felt that before. Even though it had only been a glance from afar, the opponent''s gaze had made his hair stand on end. Although the White Commander also had a strong murderous aura, if it was compared to that of the master who had worn a brown mask from the other day, he still had a long way to go. Rong Ming became more and more convinced that there was a deep relationship between the two, as their techniques were quite similar. Maybe the White Commander was an apprentice of that master.


    Tai-shu Cheng''s face went pale under such a horrible murderous aura. His legs were shaking as he remembered the rumors about the White Commander that had spread around the building. It looked like the rumors were true, after all! Tai-shu Zheng and Tai-shu Shen next to him had even paler faces. They had always doubted the strength of the White Commander, but they now realized that fellow was a devil who killed people without mercy! Masters were not intimidating, but what really was intimidating were the masters who didn''t play by the rules¡ªespecially those devils who killed without batting an eye.


    Tan Yumin and Xu Jia reacted more calmly, although their faces had turned a shade whiter. They could barely hold their composure.


    Ba Luojia was the most tragic among them. He''d thought he''d been at the end of the battle and that it would only take one final blow to finish off Chen Mu. Instead, he got hit in the face. He was the closest to Chen Mu, so pressure had the most impact on him. Chen Mu went all-out at that dangerous and crucial moment. Ba Luojia, who''d had his guard down at that time, felt like his heart had been struck by a hammer. His first response was to retreat after the sudden attack.


    Is it a trap? The thought popped into his mind out of nowhere. Feeling uneasy, he could only retreat hastily, risking his chance at defeating his opponent. It was all a blur in the eyes of the audience. When they finally had a clear view, though, Ba Luojia and Chen Mu had already pulled far away from each other.


    Actually, Chen Mu was only bluffing; if Ba Luojia had attacked right then, Chen Mu wouldn''t have been able to defend himself. Who would have thought someone who could liberate such a murderous aura couldn''t even move a muscle at that moment? Ba Luojia''s retreat bought Chen Mu some time.


    Chen Mu was no stranger to sound wave attacks. He had been studying that field when he''d previously taught Lu Xiaoru how to use the Sound Beam. Ba Luojia''s sound wave attack was way stronger than Lu Xiaoru''s, but both of the attacks didn''t differ much, theoretically. But that was still not enough for Chen Mu to recover fully.


    Suddenly, the murderous aura subsided and disappeared without a trace, and Chen Mu''s face went pale. Pressure was compressed into a needle under Chen Mu''s perceptual control, and the target of the needle was none other than himself! He hummed as the blood circulation of his whole body heightened. After a burst of pain came a moment of relaxation, and he finally regained control of his body.


    From afar, Ba Luojia looked at Chen Mu, bewildered and confused. The murderous aura had come without a sign and had disappeared unexpectedly. His round eyes, which had been filled with craftiness due to his successful attack, became serious and astonished. For card artisans, a murderous aura was no mystery. As long as they had been through combats, they would more or less have some murderous aura on their body.


    However, that was the first time Ba Luojia had met a card artisan with such a strong murderous aura. What made him shiver more was the opponent''s incredible control of the aura. Only top aces could control their murderous auras freely!


    Even though he looked like a tall and bulky fellow, his scheming wouldn''t even be the slightest loss to Huo Jiang. His heart was filled with surprise and doubt. But, after giving it some thought, he decided to be mindful about it. If the White Commander was really powerful enough to control the murderous aura with his heart, why would such a master be willing to work under Tai-shu Cheng?


    The opponent must have had a unique way to control the murderous aura, Ba Luojia judged secretly.


    By that time, Chen Mu had already fully recovered, and the two confronted each other yet again. The previous encounter had only lasted a few seconds, but it had been extremely thrilling in the eyes of the masters who sat in the stands.


    Ba Luojia was a mysterious person, and he handled the attack skillfully. Many asked themselves what they would do in such a situation, and most figured they would probably lose. However, the trick pulled by the White Commander sent a shiver down everyone''s spines. Even though Ba Luojia had handled it greatly, at least his skills could be read; on the other hand, the trick of the White Commander couldn''t be read at all!


    Both sides were back in confrontation, not one willing to look away. It was seemingly calm in the arena, yet everyone knew that was just the calm before the storm!


    Chen Mu''s eyes looked peaceful. A moment ago, he had used the murderous aura to stimulate his recovery as quickly as possible, but it had come with some self-injuries. However, others couldn''t see the effects because of the mask covering his face. His gaze was also sharp and steady, which was quite hard to read.


    It was as if time stood still during the confrontation. After more than ten seconds, Chen Mu decided not to drag it on. He suddenly closed his eyes.


    His action once again surprised everyone! Although perception was known as the second pair of eyes by the card artisan, people would seldom close their eyes in a battle. The dignity in Ba Luojia''s eyes intensified. He hadn''t attacked Chen Mu when he''d had the chance, so Chen Mu''s trick made him more vigilant. Unconsciously, he was in full defensive mode.


    The surroundings appeared clearly in Chen Mu''s mind. During the fight with Jin Yin and Dang Han, even though he had been seriously injured, he''d still made an unprecedented breakthrough in his strength¡ªespecially his perception. Other than that, the card Caesar had given him had helped him open a brand new path. Gradually, he''d started to understand how to use his perception correctly.


    In his world of perception, everything was less colorful. Each object was structured by lines, simple yet three-dimensional, like a bunch of models stacked together. Ba Luojia became a curved humanoid model composed entirely of lines. The distance between Chen Mu and Ba Luojia was filled with countless lines, which were thin and fine like spider webs and changed shape continuously. If anyone could see it, they would be shocked to find out it was actually the flow of air.


    Caesar''s theory was simple. Since the Materials Refinement Code of perception was more sensitive toward power rather than material objects, he used that feature to its fullest. No matter what form the energy took, as long as it could hover in the air, his perception could catch the air vibration precisely.


    When Chen Mu had been facing Jin Yin, he''d used the Pointed Cloudburst. It was just that Caesar''s theory and methods were much more perfect. Besides, Caesar''s tactics and methods were the result of validations and improvements in many combats. Compared to Caesar''s, Chen Mu''s skill was only rudimentary.


    Suddenly, Chen Mu moved. It was the same movements as before; his short body glided on the ground like a slithering snake, rushing toward Ba Luojia.


    There was a hint of doubt in Ba Luojia''s eyes, but he couldn''t risk making the slightest mistake. The opponent must have his next moves up his sleeve! Ba Luojia''s eyes brightened for a second, but he didn''t plan to use the sound wave again. Instead, he soared high into the air toward the sky in the arena.


    Although Ba Luojia had a huge body, he was flying fast! He was confident about his flying speed, which was a side of him that always made people wonder. His large body always gave people a misperception that he was a card artisan who fought by power alone. On the contrary, he was a card artisan who specialized in speed.


    His face changed abruptly as he realized a green form of energy the size of a thumb was only ten centimeters away from his ankle!


    When did that appear? He had almost neglected the undetectable energy fluctuation, but the sharpness of the energy form made him shiver! He didn''t doubt it could easily pierce his ankle.


    The energy form was straight and ten meters long, like a long green sword, and the other end was held by the White Commander.


    Ba Luojia knew clearly that his own flying speed was fast. However, the opponent''s attack had been faster. That situation could only have happened with one possibility; the opponent was able to prejudge his movements the moment he acted. Besides that, the opponent also needed to capture the timing precisely. Both of those requirements had to be fulfilled in order to create a successful attack, even if he attacked slightly late.


    How is that possible? His face was filled with disbelief.

 443 First Strike II

    Before everyone''s eyes, a green strike cut through the sky as fast as lightning. Seeing everything clearly from the platform, Huo Jiang''s pupils suddenly constricted as a chill ran up his tailbone. That scene was impressed in his mind, and his back was full of sweat.


    The White Commander''s sprint looked no different than it had before. As Ba Luojia rose into the air, the White Commander, who was still on the ground, changed his moves at almost the same time.


    He did three actions in one fell swoop: touched the ground, twisted his waist, and swung his arms. The green strike was let out at the moment he swung his arms. The White Commander was like a viper ready to attack. He suddenly jumped into the air! The whole movement was fluid, as if he had anticipated it. What terrified Huo Jiang the most was that Ba Luojia didn''t look like he had been hit by the green strike. Instead, he was like a moth darting into the fire, moving toward the green strike. That was the truly scary part!


    It was enough to explain how precise the White Commander''s prediction was! Huo Jiang couldn''t even fathom how that could be done. As far as he knew, it was impossible.


    Although Ba Luojia was appalled, he kept his calm and rigidly dodged aside without thinking. He didn''t notice that as he changed direction, the green strike did the same.


    Just when Ba Luojia thought he had made a lucky escape, the green strike reappeared in his field of vision! His eyes suddenly dilated, a trace of fear flashing through them, but that couldn''t stop the rapid enlargement of the green strike in his eyes. Zap! He could only watch as his right calf was pierced by it. He felt extreme pain and let out an involuntary groan.


    In the eyes of the spectators, it looked like he had wanted to be hit by the green strike.


    At such a critical moment, he could no longer care about anything else. He clenched his right fist and gave a hard blow to his own chest! Without a sound, cobweb-like cracks appeared in front of the green strike and spread along its length with lightning speed!


    Right when Ba Luojia hit his chest, Chen Mu''s face changed slightly, and he retreated! He sensed a violent shockwave from Ba Luojia''s blow, and it was spreading from his fist to the surroundings.


    Bang! Full of cracks, the green strike produced a crisp sound. It shattered into pieces and formed a ten-meter-long trail of fragments in the air.


    As Chen Mu retreated, his body waded like a fish. He then felt like something was pushing him from his back, and his speed increased abruptly! As he was about to hit the energy shield at the sidelines, Chen Mu suddenly changed his direction and strangely moved upward against the inner wall of the energy shield. Before the audience had a chance to comprehend what was going on, the energy shield shuddered. Everyone''s expression changed; even Rong Ming was no exception.


    Ba Luojia''s hit on the chest must have been some skill, but they didn''t feel a ripple of energy! From the vibration amplitude of the energy shield, the force of that move was incredibly powerful! No one could guarantee they could avoid such an insidious attack if they were in such a situation. But the White Commander had done it!


    Chen Mu, who had gone to the top of the energy shield, was coming down rapidly and was about to deal a fatal blow to Ba Luojia. He could tell the move had brought an enormous burden to Ba Luojia. The opponent was now in his weakest state! At that moment, however, Ba Luojia suddenly raised his right hand and hurriedly exclaimed, "I give up!"


    Everyone went silent.


    "As expected, a master makes a master¡­" Rong Ming murmured. Chen Mu''s skill amazed him too much! He increasingly felt that he had made the right choice. If a student already had such unpredictable skills, how powerful would his master, the card artisan in the brown mask, be? To him, the White Commander was almost certain to be a student of the brown-masked card artisan.


    Xu Jia, who had yet to recover from the shock, replied subconsciously, "What did you say?"


    Rong Ming was then snapped back to his senses. He quickly answered, "Ho ho! I was saying the White Commander has really good skills!" Tan Yumin, who was beside them, changed her expression slightly but didn''t say a thing.


    Ba Luojia smiled bitterly. "The White Commander is indeed strong. You had Ba Luojia lose this match convincingly." His calf was still bleeding, but he didn''t look at it, nor did he flinch.


    Chen Mu couldn''t help but admire that, but he hadn''t forgotten about Ba Luojia''s killing intent and was still vigilant toward him! They had only met for the first time, so there theoretically shouldn''t have been any hatred between them. Is it because of Tai-shu Shen? That''s possible!


    Chen Mu nodded toward Ba Luojia. The energy shield had opened, and both of them flew back to the platform. Ba Luojia immediately called for the medical card artisan but didn''t leave, probably because he wanted to watch the next match.


    Everyone was looking at Chen Mu completely differently! Although they had some speculation, it was still largely because of Rong Ming. But Chen Mu had shown enough strength to gain respect through the previous match. Ba Luojia was normally rather low-key, and that match had been extraordinary. Regardless of the sonic attack early on or the mysterious self-attack later, it had been so unpredictable!


    However, people always remembered winners better. The spectators were deeply impressed by the stunning green strike and the uncanny moves. In the eyes of a true connoisseur, though, they saw something completely different! The green strike was nothing special; it was something many card artisans could produce. The card used by the White Commander should only have four stars, which was considered ordinary compared to famous cards. And, although his movement was weird, many card artisans with good flying skills could do the same.


    Those weren''t the terrifying aspects, however. It was the White Commander''s prediction ability! He had seemed to know what the opponent would do next, and his predictions had been unbelievably accurate!


    The cards were normal, and the flying skills weren''t too sophisticated. With that outrageous precision for prediction, though, the lethality increased exponentially. Moreover, there was the control of the murderous aura. No one would ever doubt the strength of Chen Mu anymore. On the contrary, many were wondering how such a powerful card artisan could have no outstanding cards.


    Tai-shu Cheng was excited! He had purposely brought the White Commander that night to showcase his skills, and that goal had been completely achieved. So, even if the White Commander surrendered in the rest of the matches, no one would ever look down upon him in terms of skills. That had always been his biggest weakness, and it was no longer something to be worried about. How could he not be excited? Tai-shu Zheng had set up such a big stage, but the biggest winner was Tai-shu Cheng.


    Tai-shu Shen''s face was really ugly because Ba Luojia had lost in the first match. It was a great disgrace to him! He couldn''t spout any curses but had to come forward to comfort Ba Luojia instead. How resentful! He gazed at Chen Mu with anger; it was that guy who had let him fall into disrepute that night.


    Jiang Ling and her bodyguard suddenly rushed to the platform. "Tan Yumin!" Jiang Ling''s eyes lit up, and she hurried over with a shout of joy. Her inseparable bodyguard stood in front of Jiang Yu and called, "Master!"


    Jiang Yu let out a sigh of relief. "You have arrived at last!" He patted the bodyguard''s shoulder and said solemnly, "Your task for tonight is to get me that bracelet from Miss Tan, by hook or by crook. You''ll have to get it!"


    "Yes!" The bodyguard said nothing else. Upon seeing the familiar face of the bodyguard, Chen Mu understood that he was going to fight! Jiang Yu seemed to trust him a lot.


    Luo De''s card artisan then showed up. Surprisingly, it was a female card artisan!


    Chen Mu withdrew his gaze after assessing her slightly. He needed to rest after experiencing such a big battle. His mind, however, was full of the combat scenes he had just fought, and his spirit was a little keyed up after using Caesar''s fighting skills for the first time.


    Behind Chen Mu, Tan Yumin was being pestered by Jiang Ling. Inadvertently, her eyes occasionally fell on Chen Mu. Xu Jia was a little afraid; after he showed his incredible strength, she didn''t dare to joke about Chen Mu unscrupulously like before. The murderous aura he had released, especially, had scared ordinary people like Xu Jia.


    The few matches after that were of varying levels, most of them letting spectators doze off. One of the most interesting matches involved a defensive card artisan who unleashed a strong and solid energy shield that managed to bear all of the blows from his opponent until his opponent ran out of energy. He then won the match with one hit, and spectators started booing from the platform as they watched.


    Huo Jiang won easily, and there was no expression on his face when he did. He just looked toward Chen Mu. The card artisans from the Jiang family and Luo family were also quite strong and easily won matches.


    The second round of the competition soon began. Chen Mu''s opponent was the defensive card artisan.


    The opponent used a four-star energy shield card, which was difficult to destroy. That card artisan was alert enough to fly into the arena with his thick, turtle-shell-like shield over his head, fearing he wouldn''t even have time to activate the shield. That made the spectators on the platform laugh.


    As soon as the opponent came into the field, he put on a defensive stance and didn''t move, causing the crowd to boo. Some card artisans were worried for Chen Mu since they knew the damage value of the card used by Chen Mu previously hadn''t been high. Indeed, the advantage of the Hundred Changes was to change the form of the energy body at will and not to damage. But Chen Mu didn''t only have the Hundred Changes with him. He slowly changed the card to the Patterned Shuttle.


    The thunderous roar of the Patterned Shuttle reverberated through the arena, rattling the hearts of the spectators. The opponent''s shield only held on for three shuttles and was then destroyed! The first thing the card artisan did was concede, but it was a tad too late.


    The strong damage value of the Patterned Shuttle also made the other card artisans'' expressions change slightly. If they were hit by a shuttle casually, half of their body would be torn by the impact!


    Compared to Chen Mu, the others took the win much more easily.


    After several rounds of matches, the final four were determined. Except for Chen Mu, the other three had been expected¡ªHuo Jiang, Jiang Shan, and Luo Qing. If it hadn''t been for the appearance of Chen Mu, Ba Luojia would have undoubtedly occupied another position in the final four. However, the appearance of Chen Mu had upset that predetermined play.

 444 A Twis

    The grouping for the four finalists was released. Huo Jiang''s opponent would be Jiang Shan, and Chen Mu would be fighting against Luo Qing.


    Xu Jia said to Chen Mu in a slightly concerned tone, "I''m familiar with Luo Qing. You have to be careful; she never shows mercy to men."


    "Okay," Chen Mu replied. He wouldn''t underestimate his opponent merely because of his opponent''s gender. As opposed to Xu Jia''s words, he would actually pay more attention. There were a lot more male card artisans compared to female card artisans. To be able to hold a seat amongst the female card artisans, the lady definitely had to have some outstanding skills. Moreover, his opponent now represented the Luo family, the biggest family in Dongrui. There was no reason for him to doubt her capability.


    However, the first match wasn''t between Chen Mu and Luo Qing but was between Huo Jiang and Jiang Shan. Huo Jiang had easily triumphed the previous battles; hence, his true capability was yet to be revealed. However, Chen Mu was familiar with Jiang Shan''s skill. Jiang Shan''s feet were always a few centimeters away from the ground.


    There was usually a break during the tournament. During the break, the audience would enthusiastically discuss the previous matches. It was such an enjoyment to watch the elites fight against each other while savoring red wine.


    As Chen Mu was reminiscing the previous battle with his eyes shut, he suddenly sensed someone by his side. He opened his eyes and found Tan Yumin, who had finally escaped from Jiang Ling. She sat down and was only separated from Chen Mu by an empty seat, which had been previously occupied by Xu Jia. He took a brief glance at Xu Jia, who was now standing by Tai-shu Cheng''s side with a wine glass in her hand. Seeing Tan Yumin had moved her seat next to Chen Mu, Rong Ming flashed a grin, grabbing his wine glass to go chat with another person.


    "The White Commander is stealing all the limelight tonight," Tan Yumin said with a faint smile on her face as her head tilted.


    "Miss Tan has overpraised me," Chen Mu replied. There was barely any emotion in his tone.


    "The White Commander can address me as Yumin." Tan Yumin continued with a smile, "This is the first time Yumin has seen someone like the White Commander, who can predict his opponent''s moves just by shutting his eyes."


    Not knowing how to answer, Chen Mu repeated his line. "Miss Tan has overpraised me."


    "Does the White Commander have anything against Yumin?" Tan Yumin gently furrowed her eyebrows.


    Chen Mu shook his head. "Miss Tan has a kind heart and is a courageous woman. I admire you very much." Even though his tone was calm, one could easily sense through his words that he was speaking genuinely.


    Tan Yumin fixed her fringe before she replied with a gentle smile, "The White Commander wouldn''t stop addressing me as Miss Tan. This makes Yumin feel rather awkward!"


    Chen Mu was in a daze before he realized Tan Yumin''s words. "I merely think addressing Miss Tan directly by your first name is slightly rude at this point."


    Having no choice, Tan Yumin replied, "The White Commander is indeed a man who stands by his principles. Yumin can only give in." With a sudden change of topic, she continued, "Actually, the White Commander''s battle skill reminded Yumin of a senior."


    Chen Mu''s heart skipped a beat, but it wasn''t shown on his face. He looked into Tan Yumin''s eyes and asked, "Which senior is Miss Tan talking about?"


    Tan Yumin fixated at Chen Mu and replied nonchalantly, "The senior''s ferocity is well-known across the federation. He is a straightforward person even though he carries a strong murderous aura. Even Uncle Mei compliments him as one of the strongest in the federation in the last 100 years. The senior''s battle style is similar to the White Commander''s. If not for his hot temper, I would have definitely mistaken the White Commander as his apprentice."


    "Oh." Chen Mu''s heart skipped yet another beat. He knew the senior Tan Yumin was talking about was none other than Caesar. Didn''t she claim she knows nothing about card artisans? How could she tell the relationship between Caesar and me? Where did this girl come from? Why does she know so much? However, Chen Mu also wasn''t na?ve. He knew he was not supposed to show any suspicion. He swiftly pretended to be somewhat curious and asked, "May I know the name of this senior?"


    Tan Yumin stared at Chen Mu''s eyes for a moment before she abruptly flashed a pretty grin. "It''s only hearsay that Yumin came across. The White Commander doesn''t have to take it seriously." She suddenly leaned forward and muttered beside Chen Mu''s ear, "The White Commander must not let anyone else take Yumin''s bracelet away." She stood up and left after finishing her sentence.


    Jiang Yu had been paying attention to Tan Yumin. When he saw her lean toward Chen Mu, his face turned somewhat bitter. Luo De, who was by his side, was drinking his wine nonchalantly. Seeing Jiang Yu''s sour face, he laughed in a teasing manner. "I wonder what charm he has to be able to attract women."


    Jiang Yu''s heart briefly turned cold when he heard Luo De''s words. He knew Luo De had sensed his bitterness. He promptly regained his composure and laughed along. "Mystery is the best introduction. Aside from the other traits he has, his skills are quite notable. I''m afraid the White Commander came from an extraordinary background."


    Luo De put away his playful expression and said in a lowered voice, "Tiger Rong might know something, but he won''t reveal anything."


    Jiang Yu toyed with the wine glass in his hand as he said, "I''m only curious about one thing. Why would a person like the White Commander become Tai-shu Cheng''s subordinate?"


    Luo De had no answer to that either. He laughed abruptly. "Take a guess. Who will win that bracelet tonight?"


    Jiang Yu threw a glance at Luo De. "I''m 80 percent confident it will be me. As for the winner of the tournament, it will be either you or me. Even if you win it, you''ll certainly gift it to me as a favor. It''s just that I didn''t expect the appearance of the White Commander. After watching his fight with Ba Luojia, my confidence level has definitely dropped."


    Luo De gave an unconvincing smile. "I was also confident with Luo Qing. Now, I think Luo Qing''s chances of winning had been halved."


    Before their discussion ended, the tournament started with the duel between Huo Jiang and Jiang Shan. The two entered the arena.


    Despite looking a bit feminine, Huo Jiang was considerably handsome. The moment he entered the arena, many of the female spectators screamed in excitement. In contrast, the audience was calm when Jiang Shan entered.


    Indeed, women and men paid attention to different things. For instance, women would be more concerned about the card artisans'' appearance during tournaments. The good-looking and handsome men could gain their favor more easily. On the other hand, the men only bothered with the skill and performance of the card artisans.


    Huo Jiang''s expression was solemn. He had never fought with Jiang Shan before. However, his title as the bodyguard of Miss Jiang would already have scared off many. The capability of the card artisans in the Jiang family was way stronger than that of those in the Tai-shu family.


    Jiang Shan kept a straight face as he quietly rose a few centimeters off the ground.


    Huo Jiang felt the pressure. The more composed the opponent looked, the more confident the opponent was. He decided to take the initial attack. That round, he didn''t use the Three Leaves as he usually did. Instead, he used another card.


    With his lowered brows and solemn face, he stretched out his hands slightly as if he were holding something. To the crowd''s astonishment, spots of light continuously floated from his palms into the air. Their speed became increasingly fast. In only a few seconds, the spots were sprouting out of his palms like a fountain.


    Before Huo Jiang completed his move, Jiang Shan took his turn. With his upper body staying still, he slid backward as if he were skating on ice. The two of them were instantly pulled apart. Jiang Shan''s expression turned solemn as he waved his fingertips, where a cloud of tender blue light appeared. His right hand gently stroked across the air, and a blue electric arc appeared in front of him, buzzing and zapping.


    Jiang Shan again brushed his hand through the air, and another electric arc appeared. The two arcs merged together, and the light blue color darkened slightly.


    Huo Jiang was enveloped by the spots of light. The audience could barely see his silhouette, yet the spots hadn''t stopped flowing from his palms. Jiang Shan, too, repeatedly drew the electric arcs in the air. All of the electric arcs overlapped with each other and formed one dark blue arc that was shining brightly.


    The scene in the arena was eerie. The two contestants were immersed in their own acts. However, the knowledgeable audience could catch the hint at first glance that the two of them were accumulating their utmost energy! They knew that when the two card artisans finally clashed, it would be a tremendous explosion. Spectators on the platform appeared to be concerned. The terrifying energy wave spreading from the tournament arena was causing the crowd to feel rather distressed!


    Chen Mu was a little flustered. The two seemed to intend to release all of their energy in one go. He couldn''t understand their motives. In fact, he was confused merely because he wasn''t used to tournaments. Most of the card artisans preferred to fight using their ultimate moves against each other to decide the winner of the match. That was common practice in tournaments, though it was rarely seen during battles.


    The energy fluctuation in the air made hearts pound. The spectators were standing in anticipation of the great clash between the two contestants. From the view of card artisans, that probably didn''t seem to be a magnificent sight. However, for the audience mostly made up of laymen, it was spectacular enough to excite them!


    As if they had tacit understanding, the two of them attacked simultaneously!


    Jiang Shan''s expression was extremely serious. As he was steadily waving his right hand, his expression twitched as he exerted a strenuous force. The bright blue, crescent-shaped electric arc was floating before him and slowly moved forward inch by inch.


    On the other side, the spots of light around Huo Jiang suddenly assembled in front of him in a frenzy. They were moving rapidly and then formed a thin white line in the air. In the blink of an eye, a short silver-white energy spear appeared before him. The spear was about half a meter long, and light was beaming all over it. There was a black bamboo joint on the body. A closer look would reveal that the bamboo joint contained three parts.


    "The Bamboo Spear!" Those who recognized the card were dumbfounded!


    "It''s the actual Bamboo Spear! What a surprise." Rong Ming had quietly returned to Chen Mu''s side some time ago. He raised his new glass of wine and stared at the silver spear with the iconic bamboo joint.


    Chen Mu hadn''t heard of that card. He tilted his head and asked, "The Bamboo Spear?"


    Rong Ming said in a lowered voice, "This card originated from the age of the sects. It was also the strongest card among the Bamboo Joint card series. Unfortunately, Huo Jiang doesn''t have sufficient capability, so he could only attain three joints. See the bamboo joints on the body of the spear? The greater the number of bamboo joints, the more powerful the spear''s attack is. The most it can have is seven joints. If I''m not mistaken, Huo Jiang''s card is most likely a five-joint Bamboo Spear."


    "Oh." Chen Mu came to a realization. At that point, he finally understood the meaning behind the bamboo joint on the spear. In fact, he had suspected the card had originated from the age of sects. The spear obviously seemed to be ancient and different from the spears of the modern era.


    Many perceived the cards from the age of the sects to be better than the modern ones. It was actually a misconception. The modern card system was definitely more advanced since it was able to replace the ancient card system. However, the system in the age of the sects had distinctive traits. Back then, there were various unique systems, unlike the current domination of the Van Sant System. As time went by, the unconventional systems had faded away, and only a number of those cards had been passed down. Those that had managed to last were naturally from the age''s best of the best! They also operated differently compared to modern cards. To average card artisans, they might easily draw the short stick when facing those cards.


    "What is Jiang Shan''s card, then?" he asked curiously. He could tell Rong Ming was well-versed with those matters.


    Rong Ming answered, "The Jiang family has three or four types of famous cards. I reckon the one Jiang Shan is using now is the Dark Blue Electric Arc. Although this card is absolutely not on par with the Bamboo Spear, with Jiang Shan''s capability, they will probably have a good fight." He suddenly pointed out, "You''ve got to be careful with the young lady from the Luo family. The Luo family of Dongrui stems from the Luo family of Thousand Lakes. They are an influential and wealthy family."


    When the two finally finished preparing, it had taken such a long time that Chen Mu was secretly shaking his head. He would have already made seven to eight attacks in that amount of time.


    When he had been in the ordinary residential districts, he''d always thought the five flourishing districts were filled with masters and that the elites from the ordinary residential districts were nothing compared to them. However, when he''d arrived in the five flourishing districts, he''d realized he was wrong. Undeniably, the quantity and quality of card artisans in the five flourishing districts were greater than that of card artisans in the ordinary residential districts. They had a better-equipped and more advanced training system. But the card artisans from the five flourishing districts were not necessarily better than the ones from the ordinary residential districts.


    The card artisans from the five flourishing districts were like the polite and smart working-class people in the city, whereas the card artisans from the ordinary residential districts resembled the gangsters from the Outer Reaches.


    The card artisans in the five flourishing districts rarely battled and usually had professional careers. Few card artisans were truly involved in battles, and they had all gone through professional training. However, they lacked practical experience compared to the card artisans from the ordinary residential districts. The living environment in the five flourishing districts was much better than that of the ordinary residential districts since it was nicely secured. There were hardly any fights or monsters. Moreover, it had been peaceful for the past few years. Hence, they rarely had the chance to have real fights.


    As the match went on, Chen Mu could clearly see the difference between the two contestants.


    The speed of the electric arc was gradually increasing and suddenly skyrocketed. Meanwhile, Huo Jiang charged ruthlessly! The blue lightning and the silver beam clashed!


    Boom!


    The audience saw a flash. The light was so bright that it temporarily blinded them. What followed was a loud bang that deafened their ears. All they could hear were buzzing noises.


    At that moment, Chen Mu''s and Rong Ming''s expressions changed!


    Dozens of silhouettes appeared without warning on the spectator platform and attacked the audience. Those masked card artisans were skilled and agile! Before they had even landed, they had already fired their attacks! The next second, the sky was raining energy blades.


    Rong Ming sneered and then appeared swiftly beside Tan Yumin.


    Such speed! Chen Mu thought to himself. Rong Ming indeed lived up to his level-seven perception!


    Rong Ming made a circle with his hands, and a terrifying energy wave rippled across the atmosphere. It was as though the energy blades had hit an invisible wall and vanished quietly.


    A hint of ferocity flashed through the eyes of Luo Qing, who was beside Luo De. She gently flicked her fingers, and a few streams of light perfectly hit the blades that had been aiming at Luo De and Jiang Yu. They were protected behind her.


    Crying and yelling came from every corner. Many spectators failed to dodge the energy blades and were hit. There was blood everywhere. Chen Mu effortlessly avoided a few energy blades as he observed the scene. Unexpectedly, there was a total of ten masked card artisans. Chen Mu focused his gaze and thought, These are card artisan assassins! All ten of them are actual card artisan assassins!


    Their movements were nimble and stealthy. When they attacked, they barely caused an energy ripple. Rong Ming, Luo Qing, and the others looked distressed when they realized the specialty of those card artisans. The ten card artisan assassins were aces! But who was their target?


    Two of the card artisan assassins twisted their bodies in a strange way before throwing themselves at Rong Ming. Even Rong Ming didn''t dare to act hastily when facing two card artisan assassins at the same time.


    Another card artisan assassin charged at Luo Qing from various angles, and one stormed at Chen Mu. Two others were keeping Jiang Shan and Huo Jiang busy in the arena. On the other side, a card artisan assassin was suppressing the others. The remaining three were going after Tai-shu Cheng and his company!


    The corner of Chen Mu''s eye twitched. He immediately realized their target was the Tai-shu family! He didn''t have sufficient time to ponder the reason behind the assassination targeting the Tai-shu family. He quickly threw a glance and assessed that there was only Xu Jia and the three brothers of the family, but there was no card artisan.


    While facing the card artisan assassin that was charging right at him, Chen Mu was surprisingly calm.


    They wanted their targets alive! He knew the motive of the three card artisan assassins just from a glance. If they had intended to kill the family, they could have done it simply with a few energy blades.


    Suddenly, Chen Mu closed his eyes. The simple yet mysterious perception world appeared once again.


    Distance, angle, direction¡­ He grasped the attack direction of the opponent in the blink of an eye! That was an extraordinarily unique feeling and an extremely powerful instinct. It was even stronger than what he''d felt during his battle with Ba Luojia! He seemed to be able to predict each and every possible move of the opponent.


    That feeling gave Chen Mu a shock. It was amazing yet unreasonable! However, the instinct was so powerful that Chen Mu had no reason to doubt its authenticity. He''d had the same vision while battling Ba Luojia, but it was now way stronger and more vivid.


    Was this Caesar''s way of battling? To battle with his instinct? That thought popped into his mind.


    Before he could react, he suddenly realized he had unknowingly penetrated his opponent''s heart at an awkward angle with the green energy sword whip in his hand under the influence of the strong instinct. The eyes of the masked card artisan bulged as he stared at his chest in disbelief. All of that had happened in less than a second. The three card artisan assassins hadn''t even touched Tai-shu Cheng and his family.


    In the perception world, which was constructed by uncountable lines, the intense instinct triggered Chen Mu. It was very realistic. As if he had lost control of his own body, he waved the energy whip subconsciously and cracked it repeatedly until it resembled the tongue of a snake. Xu Jia''s fair neck barely escaped the whip. As the tip of the energy whip drew across the air, the gazes of the three card artisan assassins in midair abruptly contracted, and their speed decreased.


    The three of them acted in sync. The card artisan in the middle roared and coated both of his hands with a cloud of purple light before fiercely grabbing the green energy whip. The other two continued with their initial direction and sped toward Tai-shu Cheng and his family! However, the strangest scene unfolded!


    The energy whip, which was as thick as a finger, briefly pulled to the back. Before the three card artisan assassins could react, the whip wound around the Tai-shus and Xu Jia and yanked them backward! Their faces were pale with shock. It was good enough that they were able to contain their screaming.


    The three card artisan assassins couldn''t believe their opponent''s extraordinary skill to control energy! They felt a chill run unexpectedly through their spines. During the brief clash, their opponent had acted like an expert who always had the upper hand. Unknowingly, they had lost their influence on the situation.


    Naturally, the three of them were reluctant to simply give up. The card artisan in the middle let out a sneer. He released the purple light in his hands and fired it straight toward Tai-shu Cheng! The other two increased their speed and charged at the four, who were in midair. However, when the card artisan in the middle initiated his move, the energy whip started to swing gently. The attack barely missed the four as they were tossed away from it. The beam of purple light brushed across Tai-shu Cheng''s ears and coincidentally went through the tiny gaps between the four people.


    The card artisan in the middle was dumbfounded. However, his eyes immediately showed a smug look. Despite the slight delay, his two other accomplices had come close to catching the four of them. The other two card artisan assassins couldn''t contain their thrill. They ignored Xu Jia completely and turned around to grab Tai-shu Cheng, Tai-shu Zheng, and Tai-shu Shen.


    Suddenly, the two card artisan assassins sensed danger. Two beams of green light flashed through from under their feet. They were terrified and escaped frantically.


    When did he ambush from underneath? How could we not realize it? The two failed to disguise the shock in their eyes.


    Pew! Pew! Two more beams of green light blocked their escape route, and the two assassins crashed right into each other! Both beams directly penetrated their hearts, forming two blossoms of blood right in the middle of the air.


    The sole card artisan left was startled by the scene before him! Being a card artisan assassin, he had been through countless battles and had met many skillful card artisans. However, he had never felt such deep fear! Yes¡ªit was fear! When the opponent could predict all actions, it would spell total exposure. The fear was devastating!


    He stared at the man before him, frightened. He retreated, taking one step after another. The fear was engulfing him from within, making him subconsciously want to distance himself from the man before him. The next moment, he decided to propel himself backward using all of his might to frantically retreat.


    Bam! A green light beam pierced his chest. His body had continued to move backward with the force of inertia. He lowered his head and stared at his chest in horror.


    The long energy sword whip had quietly landed on the ground and had extended to his back. As if it had predicted his movement, the direction of the energy sword whip had changed to point at his back. When he had reversed, he''d flown right into the whip.


    The green light swiftly dispersed. The last card artisan assassin lost his balance and fell to the ground with a thud. The last and only thought in his mind was that he didn''t have to face that demon anymore!


    Tai-shu Cheng and the other three collapsed on the floor. Their eyes were still painted with terror. That sudden twist had scarred them deeply.


    Chen Mu quietly stood aside. The two black lines along his white mask made him appear cold yet mysterious. No other card artisan had the courage to go near Chen Mu anymore. His efficient, unpredictable, and mysterious skills had frightened all of the card artisan assassins.


    Somebody ordered, "Retreat!" The rest of the card artisan assassins, who had already intended to leave a long time ago, backed out. With Chen Mu''s presence, they knew exactly that their mission had failed.


    "You think you can leave as you wish?" Rong Ming let out a contemptuous laugh. He circled his hands once again and stalled the movement of the two card artisans in front of him. The two card artisans were startled. Before they could react, two light beams flashed before them, and two thin lines of blood appeared on their necks.


    Luo Qing waved her hands, and a pink energy mist enshrouded the card artisan in front of her. Suddenly, the face of the card artisan twitched, and he was attacked by the energy blade in his own hand. Slap! The energy blade hit right at his face, and he fell to the ground face-down.


    The remaining card artisans knew the situation didn''t favor them, so they quietly left. Chen Mu did not chase after them. Neither did Rong Ming and Luo Qing.


    They looked at the spectator platform. Cries and shrieks still filled the atmosphere. There were injured spectators everywhere, but they couldn''t help but focus their attention on the same person¡ªthe masked man. A hint of fear flashed through their eyes, and their feelings were quite complicated.

 445 Coincidence? Guess?

    The storm on Tai-shu Zheng''s party was not over yet. The top management of the Tai-shu family was surely flared up; it had turned out that the three most probable heirs of the Tai-shu household were being targeted. That malignant event had cause Dongrui to tense up right away. The guards division command was the first to take action by commencing an extensive investigation in Dongrui. Up to 16 guests had been injured at the party, and two among them had been killed. Everyone in Dongrui was on high alert, as none of them could tell whether such an incident could happen to them.


    Of course, the one people were discussing delightedly after the disturbance was the White Commander, who was under Tai-shu Cheng. The mysterious White Commander had not only defeated Ba Luojia directly, but it had also been his courageous act that had saved Tai-shu Zheng and three others. The juiciest gossip from the party being spread around like butter was that he had killed four card artisan assassins in the blink of an eye.


    "White Commander, this is a gift from the second young master." Xu Jia had already recovered from the fear of that disturbance. She was in her work outfit, looking bright and capable.


    Chen Mu felt a slight headache as he looked at the mountainous pile of presents behind him. Since he had saved the three young masters of the Tai-shu family, he had been receiving gifts for the past several days. First, Tai-shu Yong had personally sent people to bring him a large pile of presents to express his gratitude for saving his three sons. Then, Tai-shu Cheng had personally paid a visit to Chen Mu''s floor with a load of presents, which had stunned the card artisans who were training. Right after Tai-shu Cheng had left, Tai-shu Zheng had sent Huo Jiang to deliver more presents. The most dumbfounding thing was that the presents had been from every elder in the Tai-shu family. Chen Mu had received so many gifts that he''d had no choice but to get a separate room just to keep them all.


    The card artisans who were training were amazed. Oh, boy! The White Commander is famous, all right! His courageous acts from that night were the main topic of discussion throughout the city. Overnight, he seemed to have become the most prominent person in Dongrui. People''s eyes, full of envy, were glued to the inconspicuous black and white bracelet, which had been worn by Miss Tan Yumin for three years. It was said that someone had offered to pay a sky-high price on the black market to buy that bracelet. They even heard that in the end, the issue regarding the ownership of the bracelet seemed to once again have proven the ability of the White Commander. The three out of the top four candidates had all abstained at the same time, handing the bracelet over to him. Later, in a gathering, Luo Qing, the elite of the young generation of the Luo family, had confessed to her sisters that she hadn''t been the opponent of the White Commander.


    The strength of the White Commander pumped them with morale. Each of the card artisans was now standing tall, and their faces were glowing with pride. Having the chance to work under such a hero was something to be proud of. The only thing they regretted was that they had never seen the White Commander fight before.


    When he stopped thinking about the mountainous pile of presents, Chen Mu said to Xu Jia, "Miss Xu, please help me thank the second young master."


    "Sure," Xu Jia said with a dazzling smile. She then changed her tone and said pathetically, "I wonder if I have the honor to ask the White Commander to dine with me. But I am not as rich as the third young master or his father, so I can only treat you to a simple meal."


    Chen Mu subconsciously wanted to reject the invitation. However, when he saw the eagerness in Xu Jia''s eyes, he mumbled, "It''s my pleasure! But¡­ let''s have it here, in the restaurant in this building."


    "Sure! Let''s meet tonight at 6:30. Be there, or be square!" After seeing Chen Mu nod his head, Xu Jia turned and left on quick, joyful feet.


    Chen Mu suddenly noticed Tai-shu Ying staring at the presents clingingly. With wry amusement, he said, "Go pick; take anything you like." Tai-shu Ying cheered and leaped at the presents.


    Sang Hanshui didn''t have much of a reaction. He seemed to have anticipated it and wasn''t too surprised. In his eyes, Qiao Yuan was in the top 50 on the Black-Line Star Listing! His ranking hadn''t changed recently. However, the guesses about him also hadn''t been confirmed. Qiao Yuan''s background couldn''t be discovered with the ability of the Black-Line Star Listing. Thus, Qiao Yuan had become even more mysterious in the public''s eyes.


    Seeing the card artisans being somewhat absent-minded, Sang Hanshui immediately thundered, "Focus up, everyone! Whoever dares to desert, hmm hmph!"


    All of the card artisans roused themselves again in a moment. They''d had their fair share of cruelty from the Hit Man those past few days.


    Chen Mu thought for a moment and then walked toward the basic body training room, where little Bu Mo was practicing.


    In the training room, Bu Mo was sweating profusely, and his eyes were full of anger. Wei-ah came to greet Chen Mu after seeing him walk over.


    "How''s little Bu Mo''s progress?" Chen Mu asked after both of them walked to the corner of the room.


    "Not bad. He''s made rapid progress," Wei-ah said.


    Chen Mu was a bit surprised. Basically, Wei-ah had never given him such a high compliment. The best he''d ever gotten from Wei-ah was generally "it''s okay" or "not bad."


    "Seems like Bu Mo has talent." Chen Mu was slightly excited. He''d taken a great liking to that little boy who didn''t talk much. He suddenly changed the topic. "Have you found out the details of those people?"


    "Mmmm. It was Faya," Wei-ah answered firmly. He took a glance at Chen Mu. "The lady you bit came as well."


    Wei-ah had hidden in the dark while Chen Mu had accompanied Tai-shu Cheng to the party. Nonetheless, he hadn''t taken any action, instead secretly following the escaped card artisans out the back to find out the mastermind behind them.


    "Faya? Her?" Chen Mu was stunned. He hadn''t expected it to be Faya. In hindsight, though, the style of the incident was quite consistent with Faya''s usual style. Chen Mu was brought up short again when he heard from Wei-ah that the lady he had bitten before had also been there. The juicy lips and that snow-white chin suddenly crossed his mind.


    What am I thinking? Chen Mu was taken aback and said with a wry smile, "Don''t tell me they traced me to here. How efficient!"


    Wei-ah shook his head and said, "I don''t think they''ve discovered you."


    They didn''t discover me? They weren''t coming for me? Wei-ah''s words sent Chen Mu''s brain into overdrive once again. Recalling the situation that day, he soon agreed with Wei-ah''s judgment. The targets of the card artisan assassins had been the three young masters from the Tai-shu household; it hadn''t been Chen Mu.


    "Seems like I must fight to the last gasp with this lady," Chen Mu said jokingly. In his heart, he was wondering why that lady would want to lay her hands on the three young Tai-shu masters. The Tai-shu family was considered a declining family in Dongrui, but Faya obviously had a motive. What was it worth Faya''s attention to covet? Chen Mu was wracking his brain, and his heart suddenly leapt. Could Faya have been coming for the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus?


    The more he thought of it, the more he was convinced by it! Other than the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, he couldn''t think of anything else that could provoke Faya to take such a big move. It was the only possibility!


    Gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus¡­ If Faya really came for it, what is it for? Could it be¡­ Chen Mu''s breath started to quicken! A name flitted through his mind¡ªthe demonic woman!


    Could the demonic woman still be alive? Could some important person from Faya also have had a green thread planted in their body by the demonic woman? Is that why Faya personally came to Dongrui to plot for the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus? Is that why the attack on the party happened? No wonder they want the three young masters from the Tai-shu household alive.


    All of the loose fragments in his mind seemed to make sense after he pieced them together. Demonic woman¡­ That nightmarish name, and the face that would stop the clock, was deeply imprinted in Chen Mu''s brain.


    After taking a deep breath, Chen Mu made a decision promptly. "Wei-ah, let''s check them out tonight."


    "Sure." Wei-ah''s reply was clear-cut.


    It was difficult for Chen Mu to concentrate after returning to his own training room. The prediction was too shocking for him! His emotions involuntary went up and down each time he thought the demonic woman might still be alive. Sue Lochiro had said the effect of the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus on the green thread was yet to be confirmed. Nonetheless, there was a way to solve the green thread at the root, which was to find the demonic woman and to make her pull the green thread out by herself! However, the demonic woman had disappeared completely after her fight with Qing Qing.


    The reason Chen Mu wished to check on Faya''s details was to see whether he could get the information related to the demonic woman. His hunger for news of her was far beyond his fear of Faya! Of course, support from Wei-ah was one of the reasons for him to take such a move confidently.


    Chen Mu quickly realized his condition of thinking randomly was awful. He started to draw his attention back consciously. He then simply pondered over the fight at the party.


    That had been his first time using Caesar''s techniques. However, the result of the battle had been far beyond his imagination. Marveling at the intense power of Caesar''s skill, he reflected on those battles and summarized them.


    Caesar''s application of perception was really fascinating. After the last breakthrough, his perceptual power had just broken through level six. In terms of perceptual power, he couldn''t even compete with Jiang Shan and Luo Qing, not to mention Sang Hanshui. Although Sang Hanshui''s capabilities were average, his perceptual power was outstandingly deep. Chen Mu estimated that he was just one step away from level-seven perception.


    Perceptual power that had just broken through level six was considered weak among experts. However, his combat power was much higher compared to those expert card artisans.


    Chen Mu could explore his own world to form a black and white perception world made of the alternative lines. To develop such a strong intuition, though, he''d needed Caesar''s field of expertise.


    Intuition was a wonderful thing, and people would frequently fail to explain it. Chen Mu wouldn''t be surprised if he could use the skill just one or two times. However, it would be amazing if he could have the intuition in his heart on each of the moves from the opponent! Once he got into that state, it was like his spirit was stripped. Being without excitement or emotions, it was as if he could predict every move of the opponent in advance.


    Caesar had named that state State Zero. The Materials Refinement Code and State Zero were the most essential contents on the card Caesar had given him.


    Suddenly, he thought of the breath control method. State Zero was similar to breath control in many ways; it was emotionless and absolutely calm and sensible. Nonetheless, there was a significant difference between the two. While in the state of breath control, Chen Mu felt like he was the token card with the strong computational capability of the Child. He could comprehend all of the factors and could get the best outcome in a short time. But he could get the answer directly without calculation under State Zero.


    That was also the strength of State Zero; intuition could always enable one to move a step ahead! That small step was not to be underestimated. In the hands of an expert player, one step was the critical difference between life and death. The lightning-fast battle at the banquet was the best example. The powerful State Zero meant powerful intuition.


    Is this really intuitive? Chen Mu felt confused. In his heart, he felt something wasn''t right. However, based on everything at the moment, it seemed like that could only be classified as intuition. But he couldn''t explain his feeling.


    Sure enough, he didn''t have enough understanding of perception! Chen Mu smiled bitterly to himself. He doubted the problem could possibly involve some elementary content of perception. Obviously, the problem was too deep for Chen Mu at that moment.


    All of the details of that battle were engraved in his mind. He had some revelations in his heart after verifying them repeatedly. Entering and maintaining State Zero required a complex perception operation, and the State Zero Chen Mu could perform at the moment was incomplete. The complexity of the perception operation under the complete State Zero could make one''s hair stand on end. It was impossible with Chen Mu''s current perceptual control.


    Caesar had most likely taken that factor into consideration. That was why he had divided State Zero into three phases. The lowest stage, currently mastered by Chen Mu, was the simplest version of State Zero, and it also had the lowest requirement for perception. According to Caesar''s description, that was the version he had been using before reaching age 30. It was also the initial version he''d created. Only when his perception had improved significantly had he created the following two stages.


    In comparison with breath control, the greatest advantage of State Zero was that it had no side effects. Chen Mu thought that was also the reason the Night of the Cross was an unpopular genre. Caesar, on the other hand, had managed to become the popular side. Breath control was powerful, but its natural defects had caused it to have significant limitations in practice.


    That had proven Caesar''s strength from another angle. That strength wasn''t only in combat power; what was most important was his intelligence. Caesar, who had discovered the right ways to train with the Materials Refinement Code and had created State Zero, undoubtedly had a wiser head compared to the founder of the Night of the Cross.


    However, in Chen Mu''s heart, the strongest person was neither Caesar, who had originally created State Zero, nor Wei-ah, who was unfathomable. It wasn''t the demonic woman, who was mysterious and strange, nor was it Tang Hanpei, who was the top ace in the federation. It was the creator of the mysterious card in his card pouch!


    Chen Mu had no idea who the creator of that card was. In his heart, though, that unknown creator was the most powerful person! That creator had brought such a tremendous change to his fate! To Chen Mu, that unknown creator was the wise man who could conquer all and would forever be the strongest person!

 446 Infiltration at Nigh

    Chen Mu had a meal with Xu Jia, which to him, was not that much of a good memory. Both of them had their meal at a restaurant inside the building and it was a place frequented mostly by the company''s internal staff. There were several staffs sitting here and there when they both walked in. The staffs looked at Chen Mu and Xu Jia with peculiar eyes as soon as they walked in.


    One was a renowned ace who was the talk of the place as of late, while the other being the most well-known beauty in the company. There was simply no way for them not to attract attention.


    Things were rather different there than when they were at the banquet with Tai-shu Zheng. While they both attracted a lot of attention at the banquet, the guests were still rather restrained. However, those internal staffs kept looking their way every now and then. Furthermore, it seemed someone had went about telling people that there were there, which ended up with having more and more people sitting in the restaurant. The hall, which had 80 tables, were all filled within mere moments. What was even more eerie was how there was no one who spoke loudly; all that was heard were whispers. But unfortunately in this case, Chen Mu''s hearing was superb. While those people around them had suppressed their voices, but he was still able to hear them very clearly nonetheless. Hearing how the staffs gossiped about him and Xu Jia in glee, he kept sweating cold sweat despite his usual unfettered, composed demeanor. Xu Jia, who had been acting calmly all the time before Chen Mu, had never anticipated something like that happening, and she was feeling just as uncomfortable.


    The meal was finished in an awkward manner and they both felt like they were actually running away from something after they were done, instead of simply leaving the table.


    Chen Mu walked all the way to the training grounds and by the time he arrived at Bu Mo''s training room, his emotions had returned to its usual calm state. Not a single hint of unease or haste was seen anymore in his cold calm eyes, as they became totally calmed and composed.


    Wei-ah had been waiting for Chen Mu inside the room. They took a look at each other and got ready to depart at the same time.


    "Hey, Woody..." Bu Mo asked with a weak voice and Chen Mu turned around, feeling surprised.


    "What is it, Little Bu Mo?" Bu Mo had certain similar traits with his name, in the sense that he hardly spoke at his own will.


    "Can I come with you?" Bu Mo asked in a rather uneasy manner. He seemed to feel rather sorry about even asking in the first place, but he quickly lifted his tiny fist, to prove that he had what it took. "Woody, I''ve been working hard as of late! Even Wei-ah said my progress is astounding!"


    Chen Mu took a look at Wei-ah, who shook his head and added, "You''re not strong enough yet."


    Chen Mu had no choice but to shrug at Bu Mo. He went on to console Bu Mo seeing how dejected the boy looked, "No need to rush, Little Bu Mo. Keep at it with your current rate of progress, and we''ll be fighting alongside each other in no time!"


    While Bu Mo still looked rather dejected, his resolve was quickly lit up again as he lifted his bald head, saying seriously, "Yeah, Woody! I will continue to work hard!"


    Seeing Bu Mo''s determined expression, Chen Mu felt like he was looking at his past self all of a sudden. He patted Bu Mo''s head and said nothing.


    All manner of fantasy card commercials were seen as night fell. The grand, vast Dongrui City looked dazzling as a result. Wei-ah was incapable of flight, so the two simply walked on the streets.


    The Garden Above hanging over their heads emitted cold, subdued light, making it look like a giant moon. The fortresses that surrounded the floating suburb shimmered like stars. Citizens of Dongrui had gotten used to it, while Chen Mu, who had never seen it before, could not have helped but keep looking up, being impressed of its grandness.


    Both men zipped through the buildings at high speed under the cover of night.


    Wei-ah was moving incredibly fast. It was difficult to imagine what kind of powers lied within those legs that could have been hardly described as robust. He was able to cover a distance of seven to eight meters with just a single step. Chen Mu had to give it his all just to even keep up. Every single step Wei-ah took made it seem like he disappeared right where he stood, appearing seven to eight meters away all of a sudden.


    While it was not the first time Chen Mu seen Wei-ah move, he was nonetheless still rather impressed. Such speeds would have made him a force to be reckoned with in combat. Chen Mu, who had frequently sparred with Wei-ah felt that very deeply. Furthermore, he knew well that that was not the highest speed that Wei-ah was able to achieve! Just how fast can Wei-ah be? I''ve never seen it.


    All passers-by who saw them both all doubted if their eyes were playing tricks at them. Some card artisans with a certain measure of powers were shocked and knew well enough to stay out of their way. Living in such times, everyone who had any common sense, would have known what to do dealing with such situations.


    After travelling for about 20 minutes, they have finally reached their destination.


    "There." Wei-ah was able to convey what he meant perfectly, saying only a single word and a simple gesture.


    It was an unassuming civilian dwelling. A three-storey building with a garden and less than 500 square meters. Any resident of Dongrui City with a decent job would have been able to afford such a house. The place that they found themselves in now was called Hualin Village, a satellite town of Dongrui City quite a distance away from the city itself. Chen Mu felt rather surreal that Wei-ah was able to came all the way here with his investigations. The dwellings all looked identical and it made Chen Mu feel rather dazed.


    No. 169, 11th Street, Hualin Village. Chen Mu memorized the address written on the plaque at the door.


    Chen Mu took his mask off and held it close. If the enmity he had for the Great Six were to be said stemming out of self-preservation, then his Faya ran even deeper and was more intense, which was outright irreconcilable. He would have not hesitated to do anything that was deemed capable of weakening Faya''s powers. However, that was not to say that he had lost his composure. He would not have chosen to fight any enemy head-on, before he deemed himself strong enough to do so. His identity as Qiao Yuan had thoroughly gotten on the bad side of Faya. As such, it would have been better to just go all the way. Wei-ah looked at how Chen Mu acted. He then took his mask off and held it close as well.


    Both men moved like ghosts as they leapt into the wall. The three meter-tall wall was hardly an obstacle for both of them. Chen Mu did not even bother to use his senses to scale it. His pupils however, dilated all of a sudden as soon as he landed.


    Card appliance contraptions!


    He turned around hard and evaded the location of said contraption at the nick of time. Chen Mu, who calmed a bit after that, lifted his head and gasped!


    The compound that was hardly huge at all was filled with large amount of card appliance contraptions! Any enemy who sneaked in would have easily triggered one if they were not being cautious. The latest models of shallow explosive card appliance contraptions, wavy blade shooters known for its high rate of fire, trapper energy nets that would have easily been able to tie something as huge as a fist into a dumpling with a designated area...


    Chen Mu clicked his tongue. The card appliance contraptions found within were far more advanced than what they themselves were using! Chen Mu knew a thing or two about card appliance contraptions as Hertha, who was an adept at using card appliance contraptions, was working for him. However, it seemed that the contraptions seemed to be laid in a hasty, random, and messy manner in the compound. Not only were their placement problematic, there were not even the most basic of camouflages used on them. If Hertha had been with them, he would have snubbed his nose at how those contraptions were laid.


    But to Chen Mu and Wei-ah, that was an opening that they could exploit. Those contraptions would have caused them a hell lot of trouble otherwise.


    Furthermore, there had been three near-imperceptible beams of perception sweeping over them consecutively within the span of several seconds. Chen Mu determined that if he were to even use a bit of his perception, he might have ended up being detected by those sweeping perceptions. Worse still, any contraption triggered would have meant their cover being blown.


    Chen Mu hunched and silently sneaked into the house, moving along the seams of those contraptions. Wei-ah followed right behind and made no sound. He was so quiet that even Chen Mu, who was leading the way, felt weird.


    Chen Mu put his ear to the wall after sneaking to the bottom of the wall and listened closely. His six sensory inputs were unnervingly sharp now. He was still able to vaguely hear the conversation within the house despite having a wall between them.


    "I''m getting sleepy here. Even a robot would have collapsed having to keep doing overtime like this!" A card artisan groaned in a low voice.


    Another card artisan, who seemed to be older from his voice, consoled the first card artisan, saying, "Just hold on for a few more days. Reinforcements would be here by then. We would have a few day''s break after that. You know the lady would never shortchanges us. The overtime pay would be hefty."


    "That''s true and all, but if that black-ops guy hadn''t screwed up in the first place, we wouldn''t have to do this!" The young card artisan was apparently displeased.


    "The black-ops sure got themselves in a tight spot this time, and things sure ain''t going to look good for them in the future. But man, who would have thought some guy like that would have been with Tai-shu!" The older card artisan said with a tinge of worry.


    The young card artisan snorted and said, "Hmph, that bunch of eerie, unpopular good-for-nothings who know nothing but sneaking around. Their sh** faces look like they came out of a single mold and they sure as were unfriendly. I say serve them right!"


    "Watch what you''re saying!" The older card artisan was apparently dreaded the black-ops and continued, "Alright, alright. Just don''t go sticking our noses where they don''t belong. Just focus on guarding the lady and let the others worry about the ohter stuff."


    Chen Mu, who was outside the house, silently processed he had just heard. Those assassin card artisans were probably coming from a subdivision of Faya called the black-ops, and that there reinforcements arriving within days. The intel had him determined to get what he came for on that very night. Or else, when reinforcements arrived, there would have been no more opportunities for him to do whatever he needed to do. He came to understand why those card appliance contraptions were laid in such crude, haphazard manner without a hint of technical expertise to speak of.


    "The lady doesn''t seem all that much in a good for the past few days! This is the first time I''ve seen being so goddamn angry!" The young card artisan voiced his concerns.


    Chen Mu''s ears perked up.


    "Yeah, I''ve been sticking around the lady for quite a couple of years and I''ve never seen her so frustrated about anything!" The older card artisan sighed.


    "It''s all that good-for-nothing Qiao Yuan''s fault! If I were to see that a**hole again, I''m going to grind him to dust!" The young card artisan said in an enraged tone.


    "Shh, the lady is coming down." The older card artisan lowered his voice all of the sudden and both of them shut up immediately. Chen Mu flinched and gestured at Wei-ah, who was right beside him, with his eye. If he had not been keeping himself highly focused, he would have missed that line.


    The lady was in a very bad mood as of late and she had not been sleeping well at all. She was unable to sleep at night and was unable to keep her eyes shut well during the day. She had only shut her eyes for about half an hour previously and quickly found herself unable to sleep any longer. She decided to get up and take a walk instead.


    Her eyes turned very gentle seeing the Bronze-Masked Man standing guard at her door, "Uncle, don''t just keep standing here. You''ve had even less rest every day than I did. Your body would collapse if you keep doing this."


    "Hehe, little miss, people like us don''t need much sleep," the Bronze Masked Man chuckled and siad.


    "Uncle, father said that Zhuo Qing has emerged out of isolation. He had been unparalleled among the young generation of card artisans back then, and I''m sure he''s even more powerful now! My father said that he intended to send Zhuo Qing to Kyoto." She felt rather excited. She had only displayed a bit of girly side to her at that moment.


    The Bronze-Masked Man looked at her with doting eyes and said, "he is the one who would take my place to protect you in the future after all. He''d need to sharpen himself more now to do that."


    "Hehe, I bet you''re feeling rather excited! He''s your number one disciple after all!" She said in glee.


    The Bronze-Masked Man voice remained gentle as he continued, "Zhuo Qing has exceptional talents and it is quite a rare thing that he has a good personality and intentions too. I''d be able to rest easy with him taking my place to protect you."


    The lady sounded rather unwilling and said with a rather squeamish tone, "So you''re going to leave me, uncle? No way, no way!"


    The Bronze-Masked Man patted her head and said with a sigh, "Your uncle is going to get old someday and he''d die too." He then noted that the conversation was sounding rather sad, and changed the subject subtly, "Oh right. Butchie should be here within two days."


    "Butchie?" The lady sounded rather surprised. "How are her injuries?"


    "Hehe, she is all well now and she seems to be far more capable than she had been." He then said with a tinge of dejection, "It''s a pity that Hugo didn''t make it. He was the one I had expectations for among those kids. While his talents were lacking, he was resilient. He would have became a great, if late-blooming, card artisan, if it hadn''t been for that accident."


    The lady was silent for a while before continuing, "He probably didn''t regret it. If it hadn''t been for him covering Butchie, she would have died at Qiao Yuan''s hands." She then smirked, "Alright, enough with the chit-chat. Let''s go for a walk, uncle. It''s my first time here at Dongrui City."


    "Right." The Bronze Masked Man nodded.


    Both of them walked downstairs and the card artisan guards straightened themselves. All guards were ordered to never leave the premises so as not to attract attention.


    The Bronze Masked Man turned his head all of a sudden with bone-chilling eyes!


    "Hmph, come out!"


    He wriggled his right hand at the wall before he finished. The sturdy material used to make the wall became as flimsy as paper as a hole was blasted through it. Light shone from the hole and there was nothing outside. The card artisans around were not able to react in time and they all turned to look at the big hole with dazed expressions.


    No one!


    Everyone felt stunned as a rumble was heard soon! The parts of the wall two meters away from both sides of that hole blew up. Debris flew at the group like rain droplets! It was too sudden and all of the card artisans were caught by surprise! The scene turned into chaos as the dust and the debris shrouded the entire living room.


    The Bronze Masked Man stood before the lady to protect her and encased both of them in an energy shield immediately.


    Two figures who seemed like black bolts of lightning charged at the energy shield in the midst of the confusiion!


    The Bronze-Masked Man snorted and said, "Some guts you have!" He felt himself dazed before he finished his line as one of them seemed to appear right before his energy shield out of nowhere! The Bronze-Masked Man''s pupils dilated!


    Such speed!


    He flinched and backed off immediately!


    Bang! A crisp cracking sound was heard as the energy shield was shattered into pieces. The shattered light pieces fell all over the place like petals and the scene looked rather dreamy. However, the Bronze-Masked Man had no time to admire the view. He took the lady in his hands and felt highly alerted. His opponent was able to shatter his energy shield with just a single punch...


    What uncanny powers indeed...

 447 Flower World

    The Bronze Masked Man''s speed was extremely fast too. He carried Lady Faya in one hand and his figure shot back violently.


    However, Wei-ah''s speed was even faster!


    Chen Mu did not know whether Wei-ah''s speed was the fastest, but in terms of short-ranged explosive power, he didn''t believe that anyone could surpass Wei-ah! Amongst the aces that he had seen, in terms of short-ranged explosive power, Wei-ah came first and the demonic woman second. The others, be it Jiao Si or Caesar, could not possibly claim to be better in this aspect. Within a short range, the explosive power of muscles had more advantages than cards.


    Chen Mu''s assessment was exceedingly accurate. As though without any warning, Wei-ah appeared out of thin air beside the Bronze Masked Man, whose gaze told of his shock. By a hair''s breadth, a layer of energy cloak appeared in between Wei-ah and the Bronze Masked Man.


    The speed of the two men was too fast! Chen Mu couldn''t keep up. But when he saw the reappearance of the energy cloak once more, a shiver was in his heart. The shattering of an energy cloak would have some effect on the card itself, so the next activation of the energy cloak usually needed more time. But the Bronze Masked Man had activated the energy cloak twice within an exceptionally short time with such ease and composure. Simply considering this move alone, Chen Mu was far inferior. It required an extremely perverted control of perception.


    Ping!


    Yet another crisp sound, and Wei-ah''s fist shattered the newly-activated energy cloak once more. Nonetheless, with the help of this tiny bit of gap, the Bronze Masked Man and Lady Faya vanished at once amongst the dreamy shards of fragmented light. By the time Chen Mu caught sight of their figures once more, the two were already in a corner behind the guards.


    The exchange of attacks between the two were as quick as lightning. The sharpness of Wei-ah''s attacks and the swfitness of the Bronze Masked Man''s response both displayed the air of super aces! However, the present moment was obviously not a good time to spectate a battle. Lady Faya had been carried in the Bronze Masked Man''s hand all this time. Chen Mu had no means of getting closer and could only turn his mind to the other card artisans.


    State Zero!


    Strength burst from his legs abruptly, his figure blurred, and he cut into amongst the Faya card artisans like a sharp blade. In a fleeting instant, countless black and white alternating energy beads appeared around him - it was the Bipolar card!


    "It''s you!"


    "Qiao Yuan!"


    ...


    Exclamations rose in waves as these card artisans presently realised who the incoming adversary was! These black and white alternating energy beads were a weapon they remembered well by heart, just like that golden energy chain! Upon hearing the exclamations of the card artisans, Lady Faya''s face showed her disbelief and she turned around sharply. The Bronze Masked Man was shocked too and turned abruptly to look at Chen Mu too, and his eyes were full of the intent to kill!


    But before he could lunge at Chen Mu, Wei-ah was already there!


    Without any hesitation, the Bronze Masked Man put down Lady Faya and rushed towards Wei-ah. He had been at a disadvantage all the time while he had carried Lady Faya. Only with all his attention on the battle did he stand a chance! Besides, though the residence wasn''t a large one, there were 20 card artisans in there! These card artisans were Faya''s elites. Each permitted to be there was of the level of a minor team leader. With 20 such elite card artisans, the Bronze Masked Man didn''t think Qiao Yuan could pose any harm to Lady Faya''s safety.


    What he needed to be the most wary of was this terrifying ace of the cardless sects in front of him!


    A speed quick as lightning, unsurpassably great strength, skillful battle tactics, a cool head¡­ When did such an ace appear from amongst the cardless sects? Could this ace of the cardless sects actually be Qiao Yuan''s secret weapon? He suddenly remembered that after the battle in which Qiao Yuan had nearly lost his life, Wen had originally intended to take the opportunity to attack stealthily, but had somehow retreated with shock and fear later. He couldn''t understand Wen before this, but at that moment he was enlightened!


    The Bronze Masked Man''s gaze intensified and his perception locked on to Wei-ah securely! Despite the fact that he had been at a disadvantage since the beginning, his spirit wasn''t affected at all.


    Silently and without any signs, Wei-ah stopped his figure with such ferocity that he seemed to have violated the laws of physics.


    The two sides fell into a stalemate and their eyes met.


    The instant two murderous auras clashed in the air, the two men made their move at the same time!


    Wei-ah suddenly vanished from the spot while the Bronze Masked Man''s pupil contracted a little and, as his fingers closed together, five rays of pink light shot from his hand.


    After Wei-ah''s sudden halt, he twisted around and zigzagged, moving back by five steps as if without rhyme or reason. He was flickering like a ghost floating about amongst the rays of light. The direction and coordinates of these five beams were very clever and had cut off all his paths in advancing forward such that he could only move to the side.


    Though Wei-ah''s unexpected backing away did surprise the Bronze Masked Man a little, the movement of his hands did not slow in the slightest. His right hand seemed like it was immersed in a cloud of vague shadows and one could barely make out the movements of the fingers.


    Countless pink rays shot from his hand at Wei-ah like a shower of pink light. These rays weren''t directly aimed at Wei-ah and many fell in the empty space around him.


    Wei-ah''s figure vanished and reappeared every now and then among the innumerable pink light rays. The broken shadow twisting and dodging sideways left trails behind him one after another.


    Ding!


    The soft ring of a bell which couldn''t have been any softer sounded from between the Bronze Masked Man''s fingers and jerked to a stop. All the pink rays had disappeared along with this ring and in the air around Wei-ah hovered countless fingernail-sized pink energy blades, looking as though pink Sakura petals had filled the sky!


    Wei-ah sensed danger!


    In the corner, Lady Faya, who had just been put down, glared at Qiao Yuan with vehemence. Her gaze had turned wicked and hard to read. She wasn''t worried for her own safety though. The twenty card artisans in front of her formed the strongest circle of defense!


    Due to the narrow space, it wasn''t easy to have too many people fighting at the same time. The first few to attack were the four card artisans closest to Chen Mu! At the moment of beginning their assault, two close combat card artisans lunged at Chen Mu while the other two moved back swiftly, releasing energy bodies from their hands to shoot at Chen Mu!


    Chen Mu had an entirely different experience this time as compared to the last time in State Zero!


    In the black and white world, the lines which gave rise to everything were changing and every line had its unique meaning. Some were air and some outlined the figures of objects and card artisans. Not one moment were they static, but be it changing drastically or slowly, none escaped Chen Mu''s perception! But there were exceptions as well, such as Wei-ah and the Bronze Masked Man. Chen Mu could not capture their minute changes. This also made Chen Mu realise that State Zero wasn''t omnipotent.


    Nonetheless, these card artisans in front didn''t cause him much trouble! It seemed like, as per normal, that feeling of having everything in control filled him with confidence.


    However, he did not move recklessly, because, apart from that familiar sensation, there was another feeling just as intense - extreme danger! This was the first time that he felt such a strong sense of danger in State Zero!


    He was immersed in a very peculiar state. The strong feeling of having everything in control and the just as intense sense of extreme danger were like a pair of parallel lines, both existing at the same time and appearing just as distinct!


    The feeling of having everything was full of temptation, as though someone was whispering in his ear, "Do it! Do it! You just need to do it, and they''ll turn into dust!"


    The intense sense of danger was filled with alarm, as though someone else was at his ear continually reminding him, "Leave! Leave! If you don''t go now, even your bones won''t be left!"


    Chen Mu hated this state! It disturbed him!


    At the present moment, there was no time left to ponder why such a situation had appeared. All he could do was to make a choice between the two. To fight, or not fight?


    He had experienced many battles and knew that, being undecided as he was at that moment, he stood no chance of winning.


    Numerous scenes flashed past in his mind like lightning. The cold winter in childhood, the laughter he had shared with Copper, the anxiety of his first battle, the peaceful life of his dreams¡­


    For some unknown reason, his heart regained its peace rapidly. With a solemn expression, he opened his eyes and was no longer perturbed. The black and white world remained in his eyes and the sense of danger hadn''t weakened a bit, but it could no longer make his determination waver!


    The two close combat card artisans were only five steps away from Chen Mu. The pair used the same cards and 30 silver blades materialised! The silver energy blades, each two fingers wide, filled up every inch of space around Chen Mu. They intertwined like a web and, with a fierce murderous aura, closed in on him!


    The orange energy darts released from the hands of the other two card artisans flew in a curved trajectory around the two close combat card artisans, and Chen Mu was their target.


    The four card artisans hadn''t made any exchange between themselves, but when they struck, it was with great teamwork!


    All the card artisans were snickering. No matter how powerful Qiao Yuan was, the only solution left at present was to withstand the attacks with an energy cloak head on! Although the four orange energy darts weren''t all that fast, their penetration was extremely stunning. Being hit by four darts simultaneously, energy cloaks with less than five stars could only end up shattering.


    As she saw that Qiao Yuan had no means of escape, pleasure could be read from Lady Faya''s eyes, as well as a trace of an almost indiscernible complicated emotion.


    Just as everyone thought that Chen Mu had nowhere to escape to, Chen Mu finally made his move!


    The black and white energy beads floating around him promptly brightened. Just ahead in the path of flight of the silver blades, beam after beam lit up, each directly facing a silver blade!


    Ding!


    The sound of the collision between 30 silver blades and light beams were brought together, sharp and crisp, and the unprepared crowd felt a pain in their ears!


    The energy shards around Chen Mu rippled in waves and enveloped him within.


    Amongst the broken fragments of light, his body bent sinisterly and the four orange energy darts hit an empty space in the same moment. Meanwhile, strength burst from his legs instantly and he suddenly shot up into the air like a compressed spring!


    The two close combat card artisans merely felt their eyes blurred for a moment, and Qiao Yuan had already appeared in front of them.


    The two men were horrified and, before they could respond, two light rays which had appeared out of thin air pierced their heart! Without any delay, Chen Mu whisked past between them like a wind.


    At this monent, the crowd all revealed their horror. Before they had become aware of it, innumerable black and white energy beads had appeared around them in order!


    They suddenly remembered that it was exactly those black and white energy beads which cancelled out the onslaught of sharp blades!


    In their eyes then, the tiny energy beads were emitting the aura of danger and fatality!


    The black and white energy beads were, like a game of Go arranged with countless pieces, deeply profound and unfathomable! And the shower of pink petals of the Bronze Masked Man''s was ridiculously romantic! Even though one could detect the palpitating intent to kill beneath that beauty, one would willingly be enchanted by those bits of pink!


    The vulgar and sinister lines on the bronze mask on the Bronze Masked Man''s face seemed to have softened in the rain of petals too, like the willow swaying in spring. The cold desire for murder vanished from his eyes, replaced by calmness and mildness which reflected Wei-ah who was as cold as stone.


    From his lips came the chant,


    -- "Flower World!"

 448 Wei-ahs Retaliation

    Peach-colored energy blades were zipping about like falling petals, hovering about Wei-ah. The silent energy blades went about in cohesion like rain droplets in the wind as the Bronze Masked Man mumbled.


    Wei-ah''s expression turned even colder and he became shrouded in a cold aura. If Chen Mu was able to see Wei-ah''s current expression, he would have been very surprised to see that Wei-ah had a rarely seen serious look on his face.


    Wei-ah did not underestimate the energy blades which were only about the size of a fingernail. He had instead been able to sense the lethality within those tiny blades!


    He moved before the Bronze-Masked Man said anything! He lifted his right hand, which had been dangling by his side all the while, to his chest, and shook it like the string of a bow!


    Shoop!


    A formless air wavy blade shot out from his hand, streaking at the Bronze-Masked Man with a sharp noise!


    The Bronze-Masked Man focused and glared. No energy fluctuations! He had by then lost count of how many times he had been surprised on that day. His opponent''s powers were way above his expectation. The stone-cold man before him was indeed a master of the cardless sect. No, he''s the most powerful ace of the cardless sect!


    However, the cardless sect had fallen into obscurity for hundreds of years. If he had not witnessed such a man in action personally, he would not have believed that a member of the cardless sect with such prowess existed in the world!


    He had seen Qiao Yuan used that move before. As the battle between Qiao Yuan and the duo: Jin Yin and Dang Han became the talk of the city, that move had became a legendary move for all practitioners of the cardless sect, and was named by many as the Air Slash. It was also currently the only move that enabled a cardless sect practitioner to execute a ranged attack without use of a weapon!


    Although he had seen Qiao Yuan used the move before, he came to have an entirely different feeling about it when he found himself on the receiving end of the move. No energy fluctuations of any kind! If they were not being shrouded within the area of effect of ''Flower Rain'', which heightened his senses to the extreme, he probably would not have been able to react in time. In comparison to Qiao Yuan''s strained looks back then, the mysterious man before him looked completely composed and all that seemed so effortless for the man.


    However, the Bronze-Masked Man was still a true master who had been where he was after fighting countless battles. While he was surprised by Wei-ah''s powers, he did not come to fear his opponent!


    Furthermore, ''Flower World'' isn''t that flimsy!


    The air wavy blade was suddenly being covered lightly by a rain of flowers before it was able to leave the area. The rain of flowers seemed like a soft yet resilient web, wrapping up the intensely sharp air wavy blade. The dancing rain of flowers in the air would have confused any watching bystanders.


    The bunched up rain of flowers dispersed as quickly as the petals huddled, as if they were a group of playful fairies, getting away from each other as soon as they have gotten near to each other. The air wavy blade that was being wrapped up was nowhere to be seen.


    Wei-ah''s expression did not flinch, as if he was not in the least bit surprised of what happened. His movement speed of his legs grew, making him seem to appear and disappear out of nowhere within the Flower World.


    The petal-like energy blades were incapable of fast attacks, but what they lacked in speed was compensated by their sheer numbers!


    Tens of gashes were seen all over Wei-ah''s clothes. His combat suit had been turned into torn rags, making him look rather awkward. Every single tiny petal was immensely sharp, capable of cutting flesh easily!


    Wei-ah''s speed grew increasingly fast, but his predicament turned increasingly worse instead! The petals around closed in on him from all directions. Despite Wei-ah''s zigzag movements, he was still incapable of shaking himself off the petals, and the room where he was capable of evading the petals shrunk continuously.


    The Bronze-Masked Man did not look pleased at all, as if the battle was meant to be such in the first place.


    That move had never failed the Bronze-Masked Man in battle ever. He had basically won the fight when he came to use that move.


    Every single energy blade within ''Flower Word'' was interconnected with each other. Sensory threads were woven all over the realm of dancing, flying petals. The Bronze-Masked Man was a like a spider, spinning his web everywhere in the ''Flower World'', enabling him to sense everything happening within its area-of-effect! That Air Slash earlier had dissipated due to having been cut up by the tiny petals for over a thousand times.


    And this time, the target he pointed at was none other than Wei-ah!


    8600 peach-colored petals practically caged Wei-ah from all directions, all of which would have then closed in at the center from every single angle! Not even power shields would have been able to block 8600 impacts, and worse still, cardless sect members did not even have power shields.


    He''s done for! The Bronze-Masked Man looked increasingly sure of himself as he watched Wei-ah zigzagging about within to evade the petals and attempt to break the ''Flower World''.


    Time''s up! A sinister smile appeared beneath his mask as he clicked his thumb with his index finger.


    Ding!


    A crisp clear ring of the bell was heard and the Bronze-Masked Man''s eye looked stern as he called with a low voice, "Flower World Dead Snow!"


    The fleeting Flower World turned all of a sudden! The dreamy peach-colored state lost its color as it turned completely snow-white. Every single peach-colored petal turned white, making them look like falling snowflakes from afar. Spring passed and winter arrived. The Flower World was no longer in the warm gentle mood of spring; it turned unnerving sharp and cold.


    The flower petals'' lazy movements were nowhere to be found. The clean, pure snowflake-like energy blades began to accelerate as they spun in a frenzy.


    Wooooo!


    Countless howls of blades gathered, as if a blizzard was being whipped up!


    And Wei-ah, was caught in the middle of the blizzard.


    Sshhhh!


    Wei-ah''s clothes were disintegrated at frightening speed. The cut and torn fabrics were quickly caught in the air to be torn into even smaller pieces within an instant. Streaks of blood began appearing on Wei-ah''s exposed skin. While the gashes were not deep, the crisscrossing streaks in huge numbers still made it a unnerving scene to behold.


    Wei-ah was injured.


    Chen Mu was able to see the blood on Wei-ah''s face from the corner of his eye, and he was dumbfounded for a moment! He had never thought that even Wei-ah would have been injured in a fight. In his impression, he had never known Wei-ah to be capable of losing nor sustaining injuries, an inhuman who seemed to be immune to death!


    But now, Wei-ah is injured! Chen Mu''s eyes became bloodshot and he wanted more than anything to rescue Wei-ah, who had odds being stacked against him!


    A lone, fleeting man stood all of a sudden within the lethal blizzard!


    So you quit trying to evade now? Are you being despaired? Are you giving up already?


    A cold smirk were seen in the Bronze-Masked Man''s eyes. He had seen too many card artisans like that! More often than not, people would lose the courage to fight before absolute power.


    The lone standing Wei-ah immediately became the very target of the snow-white energy blades. Wei-ah looked to be in shambles within the snowy field.


    Chen Mu, who was prepared to rescue Wei-ah, stopped as he looked at Wei-ah''s eyes. That uncaring eyes opened slightly wider than they usually were while tiny blood streaks were seen on his face. Chen Mu ceased worrying all of a sudden.


    He knew that Wei-ah was getting ready to retaliate.


    The strength of his opponent was beginning to make Wei-ah, who usually had a deadpan look about him, excited.


    The fight between two top class masters briefly stunned all of the other card artisans present. The Bronze-Masked Man''s raging waves-like perception terrorized the nerves of everyone present. From the dreamy, spring-like ''Flower World'' to the brutal, unforgiving ''Flower World Dead Snow'' that followed, all of those were killing moves worthy of worship. The scene tugged violently at the heartstrings. They had never seen him using such moves ever before.


    ''Hmph!''


    Wei-ah snorted hard and his eyes, which were always calm like a lake, sparkled violently! He pointed on the ground lightly and his body appeared in midair. He paid no heed at all to all those gashes brought about snowflake blades. Wei-ah''s body in midair seemed like a bow. He hunched slightly, bending his elbows as he clenched his fists and put them before his chest, while his legs were half-bent.


    His pupils dilated all of a sudden!


    His body in midair turned hazy and dissipated into a shadow. Chen Mu, who had been watching all the while from the sides, had his eyes opened wide and he almost tripped. Just what...


    Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!


    Air bullets shot out from around Wei-ah like violent explosions. The airwaves clashed head on with the snowflakes around him. The airwaves were not as sharp and quick as the Air Slash that he pulled earlier, but every single wave felt like cannonballs leaving the barrel, bringing immense power and impact to bear!


    Wei-ah had only taught Chen Mu the Air Slash and Chen Mu thought that was all Wei-ah knew. But the shadow he saw in the air made him understand that the Air Slash was but a common trick for Wei-ah!


    Every single punch that Wei-ah lashed out at the air had a firm, explosive boom. Every single kick made the same crisp clear sound!


    The blurry shadow was but an effect brought about by Wei-ah''s insane speed at punching and kicking! The moves, which enabled him to launch air bullets at the same time, were utterly against the human''s body structure. Furthermore, Chen Mu''s arm had actually cracked before from being to handle the immense strain of using the Air Slash even once.


    Wei-ah...he really does have an inhuman body!


    Air bullets landed heavily at the blizzard around Wei-ah, as if he had thrown one bomb after another at the blizzard around him.


    The Bronze-Masked Man was completely stunned. He was looking at Wei-ah with eyes suggesting that he was looking at an alien. The Air Slash was still deemed within means to deal with using the energy blades, but the near-solid air bullets were far more difficult to intercept than that thin Air Slash before!


    An air bullet needed multiple cuts to dissipate!


    The Bronze-Masked Man dared not let any one of those air bullets hit him! His body as a card artisan was nothing like that insane inhuman before him. He knew the power and impact of those air bullets better than anyone. Every single snowflake was made to move even faster and they turned into a terrifying web of killing snowflakes! Wei-ah was the middle of the web and no snowflake was actually able to get near him.


    Both sides were at a stalemate.


    Boom, boom, boom, boom!


    The explosions were happening so frequently that it dazed anyone who heard them. That, coupled with the whirling howl of the snowflakes spinning about in high speed made a frustrating noise like no other.


    However, both of them, who were doing battle, did not seemed affected at all. None of them seemed to slow down in the slightest.


    The Bronze-Masked Man gave it his all to intercept the air bullets using the web formed of countless flying snowflakes, while Wei-ah continued to blast the web in a frenzy with his air bullets!


    Chen Mu''s attention returned to the battle as he confirmed that Wei-ah was able to handle the situation.


    The extravagant battle between the two masters shook the minds of everyone who watched. Many card artisans looked on with dazed eyes.


    Chen Mu, who was the first to react to the situation, saw an opening he was able to exploit!

 449 The Go Cage of Thousand Cuts under State Zero

    The monochromatic energy beads floated around steadily, like the sands in a river of


    stars, moving along with the ebb and flow of the waters. It was like the black and white


    pieces on the Go chess board, silently shifting their arrangement.


    Chen Mu shut his eyes once again. The breathtaking battle between Wei-ah and the


    Bronze Masked Man just now has affected his state of mind. The scenery in his eyes


    regained its color. This was bad news to him. Keeping his eyes shut wasn''t a


    compulsory condition to enter into State Zero. But for a beginner like Chen Mu, this


    helped him to enter the condition faster by reducing the distractions of his environment


    on him.


    Caesar, however, could not only keep his eyes open, but could enter State Zero in the


    quickest time no matter when and how terrible the environment is.


    The monochromatic world became clear once again. A clear perception re-emerged


    from the bottom of his heart.


    Seven of the remaining eighteen guards has returned to normal. In just an instant, the


    position of these seven people were marked clearly in his heart. Naturally, his strong


    intuition has reappeared.


    Three of the seven alerted him the most! This time, Chen Mu trusted in his State Zero


    intuition without a doubt.


    His body suddenly shifted left, his right foot tapped on the ground. In a blur, he


    disappeared and re-emerged five meters to his left. The card artisans felt a blur of vision


    when their opponent disappeared.


    "Be careful!"


    "Look out!"


    The card artisans who regained their consciousness lets out shouts of warning one after


    another.


    Without using a jet stream card, Chen Mu''s perception only needed to maintain his


    State Zero and control Bipolar. This greatly increased his control on Bipolar. Usually,


    any adept card artisan could control two cards at a time, a jet stream card, along with a


    battle or power shield card. This was the main fighting style adapted by most card


    artisans.


    And some top card artisans could even handle three cards at once. For example, Tang


    Hanpei, Jiao Si, Caesar, and the Bronze Masked man before him could do this. This


    meant that their control on perception has reached a terrifying state. But in an actual


    fight, rarely anyone uses three cards at the same time. The more cards in control, the


    weaker the power of each individual card. If they can''t defeat someone with a card they


    are good at, adding another card won''t help much anyway.


    Without using Big Mud Fish, Chen Mu''s control on Bipolar increased dramatically!


    He appeared beside a melee card artisan like a ghost, his right palm chopped at his


    opponent''s neck without a sound. The card artisans around them reacted quickly as


    well, the nearest let out a loud cry, and a tuft of white energy threads popped out of his


    hands.


    The snow white threads of energy as thin as hair zipped quicked toward Chen Mu!


    This card artisan''s eyes were wide open with anger while controlling the thin threads!


    This was his card ¡ª Coil. Coil did not have much raw power, its destructive power was


    pitiful, even. But as a four-star card, it has its unique points.


    Coil releases countless white threads, every of them sturdy as steel. Once they capture


    an enemy, any struggle is futile. Even if it couldn''t capture the enemy, the tiny threads


    could limit the enemy''s movement severely, creating opportunities for allies. In fact, he


    became one of the Lady''s guards because of Coil''s unique characteristic.


    When he saw Chen Mu''s hand almost chopping at the neck of the card artisan in front


    of him, the tuft of white threads immediately exploded and spread out into a giant web,


    capturing Chen Mu and the other card artisan.


    Got him!


    All of the card artisans were overjoyed. They were confident in their comrade''s white


    threads. The hairlike thin white threads are not to be looked down, as each strand could


    hold up to 200 kilograms of weight. Swiftly, all of the melee card artisans made their


    move, surrounding Chen Mu almost the same time.


    But Coil''s controller''s expression change quickly, color was drained completely from his


    face!


    In his web, there was only one person ¡ª his comrade!


    He looked up and saw his comrades around him, about to attack the web, a buzz rang


    in his head, and blood rushed into his brain! He opened his mouth to shout and warn


    them, "Be care..."


    But before he could finish, a bright light surrounded them instantaneously!


    "Go Cage of Thousand Cuts!"


    Uncountable rays of light appeared without a sign around them. These rays of light,


    without exception, has a white energy bead on one end, and a black energy bead on


    another. The tightly packed light beams intersect like a web, completely surrounding the


    melee card artisans.


    The energy bodies that were just activated made the card artisans turned pale


    immediately! The thin and straight beams of light of different lengths were criss-crossed


    all over the place. Even under the lights they seemed blindingly bright! The newly


    activated battle energy bodies stopped them from activating their power shield cards!


    The area surrounded by the web of light rays brightened in an instant, and immediately


    dissapeared!


    The card artisans stood still like trees, maintaining their positions just now. Their


    expression was frozen, full of fright and fear...


    Puff!


    A pillar of blood spurted out from a card artisan''s shoulder.


    Gurgle gurgle gurgle!


    As if accurately coordinated, all the card artisans within that area were like punctured


    balloons, a dozen streams of blood shot out from their bodies at the same time. Time


    seemed to have stopped at this moment. A dozen eyes witness the blood spurting to


    the air, dying it red.


    They were shocked silly! They have went through countless battles, but never have they


    seen such a bloody and horrible spectacle! A deep chill ran through their spines. At that


    moment, their entire bodies were frozen, not heeding to their commands! Still in shock,


    the Lady looked at the bloody mist in the air. And when she looked back down at the


    card artisans, there was already a river of blood flowing beneath them.


    And Chen Mu suddenly appeared behind that area.


    When he was about to chop at that card artisan, all his strength was actually focused on


    his legs!


    His intentions were to attract just one or two card artisans, creating a hole in the


    enemy''s formation. But being in State Zero, he was stronger than usual. When he


    realized the card artisan behind him activating the white threads, six other card artisans


    were moving as well. So, he made some adjustments during his execution.


    When the white threads shot out in an explosion, Chen Mu was long ready. He used the


    energy stored in his two legs, evaded the web and arrived behind the card artisans.


    Then, he activated the Go Cage of Thousand Cuts, creating this horrific result.


    Under the mask, the Bronze Masked Man twitched a little.


    He could not imagine Qiao Yuan''s improvement to be this quick, as if he became a


    different person! It was the same Go Cage of Thousand Cuts, but Qiao Yuan''s


    application was much stronger than last time. In just a short moment of battle, the


    combat intuition Qiao Yuan displayed shocked even him!


    A cardless sect fighter that equaled his own strength, along with the strengthened Qiao


    Yuan, this will be a long night...


    With the corner of his eyes, he took a glance at the card artisans. In the blink of an eye,


    half of the twenty fell. The damage on the morale of the remaining ones could only be


    described as destructive. He noticed the paleness of their faces, and the fear in their


    eyes.


    This was the first time he felt uneasy.


    This can''t go on, I have to finish this quickly!


    When the Bronze Masked Man wanted to fight with all his strength, Wei-ah


    unexpectedly made the first move!


    If State Zero Chen Mu is an artificial intuition, Wei-ah''s intuition is like a wild beast''s


    instinct, a terrifying instinct! Chen Mu understood deeply about this.


    When the Bronze Masked Man affirmed his determination, Wei-ah noticed it!


    And he made his move!


    The two kept each other at bay. While Wei-ah dished out his air bombs out unceasingly,


    the Bronze Masked Man''s snowflakes kept on increasing.


    Wei-ah suddenly froze his body mid air, his eyes locked onto the Bronze Masked Man


    nonchalantly.


    The right fist that he pulled back to his chest turned into a lighting quick blow aimed at


    the Bronze Masked Man!


    The high speed movement of his arm created a turbulent airflow. If one were to see this


    in slow motion, they could see the air in front of Wei-ah''s fist taking shape, an air bomb


    was about to be launched!


    However, before it could be sent out, Wei-ah punched at the same spot the second


    time!


    This time, his fist was even quicker. The surrounding air gathered in front of his fist by


    the pull of the fist''s insane speed. A second air bomb! This second air bomb pressed


    against the first one under Wei-ah''s second fist''s immense pressure!


    Before his fist''s afterimage could disappear, he threw a third fist!


    It was quicker than the first two!


    Bang! The third air bomb was forced between the first two air bombs, a sound like the


    crisp crash of a power shield was generated!


    The Bronze Masked Man finally revealed his fear in his eyes.


    He did not have time for other things, he immediately invoked his jet stream card. At the


    same time, his five fingers were locked into a fist.


    Ding! The bell rang again! He could feel his state of mind change. The ring this time was


    not as clear and unhurried, but extremely hasty!


    The Snowflakes flying all around the sky disappeared, and a rhombic crystal power


    shield appeared before him. Encase in the middle of the shield was a snow white peach


    flower.


    Thunk!


    The deep thunk that sounded like a thunder made everyone feel like throwing up. Chen


    Mu was going to launch his attack, but he was shaken as well. So, he gathered his


    perception by force! The Go Cage of Thousand Cuts he launched just now has spent a


    huge amount of his perception. He did not have much left, so he must use them


    carefully!


    An expression of torment flashed in the Lady''s eyes. This loud noise must have hurt her


    severely, being a non-combatant.


    She supported herself by the wall weakly, her back bent, her body shivering.


    In a battle between two extremely powerful fighters, even their aftershocks could be


    deadly to a normal person.


    The transparent power shield was immediately blown into smithereens, returning to its


    former state of Snowflakes, floating in the air. The Bronze Masked Man was pushed a


    few steps back. His eyes showed his agony. The Snowflakes continued to dance in the


    air, but they no longer seemed dangerous, but rather quite powerless. Wei-ah''s blow


    has shattered all the thin perception links between them!


    The Bronze Masked Man could regain control of them, but it would take some time.


    How could Wei-ah, who has finally regained control of the fight''s tempo, allow him this


    luxury?

 450 It Is Crazy Arcade

    Wei-ah was still hovering in midair, but not for long. In just a blink of an eye, he reached


    the ground.


    Bang! He stomped the ground heavily with both of his feet, and the ground around his


    legs cracked immediately. After that, the fragments of the ground bounced into the air at


    an astonishing speed.


    Facing the Bronze Masked Man, Wei-ah slightly bent his legs and dropped into a half-


    crouch, opening his arms as wide as the wings of an eagle. Staring at him in cold gaze,


    his arms flitted through the fragments. Nobody could really observe the movement of his


    arms as it was too fast.


    When he opened his palms again, there is one fragment between each of his fingers.


    Eight fragments were now ready for disposal.


    He flung his arms explosively to release the fragments, and expectedly, the eights


    fragments shot toward the Bronze Masked Man! Immediately after the fragments were


    released, Wei-ah''s body leaned slightly forward, and jumped up explosively, just like a


    released artillery shell!


    Apparently, the Bronze Masked Man could no longer hold his composure. Sure, he


    could mask himself, but never his movements. Wei-ah''s movements were as fast as


    lightning, and left him no room to counter. How powerful exactly were the fragments?


    He believed if one of them got in contact with him, it would surely pierce through his


    body.


    But still, it is the Bronze Masked Man we are talking about! He never gives up even in a


    disadvantaged situation.


    The room is too small for him to evade the fragments. The situation clearly benefits the


    opponent, and puts him at a detriment. But it would be ridiculous for anyone to judge the


    outcome of the battle from this factor alone.


    The eyes hidden behind the Bronze Mask were gazing both the incoming fragments and


    Wei-ah.


    Ring! The ringtone ringed again!


    "Plumbago Blaze!"


    All plumbagos turned into a bright light as if they were burned! Imagine how bright it


    would be for 8,000 petals of plumbagos to burn at the same time -- even the Bronze


    Masked Man was forced to shut his eyes!


    The powerful fragments disappeared right after entering the light zone.


    Wei-ah''s pupils contracted all of a sudden!


    At this moment, the glaring light zone exploded!


    Chen Mu had absolute confidence in Wei-ah. As such, he did not feel the need to attend


    the battle between him and the Bronze Masked Man. His entire focus was put on the


    other card artisans in front of him. If not mistaken, the opponent''s melee card artisans


    were all destroyed.


    And he was right. What the four bodyguards beside Lady Faya had on hand were two


    ranged card artisans, two melee card artisans, 20 card artisans, and 10 ranged card


    artisans respectively.


    The opponent''s confidence was greatly affected by Go Cage of Thousand Cuts, which


    was much stronger than he himself thought. The opponent''s low morale gave him an


    edge, but if he could not finish the battle after they recovered, he would be done. If the


    10 ranged card artisans attacked fiercely without concerning about their allies, his


    chance of survival would be hopelessly low.


    The power of Go Cage of Thousand Cuts in State Zero was beyond his expectation,


    and so was the exhaustion of his perception. In fact, he did not have enough perception


    to stay in State Zero for long.


    His only chance lied in finishing the battle here and now!


    In the black-and-white world, the lines were constantly changing, and he felt that he


    could capture each change. But the truth was, he could not -- he was misconceiving


    everything. He did not have enough experience in State Zero, and as such, he still could


    not observe the subtle changes other more experienced card artisans could.


    10 persons, locations, directions...


    Lady Faya behind the 10 persons did not look good either -- she was affected by the


    waves caused by the battle between Wei-ah and the Bronze Masked Man. And she was


    Chen Mu''s real target!


    He calculated his perception, and an idea popped up. Shortly after that, a great sense of


    inspiration followed.


    He could feel that there was a high chance the idea would work!


    Chen Mu moved again! Exploiting the explosive power of his legs, he leaped toward the


    right side of the card artisans.


    He wanted to move past them! All card artisans around realized that Qiao Yuan wanted


    to bypass them and attack the lady directly. Almost subconsciously, they released their


    attacks! But as soon as they found that their allies were around, they stopped attacking.


    At a distance this close, misfire could easily happen!


    But still, their response was quick -- the few card artisans nearest to Chen Mu released


    their power shields to protect themselves.


    And at the same time, the other card artisans attacked. Now, they did not have to worry


    about misfiring their allies. The few power-shield-holding artisans moved toward Chen


    Mu aggressively, and the other card artisans released their attacks without holding


    back!


    Chen Mu has had all of the card artisans'' attention, and none of them noticed the slow-


    moving black-and-white energy beads.


    They are good! Chen Mu complimented them in his heart. There was no room for


    distraction, as four card artisans were holding the power shields, and six others were


    targeting Chen Mu.


    He would die immediately if he moved slightly slower than necessary.


    The card artisans finally found a solution, but all of a sudden, all of them could no longer


    hold their composure!


    The power shields have greatly narrowed their movement. But in such small space,


    Qiao Yuan was able to evade all attacks like a ghost!


    How could it be? All card artisans did not look well as their eyes were filled with


    disbelief.


    Like an omniscient prophet, his movement was just enough to evade the attacks. In the


    card artisans'' eyes, he was just lucky¡­ for a goddamn long time!


    Sometimes one centimeter would do, sometimes even half...


    As he evaded the attacks again and again, the people around soon felt discouraged.


    But such discouragement lasted only a while -- seeing the sweat raining down from


    Qiao Yuan''s face and his movements becoming slower and slower, they were motivated


    again!


    He is not a monster after all! This was the first thought that popped up from the


    bodyguards'' mind. Phiew¡­ Some card artisans had sighs of relief. Of course, they did


    not slow down their pace. Quite the contrary, as they were greatly motivated, their


    attacks became much more frequent.


    Chen Mu''s status had become worse. To save some perception and improve the control


    over the Bipolar Card, he moved entirely using his own body strength, and this was the


    first time he had to do this.


    Sprint, sudden stop, switch direction...


    By doing these again and again, he was quickly exhausting his stamina. In terms of


    stamina, he could not compete with Wei-ah at all. It was State Zero that allowed him to


    evade the incoming attacks again and again. However, even so, there seemed to be


    cuts in his cloth now!


    Argh!


    Chen Mu''s cloth was cut again and again. His face was full of sweat, and so was his


    body. He could feel his chest and throat burning, as if each breath could turn him to


    ashes.


    "Hey, brothers! Keep it going! He couldn''t hold for long!" A card artisan screamed.


    Seeing Qiao Yuan kill half of their allies, these card artisans hated him to the bone.


    And at this very moment, Chen Mu lifted his head. He was still sweating and gasping,


    but he closed his eyes all of a sudden.


    There was no need to run anymore!


    Chen Mu firmed his stance, and the chess array was fully formed again! He lifted his


    right hand, left it hovering in midair, and moved his fingers in an agile manner.


    Now, the situation had completely changed! The black-and-white energy beads were


    moving toward them at an astonishing speed.


    Sizz!


    Faya''s bodyguards were surprised to find that each and every one of them was covered


    by a ball-shaped "shield"! The round-shaped shields formed by the black-and-white


    energy beads were just like the energy shields.


    What¡­ what are these things?


    Almost subconsciously, the frightened card artisans did one thing together -- releasing


    the energy form in their hands!


    The energy forms hit the shields and turned into electric radiance flowing around the


    black-and-white energy beads! Because of this, the energy beads on the ball-shaped


    shields turned slightly bigger.


    Energy absorption!


    Each and every card artisan in the shield was so shocked that their face turned pale.


    "Super 007¡­" A card artisan mumbled, as he recalled a similar scene in a video he


    once watched.


    Finally, Chen Mu felt some relief. This spell had already exhausted all his perception!


    And the card artisan was almost right -- this spell was improved from Super 007''s


    energy shield. The only difference was that, the structure of this shield and the 007''s


    shield was completely reversed -- it does not defend against external attacks, but those


    from within!


    An energy shield, you say? It is more of an energy prison!


    However, this spell demanded too much perception -- only the first three seconds did


    not require any perception, and to maintain the effect after that would exhaust a


    terrifying amount of perception. Chen Mu''s perception has always been his weakness.


    In fact, he did not have much chance to use this spell after creating it.


    Looking at these "bubbles", he giggled softly. They reminded him of a fantasy card


    game from a low-grade fantasy card club -- Crazy Arcade!


    In that game, everybody could release some bubbles. The effect of those bubbles was


    similar to a Card Appliance mechanism -- explosion after two seconds. The characters


    affected by the explosion would be locked inside a bubble, and as they could not move,


    they would be killed unless their allies came to their rescue.


    The 10 persons locked inside the ball-shaped shields were just like the 10 bubbles. The


    only difference was that the "bubbles" formed by the energy beads could not wave like


    the bubbles in the game. Otherwise, it would be quite a scene.


    He did not name the spell when he first created it. But seeing the 10 bubbles, Chen Mu


    decided to name it as "Crazy Arcade"!


    However, the spell is still not complete. Super 007''s energy shields could reflect the


    attacks after absorbing them! And he did try to incorporate this feature to "Crazy


    Arcade". Unfortunately, after some calculation, he came to the conclusion that the


    perception exhaustion was way beyond his reach.


    Though feeling weak and exhausted, Chen Mu did not hold back at all. He pushed


    himself to the limit and pounced toward Lady Faya! He has exhausted both his


    perception and stamina. And now, he could not even hold his head up, left alone


    maintaining State Zero. There was only one thing in his mind -- catch her!


    Chen Mu was very slow, but the card artisans locked in the "bubbles" could only see


    him approach Lady Faya little by little!


    They were anxious and kept on attacking the "bubbles". But besides the enlarging


    energy beads, nothing changed! Very soon, all of them felt hopeless.


    Gotcha! Chen Mu finally reached her! Though his mind was slightly relaxed, he could


    only remember one thing -- hold her as tight as possible!


    A bright light appeared from behind and exploded. Something was approaching him at


    lightning speed! As he was almost devoured by the light, Wei-ah appeared behind him


    all of a sudden and carried him away... They disappeared!


    And Chen Mu''s arms were still holding another person!

 451 The Reveal

    When Chen Mu woke up, the oncoming wind rushed into his mouth and nostrils, choking him uncomfortably. After being dazed for a long time, he finally realized he was being carried by Wei-ah. However, his entire body was so painfully sore that he had trouble lifting a finger, not to mention turning his neck.


    However, he couldn''t stop stealing glances at the Madam from Faya, whom he grasped tightly in his arms. Suddenly, he was delighted because the adventure had been quite successful overall. Although he and Wei-ah were more miserable, and their entire bodies were still sore, his mind was at ease. Both of his arms were completely numb, as if they were dead. Fortunately, Chen Mu didn''t have to worry about loosening his grip due to his fatigue.


    "Wei-ah, are you all right?" Chen Mu was suddenly reminded of Wei-ah''s discomfiture that he''d seen. But his neck was completely frozen, so he couldn''t even turn his head to see Wei-ah behind him.


    "Yup." Wei-ah''s voice sounded no different than usual, so Chen Mu was reassured. However, it had been the first time Chen Mu had seen someone forcing Wei-ah into such a situation. He couldn''t help but exclaim, "That guy wearing the bronze mask is really strong! Wei-ah, how is he compared to Principal Jiao Si?"


    "I don''t know," Wei-ah replied.


    "That''s normal." Chen Mu broke into laughter. "If people on their level didn''t fight, it would probably be difficult to estimate the outcome." He suddenly thought of an interesting topic. "Wei-ah, out of the two of you, who won?"


    "No one." Wei-ah''s answer was still free of any waves of emotion. He managed to stride on as he carried both Chen Mu and the Madam. With the cover of night, no one discovered them throughout the journey.


    "Hmm. It was a tie, huh? That guy was crazy strong!" Chen Mu was deep in his thoughts. He couldn''t objectively place how powerful the bronze-masked man was. However, he was definitely powerful if he was able to tie with Wei-ah in a fight. He then asked again, "Wei-ah, would you be able to beat him?"


    "I don''t know." Wei-ah''s answer remained concise.


    Suddenly, the Madam showed signs of waking up as her body began to struggle. Chen Mu exclaimed, "Wei-ah, she''s going to wake up!" His hands were numb, so he could only watch helplessly.


    "Oh." Before Wei-ah finished speaking, his hand slammed hard into the back of the Madam''s neck. The Madam, who had just shown signs of awakening, passed out again.


    * * *


    The house that had just been the scene of the fight had become a piece of ruins. The surrounding two houses had also been affected. The bronze-masked man stood in the ruins, unaware of the blood stains on his chest.


    How long had it been since he had felt that way? The stone-cold man, the unfathomable power, the marvelous air skills! The speed that had seemed challenging even to him, the unchanging facial expression, and the indifference in his eyes¡ªthey had all been so impressive. Since when had the Heavenly Federation had such a powerful figure he had never heard of?


    At first, he''d thought Qiao Yuan was a secret character developed by Desert Camp. The way Desert Camp developed cardless sects had always been secretive, but it hadn''t been news for a long time. Whether it was Faya or the remaining Big Six, all of them paid tremendous attention to that. When he''d seen the high-level cardless sect ace''s technique, the air maneuver that had been used in the last part of the battle of Qiao Yuan against Jin Yin and Dang Han, he had been fairly shocked.


    His mind had immediately questioned if Desert Camp could have developed the cardless sects to such an extent. In his opinion, Qiao Yuan would be a rather successful example, with excellent card artisan techniques and the ability to perform such a high-level cardless sect technique like the air maneuver!


    Faya had heard the news of Desert Camp''s development of the cardless sects long ago. According to Faya''s internal assessment, the cardless sects Desert Camp had developed were definitely not pure cardless sects but were rather the combination of the cardless sects and card artisans. The result of that assessment was recognized by almost everyone. The cardless sects had long been eliminated due to their innate shortcomings!


    There were too many shortcomings when cardless sects were compared to card artisans, such as the inability to fly, the lack of effective long-distance attacks, the absence of protective abilities, and many more. Most importantly, the core of the cardless sects was the use of human strength. However, the human body was always limited, which had been the main cause of the elimination of the cardless sects. That was the most popular view of the federation''s academic community, which was also the popular view universally.


    That view was ingrained in his mind, but everything that had happened that day had completely subverted all of his perceptions. The blood flowing from his chest seemed to be reminding him of the scene that had taken place in the battle.


    A little more, and that hand¡­ Young lady¡­


    * * *


    Wei-ah soon found an abandoned warehouse and brought the two in. As Wei-ah loosened his grip, Chen Mu and the Madam fell hard to the ground.


    "Ouch! Wei-ah, is this how you treat a wounded person?" Chen Mu complained.


    "You''re not wounded," Wei-ah countered in a simple and direct manner, without even looking at Chen Mu.


    After the period of resting, Chen Mu had slightly recovered. His pair of numb hands could move again. He propped himself up to sit with some difficulty.


    The warehouse wasn''t completely dark. The Garden Above the Center glowed with faint, cold light, which shone in through the window. Chen Mu had good eyesight, so the bit of light was enough for him to see clearly. When he saw the appearance of Wei-ah, he was startled.


    "Wei-ah, are you okay?" he asked nervously. Wei-ah''s whole face was blackened, and his arms were exposed in the air, likewise blackened. There were many small scars on his face and exposed skin. Even though the scars were thin, they were in an interlaced pattern, which was quite frightening.


    Wei-ah nodded. "I''m all right."


    After staring at Wei-ah for a long time, Chen Mu saw that Wei-ah wasn''t pretending to be okay, so he finally retracted his gaze. He couldn''t help but stretch his back as he moaned in comfort, "Oh, it feels so good to be alive." Now that he recalled the dangerous battle that night, he was a little scared. However, he was also proud to have successfully captured the Madam in the midst of so many enemies.


    Wei-ah was silent. He bowed his head as if thinking about something.


    Chen Mu began to have a headache as soon as his gaze fell on the unconscious Madam. It was true that they had captured the Madam, but how they would deal with her was a rather troubling question. The unconscious Madam was still wearing the mask, which covered her face tightly. The mask was divided into two respectively black and white parts down the center. There was a sun painted in the center of the mask, but one side was black and the other white.


    Chen Mu was curious. What would the face beneath the mask look like? He moved to the Madam''s side and extended his hand to the mask on her face. The mask felt soft, different from those Chen Mu had worn before. It was obviously made of special materials.


    A stunning face was revealed before Chen Mu. If one didn''t know about her identity, the Madam would look like a regular office lady. Her smooth forehead was covered by bangs, and her tightly shut eyes were like two curved arcs. Her eyelashes, which were slightly shivering, and the light frown on her brow, indicated that she was in pain. Her nose was slender, and her lips were bright red, but there was a faint scar on them¡ªa mark left by Chen Mu. Her slightly pointed chin was so fair that it would leave a deep impression on others.


    At the same time, the unconscious Madam moved slightly, and she opened her eyes in confusion. No one would link the weak and feeble movement to the powerful Madam from Faya.


    As she opened her eyes, her dazed gaze shifted to Chen Mu, but she squinted suddenly. She jerked up into a sitting position, and her sight was recovered. When she felt the cool air on her face, she subconsciously reached out and touched her cheek. Her expression changed abruptly.


    "Were you the one who took off my mask?" she asked Chen Mu coldly. She was a completely different person from when she was unconscious. Her eyes were slightly narrow, and her loose eyebrows were converged, giving off a malicious feeling. Her proud and cold gaze, in particular, was exuding a superior aura.


    Chen Mu didn''t like the kind of gaze he was getting. He didn''t have the slightest affection for the woman in front of him. As a matter of fact, he was not an unreasonably cold person. Being neither cold nor hot seemed to be his style. Only if the other person really annoyed him would his coldness be rather obvious.


    "Is there a problem?" he asked expressionlessly.


    The Madam stared squarely at Chen Mu with her serious face. Chen Mu wasn''t afraid at all. To be honest, spending a long time with Wei-ah had gotten him used to that kind of gaze.


    Something about her gaze was strange. There was a mix of resentment, hatred, surprise, and emotions Chen Mu couldn''t identify. However, Chen Mu simply didn''t care about what the Madam thought of him. Their positions had determined that they would be enemies. Ever since Yang An had died at her hand, the enmity between the two had become irreconcilable.


    "What is your name?" Chen Mu asked, still expressionless.


    "Why should I tell you?" she said coldly, slightly raising her eyebrows.


    "If you want to try something painful." Chen Mu wasn''t angry, but his good mood had clearly vanished. He stared at the Madam and said, "Even though I''m not well-versed with the numerous forms of punishments, I do know some simple ones."


    When Chen Mu said that, his tone wasn''t intense but was instead indifferent. However, the indifferent tone caused a slight change in the Madam''s expression. She was good at analyzing people''s psychology. Hence, she knew being able to say such words calmly showed that Chen Mu hated her to the bone. She had no doubt that he would implement what he had said if she were to not cooperate.


    "Qiu Shanyu," she replied quickly. The coldness on her face disappeared as she tried to appear soft and harmless. "I really did behave badly last time. I''m willing to pay enough to apologize for the distress I have caused you by my rude behavior. I think you will like my offer."

 452 The Green Mark

    There were many doubts in Qiu Shanyu''s heart. Since the beginning, Qiao Yuan had shown his unmistakable hatred toward her. She knew the hatred hadn''t come from her provoking him to fight one on two. After going through several guesses, she found the answer even surprising to herself¡ªQiao Yuan hadn''t taken on the competition because of her provoking words; it had been because of his enmity toward her! That was how that bet had happened!


    Thinking of that, she involuntarily touched her own lips. She couldn''t forget the humiliation of Qiao Yuan biting her lips in public! Killing him wouldn''t suppress even a tiny bit of her anger! She had tried searching for Qiao Yuan after the incident, pulling all of her stops, but Qiao Yuan seemed to have vanished without a single trace.


    However, she hadn''t expected that Qiao Yuan, who had disappeared, would launch a surprise attack on their station!


    Qiu Shanyu was confused. How had Qiao Yuan found out she was in Dongrui? How had he known where she was staying? Why would he launch an attack when the risk was so high? Who was that man who''d fought with Uncle? Most importantly, what had made that man hate her so much? There were too many questions circling in her mind.


    "Reward?" Chen Mu curled the corner of his lips upward, but Qiu Shanyu knew it wasn''t a genuine smile.


    Her heart sank. Does he really have an irreconcilable hatred toward me? She couldn''t help it and said, "Mr. Qiao, I have a question for you. Do you mind?"


    "Please. Go ahead," Chen Mu replied calmly.


    After considering it for a while, Qiu Shanyu finally said, "I can sense the hostility coming from you, Mr. Qiao, but I am confused. This is only my second time meeting you. I might have offended you the last time, but I believe a man of your magnanimity wouldn''t hold a grudge against a woman like me."


    "Second time?" Chen Mu smiled. Qiu Shanyu thought she saw a hint of anguish in his smile, but she wasn''t given enough time to understand the pain. She asked anxiously, "Is this not the second time?"


    "Do you remember¡­ Pomelo?" Chen Mu asked.


    "Pomelo!" Qiu Shanyu exclaimed. She instantly felt something was wrong! After he made it clear that something had happened in Pomelo, she was convinced that there probably was a reasonable grudge. She forced a smile. "I did go to Pomelo, but it was only to host some Faya Foundation affairs. I can''t recall meeting you before. I would have definitely heard about an expert like you if you had been in Pomelo!" She tried her best, but she couldn''t recall seeing Qiao Yuan. As a matter of fact, a card artisan of Qiao Yuan''s caliber must have been the best in Pomelo. It''s impossible that I haven''t heard about him.


    After thinking for a moment, Chen Mu nodded slowly. "It is true that you didn''t see me there."


    Qiu Shanyu let out a sigh of relief. Before she could rejoice, however, Chen Mu''s next sentence shattered her into pieces.


    "But I saw you with Hugo and Butchie."


    Qiu Shanyu''s heart sank even deeper.


    "Do you still remember the Yang Clan Auction House?" Chen Mu said slowly. "If you do, you must remember the owner, Yang An. I forgot to tell you that he was my friend. Besides, I believe you can still recall that my name is¡­ Cao Dong."


    Qiu Shanyu''s face turned white instantly. She couldn''t believe her ears. "You¡­ You are Cao Dong?"


    "That''s right." Chen Mu had a straight face, but the killing intent in his eyes slowly intensified.


    Qiu Shanyu took several deep breaths. Though her face was still pale, she managed to keep her expression composed. She nodded her head calmly. "So, it was you! We had conducted a thorough investigation beforehand. We were targeting you, but our plan was scrapped because of the sudden change in the situation. Also¡­"


    Her eyes were fixed on Chen Mu, as sharp as arrows. "Should I address you as the numbered series card master instead, Mr. Qiao? I mean, the creator of the numbered series of cards, Mr. Cao Dong!"


    Chen Mu acknowledged her dryly. "You got me. It''s amazing you guys could find out about me."


    "Ha ha." Qiu Shanyu''s face was pale, and there wasn''t a trace of joy in her laughter. "The reason we knew about the Yang Clan Auction House was thanks to the help of your numbered series of cards. It wasn''t only me; everyone was looking for the mysterious card master behind the Yang Clan Auction House. Faya was lucky enough to be the first. It was a shame Yang An didn''t cooperate, so we didn''t obtain the results as we had wanted." She looked at Chen Mu. "Your identity as a card artisan has always been misleading. Heh. Never could I have imagined that after Heiner Van Sant, there is finally another person who is a card artisan and a card master at the same time! Losing to you, Mr. Cao, I have no complaints."


    She raised her head suddenly. "From our investigation, we detected a more matured communication signal in Pomelo besides the Central Island Firm''s jungle communication technology. It must have been your masterpiece, Mr. Cao?"


    Before Chen Mu could answer, she nodded to herself. "I''m sure it was. The key to jungle communication technology is still in the card. Only one person is capable of making it happen in Pomelo, and it is definitely you! Never had I realized that you even excel in card appliances. It came to me as a surprise!"


    Chen Mu was shocked deep down; Qiu Shanyu''s reasoning abilities were incredible. However, he didn''t know she was more surprised than he was at that moment.


    Hundreds of years have passed since the implementation of the Van Sant System. Not a single individual who is both a card master and a card artisan has emerged since. Who is this Cao Dong? He makes cards, uses card artisan techniques, and has even mastered the exclusive techniques of the cardless sects, and card appliances, too! In her eyes, the identity of the man standing before her was shrouded in mystery.


    What else can he do? Who exactly is he?


    She wasn''t quite so impressed with Chen Mu''s card artisan and cardless sect techniques; Faya wasn''t short of excellent card artisans. Nonetheless, his superb card making skills and jungle communication technology would make any company give up everything for him.


    "Why did you attack the Tai-shu family?" Chen Mu got straight to the point, which had also been the true aim of that day''s mission.


    "Because we need talking rights," Qiu Shanyu replied simply, which wasn''t what Chen Mu had expected. He hadn''t imagined she would be that cooperative.


    "Talking rights?" Chen Mu was confused. He couldn''t figure it out.


    Qiu Shanyu didn''t conceal anything. "You should know Moon Frost Island is setting up a Heavenly Drum Village District Alliance. Though everyone is trying to stop them, thanks to Jia Yingxia, the alliance''s conception seemed unstoppable." She shot a glance at Chen Mu and explained without a pause, "However, the Heavenly Drum Village District has countless influences among itself, so Moon Frost Island needs to mediate all of the conflicts. That was why they established the parliamentary system. Since the Tai-shu family is one of the most ancient families in the village, they were given the right to vote."


    "So, that was the reason you all wanted to kidnap the three young Tai-shu masters?" Chen Mu sneered.


    Qiu Shanyu replied nonchalantly, "Tai-shu Yong rejected us straight away. He is too short-sighted for not understanding what is happening at the moment. He instead lingers on some glorious dream of the past! We had to give him some pressure." She looked at Chen Mu with thoughts swirling her mind. "I never expected Mr. Cao would show such great interest in the Tai-shus. Ah. Now I remember. The mysterious card artisan called the White Commander from the Tai-shu household must be you, Mr. Cao. That''s why our mission failed. Our mission was destined to fail with someone as powerful as you on their side."


    Chen Mu was in awe. From merely a sentence of mine, Qiu Shanyu was able to guess my other identity. Her keen intelligence is terrifying.


    Qiu Shanyu was clearly enjoying it. "I am just confused about something. As someone who is this unique, why are you interested in a declining family? Why were you willing to serve them? I''m intrigued."


    After acknowledging the fact that Qiu Shanyu''s aim had nothing to do with the demonic woman, Chen Mu was feeling worse. Going through the demonic woman was the safest route of removing the green thread in Chen Mu''s body. When he''d found out Faya had the same target as him, the Tai-shus, his first guess had been that they were after the same goal. It was with that thought that he had risked his life by sneaking into Faya''s base with Wei-ah that night. He realized it was all his own misunderstanding.


    Chen Mu gave a wry smile in his heart and raised his arm. Looking at the green flower, which grew more dazzling by the day, he was obviously feeling down.


    "The Green Mark!" Qiu Shanyu cried out when she saw the mark on Chen Mu''s arm.


    He raised his head suddenly. "You know what this is?"


    "The Green¡­ It''s the Green Mark¡­" Qiu Shanyu was mumbling nervously, her eyes fixed on the green flower on Chen Mu''s arm. She completely ignored Chen Mu''s question.


    "Someone is here," Wei-ah announced, having kept silent all the while.


    Just as he finished his words, they were already behind Chen Mu and Qiu Shanyu. Qiu Shanyu fell over and went unconscious after a heavy blow landed on her neck. Chen Mu smiled bitterly. These people picked the wrong time! Grabbing Qiu Shanyu, he let Wei-ah pick him up, and they left through the window together.


    Under the cover of the night sky and the shadows of the buildings, Wei-ah successfully sneaked both Chen Mu and Qiu Shanyu out. Along the way, they found several groups of card artisans. The enemies were able to figure out their exact location in such a short time, so there must have been something on Qiu Shanyu that led them there.


    "Wei-ah, let''s head to the Outer Reaches," Chen Mu said suddenly. If something were to happen in the city, they would likely be exposed. But in the Outer Reaches, they would have less to worry about. Since Faya had just attacked the Tai-shus, they would keep a low profile to avoid being targeted.


    Without a word, Wei-ah changed his direction immediately and rushed toward the Outer Reaches.


    Dongrui had no city walls, but not many would go to the Outer Reaches at that time of night. They didn''t use the main road but instead walked their way through the forest.


    Wild beasts had been cleared up long ago in a city like Dongrui. Deep in the forest, there would be a monitoring station every few miles, but they would only monitor the trail of a wild beast and would not interfere with the actions of card artisans. Nonetheless, Wei-ah still tried his best to avoid bumping into any monitoring stations.


    After making sure they were deep in the forest, Wei-ah stopped and put down both Chen Mu and Qiu Shanyu.

 453 Decision

    Qiu Shanyu soon regained consciousness. The first thing she did when she opened her eyes was stare at Chen Mu''s wrist. The flower on his wrist glowed with a deep, verdant green.


    "Do you have a tracker on you?" Chen Mu asked coldly.


    "Oh." She raised her pretty face and took the silver necklace off her neck. "This is it."


    Chen Mu took the necklace suspiciously. He was wary of Qiu Shanyu''s cooperation. It looked like an ordinary necklace, and the pendant was a small silver medal with many patterns engraved on it.


    When he opened the medal, there was actually a miniature card lying within. After carefully observing it for a while, Chen Mu realized it was a card appliance that could emit a fixed frequency to inform one''s companions of their position. With a gentle squeeze, the silver medal and the mini card were crushed between his fingers. With the signal source destroyed, there would be no way for their opponents to track Qiu Shanyu''s location.


    To be safe, Chen Mu ordered, "Throw away all your trinkets."


    "Okay." She obediently took off all the accessories and saw Chen Mu staring at her. She raised her eyebrows. "Do you want to check?"


    Chen Mu was stupefied. After a while, he asked, "Do you recognize this thing on my wrist?"


    "It''s called the Green Mark," Qiu Shanyu said as calmly as she could, but Chen Mu could still hear the emotion in her voice.


    "The Green Mark?"


    "I don''t know much about it. The Green Mark is a strange plant from the House of a Hundred Depths. It grows in the deepest depths and can settle in any living body. This creature is extremely rare. Even in the House of a Hundred Depths, it is a priceless treasure."


    The phrase "priceless treasure" surprised Chen Mu. There was actually a priceless treasure living in his body! What was more sticking out to him was that the priceless treasure could take his life at any time.


    Qiu Shanyu didn''t even look at Chen Mu as she continued. "In the House of a Hundred Depths, the Green Mark is what everyone dreams of. It''s as fine as a thread but tough as diamond. It is a powerful weapon for a flexster. In addition to that, it''s a suitable card material. Of course, the cards from the House of a Hundred Depths are quite different from the cards from the Heavenly Federation. But those are not its most important functions."


    "What is it, then?"


    "Its most important function is its excellent perception conductivity. It can live in the human body, absorb the host''s perception, and grow. It will be distributed in every part of the human body like the finest capillaries. Its excellent conductivity makes it a fine pipeline structure, thus greatly enhancing the host''s perceptual control. But there is a condition; it must be activated. If left dormant, it will absorb the host''s perception and energy. After a period of time, it may lose control and can cause excruciating pain to its host," Qiu Shanyu calmly explained.


    "Enhance perceptual control?" Chen Mu found that statement rather ridiculous. Could that mean the demonic woman had meant well when she had implanted the green thread in his body? But the pain Qiu Shanyu mentioned was quite accurate.


    "There is another application of the cards made of the Green Mark, and that is controlling the host. An unactivated Green Mark will only be controlled by the planter. After activation, the planter will lose control, and the host will be able to control it," she said with a straight face.


    That time, Chen Mu believed it. It was reasonable for the demonic woman to implant the green thread in his body to control him, but he still had some unanswered questions. "How do you know all this?"


    Qiu Shanyu went silent for a while. "We, Faya, had dealings with the House of a Hundred Depths a long time ago."


    Chen Mu was shocked. Faya had had dealings with the House of a Hundred Depths? The relationship between the Heavenly Federation and the House of a Hundred Depths had always been unfriendly. The wars between them had lasted for a long time in history, and the casualties had been devastating. Although the war had ended, there had been no large-scale commercial dealings between the two, except for occasional sporadic exchanges. Moreover, the right to communicate with the House of a Hundred Depths was firmly held in the hands of the Big Six.


    Faya had actually had a cooperative relationship with the House of a Hundred Depths since long ago? That surprised Chen Mu.


    He couldn''t help but speculate about the relationship between the two. Has the House of a Hundred Depths been backing the Faya Foundation secretly all along? No wonder! He had always been curious. Faya''s fierce momentum had always felt weird to him. It seemed as if Faya wanted to face off with the Big Six and the entire Heavenly Federation by itself! It would all make sense if Faya was backed by the House of a Hundred Depths.


    However, how could Faya bypass the Big Six to communicate with the House of a Hundred Depths?


    As if reading Chen Mu''s thoughts, Qiu Shanyu explained, "The history of our connection with the House of a Hundred Depths can be traced back to before the Heavenly Federation''s discovery of the path to the House of a Hundred Depths."


    That was certainly a shocking secret to Chen Mu! Faya was really unfathomable! But why had she given him all of that information? Chen Mu looked at Qiu Shanyu doubtfully. It seemed that after seeing the Green Mark on his wrist, she had changed her attitude toward him completely. Why was that?


    "How do you activate a Green Mark?" Chen Mu asked testingly.


    Qiu Shanyu smiled. "You thought I would know? You probably don''t understand how precious the Green Mark is! In the House of a Hundred Depths, only one clan knows how to use the Green Mark and how to make it into cards. Furthermore, only the royalty of the clan can use it! In fact, I would like to know who implanted this in your body." She stared at Chen Mu.


    Royalty? The demonic woman was hideous; her face was like something from a nightmare. Her visage floated into his mind. Can the demonic woman actually be royalty of a clan in the House of a Hundred Depths? Things seemed to be getting increasingly complicated. Although he was getting more and more information, it didn''t seem to be helpful at all.


    Even if what Qiu Shanyu had said were true, it only proved the dangers of the Green Mark and didn''t improve his current situation. If it were false, it made no sense. However, Chen Mu still felt that Qiu Shanyu may not have been lying.


    "I want to see them!" she exclaimed suddenly.


    Chen Mu was stunned for a moment. "Them? Who?"


    Qiu Shanyu said faintly, "The people who implanted the Green Mark in you."


    Shaking his head, Chen Mu said, "I can''t find them, either." He then added with a cold voice, "You probably haven''t figured out your own situation. In terms of hatred, I have no reason to let you live, let alone meet them."


    "So, even you can''t find them?" Qiu Shanyu seemed to be stunned. She then laughed loudly and wantonly, as if she had just heard the most interesting thing.


    Chen Mu frowned slightly. "This has nothing to do with you. You have no need to care."


    Qiu Shanyu suddenly stopped laughing and looked at Chen Mu seriously. "I can help you find them."


    "You can help me find them?" Chen Mu''s eyes focused suddenly.


    "Yes. I have methods." She didn''t seem to be joking one bit.


    Chen Mu was silent, still digesting the information.


    "You can think of this as my means of survival. I am in your hands, after all. You can do anything to me at any time. As for our feud, personally, I don''t really think there is any hatred between us. The thing that happened with Yang An¡ªwe just happened to be on two opposing sides of a war. Didn''t you also kill many?" Qiu Shanyu continued, "Of course, this is personal. I don''t want to force anything, but I think temporarily putting that down for a while shouldn''t be unacceptable."


    Suddenly, things had completely changed, spiralling away from his expectations.


    "Why do you want to see them?" Chen Mu asked.


    "This is my personal business. I don''t think there is any need to explain it. You can understand this as a deal. I will help you find him, and you will let me live until I see them." Calmly, she asked, "What do you think?"


    Chen Mu was quiet for a while. He then said, "Deal. But if you make any suspicious moves, I will kill you on the spot."


    Qiu Shanyu readily agreed. "Okay. Deal!"


    The two fell silent. Wei-ah hadn''t said a word from the beginning to the end of that conversation. He had been thinking about something the whole time.


    Chen Mu noticed something strange with Wei-ah and couldn''t stop himself from worrying. "Wei-ah, what happened?"


    "I remembered something." Wei-ah stared at his own hands.


    "What is it?" Chen Mu paid close attention; Wei-ah''s origin was mysterious. He couldn''t remember what had happened in the past.


    "War," Wei-ah responded with exceptional concision.


    Glancing at Qiu Shanyu beside him, Chen Mu asked no further questions. She had been watching Wei-ah curiously, obviously rather interested in him.


    "Your companion is very strong. I have never seen anyone who could push Uncle to that point," she praised.


    "Uncle?" Chen Mu immediately realized she was talking about the man wearing the bronze mask.


    "Well, Uncle is one of the most powerful card artisans in the Heavenly Federation." Qiu Shanyu''s voice was laced with exceptional conviction.


    Chen Mu wasn''t in a position to judge. "Maybe," he simply replied.


    They both reached an agreement and a cooperative relationship for the time being. Although that choice had been made rationally, Chen Mu felt strange and uncomfortable emotionally. A woman who wanted to kill him was now by his side, chatting with him like nothing had happened. How could he not feel uncomfortable?


    He didn''t know whether what Qiu Shanyu had said was true, but he didn''t have many choices. Even if the chance was slim, he would struggle for it. Perhaps she had only proposed the deal because she had noticed that. She must have been no stranger to the Green Mark''s danger since she knew so much about it.


    I am still afraid of death. I chose the latter between revenge for Yang An and my own survival. Chen Mu''s feelings were complicated. He knew that even if Xi Ping knew his decision, he would understand it, but Chen Mu still felt somewhat uncomfortable.


    He smiled bitterly but maintained his conviction. Revenge was important, but the people who were alive were more important! Moreover, they still had the initiative. Thinking back, he had been so weak and powerless when he had given his struggles just because the chance had been too slim.


    Having faced tribulations time and again, Chen Mu had steadily matured, and his mentality had also changed.


    His gaze was firm, though there were hints of bitterness and self-mockery. However, there was still one other question. How should he deal with Qiu Shanyu?

 454 She is Just a Monkey

    They couldn''t kill Qiu Shanyu, nor could they leave her out of sight; there was no guarantee she wouldn''t stab them suddenly. After thinking for a while, Chen Mu decided to give her a pill Wei-ah had made, but he didn''t mention the pill''s function. He was surprised when she simply swallowed it without even asking what it was for.


    Looking at Qiu Shanyu swallowing the pill without so much as a frown, Chen Mu was awe-struck. Although it wasn''t the first time he''d had to deal with her, seeing her make that decision without hesitation made him much more cautious of her.


    As if she''d done something ordinary, Qiu Shanyu asked Chen Mu calmly, "What else do you need me to do?"


    Looking at her profoundly, Chen Mu said, "Let''s go."


    To his surprise, Qiu Shanyu had no perception abilities. He wouldn''t have been surprised if she had been from somewhere like Eastern Shang-Wei City, but it was rare for someone from the five flourishing districts. He then realized she didn''t seem to need any perception training anyway. Although he still didn''t know what Qiu Shanyu''s position was in Faya, there were indications that she by no means played a small role. With the protection of the bronze-masked man, her family must have had a prominent place in Faya. A young lady of such status had no reason to train her perception, of course.


    Wei-ah didn''t want to help at all. Left with no choice, Chen Mu carried her himself. Since his physical strength had also recovered a little, flying wasn''t a problem.


    As they carefully entered the city, Qiu Shanyu wore another mask of Chen Mu''s. As soon as they got there, he took her to purchase an outfit and a mask.


    In the dressing room, Qiu Shanyu held the clothes she had just bought and looked at Chen Mu from head to toe. "What? Do you want to watch me change?" she quipped coldly.


    Chen Mu was suddenly embarrassed, but he couldn''t let her alone in the dressing room. Who knew what she would do if left to her own devices? Even Chen Mu knew that while he trumped her in terms of fighting skills, he was no match for that woman in terms of her twisted strategies and scheming mind. Their relationship was extremely subtle. Qiu Shanyu was Chen Mu''s captive; however, she had enough bargaining chips in her hand, so Chen Mu also had to be quite hospitable toward her.


    "Fine. Look on if you''d like." Qiu Shanyu didn''t wait for Chen Mu to answer. She turned around and began to undress in front of him. Chen Mu may have been a courageous and solid man, but his face involuntarily turned red. Nonetheless, for security reasons, he couldn''t turn his head away.


    Her smooth, bare back, her petite and sexy waist, her slender white legs¡­


    Within a minute, Chen Mu was soaked in sweat. He laughed bitterly in his heart. That task should have been given to Wei-ah, someone who was like a rock. Looking at the gorgeous body in front of his eyes¡­ While he had never experienced a woman, he still had instincts. Thus, a pain was born in him.


    Okay. She is just a monkey. Just a monkey¡­ Chen Mu began hypnotizing himself.


    The scene presented before him was enough to boil a man''s blood, but Chen Mu did a good job keeping a calm face. He acted like it wasn''t a beautiful woman changing her clothes¡ªit was just a monkey. When Qiu Shanyu finished, she turned and saw that Chen Mu was still expressionless.


    "Not bad." Her eyebrows raised slightly. She finished by putting on the mask Chen Mu had gotten her and pressed the door button. The automatic door opened, and she stepped out.


    Chen Mu smiled wryly to himself. It hadn''t been thanks to his exceptional willpower, but to his completely stiffened facial muscles that had locked his expression.


    Subtly altering his perception, a few green lights flashed on his hand, and Qiu Shanyu''s old clothes immediately turned into a pile of shreds. Chen Mu then used a heat card to burn the pile of shreds into ashes.


    Although watching a beautiful female monkey change clothes had been a test of his will, Chen Mu had finally confirmed that she had no extra trinkets on her, which eased his mind a little. A large windbreaker was wrapped around her petite body, and a mask painted with golden sunflowers covered her face. No matter what angle one looked at her from, she didn''t seem to be at all related to the high and mighty Madam from Faya.


    "The White Commander is back." The card artisans in the building saw Chen Mu and quickly saluted him. They had nothing but admiration toward the mysterious White Commander. He seemed mute, indifferent, and arrogant, and he never communicated with his subordinates. His training menu completely drained their strength. Nonetheless, he had earned the respect of all of those card artisans.


    He would never bully them like Ma Hu would, and they never had to worry about pleasing him. As long as they focused on training well, used all of their strength for training, and enhanced their strength, they would be rewarded. Moreover, what was more exciting than receiving surprised gazes when the card artisans of other houses saw their dramatic changes? The others'' eyes full of contempt and disdain were no longer to be seen, and they could always have their chests held high!


    Chen Mu didn''t respond, but everyone had long grown used to it. Their attention was quickly placed on the new characters.


    A woman! The White Commander actually brought a woman back!


    Like a flame, the explosive news spread throughout the building rapidly. Of course, that had to be credited to Chen Mu''s fame. Shortly after having had dinner with Miss Xu Jia, he''d brought back another woman¡­ One could only imagine the gossip! However, no one dared to point fingers at the White Commander, not to mention ask about him, but that didn''t stop them from their imaginations.


    Xu Jia was prepared to go to bed. She had finally gotten away from the hustle and bustle of the evening. As she hummed a tune, her white feet hopped cheerfully to her big bed. Suddenly, her communication card rang.


    According to the communication card guidebook, frequent usage of a communication card in a short period of time would cause an explosion. Xu Jia would soon verify that.


    * * *


    "No one could imagine that the famous Qiao Yuan, the great maker of the numbered series of cards, was hiding in the fallen Tai-shu family." Qiu Shanyu dropped hints of ridicule and mockery.


    Chen Mu closed the door, blocking all gazes from the outside. That was his dedicated training room. He checked all the nooks and crannies, making sure there were no monitoring devices. He then took his mask off and sat cross-legged on the ground.


    Qiu Shanyu voiced her dissatisfaction. "What a crude room. You don''t even own a chair."


    "Please lower your expectations." Chen Mu didn''t look up.


    "Don''t tell me you usually sleep here. You have no sofa and no bed. Do you actually sleep on the floor?" Qiu Shanyu looked at Chen Mu like he was a monster. "Are you from the Bitter Solitude Temple? They don''t even meditate like you. At least they have futons."


    "Really?" Chen Mu still didn''t lift his head. "I don''t know much about the Bitter Solitude Temple."


    Looking at the floor, which couldn''t be described as clean, Qiu Shanyu couldn''t hide her slight hesitation. She finally chose a relatively clean instrument to sit down on.


    "What are you doing in the Tai-shu household?" she asked as she casually took the mask off of her face.


    "Gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. This kind of thing may be useful to the green thread¡ªI mean¡ªGreen Mark." Since Qiu Shanyu knew of the existence of the Green Mark, he didn''t need to hide it from her.


    If what she had said were true, they had a common goal in searching for the demonic woman. Moreover, Chen Mu felt that Qiu Shanyu was not lying.


    "I''ve heard of the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, but does it work on the Green Mark? I haven''t heard about this reaction." She shook her head.


    "We''ll find out." Chen Mu didn''t explain; he trusted Sue Lochiro''s knowledge.


    "Do the Tai-shus have the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus?" Qiu Shanyu was surprised. "I didn''t expect them to have these resources. However, considering its rarity, Tai-shu Yong might not even want to negotiate."


    "Well, I haven''t talked to him yet," Chen Mu said honestly.


    "You haven''t talk to him?" Qiu Shanyu sneered. "You''re really useless!"


    "What do you suggest I do?" Chen Mu couldn''t help but ask. Talking wasn''t his area of expertise.


    The sneer in her tone grew heavier. "What? There''s so much! For example, if you can attack the Tai-shu family straight-on, it won''t be a problem with your powers. With the help of your friend, you can even just go into Tai-shu Yong''s bedroom! Tsk, tsk. You aren''t a just person, anyway. You know what? Why don''t you kidnap Tai-shu Cheng? I bet that''s even easier!"


    Chen Mu suddenly felt like asking her had been a mistake. He was unwilling to resort to such extreme methods without an urgent need. He changed the subject. "Let''s talk about the Green Mark."


    Qiu Shanyu shook her head. "That''s all I know about the Green Mark. That thing on your wrist? That''s my first time seeing the real thing."


    Seeing that she didn''t seem to be acting, Chen Mu said, "You said you could find her, right?"


    Qiu Shanyu turned solemn and said, "I have to understand the situation first. Tell me about your encounter with her from beginning to end."


    His time with the demonic woman had been short, and not much had actually happened. Chen Mu had only noticed a few details. When she had learned it had actually been a woman who had implanted the Green Mark in his body, Qiu Shanyu had obviously been stunned. After she listened to his story about the demonic woman, her battle with Qing Qing, and her subsequent disappearance, a murderous look flashed through her eyes for a moment. Chen Mu''s story made her fall into deep thought.


    "Star Academy actually sent Qing Qing? Could that news actually be true?" Qiu Shanyu muttered to herself.


    "News? What news? Is Qing Qing famous?" Chen Mu couldn''t help but ask.


    Qiu Shanyu sneered, "Qing Qing has no name. Not many people in the whole federation know her name. However, she has another identity, and you must know her. She is the only one to have successfully graduated from Star Academy''s inner academy in the past few decades¡ªthe legendary genius card artisan of Star Academy!"


    Chen Mu was surprised. He had only caught a glimpse of Qing Qing and hadn''t had the chance to witness her full strength. But he''d met Qing Qing a few times at Eastern Wei Academy. In his memory, she hadn''t seemed much different from ordinary students. He''d previously thought Qing Qing was just an ordinary student of Star Academy. He hadn''t expected her to have such a shocking identity!


    He thought quickly and immediately noticed something strange. The sudden student meeting between Star Academy and Eastern Wei Academy, the appearance of Qing Qing at Eastern Wei Academy, the strange atmosphere on campus¡­


    What had Star Academy plotted in the past? What was the news Qiu Shanyu had mentioned?

 455 Xiaobo’s Arrival

    Qiu Shanyu was silent while deep in thought. Chen Mu also had many doubts but chose to comment no further in consideration of her. Many hours passed, yet her eyebrows remained furrowed. She had a pair of thin, long eyebrows, which usually complemented her overall features. At that moment, however, her eyebrows looked like two curved blades, exuding a swift ferocity.


    Chen Mu didn''t disturb her. He knew he had given his best during the battle earlier. He was physically and mentally drained and thus needed to rest. Although he was eager to know Qiu Shanyu''s way of finding the demonic woman, he knew it wouldn''t be an easy way. He then quickly sank into a state of deep tranquility.


    As he opened his eyes, a flash of light appeared before him, and he felt a surge of energy coursing through his body. Suddenly, his face revealed a slightly startled expression. But he quickly closed his eyes to check on his perception. He was pleasantly surprised. He hadn''t expected his perception to have enhanced tremendously through the battle.


    His perceptual power had always been his weakness and hence was his constant worry. His perception accuracy index was now rather high. Unfortunately, with limited perceptual power, he was unable to use cards that demanded more perception.


    He''d had no idea how incredibly fast his improvements had been! He suppressed the joy he felt and started to reflect on the battle. Reflecting on his wins and losses after every battle had become a habit of his.


    He''d learned a lot through that battle, especially when Wei-ah had fought head to head with the bronze-masked man. He was blown away by their impressive strength. Moreover, he had just realized Wei-ah didn''t showcase his true powers during their practices. If so, he would have been defeated in the first round.


    Wei-ah''s air skills were unbelievable, but the bronze-masked man''s card skills were just as amazing and deadly. Chen Mu could still clearly recall the bronze-masked man''s vast sense of perception. It had given Chen Mu an illusion of being on a small wooden boat floating on raging waves. The feeling of helplessness had made Chen Mu truly understand the gap between himself and a top card artisan.


    The bronze-masked man''s card skills were gorgeous and ever-changing. It reminded him of a beautiful painting that left no trace of feelings. It had been Chen Mu''s first time encountering such card skills. The only person he knew with similar standards of skills had been Qiao Yuan. Qiao Yuan''s card skills had been far less complex, yet he''d had complete control over his accuracy and speed¡ªsimple but straightforward.


    Flower World¡ªChen Mu could remember the bronze-masked man''s humming. He had no idea what the bronze-masked man''s card was. Only a genius with amazing perceptual control would have been able to handle the countless petals! Chen Mu was rather dumbfounded now that he thought of it. He specialized in fine perceptual skill, but he couldn''t control so many blades at a time with his current level of ability.


    The blades had become much more aggressive under the transformation of the Flower World. The energy blades had turned from peach-colored to snow-white, which represented a change in their structure. To control a released body of energy and to change its structure required powerful perceptual control. That made Chen Mu feel a sense of admiration once again.


    Wei-ah''s power had also taken Chen Mu by surprise; he could use all of his limbs to release air waves simultaneously. Besides that, the three-phase compression trick at the last part had been so impressive that Chen Mu had no words to describe Wei-ah.


    As he recalled their fight together, Chen Mu couldn''t help but feel extremely excited. Even so, he remained calm. Their battle had been an eye-opening experience for him and had given him much inspiration. However, the level of the battle was what mattered to him now. On a deeper level, it gave him direction. He understood that aiming big without practicality was a fool''s plan, and doing things in moderation would hasten the process of improvement. He put his thoughts back to the battle, exposing many problems that had happened.


    The Bipolar Card in State Zero had tremendously increased power, but it consumed perception twice as fast. Moreover, he wouldn''t have made it until the end of the battle if he had used the jet stream card instead of the explosive power of his body.


    Perceptual strength! It made his head hurt, and he still hadn''t found a way to solve that problem.


    Among his few cards, the Hundred Changes consumed the least perception but lacked power. The Golden Word Shackle and the Bipolar Card consumed an enormous amount of perception, making them unviable in long battles. The Patterned Shuttle also had amazing power, but its obvious weakness was how situational its usage was.


    That made him feel rather helpless. Although he had some decent ideas running through his mind, the lack of materials needed for making the card had forced him to give up for the moment. All he could do now was find out more about his cards'' combat power.


    Night came, and both of them were still deep within their own thoughts. Qiu Shanyu was exhausted, leaning on the training equipment before sleep embraced her.


    Chen Mu, on the other hand, would train his perception diligently as usual. He would then recover using deep tranquility before continuing his training. He persevered and trained until 5 o''clock in the morning before he stopped to get some rest.


    Chen Mu woke up on time at 7 o''clock. He opened his eyes to find Qiu Shanyu staring at him.


    Qiu Shanyu had mixed feelings. She hadn''t been completely asleep and had instead watched Chen Mu train. He had trained so hard that it had been difficult to watch! Exhaustion didn''t seem to mean anything to the man before her eyes. It wasn''t her first time seeing hard-working card artisans, but those card artisans were incomparable to that mysterious man. This damn fellow¡­


    "I thought about what you said yesterday. According to what you said, the person who implanted the Green Mark disappeared after the battle with Qing Qing." Qiu Shanyu thought for a moment and said, "Then, she must still be in the Heavenly Federation!"


    "I guess so." The Heavenly Federation was huge; Chen Mu knew it would be akin to looking for a needle in a haystack.


    "If she''s in the Heavenly Federation, it''s possible for us to whip up a plan." Qiu Shanyu was confident. "Since you''re a card master, producing a fantasy card ad should be a piece of cake, right?"


    "A fantasy card ad?" Chen Mu hesitated. That term seemed rather far-fetched even though he had no idea what sort of plan she was up to, but he still nodded. "Yes. That''s not a problem."


    "That makes things simpler, then. All you need to do is turn the Green Mark on your wrist into a fantasy card ad. Then, we air it throughout the entire Heavenly Federation. If she really is still within the borders of the federation, there''s a high chance she would see the ad. Then, include the time and venue of the meeting in the ad¡­"


    Chen Mu walked out of the training room, still turning over her idea in his mind. Her idea might just be their best shot. If the demonic woman was still within the federation, Chen Mu was sure he could find her through Qiu Shanyu''s method. Qiu Shanyu had made clear of the pros and cons, however. First off, a large sum of cash was needed to get things running. To air the ad throughout the whole federation, the fee was insane. Even she couldn''t estimate the total amount.


    To top that off, not many people would recognize the Green Mark, but someone in the Big Six could. The ad would definitely attract people''s attention. Therefore, the possibility of them being traced would also increase.


    "Good morning, White Commander." Xu Jia smiled as she stood in front of Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu was pulled out of his thoughts as he quickly greeted her. "Good morning, Miss Xu."


    "I heard the White Commander invited a beautiful woman over last night. No wonder you seem distracted this morning," Xu Jia replied with a smile. Chen Mu could sense a cold chill, though.


    The employees that passed by stole weird glances before hurrying off. Chen Mu was able to sense that Xu Jia wasn''t in a pleasant mood, but he felt it was unreasonable for her to be displeased. He wasn''t her subordinate; hence, he didn''t have to please her.


    "How can I help you, Miss Xu?" He was rushing for time and didn''t beat around the bush.


    Xu Jia choked. She would be lying if she said she wasn''t mad. She had called the White Commander so many times that her communication card had exploded. The White Commander was the one responsible in her mind, but he didn''t know a thing. She knew she was in no position to blame him.


    "Nothing. Please go ahead, White Commander." Xu Jia, who had been smiling moments ago, was stupefied on the spot. After a few seconds, she forced a smile and shifted to the side to make way. Chen Mu disappeared just as she finished her sentence, which made her terribly mad.


    Chen Mu was rather anxious because Xiaobo had just arrived in Dongrui and had finally contacted him.


    The high-speed flight elevated Chen Mu''s mood. Honestly speaking, he had been rather surprised when Xiaobo had voluntarily offered to help him. He had obviously been unwilling when Chen Mu had first tried to recruit him. Nevertheless, Xiaobo had agreed in the end because he couldn''t resist the temptation of the Wheel. It was unexpected of him to willingly travel so far just to help Chen Mu.


    Xiaobo had still been in his retreat when Chen Mu had left the base. Now that he was out, Chen Mu wondered how much he had improved! Chen Mu had told Wei-ah to keep an eye on Qiu Shanyu in Wei-ah''s training room before rushing off.


    Chen Mu landed at the entrance of Grand Hotel Abinia after flying for approximately ten minutes. Xiaobo was still so full of himself; he stood like a javelin at the entrance of the hotel and flashed a lazy smile. He had long white hair and wore a coat and boots. The most striking thing was the faintly glowing halo floating ten meters behind him. It was one meter wide, and light was extended from the center of the halo to its edge. The light slowly swept across the torus of the ring repeatedly, like a hand around a clock.


    Xiaobo instantly recognized Chen Mu even though he wore a mask.


    "Boss, your taste in fashion is horrible, as always! That mask is hideous!" Xiaobo sneered with a hint of cynicism.


    "When did you arrive?" Chen Mu asked as he tried to suppress his excitement.


    "Hmm. I''ve just arrived today." He grinned and stretched his back lazily. "Boss, I heard you had a good fight here! Tsk, tsk. I''ve been eyeing rank 50 on the Black-Line Star Listing for a while now."

 456 Power Glove

    "What''s that on your back?" Chen Mu asked, curious.


    Xiaobo seemed to fancy making gaudy things like that. He was extremely talented at it, too. Even as a card master, Chen Mu couldn''t figure out how the glowing halo had been made. It didn''t seem to be merely fashionable; he could feel a faint yet strange fluctuation from it.


    "Heh, cool, isn''t it? I spent quite a lot of time on this." Xiaobo grinned. "I call it the Orderly Wave Wheel. Everyone thinks it''s cool, man! Even Mr. Bogner eyed it for a long time!"


    "Orderly Wave Wheel¡­" Chen Mu chewed at the words carefully. The wave it emitted was subtle. Even Chen Mu could only feel a faint sign of it.


    He then nudged Xiaobo. "Let''s go get you a mask first, yeah?"


    "A mask? Come on, Boss. Why do you want to hide my handsome face?" Xiaobo objected with a frown.


    As one of the pioneers in mask fashion, Chen Mu was slightly surprised himself at how mask shops were everywhere now. Xiaobo reluctantly chose a mask filled with white chrysanthemum patterns. Paired with his long, flowing hair, the combination seemed kind of weird, at least to Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu put his mask with two red crosses back on, and Xiaobo dropped his jaw in surprise. "Whoa! Boss, you carry two masks around?"


    Chen Mu ignored him. Xiaobo can be so annoying sometimes¡­


    They headed to the card store.


    "Oh!" Janet was pleasantly surprised to see Chen Mu and quickly walked to his side. "I did not expect you! No wonder I am in such a good mood today! It''s wonderful to see you!"


    The other salesgirls were stupefied at their supervisor''s attitude. It was rare for her to be so enthusiastic when serving customers.


    Xiaobo looked at Chen Mu with a suggestive expression, silently winking at him. If one were to walk closer to him, one could hear him mumble, "What terrible taste. Miss Sue is far better¡­"


    In the eyes of the salesgirls, Xiaobo looked like a true expert! Look at the light swinging gently like a pendulum behind him! They didn''t know what it was, but it didn''t look like the work of a normal card artisan. The supervisor didn''t even give them a look, and they quickly prepared tea and served the customers with their best hospitality. Xiaobo stopped mumbling and turned his attention onto the pretty salesgirls, his eyes full of enjoyment.


    "Grand master, what do you need this time?" Janet asked respectfully. She was glad the gold card she had gifted him last time had not been in vain.


    "Hmm. I need some card and card appliance materials." Chen Mu handed her a one-star fantasy card that listed everything he needed.


    Card appliance materials? Janet''s eyes twitched a little. Card appliances had only gained traction in the last few years. The most famous of them was Faya''s battle shuttle car. Could he be an expert in card appliances, as well?


    Janet took the fantasy card and went over the checklist. She glanced at the materials list and exclaimed in surprise, "Oh, my! You''re an expert in card appliances, too?"


    Chen Mu looked at Janet in surprise. The shock in her voice seemed to mean something, and the stresses in her tone seemed unnatural. He was doubtful, but he nodded and answered, "Yeah. I know a thing or two."


    "Please wait a moment." Before finishing her sentence, she had already turned and run out of the room. Looking at her hasty figure, Chen Mu was curious. From what he remembered, Janet was a career woman who cared a lot about etiquette; she wouldn''t lose her composure like that. He pondered it for a bit but couldn''t find the reason.


    After a while, Janet rushed back. A displeased voice followed behind her, shouting, "Miss Janet, I severely object to your actions! They are obstructing my work! My schedule is very tight; please don''t waste my precious time!"


    "Mr. Topster, you''ve spent so much time, yet you''ve had no breakthroughs. I think it''s time we have a different person take charge of this project," Janet replied without looking back, not forgetting to squeeze in a smile at Chen Mu.


    "Miss Janet, I concur that I am not competent enough, but I don''t think anyone in Dongrui can best me in this field!" Topster''s face was beet-red, but his voice was proud and confident. When he saw Chen Mu standing there, however, he was suddenly silent.


    Immediately after, the store was filled with his screaming voice. "Oh, god! Grand master! It''s you! I didn''t think I would see you again! Heavens! Did God hear my prayers? The Bomb you made last time was the greatest shock in my life¡­"


    His face was full of excitement, and he wasn''t speaking straight. He abruptly turned and bellowed at Janet, "Miss Janet, I will report your misconduct to the superiors! You didn''t even serve tea to our esteemed customer! This is unforgivable!"


    Janet was stunned. Shoot! She had been too excited and had completely forgotten about that! The other salesgirls had seen their supervisor serving Chen Mu, so they had focused on Xiaobo instead, resulting in the awkward situation.


    Chen Mu waved his hand. "I''m not here for tea. Please get my materials ready, and do tell me if there are any problems."


    Janet gave Chen Mu a grateful look before she coldly ordered a salesgirl, "Collect all of the grand master''s required materials." The salesgirl hurriedly took the one-star fantasy card and jogged to gather the materials.


    After relaying her orders, Janet faced Chen Mu again and handed him a fantasy card. "Grand master, please take a look at this." Topster hesitated, but he didn''t say anything.


    When it came to technical issues, he was always quick to calm down. Cards were the core technology of cards and card appliances, but the two weren''t exactly the same field. Most card masters would choose to focus on one of them. Those who excelled in card making, especially, usually looked down upon those who tinkered with card appliances, seeing them as an insignificant cult.


    Chen Mu took a doubtful glance at the two and took the card from her.


    Xiaobo, who was resting lazily on the couch, saw Chen Mu from the corner of his eye. He immediately jumped up and stood straight. Chen Mu was staring keenly at the series of data on the screen, clearly absorbed in reading. Rejecting the desserts brought to him by the enthusiastic salesgirls, he walked to Chen Mu''s side.


    "What is this?" he asked in a low voice. Only something extraordinary could make his boss focus so intensely.


    "A card appliance." Chen Mu''s eyes were glued to the screen.


    "Card appliance?" Xiaobo was clearly confused.


    "Yes; a battle card appliance," Chen Mu replied plainly. There was a tinge of uneasiness in his tone.


    "A battle card appliance?" Xiaobo became excited. "Just like Faya''s battle shuttle car?"


    In the battle against the Federation Comprehensive Academy, Faya''s battle shuttle car had attracted everyone''s attention with its terrific performance. From that time onward, people had started to place importance on card appliances.


    "No." Chen Mu shook his head and added, "This is much more powerful than the shuttle car!"


    Xiaobo was dazed, and it suddenly hit him. He naturally knew how terrifying the battle shuttle cars were. Without Hertha''s card appliance traps that had been laid beforehand, it would have been hard to tell the outcome of the fight against the Downstream Alliance. The battle shuttle car had been the strongest battle card appliance so far. But his boss now said that card appliance was even stronger, which shook him to his core. Battle card appliances were trump cards that could change the federation''s situation!


    Chen Mu was also quite shocked! The fantasy card was a copy of an original. A huge amount of data was listed on it in a strange format. Other than that, there were many diagrams of the components. The format seemed to be chaotic and difficult to decipher. Plus, there was a ton of data and explanation, which made it even more confusing. However, a card appliance expert could potentially feel the hidden sequence within.


    "As expected from a grand master! With just a single look, you can tell what it is! It''s called the Power Glove. I exhausted my energy, but I still couldn''t figure out the meaning of the data." Topster was filled with admiration for Chen Mu. Since receiving the card, he had only figured out the usage of the data on it, but Chen Mu understood with just a glance. The difference in their abilities was clear as day.


    "Power Glove¡­" Chen Mu mumbled. Beneath the mask, he had a terrified expression. The equations no one understood were familiar to him! He had seen similar equations in the underground city!


    From his discovery of the underground city until his departure from there, it had never unveiled its true face. Who had built it? Why did it exist? He couldn''t even find a single record in history vaguely related to it. Chen Mu could never forget that the technology in the underground city was completely opposite of the federation''s. Most of his knowledge of card appliances had been gained there.


    However, the technology required to manufacture a Power Glove was more advanced than what he had learned there! He hadn''t been there for a long time, so he hadn''t learned many of their technologies. But he was confident that the data on the fantasy card was genuine! It was definitely from the underground city!


    Did something happen to Alfonso and the others? Chen Mu''s heart was suddenly dangling. Although the underground city had impregnable defenses, the Moqi Clan was in its weakest times.


    "Where did you get this?" Chen Mu asked Janet plainly.


    Xiaobo could feel the goosebumps on his skin! He was familiar with his boss''s character, so he could sense the danger in his tone! Anyone who knew Chen Mu well, like Bogner, Xi Ping, or Jiang Liang, could also do that.


    Boss, something''s not right!

 457 Secret News

    Janet hesitated for a moment and looked at Topster before saying, "Someone in charge of the Yuzi Military Force sent it here."


    "Yuzi Military Force?" Chen Mu couldn''t help but frown. At Tai-shu Zheng''s banquet previously, he had heard a lot about Tan Yumin''s achievements, and the Yuzi Military Force had been one of them.


    Janet relaxed and smiled. "Yes. It''s not just us; any store that is slightly important in Dongrui has received this list of specifications. Miss Tan has put up a reward herself for anyone who can make it. She is willing to buy it for 5 billion Oudi. While this reward is a big sum, that''s not what we''re after. The opportunity to help Miss Tan is a great honor to us. Every store in Dongrui is talking about it. Naturally, we can''t be left behind!" When Janet mentioned Tan Yumin, she could feel deep respect in her heart.


    Topster nodded in agreement. "Yeah! If we can help Miss Tan make this glove, my life won''t be for nothing!"


    Staring at the data, Chen Mu seemed to be thinking about something. Janet was an expert in observing expressions. When she noticed Chen Mu humming, she knew the mysterious and powerful grand master must have had his methods! "Grand master, can you make it?" she asked testingly.


    Chen Mu stopped looking at the screen and shook his head calmly. "I''m sorry. I can''t."


    Janet''s disappointment was obvious. "If even you can''t make it, probably no one in Dongrui can. Miss Tan is going to be disappointed."


    Chen Mu gave Janet a strange look. He hadn''t known she revered Tan Yumin that much.


    As if seeing through Chen Mu''s doubts, Janet smiled lightly and continued with a tinge of bitterness, "I was an orphan from a young age, so I''ve always cared deeply about Miss Tan''s endeavours. It must be funny to you, grand master."


    Chen Mu shook his head slowly. "Miss Tan Yumin truly deserves respect."


    A salesgirl ran toward them, barely catching her breath. "Miss supervisor, we have prepared all of the materials required by this customer. The total price is 560,000 Oudi." She didn''t understand why her supervisor had to serve the customer herself since it was just a small transaction.


    After Chen Mu had paid, Janet and Topster escorted him and Xiaobo out.


    "Boss, is there an issue with that Power Glove?" Xiaobo asked quietly only after walking quite a distance.


    "Hmm." Chen Mu changed his mask again and gave no further explanation. He looked at the Orderly Wave Wheel behind Xiaobo and told him, "Keep your wheel."


    Xiaobo scowled, but he couldn''t defy Chen Mu''s eyes. After complaining for some time, he reluctantly put away his Orderly Wave Wheel.


    The White Commander has brought another person back! All of the card artisans were quietly gossiping. It seemed like every time the White Commander went out, he would bring someone new back. But that guy with the white chrysanthemum mask didn''t seem special at all.


    Chen Mu ignored their weird stares and led Xiaobo straight to Wei-ah''s training room.


    When Xiaobo saw Wei-ah, he acted like an obedient student. In the base, other than the boss, everyone feared Wei-ah. Even the two major commanders, Bogner and Xi Ping, were well-behaved in front of Wei-ah.


    "How''s the fat dog?" Wei-ah asked first, unexpectedly.


    Xiaobo replied in a rush, "It''s sleeping well and eating well every day, and it seems to have gained a few pounds!" He caught a glimpse of Wei-ah in the corner of his eye and added quickly, "It''s also handsomer now!"


    Hearing that, Wei-ah turned and left. Xiaobo subtly wiped the sweat off his forehead. Standing before Wei-ah always gave him a terrible pressure; it had been so since the first time they''d met. As Xiaobo had become stronger, that pressure had gotten no lighter, and he could feel the deep and unfathomable scent of danger emitted by Wei-ah.


    Little Bu Mo was curious, but he forced himself not to look at Xiaobo and persevered in his training with clenched teeth.


    Qiu Shanyu, however, stared at Xiaobo curiously. Since she was in the room, she wasn''t wearing a mask. Her beautiful visage was bare, and her straight face stared down at him with an air of superiority. A babe! Xiaobo was suddenly awake. Quickly, though, he thought of an important question. Could she be the boss''s woman?


    Chen Mu and Wei-ah walked to the corner, and he told Wei-ah about the Power Glove. Wei-ah quickly said, "I''ll bring Tan Yumin here."


    Chen Mu was suddenly sweating profusely. He realized discussing action plans with Wei-ah was a terrible idea. Wei-ah was a classic brute with a violent and direct mind. His first idea when facing problems was always to beat the heck out of his opponent.


    Chen Mu realized he was a little nervous. Nervous¡­ That surprised him. Was he actually worried about the safety of Alfonso and the rest? He had always thought he''d met the Moqi Clan just by chance and that they probably would never cross paths again. When he realized they could be in danger, though, he found himself worrying for them. He hadn''t realized it, but Alfonso and the others had taken a special place in his heart.


    Calm down¡­ Chen Mu took a deep breath and relaxed. His experiences all those years had finally paid off. His heartbeat gradually stabilized, and his eyes became cool and sharp.


    Qiu Shanyu was casually chatting with Xiaobo. She hadn''t expected him to be so slippery. She kept trying to test him, but he would slip away whenever she asked him something she wanted to know. It was unsatisfying to punch a pile of cotton. Looking at the lewd and mischievously smiling Xiaobo, she was appalled. Who is this? Wei-ah''s fighting skills had been a shocker to her. Now, another strange character had appeared!


    She couldn''t help but give Chen Mu a look. Coincidently, when her eyes contacted Chen Mu''s cold and sharp gaze, her heart uncontrollably jumped!


    Noticing her gaze, Chen Mu walked up to her. Xiaobo tactfully moved aside when he saw Chen Mu coming through.


    "How much do you know about Tan Yumin?" Chen Mu asked her directly.


    "Tan Yumin?" Qiu Shanyu was stunned. She was reminded of the rumors, and her gaze fell on Chen Mu''s black and white bracelet. "Are you into her? You''ve got to be careful, then. She is no simple woman," Qiu Shanyu jeered.


    "Not simple?" Chen Mu was doubtful. Qiu Shanyu was an important person in Faya; with their information network, she had to know many secrets unknown to the public.


    With a serious face, she explained, "No one knows about her background, but she might be related to Mei Ji. We suspect she is Mei Ji''s daughter. But her mother is a mystery. Nonetheless, there seems to be a mysterious force protecting her. Since birth, she has never experienced any bodily injuries."


    Chen Mu was listening keenly.


    "A few years back, Mei Ji suddenly appeared beside her and helped her to form the Yuzi Military Force. After that, she gradually left the entertainment business and started her career of philanthropy. Her fame unexpectedly shot upward instead, especially among the people. She was respected and loved, gaining an unprecedented reputation!"


    "Seems like you have your eyes on her, then." Chen Mu was surprised the Faya Foundation was interested in a star.


    "Hmph! That''s nothing weird! Someone with a good image and charisma like her is someone we need! We tried contacting her, but all our efforts were seemingly stopped by a mysterious force. Then, Mei Ji came along, which made it even harder for us to act. We didn''t want to anger him. Besides, Star Academy has Mei Ji''s back! We didn''t want to get into a conflict with Star Academy," Qiu Shanyu said with a cold face.


    "A mysterious force¡­" Chen Mu mumbled.


    "I''ll advise you to stay away. With your powers, it will undoubtedly be like striking a stone with an egg! From what we''ve seen so far, the people around her seem to be Mei Ji''s." Qiu Shanyu raised her left brow.


    Taking a glance at her, Chen Mu suddenly said, "You must know of the technologies she has, then."


    Qiu Shanyu stared at Chen Mu in disbelief. "How¡­ How did you know?"


    "Where did her technologies come from?" Chen Mu stared at Qiu Shanyu coldly, pressuring her with each step he took, not giving her time to digest the information.


    "No idea. But I suspect it was left by her mother¡­" Saying that, she suddenly realized something and shut her mouth. She looked at Chen Mu in terror. Before that, she had always thought he was a technical guy. But Chen Mu''s performance that day had forced her to re-evaluate him.


    "Continue," Chen Mu urged with an undefiable tone.


    A tinge of fear appeared on Qiu Shanyu''s face; he didn''t allow her any time to think. But she was a decisive person, so she plainly explained everything. "We took note of her not just because of her reputation, but more so because of the technology she owns." Qiu Shanyu sighed and continued, "The Faya Foundation has a history longer than that of the Big Six. However, during Van Sant''s time, we were hit terribly. Many of our crucial technologies were lost. That forced us into a mode of careful survival for a long time.


    "Card appliances have always been Faya''s edge. They first appeared far earlier than commonly believed. During the age of the sects, the precursor of Faya had already been researching card appliances. We have abundant reserves in this field. Losing our card technologies forced us onto another path, but this path was longer and harder than we thought. We spent a huge amount of manpower and materials but still couldn''t complete our creation.


    "In one unexpected incident, we found a record of ruins in the journal of a member from the previous generation. The ruins were a remnant of Rosenberg''s time. Its creator was another outstanding card master of that time, Rosenberg''s apprentice. This apprentice''s perception abilities were weak from birth. But his extreme intellect gave him a deep understanding of the card system. He tried a method other than perception to draw out a card''s potential. He invented many card appliances while receiving guidance from his teacher. When Rosenberg started his journey, this card master hid in a certain forest and built his laboratory there."


    Chen Mu could feel his heart contracting desperately, and he was running out of breath. Qiu Shanyu''s voice sounded distant at times and near at times.


    He almost said it out loud¡ªthe underground city!


    She didn''t notice Chen Mu''s condition and continued to immerse herself in her admiration of her ancestor. She went on, "This legend only appeared in one of the journals, and we couldn''t verify it. However, we accidently found out Tan Yumin always carries five notebooks with her. They are probably records of card appliances. This piqued our interest. We didn''t know what sort of technology was actually recorded in those books, but it was right when our research was at its toughest. So, we decided to do everything we could to get the technology she has.


    "We disguised ourselves as wealthy merchants to contact Tan Yumin and proposed to purchase her notebooks. It was strange; she wasn''t clear about their value, but she firmly rejected our proposal. The next day, we lost contact with our people inside. So, we planned a secret operation. After paying a hefty sacrifice, we finally got our first notebook. With the records in that book, we successfully created the battle shuttle car! We suspect the records in the notebooks could be related to the mysterious ruins."


    Qiu Shanyu''s expression was full of pride. After all, something like the battle shuttle car was a weapon that could shift the position of the Heavenly Federation. She proceeded quickly, "The notebook we got was very old. The handwriting was neat and elegant and seemed like a woman''s. Coupled with Tan Yumin''s attitude, we suspect it was left behind by her mother."


    Chen Mu was sorting out his confused mind. He had guessed the history of the underground city, but he hadn''t expected that. And, Tan Yumin¡ªwhat a deeply hidden background! Many things that had seemed simple in his eyes had suddenly become complicated. What does she want? Why would she take out the Power Glove schematics? Is she not afraid Faya might get its hands on it?


    But he was strangely relaxed. If that were all true, the method to make the Power Glove in Tan Yumin''s hands obviously had nothing to do with Alfonso and the others. Knowing that was good enough for him. As for the Power Glove, he believed no one could make it. He could understand the schematics, but that didn''t mean he knew how to piece it together.


    It was a card appliance with an extremely sophisticated structure. Its requirement for metalwork was extraordinarily stringent. Other than Alfonso''s people, Chen Mu couldn''t imagine anyone successfully making those components. Even he himself couldn''t create them. Clearly, Tan Yumin was going to be disappointed.


    The relaxed Chen Mu became much gentler. The sudden change in his mood confounded Qiu Shanyu. She wanted to ask how Chen Mu knew that, but a knock on the door caught them off guard.


    Everyone in the room froze at the same time.

 458 Sly, Old Fox

    "Commander, that geezer Tai-shu Yong is here," Sang Hanshui said without a bit of respect while peeking his head into the room. To him, Tai-shu Yong was a man of little importance. He didn''t understand why Chen Mu wanted to stay with the Tai-shus, but he knew the latter must be plotting something.


    Sang Hanshui''s almond-shaped eyes shone glaringly. His gaze was mostly set upon the newcomer, Xiaobo. When Chen Mu had brought a woman back, he had thought it was normal. To him, it would be weirder if a powerful man like Qiao Yuan didn''t have a woman beside him!


    However, he was cautious about Xiaobo. He knew his fate would be connected to Qiao Yuan''s and didn''t expect to be able to leave his demonic hands. And, after getting the Bomb, he respected Qiao Yuan even more. As somebody who could obtain a card from the numbered series of cards, Qiao Yuan had to have unimaginable power.


    In times of chaos, relying on a powerful person was a decent method of survival. Qiao Yuan had a calm mind, terrific talent, and mysterious technologies. There was also an unfathomable top fighter with him, with powers unknown to man. How could someone like him be a mere commoner? Before he''d met Qiao Yuan, he''d felt that with his own strength, he could earn his own standing in the world somehow. Now, however, he realized competition had arrived sooner than he''d imagined!


    The newcomer didn''t seem weak, which put Sang Hanshui slightly on guard. Furthermore, Qiao Yuan seemed to be quite friendly with the new guy. Are they close? That stirred up his feelings of unease. He wanted to keep his spot on Qiao Yuan''s future team. He had come to impatiently report the old man''s arrival precisely because of that.


    "Tai-shu Yong?" Chen Mu was confused and felt suspicious. What is Tai-shu Yong doing here? He had mostly familiarized with the situation in the Tai-shu household. Since Tai-shu Cheng had left The Garden Above the Center to his own place, Tai-shu Yong had never come by.


    Sang Hanshui stood by the door. He looked back and said in a low voice, "Tai-shu Cheng is here with an old man, who''s probably Tai-shu Yong."


    Is he here for me? That thought flashed through his mind for a moment. He then heard Qiu Shanyu saying coldly, "Seems like this old geezer isn''t too dumb. This is so obvious, but he still reacted so slowly. Must be old age!" Sang Hanshui was surprised. Oh, my! This woman is fierce! If anyone else spoke to Qiao Yuan like that, they would be long dead.


    Chen Mu ignored her and walked out of the training room while humming deeply. As he walked out, he saw Tai-shu Cheng respectfully accompanying an old man as they walked toward him. However, other than his gray hair and his white, slightly murky eyes, the man didn''t seem old at all. Another man walked on the other side of Tai-shu Cheng. Chen Mu was more concerned about that well-built man, who was tall and sinewy. The signature part of his body, his eyes, were a terrifying blood-red.


    Connelly! For no reason, the name suddenly appeared in Chen Mu''s mind. He hadn''t seen that man before, but he felt he could be sure of his identity with just a look. Only a card artisan with level-seven perception could give him a sense of danger. He''d felt that from Rong Ming.


    Tai-shu Cheng tried to suppress his joy, but the expression in his eyes gave him away. The old man had never been to any company of the three brothers''. That was a first! He was overjoyed but still tried to keep a calm face.


    Tai-shu Cheng''s eyes brightened when he saw Chen Mu. "White Commander, please come here for a moment." He wasn''t dim-witted; he clearly understood why the old man was there.


    "How can you be so rude to Mr. White?" the old man rebuked. "We should go over!"


    Of course, Chen Mu saw through their act. If he took it seriously and acted proudly, he would be a fool. His body flashed for a moment, and he appeared before the three of them. Sang Hanshui followed Chen Mu closely, standing behind him. Connelly squinted a little, but his eyes returned to normal.


    "Old Master!" Chen Mu greeted respectfully.


    Tai-shu Yong responded cheerfully, "Excellent moves, as expected from the White Commander! No wonder you are the talk of the town! Come; let us sit and talk."


    Tai-shu Yong and Chen Mu sat down, and the situation became somewhat strange. Connelly and Tai-shu Cheng stood behind Tai-shu Yong, and Sang Hanshui stood behind Chen Mu. Facing a powerful man like Connelly, Sang Hanshui wasn''t afraid. Although his perceptual level was below seven, he was almost there. Connelly wasn''t on the Black-Line Star Listing, but he was ranked 70th on the Heavenly Drum Rolls. Most of the card artisans on the Black-Line Star Listing looked down upon those on the Heavenly Drum Rolls.


    The two of them made eye contact now and then. Connelly''s eyes appeared to be solemn. Underneath the mask, though, his eyes were cruel and cold like a snake''s, as if he were hiding in the dark, preparing to select prey to devour.


    On the contrary, Sang Hanshui was less burdened. With the Bomb he had, he was absolutely confident. He believed he could get into the top 100 of the Black-Line Star Listing with his current capabilities. Moreover, the people behind him were also powerful. Qiao Yuan, Wei-ah, and the newcomer were all stronger than their opponent. With nothing to fear, Sang Hanshui showed unbridled arrogance.


    Tai-shu Cheng also felt that. His face turned pale, and his teeth were gently shaking. But Tai-shu Yong was seated comfortably, chatting away happily like nobody''s business.


    "I came here to thank you for helping my three awful sons, Mr. White! If it hadn''t been for you, I''m afraid the father would have had to attend his sons'' funeral!"


    "You exaggerate, Old Master. Mr. Tai-shu Cheng is my boss; if I didn''t save him, who would pay my salary?"


    "Ha ha!" Tai-shu Yong laughed profoundly. "Nevertheless, I have a small doubt. I wonder if you can solve it, Mr. White."


    Without batting an eye, Chen Mu responded, "Ask away, Old Master, but I am unlearned. I hope I won''t disappoint you."


    "Ho ho! How humble you are, Mr. White! Ah, excuse me; should I call you Mr. White or Mr. Qiao?" Tai-shu Yong''s eyes were open wide and full of vigor, making them lose all hints of old age at once.


    Connelly coughed coldly and suddenly sounded aggressive. Sang Hanshui looked at him fiercely, not wanting to lose his own ground. Tai-shu Cheng''s face was still pale. What his father had said was too shocking! Qiao Yuan¡­ So, the White Commander was Qiao Yuan all along!


    The card artisans on the training ground stopped and stared at them in horror. Was their hired hand going to fight Connelly?


    Chen Mu was surprised. Squinting, he commented with a smile, "Seems like you have ears everywhere, Old Master."


    His identity had been seen through! Chen Mu had his eyes locked onto Tai-shu Yong. If things went south, he would grab him at the first moment. But he was still shocked. Where did I fail to cover up?


    "Ha ha!" Tai-shu Yong''s laugh was loud and clear. He waved his hand and said, "Calm down, Mr. Qiao. No matter what, it''s a fact that you saved my three sons. I do owe you a favor. But I don''t understand. With your capabilities, what can the Tai-shu family still do for you?"


    At that point, Chen Mu no longer felt the need to hide. He''d wanted a chance to confront Tai-shu Yong directly anyway. Although the situation was far different from what he had imagined, the result was basically the same.


    "I heard your family owns some gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, so I came here to ask for it."


    "Gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus?" Tai-shu Yong was slightly confused. He looked at Chen Mu profoundly and laughed out loud. "Not even my three sons knew about this, but you knew! How surprising, Mr. Qiao!"


    "I was just lucky." Chen Mu felt a little better. It seemed like the Tai-shus really had the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus! He had been worried it didn''t really exist. As long as they had it, he could either snatch it or could get it by negotiation, so he wasn''t too worried about what was next.


    Tai-shu Yong nodded and drank his tea slowly, as if he didn''t know Connelly and Sang Hanshui were silently competing. After a long while, he said, "Since Mr. Qiao saved my three sons, I really should offer you what you want with both hands." He put down his cup and continued solemnly, "But the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus was handed down through the generations. For it, our ancestors sacrificed many people. Lives and blood were lost in order for us to keep it until today. Our ancestors passed down instructions to never use it other than in a crisis concerning the end of the Tai-shu bloodline!"


    "Oh." Chen Mu stayed expressionless. Tai-shu Yong couldn''t have come all the way there to tell him his family history, so he waited for the old geezer to reveal the secret himself.


    As expected, Tai-shu Yong picked up his teacup again and took a sip. "Since we are indebted to Mr. Qiao, however, we can probably make an exception."


    "I think we should drop the pretense," Chen Mu replied plainly. It was getting a bit tedious for him.


    "Ha ha!" Tai-shu Yong laughed sneakily. "Surely, with your skills and your people, flattening the Tai-shu household would be a piece of cake. However, only I know where the fungus is. My old life isn''t worth much, but it would be a shame if Mr. Qiao''s important matters were¡­ interrupted."


    Chen Mu was speechless. He''d never met a scoundrel worse than him! For an old man to be so obviously cunning was new to him.


    "Oh, that was a joke! Just a joke! Don''t be angry, Mr. Qiao!" Tai-shu Yong laughed and continued, "The Tai-shu household is obviously willing to provide the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus Mr. Qiao needs. But I think you won''t mind helping just a little. Of course, to show my sincerity, the fungus will be immediately sent to you."


    He is truly a sly, old fox! Chen Mu silently admired him. Tai-shu Yong''s words were intertwined with truths and lies. There was no opening at all, which was difficult to deal with. Seeing that the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus would soon be in his hands, though, a rare wave of excitement arose in Chen Mu''s heart.


    He inhaled deeply and stared at Tai-shu Yong with his eyes as sharp as arrows. "Your condition?"

 459 That’s I

    Tai-shu Yong''s vision swiftly turned far and deep, and he gently sighed. "The world is changing fast. It''s so unexpected. The Heavenly Federation is in disunity, and the Big Six take the lead on their own. Faya is observing secretly in wait of opportunity, which is causing a big mess. Even though we, the Tai-shu family, have the desire to restore our former glory, we know our capability well. The aspiration to conquer the world is nothing but a joke to us. Moreover, it''s not easy to stay safe in this chaotic world."


    Chen Mu listened patiently to Tai-shu Yong talking about those irrelevant issues. Deep in his heart, though, he agreed with Tai-shu Yong''s thought. The world was different now; the era belonged to the Big Six and to Faya but didn''t belong to the families who had declined.


    The old man suddenly stopped and turned his gaze to Tai-shu Cheng. "Call Ying for me."


    Tai-shu Cheng was dumbfounded. After he regained his composure, though, he repeatedly nodded. "Yes! Yes! Yes!"


    "Be patient, Mr. Qiao. Let''s drink some tea first," the old man said, beaming.


    If it had been someone else, Chen Mu would have used his physical strength already. Facing an old man with grizzled hair, however, he refrained from making a move. Moreover, that sly, old fox seemed unpredictable, making him fearful. That calm face led him to believe the old man had some issue at hand; otherwise, he wouldn''t have risked meeting Chen Mu in person. Connelly wasn''t scary, but the old man wouldn''t have that little power, despite the fact that the Tai-shu family was said to be collapsing.


    Destroying a family single-handedly was almost impossible, even for Tang Hanpei. Regardless of how powerful a card artisan was, it was impossible to fight against thousands of other card artisans at the same time. Regardless, the families would be no less fearful of the aces. If someone offended a powerful card artisan, that card artisan would only have to carry out several sneak attacks to cause a great deal of trouble. If one had many household properties, that person would likely be more afraid of those aces.


    After a while, Tai-shu Cheng brought Tai-shu Ying to the old man.


    "Grandpa!" Tai-shu Ying exclaimed. She obviously looked less fearful than Tai-shu Cheng when facing the old man.


    Tai-shu Yong''s expression became more amiable. "You have grown up a lot, Little Ying. Did you miss Grandpa?"


    "Yes!" Tai-shu Ying exclaimed seriously. Her usually mischievous attitude had vanished, and she tilted her head, confused. "It''s so weird, Grandpa. How come you''re here today?"


    Tai-shu Yong didn''t answer but smiled and said, "Can you help Grandpa get something, Little Ying?"


    "What is it, Grandpa?" Tai-shu Ying''s expression looked strange. Although she was little, she was smart. She knew something wasn''t quite right.


    "Do you still remember the small room I brought you to before?" Tai-shu Yong said patiently with a sense of guidance.


    "I remember." She glanced at her father in fear, replying in a mosquito-like tone. She hadn''t told her father about that, so she was afraid to be lectured by him. However, she quickly raised her head again after recalling that she had been told by her grandfather not to tell her father about it.


    "Okay! Can you help Grandpa get something from that place, Little Ying? It is the thing in the purple wooden box. Do you still remember it?"


    "I remember!" Tai-shu Ying said joyfully. Her grandfather had only brought her to that small room once and hadn''t allowed her to touch anything. Now, she could enter the room herself, which meant she could look for some interesting stuff!


    "Okay! Go ahead! Tag along with Miss Ying, Connelly," Tai-shu Yong said softly.


    Connelly hesitated for a moment before replying, "Yes!" He then swiftly walked out with the excited Tai-shu Ying.


    Tai-shu Cheng''s face had looked pale earlier but was now blushing. He couldn''t hide the excitement in his eyes! He hadn''t expected his father to have brought little Ying to that place before. The existence of the small room wasn''t a secret to the brothers of the Tai-shu family, but their father had never brought them there. Did that indicate that his father was planning to let him be the successor?


    Chen Mu roughly knew what Tai-shu Yong wanted Tai-shu Ying to get for him. His heartbeat suddenly accelerated. Even though he was trying his best to look calm, he couldn''t hide his feelings from the experienced Tai-shu Yong.


    "Ha ha! It seems the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus is really important to Mr. Qiao!" His tone suddenly turned solemn. "First of all, I know I shouldn''t have made another request, but this is an exceptional case. We, the Tai-shu family, have reached a point where we will either live or die, so I couldn''t think of a better idea than this one. I did it impolitely this time, so I dare not expect for anything better. I only hope Mr. Qiao can help the Tai-shu family get through this obstacle! If there is anything you''d like, just ask for it."


    What had been said up to that point made Chen Mu realize he must agree to help if he really wanted the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. He took a deep breath and said, "What is it really about? Please get straight to the point, Old Master."


    Tai-shu Yong forced a smile with the wrinkles gathering on his face, showing his old age. He said slowly, "Did you know Moon Frost Island is planning to form an alliance?"


    Chen Mu nodded. "I have heard about it." Moon Frost Island''s plan of forming an alliance had turned from being a secret to being known openly by everyone in the Heavenly Federation.


    "Moon Frost Island takes the lead, and Jia Yingxia personally hosts it. In the Heavenly Drum Village District, no one is dared to reject it!" Tai-shu Yong''s tone seemed unusually certain. "As one of the most ancient families, we have countless ties with the Heavenly Drum Village District. To be honest, if the alliance is completed, the Tai-shu family will have a resolution vote among the 32 votes in the alliance meeting! Other than these 32 votes, seven families are being set as reserves. But the Tai-shu family has declined for too long. This vote of resolution has caused doubts from many people who see the Tai-shu family as weak. Hmph! They are actually envious of this vote." Tai-shu Yong''s unclear gaze turned cold. "Actually, it''s not just the Tai-shu family; four other families were also being questioned. Finally, the meeting decided there will be a Heavenly Drum Village District elite card artisan competition in Qianhu. Five families, including ours and the other seven reserved families, will send their respective card artisans simultaneously to compete. They will finally choose five families from the first five highest ranking to get the resolution votes!"


    Chen Mu finally came to a realization. While everyone had been focusing on the likely formation of the Heavenly Drum Village District Alliance, they had already formed an alliance with each other! What they were now doing was just to decide the power distribution among the internal department of the alliance. But the Tai-shu family getting a resolution vote proved they weren''t just ancient history! Tai-shu Yong indeed had a low profile; he had silently gotten a vote that was a dream to most families in the Heavenly Drum Village District! Even Faya had been willing to use its physical strength to get a vote. That had further proven the importance of the resolution vote.


    That was why Tai-shu Yong was willing to risk offending Chen Mu by taking those moves. At first, he had found Tai-shu Yong''s actions strange because it wasn''t a smart idea. Now, it seemed like the competition in the alliance was so cruel that it had forced the experienced Tai-shu Yong to that point! But he was still puzzled after much thought and said, "I am curious; how did you find out about my identity?"


    "Ha ha!" Tai-shu Yong laughed loudly with slight pride. "Mr. Qiao, you may not know that the news of you attacking Faya has spread like wildfire in Dongrui. Everyone knows that you, Qiao Yuan, 50th on the Black-Line Star Listing, are now in Dongrui! How many masters would there be in such a small city like Dongrui? That was why I immediately thought of Mr. Qiao. After investigation, I found out Mr. Qiao certainly left the building during that period, which confirmed that the White Commander was Mr. Qiao."


    "How was the incident of Faya being attacked being spread?" Chen Mu looked worried. If Tai-shu Yong could find out, that meant many people in Dongrui would have started to doubt his real identity. That was bad news to him, especially if Faya found out. Then, he would be in great trouble.


    "Even though Faya was trying hard to keep this secret, the incident was too obvious. We are the people with local influence in Dongrui; how would we not know about it? However, you can rest assured, Mr. Qiao. We have already released news that you are having a meal with me at the moment. With solid proof, no one will be suspicious of you," Tai-shu Yong said with a grin.


    Chen Mu breathed a sigh of relief, awe-struck. That sly, old fox was flawless and detailed in handling affairs; the techniques and motives used were so experienced and extraordinary. He had to admit he wasn''t Tai-shu Yong''s opponent. He understood that was one of the hidden sides of Tai-shu Yong. If they got into a dispute, the Tai-shu family would be at a disadvantage, but his problem would be worse.


    After contemplating for a long time, Chen Mu finally nodded. "I can promise you, but I need to clarify something with you ahead of time. I can only try my best, but I can''t promise to get any rankings."


    Tai-shu Yong took a breath, and his expression finally looked more at ease. He laughed and said, "This old man here has been waiting for these words from you, Mr. Qiao! If you had said something about complete assurance, I wouldn''t have been able to put my trust in you." He immediately continued, "Even though this matter is urgent, Mr. Qiao still loses out a little. If you need any compensation, just ask for it." His words revealed his generosity. "We are quite a family with properties. We still have some things that were inherited from our ancestors. Next time, I will choose one for you, Mr. Qiao. Consider it as an appreciation from me!"


    Both parties finally came to an agreement, and Chen Mu was feeling more relaxed. He laughed and said, "Old Master, wouldn''t you let down your predecessors, then?"


    The old man laughed without taking it seriously. "No matter how good this item is, it is still a non-living thing. If the Tai-shu family rises, we don''t have to worry about anyone giving us these things." But Tai-shu Cheng, who was sitting by the side, revealed some signs of heartache.


    Tai-shu Ying and Connelly finally returned. Tai-shu Ying was holding a purple wooden box to her chest. The box looked a little worn out, seemingly having been made ages ago.


    "Grandpa, is this the one?" Tai-shu Ying approached Tai-shu Yong, looking like she was seeking a reward.


    Tai-shu Yong praised mercifully, saying, "Little Ying is so smart!" After that, he passed the purple wooden box to Chen Mu. "The gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus is inside the box. You can take a look at it, White Commander." He addressed Chen Mu like he had before and continued by saying, "The gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus is required to be kept in a 100-year purple maple box, or else its quality will deteriorate. The material of this purple maple box was previously made from a 500-year-old tree."


    Chen Mu tried to control his excitement, opening the wooden box gradually.

 460 Knot in Hear

    A black object about half the size of a palm laid quietly in the wooden box. It was similar to a large ink block. Up close, the extremely thin dark gold stripes could be seen quite obviously, especially when it was put under the light. The golden stripes were sparkling, flashing on and off to display their beauty.


    But that type of object, which was unlike wood or stone, was making Chen Mu unable to compare it to a bacterial spore organism. The inclusion of the term "liquid-soft" was also throwing him off. That thing was so different from what he had seen in pictures before, but he believed Tai-shu Yong wouldn''t lie to him at that point.


    Tai-shu Yong was sensible enough to excuse himself at the right time.


    * * *


    Sue Lochiro was looking distressed as 200 energy needles shuttled in front of her, filling her vision with weaving lights and shadows. The training she was doing had the highest difficulty level among the other multi-thread control training methods for the medical card artisans. The multi-thread control training could help medical card artisans in promoting the use of perception to undergo several operations, especially in challenging operations like brain surgery. That type of surgery required medical card artisans to be equipped with outstanding multi-thread controlling ability.


    The multi-thread control training not only required the medical card artisans to control different perceptions, but it also required them to reach an extremely high point of accuracy.


    Sue Lochiro being able to control more than 200 energy needles simultaneously was a piece of shocking news! If the news was released, many influencers would definitely be eager to get that expert medical card artisan! But no one would guess that before she''d met Chen Mu, she had only been able to control 36 energy needles.


    No one knew when she had started practicing the technique specifically or how much effort she had put into training. Whom was she doing it for? Even though she was training every day, few people knew about it. The multi-thread controlling had a great level of difficulty, but the feasibility of the technique was limited. It was a strictly professional technique.


    The sweat was flowing down, making her bangs stick to her forehead, but she wasn''t aware of it. With her lips tightly pursed, her indescribable focus was on the flying energy needles. Controlling 200 energy needles at the same time used up a great amount of mental power. If other medical card artisans had witnessed that scene, their jaws would have dropped.


    Sue Lochiro had started to practice long ago¡ªpracticing perception, practicing the specialized techniques of medical card artisans, learning about medicines and herbs¡­ She always showed her smiling face in front of others, but no one knew how much she had sweated in her room alone. Similarly, no one knew she had persistently used the snow pit method like other card artisans to practice her perception skills.


    Why was she doing all of that? Maybe she hoped to help more people in need. Maybe, other than to spread her pitifulness, she could also provide more assistance to her counterparts. Maybe she was doing it because the green thread in Chen Mu''s body had made her feel helpless. Maybe it was to catch up with the breathless way forward¡­ Her soft and gentle eyes didn''t only reveal the fog from the steamy sweat but also the light firmness in her.


    Her limit was 200 energy needles at that point. She had been at that stage for a long time and was yet to break through that limit. To control 200 energy needles at the same time had been unbelievable to her previously, but she now did it with no sense of happiness.


    That many needles could be shocking news, but¡­ Thinking of that complicated and tricky green thread being pricked in the flesh made her more uncertain of her own ability. This is not enough yet¡­


    Her delicate eyebrows, wet bangs sticking to her forehead, and worried look still remained. The blue medical card artisan attire she was wearing was totally drenched in sweat and sticking to her body, faintly showing her exquisite, voluptuous body shape.


    A soft sigh broke the silence in the room. After taking a shower, the weary look on her face disappeared a bit. At that moment, the apparatus on her wrist sounded.


    In Chen Mu''s training room, Chen Mu, Wei-ah, and Qiu Shanyu were present, and Xiaobo and Sang Hanshui were standing at both sides of the doorway. Sang Hanshui appeared to be on guard against all possible dangers. Even Xiaobo held back his usual laughter, looking more serious. The Orderly Wave Wheel behind him was rotating silently.


    Qiu Shanyu was shocked to see the screen stimulated by the communication matrix and the thousand-kilometer card. She had already known that Chen Mu controlled the jungle communication technology, but seeing it with her own eyes was a whole new experience for her. Upon first glance, she realized the so-called communication matrix was actually a type of card appliance.


    Out of astonishment, her thoughts started to reactivate. Card appliances were undoubtedly Faya''s field of expertise. If they could obtain that technique, they would be able to use them in a short period of time. The breadth of the jungle was dangerous, but it also hid a huge amount of wealth.


    Faya looked as if it was well-off, but even the top executives of Faya knew their route was getting narrower all the time! However, if they could own the jungle communication technology, their situation would be totally different!


    She was rotating her brain, thinking of ways to persuade Cao Dong. She now felt a rare tinge of regret in her heart, which was something she hadn''t thought she would feel for killing Yang An. If it hadn''t been for Cao Dong, she wouldn''t have even remembered whom Yang An was. That small character had became the greatest barrier between Cao Dong and herself.


    Damn! Feeling irritated for a moment, she subconsciously touched the faded scar on her upper lips. Thinking of another person had only caused her irritation to increase!


    Killed means killed. Hmph! The anger in her narrow eyes was flashing, and her clenched fists secretly became tighter. Her expression turned colder and fiercer.


    "Boss!" On the screen, Bogner, Xi Ping, and Sue Lochiro appeared at the same time. Xi Ping caught a sight of Qiu Shanyu and thought she looked relatively familiar.


    Chen Mu sighed inwardly, knowing some problems needed to be confronted. He uttered, "She is the Madam from Faya, our captive."


    Xi Ping''s usual gentleness was gone abruptly, and his gaze was as sharp as a knife. He couldn''t conceal his immense hatred. Bogner was looking at her coldly, revealing his stern, murderous expression.


    Xi Ping raised his head and asked with a trembling voice, "Boss, what do you plan to do with her?"


    Chen Mu didn''t conceal anything; he truthfully told them everything that had happened. He then looked at them calmly and said, "That is my plan."


    Everyone remained silent. After quite a while, Bogner''s cheek muscles vibrated, and he said in a deep voice, "I support the boss''s decision!"


    The expression on Xi Ping''s face changed. He hadn''t expected the matter to turn out like that, and his heart was in a great dilemma. His immense hatred for Qiu Shanyu made him even willing to give up his own life. But he had passed the age of being impulsive, and he was the oldest among the rest of them.


    Hatred would definitely be unforgettable, but the living people were undoubtedly more important! Privately, Chen Mu was now his boss! Publicly, if anything happened to Chen Mu, the team would absolutely collapse. He was totally clear that he and Bogner were highly capable, but they weren''t suitable to be the leaders of a team. Moreover, no one could replace Chen Mu from his position on that team.


    If the team collapsed, they would all be miserable living in those troubled times. And, little Yang Bo¡­ The boss''s decision was not wrong, but¡­


    He closed his eyes in agony for precisely ten minutes before opening them again, saying in a hoarse voice, "I support the boss''s decision!" He stared at Qiu Shanyu with a straight face, ignoring her smirk. He said gently, "Boss, I don''t care about her being alive or dead. Since we can''t kill her, let''s not kill her. But this hatred needs to be endured by Faya!"


    Chen Mu''s heart felt bitter; he knew it hadn''t been an easy decision for Xi Ping. He then nodded without hesitation. "No matter which route we take in the future, I will make sure Faya pays the price!"


    Xi Ping understood that even though his boss looked rather cool on the outside and seldom made promises, he would always find a way to keep a promise once he did make one. Xi Ping and Bogner knew clearly the life their boss hoped for. They also knew their boss had reached the current stage of his life not because of his great ambition; he had been forced to that point by fate. Other than people on his side, the boss didn''t care about the fate of others. Now, however, he was willing to make such a promise for him and Yang An. How could he not be agitated?


    Xi Ping suddenly felt a strong sense of regret in his heart. It was due to his persisting hatred that Chen Mu had made that promise. They would be forced to confront the huge figure, Faya, and would be its enemy. The boss''s dream life, Bogner''s hope for life, Sue Lochiro''s life, and little Yang Bo''s future¡­ Did they have to go through their lives in resentment? The world was in chaos! It wasn''t easy to even ask for survival. What would it take to care about revenge?


    Chen Mu could tell Xi Ping was struggling with remorse and felt he had to say something. Thinking about it, he said with a calm expression, "Old Xi, don''t think too much! Yang An was my friend, and he was also a friend of Bogner''s. Staying alive is the main issue we need to look into. Other than surviving, though, we also need some other things. I had always wanted to find a place to live my life peacefully, but I now know that thought was unrealistic in this chaotic world."


    Chen Mu''s expression revealed a surge of self-mockery and desolation. Everyone kept silent. His words were strongly relatable to them.


    "Most of the time, we need to struggle to survive. We can''t change this situation, so we can only learn to adapt. If we can''t adapt, we will all disappear. We finally understand that it''s not about what we want to achieve. If we want to survive, we need to stand on someone else''s dead body. This is how we''ve survived in troubled times. Even though we dislike it, we don''t have the right to decide. We won''t forget about hatred, but it cannot be a factor that affects our survival! A person who survives outweighs a dead resentment. Moreover, if we stay alive, there is always a chance for revenge!"


    Chen Mu had revealed his calm side, which wasn''t in line with his actual age. It seemed like he was narrating a simple fact with a plain tone.


    A soft voice with a light, cool tone could be heard saying, "It is almost winter. We must make sure to snatch enough steamed rolls to get through it. Our biggest enemy is not Faya; it''s wintertime!"

 461 Gold-Mottled Liquid-Soft Fungus

    Sue Lochiro''s opinion was simple and direct. She merely said, "I will support you."


    However, when Chen Mu took out the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, everyone was overjoyed.


    Sue Lochiro observed the video on the thousand kilometer card carefully, staring at it attentively for five minutes before giving the affirmative. "This is definitely a gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. This was a dried and preserved specimen. We just need to soak it in water to revert it to its original form."


    A few minutes later, Chen Mu finally saw the true form of the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. A large piece of jelly rested quietly at the bottom of the clear water. The piece of jelly was two to three times larger than the previous one. What had been black was now brown. The patterns on the surface of the jelly became brighter and more dazzling than before. Clusters of glittering golden patterns covered the jelly like a refined patchwork.


    "I can''t guarantee it will work." Hesitation fell over Sue Lochiro.


    Originally, it had been Sue Lochiro who had mentioned the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. That was the reason Chen Mu had gone searching for it desperately. Moreover, allowing a patient to consume a medicine with unknown side effects was a serious violation of the medical card artisans'' code of conduct. Sue Lochiro couldn''t help but judge herself for saying something like that. However, if they left the green thread inside Chen Mu to its own devices, there would only be one predictable outcome.


    Chen Mu glanced at Qiu Shanyu and asked, "What do you think?"


    Qiu Shanyu simply shook her head. "I know the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus is able to improve longevity, but I''ve never heard anything about its reaction with the Green Mark."


    Chen Mu''s gaze was fixated on the squishy, jelly-like object inside the water. He gritted his teeth and directed his question to Sue Lochiro. "How do I use this?"


    Chen Mu had witnessed the spreading of the green flowery pattern on his wrists, and it only grew lusher day by day. It was a warning sign that the grim reaper was slowly but surely creeping closer. The weight of unbearable anxiety would have crumpled the faint-hearted.


    He had considered all of his options. Even if he did follow Qiu Shanyu''s suggestion, it was impossible to find the demonic woman in such a short time. To be honest, Chen Mu had never liked gambling. Now that he was left with no other options, though, he could only bet on his fate.


    Unlike Chen Mu, Sue Lochiro had managed to calm down. As a medical card artisan, she needed to provide the best solution for her patients no matter the circumstances. The gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus was the only possible cure she had found for the Green Mark inside Chen Mu. There would only be two possible results: a positive one or a negative one. The probability was 50-50.


    Sue Lochiro raised her voice, carefully stating the procedure in detail. "Use a knife to cut the surface of the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. After you slice through the surface, golden liquid will ooze out from the cut. You will need to consume the golden liquid. Do take note that you will need to finish the process within one minute. If you don''t, the liquid will lose its potency."


    Chen Mu nervously fixed his gaze on the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus in the water. He trusted Sue Lochiro''s knowledge. If she had pointed out that the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus would work against the Green Mark, it would definitely work.


    All eyes fell on Chen Mu. It was up to him to make the call. A few moments later, his emotions gradually fell into place. He had gone through so many obstacles, and the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus was finally in front of him. Why would he still hesitate?


    Chen Mu took the jelly-like substance from the water and held it, feeling the weight in his hand. A few centimeters of a glowing green energy extended from his fingertips and lightly grazed the surface of the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. A cut immediately formed, and golden liquid streamed out of the opening.


    Chen Mu didn''t hesitate as he put his lips closer the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. He hastily brought it to his mouth and started sucking the liquid keenly. Soon, his lips were gilded in gold as drops of golden liquid dripped out from the corner of his mouth. He continued suckling for two minutes before removing the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus from his mouth. His lips looked like they had been painted in gold.


    "How do you feel?" Sue Lochiro asked anxiously. Her expression fluttered.


    "Spicy!" Chen Mu''s face was red. Even his lips had turned from gold to bright crimson. His eyes, too, were glimmering like rubies, similar to those of a rabbit.


    "Spicy?" Sue Lochiro was taken aback, but she hurried on. "Nothing else? Try using your perception to check on the green thread inside you."


    Gathering what he had heard, Chen Mu acted at once and used his perception.


    The others noticed Chen Mu''s expression turn awkward suddenly. They were worried about his condition, but no one dared to speak, afraid they might interrupt him in some way.


    "That''s strange. It seems like the golden liquid has fused with my muscles." Chen Mu was troubled. "It didn''t have any contact with the Green Mark."


    "Why? How could this be?" Sue Lochiro was on the verge of tears. Regrettably, she wasn''t with Chen Mu, so she was unable to give him any further examination. How could there be no reaction between the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus and the Green Mark? They have completely opposite structures!


    It was then that Wei-ah suddenly called out, "Hey, blockhead, do the calisthenics!"


    "Calisthenics?" Chen Mu was confused. As he had continued to strengthen his body, the effect of calisthenics had decreased gradually. In the end, it did him no good, so he had stopped practicing it a long time ago. Why would Wei-ah suddenly ask him to do it?


    Nevertheless, he didn''t question Wei-ah but started to do calisthenics without delay. Wei-ah was usually mum; when he did speak, it meant he was certain.


    Chen Mu''s strange actions baffled everyone. The calisthenics routine consisted of various weird and indecent movements, so it lightened the heavy atmosphere.


    When Chen Mu started the routine, he could feel a new sensation. His body was gradually cooling down. As if he was soaking in a pool of cold water, the flame inside him quietly receded. After finishing a round, he felt refreshed. He couldn''t describe it, but it was a pleasant feeling.


    "Don''t stop," Wei-ah reminded him.


    Chen Mu obliged and started the routine from scratch. The others exchanged glances, absolutely baffled by Chen Mu.


    He did the routine again and again. After doing it for the fifth consecutive time, Wei-ah eventually stopped him. Right after he stopped, Chen Mu hurriedly examined his body.


    The green thread is still there! Chen Mu''s heart sank. How could this be?


    However, when he composed himself and thoroughly screened his body, he found that something had distinctly changed. The thin green thread was now cloaked with a golden hue. What is this?


    When he continued to manipulate his perception to comprehensively inspect the rest of his body, he was perplexed. The golden hue not only surrounded the green thread but had also wrapped itself around every single muscle tissue and vein inside his body. Even his skin was tinted in a faint golden glow. However, the golden hue on his skin was sparse, making it quite difficult to distinguish.


    The golden hue was densest around the green thread. If one were to see it with the naked eye, it would seem like the green thread had completely turned gold. Yet, through perception, one could clearly differentiate that the green thread was still what it was. It was just wrapped in some golden substances, secured.


    Secured? Chen Mu''s heart skipped as he tried stroking the green thread with his perception. As expected, there was no reaction! Chen Mu was overwhelmed with euphoria!


    The green thread was rather sensitive to perception. Up until then, when he had manipulated his perception to lightly reach out for it, it would squirm violently inside him. Ghastly pain had followed. Now, however, no matter what Chen Mu did, the green thread was unresponsive. Could this golden liquid really kill the green thread?


    Chen Mu promptly told Sue Lochiro about the outcome, but even she was unable to give an explanation. Nobody knew whether the green thread was truly dead or otherwise.


    Although he didn''t know the exact result, Chen Mu was content with the current outcome. At least they had confirmed that the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus could effectively confine the Green Mark.


    The rest were also thrilled with the outcome. Even Qiu Shanyu looked relieved. If anything were to happen to Chen Mu, she would be the first one to suffer. The people around her wouldn''t have let her off the hook.


    Sue Lochiro was the happiest among the others. She was the one who had proposed the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus as a solution in the first place. Now that its use had finally been validated, she was relieved beyond words. She was so excited that her cheeks were flushed, making her more gorgeous than before.


    When Chen Mu saw the joy on Sue Lochiro''s face, he couldn''t help but feel touched. Others might not understand, but he knew. Sue Lochiro had researched the green thread inside him relentlessly in order to find a cure for it.


    When Sue Lochiro realized Chen Mu was looking at her, the rosiness on her cheeks grew, and she involuntarily lowered her gaze. However, when she looked up again, she found that Chen Mu had already turned his attention to Wei-ah and was engaged in a conversation with him. She immediately pouted and was at the verge of gritting her teeth.


    "Wei-ah, you know it?" Chen Mu asked, curious.


    If not for Wei-ah, who had reminded him to do the calisthenics routine, nobody would have known what would happen.


    "I don''t." Wei-ah was still expressionless, but his twinkling eyes gave away his delight.


    "Why would you ask me to do the calisthenics, then?"


    "It was a guess." Wei-ah dropped an irresponsible remark and strode away.


    Chen Mu was at a loss for a moment. The rest of his questions were left unanswered.


    Wei-ah, who was at the door, then said faintly, "Hey, blockhead. Air skill."


    Air skill? Chen Mu was dumbfounded. Practice air skill? His physical conditions wouldn''t allow him to practice that!


    Could it be¡­ An idea flashed through Chen Mu''s mind. Am I able to use air skill now? He was just pondering when his right hand moved in a slicing motion.


    Hiss! The sound of air being severed reached his ears, and Chen Mu was bewildered as he stood rooted to the ground. He stared at his right hand in disbelief. His right hand was shrouded in a barely noticeable golden hue.


    Chen Mu''s puzzled gaze darted to Sue Lochiro. Other than Wei-ah, she was the only one there who could possibly come up with an explanation.


    For once, Sue Lochiro raised her nose and snorted. It was rare for the usually quiet and tasteful Sue Lochiro to act like an impudent little girl. The others were dazed by her reaction. Even Chen Mu was at a loss.


    Sue Lochiro brushed her bangs awkwardly. She cleared her throat and explained in a solemn tone, "The gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus is famous for extending life expectancy because its mechanism can improve one''s physique. For cardless sect aces like Wei-ah, their bodies are much stronger. It isn''t too surprising that the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus is able to strengthen one''s bodily functions."


    She continued to speak as if nothing had happened. "It''s a pity that the boss''s physique is still far from that of the cardless sects. So, the benefits are quite limited." She finished by holding her palms out, grinning mischievously. "This is just a speculation¡ªfor reference purposes only."

 462 Silently Gushing In

    Si Dongkou came down from the long-distance shuttle bus. A blinding ray of sunlight caused him to squint. Every passenger around him subconsciously stepped away from his two-meter-tall figure, as if he were a hill. His thick beard made him seem like a bandit, and the look in his eyes made everyone fear for their own life.


    However, looking at how prosperous Dongrui was, a glint of gloom shimmered in his eyes. The three of them had accepted the mission of entering the Heavenly Drum Village District, but little did they know that the mission wasn''t going as well as they had planned. Now, they truly understood how influential Moon Frost Island was in that area.


    Their mission had gone fine at first. Using the name of the Federal Institute of Education, along with the cooperation of the undercover staff in the Heavenly Drum Village District, they had gathered many small- and medium-sized forces.


    Their strategy was to get in contact with the top power in the Heavenly Drum Village District, and that plan might alert Moon Frost Island. On the other hand, they had destroyed Moon Frost Island''s credibility with all of their might, as Constellation had successfully completed their mission. Other than Constellation and Faya, five academies of the Big Six had been spotted at the confrontation, implying their stand regarding the matter.


    However, he hadn''t expected how firmly Jia Yingxia stood on their ground despite facing opposition from the five academies and Faya. Sending Moon Frost Island''s most outstanding young card artisan, Baiyue, to lead the mission in annihilating Constellation, Constellation had been devastated. They had also started to wipe out the other forces in the Heavenly Drum Village District, causing serious damage to those forces. Everyone had underestimated the determination of the Jia Yingxia toward that alliance.


    Si Dongkou''s job had become grueling after that incident since none of the academies were willing to send themselves to Jia Yingxia''s slaughter. Even the heroes on the Black-Line Star Listing didn''t hope to risk Jia Yingxia at that moment. That had forced them to work in the dark.


    Si Dongkou''s target was Dongrui''s Tai-shu household. According to the information provided by the spies, that unappealing family unexpectedly had one of the 32 votes. At the same time, they had also received news that the Tai-shu family needed to pass the competition of card artisan elites to ensure that they could get that valuable vote. They had finally discovered how they could use that information while studying the data of the Tai-shus.


    Although the Tai-shu family was strong economically, they lacked elite card artisans! Their best card artisan was Connelly, a card artisan with level-seven perception. That was a big opportunity for them. The Federal Institute of Education had no lack of elite card artisans.


    Si Dongkou stopped hesitating and stepped forward.


    * * *


    At the base of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, Mobley asked, "Ah Zhe, how''s the investigation going?"


    Ah Zhe''s fair and handsome face was filled with doubt. "The Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm has yet to move, and Chen Mu hasn''t come back. Isn''t it odd that he''s still at ease after being out for so long?"


    Mobley muttered, "I also think things seem to be a little strange. By the way, do you still remember when they asked us to investigate the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus?"


    "Yes. I was also curious during that time. Why would they be interested in the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus?" Ah Zhe''s face was full of confusion. "Is it possible that he went to look for the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus?"


    "If he really wants to find the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, he should have gone to Dongrui since it''s nearest to them. Furthermore, the Tai-shu family is the weakest out of all those families." Mobley knocked the table softly as he spoke while analyzing the whole situation.


    "What about us?" Ah Zhe looked at Mobley and proceeded to explain. "Recently, the members of the Scarlet Card Artisan Team have been appearing around their territory. I suspect they are trying to do something to the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm."


    "Obviously. They probably guessed the head of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm wasn''t around, and that was their chance to ambush them. The purple fluorescent extract is something everyone wants. How can they not be tempted? Lion is the greediest guy out there," Mobley replied coldly.


    "Well, maybe we should make the first move, then?" Ah Zhe''s eyes flashed. "If they were to defeat the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm, their funds would skyrocket, and that would be a huge threat to us!"


    Mobley sighed softly. "Ah Zhe, how could I retire and hand over the group to you if you''re going to be so worked up over little things? Do you think the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm is a bunch of weaklings? Look at Chen Mu''s followers; every one of them can handle things by themselves. Especially Bogner¡ªI''ve always thought the name sounded familiar. But he''s definitely a hell of a commander based on how he was able to escort Miss Wei Wei back to Qianhu. He''s a guy with brains and brawn."


    Ah Zhe was not convinced. "No matter how powerful Bogner is, he''s still a man! The Scarlet Card Artisan Team and our team are of the same rank. How can they not handle a small team like the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm?"


    Mobley looked at Ah Zhe, dead-serious. "Do you remember the first time we met them? What I remember the most was the prohibition of cards artisan commands and their military-like demeanor. Furthermore, their origin is still a mystery. We still have no idea where are they from. Hmph. If the Scarlet Card Artisan Team ambushed the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm, I''m sure the Scarlet Card Artisan Team would be crushed!"


    Ah Zhe thought about it for a while and came to a realization. "I now understand why you say that. The Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm isn''t as simple as it seems!"


    Mobley smiled. "That''s right. The Scarlet Card Artisan Team was eying the purple fluorescent extract, which would bring an enormous profit. However, our group isn''t short on funds; hence, we don''t have to take such a huge risk. What''s most important for us right now is the elite card artisan competition that will be held in a few months. It''s the key point for us to get the right to vote for the resolution meeting. That''s our main target; don''t underestimate this vote. A single vote is worth more than ten times the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm''s profit. As long as we get this vote, our group will be untouchable in the next 100 years. Hmph! I''d rather the Scarlet Card Artisan Team make a move on the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. Then, we''d have one less competitor!"


    "Don''t worry, big brother. Just focus on your training, and leave everything in the group to me," Ah Zhe said as his eyes shone with excitement. They were pleasantly surprised that their team had been given that opportunity.


    Mobley nodded. "Exactly what I was going to tell you. This time, none of the contestants can be underestimated. I''ll be proceed with my training later with Miss Qing Qing."


    Ah Zhe hesitated and asked, "Big brother, why don''t you ask Miss Qing Qing to compete for our team? If she''s the one competing, there''s no doubt the vote will be ours."


    "You think I don''t know?" Mobley sighed softly, and his eyes flashed with complicated emotions. "She can''t join," he explained.


    Mobley may have looked like a tough person, but he was actually a thoughtful man. Qing Qing had been trying to avoid talking about anything related to her identity and her past, but Mobley had a hunch. Since he had been holding that thought, the bitterness in his heart had grown heavier. Chen Mu''s origin was most likely as extraordinary as Qing Qing''s. Otherwise, how could he get her affection? Mobley knew he didn''t stand a chance, after all¡­


    He turned to Ah Zhe and said, "Ah Zhe, send someone to Dongrui to check whether Chen Mu is at the Tai-shu household."


    Ah Zhe knew what was on his big brother''s mind, and his face involuntarily showed his hesitation. "Big brother¡­"


    "Just go." Mobley waved at Ah Zhe calmly. "If she''s not meant to be mine, she won''t be mine no matter what. But I still have to do something for her."


    * * *


    With the Green Mark inhibited temporarily, Chen Mu''s stressed nerves finally had a chance to loosen. Nothing made him happier than reaching a mutual understanding with Xi Ping, Bogner, and a few others. Their friendships had grown deeper after that incident.


    They still had to look for the demonic woman. While the Green Mark was being inhibited, it hadn''t been completely eradicated. However, he was at least able to take a break from the grim reaper breathing down his neck.


    However, he didn''t rest. He''d been right about what he''d said that day. It was winter. The more effort he put in, the more hopeful he would be to live through the winter. He had become more aware of his responsibility after that incident. Back then, he would have only considered his own situation. Now, he had to consider everyone''s living conditions. In short, he''d realized what it meant to be a leader.


    To Qiu Shanyu, Chen Mu had become more hardworking to an extent that it could be considered self-abuse! She couldn''t understand why would he spent so much time and effort on that.


    In front of Chen Mu was a huge pile of components he''d bought from Janet''s store. Although he wanted energy gloves more, he couldn''t make them with his current ability. Instead, he was making a card appliance meant to serve the Child. The initial purpose of Chen Mu designing the card appliance was to save time.


    Chen Mu had noticed that the Child performed very well, but it consumed too much time. Even if the Child had powerful computing ability, it still took a long time to calculate energy structures. While the Child did its calculation independently, he would be idling, so he''d gotten the idea of designing a card appliance to fully utilize the Child.


    Qiu Shanyu stared at Chen Mu placing the components one by one. She was shocked beyond words by what he was able to do. Faya''s expertise was card appliances. While she didn''t specialize in it, she more or less understood the workings of a card appliance. Chen Mu installed the components so swiftly that it was hard for her eyes to keep up. After a moment, the assembly was completed.


    The machine was a square box with six pieces of metal rhombuses on the top, like petals of a flower. The card appliance was slightly larger than a shoe box.


    What is this? Based on how serious Chen Mu looked, it was apparent to Qiu Shanyu that the card appliance hadn''t been simple to make. Besides, Chen Mu was the maker of the numbered series of cards¡ªthe talk of the town in the federation.


    There were no five-star card from the numbered series of cards on the market yet. That was why he had been questioned by many experienced card masters who believed he wasn''t qualified to be a card master. The ability of making five-star cards was the basic requirement to become a card master.


    Even so, he was still admired by many. Every card he made received high praises. How could anyone not be excited about the card appliances of his design?

 463 Computation Box

    Chen Mu studied the card in front of him. It was simplistic in style and not too fancy, and the entire surface of the card appliance had no decorative designs. He didn''t spend much time appreciating its appearance. He only cared about its ease of use.


    The most effort spent in making a card appliance was its core¡ªthe card! The Child was his own design, albeit there were still many things about it he didn''t understand. However, since he knew how it would be used, making a complementary card appliance for it wasn''t much of a problem for Chen Mu.


    He carefully retrieved the Child from his card bag. The success in making the Child had mostly been due to coincidences during the process. Even Chen Mu couldn''t guarantee he could successfully make another one. He at least wouldn''t dare to brag until he had enough information to back up his theory. The successful production of the Bomb had given Chen Mu a chance to experience the great power of the Child! Though it couldn''t make a new card for its user, if the user had an idea, it could help optimize the idea.


    The Child was inserted into the card slot of the box at the bottom of the card appliance. Qiu Shanyu couldn''t take her eyes off of it lest she miss any details.


    In the middle of the flower composed of six diamond-shaped metal petals, a beam of light suddenly projected out from it. The light gradually spread out like the blossoming of a flower. After half a minute, the whole room was covered in the light.


    A look of bemusement spread across Qiu Shanyu''s face. So far, she was still unable to comprehend what she saw. However, it seemed like the card appliance couldn''t be used in battles. She was a bit relieved; the battle card appliance was the most fundamental piece of Faya. Faya would no longer have the upper hand if the design was exposed.


    Suddenly, something changed. In the radiance of light, small silver lights like those of fireflies could be seen rising gradually. Being immersed in it was like being in a starry sky, and even such a cold woman as Qiu Shanyu couldn''t help but feel awed. Human beings had always had a feeling of love and awe toward the starry night, wondering what it had in store for them.


    In addition to the rise of the small silver lights, there were also many strange geometric structures. In a short period of time, the whole room was covered in different kinds of silver spots and geometric structures, as countless silver lines swam among them.


    Qiu Shanyu was stupefied. She had never seen such a strange and confusing sight and still didn''t understand the use of the card appliance. However, such a mystical phenomenon was enough for her to tell that the latter wasn''t ordinary at all!


    Chen Mu was quite satisfied. He gave it the name Computation Box, which was of great significance to him. He had too many things to calculate. For each energy composition, he could actually recalculate them for optimization. With the Computation Box, the quality of the cards he made would likely improve significantly.


    His first calculation was on the composition of a one-star power card. In the card system, the power card was always one of the most basic and important cards, and it was also the most accessible to the essence of the composition. Chen Mu had always felt proud of his successful creation of countless one-star power cards. As his strength had continued to increase, the power cards he required had become even more advanced. It was already difficult for him to get his hands on a five-star power card. As for the six-star power card, it was simply impossible to buy using the usual sources.


    Apparently, there was another issue. Although the Computation Box was user-friendly, its energy consumption was terrifying. A four-star power card could only operate it for five hours, but that thought had never crossed Chen Mu''s mind before he had made it. As for some complex energy compositions, they required dozens or sometimes even hundreds of hours to calculate and optimize. Four-star power cards were simply insufficient.


    Five-star power cards could only support it for 25 hours. In other words, the Computation Box could only calculate and optimize some simple energy compositions at the moment. As for energy compositions that were too complicated, it was best for Chen Mu to surrender his thoughts.


    The Computation Box was much less efficient compared to when Chen Mu himself used the Child. It had only taken 40 minutes for him to optimize the Bomb with the use of the Child last time. However, if he had used the Computation Box, it would have taken him two hours. Nevertheless, the Computation Box still excited him. How many types of energy compositions were there? Although there was no specific number, one could safely assume there were hundreds of thousands of them. For Chen Mu alone to optimize such a large number of energy compositions, he would have to spend his whole life committed to that task.


    Although the Computation Box was inefficient and consumed a great deal of energy, it didn''t require Chen Mu to maneuver. The Computation Box could record the optimized energy composition on a one-star power card, and that would become content for him to relearn and master.


    * * *


    Dongrui Training Center, the best card artisan training center in Dongrui, had been closed down for quite some time. The place had been provided to the Yuzi Military Force for free by its owner, the Luo family of Dongrui. The training center, however, had not become deserted because of that, as there were many card artisans coming from different places every day. Due to that, the Yuzi Military Force had set up a department solely to deal with those matters.


    The Yuzi Military Force was extremely strict when it came to recruiting soldiers. Even so, people would still be signing up endlessly. Various forces in Dongrui were envious of the success of Yuzi Legion, as the provision of salary of the latter was much lower than theirs. However, the card artisans who were willing to sign up were so many more!


    The 50th floor of the Dongrui Training Center was the headquarters of the Yuzi Military Force.


    "Any news?" an old man in a purple robe asked. He had snow-white hair but not one wrinkle on his face, and his skin was as smooth as a baby''s.


    "No. No one can make out the design plan by the boss," a young man about 25 years old with glasses answered. As if he were recovering from a severe illness, his face turned a shade paler.


    The old man shook his head with pity. "Just as I thought. How can these people work it out when even Star Academy failed to do so? It''s just a small part of the design of the Power Gloves. I must have been delusional. Perhaps only Faya can do it in the Heavenly Federation."


    He adjusted his glasses with his pale and thin fingers. The young man''s voice sounded breathless, but he slowly said, "Although I hate to admit it, Faya''s card appliance manufacturing ability is indeed the strongest. But¡­"


    "But?" The old man looked up with surprise.


    The young man spoke slowly in a feeble tone. "Well, we have received some news from a store. The store''s sales manager and chief card master are both hardcore advocates of the lady. According to them, the store was recently visited by a card master whom they suspect was the creator of the numbered series of cards."


    "The numbered series of cards?" The old man was even more surprised, but he continued disapprovingly, "Although the people gave a lot of credit to this guy, he''s made no five-star cards so far. Yet they call him a grand master? That''s ridiculous!"


    "His level of card making is still unknown," the young man said in an unhurried manner. "But, according to them, the card master seems to be able to understand the design of the Power Gloves."


    "Huh?" The old man''s disapproving look disappeared. His eyes widened as he asked with doubt, "Can he really understand?"


    "They can''t be sure, but it was said that the card master had his eyes set on the design for quite some time now. He even questioned where the design came from. There was also another card artisan who had the same intentions. He was said to have an aperture on his back. Moreover, this card master went to their store recently and bought a lot of materials for making cards."


    "We have to find this card master immediately!" the old man insisted firmly. "Whether he knows or not, we still have to find him! Err¡­ Keep this matter from Yumin for the time being."


    "Understood." The young man nodded.


    "How have you been doing recently?" the old man asked with concern. "Yumin has been worried about your health. I heard she came to Dongrui this time because there''s gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus at the Tai-shu household. Yumin hopes to ask the Tai-shus for the fungus in order to cure your disease."


    "I''m sorry to let the boss worry about me. I''m fine and can still serve her for another couple of years. With that, I''m already satisfied." The young man smiled. Even though he was ill, his pale face still showed his handsome features. He then changed the subject. "Was it really Qiao Yuan who launched an attack on Faya?"


    The old man said seriously, "Well, it shouldn''t be wrong. I don''t know whom the master behind Qiao Yuan is, but to be able to seize the people from Fang Shi tells me he''s no ordinary person."


    "Where did Qiao Yuan come from? To have a master of that level is no ordinary power. Why do they want to kidnap the Madam from Faya?" The young man frowned slightly, which complemented his pale face to touch one''s heart of compassion.


    The old man shook his head with a puzzled look. "From the traces of the scene, the master is a cardless sect ace! I''m not surprised a cardless sect ace is backing Qiao Yuan, but I can''t figure out the level of this cardless sect ace that could go against Fang Shi. Even Desert Camp couldn''t take him down."


    The young man playfully said, "Dongrui has been quite unpredictable lately." He adjusted his glasses once again as he squinted. "But I was wondering if the White Commander might actually be Qiao Yuan."


    "The White Commander?" The old man was stunned but immediately laughed. "Zhi Hao, it''s rare that you come up with something so delusional!"


    The young man was taken aback. "Do you know whom the White Commander is?"


    "Well, Yumin said the White Commander should have claimed the legacy of Caesar, so he can''t be Qiao Yuan," the old man explained.


    "Caesar?" Zhi Hao was slightly shocked. "Caesar the Killing God?"


    "Yeah!" The old man seemed to have recalled something and casually said, "It''s him. He should still be alive¡­ I''ve heard from Yumin that he also has a descendant to pass on his legacy to. It sounds crazy to me, as well. If someone else had said that to me, I wouldn''t have believed it. Since Yumin said so, though, it shouldn''t be wrong.


    There was a trace of doubt in Zhi Hao''s eyes, but he didn''t press on further. Smiling, he said, "I shall excuse myself first, for it''s time to prepare the boss for the birthday party of Rong Ming''s daughter."

 464 Here Come the Robbers

    The Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm had found that, throughout the past few days, several commanders looked much happier than before. Even Jiang Liang, who seldom smiled, had changed his tune. Although that was odd for him, everyone still felt relieved. Basically, Jiang Liang was responsible for all of the training and had become the second fiddler in battle command.


    In many card artisans'' hearts, Bogner had reverted back to his true colors after the recruitment speech. He threw all of the jobs into the hands of Deputy Commander Jiang Liang. Apart from sleeping every day, he did nothing. He would only appear in the office once in a long while, which had become normal to the people there. Aside from him making jokes with everyone, the only advantage he had was good socializing skills. Other than that, hardly any valuable traits could be found inside such a lazy man.


    On the contrary, Jiang Liang was a role model for all of the soldiers. His uniform would always be tidy. His eyes were sharp, and his words were short but powerful. He would always work vigorously. However, he was ruthless, and the card artisans were in awe of him. Although the training was difficult, he would make himself a role model for all. He would only execute the training better every time without missing a single step.


    The superiors were satisfied with the training implemented by Jiang Liang. According to the performance of the card artisans under them, their future would be better. They were no longer the newbies who had just entered the group. Under such hardcore training, they were tortured but reducing their own weaknesses at the same time. Several of them had been trained by the Card Artisan Youth Team. However, compared that team''s training, the training implemented by Jiang Liang was much more thorough. The training repetition and the risk faced were beyond their expectation. While most of them were discussing privately, they were guessing whether Deputy Commander Jiang Liang had brought the military training method there.


    Jiang Liang''s military resume was no longer a secret. Moreover, following the recovery of his senses, the card artisans had felt the aura of a soldier from him. However, the military training method wasn''t as complicated as they had observed. The repetition of the training wasn''t intense. That was especially true of the overpowered snow pit method, which also known by the card artisans as the buried alive method. All of that seemed to have nothing to do with the man who was always sleeping.


    However, no matter how unfaithful they were on their talents, they could feel the rapid growth in their strength. That result was shown after the practical combat began.


    A few months prior, a massive amount of unknown card artisans had suddenly appeared around the base. After the heist of the purple fluorescent extract on a delivery, Bogner had placed an order to eliminate all card artisans in the area. If nothing unexpected happened, the leader would still be Deputy Commander Jiang Liang.


    Due to their lack of combat experience, they had lost some manpower in the fight. However, with more improvement in combat experience, the results from their hardcore training had finally come into use, allowing them to continue achieving victories in the coming war. In just a short period of time, the card artisans surrounding the base had been swept away. The wandering card artisans who had previously looked down upon them were running away in fear when they heard about the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. As a result, that had made the card artisans on the team proud.


    However, Jiang Liang felt unsatisfied with the outcome of the war. He hadn''t even given them a word of compliment. Commander Bogner''s compliments were ignored by the card artisans. Xi Ping was making a suffering look every day, as if someone were cutting his flesh.


    Jiang Liang''s expression had been strained for a few days had become even more so. Moreover, following the orders given, the base''s atmosphere had gradually become filled with nervous tension. Tons of teams could be seen pulling cargos in and out of the ravine, making the narrow space increasingly crowded. With the increase of patrols in the ravine, even the dumbest card artisans could sense something was wrong.


    In the conference room, the atmosphere was dignified.


    "According to the information from the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, the one planning to lay hands on us is the Blood Red Card Artisan Group." Xi Ping was responsible for communicating with the Snowflake Card Artisan Team. He then continued to explain the situation. "The Blood Red Card Artisan Team is broad in scale. Their extraordinary combat effectiveness makes them popular. They are as strong as the Snowflake Card Artisan Team!"


    Everyone was showing ghastly expressions. Before having worked with the Snowflake Card Artisan Team for so long, they''d had no idea how powerful the Snowflake Card Artisan Team was. However, after having cooperated with them, they finally understood their true abilities.


    "The Snowflake Card Artisan Team has already shown their stance toward this matter. They mentioned they will provide information to us because their leader is currently in a closed-door training status."


    "Well, it seems like they have already prepared for what''s coming and therefore decided not to get involved in the fight," Xi Ping said coldly.


    "We aren''t really planning to depend on them, but we do lack of some information," Bogner said while lazily lying on the sofa.


    "What was the information from them?" Beside him, Jiang Liang was sitting properly, contrasting his behavior to Bogner''s.


    "The Blood Red Card Artisan Team has mustered up their main force, the Blood Hammer Troop. This is their elite troop, with manpower of up to 3,000, and all of them are experienced battle card artisans. Their average perception is of level five and above. Moreover, to fight against our Starfish Fortresses, they have even prepared a dedicated battle card. The Blood Hammer Troop has 120 members with level-six perception and 11 members with level-seven perception." Xi Ping looked terrified.


    "Such an impressive power. It seems they are planning to end the battle fast." Bogner was still lying on the sofa, but his posture and attitude reduced the tension in everyone who saw him.


    Xi Ping nodded and said, "True. They''ve also spent a lot of resources. Several forces around us were asked to seal off the land, preventing anyone from passing through. This is obviously to prevent us from escaping."


    "Such a big card artisan team wouldn''t get into a fight with anyone like us, right?" Bogner said, yawning.


    "The Blood Red Card Artisan Team is well-known for their power, but they also have their weaknesses, which they aren''t good at managing. The Blood Red Card Artisan Team is also the team that lacks funding the most among other popular card artisan teams. As compared to the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, they are much weaker in that aspect. I believe they are probably jealous of the purple fluorescent extract formula in our hands. With their strength, they could probably find a few mining spots for the ore. Unfortunately for them, they don''t have the method to make the extract. Therefore, the ores are only worth as much as ordinary rocks and are undesirable," Xi Ping said, grinding his teeth in anger.


    The base''s largest source of income was undoubtedly the marketing of the purple fluorescent extract. It was a lucrative business. Taking money out of Xi Ping''s pocket was as painful as cutting his own flesh away. Surprisingly, the Blood Red Card Artisan Team wasn''t content with just taking the business. Instead, they were trying to swallow the entire business. That was unacceptable to him.


    Bogner pouted, unsatisfied. "The boss is even lazier than I am. I can''t believe he would ignore this!" They had already reported the situation to Chen Mu, but the answer they had gotten was that Bogner would be fully in charge and was granted the rights to take any action.


    Bogner struggled to sit up while ruffling his beard and said, "Of course we cannot give up the method to them. We wouldn''t trade something like this for our lives. They are robbers; if we gave up the method to them, we would only be left for dead. We also can''t depend on the Snowflake Card Artisan Team. We can only depend on ourselves from now on. Defending in such way is indeed an unrealistic strategy. Even though the Starfish Fortress is a strong defensive weapon, these guys have even brought the battle cards. I believe they have already thought of a counter-strategy. This will be a tough battle!"


    Everyone went silent. What Bogner had said was the unexaggerated truth. Those 3,000 card artisans would be the true elite troop. Considering the combat effectiveness, the number of troops, and the resources, they were way stronger. In terms of allies, the Snow Silkword Card Artisan Firm was now isolated. No one dared to lend a helping hand at such a time. Furthermore, the Blood Red Card Artisan Team had managed to surround them easily and to cut off their escape route¡­ They were at a disadvantage in many ways.


    "How are we supposed to fight them?"


    "What''s our situation now?" Bogner asked Xi Ping.


    "We have always been gathering resources. Hence, we have even included the power cards as part of the resources we have. We have more than enough for now. Moreover, following our request, Qiao Fei has utilized her remaining funds in exchange for power cards and shuttles to further strengthen our resources. She is indeed a kind lady. We definitely owe her big time." Xi Ping was touched by her actions. Normally, it was hard to tell whether someone was treating them with kindness or with flattery. However, anyone willing to lend a helping hand during a sensitive period would undoubtedly be a loyal person.


    "The most precious resource we have is the purple fluorescent extract, which is stored in our warehouse. I assume that''s the reason they declared war against us. These robbers don''t even know how to do business. No wonder they are poor. Our production will be expanding constantly. However, in order to avoid affecting the market price of the purple fluorescent extract, we didn''t sell it abundantly. The second important resource is the various cards we have, which don''t take much space. As for the raw materials, they aren''t worth much. Unfortunately, we are unable to bring the equipment with us," Xi Ping said.


    "True. The fact that we aren''t over-encumbered is our advantage," Bogner said, nodding.


    Jiang Liang switched on the fantasy card player. A huge three-dimensional holographic map appeared in front of everyone. The estimated fighting power of various forces were shown on the map. They had gathered most of the data in the dark, and some had been provided by the Snowflake Card Artisan Team.


    Looking at the map, Bogner went into deep thought. He suddenly raised his head and asked, "Where is Dongrui?"


    Jiang Liang immediately pointed at the map and said, "There."


    "Hmm¡­ That''s far." Bogner stroked his beard while looking at the map. After a while, he squinted and started slowing down the movement of his hands. His face revealed a cunning look.


    "Hmm. Since they want to come to us, we shall allow them to have a taste of our strength. Ha ha¡­"

 465 The Dangerous Woman

    "That Rong Ming is truly an impressive one."


    Tai-shu Yong giving such positive compliment showed he had recognized Rong Ming''s capability and how special he was. If Rong Ming was organizing his daughter''s birthday party, a person like Tai-shu Yong, who held great power in the Dongrui, would definitely come to show his support.


    Everyone had already heard about the secret news and was saying the Tai-shu family had acquired the vote. The Luo family of Dongrui had already received that information through their base in Qianhu. It had spread over the top management level of Dongrui in lightning speed. The entire Dongrui area had already found out about the shocking news that the Tai-shu family would be the only family with a vote. The whole community couldn''t believe that a seemingly fallen family, the Tai-shu family, could have such power in them! Although the vote was yet to received by the Tai-shu family, everyone knew they had to change the way they treated them from now on.


    "My family was held in contempt for a long time," Tai-shu Yong said. He paused a while and said, "But as soon as Rong Ming came to the guards division and invited the five forces of Dongrui, we were one of the five strongest families in Dongrui. Frankly, I was surprised at that time. Don''t tell me Rong Ming could foresee what could happen in the future."


    Chen Mu listened but said nothing.


    "According to the date recorded, this was the day I first moved to Moon Frost Island. Such a coincidence," Tai-shu Yong said.


    "Do you mean you are the people from Moon Frost Island?" Chen Mu was shocked.


    Tai-shu Yong applauded the fact that Chen Mu had gotten it right. "Well, whether I am one the people of Moon Frost Island is yet to be known. However, I wouldn''t be surprised if Rong Ming had any strange relationship with Moon Frost Island."


    Chen Mu was confused about the relevance of all those stories, but Tai-shu Yong suddenly asked an unrelated question. "Do you know the greatest difference between the card artisans from the Big Six and the card artisans from other schools?"


    "I don''t know."


    "Just because the card artisans are from the Big Six doesn''t mean they are stronger than those from other schools. However, there is one thing they are clearly stronger in, and that is their experience. The card artisans from the Big Six are experienced, and some of them can even easily figure out their opponents'' history."


    "Are you concerned that Rong Ming has already found out my true identity?" Chen Mu asked.


    Tai-shu Yong laughed. "I doubt he''s already recognized your identity."


    Chen Mu furrowed his eyebrows. He had been wearing a mask to avoid being recognized by anyone. After the battle with Jin Yin and Dang Han, Qiao Yuan''s identity had been revealed, and he had become the mortal enemy of Faya. Doing things in a frank and righteous way was never Faya''s style. They would be more proficient in setting up an assassination.


    He hadn''t even reached level-seven perception. In the world of card artisans, he was still far from being immortal. From the information he had obtained from Bogner, there were 11 members with level-seven perception in the Blood Hammer Troop of the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team! Although the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team was well-known for its combat effectiveness, it was still a card artisan team. Compared to the Big Six or Faya, it was much weaker.


    How many card artisans with level-seven perception were there in Faya? When he thought about it, Chen Mu was terrified. He still had a long way to go before his perception reached level seven. The only thing that made him feel peaceful was that his perceptual control was above level seven. Xiaobo''s situation was almost the same as his, and Sang Hanshui had acquired the greatest perceptual power among all of them. His perceptual power was only a step away from reaching level seven.


    However, all of the cards in their hands were of the best of the best. Whether it was the Bipolar Card or the Golden Word Shackle, their powers were formidable. Ever-changing was unpredictable, though. He had also acquired State Zero from Caesar and had learned air skill from Wei-ah. Moreover, he could still use deep tranquility to improve his the recovery of his perception. Therefore, he wasn''t afraid to face the card artisans with level-seven perception.


    Besides that, the Wheel in Xiaobo''s hands was the most satisfying card Chen Mu had made. With Xiaobo''s several years of combat experience through training in the forest, there was no room to doubt his capabilities. And, after Sang Hanshui had acquired the Bomb, he had become a living cannon.


    Their combat power was definitely astonishing. Taking into account the 11 card artisans with level-seven perception on the Blood Hammer Troop, however, Chen Mu was speechless. Luckily, among those 11 card artisans, only three of them had reached the top 100 on the Black-Line Star Listing. The level of perception couldn''t determine everything!


    Throughout those two days, Chen Mu had to communicate with Bogner and Xi Ping. Bogner''s confident manner had calmed his mind immediately. His intention was to get back as soon as possible. The issues in Dongrui had already came to an end, and there were still a few months until the elite competition organized by Thousand Lakes, which he would need attend on behalf of Tai-shu Yong.


    However, Dongrui was too far away from the base. It would take too much time to travel back and forth. With no choice left, he could only stay at Tai-shu Yong''s house temporarily. With the thousand-kilometer card, he could still keep in touch with Bogner and the others. He was thinking about what he could do.


    "Ha ha! I see that your ranking went up by three spots on the latest issue of the Black-Line Star Listing." Tai-shu Yong laughed and said, "Looks like they found out about your attack on Faya." He showed a joyful expression. Ever since the incident of Faya planning to kidnap his three sons, he felt tremendous hatred toward them.


    "This doesn''t benefit me at all." Chen Mu spoke in an absolute tone. "Instead, I hope this matter doesn''t spread to anyone''s ears."


    "Ha ha! Youngsters should have some drive in them!"


    The security in Rong Ming''s mansion was insane. Card artisans in security uniforms were all over the place like they were going to face their greatest enemy. Rong Ming''s mansion wasn''t as luxurious as other houses, like Tai-shu Zheng''s. It looked like a larger version of a normal residence.


    However, Chen Mu still realized something different about the mansion. It may have looked like a normal residence, but it was actually a combination of a small fortress, an outpost, and a firepower mechanism. The design was so functional that it was certainly the work of an expert.


    Chen Mu was walking beside Ta-shu Yong while observing him greeting his neighbors from other families. The banquet''s scale was apparently much greater than the one organized by Tai-shu Zheng. The visitors were from various well-known forces, which showed how much influence Rong Ming had in Dongrui.


    Chen Mu felt uneasy inside and was distracted while listening to their stories. The way they spoke made him uncomfortable, so he decided to just ignore them altogether. His mind was on Bogner. The enemy they were about to face was way too strong, and the situation they were in had placed him in panic. Although he was confident Bogner and the rest could come out on top, he couldn''t help but feel worried.


    A woman''s voice suddenly came into Chen Mu''s ear. "The White Commander."


    Chen Mu abruptly snapped out of his thoughts and raised his head to see Tan Yumin. Her face was pretty and captivating. However, Chen Mu didn''t have the same surprising feeling he''d had the previous night. She was wearing a simple white dress, which was so long that it rested on the ground. Not a single speck of dust stuck to it, though.


    Hmm¡­ What kind of special cloth is this? The first thing that popped into his mind was actually a question out of context.


    Beside him, Tai-shu Yong laughed while looking at them playfully. "Ha ha! Miss Yumin, you''re making me jealous. So, the White Commander is the only one in your eyes? I think I need to protest for my jealousy!"


    Tan Yumin blushed and then quickly said, "Mr. Tai-shu, the way you speak is a little¡­"


    Tai-shu Yong patted Chen Mu hard and said, "Yes! Keep it up!"


    Soon after, he smiled at Tan Yumin and said, "I shall stop disturbing the two of you." He left while laughing loudly.


    "It''s been a while, Miss Tan," Chen Mu said courteously.


    Tan Yumin''s eyes briefly showed a hint of discontent. In the next second, though, she immediately retrieved her graceful smile. "White Commander, you''re being too courteous. It has been a while since we last met, though." Her focus then fell on the black and white bracelet on Chen Mu''s wrist, and her eyes glinted.


    Only then did he remember Tai-shu Zheng''s banquet had only been a few days ago. Everything that had happened those past few days had made him think it had already been a long time, which was why he had subconsciously said that.


    "Ha ha! True." Chen Mu knew he had said something he wasn''t supposed to, and his expression became awkward. Fortunately, he was wearing a mask.


    Tan Yumin pursed her lips and smiled. The nearby guests at the banquet looked at her with their eyes glazed over. She was playing with the wine glass with her perfectly white and elegant hand. She sighed and said, "I thought Dongrui was a land of happiness. Who knew it could be such a dangerous place? Rumor has it that one of the Faya''s secret hideouts was suddenly attacked a few days ago. An important individual was kidnapped, and everyone says it was done by Qiao Yuan. I am feeling curious. If this well-known Qiao Yuan and the White Commander were to have a fight against each other, who would win?"


    The captivating beauty''s stare sent a chill down his spine. After a quick thought, he wondered whether Tan Yumin was hinting at something. Still, Chen Mu acted calm and said, "The one suffering the loss would definitely be me. I don''t dare to embarrass myself in front of others."


    "Oh, is that so?" Tan Yumin looked at Chen Mu doubtfully.


    This woman is dangerous! Chen Mu trusted his instincts, but he realized he couldn''t pierce that woman''s thoughts at all. How he wished he could stay miles away from her. Fortunately, Jiang Yu came over at that moment, so Chen Mu used the opportunity to walk away. When he reached a corner, he realized his back was dripping with sweat. He started to become frightened while sitting there.


    Could Tan Yumin actually have discovered my identity? What does she mean? Is she hinting at something?


    He wasn''t worried about Tai-shu Yong discovering his identity since he would never simply betray a secret; it wouldn''t benefit him. However, if that mysterious woman found out about it¡­


    What was actually troubling him more was Tan Yumin''s extra attention toward him!

 466 The Eternal Nigh

    After sitting for not very long, Chen Mu saw Rong Ming leading in his daughter, who looked to be 12 or 13 and had a tender, young face. She didn''t appear to be thrilled with the scene, although she maintained a polite appearance.


    She glanced at Tan Yumin, who was surrounded by a crowd of guests. That allowed Chen Mu to breathe a sigh of relief. He would always involuntarily perceive a breath of danger when he was in front of that woman. Fortunately for him, Tan Yumin was the most dazzling personality that evening. There were countless people after her wherever she went. Jiang Yu went right along with the crowd to stay beside her, acting as her escort.


    Even among the crowd, Tan Yumin seemed to have detected Chen Mu watching her, making him quickly avert his gaze.


    "It must be Rong Ming''s poor hospitality for the White Commander to remain all alone here," Rong Ming''s booming voice said. By the time Chen Mu raised his head, Rong Ming had already led his daughter over.


    The rest of the guests'' gazes then swept toward Chen Mu. The name White Commander didn''t bring just any old person to mind. As the person most in the limelight in Dongrui, he was quite qualified to draw the VIPs'' attention. Still, Rong Ming saw him a little differently, adding something on top of how important he was in their minds.


    "Master Rong has been very polite," Chen Mu said with a slight smile as he stood.


    "This is my precious daughter." Rong Ming first introduced his daughter and then smiled at her tenderly. "This is the White Commander I told you about, sweetheart."


    "You''re the White Commander?" The little girl was sizing Chen Mu up, full of curiosity. "But why would you want to wear a mask?"


    Rong Ming frowned and was about to reprimand his daughter.


    "Since I look like a clown." For some reason, when he''d heard the little girl''s innocent, pure question, Chen Mu''s gloomy mood immediately cleared up. He couldn''t keep the corner of his mouth from curling into a smile.


    "I''m so, so sorry," the little girl rushed to say as a look of apology flashed through her eyes.


    Just at that time, a servant came quickly walking over to Rong Ming and whispered into his ear. His smile immediately turned stern and his eyes sharp. After the servant finished, he stood to the side with his hands folded, awaiting the host''s instructions.


    "Allow her to enter," Rong Ming said lightly. The noise in the room gradually quieted until it was silent. Anyone who could come there would have to be someone sophisticated.


    "Someone from Faya has come," Rong Ming said to Chen Mu in a low voice. When that gesture fell onto everyone else''s eyes, it made them still more incapable of not giving Chen Mu another look.


    Faya? Would Faya actually send someone? That was what came immediately into Chen Mu''s mind, though what calmed him down a bit was that Faya hadn''t been invited. Otherwise, Rong Ming would never have been able to maintain his composure.


    Tap, tap, tap! The sound of her boots pounding on the floor was strangely sharp in the huge hall. A young woman wearing a tight black jacket, leggings, and black boots appeared in everyone''s sight. Her purple hair had been tied into a ponytail, and her whole person was neat and orderly. She raised her face with an indifferent expression.


    Butchie! Chen Mu''s pupils immediately constricted. He knew that woman. They had fought once in Pomelo. The last memory he had of her was of the battle between her and Hugo against Qiao Yuan. Had she actually lived through it? He remembered the situation that day clearly; Qiao Yuan had had the absolute advantage. Moreover, he thought Qiao Yuan would never have had any reason to let her off. But she was certainly still alive! She was standing right there in front of him!


    At about the same time, Butchie''s gaze swept in his direction. Chen Mu felt abruptly chilled again. It looked like Butchie had not only survived under Qiao Yuan''s hands but that her power had greatly surged. Her wits about auras had gotten to a surprisingly sensitive place! Chen Mu could perceive her gaze lingering on him a little before it moved on and finally settled on Rong Ming.


    "I''ve heard it is Master Rong''s esteemed daughter''s birthday. As a lowly representative of Faya, I would like to give Miss Rong my best wishes!" Butchie made a slight bow and then said in a voice neither proud nor servile, "I sincerely wish Miss Rong all the happiness in the world! I would ask Miss Rong to accept this trifling demonstration of my feelings, which cannot show the depth of my respect." She presented her with a small, unassuming box with both hands.


    "There were to be no gifts. Please be my guest to eat and drink. For your esteemed self to have been able to come has been quite a surprise." Rong Ming had already resumed his slight smile, though everyone noticed the indifference in his voice. Rong Ming would have no good feelings toward Faya, of course. He had been present at the scene of the sneak kidnapping attack that day. As the chief of the guards division, he had extreme dislike for such a group that disregarded the rules so much.


    Butchie kept her hands outstretched and continued, "With perception at the seventh level, Master Rong is listed 63rd on the Heavenly Drum Rolls! That kind of power is something I cannot help but admire from my lowly position."


    There was a rising buzz in the hall, as it was everyone''s first time finding out Rong Ming was actually 63rd on the Heavenly Drum Rolls! While the Heavenly Drum Rolls weren''t as authoritative as the Black-Line Star Listing, they were still seen as an important indicator! Being 63rd on the Heavenly Drum Rolls was a rather amazing ranking, and they had never heard it before.


    There had been a lot of unresolved speculation about where Rong Ming had come from. They had never thought he had such an exalted background, after all! Some were already searching their minds for the name of the 63rd on the Heavenly Drum Rolls.


    Even Rong Ming''s daughter was covering her mouth with a look of disbelief. She had never thought her dad was actually that powerful!


    The smile disappeared from Rong Ming''s face, and his look deepened as he said, "Your eminence must have great skill to have been able to so clearly check out my background!"


    Knowing how angry the chief was, the card artisans under him were shaken. They were giving one another looks, having decided they would nab that woman immediately once the chief gave the word! Still, the chief was actually 63rd on the Heavenly Drum Rolls¡­


    Butchie kept speaking eloquently as though she didn''t feel a thing. "Before coming, I had been thinking about what sort of gift would do for me to present, given Master Rong''s power and position."


    Everyone''s attention was immediately drawn by her words. It sounded like that woman had prepared some kind of fabulous gift!


    Rong Ming smiled coldly. "I have no family wealth to speak of, and I haven''t seen much of the world." His gaze was pegging Butchie as he continued, "I do have one advantage, though, which is to be content with my situation. Your eminence''s gift isn''t something I would like, and I have no interest to know what it is. Would someone please show the guest out?"


    Before any of the servants could move, Butchie said in a cold voice, "What? Even if it contains a six-star card?"


    The hall became abruptly still. Everyone, including Chen Mu, looked stuck in place as though they''d been struck by lightning. As a card master, he knew a lot more about cards than an ordinary person. A five-star card was the highest level he had seen by that time. Never mind seeing a six-star card; he had never even heard of one!


    A six-star card¡­ Everyone''s gazes were overheated and crazed in that instant as they stared at the unassuming box Butchie was presenting. The entire hall was full of the sound of heavy breathing, especially among the card artisans, who were itching to pounce on it. Even Chen Mu was excited. He really wanted to go take a look to see what a legendary six-star card actually looked like.


    In reality, a five-star card was extremely rare on the market. In the ordinary residential districts, three-star cards were the mainstream deployments, and four-star cards were mainstream in the five flourishing districts. The price of any five-star card would be sky-high, so they were incredibly hard to buy. Five-star cards had extremely rigorous minimum standards. The Bomb Chen Mu had made for Sang Hanshui already had a pretty shocking damage value, though it only approached that of a five-star card.


    But a six-star card? That would have already gone beyond the realm of ordinary cards, and there had never even been news of them on the market. Chen Mu had seen five-star cards and had even used them. Although he still didn''t have the ability to make them, at least he knew he would certainly realize that goal someday. But what could a six-star card be like? What would its pattern be like? Its power? Would it have any special places on it? He really wanted to look at it, even if it were only a glimpse.


    Perhaps because they were so rare, or perhaps because their capabilities really couldn''t be measured by the star standard, cards above the five-star level would seldom be evaluated by star level. They would be directly designated by their names.


    "This card is called the Eternal Night, and it is from the hand of the grand master illusion card master Lance Ryan!"


    Chen Mu felt like his throat was so dry and his body so overheated that he couldn''t take his eyes off that little box in the least. An illusion card¡­ It had become hard even to breathe. Good lord! It''s actually an illusion card! He was using all the power in his body to firmly close his eyes, only to find that his entire self had seemingly vanished. Within a short time, his whole body had actually become soaking wet.


    The most famous illusion card in the entire federation was the Starry Changes from the hand of Lance Ryan. It was said that the Starry Changes was meant to be a salute to another card master who had stood at the top: Rosenberg. The Starry Changes was now in the hands of the president of Star Academy.


    There was a difference between the official and unofficial title of grand master. Chen Mu was commonly referred to as a grand master, but only in the unofficial capacity. To be officially designated as a grand master required meeting very harsh conditions. Being able to make a five-star card was only the most basic condition. The most important condition that determined whether a card master could be designated a grand master was to be able to make a card that surpassed the five-star level! That was also why quite a few senior card masters in the industry would scoff at the one who had made the numbered series of cards.


    Apart from requiring a lot of power, the difficulty of being promoted to a grand master consisted of the fact that it also required a lot of luck. The materials required to make a six-star card were extremely rare, and just to be able to gather a single set was a matter of luck. But there was still always the matter of success rate in making cards. The higher the level of the card, the higher the failure rate. Quite a few card masters failed in making cards because they didn''t have enough luck and ultimately had no way to earn the title of grand master.


    Therefore, there were only nine grand masters in the entire federation at that time. Most grand masters would only make a single card above five-star in their entire lives. Every card beyond five-star required at least five grand master card masters to make a joint appraisal by tally before the card level could finally be determined.


    "So, it''s the card that granted Lance Ryan his promotion to grand master?" Rong Ming''s voice was a bit shaky. Faya had only one grand master, which was Lance Ryan.


    "Indeed," Butchie said in a deep voice. "The Eternal Night is the only six-star card the grand master Lance Ryan has succeeded in making so far!"

 467 Words Like Knives

    The air was on fire, burning up every nerve in everyone''s body, making them excited to the point of shaking. Then, in that restless, fanatical atmosphere, the great hall became abnormally quiet.


    After a long time, the shocked and excited look on Rong Ming''s face gradually faded, and he once again resumed his former calm determination.


    "I am very grateful for your kindness. But, by my own reckoning, I don''t have the strength to accept such a fine gift." His low voice was a bit hoarse. What he said was tantamount to tossing out a huge bombshell in the great hall, which seemed so calm on the surface but was actually so hot that it seemed to be on fire. Countless gazes focused in unison on the host in the room.


    Has he gone nuts? That''s a six-star card¡­ The same thought popped into everyone''s minds at the same time, and they looked at Rong Ming as though they were looking at a monster.


    Once Chen Mu''s mind cleared, he couldn''t help but let out a long breath. As he looked again at Rong Ming, his gaze was full of respect. For him to still be able to maintain a clear head at such a time with only that little bit of determination, he didn''t know how much stronger that made Rong Ming than himself. It was clear how determined Rong Ming was; it was so hard for external things to move him.


    By that time, some people were starting to awaken, and big wigs like Tai-shu Yong had come back to their senses. Their gazes once again deepened. What Rong Ming had said was right. If there really was a six-star card in there, that gift was too much!


    There was no free lunch under Heaven, and Rong Ming was quite clear about that six-star card''s value. What kind of organization was Faya? It was a vicious and merciless organization that killed people for property as though it were eating lunch. For such an organization to bring out such a gift, what they were looking for in return would be so much more! Moreover, Rong Ming looked at things thoroughly; unless it were someone as top-notch as Tang Hanpei, the appearance of that card that day would be a token of doom no matter whose hands it fell into. No ordinary person sinned until he coveted something precious.


    He believed the news of any six-star card that was also an illusion card would be spread throughout the federation by the next day. When the time came, countless card artisans would be flocking there like sharks smelling blood. What was that woman trying to do?


    After restoring his calm, Chen Mu also realized the crux of the issue. What was Butchie trying to do? Was it for Qiu Shanyu? Chen Mu felt an ominous premonition.


    Butchie''s gaze was showing some appreciation. "Master Rong is extraordinary, after all, and I humbly admire that. Still, this Eternal Night is naturally not given in vain. I have one small condition." There was something of a metallic quality to Butchie''s echoes throughout the quiet hall.


    "I believe Master Rong must still remember the matter of the sneak attack on Faya''s encampment." Butchie''s beautiful eyes held power as she said in a low voice, "I would never have thought such a place as Dongrui¡ªknown for its tight security¡ªcould actually have such a malignant event. That is really regrettable."


    Tai-shu Yong stepped out from the crowd and said with an icy tone, "The young lady must be kidding. Ah, isn''t that your fine organization''s modus operandi, then?" He was wily and had already guessed most of what Butchie had been planning. He was on the same boat as Chen Mu by then and figured he might as well be the first to bring up the difficult issues.


    Everyone then nodded. With the three scions of the Tai-shu family nearly having been kidnapped, of course Tai-shu Yong had the standing to say what he had. Faya''s methods had already touched the bottom lines of those big families.


    "Right. Your fine organization''s methods are too vicious to the general harmony. Although we powers in Dongrui might not amount to much, so long as we are still here on any given day, we won''t let you mess around!" The head of the Luo family spoke in a deep voice as the greatest power in Dongrui. His position immediately brought echoes from the other powers.


    Butchie''s expression didn''t change as she bowed toward Tai-shu Yong. "I express my regrets for our previous behavior and can assure you that no such thing will ever happen again."


    What she said made those big shots, who were already a little angry, gradually calm down. No one wanted to have a direct confrontation with such a large organization as Faya.


    Tai-shu Yong had never thought Faya would actually retreat so quickly, and he couldn''t help but remain silent. He took a look at Chen Mu, and a feeling of concern arose from his heart.


    "I''ve come this time to bring friendship and good will from Faya and to seek help from each of you. We have already investigated and have learned that the instigator of the sneak attack on our station was clearly the card artisan Qiao Yuan and several of his comrades. During the affair, a woman from our organization was taken captive, and we are extremely concerned about her fate. Qiao Yuan is unscrupulous and might do absolutely anything. Therefore, I took advantage of Miss Rong''s birthday to ask especially for help from each of you. If someone could rescue this woman, we would like to make a reward of this Eternal Night!"


    Butchie opened the wooden box. There was a black card lying in the middle, on which the mark of six stars was rather striking.


    The entire hall was submerged by a wave of noise. Qiao Yuan peeling off Faya''s face had long since caused an uproar in Dongrui. Everyone knew about it. It was just that nobody had imagined Faya would actually use such a method to launch an attack on Qiao Yuan!


    Chen Mu''s scalp had gone numb; he was going to be in a lot of trouble! By the next day¡ªno, maybe that very evening¡ªthe entire city of Dongrui would be looking for him. He felt unusually shocked. He had previously thought Qiu Shanyu was certainly an important person to Faya, but it now looked like he had somewhat underestimated. Faya actually wanted to pay such a high price just to rescue Qiu Shanyu!


    Tai-shu Yong''s face was as always, though the look of concern deep in his gaze became heavier. Faya''s sudden reward could put Qiao Yuan into immediate danger. Where were there any airtight walls in the world? If the entire city was looking, it wasn''t like paper could wrap up the flame.


    A six-star card was indeed precious beyond compare, but it wasn''t something the Tai-shu family had the ability to use. As far as what Qiao Yuan then meant to the Tai-shu household, that was related to whether they could get the rights to that one consultative vote. If something were to happen to Qiao Yuan, the investment they had made would be wasted. There was a glint in Tai-shu Yong''s eyes, showing how hard he was struggling.


    The waves of voices didn''t calm for a long time, as everyone was in heated discussion. Some of the guests straight-out activated their communication cards and excitedly passed along the news.


    The stone in Butchie''s heart finally fell to the ground. So far, things hadn''t gone too differently from what she''d expected. Faya''s power in the Heavenly Drum Village District was utterly limited, on top of which was the previous period of attacks from Moon Frost Island, which had seriously cut down their manpower. They had no way to send over any large numbers of personnel since it would draw alarm from Moon Frost Island. More importantly, it would take too long.


    She couldn''t wait. With each passing day, the Madam was in another day of danger. Ever since Qiao Yuan had bitten the Madam''s lips so hard in public, it was clear he hated her to the bone. For her to fall into his hands, who knew what might happen to her? No matter how, she had to rescue the Madam! There was a flash of determination in her eyes. Although she didn''t have such good feelings toward the Madam, she still knew how important she was to Faya.


    She had originally been ordered to give the Eternal Night to Mr. Fang, but she had never thought Mr. Fang would be injured! When she had first heard that news, she had been utterly stunned. Although Mr. Fang wasn''t known to many in the federation, he was like a god at Faya. Among the card artisans at Faya, outstandingly talented ones, such as herself and Hugo, had mostly accepted Mr. Fang''s advice. Among the only three contests the famous card artisan Jiao Si hadn''t won, one had been with Mr. Fang.


    How could someone so godlike as Mr. Fang have been wounded? How could the wise and calculating Madam have been taken away? That news made the upper echelons of Faya extremely nervous, and nearly their entire power in the Heavenly Drum Village District was converging on Dongrui.


    The power Butchie had in her hands was rather limited, and hers was the only way she could think of. With her mind somewhat calmed down, Butchie then started to size up the crowd in the hall. If she wanted to find the Madam, she would have to depend on those local tyrants. She smiled coldly to herself as she looked for any hint of excitement or thoughtfulness on anyone''s face.


    Suddenly, her gaze fell onto the person wearing the white mask. He really stood out among the crowd and was the only one wearing a mask in the entire hall. What caught her attention most was the sense that she knew him¡­


    The more a person was an ace, the more shocking their intuition was. There was nothing esoteric about that; it was just that an ace would have insight and would be more sensitive to information.


    The more Butchie looked at those eyes and that physique, the more she felt he was familiar. She suddenly remembered that when she had just entered the hall, something hadn''t been quite right about someone''s gaze, and it had been that guy wearing the mask. She hadn''t had time to think carefully about it then!


    By then, the waves of noise in the hall were gradually lowering.


    Butchie stared hard into Chen Mu''s eyes and spat out, "And, you are?"


    "You may call me the White Commander." Chen Mu hardened himself and tried to make his voice sound steady.


    "Have we met before? I wonder if your eminence might take off his mask for a look. I believe you look familiar to me." Butchie''s voice had turned gradually cold. She had a kind of feeling that she had definitely seen that person and that she knew his voice. No one else she knew could be in the Heavenly Drum Village District.


    Chen Mu shook his head. "I''m very sorry, but I can''t."


    Everyone in the hall heard the repartee between the two of them clearly. The White Commander was quite in the limelight in Dongrui, though he had always been mysterious. No matter where he went, he would never remove the mask from his face. No one knew where he had come from.


    Some people couldn''t help but stir. Could it be¡­


    Butchie''s suspicions deepened on their own. She took half a step forward with her left foot, saying in a deep voice, "For your eminence to pull in your head and tail like this, could it be that you have something that can''t bear the light of day?" She paused and then said in a raised voice, "Or, could you be Qiao Yuan?"


    The name Qiao Yuan made the card artisans who had been growing restless still harder to hold back. Among the crowd, some came up with a few choice words on neither side of the issue.


    "Sure! I''ll just take it off for you to have a look. There''s no lack of meat there!"


    "Ha ha! For him to wear a mask all day, I''ve long since known how hard he would be on the eyes."


    Rong Ming suddenly became enraged, his eyes wide open and his imposing manner abruptly coming forth. "The impudence! Let''s go! Bring out the one who just spoke! That''s some boldness for you to dare to slander an invited guest of Ring Ming''s."


    The hall became awed in silence. The card artisans he had on hand then came back to life, and they rushed like hungry tigers to pull the ones who had just spoken out from the crowd.


    The 63rd card artisan on the Heavenly Drum Rolls emitted his perception with all of his strength, its imposing power practically covering the heavens and earth. The card artisans who had just been so hot-headed finally responded, feeling suddenly remorseful. Under Rong Ming''s oppressive bearing, they obediently left the hall.


    Butchie didn''t make the least concession but walked another step forward instead. Her words like knives, she said, "So, could you be harboring a suspect, Master Rong?"

 468 Ten Moves

    Rong Ming was so angry that he smiled. "Your eminence is surely joking to just open your mouth to call out a suspect. Aren''t you aware that I humbly serve as the captain of the guards division?"


    At that time, an elegant-sounding woman''s voice said, "So, Faya is still as arrogantly defiant as always, after all." The voice was as sweet as could be, and everyone involuntarily turned their gaze toward the voice''s source, which was impressively Miss Tan Yumin. She walked in a leisurely fashion with a small, elegant smile on her face. She took a look at Butchie with a mild expression before turning to give Chen Mu a sweet smile.


    Sensing the surrounding gazes brushing over him, and the envy and jealousy they contained, made him feel uncomfortable all over. Good lord. A single monkey is plenty bothersome, but with two of them¡­ How can a person even go on?


    "Miss Tan Yumin?" Butchie''s gaze became suddenly aggressive. Faya hadn''t only had one or two struggles with Tan Yumin, and she had long ago heard of how capable that woman was.


    "Oh, you know me?" Tan Yumin lightly glanced at her as though she were looking at air and calmly said, "I''ve been schooled in Faya''s moves many times over. It would seem that wherever Faya shows up, there are always murders."


    Butchie snorted. "It''s not too late for the feud between us to be settled when the time comes, Miss Tan. What do you mean by shielding him this time?" She was speaking quite cleverly, pointing out the basic enmity that existed between them. That made it easy to mislead the others, as if the reason Tan Yumin had spoken as she had was only because she wanted revenge on Faya.


    "Feud?" Tan Yumin seemed to be chewing on that term before smiling sweetly. "Faya has assassinated me several times over, which shows a pretty big vendetta." She lifted her flawless chin as her expression became abruptly disdainful. "Still, who are you to represent Faya? Of course I will avenge this enmity directly with Faya, but how do you qualify?"


    Butchie''s face abruptly flushed red for her to have been so scorned by her counterpart, and the crowd in the hall went immediately wild. Faya had actually dared to assassinate Miss Tan Yumin? At that time, nearly everyone was looking at Butchie with gazes full of disparagement. For those past few days, apart from having to attend banquets, Tan Yumin had spent all of her time taking care of orphans. She wasn''t just making a show of it but was actually doing the work. She had used her own behaviors to win over everyone''s respect and admiration.


    Still, Butchie remembered her goal in coming there and powerfully repressed the anger she felt. "Miss Tan naturally has the last word about whether I have the qualifications. Regardless, it involves our Madam this time, and whoever blocks our way is our enemy!"


    Butchie had spoken so firmly that everyone felt chilled! Of course Faya wasn''t the equal of Moon Frost Island in the Heavenly Drum Village District, and perhaps they had no way to face off against Miss Tan Yumin so long as she had Mei Ji. But if she were to enrage Faya to go up against such local powers as they were, that wouldn''t be so difficult for Faya!


    Tan Yumin gave a light laugh. "No matter how strong Faya is, you still have to talk reason. You say the White Commander is Qiao Yuan, but what proof do you have?"


    Butchie wasn''t moved by that, and she said in a low voice, "Take off his mask, and we can know whether he is or isn''t."


    Tan Yumin took a look at Chen Mu, whose eyes through the white mask had no sign of fluctuation, as though what was happening in front of him had nothing to do with him. Without knowing why, once she saw Chen Mu''s indifference, she felt rather speechless. Her eyes then flashed a hint of playfulness.


    Chen Mu was certainly cool and calm. That was because he had suddenly realized there was absolutely nothing for him to be afraid of. Apart from Butchie and Rong Ming, no one there could pose any threat to him, and he wasn''t worried about the rest of them. Moreover, in such a complicated environment, once things erupted in confusion, no one could stop him when he was using the Big Mudfish.


    By the time he and Wei-ah and the rest would be gathered, even fewer people in Dongrui could stop them. Perhaps they couldn''t make a frontal attack with their insufficient numbers, but stopping them wasn''t something that would depend only on the number of card artisans. And, once they entered the forest, never mind Faya; even if Tang Hanpei himself were to come, he wouldn''t necessarily be able to nab them.


    Wei-ah was a specialist in the forest, and Xiaobo had honed his skills alone in the forest across many years. Chen Mu himself could be considered half an expert in the forest. Battles there were what they were best at. There was nothing for him to be afraid of! After he thought it through, Chen Mu quickly relaxed.


    Tan Yumin protecting the White Commander like that raised a lot of speculation among quite a few people.


    Smiling meaningfully, Tan Yumin said languidly, "There''s no need to remove it. I just happen to know where the White Commander comes from." She looked at Butchie with ridicule. "I wonder how Faya would treat you if they were to find out you were now bound up with such a powerful enemy?"


    "That''s not something for Miss Tan to be concerned about." Butchie felt chilled, but her mouth held forth as though she were tough. Could the White Commander really have some kind of background?


    Tan Yumin seemed to have seen the worries beneath Butchie''s look. The curve on her mouth grew, though she maintained the elegance of her smile. "Oh, I do believe you will certainly have heard of his teacher."


    Butchie felt an ominous premonition as she responded by instinct, "Who is he?"


    "The killing god, Caesar!" Tan Yumin lightly spat out those four words.


    Some people overturned their tables with a crash, everything smashing to the floor. Some spattered wine on their snow-white shirts, not even noticing. But most of the people were subconsciously retreating several steps away, as though there was something frightening in front of them.


    Chen Mu was immediately surrounded by emptiness, leaving him standing there alone like a rock. In the eyes of the crowd, the white mask with those two curvy black lines winding down it became suddenly criss-crossed with a murderous aura. That indifferent gaze became like the god of death watching someone in their dying struggles with no hint of feeling.


    Rong Ming''s face shifted, and his gaze also became terrified. Butchie''s face was brushed white and without a hint of blood.


    The killing god, Caesar! Those four words were the stuff of nightmares in the hearts of federation card artisans. Even the military couldn''t compare with the blood on Caesar''s hands.


    If one were to say the air had been on fire just before, it was now as cold as the polar winds, everyone only feeling a chill to the point of freezing solid. It was deathly still! No one dared to say anything or even to move. Even though their clothes were stained with red wine and butter, they didn''t dare to wipe it off.


    It was Caesar''s disciple, after all! No wonder he wanted to wear a mask. That thought popped into everyone''s head at the same time. They were absolutely unconcerned about whether there was any logical connection between wearing a mask and being Caesar''s disciple. Tai-shu Yong''s gaze, which only just before had shown no signs of struggle, became terrified.


    Chen Mu was somewhat surprised, not having thought Caesar''s name would actually be so powerful.


    Beads of sweat oozed from Butchie''s forehead; the situation in front of her had gone far beyond anything she''d expected. Her adversary was Caesar''s disciple, and she had poked a hornets nest! Caesar was a tough character feared by everyone. He had dared to challenge the Federation Comprehensive Academy with only his individual power. What made Caesar most famous was his violent temper and his character as a killer. He would make a move if a single word was out of place, which was really nothing more than eating lunch to him. No power wanted to offend that lunatic, especially in those desperate times!


    "I didn''t know you were actually the disciple of the elder Caesar, White Commander. I am sorry if I have just offended you." Butchie tried hard to maintain her calm. Her arrogant bullying had made her suddenly admit defeat and made her wonder what she was going to do.


    Seeing Butchie''s attitude turn around 180 degrees right in front of him, Chen Mu felt like he was watching a farce. He hadn''t said a single word from the beginning, when Rong Ming had become enraged, even through Tan Yumin''s appearance and Butchie''s apology. It was just that¡­


    Chen Mu''s gaze became colder and darker. A thread of murderousness followed the cold and gradually rippled open.


    Ping! Ping! Ping! People were uncontrollably dropping their wine glasses to the floor, where they broke into pieces.


    Rong Ming was crying out to himself about how awful things had become. He had seen Caesar but hadn''t thought of him since. The card artisan who had made him feel so gripped by fear had actually been Caesar! Looking at Butchie''s face, which had gone white, he was crying inwardly about how badly things had gone. Of course, the White Commander couldn''t have caused offense. If someone from Faya were to die in his place, however, his days from then on wouldn''t go so well.


    "Don''t get angry, White Commander. Don''t get angry. I''m sure this young lady didn''t wish to cause any offense." Rong Ming rushed to smooth things over while making a look toward Tai-shu Yong on the side.


    Tai-shu Yong, who looked terrified, responded. As he was just about to open his mouth, though, Chen Mu had something to say.


    His voice was cool and calm, with the icy feeling of a knife being stuck into the neck. "No matter who you are, you''ll have to pay the price for slandering me in public!" The two winding black lines on the white mask were shaking along with the flesh on his face, as though the mask had come to life. It was unspeakably bizarre and eerie.


    Rong Ming was crying bitterly to himself.


    "Today is Miss Rong''s birthday, and I don''t wish to destroy such beauty."


    Rong Ming''s heart abruptly lightened, but he had no chance to feel glad. Danger filled the sky along with those chilly words. It swept the entire hall, blowing Rong Ming''s hopeful heart back to ashes!


    "Ten moves, win or lose!"


    If it had been just before, everyone would probably have laughed if Chen Mu had said that. Now, however, everyone knew it was a matter of course. They felt from their hearts that the White Commander intended to let the woman go that day. All of that was because of a single name: the killing god, Caesar!


    Chen Mu wasn''t thinking about any of that; his gaze was fixed on Butchie. Murderousness was raging in his chest, and he wasn''t thinking what others were. He had no intention of letting Butchie go. The matter of offending Faya had long since lost any impact on him. Hadn''t he already completely offended Faya? The enmity between him and Faya was now a true matter of enmity to the death, with no possibility of reconciliation!


    The perfect opportunity was right in front of him! Butchie''s arrogance and bullying had given him sufficient excuse for trouble. He did know that if his plan were truly to be exposed, though, Rong Ming would certainly make a move! He would absolutely not allow Butchie to die in his house.


    Therefore, he had deliberately said ten moves. That was the only way Rong Ming wouldn''t interfere. No one believed he could kill Butchie in ten moves even if he were wearing Caesar''s halo. Rong Ming didn''t believe it, Butchie didn''t believe it, Tan Yumin didn''t believe it, and no one else did, either!


    Moreover, he still couldn''t use the Bipolar Card or the Golden Word Shackle, which would expose his identity. He could only use the Hundred Changes!


    To kill Butchie within ten moves relying on the Hundred Changes¡­ There was only a single thing to his calm and cool gaze¡ªmurderousness!

 469 A Front-Line Opportunity

    For a card artisan, ten moves was no more than the instant a spark was struck from a flint.


    The atmosphere in the great hall had relaxed quite a bit. Everyone believed the White Commander was going to give the Madam from Faya a way out. So long as he wasn''t going to kill anyone, the guests didn''t seem that nervous. They were most afraid of the White Commander killing someone there. While they might not have been able to say their own hands were clean, they couldn''t help but feel on edge beside someone so famous for killing people.


    Still, it didn''t seem as though the White Commander was thinking that way, which eased the atmosphere in the hall. Most of them became excited to watch the battle between the two of them.


    A person''s a name was like the shadow of a tree, and the magnificence of Caesar''s name had long since been etched into the minds of federation card artisans. Even though the man in front of them was only Caesar''s student, Butchie didn''t dare to be the least bit careless.


    She activated the card in her apparatus in the first instant, and a chill filled the hall with shocking speed as the temperature plunged.


    Astonishingly, a pair of long blue energy wings appeared on Butchie''s back in midair. The blue wings stretched from her ribs and extended all the way to the height of her shoulders, though they were two meters wide when opened. The pair of wings was composed of countless energy blades, each of which was about two fingers wide and suffused with a pure blue glow. The wings they composed were crystal-clear, as though made by polishing countless blue chips of sapphire. A bout of cold air arose when she spread her wings, which made the wings into something like wings of ice. The soft carpet became quite hard from the effect of that blast of chill, and fine ice crystals appeared not far from where Butchie was.


    Rong Ming''s gaze focused as he blurted out, "Floating Wings of Blue Ice!"


    The expressions of the card artisans in the hall became complicated.


    After the five-star Floating Wings of Blue Ice was activated, it could form wings composed of blue energy blades. That was one top-of-the-line card and one that everyone was familiar with. It was publicly recognized as premium goods. With its two wings, one didn''t necessarily need the help of a jet stream card to move about freely. Not only that, but that pair of blue wings could spontaneously exude a frigid breath, which could be useful to greatly weaken close-combat card artisans without influencing the body of the one using it. The pair of wings was formed by 1,000 energy blades, each of which had shocking lethality.


    Many legends had been created in the history of the Heavenly Federation about that card, but no one had ever thought Faya would get it. Moreover, it looked like Faya had not only gotten the card, but it must have included its legacy and how to make it.


    They had previously thought the woman who kept saying she represented Faya was nothing more than a bit player. By now, however, no-one would look down on Butchie. How could she be a bit player if she was able to get the Floating Wings of Blue Ice?


    It was Chen Mu''s first time to see such a strange card! He had seen plenty of energy simulations, such as the common Fiery Dragon Card, which emitted dragon-shaped energy bodies. But he had never seen such an energy simulation as the one in front of him. Those many energy blades seemed more like polished gemstones than energy bodies.


    What a stable energy simulation! From that alone, Chen Mu was inwardly stunned. Clearly, the composition of those energy blades was utterly rational. Once an energy composition tended toward the reasonable, that would greatly decrease its rate of energy consumption. Thus, those massive wings would actually not be consuming energy at the shocking speed people might expect.


    Feeling the bone-piercing cold, Chen Mu dared to affirm that the temperature of those energy blades was definitely extremely low! If one were touched by such a low-temperature energy blade, one would immediately plunge into a frozen state. His battling made high demands on his body, and any slowing would be fatal for him.


    However, Chen Mu didn''t know anything about that sort of card, but was familiar to card artisans throughout the federation. He could only guess the characteristics of the Floating Wings of Blue Ice by the form of the energy bodies his adversary emitted.


    Even so, he wasn''t the least bit afraid. Experiencing incessant battles had made his psychological qualities more mature by the day, so he could face any situation calmly. He had long since expected that her power had increased. Although the Floating Wings of Blue Ice were novel, he had seen countless cards.


    His pupils contracted, and the mask made it impossible for anyone to see his expression. He could just stand quietly by as though he were indifferent to Butchie''s Floating Wings of Blue Ice, making him seem more inscrutable than ever. Now that Faya had opened with the renowned Floating Wings of Blue Ice, what would the White Commander use, as the descendant of the killing god, Caesar?


    The colors of the world in front of him quickly faded as it turned into countless black and white lines that sketched out its every shape. Chen Mu''s mind became still more relaxed under State Zero. The exclamations from all around him were clearly transmitted to his ears. By that time, though, it was like his consciousness was drawn far away, and he was looking down on everything from someplace up high.


    Butchie was decomposed into countless fine, hair-like lines. The smallest changes in her expression could be captured and seen clearly by Chen Mu through the fine grid structure. What surprised him, however, was that the pair of ice wings on her back couldn''t be decomposed! He could make out the approximate form of the structure, but its fine composition couldn''t be decomposed except for a few coarse lines.


    It was Chen Mu''s first time to encounter that situation. He immediately understood that his ability in State Zero was insufficient, and he had no way to establish a model for the ice wings. That made his mind still more cautious since Butchie''s power had increased far more than he''d thought! Ten moves¡­


    Butchie''s eyes had turned deep blue in midair, and there was nothing to be seen of her previous nervous terror as she stared coldly at Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu made his move! With a flash, his body disappeared from where it had been.


    So fast! The faces of the surrounding card artisans flinched; they had only seen a blur in front of them with no trace of the White Commander. Even Rong Ming looked shocked, having discovered the White Commander''s power seemed to have been somewhat refined since his previous contest with Ba Luojia! He wondered if the White Commander had deliberately held back last time or if he had improved in the meantime.


    Rong Ming''s expression then changed. No matter which way it was, they would both prove how terrifying the White Commander was! If he had been hiding his power last time, that would be enough to demonstrate the depth and sophistication of his scheming and restraint. Once one offended a person like that, the consequences would be endless. If it were that he had progressed in the meantime¡­ Even just thinking about it made Rong Ming feel his mouth go dry. That would only mean the White Commander''s talent was unbelievably shocking!


    Moreover, there was nothing of Caesar''s violent addiction to killing to be seen on the White Commander! If it weren''t for Tan Yumin having destroyed his previous conjecture with her own words, he wouldn''t have dared to determine the White Commander''s identity. He couldn''t help but feel that Caesar''s luck was quite good for him to be able to get such a student and to not to have to turn his back on his life''s skills.


    Rong Ming suddenly got a glimpse of the calm expression on Tan Yumin''s face. How was she so certain of the White Commander''s identity?


    Among Chen Mu''s cards, he hadn''t used the Hundred Changes very heavily. Because of its low damage value, and given the battles Chen Mu was then facing, it was always hard for it to play any role. But it was still one of the cards Chen Mu was most familiar with among all of his cards. From its design to making it, he had done it all himself, and its composition wasn''t nearly so complex as that of the Child. He was as familiar as could be with everything about how to use it.


    A deep green glow cut through the sky like a shocking rainbow. In the instant Chen Mu disappeared from where he had been, Butchie made her move. Three blue energy blades broke away from her ice wings and went shooting toward Chen Mu in a triangular formation.


    The beautiful energy blades as pure as jewels exuded a deadly breath, and their shrill whistle made everyone''s heart clench! They were like three glowing blue streaks that were too fast to capture.


    Pow!


    The three blue streaks hit the wisp of green glow. The green glow, once so stunning, now looked so bleak in front of those dazzling blue streaks. With no suspense, the green glow was easily smashed by the three energy blades. Like three pieces of thin sapphire, the energy blades penetrated and shredded the glow as though it were fog. They then looked like they would hit Chen Mu.


    Rong Ming frowned involuntarily. Was the White Commander still holding back? Although he didn''t know the name of the card in Chen Mu''s hands, he could mostly determine its power and star level. Unless he were at the level of Qiao Yuan or Jiao Si, it would be impossible to win against the Floating Wings of Blue Ice with such a card.


    Seeing the eyes of the White Commander behind his mask on the scene, he felt more and more as though he couldn''t tell. It wouldn''t be unexpected for the White Commander to let that woman off. Most people would make the right choice unless they were as psychopathic as Caesar. In Rong Ming''s estimation, the White Commander should use his true skills to intimidate his adversary before magnanimously exposing his intentions. That way, he could earn his prestige without offending Faya. But if he were defeated by that woman, everyone would mock his stupidity and overreaching, which would immediately cause his prestige to bite the dust.


    Chen Mu made a deft lateral shift to dodge the three rays of blue energy blades. At the same time, the light green energy bodies in his hands underwent another transformation. Shadows were popping out of the index finger of his right hand as countless fine energy threads came spurting from his fingers at shocking speed. Those energy threads interlaced in the blink of an eye and composed themselves into a huge net, enshrouding Butchie''s face.


    That gorgeous move displayed Chen Mu''s powerful and refined perceptual control. The guests only saw a light green energy net suddenly appear on top of Butchie''s head like magic. Then, those card artisans'' faces turned serious in their praise.


    Among the countless energy threads was hidden great danger. Any one of the energy threads could possibly show its fangs by becoming an energy thorn.


    The expression on Butchie''s face didn''t change, as though she hadn''t even seen the huge energy net on her head. Her gaze was fixed on Chen Mu.


    Just when the energy net was about to fall onto her head, her two icy wings suddenly spread, and the blue glow wove together with such speed that it couldn''t be seen by the naked eye. The energy net, which had been airtight, was twisted to pieces in that instant. The air was then full of bits of energy thread, that energy net finally having been twisted easily into countless pieces.


    One of the card artisans shook his head and said, "It''s useless. Such an attack is just too uselessly flashy in front of the Floating Wings of Blue Ice."


    Even hearing that, Rong Ming''s didn''t take his gaze off of the White Commander. He had seen that man kill four people in the blink of an eye and didn''t think that was the only move he had.


    The shredded energy threads were dancing in the wind and filled the sky like willow catkins. Rong Ming was moved as he watched the shreds of fine energy threads, which hadn''t dispersed. Could it be¡­ Before he could think much about it, the dancing energy threads filling the sky suddenly drew tight and became as straight as needles.


    Weng! They swarmed! Everyone saw a gorgeous scene as thousands of glowing threads suddenly converged on a single point. The sky was glowing like rain, so finely woven that the energy needles, which had just been drifting in midair, went shooting straight at Butchie from all directions!


    That sudden twist exceeded everyone''s expectations. The card artisans who had just felt that the energy net was vulnerable were staring with their mouths hanging open.


    Butchie''s pupils suddenly constricted; she finally felt the breath of danger! She curled into a ball and suddenly retracted her two wings and covered her whole body with them. "Hmph!" She made a cold snort as her body suddenly disappeared!


    Anyone familiar with the Floating Wings of Blue Ice knew what those icy wings were capable of. Perhaps, however, no one knew Butchie could move that quickly!


    The impressive display of the rain of needles became a glowing cloak of shredded glow without warning. It was composed of thousands of high-speed energy needles, which were annihilated at the same time into the spectacular scene of glowing shreds. The light green shreds were blown by the agitated air into a swirl. The entire hall was changed into a dreamy blur rendered in that instant by the swirling, shredded glow.


    Apart from drawing amazement from the wealthy ladies, that gorgeous scene didn''t make any of the other card artisans avert their gazes in the least. Their astounded gazes were fixed on the two in midair without exception.


    Chen Mu had already appeared in front of Butchie by the time she had used the speed and protection of the ice wings to escape from the rain of needles. In the eyes of everyone below, it was as though Butchie had rushed in front of the White Commander herself.


    That was just too scary! Apart from his terrifying perceptual control, the appearance of the White Commander also made them unable to believe his tactical ability! Beginning with his first trial with the streak of green until the seemingly vulnerable energy net, the White Commander had started to set the stage. That hugely powerfully rain of needles had been nothing more than a feint by the White Commander. The shredded glow, which still hadn''t dissipated, reminded everyone of that!


    That rain of needles had tricked Butchie and had tricked them all! That strategy of ratcheting forward step by entrenched step was enough to terrify everyone! Even Rong Ming''s expression looked a little ugly. Chen Mu was shocked; in his hands, a card he had considered perfectly ordinary had actually put into play such terrifying power. He had suddenly discovered that he seemed to have been a long way off in his estimation of the White Commander. At the same time, an ominous premonition was slowly crawling into his head.


    With Butchie having suddenly appeared in front of him using the ice wings for protection, the two sides were so close that Chen Mu could finally see each energy blade clearly! Where he had previously been unable to establish a model for the ice wings, it now suddenly appeared in his black and white world. Chen Mu''s pupils remained just as cold and didn''t waver in the least, but he could feel that bone-piercing chill quickly spreading through his body!


    All of those moves, which had exhausted his ingenuity, were for that one front-line opportunity!

 470 Danger

    The intense cold made Chen Mu''s mind surprisingly clear. He was so close to Butchie that he could reach out and touch her. He was too close; he saw the terror in her gaze clearly through the mask, though he felt no satisfaction in his heart. Chen Mu brandished his fists almost unconsciously!


    A light green glow enveloped his right hand and formed into a green energy cone around his fist. Because the ice wing, which he had originally had no way to deconstruct, was now so near, it finally appeared complete in fine detail in his black and white world. Chen Mu''s fist crashed hard to block the blue ice wing in front of Butchie.


    Everyone felt like their own brains seemed a little deficient. Chen Mu''s previous series of exquisite moves had made them gasp in amazement. They could be called a classic flow of skill. However, after beating his brains out with such great difficulty to get the advantage¡ªand just when everyone was expecting him to use a still more gorgeous skill to resolve the contest¡ªhe instead used the crudest and most direct move, which contained the least skill.


    Quite a few people were secretly sorry that after establishing his advantage with such great difficulty, the White Commander would be left with nothing after that reckless move. Even though he had revised the energy body into a cone, no one believed that fist of Chen Mu''s could pose any threat to Butchie. That was the Floating Wings of Blue Ice, after all! Every energy blade on the Floating Wings of Blue Ice had shocking power. Among the marvels created by each generation of owners, there had been no lack of cases where depending on its superior defensive capabilities had allowed them finally to survive.


    The Floating Wings of Blue Ice combined offense and defense and could greatly increase the speed of the user''s movements. The power of the attacks combined with its bone-penetrating chill, which was also why it was recognized as a superb five-star card in the federation. Its every characteristic was perfectly useful, and it became a fantastic card when they were put together!


    It was said that the native defensive capabilities of the Floating Wings of Blue Ice were superior to most four-star energy cloaks. There was basically no way for a fist alone to constitute any threat to it.


    After going through her initial panic, Butchie saw that her adversary was actually using his fist to attack the Floating Wings of Blue Ice, and she immediately calmed down. She couldn''t hide the look of ridicule in her eyes. Everyone knew about the excellent protection the Floating Wings of Blue Ice provided, but they would often forget about its icy chill!


    If it weren''t for the Floating Wings of Blue Ice being able to protect the card artisan who used it, no one would be able to use it. Any living thing that came in contact with it would freeze solid within a short time, causing tissue necrosis and death. If the energy blades weren''t removed in the first instant once was attacked by them, the cold could quickly spread to the whole body, finally turning it into an ice sculpture. The energy blades were their coldest when they were still on the ice wings.


    That was obviously the act of an adversary looking to die. No wonder Butchie looked like she was gloating. She hadn''t thought that guy would actually not even know about the Floating Wings of Blue Ice. She simply didn''t move and waited for her adversary''s fist.


    Chen Mu''s right fist, which was wrapped in an energy cone, accurately hit the ice wing blocking the front of Butchie. In the instant his fist made contact with the ice wing, Butchie¡ªwho still had that card up her sleeve¡ªabruptly looked terrified!


    Peng!


    She was like a soundly deflated ball, crashing to the ground by that fist of Chen Mu''s. Hong! The dust splashed from the ground, and the floor shook. Some women couldn''t help but scream.


    She felt her back hit the floor hard, followed by sharp pain. Butchie involuntarily spit out a mouthful of fresh blood. She was wounded. However, what she was terrified of wasn''t the wound to her body; it was the ice wing in front of her.


    By then, only the right wing fully remained of the crystal-clear ice wings. Less than one-third remained of the left wing, and what caused her to panic still more was that the left wing had already completely lost control. Energy blades came peeling off from time to time and fell to the ground, emitting a brittle ding. Within a few seconds, it would become a shredded glowing blue tent.


    How can this be? Her panic was spreading like toxic weeds in her mind, crawling into her heart in the blink of an eye and eroding her very nerves. How could this happen? It''s the Floating Wings of Blue Ice¡­


    During the battle with Qiao Yuan, Faya had suffered heavy losses. Card 013, which she hadn''t had for very long, had been destroyed, and she had also been heavily injured. Big brother Hugo had staked his own life in order to save her. She had trained desperately as never before after recovering from her wounds, and her power had increased at a stunning rate. She had become one of the most important aces of her generation at Faya. No one knew why she was so desperate.


    Each day in the training room, she would tell herself that her very life half belonged to big brother Hugo. The biggest hope in Hugo''s heart had been to become stronger, and she wanted to carry on his will to realize that hope. She wanted to become stronger, half for her own sake and half for big brother Hugo''s!


    That seeming self-torture of hard training had quickly helped her get her prize¡ªthe Floating Wings of Blue Ice! She had heard about the prestige of that card more than once. Starting from the first day she had gotten the card, she had started to train like crazy! With the Floating Wings of Blue Ice, her power had grown by leaps and bounds. For the first time, she could say with certainty that she would realize big brother Hugo''s dreams.


    But the ice wings that had always filled her with confidence had actually been blown in half by a fist. Nothing but a fist! And, she couldn''t even be concerned about that because of her wounds.


    Was she still that weak after getting the Floating Wings of Blue Ice? Was having the Floating Wings of Blue Ice still not enough to make her stronger? A look of loss and hopelessness flashed through her eyes!


    How powerful was Chen Mu''s fist? He wasn''t too clear about that, but he did know that he hadn''t seen anyone stronger than himself, apart from Wei-ah and the demonic woman, when it came to individual strength. Having gone through the transformation of the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, his power and control of his muscles had achieved another breakthrough. That could be seen in part from his completely resorting to air skill. That fist had concentrated the power of his entire body!


    However, the biggest reason he had been able to achieve such stunning battle results wasn''t because of his strength; it was State Zero! At about the same time he had established the model of the ice wings, Chen Mu had vaguely found its weak point. His punch, which had been utterly without flair, had accurately hit the weak spot determined by State Zero. His own physical strength was better than ever, and all of it had been focused on the tip of the energy cone on his hand. The damage value of the explosion was unrivaled.


    Chen Mu was looking at the battered Butchie from midair, though he didn''t deliver the coup de grace! It looked like he certainly had the upper hand to deliver that blow, but his face under the mask was a sheet of white. His right hand¡­


    From his fingers to his shoulder, his right arm had lost all feeling!


    While his gaze was filled with an attitude of condescending victory, no one could see its flaw! Those ice wings were impressive, after all! Even though he was in State Zero, his mind was dismayed. His entire right arm had actually been frozen solid in that brief amount of time. The depth of cold from that ice wing was really terrifying!


    Taking a look at Butchie on the floor, he could tell her situation was even more unbearable. A shallow pit had been smashed right into the hard floor, making it clear how scary the power of Chen Mu''s punch had been. Although she''d had the protection of the ice wings, such a high-speed blow had injured Butchie''s body seriously. Not every card artisan''s body was as strong as Chen Mu''s.


    He had a full view of the loss and hopelessness in Butchie''s eyes. To give his adversary the fatal blow at such a time would be completely appropriate. It was just that his right hand was utterly not taking orders. It was as though his entire right arm was plunged bare into icy snow for too long and had lost any feeling. No matter, if he were to let such an opportunity slip away, then everything he had planned for that day would come to naught.


    So long as Butchie died, the situation in Dongrui City would become more chaotic, and Faya would disintegrate, and he wouldn''t have to worry about the unpredictable time bomb of Qiu Shanyu!


    Thinking of that, his eyes overflowed with murderousness, and without any further hesitation, his entire body became like an arrow leaving a bow and went shooting toward Butchie on the floor!


    There was only one voice in Butchie''s blank mind: could it be that her having the Floating Wings of Blue Ice couldn''t allow her to complete big brother Hugo''s wishes?


    How could she . . . how could she . . . how could she complete big brother Hugo''s wishes?


    A hint of hopelessness flashed through Butchie''s eyes as she lifted her head to stare at Chen Mu lunging toward her with a dark gaze!


    Then she suddenly disappeared from where she was!


    So fast! Still shocked, Rong Ming couldn''t help his eyes twitching! That speed of Butchie''s was actually faster than the naked eye could see. Such speed . . . was sure enough worthy of the Floating Wings of Blue Ice!


    However his expression immediately changed ¨C murderousness!


    If he were to say that the previous murderousness was an undercurrent, now there was absolutely nothing hidden in those eyes! Both as sharp as a blade and like a cold wind they raged! The bad feeling in Rong Ming''s heart grew more powerful, but at the same time he wasn''t going to meddle. He believed that if he were to face the blows of the two of them at the same time, he would be the first to be killed!


    In the black and white world, the lock that Chen Mu had on his target suddenly disappeared.


    But unlike the disappearing into thin air that everyone else saw, a feeling of danger immediately arose in Chen Mu''s heart in that black and white world. Without the least hesitation, Chen Mu made a sudden horizontal roll in his high-speed dive.


    Xiu Xiu!


    Two icy energy blades grazed Chen Mu''s scalp, their cold making the hair on his whole body stand on end.


    The two energy blades shot toward the guests below with their remaining energy. Rong Ming frowned and activated the apparatus on his wrist making a circle with his two hands, as a bout of energy waves was emitted. Those two energy blades looked as though they had crashed into an invisible wall. Rong Ming''s expression changed slightly, as the energy came gushing out of his hands to effectively block those two energy blades!


    How awesome the Floating Wings of Blue Ice was!


    The woman looked very young to have so much power. She had endless potential! Still, when his gaze swept over the White Commander wearing the white mask, he didn''t know how to describe his own shock, only able to lament about Caesar''s good luck. Although the White Commander had never removed his mask, he could tell from his voice that he wasn''t very old. That card artisan from Faya had already shocked him, but to be able to repress the card artisan from Faya for so long with an ordinary four-star card, such power would only be comparable to geniuses from the Big Six!


    He yelled loudly, "All card artisans erect your energy cloaks, and the rest of you disperse!" The card artisans below all activated their energy cloaks. Of course, it was important for them to watch the excitement, but if they were to lose their lives from it, that wouldn''t be worth it. When it come to the guests who didn''t have any protection, they were all dispersed outside under the guidance of the servants.


    Having said that, Rong Ming was full of worry as he raised his head to look at the two battling in midair.


    Having received the chill to his scalp, there appeared a rare energy fluctuation in the zero state, as the black and white world in front of his eyes shuddered. Chen Mu was startled and made a wavy-moon turnabout without quite thinking about it, his whole person like a swimming mudfish, twisting weirdly as he executed that half moon arcing trajectory in a flash.


    At nearly the same time, Butchie appeared at a spot only five meters from him, the blood from the corner of her mouth making her look even more murderous. Except that the three energy blades that she had emitted came up blank again. Her adversary''s wavy-moon turnabout had exceeded her expectations, so it wasn''t so strange for that blow to come up empty.


    The black and white world in front of Chen Mu''s eyes finally stabilized, and those lines which were changing with incredible complexity looked dazzling.


    Chen Mu wasn''t distracted by the transformations of those lines but relaxed his mind instead. It was strongly emphasized in the card that Caesar had given him that he should relax his mind. He considered that only by relaxing his mind could he bring the biggest power of the zero state into play. Chen Mu had tried it, and in the state of relaxing his mind, he certainly felt that he had become more astute, and that his intuition had become more accurate.


    Was it really that those lines in front of his eyes were truly as Caesar had said, and didn''t have any use?


    That was the part that he had always doubted. Still, Caesar was the creator of the zero state, and was doubtless the authority, and moreover actual battles had proven in the same way how right he was.


    That wasn''t the time to refine anything, with Butchie''s morale having suddenly soared, along with her battle-style becoming much more aggressive. The pressure on him had steeply increased.


    Relax . . . relax . . .


    Chen Mu''s breathing became gentler, as though he were afraid of waking something up. His body having just conducted the fierce and very difficult wavy-moon turnabout, his breathing became suddenly as though it wasn''t even there. A weird phenomenon showed up on his body at the same time.


    The first strange thing that Butchie discovered was that her adversary seemed to expect her next move, and her own attacks actually didn''t even graze her adversary''s clothes. Her gaze suddenly fell onto Chen Mu''s face, and when she saw Chen Mu close his eyes, her eyes went red.


    Damn! She felt that she was like a mouse being toyed with by a cat. Her adversary could very easily dodge each one of her clearly locked-in attacks. Was he mocking her?


    Butchie suddenly held her ground, and stood still in midair.


    Seeing that, Rong Ming felt more at peace, he had been about to open his mouth and say something to the two of them that there was only one move left of the ten.


    Seeing Butchie suddenly stop, Chen Mu felt an abrupt breath of danger.


    That bout of dangerous feeling was so fierce that the black and white world in front of his eyes became clearer than ever; the black and white more distinct! The feeling of shock made him immediately realize that his adversary''s next blow would be extraordinary.


    Then suddenly the sense from his right hand made him still more determined, as the feeling had started to come back. Although it still wasn''t as free to exercise as normal, for him as he was then, it would be critical!


    Butchie''s face turned white with shocking speed, and the energy fluctuations in the air made the faces of the card artisans below all change! Rong Ming didn''t say anything else, but grabbed his daughter by the hand, and swept her out! In the blink of an eye, there was no one to be seen below, where it had just been full of card artisans.


    Chen Mu started to change his position endlessly.


    Butchie''s face was like a sheet of white paper, her eyes suffused with blood, but never leaving Chen Mu. Her lips suddenly turned up, as she smiled lightly toward Chen Mu which was unspeakably weird and made a person''s hair stand on end!


    Hong!


    Without any warning, her left wing exploded!


    Countless flakes of jewel-like energy blades blew apart, shooting in all directions. From nowhere, a feeling of danger enshrouded Chen Mu''s mind, this time bursting into his heart and blowing up!


    He suddenly found that he was surrounded by countless pure-blue energy blades, and that each one of those howling energy blades was exuding a deadly danger, as they came shooting toward Chen Mu from every direction!


    How could that be? Chen Mu felt suddenly shocked!


    Reasonably speaking, he should have been able to take energy blades from one direction after the explosion of Butchie''s left wing! So why were there energy blades flying at him from every direction?


    But he couldn''t think about that just then.


    The feeling of danger in his heart had already become as dense as an un-melted ink stick. That bout of the feeling of danger filled every cell in his body, and then every cell in his body autonomously started to tremble! Without any warning, his heartbeat suddenly became extremely rapid, to the point where he almost couldn''t breathe. His body that was being controlled by his mind now seemed to have lost all control!


    The energy blades converging from all directions blocked him in every direction!


    From Rong Ming''s angle, it could be more clearly seen that all of the energy blades constituted an extremely orderly sphere, and in the middle of that sphere was Chen Mu! The sphere was contracting with shocking speed, making it look like Chen Mu was about to be shot into a porcupine!


    Rong Ming''s brain went blank. If the White Commander were killed there, then would there be anyone left alive in Dongrui under Caesar''s rage?


    In that life and death crisis, Chen Mu took a deep breath, and powerfully repressed his quickly beating heart! Calm down! He had to calm down! Only then could he find any chance!


    All of the problems and all of the stray thoughts were put out of his mind by that time. He closed his eyes and searched for that glimmer of a chance!


    So long as there was a glimmer of a chance, he could certainly find it in the zero state.


    Under the stimulus of death, all of his senses had become suddenly unusually acute, beyond even his normal standard. There was a greening in that black and white world as though everything had slowed, so slow that he could discover every slightest change!


    Relax . . . relax . . .


    It was as though he were hypnotizing himself, and his senses took another step forward under the hypnosis!


    Then suddenly, Chen Mu opened his eyes! Energy came gushing from his hand to where it nearly sucked out all the energy from his energy card! At the same time, he advanced instead of retreating, raising his head to face the energy blades shooting toward him.


    Seeing the energy blades shooting toward his face with such shocking speed, Chen Mu''s pupils suddenly dilated ¨C Now!


    Pa! Pa! Pa!


    So dense that it was like a single sound, which was immediately followed by a loud boom! The countless energy blades were all squeezed to a single point, causing the violent explosion! Sparks bloomed and hot waves suddenly spread all around.


    A figure covered in blood came shooting out from the explosion, losing control, as the slowly falling Butchie staggered past. Pop! A blossom of blood suddenly burst open in midair, interspersed with a woman''s groan. In her two wide open eyes was a look of disbelief, as her body fell helplessly like a sack of sand and dropped heavily onto the ground.


    And that person covered in blood disappeared over the horizon in the blink of an eye.

 471 The First Battle

    An enormous team that consisted of about 2000 card artisans escorting over 300 transport shuttles, was flying slowly in the air. These shuttles were not ordinary transport shuttles. They were specifically designed to carry tremendous amount of weight. The amount of cargos they were carrying was enormous.


    "The separator was a real pity", said Xi Ping sadly.


    "Boss really did put in a lot of effort in manufacturing them."


    All the separators were completely destroyed, not even scraps were left. All the cards inside them had been removed. All the buildings at the base were destroyed completely without a trace. Not a single Starfish Fort was left unscathed. In addition, even the small igloos were all destroyed. There was nothing left but ruins.


    "Out with the old, in with the new", said Bogner casually while opening up his sleepy eyes.


    After the modification done to the transport shuttles, their defense and mobility had been upgraded considerably. Judging from their appearance, they look exactly the same as any other ordinary shuttles. Apart from Xi Ping and Bogner, Sue Lochiro, Jiang Liang, and Ru Chiu, all the core members of the base were here.


    Sue Lochiro was communicating with her medical card artisans with a communication card.


    After the constant recruitment drive, she had already recruited over 50 medical card artisans! She treated these medical card artisans without any reserve. The foundation of these medical card artisans were already solid, Therefore, throughout this period of training, all of their skills had increased considerably.


    With their standards, anyone of them would be capable in becoming the backbone of an Medical Card Organization organization if they were to leave. However, all five of them had decided to stay as expected. Even if the nurses were to learn a few skills, they could even become the head of all the nurses, or even higher position if they were to work in any other hospitals.


    However, they were inexperienced in real combat after all. Therefore, they were nervous. Sue Lochiro was still trying to ease their minds. She was gentle and her voice was soft. However, her prestige among the medical card artisans was one of a kind. At this moment, there was not even a slightest hint of nervosity showed in her face, as though she was going for a vacation. With the influence by her attitude, her subordinate medical card artisans managed to quickly calm themselves down.


    Ru Chiu was staring at the small light screen in front of her. All of the information shown on it were given by Mu Chen. This was a completely different architecture from what she had learnt. There was too much information squeezing inside. There were still a lot of things she needed to understand. She had completely immersed into the world of card making, causing she to ignore all the conversations happening in the surrounding. However, all of them had already got used to her obsession.


    Jiang Liang was sitting still with a stern look. Right in front of him, it was a small monitor screen. He was giving out brief instruction to his people on the other side of the screen from time to time.


    "There is a group of artisans in 100 km ahead, with 800 of them." The Unibrow boy appeared in the screen with his unique long and saturated eyebrows, giving a brief report of their situation. As soon as he finished his words, he immediately disappeared from the screen.


    As the only heir to the assassination card artisan team, [Cross Night], his sneaking and scouting abilities were the best among them all in the base. The improvement between him and Lu Xiaoru were of the top among the crowd. However, the greatest improvement award would be granted to Jiang Liang, without a doubt. The Snow Pit Method seemed to fit him very well. Not only his wounds had recovered, his senses were enhanced unbelievably.


    Jiang Liang turned his sights towards Bogner and Bogner seemed to have noticed. He waved his hand lazily and said, "A nobody like you shouldn''t bother me."


    Jiang Liang turned his head back and sat up straight. His expression was still as strict as usual, but his voice was full of the intention to kill.


    "Attention all units, prepare for battle!"


    All the card artisans immediately changed their formation, splitting into several squads, with two to three members in each squad. Apart from the card artisans who were guarding the shuttles, the rest of the card artisans had split up and got into a sparse formation. If one were to looked from a higher place, he would notice that they had turned into an arc shape formation.


    Lu Xiaoru was the team leader of the guards. She was standing on the top of the shuttle. Her gorgeous look with the tight combat suit that squeezed tightly with her luscious body made her look extremely ruthless, but she could still have that charming and brave look. She was staring at the front with full attention while Crow Feather, Happy Padding, and Lucky Xi was following closely behind her.


    "How I wished to slaughtered some enemies in the frontier!" Happy Padding squinted his small eyes, while showing his intense killing intent all over his face.


    Lucky Xi pushed his spectacles and laughed softly, "Beware Big Sister''s temper. We are her bodyguards and our mission is to protect the shuttle. Isn''t that right, Crow Feather?"


    Crow Feather laughed and said coarsely, "Haha, I abide whatever the Big Sis told me to do."


    "Humph!" Happy Padding''s sights were brimming with killing intent. He cracked his knuckles and said, "Xi, you''re too much of a sissy. Real man should kill constantly! I feel excited just by thinking about the war with the Downstream Alliance in the past!"


    "You are crazy!" Lucky Xi shook his head while showing a helpless look. He smiled softly and said, "However, you should be able to kill as much as you want this time! These small fries in front of us are only appetizers."


    "Hehe, you''re right. It''s a pity the boss isn''t here. Fighting with him would really make my adrenaline level go overload !"


    Listening to the voice from behind, Lu Xiaoru''s expression did not go through any changes. She only looked at a far end and her mind only appeared a young man.


    Card artisans began to appear in front. There were about 800 card artisans hovering in the air and they were like a dark shaping mass by seeing from afar.


    One of the card artisans came to the front. He then tried to tell them something from afar through the sound wave card.


    "This is the land of Dawei Card Artisan Team. No one is allowed to enter through this path. Please leave¡­"


    Without waiting for him to finish his words, an emotionless voice came into the ears of all the Snow Silkworm Card Artisans. "Attack!"


    As soon as the voice ended, countless flames with size of a thumb suddenly appeared in the sky. The outer layer of the flames was bright red but the inner part was glowing with a ghostly blue colour. The flames were covering the entire sky, turning it into a sea of fire!


    The card artisans of Dawei Card Artisan Team were stunned.


    "How dare these maniacs attacked without a single word? Are they insane?"


    However, they did not have anymore time to think. Their first reaction after witnessing such a terrifying attack was to create an energy barrier! Such frightening flames around them would be enough to engulf all of them. Even the card artisans with outstanding flying capability had decided to create an energy barrier because such condensed attack would leave them nowhere to escape!


    However, they believed that since the opponents were able to cast such amazing number of energy, then the damage dealt by the flames should be low.


    The flames were like a swarm of bees, flying towards the card artisans!


    A single [Oudi Burner] card could release a thousand of these small flames. Moreover, there were 300 squads there using [Oudi Burner] this time, which would mean that there were 300,000 fireballs in the sky! 300,000 flames were enough to cover such enormous surface area of the battlefield, which was indeed a incredible number.


    This would be the true appearance of [Oudi Burner]. This battle had pushed this terrifying card towards the federation stage.


    Under the rain of flames, all of them were dyed in red.


    When the flames got into contact with the barrier, it released a soft ''Boom''. The impact done to the energy barrier was less effective. Therefore, the card artisans of the David Card Artisan Group suddenly felt relieved.


    These flames were as weak as we had expected!


    "Haha, you dare to attack us with something like this? This is the standard of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team huh!"


    "Humph. You dare look down upon us?"


    ...


    The card artisans of the David Card Artisan Team were laughing. They thought that the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team was unworthy of the name. "What can you do with such powerless attack?"


    On the other hand, some elites from the David Card Artisan Team did not laugh along. They looked confused and worried as if they had known something was wrong in their minds. The name of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team was not given by others. It was them who earned their name by stepping across the corpses of the Downstream Alliance. It would be impossible for them to be considered as weak.


    They did not actually wanted to raise any conflict with the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team, not a single force in the area would be willing to raise a conflict with them. The abilities they had shown was astonishing and terrifying.


    The Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team owned strong financial capabilities and powerful fighting capabilities. A card artisan team like this would have the potential to become a major force in the continent.


    The Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team did not show any intention of expanding their territory. This made the other forces felt relieved. However, this time, the appearance of the Blood Red Card Artisan Team had gathered all the surrounding forces to fight against them. At that moment, they would realize that this would be the end for the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team.


    Although they were under pressure from the Blood Red Card Artisan Team, they also hoped that the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team would be eliminated. With such a strong presence beside them, that would definitely be a threat to all of them although they did not show any intention of expanding their territory.


    Right at this moment, someone had finally noticed something strange.


    "Hm? Something''s wrong. Why are these flames imperishable?"


    "Everyone be careful. There is something strange with these flames!"


    ...


    Suddenly, there was a chaos. They realized that the flames sticking on their energy barriers were not extinguishing. One of the card artisans with detailed perception suddenly realized and said, "This is bad. It is absorbing the energy of our barrier!"


    As soon as the words dropped, the situation became even worse! Flames that could absorb the barrier''s energy...


    Although they were not extremely experienced in battle, most of them had already experienced real combats. Therefore, they could clearly know the meaning reflected. All of them was surprised! However, with more understanding towards their situation, the more fear they got , causing them to gone out of control.


    No one dared to cancel the energy barrier because as soon as they removed the barrier, they would have to face these terrifying flames directly in the next second. They needed time to switch their cards. However, these lethal flames were in a distance less than half a meter towards them.


    By looking at the flames dancing on the energy barriers, they could feel that its energy level was depleting rapidly. At the same time, they could almost hear the footsteps of the death reaper, slowly walking towards them.


    Fear and death had rendered them, causing them to be unable to escape.


    The first match of the [Oudi Burner] had gracefully begun!

 472 The Weakness of the Oudi Burner

    In many people''s eyes, the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team was just a delicious meat that would make people''s mouth water. All of them were trying to take a slice of the pie in this joint operation. Therefore, their minds were synced as they had decided to send a squad of scouts in the hope to obtain the first hand information.


    After all, the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team did indeed came so far by defeating the Downstream Alliance. Moreover, they had already achieved a stable financial situation ever since. If they were given options, any team with the same situation would definitely choose the same option, which would be to expand! Even though they did not planning to expand their territory, but the improvement in their abilities were proven to be true. Their fighting efficiencies were extraordinary in the past. However, every families there would like to know what would be their latest condition and how strong they had became. In addition, the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team had been keeping their operations low profile. After their fight with the Downstream Alliance, they had stopped implementing any large scale military activities. Moreover, the management in their base was strict. Until now, they could not even sneak into the base, not to mention getting any information.


    In the eyes of outsiders, the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team was a puzzle to them. A puzzle that no one could have any idea in cracking it!


    If it was not for the lead of the Blood Red Card Artisan Team, no one would ever be stupid enough to declare a war with a force without knowing their capabilities. However, the appearance of the Blood Red Card Artisan Team had managed to boost confidence level of all the forces in this operation. No matter how much the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team had expanded their team and territory, they could never stand a chance against the Blood Red Card Artisan Team which was at federation level. Moreover, the inaction of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team had shown that they did not want to join the fight, which also did make the other forces became even unscrupulous.


    However, the question on how to split the portion of this fat lump of meat had became a problem. The portion would be distributed according to their contribution throughout the operation. However, they have to preserve their strength. None of them would want to suffer from the retaliation of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team. If they were to rush too close to the front while fighting against the caged beast, even if they were to win the fight in the end, they would not be qualified to go for the grand prize if they failed to escape unscathed after the final blow by the caged beast. They would become the prey for other forces. If they were to charge too far behind, they would not be able to deal damage to the caged beast, causing them to lose a great opportunity in vain.


    Apart from the forces from Pascal Region, there were still several seemingly unrelated forces who had also sent their scouts to observe the situation.


    This operation would not only affect the restructuring of the major forces in the Pascal Region.


    As one of the most well-known card artisan team in Heavenly Drum Village District - Red Blood Card Artisan Team, each and every action they were to take would involve profits. Especially when they had decided to deploy their ace - the Blood Hammer Troop to guarantee in ending the fight quickly! If there were still people who were not aware of their capabilities, they would have changed their attitudes immediately once they heard of this.


    The Blood Hammer Troop''s past battle results were outstanding. They were the core power of the Blood Red Card Artisan Team.


    Although the people did not know about the operation, however, all of the forces, big and small, were placing their focus on the unknown and backward area, the old Pascal Region without exception.


    At a distance far away from the battlefield, there were card artisans with different equipments hiding in the trees, in the snow, and behind boulders. All of them were looking at the battlefield while trembling their hands in fear. They did not dare not let down their guards and therefore, they were trying to record every scene and every corner of the battlefield!


    The 800 card artisans would not be powerful enough for them, especially when they were facing against 2,000 card artisans.


    But...


    In front of them, all 800 card artisans immediately got swallowed by the sea of flame before they could even make any shot.


    Looking at the flames that got onto their body, they were mourning in pain. Their shrilling yell of pain could be heard across the snow field, causing those who heard felt horrified. All the scout artisans who were hiding in the dark looked extremely somber.


    "This is not a war. This is a massacre!"


    Inside the transport shuttle, Bogner had finally opened up his lazy eyes. He looked at the chaotic situation on the screen but he did not show any joy of victory. As a matter of fact, all of them in the shuttle car had stopped what they were doing at the moment and started to look at the image projected by the screen in dazed. Sue Lochiro and Ru Chiu could not bear to look at the screen.


    "The boss is indeed terrifying!" said Bogner.


    "We are in trouble now", said Bogner while smiling bitterly.


    "Trouble?" Xi Ping did not manage to react to his question while asking in doubt, "I thought we have won? Why are you making a sad face? The one who should be sad should be me! Look at how much money I have wasted!" He felt a prick in his heart upon finishing his words.


    Bogner gave Xi Ping white eyes. However, regarding the burning money issue of [Oudi Burner], he was not trying to argue with Xi Ping. He twisted his eyebrows and said, "I''m sure you have already saw the ability of the [Oudi Burner]."


    "Yes I did! It is all good! My money was worth it!" said Xi Ping with a confident look.


    "Yes, it is too good." Bogner was touching his chin and said, "But it is too good to be true! Even the blinds could see such powerful effect! Do you know what''s the first thing that popped up in my mind when the Boss first demonstrated the [Oudi Burner] to me?"


    "What is it?" said Xi Ping in curious. He was no the only one who was curious, but everyone in the shuttle had been drawn to their conversation. Although Bogner looked like a unfriendly old man as usual, but his level of intelligence was fathomless. However, he had spent too much time on sleeping, therefore, it would be a lot troublesome if one was to asked for his suggestions.


    The expression on Bogner''s face was odd. "The first thing that came into my mind was the Faya Battle Shuttle Car! The [Oudi Burner] has many similarities with the shuttle car. However, the only difference is that the [Oudi Burner] has a higher cost and a more strict requirements before using it. However, its fire power is way stronger and therefore, it could be considered as an advanced version of the battle shuttle cards.


    Everyone thought of what he had said for a second. After that, all of them nodded.


    "It is indeed similar". Jiang Liang gave his opinion directly.


    Bogner''s eyes brooded and his voice got deeper. "Imagine the battle when battle shuttle cars were first introduced into the battlefield, that battle had elevated Faya to the level aligned with the Great Six. With any exaggeration, the appearance of the battle shuttle cars had made a tremendous change towards the entire state of the federation. The [Oudi Burner] is also a tool of war. If it was to be used in a large scale, its power would be absolutely astonishing. I believe that no one would expect a battle shuttle car to have such powerful potential. I can say for sure that after today, [Oudi Burner] would be heard throughout the Heavenly Drum Village District and even the entire federation."


    Bogner did not even hesitate upon listening to what he said. He was like describing an incident that had already happened in the past rather than a scenario that had yet to happen!


    All of them became excited just because of this.


    "But¡­" Bogner''s voice was showing that he was worried.


    "As compared to Faya, we are way too weak. If Faya could have war weapons like that, no one would be dared to lay a hand on them. However, if it was in our hands, it would be a different situation. We are like a bunch of kids with six stars cards. What we have now would definitely attract the attention of any adults. In the past, the Blood Red Card Artisan Team''s purpose was to acquire the purple fluorescent ore extraction method. However, after today, our enemies will be even more! What they wanted now would not only be our extraction method of the purple fluorescent ore!"


    It was completely silence inside the shuttle car.


    The flames were sticking closely onto the energy barrier. The card artisans who stuck inside the barrier looked panicked. Deep inside their lifeless pupils, they were showing how reluctant and angry they were. As soon as the energy of the barrier was used up, it would be their death. While hearing their teammates mourning in pain, the rest of the card artisans who were alive felt like they were in hell.


    A lot of card artisans had failed to switch their energy cards in time when the energy of the barrier was used up, and therefore, they ended up dead upon falling from the mid-air. What was more horrifying was that the flames were still burning on them upon death.


    The survivors left now were all elite card artisans! The energy cards they had in their meters were of higher grades and they could hold the situation for much more longer.


    The leader of the card artisans felt that it would be a dead end if they were to continue to proceed that way. It was the first time he faced against such strange and malicious card. He was a battle-scarred veteran and therefore, he could clearly understand that he has to be calm in order to survive in such disadvantage side. He had completely lost his spirit to fight back. In addition to the number of card artisans left, which was less than 50 manpowers, his only intention would be saving some resources for Dawei Card Artisans Team.


    "Relax! You have to calm yourself down!"


    The energy barrier could not be canceled. There were already someone else had already tried this in the past and ended up dead. If the energy barrier could not be moved, then the only thing they could move would be a jet stream card!


    His eyes brighten up with hope. He then immediately cast his jet stream card without hesitating.


    With the energy barrier on top of him, he immediately speeded up.


    The wind was whistling outside his energy barrier, yielding intense air stream which caused the flame to jumble. However, no matter how strong the air stream was, the flames could never burnt out.


    This still did not work! Veins started appearing on his forehead. His eyes were now filled with anger and the next moment, he screamed in madness!


    His rapidly moving body suddenly started to spin like a high speed spinning top. The flames on the barrier had finally shown unstable signs.


    He was spinning faster and faster, even his figure started to become blurry! Following a straight line, he started spinning forward with an advanced flying skill -Coaxial Self- Spinning Impact ! Such flying skill with superior difficulty had became his final savior.


    Bang!


    While spinning in rapid speed, he suddenly remove his energy barrier at the same time, causing the flames to lose its attachment and faded away into the air eventually upon failing to resist against the strong centrifugal force.


    "I did it!"


    He could finally breathe again with a heart full of joy. He felt like he was being unexpectedly rescued from a dangerous situation.


    All of the other card artisans were lightened up upon observing what he did. They were trying to follow his steps by casting the Coaxial Self-Spinning Impact altogether.


    While the card artisans who were hiding in the dark stood up with excited look on their face! They immediately record the scene even if they were to show themselves.


    The despairing sea of fire turnt out to have weakness too!

 473 A Sharp Blade is Unsheathed

    The silence in the transport shuttle was interrupted by the image on the screen.


    "We got caught after all," Not even the slightest hint of worry could be seen on Bogner''s face. He was still looking nonchalant, "This Dawei Card Artisan Team does actually have quite a few capable Card Artisans."


    Xi Ping was rather familiar with this lazy-bones. Normally, if this guy was acting this way, it meant that he was very confident. But Xi Ping normally only acts as a backup, he never intervened the Card Artisan''s job. So he did not know of the specifics of the proper measures.


    "Agreed," Jiang Liang who was sitting straight remained his composure.


    In the battlefield, over 50 people were left and they were all doing the Coaxial Spinning Attack. Five of the Card Artisans who were not used to flying had died while forcing themselves to do this difficult move. To a Card Artisan, forcing himself to do a skill which was out of his capabilities was extremely dangerous.


    However, nobody had the time to sympathize with them. Every single one of the 48 people left were in distress. There was only one idea on their mind, and that was to leave here! Leave this hell!


    As for the Card Artisans watching from afar, they most certainly would not place their tiny sympathies on these Card Artisans. Compared to the previous shock, they were more relaxed now. No one was able to keep calm after seeing the inferno-like situation just now. They all felt the unavoidable despair. Dawei Card Artisan Team''s successful escape from the sea of flames was like a stream of light which had pierced through the dark clouds, brightening their eyes.


    Phew, the watching Card Artisans all sighed in unison. Upon hearing the same sighs that came from nearby, they turned. They could not help but to smile when they saw that everyone was looking at each other in a weird manner too.


    They only thought of one question at that moment. What kind of card would have this kind of power? Why there was not even the slightest sound of wind just now?


    They did not even know what the card''s name was.


    At this moment, they snapped back from their thoughts and realized what the scenario in front of them meant or in other words, how worthy was this news! The situation with the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team had been completely thrown to the back of their minds. The only thought they had was to spread this news out first! This news was worth so much. The thought of the generous reward given to the one who can spread it out with the fastest speed, moved all these Card Artisans.


    The Card Artisans who watched the struggling Dawei Card Artisan Team from afar had the same hunch. However, they fear that their like-minded company would have increased by then.


    The Dawei Card Artisans that finally escaped the flame, looked at each other for one moment. They then all started to flee in different directions.


    The Card Artisans watching from afar commended them in their heads. These Dawei Card Artisans were truly elites, what they did was extremely beautiful. Now, the Snow Silkworm Card Artisans faced a problem. Should they chase after them? How would they chase them? The Dawei Card Artisans were extremely fast. Especially if they are running for their lives, they would do everything they can. Various kinds of retreat tactics would be used.


    The chances to hit them was miniscule from this far range and especially after they had used their retreat tactics. Only Card Artisans who excelled at long range shooting could possibly land a hit. However for Card Artisan Teams, Sniper Card Artisans were rare talents. Having just a few of them in a team would not be hard, but to have more than that would not be easy.


    The remaining Dawei Card Artisans had clearly figured out this point.


    However, things suddenly changed even before the hurrays in their hearts disappeared.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Deep and thunderous sounds were heard abruptly. The deep thunderous sounds continued in quick successions, shaking and upsetting everyone''s heart. Though the loud noises were low, the fact that it could transmit so far had scared all the spectating Card Artisans.


    Dozens of dazzling light beams shattered the sky.


    Whorled Sniper Shuttle!


    Up in the air, all 48 of the Card Artisans who were struggling to carry out their retreat tactics, were as if they were all simultaneously struck from behind with heavy hammers!


    Without any exception, 48 Card Artisans were struck by the abrupt stream of light! Drops of blood bloomed abruptly in the air, as if time was frozen at that moment. The struck body, under the influence of inertia, went across a track and finally smashed on the ground.


    The deep but powerful noise still lingered in everyone''s ears. The faces of these Card Artisans froze as they looked at the empty battlefield absentmindedly.


    Dawei Card Artisan Team was wiped out!


    Sniper Card Artisans, Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team actually had this many Sniper Card Artisan! Just now, 48 Sniper Sniper Card Artisans attacked at the same time! It means that Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team has at least 48 Sniper Card Artisan. This number is just staggeringly high!


    To become a Sniper Card Artisan was very difficult. This point could be predicted based on the amount of them. Every Card Artisan Team would use enormous effort and resources in their attempts to train for more Sniper Card Artisans. But their numbers were still low.


    One of the most important reason for this was that there were too little cards for the Sniper Card Artisans to use.


    Cards for long-range attack, almost constituted all the cards. However, those that were suitable for snipers were extremely rare. First of all, it required a very long shooting range. Secondly, it required incredible accuracy. Thirdly, it required powerful damage output.


    To a Card Master, the hardest part in making this kind of card would be the accuracy. The accuracy needed for a Sniper Card, as compared to normal cards, was to the point that it would make one''s hair stand. This alone could eliminate 95% of Card Masters. At the same time, they had to satisfy two other conditions and this further increased the difficulty by several folds.


    These kinds of cards were very rare, so rare that none could be found on the market. This had also led to the difficulty in training Sniper Card Artisans.


    Also, to control cards with such accuracy, the Perception Control of a Card Artisan must be sky-high. Moreover, the Card Artisan''s Perception Probing Area must be large enough. Unless his or her perception possessed a special quality, the Perception Power of the Card Artisan must be outrageously high in order to accomplish that.


    The mainstream Sniper Card Artisans normally had their Perception Power at Level 6''s mid-tier and above.


    Sniper Card Artisans had a different name: the Advocate of Death. Any target that Sniper Card Artisans had their eyes on would usually end up dead 99% of the time. Sniper Card Artisans was able to shock the expert Card Artisans. Card Artisan Association had surveyed Card Artisans who were above Level 7. When they were asked what kind of Card Artisan they would hate to face, Sniper Card Artisans were at the top of the list with an overwhelming 81.9%.


    It was because of the reputation of Sniper Card Artisans, that these Card Artisans who were watching had had their brain malfunctioned.


    Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team who was renowned for their power in combat, had merely 21 Sniper Card Artisans. The number of Snowflake Card Artisan Team''s Sniper Card Artisans was even less, only 15.


    The result in front of them was evidently only achievable with 48 Sniper Card Artisans.


    48¡­


    From the moment this number appeared in their minds, it startled them. A Card Artisan Team with less than 2000 members. Yet, they had at least 48 Sniper Card Artisans, which means there was one Sniper Card Artisan in around 40 of the Card Artisans.


    What was more chilling was that, out of the 48 persons of Dawei Card Artisan Team, none of them were intact. What was the actual card that the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team Snipers had used? It was but a light beam of the thickness of a thumb, when it hit the enemies, it left not piercing wounds but rather, the wounds formed after being struck were as if by highly explosive energy mass.


    Which also means, the moment one is struck by this horrifying light beam, even if it was not on the weak spot, they would still die!


    Inside the transport shuttle, Bogner looked at the screen. He sighed with a complicated look, "Sniper Card Artisans of the Heavenly Federation live in the same era as Boss. How unlucky are they!"


    Jiang Liang was silent for a while, and said, "They still have the advantages."


    Bogner nodded, "Yes, they do have the advantages. Compared to our card set, they have stronger movement, stronger agility, further shooting range, and hence, a higher possibility in surviving the battlefield. However, they have an undermining weakness, and that is their cost. Their costs are too high!"


    Jiang Liang said nothing, he understood what Bogner meant. Whorled Sniper Shuttle had many advantages other than its own characteristics. Even Chen Mu himself had not realized the importance of these advantages. But how could Bogner and Jiang Liang, who were responsible for the daily training and combat tactics disregard them? The advantage of the Whorled Sniper Shuttle that stood out the most, was the creative Cross Perception Locking. This method of locking had an accuracy that was three times higher than the normal Card Artisan''s Perception Locking.


    These two had mastered the military strategies. They understood clearly how the appearance of Whorled Sniper Shuttle would greatly impact the traditional Sniper Card Artisans!


    This was a battle of old and new technologies. Without knowing it, they had reached the turning point of history. Their moods were slightly contradicting. The old system was deeply rooted in their hearts but they are also going to be the ones who will have to break it¡­


    The others who did not understand militants, were confused by the conversation of these two. But they could also see that the these two were not happy. There was absolute silence in the transport shuttle suddenly.


    After some quiet moments, Bogner sat straight suddenly. His face was grave, the darkish green beard made the structure of his face appear tough and cool. His eyes were deep and keen. He shouted in a deep voice, "This is a command! Assault Formation, full speed! If you see someone trying to stop you, kill! If you see someone trying to harass you, kill!"


    As the word "kill" came out, the temperature in the transport shuttle dropped, everyone could only feel fear in their hearts. This limping uncle was a different person all of a sudden. No one dared to looked at this man''s eyes for it was as if the atrocity and viciousness had materialized in his gaze.


    Color flushed up on Jiang Liang''s, he straightened his back and answered solemnly, "Yes!"


    Right before the eyes of the watching Card Artisans, the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team changed their formation. If just now they were a net that had been thrown out to stop people from escaping, then now they are an unsheathed sword which did not hide its sharpness and murderous aura!


    The sharp unsheathed blade shall only return to its sheath after blood has been shed!

 474 The Fisherman

    As Rong Ming looked at Butchie, who was drenched in a pool of blood, hiss mind was empty. The person in charge of Faya was dead in his own house. According to the style of Faya, he was afraid there was no way he could run away from that situation. After calming down slightly, he walked briskly toward Butchie and leaned over to examine the body in detail. The last hope in him was shattered. Butchie is dead!


    In other words, from now on, troubles will continuously come to him. Faya was always resolute and determined. No one would ever dare to anger those psychos. He never thought trouble would come to him even if he didn''t provoke them.


    Suddenly, he realized something was wrong about the surrounding atmosphere. Raising his head, he saw many people with crimson-red eyes staring at the half-opened wooden box Butchie had exposed on the floor.


    Rong Ming''s heart skipped a beat. Inside that ordinary wooden box was a six-star fantasy card! His heart raced so fast that he almost couldn''t breathe. It was the first time a six-star fantasy card had been that close to him¡ªso close that he would only need to reach out to hold it in his hands. A voice in his head kept screaming, Pick it up! Just pick it up, and it will be yours!


    Suddenly, Rong Ming bit the tip of his tongue viciously. The excruciating pain promptly awakened his mind. When he noticed the red eyes of the surrounding card artisans, he realized he was in an extremely dangerous situation. The hall was now like a powder keg, and even the tiniest spark could make it explode! At that moment, if someone were to act in any way, a messy slaughter would commence immediately. All of those people were one step away from losing their minds.


    Rong Ming ignored the taste of blood in his mouth and said in a deep voice, "Would someone please call in the companion of this lady from outside?"


    Upon hearing there were still people from Faya outside, a sense of fear could be seen instantaneously in everyone''s eyes. Faya was known for its savagery.


    Twenty card artisans solemnly walked in. However, their expressions changed greatly when they saw Butchie drenched in a pool of blood! After a shout, they immediately surrounded Butchie and Rong Ming.


    The head card artisan rushed to Butchie''s body and examined it. A moment later, he stood up, his face filled with murderous intentions. He grinded his teeth and asked, "Who? Who did this?" Although they had all felt the fluctuation of Butchie''s perception while waiting outside, they had been absolutely confident in Butchie''s ability. However, all they saw was Butchie''s corpse when they walked in.


    Rong Ming spoke in a low tone. "She and Caesar''s pupil, the White Commander, honored their ten moves pledge, but¡­" He didn''t finish the sentence.


    "Caesar, the killing god!" the Faya card artisan screamed. His face filled with horror. He''d never thought Caesar would be tied to that situation! However, he quickly relaxed and shook his head. "If it had been Caesar himself, I feel it would still be possible to have killed Butchie with ten of his moves. But for Caesar''s pupil to kill her within ten moves? I don''t believe it!"


    Rong Ming said gravely, "We all saw it with our own eyes."


    The Faya card artisan saw Rong Ming''s calm expression and then looked at the others. He understood it was the truth. The wickedness showing on his face deepened. "Is the White Commander here?"


    "He already left."


    Though Rong Ming had always been afraid of Faya, he wasn''t scared of those 20 normal Faya card artisans. He was only worried about one thing and couldn''t help but remind them, "Please do check if anything that has been left by your captain is still here."


    The expression of the card artisan in charge immediately changed upon hearing that. He swiftly leaned over to Butchie''s body and found the wooden box. When he opened it and saw that the six-star card was still there, he let out a deep sigh of relief. However, his heart sank as he noticed the greedy looks of the people surrounding him.


    "Let''s go!" He wrapped the wooden box in his arms and signaled his companions.


    One of the card artisans picked up Butchie''s corpse and carried it on his shoulder. The rest of them encircled the card artisan who had the wooden box to protect him. Then, they walked out the door slowly.


    Rong Ming sighed in great relief. The problem was finally settled. Asking the Faya card artisan to check the wooden box had been to show everyone he hadn''t touched it. That was to avoid being involved in troubles with them in the future. As he glimpsed his daughter amongst the crowd, the look on his face became gentler.


    The moment the Faya card artisans left, the guests started to do the same.


    There was no change on Rong Ming''s face as he inwardly laughed in contempt. These fools. I don''t know how many will die tonight. He knew clearly what those fools had in mind. Those Faya card artisans'' journey from the moment they left his home until they reached their station would probably be colored red by fresh blood!


    However, that didn''t matter to him. What he wanted was just to spend time with his daughter. Someone had died at his daughter''s birthday party, he was concerned that she was scared. When he moved over to her, though, he saw that Tan Yumin was beside his daughter, and a group of card artisans had encircled the two protectively.


    Rong Ming immediately calmed down. He walked toward Tan Yumin and said, "Thank you very much, Miss Tan!" After thanking her, he gave an apologetic smile to his daughter. "I never thought so many things would happen tonight. Honey, I hope you weren''t scared!"


    His daughter took his arm and shook her head. "Dad, I''m not scared!"


    Rong Ming laughed. "Ha ha! You truly are my daughter!"


    "I don''t know how many people are going to die here tonight." Sadness showed momentarily in Tan Yumin''s eyes.


    Rong Ming''s face was grave as he consoled her. "Miss Tan, you don''t have to be sorry about all these greedy people who have lost their minds. It''s not worth it!"


    "Okay." She raised her head suddenly. "It seems like the White Commander was also injured."


    "His injury was not severe," Rong Ming said. He soon after lamented, "I had no idea the White Commander was that strong! With a mere ordinary card, he destroyed the Floating Wings of Blue Ice within ten strikes. That was impressive. If even Caesar''s pupil is that strong, I am looking forward to what Caesar himself can do!"


    Tan Yumin said nothing. She kept her head low, and it seemed like she was thinking.


    As the 20 card artisans from Faya exited the gate of Rong Ming''s main hall, they became anxious.


    "Beware, everyone. This trip is dangerous. We need to get back to the station with the fastest speed," the head card artisan said gravely.


    "Yes!" Their hearts were stern. They increased their speed to the maximum, as they had no intention to delay their journey. They soon discovered the silhouettes of people behind them, and it made them even more nervous. They understood clearly what those people were after. There would be no way to survive if they were caught.


    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu! A few energy shuttles passed by and brushed the tops of their heads. When the head card artisan saw some preparing to retaliate, he quickly shouted, "Don''t fire back! Fly at full speed!"


    As the attack increased, three card artisans were hit. One injured, two dead. The head card artisan said nervously, "Attention, team! Fly at low altitude to avoid the attacks!"


    They lowered their altitude. With the cover of the buildings beside them, they weren''t as stressed as they had been.


    "Come one, everyone. We will reach the station in five minutes!" the head card artisan shouted. The rest of them had their spirits lifted upon hearing that.


    At that moment, a shadow came out from the dark and got inside the group of card artisans like a sharp arrow. The head card artisan''s sight was blurred, and a punch landed on his face. Pow! The rest of the card artisans saw a horrifying image. The face of that card artisan had been curved inward by the punch, distorting his face!


    The rest of the card artisans were both shocked and angry, but the shadow darted away and disappeared into the shadow of a building. Everything had happened in the blink of an eye, and none of them had been able to react. What startled them most was that they hadn''t even seen the attacker''s face.


    "Oh, no! The wooden box is missing!" a card artisan with good eyesight shouted.


    At that moment, thunderous roars could be heard from behind them.


    "Kill them! They have the six-star card!"


    "Stop running! Leave the card!"


    Innumerable energy masses were fired toward them! The rest of the Faya card artisans looked at each other and knew they would soon be dead. Faya had a harsh structure; even if they could return safely, they would face terrible consequences. It was better to die there because their families would be protected and raised by the organization. They launched insane attacks at those chasing card artisans!


    * * *


    Chen Mu didn''t know what had happened after he''d left. His face looked terrible, and fresh blood was coursing down his body. He looked like a person made out of blood. He didn''t dare to stay there since there was no knowing what would happen next. He would have no way to resist if he faced danger in his condition.


    When he dragged his unsteady body back to the building, everyone was stunned. Xiaobo and Sang Hanshui were the first to rush toward Chen Mu and supported him carefully.


    "Boss, what happened?" Xiaobo asked in a low voice. There was an overwhelming and suppressing viciousness in his words. Sang Hanshui said nothing, but his triangular eyes were angry. He looked like a poisonous snake ready to strike.


    Chen Mu forced his mouth to open and said with a hoarse voice, "I killed a card artisan from Faya."


    "Faya!" Xiaobo looked shocked.


    The two of them carefully put Chen Mu inside the medical instrument. Right when they put him in, the liquid nutrients inside the instrument were dyed red. Little Bu Mo looked at Chen Mu with his red and swollen eyes, his tiny fists crackling.


    "Whom did you kill?" Qiu Shanyu asked suddenly. Her question immediately provoked the attention of the other three, their gazes full of hatred.


    With the blood-red liquid nutrients flowing, Chen Mu smirked suddenly and said, "Butchie!" With satisfaction written all over his face, didn''t care about Qiu Shanyu''s shocked look. Although he looked terrible, all of the injuries were external. He would soon recover with the help of the medical instrument.


    "Butchie! You killed Butchie!" Qiu Shanyu mumbled to herself mindlessly, "How could you have possibly killed Butchie?"


    Chen Mu was too lazy to argue with her. He ordered Xiaobo and Sang Hanshui, "You two have to be careful. Faya will be here in roughly two days."


    "No worries, Boss!" Sang Hanshui answered, mimicking Xiaobo. He said wickedly, "I will blast whomever who comes here for trouble into pieces!"


    Xiaobo''s expression returned to normal. A charming smile appeared on his handsome face. "Yes, I hope there will be more of them. Battle is one of the most important meanings of life!"


    Little Bu Mo raised and shook his tiny fists and said in all seriousness, "Beat the crap out of them!"


    At that moment, Wei-ah opened the door and walked toward Chen Mu. "Is there any use to this card?" he asked.


    He opened his hand to reveal a sheer black card. In the bottom right corner of the card were six stars that were as shiny as the stars in a dark sky.

 475 Choices that Cannot Be Understood

    Ah Zhe of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team was staring at the screen. His handsome face was so pale that it didn''t even have the slightest pink tinge to it. That was the ninth time he had watched it! But he still couldn''t stop himself from being shocked every time! The Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Frim was horrifyingly strong, which was something he had never expected.


    They had made a wrong choice; there was no doubt about it! It was a great loss for them to have actively abandoned an ally with that kind of power. The strength of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm was well above their estimation. That had led to them making the wrong decision when they had been strategizing.


    The video was showing a huge sea of flames spreading across the sky and eye-piercingly bright light beams. There was also a continuous howling that was both deep and weird. Everytime he heard it, his heart couldn''t help but waver. If they could possess those kinds of cards and all those sniper card artisans¡­


    When will Big Brother come out? He nervously looked at the locked door of the training room. Mobley had cut off every connection to the outside world for his special training. The training room was completely locked. Unless it was opened from the inside or if someone was to open the door by force, they wouldn''t be able to contact Mobley. Aside from carrying a whole box of power cards and his own battle cards, as well as food and water for him and Qing Qing, Mobley had brought nothing else in.


    Within such a short time, that video had been spread among all of the large forces. It even got the attention of the militants. When faced with that flame, which was both overwhelming and possessed such a weird characteristic, the first thought of everyone watching the video was what they would do if they themselves were facing that horrifying sea of flames. The Coaxial Self-Spinning Impact was not a technique known by every card artisan.


    Inside every group, leaders who were familiar with military activities and excelled at giving commands immediately realized that card could unleash an astounding force during large-scale combats. The difference between large-scale combats and the normal battles card artisans had was enormous. As the world had become corroded and as forces had formed in every land, large-scale combats had increased gradually. At that time, personal power during large-scale combats would be negligible, except for people like Tang Hanpei and Caesar, who were considered as peerless in their strength.


    Were the 48 sniper card artisans all the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm had? How many more were there? Also, where had those card artisans come from? One scary guess raised in some people''s minds¡ªhad the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm already mastered the large-scale method of training sniper card artisans? Nobody was worried about Dawei Card Artisan Team being wiped out; everyone had their mind on only those questions. Things had instantly become complicated.


    A large team of card artisans flew at high speed through the sky in high spirits. Those 3,000 people were the notorious Blood Hammer Troop of the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team!


    Every card artisan had an energy cloak over their head. Three thousand energy cloaks of different colors flew across the sky with howls, attracting everyone''s attention.


    A soft voice could be heard from a purplish-red energy cloak. "Come on! Traveling on a freezing day like this is what I hate most. It''s no good for the skin!" The one who had spoken was the deputy captain of the Blood Hammer Troop, Shi Fengfei. The combination of purplish-red combat suit, ample bosom, and tightened waist was mouth-watering. Her tempting red lips and smoky, deep blue eyes were extremely attractive.


    "Stop speaking nonsense!" Wu Yan was irritated. His body was huge; even his energy cloak was slightly larger than that of the other card artisans, making it eye-catching. A scar in the shape of a pound sign would shock anyone who saw it and also made him look murderous.


    "What I say is true! Little Yan, my skin is a lot smoother than your stone face!" Shi Fengfei looked insulted. She touched her cheeks lightly with her purplish-red nails.


    "Stop speaking nonsense!" The veins on Wu Yan''s forehead twitched as he forced those three words from his mouth.


    Beside them, Qi Li and Wang Yong were watching them respectfully. They tried carefully to keep a certain distance from those two.


    "If my skin becomes less elastic, nobody will marry me!" Shi Fengfei said with sadness on her face, her deep blue eyes almost crying. "Little Yan, you need to make it up to me!"


    "Stop speaking nonsense!" Wu Yan again forced those three words from between his teeth without opening his mouth. Violence was slightly showing through his pound-sign-shaped scar. Even the air surrounding him was unstable.


    Qi Li and Wang Yong looked at each other and disappeared instantaneously from beside them. Whoosh. The other card artisans, who were obviously also experienced, disappeared abruptly. In the blink of an eye, nobody was seen within 200 meters of Wu Yan and Shi Fengfei.


    "I am telling you to stop speaking nonsense!" Wu Yan could no longer hold his anger, and his every hair stood straight. The scar on his face was unleashed like a monster, and its murderous aura was moving unhindered!


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Successive explosions started suddenly in midair, their shockwaves shaking some of the team members.


    "Oh! Little Yan is amazing! I adore you very much! I will come find you tonight¡­" The sound of Shi Fengfei''s bewitching voice could be heard amidst the explosions, giving chills to everyone nearby. As if avoiding a snake and a scorpion, they got even farther away from the two.


    Wang Yong, who was watching them fight from afar, said in awe, "Deputy Captain sure is scary!" As the third biggest man in the unit, he had even more experience than the captain and deputy captain, and those experiences were as old as the wrinkles on his face.


    Qi Li agreed with a whistle, "Not even the captain can handle her. I really don''t know who in this world can."


    "However, if this goes on, our progress will be considerably slowed down!" Wang Yong said worriedly. "The team leader requested us to take down the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm as quickly as possible." Time had left its profound marks on his body. The wrinkles on his face were more obvious when he raised his eyebrows.


    Qi Li put both of his hands into his pockets and said lazily, "Do you know a way to stop them?" He was wearing the silver headband of the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team but wasn''t wearing the standardized combat suit. Instead, he was wearing a black T-shirt and a pair of ordinary jeans. In that group of card artisans, he was annoying to look at.


    Wang Yong''s smile became wryer, but the look on his face had also turned grave. "I''ve studied the video in which the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm wiped out the Dawei Card Artisan Team. Our opponents are very strong!"


    Qi Li had all of his attention on the captains, who were enjoying their fight. He said nonchalantly, "Of course. If they weren''t, we wouldn''t need to take action!"


    "The odds are against us. I just got intel that some of the small card artisan teams that had surrendered to us suddenly cancelled their contracts with us. Instead, they started to establish connections with the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm." The wrinkles on Wang Yong''s face deepened.


    Qi Li stopped looking at the two fighting, and his nonchalant face became startled. "Are those guys tired of living?"


    Wang Yong''s worried look wasn''t subsiding. "You saw the video. It would be abnormal if no group was planning something behind our backs."


    "Oh. We just have to take down the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm before they make a move, then." Qi Li raised his head and returned to his nonchalant expression. He then looked at the two fighting captains and stretched. "We should go first. With Captain''s and Deputy Captain''s speed, it should be easy for them to catch up to us."


    "True," Wang Yong agreed. "Everyone, let''s continue onward!"


    * * *


    At Moon Frost Island, Bai Yue was in awe. "Did the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm decline it?"


    "Yes. They not only declined us, but all of the other forces, as well, including the militants." The reporting card artisan was confused.


    "What are they trying to do?" Suspicion flashed through Bai Yue''s eyes. The technology the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm owned was something every single force wanted desperately. Moon Frost Island was no exception. Therefore, the second Bai Yue received the news, she had decided to establish a connection with the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm in every possible way.


    To her, the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm was undoubtedly at a dead end. Even if they did control the weapons, they wouldn''t be able to go against the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team. Her prediction was that the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm would agree to Moon Frost Island''s offer if the latter slightly showed its intention to make an offer. The militants worried her most. It would be hard to tell who would win if the militants decided to compete with them.


    The Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm''s move had been unexpected. They had declined everyone''s offer, Moon Frost Island''s and the militants'' included. Were they that confident in their abilities to defeat the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team? Did they not understand it would be extremely difficult for them to run away from the fate of being bombarded by everybody else even if they did defeat the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team?


    Instead, forming allies with Moon Frost Island or the militants should have been the most tempting decision. But why had the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm declined to do so? Was their leader so foolish that he couldn''t see what the situation was?


    The same conversation occurred in the leaders'' offices of many other forces. No one was able to understand what the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm was planning. Somebody believed the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm thought the offers weren''t good enough. However, they had never even mentioned anything about an offer.


    I don''t understand! I truly do not understand! Innumerable people shook their heads. All of their attention, without exception, was fixed on every occurrence in that remote sector. They were curious. What is the next move of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm?


    The Pascal District was so remote that it limited the power of local forces. Under those circumstances, they couldn''t fight the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team for it.


    Just when everyone had their eyes on the Pascal District, another shocking piece of news came out. The pupil of Caesar, the killing god, had appeared!


    The news immediately became the hottest topic. Just the phrase "Caesar, the killing god" was enough to trigger the nightmarish memories of many card artisans. His pupil was much like Caesar had been during his prime. Within ten moves, his pupil had killed a high-level Faya card artisan who had been using the Floating Wings of Blue Ice. It had shocked the world! On top of that, the mysterious disappearance of the six-star card Eternal Night had been bewildering. With the addition of the invasion of Faya''s station by Qiao Yuan and the mysterious cardless sects ace, that series of incidents had instantly gained everyone''s attention in Dongrui.


    Qiao Yuan; the mysterious cardless sect ace; the disciple of Caesar, the killing god; Tan Yumin under the countless halos; Mei Ji, the master of Star Academy; the six-star card Eternal Night¡­


    Any of those names was enough to intrigue anyone!

 476 A Melee in the Night I

    Chen Mu was soaking in the healing liquid, having already learned of Bogner and the rest fighting with the Dawei Card Artisan Team. Although he was very confident in Bogner, he still couldn''t help being a little concerned. Especially since there was then a lack of aces on the team. Neither he nor Wei-ah were there ¨C in addition to Xiaobo ¨C and once they encountered an ace assassin from their adversary, Bogner and the rest would be in danger. That was what he was most worried about, since even very large numbers of card artisans couldn''t solve every problem.


    But he couldn''t fly to their side just then and could only look on and worry about them. That was just an awful feeling!


    Worrying about Bogner and the rest even made Chen Mu lose any interest in looking at that six-star card, The Eternal Night.


    The situation in Dongrui was extremely delicate.


    Tai-shu Yong came once but didn''t get into the training room and was sent off. The state of alert in the building quickly became extremely strict, and after Tai-shu Yong returned to the Garden Above the Center, the first thing he did was to send a large number of additional card artisans to protect Chen Mu. He didn''t have any other way out just then, and he didn''t dare have any other ideas, especially after finding out that Chen Mu was Caesars'' student. He kept discreetly silent about Chen Mu''s other identity as Qiao Yuan.


    The killing god Caesar flaunted all the rules, looking at people''s lives as though they were synonymous with grass!


    He had originally thought about sending Connelly over, but that was rejected by Chen Mu.


    Tai-shu Cheng simply let all of his personnel take some time off. As to when they would start working again, that would depend on the situation. The building had become empty very quickly and increasingly cold and gloomy in the night.


    Dozens of figures were slipping silently through the night and getting closer to the building with shocking speed.


    "It really is a charming night!" Xiaobo sighed with an intoxicated look, his silvery hair wafting even without any wind, while the Orderly Wave Wheel was glowing as it spun suspended behind his back, extremely eye-catching in the dark.


    Sang Hanshui had a look of contempt, "Show-off!" That pair of triangular eyes flashed in the dark with a chilling glow, like a deadly snake lying in wait for its prey.


    Rafael was in good spirits, being responsible for sentry duty that night. When the news that the White Commander was actually the student of Caesar got to them, it was so shocking that they couldn''t speak. They had done a lot of speculation about where the White Commander came from, but the truth was so much more outrageous than what they had imagined that it seemed inconceivable.


    But after the initial shock, they were all thrilled. To be able to serve under such a powerful figure was such an honor! When it came to the White Commander killing a powerful enemy in ten moves, that was now nothing out of the ordinary in their eyes.


    Rafael was increasingly thankful that he hadn''t been lazy those last few days. Previously, he wasn''t the strongest among the card artisans under Tai-shu Cheng, but he had been the only card artisan who had completed the entire training program. The White Commander''s training program had many layers, and he didn''t require that they complete them all. Apart from a third of them which were mandatory, the rest were all elective subjects. The difficulty of the mandatory program was so high, and the volume of training was so huge, that it already made most of the card artisans complain incessantly.


    No one knew that he had already completed all of the training subjects. That would be utterly impossible in the eyes of those card artisans. Rafael hadn''t said anything about it to anyone. Unlike the other card artisans, he keenly found that those training subjects were very methodically arranged, so that he concluded after studying them that if he could complete all of the training subjects, then his strength would certainly go up by several grades.


    His desire for strength made him do his best to complete all of the training subjects.


    By the time he completed them all, the results proved that his speculation had been correct! His strength had made a rapid advance, far beyond the rest of the card artisans.


    Unlike the others, although he had also secretly speculated about the background of the White Commander, most of his speculation had started with that set of scientific training subjects. The person who could draw-up such a training program was absolutely not a simple figure. He had always doubted that the White Commander was a military person.


    The improvements to his strength didn''t cause him to get carried away, but on the contrary, his daily training and work grew increasingly meticulous.


    For example, on sentry, while the rest of the card artisans had pumped up their spirits, and didn''t dare to slack off, they were actually already drowsy. But he was as alert as a night cat, sweeping very carefully and attentively with his perception so that he could perceive every last inch of space.


    Suddenly, he felt something unusual in the flow of the air off the side! There wasn''t the least breath of wind there! All of the hairs on his body stood on end, as he suddenly called out, "Enemy attack!" At just about the same time, a powerful sense of danger arose in him, and rolled sharply forward without daring to hesitate.


    There was a jeering sound.


    Two lines of blood surfaced on the necks of the two card artisans to his side, their expressions horrified as they rubbed their necks; not able to make a sound from their mouths! Blood was gushing like a fountain in desperate spurts from between their fingers before the two crashed to the ground.


    "Yikes!"


    In the empty corridor there was a light gasp of surprise, as though he were stunned that Rafael could dodge the sneak attack.


    In that moment, Rafael had determined that his adversary was far more powerful than he was! He didn''t even have any way to discover his adversary''s attack, and it was obvious how big the gap was with the other two. The powerful nervousness made his heart race so fast that it nearly leapt out, while the sweat was flowing down from his brow.


    The energy was surging out from his apparatus, and the energy fluctuations in the air had become utterly shocking. He didn''t hold back in the least, that being his first full powered shot since completing all the training subjects!


    "That''s all you''ve got?" That fleeting voice had contempt from the dark.


    Rafael put his hands over his head as his every move and all the energy fluctuations in the air all showed that what would follow would be his strongest blow! He suddenly closed his eyes, and at nearly the same time, a dazzling glowing ball lit up on his hands! It was as though the sun had suddenly risen. That eye-piercing glowing ball lit up the entire corridor snow-bright.


    A stifled grunt entered his ears. Rafael was overjoyed that his tactic had worked. He knew how far his strength was from that of his adversary, and in any normal situation he wouldn''t have had the least chance to win. But he basically didn''t have any intention of fighting head-on with his adversary. He only needed to delay his adversary a little. The hit man and that man wearing his new daisy mask were upstairs, and he only had to delay for a moment before they could come.


    So, he used all of his energy and perception to cause a kind of illusion in his adversary that he was about to risk his own life with the blow. And then he used that energy to make a glowing ball which would put out a lot of light without any lethal qualities at all. There was no doubt that that he had used all of his perception and energy to make the energy glow so bright that it was amazing. Since he had closed his eyes, the only thing he could perceive was a sheet of snowy white.


    For someone used to the dark, that kind of brightness caused huge injuries. That groan just then was enough to prove that his adversary had been damaged. A sense of weakness was transmitted, and Rafael smiled bitterly that he didn''t have the least bit of strength to fight back.


    "Not bad, kid!" A familiar voice came to him, and Rafael raised his head in joy to see a hideous general''s mask reflected in his field of view. He immediately calmed down. If he were to say that the White Commander''s strength was in his inscrutable speech, then the hit man''s strength was something that they had all experienced themselves.


    Sang Hanshui was standing in front of Rafael, as he said darkly, "Come out you damned deceiver!"


    "Oh, then you''re the hit man?" A cold voice wafted erratically. He seemed rather familiar with who Sang Hanshui was.


    Sang Hanshui closed his eyes and quickly stretched out his right hand flat, as a shrill note sounded out, and a glowing ball left his hand and went crashing onto the wall!


    Hong!


    The entire wall was suddenly pulverized, as countless pieces of gravel blew apart!


    Rafael was looking at the hit man in horror! He had never thought that the hit man was actually that crazy to directly open fire in the building! By the time the dust settled, a six- or seven-meter diameter hole was blown not only directly the through wall, but through the room behind the wall. He could see the mess inside the room downstairs!


    A look of violence flashed through Sang Hanshui''s eyes, and without saying anything else, he raised his hand and released another series of blasts!


    Hong Hong Hong Just as the dense explosions sounded out, then entire floor was suddenly crushed, with dust everywhere, and shards splashing all over! A vague figure was barely visible in the dust, and Sang Hangshui''s triangular eyes glinted cold before dying out. The bombs in his hand trailed sharp whistles as they went roaring toward his adversary!


    The bombs were like shooting stars, pounding like the rain!


    Ten floors above where Sang Hanshui was fighting, Xiaobo was in the midst of a confrontation with a person who also wore a mask. It was a wooden mask without expression, and his adversary''s figure looked thin and weak, like a refugee in a famine. The skin that was showing was dry and withered, and formed into wrinkles.


    "That guy is really violent!" Xiaobo muttered as he felt the shocks coming through the floor. His gaze didn''t leave that dried-up man, his adversary having given him an extremely dangerous feeling.


    "There''s no moon tonight. I never thought that your eminence would still be interested to come out for a walk. So refined!" Xaiobo''s voice was soft and had a bit of magnetism to it.


    His adversary remained silent as though he hadn''t heard, and then suddenly disappeared from where he had been, and re-appeared behind Xiaobo, where a glowing energy spear suddenly showed up in his hands!


    The spear turned around and went stabbing toward Xiaobo''s back in a flash!


    "Why do people these days have such little patience?" A sigh suddenly sounded in the dried-up skinny man''s ears, and something weird flashed in his eyes. Without knowing when, Xiaobo had appeared right beside him!


    An identical Orderly Wave Wheel to the one behind him appeared in front of him. But that Orderly Wave Wheel was suspended erect in midair, but this one was horizontal like a glowing chopper.


    The dry thin man''s reaction was very fast, and that ramrod straight spear''s tip suddenly bent, and became as soft and free as a snake, and then the spear suddenly stretched!


    Ding!


    The spear tip accurately hit the Orderly Wave Wheel, which blew into shreds in the air!


    The two of them were both shocked, and they retreated backwards in unison, to create more distance between them.


    The dry skinny man''s eyes which were like still old wells finally showed a rare hint of movement, as he stared fixedly at the small Orderly Wave Wheel floating in front of Xiaobo. And Xiaobo finally saw that glowing spear clearly, with it''s red staff like red-hot molten iron. The most inconceivable thing was that the staff of the spear seemed to be wriggling uneasily in his hand, which gave the illusion that what he was holding onto wasn''t a glowing spear but was like a living snake.


    It was incredibly weird!


    Xiaobo''s handsome face suddenly flushed red under the mask, and those two peach-blossom eyes looked like they were about to drip water. His body was trembling almost imperceptibly.


    To be able to encounter such a powerful adversary in the first battle after his breakthrough ¨C what could be more exciting than that?

 477 A Melee in the Night II

    It was chaos in the building, with groups of card artisans fighting everywhere. It wasn''t a small number of card artisans participating in that evening''s attacks. If there weren''t 10,000, there were at least 800 who had died by Caesar''s hands that year, and innumerable people felt enmity toward him. If the White Commander were completely whole, many wouldn''t have dared to be so blatantly open about it. But the White Commander had been seriously injured, which had created a rare opportunity in the eyes of many! Some were coming for revenge, some were taking advantage of the mess, and some had plans¡­


    The card artisans in the building were constantly being attacked from unknown sources. Still, it was fortunate that Tai-shu Yong had sent his elite forces. Although the situation wasn''t good, they could at least hold them off.


    In the chaotic battle scene, no one was paying attention to the figure of a tall and large stalwart who took advantage of the melee to quietly enter the building! With his curly hair and sinister gaze, he was none other than Si Dongkou, who had been sent to Dongrui only a short time before. As far as the others were concerned, Caesar was mostly a legend. For anyone who came from the Federation Comprehensive Academy, however, Caesar represented something far beyond that.


    After finding out the White Commander was Caesar''s student, he had reported it to Tang Hanpei in the first instant. That had also been the first time he had reported to Tang Hanpei since entering the Heavenly Drum Village District. He had been reviewing what the great Tang Hanpei had said when he reported that news for the past few days.


    "Oh, Caesar''s student?" On the screen, Tang Hanpei closed his eyes, and his expression turned serious. "Caesar took a student? Where did you get this news?"


    "I just got it. During the birthday banquet for the daughter of the chief of the Dongrui Guards Division, Rong Ming, a card artisan from Faya suddenly showed up. She brought a six-star card, the Eternal Night, as a reward for the woman who had gone missing during that period. At the same time, she suspected that the White Commander wearing the mask could be Qiao Yuan and demanded that he take off his mask. Afterward, it was Miss Tan Yumin who revealed the identity of the White Commander, calling him Caesar''s student!"


    Tang Hanpei suddenly sat up straight. "Tan Yumin said that?"


    Not quite understanding why Tang Hanpei would be at such a loss, he still respectfully nodded. "Indeed. Miss Tan Yumin said it herself."


    Tang Hanpei looked thoughtful and serious. He then raised his head after a while to ask, "And, then?"


    "The card artisan from Faya shrank back a little when the White Commander proposed a pact for ten moves. Within ten moves, the White Commander killed her. In addition, she was using the Floating Wings of Blue Ice, and the White Commander was using what should have been an ordinary four-star card. But the White Commander was also heavily wounded."


    Tang Hanpei nodded. "Under State Zero, Caesar could freely use any card, so that isn''t so strange."


    "State Zero?" It was the first time Si Dongkou had heard that term, and he asked without thinking, "Wasn''t Caesar good at the Materials Refinement Code, Master?"


    "State Zero was born from the Materials Refinement Code, and Caesar certainly had brilliant talent. Not only was he able to find out how to drill the Materials Refinement Code, but he was also able to create such a magical battle skill as State Zero. He is a top-notch figure in the history of the federation!" Tang Hanpei didn''t hide his admiration in the least.


    Si Dongkou opened his mouth to speak. "But Caesar¡­"


    Tang Hanpei waved his hand to cut him off. "Although he is our enemy, he is truly worthy of our respect."


    "Yes, sir!"


    "Put down what you are doing, and put all of your energy into this matter! Have Yi Rou and Fang Han come immediately to your assistance. In addition, you may allocate all of the powers in the Heavenly Drum Village District," Tang Hanpei said in a low voice.


    "Yes, sir!" Si Dongkou responded in awe.


    Tang Hanpei was speaking slowly. "Caesar is the mortal enemy of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, and I don''t need to say any more about that. But, apart from that, you should pay attention to the White Commander; he might have something on him."


    Si Dongkou was jolted to hear that. Something? Could it be how to drill the Materials Refinement Code? Or, could it be something about that State Zero?


    Taking a look at Si Dongkou, Tang Hanpei seemed to detect something and shook his head. "I''m not talking about the Materials Refinement Code. We have countless legacies at the Federation Comprehensive Academy. While the Materials Refinement Code is certainly amazing, there are several legacies on the same level. What I''m talking about is a notebook."


    "Notebook?" Si Dongkou was taken aback.


    "It could also be a card. On it are recorded all sorts of card appliances. Tan Yumin has some of it, and Caesar could possibly also have some. Caesar''s violent nature meant he couldn''t have many successors. This White Commander is probably his only successor. If that''s the case, part of the thing is quite possibly in the hands of the White Commander. We need to find a way to get it!" There was a cold flash in Tang Hanpei''s eyes, which were as deep as the Milky Way.


    Si Dongkou hesitated before saying, "Since Tan Yumin has part of it, we¡­"


    Tang Hanpei shook his head. "Don''t touch Tan Yumin. The powers behind her aren''t as simple as you might imagine. It''s not only Mei Ji. Moreover, Faya stole a volume from her hands that year, and what she has is incomplete by now."


    "Faya stole it from her hands¡­" Si Dongkou''s eyes widened in disbelief.


    Tang Hanpei''s gaze deepened. "Right. The battle shuttle car is what they learned from that volume of the notebook."


    Si Dongkou remembered. He was unable to move, as though he had been struck by lightning. He still couldn''t quite believe it. Still, he didn''t ask for more detail. He couldn''t ask the great Tang Hanpei how he had found out about it. He had complete confidence in what Tang Hanpei had to say. It wasn''t only him; in the current Federation Comprehensive Academy, no one would question a decision from Tang Hanpei.


    He had originally planned to await the arrival of Yi Rou and Fang Han. Fang Han was the best at planning among the three of them, but he hadn''t realized there would have been such a turn of events at the banquet. After thinking about it, he decided to take advantage of the mess. Of course, he couldn''t let such a one-in-a-thousand opportunity go by. He had plenty of confidence in his own abilities, and the only one he was afraid of in that building was the White Commander. But the White Commander was then seriously injured, and it was a golden opportunity with so many people attacking.


    The incident had been so sudden that he hadn''t had time to buy nighttime gear, leaving him no choice but to sneak in. Huge explosions shook the building from time to time, making people constantly afraid it would come crashing down. Such fierce attacks made Si Dongkou feel abruptly worried that if someone were faster than he was, things would get bad.


    The energy system in the building had long since become paralyzed, and it was pitch-black everywhere. All sorts and colors of energy bodies could be seen occasionally whistling past the windows. Sometimes, energy bodies would shoot through the outer walls, creating some trouble for Si Dongkou.


    Carefully avoiding where the fiercest explosions were happening, he was still muttering to himself that he didn''t know which card artisan would be using such violent firepower. It was absolutely up to military standards for heavy fire! Having been mixed up with the military for so long, he was clear about how scary that heavy artillery was. He really didn''t want to deal with that sort of card artisan.


    It was completely empty in the building, with nearly all of the card artisans having been drawn by fire from outside. That was extremely convenient for Si Dongkou. He only had to pass through that corridor, and he would be at the White Commander''s training room! He had earlier heard where that training room was. It was strangely smooth moving along that way, which filled him with secret pleasure.


    "Who goes there?"


    Si Dongkou was suddenly startled by a light call. A small figure calmly stood at the other end of the long corridor like a stone. By virtue of the occasional glare from one of the energy bodies flashing by, he could vaguely make out the enemy in front of him. It was a child!


    The child was not quite as tall as Si Dongkou''s chest and was wearing a monkey mask¡ªa cute, cartoonish monkey! The child was standing his ground calmly. If it hadn''t been for the energy bodies flitting by, he doubted he could have even discovered his adversary.


    A child? According to the intelligence he had gotten about the White Commander, there were always five people by his side. One was called the Hit Man, one was called the Black Ghost, and one was called the Little Monkey. Those three were the ones who''d shown up earliest at the side of the White Commander. Two others had followed. The Sunflower was a woman, and the Chrysanthemum was a man, the two having appeared at about the same time.


    According to the current intelligence, among those five, the most capable was likely the Hit Man since he was responsible for training the card artisans. The other four were reclusive and seldom seen.


    The Little Monkey was obviously a child, and Si Dongkou determined that he probably wasn''t even 15. He had a skinny, weak figure and gave off no feeling of strength. He reckoned it was because of his age that he still hadn''t developed all of his hair. Could he really be thinking of stopping me? Si Dongkou sneered. A 14- or 15-year-old was in front of him. Given his skinny figure, he was such a weakling that Si Dongkou felt he would collapse with a pop with just a flick of his hand. It was really too cruel!


    He unconsciously licked his lips, and his expression turned hideous. The two of them were about 15 meters apart in the long corridor.


    Then, Si Dongkou suddenly felt like something was a little off.


    Little Bu Mo was calmly watching him. Unlike Si Dongkou, who had to use the glow from the passing energy bodies to be able to see clearly, he could see everything in front of him effortlessly. Even in the aspect of eyesight, card artisans couldn''t compare with the cardless sects.


    He also saw the evil grin on Si Dongkou''s face clearly, but the strange thing was that he wasn''t the least bit afraid. His gaze was serious. That bastard in front of him was intending to attack Blockhead! No one had told him that, but that didn''t prevent him from making such a determination!


    Every time Blockhead and Wei-ah would go out for some activity, he would have to stay behind in the training room since he was told he didn''t have enough strength. So, he would desperately train. Wei-ah had developed each of the trainings, and he would complete them all. He would actually complete extras, never slacking off in the least. He was never afraid of being wounded when he was sparring with Wei-ah.


    It had all been for something just like that day, when he could help Blockhead and Wei-ah instead of looking on from the sidelines. He didn''t like to talk, but he couldn''t take being unable to help. He wanted to prove to Blockhead and Wei-ah that he could be useful! In his mind, Blockhead and Wei-ah were both truly good people. Wei-ah would teach him to fight, and Blockhead would discuss a lot of things with him that he had never heard.


    He suddenly clenched his small fists and relaxed his upper body, taking a light swing back with his left foot. With his body tilted slightly forward, his whole person was like a slowly stretched-open bow.


    Bu Mo raised his little head and tightly pursed his lips, his black eyes burning like two balls of black fire. They were burning with a simple conviction¡ªto defeat him!

 478 A Melee in the Night III

    Sang Hanshui floated in mid-air. Centred on him, nothing could be seen within twenty metres of diameter.


    With the Hitman as the focal point, all buildings within twenty metres of diameter were all bombarded and destroyed by him as dust and smoke flew up in the sky. It was as if a perfect sphere had been carved out from inside the building, with the broken parts of the building levels burnt black and giving off smoke.


    Rafael looked at Sang Hanshui in mid-air in fear with an idle stare and rigid expression as sweat dripped down from his forehead without him even realising it. In his eyes, it was as if the mask that depicted an ancient fighter and suddenly been given life, with a blood-soaked weapon in hand and an aura of death ¨C a spawn from hell.


    "A card artisan assassin? Seems like you are under Faya''s orders," said Sang Hanshui coldly as he stood in mid-air, proud and arrogant. In his right hand held an explosive projectile that covered fifteen metres diameter worth of range ¨C this projectile was three times bigger than the previous one, displaying a dark red color, looking like a dark red light egg.


    The surrounding was silent, with an occasional sound a broken boulders falling.


    "It was initially more suitable for that attention-seeker to deal with a coward like you ¨C I have no interest," Sang Hanshui''s voice became even more chilling as the triangular eyes on his mask displayed snake-like focus. "However, since you are one of Faya''s men, then die!"


    He suddenly turned his head and swept the floor as his shadow disappeared on the spot. Three pitch black rays of energy blades intersected with the position he was previously standing without any signs!


    Seeing the three black wave blades, Rafael then understood why he did not look the opponent''s attack''s energy body. Pure dark energy is able to morph into the dark without being detected. The opponent was actually the card artisan assassin!


    Card artisan assassins are special card artisans that allowed one to change color and form. In certain degrees, it was extremely similar to the sniper card artisan snipers. However, compared to it, the cultivation of the assassins was even harsher and less humane ¨C they had to go through many dark and twisted forms of training.


    This card artisan assassin was undoubtedly powerful, with Rafael completely unable to find his opponent''s position. As for the three strikes of black energy wave blades, he did not detect any energy fluctuations. He had no choice but to once again applaud the Hitman''s strength, to be able to detect such energy movements!


    Logically speaking, a ferocious warrior masked should be matched with a pair of fired up and violent eyes. However, as the pair of triangular eyes flashed a frost glow, the mask was presented in another style.


    The combination of ferociousness, somber, frost and ruthlessness was alike a cold-blooded giant python lurking in the dark, hissing with a dark red, pungent tongue.


    "Explosive projectile, sleet!"


    Sang Hanshui shook his wrist slightly as the red explosive projectile was sent flying below his feet like a meteor dropping down from the sky! Its noise filled every corner in the surrounding, the deafening noise causing Rafael''s expression to change as he seemingly subconsciously wanted to escape far away from the dangerous area.


    Smash!


    The deafening noise stopped suddenly, like an egg shell being smashed into pieces, a clear noise that was hard in the empty tower building.


    The red explosive projectile flying at top speed in mid-air suddenly exploded open, with countless number of red lines thick as one''s thumb shot out in all directions without any warning! The darkness was sliced open by the countless number of dark red flashes of light, creating a vibrant and elegant spectacle.


    The red lines that filled the sky was uncountable. Rafael could not react in time as he watched on while a few of the red lines just scraped past his body, burying into the wall behind him. Facing the red line, the wall was as week as wet paper, instantly forming a few thumb-sized holes. The light shone from outside the building shone in from the holes, showing Rafael''s pale, fear-filled face.


    The card artisan assassin, who had been hiding in the dark, finally revealed himself, his body filled with holes as blood oozed out from the many thumb-sized wounds. Wearing a black mask, his expression could not be seen. From his eyes, however, it showed a hint of fear.


    He could see it clearly ¨C that was not some red line, but balls of thumb-sized red energy beads. The red lines were merely illusions caused by the speed that these energy beads were travelling at. He completely did not expect the opponent to be able to use explosive-type cards and such incredible techniques.


    An unusual explosive card, and an unusual card artisan!


    Card artisan assassins were all along the kryptonite of heavy handed fighters ¨C little did he expect himself to be in such a sorry state! The assassin could taste bitterness in his mouth. Who exactly is this Hitman? His strength was definitely powerful enough to get him into the top one hundred of the Black Line Star Listing. A card artisan of this level was actually a subordinate of the White Commander¡­


    He only realised now that they had heavily underestimated their opponent''s strength, and there was little chance of changing anything today. In his heart, he immediately made a decision as he escaped without any hesitation!


    "Thinking about escaping?" Sang Hanshui laughed mockingly, forming three explosive beads in his hand.


    "Bomb: Tri-snake Entanglement!"


    The three explosives shot out from his hand. Weirdly, they did not fly in a straight line, instead travelling in three curved lines, with one explosive towards the left, one towards the right and another one forming a high arc, flying past the head of the card artisan assassin.


    Rafael, who had just finished collecting himself, looked at the three bombs nervously, with suspicions in his heart. It seemed that neither of these three explosives were targeted at the assassin.


    What was the Hitman trying to do?


    His eyes suddenly opened wide!


    No, something is wrong! The bead that flew over the assassin''s head appeared right in front of him, while the remaining two explosive beads flew towards his back ¨C the three beads nicely surrounding the opponent!


    Rafael also noticed another detail ¨C the three explosives were all placed on the same level, forming a perfect right-angle triangle! The card artisan assassin was evidently right in the middle of the triangle.


    Boom!


    As the arcing explosive bead landed and reached the same level as the other two beads, it was as if a switch was flicked as all three bombs exploded at the same time!


    All that was before the assassin''s eyes was helplessness!


    This is the end!


    Having personally experienced the force of the explosives, he finally understood the motives of his opponent! The arrangement of these beads meant that as they exploded at the same time, they formed three attack waves that squeezed towards the center point at the same time. The only outcome was him being grinded into a pile of flesh mush by this giant blender!


    As the giant explosive noise erupted, a gentle voice could be heard, "Flower World!"


    Countless number of pink petals suddenly appeared from within the dark, dancing in the air in a dreamy, illusion-like manner. These small, thin flower petals were seemingly soft and weak, but instantly cut Sang Hanshui''s Tri-snake Entanglement attack into countless number of minute pieces!


    Tch, tch, tch!


    The force may have been sliced and destroyed, but the smithereens of energy flow still cut up the card artisan assassin multiple times. He let out a grunt, but discreetly heaved a sigh of relief. He knew that he had escaped from the jaws of death today.


    Even though there was no wind, the flower petals continued to dance and scatter around. A man wearing a bronze mask appearing in the middle of this flower shower.


    Sang Hanshui''s pupils instantly diluted!


    He knew this man! He was the protector beside Lady Faya!


    "You are a talent, to be able to utilise explosive beads to this level," Fang Shi''s voiced travelled through the cold, bronze mask. The gentleness to his voice further added on to the chilling vibe that he gave off. "If you join Faya now, I shall spare you your life."


    There was ten seconds of silence.


    "Time is up. Speak your choice," Fang Shi''s voice pierced through the dancing flower petals. The flurry of petals seemed to increase in numbers.


    Sang Hanshui''s sight returned to normal as he smiled lightly and said sarcastically, "Faya, tsk tsk, so scary! If I wanted to join anyone, I would have went to the Great Six. Faya is worth nothing! What I hate most about your Faya is all the dealings in the dark!"


    The triangular eyes that had maintained its eager-like demeanor was suddenly filled with red as he unleashed a wave of violent aura. With an enemy as strong as that before him, he could only risk his life and fight!


    Deep in the promenade, the flower rain blossomed without any wind, filled with killing instinct!


    Xiaobo and the skinny man''s attack speeds were extremely quick, too quick for others to look away, and too quick for the naked eye to follow!


    A palm sized Orderly Wave Wheel formed and spiralled around Xiaobo, and a total number of thirty six wheels seemingly connected together by chains, forming a big circular wheel. The wheel gave one a weird feeling ¨C it was like row of compasses lined up together, with the compass needles of each compass moving on their own accord in eye-dazzling fashion.


    Such incredible speed!


    Xiaobo was awe-inspired. The opponent''s speed was extremely quick, and the light spear in his hand was also extremely strange. With a great offensive strength, the large circular wheel surrounding his body already showed signs of instability.


    Here it comes again!


    A ray of red light flashed by. Xiaobo let out a cold grunt, with the small Orderly Wave Wheels separating from the big circular wheel and appearing in front of him.


    A brown light flashed across the two rows of Orderly Wave Wheels, forming into a brown energy wave sword. To call it an energy wave sword was perhaps not the most appropriate ¨C due to it not having a blade edge, it was more like an energy board.


    The skinny man pounced towards Xiaobo. With his mask down, he revealed an attractive contour at the corner of his mouth. Reaching out his feminine, pale and smooth fingers, he tapped on the rectangular energy board gently and shot it towards the skinny man!


    Four Wheel Dragons!


    Suddenly facing the rectangular energy board, the skinny man showed no signs of fear. Seemingly detecting the pungent smell, the red light spear in his right hand started to shake and twist with increasing intensity!


    A gentle lift aimed the spearhead accurately at the rectangular energy board!


    Dong!


    As the two ultra-heavy weapons collided, it gave off a solemn and daunting noise!


    The lifeless pair of eyes of the skinny man showed signs of emotion for the first time!


    This seemingly unimpressive energy board carried an unbelievable amount of strength. Upon contact, the skinny man was able to detect the strangeness of it! His light spear was almost forcibly pulverised by this incredible amount of strength. Had he been hit by the brown energy board, he body would have been smashed into powder for sure!


    The skinny man''s branch-like right arm twisted the red spear body. With a light thud, the light spear in his hand suddenly collapsed, turning into a red, web-like energy body!


    The red energy web wrapped itself around the energy board with lightning speed as his body retreated.


    These extremely flexible and soft energy webs formed the perfect buffer!


    After retreating continuously for ten metres, the skinny man finally stopped, and the energy board also stopped in front of him. It had already lost of its power. Reaching out his branch-like arms, he snapped the board and squeezed it into smithereens!


    Raising his head, he looked at Xiaobo, the energy web in his hand forming into a light spear once again. A closer look would reveal that the light sword was slightly less bright than it was before.


    The two men''s glances once again clashed in mid-air!

 479 Little Bu Mo’s Airskill

    With such a heavy responsibility, Si Dongkou did not want to waste too much time with the kid in front of him. He first stimulated his own card.


    A thick shield of yellow light appeared in front of him. The nearly two meter high-shield protected his whole body. There were many sharp energy thorns on its smooth surface, and on its edges were twelve hand-sized wavy blades.


    If Jiang Liang was there, he would have definitely been able to recognize this energy shield. This was one of the standard cards used by the military, called "Assault Shield". Its greatest advantage was its excellent defensive ability, allowing it to withstand powerful attacks. In wartime, card artisans who used Assault Shield were placed on the frontlines. They experienced the enemy''s fierce firepower, and were responsible for covering and protecting their companions.


    There were three levels of Assault Shield, from three stars to five stars. Every level that you increased it by the protection power would increase that many times. Card artisans who manipulated Assault Shield needed a strong body and extraordinary courage, as well as ample close combat skills, especially when using it at higher levels.


    Assault Shield was not a popular category for card artisans. Apart from the military and some large groups, smaller groups had great difficulty recruiting such talents. Few people were willing to become Assault Shield card artisans because if you chose this card it would mean that you would live a life of toil and grit. But other card artisans were very willing to cooperate with Assault Shields, especially long-range attack card artisans.


    The three-star Assault Shield could only protect, the four-star Assault Shield was even more resistant to attacks, but the five-star Assault Shield was able to achieve a balance between offense and defense.


    Si Dongkou''s Assault Shield was naturally a five-star one. Someone who could use a five-star Assault Shield was doubtless a master, even in the military.


    Just as he activated his light shield, the little monkey that was twenty meters away suddenly disappeared.


    So fast!


    Si Dongkou felt a flash of fear, and did not hesitate to quickly protect himself with the light shield! Just as he did so, a leg suddenly appeared out of thin air right in front of his light shield, and a series of afterimages in the air dazzled him. Before he could react, the leg gave his shield a solid kick.


    Boom!


    There was a loud bang, and the massive force caused him to stagger back a few steps. The five-star Assault Shield had reached an astonishing five meters of thickness! This was the reason that his protective ability was outstanding. But just now he had seen with his own eyes that his light shield had been kicked slightly inward!


    What kind of power was this?


    Although he was rich in practical combat experience, he had still been shocked by Little Bu Mo''s kick! What he human? Or a Brilliant Ape? The five-star Assault Shield was no crudely made card, but a real product of the military. It was a military five-star card that absolutely could not be bought on the market!


    He suddenly caught a glimpse of the little monkey''s trick out of the corner of his eye. There was nothing there!


    A cardless sect!


    This term appeared in his mind like a flash of light. He never would have thought that he would run into a legendary cardless sect. A cautious expression came over his face. He had never experienced fighting a cardless sect.


    Power and speed were what Wei-ah was best at.


    As one that Wei-ah had cultivated, Little Bu Mo had a deep understanding of these two points. In the moment that his kick had come into contact with the light shield, he had used the power of the shield and, as smart as a monkey, turned around and appeared behind the big man.


    Si Dongkou''s reaction was extremely quick. In his hands the light shield was as thick as a wall but as light as if it was nothing. With a whirling turn the light shield appeared behind him.


    Boom!


    There was another big hit, just like the one before! Si Dongkou couldn''t imagine that a kid, a kid that didn''t look strong at all, could have such awesome power. In the face of those two blows, Si Dongkou''s scorn immediately disappeared.


    However, he was a master card artisan of the military, with great power. With this power he moved like he was ice-skating, suddenly moving forward. At the same time a clanging sound rang out, and the wavy blades burst forth from the edge of the light shield!


    He held nothing back with this move. The twelve wavy blades burst out and intertwined like a net!


    This was the Assault Shield''s combat mode. It used its defensive power to close the distance with one''s opponent, then used the energy thorns on the surface of the shield or the wavy blades on the edges to attack the enemy. The speed and position of each of the twelve wavy blades were extremely precisely calculated, making them impossible to avoid! A card artisan who could accomplish this trick could not fail to attract attention within the military. Countless enemies had died by this trick of Si Dongkou''s.


    Compared to the wavy blades released by the Crescent Moon Long Sword card, the twelve wavy blades of the Assault Shield were much less in number. But these twelve hand-sized blades were not light and sharp like ordinary wavy blades. Each was as heavy as an axe, and very powerful!


    This could be seen from the wounds. The wounds left by ordinary wavy blades were like a line of blood. When hit by the wavy blades from the Assault Shield, there would definitely be torn skin and gaping flesh!


    He did not turn his head, but Si Dongkou''s timing was still perfect.


    The twelve wavy blades completely blocked off Little Mo Bu''s space to dodge. Si Dongkou was quite satisfied with this attack. At his level, it was impossible to create such a thorough stranglehold every time.


    Hey, after all the cardless sects were declining, how could they compete with card artisans? Could an empty hand block the wavy blades?


    To deal with a little child with something so strong would surely be cruel! As he skated forward, the corners Si Dongkou''s mouth involuntarily curled upwards, and the cruelty in his eyes was revealed. His smile reached his ears, and he looked forward to the sound of bones breaking that would soon ring out behind him.


    He was so thin that he estimated one blade could cut through his waist! He thought this not without some satisfaction.


    This was the first time Little Bu Mo had encountered this kind of attack. Up till now, he had only practiced with Wei-ah, and had no experience at all fighting against card artisans. The method was completely different from fighting against a cardless sect. As far as he was concerned, it was really too unfamiliar, otherwise he wouldn''t have been put in this desperate situation so quickly!


    In the air he could not avoid him. The blades whistled towards him from all directions, sealing off all his avenues of retreat. He seemed to have been forced into a hopeless situation!


    The little monkey grinned, and his naive look was really ridiculous. Only his eyes like black jewels showed a calmness that was completely out of place for one so young.


    Training with Wei-ah was a devastating sort of life. You were always at a disadvantage, you were always suppressed, and you always needed to attack carefully. The result of this hardship was either that your courage would fail and you would stop, or you would become exceedingly brave! Little Bu Mo was like this. He was already used to being at a disadvantage. His many experiences with being defeated, being hurt and being wounded told him that being at a disadvantage was not something that was worth being afraid of.


    He had encountered odds worse than this and even more desperate situations too many times. He had learned how to find opportunities in desperate situations.


    He clapped his wide open arms together, and the lightning moved to his chest. He bent his elbows and clenched his fists, making it look like he was praying.


    Si Dongkou, who felt he had retreated to a safe distance, had just looked back, and the curvature of his lips was even greater. He admired the scene with interest.


    He was praying at a time like this. Had he lost hope?


    The silly little monkey was still grinning, like he didn''t know that he was about to die. But a dignified manner appeared in his bright, black eyes.


    His body suddenly bent slightly forward.


    Si Dongkou''s smile suddenly froze. He seemed to be able to smell the danger in the air.


    The little monkey''s black eyes suddenly went wide, and his smile became dazzling, but was not so ridiculous as before.


    The Double Fist Attack Airskill!


    Little Bu Mo cupped his fists together on his chest and then seemed to disappear into thin air. Woosh! A low whistle suddenly sounded with a chilling endnote. A transparent clenched fist suddenly shot out and flew towards the wavy blades! Then, the highly concentrated mass of air hit the wavy blades!


    Bang!


    There was a loud bang and cracking sounds rang out from the wavy blades as they turned into a fine yellow mist. The compressed mass of air was also crushed. It was a product of immense pressure which suddenly broke, leading to a brief disturbance of the airflow around Little Bu Mo. When the airflow was affected, the other wavy blades could not avoid being affected as well.


    A small gap appeared where the broken wavy blades had been, but for Little Bu Mo it was big enough!


    He was already very thin, and with a little bit of twisting he could squeeze through the gap.


    Airskill!


    Si Dongkou was so shocked he turned pale. Suddenly he thought of something, and his expression became incredulous. "What is your relationship to Qiao Yuan?"


    When he had judged that Little Bu Mo was walking the path of the cardless sects, he had not realized that something was wrong. When he used an airskill, he finally realized what the problem was. Up till now, the only one he knew who had the power to use an airskill was Qiao Yuan. He didn''t understand cardless sects, and airskill was definitely one of their high-level skills!


    But was the kid in front of him related to the White Commander?


    Si Dongkou''s eyes suddenly went wide. An incredible thought occurred to him. Could it be that Qiao Yuan was the White Commander?


    Little Bu Mo was completely silent. When training with Wei-ah you could not talk. If you were distracted at all you would immediately lose. Wei-ah had never taught him that he needed to explain anything to his enemies.


    The double fist skill was not one that Wei-ah had taught him, but one that he had figured out for himself. Wei-ah had taught him a few airskills, but his body was not strong enough to fully master them. Wei-ah was planning to let him know in advance, and had not imagined that he would figure out such a compromise. He used the power in his own hands to use airskills. Although this method was less dextrous, it had one advantage. It was much more powerful than the air power when he used one hand.


    However, since he was punching with both hands it consumed a lot of energy, and so he needed to fight and win quickly.


    He landed tiptoe on the floor, and like a spring he suddenly shot out!


    The little monkey with the silly grin once again rushed towards Si Dongkou!

 480 Two Powerful Forces

    Sang Hanshui faced the pink petals flying in the sky. There was a look of determination in the triangular eyes as ripples of energy were unleashed.


    The bronze mask could barely be seen behind the flurry of pink petals. There was a gentle sigh of pity amidst the melodious sounds before the cold murderous intent became clear! Sang Hanshui knew that the enemy would be going for the kill and would not show any mercy. The next attack would undoubtedly be a fatal blow!


    The triangular eyes stared at the shower of flower petals. Beneath the cruel and violent eyes, one could almost make out the peaceful surface of a lake.


    All of the things that he has had to go through for the past few years, including the highs and lows, flashed past his eyes. He could not help but feel emotional.


    All of a sudden, a rough and unfamiliar voice broke the tension of their confrontation and Sang Hanshui was quickly pulled back to reality.


    "Not bad. I don''t quite like Faya''s style either."


    A strong-looking man slowly walked out from the shadows. He had large eyes and thick eyebrows eyes, and his eyes are clear and calm. The grey coat, that he was wearing, was torn in a number of places and full of dust and dirt.


    The triangular eyes of Sang Hanshui suddenly shrank. He was stunned! "When did this person come so close to us? I didn''t even notice it at all."


    The petals, that had been dancing leisurely, seemed to have been given a jolt and began to dance wildly. After two seconds, the shower of flower petals was back to normal. Sang Hanshui could not help but try to figure out the identity of this thick-browed man. Even someone as powerful as Faya seemed to be taken aback as well.


    After a moment of silence, Fang Shi''s voice could be heard through the shower of flower petals, "Are you Jie Yanbai?"


    Sang Hanshui was completely taken aback. This was Jie Yanbai, the top master of Central Repository of the Classics?


    The thick-browed man seemed surprised, "Oh, I never expected Senior Fang to be able to recognize me. What a surprise." He looked calm and relaxed.


    The shower of flower petals dissipated and Fang Shi stepped out. There was a unique magnetic quality to the voice beneath the bronze mask, "Brother Jie is capable of taking on the Comprehensive Federation Academy on his own and defeating them all. How can anyone not recognize your style?"


    Jie Yanbai''s eyebrow twitched and he replied with a smile, "That''s considered as defeating them. I merely took advantage of the fact that Tang Hanpei was not around."


    "Brother Jie is too modest. Very few in the Heavenly Federation can do what you did. Nevertheless, why did Brother Jie come all the way to an insignificant place like Dongrui instead of overseeing the Central Repository of the Classics?" Fang Shi asked easily and casually. There was an easy charm about him that made it difficult for anyone to dislike him.


    "Dongrui isn''t an insignificant place though. The student of Caesar is here, Miss Tan Yumin is here and even the top card artisan of Faya, Mr Fang Shi, is here. So, how can this place still be considered as insignificant?" Jie Yanbai looked directly at Fang Shi''s face behind the bronze mask, with a smile on his face. All of a sudden, he remarked, "On the contrary, I find it strange that Mr Fang Shi dared to travel all the way to Dongrui despite knowing that Miss Tan Yumin is also here. Haha, beware of the rage of a beauty."


    The eyes behind the bronze mask narrowed. A few seconds later, Fang Shi broke into laughter, "I never expected such news to have travelled to Brother Jie so quickly. Come to think of it, Faya and the Central Repository of the Classics are allies. Any one who decides to face Tang Hanpei and the Comprehensive Federation Academy on their own will be in for a tough time."


    "Looks like the injuries that Senior has sustained has also affected your confidence. What a pity!" Jie Yanbai shook his head and sighed. The look of regret on his face was undeniable.


    The look in Fang Shi''s eyes suddenly turned cold, "Is Brother Jie determined to ignore the friendship between Faya and the Central Repository of the Classics and interfere with this matter tonight?"


    Jie Yanbai replied calmly, "Central Repository of the Classics is Central Repository of the Classics, while Jie Yanbai is Jie Yanbai. Senior is still injured. It is better to rest, so that they may recover quickly."


    Fang Shi stared at Jie Yanbai but the latter showed no fear. Instead, he still looked very relaxed and at ease.


    "If that''s the case, then I hope that Brother Jie will have fun." With that, Fang Shi disappeared into the night.


    Sang Hanshui could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. Only now did he realize that his back was completely drenched with sweat. He was clearly under tremendous pressure just now! He knew that his opponent was powerful but never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that it would be the first card artisan of Faya! The first card artisan of Faya could most certainly stand amongst the best of the best in the Heavenly Federation.


    Although Sang Hanshui was not too lousy himself, he was still a distance away from that sort of standard.


    Jie Yanbai, the first card artisan of the Central Repository of the Classics, and Fang Shi, the first card cartisan of Faya, were the two of the strongest of the Heavenly Federation. For both of them to appear in front of him, Sang Hanshui almost felt as if he was dreaming. He had a sudden urge to pinch himself to see if this was really happening.


    "You are the subordinate of the White Commander?" Jie Yanbai turned around and asked.


    "Yes." Sang Hanshui replied respectfully. He could not help being respectful even though he was much older than Jie Yanbai.


    "Do you mind passing a message? Just tell him that the disciple of Shui Qingyan of the Central Repository of the Classics, Jie Yanbai, hopes to meet him!" Jie Yanbai was very serious.


    "Oh oh." Sang Hanshui could not react in time and subconsciously made some sounds. "Goodness, why would the first card artisan of the Central Repository of the Classics ask to meet boss in such a respectful and humble manner?"


    All of a sudden, there were two terrifying ripples of energy that rose together simultaneously.


    Jie Yanbai snorted once and looked up before vanishing. Sang Hanshui could sense that one of the ripples of energy was unleashed by that show-off. Finally going all out? His face was solemn as he flew up as well.


    Indeed, Xiaobo had gone all out. There were only eight small Orderly Wave Wheels surrounding him, but each of them was shinier and blinding than before. He was in a pitiful state as his white coat was torn and tattered and there was blood at the corner of his mouth.


    Opposite him, card artisan Kushou was not in a better shape either. The red light lance was dim and the veins on Kushou''s arms were protruding very clearly. There was a bloodstain on his left shoulder and even part of his mask was broken.


    Xiaobo stared viciously at his opponent with his bloodshot eyes. There was not a hint of his usual handsome looks, and instead, there was only ferociousness and berserk! At this moment, he was like a wounded wild beast in the forest. As for card artisan Kushou, there were no signs of life in his grey eyes. Only his rapid panting showed that he was still alive.


    The air around them was suffocating. Both of them stared at each other. They knew that the next attack would be key to deciding the outcome of this duel!


    All of a sudden, both of them struck at the same time.


    Xiaobo''s slender fingers were still trembling a moment ago, yet they were unusually steady now. He stretched out his arms and the remaining eight small Orderly Wave Wheels gathered in front of him.


    The eight wheels arranged themselves into the formation of a bigger wheel that resembled a circular light shield.


    All of a sudden, the small Orderly Wave Wheel on top vanished and shortly after, the second row of Order Wave Wheel Wheels below it vanished as well. The speed at which they were vanishing was increasing as the third row and fourth row¡­


    When the last Orderly Wave Wheel also vanished into thin air, there was nothing left in front of Xiaobo. But at this moment, his eyes widened.


    ''Eight-wheel Air Shock''!


    There was a terrifying absoluteness in the space between the both of them. A destructive ripple of energy suddenly expanded!


    The eyes of card artisan Kushou turned from grey to black. It was different from an ordinary black color. There was not a hint of light, and it was the thickest and heaviest black of the night sky. On the other hand, both of Kushou''s arms were transparent like crystal. This was an illusion caused by both his arms being covered by an energy that seemed to be made up of physical substance.


    His red light lance had undergone an incredible transformation. Pa pa pa, there was a clear and rapid popping sound coming from his light lance.


    Amidst the popping sound, the red light lance was expanding and contorting! The veins on card artistan Kushou''s forehead were protruding and it looked like he was trying to squeeze out every ounce of energy in his body.


    Bright red scales shot out of his hands and on to the light spear. Everything happened so quickly that in the blink of an eye, the entire lance has been covered with bright red scales. There were two rows of serpent-like spikes at the tip of the light lance, which had now transformed into the head of a serpent. The light lance had swiftly transformed into a snake lance!


    Two narrow rows of light flowed along the bright red scales before stopping at the tip of the snake lance. Two rows of golden strings opened in the middle to form a pair of golden eyes!


    All of a sudden, there was a shout in the air, "''Jiamu Snake Lance''!"


    Card artisan Kushou could not afford to care about the people around him at this moment as Xiaobo''s attack was much more dangerous than his previous attacks. All of a sudden, his eyes widen with rage as he shouted, "Go!"


    The red light lance turned into a stream of red light that shot towards Xiaobo!


    While floating in mid-air, Jie Yanbai was somewhat surprised to find two people in the midst of a duel but shortly after, he appeared behind Sang Hanshui, at the speed of lightning, and grabbed the latter''s collar to dodge behind.


    Boom!


    White and red light exploded together behind them. The ripples of energy in the air was so intimidating that Sang Hanshui''s face had turned pale!


    All the card artisans outside of the tower, regardless of the card artisans of the Tai-shu family or other card artisans, were scared stiff by this terrible clash of power. Everyone could not help but stop whatever they were doing.


    Just as the ripples of energy of both men were rising, Little Bu Mo had caught up with Si Dongkou. He had just used Double-fisted Punch so both his arms were terribly sore. But after sparring with Wei-ah so many times, he was aware of the importance of grabbing opportunities.


    There was no hesitation in his actions!


    Upon discovering these two powerful ripples of energy, Si Dongkou suddenly felt overwhelmed. He could sense that it was two powerful card artisans that were going all out against each other! But what scared him the most was that these two card artisans were too close to him!


    If he remained where he was and was struck by such incredible energy, he would probably be dead.


    From the corner of his eye, he saw the little monkey trying to sneak up on him. He began to panic. How he wished he could tell his opponent that it was best for both of them to flee right now!


    Little Bu Mo was not distracted. He did not possess the ability to sense energy so he was nonchalant to the incredible ripples of energy. There was only one goal in his mind right now, and that was to defeat this fellow in front of him!


    Bang!


    His right leg struck the opponent''s energy shield once more. His opponent''s hesitation has allowed Little Bu Mo an opportunity. He had no idea why his opponent would be distracted in the middle of a fight, but all he knew was that this was an opportunity!


    In the instant that his right leg struck the light shield, he bent his right leg abruptly before lightly hooking onto the energy hook on the surface of the light shield. His left leg, which had been lowered all this while, suddenly raised up and swung towards Si Dongkou like a whip!


    It was all happening too quickly!


    At this exact moment, Xiaobo''s ''Eight-wheel Air Shock'' had clashed with Kushou''s Jiamu Snake Lance. The turbulence of destructive energy caused Si Dongkou to be distracted for a moment. It turned out to be a fatal one!


    Before he could react, the tip of Little Bu Mo''s left foot struck his throat!


    An astounding power abruptly exploded out of the foot and the cracking of bones could be heard at the same time.


    At last!


    Before Little Bu Mo could celebrate his victory, a hand grabbed his throat from behind. The world spun around him as he resigned himself to being dragged along.


    It was Wei-ah! He finally relaxed after the initial shock. He had sparred with Wei-ah for so long that he did not even need to turn back to know that it was him. The only question in his head was why would Wei-ah drag him away in his moment of victory?


    His face was filled with question marks.


    All of a sudden, his black eyes froze. A light, that was as bright as sun, was rising from the tower!

 481 Doubts

    A dazzling glow tore up the night, and the solid building was as fragile as paper in front of it. The blinding and incandescent light, without roaring, diffused at an alarming rate, and all objects in its path would be silently swallowed up and would vanish instantly.


    The energy fluctuation in the air had become so intense that it made people crazy. Everyone in Dongrui was shocked! Numerous colors of light rose in succession from all corners of the city. Tens of thousands of card artisans wore different colors of energy masks and rose to midair, looking in horror at the glittering light in the distance. Even from more than ten kilometers away, it was still easy to see the dazzling white light mass.


    The thousands of card artisans floating in midair looked at each other, speechless! The energy fluctuation in the air made each of them feel a deep sense of pressure. The destructive aura seemed to trigger the throbbing and fearfulness in their hearts.


    "Sir, th-that seems to be the Tai-shu family''s territory¡­" a guards division card artisan stuttered.


    "Yes," Rong Ming answered. His face was sullen, but the suspicion in his eyes revealed his uneasiness. It was hardly necessary to think much to know that the explosion of that magnitude hadn''t been caused by ordinary card artisans. In that position, the first thought in his mind was the White Commander. When he thought of the injuries suffered by the White Commander on that day, however, he immediately excluded that possibility.


    With his lips tightly pursed, a hint of worry appeared on Rong Ming''s originally resolute face. With the increasing number of strong people in Dongrui, there would be more and more unstable factors. It would only take a little carelessness for the scene to get out of control. Among the whole guards division, only one of them could be called a master, but he was a deterrent to that group of master card artisans¡­


    He couldn''t stop himself from laughing bitterly. Soon, though, his face regained its solemn expression. Feeling the violent energy fluctuation in the air, he knew the warring card artisan was likely no weaker than himself, and such a terrible explosion hadn''t been the result of ordinary cards. Extreme strength, along with the possession of a strong card¡ªthat kind of card artisan often had an extraordinary history. Even more disturbing to him was that card artisans seldom acted so recklessly in the city. Who is it?


    At the Yuzi Military Force, Mei Ji stood up suddenly and exclaimed softly.


    While holding the card artisan assassin in his hands, Fang Shi, who was flying at high-speed, abruptly stopped. He looked at the white light in the distance and showed a thoughtful expression. However, he paused only for a moment, then turning back to leave.


    Little Bu Mo stared at the white light not far away, and the shock wave formed by the explosion almost made him unable to stabilize himself. Fortunately, Wei-ah had lifted his neck.


    Wei-ah''s posture at that time looked spectacular. He held Bu Mo in his left hand and Qiu Shanyu in his right hand, and Chen Mu was held under his armpit.


    "Amazing!" Little Bu Mo couldn''t help but exclaim as he recovered from the shock.. He looked at the blazing white glow with no fear of it hurting his eyes. Wei-ah''s speed was lightning-fast. In an instant, they were 500 meters away from the building. With a flicker in front of little Bu Mo''s eyes, he found himself lifted back by Wei-ah.


    "Wei-ah, do we still have to retreat?" Bu Mo said strangely. Although he didn''t understand, he could feel that the aftermath of the explosion wasn''t enough to reach their position.


    "The building is going to collapse." Wei-ah looked ahead without any delay in his steps.


    Little Bu Mo''s expression instantly froze, and he stammered, "Building¡­ The building is going to collapse?" He looked up at the 160-story building, which seemed huge in his eyes.


    "Amazing!" The excitement in Bu Mo''s eyes jumped like fire. His thoughts were quite simple. He felt that if he wanted to demolish the building, it would be an absolutely impossible task. Now, though, that huge building had been destroyed by others, so he could see how amazing the destruction would be!


    Chen Mu was trapped under Wei-ah''s armpit, which wasn''t an enjoyable thing, but he didn''t really care at that point. He appeared sullen. "Xiaobo is injured, yes. Sang Hanshui is all right." Although it was inconvenient for him to move, his perception ability was still there. He suddenly shouted, "Wei-ah, on the right!"


    Wei-ah didn''t hesitate to turn to the right and run. Between several ups and downs, they saw Xiaobo, who had fainted. He was in a comatose state with blood spilling from his mouth and clothes torn beyond repair.


    "Fortunately, there''s no big problem." Chen Mu let out a sigh of relief. Xiaobo''s breath, though weak, was relatively stable.


    Suddenly, he heard Sang Hanshui''s surprised voice. "Boss!"


    When Chen Mu turned around and saw the people around Sang Hanshui, he was stunned. "Jie Yanbai!" In Pomelo, Jie Yanbai had left a deep impression on him. He had been open and upright, which Chen Mu had appreciated very much, so he recognized him at a glance.


    "Didn''t think the White Commander would actually recognize me!" Jie Yanbai smiled as he looked at the famous figure. The uncovered skin allowed him to see the wound that had not yet healed. His face couldn''t be seen because of the mask, but his eyes were clear and bright, which made Jie Yanbai feel good. But what made him doubt was that the White Commander seemed somewhat familiar.


    In order to not cause the other''s misunderstanding, Jie Yanbai took the initiative to explain. "My teacher and Caesar used to be good friends. I heard Brother White is a descendant of Caesar, so I ran straight here."


    Just then, they heard rumbling as the building began to collapse. All battles had stopped, all ambushing card artisans had disappeared into the darkness, and the others had begun to maintain order. Fortunately, Tai-shu Cheng had allowed all employees to rest; otherwise, it was hard to say how many people would have died in that war.


    The 160-story building collapsed spectacularly, raising enough dust to blow up to several kilometers away. Even Chen Mu and the others felt the effects from where they were. They could only stop talking to move to a new location.


    At that time, Xiaobo woke up slowly. He immediately sat up, closed his eyes, and began to meditate. That battle had been difficult for everyone, especially little Bu Mo. It had been his first actual battle, and he''d had to face such a strong card artisan as Si Dongkou, putting immense pressure on him. His victory had been very much based on luck. If it hadn''t been for Si Dongkou being distracted by energy fluctuations, it would have been a bitter battle. Even so, their whole bodies started to ache terribly once they relaxed.


    Sang Hanshui''s fatigue was more mental than physical. Facing an extraordinary card artisan like Fang Shi had undoubtedly been a great test of will and spirit. However, the battle was of great benefit to Sang Hanshui. He was hopeful that he would become even stronger after a period of time.


    Xiaobo had gained the most. He was not only recovering his senses but also digesting the gains and losses of the battle. He was good at tempering himself in real combat. He used to venture deep into the jungle alone, but even the most powerful beast couldn''t contend with a real master. At that level, if one wanted to move forward, one could longer achieve it by relying on training alone.


    The day''s battle had been full of vigor and vitality. He had exerted all of his abilities, and the strength of the other side had also been rather on par with his own. There was no better opponent than that one!


    Those who were resting rested, and those who were thinking were deep in thought. Everyone was casually sitting around, and no one was worried about the issue of safety. Even if Chen Mu was seriously wounded and if Xiaobo, Sang Hanshui, and Bu Mo had no fighting power, Tang Hanpei himself wouldn''t try to make a move with Wei-ah and Jie Yanbai there.


    Chen Mu and Jie Yanbai talked rather speculatively. Off to the side, Qiu Shanyu remained silent.


    "Honestly, I wouldn''t be so sure about Brother White''s identity if not for what Miss Tan Yumin said personally." Jie Yanbai laughed brightly and said, "Moon Frost Island didn''t come in vain to meet Brother White. My teacher received the favor of Caesar, which eventually fell to me. She always wanted to find an opportunity to thank Caesar but unfortunately had no fate to meet him."


    Chen Mu was puzzled when he heard that. "Caesar only taught me skills for a short time; he didn''t tell me about his past."


    Jie Yanbai laughed and said, "I don''t know the details. I only know my teacher had once been taught the Rouged Finger by Caesar. Although she was reluctant to practice again, this new practice was handed down to me. To some extent, Brother White and I are half brothers." He said with some regret, "I heard the teacher talk about Caesar once or twice, so I went to the Federation Comprehensive Academy after I got the Rouged Finger. Unfortunately, my abilities were too lacking as compared to Pavchek''s, so I was unable to avenge Caesar."


    Chen Mu was moved. He had heard of Jie Yanbai''s famous battle. He''d previously thought Jie Yanbai held a grudge against Pavchek. Who would have known that was the actual reason? It was amazing how courageous and temperamental he had been to challenge a principal from the Big Six without hesitation just because of the favors he had received.


    However, Chen Mu couldn''t help but remember his deal with Caesar about challenging Tang Hanpei. That matter had always been a big stone in his heart. Now that he had seen Jie Yanbai''s frankness, uprightness, and bravery to challenge such a legendary figure as Pavchek, he really admired him.


    Jie Yanbai frowned. "But, Brother White, when did you provoke the Bitter Solitude Temple?"


    "Bitter Solitude Temple?" Chen Mu was stunned. Xiaobo suddenly opened his eyes at that moment and said, "I was fighting against a card artisan of the Bitter Solitude Temple?"


    "Yes. The card he used was the Gamu Spear, one of the three great inheritances of the West Temple of the Bitter Solitude Temple. The strength of that card artisan should rank first in the West Temple. However, the Bitter Solitude Temple has always been low-key, with most of their aces having less than well-known reputations. As for his name, that is something I don''t know." Jie Yanbai glanced at Chen Mu. "Among the Big Six, the Bitter Solitude Temple is the most low-key, so their strength is also the most unpredictable. Even the Federation Comprehensive Academy is reluctant to provoke them." Between his words were some euphemisms of loyalty and persuasion.


    Xiaobo''s spirit was risen. So, the thin card artisan originated from the Bitter Solitude Temple, and that card was one of the three major inheritances of the Bitter Solitude Temple''s West Temple. The fact that he could draw with it greatly increased his confidence!


    The Bitter Solitude Temple? When did they begin to focus on me? Chen Mu was puzzled; there was no intersection between himself and the Bitter Solitude Temple.

 482 The Old Story

    At the Yuzi Military Force, an unconscious man was lying on the bed in front of Tan Yumin. The man was thin, and his right arm was covered in blood.


    Ji Zhihao looked serious, and his tone was extraordinarily grave. "I didn''t expect the White Commander to be surrounded by such a strong power. It''s hard to imagine he is the descendant of Caesar, who is known for his isolation. It looks like his style is totally different from Caesar''s."


    Tan Yumin looked calm. "He used State Zero. Caesar practiced the Materials Refinement Code, which is well-known in the Heavenly Federation. But few people know his real skill was relying on the authentic State Zero of the Materials Refinement Code."


    "State Zero¡­" Ji Zhihao muttered, suddenly looking up. "I don''t understand, Miss Tan. Why are you suspicious of him?"


    Tan Yumin''s beautiful eyes suddenly showed a little nostalgia as she sighed softly. "At that time, my mother was only 20 years old. Her skill was limited, so she left home to gain experience. She met my father and another scholar named Shui Qingyan from the Central Repository of the Classics. My father had been famous for a long time, and Shui Qingyan was about the same age as my mother."


    "Shui Qingyan?" Ji Zhihao frowned; he had never heard of that name.


    "In my mother''s narrative, Shui Qingyan has a soft and gentle disposition and does not like to talk. She''s not famous, but you must have heard of her students," Tan Yumin said.


    "Her student? The Central Repository of the Classics?" Ji Zhihao was thinking briefly and suddenly revealed his astonishment. "Is it Jie Yanbai?"


    "Well, it''s Xie Yanbai." Tan Yumin walked slowly to the window. The light of the fantasy card advertisement outside the window reflected on her perfect face, which made it difficult for people to take their eyes off of her. Looking out the window, she seemed to be gazing at the scenery. She then said, "Who would have thought this insignificant woman could cultivate the most powerful card artisan of the Central Repository of the Classics? Not even my mother could have thought of it."


    Listening to Tan Yumin telling those old stories, Ji Zhihao somehow felt a little uneasy out of nowhere.


    "During that period, the contradictions among the Big Six were not as intense as they are now. The three of them kept each other company and talked happily. They unintentionally learned there might be a transit window near Eastern Shang-Wei City, and they planned to investigate it."


    "Eastern Shang-Wei City?" The name of that place once again made Ji Zhihao furrow his eyebrows. "A few years ago, Star Academy suddenly sent many students to a school in Eastern Shang-Wei City. At that time, it attracted many people''s attention, and I had a deep impression about it. Could it be¡­"


    Tan Yumin nodded. "Well, I was wondering if they received any information from somewhere."


    "I see." Ji Zhihao looked deep in thought. "What happened next?"


    "They went into the jungle from Eastern Shang-Wei City, constantly searching for the transit window. The three of them almost died when they unexpectedly encountered a large group of wild beasts." Tan Yumin was still looking out the window. "They met Caesar at that time. Four people worked together to overcome their difficulties and then kept each other company. Caesar and my mother got along very well with each other. Soon after, Shui Qingyan returned to the Central Repository of the Classics. After a while, they still got nothing, and my father gave up searching and returned to Star Academy. My father was the strongest card artisan among the younger generation of Star Academy at that point. He was responsible for its revitalization.


    "Caesar did not act as fiercely as he did later, and his wisdom was highly respected in my mother''s narration. He was amazingly talented as a card artisan. Although he was young years ago, he had already revealed some of the demeanor of an ace. He and my mother often discussed the problem they faced during their practice together. At that time, he began to conceptualize State Zero. Caesar didn''t hide the Materials Refinement Code from my mother, so she knew it much better than others did. In the discussion about Caesar''s perception, my mother discovered something surprising."


    "What was it?" Ji Zhihao asked as he listened attentively.


    "The perceptual nature of Caesar is peculiar. Besides the well-known nature of being sensitive to objects, Caesar also has the nature of a card master." Speaking of that, Tan Yumin couldn''t help but raise her voice. "The secret of Caesar is unknown to anyone but my mother. No one has ever had such perception since Heiner Van Sant. Card artisan and card master, clearly demarcated¡ªfor hundreds of years, no one has been able to cross this line."


    Ji Zhihao looked startled.


    "Unfortunately, Caesar isn''t interested in making cards but is addicted to the practice of card artisan," Tan Yumin said gently. "After confirming the White Commander was the successor of Caesar, I have been thinking about something. Does he know how to make cards? Based on the information provided by Janet and others, the masked maker of the numbered series of cards had been staring at the design for a long time. He''s a student of Caesar, so I wouldn''t be surprised if he had seen these things. In my mother''s narrative, she didn''t mention whether Caesar had copied the design and had brought it back. In this world, the person most likely to know the origin of these designs is Caesar, followed by his heir, the White Commander."


    "Now, I understand." Ji Zhihao suddenly realized something. "The information also mentioned that the maker of the numbered series of cards was accompanied by a card artisan with a strange aura behind him. It happens that the White Commander is surrounded by two more people. Does Miss Tan want to start with this clue?"


    "Well." Tan Yumin revealed some feeling of admiration. Ji Zhihao''s wit was what she admired most.


    Ji Zhihao murmured, "It''s just that if the White Commander is really the descendant of Caesar, he should know Miss Tan. But it seems like he doesn''t know Miss Tan at all."


    Tan Yumin shook her head. "Maybe Caesar didn''t tell him anything. The Caesar of now and the Caesar my mother knew were practically two different individuals."


    Ji Zhihao agreed. "It''s possible. Caesar now has a violent temper and an impermanent disposition." He looked at the thin card artisan, who was still unconscious, with some signs of anxiety. "But what''s the origin of the card artisan who was with him? Someone who can injure Tan Zhi is by no means an ordinary card artisan."


    Just then, Tan Zhi woke up and opened his mouth to say only one sentence. "Miss, it''s him." He then returned to the state of unconsciousness.


    Ji Zhihao, who had been looking a little surprised before, took on a ghastly expression. Tan Yumin stared out the window as if she was oblivious.


    * * *


    It was the tenth day of Bogner''s entry into the jungle. His plan was simple: breaking through the blockade, going deep into the jungle, and making a detour to survive. After entering the jungle, the gap between the two parties would rapidly become narrow. In that crisis-ridden jungle, they needed to face the common enemy, the beasts, followed by each other. In fact, Bogner put himself to death first and then pulled the other party into the same position as him. In that case, the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team couldn''t be enclosed and couldn''t even use the most basic methods of communication.


    Breaking through the encirclement had been simple. Having witnessed the power of the Oudi Burner, coupled with the speculation that the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm had a large number of sniper card artisans against them, no force had dared to block their actions. Bogner and others had arrived at the edge of the jungle with ease. The Blood-Red Card Artisan Team, which had been unclear about the intention of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm, reacted at that point and was furious.


    When the prey was easily free from the predator, it was humiliating for anyone¡ªespecially when it happened under the eyes of the public.


    Wu Yan, the head of the Blood Hammer Unit, was criticized most severely by headquarters. The fiery Blood Hammer Unit was making great efforts to speed up the catch-up. After learning that the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm had entered the jungle, Wu Yan was furious and ordered them to enter the jungle immediately.


    Qi Li inserted his hands into his pants pockets, and his face was looking proud. He sneered and said, "Ha! These useless people from the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. How na?ve of them! Do they think they can run away after getting into the jungle?"


    No one doubted what he said. As the trump card of the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team, they were able to cope with all kinds of complex situations after hundreds of battles.


    Wang Yong carefully observed the tracks on the ground and quickly made a prediction. "They arrived here at noon the day before yesterday. From the tracks, they should have more than 200 non-combatants."


    "Oh, great! That''s very close! Can''t wait for it!" Shi Fengfei''s dark blue eyes were moving up and down happily. The others, aside from Wu Yan, consciously kept more than five meters away from her.


    Wu Yan''s face was stretched with well-written scars as he murmured, "Pursue at full speed!"


    Qi Li saw the deputy captain, who was glued to the big boss. He tactfully went to Wang Yong''s side and said, "Well done, Wang Yong!"


    The wrinkles on Wang Yong''s face stretched out. "Ha ha. It''s just okay. My skill can be utilized occasionally."


    "Damn! Such a hypocrite!" Qi Li looked scornful and envious. "Compared to the jungle pursuits, it is assumed that few people in the Heavenly Federation can surpass you, right? Maybe you can teach me a couple of skills."


    Wang Yong forced a smile with wrinkles gathering on his face again. "What can I do with this little skill? You have never seen real jungle pursuits before. That''s why you settle with this little trick of mine."


    Qi Li snorted in disbelief. "Forget about it. If you don''t want to teach, just tell me. Do you need to be such a hypocrite?"


    Wang Yong said earnestly, "I''m not bluffing. There''s a legend in our card artisan society. I don''t know if you''ve heard of it."


    "What legend?" Qi Li glanced at Wang Yong twice and noticed that the old man seemed serious. His attention was immediately drawn to him.


    "Well, it was maybe more than a decade ago. It wasn''t long before I entered the team, and it was also the heyday of that legend. It was called the Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team, and it was one of the most powerful card artisan teams in the Heavenly Federation at that time. There were very few of them, similar to our Blood Hammer Unit."


    "Impossible!" Qi Li was annoyed. "Wang Yong, am I a fool to you? How many people are there in our Blood Hammer Unit? More than 2,000 people. How could a two-person card artisan team be the strongest in the Heavenly Federation?"


    "What he said is true!"


    Wang Yong didn''t realize Shi Fengfei had appeared next to them, causing him to tremble in fear.


    She tilted her head and scratched her chin gently with her purplish-red nails, a sense of seriousness on her face.


    "Wang Yong, carry on with what you just said."

 483 Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team

    "The Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team was the most mysterious and secretive Card Artisan Team. They rarely interacted with the other Card Artisan Teams. However, during their glory days, they were way ahead of other Card Artisan Teams. There were five core members in the team, just like the five petals of the hibiscus. Unlike the other Card Artisan Teams that were full of politics and always fighting against each other for their own benefits, the five members were very close to each other and had the relationship of a family. Moreover, they were all heroic and carried incredible reputations. However, there were very little people who had actually seen them in real life."


    Old Wang counted with his fingers, "The Black King, Bosnian wolves, Knife Pull, Enticer Fox and Flying Knit. All of them were incredibly impactful back then."


    That was a story from approximately ten years ago. It sounded distant and mysterious for the young people. Without realizing, a group of people had surrounded Old Wang. Wu Yan, who was leading, seemed to have not heard Old Wang''s narration. His scar on his face that resembled a hashtag was as though it was engraved unto a rock. His deep gaze seemed to almost penetrate through the dense wood.


    "The Black King was their boss and the most mysterious person in the Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team. However, the rest of them were very respectful towards him."


    "Bosnian Wolf contributed the most to the growth of Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team in their path to being the strongest card artisan team. In fact, Bosnian Wolf was never a ferocious beast. However, it was precisely this Wolf that personally created the strongest battle force in the Federation. He was a great instructor. There was no defeat in his history of battles. The battle that gave them the reputation of the strongest card artisan team was the battle with the Sixth Military Force!" Wang Yong''s face was painted with indescribable admiration.


    "The Sixth Military Force!"


    The young card artisans who were surrounding him were all dumbfounded. Their widened eyes were filled with disbelief! All the members from any Card Artisan Team agreed on one thing, and that was to never get into trouble with the Army and any party that was related to the Army!


    The Army was the strongest force in the Federation. Their status was the same in the Great Six too! They were the real killing machines. Regardless of how strong a Card Artisan Team was, being in front of them would only make the team appear as a pathetic and weak coward. For instance, the Blood Hammer Unit could definitely be ranked as one of the top three if they were rated based on the military force among the Card Artisan Teams in Moon Frost Island. They could even be ranked as one of the top ten if they were to compete with all the Card Artisan Teams in the entire Federation.


    However, they would never fight with the Army.


    The Sixth Military Force had five divisions, and each consisted of 20,000 people. There were 10 teams of 2,000 people under every division. In the Sixth Military Force, even the team with the worst battle skill could easily wipe them out even if the opponent had almost the same amount of people.


    This was the real power of the Army! That was also the reason why the 12 military forces did not interfere when the Great Six were busy fighting against each other. It would be a total disaster for the Federation if the Army joined the battle.


    "Yes. Back then, the leader of the Sixth Military Force was not Lord Zhi Tingman, but was Lord Tong Hua. No one knew the reason behind the fight. However, the Sixth Military Force sent out half of a division, which was five teams, with a total of 10,000 troops to ambush the Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team."


    "Wow! Is that true? They were that arrogant? I like it!" Qi Li shouted with both of his eyes brightened.


    "Half a division, 10,000 people¡­" The other card artisans looked at each other. They thought that they were listening to a mythical tale. Not even half the division, they only needed three Military Groups in order to easily annihilate the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team. The Federation certainly did not have enough Card Artisan Teams to defend themselves from half a division of the Army.


    "Yes. All the Card Artisan Teams in the entire Federation were confident that the Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team would be obliterated. No one foresaw that the Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team would successfully break the circumference made of the five teams. Not only that, the Sixth Military Force lost 1,000 people in that battle, together with their ninth team leader who was slaughtered. This incident turned the Sixth Military Force into the laughing stock of the Federation. Lord Tong Hua, too, resigned out of guilt. The most surprising thing was that the Army did not wipe out the Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team. The incident strangely quieted down and the Sixth Military Force did not have any intention to dwell on it. However, this battle immediately raised the Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team to the place of the first card artisan team. It also spread the name of the Bosnian Wolf, who had lead this battle, all over the world. When the incident cooled down, five army troops, including the Sixth and First Military Force, simultaneously expressed their intention to recruit Bosnian Wolf, hoping that he could accept the offer to take the position of Chief of Staff in their respective military forces," When the story reached this point, Wang Yong felt a little thirsty. He opened his water bottle and took a gulp from it to moisturize his throat.


    "Then? What happened next?" An impatient card artisan asked.


    Looking at the anticipation in the card artisans'' gazes, Wang Yong felt considerably satisfied, "Ahem, the Wolf declined the offers! He declined it in a clear-cut manner!"


    "Such a waste!" The crowd heaved a sigh of disappointment. They could not understand how there was still a person who would not be moved by the offer of the position of Chief of Staff of a Military Force.


    "Such a strong character!" Qi Li snapped his fingers loudly. His messy hair made him stick out like a sore thumb while he asked curiously, "Old Wang, what happened to the remaining three?"


    "Knife Pull was the strongest card artisan in the team. People say that he carried the character of a fire and was the most competitive person! He used a card named the Gyro-breaking Knife and it was able to release energy blades in the shape of a knife. He was the one who killed the leader of the Ninth Military Group. Unlike his other team members, Knife Pull was interested in challenging the other card artisans. He had defeated countless card artisans."


    The scar on Wu Yan''s face twitched unnoticeably.


    "He must have great capability to be able to defeat and kill a Military Group leader of the Army. I only wonder how was the capability of the Army''s Military Group leader," Qi Li raised his voice suddenly to ask Wu Yan from the back, "Boss, can you kill the leader of the Army?"


    Wu Yan briefly paused his steps, "I can''t."


    "Wow, then he must be really strong!" Qi Li exclaimed.


    "Regarding Enticer Fox, rumour says that he was a player, hence, the name of Enticer. However, Enticer Fox was good at many unusual things, especially tracking. In the Federation, he was the best tracking expert, forest expert and mechanical expert," Wang Yong flashed an awkward smile, "I might have studied about forest tracking, however, I''m nothing compared to the Enticer Fox. He wrote a short thesis regarding tracking and that thesis has been the textbook for everyone who was learning about tracking. I''ve learned a lot of skills from that thesis too."


    Qi Li hurriedly comforted him, "Old Wang, you shouldn''t feel discouraged. I do admire your skills a lot," Seeing how upset Old Wang was, Qi Li quickly turned to a new topic, "Old Wang, how about that one called Flying Knit?"


    "Flying Knit was a woman and she was in charge of the administration and was one of the top administrators in the Federation. Under her management, Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team had worked efficiently and neatly," Wang Yong barely pulled himself together as he said, "According to hearsay, Flying Knit eventually married Bosnian Wolf. Back then, many people suspected that she was the reason that Wolf rejected the Army''s offer."


    Qi Li asked curiously as he listened to the story, "Old Wang, if the Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team was so strong, why are they no longer here?"


    Wang Yong said ruefully, "No one in this world could stay at their peak forever. However, the Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team''s disappearance was unexpected. They vanished abruptly at the Eastern Row District. Until today, no one can solve the puzzle of their disappearance. Ever since then, no one has seen any of the members of the Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team anymore. No one knows what happened to them. How could a Card Artisan Team that could contend half of the Army''s troops disappear so easily?"


    His tone was filled with sentiment.


    Wu Yan, who had been walking ahead quietly, spoke suddenly, "I''ve let all of you finish listening to the story. Now everyone, increase your speed! Qi Li and Wang Yong, lead the team!"


    The card artisans around Wang Yong promptly dismissed themselves. Wang Yong''s face was painted with displeasure while Qi Li mumbled, "It was just a short story¡­"


    Shi Fengfei looked at the two embarrassed figures before shifting her gaze to Wu Yan. She appeared as if she was contemplating about something.


    "Turns out even a lazy bum like you would have some good standards. I was suspecting if you were a barbarian," Xi Ping said while he sipped on his green tea deliciously. As they entered the forest, the situation was better than what he expected. Bogner was very familiar with the forest, hence, the journey was very smooth to the extent that it felt like a field trip.


    "Barbarian?" Bogner, who was half lying down, rolled his eyes, "You old thief, no good words can be expected from a scoundrel like you."


    "Commander Bog, can we get rid of the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team?" Lu Xiaoru, who just squeezed herself into the Commander''s Shuttle, could not help but ask.


    "Commander Bog..." Bogner''s expression became stunned as he muttered, "Bog is not my surname!" He then realized everyone in the shuttle was attracted by Lu Xiaoru''s question. Without any other option, he stretched his body and sat upright with a strenuous effort, "That''s not an easy task. The Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team is quite capable. What do you think? If you were embarrassed in front of so many people, what would you do?"


    "Regain my reputation!" Lu Xiaoru answered in a firm tone.


    "Yes, yes! Youngsters are so enthusiastic!" Bogner said in a teasing manner. The rest of them rolled their eyes at him. He smiled as he could not be bothered and rubbed his bruised chin with his right hand, "The Blood Hammer Unit must be following us very closely. I reckon that they need merely two days to catch up with us."


    "Two days? That''s very close!" Ru Qiu said as she raised her head.


    All of sudden, she turned to look at Sue Lochiro, pouted and said, "I wonder if the things Sister Lochiro set up yesterday are useful? I spent a lot of effort to help and it was very tiring. What if they can''t find us? Does it mean that all our efforts will be in vain?"


    Sue Lochiro seemed indifferent, but a hint of reluctance flashed across her eyes.


    "Don''t worry. If they are that bad at tracking, they will all die in the forest without us making a move. That will save us from taking action," Bogner yawned and lied down lazily. He nagged, "I''m old now. My body can''t stand working so much."


    Xi Ping, who was savouring his tea, choked and laughed in a contemptuous manner, "Since when did a lazy bum like you need an excuse to sleep?"


    Everyone else couldn''t help but to smile when they heard this.


    Meanwhile, Jiang Liang sat upright with a solemn and murderous expression.

 484 Tai-shu Yong’s Emotions

    Unexpectedly, Tai-shu Cheng''s battle in the large building hadn''t seemed to attract any attention. All of the forces, including the guards division, had lost their voices. However, that topic, as if it carried a unique charm, made the card artisans discuss it with no sign of boredom. The energy wave that had carried the scent of death had moved everyone deeply.


    How many card artisans were there? Two? Three? What cards did they use?


    On the second day, many card artisans visited the ruins of the fallen building to witness first-hand the aftermath of the world-class fight.


    Tai-shu Cheng''s building hadn''t been the tallest building of the skyline of Dongrui. However, it was rare to see a building with 5,600 square meters and 160 stories being wrecked into pieces. The framework of the building was barely preserved, and only three floors remained. The metal framework was completely burned black and was covered with solidified metal that had been melted by the extremely high temperature. A thick layer of dust coated the ground. When the wind blew, the dust swirled and formed a layer of sand fog.


    The ruins before their eyes seemed to be able to unknowingly call on their respect. Perhaps it was for death, or perhaps it was for power.


    Since the building had turned into wreckage, Chen Mu and his team could only follow Tai-shu Yong to stay at the Tai-shu palace in the Garden Above the Center. When Tai-shu Yong realized the incident had progressed out of his control, he even had the intention to cry. He only hoped Qiao Yuan would stay obedient and would cause no more trouble. Fortunately, no one else had been in the building that day. Otherwise, it would have been no surprise if that incident were to have caused thousands of casualties. The Tai-shu family was not as influential as the Big Six; such a great number of deaths could easily destroy their reputation, especially during that crucial period.


    That was the reason Tai-shu Yong had earnestly invited Chen Mu to stay in the Tai-shu palace, hoping the family could peacefully go through the elite competition and not bring about anymore troubles. However, Tai-shu Yong knew that move was barely helpful to their current situation. With the White Commander''s current level of involvement in the battle, his intervention would not necessarily be effective for the Tai-shu family.


    However, as long as the White Commander could attend the elite competition, the Tai-shu family would be able to develop according to the situation, and there would definitely be no concerns over obtaining the vote.


    The Tai-shu family had gained more fame than they had expected, but they were carrying a lot of hidden troubles. The presence of Caesar''s descendant and Jie Yanbai at their residence was more than sufficient to attract the jealousy of other forces. Nowadays, many card artisans personally inquired about the benefits of joining the Tai-shu family. Among the inquiries, most of them requested to work under the White Commander. There was even a huge amount of card artisans who expressed their willingness to take a huge step back on their salaries if they were able to work under the White Commander.


    However, without the White Commander''s approval, he didn''t dare to recruit the card artisans. It was similar to a starving person not eating any of the delicious dishes laid out before him; it was a type of suffering.


    If what the other said was accurate, that every suffering was happiness in disguise, there was another thing that raised the suspicion of that sensitive, old fox.


    Chen Mu sensed the uneasiness and worry in Tai-shu Yong''s expression when he met him. His wounds had already recovered by then.


    "What happened?" Chen Mu asked in a straightforward manner, skipping the nonsense.


    Tai-shu Yong was slowly getting used to the White Commander''s temper. He knew the White Commander wasn''t one who enjoyed beating around the bush. Hence, Tai-shu Yong answered frankly, "Miss Tan called the old man yesterday night to talk."


    "Miss Tan?" Chen Mu was taken aback.


    "Yes. Miss Tan Yumin." Tai-shu Yong glaced at Chen Mu cautiously. Seeing that Chen Mu''s expression remained the same, Tai-shu Yong continued, "Miss Tan called the old man to ask about the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus."


    Chen Mu abruptly focused his gaze. "Gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus?"


    Tai-shu Yong''s heart skipped a beat before he braced himself and said, "Yes. I''m not sure where Miss Tan heard the news that the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus in within the possession of my family. She hoped the old man could sell it to her." Tai-shu Yong flashed a bitter smile. "Miss Tan gave a generous offer. Moreover, she inquired about it personally. Supposedly¡­" When he got to that point, he couldn''t help but pause.


    Chen Mu lowered his voice and asked, "Then?"


    Sensing the slight yet apparent unfriendliness in Chen Mu''s tone, Tai-shu Yong panicked briefly. "Nonetheless, the old man declined. It is not possible for the Tai-shu family to bring out a second piece of gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus."


    "That means you told Tan Yumin that I obtained the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus?" Chen Mu cut Tai-shu Yong off and glared right at the old fox with a sharp gaze.


    Tai-shu Yong felt a hint of awkwardness and answered reluctantly, "What else could I have done?"


    Chen Mu was speechless.


    In actual fact, Tai-shu Yong''s deed was not unusual. Chen Mu knew he played an important role in the Tai-shu family''s future. Under normal circumstances, Tai-shu Yong would definitely not have created trouble for Chen Mu. However, Tan Yumin was certainly not a weak and na?ve lady. She had Mei Ji, who was equally as strong as Caesar, to back her up. Furthermore, she was in control of the Yuzi Military Force. If the Tai-shu family accidentally offended Chen Mu, their future might be affected. However, if the family upset Tan Yumin, the question of whether they would continue to live would be unanswered.


    Tai-shu Yong didn''t know how to explain it to the White Commander. If the White Commander was to leave, there was absolutely nothing Tai-shu Yong could do. However, from what he could see, the White Commander had a rather close relationship with Miss Tan. At the least, the White Commander was always wearing her bracelet.


    At that moment, a servant came with a message. Tan Yumin had sent someone over with an invitation to invite the White Commander and Jie Yanbai to attend the evaluation of the Yuzi Military Force that was going to happen in three days.


    An unusual expression flashed through Chen Mu''s eyes as he received the invitation, but he quickly returned to a normal state. What is supposed to happen will happen. There''s no way I can dodge it.


    Tai-shu Yong secretly heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the White Commander wasn''t enraged. As Tai-shu Yong was about to leave, Chen Mu said to him, "I heard there are recently many card artisans who are interested in joining the Tai-shu family."


    "Yes, yes!" Tai-shu Yong sensed the willingness in Chen Mu''s tone and was pleased. However, he put on a pretentious and awkward expression. "But all of them wish to work under you. That puts me in a difficult position."


    Chen Mu saw through his act and knew exactly what the old fox had on his mind. He said icily, "You can start recruiting new members. I''ll train them."


    Tai-shy Yong felt as if a huge cookie had fallen from the sky and hit his head to the point that he was stupefied. Ah! Who knew the White Commander was this easygoing? However, he barely had the opportunity to savor the happiness before Chen Mu woke him up with an icy request. Tai-shu Yong felt like a big bucket of cold water had been poured onto him.


    "However, I want half of these new recruits, and I''ll pick first."


    The cookie was broken in half, and the half with the most chocolate chips was taken away from Tai-shu Yong. The abrupt yet enormous change of the situation brought Tai-shu Yong''s heart for a rollercoaster ride. However, at that moment, Tai-shu Yong feigned the decisiveness of a superior and nodded without much hesitation. "Fine!"


    Despite having only half of the cookie, it was still a feast for the starving Tai-shu family! Besides, the deal could strengthen the relationship between the Tai-shu family and the White Commander. At the very least, he temporarily didn''t have to worry about the possibility of the White Commander''s sudden departure.


    But why does the White Commander want to recruit the card artisans? There were some questions on Tai-shu Yong''s mind.


    Chen Mu had actually come up with that deal unexpectedly. It would divert the public''s attention to recruit under Tai-shu Yong''s name. The people would think Chen Mu was training the card artisans on behalf of the Tai-shu family. No one would expect that Chen Mu was preparing the card artisans for himself.


    Chen Mu was somehow cautious around Tan Yumin even though she appeared to be gentle and kind. Moreover, he carried the title of Caesar''s descendant. It was indeed a respectable title; however, the title undoubtedly placed him in a dangerous situation. The grievances between Caesar and the Federation Comprehensive Academy were a well-known affair. Besides, the card artisan from the Bitter Solitude Temple who had appeared that night had also stunned him.


    Chen Mu could save himself a lot of trouble if he held a force under his own control. Even though the card artisans were not considerably helpful when they were facing the true masters, masters were certainly not that common. Furthermore, he didn''t have to worry about the expenses spent on recruitment and training. The Tai-shu family would naturally bear the expenses. That thought originated from one of his boldest ideas.


    According to Bogner''s strategic plan, the chase between them and the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team would possibly last for a long time. If he was able to bring a force with him to ambush the headquarters of the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team while they were focusing on Bogner and the others¡­


    Initially, Chen Mu had planned to sneak into the headquarters of the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team with Wei-ah and a few others. Unfortunately, they lacked information at that moment, and it was hardly possible for them to launch an accurate attack. However, things would be different if he had a force under his command. There would be a higher chance for him to create mayhem. He didn''t intend to annihilate the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team. He only needed to cause sufficient chaos. He was positive that a sharp and sensitive person like Bogner was definitely capable of seizing any tiny opportunity.


    Chen Mu couldn''t stand watching the rest of them fighting that tough battle on their own. He had to do something for them!


    Tai-shu Yong appeared to be enthusiastic. He turned around and dashed off with his fastest speed, as if he wished he had a pair of wings and could fly instead. Seeing Tai-shu Yong''s departure, Chen Mu''s black eyes turned serene and tranquil. He held the two invitations in his hands silently.


    "You have improved greatly!" Jie Yanbai said, clearly impressed, when he stepped out of the training room with Xiaobo.


    Jie Yanbai seemed relaxed. Aside from some slight perspiration, there seemed to be no hint of weariness. On the other hand, Xiaobo appeared far more exhausted. He was drenched like he had fallen into a lake, with many cuts and slits on his clothes.


    "I still have no way to defeat you," Xiaobo mumbled. Nowadays, he requested to practice with Jie Yanbai whenever he had a chance. He had learned a lot from the tough fight with the card artisan from the Bitter Solitude Temple. Coincidentally, he had come across Jie Yanbai, one of the aces. How could Xiaobo miss a chance like that?


    He had always planned to bug Jie Yanbai to make him agree with his request. Unexpectedly, Jie Yanbai agreed with no hesitation. Seeing that, Sang Hanshui, too, joined the practice. Hence, Jie Yanbai took turns to practice with the both of them. However, their capabilities were rather subpar compared to Jie Yanbai''s. They were usually badly defeated.


    Jie Yanbai truly acknowledged their diligence and hard work and trained them with all of his effort. What impressed him the most was that their cards, especially Xiaobo''s Wheel, which came as a great surprise to him.


    "What is Brother White thinking about?" Jie Yanbai noticed Chen Mu''s entrance, and he walked toward Chen Mu with a grin.


    Chen Mu handed him the invitation and said with a calm expression, "Miss Tan invited us to the major evaluation of the Yuzi Military Force. It''s three days from now."


    Jie Yanbai''s expression changed as his two dark brows furrowed slightly.

 485 Qiu Shanyu’s Plan

    Moon Frost Island, where people come and went in a hurry. In the campus, beautiful women could be seen everywhere. They formed groups and wherever they gracefully walked past would leave a string of silver bell-like laughter in the air, forming a unique scenery.


    One of the biggest features of Moon Frost Island was that the number women were far more than men. Thus, there would be many male students who would apply for Moon Frost Island every year. But the admission conditions for male students were more demanding than that for females. This led to protests from many students in the Heavenly Federation. However, not only did Moon Frost Island ignore it, they also continued the practise every year. Over time, everyone was used to it.


    Most heritages in Moon Frost Island were suitable for women''s learning, and with the influence of unique geographical environment, each generation had a great talent. For example, Jia Yingxia who began to take control of Moon Frost Island 20 years ago. She was one of the top card artisans in the Heavenly Federation. As for this generation''s Baiyue, she was also considered amazing within the younger generations. Moon Frost Island had a wealth of experiences in training female card artisans. And they had a set of extremely effective methods.


    Today''s Moon Frost Island was busy everywhere. As it was not long until the Union Conference, their workload had also increased rapidly.


    In the Dean''s office, the curtains were tightly drawn together.


    Jia Yingxia smiled as she spoke, "Why are you hiding? I don''t think many people will recognize you."


    "I do not want to cause trouble," A ruthless voice came out from a dark place.


    Jia Yingxia laughed even more joyfully. Those well-maintained hands lightly covered her red lips, "Who knew that even Caesar would have a time of being afraid of trouble too!"


    "You didn''t call me here just to tell me this," Caesar''s voice showed his clear impatience.


    Jia Yingxia stopped smiling, straightened her clothes and sat properly, with her white gown dragging on the floor. She said with a serious expression, "This time, I invited Brother Caesar here to ask for help. Su Hanhao is here."


    "What!" A shocked voice could be heard from the shadows. Caesar was slightly surprised, "Why would he be here? Didn''t he hide in the Desert Camp and refused to come out for many years?"


    "I can roughly know his plan. Moon Frost Island and Desert Camp are enemies. This has lasted for so many years and nothing has changed. It is only sad that because of such critical times, I have no time to accompany my old friend," Jia Yingxia''s voice turned cold, "If my predictions are right, I am afraid that other parties will send people here. However, they respect their identities, so I presume that they will not come on their own. Most possibly the next generation of students will be dispatched. The only thing I cannot guess is Tang Hanpei."


    "Tang Hanpei!" In the shadow, a cold light similar to that of a blade flickered.


    Jia Yingxia sighed, "I wonder how Tang Hanpei practised for him to be the best of the Heavenly Federation at such a young age. Pavchek had nothing to show off. The only thing that was worth being proud of was the fact that he could teach such a student, although he was betrayed by him in the end. The rarest thing was that he was skillful in both strategy and tricks."


    "In this world, he is not the only prodigy!" Caesar snorted.


    Jia Yingxia was a little surprised. After a while, she said, "It seems like you are very optimistic about your new student. Well, I wish to see him. I do not know if he can get along with Yue er that well, since Yue er has not much friends. But your student seems to gotten into some trouble lately. Apparently, the Comprehensive Federation Academy has set up a Killing Team and they have already set off.


    "Whether he is dead or alive, that depends on his own skills. If he can''t even deal with this small matter smoothly, how can I place my hope on him to fight against Tang Hanpei?" Caesar did not have any reaction but instead said in an extremely cold manner.


    "Ah!" Now, Jia Yingxia was really surprised, "Against Tang Hanpei? I am getting more and more interested in this child. How about this? I can let Yue er lead the team, to help your descendant out. "


    Caesar sneered, "Help out? Don''t assume that I don''t know what you''re up to."


    "Come on, don''t say that. Instead of letting it fall into other''s hands, it would be better to let it fall into my hands," Jia Yingxia did not change her facial expression, but instead smiled as she said, "Also, I don''t think that you have that thing with you. If you did, you would have exchanged it for medicine years ago and did not have owe me a favour. It is just that Tan Yumin has it. Although the Card Appliance in Moon Frost Island is not outstanding in any way, but we can''t just watch while it falls into the hands of others."


    "That''s your business, nothing to do with me!" Caesar''s tone became more impatient.


    "I heard that you and Tan Yumin''s mother were friends. So you will just watch as the girl gets trapped between the wolves?" Jia Yingxia''s eyes widened as she asked jokingly.


    Caesar said sarcastically, "Then you go. Hmph, aside from Faya''s success in exploiting a loophole, the Star Court and Bitter Solitude Temple did not even manage to steal it. And yet you dare to touch the food on their tables?"


    Jia Yingxia sighed, "Yes, this little girl is quite stubborn." She relaxed her body and stretched, "I cannot afford to offend those two. But for your student''s case, there won''t be any problem if I interfere, right?"


    A murderous aura burst out abruptly, and the air became unnerved. Meanwhile, all the murderous intents were pointed to Jia Yingxia like needles.


    "If you continue to disturb me, I will kill you!"


    Caesar''s arrogant and violent words seemed like a knife cutting through the bottom of a person''s heart. If it was for those of little courage, their galls and livers would have probably torn apart.


    "Alright, alright. Even with your old age your temper is still so bad," Jia Yingxia appeared calm, "You''d get agitated even with just a joke. Then I''ll be brief. Help me deal with Su Hanhao. That shouldn''t be a problem, right?"


    "I hate owing people favours the most."


    After saying this sentence which was either regretful lament or complaint, Caesar disappeared.


    Jia Yingxia''s held her chin with her right hand and was slightly in a trance. She murmured, "The lot is cast. Tang Hanpei, what will you do?"


    The news of the Comprehensive Federation Academy deploying a Killing Team was spread to everyone on the next day. Not only did the Comprehensive Federation Academy''s actions have no cover-ups, it was highly unconstrained and advertised.


    For the lineup of the Killing Team, there were almost 20 people composed of card artisans that have already graduated for more than five years. There were many famous masters already, while for those who were not famous, nobody would suspect their strength. The average age of the Killing Team was more than 35 years old. As for the amount of card artisans which were Level 7 and above, the number had reached an astonishing point. The leader of the team was Lei Xu, who was a famous master of the Comprehensive Federation Academy and was especially good at assassinations.


    This was was a true elite, unlike those who had yet to graduate. They were elite card artisans that had been baptized by blood and fire.


    They came from the Comprehensive Federation Academy, and had all studied from advanced inheritances. They were far from being comparable to the ordinary Level 7 card artisans. With such the powerful force, no one dared to look down on them. Many people were secretly worried for the White Commander when they heard about this news. These 20 people were enough to annihilate a smaller Card Artisans Team.


    "Haha, Brother White, Tang Hanpei gave you a lot of face!" When Jie Yanbai read the news, he laughed out loud.


    Chen Mu was also surprised. Although he also thought that the Comprehensive Federation Academy would do everything in their power to fight him, but to dispatch such a huge team with so much fanfare, this made him couldn''t help but to laugh slightly although he knew that this was a serious matter. He hadn''t even reached Level 7, but half the team were actually made up of card artisans whose Perceptions had broken through Level 7.


    Card artisans whose Perception was at Level 7 were not easy to deal with, especially the Level 7 card artisans who were born out of the Great Six. He suddenly wondered, what was Tang Hanpei''s intention for sending such a powerful team? To fight him? He shook his head. Using such power to deal with himself, wouldn''t that just be like a cannon fighting against mosquitoes? This stupid idea just didn''t seem to be Tang Hanpei''s style.


    Unless he had other intentions?


    "I am only afraid that Tang Hanpei has other plans," Jie Yanbai stopped smiling, and cautiously said. "To be honest, this lineup is quite exaggerated if it was just to defeat Brother White. If I am not wrong, I am afraid that Tang Hanpei still has his eyes set on Moon Frost Island''s Union Conference. " In dealing with Tang Hanpei, they were both surprisingly consistent in their thoughts.


    "Don''t care about him," Chen Mu said and turned before entering the training room.


    In the training room, he walked to Qiu Shanyu and sat down. Qiu Shanyu remained silent from the moment Jie Yanbai appeared. Although Jie Yanbai was somewhat curious, he knew better than to ask about it. He saw that Chen Mu was continuously with her in a room, and misunderstood them to be in a relationship.


    "You need to prove your worth," Chen Mu calmly said, "You told me that you would help me find the owner of the mark in my body. If you cannot, then I don''t want to keep a hidden danger by my side."


    Qiu Shanyu looked at Chen Mu deeply before speaking calmly, "I thought you forgot about it," She glanced around, got up to the table, picked up a piece of paper and wrote on it. After a while, she passed the paper to Chen Mu.


    "For this matter, you need to rely on the power of Faya. Rest assured, I did not leave a mark on it. I don''t want to die before seeing him," Qiu Shanyu said faintly.


    Chen Mu took it and glanced at the word on the paper. There was only one address on it. In the corner, was written her name.


    "My plan is this." Looking at Chen Mu, she said, "First, you make a marked one star magic card. Then, tear off my signature and send it to this address along with the magic card and plan book. The operation is like this, the designed mark will be Faya''s next product''s trademark. This brand will become the number one sponsor of this time''s Elite Competition in Moon Frost Island. All the platforms of the whole federation will simultaneously advertise this company. In the advertisement, there will only be one thing emphasized, and that is the Elite Competition to be held in Thousand Lakes. Others will only think that we are using this contest to expand our influence and will not think of our true intentions. The shape of each pattern is different. If he sees it, he will recognize it and understand the time and place indicated by the advertisement."


    After listening to Qiu Shanyu''s plan, Chen Mu was a bit surprised. Previously when she mentioned about advertisements, Chen Mu had merely listened without any further thought. But the plan this time was obviously more complete than the one before. If they were to follow this plan, it might also not attract others'' attentions.


    "How will she find me once she arrives at Thousand Lakes?" Chen Mu thought of a question.


    Qiu Shanyu said, "If you are not too far away from her, she will be able to sense the mark on your body and will naturally come to you."


    "How are you so sure that she will be able to see this advertisement?" Chen Mu asked.


    Qiu Shanyu raised her fine eyebrows, "Do you have a better plan?"


    Chen Mu''s mood fell, "No."


    "All is agreed then?" Qiu Shanyu did not even look at Chen Mu as she wore a pair of slippers and walked aside.

 486 One Breath Perception Training Guide

    The screen that shot out in front of Cheng Mu had multiple defined, complicated structures to it. This was the result of the Computation Box during this period of time.


    The Computation Box was an extremely important card appliance, which was why he protected it carefully. Besides letting Qiu Shanyu take a look at it for the first time and keeping it alone in a room afterwards, he had always kept it with him through day and night. The Computation Box has not let his high expectations down either, having already completely enhancements for many different energy structures.


    He clearly understood that if the information that he was viewing happened to be leaked, it would be enough to cause a huge uproar. Countless card masters will make a beeline for Dongrui City ¨C even the Big Six would stop at nothing to possess this incredible card appliance.


    Now, he did not have much time to scrutinize it, but secretly memorized every piece of information that the Computation Box received every day. What he calculated was mainly very basic structures ¨C structures that were frequently used up to hundreds or even thousands of times when making cards. Any minor improvements were able to make the card''s ability increase evidently.


    After making sure that he had remembered all the information without any errors, he reset to Computation Box to receive the next mission.


    After completing all that, he walked into another room ¨C this apartment had eight separate rooms. He shared this apartment with Qiu Shanyu. However, she was not allowed to enter any room other than her own, a source of grievance for her. She had no interest in any of Cheng Mu''s items, and had no idea why Cheng Mu was behaving in such a secretive and defensive manner, guarding against her. She was no chance to coming into contact with any core items. Then again, any item that she already knew about was enough to surprise her.


    This Cao Dong actually possessed so many techniques! How would the Faya-born Qiu Shanyu not know about the value of these techniques?


    What exactly was this person''s background? Qiu Shanyu, surprised and suspicious, kept thinking about Cheng Mu''s background, but to no avail.


    The tightly shut door of her room completely blocked off her line of sight.


    Cheng Mu took out the mystery card as his glance landed upon the starry-sky card exterior. His heart could not help but feel extremely consoled. He still remembered when he still received the card. Every bit of improvement brought him ultimate delight. Now, while the improvements have continued, that feeling of euphoria has damped significantly. Most of the time, it was a feeling of worry regarding whether his increase in strength was able to handle new problems that surfaced.


    He did not insert the mystery card immediately, but was instead deep in thought. What he learnt was extremely multifarious, to the extent that he himself was somewhat stunned. There were so many fragmented pieces of items inside the mystery card that somehow resembled a self-built system. Wei-ah''s cardless sect techniques, especially Airskill, had already became his secret weapon in battles. Caesar''s State Zero was insightful and unpredictable, a skill that extremely useful in actual battle. It was even better than Breath Control.


    Others such as card-making, card appliances were all part of an endless sea of knowledge, and he also had some experience in those.


    As for cards, the knowledge was even more complicated and fragmented ¨C Bipolar, Golden Word Shackle, Snake Lens, Hundred Changes, Patterned Shuttle¡­


    "If it was going to be fragmented, then so be it," Cheng Mu could not help but think in a self-loathing manner. While others were still worrying over the problem of passing down generations, he was worrying over what he was learning being too complicated.


    His glance fell on the mystery card again. Compared to the past, there was no saying how much wider his foresight had become. He already had significant confidence regarding the origins of this card. The card contained the most elite levels of knowledge, and some parts of it had jarring differences with the existing database.


    Such a high level was only achievable by the top-tier card masters, figures such as Heine Van Sant who stood at the top of the pyramid of card-making.


    Heine Van Sant was the first person that Cheng Mu thought of as well. However, he quickly dismissed that possibility. The contents inside the card and the existing database was too obvious of a difference. The current system was one that Heine Van Sant personally established and named himself after ¨C the Van Sant System!


    Historically speaking, there was only one person who was able to reach levels equal to Heine Van Sant ¨C Rosenberg! Legend has it that fantasy cards were his speciality, and that fantasy cards, advanced fantasy cards were all invented by him. The amount of knowledge about fantasy cards inside the mystery card was astounding. With Cheng Mu''s first three-star card, the Tailess Shuttle Card, he could now better comprehend the uniqueness of the mystery card.


    However, there was something that made him suspicious ¨C it was regarding the token card. In reality, even till now, he had not heard of any information regarding it. Across all types of textbooks, not a single word can be seen about the token card. If the token card was truly the doing of Rosenberg, why was it not passed down? Instead, he himself found out about how to use the token card when he was at downtown, where Alfonso and the others lived.


    After mulling over it for half a day, he still did not manage to reach a solution. Cheng Mu suddenly let out a laugh ¨C he actually had so much free time that he had reached the point of dwelling over the origins of this card.


    Regarding the mystery card, Cheng Mu could face it in a calmer manner, unlike the excessive nervousness he would display in the past. The Cheng Mu in the past had not a single bit of ability to protect himself. In order to prevent others from plotting, he had always been highly on guard. However, there was no telling how much he had improved since then. So long as he did not meet card artisans of Tang Hanpei''s calibre, facing other elites, he still had the confidence to fully retreat and escape.


    The more he learnt about the token card, the greater his gratitude regarding how deep and profound the knowledge inside it was! He was completely unafraid of others learning information about it, such was the sheer depth and profoundness of the system.


    He took some basic token card knowledge in particular and sent it to Ru Qiu. Bogner and the others were fighting in the forest. With himself not be her side, once the card is damaged, there was no way of repairing it. These knowledge about the token card were pretty fundamental, but Ru Qiu and Cheng Mu had a significant amount of time. Also, having participated multiple times when Cheng Mu was making cards, under the long term influence, her ability was greater than before, allowing her to quickly digest the knowledge. This meant that Bogner and the rest had another layer of protection.


    The increase in knowledge made him understand that not everything could be done by himself. The power of teamwork would forever be stronger than the power of one!


    However, this time, his target was not knowledge regarding card making. Tan Yuwen brought nothing but endless trouble by revealing her identity as Caesar''s student. In the past, Caesar made countless numbers of enemies across the land. The failure to locate Caesar made her the best alternative target. The lack of activity till now could be explained by the aftereffects of that huge battle a few nights ago, and also the existence of Jie Yanbai adding on to their indecisiveness.


    However, with Dongrui City having more and more experts, this type of stalemate was soon to be broken. Jie Baiyun''s strength was powerful, but Cheng Mu did not want to live under the protection of others.


    He was no longer the powerful Cheng Mu from before!


    Once again entering the mystery card, his sight muffled as the realistic illusion appeared again ¨C another perception sensitivity test.


    The familiar scenery made him laugh uncontrollably. Right then, his perception was no longer reserved as it was completely unleashed!


    "Test result: Perception Sensitivity Index 95. The activation condition for the Seven Main Energy Structures Dynamic Presentation has been met." A long-awaited, old and frail voice could be heard once again.


    Perception Sensitivity Index of 95! This result was not too outside of Cheng Mu''s expectations. His improvement speed had been rapid during this period of time, and under the training of Bipolar Card and State Zero, there was an evident increase in his Perception Sensitivity.


    He was here for the One Breath Perception Training Guide! While his Perception Sensitivity was extremely high, in terms of strength, he had yet to make the breakthrough from grade seven. This was the most important issue hindering his improvement as well. There were many existing problems in the Perception Sensitivity training methods that he had figured out for himself. Had it not been for Caesar''s pointers, he would have definitely faced negative counter-effects in the future. While the exchange between them was a trade, looking at that transaction from this perspective, Cheng Mu was ultimately still quite grateful towards Caesar.


    Only by possessing a higher level of perception training method can one improve to the next level. Once his perception strength made the breakthrough from grade seven, his personal strength also increased by a significant amount.


    Before he even had time to activate the One Breath Perception Training Guide, the environment of his surroundings changed suddenly. A white fog spread in the air, and a piece of paper, a book, a pocket model and a silver round ball floated in front of him.


    Cheng Mu gently touched the paper with his finger and it became a giant screen. On the screen appeared the words "One Breath Perception Training Guide". He hurriedly calmed down and carefully read the content on the screen.


    The reading took him three hours. The information inside were not difficult to process, with even the wording and phrasing being extremely straightforward and accurate, easy to understand. However, out of habit, he started to think about the philosophy of the One Breath Perception Training Guide, which was why it took him so much time.


    The training guide was completely different from what Cheng Mu had imagined it would be. The techniques that he was using now was found when he was fumbling around on the basis of the One Breath Perception Training Guide name. He even created the Snow Pit Method because of it. His technique was making use of high levels of pressurising external strength to stimulate the increase of perception.


    However, the One Breath Perception Training Guide was not the same. It used the card artisan''s breathing. More accurately speaking, it incorporated perception training into the normal breathing of the card artisan, turning perception training into a bow string-like perception string. Every breath was like an arrow being shot out from the bow. Each inhale was like pulling the bow, each exhale was like releasing the arrow. With the level of perception being constantly stimulated and trained with breathing every day, it would become stronger and more durable. Furthermore, there was another speciality about the perception levels that were trained under the One Breath Perception Training Guide ¨C its explosiveness!


    Cheng Mu could not help but admire whoever created this incredible set of perception training methods. Compared to others, the Snow Pit Method he had created was simply raffish and filled with loopholes. Had it not been for highly skilled medical card artisans such as Sue Lochiro, there would be extremely incredible levels of non-battle attritions.


    As for the One Breath Perception Training Guide, it was methodical and harmless towards the health of humans. Furthermore, why would his perception growth slow down if he trained it constantly?

 487 Behind the Scenes I

    After reading through the "One Breath Perception Training Method", Chen Mu''s eyes fell upon several other things and touched upon them one by one.


    The book was called High Level Card Making Method, and he was overjoyed at its discovery. As its name implied, recorded in the book was probably the method for making high level cards, which was something he had dreamed of.


    He had always felt that it was very strange that among mystery cards there was only a method for making three-star fantasy cards, and the methods for making four-star cards was something that he had learned from other four-star cards. However, this was only limited to four-star cards. Up till now he had still not made a five-star card. Wheel and Bomb were four-star cards, although some of their functions were quite close to those of ordinary five-star cards.


    He did not have many five-star cards, only Sectional Succession, Snake Lens, and Golden Word Shackle. These three cards gave him a very limited reference. And although The Eternal Night was a six-star card, he didn''t even have time to look at it.


    It wasn''t that he didn''t want to make a five-star card, it was just that doing so was too difficult and beyond his ability. Otherwise, just like Xiaobo he would have traded all his cards out for five-star cards. The method for making five-star cards had only ever been mastered by a handful of card masters and academies, and it was difficult to learn through other means.


    But the triggering conditions of High Level Card Making Method clearly showed the Chen Mu''s current perception strength was not enough. He was not too discouraged, if you could make a five-star card you had reached the level of a card master, and there were only a few card masters who could create five-star cards in the whole Heavenly Federation, and each one of them had deep perceptions. Generally speaking, card masters who could make five-star cards were all over forty years old.


    And Chen Mu was only twenty.


    The pocket-sized model was A Demonstration of the Behavior of the Seven Energy Structures, which revealed in great detail the dynamic evolution of the seven categories of energy structure from simple to complex. It was incredibly detailed, and incredibly bizarre. They were much rougher than the energy models that Chen Mu had done before. The seven categories of energy structure covered almost 70% of the energy structures at the present. For any card master, being able to witness such a detailed energy structure would let them greatly enhance their understanding of that energy structure in an extremely short time.


    Not to mention, A Demonstration of the Behavior of the Seven Energy Structures could work according to the user''s will and perform a simple demonstration. To some extent it had a certain deductive function.


    But what really had a powerful function was the silver ball, Energy Structure Deduction Model! In other words, it could create an energy structure model that you envisioned and try to deduce what properties it would have.


    This truly was a peerless tool!


    Creative card masters could create all kinds of fantastic models with this, and it could determine if these energy structures were feasible and what properties they would have.


    This was what every card master dreamed of! Making a new card was not really that hard, but inventing a new energy structure was exceedingly difficult. Over the years, some card masters who had won awards from various associations had proposed new energy structures in order to do so.


    This was an extremely difficult process. Creativity was indispensable, but the most difficult thing was how to verify if the energy structure would be successful. All the simple energy structures had already been invented, and complex energy structures needed to be made real in order to determine if they would work or not. New energy structures meant new patterns, new card-making materials etc. This was extremely cumbersome. Over the years, there had been a pitiful amount of new energy structures proposed because card masters who could reach this step were few and far between.


    However, Chen Mu couldn''t trigger this deduction model either because his perception was not strong enough. What surprised him was that he needed his perception to be at the eighth level! Of course he was only guessing, since it was obvious that his perception strength was far from enough. The perception strength in mystery cards was not in accordance with the existing ranking system, so he could only estimate it roughly.


    Chen Mu''s current perception strength was not far from the seventh level, but the gap to the eighth level was still quite far! This left him speechless. He estimated that only those card artisans with the title of master could reach eighth level perception.


    Chen Mu was very used to throwing things that were too far away from him aside.


    What were useful to him now were the "One Breath Perception Training Method" and High Level Card Making Method. He intended to focus on "One Breath Perception Training Method." In his current situation the crisis was hidden, and he could encounter combat at any time.


    Thinking of this made him a bit uncomfortable. Tan Yumin''s light word''s had pushed him to where the wind and waves were highest.


    It was like the two of them had never celebrated a festival together! Or maybe it was that she hated Caesar?


    Maybe I can ask Jie Yanbai, thought Chen Mu.


    He calmed his mind, and started to train his perception in accordance with the "One Breath Perception Training Method". His perception was a structure consisting of two helixes winding around each other. He simply merged these two lines of perception into one and experiment with it.


    At the beginning of his experiment, Chen Mu discovered that the "One Breath Perception Training Method" was a bit too abnormal. It seemed simple, but the process of pulling the lines of perception needed to be broken down into twenty-six steps, and the process of relaxing his lines of perception needed seventeen delicate steps. Between breaths he needed to complete forty three steps. One can imagine how difficult this was.


    Failure! Failure! And another failure!


    Chen Mu tried repeatedly. Although his strength had increased, this had not made him squeamish as he was still used to failure. Speaking of which, over the years other than Wei-ah and Caesar teaching him in great detail, he had always fumbled about on his own, and it did not need to be said how difficult this had been.


    Up until dinnertime he still had not found the main thread of the affair. He had to complete forty-three steps in one breath without any mistakes. This was extremely difficult. Even though Chen Mu was someone with high sensitivity, it was still hard work. He suddenly realized why the triggering conditions of the "One Breath Perception Training Method" required such a high level of sensitivity.


    Tension alternating with relaxation was the right way to do things. Chen Mu had realized this principle over the years.


    He walked out of the room and everyone was preparing for dinner.


    Due to everyone''s different schedules, dinnertime was at different times as well. For example, Wei-ah and Little Bu Mo were still training. The amount of physical exercise that Little Bu Mo did was astonishing. In order to meet his energy consumption, and considering that he was still growing, Wei-ah had arranged for him to eat a meal every three hours.


    The chef had looked at Little Bu Mo with a little fear more than once. He was skeptical that this creature that looked like a child was not in fact a monster! He had told everyone that he needed to give it all he had to meet his requirements.


    In contrast, everyone else was much more normal.


    Xiaobo, Sang Hanshui, Jie Yanbai and Qiu Shanyu were eating. When he saw Chen Mu coming over the chef quickly sent over his dinner. He targeted each person''s tastes differently, and so the meals that he prepared for them were different.


    "How much do you know about Tan Yumin?" Chen Mu sat beside Jie Yanbai, thinking about his problem.


    Jie Yanbai paused and looked like he was thinking. "I don''t know much about her, and most of what I do know are things that my teacher mentioned incidentally. She is the daughter of my teacher''s rival. Her mother was on good relations with Caesar. At that time, Miss Tan Yumin did not have the reputation she does now. When I heard Caesar''s name I thought of this."


    "She''s a little bit strange." After saying this, Chen Mu lowered his head and began to eat his dinner.


    When Jie Yanbai heard this he frowned slightly. "I also kind of feel that way. I used to think Miss Tan was a very nice girl. Now with that business with the Yuzi Military Force, I don''t know if she was forced to do it or if there were other reasons. Also, she revealed your identity in public, that was a bit strange. I couldn''t figure it out before, if she recognized the White Commander, why contact you secretly but reveal you in public?"


    Qiu Shanyu, who had been quiet up till then, sneered at this. "I know a little bit about Tan Yumin. Don''t think too much about her."


    "You know about her?" Jie Yanbai gave her a puzzled look. He had always thought this girl was involved with Chen Mu, now it sounded like she came from somewhere else entirely.


    "Tan Yumin''s mother, Tan Xiaoyi, had a lot of connections. She is the daughter of the master of the Western Temple at Bitter Solitude Temple," said Qiu Shanyu.


    Chen Mu and Jie Yanbai were shocked.


    Bitter Solitude Temple!


    The two of them couldn''t help but glance at each other. That night, Jie Yanbai had wondered how Chen Mu had provoked the people of Bitter Solitude Temple. Xiaobo also paused. The skinny card artisan that he had fought that night had left a deep impression on him.


    "So it was her." Jie Yanbai said something that everyone could understand.


    Qiu Shanyu''s look became even more mocking. "Her father is Meiji, and this is not a rumor. At that time, Tan Xiaoyi, Shui Qingyan, and Meiji accompanied each other and met with Caesar. For some reason they entered the jungle. Later, Shui Qingyan was the first to withdraw. Meiji followed not long after. Only Tan Xiaoyi and Caesar insisted on penetrating the depths of the jungle."


    This time, not only Chen Mu and Jie Yanbai stopped, Xiao Bo and Sang Hanshui also perked up their ears. These behind the scenes stories were not something that could be heard at any time.


    Jie Yanbai''s shock was plain on his face. He had not expected that this would have something to do with his teacher.


    Could it be that Caesar''s reinterpretation of Rouged Finger came from that time?


    "Tan Xiaoyi was the weakest of the three, but her talent was unmistakable, broadly speaking she was the best of that generation of Bitter Solitude Temple. She was proficient in card making, but she was different from other card master. Her knowledge of card artisanry was also very deep. However, what she was best at was Aurora Beam!"


    Qiu Shanyu''s look suddenly became a tiny bit admiring.

 488 Behind the Scenes II

    Tan Xiaoyi''s scholarly knowledge was extraordinary. Of the three of them she was most alike in temperament with Caesar and the two of them became close friends. They were lucky and they found some ruins. Who would have thought that this site would turn out to be a laboratory established by Rosenberg''s student? This student of Rosenberg''s specialized in Aurora Beam and left behind a lot of techniques related to it. After they left Tan Xiaoyi had five notebooks about Aurora Beam techniques. Not long after, Caesar drifted away. Tan Xiaoyi simply established her own laboratory and began to study Aurora Beam, but she never disclosed this."


    Qiu Shanyu''s chilling voice sounded like she was mocking them, but the others were fascinated.


    "Meiji had actually already began to secretly have feelings for Tan Xiaoyi, and at this point had already completed his affairs at the Star Court. He went to find Tan Xiaoyi by himself. One of them was the daughter of the Master of the Western Temple of Bitter Solitude Temple, and the other was the most outstanding young talent of the Star Court of his generation. The Star Court and Bitter Solitude Temple originally thought that this would make for an excellent marriage alliance, and so naturally they facilitated it. The two of them married six months later. Two years later, not long after Tan Yumin was born, Tan Xiaoyi, who was addicted to her research, unintentionally let slip the origin of her techniques. This was found out by the Star Court and the Temple of Bitter Solitude at the same time."


    Hearing this, everyone had an ominous premonition about Tan Xiaoyi''s fate.


    "The Star Court began to put pressure on Meiji, and the Temple of Bitter Solitude made Tan Xiaoyi''s father go into action. It didn''t take long for Tan Xiaoyi to die in the struggle between the Star Court and the Temple of Bitter Solitude. The two sides were evenly matched. The Master of the Western Temple of the Temple of Bitter Solitude was saddened by the death of his daughter, and for the first time Meiji defied the Star Court. So the Star Court and Bitter Solitude Temple agreed that the five notebooks would be inherited by Tan Yumin and that she would decide who to give them to. Both sides sent strong card artisans to protect her, but strangely Meiji disappeared not long after, until a few years ago when he suddenly sought out Tan Yumin."


    Qiu Shanyu snorted. "Tan Yumin had been alone since she was young, with only the card artisans who protected her in secret and never revealed themselves. When she was a child her life was extremely difficult up until she was seen by an acting company. Once she became an artist her life got a bit better."


    "Who are you? Why do you know this?" Jie Yanbai stared at her as he asked this quietly. Even he did not know this behind the scenes information, and the mysterious woman before him knew it in such specific detail. How could he not be shocked?


    Qiu Shanyu did not look up at him. She bowed her head to eat as if she had not heard him.


    "She is a member of Faya," said Chen Mu.


    "Faya?" Jie Yanbai couldn''t help but look at her again. "Lady Faya?" His reaction could be described as extremely fast. This mysterious woman''s features matched those of Lady Faya who had been kidnapped some time ago.


    His mouth hung open as he stammered at Chen Mu, "Could the White Commander be Qiao Yuan?"


    Jie Yanbai''s reaction time took even Chen Mu by surprise. He just nodded, "Mhm."


    Jie Yanbai looked relieved. He laughed, "Ha ha, then the Black Line Star Listing is still guessing at Qiao Yuan''s origin. Poor guys, they have been put together all this time." From his voice you could hear that he did not have much affection for the Black Line Star Listing.


    However, he was still a little bit astonished. After learning about Lady Faya''s identity, he also had to reassess Chen Mu''s power. That night when he had seen Fang Shi he had discovered that his opponent''s wound had still not healed. It seemed that the outside world''s rumors were not wrong. Fang Shi had been wounded when Lady Faya was kidnapped. But he would never have thought Chen Mu had the power to hurt Fang Shi.


    If Fang Shi had not been wounded, Jie Yanbai would not have been able to grasp victory when he faced him. However, Fang Shi''s injury was an absolute fact, meaning that Chen Mu was a master who could wound him!


    His first thought was that Caesar had gotten involved personally, but he quickly rejected this. He remembered the rumor that there was a mysterious cardless sect master around Qiao Yuan, and he suddenly thought of someone.


    The man who was expressionless and indifferent all the time! He had rarely appeared in Jie Yanbai''s field of vision, and had stayed with the teenager who wore a monkey mask.


    In fact, the first time he saw him he had felt how dangerous he was! His breakthrough was in the jungle, and he had experienced many life or death battles, so he was much more sensitive to danger than ordinary people.


    Jie Yanbai suddenly realized the people around the White Commander all seemed to be mysterious. However, this thought disappeared as soon as it flashed into his mind. He was somewhat curious as to these people''s identities, but he didn''t want to cross the White Commander due to this.


    Who had no secrets?


    He felt relieved when he thought this, and suddenly thought of a question. He frowned, "Then why did Miss Tan try to seek out the White Commander?"


    As soon as he said that everyone frowned together. This was truly a question that made their heads hurt.


    Tan Yumin was astonishingly powerful. The super master Meiji had taken personal charge of her, and she had personally formed the Yuzi Military Force, and she had the card artisans from Bitter Solitude Temple protecting her in secret. It could be said that they were the most powerful force in Dongrui city. And her sounding out Chen Mu was obviously not due to her good intentions.


    Chen Mu smiled bitterly on the inside. They still didn''t know that Tan Yumin needed the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. He didn''t know why Tan Yumin needed it, but after he had finished speaking with Tai-shu Yong she had sent him an invitation. This move was enough to prove that she was determined to get it.


    Chen Mu had in fact noticed that Tan Yumin had paid great attention to him from the start, far beyond ordinary curiosity. However, her sounding him out that night far exceeded her usual level of attention.


    What had happened there? What was it that had made Tan Yumin increase her attention towards him?


    No, this was no longer just attention, it could be called purposeful action!


    What was her goal?


    Everyone finished their dinner in this imposing atmosphere, which made the chef who was watching from afar jittery. Could it be that the dinner tonight was not to their taste?


    After eating Chen Mu did not immediately continue with the One Breath Perception Training Method. Instead he sought out steward of Tai family castle. The steward was an old man of about 60 years old. His hair was completely white and he dressed very elegantly, and he always maintained a good demeanor.


    Tai-shu Yong had told him that this man''s importance was very clear, so once he knew that Chen Mu was looking for him, the steward appeared before him.


    "Is there something I can assist you with?" the steward asked respectfully.


    "I need some materials, here is the list." Chen Mu handed over a list of materials that he had written beforehand.


    The steward felt a bit uncertain. Materials? What materials? But he did not say anything, he just carefully and respectfully accepted the list that Chen Mu handed him. He glanced over it and then relaxed. They were just some of the most basic and common materials, and not very costly.


    "When do you need it?"


    "Immediately?"


    "Alright, I''ll bring all the materials to you within ten minutes. Please wait," the steward answered respectfully.


    Ten minutes later the materials arrived and the steward left tactfully. Chen Mu could skillfully recited the performance effectiveness of each of the materials. When he had made card players with Copper, he had worked with these materials countless times. He could not be more familiar with them.


    With his current card-making proficiency making one-star fantasy cards was a simple matter. He didn''t even need any auxiliary equipment, and using the simplest cold collection method he could easily formulate the ink cartridges that he needed.


    In just five minutes he had finished the card.


    This card could release the image of a verdant, glistening flower. Other than that it did nothing. He had already decided to use Qiu Shanyu''s plan because he couldn''t think of a better one. As long as that she-devil was in the Heavenly Federation, there was a great chance that she''d be able to see this advertisement and use it to find him. He had to say that Qiu Shanyu''s insights were incomparable.


    However, for reasons of safety Chen Mu had made Qiu Shanyu''s plan into a fantasy card, and even her signature was made into a card. Adding someone else''s signature into a fantasy card was not something that a regular card master could do. But for Chen Mu it was only a small problem.


    Taking advantage of the darkness, he quietly sent an envelope with the two fantasy cards to the address that Qiu Shanyu had written down. This was one of Faya''s top-secret places. If Qiu Shanyu hadn''t actively revealed it, Chen Mu would never have thought of it. Even the city administration building of mighty Dongrui City could become a secret residence for Faya.


    Rong Ping had been tired these days. Over the past few days they had had a lot of work. In this age of rival warlords setting up separatist regimes, real power was in the hands of the noble families. The powers that city hall could actually exercise were quite pitiful. Aside from the usual welfare issues, city surveys and other activities, their workload was quite light.


    As far as common people were concerned, although you wouldn''t have much advancement opportunity if you went to work for city hall, the work was leisurely and the salary was good, so it was a good job.


    Rong Ping was tired, but not because of his work. They had not had any news of the lady in a long time. He had worked under the lady, and had always admired her wisdom. She had none of the indecisiveness of ordinary women, and her decision-making ability was not at all inferior to men''s. He even believed that the lady would be the next leader of Faya.


    But she had been kidnapped! He still clearly remembered when he had heard the news. He had been so surprised!


    The first thing he had thought had been: impossible!


    But soon, as orders came in from above, he realized it was the truth.


    So, before he received his orders, he began to use all his power to find out the truth. But up until today he had nothing. They had disappeared suddenly and left no clues.


    Rest up a bit, then think of a way. He rubbed his numb forehead, cleaned up a bit, and then opened his office door as he prepared to leave.


    He suddenly found a brand new envelope lying on the ground outside his door.

 489 Xie Yanbai’s Decision

    When Chen Mu opened his eyes, a sharp radiance flashed on his cold pupils. He grew excited as he sensed the tiny growth in his body. This One Breath Perception Training Guide had been exceptionally effective and had far surpassed what he had imagined. He had only managed to barely complete all the steps today. The entire process of completion was rather bumpy and had been riddled with failures.


    Even so, he had still managed to sense a clear growth in only one day. At this speed, it would not take him long to breakthrough into Level 7 Perception. However, he was still at the early phase of practicing this training guide. He needed to meditate quietly while his training process hadn''t gone smoothly at all.


    Only when he could integrate all 43 steps of this training guide into his regular breathing process would he be truly powerful. It was quite curious who the creator of this One Breath Perception Training Guide was. It was truly quite powerful.


    Today, he needed to attend Tan Yumin''s invitation with Jie Yanbai.


    "I am quite curious as to how Tan Yumin''s Yuzi Military Force looks like. This is after all Meiji''s personal selection. I hope the reputation of the Big Six would not suffer here. Otherwise, I will feel ashamed on his behalf," Xie Yanbai said with a smile. From how he spoke of Tan Yumin, it was clear that he did not have a favorable impression of Tan Yumin.


    This reminded Chen Mu that Xie Yanbai originated from the Big Six as well. As the two had been able to get along fine, he kept forgetting about this. He asked, "Are the military forces of Big Six powerful?"


    Xie Baiyan smiled and indifferently spoke, "The military forces of Big Six can''t even be called a true military force. They are too far from being a true military force. Even the Heavenly Federation''s 12 military forces are much better."


    Chen Mu sank into a slight thought before he asked, "How do they compare with the card artisan teams such as Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team and Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team?"


    Xie Yanbai explained, "That will depend on how they compete. Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team''s Blood Hammer Unit and Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team''s Ice Crystal Unit are both elite forces. Although they are not as disciplined as a regular military force, they are much better than regular card artisans like us. But when compared to the trump cards of Big Six, Star Court''s Elder Council, Central Repository of the Classics''s Three Flower Unit, Moon Frost Island''s Island Unit, Desert Camp''s Sand Guards, Bitter Solitude Temple''s Bitter Hall, and Comprehensive Federation Academy''s Special Mobile Unit, they were way too lacking."


    "I see," Chen Mu nodded.


    "Generally speaking, card artisan teams can''t be compared with us from the Big Six. For example, our Central Repository of the Classics''s Three Flower Unit has instructors that had been real military instructors. The other five of the Big Six are the same. In fact, the military forces of the Big Six are almost identical to a true military force. Moreover, the individual combat prowess of the card artisans in the Big Six''s military forces is even higher than the card artisans of regular military forces. "


    Then, Xie Yanbai smiled helplessly and continued, "Even so, we are still not willing to fight the military. If it is a fight with a scale of about 10 combatants, we will definitely emerge victorious. In a fight with a scale of 100 combatants, we have 50% chance of winning. And if it is a fight at a scale of 1,000 combatants, we have less than 20% chance of winning."


    "Why?" Chen Mu could not understand.


    "There are many reasons. The larger the scale, the less the card artisan''s individual combat prowess would matter while the quality of the commanding officer and the coordination of the various units will be much more important. In these two aspects, we are far too lacking compared to the military. Historically, a non-military card artisan unit had only defeated the military on one occasion," explained Xie Baiyan.


    "Which occasion?" Chen Mu''s interest was piqued.


    "That happened a long time ago. It was done by a card artisan team called the Black Hibiscus. They had a genius commander, and this card artisan team was built from scratch by him. The military suffered a great defeat on his hands. One military leader was even forced to resign because of this incident. If our Central Repository of the Classics has a genius like this as well, aii¡­" Xie Yanbai sighed as he recalled the previous battle record where the Central Repository of the Classics suffered total defeat. Although he had a powerful combat prowess, he was too lacking when it was a large scale battle between military forces.


    "Raising an army is easy, but finding a good general is hard. The Big Six might seem glorious but talents like this are still hard to come by. The commander competition of the Big Six is hold precisely for the purpose of discovering talents in this aspect. An example of such a talent is Song Chengyan. Unfortunately, he died early. But in a way, his death was quite fortunate as he had caused Tang Han to lose an arm. Otherwise, things will be troublesome for us," Xie Yanbai said with a crisp laugh.


    Chen Mu said, "I heard this name before. He seems to be a formidable person."


    Suddenly, Chen Mu started wondering who would be the victor if this Song Chengyan had to face Jody Bogner.


    "Not only was he formidable. He could stabilize the situation even against opponents twice the number. He was a very heroic individual," Xie Yanbai did not attempt to hide his admiration towards Song Chengyan.


    "In terms of rank, Lao Hao isn''t too far behind, yet he had always been suppressed by him. It is clear that the so-called rank is not necessarily trustable. I do quite look forward for a certain person to make his appearance, though."


    "Who?" Chen Mu was curious.


    "Bizarre Genius of Star Court, Rossiji!" Xie Yanbai''s face turn solemn, "The Star Court had remained low profile these years but had nurtured such a talented person. This Rossiji is only 21 years old this year. During the first commander competition he joined, he won all his matches. At that time, he was only 17 years old. Four years have passed since then and the first place has never left his grasp. Not even Song Chengyan could do anything to him. How can anyone not look forward to someone like this to make an appearance?"


    Suddenly, a look of desolation appeared on Xie Yanbai. He smiled bitterly and said, "I have a feeling that the Federation would ultimately end up with only Star Court and Tang Hanpei fighting for domination. The only thing I can do is preserve the strength of the Central Repository of the Classics."


    Suddenly, the atmosphere turned heavy. Chen Mu did not know how to console him. They both sank into silence. This was when the apparatus on Xie Yanbai''s hand rang. A screen popped out. On it, a wan and sallow Madam Zhi Lian could be seen. Her eyes were red, while sorrow was on her face. At this sight, a bad feeling rose in Xie Yanbai''s heart.


    "Yanbai, the master has passed away."


    This news was like a thunder from a clear sky. Xie Yanbai paled, his brain started humming. The reason for him to be unwilling to return to the Central Repository of the Classics was quite complicated. He had an unhappy past there as he had never been valued during his time there. The other students there used to bully him as well.


    Of course, for the present him, those were all the fleeting past. However, he would also not be bothered with taking an initiative to help the Repository. The other main reason he had never wanted to return was because the master was still there. Although the master had suffered defeat under Tang Hanpei, resulting in a taint on his dignity, Xie Yanbai was still of the opinion that so long as the master was there, the Repository would remain safe.


    Alas¡­


    "What happened?" Xie Yanbai inhaled deeply and forced his voice to sound calm. With her eyes red, Madam Zhi Lian said, "He had accumulated too much negative energy. When cultivating his Perception, his internal organs started bleeding. When I arrived, he¡­was already near death."


    Xia Yanbai sank into silence. He wasn''t particularly close with the master. During his four years schooling there, he hadn''t even met the master once. Nevertheless, he still knew that with the death of the master, the entire Central Repository of the Classics would be in a critical condition. In any case, the death of a powerhouse would always cause one to have a sense of lamentation.


    "Yanbai, come back. If not, the Repository would be disbanded," Madam Zhi Lian sobbed. She could no longer hold her tears. These days, to maintain the stability of the Repository, she had personally taken control of it. Unlike Jia Yingxia, she was only a card master. Managing the Repository had been very difficult for her.


    Xie Yanbai pursed his lips. As he was exerting too much force, his lips paled. Pain and hesitation flashed in his eyes. After a short silence, he said, "Madam, Yanbai''s ambition lies elsewhere. In the Repository, there are many able persons among the senior brothers and senior sisters¡­"


    Madam Zhi Lian bellowed, "Enough! Even if you don''t care about the Repository, won''t you care about your teacher? Senior Sister Qingyan had been staying at the Repository since she was a child. Do you want her to lose her home? Think about it yourself!"


    She then hung up the call. Xie Yanbai had an unsightly expression on his face. Chen Mu was tactful enough to not say anything. But inwardly, he was sighing. The master of Central Repository of the Classics had been a glorious powerhouse for so several decades. And now, he was dead.


    Looking at the change of Xie Yanbai''s face in silence, Chen Mu suddenly laughed. Xie Yanbai was seemingly awaked from his thought by this laugh. He raised his head and looked at Chen Mu''s laughing face before laughed mockingly at himself. With a shrug, he said, "Well, it doesn''t seem like I have much choice, right?"


    "What is your ambition?" Chen Mu asked curiously. "You mentioned your ambition lying elsewhere just now."


    Xie Yanbai first blanked out before laughing heroically, "To roam far and wide, to meet all heroes. Ever since the incidence at the forest, I feel like human life is way too short. If I don''t travel more and see more while I''m still young, it will be a waste of my youth."


    His heroic laugh was soon replaced by a bitter smile, "But looks like I won''t be able to do that anymore. Madam was right. I can abandon the others but not my teacher. She grew up at the Repository. That place is like a home for her. She is my sole weakness."


    Chen Mu said, "Go then. Since you care about her, go and do what you need to do."


    Xie Yanbai fixed his gaze at Chen Mu for a long while before saying, "All along, I have been feeling that you don''t look like Senior Caeser''s student. But those words you just said, they do sound like something he would say."


    "I can''t be considered his student. I had only stayed with him for a day," Chen Mu disagreed.


    Xie Yanbai''s gaze immediately turned odd, "You only stayed with Senior Caeser for one day?"


    "Yeah. Less than five hours," Chen Mu nodded.


    "And that was enough for you to learn State Zero?" The odd look on Xie Yanbai''s face grew even more intense.


    Chen Mu did not know why Xie Yanbai would have that expression. He answered, "I only knew how to use it. I won''t consider that as having learned it."


    As a respond, Xie Yanbai stared at Chen Mu for a long time. It was as if he had found something on Chen Mu''s face. After a long while, he sighed, "I am starting to respect Senior Caeser''s insight."


    Chen Mu did not understand why Bai Xieyan would suddenly be sighing. Therefore, he changed the topic and asked, "When are you leaving?"


    A resolute look covered Xie Yanbai''s face. His eyebrows were sharp, and his gaze was firm. Not a trace of hesitation could be seen on him now. With a smile, he answered, "Since I have decided, it would do well for me to not procrastinate. I will set off now. You have to go to see Tan Yumin alone."


    He then patted Chen Mu''s shoulder and said, "Be careful, and take care."


    Chen Mu''s heart warmed when he sensed the concern within Xie Yanbai''s eyes, "You take care as well."


    Next, Xie Yanbai left.

 490 Yuzi Military Force

    Xie Yanbai''s departure signified a great reduction in Chen Mu''s force. This increased his vigilance as well. Although Xie Yanbai had not said it outright, Chen Mu was still able to sense his vigilance towards Tan Yumin from his words. Xie Yanbai was an outspoken and straightforward people. However, he was inwardly a thinker and was definitely no simple person.


    For him to be so guarded against Tan Yumin signified that the danger of Tan Yumin was not something only Chen Mu alone had felt. When Chen Mu arrived at the Yuzi Military Force''s camp, people were waiting for him outside the camp.


    "White Commander, the young lady is waiting for you inside." A card artisan of about 30 years old was the person welcoming Chen Mu. He had a matured air around him and a sharp gaze. The blue and white combat uniform that was unique to the Yuzi Military Force was worn on his body. He was modest and respectful. Although Chen Mu had not tested the strength of this card artisan, he would never underestimate him. It was obvious his strength was not low.


    "Thank you," Chen Mu thanked politely.


    The camp was huge yet it was in perfect order. None of the card artisans he met while on his way were weaklings. The card artisans here were about one or two level higher than the card artisans at Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team. However, that was understandable. Tan Yumin''s clout was not something they could compare to back then.


    The training area was operating in full swing. Not a single idle card artisan could be seen. Chen Mu felt like he had entered his own base instead.


    Through the long corridor, Chen Mu saw Tan Yumin. She was in a discussion with a card artisan. That card artisan appeared rather excited and was beating his chest with his face flushed red. As for Tan Yumin, a faint smile always stayed on her face and she would only say a word or two here and there. A tall and slender man would always be standing behind her.


    Each time she spoke, the card artisan would grow excited. Out of the corner of her eyes, Tan Yumin noticed Chen Mu''s arrival. She softly said something to that card artisan. Then, the excited card artisan saluted her respectfully before leaving with large strides.


    "Brother White, you are finally here. Yumin has been waiting for you," Tan Yumin greeted with a faint smile. She leisurely walked over, the tall and slender man following behind her.


    "I am overwhelmed by this favor shown to me," Chen Mu saluted her, but his calm voice contained no trace of the overwhelmed feeling he spoke of. When the card artisan leading Chen Mu heard this, a resentful expression appeared on his face. When he looked at Chen Mu again, his gaze was no longer as friendly.


    "You may leave," Tan Yumin said to the card artisan with a nod of her head. The card artisan left after a salute.


    A trace of distress could be seen in Tan Yumin''s eyes, "I have never expected that something like this would happen. It is quite regretful that I came so close to meeting Brother Jie without being able to meet him in the end."


    Although Chen Mu did not really like Tan Yumin, he could not bring himself to feel any displeasure when she was carrying herself with such politeness. Therefore, he remained silent. Then, Tan Yumin switched the topic and raised her hand, "This is my personal assistant, Mr. Ji Zhihao. He has long admired Brother White''s reputation."


    Ji Zhihao smiled and saluted, "Yeah, I have long wanted to know White Commander. Finally, my wish is fulfilled today."


    Ji Zhihao looked frail and pale, as if someone who was sick. However, his eyes left a deep impression on Chen Mu. His pupils looked like the darkest of nights, giving off an unfathomable feeling.


    "You are too polite," Chen Mu said courteously.


    The three of them sat down. Shortly after, some servants came serving tea. Tan Yumin''s gaze was attracted to the bracelet on Chen Mu''s hand. She stood up and bowed at Chen Mu before she apologetically said, "I am really sorry for revealing Brother White''s identity without your permission back then. That was the source of all the troubles. I have heard that Brother White was ambushed that night as well. Yumin had never expected all that happening. I feel very bad inwardly and have always been wanting to apologize to Brother White. Yumin feel much better that I can personally apologize to Brother White today."


    She looked distressed and regretful. Chen Mu raised the teacup and took a sip off it. Indifferently, he spoke, "Don''t worry about it. It''s nothing."


    If Qiu Shanyu hadn''t told him the origin of Tan Yumin and allowed Chen Mu to know that the Bitter Solitude Temple card artisans that had appeared during his battle with Xiaobo were sent by Tan Yumin, he might have been deceived for her apology earlier. But now, he merely sneered inwardly.


    Chen Mu''s indifference came as a surprise to Tan Yumin. Instinctively, she exchanged glances with Ji Zhihao. This small action of the two was noticed by Chen Mu. This allowed him to reach a conclusion on the status of this Ji Zhihao.


    Ji Zhihao pretended to be unworried and smiled, "Commander White is indeed a person with a big heart. I truly admire that quality of yours."


    Tan Yumin was also an exceptionally intelligent person. She immediately realized what the problem was.


    She regained her calm and said, "Yeah. Commander White is Senior Caesar''s student. You are naturally not a normal person. By the way, Yumin is in a way connected to Commader White."


    "Oh?" Chen Mu calmly answered while sipping on his tea.


    "Yeah. My mother, Tan Xiaoyi, is Senior Caesar''s best friend. I wonder if Commander White had heard about this from Senior Caesar?" Tan Yumin asked with a smile.


    Looking at the enchanting smile on Tan Yumin''s face, for some reason, Chen Mu felt a deep sense of loathing in his heart.


    "No," he gave a cold reply.


    "Oh. Had Senior Caesar never mentioned that to you, Brother White?" Tan Yumin asked in astonishment. However, a relieved expression soon covered her face as she continued, "True. With Senior Caesar''s temper, I doubt he will be bothered with these trifling matters."


    Chen Mu''s cold and indifference was causing the two to feel that something wasn''t right. Ji Zhihao spoke, "It will be the examination soon. If they know Brother White is here, they will definitely be very excited. I hope Brother Bai will give them some guidance when the time comes. This will teach them how an expert carries himself. Haha, Brother White, please come!"


    Chen Mu stood up without saying a word. Tan Yumin followed behind him, her face unsightly. She could not understand why would Commander White be so cold today. In the past, Commander White was also an unapproachable person. However, his cold indifference now was entirely different than that. Had he found out about something? When Tan Yumin thought of this possibility, her heart throbbed.


    The three reached a training room. About 150 card artisans were waiting here. All of them stood silently in a neat formation. None of them made any sound, and all of them were motionless like they were statues. An austere mood lingered the air.


    Chen Mu''s pupils shrunk when he saw that the energy undulation each of these card artisans was emanating was no weaker than the sixth level. Level six Perception was not rare in the five flourishing districts. But when it was a card artisan with level six Perception, that card artisan could definitely be considered a powerhouse.


    These card artisans stared straight ahead, their expressions calm and indifferent. Chen Mu''s senses were very sharp and were especially responsive towards killing intent. Each of the card artisans here was emanating a clear killing intent. Simply put, these were card artisans that had been put through the test of battle.


    All 150 card artisans that were powerhouses in their own right were standing here emanating killing intent. This was quite an astonishing sight. Surprisingly, Yuzi Military Force actually had so many combat card artisans.


    The overall strength of a team relied greatly on the quantity and the average quality of their combat card artisans. The strength of this Tan Yumin was indeed not something to be underestimated. Apart from these card artisans, there were five more card artisans that were waiting in the hall. The combat uniforms they wore were obviously different than the 150 card artisans.


    When their gazes landed on Chen Mu, their eyes lit up. Each of them started emanating an intense desire to battle. They all had sharp eyes, and the pressure they brought Chen Mu was no weaker than the combined pressure of the 150 card artisans.


    These were level seven card artisans! All five of them were level seven card artisans! Even if Chen Mu was a calm person, his expression still shifted. Tan Yumin actually had so many level seven card artisans under his control! The 150 card artisans did not shock Chen Mu that much. Although card artisans with level six Perception were quite rare in the Heavenly Drum Village District, there were still quite a number of them around. With Tan Yumin''s clout, it was not surprising that she could recruit 150 of them.


    However, card artisans with level seven Perception were completely different than level six card artisans. Card artisans at level seven were already true powerhouses. They could even enter the top 100 of Black Line Star Listing if they wanted to. Ordinary offers of recruitment would have no way of attracting them. Any card artisan that could reach this level would be a person with a firm will and rich experience in battles. It would not be that easy to shake the will of the likes of them.


    Chen Mu calculated and found that he did not have a single level seven card artisan. Of his man, Sang Hanshui was the nearest to level seven as he was only a tiny bit away from a breakthrough. At this realization, Chen Mu''s shock at Tan Yumin''s strength grew deeper.


    "Hello, White Commander. I am You Yin, captain of Team One in the Yuzi Military Force. It is my honor to meet you," the leading card artisan greeted Chen Mu and said in a neither servile nor overbearing manner. This card artisan had a tanned skin, looking like a normal manual laborer. He definitely did not look like a powerhouse.


    Chen Mu recognized this name. You Yin, number 70 on the Black Line Star Listing. Chen Mu had already memorized most of the names on the Black Line Star Listing. This particular name was one he had a rather deep impression of. Dang Han was the person who was originally number 70 on the listing. After he was killed by Chen Mu, You Yin took over his place. A trace of pride flashed on Ji Zhihao''s eyes when he noticed Chen Mu''s shock.


    "Hello, White Commander. I am Cao Anli, captain of Team Two."


    "Hello, White Commander, I am Qi Feng, captain of Team Three."


    "Hello, White Commander. I am Pan Yue, captain of Team Four."


    "Hello, White Commander. I am Zhu Yunming, captain of Team Five."


    At this point Chen Mu was already so shocked he was at a loss of words. These names were all names listed in the top 100 of the Black Line Star Listing. Five card artisans from the top 100 as her captains. This lineup was too luxurious. Not even the Snowflake Card Artisan Team could gather a lineup like this.


    Had the clout of Tan Yumin reached this level? Chen Mu still remembered the card artisan from the Bitter Solitude Temple that wielded the Sakya-Maudgalyayana Serpent-headed Spear and the top card artisan of the Federation, Meiji. This Yuzi Military Force was surprisingly powerful!

 491 Provocation

    Aside from the leader of Team One who was gazing towards Chen Mu in a usual


    manner, the other four leaders'' gazes were all scorching and unusual.


    Even though they did not witness the battle between the White Commander and


    Butchie, Dongrui City was abuzz with it. So how could they not know about it? Team


    Three''s leader Qi Feng garnered the most attention among the five. He was the


    youngest, aged around 25 or 26. He was fair and handsome. However, there was a


    sense of arrogance on his face, making others uncomfortable.


    However, what made Chen Mu wary was the unobvious slight unfriendliness in Qi


    Feng''s eyes, especially when he fleetingly glanced at the chain bracelet on Chen Mu''s


    wrist. His face was so sullen it was as if water could be squeezed out of it.


    Chen Mu somehow understood and couldn''t help but to decide to take off the chain


    bracelet after going back to prevent from causing any unnecessary misunderstanding in


    the future. He was not clear of what kind of person Tan Yumin was like, but he now had


    a sort of spectrum in his mind.


    This is not a kind act!


    A huge power shield rose when the crowd sat down. There were only two card artisans


    left inside it.


    Ji Zhihao smiled and introduced, "We at the Yuzi Military Force uses the selection


    system. After skill selection at the beginning, card artisans will face the second round of


    selections. What the White Commander is seeing right now is the second selection,


    selecting based on actual battles! This round of selection will immediately decide


    whether one can join the Yuzi Military Force. Opponents will be assigned randomly, and


    the defeated will have one chance to challenge any card artisan from the winning side.


    If the challenge succeeds, the winner''s spot will be replaced. If defeated again, he will


    lose his qualification completely. If a winner is challenged for three times yet still stayed


    on the winning side, he will immediately qualify, and others will lose the chance to


    challenge him."


    "This method is not bad," Chen Mu nodded, his sternness getting heavier. Without a


    doubt, the selection system of the Yuzi Military Force would make it impossible for a


    card artisan without strength to join. Besides, it was also obvious how astounding was


    the attractiveness of Yuzi Military Force and Tan Yumin''s appeal.


    Ji Zhihao smiled faintly, "I hope the White Commander will not make a laughingstock


    out of me."


    Few of the five team leaders'' faces brightened up. The strength of the Yuzi Military


    Force was indeed powerful. Compared to larger Card Artisan Teams like Blood Tinge


    Card Artisan Team and Snowflake Card Artisan Team, they only lacked combined


    strength. They were not any weaker in terms of combat power. It wasn''t easy to achieve


    this, especially for a team that had not been established for long.


    "Start the selection," Tan Yumin''s crisp and bright voice jolted one''s spirits.


    "Yes!" You Yin replied with a deep voice. Then he immediately rose and ordered, "Let


    the selections begin!"


    The two card artisans in the battle ring went into combat mode instantly. At the first


    instance, both moved away from each other for more distance. Based on this mere


    move, Chen Mu could determine that both the card artisans had ample combat


    experience. The recruitment of card artisans with combat experience requires a huge


    amount of expenditure and very high cost.


    Ji Zhihao asked You Yin half-heartedly, "Leader You Yin, what batch is this?" His voice


    wasn''t loud, yet Chen Mu could hear it clearly.


    It was obvious that You Yin respected Ji Zhihao alot. He replied immediately, "Mr Ji, this


    is the 18th batch."


    Ji Zhihao said in a satisfied manner, "Not bad, these aspiring warriors will be our


    backbone in the future. Honestly, I did not expect so many people to participate. Indeed,


    justice naturally inhabits a man''s heart!"


    You Yin agreed with a deep voice, "That is extremely true! They didn''t come for the


    money, but purely for Miss''s kindheartedness. For us, to be able to gather together


    under Miss Tan and do some meaningful things, we would have no regrets in life!"


    Tan Yumin said gently, "Yumin didn''t do anything yet to receive so much love from


    everyone. I''m really ashamed!"


    "You''re too kind, Miss. If you say that you didn''t do anything, then others would be so


    much more ashamed," Qi Feng was the one speaking with a charming smile on his


    face. The gaze he had towards Tan Yumin was gentle as water.


    The other team leaders nodded in agreement.


    Chen Mu pretended not to have heard that. Looking at the match, he was thinking about


    the message given by Ji Zhihao on purpose. This is the 18th batch, there were 150


    people in a group, half would remain which is 75 people. Therefore, they should have


    already recruited 1,350 card artisans, not including the previous number. After these


    calculations, Yuzi Military Force''s current size should be around 3,000 people.


    It would be too scary if 3,000 card artisans are of the same standard as these 150.


    This power can undoubtedly destroy the whole Dongrui City, and this doesn''t even


    include the five team leaders, Meiji and the Bitter Solitude Temple and Star Court card


    artisans who were by her side.


    Another question in his mind was, what was the meaning behind the information


    disclosed to him by Ji Zhihao on purpose?


    The competition in the battle ring was remarkable as the two card artisans were having


    a real fight without holding anything back. However, Chen Mu''s attention was not on


    these card artisans. He realised that he was gradually failing to understand a person


    such as Tan Yumin.


    The five team leaders were all men with extensive experience and definitely unlike


    those generation of fools. Yet they were all extremely loyal towards Tan Yumin, and this


    was something to ponder about. He could feel the sincere respect by the five team


    leaders towards Tan Yumin. Pushing other theories aside, the mere fact that Tan Yumin


    could subdue these five team leaders, meant that things weren''t simple at all!


    However, the most troubling thing for Chen Mu was another question.


    There is always a motive regardless of what people do. He couldn''t make clear of Tan


    Yumin''s motive, or even what is it that she wants. This was a point which he could not


    understand previously, yet he still couldn''t understand it even after Qiu Shanyu''s


    disclosure.


    Since he could not understand, Chen Mu decided to just not think about it, sit still and


    observe for changes.


    The battle went on quickly. The 150 card artisans were all experienced in battles and


    they knew the contrast between their strengths once they started the battle. However,


    towards the subsequent segment of challenge battles, they got more interesting. Some


    of the card artisan''s strengths even caught Chen Mu''s attention.


    Chen Mu finally made a judgment about the strength of Yuzi Military Force in his mind.


    They are very strong!


    It seemed like one of Tan Yumin''s intention today was to show him their strength.


    Finally, 75 card artisans were left in the ring while others left dejectedly. They couldn''t


    hide the joy in their faces, they were officially joining the Yuzi Military Force!


    The five team leaders left their seats suddenly and walked towards the ring.


    You Yin said deeply, "Now, all of you have one chance to challenge our five team


    leaders. Card artisans that defeat us will replace our position as team leaders


    immediately."


    The other four team leaders remained silent and stood there, calm and composed.


    The 75 card artisans in the ring instantly buzzed with noise. A lot of them had fighting


    spirits boiling on their faces. Most of these card artisans had their eyes set on a target


    above the prize, so this chance was exactly what they wanted.


    "I want to challenge Team Leader Qi Feng!" A card artisan spoke as others expressed


    excitement on their faces. Many among them had already disliked Qi Feng from before,


    especially with the way he looked at Miss Yumin, it really irritated them! Chen Mu had


    an impression of this card artisan. He uses a fusiform power-card with an incredible


    shooting speed. His previous opponent was so oppressed by him to the extent that they


    could not even lift their head before they were finally defeated!


    The shooting speed of this card was the fastest Chen Mu had ever seen. The fusiform


    power pouring down like a storm left a huge impression on him.


    Qi Feng showed a hint of a smile. Yet this faint smile caused others to feel a strong


    sense of danger. Chen Mu frowned. There was a powerful scent of cruelness in Qi


    Feng''s smile.


    "Do you need to put up a power shield?" You Yin turned and asked Qi Feng.


    Qi Feng shook his head gently, smiled and said, "No." After that, he raised his right


    hand while facing the card artisan opposite him and gave a slight smile, "Are you ready?


    We''re starting soon."


    With a whoosh, the other 74 card artisans dispersed, leaving that card artisan who was


    facing Qi Feng. There was no sign of fear on the card artisan''s face. He raised his head


    and shouted, "Okay! Let''s start!"


    Even before the reverb at the end of his sentence had yet to disperse, Qi Feng who was


    opposite him suddenly disappeared, as if he vanished into thin air. The card artisan''s


    face changed completely. Just when his right arm was half-raised, his pupil suddenly


    dilated and his expression froze.


    In the ring, he maintained his earlier posture which was as rigid as a sculpture. Behind


    him, a slim and long finger touched his back lightly. There was a faint electric awn


    circulating the flawless finger. The electric awn''s colour was very light, and if one did not


    look closely, it would be indistinguishable even by the naked eye.


    A faint smile outlined his lips. Then, he disappeared again with a slip and returned to the


    position where he stood before.


    Two seconds later, the card artisan collapsed to the ground and fainted. Well-prepared


    medical card artisans ran into the ring and carried that fainted card artisan out of the


    ring for medical treatment.


    There was total silence in the ring, and the remaining 74 card artisans were in shock.


    They didn''t think that the battle would have ended so speedily. The previous card


    artisan''s strength was obvious to the others and everyone thought that he could hang


    on for few minutes no matter what. Nobody would have thought that he would be


    defeated the first moment they met face-to-face. The other four team leaders did not


    show any hint of surprise, as if this was very common.


    Could it be that all the team leaders'' strengths have already achieved to such an


    extent?


    An unusual shock quivered Chen Mu''s heart. That was such a high speed! Even he


    himself was shocked by Qi Feng''s speed. Furthermore, Qi Feng''s control over energy


    obviously achieved a high standard, for that one finger consisted high skill content!


    "Anyone else up for a challenge?" You Yin asked expressionlessly.


    There was still a complete silence in the ring. The crowd was still shocked by Qi Feng''s


    move.


    After awhile, others mustered up courage for another challenge, but they only chose


    other team leaders. However, the difference between their strengths were still huge and


    almost all of them were defeated after meeting each other face-to-face. Seeing all the


    team leaders'' strengths, these card artisans fell into silence.


    "Since no one is up for a challenge, the selection ends here," You Yin said


    expressionlessly, "You will all be divided under the five team leaders randomly."


    The crowd was convinced and submitted at the moment. Strength explained everything


    in this world.


    You Yin took a glance at Tan Yumin and saw that Tan Yumin had nodded gently. He


    turned around and said, "Right! Welcome to the Yuzi Military Force, everyone scatter off


    now."


    "Wait!" Qi Feng who had kept his calm composure suddenly spoke.


    You Yin frowned and turned to him, "Team Leader Qi, is there anything else?"


    Qi Feng''s gaze turned towards Chen Mu and he asked with a forced smile, "It is such a


    rare chance to meet the disciple of Sir Caesar! What do you think? Wanna come down


    and play, White Commander?"

 492 A Sharp Counter-Attack

    Chen Mu could roughly guess the reason why Qi Feng was targeting him.


    Qi Feng''s strength was great, as seen from his previous moves. His speed was


    shockingly fast, to the extent that even Chen Mu was slightly surprised. Whoever had to


    face a card artisan with such amazing speed and good perception control would have


    headaches, and that included Chen Mu.


    However, he wasn''t planning to surrender. When faced with people like this, the more


    one compromised, the more one would be oppressed by them. Now, he gradually felt


    that high level battles are not really all that different from street gang fights. Retreating


    and tolerating will not earn the opponent''s respect. On the contrary, people will think


    that you are weak and can be bullied, even any Tom, Dick and Harry would step on you!


    Chen Mu''s current position was actually very dangerous. Tan Yumin exposed his


    identity as Caesar''s disciple, therefore a huge bundle of card artisans could find him for


    trouble anytime! Caesar used to have many enemies, they couldn''t and didn''t have the


    courage to find Caesar, but there might still be plenty of them who was courageous


    enough to look for him. A concession now would only give a sign to others and when


    that time comes, he would face real danger.


    Now, it was as if he was stepping on a steel wire, where his every step required caution.


    "Play?" Chen Mu squinted and got up slowly. It could be seen that Qi Feng''s move was


    out of everyone''s expectations, even Tan Yumin showed a hint of surprise. Chen Mu


    understood clearly that Qi Feng''s provocation was not instructed beforehand. However,


    Tan Yumin didn''t say anything to stop them and remained sitting as she did before.


    After experiencing the earlier surprise, the smile on Ji Zhihao''s face had gotten more


    charming. The other team leaders'' looks skyrocketed with excitement. The White


    Commander''s name had been spread around far too much, and so they wanted to see


    the real talent of the legendary disciple of Caesar.


    The card artisans who entered the selection previously also boiled with uncontainable


    excitement. It must be understood that in the era with the speed of transmitting


    information not being too slow, a chance to witness a battle between aces were still


    rare. For them to be able to witness such a high standard fight, was naturally very much


    beneficial to them.


    Qi Feng''s lightning speed and elegance left a strong impression on everyone present


    and he expressed a master''s demeanor perfectly. Although the White Commander did


    not show off his abilities, but his title had trumped over that of Qi Feng''s.


    If these two could have a fight, would it not be considered as a battle between giants?


    Without hesitation, Chen Mu walked towards the training grounds unhurriedly. Within


    these few short seconds, he figured that even though he didn''t know Tan Yumin''s


    intentions, he was clear that she didn''t have goodwill towards him. Her acquiescence


    when Qi Feng provoked him explained the problem to a certain degree.


    Chen Mu decided to strike back!


    The moment his right foot stepped onto the training grounds, his aura changed


    drastically!


    His grandeur was completely repressed before as he didn''t like to talk and gave a sense


    of dullness to others. However in the blink of an eye, it was as if he changed into


    another person completely. Like a treasured sword drawn from some inconspicuous


    wooden sheath, its sharpness was showing, and a biting cold murderous aura instantly


    appeared in the air.


    Chen Mu advanced slowly, and it was as if every step he took was heavy.


    Thump! Thump! Thump! For some reason, the crowd felt as if Chen Mu''s every step


    were knocking in their hearts. The airflow was getting slower as if it was going to


    condense. The intention to kill was so strong and oppressive, it caused the crowd to find


    it difficult to breathe. The two black lines winding down the white mask were like the


    reaper''s scythe, and a deadly aura was emitted towards them. The intention to kill was


    not masked at all in both of his cold and gloomy eyes!


    Yes, it was not masked at all! The naked intention to kill was locked firmly on Qi Feng.


    Nobody would doubt that he intended to kill Qi Feng!


    Ji Zhihao who was calm all along changed his expression slightly. He didn''t think that


    the White Commander would be so rampant! This was their homeground, was he not


    afraid of starting a feud with them?


    Tan Yumin''s face paled, horror was exposed from her beautiful eyes. All the other four


    team leaders had also changed their expressions.


    The murderous aura was too thick! When faced with such a strong intention to kill, even


    those experienced in battles would shudder with fear. He was indeed the disciple of


    Caesar, the God of Slaughter!


    Qi Feng''s face changed slightly, and the frivolous look on his face disappeared


    completely. He stared at Chen Mu with a sullen expression.


    "I don''t like playing," Underneath the white mask, his deep and raspy voice was almost


    like it carried a strange magic, drifting into others'' hearts, "A battle, is a matter of life or


    death!"


    Hiss¡­ noises of the audience sucking in a breath of cold air echoed in the hall. Who


    would have thought that the White commander could be this ruthless!


    Ji Zhihao who only flinched just now, became pale after listening to Chen Mu''s words.


    He immediately understood that they had wrongly estimated the White Commander''s


    character. The White Commander did not seem too different from common people,


    however once a battle had begun¡­


    He looked at the man who stood in a determined manner while going into a rampage,


    and the only word that came into his mind was - maniac! This guy is a maniac! Is he not


    afraid of dying? Or he''s just absolutely confident? Could this be a style passed on by


    Caesar?


    Ji Zhihao could only feel that his brain was in a mess. He had been proud of his ability


    to adapt according to circumstances, yet it was as weak as paper in front of such


    inhumane craziness.


    On the contrary, Tan Yumin recovered her calmness, and her gaze brightened a little.


    The other team leaders looked at each other, fear and shock visible in all their pupils.


    Qi Feng''s previous provocation caused the White Commander to have no choice but to


    battle. However, a simple sentence by the White Commander changed the whole


    situation. At that moment, Qi Feng''s grandeur had taken a downturn. He couldn''t


    maintain his elegant appearance under the piercingly cold murderous intent by the


    White Commander.


    That one sentence instantly pushed both of them into despair. Moreover, the prior


    provoker was Qi Feng, so they didn''t even have any excuse to stop all this.


    Both their mentalities were totally different despite the fact that they were in the same


    situation. Qi Feng didn''t expect that his probling could lead to such a serious


    consequence. Without a prepared mind, his confidence was unavoidably shaken,


    therefore reducing his grandeur. On the contrary, the White Commander''s look was


    determined. His grandeur was not reduced at all, in fact, it became even stronger


    because of that sentence.


    Like an inverse relationship, their situations were instantly swapped.


    Tan Yumin wanted to get up when a voice interrupted her.


    "Let us begin," Chen Mu said softly, not giving Qi Feng the chance to adjust.


    The moment he finished speaking, he disappeared from the spot.


    The distance between the two of them was 20 metres. For this distance, all Chen Mu


    needed was a sprint.


    Chen Mu''s sprint borrowed the strong force of his legs, his linear speed defeating that of


    the Big Loach Card. The audience could only see a blur in front of their eyes before they


    realised that the White Commander was already in front of Qi Feng.


    Those with sharp eyes could even see the White Commander''s closed eyes.


    The expert will prove the truth or reveal falsehoods. This one sprint by the White


    Commander was enough to cause the other four team leaders'' gazes to freeze.


    However, Qi Feng was not a weakling, for how could any undeserving individual be able


    to enter the top 100 of the Black Line Star Listing? He sucked in a mouthful of air and


    suddenly, his body became extremely flexible. Then, he floated to the back as if he was


    weightless. His movement seemed very slow but he managed to create some distance


    between him and Chen Mu.


    With a zap, a silver colored electric net was emitted from around his body like a cocoon.


    This layer of electric net looked extremely thin like a layer of semi transparent gauze.


    The White Commander reacted quickly and suddenly, a green ray flashed across his


    fingertip and a faint green energy thorn appeared on his fingertip.


    Soon after, the energy thorn flew towards the electric net with an amazing speed!


    The other four team leaders all expressed joy. The White Commander is about to be


    lucked out. The reason they thought so was because they''ve seen Qi Feng use this


    move before.


    For common card artisans in close-distance battles, the first thought that comes to their


    mind when they see such a thin electric net is to strike it!


    When a card artisan strikes the electric net, he falls into the trap! The electric net which


    looks thin and weak had a hidden trap. The electrical rays which are difficult to be seen


    with the naked eye will instantly attack along the other''s energy form. Even though card


    artisans'' bodies are stronger than ordinary people, when faced with such a strong


    electric shock, they will still undoubtedly die. This move was a huge underhand trick


    against card artisans in close-distance battles, and the amount of card artisans who


    have died from this move was uncountable.


    Looking at the energy thorn that was almost going to touch the electric net, Qi Feng


    couldn''t help but to express his happiness! He had been bearing a great amount of


    stress ever since Chen Mu started talking. When he thought about how his opponent


    was about to die in his hands, there was an indescribable joy in his heart!


    Observing this scene, Ji Zhihao and Tan Yumin''s faces changed drastically. They both


    shouted as if on instinct, "Qi Feng, stop!"


    If the White Commander dies, their plan would...


    They didn''t expect that inviting the White Commander to witness a selection would end


    up like this! This was not what she wanted! Tan Yumin''s beautiful and gentle eyes were


    now filled with fear, despair and hatred. Her gaze towards Qi Feng turned dark and cold


    instantly.


    However right at this moment, a plot twist occured!


    The energy thorn in Chen Mu''s hand was five centimetres away from the electric net


    when the energy thorn which was around 15 centimetres, slightly thicker than his finger


    left Chen Mu''s finger and dived into Qi Feng''s electric net.


    Qi Feng''s pupils dilated suddenly, an expression of disbelief suddenly solidifying on his


    face.


    How is this possible!


    Qi Feng made a fatal mistake from the start. He did not immediately pull away from


    Chen Mu and used a defensive measure instead.


    While sprinting, Chen Mu entered Oblivion Mode. In the colourless world model, his


    mind was clear although every line was changing with incredible speed. The distance


    between the two of them was too close and he could clearly ''see'' that there were


    shocking fatal rays that were unnoticeable by the naked eye on the thin electric net.


    At first, Chen Mu could hardly complete deconstructing an energy form that was so


    complicated in structure and unfamiliar like this. However the two of them were so near


    that he managed to complete all those. The nearer the distance between the battle


    opponents, the greater the power that could be unleashed via the Oblivion Mode!


    After all, a complete deconstruction under the Oblivion Mode meant that he could find


    out the opponent''s weakness!


    Without any hesitation, Chen Mu who had his eyes tightly shut raised his other hand!

 493 The Killing!

    Zap!


    The clear cracking sound which echoed in the Power Shield sounded like smooth silk being torn. The energy thorn, without a sign of stopping, thrust into the electric net. An incident that startled everyone happened. The electric net surrounding Qi Feng acted like water, while the light green colored energy thorn acted like a sponge and the latter absorbed the silvery-white electric awns in a blink of an eye.


    The entirety of the 15cm light green colored energy thorn turned silver. The unchecked tiny electrical awns gathered and went wild on the surface of the energy thorn. An astonishing energy wave echoed in the hall. Even the weakest card artisan could clearly feel it. There would not be anything left but a charred corpse had these electric awns came in contact with a human body!


    Bang!


    The stable structured energy thorn could not contain these unsettling electric awns and exploded into pieces! Upon losing their support, the electric awns, similar to the energy thorn''s fragments, turned into shattered awns and disappeared in the air.


    All five fingers of Chen Mu''s raised left hand were apart from one another. With a speed that the naked eye could not register, they poked the air a few times in quick succession!


    Five energy vines with the thickness of fingers suddenly extended from his fingers and plunged towards the nearby Qi Feng! The tip of every light green colored energy vine was as sharp as a blade. On the other hand, the flexible body of the vine could almost transform to anything regardless of how complicated it was.


    Qi Feng''s expression changed! He never thought that his foe could see through this move!


    When did he see through it?


    At that moment, Qi Feng had no time to think about this question. The odds were already against him. With the mistake due to this move, it meant that he completely lost his initiative! However, as the top 100 card artisan on The Black Line Star Listing, how could he just give up and surrender so easily?


    This move of his, named Yarn Bait, was something he had put more than enough work on in its strategizing. This move had two very important parts, one was the baiting, the other was the retreat. If he had baited the opponent''s energy form to attack the electric net but was not prepared to retreat, it would be very likely for him to be penetrated by the energy form of his foe. Therefore, when Yarn Bait was used, he needed to be prepared for the retreat.


    Although Qi Feng was shocked, he did not panic.


    His flexible body shook a little, then he was prepared again to increase the distance between him and the White Commander. He kind of understood now that the close-distance combat skill of this White Commander was astonishingly strong. To fight with him in a close range would not be a good decision.


    At that instant, the five green energy sword vines bloomed like flowers and spread all over place. However, not one of the energy sword vines attacked him directly!


    All five of the energy sword vines stabbed on places with nothing on them.


    However, these five energy sword vines that landed on nothing had changed Qi Feng''s expression significantly! The swishing sound that came from the stabbing was enough to send cold chills all over Qi Feng''s body.


    These five thrusts had blocked every possible escape route for him!


    Impossible!


    An overwhelming feeling of shock and despair consumed him in that instant! To be able to make this move meant that the White Commander had seen through this move from the very beginning. Only someone with great insight could block every single one of escape route before he could even make the slightest move!


    Does this mean that the White Commander had seen this move before? Otherwise, how could he make such an accurate judgement?


    All of a sudden, innumerable doubts were raised in his mind. However, he was not going to give up just yet! Even under this situation, this circumstance of total despair, he had not given himself up yet! If he was to give up like this, he would only become a joke. Then, it would risk his position in the Yuzi Military Force. Most importantly, he would completely lose his right to pursue Miss Yumin!


    Qi Feng did not seem to notice the subsequent coming of the White Commander''s right hand. His handsome face turned completely fierce as if a gush of blood was tumbling in his chest!


    At the same time as when he turned, the jet stream card produced a thrusting force violently!


    Puff!


    One of the green energy sword vines stabbed steadily into Qi Feng''s left shoulder. The strong stab instantly pierced through Qi Feng''s left shoulder!


    Qi Feng groaned, his eyes showed a slight sign of ferocity! And on his right hand, the zapping sound of the electric awn started abruptly. Then, his whole right hand was shielded by a layer of concentrated electric awns.


    He refused to believe that the White Commander would be so daring as to openly kill one of the captains of the Yuzi Military Force! Despite the ferocity of the White Commander''s words, Qi Feng still firmly believed that as long as he was not a fool, he would not make such a stupid decision! This was something that he could manipulate and he need not be scared anymore! Even if he had suffered very severe injuries, as long as he didn''t die, he could survive using the medical treatments in the force!


    What a shocking victory would it be of he killed the disciple of Caesar! It would tremble the Heavenly Federation! Miss Yumin would be impressed by him, and he would most certainly become the most renowned person in the force¡­


    The pale face that was caused by the shock he received just now had suddenly turned into one that was full of life. The eyes, on the other hand, were filled with his mad desire and hysteria.


    Kill him!


    With the aid of the force from the energy sword vines, Qi Feng retreated quickly. Meanwhile, his right hand, which was shielded by the electric awns, was suddenly placed in front of his chest! The silver colored electric awns instantly accumulated at the index finger of his right hand, causing the silver electric awns on his index finger to look extremely dazzling!


    A trail of silver light tore the air apart!


    "Die! Haha!" Qi Feng growled crazily.


    The distance between these two was too close, the White Commander could not possibly evade this! Thunderous Finger! The power of this hit was staggering, it was enough to rip the 4-Star Power Shield into pieces! As long as he struck a human body, it would be impossible for that person to survive. The weak human body would be torn into dozens of pieces as if it was a piece of cloth.


    He saw it with his own eyes as the light of the Thunderous Finger went inside the White Commander''s body.


    "Haha¡­"


    Qi Feng who was extremely proud of himself could only feel pleasure in his heart. However, he suddenly heard the stopping of his own laughter.


    What happened? He could not help but to be shocked. Instantly, intense pain could be felt from his throat. He lowered his head. Under his chin, appeared a light green colored energy blade, and on it, was fresh crimson red blood!


    Impossible! His iris expanded abruptly as he stared blankly at the White Commander who was before him!


    He should be dead! He should be dead¡­


    Gradually, the image of the White Commander in front of him seem to be blurring rapidly. A word suddenly jumped into his brain: illusion!


    How could this be¡­ How could this be¡­


    Chen Mu retracted the energy sword vines and did not even bother to glance at Qi Feng who was lying on the ground. He also did not look at the terrible wound on his left shoulder. Though he was quick in his evasion, the silver light beam still brushed his left shoulder. However, just a brush across his left shoulder was enough for it to explode to a point where it was badly mangled. Had he been struck by the silver light, perhaps he would have been shred into pieces and there would not be a full corpse left.


    Qi Feng could never have imagined that Chen Mu''s initial plan was more than just a tactic to scare him.


    The cold look behind the white mask made everyone feel a chill in their hearts. On the terrible wound of the White Commander''s left shoulder, blood was flowing nonstop and was dripping onto the ground. He, however, walked forward as if it did not bother him at all. Even though his footsteps were not heavy, they were loud and clear in the entire hall. Everyone, including the four captains, looked scared.


    You Yin stood protectively in front of Tan Yumin and looked at him vigilantly.


    "Are there any medical card artisans around?" A low and hoarse voice came out from the mask.


    "You are wickedly ruthless!" said the leader of Team Two, Cao Anli. He looked angry, "How dare you kill our man so openly in Yuzi Military Force''s station? Do you see us as nothing?"


    Though Cao Anli had a kind face, there was an undeniable solemness to him in this instant. The other two leaders looked at each other and slowly surrounded Chen Mu.


    "You wanna fight?" Chen Mu''s voice was not loud but it stunned everyone. All three leaders stopped breathing temporarily.


    "All of you get out of the way," said Tan Yumin. The captains looked at each other and were able to relax at last. Tan Yumin walked past You Yin calmly and slowly scanned everyone in the hall. She said deeply, "What Qi Feng and the White Commander had was a clean and fair fight. The result of it was nobody else''s business! How could Yuzi Military Force be so unreasonable? If any of you cannot accept this, you could challenge the White Commander after he fully recovers. Regardless of the result, it will at least not stain the reputation of the Yuzi Military Force!"


    The leaders were ashamed and the card artisans watching from aside all looked at Tan Yumin with great reverence in their eyes!


    When Tan Yumin finished her sentence, she walked towards Qi Feng''s body. After staring at it for a short period of time, she suddenly touched Qi Feng''s face in a gentle manner and closed his wide opened eyes. A few drops of tears fell onto Qi Feng''s face.


    Everyone appeared sorrowful. Though there was not much of a relationship between Qi Feng and them, it was hard for them not to feel sad for their peer. After all, they had worked together for such a long time.


    Tan Yumin stood up, and her face had already returned to normal. She turned to You Yin and said, "I''ll leave it to you to handle Captain Qi''s funeral. If he has parents, please do take them here so that I can take care of them!"


    The rest of the captains were moved by this. You Yin said deeply, "Rest assured, Miss!"


    Tan Yumin looked at Chen Mu and said calmly, "Get White Commander a medical card artisan to tend to his wounds. White Commander, I will pay you a visit later." She turned around and left afterward.


    The other captains looked at Chen Mu with their gazes full of hate, before following the leaving Tan Yumin. Only then, did a few of the medical card artisans start to surround Chen Mu and tend to his wounds frantically.


    Chen Mu could finally let out a breath of relief. Despite knowing that he would face troubles in this journey, he would never think of one with such intensity. Although the success of killing Qi Feng was able to build his notoriety, but he had also upset Tan Yumin and the rest. What surprised him more was that, even under these circumstances, Tan Yumin still wanted to talk to him!


    Talk about what? The gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus?


    Was the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus that important to her? However, after some thoughts, Chen Mu decided there was no need to think about it any further, considering how he had already upset Tan Yumin today. But he needed to cautious if the Yuzi Military Force did not honor their promise because they currently are the strongest force in Dongrui City.


    He felt safe and at peace as he enjoyed the treatments of these medical card artisans. Although the medical card artisans of the Yuzi Military Force had a much weaker standard than that of the Sue Lochiro''s, Chen Mu''s injury was not that serious, it just looked terrible.


    In comparison to his peace, all these medical card artisans were extremely nervous! They already heard of the notoriety of this White Commander. In their mind, the White Commander was a devil incarnate and he did not even blink while killing someone. After seeing him kill Captain Qi Feng today, the fear in their hearts only deepened!


    They treated him fearfully for an hour. After the treatment was finished, almost all of them left Chen Mu in panic.


    At the same time, Tan Yumin appeared alone behind Chen Mu. All of the doors were closed almost at the same time.


    In this huge hall, only Chen Mu and Tan Yumin remained.

 494 The Hatred of Tan Yumin

    "Brother White must still be blaming me up until this moment," A ghastly voice broke the silence as it came from behind.


    Chen Mu, without turning his head back, found it unfathomable. He really wanted to say that we don''t really know much about each other. He was not close to Caesar and there was nothing more to be said about him and Tan Yumin. Caesar''s request for him to fight Tang Hanpei had already caused him enough troubles. He had zero interest for Caesar''s previous grudges as it had nothing to do with him.


    He could not understand why Tan Yumin would announce his identity. But everything was over and with the dust settled, he did not want to know anymore.


    What was on Tan Yumin''s mind and the purpose of her thoughts had nothing to do with him. He also did not care. In this period of time that he came in contact with Tan Yumin, it had greatly increased how dangerous Tan Yumin was in his mind. He did not want anything to do with this dangerous woman. Otherwise, he might not even know when she decides to betray him.


    "If Miss Tan wants me to do anything, please tell me," Chen Mu could not suppress his impatience anymore as he slightly emphasized on the last three words.


    She sighed softly as if it raised from the deepest parts of one''s heart, causing others to feel sorry for her. Tan Yumin, with a slight sign of sadness spoke, "It looks like the White Commander has some deep misunderstandings about Yumin."


    She walked to the front of Chen Mu with deliberate steps and sat down slowly. Only then, did Chen Mu realize that she had changed her clothes completely. Her pretty eyes which were like clear autumns water now carried a hint of faint sorrow.


    "If Miss Tan has nothing else to say, then I will leave now," Chen Mu''s impatience was at its peak. He was genuinely irritated and annoyed by the woman before him.


    It was as if Tan Yumin was poked by needles, her beautiful but sad eyes started to water and her tone sharpened all of the sudden, "Are you that irritated to have to converse with me? Do you dislike me this much?"


    Chen Mu was too lazy to care. He stood up directly and walked towards the main gate.


    "White! Don''t you dare walk out of here!" That sharp tone of her''s turned cold suddenly, "Producer of numerical series cards, if you walk out now, I can guarantee that everyone in the Heavenly Federation will know this identity of yours tomorrow!"


    Chen Mu halted his steps. He turned back and looked at Tan Yumin coldly.


    "Want to kill me?" Tan Yumin walked in front of Chen Mu and lifted her pointy chin, revealing her snowy white neck that was as elegant as a swan coming out of the water. She said proudly and smirked with contempt, "Go ahead, kill me. I tell you what, I always thought that there''s nothing to live for. Dying means there''s nothing left to think of and it''s like falling asleep. How good would that be!"


    Staring at Tan Yumin''s eyes, Chen Mu sensed not even a single trace of fear. He hesitated. Obviously, it could not be an easier task for him to kill Tan Yumin, but he should not even think of being able to leave the Yuzi Military Force''s station today. He even suspected that tons of Card Artisans were surrounding the exit, moreover if it was a super master like Meiji who was in command.


    "What do you want?" Chen Mu forced the words out from his teeth, and the look on his face was not good. He never thought that Tan Yumin could unravel this identity of his. To outsiders, this identity was nothing bad. To him, however, it would stir a lot of troubles had this secret been exposed.


    "What do I want?" Tan Yumin chuckled in a weird manner. She only stopped gradually after a total of five minutes. The smile on her face disappeared little by little until her expression returned to normal, "Talk with me for a while."


    Chen Mu was confused. Qiu Shanyu was already troubling enough, and now comes this Tan Yumin who was even worse.


    Tan Yumin did not look at him. Looking lonely and sad, she then murmured, "I hate this world, I really do. I have never met my mother, I have not even seen a video of her. Father didn''t like me mentioning my mother, I don''t like him either. When I was little, all that I knew was my mother. You see, it was because my mother left me a notebook and there were many things on it that I did not understand. Dad, on the other hand, hehe, where was he? Hehe, when I talked about these things in the past, I would normally cry, but now I don''t anymore."


    She smiled, and there was an indescribable feeling behind it.


    Chen Mu remained silent. He used to be an orphan who lived a long nomadic life. There were some things he could comprehend.


    "Back then, life was very difficult. But I wasn''t afraid," There was a sign of toughness in Tan Yumin''s expression, "Because I believed that my mom was always looking after me. As I grew older, I found out that it was like someone was always looking out for me from afar. I knew that these people must have something to do with mom and dad. That''s why I stirred a lot of troubles in an attempt to lure these people out but never did I succeed. It was only until that one time when some people ambushed me that I finally saw them. Later, I found out that these people were from Faya. Many people think that I hate Faya very much. In reality, I don''t hate them at all, instead I am grateful for them."


    Tan Yumin''s tone became grave, her gorgeous face also became gloomy, "Only because of them, I found out that I still had a dad and a grandpa. However, I also found out how my mom died."


    She suddenly lifted her head and stared at Chen Mu.


    Tan Yumin''s staring gave Chen Mu the creeps, for her gaze was full of hatred and annihilation.


    "Now that I''ve mentioned it, it was quite a funny affair. Even for such a smart person like my mother, she would never have thought that one day she would die in the hands of the two people she loved the most. One was her husband and one was her father! Since then, I decided that I will, with all of my power, destroy them!" Tan Yumin grit her teeth as her beautiful face changed into one that was filled with an indescribable atrocity.


    Chen Mu did not answer, but certain things were clearer in his mind.


    "I had investigated you. From the first time I saw you, I already knew that you are very strong," Tan Yumin smiled as she felt proud of herself, "However, I never thought that you would be even better than what I''ve imagined! You are the disciple of Caesar, you have excellent moves, and, you are excellent at producing cards. Who would''ve thought that the famous producer of the numerical series card is actually a card artisan? But the one characteristic of your''s that really appeals to me is your calmness. You are always so calm and decisive. You are not ruthless, but you are not afraid of pushing yourself to the extreme when it is necessary. I am even more certain now of my judgment after your fight with Qi Feng today."


    Tan Yumin''s tone turned more and more relaxed, "Other than that, you also understand military strategies. That is what truly amazes me. When I used up all my resources to obtain the training plan that you made for the Tai-shu family and took one part to show it to the instructor responsible for the training of our force, oh, the look on his face when he saw it, that was how I understood your value. If I took the training plan to my father, what do you think will happen?"


    Chen Mu was staring coldly at Tan Yumin but the fear within him was enormous. When did she start to notice him? How could he have not noticed it at all?


    "I will let you know. My father will visit you immediately and invite you to the Star Court. If you say yes, then both parties will be happy. However, if you say no, I can assure you that my father will, without a doubt, kill you on the spot! Your existence would be a threat to the Federation. Unless you join the Great Six, no one will help you. Even if you are the disciple of Caesar, they would not hold themselves back because of it!"


    Chen Mu understood that Tan Yumin was not exaggerating. However, upon seeing how proud Tan Yumin felt about herself and the confidence on her face, he suddenly wanted to laugh. He wondered what Tan Yumin would look like if she found out that this plan was not made by Chen Mu, but rather somebody else.


    "And, if I am not wrong, you are a master of Card Appliance! True, why would a numerical series card producer not know a single thing about card appliance? In addition to that, you''ve even bought the raw materials of Card Appliance before!" Tan Yumin''s grin was absolutely gorgeous.


    Upon hearing this, Chen Mu finally realized how Tan Yumin found out about his identity.


    "Is what I''ve told you not enough to move you?" Tan Yumin stared at Chen Mu, "Only you are capable of making these Card Appliance designs that I have. Together, we can build a strong and powerful Card Appliance Military Force! Look at the Faya Federation, they are on par with the Great Six with just the lowest level Card Appliance. I don''t want anything but for you to destroy the Bitter Solitude Temple and Star Court. You can be the leader and I won''t mind! You are the disciple of Caesar and the grudges between you and the Comprehensive Federation Academy will never be over. Why don''t you build your own force to defeat them, and put an end to this grudge once and for all? You''ve seen the design of the Card Appliance and you know how powerful they are! Also, I know that you don''t have all the Card Appliance designs. My mom recorded it clearly that Sir Caesar had left after staying in the ruins for a day. He then moved into the forest for his training, up until the time he needed to meet my mom. In such a short period, Sir Caesar could not possibly have possessed the designs. In other words, you and I have to work together!"


    Chen Mu''s eyes which were showing through his mask showed no sign of interest, as if this had nothing to do with him.


    "I can see that you are still very calm, but I like it. If this is not enough," She suddenly took a look at the bracelet on Chen Mu''s hand. As she stopped, she said gravely, "I am willing to marry you!"


    Upon seeing Tan Yumin''s serious look, Chen Mu did not know what to do. He removed the bracelet from his hand and shook his head, "I think that Miss Tan must have been mistaken. The reason why I wear this bracelet is to gift it to a friend of mine. However, come to think of it now, if he knows you, he would not like this gift. So, I should just return this bracelet to you."


    After saying that, Chen Mu placed the black and white bracelet on the table beside him.


    Tan Yumin''s face was not looking good all of a sudden.


    "I am not interested in your targets. And the truth is, you were mistaken in that I am not capable of making the Card Appliances. Besides, please do not threaten me, no matter how strong the Yuzi Military Force is, even if it was as strong as the Great Six, there is still a weakness. Of course, I can''t fight Sir Meiji, but the other Card Artisans, hmph!" Chen Mu said calmly. However, the ''hmph'' at the end of the sentence was accompanied by a murderous aura.


    Tan Yumin gazed at Chen Mu deeply. Her expression returned to normal, "Looks like Brother White is not going to agree with this?"

 495 The Decision

    "Yes." Chen Mu answered firmly.


    Tan Yumin was staring into Chen Mu''s eyes but Chen Mu did not draw back his sight. They were both staring at each other. The silent hall appeared to be even quiet.


    A moment later, she smirked and said, "It looks like I have overestimated my charm. Brother White was not interested in Yumin at all." She looked a little pale and there were tears in her eyes. She then suddenly lifted her head and asked, "Brother White. May I know why is that so?"


    "You are out of your mind!" Chen Mu replied without hesitating. This would be his most realistic thought. He had never thought that Tan Yumin would be this crazy. Of her enormous courage of wanting to destroy the Star Court and Bitter Solitude Temple, Chen Mu was undoubtedly impressed. Nevertheless, he would not choose to indulge her craziness which simply ignored all kinds of ramifications.


    Moreover, despite his sympathy towards Tan Yumin, he did not like her paranoid and crazy personalities. The most ironic thing he felt in Tan Yumin was the "charity" thing she talked about was nothing but her tools. However, he felt disgusted on how she utilized it as her tool.


    Tan Yumin was silenced. After a while, she nodded and said, "Understood. You may leave." Upon finishing her words, she picked up the bracelet Chen Mu had taken off. She then turned around and walked towards the main entrance.


    Chen Mu startled. He had never thought that Tan Yumin would allow him leave so easily. He moved his body and follow right behind her. If he was to encounter any danger, he could still take control over her within a short period of time. It could also allow the Yuzi Military Force to learn to be cautious before taking any action.


    The door of the main entrance opened quietly. The sunshine from the outside was dazzling. Chen Mu could not help but to squint his eyes.


    There was no one there outside the entrance, which was a surprise to Chen Mu.


    "Brother White. May I have the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus as a gift?" Tan Yumin asked without turning her back.


    "It''s already used up." Chen Mu shook his head.


    "How unfortunate," Tan Yumin sighed softly. She suddenly looked at somewhere in a distance and drifted away. She said, "Brother White, after leaving this entrance, we will become foes. You are the first man that I truly admire. Please take care of yourself and do not disappoint me."


    Upon hearing all this, Chen Mu was even more surprised. He did not know whether Tan Yumin''s words were genuine. He did not care much and said, "It is my pleasure, farewell!"


    Afterward, he ascended into the air and flew away from Yuzi Military Force''s station.


    "Miss," Ji Zhihao was like a ghost that came out of nowhere. He stood beside Tan Yumin and said, "Are you sure you want to let him leave like this?"


    "I believe that there must be a lot of people who had already knew that he was here today. We don''t necessarily have to fight him today," Tan Yumin said softly as she grabbed the bracelet tightly.


    Ji Zhihao was silenced for a while, then he nodded instantly, "Yes. True."


    "He had used up the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. Zhihao, we have to think of another way." Tan Yumin turned her face and looked at Ji Zhihao with concern.


    There was a flash of disappointment showing in Ji Zhihao''s eyes. His eyes then turned back to normal. He said nonchalantly, "I do not have a lot of hopes on this. If it was not urgent, I assumed that he wouldn''t have to find the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus with so much effort. We should stop wasting our time on this matter as time is running out."


    "Zhihao¡­" Tan Yumin said.


    Ji Zhihao''s handsome face was pale but it was extremely kind and gentle. "Fate had been treating me well. I thought that I would have died in the village, but somehow, I met you. When I was 12 years old, I knew that I will not live through 30 years old. The feeling of waiting for my demise every day was really bad."


    He laughed at himself.


    "Since I was young, I don''t have any wish or desire because I know that fate will tell when would be my last day of life. Ever since I met you, I could finally have my first wish. No matter what your wish is, be it good or bad, be it just or evil, it has nothing to do with me! My only wish is to help you in accomplishing your wish before my death! Even if everyone hated me, even if everyone loathed my name, even if these hands were full of blood, I will be by your side along your way in pursuing your wish."


    He suddenly stared at Tan Yumin in blank.


    "Even if I am exploited by you until the last moment of my life!"


    Tang Hanpei''s current office used to be headmaster''s office room in the past.


    In comparison to the luxurious style of Pavchek when he was the headmaster, Tang Hanpei was more of an advocate of simplicity. Even the decorations in the headmaster''s room were simple to the extremity, someone would even call it bad. However, this office room was the most revered place of the entire Comprehensive Federation Academy. Every Card Artisan came here to report was full of respect of it.


    Tang Hanpei was a man of discipline. He relished frugality and humility, had a routine, and he was always vigilant. He was the kind of man that deserved to be revered by every pupil.


    Knock knock.


    "Please come in."


    Tan Hanpei closed the book in his hands. It was a black hardcover notebook. There were too many marks on the notebook that formed by constant flipping of the book. Through Tan Hanpei''s careful actions in closing his black notebook, it showed that he cherished this black notebook very much.


    The person who had entered the room was the deputy of Tan Hanpei, Shao Xue. When Tan Hanpei was not in any important position of the Academy, Shao Xue would be his assistant. Now that Tan Hanpei had took over the headmaster position of the Comprehensive Federation Academy, Shao Xue had also became the headmaster''s assistant automatically.


    Shao Xue was 28 years old and she was wearing formal attire. The slim body of her stood up elegantly.


    As she looked at the headmaster that had becoming more dignified day by day, Shao Xue was full of respect towards him. Her gaze involuntarily fell on the thick black notebook in front of Master Tang Hanpei. She was very familiar with this notebook because she had already saw it the first time when she met Master Tang Hanpei. All these years had passed and yet this black notebook had never left her Master''s side. Sometimes, she would find her Master look at it with all his attention.


    She was curious about the things recorded in the notebook that allowed her Master to cherish so much about. There was a time when she asked about it and her Master told her that it was a gift from his elder brother.


    That was the time when she first found out that her Master had an elder brother. However, she found out later that his elder brother had passed away for over 10 years ago. The sadness in her Master''s face when he told her the story had her felt guilty for a long time. That was why her memories towards this black notebook was very clear.


    "Master must be thinking about his elder brother again." Shao Xue could not help but to make assumption in her mind.


    However, she cleared out her thoughts within a short while and reported in a loud tone. " Master, the pursuit team has reached the Seven Gates City. They will reach Dongrui City in approximately five days. According to the information from Dongrui city, Commander White was invited to Tan Yumin''s Yuzi Military Force today and he has returned. In addition, we have obtained a new information saying that the Master of the Central Repository of the Classics had passed away. Jie Yanbai had departed and he is on the way to the Central Repository."


    Upon finishing her sentence, she stopped for a while so that her Master could have some time to digest this information.


    "Anything else?" Tang Hanpei raised his head and asked.


    "There is another uncertain news." What uncertain news meant was that the intelligence personnel was unable to prove the authenticity of the information.


    "Oh. What''s that?" Tang Hanpei showed his uncommon expression of being intrigued.


    Shao Xue suddenly became joyful because her Master would not be sad after shifting his attention to his work.


    She drew an lively smile and said, "He heard that Su Hanhao from the Desert Camp had infiltrated the Heavenly Drum Village District, but our intelligence personnel is unable to prove it."


    "Su Hanhao had broken into the Heavenly Drum Village District?" Tang Hanpei startled. He immediately put on a very interesting smile and said, "It appears that the Desert Camp could not endure the wrongdoing of Jia Yingxia no more. However, I am assuming that Jia Yingxia had predicted this. In terms of setting up strategies in the battlefield, Su Hanhao is way weaker than Jia Yingxia."


    He turned silent abruptly to think. After some time, he shook his head and said, "We shall observe for now and adapt to any changes that might happen. Now that the Moon Frost Island has been occupied, please send this order to the pursuit team and tell them to speed up. We need to take down Commander White at all costs. Every force in the Dongrui Region must provide their utmost cooperation."


    "Yes! Sir!" Shao Xue answered instantly, but she was showing a little hesitation.


    "Anything else?" Tang Hanpei had noticed Shao Xue''s unusual expression.


    "For the past few days, every frontline directors'' private army were less discipline than usual. There had been three conflict incidents happened within this week. Commander Tao could not find any good solution to the issue." Shao Xue said carefully.


    Tan Hanpei raised his eyebrows.


    This might be a tricky problem. The private armies of each school directors were sent to the front line because of how urgent the situation was last time. Song Chengyan was the middle army and these people were under his command. Furthermore, with the continuing victories afterward, these people were even more loyal to him. However, following by the death of Song Chengyan, the situation had became chaotic.


    Tan Hanpei could not find a second Song Chengyan. Therefore, he replaced him with Tao Ning. Tao Ning was the rising talent of the Comprehensive Federation Academy who ranked 13th in the Commander League. Unfortunately, with Tao Ning''s capability, she would not be able to rule this complicated army. Moreover, these private armies had became more arrogant after winning several battles. Other than Tang Hanpei, nobody was worthy in their eyes. However, Tang Hanpei would be busy with other works, therefore, he could not possibly command this army himself.


    Tao Ning was unable to acquire the loyalty of these experienced veteran, which was expected by Tang Hanpei. That could be the reason why he ordered Tao Ning to hold her ground and not to engage initiatively.


    It was supposed to be the golden opportunity, as the Master of the Central Repository of the Classics had passed away and there would be a temporary chaos among them.


    "If Chengyan was still alive¡­"


    "It appears that it''s time for us to take the revenge." Tan Hanpei mumbled to himself.


    The supreme leader of the Comprehensive Federation Academy had sent out the supreme command. He wanted the mixed army commanded by Tao Ning to retreat behind for five subregions distance and set their stations at the Mount Binidia!


    Right after this information was released, the entire Jing City was strike.


    To retreat from the current mix army station to the Mount Binidia, it would indicate that they had to give up a total of five subregions and 30% of the victories done by Song Chengyan directly. The people could not understand the purpose of Tang Hanpei''s command. Why would they give up when it was that close?


    Rumor had it that on the day when the order was being sent out, there were over eight directors visited Tang Hanpei directly.


    However, Tan Hanpei''s attitude was firm. He ordered the mixed army to retreat to the Binidia Mountains within two days. Any teams which caused delay would be penalized heavily.


    Though people were unsatisfied, none of them would be dared to violate the military order.


    And the moves of the Comprehensive Federation Academy had caught the attention of every party. Nobody could understand what Tang Hanpei was thinking.


    While people was expecting that the Faya and Central Repository of the Classics would gladly received these fice secondary regions, the fact that they did not even push their armies forward for a single kilometers was beyond everyone''s expectation.


    The people started to recall that the Faya and Central Repository of the Classics were knee deep in their own troubles. Therefore, they would not have the mood to think about this.

 496 Loophole

    Wu Yan''s facial expression was not looking good. The criss-crossed wound was extremely devastating, with the other members not even daring to go near it.


    Three thousand card artisans, not reduced to seven hundred! An injury or death rate almost one in four. This was enough to prove how scary the team before them was. The most infuriating thing was the damned chronic poison! He completely did not know when the team started to be poisoned. The medical card artisans who followed the team had no way of dealing with this type of chronic poison, giving a diagnosis of around twenty days! Enduring past these twenty days will prevent these poisoned card artisans from having their senses damaged, instead causing them to strengthen.


    Damn it, twenty days! Wu Yan''s heart clenched uncontrollably every time that number came to mind.


    Twenty days were enough for too many things to happen!


    What was worse was, due to the overly rushed move-out, they did not bring sufficient medication. When the leader of the medical team informed him of this, he wanted to smash the brains of the logistics in-charge into pieces!


    Shi Fengfei, Wang Yong and Qi Li walked towards Wu Yan.


    "Head!"


    "Boss!"


    Wang Yong and Qi Li looked at Wu Yan worriedly ¨C his face was not looking good at all.


    Shi Fengfei sat down, fatigue showing on her delicate face. Her dark blue, smoky eyes had lost their glow. She was in a sorrowful mood, her voice filled with pain as she said, "The captain of the Section Seven could not be salvaged, and has passed away."


    Wu Yan''s hand made a gesture as his expression hardened. This was the third captain level card artisan that they had lost. The captain of the Section Seventh had a perception strength of grade seven, a competent artisan regardless of where he was deployed at.


    "He was shot through the right chest by the energy shuttle," Qi Li added briefly.


    Everyone was in silence. The Snow Worm Card Artisan Team had left a deep impression in them. This type of energy shuttle seems no different from normal energy shuttles on the surface. However, it was extremely fast, and its penetration extremely scary. Facing these energy shuttles, normal energy shields were as weak as a lump of wet paper.


    Shi Fengfei bit her lips and said, "We underestimated them."


    This line was what some of them felt most strongly towards. Before this, they had been assuming that this was an easy chase battle, like a cat after a mouse. The Snow Worm Card Artisan Team''s escape merely wasted more of their time. Every Blood Hammer Unit card artisan carried attitudes of complacency ¨C the Blood Hammer Unit being used for a small card artisan team that was completely unheard of, it was like using a cannon against a mosquito. How wasteful!


    Despite so, no one would have expected that it was this small, unknown card artisan team that brought them so much trouble and suffering.


    The opposition had strong moves, flexible and sharp battle strategies, and powerful attacks, things that only top class card artisan groups possessed!


    "Their card artisan shooting attacks are very accurate, extremely accurate!" Shi Fengfei emphasised with a solemn look on her face, "Their shooting rate is extremely quick, and it seems like the environment has little impact on them. Now, I actually kind of believe that they have a large of amount Sniper Card Artisans!"


    Shi Fengfei was the long-range card artisan in the Blood Hammer Unit. It was the first time that she had given out such high praise!


    No one suggested otherwise. These few days, they deeply felt how accurate the opposition card artisans were. Even hearing the low rumbling sound of a normal energy shuttle now was enough to make their skin jump.


    "Yes, they have great chemistry, extremely logical firepower distribution, organised battling style and retreat sequence," Wang Yong''s wrinkles on his face were mashed together and he said deeply, "I feel that this resembles a military style."


    "Military?" Wang Yong''s words caused a few people to reveal expressions of surprise. As they all recalled the battles over the past few days, their expressions became more solemn.


    "Now that Wang mentioned it, I agree that it does have some resemblance," Shi Fengfei was the first to respond, "With even their retreat formation being so organised, it''s hard to imagine anyone else of such level of precision other than the military."


    Her words made sense ¨C one could tell the battle disciple of a team based on how they retreat.


    "Also, their cards!" Qi Li''s face of arrogance in the past was no longer visible. Touching his chin, he said in agreement, "Did you all notice something strange? There were no instruments on the corpses of their artisans! Over the past few days, we did not manage to seize even one of their cards. I could not make sense of it in the past, but now that Wang mentions it, I really think there is a possibility! Why would they care about their cards if they were not from the military? They must be trying to hide their identities!"


    The cards used by military card artisans were all custom-made, evidently different from normal card artisans.


    "That is possible," Wang Yong said in a deep voice, "However, proof is still needed to determine whether they are from the military. With their cards being so powerful, it is normal for them to not want the cards to end up in our hands."


    "What if it is the military?" Shi Fengfei voiced the concern of many in the group.


    Everyone fell into silence was once.


    If this Snow Worm Card Artisan Team indeed belonged to the military, they are in big trouble. Why would the military want to hide their identities? That was naturally the most curious thing. Regardless of the reason, they are not people that the Scarlet Card Artisan Team could afford to offend.


    "It is too late to think about all these now," Wu Yan said coldly, "The trouble has already been caused. What''s the point of thinking about it? Even if they are from the military, we will finish them off this time! Killing them off is the only way for us to survive!"


    A few of the people''s expressions changed drastically as they mulled over the words of their leader before a moment of enlightenment!


    That''s right! The only way to survive was to win!


    "Their overall strength is powerful, and furthermore, their leader is extremely skilled, we are not their match!" Wu Yan said without any reservation, "This is the first time I''ve seen a leader of this level of strength. Who would have thought that a small card artisan team would have such a formidable figure hiding within it! However,"


    Everyone got their spirits back up.


    "Their overall strength is strong, their battle chemistry unrivalled. However, there is a loophold!" Wu Yan''s stone-cold face did not contain any expression as he spoke word by word, "They do not have an elite!"


    Qi Li''s eyes sparkled as he slapped his leg and said excitedly, "Yes, yes, yes! Not facing a proper opponent has gotten me perplexed over the last few days. Turns out, they do not have any elites!"


    Wang Yong and Shi Fengfei were both extremely excited.


    Shi Fengfei''s beautiful eyes sparkled as she said calmly, "That''s right. If they do have an elite, just by sending the elite to harass us discreetly would have increased our injury and death rates by half! The losses on their side would have been much less as well. The opposition not sending out an elite even at this point must be due to the fact that there are so few of them!"


    "This is our only chance!" Wu Yan said coldly, the criss-crossed wound on his wound unmoved.


    "What are our casualty numbers?" Bogner snatched the tea in front of Xi Ping and took a wild gulp.


    "77 dead, 206 wounded," Jiang Liang stood upright in front of Bogner as he accurately reported the casualty figures.


    "Hmm, better than I had imagined." Bogner nodded his head as his glance turned to Sue Lochiro. Considering the fact that this team had never been through hard battles and had pathetically minimal experience surviving in the woods, these casualty numbers were far better than what he had predicted."


    Coming to his sense, Sue Lochiro reported, "The amount of medication that we had brought is sufficient. Out of the 206, 140 of them will be able to recover in a week, while the remaining 64 will need more time."


    "Alright." The frown between Bogner''s brows had dissipated significantly, "This time, it is all thanks to Lady Sue Lochiro. If not for you, our casualty numbers would definitely have been increased by more than half."


    Bogner''s praise made Sue Lochiro blush slightly as everyone looked at her with admiration. Sue Lochiro''s efforts were not only seen from a medical aspect, but also evident in the battlefield, especially the chronic poison that she had concocted. Before they set off, Bogner requested her to create a chronic poison that can cover a wide range. While not exactly willing, Sue Lochiro still delivered the completed product.


    Not long after they entered the woods, Bogner secretly poured the chronic poison on the bushes that he walked past. Within the woods, the smells were extremely complicated, making the chronic poison, which gave out a sweet scent similar to certain types of flowers, hard to be detected. Once consumed into one''s body, the poison takes three days for clear symptoms to surface. Its only function was to temporarily invade one''s perception. Those who did not take the antidote would experience the effects for twenty days.


    If they were to be able to endure the twenty days, the poisoned card artisans would instead experience significant growth in their perception strength.


    This chronic poison was an unexpected property that Sue Lochiro possessed. Her initial intentions were to invent a medication that could help increase the perception strength of card artisans. Due to Bogner rushing her for time, she thought of a half-completed product.


    After she told Bogner about the functions of it in detail, Bogner immediately decided that that was what he was looking for!


    In truth, Bogner''s foresight had always been extremely sharp. When this poison unleashes its decisive function, the poisoned card artisans'' perception strength will become two thirds of its original strength level. The only downside is that this poison had no effect on overly powerful card artisans. For those elites in the Blood Hammer Unit with grade seven perception strength, the poison had no impact on them. Among the 283 casualties, nearly half of them were such elites.


    This was the most pressing concern for Bogner. In this aspect, the elites were leaps and bounds above them. Especially in complicated environments such as the forest, the instinctive abilities and ruthlessness of elite card artisans were extremely frightening.


    However, what came as certain comfort for everyone was the fact that the casualties suffered by the opposition was significantly greater than the rest.


    While the Blood Hammer Unit had forest experts as well, it was obvious that Bogner was still sharper than them. Furthermore, Bogner''s strength was using his geographical environment to attack his enemy ¨C a swamp, a blood-sucking vein, and even various wild beasts in the woods could become the most devastating weapon in his hands. With their perception strength lowered by a third, for these card artisans, the dangers of the forests were greatly increased.


    Non-battle members were the greatest problem for any leader.


    As for the card-setting artisan under Bogner, they have formed a strong chemistry after this period of training as well.


    Bogner put down the tea cup in hand and smiled, "After this long, they should have more or less detected something. Little Ginger, let''s start preparing for Plan Number Two."


    Little Ginger¡­


    The veins inside Jiang Liang''s brain started to jump.

 497 Calculation

    Chen Mu looked at the advertisement being broadcasted on the fantasy card platform. The green mark could be clearly seen on it, giving him an odd feeling. Up till now, nearly all mainstream fantasy card platforms were broadcasting this advertisement. Faya''s clout was indeed huge. This matter that would be very difficult for him had been completed by Faya just like that with an absolute ease.


    Perhaps this might show some results after all. Looking at the green mark being broadcasted everywhere, a trace of hope rose in Chen Mu''s heart. Suddenly, House Tai-shu''s commander rushed into the room with a card in his hand, "White Commander, someone handed me a fantasy card outside and named you as the recipient of the card."


    "Where is he?" Chen Mu asked.


    "He left after leaving the card."


    Chen Mu took the fantasy card and inserted it into his apparatus. House Tai-shu''s commander tactfully left the room even though he was very curious about the content of the card as well. A short while later, Chen Mu shut his apparatus, his eyes turning frosty.


    A piece of news about the Big Bad Wolves was contained within this card. Then person that had delivered this card was a card artisan of Central Repository of the Classics. Before Xie Yanbai left, he requested that they helped as best as they could. The Big Bad Wolves were only three days away from Dongrui City. It was clear that their target was Chen Mu.


    This was completely different from Chen Mu''s previous guess. He had guessed that the Comprehensive Federation Academy was merely pretending to be in pursuit of him to get an excuse to intervene with the alliance being set up at Heavenly Drum Village District. But from how aggressively the Big Bad Wolves was behaving, it was clear that he was their actual target.


    Chen Mu could not understand the reason for this. The Comprehensive Federation Academy was rather lacking in power at the moment. It was not a smart thing to send a huge number of powerhouses after him with great fanfare like this.


    If a person like Tang Hanpei was doing something that seemed stupid like this, there was definitely some unknown agenda hidden behind this. Very few people actually knew what Tang Hanpei had in his mind. Chen Mu did not believe that he was one of them. However, Chen Mu also understood that watching on as the Big Bad Wolves came would be very dangerous.


    He would still have some sort of leeway when dealing with Tan Yumin. But if it was the Big Bad Wolves, there was no leeway to speak of. It would seem like he now owed Xie Yanbai yet another favor. Wei-ah, Little Bu Mo, Xiaobo, and Sang Hanshui were all gathered by Chen Mu. The first thing he did was replaying the fantasy card in front of them.


    "Boss, maybe you are too handsome? That''s why everyone got attracted?" Xiaobo appeared completely flabbergasted. Although Sang Hanshui did not speak, his expression made it clear that he agreed with Xiaobo. In his eyes, his boss was a magnet that could attract numerous troubles without knowing it. Even his boss would be astonished by the all the troubles.


    "I''ll help you!" Little Bu Mo said as he waved his fist with a serious expression. His fight with Si Dongkou had previously had given him a boost in confidence. He was now training harder than before, and as he was at the age where his body developed the fastest, he was growing quickly.


    Wei-ah did not say anything and his face was expressionless. However, everyone was already used to his detached persona. Chen Mu took out the fantasy card from the card player and inserted a different fantasy card into it. A detailed three-dimensional map appeared in front of everyone.


    "Huh? Boss, where did you get this?" Xiaobo asked in astonishment as he stared at the map. The map was extremely detailed and lifelike. A three-dimensional map with such precision was extremely rare and was not available for sale.


    "I got it from Tai-shu Yong," Chen Mu replied. Then, he pointed at a city on the map and said, "They are here, Seven Mengri City."


    All four of them looked at where Chen Mu was pointing at as their gazes collectively landed on a city not far from Dongrui City.


    "From Seven Mengri City to Dongrui City, they can take three paths. The path going through Fir Town is the shortest path. I believe the probability of them choosing this path is the highest," Chen Mu gave a detailed explanation.


    "Why, Woody?" Little Bu Mo asked as he looked at Chen Mu with doubt.


    Chen Mu explained, "They had not bothered concealing their coming all along the way. It was as if they are afraid that nobody would know they are coming. From this, it is obvious that they are extremely confident in destroying us."


    When Sang Hanshui heard that, he snorted, "Those idiots."


    His eyes were filled with an ominous glint.


    "This is why I guessed that they will take this path as this path will take them the shortest time to travel," Chen Mu concluded directly.


    "What should we do?" Xiaobo was no longer as playful as he usually was. This time, their enemies weren''t some ordinary people. Those people were the elites of the Comprehensive Federation Academy.


    "We will take the initiative and make the attack," Chen Mu said calmly. Then, a frosty glint surfaced on his eyes as he added, "If we stay passive and wait for them to come, we will lose the initiative. The difference between our strength is too great. From what they had done so far, they seem to be underestimating us. They never would have guessed that we would be attacking instead. The distance between them and us make it best for us to ambush them since even if we fail the ambush, we have enough leeway to continue fighting on. If we fight in Dongrui City instead, we will be in a very difficult situation as once surrounded, it will be the end of us."


    Everyone was evidently shocked by Chen Mu''s reasoning. They all listened attentively, not wanting to miss a single detail.


    "Between Seven Mengri City and Dongrui City, there were three cities and one town. The city before Fir Town is Chur City. There is a distance of 3,700 km between them. This is a distance that will take about five to seven hours to travel with high speed flight. As these card artisans are all from the capital, they won''t be used to the harsh cold of Heavenly Drum Village District. It is very likely that they will try to reduce the time on the road and head straight to Fir Town before stopping to rest."


    Xiaobo nodded, "That''s right. If it''s me, I will also head straight to Fir Town before stopping. This weather is a torture to travel."


    "This is good for us. After five hours of flight, their stamina and Perception would have been greatly exhausted. They would be tired in both mind and body. Moreover, we have one benefit at our side, the energy card."


    "Energy card?" Sang Hanshui couldn''t help but to ask. He could not understand how energy card would have anything to do with this.


    "Yes, energy card. Using five-star energy cards as everyday source of replenishment is impossible as this card is too expensive and the difficulty of production is too high even for the Comprehensive Federation Academy. Generally, people would only use four-star energy cards. And using four-star energy cards as the base of our calculation, flying over 3,700 km will exhaust about 80% of the card''s energy," Chen Mu explained quickly, confidence in his tone.


    Before anyone could reply, he continued, "If we attack at that exact moment, they will not have the time to switch their cards. This will be very advantageous for us. Moreover, I have the Snake Lens. I will be able to determine their exact location, helping us when planning or revising our ambush on the go."


    After he spoke, Chen Mu felt his throat go dry and drank some water. When he saw that nobody was responding, he asked curiously, "Why? Is there any problem with the plan?"


    Xiaobo''s mouth was wide agape with a blank look on his face. After a while, he spoke, "Boss, when did you become so great?"


    Sang Hansui was also shocked with his eyes opened wide. He nodded his head in agreement by reflex.


    "Great? How am I great?" Chen Mu was completely confused.


    Xiaobo gradually regained his calm as he looked at Chen Mu with an odd gaze, as if he was looking at a freak. Little Bu Mo was looking at Chen Mu with a worshipping gaze, as if stars were twinkling in his eyes.


    "When did you learn that from Commander Bog? No, that doesn''t seem like something Commander Bog would do."


    Xiaobo rubbed his chin in contemplation and continued, "Is boss trying to get on the Renowned General Ranking? Oh, looks like the Black Line Star Listing is below boss now."


    While Xiaobo babbled on, Chen Mu rolled his eyes and said, "This is very easy. It only requires some simple calculation."


    "Simple?" Xiaobo laughed but did not comment much on it. He knew that most of the time, this boss of his was an extremely insensitive person as his sense of logic was way too different than an ordinary person. Today, his boss surprised him greatly. Only now did he realize that unknowingly, his boss had grown to this extent.


    In truth, this plan wasn''t exactly complicated. But from this analysis, one could see that Chen Mu had an extremely clear train of thought now. Indeed, that was merely a matter of calculation. But unknown to Chen Mu, this seemingly simple calculation had propelled him to a new height.


    Xiaobo was a knowledgeable person and understood how difficult it was to come by a growth like this. If a card artisan only focused his attention on skills, he would at most become a powerful card artisan instead of a leader.


    Now, Chen Mu was no longer looking at things from the perspective of a card artisan. He had learned to see things from a higher perspective. In this chaotic world, this would be extremely important for a team. Furthermore, Chen Mu was still so young. He had a lot of room for growth.


    XIaobo refreshed his conviction to follow Chen Mu. Sang Hanshui was also an old fox like Xiaobo. All these things that Xiaobo thought of had also appeared in his mind. They both exchanged glances before smiling knowingly to each other.


    "We will rest for five hours before setting off," Chen Mu decided when he saw that nobody had any objections. Apart from Little Bu Mo, everyone here was a veteran of many battles. Therefore, it did not take them long to enter a resting state.


    As for Chen Mu, he rested his chin on his palms as he studied the three-dimensional map. His brain spun rapidly as he was trying to see if he had missed anything. Without Bogner by his side, he had nobody to give him guidance. He had to decide everything by himself. With such pressure on him, he did not dare to slack. That was why he was putting all his effort to improve their situation. This battle would be very important for them. And that was not all of his plan.

 498 Wai

    At Binidia Mountains, all the vanguard forces of the Federation Comprehensive Academy were gathered. Not long ago, they received Lord Tang Hanpei''s direct order. Eighty percent of them would be transferred back to the capital, while the remaining 20% would remain stationed there. It was only now that everyone realized that Tang Hanpei had only gotten them to retreat to the Binidia Mountains to have a better defensive position.


    Binidia Mountains had a dangerous terrain. This coupled with the numerous forts constructed there made this an easily guarded and hard to attack place. Some of the high ranking officers were extremely dissatisfied with this decision. They believed that now was the perfect time for them to expand. And yet Tang Hanpei seemed dead set on defending instead. He lacked ambition.


    Nevertheless, this was Tang Hanpei''s order. Therefore, none of them dared to disobey. They could be dissatisfied but they would still obediently arrange their forces before returning to the capital. For most of the card artisans, they were agreeable with returning to the capital.


    They originated from the capital and were already used to living in a flourishing city. Live at the front line was extremely hard. Moreover, they had accumulated merit at the front line and would therefore receive great rewards upon their return. In fact, most of them would not be willing to come to the desolate front line if they had a choice.


    Apart from the 20% of card artisans staying behind under Tao Ning''s lead, the rest of them returned to the capital. Nothing was more glorious than a triumphant return. Little did they know, Tang Hanpei would be the one waiting for them. He was now the true holder of power at the capital and his popularity was insurmountable in the entire Federation. With him personally welcoming them back, all the card artisans got incredibly excited.


    Tang Hanpei personally entered the military camp and took control over this army. Nobody objected to this. Although they were comprised of the private armies of the various board members, nominally, they still needed to obey Tang Hanpei.


    Tang Hanpei started spending all his time at the camp. He visited each unit to learn more about the lives of the ordinary card artisans. Next, he issued a series of commands to improve the lives of the ordinary artisans. This greatly increased is prestige in the army.


    The leaders of the various units were very welcoming towards what Tang Hanpei did. As far as they were concerned, if even the foot soldiers could get such favorable treatment, they would be treated even better.


    The leaders all waited patiently for the incoming generous reward. Tang Hanpei was the kind of person who was very good with his words and could make all that listened to him feel good. Towards some of their requests, he agreed without hesitation as well. His kindness was greatly received by them.


    Yuzi Military Force.


    Meiji said with a frown, "When are we doing it? Should I catch that kid today? I don''t understand this. Yumin, why would you be so interested on Caesar''s disciple? People that know how to lead an army are not rare. You can easily find many of them at the Star Academy. I can''t get anyone like Rossiji, but getting a few that are only slightly worse than him is still doable."


    Tan Zhi had fully recovered from his injury. He looked as if he had withered, like an old man of about 50 or 60 years old. But in fact, he was only 30 years old. Suddenly, he spoke, "There are also talents in Bitter Solitude Temple. Miss, why do you neglect what you can easily get for something not reachable?"


    Tan Yumin calmly replied, "He is the student of Senior Caesar. A person that can attract Senior Caesar''s attention is definitely someone special." She suddenly smiled and continued, "Just like what Mr. Tan said, why bother neglect something I can easily get for something not reachable?"


    Tan Zhi''s expression shifted as he stared at Tan Yumin and asked, "What do you mean, miss? The temple head is your maternal grandfather. Don''t be rash, miss."


    Ji Zhihao suddenly laughed and said, "Mr. Tan, you have yet to fully recover from your injury. You need to be careful and don''t get too agitated. That White Commander is indeed quite powerful. He also has powerhouses comparable to you as his followers. If we can rope him in, it will be a great boost to us."


    Tan Zhi trembled slightly before he indifferently said, "I am too weak. Sorry for being an embarrassment to you, miss. It is natural that my weak self will be replaced by others. Furthermore, with the Star Academy sending Senior Mei Ji as a backup here, our Bitter Solitude Temple will need send a powerhouse comparable to him to protect you so as to show our sincerity."


    He deliberately raised his voice when he spoke the word "protect".


    "You are courting death!" Mei Ji yelled furiously. His face that was as tender as an infant''s face darkened with killing intent filling his eyes. "Do you think that I won''t dare to kill you?"


    Ji Zhihao''s complexion looked paler, but his pair of bright eyes was fixed on Tan Zhi as well.


    Tan Zhi said indifferently, "For Senior Mei to kill this junior, it is naturally a simple feat. I won''t bother resisting. But I was merely stating the fact. It is very disheartening to know that miss do not trust us at all. She would rather risk releasing the design plan rather than share it with our Bitter Solitude Temple. Furthermore, if my guess is correct, the Star Academy must have obtained part of it already, right?"


    His eyes were fixed on Mei Ji when he spoke, not a trace of fear could be seen on him.


    Mei Ji''s expression shifted slightly before he shouted, "Nonsense. That is not true. Do you have any proof?"


    Tan Zhi expressionlessly replied, "Throughout the years, our Bitter Solitude Temple has been abiding by the agreement made back then. Now that I look at it, that is a complete mistake."


    The agreement made back then¡­


    A trace of sadness surfaced on Tan Yumin''s eyes, as if she had been hurt by something. A smile appeared on her face, yet she looked even frostier now.


    "May I know which powerhouse of Bitter Solitude Temple is the one replacing Mr. Tan this time?" Tan Yunmin calmly asked, her face expressionless. Despite the expressionless face, when Tan Zhi looked at her face, his heart grew chilly. He would no longer understand this woman. The chill did not last long as it was soon replaced with fury. The way Tan Yumin had tacitly agreed to what was being said had angered him.


    "The one coming this time is Siam, the one who had recently been promoted as the leader of the South Temple." Then, his tone shifted and became very unfriendly as he continued, "Miss Tan, due to your hot-headed actions, the hall master no longer trusts us. Your maternal grandfather himself has been reprimanded by the hall master because of this."


    As Tan Zhi originated from the West Temple, it was natural for him to feel unhappy about this.


    Mei Ji''s tone turned solemn as he said, "Siam? If I recalled correctly, he is the direct disciple of your hall master and is only about 28 or 29 years old this year. How had he become the South Temple''s leader?"


    The Bitter Solitude Temple was made up of a huge group of temples. To make it easier to manage these temples, they were separated into four temple districts of east, west, south, and north. Each temple district was lead by a temple leader, and above the temple leaders was the hall master that led the entire Bitter Solitude Temple.


    The four temple leaders held great power in the temple. Apart from the North Temple leader Gu Xisheng who focused only on making cards, the other three temple leaders were individuals with great popularity and strength. Never before in the history of Bitter Solitude Temple had someone below 30 reach such position.


    With worshipping eyes, Tan Zhi replied, "That''s right. Temple Leader Siam is a person of remarkable talent. About three months ago, he distinguished himself among all the candidates for the South Temple''s leadership position to obtain victory in the selection process and become the youngest temple leader in the history of Bitter Solitude Temple."


    Mei Ji remained silent while his expressions shifted indefinitely.


    "Miss Tan, I advise that you take note of your words and conducts moving forward. Temple Leader Siam might not be as friendly a person as I am. I also hope you will stop making things difficult for your maternal grandfather," Tan Zhi said nonchalantly before bidding his goodbye and leaving.


    By this point, Mei Ji''s face was already extremely unsightly as he also quickly left the room. Soon, only Ji Zhihao and Tan Yumin were left in the meeting room. Suddenly, they exchanged glances and smiled. They did not seem displeased at all. With a smile, Tan Yumin spoke, "Zhihao, looks like your trick has taken effect."


    Ji Zhihao''s pale face was filled with confidence as he said, "We only need to observe the changes. As long as the agreement is still in effect, we would be restricted by it. So long as a conflict arises among them, we will have a chance to break away from their grasp."


    "What should we do next?" Tan Yumin asked.


    "Siam will definitely try to threaten you when he arrives to get part of the design plan. For now, you only need to request for Senior Mei''s help and let him deal with the trouble. I believe that Star Academy will not be willing to give up on something they are about to get. Siam will also not be willing to allow the Star Academy to be ahead of them. A conflict between them is unavoidable. You only need to keep the notebook in your grip and you will be able to preserve your life," Ji Zhihao said, his eyes appeared very spirited in contrast with his pale complexion.


    "When the conflict between them reaches the tipping point, it will be the time for us to break free of them," Ji Zhihao concluded.


    "What about White Commander?" Tan Yumin asked.


    "Ji Zhihao smiled confidently, "Have you forgotten about the Big Bad Wolves sent by the Comprehensive Federation Academy? The conflict between them will not end so easily. We can sit down and observe as it unfolds. This will also be a good chance to see what will Caesar do about this."


    Tan Yumin flashed an enchanting smile, "Zhihao, thank you."


    But when she lowered her head, a trace of desolation flashed past her eyes.


    Xiaobo stared at the distant town and muttered, "This is Fir Town? It''s really small."


    The Fir Town was indeed a tiny town with a population of less than 50,000 people. China firs were grown all over around the town. Currently, the top of the trees were filled with deep layers of snow. A wide expanse of white could be seen when one looked at it from above. If someone decided to hide among them, that person would be extremely hard to find.


    When they raised their head, they could see snowflakes fluttering about. Evidently, it was quite windy here. To not attract any attention, they did not raise any energy barriers. Thus, when the wind blew on their faces, it felt as piercing as the edge of a knife. Thick layers of cloud floated on the sky and combined with a huge snow storm, the visibility of this area was very low.


    This was very advantageous for them. Chen Mu started studying his surroundings, observing anything he could see. This was the first time he did a plan like this. Therefore, he was not confident that he would be successful. Not everything would be determined by plans. He understood this.


    He was definitely nervous about this. One ought to know that this plan of him would not only decide if he stayed alive, the lives of everyone in his team would be affected. Therefore, he was under great pressure.


    If the guy with flat eyebrows was here, they would be able to hide in the clouds and land a fatal attack on their enemies when they least expected it. If Hertha was here, he would be able to use a greater number of card appliances to make up for what they lacked in numbers. And if¡­


    Suddenly, he stopped his line of thought, wondering why was he thinking about all this now. His lips felt dry. He shook his head, tossing these pointless thoughts out of his mind. After deciding on which direction to go, they hid amid the forest of China firs. Chen Mu activated the snake lens and carefully scouted the area. He was like a meticulous hunter that was patiently waiting for his prey to fall into his trap.

 499 Anticipation

    Sang Hanshui had ducked into the clouds to hide, where he couldn''t open his energy cloak. Although there wasn''t any wind in the clouds, the fine ice crystals would still sometimes fall onto his face, so cold that they would make him shiver. After so many years of living like a prince, it had been a long time since he had suffered like that, though he didn''t feel the least bit plaintive. That was because the boss was by his side, not opening his energy cloak either.


    The boss had been using the Snake Lens all along maintaining a serious expression. Sang Hanshui had some reverence in his heart for that young boss. His moves were fierce and decisive, and a lot more powerful than those so-called famous card artisans. That could be seen from the operation they were then carrying out, with five against twenty. Any normal person would have long since been scared off, but only such a powerful person as the boss would choose to take the initiative to attack!


    The clouds were quite thick and never mind several people, they could hide several hundred within them, and make them hard to discern.


    But Sang Hanshui did actually feel a little bit nervous, since not only did their adversary outnumber them, who knew how much more power they had. Twenty elites from the Federation Comprehensive Academy among whom ten had reached beyond the seventh grade; such a lineup would have to be called luxurious. If he didn''t feel that his boss''s plan was quite workable, he might not have even had the courage to fight with him.


    If the pursuit team was truly travelling by that route, and the boss''s prediction was accurate, then the possibility for the success of the overall battle plan would increase by quite a bit. And if they didn''t wait for the pursuit team, that would mean that they hadn''t travelled along that route, and they would at least have room to escape.


    Sang Hanshui didn''t think there was any shame in escaping.


    Still, apart from being nervous, Sang Hanshui felt a vague sense of anticipation. It was a five-star power card that was in his apparatus. That was taken by Chen Mu from Tai-shu Yong. The expression of pain on that old fox''s face gave Sang Hanshui some secret pleasure just to remember it then.


    He had never used a five-star power card himself!


    He was really looking forward to what kind of a scene it would make to use the Bomb at full power. In his daily training, he had really never dared to use its full power. Otherwise, he might have had the destruction of the building on his hands that evening.


    The time kept passing in Sang Hanshui''s nervous anticipation.


    "They''re here!" Chen Mu abruptly yelled coldly. Sang Hanshui was startled, and quickly got up his spirits. At such a critical time, he couldn''t help wondering if the boss was actually not the least bit nervous!


    "There are energy control fluctuations at a seven-second delay. The field for attack; A3, A7, B6!"


    Chen Mu''s commands were very methodical. Sang Hanshui''s nervousness eased all at once under their influence. Without any hesitation, he released the Bomb from his hands that he had prepared earlier.


    Only the glow could be seen on his hands, as Sang Hanshui loosed all the power that time with a very serious expression!


    Within a brief five seconds, he had shot off three hundred bombs in a single breath! Those bombs whistled quietly through the clouds toward the designated zone. Before the battle started, Chen Mu and the rest had divided the area in a circle around the ambush into several regions. And his requirement of Sang Hanshui was not accuracy but to carry out a blanket attack by using an increased number of bombs.


    The energy control fluctuations enabled Sang Hanshui to minimize his own energy fluctuations, in order to delay the enemy from finding his specific position. By delaying seven seconds, that would require that if the bombs shot off by Sang Hanshui didn''t hit their target, he could send off more after seven seconds!


    That series of orders were very demanding on Sang Hanshui. Still, he was able to complete them in the end, having benefitted from his daily groping along with the bombs.


    Sang Hanshui took a break after firing off those three hundred energy bombs in a single breath, needing to watch the fruits of the battle. He immediately adjusted his perception, in preparation for the next round.


    The team was flying at high speed under the clouds in order to be able to determine their direction.


    They could vaguely see the town in front of them, which made Zola feel glad and shout out, "Come on everyone, Fir Town is right in front of us where we can recuperate, warm up, and fill our bellies before continuing on in the afternoon." He was the captain of the team, whose power was also at the top of the group.


    "Excellent, I''m about to freeze solid! Good grief, such a cold day to rush trough the sky is really a crime!" one of the team members couldn''t help complaining.


    Another team member said without any strength to his breath, "It looks like you still have some energy left, kid. I''m so tired I can''t move."


    "This Heavenly Drum Village District is really f***ing cold! I don''t know what those people from Moon Frost Island were thinking to actually plant themselves in such a place. Did they have some kind of brain fart?"


    "What do you know. Haven''t you felt how much more quickly your perception is depleted here?"


    "Nonsense. It''s so cold that no one would dare to stop their perception. Isn''t it the same as freezing to death if you don''t have any heating?"


    "You''re such an idiot. Think about it, going through this every day, aren''t they using their perception every moment of the day? The card artisans of Moon Frost Island are unrivalled in the word for their perceptual control, which is an important reason that they are said to have a lower internal temperature. Moreover, the speed by which perception increases here is faster than in other places." A somewhat older card artisan explained.


    At that time Fir Town''s outline was becoming clearer to them, and everyone abruptly cheered. Their physical and perceptual exertions were very serious after that long-term flight, and they were extremely tired.


    "Careful, something''s wrong!" There was a sudden change in Zola''s expression, and before his voice fell, countless red energy bombs the size of fists came drilling out from the clouds!


    They were then just feeling the weak energy fluctuations scattered by those energy bombs!


    An ambush!


    More and more red bombs came drilling out from the clouds, like a school of red fish! Everyone''s expressions changed; there were just too many of those red bombs, so dense that there couldn''t be fewer than hundreds.


    Zola was both alarmed and enraged: Alarmed because someone had mounted a sneak attack! Enraged because anyone would dare to do that!


    Not only him, there was no one on the team who thought that anyone would dare to mount a sneak attack. That team was so powerful that unless it were Moon Frost Island, there was no one else in the Heavenly Drum Village District who would dare to make an enemy of them. In order to increase their speed, they hadn''t even had anyone take the responsibility to do reconnaissance scanning.


    Their adversary had set up an ambush under the cover of the clouds. The only thing that calmed Zola was that their adversary obviously wasn''t very powerful. Of course, he couldn''t be more familiar with the shape of the bombs. That sort of four-star card which was nothing out of the ordinary had rather ordinary power.


    Judging from the numbers, their adversary must have had at least twenty card artisans.


    Zola quickly restored his calm in the midst of his startled fury and couldn''t help a cold smile. Judging from the location and timing of the ambush, things were perfect! The thick clouds not only didn''t allow them any way to find their adversary''s specific position, it also influenced their perception. And as far as the timing, it was their time of being tired and hungry, which would be the best timing for a sneak attack.


    There was someone awesome among their adversary! Still, it was too bad that they had too little power! A better plan would have required more power to implement. With bombs everywhere, his energy cloak wasn''t even shaking, making that sneak attack all for naught!


    After going through their initial panic, the other card artisans also quickly discovered that those energy bodies were only bombs, and each of their faces couldn''t help a look of mockery. Although their current state wasn''t so good, those little bombs were something that they could deal with.


    Quite a few of them didn''t even dodge them, but just waited for the bombs to hit.


    Still! Zola discovered that most of these bombs weren''t flying directly at them, but were flying above and all around them, causing a hint of danger to come crawling up from his heart.


    Just then, there was a sudden change!


    Hong!


    All of the red bombs exploded at the same time!


    Over three hundred red bombs exploding at the same time made for an extremely frightening scene. All of the card artisans of the pursuit team were enshrouded in midair by the area of the huge red explosion. The huge sound waves produced by the bombs came sweeping across the entire sky in an instant.


    Even Chen Mu and Sang Hanshui who were some distance away were nearly shocked out of control to fall headlong.


    And the shock waves from the explosion made a three-kilometer hole in the thick clouds, letting the sun shine straight down, looking like a beam of light from a distance. And underneath the region of the explosion, the forest was like it had been devastated by a tornado, with fir trees topsy-turvy all over the place.


    Sang Hanshui held fast, that being his first time to use the full power of the Bomb, and he absolutely didn''t imagine that it could be so devastating!


    It had to be known that the blow just then had used a quarter of the power in the five-star power card. That is to say that even though it was a five-star power card, it was only enough for him to make four such attacks! That was also why Chen Mu went to ask Tai-shu Yong for five-star power cards. Four-star power cards wouldn''t be enough to make even one such attack!


    Chen Mu was also somewhat surprised, but not by the power of the Bomb; by how careless those card artisans had been. Those so-called aces only discovered the energy bodies when they came drilling out from the clouds. It was hard to believe such a lax state of alert showing up among a team of aces.


    And some of the card artisans didn''t even make way, which was really inconceivable to him. Didn''t they even have any common sense? Chen Mu was certain none of the card artisans under Bogner would ever behave so foolishly.


    There were twenty miserable card artisans floating in the glowing beam formed by the sun''s rays, and apart from Zola, none of the energy cloaks of the other card artisans could be seen.


    The Snake Lens had accurately detected that information.


    The blow just then had obliterated eight of the card artisans, and Chen Mu couldn''t be more pleased with that result. But he was also very clear that the battle had just begun. The rest of the twelve card artisans were doubtless the strongest twelve on the team.


    "B3, B5, C1, one second of output with a two-second delay!" Chen Mu wasn''t paying attention to anything else as he rushed to give his orders.


    Sang Hanshui who had just taken a breath once again gritted his teeth to send the full power roaring out!


    Within a single second, he sent nearly eighty energy bombs roaring out that time! Such a number far exceeded his best ordinary results. His power had made another breakthrough at such a critical juncture!


    Zola''s gaze was cold and dark, the raging attack just then had made him completely calm down from his anger. Seeing only twelve left, he realized that the one who had made that plan was a very dangerous figure!


    His adversary had anticipated. He had attacked in anticipation!


    Damn! His adversary certainly had a card artisan who could do reconnaissance at a distance for such a sneak attack to be able to be so accurate catching their position from such a distance.


    But even though that''s the way it was, it was only because he could make a precise judgement about their actions that he was able to accomplish such impeccable anticipation. From that he could determine that his adversary''s commander had high tactical literacy.


    In Zola''s chilling gaze, a crazed but calm will to battle burned wantonly.


    Versus No Money

 500 A Stunning Victory

    Apart from his excellent physical strength, Zola was able to take on the responsibility to be the caption of that team because of his extraordinary tactical literacy, which was another reason Tang Hanpei had him take on such an important job. To be a captain, making reasonably accurate judgements was far more important than his fighting strength.


    "We need to land! I don''t have enough in my power card!" A card artisan said in a panic.


    Once he said that, the other card artisans'' looks all changed, as they saw that the power cards in their apparatuses were all bottomed out! If they were to use up their energy, they could fall straight to their death from midair. When they most needed to do just then was to immediately land on the ground and swap out a new power card.


    Zola''s heart abruptly skipped a beat, as a bout of chill rose up along his spine. Could his adversary have included even the detail of the energy cards in his plans?


    "Everyone dodge for five hundred meters in the direction of three o''clock, and then land!" There wasn''t enough time to think in any detail, and he gave the peremptory order.


    "No good! I don''t have enough power!" That card artisan just then had no color in his face, and just then he couldn''t say anything more, as he bent over and flew to the ground!


    "Damn!" Zola cursed to himself, without being able to say any more. To stay for even a moment where he was would be to increase the danger by a notch. The other card artisans were a little flustered by then, and Zola''s orders immediately brought them back from their stunned state. They quickly followed Zola flying in the direction of three o''clock.


    By that time, each of them displayed their power with their dazzling tactical dodging actions. Even Chen Mu couldn''t completely lock them in and couldn''t help feeling chilled.


    Just when Zola was ordering the remaining ten card artisans to fly in the direction of three o''clock, another large cluster of red bombs drilled out from the cloud to their left!


    Damn! Zola closed his eyes without any strength, knowing that that card artisan who had just flown down was certain to die!


    Anticipation. Another time lag!


    The huge blast which came from below swallowed that card artisan in the instant of its blast. In such a terrifyingly powerful blast, there would be nothing left but ashes! In reality, there wouldn''t even be any ashes left.


    Damn, you sure did pay a price!


    "Land!"


    The remaining ten card artisans each carved perfect arcs as they flew toward the ground.


    Chen Mu somewhat regretted that he had only killed one card artisan that round. That gang of card artisans'' leader had penetrated his second line of attack, which made him not dare to be careless.


    "Keep up and be careful."


    After he said that, Chen Mu then quietly went back into the clouds, to get more near to his adversary''s landing site.


    Up until then, the entire plan had been perfectly implemented, and apart from his adversary''s landing spot being a little off from his estimate, being five hundred meters off wasn''t going to cause his setup to come to nothing.


    Zola didn''t dare to slack off in the least, with his adversary seeming like a really good hand at chess; each of his moves was extremely clever. He didn''t believe that his adversary didn''t have something in reserve. Unless something happened, his adversary should have laid out an ambush in the vicinity of the landing spot. That anticipated time lag just then had been carried out very accurately. If it weren''t for him quickly seeing what was happening, he was afraid the entire team would have been annihilated.


    "Five of you stand guard in the air, and five of you land to swap cards!" Zola shouted in a low voice. He looked very uptight; his adversary''s step-by-step press of oppression took his breath away.


    The two sides now seemed to be in a race, and what came next would be the critical thing to decide the outcome. If Zola and the rest succeeded in swapping out their cards, although they wouldn''t have any way to get back to their peak condition, they would have above seventy percent of their power, which would be enough for them to grab the victory.


    But he was pretty certain that his adversary would think up every possible way to block them from swapping out their power cards.


    If they didn''t swap cards, they would only face death. Really powerful card artisans without energy couldn''t bring any power into play.


    Quickly checking the power in his energy card, there was only not quite seven percent. That data made the expression on Zola''s face shift. Not even having seven percent meant that he could fire off two attacks at most. After those two attacks, he would have to complete the landing and swap cards, otherwise, he could fall directly to his death from midair.


    The one who set things up had that point included in his plans!


    If you were to say that Zola still had some doubt just then, then by now he certainly didn''t have any doubt! Up until then, he had made the horrible discovery that every step they took was expected by his adversary. From the beginning until then, the rhythm and initiative for the fight had all been in the hands of his adversary.


    Wanting to understand that, he immediately realized that his adversary wouldn''t let that critical weak point pass by.


    His gaze was looking back and forth nervously along the bottom of the forest, where there was a mess on the ground. The tall firs had just been ravaged by the shock waves, and there were branches all over, there being basically no clear space. The shock wave from the blast just then was too fierce; Zola had never seen such a fierce explosion! That red bomb had a lot more power than any ordinary bomb, and Zola felt suspiciously that it was certainly part of his adversary''s scheme.


    Paralyzing them by the shape of the bomb, in actuality its internal composition was certainly not a bomb. What a treacherous fellow! He thought of those fools who hadn''t dodged but used their energy cloaks to hard-shoulder the red bombs, and could only feel grief for them.


    Then suddenly a weak energy fluctuation was transmitted from midair. Including Zola, there were six card artisans in midair, who went on guard immediately.


    That bout of energy fluctuation was perfectly weak, but those left alive were all true aces!


    He had long expected his adversary to have something in reserve, and that bout of energy fluctuation must have been his adversary''s hidden killer. Since the energy fluctuation was perfectly weak, and it looked like they were rather far away, Zola''s heart suddenly skipped a beat.


    Sniper card artisans?


    The more he thought about it the more likely that seemed. Zola couldn''t help calling out, "Pay attention and dodge. Our adversary might have sniper card artisans. Take defense and counter strike!"


    The six card artisans in midair acted as though they were facing a big enemy, and Zola''s warning had abruptly chilled their hearts!


    If one looked carefully, their bodies had been in a state of motion all along. That way they wouldn''t consume too much energy and could evade being locked-in by the enemy hiding in the dark. Their minds were on fire, as each of them had been through countless battles, but had still never been forced to such an extreme by any enemy! Still, they didn''t go against Zola''s orders. The power cards in their apparatuses were already bottoming out, and the most urgent thing for them was to get through that period.


    Just wait for our five comrades to swap out their power cards, and then you''ll await our ire! Even if they are sniper card artisans, we''ll tear them to pieces.


    Every one of the card artisans was spitting fire from their eyes, and up until then, they still hadn''t seen any one of their enemy. If their strength wasn''t up to snuff, that would be the end of it, but not to have seen a single one of their enemy like that was killing them, and they felt extremely sullen.


    The five card artisans who were landing sped up, even though they were facing crisscrossing broken branches which were piled all over in disorder, giving them basically no place to put their feet down. But by then those five card artisans didn''t care about anything, as they flew toward those broken trees on the ground.


    In the instant they touched down, they couldn''t help breathing a sigh of relief! The feeling of ground beneath their feet finally gave them a little feeling of safety. But those huge round logs weren''t such a great landing place, and they had to very carefully keep their balance. But they knew that it was the most critical time, and in order to steady themselves, they didn''t have the least regard for what they looked like. Some of the card artisans were half lying on the logs, and some were mounting them, while some used their two feet to hook into the crooks in the branches, all in really weird postures.


    As they steadied themselves, they all pulled out the used-up energy cards from their apparatuses


    Watching that unfold, Zola finally heaved a sigh of relief in the air. Now they only needed to insert the new card into the apparatus, and they would win. Those card artisans were all richly battle-experienced types, and although they previously had taken their adversary lightly, now they didn''t dare to slack off in the least. They nervously fixed on where that weak energy fluctuation was coming form.


    Zhou Liang''s face had turned a little white, but he wasn''t actually frozen. He had experience quite a few actual battles, but had never encountered such a dangerous and urgent situation. Having received a formal education, of course he wasn''t just any idiot. He knew that they had fallen into a well-designed ring of ambush. Up until then, they hadn''t had any energy to fight back, which was a really messed up feeling.


    Without any pity, he tossed out the used up four-star energy card, and touched his hand to his waist where a four-star energy card had been put into the card wallet there. But unlike the rest of the card artisans who were stifling any noise as they swapped their cards, he was staring at the boss, and looking all around vigilantly.


    He didn''t believe that the ambushers who had presented themselves as foolproof all along previously would give them such an obvious breather.


    And then just then, he suddenly glimpsed a dark shadow flash by out of the corner of his eyes.


    Zhou Liang felt shocked and then just as he was about to open his mouth to shout, there was sudden pain at his throat, and everything went black as he lost consciousness.


    The wind and snow increased, and the visibility itself became very low, on top of which were the fir trees scattered together, whose dense branches could easily block a person''s line of sight.


    Zola was in midair where he had been thinking about a problem: His adversary certainly had someone behind him.


    He didn''t have the least doubt about that determination. Someone who could lay out that scene would absolutely use that tactic.


    From landing until finishing swapping the cards would absolutely require no more than ten seconds. He couldn''t imagine that there would be any way to be able to break through their protective circle to destroy those five people within ten seconds. For a card artisan to launch an attack within close range, there would be no way to evade detection. Most of the card artisans among them were grade-seven card artisans!


    That bout of weak energy fluctuations was rather far from them, and he hadn''t discovered any energy or perceptual fluctuations within a range of a kilometer.


    But without knowing how, he had some kind of premonition that his adversary certainly had some contingency move! His adversary had advanced and dug in step by step, and the two accurate anticipatory time lags showed the excellent tactical ability of the one who laid it out.


    If it were himself, what would he do?


    Zola frowned, and thought hard about it. Just then he suddenly glimpsed a black shadow flash by out of the corner of his eyes!


    He stared blankly as the blood drained completely from his face. Then suddenly he finally realized his adversary''s means!


    Cardless sects. As much as he had thought about it, why hadn''t he thought that his adversary would actually use the cardless sects!


    It was as though Zola was plunged into an ice house as his whole body went cold, and the bone-chilling feeling spread through his whole body.


    Two of them. There were two from the cardless sects!


    Those two cardless sect fighters were like two black lightening flashes, as they wandered among the five card artisans with shocking speed. And having just pulled out their power cards, those five card artisans were like lambs awaiting slaughter in front of them, without any power to fight back. Facing the cardless sects, card artisans without energy were shockingly fragile!


    In the blink of any eye the card artisans were silently put down, and the two remaining card artisans still hadn''t felt it.


    Zola''s eyes turned red!


    But he knew that it was already too late to save them. The energy in their apparatuses was pitifully little, and the skills of those two cardless sect fighters were shockingly superb!


    "Scatter! Each of you drop to swap cards!" Not able to think any further, he could only make that last-ditch effort!


    The other five card artisans all looked at one another in silence, before bolting off in every direction in flight. Zola knew that it was his only chance. The cardless sects weren''t card artisans after all, and they had no way to fly. As long as they opened up some distance, they could buy some time.


    Only if they bought some time might they still have a chance . . .


    Without the least hesitation, Zola abandoned the two remaining card artisans in front of him. He had already discovered his adversary''s weak spot; that his strength was insufficient! It should be said that there weren''t many of them! Otherwise, there wouldn''t be only two cardless sect fighters on the ground.


    Then his expression suddenly shifted, as he was horrified to find himself locked in!


    Chen Mu and Sang Hanshui were flying fast in the clouds, and by that time they didn''t care about leaving a trail, since they had discovered that their adversary had already dispersed.


    It has to be said that that was an issue that really gave Chen Mu a headache. So long as any one of them could swap out their power card, the situation would quickly become messed up. The backlash from grade-seven card artisans facing death wasn''t anything anyone would want to endure. If they only wanted to get their attention, that would be a very simple matter.


    The decisiveness of the lead card artisan exceeded Chen Mu''s expectations, and he locked in that card artisan almost unthinkingly.


    Damn! The adversary actually has some other power?


    The impact of that determination on Zola''s confidence was huge, to the extent that he presented a hint of delay in his dodging.


    A huge power hit him hard, and the sharp pain of his heart and lungs being torn apart spread to every nerve in his body. His powerful resistance made him want to scream, but he had already found that he couldn''t make a sound. He could feel his body losing control, and the sound of the wind whistling in his ears seemed far away in free-fall.


    Dong!


    A low-pitched sound as dull as thunder came to his ears then.


    His consciousness slowly blurred without any fear. He just let loose as all of the fighting no longer had any relation to him. He could finally get a good rest.


    A slight smile floated onto the corner of Zola''s mouth as he fell at high speed.


    The other card artisans all turned pale with fright, several couldn''t help crying out voicelessly, "Captain!"


    Just then, the weak energy fluctuations became suddenly strong! The looks on those card artisan''s faces kept changing, having thought that the enemy had been hiding someplace far away all along, since the energy fluctuations had been so weak. They hadn''t realized that the enemy was so close!


    The Nine Wheeled Tractor!


    Nine palm-sized wavy wheels were pasted on the surface of the forest, having suddenly arrived. The nine wavy wheels were like nine streams of light, whose speed was extremely fast, so that before they could scatter, the nine glowing beams showed up beside them. With lightning speed, they went from high speed to extreme stillness, the transformation making people stare with their mouths open. The nine wavy wheels formed into a fast circle and the light needle on each of the wavy wheels was spinning around according to some complex law.


    Everyone only felt the perception in their bodies losing control, and they couldn''t help their alarm!


    How could that be?


    The remaining five card artisans all changed expressions, no longer able to change the precious energy cards in their apparatuses, as one by one they rushed to remove the energy cards!


    Their perception was interfered with, doubtless by a powerful force, especially targeting card artisans! But although that kind of force was powerful, it was hard to grasp. If one were to say that it was a card that could control interference with perception, that would be still more rare than a illusion type of card. Mankind had a pitifully scant understanding of perception, never mind using foreign objects to interfere with it. From ancient times until then, any card master who could make such a card could be counted on one''s fingers. And the cards that had come down were pitifully few.


    The remaining five card artisans all were all above the seventh grade for perception, and their ability to control perception was extremely strong. It had never been easy for them to be affected. But their perception and physical strength were all at their lowest level, on top of which they had encountered an ambush, and their captain had died. The impact on their fighting spirit was huge.


    Otherwise, that trick that Xiaobo was showing off would have a very weak effect on them. But at that time, the effect as perfectly obvious.


    And that time, dozens of red bombs came drilling out from the clouds like piranha smelling blood, coming toward them like crazy!


    None of the card artisans who had been scared pale paid any attention to the several transparent air wavy blades which were attacking them from below!


    Hong!


    After the smoke was gone there was nothing where they had been.


    The Federation Comprehensive Academy pursuit team had been completely wiped out!


    Hu Hu Hu! Sang Hanshui''s breathing was coarse. He didn''t even have the strength to lift a finger by that time. The battle that day wasn''t long, but he had used all of his power for every wave of attack.


    Chen Mu grabbed Sang Hanshui from behind, as he lightly fell.


    Xiaobo, Wei-ah and Bu Mo were already on the ground waiting for them.


    Xiaobo was looking at those lifeless corpses, still where they had been. After quite a few minutes, he finally averted his gaze with difficulty, to spit out a few obscure words, "Did we really win?"


    "Of course!" Little Bu Mo found Xiaobo''s question very strange. He pointed at the corpses on the ground and said, "Look, haven''t they all died?"


    "Died?" Xiaobo was mumbling dispiritedly, "Grade-seven card artisans, from the great Federation Comprehensive Academy? Are they that fragile? You say they''re dead and they just die!"


    Little Bu Mo was still looking full of wonder, but he also found it rather strange that that day''s battle was a lot easier than that one evening. These people were truly fragile! Still not understanding what was going on, little Bu Mo nodded as though it were natural, "Indeed, they are very fragile!"


    Sang Hanshui was probably the one who best understood Xiaobo. For ordinary card artisans, a grade-seven card artisan could almost be said to be something to hope for but never to achieve. Were any of those aces to fight them one on one, neither Sang Hanshui nor Xiaobo would be sure of victory.


    But it was a team with just such shocking battle power that had actually undergone complete and instant military destruction. He still found that inconceivable as though he were dreaming.


    Thinking of that, Xiaobo and Sang Hanshui couldn''t help but look at one another, and then their gazes helplessly moved again toward Chen Mu.


    But that time, the two of their gazes were full of deep reverence!


    Wei-ah was also watching Chen Mu, and there was a touch of light in his ever indifferent gaze!

 501 Wei-ahs Reques

    The war was terrible and loud, like thunder falling from the sky, causing the residents of Fir Town to be terrified. And especially when they saw those card artisans who were arrogant and domineering in their daily life, each and everyone of them would be fearful, turning a shade paler. Not a soul could be found on the street and all the doors of the shops were all shut tight.


    Plundering for loots during the time of war has always been a very blessed practice.


    Xiaobo and Sang Hanshui ran back and forth together, moving in a kind of way as if they were farting, and their mouths were stuffed with so much joy to the point that they were having a hard time closing it.


    "Pop, another five-star card, this guy is so loaded!" Xiaobo smacked his mouth together. His face had grew into a miser''s, as he unknowingly drooled.


    Sang Hanshui fell into a semi-decisive state. He could see stars in his triangular eyes as he danced and shouted, "Yes, it''s done, it''s finally done! There''s a lot of cards! God, there''s also inheritance!"


    20 card artisans, half of them were card artisans above grade seven, in other words, there was ten of them. Everything that was carried by these card artisans were naturally good stuff. In order to avoid damage, they used materials with excellent protection performance to make card wallets. Most of the card wallets were well preserved and so worth for Chen Mu and the others. Still, there were several people whose card wallets were incinerated in the violent explosion.


    Xiao Bo and Sang Hanshui scraped the floor clean till three feet deep. They daringly searched the bodies of these people thoroughly. Not one thing could escape their joint plundering.


    In the end, there were eight five-star cards, and among them, there were four that were inherited. The other miscellaneous cards were innumerable, if they could be easily carried by these card artisans, then how could it fakes? Chen Mu was marvelled by the many cleverly designed cards.


    Chen Mu let Sang Hanshui and Xiao Bo choose two five-star cards, each inherited. While for the other auxiliary cards, they had also chosen quite a few of them.


    Sang Hanshui and Xiao Bo were holding onto the cards as if they were treasures.


    They both had similar desires for good cards. Xiao Bo was born in a common residential district. In order to enhance his strength, he went into the jungle alone. He had no resistance when he faced Chen Mu''s Wheel. As for Sang Hanshui''s enthusiasm for cards, there was not much to say about it. And like those five-star cards from the Comprehensive Federation Academy, they did not dare think about it before as it was the secret of the Comprehensive Federation Academy.


    Today, they could even choose and pick among several cards, it was as if they were in a dream.


    They were all precious!


    No one would dislike too many good cards. No matter what kind of card it is, there would always be a limitation, plus universal cards do not exist. Having an extra card meant that one would have an alternative choice when in danger.


    A strong sense of affluence filled both of their hearts and minds.


    Chen Mu was silent as he looked at the scattered woods. Relaxing from the tension, he felt that it was rare he felt so at ease.


    Today''s battle, although it went well beyond his expectations, but in retrospect, it still made him a little scared. Every round of battle, if it went sideways, then today''s battle would immediately plunge into a difficult situation.


    In the first layout, they were already faced with such a difficult situation. From the beginning, he was not as calm as he showed. Just to reassure the others, he strived to be calmer. This he had learned from Bogner. No matter how dangerous and difficult the situation was, Bogner would always be in good shape. It was this calm expression that gave Chen Mu a strong sense of security every time.


    At one point, Wei-ah appeared beside Chen Mu.


    "Woody, well done."


    Wei-ah''s voice was not loud and his tone was as flat as ever, but Chen Mu still raised his head in surprise. Wei-ah rarely praised him. Suddenly, Chen Mu was in a good mood.


    "Fortunately you all have my back." Chen Mu smiled.


    As he thought of it, his mood lightened. Wei-ah had always been with him, protected him and taught him all kinds of skills. Little Bu Mo was still of young age, but because he wanted to help him fight, thus he joined the battle. Xiao Bo and Sang Hanshui played a much greater role in this battle than Chen Mu himself.


    In this battle, Chen Mu played the role of a commander, however the number of people he killed was the fewest among the five.


    "Woody, when you become strong, accompany me to a place," said Wei-ah.


    Chen Mu was shocked. Suddenly, he realized what Wei-ah meant. Surprised, he replied, "Wei-ah, has your memory been restored? Have you thought of your hometown?"


    "Well." Wei-ah looked into the distance and half-squinted, "You have to become stronger."


    Chen Mu was shocked. Although Wei-ah''s tone had not changed much, but Chen Mu understood him better than he understood himself - Wei-ah had the motivation to kill!


    Chen Mu knew that the killing was not personal, but the one who could make Wei-ah kill...


    And from Wei-ah''s words, Chen Mu captured some information that appalled him as well. There was no doubt that Wei-ah needed his help! This fact had shocked Chen Mu! So far, Chen Mu has never seen Wei-ah defeated! Even Fang Han, the top card artisan in the Federation, was seriously injured by Wei-ah. For a long time, Chen Mu even believed that Wei-ah was undefeatable, even if he had met Tang Hanpei from the Heavenly Federation. Although he might not win, but he would never lose either!


    However, Wei-ah, who was invincible in Chen Mu''s heart, turned to him for help! What a huge impact this was on Chen Mu!


    What kind of man that could not be defeated by Wei-ah?


    Was there such a powerful person in this world?


    Then Chen Mu remembered that Wei-ah had said something similar before. But at that time, he didn''t pay much attention to it. Thinking about it now, maybe Wei-ah had already thought about this back then!


    "Alright!" Chen Mu cut through the railroad and clenched his fist fiercely, "Wei-ah, I will definitely be stronger!"


    A wave of hot blood rushed to the top of Chen Mu''s brain. If there was anyone in the world who would sacrifice his life and at the same time, was willing to help, Wei-ah was one of them! As he promised Caesar to challenge Tang Hanpei in the future, Chen Mu could only fill his thoughts with the coming fight, but he did not take it to heart. But in facing of Wei-ah''s request, Chen Mu did not hesitate to put it among his most important goals!


    To Chen Mu''s surprise, however, Wei-ah shook his head, "Woody, I''m not talking about this kind of power."


    He frowned and seemed to be thinking about how he should express his thoughts. After half a day, he pointed to the body on the ground and said with a trace of effort, "It''s as powerful as it is today."


    As powerful as it is today? Chen Mu was not surprised. After a while, he reacted and tentatively asked, "Wei-ah, were you talking about commanding the battle?"


    "Well." Wei-ah nodded. He looked at Sang Hanshui and Xiao Bo, and then said, "Woody, there are too few people."


    "Do we need a lot of people?" Chen Mu asked, feeling surprised. What was troubling Wei-ah? His curiosity suddenly rose. Wei-ah''s identity has always been a mystery and it was not easy for him to recover back his memories. Chen Mu naturally wanted to know.


    "Well, a lot. "


    "How many?" Chen Mu asked tentatively, although he knew that such a question would not get anything out of Wei-ah.


    Wei-ah tilted his head as he thought for a long time, then answered, "A lot, a lot."


    As expected...


    Chen Mu was sick and tired of this. Wei-ah seemed to be only specialised in card-free techniques. Apart from that, he really has no talent, especially when it came to numbers. Chen Mu felt that he should approach this in a different way.


    "Are there many enemies?" Chen Mu asked.


    "Well, a lot." Wei-ah tried to describe it with movements of his hands but without any expressions. He soon gave up trying, as this little task seemed to be too difficult for him. Nevertheless, he still added, "A lot."


    Chen Mu finally understood him. Wei-ah''s enemy should be a large group or powerful forces, so Wei-ah could not only rely on one man for the job.


    "Well, where are they?" As soon as he spoke, Chen Mu realized he had asked the wrong question, so he added, "Are they in Heavenly Federation?"


    Wei-ah shook his head in confusion and said, "No idea."


    No idea! Chen Mu was surprised by this answer. He thought about it and asked, "Do you know how to find them?"


    "Well, they could be found." Wei-ah was unusually confident about this.


    Chen Mu''s brain roughly had an outline when asking about this. Wei-ah''s enemy was a big force. Wei-ah needed to destroy them. This force consisted of a large group and had great power.


    This was indeed a troublesome problem, but it was not impossible to accomplish.


    Moreover, this coincided with his next plan!


    "Boss, we should be leaving." Sang Hanshui came over to remind Chen Mu. He pointed to a card artisan flying in the distance. It was probably one of Fir Town''s card artisan who heard the battle coming to a halt and decided to come over and have a look.


    "Wait a minute." From his card wallet, Chen Mu took out a card that has been prepared since a long time.


    "A video card?" Sang Hanshui and Xiao Bo were both gaping. Video cards were a new kind of cards that has not been in the market for several years. It could record a real image. The higher the star rating of the video card, the higher the resolution of the recording and the more content it could record. Most of today''s video cards were used in the hands of a scouting card artisan. They could use video cards to record the battle scene in the front of them and send it to the rear.


    The boss took out a four-star video card.


    Chen Mu let out a sound in reply and inserted the video card into the meter. In front of him projected a small light screen, about ten centimeters long. A translucent energy lens was located in front of the light screen. The energy lens could be adjusted by hand or controlled by perception. Also, users could see their input content from the screen, which was very convenient.


    Chen Mu photographed the details of the battlefield very carefully, especially the faces of the card artisans of the Federation Comprehensive Academy that were suppressing the regiment; all of these he recorded it down. Although some of the card artisans have been blasted to the point where it was impossible to identify their faces, but Chen Mu still captured all of them down.


    Xiao Bo and Sang Hanshui looked at each other, as doubts arose in both their hearts at the same time.


    What was the boss doing?

 502 The Recruitmen

    The Garden Above the Center was floating in midair. Surrounding it, were floating fortresses which formed something like a complete necklace. Every card artisan who entered here needed to be checked strictly. No one was exceptional.


    An energy shuttle approached the Garden Above the Center at an alarming speed, causing the card artisan on duty to immediately turn anxious. Recently, Dongrui City had become more atrocious, so they dared not let their guard down.


    "Please slow down. Please authenticate yourselves, thank you for your cooperation!" In front of the card artisan floated several white mirrored energy forms, each of them was about 20 centimeters. This energy form was made by an amplifier card. The voice of a card artisan could be transmitted afar through these mirrored energy form. Some skilled card artisans could even project their own voice to specific areas, while people in other areas couldn''t hear it at all. This was the case with that card artisan.


    The speed of the shuttle slowly declined, and stopped exactly in front of the card artisans.


    The shuttle''s sunroof fully opened as it automatically lowered itself, providing a full view of the inside. There were five people sitting in the cabin. The leader wore a white mask with two black lines zigzagging down from his eyes.


    "Ah! The White Commander!" the card artisan saluted quickly and said respectfully, "Welcome back!" . All the other card artisans bowed down in awe.


    The well-known White Commander was currently in Dongrui City. There was nobody that didn''t know about him and these card artisans were no exceptions either. Towards the strong, they always showed their respects from the heart. In troubled times, they were the only ones who have the power that could bring people a sense of awe and security.


    "Mmm" Chen Mu nodded slightly. The card artisan in front of him was very clever and smooth.


    "I heard sir is recruiting card artisans?" the card artisan asked cautiously.


    Chen Mu thought back to when he allowed Tai-shu Yong to recruit people using his own name. He then nodded and said, "Correct, do you have any friends to recommend?"


    A smile appeared on the card artisan''s face. Feeling flattered, he answered, "Sir, you certainly are sharp. I have a younger brother; his talent is not bad. He reported at Moon Frost Island the previous year. Unfortunately, he was only two points short. I don''t want his talent to be wasted in such a small place. If he is under the leadership of a hero like the White Commander, he will surely have a great future." But then, he hesitated for a moment, "I just heard that the White Commander only needs card artisans that has graduated for three or more years, I am not sure..."


    "What''s your brother''s name?" Chen Mu interrupted him. Only two points away from passing the Moon Frost Island Examination. From this, one could already be regarded as having an outstanding talent among the many students. Moon Frost Island recruited two-thirds of female students and only one-third of male students each year, which also led to the higher entry scores by male students, compared to the other five schools.


    "Boyd Jennings!" the card artisan was so happy that he quickly answered respectfully.


    "Let him come to Tai-shu Fort to see me, I will test him personally." Chen Mu said.


    The card artisan was so filled with joy that he nodded and bowed, personally sending Chen Mu''s party into the Garden Above the Center.


    As the shuttle vanished from view, his face could no longer hide his joy. Others rushed forward and congratulated him.


    "Boss, this calls for a treat. We are awaiting for good news, so God forbids you from not treating us!"


    "Not exactly! I''ve heard that the White Commander''s recruitment conditions are very strict this time. Every day, he would turn down card artisans one after another! They were afraid that Tai-shu family was changing!"


    "Let me just say that men should work under heroes like the White Commander in order to not live in vain! Unlike people like us who drift along only for livelihood, sigh!"


    The card artisan could not contain his excitement. He turned on his apparatus and dialed his brother''s telecommunication card, exhorting him carefully and seriously.


    Returning to Tai-shu Fort, Chen Mu was greeted by the former commander of Tai-shu family. When he saw Chen Mu, his old face could not help but look surprised.


    Tai-shu Yong was not in Tai-shu Fort. Because there were so many people who registered, Tai-shu Yong himself was stationed in town. All the three sons came forth, hosting the largest recruitment in the history of Tai-shu family. Even so, they were occupied from day till night, until the point that they have to cut down their resting time to three hours. It was said that Tai-shu Yong even spent a lot of money to issue recruitment announcements on various platforms in order to expand his influence.


    Unexpectedly, it worked. Card artisans came one after the other to Heavenly Drum Village District. Dongrui City was now crowded with foreign card artisans, and all the hotels were fully booked. But in reality, most of the people just came to watch.


    But now the number of card artisans that had signed up had far exceeded Tai-shu Yong''s expectation.


    Chen Mu murmured to the former commander, "Please send a message to the owner of the house. Ask to fork out some time to come to me as soon as possible. Oh, and by the way, somebody will be coming to see me later, please keep an eye on him for me."


    The former commander nodded quickly: "No worries, Mr. White."


    Everyone was so tired that they went back to their rooms to rest.


    When Chen Mu returned to his room, Qiu Shanyu began to stare at him strangely as soon as he entered the door.


    "What?" Chen Mu''s frowned as he asked puzzledly.


    "Did you attack the Big Bad Wolves?" Qiu Shanyu''s gaze did not once leave him. Although she was questioning him, but her tone was quite confident.


    Chen Mu admired Qiu Shanyu''s insight and guts, as he nodded and admitted, "That''s right."


    "The five of you attacking the Big Bad Wolves, are you out of your mind!" Qiu Shanyu continued coldly, "Although Wei-ah is powerful, but the rest of you are so much more inferior to their strength."


    "You have a point." Chen Mu did not deny it, but nodded in agreement.


    Qiu Shanyu''s eyes flashed with a trace of anger, "No one will stop you if you want to dig your own grave, but please do so after you find the owner of the Green Mark, thank you very much!"


    "How important is the owner of the Green Mark to you?" Chen Mu asked with his head tilted.


    "That''s none of your business!" QiuShan-yu''s replied impolitely as she raised her eyebrows.


    "Then forget about it," Chen Mu said indifferently as he turned around and walked towards his room.


    Qiu Shanyu opened her mouth to ask, but hesitated. As Chen Mu had reached the door, she couldn''t help asking coldly, "What''s the outcome of your sneak attack?"


    "Oh, they''re all dead."


    Chen Mu did not look back. He left her with his words and went into the room to rest.


    Qiu Shanyu sat down right where she was with her mouth wide open as her eyes lingered on the closed door of Chen Mu''s room. After a few minutes, her face was still aghast as she murmured, "No way! Impossible! How could it be...


    True! How was that possible?


    She was not a woman who knew nothing. On the contrary, as the most outstanding figure of the young generation of Faya, there was a lot of weight on her shoulders since childhood. When others played with mud, she had to learn to deal with all kinds of things. When spring came, while love ones whispered to each other, she would spend the night alone drawing the plans of Faya.


    She could not imagine that with only five men, they could overcome the total strength of the Big Bad Wolves which was several times greater than that of them. Among the five, she thought that Wei-ah and Chen Mu were the only ones who have comparable strengths to the enemies. However, the Big Bad Wolves had ten card artisans at grade seven, and the other ten were top students of the Comprehensive Federation Academy, which were only a fine line away from grade seven.


    These days, she has been reading all kinds of reviews on this matter. Up to now, all the experts have reached an unprecedented conclusion. They believed that the White Commander could only avoid this disaster if he ran away or contacted Moon Frost Island!


    Her conclusion was in complete agreement with that of the experts.


    However...


    Qiu Shanyu felt that her brain had been short-circuited as she stood up!


    Chen Mu was soon woken up because Tai-shu Yong had come back. After receiving the message from the former commander, Tai-shu Yong left everything at hand behind and rushed back to Tai-shu Fort immediately. One of these days, the White Commander would leave Taishu Fort without warning, thus Tai-shu family was full of speculation. Many suspected that the White Commander was on the run!


    The question that lingered over the public was - should the recruitment still be carried out? If the White Commander did run away, it would be a joke for the Tai-shu family to continue recruiting.


    At the end, it was Tai-shu Yong that dismissed the public opinions and decided to continue with the recruitment. Not only that, but he was doing it in a large scale!


    However, he was under tremendous pressure. Now that he saw Chen Mu, it was as if a large chunk of weight in his heart has been lifted.


    Nevertheless, Tai-shu Yong was also an old and crafty fellow. He never once questioned Chen Mu about where he went in those days. These few days, he would just laugh and talk about the situation of the recruitment.


    After listening to what he had to say for a while, Chen Mu saw that Tai-shu Yong had finally stopped talking. Then, he took a card from his card wallet and handed it over.


    "What is this?" Tai-shu Yong asked with a smile as he took it.


    "A video card."


    "Video card?" Tai-shu Yong was somewhat confused, but instead of asking further, he inserted the video card into a card player.


    On the pop-up screen, the image projected was very clear. There were corpses, a jungle, a smoky pit - this was the battlefield! The smile on Tai-shu Yong''s face was replaced with a dignified look. He imagined how horrifying the battle was.


    Featuring the corpses on the light screen, it was obvious that the photographer took the pictures very carefully, capturing the detailed faces of the deceased. Several of them looked quite familiar to him!


    Suddenly, his face changed dramatically. His fingers were trembling as he pointed to the screen and asked in a hoarse voice, "The Big Bad Wolves?"


    "Yes."


    "Who did this?" Tai-shu Yong swallowed with difficulty. He already knew the answer to that question, but the answer seemed so shocking that he dared not clarify it.


    "There were a few of us." Chen Mu answered succinctly.


    Tai-shu Yong tried to calm himself down, but his trembling body was not helping. His face turned aghast as he looked at Chen Mu in horror, as if he was looking right at a monster.


    There was a long silence before he gradually calmed down. He felt that his throat was dry, but he couldn''t care less about drinking any water. He stared the masked White Commander in the eye and asked, "What do you want me to do?"


    "Get this video card out into the public." Chen Mu''s voice was very flat, as if he was just giving a very simple order.


    Tai-shu Yong''s cheeks trembled, his face scrunched, as he let out a growl full of anger, "Are you out of your mind? This will destroy the Tai-shu family! The Comprehensive Federation Academy will not forgive us for this!"


    Chen Mu shook his head, "We have no way out. From the beginning, we stood opposite to the Comprehensive Federation Academy." His face was still as calm as ever, and there were no traces of stammer in his voice. "Tai-shu family belongs to one of the major leagues in Heavenly Drum Village District. Also, it stood out more, which was not a bad thing for the family. I think Moon Frost Island will also welcome the thought of choosing the Tai-shu family."


    Tai-shu Yong''s face was unreadable. Chen Mu was not wrong.


    "With power, Tai-shu family will not be so vulnerable. Moreover, this is the Heavenly Drum Village District, which was a continent of Moon Frost Island.


    Chen Mu''s words completely shattered Tai-shu Yong''s previous doubts. What he implicated was that if the Comprehensive Federation Academy went too far, Moon Frost Island would never sit idly by while it happened, or else the island would lose its control over the major leagues.


    Tai-shu Yong gritted his teeth and answered emphatically, "Fine!"


    However, his hand that was holding the video card kept shaking. He knew what a shock the card in his hand would bring to the Heavenly Federation!

 503 The Reaction

    "I heard that the Tai-shu family is massively recruiting card artisans?" Tan Yumin asked Ji Zhihao with a smile on her face.


    With a faint smile, Ji Zhihao said as he sipped his tea, "Tai-shu Yong is going mad trying to relive the glory days of the Tai-shu Family. What he did is indeed reasonable. However, if it wasn''t for the interference from the Federation Comprehensive Academy, it would have been a great opportunity for the family.


    Tan Yumin curled up her fair legs lazily on the big red couch, causing Ji Zhihao to have a hard time looking away. Ji Zhihao had no scruples as he wantonly admired her legs, casually drinking his tea.


    "Such a waste," Tan Yumin heaved a faint sigh.


    A hint of jealousy flashed across Ji Zhihao''s eyes. But he immediately returned a wry smile, "I''m envious that he is in Yumin''s favor."


    "His power alone is quite small in this current situation," Tan Yumin said after a brief pause.


    "You''re right," Ji Zhihao''s face was still pale, but his eyes appeared to be beaming. He said in a composed manner, "I reckon that the team under Tang Hanpei is merely looking for a chance to provoke the Moon Frost Island. If Moon Frost Island can successfully stop the team, it will be able to rightfully join the Heavenly Drum Village District. Everyone knows about the personal affair between Caesar and the Federation Comprehensive Academy. To be able to seize the opportunity and act upon it, Tang Hanpei made the right move!"


    He changed his tone abruptly as he sneered, "However, Jia Yingxia is also an experienced person as he has been showing no concern to the intrusion. The abilities of the 20 people are quite strong, but it''s still not enough for them to create chaos in the Heavenly Drum Village District. However, with Tang Hanpei''s character, he will always choose to kill two birds with one stone. From that I suspect that there is a special relationship between Caesar and Moon Frost Island, and what Moon Frost Island did was exactly within his expectation. Without any help from the third party, the relationship between Moon Frost Island and Caesar will naturally worsen. Haha, of course, these are all my personal guesses. It''s hard to read people like Tang Hanpei."


    Ji Zhihao could easily analyze the situation with mere words. It was apparent that he was a knowledgeable person.


    There was a brief silence before Tan Yumin nodded, "Indeed. Tang Hanpei is a very complicated person. Nonetheless, this is an opportunity for us."


    "Yes!" Ji Zhihao promptly agreed, "We are the only ones in Dongrui City who are capable of helping him! Tang Hanpei has done one good thing for us. The more he challenges them, the better the situation is for us, it''s as if we are getting an easy pass here."


    Tan Yumin stretched lazily and said flatly, "He''ll give in eventually. This is his fate, and also it is where the situation is naturally heading. There''s nowhere for him to hide."


    At this moment, the sound of hasty footsteps came from outside the door, immediately followed by knocking. Evidently, the person outside the door was very anxious.


    "Come in," Tan Yumin called out calmly, then she sat upright and returned to her usual elegant self.


    You Yin entered the room. The moment he stepped foot, he presented a deep bow to Tan Yumin, "Miss." Then he bowed again at Ji Zhihao, "Mister Ji."


    "Captain You," Tan Yumin greeted with a pleased countenance. She always favoured You Yin, the loyal captain. Ji Zhihao, too, quickly return You Yin with a greeting.


    "Miss, please switch on the fantasy card platform," Captain You Yin said in a solemn tone, "All the considerably decent platforms are broadcasting about this issue right now."


    Tan Yumin and Ji Zhihao exchanged confused glances.


    "Switch on the Elemental Fantasy Platform then," Tan Yumin ordered. The Elemental Fantasy Platform had the second highest viewer rating after the Heavenly Federation Official Platform. They were very au fait with the latest news and provided relatively objective comments.


    "Yes," You Yin walked to the wall and switched on the fantasy card receiver. A screen surfaced before them immediately.


    Tan Yumin''s body stiffened abruptly and her alluring eyes were now filled with horror!


    It was a scene of the military base outside Kyoto.


    It had been quite sometime since Tang Hanpei''s arrival at the military base. He had been mixing well and building a good relationship with the primary card artisans.


    However, the leaders were slightly annoyed by the situation. The announcement of the rewards was delayed. They were unable to return home and had no choice but to continue staying at the military base. They were not pleased with that. The lower-ranked card artisan warriors have all received their rewards. On the other hand, the leading captains have yet to receive.


    When their annoyance reached its peak, Tang Hanpei came up with a solution.


    All the leaders were shocked by his suggestion.


    According to his plan, all of the teams needed to be reshuffled. More than half of the leaders have to be removed from their positions. His suggestion left all the leaders stunned!


    They were all private armies and belonged to distinctive private groups.


    Some rebellious and willful leaders were yelling at Tang Hanpei for his ridiculous plan. Some short-tempered leaders were trying to stir up trouble, hoping to halt the plan. However, Tang Hanpei proved his determination and domination by blood. He had shed the blood of more than 20 leaders and this ceased the noise of the others. When Tang Hanpei took out the personal consent of each chairman, all of them understood that there was nothing they could do to stop the reassignment.


    A few of the sophisticated leaders made a reckless decision to tender their resignation. They understood clearly the shortage of leaders in the Federation Comprehensive Academy at the moment. If Tang Hanpei insisted on his plan, they would lose all their leaders. They contempted Tang Hanpei''s action and was ready to see him turn himself into a laughing stock.


    Out of their expectation, Tang Hanpei did not show any hint of detaining the resigned leaders. He was quite cool with their departure. On the second day, the leaders realized in shock that all the vacancies were filled with new names none other than their own capable subordinates.


    This was when they realized the reason Tang Hanpei mixed with the lower ranked card artisans. It had always been part of his plan.


    Within a few days, the team was no longer recognizable. The team was renamed as Tang Team. When the framework of the team was constructed, Tang Hanpei announced his intention to expand the team!


    With Tang Hanpei''s influence, the new Tang Team was officially the strongest force in the Federation Comprehensive Academy. The day after the announcement, the support team diligently designed new suits for the team, following the high standard that Tang Hanpei had set for the team.


    Equipped with the top-notch tools and ambitious leaders, Tang Team had changed into a brand new team in just a few days time.


    Tang Hanpei''s expression remained peaceful as he stood at the highest platform and observed the chaotic situation underneath. He looked into the distance leisurely, meanwhile, holding a black notebook in his right hand.


    All the card artisans from areas near Kyoto would keep coming to the base during these few days. When Tang Hanpei announced the enrolment personally, his powerful influence caused the main basecamp to be flooded with card artisans.


    "Time¡­" Tang Hanpei stared afar, mumbling to himself. His grip on the black notebook tightened unknowingly.


    "Lord, I have bad news!" Shao Xue''s voice came from afar, carrying a hint of sobbing.


    Tang Hanpei was pulled back to reality by her voice. He turned around and looked at the frightened Shao Xue and calmly asked, "What happened?"


    It was as if his voice carried a mysterious power to soothe the anxiety of others. Shao Xue regained her composure right after she saw Tang Hanpei. However, her expression turned sorrow as she was reminded about what she saw.


    "Lord, the Big Bad Wolves¡­ The Big Bad Wolves were completely defeated!"


    Bang!


    Tang Hanpei stood there for the longest time, even cobwebs were starting to cover the whole platform!


    "Lord!" Horrified, Shao Xue looked at Lord Tang Hanpei who remained a calm expression. Shao Xue could not move her body, as if it was frozen like ice.


    Tang Hanpei shifted his gaze away, back to staring afar. However, he no longer hid the ruthlessness and ferocity in his eyes!


    "Time¡­" He repeated the word softly.


    Baiyue accelerated her pace and hurriedly rush to the headmaster''s office. She just received a message from her mentor, requesting her presence at the headmaster''s office as soon as possible.


    ''Why such a hurry? Unless something happened?'' She remembered clearly that previously her mentor was able to keep calm during Faya''s attack, and she could even suggest Baiyue to seize the opportunity to go for a trip jokingly.


    The moment she pushed through the doors, she saw that her mentor was sitting in front of the fantasy card receiver, engrossed. She was puzzled as her mentor had never watched the fantasy card receiver before. So why was she watching it now?


    "Mentor."


    "You''re here, Yue er," Jia Yingxia did not shift her gaze away from the screen and not even a turn of her head as she spoke, "Come to mentor''s side. Come have a look at this interesting thing."


    "Oh," Baiyue replied, yet confused. She followed her mentor''s instruction and went to her side, feeling curious. What was the thing that interested mentor?


    She was startled the moment she set her eyes on the screen!


    There was nothing strange on the screen but only corpses. However, the faces of the dead were captured so distinctly that one could easily recognize their identities.


    Baiyue recognized these card artisans!


    Ever since Tang Hanpei publicly announced and promoted about the Big Bad Wolves'' mission, all the platforms have done some digging and manage to reveal the personal informations of all the members of the team. Moreover, Moon Frost Island had more detailed information than any of the platforms.


    Isn''t this the Big Bad Wolves?


    They¡­ they are¡­ all dead?


    Baiyue could not move an inch. Great horror was shown all over her blank face! It was only natural for her to be terrified. According to the detailed and complex calculation that was done by the internal team of Moon Frost Island, the White Commander''s chance of victory was absolutely nil. His best bet was to flee from the battle.


    However, all of the members of the Big Bad Wolves were dead!


    "Who did this?" Baiyue realized how silly she was after asking that question.


    Sure enough, Jia Yingxia said with a grin, "This recording was released by the Tai-shu Family," she turned around and looked at Baiyue with interest, who was still in a state of shock, "The White Commander''s deed is worth a compliment as he was able to get this look on Yue''er''s face!"


    "Mentor!" Baiyue clung onto Jia Yingxia''s arm, pouting. The iciness on her face was gone, replaced with an innocent child''s. Any outsider would be astonished by this scene before them!


    "Such an interesting fellow. Indeed, Caesar got himself a good apprentice!" Jia Yingxia seemed to be in a good mood as she gently patted Baiyue''s hand that was on her arm. She smiled, "I did not expect this kid to be capable of doing this. It seems that the confidence Caesar has in him was not based on nothing."


    Baiyue did not speak a word. She thought her mentor''s rare compliment was comprehensible. Whoever could achieve such things naturally deserved this compliment!


    "What is mentor''s plan?" Baiyue asked curiously. She knew that her mentor did not summon her here merely to praise the White Commander.


    "You shall visit Dongrui City," Jia Yingxia ansered.


    "Dongrui City?" Baiyue felt strange, "We are short-staffed now, and you want Yue''er to visit Dongrui City?"


    Jia Yingxia flashed a caring smile, "Indeed, we are understaffed. However, Yue''er''s absence is acceptable. Moreover, this trip is very important to Moon Frost Island as well. Tang Hanpei''s plan was considered sinister, and was expected to kill two birds with one stone. But never had he expected that the White Commander could defeat the Big Bad Wolves completely without any help of other forces!"


    "Yes," Baiyue, who was considerably well-versed with politics, nodded.


    "However, Tang Hanpei will not give up easily. But I have always expected that the White Commander would have contingency plans. You do not have to bother about anything else other than the Tai-shu Family''s safety during this trip. If Moon Frost Island fails to even protect Tai-shu Family, then there''s no use of speaking about the Great Alliance," Jia Yingxia grinned suddenly, "You don''t have to worry. The White Commander is definitely not a simple person. You have to keep an eye on him. My instinct tells me that he is the key person to the future of the Federation!"


    Baiyue was dumbfounded. After a long while, she said in disbelief, "Mentor, he isn''t worth your compliment even if he was able to defeat the Big Bad Wolves."


    Jia Yingxia shook her head, "I have no idea either. However, I cannot dismiss this hunch once I have thought of it. You shall observe him closely during your trip and judge if mentor''s deduction is accurate."


    Baiyue said nothing as she inevitably showed a disapproving look


    Jia Yingxia noticed Baiyue''s expression but she remained silent about it. Jia Yingxia then changed the topic abruptly with a solemn expression, "There''s another person you shall pay attention to during your trip, and that''s Tan Yumin. She possesses four Card Appliance Notebooks that are very useful for Moon Frost Island. You can approach her if you encounter any chance. From what I can tell, she is an ambitious woman. You may try getting close to her using some benefits. However, do not overdo it as to avoid stirring trouble with the Star Court and the Bitter Solitude Temple."


    "Yes!" Baiyue withdrew her look of disapproval and nodded in a serious manner.


    Moon Frost Island had been investigating Tan Yumin for a very long time, and she knew Tan Yumin better than anyone else. From her perspective, Tan Yumin was the main target of this trip. The White Commander was but a normal card artisan.


    Being a mere card artisan, his influence towards the Federation was limited no matter how strong he was. The only ones that predominated over the Federation were Tang Hanpei, her mentor and the Big Six!


    They were the main powers!


    All the platforms went insane for the recording!


    All the platforms were busy circulating the clip after it was released!


    To heat things up, the Elemental Fantasy Platform offered a prize of 500 million Oudi to anyone that could explain the process of the White Commander''s victory. Countless experts participated in the contest, and until now, no one has yet to succeed!


    That event gained a lot of popularity for Elemental Fantasy Platform and their audience rating rocketed!


    Some other platforms followed suit and offered great prizes for their respective contests. According to unofficial statistics, the total amount of all the prizes from multiple platforms had achieved 2.2 billion Oudi!


    Nevertheless, there was no winner yet!


    The mysterious White Commander had only created more mysteries among the people. However, he was so mysterious that it was as if he was wearing a halo!


    One trouble came after the other!


    Suddenly, a terrifying rumour had started spreading across the Federation! In a blink of an eye, the Federation was engulfed by the rumour!


    It was so fast as though boiling oil was poured onto the raging fire!

 504 Pressure

    The rumour came without any notice. Furthermore, the content of the rumour was very strange, close to being bizarre.


    The rumour was relevant to the White Commander, saying that he was a numbered series of cards master! No one believed in the rumour at the beginning. The White Commander was obviously a card artisan, how could he be a numbered series of card master? However, as time passed, the number of people who believed in the rumour increased.


    Indeed, card artisan could not simultaneously be a card master. However, it only applied to ordinary card artisans. During ancient time, there was no distinct difference between card artisans and card masters. The two jobs were only separated after the establishment of Van Sant System. Heiner Van Sant himself was a strong man who had both jobs.


    Was the White Commander an ordinary card artisan? Of course not! He was the descendent of Caesar, the God of Slaughter! How could he be just another ordinary card artisan?


    The fact alone was not totally convincing. Yet, as more new evidences surfaced, the credibility of the rumour seemed to have strengthened. Shortly after that, the store owned by Janet was involved in the saga. They witnessed the completion of the numbered series of cards 029: Bomb. It was a numbered series of cards that has never been seen by anyone in real life. Everyone was astounded when the data of Bomb was announced. They no longer suspected if the card belonged to the numbered series of cards anymore.


    With such shocking data, everyone would only believe that it was part of the numbered series of cards series instead of a low-ranked card.


    Piecing all of these together was still barely enough to explain that the numbered series of cards master was originated from Dongrui City. Out of everyone''s expectation, the card used by the White Commander''s hitman was revealed not long after. It was the famous 029: Bomb! This was proven by many card artisans that worked under the Tai-shu family. They vividly described how the hitman ravaged the training room. His appalling power and explosion matched the publicly announced data of Bomb.


    The people who were conducting their studies in Fir Town would not think of it as a delusion. Any seasoned card artisan could easily identify the destruction caused by a specific card just by looking at the scorched pit and the desecrated woods!


    They could all agree on the same conclusion - Bomb was in the hands of the White Commander!


    As all the evidences emerged, the people, who used to despise rumours, were now almost convinced. The White Commander did not came forth to clear things up throughout the whole process. None of his subordinates showed their faces in public as well. The only official statement from Tai-shu family proclaimed that the White Commander was focusing on training the newly recruited card artisans.


    Meanwhile, according to unidentified sources, it was said that Tai-shu family had purchased an enormous amount of materials for card-making via some extremely covert channels.


    Two days later, a newly recruited card artisan revealed that Tai-shu family had equipped him with a brand new card. The power of this card was terrifyingly powerful. On that very same day, the card artisan, who let the news slip out, was chased out of Tai-shu family, his card forfeited.


    This caught everybody off guard!


    Those card artisans who remained quiet at first have all now rushed to Tai-shu family. The White Commander''s triumph against the Big Bad Wolves was wantonly rendered the name "The Impossible Victory" by all the platforms. It was so well-known that even the whole Heavenly Federation knew about it. The White Commander had upgraded his title from Caesar''s descendant to the most dazzling star of the Federation, a fame gained from battle!


    When people spoke of him, he was no longer seen as Caesar''s descendant, because in their eyes, he was completely different from Caesar.


    Caesar was a bloodthirsty man. Despite of being ruthless, the White Commander was nothing like Caesar who acted upon his unpredictable moods. Moreover, he was not a loner like Caesar. The White Commander carried the traits of a leader and he had good attainment in battle skills. Regarding this, all the forces, that had been observing the White Commander closely, was very clear about his capability. It could easily be deduced by looking at the improvements in the quality of Tai-shu family''s card artisans.


    However, there was something similar between the White Commander and Caesar. It was their domineering personalities! It was needless to say for Caesar, but the White Commander was no way inferior than his own mentor. He dare to take the initiative to attack his enemy, who was several times more powerful than him! Even when facing the behemoth Federation Comprehensive Academy, he did not hesitate the slightest. Instead, he publicly recruited and grew the size of his crew! The power and courage that he showcased gained him the respects of many card artisans!


    Yet, people were still skeptical about the rumour of him being a numbered series of cards master. However, no one would deny the fact that he definitely had a special relationship with numbered series of cards master.


    If one could take a look at Heavenly Federation from the skies, one could see numerous card artisans like a huge tsunami overwhelming Dongrui City.


    Back at the Yuzi Military Force, Tan Yumin said with a ghastly pale face as she gnashed her teeth, "Find out who leaked the news!"


    In spite of having blackmailed Chen Mu with his secret, but she had never considered to disclose the news. She was no fool. She knew clearly that the Big Six would not let the White Commander off easily if they found out about the secret of numbered series of cards master. Then, she would not be able to obtain any benefit from Chen Mu anymore.


    Never would it have crossed her mind that one day, the information would be leaked!


    "No," Ji Zhihao was no longer his normal cunning self. He said with an extremely serious expression, "There''s something suspicious about this. If it wasn''t because of Miss, I''d never expected him to be a numbered series of cards master. I don''t believe there''s anyone else who was able to notice this. Besides, Miss, I wonder if you''ve noticed something else?"


    "What is it?" Tan Yumin tried her utmost to suppress the annoyance in her as the situation was no longer in her control.


    "I''ve noticed something from the incident that happened in Janet''s store. I''ve interrogated Janet, and she swore that she did not tell anyone about the incident. Hence, I am positive that they are not the ones who leaked the information. Moreover, the appearance of the numbered series of cards master in Janet''s store has no direct relation to the fact that the White Commander is a numbered series of cards master. I reckon no one could have figured out the relationship between these two incidents in such a short time," Ji Zhihao spoke in a composed yet intelligent tone.


    Tan Yumin took a deep breath. She was trying her best to keep her composure, "What do you mean?"


    "I suspect that the White Commander personally released the news!" Ji Zhihao made a reckless conclusion.


    "He did it personally?" Tan Yumin seemed startled as she spoke, "But, why?"


    Ji Zhihao answered with clear and tranquil eyes, "To hype things up!"


    Before Tan Yumin could reply, Ji Zhihao continued, "He''s trying to promote himself. We should have guessed it when he publicly recruited all the card artisans to grow the size of his team! Apparently, he has sensed the danger and intended to empower his force within the shortest time. Before this, besides being Caesar''s descendant, he was merely a top-ranked card artisan. Hence, he could barely stand out among the other card artisans."


    He spoke even faster as he started picturing it clearly in his mind, "After his unexpected triumph against the Big Bad Wolves of Federation Comprehensive Academy, he has successfully become the star of the Heavenly Federation and gained fame! Seemingly, he is not satisfied with his fame, hence, he released the rumor to push his reputation to its peak! Obviously, he has achieved it perfectly! From the report prepared by Captain You, our recruitment is now stagnant as all the attention of the card artisans have been shifted to the White Commander! The most impressive thing is that he turned the tables around and now he has the upper hand! We can no longer go against him. From an outsider''s perspective, he seems to have put himself in the limelight, in a dangerous position. In actual fact, it''s the safest place for him to be. No one would dare touch him before they figure out the situation clearly. On the other hand, Moon Frost Island will protect him. Excellent! He''s so outstanding!"


    The more Ji Zhihao thought about it, the more he was impressed. He could not help but praise him.


    Tan Yumin was taken aback with surprise. In a blink of an eye, their positions in the game had changed entirely. She was shocked, yet terrified. She had never expected the man, who always appeared cold and quiet, was so sharp and intelligent!


    Ji Zhihao furrowed his brows abruptly and spoke in a confused tone, "However, there''s something that I don''t understand. The White Commander has changed into a totally different person in such a short time. Unless something happened during that period of time? Or has he always been a scheming man? It''s so difficult to read his mind! Negative, something that we have no knowledge of must have happened. Indeed, he made a smart move, but he seemed to have done it in hurry. Why did he do it so hastily?"


    Tan Yumin remained silent. She had regained her composure. Her beautiful eyes resumed beaming, yet, her gaze was unreadable.


    Tai-shu Yong stood before Chen Mu quietly yet cowardly. He had always known about the wit of the White Commander, but he had never expected such ruthlessness! He did not dare to play deceitful tricks in front of the White Commander anymore no matter how cunning he was. Besides, being the leader of a family, he had learned how to read the situation. From what the White Commander did from the past few days, he understood that this man was not a country pumpkin as he appeared to be.


    "How many new recruits do we have today?" Chen Mu asked.


    Tai-shu Yong replied politely, "There were too many card artisans that came today. There are 756 of them who fit the criteria. Six of them are grade seven card artisans. But, they wish to discuss with you personally," he appeared to be contented as he spoke. There were too many card artisans who came to register themselves in the past few days. Each day, the number of registers would break a new record. As there was a huge number of candidates, they were blessed with more variety in choosing their new recruits. Hence, the new recruits had considerably high quality.


    The enlisted card artisans generally possessed a perception of grade six. Besides, there were also some young card artisans with a lot of potential that enrolled. Their biggest surprise was the presence of card artisans who possessed a perception of grade seven. However, they requested to speak to the White Commander personally.


    Their demand was comprehensible. Grade seven card artisans were usually the main members of all major card artisan teams, namely Snowflake Card Artisan Team.


    Chen Mu nodded, "Fine, I''ll meet them." He knew the objectives of these people. They were all here because of the cards and his identity as a numbered series of cards master.


    "Another thing is," Tai-shu Yong glimpsed at Chen Mu, then continued, "Moon Frost Island had sent their men here."


    "Oh," Chen Mu was briefly taken aback, "How many of them?"


    "Only one."


    Chen Mu was startled as he confirmed, "Only one?"


    "Yes. It''s Baiyue, the top-ranked card artisan among the younger generations in Moon Frost Island." Tai-shu Yong failed to contain his excitement. The attention Moon Front Island paid to Tai-shu family was evident if they sent Baiyue here. Tai-shu family was originated from Heavenly Drum District. Naturally, the attitude of Moon Frost Island would directly affect the future of Tai-shu Family.


    "Baiyue¡­" Chen Mu mumbled absentmindedly. The face of a beautiful yet icy lady surfaced in his mind. Her battle with the Twin Stars back in Desert Camp left an impactful impression in his mind. It was one of the most intriguing and powerful battle he had seen in a very long time.


    However, he could now easily win in this kind of battle. Had he unknowingly improved so much?


    A treacly sentiment filled his heart as he remained his cool and asked, "When will she be arriving?"


    "Approximately seven days later," Tai-shu Yong answered.


    "Oh, I see," Chen Mu nodded. Tai-shu Yong got Chen Mu''s message and promptly left the place to resume to his work.


    Wei-ah appeared at Chen Mu''s side quietly.


    "Wei-ah, I''m feeling a little tired," Chen Mu seemed weary as the work from the past few days had drained him out.


    "Woody, you did a great job," Wei-ah said in a firm tone, assuring Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu felt slightly motivated before he put on a bitter smile, "Did I? Frankly, I''ve no idea what I''m doing. But, seemingly, my luck is not bad at all."


    "You acted hastily," Wei-ah''s words were always succinct yet precise.


    "Of course. How could I have not acted fast?" A hint of worry flashed across Chen Mu''s gaze, "We''ve lost contact with Bogner for so many days. They must be in great danger! We have to hurry up!"


    The two remained silent


    They had never been able to contact Bogner and his mates ever since the last time they kept in touch. This worried Chen Mu very much. However, he knew that worrying was not going to get him anywhere. Instead of wasting his time worrying, it was better for him take action!


    Therefore, he did not run away. He gave his utmost to find out the weakness of the Big Bad Wolves. He had no comrades to discuss this with as he could not get ahold of Bogner. Hence, he spent all his time alone to come up with a good plan. No one would ever know how much effort he spent on this plan that seemed quite too much.


    Nevertheless, he felt insecure as this was a field that he was not familiar with.


    Time. They were racing against time. As long as he could successfully carry out his plan earlier,, the pressure Bogner was facing would be greatly reduced. He was anxious, yet, not able to calm himself down, as another person''s life solely depended on this plan!


    Pressure. He was suffocated by such huge pressure. He was close to breaking down. Having to face this all alone, he was under a lot of stress!


    But, he did not give up. Despite being a country pumpkin in others'' eyes, he had now turned into a unwavering rock!


    Pressure could push someone to become a better version of themselves!


    In such a short time, not mentioning the countless attention he had been receiving from the public and under the extreme pressure, Chen Mu had grown into a matured man!


    He took a deep breath, then exhaled. His gaze returned to being calm and the weariness was all gone.


    "Wei-ah, let''s meet the grade seven card artisans!"

 505 The Show

    It happened to be the same grade seven card artisans, however, there was an apparent gap between the Big Six and the non-Big Six.


    This was the first time Chen Mu saw the six grade seven card artisans. The grade seven card artisans of Big Six were portrayed like knights with sophisticated equipment, however, the six grade seven card artisans in front him on the other hand, appeared to be like the bandits with just simple weapons. The sign of systematic training could be markedly seen from the behavior of the grade seven card artisan of Big Six. It gave people an impression of a regular army when the six card artisans of Big Six stood together. Although the murderous aura of the six card artisans of grade seven in front of Chen Mu was no less adept, they gave him an impression of a gang of bandits from the mountain.


    Six pair of eyes were staring at Chen Mu the moment he stepped into the hall, it was as if he was being stared at by six wolves.


    However, such level of danger was just a piece of cake for him.


    "Have a seat." Chen Mu made a gesture and took the lead to sit down.


    The six card artisans did not make any move but stood still with wary eyes. Their vigilance was not at all covered, not only was it aimed at Chen Mu but also at other card artisans beside them.


    "You guys want to confer with me, so who will start first?" asked Chen Mu without a preamble.


    The expression of surprise appeared on the faces of the six card artisans, as none of them had expected Chen Mu to be so frank and straightforward.


    After a while, a blue-eyed card artisan started with a question, "White Commander, we would like to know if you really are the master of the numbered series of cards?"


    "I''ve never said such words." Chen Mu shook his head and said.


    One of the card artisans was shocked to his heart, as he realized that the White Commander was an impossible man. The words said by Chen Mu was incredibly skillful, he neither admitted nor denied the sentence. After all, it was a rumor regarding the White Commander was the master of the numerical series cards. The White Commander had never made any disclaim on this issue. Therefore nobody could say that he was wrong in his words.


    "White Commander," this time it was a senior card artisan who opened his mouth. He stood up higher and asked with great respect, "What would be the price I have to pay if I need to get a numbered series of card that suits me?"


    The question asked by this card artisan was pretty smart. He avoided the question of whether the White Commander was the master of the numerical series cards, he also made it clear that he had no care about that matter. He is just concerned about whether he could get a card that suits him.


    "The employment period is three years, you can either choose to take the position of team leader or be my guard," Chen Mu answered him directly.


    It was such a loss that Xiaobo wasn''t here to witness this, as he would be sick to his stomach! Previously he was exploited mercilessly by Xi Ping when he signed the contract, experiencing a terrible employment period. Nonetheless, his ability back then was far from these grade seven card artisans.


    The six card artisans instantly considered in their heart if this was a good deal.


    "The card must be a five-star!" blurted one female card artisan who was staring at Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu shook his head and said, "Currently there are only four-star numbered series of cards. If you wish to have a five-star card, you can only go for the other cards."


    The female card artisan slightly hesitated, as the level of the four-star card was a bit low for them as their perception has already reached grade seven. Nevertheless, they also knew that the four-star cards of the numbered series cards were not any worse compared to the ordinary five-star cards. Five-star cards were not rare for them, but they were obsessed with finding the five-star cards that suited them.


    It was difficult for the card artisans without much influences to find a suitable five-star card for themselves. So this was the purpose of their visit.


    Their ability alone was insufficient for them to have a grandmaster custom make a card for them. No matter how good was the five-star card, if it was not suitable, it might not even be half as good as a three-star card that was ideal for them. This was why they needed the White Commander so badly.


    The price of three years of employment was not too high, it was still within their acceptable range comparing to the time every one of them spent on finding a suitable card for themselves.


    "I agree." The first to accept was a card artisan who did not make a sound at all during the discussion. His aquiline nose and sunken eyes gave people a feeling of sinister and ruthlessness.


    The rest of the card artisans thought for a while and gave their consent right away. All of them chose to be Chen Mu''s guard but not holding any specific position. This, however, was within Chen Mu''s expectation. If it was not for these card artisans hating these particular tasks, perhaps they would have already invested in other forces.


    Suddenly, an overwhelming murderous aura appeared without any warning and had filled up every inch of the space in the hall.


    The facial expression of the six card artisans changed drastically!


    Their flesh froze in horror and they could not move at all! The power of this murderous aura was so strong as if it was real. They felt as if there was a pair of eyes staring at them in the dark, and their lives might be taken at any time. They had gone through numerous hardships in real combats to reach their current level. Even so, they had never experienced such intense, terror, and oppressive murderous aura!


    This murderous aura was so strong, just like some viscous liquid wrapping them very tightly.


    None of them dared to move a finger. They had no doubt that any subtle movement might trigger a thunderclap of the murderous aura!


    They stood stock-still, the blood had drained from their faces, and their shirt was drenched with sweat and it felt as if time had stopped at this moment.


    They had no idea how long it had been going on, some card artisans even started teetering.


    "I hope we can cooperate together."


    The sound of footsteps gradually faded, the murderous aura had disappeared entirely after the sound of the door slamming.


    The murderous aura disappeared as fast, as if everything was just their illusion. But the drenched shirts and the stiffness in their bodies reminded them of what had happened just now.


    The six card artisans fearfully looked at each other, all of them scared to death


    "Was that the White Commander?" a card artisan asked with a hoarse voice.


    "I don''t know," another card artisan shook his head and said.


    "It was someone else!" the one talking was the card artisan with blue eyes. His face was pale with fear, but affirmatively, he said, "Nonetheless, I did not notice him."


    The words sounded a bit contradictory, but no one retorted him. Their hearts stirred once again.


    The hall was so spacious, there was no place to hide. How could this person manage to get away from their sight? They are grade seven card artisans! That person could escape from the perception of six card artisans of grade seven in an open space without any hiding spot. If they did not experience it themselves, they would not have believed that there was someone so powerful and incredible in this world!


    There was another top master who was far beyond their abilities besides the White Commander.


    This caused them to realise that they were not indispensable.


    Chen Mu placed great emphasis on these grade seven card artisans, but he did not think they were his most trusted power. Instead, those ordinary card artisans deserved more trust. They had gone through tough training, and the role they were able to play was far beyond these grade seven card artisans. These grade seven card artisans were defiant and unruly; they would not perform well if they were put into battles.


    Most importantly, he did not have time to entertain these grade seven card artisans. He still had many errands to run, but to ensure these arrogant grade seven card artisans were well behaved, he had asked Wei-ah to deter them. Now it seemed like the effect on them was pretty good!


    Time, he had too little time!


    For example, the problem of training ordinary card artisans was already a handful. Both Bogner and Jiang Liang were not here, so he had no one to discuss with. He could only take the training plan drafted by Bogner earlier on and attempt to make some changes to it.


    The quality of the recruited card artisans this time was much higher than those in Tai-shu family previously. However, this was actually the real headache for Chen Mu.


    The average of the perceptual strength of these card artisans was grade six and above, and their quality was indeed higher. But in corresponding to this, they had already formed their own way of fighting. It was undoubtedly challenging to make any changes to them at this stage.


    This problem had never crossed Chen Mu''s mind previously.


    Nonetheless, this problem was inevitable. It would be impossible to dismiss the recruited card artisans and start over with some lower level card artisans again. Chen Mu was staring at the training plan in front of him drawn up by Bogner for him previously.


    Thinking about it, all at once, he realized that this was not something terrible, as it would be impossible for a large-scaled equipment card set. On one hand, to equip a card set under the supervision of the Big Six would make him a target. On the other hand, he did not have the time to make so many cards again.


    Chen Mu made a decision. What he could do at the moment was to increase their combat literacy and turn them into a real efficient combating troops.


    Moreover, he was not totally helpless regarding the personal combat power of these card artisans.


    One of the critical reason why the ordinary card artisans were inferior to the card artisans of the Big Six was that there were too little materials for them to refer to and learn from .


    In Chen Mu''s hands were a few sets of legacy from the Federation Comprehensive Academy . Although these legacies could not be used by the card artisans directly, there was still room for reference. The conflict between him and the Federation Comprehensive Academy was undeniable, as both sides were incompatible like fire and water. Anyway, he wasn''t really bothered by it.


    He decided to publish this set of legacy to the troop later on, allowing anyone to learn from it. However, this would be done in the future. Now what he needed to do was, to allow these people to get use to team combat. Bogner once said this would be the essence to determine the strength of a combat troop. Bogner was just casually speaking back then, but Chen Mu could remember it very clearly.


    Sang Hanshui was dragged out by Chen Mu and was appointed as the Chief Military Instructor. Previously the card artisans in Tai-shu family were trained by him. Chen Mu sensed that Sang Hanshui could do it better than himself, he might as well hand over the amended training plan to him.


    Sang Hanshui could deeply feel Chen Mu''s trust in him, so he immediately gave his full effort. Some more, he was experienced. Now he could handle it with ease and get the hang of it very fast.


    On the other hand, those young card artisans with remarkable talent but poor in their ability were handed over to Xiaobo. If Xiaobo could receive a praise from Jie Yanbai regarding his personal combat power, then it would be no problem at all for him to teach these bunch of kids.


    As for Chen Mu, he was not left behind. Not only that he needed to make cards for the grade seven card artisans, but he also had to improve his knowledge on strategizing.


    Up until now, all of the plans could be said to be perfect. However, the unsettling feeling in his heart caused him to always be on guard. He never once thought of himself as a genius. Everything that has done by him could not even be considered as a strategy. It was merely from calculating as much as possible.


    In Chen Mu''s eyes, compared to making cards, the difficulty of planning a strategy was too high. Most of the things he came across would only bring him confusion. Each time he encountered such problems, he could not help thinking how nice it would be if Bogner was here.


    He increasingly felt that Bogner had great strength in this aspect, it is just as how powerful Wei-ah was with the element of cardless sects. This also boosted his confidence in Bogner. He believed that Bogner would not easily be defeated!


    Other than that, he also needed to keep a close eye on the training of those card artisans continuously. Without Bogner, Chen Mu could only make the amendments to the training plan all by himself.


    Those days were so productive and meaningful! Chen Mu could not help but fill with emotions as his eyes turned bleary red.


    He only slept for two hours daily. His schedule was extremely packed as everything was needed to be done by himself. Now he could relate to the benefit of practicing the cardless sects. He might have exhausted to death if he did not have a strong and healthy body!


    This was the hardest period for the first time ever.


    What surprised him was, even though there wasn''t much time left for training, his perception actually increased a lot and had a breakthrough, upgrading to grade seven.


    However, the excitement of his breakthrough did not last long, as he was distracted by an overwhelming incident.


    Chen Mu returned to his room, dragging his fatigue body behind him. Qiu Shanyu was engrossed in watching the fantasy card receiver.


    Suddenly Chen Mu stopped dead in his steps, his attention had been attracted by the image and sound on the screen.


    "Good evening to our dear audiences! We have been struggling to find the answer in these few days. How could the weak White Commander completely wipe out the Big Bad Wolves of the Federation Comprehensive Academy? This problem has been bothering us throughout, even though we have offered a reward of sky-high price, still we achieved nothing."


    The host was expounding with a regretful tone.


    This was the first time Chen Mu witness someone discussing him, somehow he was slightly curious about it.


    The host on the screen changed his tone of voice and said, "However, this is the day the answer will finally be revealed! All of you will never expect who is the person that is revealing the answer! It was quite hard to believe when we first received the answer. We have never expected that our show could alarm this bigwig!"


    Obviously, the host was slightly excited.


    "He is the most outstanding tactical genius from the Star Court, the oldest academy among the Big Six - Lord Rossiji! He, the genius who has always occupied the top of the rankings, was extremely interested in this question. And he indeed was the top tactical genius of the Heavenly Federation, as he was the first to give his analysis!"


    Chen Mu stood in amazement. He had heard the name of Rossiji, the greatest tactical genius in the Star Court, who was also the most eye-catching star in Star Court. He did not expect such a genius could actually have the time to be interested in a show on the receiver platform.


    Qiu Shanyu had noticed Chen Mu''s presence, and couldn''t help herself, "Never would I have expected, that there comes a day when you are acknowledged by Rossiji."


    Chen Mu ignored her as his eyes were fixated on the screen.


    "The next program which is about to start, is the personal analysis by Mr. Rossiji. We have already obtained his consent to play the following sound recording. Probably the White Commander is the only one who can conclude whether or not the analysis of Mr. Rossiji is the truth. However, there is finally a light to the tunnel, a solution to the problem that has been bothering us. We would like to thank Mr. Rossiji for taking time out of his busy schedule to participate in our show!"


    The host disappeared on the optical screen.


    All audiences were holding their breath, including Chen Mu. He also would very much like to know how a tactical genius who can surpass Song Chengyan make an analysis.


    However, the first sentence out of Rossiji was totally out of everyone''s expectations.

 506 The Terrifying Rossiji

    First Military Force of the Federation.


    As usual, the warriors began their daily training. Although there was no peace throughout the Federation, this did not affect the military base. The military base was like a utopia as it was not affected in the slightest bit. However, the discipline of the First Military Force was always strict, and their daily training was also difficult and unique.


    As compared to the warriors outside who were sweating bullets, the work in the General Staff Unit was much more relaxed. The staff members were drinking coffee while making conversation in small groups.


    Suddenly, a sharp summon could be heard!


    The General Staff Unit immediately went silent, and everyone stopped whatever work they were doing. Instantly, the atmosphere in the General Staff Unit became extremely nervous, and the relaxed expressions on the staff members'' face disappeared.


    "This is an emergency order! All staff members please gather at Hall Number One within five minutes!"


    With a crash, a coffee cup fell on the floor and shattered into pieces. But at this moment, no one cared. They did not care much for their usual appearance as they rushed off quickly. What a joke, one would need at least three minutes to get to Hall Number One from the General Staff Unit, and they dare not show up late. If one showed up late during an emergency order, the military law would be merciless upon them.


    When these staff members who lacked exercise on normal days arrived at Hall Number One after running with all their might, a lot of staff members were already gathered here. This included a large number of middle rank officers.


    Everyone had a solemn look on their face. No one knew what this time''s emergency order was for.


    Could it be that a war is about to happen?


    With the fastest speed, everyone found a seat and sat down. In a blink of an eye, the huge hall was shrouded in darkness, but no sound could be heard from within.


    At the front of the hall, a huge light screen appeared. Military Force Leader Wei Yueqing stood in front of the light screen, he scanned the nervous expressions on the faces of the staff members and officers, and appeared satisfied, "Not bad, no one is late."


    As he swept his eyes slowly over the hall, everyone straightened their backs and was prepared to listen to his orders.


    "The reason why I gathered all of you here today is to show you something." Wei Yueqing squinted his eyes, and the sharpness in them could be faintly seen, "I think everyone knows of the White Commander''s annihilation of the Big Bad Wolves. Has anyone managed to conduct a dry run on this?"


    No one made a sound.


    "Looks like there is none. What a shame." A look full of mockery appeared on Wei Yueqing''s face, "How can the General Staff Unit of the First Military Force be unable to solve such a small problem!"


    Blood rushed up the faces of the staff members abruptly, causing their faces to look so red that it seemed as if blood was about to come out from them. They felt as if there was something blocking their airways, making them uncomfortable to the point that they were going to spit blood. This was their first time being lectured so heartlessly by the Military Force Leader.


    "You all were not able to solve it, but someone did." The mockery on Qei Yueqing''s face disappeared and was replaced with a coldness that sent chills into a person''s heart, "The person who took action this time was Rossiji!"


    The moment he said this, there was an uproar from everyone who was below.


    However when Wei Yueqing gazed coldly at them, the uproar turned into silence.


    "Rossiji is known as the Federation''s number one tactical genius, and is also Star Court''s trump card. You must all remember this! He is the First Military Force''s greatest enemy!" He did not even try to conceal the murderous intention in his words, "All this while, we knew too little about him."


    As he stood on the stage, he suddenly recalled something Song Chengyan said to him.


    The pale complexion and calm smile on Song Chengyan''s face when he said that, as well as what was said, were both imprinted deeply in Wei Yueqing''s mind.


    "Commanders League Tournament? Not a lot people will put in their greatest effort, for example Rossiji and I. Only God will know who is the more powerful one between us."


    When he thought of Ah Yan''s death, his chest was in pain. Nonetheless, he concentrated his attention and continued.


    "This time, he actually took the initiative to appear, so this opportunity is extremely precious to us. I want the whole General Staff Unit to watch this show''s latest episode. You need to analyse Rossiji''s personality, habits, expertise, tactical use as well as everything else that can be analysed!"


    "Yes!" All the members of the General Staff Unit who was holding their breaths roared out loudly.


    Usually, he ought to showcase an expression of satisfaction at such a time. But this time, his face remained unmoving, "Hmph! Go and learn more about how other people analyse things! Is the General Staff Unit useless without Song Chengyan?"


    These words carried an immense weight!


    Every person from the General Staff Unit looked extremely uneasy.


    They were like a pack of wolves as they glared at the light screen. Those faces were as if they held a deep grudge against the light screen.


    The same scenario played out in the other 11 military forces. Not only this, Tang Hanpei, Jia Yingxia and Jie Yanbai were all watching¡­


    And all of this, was due to one name.


    Rossiji, the Federation''s number one tactical genius! No one will neglect anything to do with this name. According to them, Rossiji''s appearance had always brought on an extraordinary meaning. As for other people, how could they let go of such a wonderful chance to learn from the never before personal analysis by the Federation''s number one tactical genius?


    Right in front of countless eyes, Rossiji slowly spoke.


    "The moment I noticed you was when we were at Star Court''s War Performance Hall. A lot of students failed in their derivation, so they came seeking help from me. I have to say, this is an extremely interesting show. Its creativity deserves praise."


    "The White Commander''s battle results are surprising. Winning against 20 with five, this is a model battle where the one inferior in numbers won. Although the White Commander is the disciple of Senior Caesar, but for you to be able to do this, even I could not help but to be filled with curiosity. Thus, I initiated a series of research."


    Countless people listened to Rossiji''s analysis quietly in front of the platform, in fear of missing out even one word. Chen Mu had also showed a focused expression. As for Qiu Shanyu, he completely forgot to mock Chen Mu at this moment. Until now, she didn''t know how Chen Mu won this unbelievable battle.


    "For this purpose, I mobilized Star Court''s Intelligence Department and collected all the information I could gather about the White Commander."


    There was an uproar from the audience in front of the platform.


    "There is no need to go so far. Even if he is Caesar''s disciple, he shouldn''t be worth such effort from Lord Rossiji part!"


    "What do you know? Could it be that you know this better than Lord Rossiji? If my Lord wants to do this, then it must be a necessity!"


    "Exactly!"


    "Looks like the White Commander is no ordinary character!"


    "Isn''t that obvious? Ordinary character? How can an ordinary character be worth Lord Rossiji''s attention?"


    ...


    Before the light screen, Ji Zhihao seemed uneasy. He said hoarsely, "Looks like we''ve really underestimated him."


    For this matter, Rossiji had even mobilized Star Court''s Intelligence Department. Hence, it was easy to imagine how important this matter was to him. It was impossible for someone without any capability to be appreciated by Rossiji.


    Of course, Tan Yumin knew the ''he'' whom Ji Zhihao was referring to. She didn''t say anything, and only remained silent. Yet the slight hint of loneliness in her eyes could not be swept away.


    Chen Mu stared at the light screen with a grave expression.


    Rossiji''s attention did not make him feel shocked at all. Instead, he felt a strong sense of danger. It felt as if he had become the target of an expert hunter, and this feeling was anything but reassuring.


    "The more information I got, the more surprised I was." A soft laugh could be heard from the light screen, "With a brief conclusion, I was able to determine the capabilities possessed by the White Commander. If I''m not mistaken, the White Commander''s Perception at that time had yet to reach grade seven."


    When he said this, everyone was stunned.


    The White Commander''s Perception had actually not reached grade seven?


    "According to my analysis, the White Commander should be an expert in perception control. The strength of his perception was not an advantage for him, but his battle skills are outstanding, and his combat power is far more powerful than that of a normal grade seven card artisan. Among the White Commander''s four subordinates, two of them should probably have the same combat power as that of a normal grade seven card artisan. As for the other two, one of them is a young man who has yet to reach the age of 16. I think even for Lord Tang Hanpei at this age, he should not be too powerful as well. Thus, his combat power would not be too high. What is worth suspicion is the other partner. He should be the White Commander''s trump card, and possess a powerful capability. However, I noticed an interesting point. Until now, there has not been any sign of this elite person''s actions, not even when the White Commander had suffered severe injuries. I was very confused at first, but now I understand. It is very much possible that the power that this White Commander''s partner possesses can only be unleashed in special circumstances. Of course, it is also possible that the White Commander was simply trying to hide this person."


    A chilling feeling appeared uncontrollably from the deepest part of Chen Mu''s heart. It was the first time he felt as if he was stripped of all his disguise.


    As compared to card artisans, Wei-ah''s cardless sect did have a stricter requirement in terms of environment, such as the fact that he cannot fight in mid air.


    "According to these calculations, the capability of the White Commander is truthfully not worth mentioning when compared against the capability of the Big Bad Wolves from the Comprehensive Federation Academy in the Heavenly Federation. If it was under normal circumstances, there would definitely be no way for him to win. However, the White Commander won, and despite having spent much time thinking about this, I still couldn''t grasp the main points. Nonetheless, the first thing that attracted my attention was the location where the battle happened, Fir Town."


    "Clearly, this was an ambush. But what is to be noted is that Fir Town was not the only path that would lead to Dongrui City. So how could the White Commander be so certain that the other would pass through Fir Town? There are two possibilities. One would be that the White Commander has a very precise source of intelligence, one that was able to pinpoint the exact path the Big Bad Wolves were going to take. I doubt this possibility as in reality, even Star Court''s Intelligence Department could not determine this. I do not think that the White Commander''s intelligence capability is stronger than the Star Court''s. Then the more possible option would be the other one, and that is that this outcome was something the White Commander could''ve estimated!"


    "This judgment is actually not that difficult to reach. In addition to the Big Bad Wolves'' mentality of underestimating their foes, this path was the shortest. But this determination adds no benefit to the actual battle. The White Commander''s capability is not even enough for him to set a trap. Yet the final outcome was the complete annihilation of the Big Bad Wolves, and this was something which has troubled me for a long time. That was until I accidentally calculated the distance between Fir Town and the Seven Mengri City when I suddenly realized something. The White Commander utilized a factor which could have been easily neglected, and that is energy cards. The distance between Fir Town and Seven Mengri City is 3,700 kilometers. So when the Big Bad Wolves flew to Fir Town, the amount of energy remaining in the four star energy card ought to be around 40 percent. However, the weather in the Heavenly Drum Village District is extremely cold, so when one is flying they will have to put up energy shields. Thus, according to this calculation, the final remaining energy in the energy card should not even reach 20 percent. Of course, this is based on the assumption that the Big Bad Wolves did not change their energy cards during their journey. The White Commander accurately comprehended and manipulated the Big Bad Wolves'' mentality of underestimation, and subsequently found this wonderful ambush point. The White Commander''s elaborate thinking as well as his powerful estimation ability is shocking."


    Rossiji''s words were filled with admiration.


    Chen Mu only felt chills in his body. It was as if Rossiji had seen it with his own eyes, as his speculations were precise to the finest detail.


    "A small energy card was able to make a change in the crucial point of the battle. The important point of the battle now became whether if the Big Bad Wolves managed to change their cards successfully. If they succeed, the balance of capabilities will once again tip to their side. Unfortunately, the White Commander did not give them any chance to do so. This made me extremely curious. Based on the capabilities of these five, how could they have forced 20 powerful card artisans to not even have the chance to change cards? Notably, half of the team is made up of card artisans of grade seven and above."


    Everyone listened intently.


    "The traces left behind after the battle in Fir Town showed that this place used a lot of highly explosive energy mass. This perfectly coincided with the rumored Bomb. The Perception of grade seven card artisans were extremely acute, so how could they have not noticed the White Commander''s ambush? I investigated all the news related to what happened on that day in Fir Town, and finally noticed the weather requirement of Fir Town on that day. On that day, the sky of Fir Town was filled with thick clouds, and this was extremely advantageous for an ambush."


    "However, the energy card used by the card artisans of the Big Bad Wolves to travel still had up to 20 percent of remaining energy. If the White Commander wanted to win, based on what I can see, there are two methods. The first method, is to fight using the pressuring method. He could continuously expend their energy to the point that they would die due to the complete energy depletion. The second method, would be to make a fatal strike when they are changing cards. According to the traces in the battlefield, the White Commander could have combined both methods together."


    "Moreover, in order to further exhaust the other party''s energy, the attack used must possess an element of surprise. There are two possibilities to this. One would be that the White Commander had utilized a special kind of card, whereby when an attack is launched it would not attract the attention of the other party. And if Bomb''s capability is truly the same as what was rumored, then what the White Commander needed was a delayed time period! This would require him to possess a powerful scanning card as well as an extremely precise calculation ability. I would personally lean more towards the latter! By biding his time and making fine arrangements, all loose threads were neatly tied up. It was the use of estimation against blind guesses that caused this iconic victory."


    Chen Mu was completely stunned and went pale!


    All, all correct!


    How, how can this be?


    He did not think that his own thoughts surpassed others. But the fact that Rossiji was able to analyse the battle as if he had witnessed it himself based on just the information he gathered, the powerful ability to analyse which was shown by him was truly terrifying to the point that it made one''s hair stand!


    "White Commander!"


    Rossiji paused.


    "Siji has learned much from his first meeting with someone who is as good at calculations as Your Excellency is. I wonder if Your Excellency will be able to make a visit to Star Court when you have the time? To be able to drink tea while discussing battles and learn from the man himself is such a joyous thing! Siji would be honored by Your Excellency''s presence!"


    When the host appeared once again, his words which were full of excitement and provocation were neglected.


    The people were still unable to pull themselves away from the earlier shock!


    If it wasn''t because they saw it with their own eyes and heard it with their own ears, they would never have believed that Lord Rossiji had actually taken the initiative to personally invite the White Commander!


    Qiu Shanyu looked at Chen Mu as if she had seen a ghost. She was so shocked that she couldn''t utter a single word.


    In a blink of an eye, Chen Mu was pushed to the edge of a cliff!

 507 Making a Hit One by One

    When Tang Hanpei finished watching Rossiji''s analysis, the corner of his lips tugged into a smile, and he muttered, "So it''s him."


    The image of a young man with a thin figure appeared in his mind. During the time in Pomelo City, this young man was the person who left the deepest impression on him. The fact that he was the producer of the numerical series cards, and had subordinates who were able to produce the Starfish fort, these were definitely enough to attract people''s attention to him. If he didn''t have the power of the Starfish fort, he would not have been able to defeat Qiao Yuan.


    "My Lord, this is the information regarding Tan Yumin." Shao Xue presented a piece of card in a respectful manner.


    She never understood the appreciation his Lordship had towards Tan Yumin. A few years ago, his Lordship began to gather all the news relating to Tan Yumin. And that time, his Lordship was only the Director of Academic Affairs in the school.


    "Good." Tang Hanpei accepted the card, placed it into the card player and began watching. His suddenly began to glisten.


    Shao Xue stopped breathing. She who had followed after his Lordship for a long time understood that his Lordship must have made some sort of discovery.


    After closing the card player, Tang Hanpei shut his eyes and fell into deep thought. His right hand was unconsciously stroking the black notebook in front of him. After a short while, he abruptly opened his eyes.


    Shao Xue''s heart froze. She went to her half-bowing position as she waited for his Lordship''s order.


    "I''ll give you a task," Tang Hanpei said plainly.


    "Yes!" Shao Xue did not hesitate whatsoever.


    Tang Hanpei said softly, "Remember when I previously asked you to investigate the Federation''s famous expert in Card Appliance?"


    "I remember." Shao Xue answered, "For the past few years, the Intelligence Department never stopped investigating anything relating to that. However, as you did not make any further commands, we did not take any further action."


    "You''ve done well." Tang Hanpei smiled as he praised. Shao Xue was secretly joyous. It was not easy to be able to receive praise from his Lordship. Tang Hanpei stopped smiling and said in a strict manner, "Employ all the forces we can draw on. Bring all these people to the Academy, and don''t miss out even a single one."


    "Yes!" Shao Xue sternly responded.


    "This job has to be done as quickly as possible. After these people have been brought over, build a Faculty of Card Appliance Research."


    "Yes!"


    "I will be out during this period of time." Tang Hanpei said plainly.


    "Shao Xue went pale in shock, "My Lord! At this time¡­" As the Tang Team had just been rebuilt, the situation in the capital city could not be considered as stable. Every director as well as those aristocratic families with a long history were continuously making little tricks in the dark, but because Tang Hanpei was personally keeping watch in the capital, no one dared to step out of line. However, if his Lordship decides to leave the capital city at this moment, the situation may get out of control.


    Tang Hanpei waved his hand and interrupted Shao Xue, "No need to worry, I have already made arrangements."


    As Shao Xue looked at his Lordship, she couldn''t help but to be in a trance. Last time, his Lordship always gave people a feeling of elegance and was full of grace, just like a scholar. But now he has become increasingly unpredictable and unwilling to share his real feelings. The calmness in his face looked as if there was nothing in this world that could make his heart move in the slightest.


    Perhaps only such a strong Lord can bring the Comprehensive Federation Academy of the Heavenly Federation to a brighter path!


    Central Repository of the Classics.


    Jie Yanbai was seated in the principal''s office. He had just obtained the joint approval of the higher ups in the Repository to become the new Governor of the Central Repository of the Classics. Although Madam Zhi Lian was smiling as she watched how he looked to be extremely uneasy, she secretly let out a breath of relief in her mind.


    "Governor, you can now give out orders," Madam Zhi Lian smiled as she said.


    Jie Yanbai gave out a bitter smile, and those thick brows seemed to have furrowed together, "Having gotten used to living in the jungle, now even sitting on this real leather sofa makes me feel weird. I will have to trouble Madam Zhi Lian to change all these and replace them with rattan made furniture. To put it simply, these things can wear away a person''s willpower."


    This principal''s office was extremely luxurious. Chandeliers made out of pure gemstones, the most expensive sofa made out of armored leech skin, the study table made out of blood pines which were also covered in slight wood and gold...


    Madam Zhi Lian said readily, "No problem. I''ll get someone to change it immediately."


    Jie Yanbai let out a soft sigh. He must''ve thought of something that made his expression seem grave. After thinking for a short while, he said in a deep tone, "I know that the Repository is not in a good situation. Hence, as the Governor of the Central Repository of the Classics, I order for all the inheritances to be taught to students, save for the inheritance from Tianzi Unit! After three months, the Repository will host several competitions and the students who win will obtain the Academy''s bestowed card."


    "This¡­" The expression on Madam Zhi Lian''s face changed drastically. But instead of objecting, she said, "I''m afraid the Elders might not agree with this."


    Coincidentally at this moment, a deep voice could be heard from beyond the door, announcing a report.


    "The captain of the Central Repository of the Classics'' Three Flower Unit, Lian Ge reporting for duty!"


    "Come in!"


    A bruiser who carried a strong murderous aura walked into the principal''s office. His head was burly and his hair was like a bunch of steel wires. He looked fierce, and those eyes which were like a pair of brass bells exerted a murderous air every time he blinked.


    Madam Zhi Lian sighed softly and spoke no longer. When she saw this, she understood everything, but this was still within her expectations. According to what she knew about Jie Yanbai''s personality, he wouldn''t mind if he didn''t end up as principal, but the moment he obtains this position, he will not allow anyone to control him. Three Flower Unit was the Repository''s most elite force, and they were always solely loyal to every generation''s Governor.


    She knew as well that this order from Jie Yanbai was undoubtedly a heart-strengthening shot for their old and deteriorating Central Repository of the Classics. The Central Repository of the Classics still followed the limitation whereby only those of the direct line of descent could inherit and this was extremely strict in terms of Levels. Those ordinary card artisans who passed the entrance exam and entered the Central Repository of the Classics would rarely obtain these strong inheritances, moreover the Academy''s bestowed card. Those amazing inheritances and cards would mostly end up in the hands of the Elder Council.


    Back then, Jie Yanbai was the victim of this precise limitation, and was more than familiar with the dangers of its malpractice.


    "I will have to trouble Madam to deal with the cards which are to be bestowed to the students at that time." Jie Yanbai bowed slightly.


    Madam Zhi Lian smiled softly, and her tone was filled with self-confidence, "Rest assured, Governor. In terms of card production, the Central Repository of the Classics is the best among the Great Six." She suddenly realized something. The end of the Central Repository of the Classics'' old era was already inevitable. Although this action by Jie Yanbai had offended the Elder Council, it was bound to win the hearts of the majority of students.


    "Does the Governor want to visit the person in charge of the House of a Hundred Depths?" Madam Zhi Lian asked.


    Jie Yanbai''s brows relaxed, and he smiled, "There is no need to pay attention to him temporarily."


    "Then I''ll take my leave." Madam Zhi Lian announced her departure respectfully. Although in terms of age and seniority she was above Jie Yanbai, but in formal occasions, she was required to show enough respect to the Governor. This was also her form of support to Jie Yanbai.


    "Thank you for your trouble, Madam." Jie Yanbai did not dare to neglect her.


    During the whole process of Madam Zhi Lian leaving the principal''s office, Lian Ge stood there like a robot. He did not make a sound, nor did he move even a single finger.


    Jie Yanbai said with a deep voice. "Send some people to protect my teacher. Don''t let anyone unrelated scare her."


    "Yes!"


    Lian Ge''s low shout was as deep as thunder, and a murderous aura seemed to have exploded suddenly.


    "Go on then."


    With a bow, Lian Ge along with his murderous aura, left the principal''s office with big steps.


    Jie Yanbai stood up and walked out of the principal''s office. As he glanced at the ancient cornice, it was as if he could see the history soaked traces. His right hand curled into a tight fist, and as he sucked in a deep breath, his gaze became firm!


    Without hesitation, he flew out of the school. He wanted to find someone.


    Chen Mu walked to the training grounds. He needed to pay attention to the results of the daily training of these card artisans. With no one to guide them, he could only do it himself. Luckily, he had a training plan template formulated by Bogner. He could also recall how Bogner and Jiang Liang would train card artisans, and continuously made changes to the training contents.


    While walking briskly among the training card artisans, he was paying very close attention to them. The standard of capabilities of these card artisans were higher than those which he had recruited from the base. However, if those two were to battle with the same amount of troops, the card artisans from the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team would undoubtedly win.


    However, the situation at hand had already exceeded his expectations. In his mind, he couldn''t help but to be more confident at his own plans.


    When the training card artisans saw the arrival of the White Commander, every single one of them worked even harder. Now, they were full of confidence towards the future, and the hint of doubt in their hearts had been long gone. After all, his Lordship was someone who had received praise from Lord Rossiji!


    In people''s hearts, Tang Hanpei was the king of card artisans, and Rossiji was the undefeatable wise man among all Commanders!


    These card artisans who came running to him were card artisans who were rich with experience. They were very clear as to what quality of a leader would matter the most. A majority of them were very responsible, but they did not like how the Great Six did things. And Chen Mu''s appearance made them see that there was hope for the future. Although his Lordship did not say anything, he was still ale to make them feel safe.


    As for the training which was required of them by his Lordship, they were meticulous and no one dared to question him. It didn''t matter even if these trainings were different from what they used to do.


    Rossiji''s influence was far more than this.


    According to Tai-shu Yong''s report, on the day after Rossiji''s recording was announced, the amount of card artisans who signed up increased significantly.


    Everyday, Tai-shu Yong always carried a smile on his old face. Tai-shu family has now managed to stabilize themselves as the number one force in Dongrui City both in terms of combat power and influence. The old man was as if he had become 10 years younger, he was so busy, but his energy was even better than those youngsters''. With the increase in influence, it had also benefited Tai-shu family in the business world whereby this year''s profit had doubled as compared to last year''s.


    However, the busy Tai-shu Yong woke up this morning, and yet he didn''t do anything. He changed into a newly-made formal outfit and brought along a group of guards. He was not bothered by the wind and snow around him and personally waited outside Dongrui City. All the guards were wondering who was this person that actually required the head of the household to personally come out and receive him?


    They waited for five hours in the snow, but there was no sign of impatience on Tai-shu Yong''s face. So how could the guards not be curious?


    It was at this moment that a small black dot appeared at the edge of the horizon.


    But in a blink of an eye, this black dot appeared in a place not far from them!


    How fast! There were no card artisans who were not shocked. This speed was so quick that they could not even imagine it. What an elite!


    Before they could respond, the other party had already rushed to them.


    A face which was as cold as ice but also as beautiful as a deity appeared before them. Those eyes which were as blue as ice crystals carried a chilling feeling, and whenever contact was made, it would stiffen a person''s body.


    "Tai-shu Yong pays his respects to Her Excellency, Bai Yue!" Tai-shu Yong bowed respectfully.


    Bai Yue quickly returned the greeting. Her voice was as if they were wind chimes made out of ice crystals, clear but cold, "Bai Yue is undeserving of your praise! I have troubled the head of the Tai-shu family to wait for so long. Bai Yue is truly distressed."


    Bai Yue¡­ Bai Yue...


    It was only at this moment that the guards snapped back to reality. Every single one of them was stunned as they stood there like ice sculptures.

 508 Guide The World

    As the oldest institute ever established by Heiner Van Sant, the Star Court covered a vast area. It had seven lakes and nine pools, including Ming Si Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Heterodox Brilliance District. The ecological protection here was excellent, the vegetation was flourishing; the water grass was growing continuously like a long blanket; the migratory birds were in groups, and the scenery was picturesque. In their spare time, students rented shuttle boats to explore the lake, feeding migratory birds as they went, which had always been one of their favorite pastimes. There were many kinds of migratory birds here, and they were not afraid of people. Whenever someone fed them, they would flock in groups, which was very spectacular.


    Ordinary shuttle boats were very cheap to rent and only costed 50 Oudi per hour. There were also luxury shuttles for students to rent, but the cost per hour was not less than 5,000 Oudi. Most of the students who could enter the Star Court were well-off, and this money was naturally indifferent to them. As for the student that were from the common residential district, their various allowances every month were a very considerable amount. During summer, if one goes to the company outside the Star Court to practice, their income will be more substantial.


    On a dilapidated shuttle boat, a fat man sat on it, staring greedily at the lake. His shuttle''s rental fee was only 10 Oudi per hour, less than four meters in length, and the paint on the hull has peeled off long ago, which looked terrible. The fat man was shirtless and looked like a meatball, and the poor shuttle was squeaking as if it might break at any moment. At the other end of the shuttle boat, there was a rusty outdoor travel card machinery furnace, with an iron pot on it. The water in the pot was boiling and hot.


    Occasionally, the students flying by all looked at the fat man strangely, giving looks of disdain. Fortunately, it was a very remote area, and the card artisana flying by were only one or two people.


    Suddenly, a card artisan came straight to this end and circled several times in the sky to find the location of the fat man. Then he plunged his head down and dived toward the fat man.


    Seeing that the card artisan was about to crash into the old shuttle boat, the card artisan stopped suddenly and landed in the air. If any of the students saw this scene, they would be amazed. His skills were simple and neat, which showed the deep attainment of this card artisan in air cards.


    The card artisan looked twenty-seven to eight years old, with unkempt hair and eyes, and wore a white nightgown with a cute bear painted on the front, where his chest was, occupying half of the nightgown. With flip-flops on his feet, he seemed to be on the verge of toppling over into the lake at any moment.


    He glanced at the shuttle boat and felt that he could not find a landlord for a land to land on, so he suspended himself in the air beside the fat man.


    "Siji, haven''t you got it yet? I haven''t had breakfast yet." He muttered, as he stretched lazily and idly laid down. There was no support in the air, but he could lay down very naturally.


    Rossiji! This fat ball-like fellow was Rossiji, the number one player in tactics in the Heavenly Federation!


    "Breakfast? It''s already three o''clock in the afternoon! You lazy b*stard, what do you take me as? A cook?" the fat man shouted abusively, but his eyes were still staring at the lake, not daring to move even by an inch.


    "Heh heh." Lying in the middle of the sky, the man in bear pajamas cupped his chin and said triumphantly, "You''re the only one who can catch the red-lined crystal eel. This is big stuff!"


    "Little Sleepyhead, you seem to have an exam next week," the fat man asked. This fellow was extremely lethargic, and was always yawning. His name was Nick, Rossiju simply called him Little Sleepyhead, although Nick was much older than the fat man.


    "Well, yes." He carelessly answered, "Isn''t it just an exam?"


    "If you pass, you will catch up with Qing Qing. Tsk, but to be in second place is not very satisfying to hear." The fat man suddenly thought of a question, "Right, if you passed the exam, will you get a bonus?"


    "Don''t put me and that woman together. Do you want to affect my appetite?" Little Sleepyhead was indignant and continued, "Bonus? No way! It''s not like you didn''t know that the principal is tightfisted. Otherwise, we can go out and corrupt them."


    "What a pity." The fat man looked sad.


    Little Sleepyhead suddenly sat up, cocked his head and said, "By the way, fatty, why are you suddenly interested in the White Commander? It''s not your style!"


    "He is an interesting man." The fat man stared at the water, lost in thought, "And very powerful. The way he goes is totally different from others. Also, he should be very young."


    "Young? How old is he?" Little Sleepyhead asked in surprise.


    "I don''t know." The fat man shook his head. "I''m only guessing."


    "Well." Little Sleepyhead touched his chin, and his face was thoughtful, but the bear on his chest and the unkempt hair made him look funny: "You have a good guess. It seems to me that it has been difficult for you after Song Chengyan died!"


    To his surprise, the fat man did not get angry, but sighed, "Song Chengyan, died too early. But the fellow who came out this time is not bad either."


    Little Sleepyhead disagreed, "His mentor, Caesar, has no influence. He can''t accomplish anything by himself."


    "Not necessarily." The fat man looked serious, "I cannot understand the series of actions that he has done. But one thing you can see is that he must have had a plan. There are some people who can do a lot of things on their own, and this White Commander is such a person."


    "I didn''t know that you admired him so much." A surprised look on Little Sleepyhead''s face.


    The fat man suddenly said, "The principal is not very satisfied with Qing Qing''s work. If you pass the exam, they may train you as a successor."


    Little Sleepyhead''s face changed greatly, "Really? Then I better don''t pass it. It would be nice to eat like this every day and wait to die. No, it''s leisure! Look at that woman, what she''s been tortured into. It''s pitiful."


    "She is pitiful." The fat man nodded, "If you don''t want to, then just wing it. However, Qing Qing used to be in front of you, so the principal had turned a blind eye on you, but I''m afraid this time he wouldn''t go easy on you."


    Little Sleepyhead''s face turned bitter instantly and said, "I feel a little frightened when you say so. By the way, didn''t the principal urge you?"


    The fat man said indifferently, "No one has ever fought the Star Court, when will it ever be my turn to have a shot at it?" the principal is very cunning and knows that this is not a good time. Moon Frost Island is launching a major alliance, and the principal is waiting for a clearer situation. Tang Hanpei has just finished the rectification of Tang Team, and now they are lacking of a person like Song Chengyan. If there is such a person, the Comprehensive Federation Academy in the Heavenly Federation will be stronger than before. Jie Yanbai took over the Central Repository of the Classics. It is said that the first thing he would do is to open the inheritance. He is full of courage. Central Repository of the Classics is famous for its card making. Now it is inherited and opened, and its advantages in card making can be transformed into combat effectiveness. As long as the balance lasts for a year or two, the Central Repository of the Classics will become a new story."


    "How many families are left?" Little Sleepyhead couldn''t help but ask, listening to the fat man guiding the world at will was really a great enjoyment of life.


    "The only thing that Desert Camp needs to fear is Su Heiming, the second son of Su Hanhao, who is fierce and decisive, and the most vicious person among us. Once I played against him, I took the advantage of surrounding his team. Unexpectedly, this guy first destroyed all the supplies, killed all the non-combatants in the Logistics Department, and increases his night attacks. He slaughters cities, robs material, cunning and ferocious. It scared me till my heart won''t stop pounding." When the fat man talked about this, he had a look of fear on his face.


    Little Sleepyhead shivered, "So ruthless!"


    "Unfortunately, his second son''s status affected his position in the Desert Camp. Su Hanhao is the person who pays most attention to the elderly and the young. Unless he dies, Su Haoming will have a chance." the fat man said.


    "How about the Bitter Solitude Temple?"


    "Bitter Solitude Temple is inferior to Star Court, and it''s hard to say. Although they also have two people that are capable of entering the top ten of the Commanders League Tournament, but they are generally strong. I don''t think much of him unless they have a hidden trump card. But then again, if we were talking about the one that is most difficult to defeat among the Big Six, it is the Bitter Solitude Temple. The power of religion is too strong. Unless the Fanasi District is wiped out entirely, anyone who occupies it is equal to burying a bomb in his own backyard." The fat man laughed.


    "As I remembered, there seems to be another one named Faya. Wasn''t it a while ago?" Little Sleepyhead frowned.


    The fatty shook his head, "Faya is strong on the outside but weak on the inside, there is nothing for us to be afraid of. This federation, after all, is from the Big Six, unless..." he suddenly frowned and stop speaking.


    "Unless what?" Little Sleepyhead quickly questioned.


    "Unless there is any fundamental technology that can destroy all the works of the Big Six from these few years. Just like back in those days, Heiner Van Sant who made it possible to make a difference."


    "So that''s what you were talking about. You startled me for a second there, it''s impossible!" said Little Sleepyhead.


    The fatty shook his head uncharacteristically, "I think it is possible!"


    Little Sleepyhead was speechless.


    "Speaking of it, it was the Battle Shuttle Car of Faya that reminded me. If the Battle Shuttle Car is more powerful and the cost is lower, and Faya can have another figure like Song Chengyan, it is hard to say what the results will be." The fat man said seriously.


    With a big laugh, Little Sleepyhead pointed to the fat man and said, "You''re a pig that worries too much. What you''re talking is all theory. Will the Battle Shuttle Car actually become more powerful? Maybe, but it will take at least ten or twenty years. Fine, even if Faya struggles by a bit, reducing the time to five years, will the principal give it a chance? Do you think there is a second Song Chengyan in the world?"


    "Why not?" the fat man asked, "Isn''t the White Commander just the person for the job?"


    Little Sleepyhead stopped laughing and stammered, "Fatty, you think too highly of him.


    "He is not as good as Song Chengyan, but he has such potential." the fat man said flatly.


    Little Sleepyhead shook out his hands and said in disagreement, "Would he cooperate with Faya? I don''t think it''s possible, Caesar''s students will not cooperate with any forces at all. Therefore, it is impossible for both conditions to be met!"


    Suddenly the fat man sighed, and for the first time he recalled his gaze from the lake, "You probably don''t know about this. The real name of the White Commander should be Chen Mu. He is the creator of the numbered series of cards. The reason Qing Qing went to Heavenly Drum Village District this time was to find him."


    Little Sleepyhead opened his mouth, stunned.


    In his astonished eyes, the fat man said softly, "If you knew that he had a lifelong card made by Rosenberg, and inside of it is still missing some parts, even Heiner Van Sant spent his lifetime trying to find the technology of the token card, would you still think so?"


    Little Sleepyhead was dumbstruck!


    Bogner''s face was unshaven and his eyes were cold. The leisure he had when he first entered the jungle was gone.


    "Three of the wounded were not cured and have just died." Sue Lochiro''s eyes were filled with deep sorrow. These days, there were many casualties who died because of ineffective treatment. Although they were well prepared before they entered the jungle, the environment in the jungle was extremely disruptive to treatment."


    In one battle, a shuttle car loaded with medicines was blown up by Blood Hammer Unit, which also puts their medicines in a hard-pressed situation.


    It was a terrible thing for everyone to watch their companion die in front of them every day in silence.


    "Is the body buried?" Bogner voice hoarse.


    "It''s buried." Jiang Liang answered, who always paid attention to discipline. His neat battle clothes were long worn out.


    Bogner had no movement on his face, which was like a rock sculpture. They were in a terrible situation now. Thousand-kilometer was destroyed by Wu Yan, which led them to lose contact with Chen Mu. There were only 1000 card artisans left alive, and more than half of the battle personnels have been reduced.


    He murmured, "Now it depends on who can hold on longer. The enemy is worse off than we are! Judging from the battles over the past few days, the strength of the other party''s battles has obviously weakened, and they will soon be give up!"


    When the people heard this, their spirits were lifted.


    They probably didn''t realize that the situation of the Blood Hammer Unit was much worse than what they have expected.


    After knowing that there were lack of masters in the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team, Wu Yan led the masters of the Blood Hammer Unit to attack the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team at night in an attempt to destroy its headquarters. Unexpectedly, Bogner had been prepared by laying an ambush. Both sides suffered heavy casualties in the war. The masters of the Blood Hammer Unit were almost dead and some wounded, and even Wu Yan himself was caught in an explosion and died. Only Shi Fengfei, Qi Li and a few managed to flee back.


    Up to this point, neither side has retreated. Shi Fengfei led the Blood Hammer Unit to launch a crazy suicidal chase, like candies sticking tightly to the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team. Bogner and the other''s casualties soared immediately.


    However, with Wang Yong''s death, they lost their most dependable jungle experts, sliding the Blood Hammer Unit completely into the abyss.


    The keen Bogner immediately discovered this point and made the best use of it. The jungle became the strongest fighting partner of the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team, and the number of casualties in the Blood Hammer Unit increased at an alarming rate. And at the beginning they were already lacking medications. Once they were injured, their card artisans were basically sentenced to death. So card artisans of the Blood Hammer Unit chose to explode themselves after they were injured, which made Bogner suffer a lot.


    They were just trying to fight back with their last breaths.


    Both sides were aware of this.


    For three consecutive days, Bogner did not encounter the card artisans of the Blood Hammer Unit . At this point, they all understood that the Blood Hammer Unit was over!


    At that moment, Bogner gave orders at full speed. Sure enough, they never met the card artisans of the Blood Hammer Unit again. After such a brutal battle, even the wild animals in the jungle could no longer frighten these card artisans.


    After ten days of continuous progress, they finally saw the outline of the city.

 509 The Punishmen

    Baiyue seemed quite satisfied with Tai-shu Yong''s reply. She nodded, "Tai-shu family is truly a family that bears social responsibility. The school agrees that the development of the Heavenly Drum Village District requires people as ardent as Tai-shu family to take up more responsibilities."


    She continued with an indifferent look, "In the next parliament, Moon Frost Island will be the reference of the Tai-shu family, paving a way for them to be involved completely in the parliament. The family has the responsibility and strength, which qualifies for a seat in the parliament to advance the development of the Heavenly Drum Village District. I think other members will see my point as well."


    Tai-shu Yong was ecstatic to the point that his voice trembled and it took awhile for him to calm down. He made a profound bow to Baiyue and solemnly said, "The whole of our family would not forget the great support of the principal. Under any circumstances, we will go through fire and water to execute your command!"


    The meaning of Bai Yue''s words was very clear. A parliamentary meeting would be launched for Tai-shu family to secure a seat. The parliamentary seat was completely different from that of a potential candidate. In other words, starting from this day onwards, Tai-shu family would receive a permanent parliamentary seat of Heavenly Drum Village District Alliance. Tai-shu Yong knew that he was roped in to this but the offer was so generous that he could not refuse it.


    This meant that from today, Tai-shu family would be enjoying superiority status in the next few hundred years.


    Until today, Tai-shu family finally became the first family in the Dongrui area! This was no more touching for him who always considered to restore the former glory of Tai-shu family, so he did not hesitate at all to join the alliance of Moon Frost Island.


    Baiyue remained a cold facial expression. Her skin was very fair and possessed the similar complexion to that of a crystal, which made her look very attractive. However, as soon as anyone came across her cold eyes, all their desires were instantly extinguished as if ice cold water was poured onto them. She was like a fairy at the top of a snow peak, for given the fact that she was very beautiful, she emanated a cold aura that seemed to block people from thousands of miles away. This made her unreachable by many.


    "Is the White Commander available?" she suddenly asked.


    Tai-shu Yong quickly said, "Yes, he has been busy training card artisans these days."


    Tai-shu Yong suddenly thought of a problem. Now that Tai-shu family had already gotten a seat, the White Commander was no longer required to participate in the competition. Tying up loose ends? Tai-shu Yong shuddered and immediately expelled this terrible idea from his mind. For other people, he could have done this, but for the White Commander...


    That was a terrible fellow!


    The Tai-shu family might not acknowledge the White Commander at all. Tai-shu Yong was clear that the White Commander had enough power currently to blow Tai-shu''s place to hell. He was also convinced that if such a thing really happened, Moon Frost Island would never stand on his side. For Moon Frost Island, families like Tai-shu were everywhere, so it was not worth to offend a terrible rival like the White Commander for the Tai-shu family.


    Moreover, Tai-shu Yong had self-awareness. He was very skeptical that the White Commander might be the key factor of Tai-shu family winning the favor of Moon Frost Island.


    "Take me to visit him," said Baiyue.


    Tai-shu Yong was taken aback. He promptly said, "Miss Baiyue, you''re wayworn after a long trip, why don''t you take a break?"


    Sure enough, Miss Baiyue was actually coming for the White Commander. Being old and experienced, Tai-shu Yong immediately was aware of the key to the problem. This was not much different from his expectations, but the urgency expressed by Baiyue with her low profile attitude still surprised him.


    Individuals from Moon Frost Island were always too arrogant and proud of themselves. This did not apply solely for Moon Frost Island, but the other five of the Great Six as well. And Baiyue was nothing short of an arrogant lady!


    "No need," Baiyue shook his head.


    Hearing that, Tai-shu Yong spoke no more nonsense and led the way in front of them.


    The training camp was located at the southern end of Dongrui City. It was not the training camp of the Tai-shu family, but a large training base of the garrison of Dongrui City. Due to the excessive number of card artisans being recruited, Tai-shu family did not have such a large training camp to accommodate them, hence they had to use the garrison as a temporary measure. Recruitment in Dongrui City was well-known and Rong Ming knew that this was led by Chen Mu. Without any hesitation, he arranged a training base for the use of Tai-shu family.


    How could the card artisans in the Heavenly Drum Village District not know of Baiyue?


    The battle between her and Twin Star of Desert Camp that year caused a great sensation in the Heavenly Federation. That battle was also the first live broadcast being done, and the far-reaching impact was beyond current imagination. It was also because of the battle that Baiyue officially ranked as one of the top card artisans in the Heavenly Federation. Furthermore, she became a dream lover of countless male card artisans ever since. Every detail of her battle was studied excessively.


    In the Heavenly Drum Village District, many did not know who the principal of Frost Moon Island was, but no one would not recognise Baiyue! It was no exaggeration to say that she was the most well-known card artisan in the Heavenly Drum Village District!


    Therefore, when Baiyue appeared in the training camp, it immediately turned chaotic.


    "Look, it''s Baiyue!"


    "Oh! God, my dream lover! How lovely is the God to me!" a card artisan was trapped in a state of uncontrollable balderdash.


    "Baiyue! Baiyue I love you!" Some bold and thick-skinned card artisans were shrieking.


    However, some of the attentive card artisans were thinking about the purpose of Baiyue''s visit.


    These card artisan''s training time was still inadequate, hence a chaotic scene.


    Chen Mu''s face darkened and stared coldly at the situation in front of him without saying anything. By his side, Sang Hanshui had a bad feeling inside him. The coldness emanated from his boss set him off in fear and trepidation. He was well aware that the boss seldom had any tempers but when he was really triggered, it would be really awful!


    Before he even responded, Chen Mu had already flown into the sky.


    Looking at the chaotic scene, there was only one comment in his heart, a raggle-taggle band! He was very skeptical that with such a group of rabble, the plan he had worked very hard on was like a ridiculous big joke.


    His cold gaze, accompanied by his chilly voice that was not very loud, but was clearly audible throughout the training camp. "Those who left the team abruptly, interrupting the trainer, standing penalty for eight hours; those who screamed and harassed the military camp, twenty whips! To those who are dissatisfied, eviction!"


    In an instant, all the noises disappeared, and the training camp was so quiet that even a needle falling on the ground could be heard.


    Those card artisans who violated the disciplines were ashen-faced as they stood frozen in the same place, and those who screamed looked as pale as a ghost!


    Tai-shu Yong changed his countenance as his heart turned bitter. This was not a good way to meet each other indeed. He was already not able to deal with the anger of the White Commander, and now Baiyue was disgraced. Who was to blame but him?


    Baiyue''s facial expression remained cold. Her eyes which resembled ice crystals stared at Chen Mu unabashedly who was floating in midair.


    Chen Mu was aware of Baiyue''s stare but at this point he completely ignored it.


    As if Baiyue did not exist, he cooly said to Sang Hanshui, "Close the power shield." Due to the open-aired training base of the garrison, the facilities were well-equipped, and there was a power shield specially designed to resist wind and snow.


    Now the card artisans'' faces down below became even more miserable, and many turned their eyes to Baiyue for help.


    It was not known if Baiyue could not resist so many helpless eyes, so she finally opened her mouth, "White Commander, I came uninvited and disturbed everyone''s training. How about noting it down this time, I believe they will not commit this again. "


    When this was said, many card artisans profusely nodded, and mostly breathed a sigh of relief. Miss Baiyue pleaded for them and the White Commander would at least show some respect. Even if he could not exempt them from punishment, he could have lessened the impact.


    Sang Hanshui who had just hesitated suddenly caught sight of Chen Mu''s cold eyes. As cold sweat dripped down profusely, he dashed towards the control room of the training room.


    "Miss Baiyue, please forgive me, the military is ruthless!"


    The indifferent and chilly words lingered over the camp from above the sky.


    When this was said the card artisans below were all dumbfounded!


    Has the White Commander gone insane? He wouldn''t even show some respect to Miss Baiyue?


    They looked into Chen Mu''s eyes, it was as if they were looking at a monster. Baiyue was in presence! The spokeswoman of the Moon Frost Island, one of the most outstanding card artisans in the younger generation of the Heavenly Drum Village District, and the super privileged fairy all in one! In front of everyone, the White Commander humiliated her unceremoniously!


    The air suddenly became tense.


    No one believed that Baiyue could just let this go! There would surely be a fierce conflict, Baiyue VS White Commander. This kind of battle once again made the card artisans'' blood racing.


    However, the power shield at the top of their heads suddenly disappeared, and the icy wind gushed in from outside. The blood that had just been boiling suddenly fell to its freezing point. The faces of card artisans brimming with excitement just now had all become pale!


    Unexpectedly, Baiyue did not speak anymore but remained silent.


    No one could guess what this snow goddess was thinking.


    The so-called standing punishment meant being shirtless, meter removed, and to stand still in the snow


    80% of the card artisans who received the punishment was frozen into purple blue faces and trembled involuntarily. Sang Hanshui led the card artisans with grade seven perception, pacing back and forth. If anyone had any small movements, they would immediately get whipped. Those card artisans who screamed had been bruised and lacerated from flogging and they were still required to undergo the standing punishment.


    The 20% card artisans were sitting in a warm room, a fragrant coffee brewed in front of them. Through the floor-to-ceiling glass, they could clearly see the others receiving the punishment in the snow. Everyone here felt lucky, but they did not touch the coffee at all. Who would have any appetite in this scenario?


    As time went by, some artisans could no longer take it. After all, they were not good when it came to physical endurance.


    The frost marks of whips which emerged on the upper body of the card artisans was a ghastly sight.


    Pong, a card artisan fell to the ground and lost consciousness. A medical card artisan who was already in stand-by mode flew over and carried him to the side for treatment.


    "So weak. Only one hour and 15 minutes! There are six hours and forty-five minutes remaining. Note it down," said Sang Hanshui cooly. The card artisan by his side quickly did his record.


    Those who still remained conscious were stunned.


    After 20 minutes of treatment, the fainted card artisans regained his consciousness. After injecting nutrients and ensuring that he would not die, the medical card artisan nodded to Sang Hanshui.


    Sang Hanshui strode over and brought the card artisan to the field like carrying a chicken, and said coldly, "Go on, you still have six hours and 45 minutes!"


    There were people who constantly fainted and being taken down for medical treatment. Everyone understood at this time why the White Commander had recruited so many medical card artisans. They looked at Chen Mu''s eyes and were filled with fear!


    This was where they were wrong about Chen Mu. The reason why Chen Mu recruited so many medical card artisans was he had planned to promote the Snow Pit Method after some time. The Snow Pit Method could easily lead to frostbite, but he did not expect to use the medical card artisans in this situation first.


    However, what Chen Mu did not expect was no one had withdrawned themselves. He thought that such a cruel punishment would lead to people leaving just because they could not bear with it. But until now, no one had proposed to withdraw.


    These card artisans were recruited after numerous selections from countless card artisans, and their personal strengths were outstanding. Card artisans who were out of the Great Six and wanted to achieve such strength should work harder and experience more strength. After such training, albeit in terms of age, they were older than the card artisans from the Great Six, but they would never have the arrogance and ignorance of the latter.


    They may be more unctuous, but they were not lacking in small wisdom. Such a high threshold, such strict disciplines, plus a leader who was praised by Lord Rossiji, all of this accumulated together to form a team of strong combat power and a bright future!


    After knowing the meaning behind this, nobody would withdraw at this time.


    They all climbed their way up from the bottom, step by step to the point where they were now, and so they were not the delicate and tender greenhouse flowers. Although the penalty was cruel, but in their eyes, card artisans were originally intended to fight with their lives!


    Gritting teeth and persist until the stage of coma. After being comatose, wake up and continue to be punished! Then go into coma¡­


    Medical card artisans were too busy. Their eyes occasionally swept to Chen Mu, as they all jumped in shock! In their eyes, Chen Mu had long been a ruthless and great demon from Hell!


    Chen Mu looked at everything that was happening below. His posture doesn''t seem to have changed at all. However the eyes under the mask suddenly had an extra touch of faith.

 510 The Discussion

    Yu Lin felt that his luck was really bad today.


    Carefully looking at the team in front of him, he felt increasingly uneasy. Living in Lijiang City since he was a child, he was very familiar around this area. He dared to strike his chest and promised that there was absolutely no such team in the vicinity. Even the similar ones did not exist at all.


    Lijiang City was just a small and remote city with a population of less than three million. There were no local specialties here. Although it was located at the edge of the jungle, it was not suitable for hunting grounds. Hence the card artisans who came here to hunt beasts and pick materials were very few. After so many years, there had been basically no change here


    In Lijiang City, Yu Lin felt that he was well knowledgeable, but this team before his eyes still shook him greatly. Although there were very few foreign card artisans who approached here, but he had also seen some that did. Compared with this group of people in front of him, those card artisans could only be regarded as a group of well-groomed piglets.


    All these card artisans were unkempt with dirty clothing. They stood there silently, but gave him a very dangerous feeling. Moreover, from the process of discovering to capturing him, no one had even spoken a word.


    The strong oppressive feeling brought about by this silence made him almost suffocate. Therefore, he raised his hands and surrendered without playing any tricks.


    However, when he was taken to the camp, he was shocked by the size of the team. At a single glance, he was determined that the team had a scale of thousands. This number once again made his heart beat vigorously! He was not an idiot who did not understand anything. To enter the jungle, the most suitable team was of about 100 people. Below 20 or above 300 people implied immediate soar of danger. Too few of them would result in insufficient firepower. However, if there were many, it would be very easy to startle some terrible beasts. Furthermore, more people would mean increasing difficulty to replenish the resources.


    After so many years in Lijiang City, Yu Lin had never seen a team of thousands of people in the wild.


    And when he caught sight of the transport shuttle in the center of the camp, his eyes froze.


    A huge transport shuttle team!


    He was appalled that the transport shuttles, without any fighting ability were inconvenient in the jungle, hence very few teams would bring them into the jungle. Ordinary teams simply would not bring transport shuttles into the jungle. Those strong teams would order professional Jungle Shuttles, however their transport load were far less than that of the transport shuttle before his eyes. The slow speed of the transport shuttle could greatly reduce the team''s mobility, which was extremely lethal in the jungle.


    All the information he had received so far was enough to give him a very solid judgment - this was an extremely powerful team!


    Having understood this, he immediately realized what attitude he should carry himself with.


    He was taken to a group of people, and there was a knife scar on the face of the card artisans'' leader. His face was unshaven and his eyes were sharp like an eagle''s. Beside him, there was a seemingly young card artisan who was sitting up straight, as if the surface under his buttocks was not bumpy and uneven. His expression was awe-inspiring and possessed the military temperament. On the other side, there were two beautiful women! Yu Lin was shrewd enough that only one glance he could tell that both women were kind-hearted people. There was also an old man who was making tea and his facial expression was so relaxed as if he was on a picnic.


    "What''s your name?" the question was raised by the leading unshaven uncle with a knife scar.


    "My name is Yu Lin," said Yu Lin honestly.


    "What''s this place?"


    "Lijiang City."


    "Lijiang City?" the unshaven uncle with a knife scar frowned.


    The young military-like card artisan beside him took out a fine three-dimensional map, pointing to spot, "Lijiang City, then we are here."


    For the first time, Yu Lin saw such a fine and realistic three-dimensional map. His eyes widened and stared at the map intently.


    Bogner''s brows did not stretch, "This is a deviation from our previous plan. Now we can''t communicate with the boss. This is a bit of a hassle."


    Xi Ping, who was brewing tea, said, "This matter is actually easy to solve. As long as the Scarlet Card Artisan Team is wiped out, we have time and ways to contact the boss. Now we still have a period of time for the alliance conference, so no hurry."


    "True," Bogner nodded. His eyes looked at Jiang Liang and the latter quickly responded, "We need to go to the city to rest, and our personnel need to be replenished."


    Sue Lochiro also spoke at this time, "The medicines are also used up, so we need to add on those. And some seriously wounded team members need to be treated."


    Ru Qiu added, "Yes! There are several kinds of materials that are used up. If we don''t replenish them, the damaged cards can''t be repaired."


    "It seems that we really need to go to the city to recuperate," Bogner muttered. He suddenly turned his eyes to Yu Lin, "What do you do?"


    The sharp look made Yu Lin''s heart sank briefly, and he subconsciously blurted out, "I am a freelance card artisan."


    "Does Scarlet Card Artisan Team have a branch or base in the city of Lijiang?" Not giving him the time to process his thoughts, Bogner asked quickly.


    "There''s one."


    "Where is it?"


    "It''s only over seventy kilometers away. It''s by the riverside, and it''s conspicuous."


    "How many of them?"


    "Five or six hundred people. They have just settled."


    Bogner turned his gaze back to the map and nodded. "Not much different than what I imagined. If my calculations are right, Scarlet Card Artisan Team would mobilize the military should this city gets connected with the jungle.


    "What is the use of such a few people?" Ru Qiu asked with a strange feeling. Five hundred card artisans, for them, were really not many.


    Bogner shook his head, "They set these people just to delay our speed. On one hand, they can buy time for Blood Hammer Unit who''s chasing us right now, while on the other hand, it could buy time for themselves to create other forces."


    With only half understanding to his words, Ru Qiu nodded and asked, "Then what should we do now?"


    Yu Lin was mind blown, then he finally knew which team this was! His brain was a blank that he zoned out from their conversations.


    Bogner''s gaze fell on Jiang Liang, examining him, "Little Ginger, what''s your say?"


    Jiang Liang''s veins on his forehead jumped unnoticingly, but he still contained them well. As if triggered by Bogner, he gnashed and said, "End them!". It was quite rare for him to act like that.


    Bogner felt that this kid could be nurtured, "Not bad, then this task is handed over to you. How many people do you need?"


    Xi Ping smiled and sipped the tea that had just been brewed. Sue Lochiro could not help smiling also as Ru Qiu smirked.


    Jiang Liang said calmingly, "The battle will be fierce, so five hundred people."


    "Well, pick your team, and hey, deal with this fellow." Bogner directed his lips at Yu Lin while he laid down lazily, "We''ll be waiting for you here."


    Jiang Liang turned serious, "Copy!"


    The penalty was still going on, and had left a deep impression on everyone. The card artisans in the team, Tai-shu Yong, and even Baiyue realized that they had to re-examine the mysterious White Commander.


    Moon Frost Island had very little information about Caesar''s disciple - the White Commander, and that Caesar never backed him up or mentioned him in any way. The relationship between the two looked very weird, and there was no sign that they possessed the usual master and disciple relationship. But her mentor also reminded her that Caesar had great expectations for his disciple. However, Baiyue still could not see it through. Not only did Caesar showed indifference, but even the White Commander showed similar attitude towards his mentor.


    If it was not for the Tan Yumin''s exposure, the identity of White Commander may be contained for even longer. He had never even publicly acknowledged that he was the disciple of Caesar.


    The two acted really weird!


    Everything that was connected to White Commander was so perplexing. For example, the fact that he was a creator of the numbered series of card was still unacceptable to Baiyue until now.


    Bai Yue''s eyes fell on the woman next to the White Commander. She was wearing a mask with a sunflower drawing on it, and she possessed a faint aura of hostility that made Bai Yue feeling strange.


    Were the two couples?


    No, they seemed to be not, as the position where the two were sitting was one meter away from each other.


    "You are?" Bai Yue took the initiative and asked.


    "Hello Miss Baiyue, my name is Yiyi. I am the assistant of the White Commander."


    The voice that came out from under the mask was hoarse and dry, and there was no trace of beating around the bush. This gave people the impression that this woman was very decisive and not easy to deal with.


    Baiyue''s brain spinned. She knew that White Commander had this top figure with him, but the more specific information was still unknown to her. She sighed in her heart for the fact that Moon Frost Island''s investigation of White Commander was too little.


    Bai Yue relanded her eyes on Chen Mu''s face.


    "Today, it was an eye-opener experience for me. Senior White is deeply knowledgeable on troop training. I admire that." However, the cold voice coming from the speaker did not sound like a compliment.


    How would I know anything about the art of training? Chen Mu smiled bitterly in his heart. He had self-awareness of his level and that if this scenario was seen by Bogner, he would not know how he was going to be criticized.


    "Miss Bai flattered me," said Chen Mu lightly.


    "My mentor and Caesar are together from the Great Six, so we should call each other brothers and sisters." Bai Yue light eyebrows frowned a little and said straightforwardly.


    Without expecting that Bai Yue said it so directly, Chen Mu was dumbfounded for a second. In his memory, people from Great Six preferred to use the way of beating around the bush. He did not expect Bai Yue to be any different. However, in contrast, he preferred this direct way of talking.


    If Tai-shu Yong knew Chen Mu''s thoughts, it was hard to know what that man would think of him. Previously when Bai Yue was speaking to him, even an old tycoon like him could not find a slight bit of mistake from it.


    "Great Six? Senior Caesar was expelled from the Comprehensive Federation Academy in the Heavenly Federation previously, so he should no longer be from Great Six," said Qiu Shanyu faintly. She made up her mind that today Baiyue had come to cause trouble. She had given up trying to convince the White Commander moving to Faya. But she also did not want him to get into any of the Great Six. This was not a good thing for Faya either.


    The White Commander was no longer the man he used to be. Now, he had the top talent that every force dreamt to have.


    Being able to get a praise from Rossiji got him upgraded to the group of the top federal commanders. In contrast, the identity of him being the creator of the numbered series of cards was much less tempting for Great Six.


    Baiyue also could see that this woman, Yiyi, came to bedevil today, so she simply ignored her.


    "If I would like to invite Brother White to Moon Frost Island, what conditions do I have to offer?" Baiyue''s voice remained cold and crisp, but the solemnity in her words made Chen Mu understand that she was not talking offhand.


    She was really being direct!


    Qiu Shanyu did not say anything, for the opponent obviously did not make a virtual move, but all she did was played tricks. In facing such a move, all wits were useless.


    This woman was worthy of the next successor of Moon Frost Island. Qiu Shanyu stared at her coldly but secretly admiring her.


    Chen Mu shook his head, "Sister Bai doesn''t have to ask again. I won''t go to Moon Frost Island." He admired Bai Yue''s straightforward attitude and he voiced his thoughts pretty directly. "Not only Moon Frost Island. I won''t join any other as well."


    Bai Yue thought for a little while, and nodded seriously, "I understand. Moon Frost Island will not become the rival of Brother White, well so do I."


    "Well, good!" Chen Mu also said solemnly.


    The biggest barrier was removed now and the atmosphere immediately relaxed, and Tai-shu Yong finally felt relief. On both sides of him were men that he would not dare to offend. He was always caught in between them, always making him feel at unease.


    "Brother White is good at making cards. I wonder if I can place an order?" Baiyue asked.


    Smiling wryly, Chen Mu said, "It seemed that there is no way I could make a profit from sister. I will be leaving in a few days."


    The masked Qiu Shanyu''s body shivered."


    "Leaving?" Baiyue asked in confusion, "Brother is going to leave Dongrui?"


    As if struck by lightning, Tai-shu Yong froze in the same place. He stuttered, "White Commander, this ... but this recruitment is not finished yet!"


    "Let''s stop the recruitment. I won''t forget to get you into the elite competition," Chen Mu told Tai-shu Yong, then turned his face to Baiyue, "This is due to an urgent matter that we have to deal with."


    Baiyue nodded understandingly, then went on, "Please brother, you don''t have to worry about the elite competition. Tai-shu family doesn''t need to participate in that. However, if Brother White has time, please come to Qianhu City at that time. I''ll look forward to see you." Her cold voice revealed a sincere touch.


    "Ok, I''ll definitely visit Qianhu City," Chen Mu nodded. He still had to go to Qianhu City to wait for the demonic woman. These days, the news of Green Mark were advertised in the Federation, even Chen Mu felt a certain confidence towards Qianhu City.


    Chen Mu turned to face Tai-shu Yong and said, "I have two plans for the problems of card artisans. One is that I take all of them away, but you can continue to recruit in my name. The other is I will give you half of the card artisans that have already been recruited, but you have to stop recruiting."


    "I choose the second one." Tai-shu Yong did not hesitate to make a choice. The first one seemed to be more profitable, however once the news of the departure of White Commander leaked, the reputation of Tai-shu family would suffer badly.


    Chen Mu nodded, "According to the agreement, I will pick first. And you need to pay them a year''s salary for me"


    Tai Shuyong solemnly cupped his hands in obeisance to Chen Mu, "You''re a person who does big things. It is impossible for you to lead a sedentary life. I''ve already thought of this, but I didn''t expect it to be so fast. Tai-shu family owes its thanks to you for what we have today. I can''t contribute much but in addition to the agreement to pay them a year''s salary, Tai-shu family will gift another two billion Oudi for your military use! Please accept it!"


    Chen Mu got up and returned Tai-shu Yong''s gesture seriously, "Thank you!" After a few seconds of pausing, he continued, "In these few days, I will sort out a set of standardized training guidelines and send a copy to the head of the household. This is my thanks to you."


    Tai-shu Yong was overjoyed, "Sorry to trouble you!" For the Tai-shu family, the two billion Oudi was only a small number, but this set of training standards would no doubt greatly benefit the family.


    Baiyue suddenly spoke up, "Brother, may I have a set of these training guidelines as well?"


    Chen Mu was stunned momentarily, then smiled and said, "No problem, but there are so many well-talented people on Moon Frost Island and this training program may make them feel ridiculous."


    "You''re too humble," said Bai Yue. "If you place a bid of two billion, I''m afraid that many will break their heads fighting to get the program"


    Chen Mu was smiling but he would definitely not take this seriously.


    Smiling wryly, Tai-shu Yong said, "Since Miss Bai has said so, I can''t plainly just accept this wonderful gift. I will send you another two billion Oudi of supplies." Seeing Chen Mu who was about to say something, he quickly waved his hand, "Please accept it, White Commander. I also harbour a selfish intention. You''re a great man who does great things and certainly will leave a legacy behind. I guess I have only another few years to live. My few sons could only be considered as merely ordinary. If it''s convenient for you in later days, I hope that you can take slight care of them. I call this long-term investment."


    Seeing his resoluteness, Chen Mu did not go on further. He nodded and accepted it.


    They chatted for a while and then dispersed.


    Heading back to the room, Qiu Shanyu who had been silent for a while suddenly said, "How about selling your training plan to me? I will folk out two billion as well!"


    "What do you want to do with it? Hand it over to Faya?" Chen Mu looked puzzled. He did not think that his training plan was worth two billion. Tai-shu Yong and Bai Yue offered so was more inclined to maintain a good relationship. However, now that the savvy Qiu Shanyu had said so, he did not understand. With his current relationship with Qiu Shanyu and Faya, this gift was completely unnecessary.


    "I''m also very curious about the training plan that was developed by the genius who Rossiji praised. Maybe I can learn a thing or two from it." Qiu Shanyu said calmly, "In this aspect, Great Six''s foundations are strong, and Faya is just getting started. To be able to get a praise from Rossiji openly, you''re indeed somebody."


    "If that''s the case, if I help Faya grow, I might be in trouble." Chen Mu said plainly. Some emotions stirred in his heart. One sentence from Rossiji had such an amazing influence on the entire Heavenly Federation.


    Qiu Shanyu sighed softly. "I''m now regretful that I''ve offended you in previous years."


    As if he did not hear it, Chen Mu turned around and wanted to leave. Qiu Shanyu suddenly said, "But I believe that no matter what, there will always be a price."


    Chen Mu stopped in his tracks and looked at her calmly as he replied, "It seems that you are confident in the price you can give."


    Qiu Shanyu proudly said, "Of course! You won''t resist this offer!"

 511 An Irresistible Offer

    Staring at Chen Mu, Qiu Shanyu solemnly said, "Wiping out the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team for you."


    Chen Mu was stupefied for a moment. He did not expect that Qiu Shanyu would be willing to sacrifice so much for this training program. Apparently, the idea of repairing the relationship between the two sides was there, however the price was exorbitant. Being one of the most prestigious Card Artisan Team in the Heavenly Drum Village District, the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team was a monumental group. The manpower and material resources required to eliminate such a group were definitely astronomical figures.


    "Is it possible that with Faya''s strength in the Heavenly Drum Village District, the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team could be eliminated?" Having recovered from his daze, Chen Mu frowned, "There is no way that Moon Frost Island will allow Faya to create such a disturbance at this time. "


    Qiu Shanyu said calmly, "It''s not easy to eliminate the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team, but you''re more important! Moon Frost Island certainly would not sit idly and do nothing. However, I believe that there are many people who were secretly opposing them. As long as we''re well-planned to fish in troubled waters, we''ve got a chance to succeed!"


    Thinking carefully about Qiu Shanyu''s words, Chen Mu could not deny the fact that what she had said was not completely impossible. Furthermore, this offer was really something he could not refuse.


    He did not have much confidence in the plan that he had designed. He actually knew that he was not a tactical genius as claimed by Luo Xiju. Previously, when Bogner and Jiang Liang were present, these were never things that he had to worry about. Now he was like a duck driven to the perch. Although the last ambush was very successful, he still had no confidence in his heart. These days upon crazily digesting everything the tactical books could give him, he increasingly noticed his ignorance.


    Spending all his time painstakingly trying to design a plan at this moment was just a mere effort of trying out what he thought could be done.


    Therefore, the conditions proposed by Qiu Shanyu had directly hit his soft spot, forcing him to seriously consider her suggestion. Faya had the ability to take out the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team. If the latter could really be destroyed, Bogner''s pressure would reduce dramatically, and that might even be translated into winning without fighting.


    "How long will it take for Faya to mobilize their resources?" Chen Mu thought for a moment and asked.


    Qiu Shanyu was secretly pleased. She knew that she had altered Chen Mu''s thoughts successfully. In her opinion, Chen Mu was undoubtedly a very difficult person to deal with. He was restrained and not a man of impulse. Women''s beauty did not have any effect on him. He was realistic but not greedy, which meant that it was also not easy to touch his heart with materialistic things. Coupled with the enmity of the two sides previously, there was basically no possibility of cooperation.


    Fortunately, he was caring, especially to his comrades!


    Although she had already discovered Chen Mu''s weak spot, what made her depressed was that Chen Mu''s companions were extremely powerful. This also led to her inability to take advantage of this.


    This is all thanks to the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team!


    Yet Qiu Shanyu''s face remained calm. She slowed down her speech but her brain was spinning fast, "It''ll take about half a month. However, our strength in the Heavenly Drum Village District is limited, so this battle might only last for a while."


    "How long?" Qiu Shanyu''s words did not come to Chen Mu as a surprise. If she said that the fight would end in a few days, he might not even believe it. The Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team was born and raised in the Heavenly Drum Village District, and their foundation in the district was solid, with hundreds of them in each of the various places. Given such a behemoth, even if Faya was bigger than it, it would still require a lot of effort. On top of that, the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team had the advantage of fighting in their territory.


    "Considering if nothing unexpected happens, it should take about one and a half months," Qiu Shanyu continued, "However, as long as the war begins, the pressure on your friends will be much smaller."


    Chen Mu made a swift decision. He agreed, "Good. But no need for large-scale deployment. I think you should have the ability to mobilize resources immediately to launch exploratory attacks on the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team. Engage the exploratory attacks first, followed by the mobilization of your forces on a large scale. The mobilization does not need to be too hidden. If you can carry that out, regardless of whether the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team is eliminated, I will give you this whole set of training guidelines."


    His thoughts were suddenly crystal clear. Why do we need to eliminate the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team? There was no necessity for that that at all! Chen Mu had enough confidence in the abilities of Bogner and the rest. He firmly believed that as long as he grabbed a slight opportunity for them, the final victory would be theirs.


    Like the old saying went, coming events would always cast their shadows beforehand. The exploratory attacks, coupled with the scale of power mobilization could give the illusion to one that there would be an impending disastrous war ahead! Chen Mu did not believe that they would be safe and sound confronting head on against the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team. Moreover, it was a completely unreasonable force like Faya!


    He was adamant that the first responsive measure of the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team will be to shrink their power, strengthen defense and reconnaissance. It was also possible for them to seek assistance from other forces, such as Moon Frost Island.


    For Chen Mu, the purpose had been reached!


    Qiu Shanyu was slightly shocked when she understood what Chen Mu meant.


    She couldn''t help but to admire and admit that Chen Mu''s approach was more subtle and safer, and this was something she really wished for.


    Could it be that this guy is really a tactical genius?


    She did not hesitate to agree, "Alright then, we''ll just do it according to your plan!" Her heart was very much relieved. If she could really help save Chen Mu''s companions, it would bring about positive effects on repairing the relationship between the two sides. It was also extremely beneficial in improving her personal situation at this moment. As for the two billion, she was totally not interested.


    The Tai-shu family was indeed filthy rich. The goods worth 2 billion euros were ready in merely half a day. These materials were personally developed by Chen Mu, including the Jungle Shuttle and power-cards as well as various medicines and foods.


    Chen Mu was also the first to see the Jungle Shuttle. It was about six-metres long and its outer body resembled big drop of water. Painted white, it was smaller compared to the ordinary transport shuttle, however it was much more flexible in terms of mobility.


    One of the shuttles also had a specially modified card-making room which was equipped with professional card-making instruments.


    Chen Mu selected a total of 2,000 card artisans. These card artisans were all of excellent personal capabilities, strong discipline, and more than three years of practical experience. As for the remaining card artisans, however the Tai-shu family would attract them would not be something he would need to worry about. Nonetheless, the only thing the Tai-shu family did not lack was money.


    With the help of the night, Chen Mu led the team and left Dongrui City without alerting anyone.


    No one knew where he would take these people to, including Qiu Shanyu.


    Chen Mu did not know that his whereabouts were not so secretive after all, with so many people watching him leave!


    Baiyue and Tai-shu Yong watched the team disappear into the night.


    Overcome with emotion, Tai-shu Yong said, "I never understood how the White Commander does things. But in the end, I always find him achieving a lot of things unknowingly. This kind of feeling leaves me speechless."


    Baiyue did not answer. Her crystal clear eyes were observing from afar.


    Ji Zhihao and Tan Yumin watched the departure of the team. Ji Zhihao''s face revealed a relieved expression, "He finally left, and we can have a good night''s rest."


    During this period of time, Ji Zhihao always had a feeling of being suppressed. Now that Chen Mu had left, he suddenly felt that his mind was a lot more relaxed.


    "What is he trying to do?" Tan Yumin suddenly asked.


    "Who knows?" Ji Zhihao shrugged and said disapprovingly, "Is there even anyone who can guess what''s going on in this guy''s mind? He is a character that even Rossiji will praise!"


    "Yes! No one will ever be able to see through him," Tan Yu Min sighed. The colour of the night reflected in her eyes, and made them look melancholic.


    Ji Zhihao heaved a sigh as well. His lady always had a high amount of expectation in everything, and for many years there had never been people who could impress her. Now, one person has finally come by, but the two of them were rivals like water against fire. He could also see that that Chen Mu did not even regard the lady as someone important.


    The most terrible thing in this world is not the lack of love, but rather the indifference to the point that even the feeling of hate does not exist.


    Both of them remained silent for a moment.


    Ji Zhihao suddenly asked, "Miss, are you really determined in that matter?"


    "That matter?" Tan Yumin''s desolate and disorientated eyes gradually recovered and regained their firmness which was also cold and full of hate. Her gaze was re-casted to the distance, and as if she was talking to herself, "As long as I can achieve my goal, I don''t care what I do. I have nothing, as well as nothing that can be lost."


    Ji Zhihao looked at Tan Yumin, and his heart was unsettled as if it was pricked by a needle.


    The fiery rain had dyed the night sky of Lijiang City into redness. The low whistling sound was as dense as thunder, and every time it roared, it would take away a life.


    All the residents'' windows and doors were closed. They shivered in their room, and those ordinary card artisans did not even dare to initiate any moves at this time. However, what they wondered was, who would actually dare to challenge the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team?


    However, these people were very happy internally. Ever since the day the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team entered Lijiang, they were uncontrollable and behaved recklessly. It was said that the number of rapes they committed was as high as 30, and they became more and more unscrupulous. Those card artisans who dared to fight against the injustice were all smashed into mud by them.


    Kill! Kill! Kill them all without sparing even a single one!


    Many prayed silently in their hearts.


    The battle sound only lasted for less than half an hour. When an unfamiliar team of card artisans entered the city, everyone understood that this part of the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team was finished!


    When some people saw this team of card artisans, they were all dumbfounded. Was it really this group of card artisans who looked like beggars who defeated the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team?


    The first move of this pauper-like team went beyond everyone''s expectations for the first place they occupied was actually the hospital!


    People also found that the discipline of these card artisans were very strict. From the beginning to the end, except for the occasional sweeping of cold eyes across the place, no one heard them say even a single a word.


    There was no doubt that this base of the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team had now become a camp for the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team. It was not known if it was because Jiang Liang was triggered by the name ''Little Ginger'', that it became the reason why he was acting so merciless that he left no one surviving from this huge branch.


    The whole team entered the camp and everyone was immediately busy. Arranging for vigilance, organizing new bases, escorting injured card artisans into hospitals, purchasing food¡­


    Bogner and Xi Ping however, came to the warehouse in front of the base.


    The two men smiled at each other and pushed open the warehouse door of the base!

 512 Cao Zhengqiu

    Jie Yanbai was strolling into the small alley. However, because he had a typical face, wore plain clothes and had restricted the emission of his aura, no one was able to recognize him while he walked on the streets.


    He seemed to be familiar with this area. After making a few turns, he finally arrived at a residential area.


    This residential area looked rather shabby, especially that red door. The red paint had already worn out quite a bit, showing the black wood behind it. The copper ring on the red door made this residential area looked quite antique and appealing. Old style residential areas such as this was constructed about forty years ago and used to be popular for a time. However, this door could not even offer any protection at all. So it was quickly replaced with a new automatic door that can only be unlocked with a password.


    Jie Yanbai went in front of it in a familiar manner and knocked on the door using that copper ring.


    "Who is it?" The voice of a man could be heard from inside.


    With the sound of a creak, the wooden door opened.


    A middle aged man appeared before Jie Yanbai. He was wearing a grayish coat, and underneath the coat was a white t-shirt. He was wearing a pair of black framed spectacles that was so large that it almost covered half of his face. No matter which angle one was to look at him, he looked like a typical scholar.


    "Zheng Qiu, you haven''t changed. You''re still the same," said Jie Yanbai with a smile.


    "Hey! Yanbai, when did you come back?" said the middle aged man in surprise.


    Jie Yanbai said with a hint of regret, "I think no one knows that I''m back."


    The middle aged man laughed, "I was busy designing a new type of battle chess, and it is still unfinished. You know me, I will lose my job if I do not design something new."


    Jie Yanbai felt disturbed by his smile which was not only filled with self-mockery, but also a hint of hardship.


    "You are making a living by designing battle chess?" Jie Yanbai asked while following him into the house. While walking, he asked, "What about your research?"


    "I stopped doing it ages ago. I wasn''t even able to eat a decent meal, how would I have any motivation to do my research?" said the middle aged man helplessly. Then he hecticly arranged the books and documents that was as tall as a mountain and cleared a chair for Jie Yanbai to sit on.


    Jie Yanbai also sat down without any hesitation. But when he did so, the chair made a sudden terrifying sound. Looking at the surroundings of the room, there were many books scattered all around and all sorts of maps were hung on the surrounding walls. However, what really attracted his attention the most was a sand table that occupied half the room. There were all kinds of labels on the messy sand table that he did not understand.


    "Who made this?" Jie Yanbai asked while pointing at the sand table.


    "It was me. Not bad right?" The middle aged man was slightly proud as he said, "I am rehearsing the battle of Hessen and Bell. Not many of its history was recorded, and I was very interested in that battle so I was trying to reconstruct how the battle happened. Since I did not have enough money to make a 3D fantasy map card, I constructed this sand table all by myself. However, this research of mine had halted for some time as I was busy designing battle chess lately. How have you been?"


    "Me? Not bad." As soon as Jie Yanbai heard what he said, he knew that he had not gone out for a long time. All of the Federation already knew that Jie Yanbai took up the position of headmaster at Central Repository of the Classics. He then asked, "Before I went away, didn''t I give you a sum of money for your research?"


    "I did not touch that money," The middle aged man smiled, "You didn''t even come from a rich family, if not for your teacher, you wouldn''t have even been able to afford your cards. Someday you''ll marry someone, and the money you left for me will be used as the monetary gift for you. Ha, then I would even be able to save the money meant to be your monetary gift!"


    Jie Yanbai suddenly felt a warmness in his heart and his nose felt a little itchy. The man wanted to make him laugh, but instead he himself looked even worse than if he was crying, "Quit the battle chess job."


    "How can I do that?" The middle aged man glared, "I have begged for a long time for this job. Do you want me to starve to death?"


    Jie Yanbai felt even more sad. At school, this man was full of pride, but now he was begging for a job so humbly. He tried his best to make his voice sound like how it would be normally, "I''m still depending on you to help me with something, so how can I let you starve to death?"


    "Help you?" The middle aged man was puzzled as he looked at Jie Yanbai, "What can I help you with? I cannot do anything besides research. Hey, could it be that you''ve become rich now?"


    Jie Yanbai laughed cheekily, "Yes, I''ve become rich." He suddenly changed his tone to a serious one, "Oh right, the Central Repository of the Classics is not doing well lately, why don''t you research about this?"


    "The Central Repository of the Classics?" The middle aged man laughed coldly, "Between you and me, what does the Central Repository of the Classics has to do with us?"


    "Indeed," Jie Yanbai nodded. To Jie Yanbai, the favors he had received were all basically from the middle aged man. However, this man was boycotted by his colleagues at the Central Repository of the Classics. In the end, after much disappointment, he left the repository. When the two of them knew each other at school, Jie Yanbai was a student while this middle aged man was the teacher of a very unpopular subject called ''The History of the Federation''s Battle Strategy''.


    As soon as the man finished talking, he immediately got angry and yelled, "Those pigs in the tactics room, when there are benefits, all of them want a piece of it, when they are supposed to do their work, all of them give all kinds of weird ideas. Look at what terrible strategy they gave, worker Hao is good at defending but not good at attacking, making him go to the front of the battlefield was obviously not the best choice. Moreover, they even proposed for him to initiate an attack! If worker Hao took a defensive strategy, with his capability, he would not have lost. If only he dragged the battle, once the situation stabilized, and Song Chengyan is flanked from both sides, he would have lost. Without a doubt, I knew that it must have been those bastards of the tactics room who encouraged worker Hao to do that. They should continue dreaming if they want to ever win a battle with only one strike!"


    "True, those guys are too stupid. However, the situation has stabilized now. Song Chengyan died and the Federation Comprehensive Academy has retreated into the Binidia Mountains, so it should be fine now," Jie Yanbai put on an act as he continued.


    "Bullsh*t!" The middle aged man violently swallowed a mouthful of water, and they flowed down like pouring beans, "As compared to those pigs of the tactics room, Tang Hanpei was way smarter. He only did that to solidify his power. The Tang Camp belonged to Tang Hanpei himself after the centralization of power. Now the whole Federation Comprehensive Academy and the city all belong to him! He is just like a boxer, only retreating so that he can deliver a more powerful punch afterwards."


    His gaze was calm and wise, "The Binidia Mountains has a treacherous terrain, only a small force is needed to defend the spot. With this, he can put more effort into upgrading his army, Tang Hanpei who has finished his power centralization will only become much stronger after this! Now, he only needs a true general like Song Chengyan to lead his army. Actually, when you come to think about it, based on his various skills and tricks, how could people dare say that he did not understand anything about the military? After he has finished his preparations, it will surely be unstoppable like thunder, and he will most certainly launch an attack on us first."


    Jie Yanbai listened to his explanation carefully.


    "If my guess is correct, Tang Hanpei will use the Desert Camp to constrain Moon Frost Island and then think of a way to constrain Star Court and Bitter Solitude Temple. Although I do not know how Tang Hanpei will do this, but I know undoubtedly that he will be able to do that. Since we are the most vulnerable now, we are the most suitable target. As for Faya, their roots are at the common residential district, the Five flourishing districts are not their battlefield. Even though it looks calm now, in truth, they are already in danger!"


    "Do we really have no way to fight against Tang Hanpei?" Jie Yanbai could not help but to ask, "We can''t just wait for our demise here!"


    "We do!" The middle aged man said firmly, "We fight power centralization with power centralization itself! Centralizing all the powers from Upper Gan District to fight against Tang Hanpei would put us in a distinct advantage! In the military aspect, we have to defend while waiting for an attack, so we need to build a complete defensive system. The longer we drag the battle, the greater our advantage will become. As the battle drags on, Tang Hanpei will lose his advantage and he will be flanked by the other four families. With us constraining him on the battlefield directly, he will undoubtedly be in danger!"


    Jie Yanbai''s eyes glinted and he thought for a moment.


    But the middle aged man suddenly laughed coldly and said: "Sadly, our house master is too old now, he no longer has the sharpness in his mind and has gone senile! See for yourself, how corrupted is Central Repository of the Classics now? Even Tang Hanpei knows about the open inheritance! Those greedy elder pigs, all of them hang on to their own inheritance, they would never give up their power! Based on what I see, Tang Hanpei will undoubtedly win! After we collect some money, why don''t we migrate to the Heterodox Brilliance District or the Fanasi District. Based on my observation, the Star Court and the Bitter Solitude Temple will undoubtedly be finished off in the end."


    "Hehe, that is not certain," Jie Yanbai raised his thick eyebrows.


    "Either way, that has nothing to do with us," The middle aged man who had calmed down a little took another sip of cold water.


    "Oh, I forgot to tell you something, I am now the current house master of the Central Repository of the Classics," Jie Yanbai said with a sly smile.


    Pfft!


    The middle aged man who was drinking spurted out the water, spraying it on Jie Yanbai''s face who was sitting opposite of him. Jie Yanbai was not angry at all, he wiped his face and smiled as usual.


    "You, you¡­"


    The middle aged man was dumbfounded by what he said. Pointing at Jie Yanbai, he could not think of what to say for a long time.


    After this night, the newly appointed house master of the Central Repository of the Classics issued a second order, appointing a nobody such as Cao Zhengqiu as the Chief Officer of the tactics room!


    Chen Mu''s team was still advancing quickly. At the same time, how could the advancement of such a large team not attract the attention of various forces?


    On the way, this team of people were all conducting high speed training.


    "Oh my god, I think I''m becoming a rabbit that is collared and forced to run every single day! I''ve never heard of any houses that train people to run so aggressively," a card artisan from the team could not help but complain.


    "Indeed. I tremble when I hear an emergency assembly! F*ck, for the past few days, there was not one day that I have slept for over four hours. I feel like I can sleep while flying now," another card artisan couldn''t help but to add on as well.


    "The boss probably wants us to strengthen our mobility," another card artisan who was possibly more knowledgeable said.


    "Mobility? Mobility my *ss! If this continues on, we will die very soon. If only I had known this, I would not have volunteered," that card artisan continued to complain.


    "Ha, then you can quit now. I don''t know how many people wanted to get into this team, but we can be considered as the lucky ones. With the lead of the White Commander, our future is bright. Look at the card artisans who stayed behind at Tai-shu family, those are the true unlucky ones. Although they get more money than us, but what room for improvement do they have?" another card artisan continued.


    "Indeed, look at what the boss showed us, we have never known anything that he showed us before. That disk was even stronger than a probe card, it does not even use up any perception."


    "That is called a Spinulosa Disk. Old Huang, you are so uncivilized," another card artisan scolded him while laughing.


    The card artisan called Old Huang did not even blush, "Isn''t the Spinulosa Disk still a disk? Also, I''m jealous of those young guards, the cards that they use were all made by the boss himself."


    "We have no say in this. The young guards were all handpicked by the boss himself, they are all youngsters with huge potential. Even though they might be weak now, after some training by the boss, they will undoubtedly be stronger than us!"


    "That is not certain yet!" A card artisan said in discontent, "Did we stay the same all these years then? The boss''s Ice Pit Method was very effective! In two more years, I think that even I can make a breakthrough to Grade 7."


    "Grade 7, what can a Grade 7 do! Look at our team, there are 15 Grade 7 card artisans, yet they are all obedient towards the boss. Even the Hit Man and Chrysanthemum are way stronger than those Grade 7 card artisans, especially the Hit Man, his fierceness is that of a beast!"


    "Ha, you have never been under the Chrysanthemum''s command. The Chrysanthemum is the most vicious of them all. As the saying goes, one would rather offend the Hit Man than affront the Chrysanthemum. Tsk tsk, look at those young guards, they have all been so tortured to the point that they don''t even look human anymore, even I can''t stand it."


    All the nearby card artisans nodded. The difficulty of a young guard''s training was far more harder than theirs. That card artisan who was wearing a daisy mask was already a horrifying existence in everyone''s eyes.


    Chen Mu looked at the team which was advancing rapidly, even though they were fling quickly, the team managed to maintain a relatively uniform formation. For a large team of 2,000 card artisans, it was an impressive feat for them to be able to do this.


    On his side were 15 Grade 7 card artisans. After the first day the six Grade 7 card artisans were recruited, nine more Grade 7 card artisans joined afterwards, and Chen Mu''s powers had increased even more tremendously.


    However, he also knew that there must be card artisans of other forces among them. This is an unavoidable fact, the way he recruited so openly undoubtedly made it easy for other forces to send spies in.


    Hence, Chen Mu set up a strict military discipline, whereby anyone who makes any move out of ordinary will definitely attract the attention of other people. Moreover, everyone''s communication cards have all been changed into communication cards that can only be used to communicate within the team.


    However, he did not have time to think about this now. He did not have to worry about the Great Six obtaining the Ice Pit Method. Within the Great Six, what they did not lack the most were methods for perception training. Although the Ice Pit Method is clearly effective, but to the Great Six who had a deep understanding of such methods, it was nothing.


    In comparison, the Spinulosa Disk was more attractive to the Great Six. However, Chen Mu could no longer care so much.


    It was no longer time to hide his cards, power is the most crucial now! Even though the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team was eliminated, the effect caused by the Oudi Burner and Whorled Sniper Shuttle no longer allowed them to hide their powers anymore.


    Chen Mu still decided to act according to his plan.


    All eggs should not be put in the same basket. Even though he had reached an agreement with Qiu Shanyu, Chen Mu did not want to put all his hopes on somebody else. This was because if any accident was to occur, even crying would be too late.


    People should rely on themselves!


    All of the forces they faced were astonished by the capability of this team!


    They had never seen a Card Artisan Team of such quality. Every card artisan''s perception was at Level 6 and above. Moreover, the number of Grade 7 card artisans surrounding the White Commander was staggering to the moment that it made everyone suck in a mouthful of cold air!


    However, this odd team did not even stop for a moment. Instead, they went straight into the forest.

 513 Su Heiming

    "Dear audiences, dear audiences! We are about to announce a shocking piece of news!" the host of the Heavenly Drum Village District channel said in an exaggerated manner, "Just today, we have proven that the distinguished ace unit of the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team, Blood Hammer Unit is no more. All of them are dead. There is not a single survivor including the leader of the unit, Wu Yan. Following this is a footage that our journalists risked their lives for as they followed the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team''s scouting team into the jungle."


    The screen changed, and the audiences who were watching the Fantasy Card Receiver gasped together!


    Countless corpses lied on a snowy ground, in very different and random ways. The scenario was staggering! The cold weather had preserved the corpses and kept them intact. Every wound and injury on their bodies could be seen clearly.


    "I believe everyone is familiar with the Card Artisan Team that defeated the Blood Hammer Unit. It is the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team! The team that caught all of our attentions lately! The team that possesses the mystical Fiery Rain Card, huge number of Sniper Card Artisans and the extraction technique of purple fluorescent ore! Their origin is unknown. They emerged not long ago in the Snow Silkworm Valley near Chilei City, hence the name of the team. Snow Silkworm Valley is a place where the purple fluorescent ores flourish. After taking over that place and with their purple fluorescent ores extraction techniques, the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team was able to develop quickly by selling the purple fluorescent extracts. A month ago, a fight happened between the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team and the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team as they were fighting over the right of possession over Snow Silkworm Valley! The Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team immediately sent off their strongest Blood Hammer Unit. From all these, it was obvious that their confidence in winning was off the charts!"


    The host, without stopping to take a breath, continued to say, "As one of the strongest Card Artisan Teams in the Heavenly Drum Village District, the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team was the people''s favorite. However, no one expected that the Snow Silkworm Card could have concealed their capabilities so well. At the beginning of the fight, they displayed their impeccable abilities in fighting. Within seconds, they annihilated the Dawei Card Artisan Team with over 800 members and impressed everyone. In that fight, the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team displayed their cards and Sniper Card Artisans and managed to get the attention of all parties. Both sides then started a pursuit in the jungle. Although the details of this fight were unclear, so far, we have not found even one survivor from the Blood Hammer Unit!"


    The host, exhilarated, said, "Furthermore, last night, the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team suddenly came out of the jungle and destroyed branches of the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team in Lijiang City. It was proven that they did not take even one captive in. What was more shocking was that they had gained the unanimous favor of Lijiang City''s citizens. Today, they are even starting to recruit in Lijiang City to increase their manpower.


    After a transition of the video, numerous heads could be seen moving around in a large crowd, and half of a wall could be roughly seen.


    "This is the branch of the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team in Lijiang City. Just last night, it was struck down by a destructive force! According to the locals, fire was raining down and the night sky was dyed red. All these card artisans came here to be recruited. Evidently, the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team had acquired the obedience of the locals. We could not understand the exact context behind these but what shocked us was the recruiting standard of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team was very low. They did not seem to care much about the card artisans'' characters. We are not sure of the meaning behind this action.Could it be that they were desperate after suffering some heavy injuries in the fight? Or could it be for some other reason? We are all looking forward to all this!"


    The host''s tone became weird suddenly, "However, after this fight, nobody dared to underestimate this Card Artisan Team that no one had ever even heard of before! Everyone has to re-estimate their actual capabilities! The downfall of the Blood Hammer Unit was a massive hit to the Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team! Nevertheless, as were'' talking about Blood Tinge Card Artisan Team here, they will surely not let this be. According to some sources, they had started organizing every force near the Lijiang City region and was preparing to surround the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team! How will the situation develop? What will the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team do against this? Can they create another miracle?"


    In front of a screen sat a huge muscled man who was silently watching it. He was about 195cm tall and his naked upper body made his tan skin looked slightly dark. The well-defined muscles of his looked lively and full of power. His nose was hooked and he had deeply sunken eyes while his lips were thin and a little pale. His dark brown irises would give one a sense of eerie chills. His father was the head instructor in the Desert Camp at that time. He is the second son of Su Hanhao, Su Heiming.


    "The Federation is becoming more and more interesting," His voice sounded like it was drifting and sharp, "They actually managed to wipe out the Blood Hammer Unit. How shocking. Wu Yan is quite a character. He has never been defeated, except for that time against the Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team. Who would''ve known that this time, his whole unit would actually perish."


    "I''ve heard of this before," another huge man behind him said deeply, "That time when Wu Yan was defeated, not only did he lose against Knife Pull in a 1v1, he was chased by the Bosnian Wolf for three kilometers. There were only nine people left in his unit."


    This huge man had his eyes slightly closed. His body was stronger than that of Su Heiming. He stood there as if he was a mountain made out of iron, and him standing there would send an overwhelming feeling to others. He was the leader of the Iron Guards, Zhu Heng, an unmatchable cardless sects master!


    "God knows how many hidden talents are there in the Federation! It is a chaotic time, so how could a man with capabilities lay low? One by one, they will surface," The edge of Su Heiming''s mouth lifted slightly, making his face look uncanny. He muttered lowly, "Chaotic times are so marvelous!"


    Zhu Heng replied nothing, his face was solemn and expressionless as always.


    "How is their training?" Su Heiming asked abruptly.


    "Progressing smoothly. According to the current stage, the effectiveness of it is outstanding. The training method of the Mohadi Domain is more than incredible as expected," Due to this, there was finally a change in Zhu Heng''s expression.


    Su Heiming smiled eerily and said plainly, "In this world, the Federation is not the only one with geniuses! There are many things about the Mohadi Domain that are still unknown to our Federation. Are you able to do the Airskill now?"


    Zhu Heng replied, "Yes!" He slightly slashed the air with his right hand after his answer. A formless Air Slash was sent out from his hand and left a deep mark on the floor.


    "Not bad!" Su Heiming laughed while clapping his hands, "Previously, when I saw Qiao Yuan''s Airskill it had indeed surprised me. In hindsight, could it be that his Airskill originated from the Mohadi Domain?"


    "It''s hard to tell. But it would be really horrifying if it was a force sheerly generated from his body," Zhu Heng said with a complicated face. When he saw the Airskill for the first time, he was stunned as if he was struck by lightning. He was never a card artisan, but rather a true pupil of the cardless sects. Ever since he was young, he had been enormously strong. With the cardless sects in his hands, its power became impeccable. This not only made him the leader of Su Heiming''s Iron Guard, it also led him to become an instructor that taught others the ways of the cardless sects.


    He always had a very high expectation of himself. He thought that he was not the strongest person in the world. However, in the world of the cardless sects, his skill was unparalleled! But he never thought he would actually see someone use the Airskill!


    Airskill was the highest achievable technique in cardless sects, and was a skill he had always dreamed of!


    What was even more unexpecting was that his young master, somehow, was able to accomplish this amazing technique. Now, both his ability to control his power and muscles had reached an unimaginable stage.


    "Okay, let''s investigate the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team. The leader of this team is genuinely talented!" After thinking for a while, Su Heiming made an order.


    "Yes!" Zhu Heng accepted the order and left with a grave look on his face.


    Su Heiming lowered his head until Zhu Heng walked away. His expression was weird, God knows what he was thinking. After a long while, he finally lifted his head. A hint of fierceness flashed across his eyes. Then, he made a call.


    With every breath, Chen Mu felt like his perception was strengthening bit by bit.


    He was already completely familiar with the One Breath Perception training method. He could easily combine every single step into his very breathing rhythm. His perception was elevating in a incomprehensible speed, this kind of progress was well above his imagination. He could observe his own progress clearly almost every day. The improvement was not just in his strength, but rather, in every aspect. Every breath he took was like he as being forged in scorching flame. His perception was increasing in both strength and agility.


    All the advantages brought by the changes of his perception were evident!


    He could now enter State Zero freely. Also, his reaction in State Zero was way faster and accurate than before! His control over cards greatly aided his ability to craft cards.


    However, he had a lot of work to do other than practicing the One Breath training method. The training was supervised by Sang Hanshui and Xiaobo, while he was required to craft cards.


    He needed to custom design one over four star card for each of the 15 Grade 7 card artisans. Other than that, he also needed to craft cards for the Youth Guards.


    There were 100 Youth Guards in the team. Undoubtedly, the abilities of these 100 people were the weakest in the team. However, the rest of the card artisans did not dare to underestimate these young fellows. This was because in order for all these young fellows to enter the Youth Guard, it required impressive talents. Within a few years, these youths could be stronger than them.


    The cards that Chen Mu was planning to craft for these Youth Guards was similar to the Bomb card. In comparison to the Sang Hanshui''s Bomb, this type of cards named as One Wave Bomb, had incredible power. However, the attack rate of this One Wave Bomb was extremely low. Basically, they can only fire five shots in one minute. In a 1v1 fight, the One Wave Bomb would be almost useless. Before they could even fire, they would be shot to death.


    In a large scale combat however, One Wave Bomb would be an extremely strong tactic!


    One Wave Bomb basically meant that there would only be a single wave of attack fired in a fight. In other words, they would only need one wave of attack in a fight.


    Chen Mu was certain that the 100 Youth Guards, all armed with the One Wave Bomb, firing their shots at the same time would be something on par with the horrifyingly strong war cards!


    The star level of the One Wave Bomb was lower than that of the Bomb of Sang Hanshui as it was only Level Three. However, after some optimization of calculations with the Computation Box and some sacrifice on the part of the fire rate, its power had reached a terrifying stage.


    The crafting of three star cards could not be easier to Chen Mu. 100 One Wave Bomb cards only took him two days to complete.


    "Boss, there is a flock of Wavy Snow Bats flying toward us! Reaching here after 15 seconds," The look on a card artisan controlling a Spinulosa Disk changed significantly!


    Wavy Snow Bat was a type of creature that flew in high speed, and no one liked it. The faces of every card artisan changed slightly. It appalled them to hear about the incoming Wavy Snow Bats! The team stopped abruptly, everyone was prepared to fight.


    Actually, these card artisans could never figure out why their boss would take them into a jungle? In the jungle, a team of this scale could easily startle those ferocious beasts.


    This type of beings like the Wavy Snow Bats had left a deep impression on Chen Mu. He did not dare slow down, but before he could make his order, he heard Xiaobo shout, "Prepare for combat!"


    Whoosh, the formation of the Youth Guards suddenly spread out. Every apparatus on their hands lit up, a dark red light bomb formed in their hands. The harsh training from these days had made them extremely sensitive to orders. All of them entered their combat formation like it was a reflex.


    Orderly Wave Wheel!


    The light from the Orderly Wave Wheel started spinning on Xiaobo''s back, and swept across with a incredible speed.


    With his chrysanthemum flower mask and a pair of keen, cold eyes, Xiaobo made his command coldly, "9 o''clock, elevation 30¡ã, everyone get ready!"


    The light bombs on the hands of the Youth Guards were just the size of an egg, but now they were as big as a small pumpkin.


    All 15 of the Grade 7 card artisans looked at Xiaobo in shock. Most of them had their eyes on the Orderly Wave Wheel on Xiaobo''s back. All the people who worked for the White Commander were very mysterious, they wore masks all day and no one had ever seen them take their masks off. All these Grade 7 card artisans were the elite of the elites. They always kept their distance and nobody was foolish enough to provoke these mysterious guys.


    They knew very well that these people were very close to the White Commander. If they were to start a fight with them, one could easily figure out which side would the White Commander side with even with just their toes.


    Nonetheless, they were all curious about the real capabilities of these people under the White Commander.


    Signs of contempt were shown by some of the card artisans as they saw the sluggish formation speed of the One Wave Bomb. They did not think there was any use to the One Wave Bomb, as it required 12 seconds just to accumulate the energy. This period of time was long enough that your opponent to kill you a few dozen times!


    On the other hand, there were some who were intrigued, and they had their eyes fixated on Chen Mu.


    They had all experienced the wonder of the Spinulosa Disk these past few days! But they never thought that the Spinulosa Disks could detect enemies from this far! The mobility of the Wavy Snow Bats were as quick as lightning, just within 12 seconds, and it was enough to make them fly very far! That also meant that the Spinulosa Disks had a horrifyingly long scouting range!


    As the people thought of this, they were all impressed. The looks they had while looking at Chen Mu became weirder. Being able to scout enemies from a super long range would be hugely advantageous in combat! It was enough for a well trained team to prepare for a delicate ambush in 12 seconds!


    A lot of thoughts were going through Qiu Shanyu''s mind. She was in awe. Chen Mu does in fact have technology that was more advanced than Faya''s!


    Chen Mu, without noticing the thoughts in these people''s heads, placed his attention on the Youth Guards led by Xiaobo. He was also looking forward to their performances. Only through the test of an actual combat, would he be able to find out the practicality of his idea.


    14 seconds later, a flash of viciousness flashed through Xiaobo''s eyes abruptly. He shouted, "Fire!"

 514 Snow Thorn Bear

    100 light rays came out together. The Youth Guard''s movements were uniform and these 100 light rays were like 100 suns!


    Boom!


    100 suns converged within a range of five meters.


    The red glow suddenly expanded, and everything in the field of vision was seriously distorted by the high temperature and distortion of the air. The heat from the high-temperature airflow raged like a torrent. Snow evaporated in the blink of an eye, the tall coniferous forest turned yellow, burned and rapidly carbonized. It was eventually reduced into ashes and blown away by the airflow.


    All the card artisans stared blankly. They were stunned by the scene before them.


    "Is this really a three star card?" Among the Grade 7 card artisans, a female card artisan muttered to herself. Of the 15 Grade 7 card artisans, seven were women, a ratio that was incredible for places elsewhere than the Federation. But this is the Heavenly Drum Village District, which has the tradition of Yin flourishing and Yang declining. Moon Frost Island''s long-standing fashion lead to the high status of women in the Heavenly Drum Village District. Heavenly Drum Village District is also the district with the largest number of female card artisans among the five major Chinese districts.


    This female card artisan named Bei Ling, was a card artisan from a small academy. During her school days, she was the most outstanding student in that academy. After graduation, she still made rapid progress. She broke through the Grade 7 barrier in one fell swoop last year and formally entered the ranks of the Grade 7 elites.


    It is extremely difficult for a small academy like theirs to produce a Grade 7 card artisan. The inheritance of her learning was very common, and the perception exercise method was also common, so the card was something that would naturally go without saying. Hence for her to be able to step into the ranks of a Grade 7 card artisan, it was undeniable that her natural talent was amazing. Her appearance could not be considered beautiful, but rather adorable, and won the hearts of everyone around.


    "A very strong three star card! This power should be comparable to the War Card Appliance," In a solemn tone, it was Fu Dong, the oldest of all card artisans, who spoke. He was 47 years old this year. Fu Dong was knowledgeable and had quite a prestige among his peers.


    "War Card Appliance? What is the boss trying to do?"


    This sentence was a doubt in the hearts of all people, but no one could say it out loud. Who among these people who had become Grade 7 card artisans, was not a person who had long been on the path of this life?


    "The boss''s card making skill is really amazing. Even a small three star card can also burst out into such amazing power. This is enough to put the other card masters to shame," Wen Renhong laughed and said. He was born with blue pupils, and was accompanied by quite an evil aura. Among the 15 people, it was difficult for everyone to see the depth of some people''s strength, and Wen Renhong was one of them.


    However, his remarks inspired everyone. They all came for the boss''s card. The better the boss''s card making skills, the more benefits they will get.


    "Not bad," A soft and empty voice floated in the air as a woman who was as gentle as water spoke slowly, "The boss''s is not inferior to that of the card masters from the Great Six."


    The history of Kuangshi was also unknown. It was difficult to fathom the depth of her cultivation. However, she had great affinity and a soft and gentle voice. This caused others to unconsciously close the distance between them. All the female card artisans were very polite to this woman who was as gentle as water.


    Fu Dong sighed and said, "I don''t know what kind of monster the boss is that he can even make cards as well. He is also so skilled that even the cards are unheard of. By contrast, we are really ashamed!"


    "Hehe," Bei Lin''s cute dimples appeared, "Big Brother Fu is really depressed. He''s the boss. How can he be anything less than amazing?"


    At this time, the aftermath of the explosion finally dissipated, and people could finally see the scope of the explosion.


    100 energy bombs exploded simultaneously within a range of five meters, covering an astonishing 1,200 meters in diameter!


    Within this range, there were no trees nor snow, only scorched soil. Not an inch of this blackened land remained intact. At the very centre of the explosion, a pit of 15 metres deep made people such in a mouthful of air again.


    Al this moment, all the youths from the Youth Guard paled. They did not think that the energy bombs that they had condensed during usual trainings would have such a terrifying power!


    But soon, they got excited!


    "Wow! What an amazing card! I think it''s more powerful than the Lord Hit Man''s energy bomb!"


    "Forget it, by the time we shot one, Lord Hit Man would''ve killed us all. But this One Wave Bomb is still really amazing!"


    "It''s spectacular! We shall see what beasts would still dare to provoke us!"


    ...


    Chen Mu was quite satisfied with the effect of the One Wave Bomb.


    "Let''s go," Chen Mu ordered Sang Hanshui. In the jungle, it was not appropriate to stay too long in one place, and if the explosion had just happened, it would be troublesome if they had alerted any terrible beast.


    Sang Hanshui quickly ordered, "All here, let''s go!"


    Rafael followed hurriedly behind Sang Hanshui. This time, Chen Mu picked him as well. Among these card artisans, Rafael''s strength can only be ranked last, but his good obedience, as well as his fearlessness against hardship, were qualities that Chen Mu appreciated very much.


    Chen Mu even worked out a training program for him, which made other card artisans jealous.


    But when they saw the training plan, they were all shocked. They thought they were wrong. The boss didn''t appreciate the kid at all, but instead disliked this kid.


    In their eyes, this plan is simply impossible to accomplish!


    However, to their surprise, Rafael completed the training plan step by step! Rafael spent his time in training every day during his break. Every day he gets so tired that he would faint! Medical card artisans persuaded him more than once not to continue training like this. But the next day, after the march, he began training again.


    Gradually, the other card artisans began to sincerely admire this young card artisan who was not outstanding, but possessed an extremely patient temperament. As for Bei Ling, she would go to his place often, and this made everyone especially jealous.


    Over these few days, Rafael had lost a lot of weight. He was tanned and thin, but his eyes were still full of energy.


    Now he has already become a team leader.


    The encouraged Youth Guards were somewhat frustrated to find that, except for this attack, they actually never attacked again!


    While they were at their station, Chen Mu sat by the fire, thinking. Only now did he realize that it was so difficult to build a team and that there were so many things to be involved in. There used to be Bogner and Jiang Liang to help him look at all these things, but now, these things required his own thinking to deal with them.


    The sound of footsteps interrupted his thinking. He looked up and found that Wei-ah and Little Bu Mo had returned.


    He could not help smiling, but the mask was covering it so no one could see. When his eyes fell on the beast that Wei-ah dragged behind him, he couldn''t help exclaiming, "Oh, a Snow Thorn Bear?"


    Chen Mu''s surprise attracted the attention of the card artisans who were scattered around him. In their impression, the boss was always calm, so this was the first they had ever noticed his surprise. Their eyes could not help but to follow Chen Mu''s, falling on the beast dragged by Wei-ah.


    Everyone''s pupils contracted at the same time in a flash!


    Snow Thorn Bear!


    They were not familiar with Wei-ah, but they knew that every day the man wearing a wooden mask will leave the team with the child and will often only come back at night. They were always curious about how they found them in this vast jungle.


    But this time they were frightened by the Snow Thorn Bear! The Snow Thorn Bear is a powerful beast that grows only in the Heavenly Drum Village District. It is three times larger than the average bear. An adult Snow Thorn Bear is like a small hill. But the size of the body does not make its movements slow, on the contrary, their movements are as fast as the wind, and they had ferocious temperament! They can also emit needle-shaped snow-white energy spines, allowing easy penetration into a four star shield.


    Card artisans were as weak as paper dolls in front of it.


    "Oh, I met it on the way. I knocked it out before eating dinner," Wei-ah described it lightly. His right hand shook slightly, and the Snow Thorn Bear which was like a small hill, immediately fell like a sandbag and dropped itself in front of Chen Mu.


    Boom. when the Snow Thorn Bear hit the ground, it caused a tremor on the earth. At this time, it also seemed to hit the hearts of the people, for everyone''s hearts had shook together!


    Before eating dinner... Just knocked it out...


    These Grade 7 card artisans whose eyes are were always placed higher than the top, looked at Wei-ah in horror, as if they were looking at a huge primitive creature.


    Chen Mu went up to the Snow Thorn Bear, examined it, and said in satisfaction, "Good stuff! The blood of the Snow Thorn Bear is a rare card-making material, and has a much higher blood grade than that of the twin hook beast. However, if the live blood is coagulate into blood glue, it would be less effective. I looked at it in Dongrui City, but it was too expensive so I didn''t buy it. Its teeth and claws are also good things, but the best thing is that it has a cold bag in its body, which is a good thing for making cards which are ice cold in nature."


    Suddenly he turned his head and asked Kuangshi, "What Guard Kuang wants is a card which is ice cold in nature, right?"


    Joy was expressed on Kuangshi''s face, and her gentle voice was somewhat out of tune, "Precisely. I will have to trouble the boss for this." All the other card artisans showed admiration on their faces. They were all old and experienced card artisans, so they knew that things like a Snow Thorn Bear''s cold sac is an excellent material that can only be seen but not sought.


    But aside from envy, their gazes all fell on Wei-ah! Snow Thorn Bear hunting was very difficult, and it often requires four or five Grade 7 card artisans to work together. Furthermore, if one wants to capture a live one, it is far more difficult, and would also require some cards with special properties in order for there to be a possibility to succeed.


    Wei-ah suddenly became extremely unpredictable in their eyes!


    Chen Mu took a specialized sampling box from the Jungle Shuttle. This sort of sampling box contained heat preservation and empty cards, specially prepared for the use of materials that needed to be preserved.


    "Wei-ah, I''m going to bleed it. It may struggle, so you come and control it." Chen Mu pulled out a suction pipe from the sampling box, which had a front end and was attached to a suction cup.


    "Okay." Wei-ah walked up to the side of the Snow Thorn Bear.


    The crowd immediately became nervous, and just like how Fu Dong was already ready for battle, they knew very well the strength of the Snow Thorn Bear! Once the Snow Thorn Bear gets mad, the whole camp will suffer. The Snow Thorn Bear''s ice-like hard fur had a great protective power, and ordinary energy forms cannot do any effective damage to it at all.


    Collection has always been associated with risk.

 515 The Fis

    Without lifting his head, Chen Mu observed the Snow Thorn Bear closely. He was unfamiliar with it as this was the first time he ever encountered this creature. Moreover, he was not very skillful in gathering. There was barely any introduction about gathering on the mysterious cards.


    However, he was now the least concerned about the source of his material. There was at least a few hundred liters of blood in this Snow Thorn Bear , and that was more than sufficient for him.


    Chen Mu clumsily looked for the part of Snow Thorn Bear he should extract the blood from. All the grade seven card artisans were taken aback by Chen Mu''s clumsiness as it was compulsory for all card masters to learn about gathering materials, especially the advanced materials.


    Is boss really a card master?


    The corner of their eyes twitched, as they could barely look at Chen Mu. Most of them had spent their youth gathering and it made up a major component of their daily incomes. In actual fact, most of the card artisans had been through this. They gained not only materials from gathering, but also made earnings and strengthened their real life battle experience through gathering, not to mention increasing their rate of growth in power. Regardless of which academy, the gathering lessons were meant to enhance the basics of their perception and energy. Hence, it was a compulsory course for all card artisans and card masters.


    They felt anxious seeing their boss handling the Snow Thorn Bear rustily and clumsily.


    If we go on like this, and the Snow Thorn Bear gets awakened...


    Finally, Chen Mu picked the part where he wanted draw the blood from the Snow Thorn Bear . Without hesitation, he affixed the suction right at where the heart of the Snow Thorn Bear was located. He assumed that it was the best area to draw the blood of the Snow Thorn Bear as from his point of view, the heart was the main organ of its circulation system!


    All the 15 grade seven card artisans'' faces were painted in terror the moment they saw their boss placing the suction on the Snow Thorn Bear ''s heart!


    "Stop!"


    Fu Dong yelled out of fear!


    Before he could finish his words, the roaring of the Snow Thorn Bear pierced through the atmosphere!


    Crap!


    All the card artisans were in great shock yet acted as quickly as the lightning bolt. They have never expected that their boss would choose such a ridiculous spot to work on! The heart was the main weakness of all the beasts. The stronger the beasts, the more they protected their hearts. The nerves around their hearts were extremely sensitive after years of evolution. The beasts would turn insanely ferocious even after a mild trigger and their counterattacks before their last breath could often defeat enemies than were way stronger.


    Mentors would repeatedly emphasize on this during the gathering course, to make sure all the card artisans to never choose the heart as the collection point when they were drawing the blood of the beasts. According to the standard procedure mentioned in the textbooks, the best body part for blood drawing was the legs, as the nerve around that area was less sensitive, and there were arteries running through the legs.


    But, boss actually chose the heart of the Snow Thorn Bear !


    They had never expected their boss to make a mistake that even an amateur would not make!


    The roar spread across the horizon and frightened everyone. Being the king of the beasts in the woods, the Snow Thorn Bear ''s howl clearly showed its pain and anger! The Snow Thorn Bear , that was initially sedated, lifted its head abruptly. Ferocity and ruthlessness filled its big and widened eyes. Its body twitched in agony, at the same time, it was charged with petrifying energy!


    It shrieked as loud as the thunder while its muscles expanded. It stared at Chen Mu with its bloodshot eyes. The next second, it opened its big mouth and tried to bite Chen Mu, who was standing right beside it!.


    The white yet sharp teeth were coated in foul-smelling saliva. The card artisans could sense the chilliness running through their veins!


    Damn it!


    It''s too late!


    The Snow Thorn Bear acted faster and more powerful than anyone of them! An adult Snow Thorn Bear like this contained more active blood than the other beasts. Usually, it was an occasion worth celebrating to be able to catch a matured Snow Thorn Bear . However, it had turned into a fatal disaster now!


    When its sharp teeth were almost going to snap off the head of their boss, a punch suddenly landed on the top of the Snow Thorn Bear''s head.


    Bam!


    The punch, that seemed to be weak, however it managed to push the head of the lunatic Snow Thorn Bear right into the ground as dirt splashed all over the place!


    Flabbergasted, the 15 grade seven card artisans paused to look at the scene before them.


    The power of the punch was evidently showcased as half of the Snow Thorn Bear ''s head was buried in the ground. However, the psychotic Snow Thorn Bear became far more powerful than before!


    It abruptly lifted its head and shrieked angrily!


    Bam!


    The sound came from yet another punch that hit right at the Snow Thorn Bear !


    The head of the Snow Thorn Bear was once again thrown into the ground but more forcefully. Its entire head was buried into the ground this time!


    Grudgingly, the Snow Thorn Bear roared in despair! It exerted all its energy to lift its head once again!


    Boom!


    As though a meteorite hit on the beast''s head, everything before its eyes turned pitch black before it lost its consciousness.


    All the 15 grade seven card artisans were stupefied. In shock, they stared at the Snow Thorn Bear which neck was twisted in an abnormal manner. Its enormous and strong head was buried so deep into the ground that it was no longer visible.


    The man, who was wearing a wooden mask, rested one of his feet on the back of the Snow Thorn Bear . However, his right fist appeared to have no difference from the others. From the beginning to the end, there were merely three punches from this man, no yelling nor panting. But, this scene had completely imprinted in the minds of the card artisans.


    After a long while, the sound of someone gulping pulled all of them back to reality.


    Satisfied, Chen Mu kept his collection box. It only needed a very short amount of time to fill up the box as he chose the heart as the gathering area. He could easily produce a huge amount of cards with this box of fresh blood from the Snow Thorn Bear . However, he could not bear to let the rest of the fresh blood go wasted. He took out two more collection boxes to make sure that he gathered all of the blood from the beast.


    The others, who were badly frightened just now, proactively came forward to help and harvest the teeth, claws and winter glands of the beast.


    "You al arel very professional in gathering," Chen Mu praised them nonchalantly.


    The people, who were currently working diligently, were flustered. Bei Ling asked softly, "Boss, do you rarely gather?"


    "Yes, I don''t do it often," Chen Mu replied as he nodded.


    "Then, how about the materials you use?" Bei Ling asked curiously.


    "I buy it at the store," Chen Mu said.


    Bei Ling asked with a peculiar look, "The quality of the materials from the store are very much worse than the ones we gather on our own. The quality of the cards that are made from the materials will be greatly affected!"


    "Huh? Is that true?" Chen Mu asked in surprise.


    The rest of them were taken aback by Chen Mu''s reaction.


    "Boss, this is common sense," Bei Ling could not help but disprove in a soft voice.


    Fu Dong could not bear to see Chen Mu being embarrassed, hence, he explained to Chen Mu, "The materials that are sold in the stores are usually processed and added with conservatives. The effect of the processed materials are very different from the fresh ones. It''s common for the seasoned card masters to hire a team of card artisans to gather the materials directly from the woods. The experts will usually process the materials personally with their own unique methods."


    "Oh, I see!" the realization hit Chen Mu hard.


    "Is our boss really a numbered series of cards master?" Wen Renhong mumbled as the rest of them were secretly judging Chen Mu.


    After the gathering, the Snow Thorn Bear turned into their dinner.


    Wei-ah took a seat as all the card artisans maintained at least a five meters radius from Wei-ah.


    However, their attentions were quickly drawn to Little Bomo''s shocking appetite. All the card artisans were all astounded. They could finally understand the reason Wei-ah hunted another bear separately for dinner as Little Bomo almost finished half of the bear on his own!


    Little Bomo''s flat stomach was like a bottomless pit. Yet, he ate continuously with a steady pace.


    ''He is indeed a weirdo!'' The 15 card artisans thought synchronously.


    Bogner rested both of his feet on the table lazily. The moustache on his face had been shaved off. With a toothpick in his mouth, he slurred, "Little Ginger, how is the preparation going?"


    The veins on Jiang Liang''s forehead were pulsating as usual as he answered in a clear tone, "There are a total number of 3000 card artisans in the entire team, all well rested and well prepared. However, they are card artisans who are barely grade four and not highly capable. But, from my observation during the training in the past few days, they are all up for challenges."


    Bogner waved his hand indifferently, "It doesn''t matter if they are not capable. As long as they are willing to do the tough jobs. Hehe!"


    His laugh carried a hint of chilliness to the people in the room.


    He turned to look at Ru Qiu and asked, "Little Autumn, how is the repair of the card set going?"


    "They have all been repaired, except for the 15 cards that were severely damaged and could not be fixed," Ru Qiu replied succinctly.


    "That''s good. Little Autumn is so capable!" Bogner complimented Ru Qiu before he shifted his gaze to Sue Lochiro. Sue Lochiro smiled faintly, "The injured members are recovering speedily and their psychological rehabilitation is completed. Basically, they now are fit to carry out the daily training."


    Bogner appeared pleased. A card artisan who recovered from injury could perform better battle skills compared to the normal card artisans. As they had successfully overcome the trauma, they were more fearless in the battlefield. From Bogner''s perspective, they were more valuable than the normal card artisans.


    Xi Ping casually took a sip of his tea when he saw Bogner turning to him, "The supplies are ready. Indeed, Scarlet Card Artisan Team is very wealthy. They prepared so many supplies for a sole assignment of five hundred people. We''ll be rich after robbing a few more of their warehouses. Oh, we have also sold off some of the purple fluorescent extract. Haha! You can never imagine how the businessmen fought for it! Rare items like this are very beneficial for us. We only have to put some of it on sale everytime we arrive at a place, then we will be very popular among the businessmen no matter where we go."


    "That''s a good idea," Bogner agreed as he stroke his chin, "You''re such a cunning person!"


    "Fine!" Bogner spit out the toothpick and stood up abruptly. He looked around and announced with a solemn expression, "Since the preparation is done, then it''s time for us to leave this place! Assemble the team and we will depart at three in the afternoon!"


    "I''ll be ashamed of myself if we fail to defeat the Scarlet Card Artisan Team this round! They have the guts to show off in front of us despite being a nobody. I''ll let them taste death this round!"


    Bogner, who now resembled a fierce wolf, said in a harsh tone.


    A man in grey windbreaker was standing in front of a window in the Yuzi Military Force''s meeting room, staring at the dark sky outside the window.


    He turned around. With a deep and complex gaze, he said fiercely, "Someone has informed me about the issue that concerns Yumin. I believe I''m the only person who can accomplish this in the Heavenly Federation." He made an extremely bold statement in a calm tone.


    "Of course, Yumin will never doubt Lord Tang''s ability," Tan Yumin forced a smile. Yet, she felt slightly upset as she was suddenly reminded of the White Commander. ''He might be able to do it as well. Unfortunately, he has rejected me.''


    The White Commander had left a great impact on her. She had finally understood that it was almost impossible for her to fulfill her wish on her own. When she realized that she could never break free from the Star Court and Bitter Solitude Temple''s restraint, she also unexpectedly found hope in her situation. However, the White Commander rejected her without any contemplation. He rejected her without a second thought!


    There was limited time, and she could not wait any longer!


    Coincidentally, Tang Hanpei had sent someone to liaise with her discreetly at this moment.


    From Ji Zhihao''s analysis, Tang Hanpei was a better candidate than the White Commander. Tan Yumin understood as well. Yet, she felt a little disappointed.


    She had always been a very detailed person. She understood clearly that once she asked for Tang Hanpei''s favour, her only consequence was to turn into one of his tools. If the White Commander was willing to form alliance with her, she would definitely not ask for Tang Hanpei''s help. She had an unexplainable feeling where she would never turn into one of the White Commander''s tools after working alongside with him. The feeling was so intense and she did not doubt it at all.


    Sadly, the White Commander had rejected her request! Till today, she was still puzzled by his decision!


    Is he not an ambitious man? Does he not know that this is the notebook that the Big Six are fighting for?


    Am I not pretty enough to move him? I''m even willing to marry him! Does he not know how many men are longing for me?


    Her mind was weary. She tried her utmost to compose herself and her gaze fell on Tang Hanpei again. This man before her was more powerful and legendary than the White Commander. He even had a way better appearance than the White Commander. However, he failed to move her even by a tiny bit.


    Tan Yumin''s voice sounded vague, "Lord, Yumin is handing you these four notebooks. With Lord''s ability, it must be an easy job to bring Yumin away from this place. Yumin will stay under Lord''s protection in the future. Yumin doesn''t dare to ask for much, but there are three simple requests that Yumin wishes to be granted by Lord."


    Tang Hanpei replied in a solemn tone, "Yumin, just speak."


    "Brother Ji is my best friend and he has a chronic illness that requires the gold-mottled liquid soft-fungus. Yumin is useless as I failed to obtain the medication for him. Yumin begs for Lord''s help!" Tan Yumin bowed.


    "Miss!" Ji Zhihao did not expect that Tan Yumin''s first request was for him. He immediately stood up with teary eyes.


    Tang Hanpei nodded without any hesitation, "Hanpei has heard about Mister Ji''s capability a long time ago. Although the gold-mottled liquid soft-fungus is rare, but there are still available stocks in the Federation Comprehensive Academy. Hanpei would have done so even if Yumin didn''t bring this up. Hanpei cannot bear to see such a capable man like Mister Ji to die of young age!"


    "Thank you, Lord!" Tan Yumin expressed her gratitude towards Tang Hanpei before she lost her composure again.


    Tang Hanpei did not urge her to continue.


    After a short while, Tan Yumin regained her consciousness and said, "After many years of working, Yumin feels drained mentally. I only hope for a serene and simple life after I follow Lord to the capital. Yumin understands that there are many notable families in the capital, but Yumin does not want to work against her own will anymore."


    Tang Hanpei agreed promptly as his icy eyes beamed, "I promise you. I''ll kill anyone who dared to harass Yumin!"


    "Mei Ji is my father. In spite of my grudges against him, I hope that Lord can spare his life," Yumin bowed again.


    "Haha! Good! I favour sentimental people like Yumin! I promise you that I''ll spare his life!" Tang Hanpei let out a loud and carefree laugh.


    At this moment, the door was pushed open quietly.


    "Brother Tang came for a visit. If Mei Ji don''t even come and give his greetings, wouldn''t he as a host, be giving poor hospitality?" A loud voice came from behind the door.


    An old man entered the room with another young man walking along his side.


    The old man appeared healthy, yet his face was painted in sorrow, "Yumin, I know that I''ve disappointed you and your mother. But if you colluded with Tang Hanpei, what good consequence would it bring you?"


    Tan Yumin, whose expression was cold, answered in despise, "Good consequence? What good consequence will I have if I don''t? To be a prisoner?"


    The young man in white was bald yet good looking and carried an impressive aura. He bowed at Tang Hanpei, "Siam, the master of Bitter Solitude Temple and the owner of the South Temple, greets Principal Tang!"


    "Siam?" Tang Hanpei scanned him, "Indeed, there are a lot of elites in Bitter Solitude Temple. You can achieve your level at such a young age. That''s rather impressive."


    "Does Principal Tang intend to rob whatever that belongs to the Bitter Solitude Temple and Star Court in your late night visit?" Siam raised his head and asked calmly.


    "You''re saying it belongs to your Bitter Solitude Temple and Star Court?" Tang Hanpei laughed mockingly, "Tan Xiaoyi left the relic for Yumin. Why does it belong to the Bitter Solitude Temple and Star Court?"


    Siam replied composedly, "The master of the South Temple in Bitter Solitude Temple is Miss Tan''s grandfather, and Senior Mei Ji from Star Court is Miss Tan''s father. I wonder what is the relationship between Principal Tang and Miss Tan?"


    "You have to ask for the permission from the owner. Yumin is the owner of the relic. She has the right to decide who she wants to hand it to," Tang Hanpei remained cool.


    Siam shook his head, "Miss Tan is too young to know the evil of this world. The elders shall decide on her behalf."


    "Nonsense!" Tang Hanpei chuckled, "You don''t have to speak further. I''ll make sure to bring her with me tonight. You will not be able to defeat me even if you work together." He sounded gentle, yet his domineering aura was overwhelming.


    "Principal Tang is right." Surprisingly, Siam did not deny it. He kept a cheerful grin on his face, "But, will Principal Tang remain this confident if we have another comrade?"


    A lady entered the room and bowed elegantly. She spoke with a voice as cold as the wind that blew from the top of a snow mountain, "Baiyue from Moon Frost Island greets Principal Tang!"


    Tang Hanpei''s expression turned solemn abruptly.


    Mei Ji had always been well known for his capability. He might not be on par with Tang Hanpei, but there was not a huge difference between them. For Siam, his skill does not need further clarifications as he was able to become the master of the temple. As for Baiyue, he was the most excellent apprentice of Moon Frost Island. None of them was competent enough to fight Tang Hanpei. However, things were different if the three worked in alliance.


    The three of them formed a triangle as they surrounded Tang Hanpei.


    The situation had changed drastically for Tang Hanpei.


    Unexpectedly, Tang Hanpei flashed a smile as he spoke, "Senior, why are you still hiding?"


    "Haha!" A laughter that resembled an owl spread across the night sky. Their expressions changed immediately as they did not realize there was someone hiding in the dark.


    A silhouette slowly appeared from the darkness.

 516 Tactical Regulations

    "First squad, pay attention to evade, hold off the enemy! Second squad, cover us with fire! Third squad, prepare to attack from the side wing of the group of apes, remember, you must break through! Fourth squad, prepare to take off! Fifth squad, ambush the apes from behind!" Luke, the leader of the third military group commanded methodically.


    They encountered a large group of Brilliant Apes, and in this group there were no less than 500 apes. The group of apes was vast and endless. Chen Mu ordered the third military group to be in charge of this attack!


    Such offensive drills were carried out all the way till the end.


    All the card artisans understood the boss''s intention, he simply wanted to train their tactical cooperation. Most of them have experience of being on a card artisan team. All kinds of tactical cooperation trainings were included in the daily training of each card artisan team, but they had never seen these many tactical cooperations!


    Normally, there were about 20 tactical regulations for an ordinary card artisan team, while bigger card artisan teams such as Scarlet Card Artisan Team and Snowflake Card Artisan Team would have more tactical regulations, which was about 40 regulations included. As for the military, there were more than 80 tactical regulations. The so-called tactical regulations was to specify what kind of countermeasures would be taken when dealing with certain circumstances. Every card artisan was required to bear this in mind and utilize them proficiently.


    However, there were 189 tactical regulations distributed by the boss!


    Everyone felt like giving up this time. 189 tactical regulations would take them forever just to memorize it, let alone to put them to use.


    The boss was absolutely insane!


    All the card artisans were cursing in their hearts, but none of them dared to object. They were still overshadowed by the last punishment, everyone knew clearly the consequences of disobeying the boss''s order. Starting from the captain, everyone was hugging the book close, gnawing. They certainly looked more enthusiastic than those fanatic sophophile!


    This was because the boss had set a time frame, those who couldn''t memorize it within three days would be penalized!


    The boss didn''t say what the penalty was, but they were even more frightened by this, no one could guarantee that the boss only knew of one type of penalty.


    There were hums of studying everywhere inside the camp. The scene of these short-tempered card artisans frowning their brows while studying was really weird.


    "189 tactical regulations!" Qiu Shanyu was going through the tactical regulations, the shock she was in was imaginable. These tactical regulations explained all types of tactical principles in details, but even she was terrified by the high level of detail! She was not directly responsible for the daily training of the team, but she knew that the daily training of Faya Card Artisans contained only 48 tactical regulations while that of the Great Six contained about 60 regulations!


    This is absolutely a priceless treasure! It was too bad she could not send it back, Qiu Shanyu sighed inwardly. Faya was far worse than the Great Six on these aspects, the team''s combat power could be greatly enhanced if these tactical regulations were to be sent back.


    "So many tactical regulations, how frightening! But it''s so complicated, how can one think so much during a battle?" Bei Ling asked in distressed while biting her finger. She took a look at Rafael who was studying hard for the tactical regulations, feeling anxious for him.


    These guards didn''t have to memorize the tactical regulations. But the newly promulgated tactical regulation was still the hottest topic discussed by them.


    "The boss is amazing!" Fu Dong gasped in admiration, this was not the first time that he had made such exclamation.


    "These tactical regulations can surely fetch a good price if they were to be sold," Wen Renhong smiled seductively, blue eyes gleaming.


    Kuangshi gave a look of admiration too, "No wonder Rossiji would praise the boss. It will cause a stir in Heavenly Federation if these tactical regulations are published!"


    Wen Renhong turned his eyes to a card artisan who stayed quiet and smiled wickedly, "Wu Jie, what do you think?"


    Wu Jie was unprepossessing and usually taciturn, but none of these people dared to mess with him.


    Wu Jie didn''t even lift his eyelids, "Do you want to be like the Snow Thorn Bear?"


    Everyone shuddered upon hearing it, a ghastly expression came over Wen Renhong''s face. They were pretty shaken by the Snow Thorn Bear, the guy wearing a wooden mask was unbelievably strong. He and the little boy would always come back dragging a beast every night. All these beasts, without exception, were huge, ferocious and powerful.


    And since they found out that fresh blood was a good material, the beasts that were dragged back were all knocked out.


    There were Snow Wavy Blade Tiger, the king of the Snow Forest; an Iron Snow Ice Rhino with a body stronger than steel that could not be hurt even the slightest by any card lower than four stars, and a Seamless Deer that went like the wind and was the hardest beast to catch.


    The most challenging for them was when Wei-ah came back dragging a huge Blazing Frost Breath Python that was longer than 15 meters and the diameter of its waist was wider than three meters. Everyone was dumbstruck by it!


    In their minds, Wei-ah instantly moved on from primitive giant beast to a primitive beastmaster.


    Unlike Wei-ah, the White Commander never revealed his strength. He spent most of his time thinking alone every day. And every once in a while, he would take out all sorts of strange things that were eye-opening to the card artisans.


    Chen Mu was indeed thinking, as he had too much to think about. These tactical regulations were mostly formulated by Bogner and he himself added some to it. He was sceptical about whether he was overdoing it, but he decided to add these tactical regulations after much consideration. These regulations were the results deducted after his calculations, their usefulness would be clear after a real battle. Anyway, he could modify it easily if needed.


    The completion of the tactical regulations also indicated the completion of his most important work.


    And he didn''t intend to start making cards for these 15 grade seven card artisans instantly. This was not a good time to make cards for them, in a sense, they were sort of a hidden danger. There was much more uncertainty about them compared to those ordinary card artisans. He was waiting, waiting for the ordinary card artisans to become stronger. Thus, he would have more advantage in hand even if anything were to happen.


    Chen Mu was also fairly cautious about the choices of several captains His final decision would be made after careful observations.


    He was examining the one and only six-star card in his hand, the Eternal Night!


    Since he''d gotten the card, he''d never had time to examine it up until now.


    Six-star cards were rare and were what every card artisan dreamt of. It was not long since the Eternal Night was made, and it was yet to be passed on.


    The Eternal Night was an illusion card, the so-called illusion card that could lead the enemy falling into illusions. A low level illusion card was a mere shadow, creating illusions through the images of light and sound. While for the illusion created by the high level illusion card, not only could it affect the light and sound, but also the senses of touch, smell and even telegnosis and perception!


    And the Eternal Night was exactly like this!


    This card could cause enemy to fall into total darkness, and all their senses would be blocked in this darkness. Not only that, it created waves of energy fluctuation that influenced the enemy''s central nervous system unnoticeably. It would boost the bioelectricity to a level that was unbearable by the nerves, dying straight away.


    Wounds could never be found on the bodies of those who died of the Eternal Night.


    This was a six-star card!


    The horror of the six-star card was unimaginable to those card artisan who never came across it. Even Chen Mu was struck dumb! The card could actually do such incredible trick, this was far beyond his imagination. Now he knew how shallow his level of understanding was to energy structures.


    Shapeless and formless fluctuating waves could kill people without a trace!


    The power of this card exceeded any of the cards that he had used before. Both Bipolar Card and Golden Word Shackle were powerful cards, but they were inferior to the Eternal Night. This was because of the difference between their energy structures. If one day he''d reached a higher level of understanding about energy structure and a more precise control on energy, he could probably unleash the power of the Bipolar Card and the Golden Word Shackle no less than that of the Eternal Night.


    But obviously he didn''t have such capability right now.


    As the Eternal Night emitted waves of fluctuations that were similar to brain waves, shapeless, formless and undetectable by perception, the boss was just sitting still over there, where Fu Dong and the others could keep an eye on him.


    Chen Mu also noticed the limitation of the Eternal Night. It was only useful against the advanced creatures and not those lower forms of life with no cranial nerves. In addition, the card artisans from Bitter Solitude Temple have restraining effect on this type of card. Chen Mu speculated that this might have something to do with the Perception Training Guide which was practiced by them.


    But even so, the power of this card was beyond question. No wonder it was rated a six-star, it sure enough deserved it!


    The Eternal Night had extremely high requirements on card artisan''s precision of perception control, but fortunately this was what he was best at. But even a person like him that could barely use it, could only cover an area of 100 square meters.


    Not everyone could use a six-star card. Chen Mu was always very confident in the precision of his perception control, he never thought that he could only barely use it.


    There were four card slots on Chen Mu''s meter. One of the slots was inserted with a power-card, one with a jet stream card, one with Hundred Changes and the other with Bipolar.


    There were not enough card slots! Chen Mu thought distressedly. The power-card and jet stream card were indispensable, and the Hundred Changes was the main attack card when he was in oblivion, thus it was indefeasible. The only one that could be changed was the Bipolar Card. But the Bipolar Card could attack and defense, so it was quite useful in jungles.


    After much consideration, he decided to retain the Bipolar Card, although the Eternal Night was powerful, it consumed too much perception and was not suitable as the main battle card.


    Imagine how powerful the strength of the perceptions of those well known elites were!


    His gaze suddenly landed on the jet stream card. He had made the Big Mud Fish Card a long time ago, and now it needed to be upgraded. Even though its agility was excellent as always, but it didn''t have much advantage in terms of speed. It was not suitable for fleeing in situations of danger.


    It was not so hard for him to make a higher performance and more controllable jet stream card now, what''s more, he had the help of the Computation Box.


    However...


    His gaze landed on his own meter.


    A bold thought appeared in his mind, perhaps, he could try and make a meter that suited himself. The occurrence of the thought lifted his spirit. In essence, a meter was a type of Card Appliance, but it was an unusual one.


    He plunged into his Jungle Shuttle!


    Deep in the jungle, a great number of transport shuttles were parked by the side of the road to Lijiang City. All the transport shuttles were camouflaged, and more than half were buried in the snow.


    "Uncle, will they really come?" Ru Qiu asked in disbelief.


    "Hmm, of course," Bogner slouched lazily on the commander chair.


    "Why?" Ru Qiu continued to ask doubtfully.


    Bogner was helpless, as he shifted his gaze to Jiang Liang and said casually, "Little Ginger, you answer the question."


    "The enemy base was destroyed, and if word got out, it would certainly ruin their reputations. We are weak forces in the eyes of the enemy! They will definitely attack us at full scale out of anger. They will first start by attacking the garrison nearest to us, entangling us, so that they can surround us completely," Jiang Liang sat bolt upright with a solemn expression on his face and said coldly. "This is their only route, besides, they would never have expected a weak force like us to make the first move. We have the initiative in terms of strategy. While the earliest time reinforcements from other places can arrive is by tomorrow night, this gives us enough time to break through individually. This is called interdiction of enemy reinforcements!"


    "Wow, awesome, Little Ginger!" Ru Qiu said admiringly, she had became more lively than before after getting together with Bogner and the others. As the heir to the dean of Card Making Branch Academy, she was sheltered by everyone at school, but she indirectly became isolated from her peers, resulting in her slightly autistic personality before.


    Jiang Liang sat up straight as usual, the veins on his forehead throbbing once again.


    "But, these are just new card artisans, I''m afraid¡­" Sue Lochiro said worryingly.


    Bogner sat up and laughed, "Don''t worry, Miss Sue Lo, I never expected anything from these new recruits before, all we can rely on are still the old recruits. Just let the new recruits have a feel of the combat atmosphere. But since we are going to lay in ambush for the enemy, the new recruits can still play a role in it.


    From here, the difference in treatment between Sue Lochiro and Ru Qiu could clearly be seen. Little Ru Qiu was a cute little girl in the eyes of Bogner and Xi Ping. But Sue Lochiro was equal to them in their eyes.


    Although they were concerned about whether the relationship between the boss and Sue Lochiro was of friendship or love, they were as yet unclear. However, this was not the factor that decided her position in the team, but the role she played in the team.


    Her medical skills had cured a lot of casualties and her prescribed medicines have caused substantial damage to the enemy.


    In this team, regardless of whether they were leaders like Bogner and Xi Ping or the lowest ranking of card artisans, all of them sincerely respected the kind and capable medical card artisan.


    Right at that moment, there was a report coming from the front line, "Report! Target sighted!"

 517 Su Hanhao

    A man walked out of the shadows. Even though his pace was slow, but an invisible sense of tension suddenly came like a tsunami! Like a devil walking out of the depths of hell, he emitted a dark and deadly demonic aura.


    The man''s facial features were unique. One of his cheeks was dark while the other was ghastly pale. All the people in the crowd gasped when they saw this face, chills emerged in their hearts.


    "Su Hanhao!" Baiyue''s gaze was cold, the intention to murder flashed through her eyes, "Aren''t you heading to Qianhu City?"


    Her heart sank. Based on the information they''ve gotten, they thought that Su Hanhao was heading to Qianhu City to await for an opportunity to sabotage the alliance conference. Even Caesar was on his way to Qianhu City to stop him. But why was he here instead?


    "Haha!" Su Hanhao chuckled with sinister, "How could I miss out on something so good here? It''s only natural that I''d want a taste of what the Bitter Solitude Temple and Star Court wanted. I was troubled at how I would do it all alone, but who would''ve thought, Principal Tang was interested too! How great is that?"


    All the others'' expressions changed drastically. They didn''t think that Tang Hanpei would join hands with Su Hanhao!


    Su Hanhao turned to Tang Hanpei and said, "Little Principal Tang, what about my portion?"


    Tang Hanpei smiled, "I prepared for you in advance, senior." He didn''t mind being called as Little Principal Tang as Su Hanhao''s age was far greater than him and he was a superior from the same era as his mentor Pavchek. He passed over four notebooks and said, "These are the original manuscripts for you. I have made other copies."


    "Principal Tang is indeed someone who is very capable, impressive!" Su Hanhao praised. He received the four notebooks bluntly and flipped through briefly for confirmation that those were original. Tang Hanpei shouldn''t be able to forge them in such a short time.


    Looking at the four notebooks falling into Su Hanhao''s hands, pain struck Tan Yumin''s heart. Ji Zhihao couldn''t help it but secretly praised Tang Hanpei''s intelligence for giving the manuscripts to his partner. By doing so, both parties would hold no grudges, thus their alliance would be more stable. No layman would be willing to hand the manuscripts to others while keeping only a copy.


    "I heard that the first book is in Faya? Let''s pick a time to force them to hand it out! They''re not worthy of having it!" Su Hanhao said darkly.


    "Since senior said so, Hanpei will of course oblige." Tang Hanpei smiled warmly.


    Seeing those two dividing something that belonged to the Bitter Solitude Temple and Star Court inconsiderately, Mei Ji and Siam looked extremely unhappy while Bai Yue kept her stare on Su Hanhao. The Desert Camp was the biggest enemy of the Moon Frost Island, they were like fire and water. They had endless battles in the recent few years, and their hatred towards each other was to the extent of incurable between them.


    Siam''s handsome face changed, but he made his decision in an instance. He said with determination, "Mei Ji and Baiyue, please team up to kill Su Hanhao the maniac, I''ll block Tang Hanpei off!"


    Mei Ji and Baiyue took a glance at each other then surrounded Su Hanhao without hesitation.


    "Haha!" Su Hanhao laughed, "You want to stop me with only the two of you? What a joke!"


    Finishing his sentence, he disappeared from the room like smoke. Baiyue and Mei Ji didn''t hesitate at all, they moved and followed him closely behind.


    Tang Hanpei and Siam confronted each other in the room.


    "You''re brave, but you''re too weak." Tang Hanpei said leisurely, "Perhaps you can fight me in another ten years. But, you''re full of determination, kind of similar to your mentor. However, you think that you can stop me?"


    "Siam''s strength is clearly lacking compared to Principal Tang." Siam''s expression was calm as if there was no fear, "But I''m willing to put my life at risk. If I could stop you just for a moment, it would still be possible to buy some time."


    "Hehe, even if you can delay me for awhile, you think that the two of them can defeat me?" Tang Hanpei looked at Siam with interest.


    "No, there might be a slight chance to defeat you if the three of us combined forces. The two of them are clearly not able to defeat you." Siam shook his head.


    Tang Hanpei raised his brow, "Oh, you''re useless then? You''re sacrificing your life for nothing?"


    Siam looked downwards and said solemnly, "What you said before is correct. I might need another ten years to have the strength to fight you, but this is only under normal circumstances. If I die in this battle, everything goes to dust, but if I don''t, I''ll have another chance to challenge you in five years."


    Tang Hanpei''s face finally showed some amazement, his eyes gleamed with admiration, "Not bad, your mentor accepted good mentees. You''re indifferent and ruthless, you can even abandon your own self, fitting enough for Bitter Solitude Temple''s purpose of selflessness. But, if you''re dead and the two of them challenge me, aren''t you all still at the end of the road?"


    "It''s not good to have the people of the Bitter Solitude Temple to sacrifice themselves." Siam said lightly.


    For some reason, Tan Yumin''s heart had chills when she heard this.


    "Hehe, how are you so sure that I''ll kill them both?" Tang Hanpei smiled.


    "Your enemies are all over the world!" Siam answered flatly.


    "Haha!" Tang Hanpei threw his head back and laughed, he stopped after a while, "Not bad! I admire you more now. Whether you will live or die today, it depends on your ability."


    Tang Hanpei walked out from the door first and Siam followed him without hesitation.


    Only Tan Yumin and Ji Zhihao were left in the room.


    You Yin appeared at the door suddenly and bowed, "Miss."


    "You Yin, guard the door for me. If there are any intruders, kill them." After giving the order, Tan Yumin experienced a fatigueness which she had never felt before, it was as if all her energy was drained from her body.


    "Yes!" You Yin followed the order with respect and stood at the door.


    After some modifications, the interior of the Jungle Shuttle was beyond recognition. Various instruments were placed inside. The various spare parts of the Card Appliance had caused a stench of a mixture of metal and motor oil in the shuttle. If others were to enter, they wouldn''t be able to bear the stench and would leave, but Chen Mu could stay inside comfortably.


    The Computation Box''s lights blinked while it was operating at the corner.


    Many Card Appliance spare parts were placed in front of Chen Mu.


    He didn''t work these few days as his thoughts were filled with one problem.


    The card system became the most important system in the Heavenly Federation society. However, if one thought about it carefully, they would notice that there are many things that are unnecessary. For example, advanced cards and rare materials were not the most important component for the system. The reason that really led the Heavenly Federation to go into the cards era was the usage of power-cards with lower stars, especially its mass production.


    This is the main reason that caused the Heavenly Federation to revolve into the cards era!


    Advanced cards would always belong to a minority of the people. But the power-cards of lower stars were the true support of the society. Their existence caused cards to enter all parts of daily life of the people, including lighting, eating, warming¡­


    The mass production of it was the most important part of all this!


    Right now, all cards with three stars and above would be handcrafted and produced by card masters, this also produced many card masters. However, it also shackled the development of cards.


    Chen Mu wanted to produce a meter initially but he suddenly thought of Faya''s Battle Shuttle Car and many problems that came with it.


    Using his own team as an example, if he wanted to completely change a card, that meant a minimum of 2000 cards would be needed!


    Making an order of 2000 cards in any city would still be a large order. This would require many card masters and they would consume a long period of time to finish it. Chen Mu used to spend few months creating card sets.


    But now, time simply did not allow this to happen.


    He realised that this problem was more valuable than a meter, it was also more important than himself.


    The mass production of cards had always been the main focus of research by various groups. However, no one has succeeded yet. Chen Mu didn''t think that he was more clever than the others but he knew that he had an advantage which the others did not. He was a card artisan and he knew how to produce cards, he also knew the token card technology which was long lost. Furthermore, he knew about metal processing and the way to produce a Card Appliance!


    The knowledge he possessed was an absolute advantage. Although all the knowledge systems were incomplete, but if he could rearrange and assemble them together effectively, it could be of some use.


    This problem sparked his interest. If it could be of some use, it was even more useful to him now. Chen Mu was a loyal pragmatist, he only did research on useful objects. He would never research topics that would be useless to him.


    The difficulty in mass production of cards lied, in perception as perception itself was a medium that was required to fit card materials into the cards themselves. Only card artisans and card masters could use perception, there was no way cold machines could use perception. Moreover, card artisans'' perception cannot be used as a medium as they concentrated on features instead of dispersion.


    A staple reason of why lower star power-cards could be produced in bulk was because they didn''t need the help of perception.


    For now, humans have not found a medium replacement for human perception yet.


    Since nothing was found, then why must perception be replaced? Chen Mu decided to change his way of thinking. His system of knowledge was incomplete but there were basically no fetters. In his mind, nothing was certain and inevitable.


    Chen Mu was familiar with the procedure of cardmaking as he had produced uncountable cards. He could troubleshoot the problem by just honing calmly. The difficulty for a card master in producing cards lied in the control of perception. Due to the fact that the required perception strength was different for each card pattern, it was extremely difficult for the whole process to be perfect. The more advanced the card was, the more complex the pattern. Even if a card master bear it in mind, it would still be very easy to make mistakes in the process of production.


    Humans were not machines, mistakes would definitely be made!


    An idea illuminated Chen Mu''s mind! Humans were not machines, mistakes were natural, but what if machines took over this part of the job, would there not be mistakes anymore?


    As this thought emerged, inspiration rolled in like a flood.


    Chen Mu felt enlightened!


    An undiscovered path was presented in front of him, he felt immense joy from his soul until he trembled!

 518 All Ou

    Su Hanhao laughed sinisterly, "Mei Ji, you''re not worthy of being my opponent, not back then, and not even now. So leave! I only want this kid. Hmph, Jia Yingxia this a foolish woman, I want her to know how great I am. Hehe, give the kid to my eldest son as a slave, how great!"


    Baiyue''s eyes turned clear like ice crystals. A freezing cold aura emitted from her body as if coldness was embedded in her perception. Snowflakes appeared and fluttered in the sky because of this.


    Mei Ji humphed, "Old hag, your habit of talking bulls*it didn''t change at all. I didn''t have the chance to fight with you back then so I wanted to compete with you today. Too bad I don''t have the time to be wasted with you. Kiddo, let''s attack!"


    Before his voice faded away, the two of them launched their attack at the same time.


    Baiyue who was white as snow made her move swiftly. Colourful and ethereal lights formed, turning the dark sky dreamy and unreal. There was a wave of cold and misty air, rippling in the atmosphere as the temperature suddenly fell. In a blink of an eye, snowflakes started to fall from the sky.


    "Aurora Beam?" Su Hanhao''s eyes sharpened, "I wasn''t expecting that woman was willing to give that card to you."


    Mei Ji attacked at the same time. His flushed face like a baby''s turned crimson suddenly. His face was so dark as if blood was seeping out of it. He glared at him without anger but his composure radiated power. He raised his hands, aligned his fingers and pointed at Su Hanhao while he shouted, "Ring of hell!"


    A condensed aura filled every inch of the space. An energy form like a ring flew out from Mei Ji''s fingers slowly.


    "Damn it!" Su Hanhao''s expression turned cold and murderous, "Old Mei Ji, you''re a dead meat today!"


    He didn''t think that Mei Ji would be so desperate in attacking!


    The ring expanded instantly once it left Mei Ji''s fingers, forming a gigantic energy ring of one kilometer in diameter! Su Hanhao was trapped within the energy ring. The intimidating waves of energy fluctuation emitted from the energy ring made him palpitate in terror.


    Su Hanhao''s expression tensed. Without hesitation, he shouted, "The Fiend''s Eye!"


    Countless thin thread-like black energy surrounded him and converged with amazing speed. Nine black eyes were formed by the energy as they orbited around him!


    These black eyes were all shut tightly, swimming around him like fishes.


    The gigantic energy ring grew sideways with amazing speed while extruding from the centre at the same time. It was as if the atmosphere became more tense due to the pressure created.


    In a blink of an eye, the energy ring formed into an energy sphere. Su Hanhao was trapped inside the sphere as it kept shrinking. Its energy walls were getting stronger while the energy sphere shrank, the waves of energy fluctuation released by it was made others feel as though their hearts were pressed down by a stone.


    "Hmph!" Su Hanhao humphed but he couldn''t afford any delay. He didn''t dare to underestimate Mei Ji''s attacks either.


    As he humphed, the nine black eyes surrounded him opened at the same time!


    Siam stood in front Tang Hanpei with a calm expression. He took a bow respectfully, "I''ve had training for Bitter Solitude Temple''s Eight-Armed Dragon, but my training wasn''t enough, I can only summon six arms."


    Tang Hanpei nodded, "I''ve heard about the Eight Armed Dragon, a six-star card from the Bitter Solitude Temple. I''ve also heard that the creator produced it according to the gods from classical religious myths and summoned the Dragon Guardian by energy. The eight arms of the dragon all have different functions. Compared to my energy war puppet from the Comprehensive Federation Academy in the Heavenly Federation, they''re fascinatingly similar in their functions."


    "As an outsider, I have no idea what kind of cards you use. Can I have the honor to witness them?" Siam asked seriously.


    Tang Hanpei smiled free-heartedly, "That depends on whether I have to use it."


    "Please tolerate my pending performance." Without any more nonsensical talk, Siam summoned waves of energy fluctuation which rippled like water with him at the center. Although the waves weren''t strong and had no fiery aura, the whole Dongrui City could feel its presence with clarity.


    A shadow of seven meters in height appeared in front of Siam. The shadow solidified gradually as the pure energy transition presented different colours.


    A barefooted giant stood in front of Siam, his eyes bulged with might and anger. His aura of fierceness and calmness were perfectly balanced together, causing the others to have a desire to worship him. Six of his arms held different weapons whilst the other two arms were faint shadows. Each arm held a Precious Bottle; a bell; a sword; a marble; a gun, and a small shield.


    "The Eight-Armed Dragon is great indeed." Tang Hanpei exclaimed.


    The giant swung his arm that was holding the sword. With a swish, a wave blade was formed from the tip of the sword. The wave blade formed from its light stroke was two meters wide as the giant was seven meters tall. It screamed as it charged towards Tang Hanpei!


    Tang Hanpei smiled faintly. He flipped his right hand and three red diamond-shaped energy spindles with the size of bamboo leaves flew out.


    Compared to the massive wave sword, these three energy spindles were as puny as fireflies. However, with a loud bang, the gigantic slash turned into light debris like a fragile porcelain after it collided lightly with the three energy spindles!


    "No, I can only use the 70% of the Four Pronged Caltrop''s power. If it was Qiao Yuan who was making that move, you would be injured already." Tang Hanpei said without any nostalgia, "The only person in the world who can use a five-star card to this extent is Qiao Yuan."


    "Four Pronged Caltrop! Qiao Yuan!" Siam''s expression became cold, "You don''t have to hurry."


    Even before he finished his sentence, the arm holding the sword continued slashing. Wave blades were formed one by one like ocean waves. They tore through the air and dashed towards Tang Hanpei.


    Tang Hanpei smiled. Without any words, few red energy spindles were striking towards the massive wave blades. Crash! Crash! Crash! The continuous noise of things shattering could be heard clearly and light fragments were heavy as mist. They surged and blurred the night sky.


    The giant lifted the arm that was holding the Precious Bottle suddenly, the mouth of the bottle facing Tang Hanpei.


    Tang Hanpei felt his body limping. With a slight hint of surprise, he said, "Energy disturbance? This is rare." However, he shook his body lightly and broke free.


    The air in front of Tang Hanpei''s eyes became heavily distorted as the Precious Bottle''s light shone brighter. He could even see the disordered ripples within the airwaves. At the same time, the energy in his meter was intensely agitated. An explosion was coming at any time!


    "Interesting." Tang Hanpei smiled interestedly. His eyes expanded suddenly, his perception rose in an instance. At the same time, crack! A crack was formed on the Precious Bottle. Crack crack crack! More cracks were formed and spider web-like cracks covered the whole bottle in a blink of an eye.


    Crash! The Precious Bottle shattered completely!


    Siam humphed, the flush on his handsome face disappeared.


    The Fiend''s Eye was a seven-star card possessed by Su Hanhao, the Chief Military Instructor of the Desert Camp. It was able to form nine black eyes, which were solely composed by energy. Each of the eyes could shoot rays of different characteristics, tricky and unpredictable.


    All nine of the black eyes opened. An unexplainable cold aura was emitted, making the hair of others stand on end.


    Looking at the energy sphere which enclosed him completely, Su Hanhao humphed as a black ray shot out of one of his eyes suddenly!


    Without any noise, the black ray shot through the Energy Ring of Hell!


    However, unexpectedly, the hole recovered itself in a blink of an eye.


    "Mei Ji, you old man. Is this all you''ve got?" Su Hanhao snickered indifferently. Upon finishing his sentence, his gaze densed and the nine eyes assembled in front of him in an instance, forming a nine-square matrix.


    Boom!


    A gigantic light pillar with more than five meters in diameter shot out of the eye matrix! The thick Energy Ring of Hell was as fragile as paper in front of the light pillar. The light pillar went through the energy walls of the ring without any effort!


    Su Hanhao laughed with pride. Then, he flew through the hole made together with the nine eyes.


    As if coming from the depths of a pole, a moan with chills from afar reached his ears, as his expression finally changed!


    "Breath of Aurora Beam!"


    The colourful lights which were originally floating in the night sky was like being pressed and squeezed together by an invisible force, forming a colourful mass of air!


    The colours were drained from Baiyue''s cold face, she was as pale as paper. A streak of blood dribbled from the corner of her mouth, which was a terrifying sight! She was staring at the Energy Ring of Hell which shrunk into the size of a house.


    The mass of air flew into the hole made by Su Hanhao. The destructive energy that was stored in the mass exploded in the air.


    The air mass exploded without any warning the moment it flew into the Energy Ring of Hell!


    The extremely icy chills raged in the sealed Energy Ring of Hell. The temperature in the ring went down to -80 degrees instantly! A layer of ice crystals even formed on Su Hanhao''s brows as his whole body tensed.


    Mei Ji had nothing else to lose at that time. He straightened his right arm and pointed towards the Energy Ring of Hell. He took a breath as the muscles on his right arm contracted. He glared with anger, clenched his right palm and shouted, "Sink!"


    Puff! Puff! Puff! Blood gushed from his right arm, elbow and wrist simultaneously.


    The Energy Ring of Hell shrunk suddenly and collapsed towards the center. The thick energy walls became soft like plasticine and collapsed softly towards the center as if there was a blackhole absorbing everything in!


    Suddenly, rays of different colours shot out of the soft plasticine. Baiyue''s expression changed slightly while Mei Ji glared coldly.


    Boom!


    As if they were fused, the light rays exploded with a boom!


    Brilliant rays and orange explosion lights illuminated the night sky of Dongrui City and the explosion sound waves spread through the whole city, destroying strong walls with high protective ability into debris effortlessly! A huge mushroom cloud rose slowly as if the city was hell on earth.


    "I''m not Su Hanhao if I don''t get my vengeance!" A voice filled with deep hatred faded away.


    Both Mei Ji and Baiyue were frightened! They weren''t expecting such a huge explosion. They put in their most effort for this attack, they were not even bothered to injure themselves, yet Su Hanhao was still unharmed! The two of them could only try to stabilize their body at that time, they didn''t have the energy to chase after him anymore.


    Judging from the situation, they could only let Su Hanhao escape.


    Suddenly, without any signs, a monstrous and murderous aura filled every inch of the air! The people had an illusion that everything in their vision was stained with blood and a strong stench of blood filled the air.


    A shadow carrying a bloody crescent larger than a human appeared!


    "Caesar! You¡­"


    All noises ceased suddenly!

 519 Turning the concept into reality

    "We need assistance! We need assistance! We are under heavy attack!" A man wearing military uniform shouted to his meter. An extreme desperation was shown in his voice!


    However, he was at the wilderness. The telecommunication card was of no use at all. His efforts were all fruitless attempts.


    "The opponent''s attack is too strong! Commander! You have to retreat!" The adjutant general shouted in panic.


    The commander switched off the meter dejectedly and said, "Retreat? Where can we go?"


    The adjutant general knew that his words would be of no use through his commander''s reaction. He stormed forward, struck the commander to unconsciousness, then carried him out and away from the Shuttle. The guards assembled outside earlier but only less than half of them were left. The adjutant general couldn''t bother much and he then placed an order urgently, "All of you, attack from the northwest!"


    He had realized that the attacks coming from the northwest were way weaker.


    These card artisans who had gotten ambushed raised their courage and stormed towards the northwest direction following the adjutant general.


    Everything in the frontline could be seen clearly on the screen in the transport shuttle''s commanding room.


    Sue Lochiro and Ru Qiu felt pity for the enemies when they saw their corpses in the blood pools. However, they were not foolish enough to plead to Bogner to stop the massacre. It was a war and this would decide whether they were able to survive. Most of the time, the results would be either they won or they died . It was a cruel reality after all and they clearly understood how it would work.


    Ru Qiu suddenly realized that the card artisans were about to escape. Therefore, she couldn''t help but to point at the screen and shouted, "Uncle! They are trying to escape!"


    "Heh! They will not be able to escape." Bogner laughed.


    Although Ru Qiu had no idea what was going on. However, she knew that Bogner had definitely well-prepared when heard his laugh.


    Indeed, right when she thought that the card artisans had managed to escape from the siege, an overwhelming attack dropped towards them without any signs.


    "Hmm.. Seems like there''s another ambush here. Uncle, this is troublesome though. You could''ve just eliminate all of them in the siege just now",said Young Ru Qiu.


    "This is due to the consideration of injuries and deaths. If these people were to realise that they had no way to escape, they would defend themselves with their full capacity and thus, it would most probably cause deaths to our team. There are many newly-recruited soldiers in this troop and it is fine if they were to go for a casual war. However, these fresh soldiers could easily turn panic when there were plenty of deaths. Therefore, it would not benefit us this way." Bogner explained.


    Jiang Liang nodded as he kept Bogner''s words deep inside his mind.


    "Wow! You''re awesome, Uncle!" Qiu Ru then suddenly thought of a question. "Uncle, did you teach anyone in how to fight in a war before this? Did anyone invite you to become their coach? Don''t you have any mentees?"


    "Haha. No." As if he had recalled something, Bogner stunned for awhile. He then shook his head, "Well, I''ll consider him as half of my mentee."


    "Half a mentee?" Ru Qiu looked confused.


    "It is a long story. I don''t even know where exactly is the item now. Perhaps it had been thrown away to the dumpster." Bogner''s tone was filled with nostalgia while mocking himself.


    He suddenly made a laugh and said, "Well, I guess it''s time for me to get a mentee as I''m getting older. Little Jiang, be my mentee. What do you think?"


    Jiang Liang buzzed with excitement. He stood straight and bowed, "Yes, mentor!"


    "You are a bit old-fashioned. Boss is better than you in this term. It''s too bad that he''s not here. If not, you two could''ve been brothers." Bogner laughed.


    "Uncle, you''re too greedy! Are you trying to make Boss your mentee too?" Ru Qiu was showing a disdainful look. Ru Qiu had considered Chen Mu as her half mentor, even though she had never called him as her mentor, but Chen Mu did act like one whenever she was in trouble. If Chen Mu was to become Bogner''s mentee, she would have to address Bogner as her master''s master.


    Looking at Ru Qiu''s naive and cute face, Sue Lochiro couldn''t help to smile at her.


    Bogner laughed too, "Boss is the most intelligent person I''ve ever met. He doesn''t show off his intelligence, unlike any other. Little Jiang, you are a wise man too. However, you are indeed distinct from your Boss. You''re rigorous in nature and the way you deal with task assigned is extremely careful. Moreover, you seldom make silly mistakes. You are going to be great in the future with your upright personality. Facing against such commander like you would be a pain in the ass because you don''t make mistakes! When your opponent made a mistake, you would take the opportunity to maximize your advantage, leading your team towards victory. Boss isn''t the same. Rules and procedures do not exist in his mind. From the way he attacked the Big Bad Wolves, it had clearly shown that he had the courage to take on risks and he knew exactly how to adapt to various circumstances. If Little Jiang was labelled as righteous, Boss can be called as eccentric. However the remarkable thing is even though Boss is strange, he is still an honourable person! I find it unbelievable. How could he know such things when nobody had ever taught him so?"


    Xi Ping was enjoying his tea. "Did anyone ever taught him a thing? Perhaps Wei-ah was the only one who provide him advice and knowledge. What about card making and card artisan skills? He is a maniac."


    "Wei-ah is a maniac." Bogner continued saying.


    Bark! Bark! Bark! The fat dog was barking while staring at Bogner with hostility, getting ready to lunge towards him.


    Cold sweat streamed down from Bogner''s head as Sue Lochiro comforted the fat dog before it lied down once again slowly. Among the people, the fat dog would only allow Sue Lochiro to get near to itself as she used to remove a spur from its tongue before.


    "Sir, the enemies have been wiped out! 19 of our men are injured and 1 dead." The person making the report was Lu Xiaoru. She stood valiantly like an experienced card artisan, very attractive.


    "I wasn''t expecting any deaths." Bogner shook his head and muttered, "They''re indeed new recruits!"


    He looked at Jiang Liang and said, "Oh yeah. Regarding the news previously, where did boss go?"


    Jiang Liang said, "Boss had left Dongrui City and he had entered into the wood together with the newly-recruited card artisans. His destination remained unknown."


    As their [Thousand-kilometers Card] was destroyed, they couldn''t make any contact with Chen Mu and Wei-ah. Fortunately, they knew about Chen Mu''s disguise identity and therefore, they could manage to acquire some information about their Boss''s tracks from the news as Chen Mu''s actions were catchy headlines.


    "What is Boss trying to do?" Bogner went deep in thought. With Boss''s actions of massive recruiting card artisans and disappearing from Dongrui City into the forest, Bogner couldn''t guess what his next step would be. "Should we send help to him? No way! Boss is located too far away from them."


    Boss¡­


    His focus fell onto the map once again. He then immediately dropped an order. "Take a three hour break. We''re heading back to Lijiang City."


    Aside from the table light in front of Chen Mu, there was total darkness in the jungle shuttle. Many spare parts were placed in front of him. Although he didn''t learn much from the Wanqi Tribe''s superb metal processing skills, he still had a knack to produce metal spare parts that he needed.


    His concept wasn''t complicated because he was planning to make a ''mold''. After inserting card ink and perception into the mold, the perception would undergo a special arrangement following the pattern. The moment the ''mold'' got into contact with the blank card, a chemical reaction would occur between the card ink in the pattern, the perception, and the blank card, and eventually, a new card was formed!


    Therefore, all a card makers needed to do would be to insert Perception!


    Even though the concept was simple, but when it came to creating the card, it was way more difficult.


    The hardest step was to control the Perception in distributing according to the pattern.


    The final functional structure would be the token structure, which was not a complicated structure. What inspired Chen Mu was the simple Water World, which was already quite an unobtainable card for him. The simple Water World was extremely sensitive to the strength of Perception. Only a certain level of strength of Perception could trigger some specific criteria of the Water World card.


    Chen Mu was trying to utilise this characteristic to scale his perception strength. When his perception reached the required value, the part that inserted Perception would automatically turn towards the other parts of the pattern. When the whole pattern had achieved the labelled value, the machine would automatically cut off the injection of Perception and a card would be successfully made.


    The completed trial machine had occupied almost half of the space in the jungle shuttle.


    A square light appeared right in front of Chen Mu. It was the projected image of the mold''s core, which was also the machine''s central system. He had to complete the pattern and to finish labelling the perception value on every part of the pattern .


    He took out a black basic iron rod with a glowing spot on the tip of the rod. If one were to look closely, the size of the light spot was exactly the same with the nib of his [Weak Water] card.


    Using the ray on top of the iron bar as a penpoint, Chen Mu started drafting the card''s pattern on the square projected screen.


    Along with the swirling of his penpoint, a thin bright line was formed on the projected screen. He drew carefully without pausing. He was drawing the pattern of a 3-star Energy card which he could already rattled off. He managed to complete the drawing in a short time. He checked again before he put down the iron bar satisfactorily.


    Right now, what he needed to do was the second step, which would be to complete the labelling of credits on all parts of the pattern.


    He placed the pattern horizontally in front of him and picked up another iron rod. The light spot on the front end of the rod was in glowing in bright red. He tipped twice on the pattern he had completed previously and it expanded in front of him instantly. The pattern which was originally the size of half a palm of an infant''s, enlarged immediately into the size of a desk. All the details of the pattern could be seen clearly in front of him.


    Without hesitating, Chen Mu took the iron rod and started drawing on the top side of the pattern. He raised and lowered the iron rod while drawing around the pattern. Sooner or later, an uneven red line appeared on the pattern. The parts drawn by the red line appeared on a red screen, joining the pattern with the red line together.


    Upon completing his drawing, the flat pattern became bulge with uneven surfaces, like an ancient city wall. The position of the red line represented the strength of Perception required at each part.


    After checking again, he had finally assured that there were no mistakes in the labelling of the credits.


    After completing all the steps, he started to formulate the card ink needed to produce a 3-stars Energy card. He worked swiftly as he had created plenty of 3-stars Energy cards before.


    He inserted the freshly formulated card ink into the machine carefully.


    He took a deep breath after completing all these tasks!


    Whether it''s a success or failure, it''s all up to this moment!

 520 The Wolf is here!

    Blood sprayed out of the neck of a headless body near to Caesar. Su Hanhao''s skull dropped to the floor and rolled for a distance as his eyes bulged. He died with his eyes wide-opened.


    Caesar took an unconcerned glance at Su Hanhao''s head and muttered, "You have a good son. He is much more cruel than you."


    After finishing his sentence, he leaned over and took the ''Madman''s Eyes'' from Su Hanhao''s meter. Then, he searched for the four notebooks from his body.


    "Caesar! Leave the stuff there!" Meiji shouted in anger.


    Caesar made a cynical expression. He took a cold glance at Meiji and without saying anything, he leaped into the air.


    Watching Caesar''s figure disappearing in the night sky, Meiji couldn''t help it but slumped to the floor, his face was pale. With blood dripping from her mouth, Baiyue glanced at Su Hanhao''s disintegrated body and shivered. Another top notched card artisan in the Heavenly Federation has fallen.


    She muttered blankly, "The Desert Camp doesn''t have 7-star cards anymore."


    There were only six 7-star cards in the entire Federation and each Family owned one of the cards, symbolising their status. This was the first time one of them had lost their 7-star card.


    "How can a 7-star card possesses such great power? " Su Heiming laughed sinisterly. There was a murderous aura in his brown eyes. His tone was unusual. "Tell them the operation starts now. Leave no one alive. Oh, and for my brother, just kill him. I have nothing to ask."


    "Yes, sir!" Zhu Heng took his order.


    Siam lay on a pool of blood behind Tang Hanpei without breathing.


    He walked towards Tan Yumin''s room and saw You Yin standing there and his body was full of blood. Three corpses laid on the floor in front of him. "You''re brave and loyal. Good job." He then threw a card to him, "You deserve the 6-star [Eight-Armed Dragon]."


    You Yin took the card without saying a word.


    In the silence of the night, he walked further in. It was a great shock to him when he saw Ji Zhihao who was lying on the floor. He approached him swiftly and leaned over to examine him. After a moment he rose and looked around with fury, "Who did this?"


    You Yin felt ashamed and guilty. He said, "I have failed to block a hit from the Energy Shuttle and Mr. Ji blocked it with his body."


    Tan Yumin was grieved. She lost the sparks in her eyes while she stared at Ji Zhihao on the floor blankly.


    Ji Zhihao''s look was peaceful with a smile, as if he was thinking about something happy when he died.


    "Can''t believe you left me too."


    Tan Yumin''s face was as pale as paper. A trail of blood seeped from her mouth, she was on the verge of collapsing.


    Tang Hanpei took a glance at Tan Yumin and touched the side of her neck with his hand and said, "She''s grieving and it might affect her body. Let''s just go."


    You Yin packed his things silently while following Tang Hanpei.


    "What''s your name?" asked Tang Hanpei.


    "You Yin."


    "You did very well. Would you like to be my bodyguard?"


    You Yin shook his head, "There are many masters under Principal Tang''s tutor. My level is low and insignificant. Therefore, I don''t think I''m eligible for such huge responsibility. Madam is lonely and helpless. She is going through a rough time and she would need someone to take care of her."


    Tang Hanpei turned and stared at him while You Yin was calm without showing any sign of fear.


    Tang Hanpei said with regret, "Since you insist, I will not pressure you any further. In the future, if Miss Yumin decided to stay in Kyoto, I''ll allow you to enrol in the Comprehensive Federation Academy in the Federation."


    "Thank you very much, Principal!" You Yin spoke in a genuine tone.


    The Blood-Red Card Artisan Team headquarters.


    The person with the highest position is the master of the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team, Yan Yusu. He was a card artisan with great reputation in the Federation. However, he seemed worried.


    "The situation here is terrible. Five of our teams got ambushed by the enemy and five support units were eliminated. None of them made it out alive. Four of our bases were ransacked. We are now a joke in the whole Federation!" An enraged youngster was shouting indignantly.


    Someone suddenly laughed, "A joke? We''re already a joke ever since the whole Blood Hammer Unit was defeated."


    The youngster suddenly went stunned and anger appeared on his face. "You tell me, what are we supposed to do then? Should we just let them be?"


    "I think that we shouldn''t attack the Snow Silks Worm Card Artisan Team", said one of them.


    Yan Yusu''s expression was unpleasant. "What''s the purpose of saying all these nonsense? Why didn''t you all tell us so at that time? Hmph! Aren''t all of you busy discussing how to split the fluorescent ores? And yet all of you are giving belated advice now!"


    The crowd instantly went silent.


    Yan Yusu scanned through the crowd slowly and but they were too scared to look at him.


    Yan Yusu humphed and looked over a middle-aged man sitting at his right. "Yizhi, you are always full of great ideas. It''s time for you to share your thoughts."


    The middle-aged man is Yang Yizhi, the most knowledgeable individual of the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team. He had great contribution in the team''s development. As a worthy member of the team, he was respected by many.


    Yang Yizhi''s face was sorrowful, which was a rare sight. The crowd was starting to realise that things were getting serious and therefore, they chose to be silent.


    Yang Yizhi took a sigh and said, "Honestly, I wasn''t expecting the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team to be so powerful. I must bear half of the blame for this mistake. "


    "Yizhi''s word is wrong. All of us had agreed to his idea that time. Therefore, we have to bear the responsible for it!" Yan Yusu said unhappily."Moreover, the question of who''s to be blamed is not the main concern now."


    "The Commander is right!"


    "Indeed!"


    The crowd started talking all at once.


    Yang Yizhi''s expression was intense. He said slowly, "This is an unprecedented crisis since the establishment of the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team!"


    Someone in the crowd started to scream in horror.


    "Our enemy is different from the ones we had faced against before. We have underestimated their strength in the beginning and we are being forced to a passive situation now. Our current enemy is wise. Furthermore, the defeat of the Blood Hammer Unit had indicated that our strength has fallen to the lowest point throughout the entire history. Honestly, though I do not want to admit this, we have dropped out from the list of the most powerful card artisan teams in the Heavenly Drum Village District."


    The crowd remained silent.


    "Without a doubt, our enemy must have an excellent commander! The defeat of Blood Hammer Unit and the recent ambush were all well-done and unexpected. They had even guessed correctly the specific routes of our allied forces that we are not clear of. This requires an ultimate strategic planning sense!"


    "Even though our team, the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team is strong and good in battles, we are aware that we don''t have such talent in strategy planning, neither do any card artisan teams in the Heavenly Drum Village District has it. Previously, I have suspected that they were from the military."


    "The military?" Someone in the crowd gasped once again.


    "The military is where these geniuses at. However, after going through consideration, I have disregarded my guess. If there were something between the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team and the military, all they need to do is give us a warning and we would not interrupt. Yet, they were willing to give up the purple fluorescent ores. It''s clear to conclude that there was nothing between them solely based on this fact. After that, I started to think again, who would it be?" Yang Yizhi said solemnly, "Someone like that will never appeared out of the blue. After a long research, I have finally traced some clues while I waited for news from our frontline."


    Yan Yusu was curious, "Yizhi, did you find anything?"


    "Does anyone remember the card artisan team called the Black Hibiscus from 10 years ago?" Yang Yizhi said slowly.


    "Ah, the Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team!"


    "What''s that? I''ve never heard of it?"


    "I thought they got completely eliminated?"


    There were clearly two different types of response from the crowd. Some of them were frightened while the rest were confused. It was clear that they had never heard of the name before.


    Yan Yusu''s expression was grave. He yelled with a deep voice, "How could it be them?"


    Yang Yizhi shook his head, "It''s just an assumption. However, look at how the Blood Hammer Unit was defeated. Isn''t it similar to the battle where the Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team became famous? Not just that, I have collected some specific information about the battle between the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team and the Downstream Alliance and I had realised that their battle styles are highly similar to the Black Hibiscus. Moreover, the ambush of support units few days ago is one of the most remarkable tactics of the Bosnian wolf in the Black Hibiscus Card Artisans Team!"


    There was total silence down there. All the elders looked worried. The younger ones also knew that the Black Hibiscus Card Artisan which they''ve never heard of must be experts.


    "The absurd disappearance of the Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team is still an unsolved mystery. Nobody knew what really happened to them in the past or whether they''re all dead. Of course, I cannot confirm that the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team is the Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team. All I can say is, there are many similar points between these two." Yang Yizhi paused and said, "I suspect that the person commanding the battle is the wolf!"


    "The wolf is still alive?" Cao Zhengqiu was confused.


    Jie Yanbai was drinking cold water while crunching an apple which had cost him one Oudi for 10 of it. He asked with his mouth full, "Wolf? Was he a great one?"


    "Yes, he was very powerful indeed! He was a person that I admired a lot!" Cao Zhengqiu grabbed an apple from Jie Yanbai''s table and started munching, "He was the commander for the card artisan team that had even won over the military."


    "Is it true? That''s awesome." Jie Yanbai was astounded as he suddenly stopped cunching the apple in his mouth.


    "Yes, he used to be my idol! There were too few battles that could be used for research back in the day. I have spent a lot of effort on that battle, I even wrote five thesis. It''s too bad that bunch of swines burned them all like waste papers." Cao Zhengqiu said.


    Jie Yanbai raised his spirit and said, "Do we have the chance to pull him over to our team?"


    Cao Zhengqiu shook his head, "It is impossible if it was really him. He was skeptical towards the Great Six. It seemed like those from humble origins don''t really like the Great Six."


    "Yeah. The Great Six is corrupted." Jie Yanbai''s words was also filled with sarcasm.


    Cao Zhengqiu continued to flip the report in his hands. "Your brother went into the woods too. He had brought in so many people. What is his intention? The previous battle he had with the Big Bad Wolves was interesting."


    "The White Commander?" Jie Yanbai continued munching on his apple while shaking his head and said, "I can''t seem to read him, just like his mentor Caesar, the Deicide. Nobody can understand them. However, he would not be our enemy."


    "Our enemy?" Cao Zhengqiu adjusted his glasses and switched his focus back on the apple in his hand, "You''re right. The Comprehensive Federation Academy in the Heavenly Federation is our enemy. Tang Hanpei had obtained some great rewards this time. All four of Tan Yumin notebooks had fell


    into his hands."


    Jie Yanbai stopped his hands'' movement once again, "the card appliance notebooks?"


    "Yeap." Cao Zhengqiu thought for awhile, "However, we don''t have to panic. Even if he had acquired that item, it would take a very long time for him to digest. In addition, he had got himself into big trouble this time. Publicly stealing things from the Star Academy and Bitter Solitude Temple would not bring any good to him "


    "Let them deal with the mess while we continue in our plans." Jie Yanbai agreed as he straightened his back. The futon under him was hard as rock but he didn''t seem to be bothered by it. The Principal''s room was nothing but four walls as it was fairly empty inside. There were only a desk, a chair, an old coffee table and some futons. The luxurious items were sold off by Jie Yanbai in an auction for Oudis to be used as the institute''s development fund.


    "Su Heiming is such a cruel person. He had even hurt his father",said Cao Zhengjiu. "The Desert Camp is getting more dangerous today! Jia Yingxia had lost an enemy by killing Su Hanhao but it''s hard to say whether it''s for the better or worse. She should be having headaches now. Who would''ve thought that Su Heiming would join forces with people from the Mohadi Domain? He is indeed powerful."


    "Oh yes, those guys from the Deep had been suspended for quite some time already. What do you think about that?" Jie Yanbei asked in all seriousness.


    Cao Zhengqiu shook his head, "I''ve thought about this for a long time. A cooperation would require some benefit exchange between the parties. Yet we can''t seem to be able to offer any good bargains. The people from the Deep are not doing charity with their wealth. Furthermore, what they can provide to us right now is limited. They are experts in assassination but to assassinate Tang Hanpei, it would sound impossible to them."


    "Yeah, I have the same thought." Jie Yanbei shrugged and said reluctantly.


    "Oh yeah. Are you thinking of switching your card?" Cao Zhengqiu suddenly thought of this question. "Leaving the 7-star card in the governor''s hands would be such a waste."


    Jie Yanbai shook his head, "I''ve seen the governor''s 7-star card before. It is not a battle card. Therefore, I have given it to Madam Zhi Lian.


    "That''s such a waste!" Cao Zhengqiu blabbered. "The climax is around the corner. I thought you are getting another big killer weapon!"


    Jie Yanbai laughed and said, "I have to learn from Senior Qiao Yuan. The [Rouged Finger] is given by my mentor, I would never changed it. Hmm, what are we supposed to do next? Chief Officer Cao, please give us an instruction."


    Cao Zhengqiu lifted his finger and looked at Jie Yanbai with all seriousness.


    "Defense! Withdraw into passive defense! Our core mindset should be - we are hard tortoises!"


    The principal and the director of academic affairs of the Star Academy looked at the two of them while getting headaches.


    Nick was wearing a little bear pyjamas and his hair was messy. He sat there with his head tilted. His saliva dripped from his mouth and his snoring noises rose while Rossiji smiled at him. He was wearing a singlet with his body shape as big as a meat mountain.


    These two were too stubborn to learn anything, which had caused others troubles in explaining anything to them.


    With a soft cough, the director of academic affairs said with a stern expression. "Qing Qing had failed her mission and we are unsatisfied with her performance. We have also lost track of Chen Mu and all our clues are gone just like that. Besides, Tang Hanpei act of publicly stealing the card appliance notebooks away from Tan Yumin had caused injury to Meiji."


    Nick''s snores continued while Fatty was still smiling.


    The principal and the director took a glance at each other and both of them saw the helplessness in each other''s eyes.


    "Don''t you even feel like doing anything?" The director was unhappy.


    The principal waved his hand, signaling the director to stop talking.


    He stood up and stared at the two with his eyes as deep as the ocean.


    Nick''s snore paused and the smile on Fatty''s face was a bit awkward.


    "Rossiji. Did you get anything useful from the analysis you did on Chen Mu last time?" The principal''s voice was dignified.


    "No." Fatty shook his head.


    The principal had stopped asking. He handed over a report to Fatty instead. Fatty didn''t take over the report but he was looking at him while smiling.


    The principal was acting like he didn''t see Fatty''s look. He said directly, "You''re not concerned with the institute''s matters and that''s why you are always missing out many things. This is a report regarding the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team. They have recently wiped out the Blood Hammer Unit from the Blood-red Card Artisan Team, and they have completed five continuous ambushes. The person doing the research on this report is Tom and I suppose you two are friends. Following his guess, the wolf from 10 years ago is back."


    Fatty''s smiley face suddenly became as sharp as a knife.


    The principal took a glance at him and said faintly, "You''re from the Great Six. As a highborn, you had the best form of education. You''re arguably the most outstanding talent cultivated by the Great Six and also the strongest in strategic planning in the military system. The wolf came from an ordinary background with low status. He had never received any proper education. Someone like that could even suppress the Federation military for 10 years! Such an insult!"


    "How about Chen Mu? He was a wanderer and he sold 1-star energy cards to sustain his live. He wasn''t even qualified to enter the Hua district. However, he was lucky. Someone like that would not catch my attention normally but now, he has grown into a remarkable person. See, even you admire his achievement."


    The principal''s tone was still calm when he said this.


    "Don''t you think that I''m looking down on them. On the contrary, I''m afraid of them!"


    Nick opened his eyes in shock while Fatty''s smile faded along.


    "People only see Tang Hanpei and consider that he is the biggest enemy of the Federation. However, what scares me the most is the wolf and Chen Mu. You should take a look at our history. The ending of an era has always been led by someone from humble origins. They stepped on our corpse, sprayed our blood, deprive us of our nobility to build their own era. We will be classified as the lowest status while they build their own royal class. This is the replacement of an era."


    The principal''s deep and hoarse voice echoed in the room.


    "The issue of the Federation falling into Tang Hanpei''s hands is only a matter in our internal hierarchy. No matter what, he came from the same hierarchy and therefore, even with spilled blood, he will not destroy everything. However, if the Federation was to fall into those hangdogs''s hands, all of us might as well go to hell. The entire Federation will be crushed and it will be forced to rebuild."


    "How can they have such powerful strength?" Nick muttered.


    "They wouldn''t stand a chance if they were in the past. However, with the internal dissension and constant conquests between the Great Six, most of our energy would be spent on the internal issues." The signs of aging on the principal''s face were obvious, "Even if I knew all these, I am unable to put a stop on it. Exactly like when the Star Academy Fought back after what Tang Hanpei had done to them. Do we have any other choice?"


    The two of them went into silence.


    Suddenly, the principal stared at Rossiji intensely.


    "Rossiji. Don''t you feel excited about catching the wolf and Chen Mu?"

 521 Wood Word Camp

    There was an enormous troop setting up a camp in the woods. It was not easy for a troop containing of thousands of members to camp in the wild as it required a lot of work. They had to survey the surrounding land to make sure they did not trespass the territory of some ferocious beasts, at the same time, secure the source of water. The team was mainly made up of seasoned and senior card artisans. They were more experienced than Chen Mu in this aspect. However, it still took a long time for the team of thousands to explore during the jungle trekking.


    Jungle trekking at such an enormous scale was a very difficult thing for any of the card artisan teams. Till now, the military was the only party who had carried out professional research on this. However, the performance of the communication equipments could barely keep up with the standard of the military''s needs. Hence, most of the studies regarding jungle trekking were actually vain attempts. They normally relied more on the experience of the jungle experts.


    On the high ground circumfering the base camp, there were two card artisans guarding the place every 500 meters.


    "Bear! Bear! Is there any issue?"


    "Iron Rhino! Clear!"


    "Tiger! Tiger! Is everything alright?"


    "Iron Rhino! All clear!"


    ...


    Every card artisan was equipped with a unique telecommunication card. The card could ensure their communication with each other within a diameter of 150 kilometers. ''Iron Rhino'' was their secret code tonight. Initially, there was dispute regarding the decision of the secret code. Everyone had their own suggestions. Then they saw Wei-ah once again brought back another beast, they decided to make whatever beast Wei-ah brought back as their secret code of the day.


    ...


    Tonight, Wei-ah brought a Winter Iron Rhino back!


    Under the night sky, a few disc-shaped card appliances were flying around in the sky above the camp quietly. The card appliances containing of a powerful probe card were very useful although it was in the winter woods. In the base camp, there were three scouting cars that were specially modified from the jungle shuttles. For 24 hours, team members took turns in the scouting cars, constantly checking on the informations sent by the card appliances.


    "Before this, I would have never believed anyone who told me that forest life is easy," Fu Dong said sentimentally as he drank his warm meat stew.


    Wen Renhong took a glimpse at the shut forest shuttles with an evil gaze, as he agreed, "I didn''t know that boss even possessed forest communication technology. If I''m right, isn''t Central Island Firm the only party who owns the forest communication technology?"


    High security was enforced on the shuttles. Besides Chen Mu, Wei-ah and a few others, everyone else was forbidden to go near to the shuttle. There was no exception for the grade seven card artisans.


    Their eyes were filled with thoughts and wonders.


    Qiu Shanyu sat beside the fire and was slowly drinking the hot stew. The other card artisans remained a few meters away from her. For as they knew, Qiu Shanyu''s origin was a mystery. They had never heard of her speaking. Moreover, Chrysanthemum and the Hit Man always treated her in a weird manner.


    "How many days has it been since boss'' last appearance?" Kuangshi asked. Since the day they gathered the winter gland of the Snow Bear, she had been hoping Chen Mu to make a card for her.


    Fu Dong answered, "It''s been five days."


    Wen Renhong chuckled, "Shi Shi, it''s useless for you to feel anxious. Boss is not a fool. If he makes us cards now and accidentally raises a few tigers in his own den, then he would be bringing trouble to himself."


    He took a glimpse at Wu Jie after he spoke.


    Fu Dong gently furrowed his brows, "Don''t speak groundlessly!"


    Wen Renyong laughed nonchalantly, "Nonetheless, we all know it clearly."


    As usual, Wu Jie did not bother to even look at them.


    Qiu Shanyu continued to silently drink the meat stew as though whatever happened before her eyes was completely irrelevant to her. In fact, she was very anxious. She had no clue if Faya had started to act upon Scarlet Card Artisan Team. What she had observed from the past few days made her realize how powerful was the energy of the man, whom she did not expect to be so shady! If Faya could form an alliance with this man, their ability would increase rapidly!


    After many years of work, the battle shuttle car was the only result from Faya. The remaining projects were left hanging. However, the card appliances she had witnessed in the past few days was beyond her imagination. Chen Mu''s status in her heart skyrocketed. She believed that if Chen Mu was willing to lend his hand to Faya, they would be able to create breakthroughs in all the stagnant projects.


    She only wished that the superiors did not overlook her opinion this time but quickly pressurize the Scarlet Card Artisan Team as this could be the easiest way to earn Chen Mu''s favour.


    In her opinion, the Scarlet Card Artisan Team was already doomed.


    Drenched, Rafael lied on the ground weakly. The card artisans around him looked at him in admiration.


    Bei Ling could not be bothered by the fact that he was dirty, and helped him up with strenuous effort. She ranted, "How can boss assign you with such a ridiculous plan? If this happened in the academy, he would''ve been charged with intentional homicide!"


    Rafael gritted his teeth in agony, yet, could not help but reply, "That''s not true. Boss is doing this for my own sake."


    "I know," Bei Ling said as she bit her lips and slowly dragged him into the tent with her greatest effort. Warm water had already been prepared inside the tent. A pit with a depth of approximately one meter was made impromptu and the wall of the pit was coated with solid materials. The pit was turned into a simple pool, filled with warm water.


    Bei Ling pushed Rafael into the pool. She giggled as two faint dimples appeared on her cheeks, "Drowned rat!"


    Rafael moaned out of comfort. Bei Ling sat beside the pool and said, "I didn''t know you admire boss that much."


    "It''s only natural for me to admire him," Rafael said without contemplating, "I could only achieve what I have today because of boss'' nurturing. You''ll never expect that, six months ago, my perception was only at level-4."


    "What? How is that possible?" Bei Ling exclaimed with her mouth covered.


    "Ha! It''s true. That''s why I''ll carry out all the plans boss customized for me no matter how strict it is. They may not understand what''s the benefit of the plans, but I can understand it clearly," he said proudly, "All the card artisans who have worked under boss have improved greatly. Without boss, I''ll not be who I am today. I belong to boss forever!"


    Bei Ling tilted her head. She said as she bit her fingernail, "Well, it seems to be a good idea to follow boss if he''s as good as you said."


    Finally, Chen Mu exited the jungle shuttle. He appeared to be a little lethargic, yet his eyes were filled with joy and energy.


    They had been executing strict military discipline at the base camp. The patrolling card artisans carried the aura of a soldier as all their actions were uniformed and stiff. The base camp was very quiet at night. All of the card artisans were worned out by the full day training and had fallen asleep soundly at this hour.


    As Fu Dong and the rest saw Chen Mu exiting, they quickly stood up.


    Xiaobo and Sang Hanshui hurriedly walked towards Chen Mu while the rest of them sensibly stayed at their own places.


    "Boss, did you manage to make anything good?" Xiaobo asked excitedly in a low voice.


    Sang Hanshui was not as mischievous as Xiaobo. He handed a stack of report to Chen Mu, "Boss, this is the summary of the training for the past few days. There are a few tactical regulations that have been proven to bring a less satisfying result after testing it in real life battles. I''ve recorded all of that down."


    He carried fierceness in his aura and his triangular pair of eyes were sharp and frightening. Being the main instructor leading the troop, it was understandable for him to change his character.


    "Good job." Chen Mu took over the thick report as he requested, "Conduct a competition tomorrow and pick the best team."


    Xiaobo''s eyes beamed with excitement, "Boss, what''s the prize?"


    Sang Hanshui, too, was anticipating, as boss would usually cook up something unique.


    "A makeover," Chen Mu said as he read through the report in his hand.


    "Makeover?" Xiaobo and Sang Hanshu widened their eyes as they stared at each other. After a moment, Sang Hanshui stammered, "Boss, there are four hundred people in a team."


    "I know. And I''ve prepared six hundred cards," Chen Mu replied nonchalantly as his eyes never left the report.


    "600 cards in five days¡­" The corner of Xiaobo''s eyes twitched, "Boss, what''s the level of the cards?"


    "500 three-star cards and 100 four-star cards. I intended to make more, but, unfortunately, I ran out of materials," Chen Mu''s gaze still fixed on the report. All the details and issues from the training in the past few days were recorded thoroughly on the report. Sang Hanshui was not a talented captain, yet, he worked diligently and adhered to Chen Mu''s order rigorously.


    Xiaobo and Sang Hanshui were completely startled by Chen Mu''s words.


    He made 600 cards in five days time. 500 three-star cards and 100 four-star cards! This shocking efficiency was sufficient to badly shame the other card masters.


    "Oh right, make sure no one goes near to my jungle shuttle," Chen Mu added.


    Their eyes beamed with excitement. There must be a secret hidden in the jungle shuttle car if boss was able to make 600 cards in five days. Boss must have invented something incredible!


    They exchanged glances with each other, and coincidentally, both their gazes were filled with a murderous aura!


    They would certainly destroy anyone who went near to the jungle shuttle!


    The rest of the people saw that boss was mumbling to Chrysan and the Hit Man. They tried their best to eavesdrop, yet, failed to hear anything.


    The next morning, Sang Hanshui and Xiaobo made an announcement simultaneously. A competition would be held among all the teams, including the youth team. All the aspects would be taken into account in the judging process, especially the application of their tactical skills. There was exception for the youth team.


    All the card artisans were very enthusiastic. It wasn''t a joke. Boss was conducting a competition right after he left the shuttle. Everyone could easily deduce that there must be something rewarding prepared in the shuttle.


    The team leaders were meticulously working on their final preparation. They were the first batch of team leaders that were trained personally by boss. None of them wished to disappoint boss in their first competition.


    As the competition commenced heatedly, Chen Mu was still dwelling on the tactical regulations. He had only realized that it was an extremely complicated work to lead a team. All of the tactical regulations, except two, that he had customized were not exactly practical.


    However, without any guidance, he could only depend on himself.


    Why the need to do so? Why can''t I do it the other way? Why¡­


    He racked his brain for a better plan. Initially, the progress was quite lagging. However, as time passed, he understood more things and he became more confident.


    Most of the aspects on the battlefield was based on calculation!


    Amount, power, time, space, mental and other factors were needed to be taken into account to form a complex plan.


    Chen Mu had learned incredibly a lot about the details in battle after handling all of the miscellaneous things. The typical tactical executives would learn about the theory before they applied the theories practically. They were guided by seniors and thus able to learn efficiently.


    But, it was different for Chen Mu. No one was there to teach him about the theories. He had to understand the regulations before him on his own before he could apply and prove its usefulness during training. It was impossible for him to make a perfect plan. In fact, the regulations were severely lacking. However, his mindset was essentially different from the tactical executives who went through the standard learning process.


    Hence, his team would become a completely distinctive team.


    The winner was finally crowned after three days of competitions.


    The fifth team had won the final victory. Chen Mu rewarded them with 100 four-star cards and 300 three-star cards on the spot. The fifth team went through a complete makeover!


    The other four teams and the youth team were extremely envious. They did not foresee the winner to be rewarded with such great prizes.


    The team leader of the fifth team grinned from ear to ear as he received the 400 cards. The second he took the cards, his hands shivered and his gaze were painted with disbelief.


    There was a clear mark below all of the 400 cards: An alphabet ''C'' and a serial number.


    400 numbered series of cards! Blood gushed to the brains of the other team leaders, who were witnessing. My God! They were all numbered series of cards! They should have known better and try to win the competition with all their might!


    They were overwhelmed by grudges and regret. They returned to their respective teams in extreme jealousy. That night, all the team members had received order that their training would be doubled from tomorrow onwards!


    The 15 grade seven card artisans were dumbfounded.


    400 cards!


    It was not one or two cards! Boss rewarded them with 400 cards!


    He made 400 cards in five days!


    This gave an impactful shock for all the grade seven card artisans. Their expressions changed significantly, then turned to Chen Mu with a curious gaze. How did he produce 100 four-star cards and 300 three-star cards in just five days...


    Some of the smarter card artisans were stunned by their own guesses.


    If that was really the case...


    The capability of the fifth team became the top among the troops. A quarter of them now owned a four-star card! Moreover, a four-star numbered series of card! Shortly after that, they received an order from boss for them to promptly submit a tactical report of the cards.


    The new tactics came along with the new cards.


    The team leader of the fifth team immediately regained his composure from the overexcitement. That night, an emergency meeting was conducted among the members. All the tasks were assigned immediately to all the members. They had gotten all the limelight to themselves this time and they were really thrilled. The enthusiasm of the members was boosted never like before. They had more or less undergone some basic tactical lesson. As for the card artisans who were rejected by the military, they were very eager to prove their worth this time!


    The next day, Chen Mu officially named the team as Wood Word Camp!


    Xiaobo was secretly mocking their boss for copying the name of Tan Yumin''s Yuzi Military Force. However, nobody objected the idea. The fifth team was now officially named as the first team and the members were very proud of the new title. The remaining four teams were demolished and reshuffled according to the results of the contest. This arrangement had once again elevated the spirit of all the members.


    The brand new Wood Word Camp was slowly developing into a decent team under Chen Mu''s considerably crude touch.

 522 The Complete Change

    Moon Frost Island.


    With a cold expression, Jia Yingxia said, "Command all departments to exert all efforts to find Caesar. No matter what it costs, he must be found! If there is any news of him, report to me."


    "Yes, sir!" the men answered in spirit..


    In the dark principal''s office, Jia Yingxia frowned.


    It was useless for Caesar to have those four notebooks, but why did he not contact her until now...


    What does he want to do?


    Trails of mountains and little temples could be seen around the Bitter Solitude Temple and. It was such a paradise that was not affected by the modern society. The old customs were still preserved. Most people were free to enjoy their carefree life there. However out of nowhere, the sound of bells could be heard followed by its echoes throughout the mountains.


    The sound of bells kept ringing, making the atmosphere more gloomy.


    The faces of the residents who lived nearby were frightened to disgrace. As to them, the ringing of the bells meant the death of very important person! The card artisans in Bitter Solitude Temple lived in longevity, peace and simple lifestyle; no competition with the rest of the word and were vastly respected by local residents. If it was a death because of old age, the sound of the bell would be melodious, which meant ''natural death with good ends'' in the teachings of Bitter Solitude Temple.


    It was quite a long since the last time they heard such a gloomy sound from the bell.


    The atmosphere in the Bitter Solitude Temple was mournful. In the middle of the silent hall, laid a body in white.


    In the past 50 years, the most excellent genius in Bitter Solitude Temple, Siam has died. The former owner of the temple was crying in tears, his face antique. Siam had lived with him since childhood. He spent a lot of effort on Siam and their relationship were no different from those of a father and son.


    The atmosphere in the temple was suppressed with silence. Another three owners from the monastery came together, but the people looked at the them weirdly. Siam was murdered, the cause of this incident was the tacit collusion between Tan Yumin and Tang Hanpei.


    "I have nothing more to say about this matter." The Lord started to speak, his wrinkled face was a metaphor of an ancient human being''s, full of historical vicissitudes and wisdom. "What we need to discuss is how to counterattack."


    The others had high respect for the Lord, who had profound authority over the Bitter Solitude Temple,


    "The chaotic situation at Heavenly Federation is creating havoc in my temple. Go announce that this is the start of the battle with Federation Comprehensive Academy." The Lord said in a flat tone.


    "Yes, dear Lord!" all including the three monasteries owners obeyed.


    The Lord was unfathomable, no one had ever seen his real power before. When he was 40 years old, he took over the only seven-star card Vatican and its inheritance from the former Lord of Bitter Solitude Temple. Vatican was the only seven-star card among the known sound wave cards. This was the cognition that people have on this card. Even the understanding of card artisans in the temple about this card was limited.


    There were crowds of people walking in and out of the Scarlet Card Artisan Team''s headquarters, everyone face looked flustered.


    "Report, Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team suddenly attacked the premises of Bright Leaf City, until...til this morning 9 o''clock, Bright Leaf City including the surrounding 15 premises were ruined. It seems that the strength of the opponents are increasing."


    "Report, Faya is on the move. Their team has begun to surround our area on a large scale. We suspect that they intend to fight us."


    "Report, the premise of Howell City has been attacked by unknown card artisan team! Help needed!"


    ***


    Yan Yansu was disappointed with all the damages. In this world, there would always be somebody taking advantage of others when they were down. Many enemies were a result of Scarlet Card Artisan Team being too strong.


    Chen Mu who was still in the jungle had never thought that the Scarlet Card Artisan Team would be in danger before he came out of the jungle. He was still putting effort in his Wood Word Camp. The troops were energetic but there was only one problem -- he had run out of materials.


    600 cards were made satisfactorily but the insufficient of brought materials might lead to a dead end.


    There were still four more troops that has not undergone makeover yet.


    When Chen Mu confessed this problem to Xiaobo, but he did not take it as a matter, "Boss, this small matter is very easy to deal with. Who has not done this before? Moreover, this is Heavenly Drum Village District. Comparing to a common residential district, the materials here are more advanced. Boss, leave this to me, I will definitely take care of it!"


    Seeing Xiaobo patting his own chest, full of confidence, Chen Mu allowed him for a try again. The only people who called Chen Mu as boss were Xiaobo and Sang Hanshui, while the others called him battalion commander. Initially, he felt that being called boss sounded as if he was a gangster, so he changed it to Wood Word Camp.


    Xiaobo did not take action immediately after receiving the orders, but first formed a partnership with Sang Hanshui.


    So, ''Operation Carpet'' commence!


    "Everyone, listen carefully. From now on, be alert of the materials along the road, do not miss any of them. Those with roots, pluck the roots; those with fruits, bring back the fruits together with the tree itself. If you encounter any monsters along your way, kill them all regardless of male or female! Bring the collected materials to the logistic team. They will convert your contributions to accumulating points. Hehe, the first group that reaches 10,000 points, will have the privilege to be the second team undergoing a makeover, and also become the second largest troop!"


    Xiaobo left them hanging as he delivered his first speech with impassion.


    But, the results were not bad at all. All of the team members struggled to search like a pack of hungry wolves. The Spinulosa Disk opened the road as four teams together with the Youth Guardsseparated and swept through the snow forest. The uninhabited snow forest suffered the most horrific plunder in history.


    The logistic team immediately got busy!


    As they were once used to the high efficiency of Xi Ping, now the efficiency of the logistic team has been reprimanded several times by Chen Mu. The leader of the logistic team became desperate, racking his brain for ways to increase their efficiency daily to the point where he almost turned mad. The potential of men was boundless, as surprisingly, their efficiency has increased by severalfold under his leadership.


    Even so, although their efficiency had improved, but they were still trampled by the amount of fresh materials that were brought back by the teams!


    The leader of the logistic team would rather be buried under all of these materials.


    With just simple calculations, they could roughly give an estimation- excluding the first largest team that needed to rearrange their strategies, the other four teams consisting of 1600 people plus another 100 from the Youth Guards would make up a total of 1700 people on deck. The scale was so shocking.


    In addition, they have the help of sharp weapons! The tension in the communication shuttle was intense, but one would be left speechless listening to the rapid commands given by them.


    "Warning! A75 team, there are three Moonlight trees in front, harvest them!"


    "B66 team, a Snow Fox is rushing towards you, hunt it down!"


    "C09 team, 30 degree angle to the northwest from your position, there are rhyolites, please collect!"


    ...


    Today, Chen Mu did not expect the materials accumulated to be as high as a mountain. The variety of materials included plant stems, animal blood and various minerals. Without exception, they were all extremely fresh materials.


    The logistic team leader looked for Chen Mu with a bitter face.


    "Commander, this will not work!" he said honestly. He was a down to earth person, with thick brows and large eyes.


    "What happened?" Chen Mu tore his gaze away.


    The logistic team leader forced a smile, "Our loading capacity is limited, there is no way we can pack up everything."


    Chen Mu responded. Right now the loading capacity of Wood Word Camp was only a few jungle shuttles, while the other parts of the shuttle has been changed to a scouting command car and his mobility card making room. Upon looking at the overloaded materials, he felt a headache coming. Yesterday he was worrying about the insufficient of materials, but today he was worrying about it overloading.


    "Let''s make camp first!" Chen Mu rubbed his temples where it was throbbing helplessly.


    After making camp, these teams did not stop their plundering immediately. With the camp site as the center, the area about 150km around it became their new target.


    Chen Mu stared at the materials instead, daydreaming.


    He never expected that he would one day be troubled by excessive materials.


    The only way he could think of was to convert those materials into cards!


    After all, the geographical environment was alike, and the materials collected were numerous in variety. Chen Mu used these materials as the basics to make the cards. The future generation might not figure out that every team of Wood Word Camp was different in combat styles and all of them used different cards, all because of this reason.


    The design work took three days and within that three days time, the small pile of materials collected in the middle of the camp site became higher by a few centimeters.


    However, the team members were astonished that the materials were quickly reduced to a small amount!


    After a few days, when Chen Mu showed up with his 400 cards, all eyes were set on the pile of cards in his hands.


    Victory went to Rafael''s team this round. He was appointed the leader of the second largest team, while the 400 cards were given out. It was the same with the first largest team, with 300 three-star cards and 100 four-star cards having the same serial code according to the star ranking. However, the cards of the first and second largest teams were different in terms of its serial codes and qualities.


    There were still a large amount of materials that have yet to be used. Without any choice, he could only load those expensive materials and abandon the rest.


    The forest was a treasure, but without the communication technology team, the treasure might be lost in the boundless forest of snow before they could even begin their search.


    However with the Spinulosa Disk and a communication technology team, Wood Word Camp could easily get to the treasures easily.


    By plundering and camping, soon Wood Word Camp will complete its makeover for all teams, not to mention having several shuttles overloaded with rare materials!


    There were many places where nobody had ever been in the snow forest. This was the territory of the beasts, and with this kind of plundering, there was no guarantee that they would not suddenly come across ferocious beasts. There were casualties every day, but everyone was full of confidence. Before this, the slightest degree of casualties was unimaginable.


    The new troops of Wood Word Camp had finally reached the end of the forest!


    Nobody expected that this change would happen within just a few ten days!


    The Wood Word Camp troops that has undergone a complete makeover would re-enter the eyes of the people once again.

 523 The Flow

    "What I meant was, you and your wife are in charge of this negotiation." The middle-aged man said thoughtfully, "Your contribution throughout these years is acknowledged by the family. The head of the family has promised that if you can bring enough benefits for the family at Qianhu city, the family will officially include you both as core members."


    In front of the middle-aged man stood a young man who looked to be in his twenties. He stood casually yet without any sense of slackness. On the contrary, one could feel his temperament was quite special. He was not handsome, but his eyes were very attractive. On a closer look, one could see there were traces of piercing on both his ears.


    "How much is enough?" asked the young man, smiling, looking as if he was not afraid of the middle-aged man.


    The middle-aged man stretched out a finger, and replied solemnly, "A ticket!"


    The young man thought for a moment and shook his head, "This I cannot guarantee. In Qianhu city, we don''t have too many advantages, that is Moon Frost Island and the Luo family''s territory. And the fact that our relationship with Moon Frost Island has not been cordial over the years is a big drag."


    The middle-aged man nodded, "You are right. Still, it''s still an advantage. Although Moon Frost Island is able to occupy a dominant position, but no one wants this alliance to be their voice, probably even she herself would be reluctant to do so. Neutral forces like us are the best choice for them and the other people. It all depends on your operation."


    "I see," the young man nodded.


    "This time, we will participate in the elite competition, and be able to showcase our strength. The head of the family has decided that he will send the strongest card artisan of the family to assist you. From what I''ve seen from these card artisans, you have to make allowances for them. Be careful not to run into any conflicts along the way," enjoined the middle-aged man.


    "Hey, looks like I''m going to have to act weak," the young man shrugged and threw up his hands in frustration.


    "Rest assured, the head of the family has sent word that you are in charge of this journey, and they will listen to you," the middle-aged man comforted him hastily.


    "That also depends if they will act according to my orders," muttered the young man.


    At an uninhabited bother of the Heavenly Drum Village District, a long-haul shuttle pulled up and a flood of passengers boarded on it. Their faces carried an alarmed expression, at the same it looked as if they were expecting something.


    "Though you have paid, gentlemen. But I want to remind you that further on, is the Heavenly Drum Village District. You have yet to receive a pass, and if you are caught by card artisans of the Heavenly Drum Village District, you will be shot in the first sight! Due to the high illegal immigration rate recently, the number of patrolling card artisans is higher than before. And the Heavenly Drum Village District is not your idea of a paradise. Good luck, everyone!"


    With that, the shuttle turned back.


    In recent years, due to the continuous warfare of local power, the life of the residents of the common residential district have become more and more difficult. The relative peace of flourishing districts was a paradise to them. However, access to the flourishing districts was out of reach for ordinary people, hence illegal immigration began to spread on a large scale. Large numbers of residents from the common residential district have risked death by sneaking into Heavenly Drum Village District from more remote parts of the border.


    There were many transportation companies that secretly carried out such transportation businesses.


    After only a moment of hesitation, the passengers headed to the Heavenly Drum Village District. If there was other options, who would choose illegal immigration?


    Among the crowd, a woman with a stiff facial expression quietly ducked into the jungle ghostily.


    Outside West Delhi City was planted a large number of blue star butterfly flowers. Looking ahead, it was a blue sea of flowers. Especially during this season, blue velvet flowers and white snowflakes were dancing in the wind, the scenery was beyond beautiful.


    However, a breath of romance could no longer be sensed in this beautiful scenery, instead, a chilly atmosphere was spreading. The blue velvet flowers and the white snowflakes had lost their charm and softness and had become sharp.


    And all because of a procession!


    A great army slowly advanced towards West Delhi City. The perfect battle formation, slow and silent, like mercury sliding across the sky. No one spoke, each card artisan looked grave, and a sense of inexplicable oppression spread invisibly in this silence.


    Card artisans who have prepared to go out of the city were all shocked when they suddenly saw this procession.


    The alarm went off for the first time!


    The West Delhi City''s garrison chief swallowed with difficulty, and asked, with a few trembles, "What...what team is down there? What do they want to do? Attack us?"


    His aides were stunned too, "It can''t be," they stammered, "We haven''t heard of such a force around here!"


    Card artisans who were supposed to take guard suddenly chickened out when they saw this team. They were hired. Why would they be willing to put their lives on the line? The team in front of their eyes looked murderous! Restrain? Are you kidding me? Who would joke with his own life!


    Although the garrison chief was not powerful, but since he was able to take the position as the garrison chief, he himself was still as a good card artisan.


    His face changed and was not willing to suffer losses. After thinking about it, he released his own perception!


    The perception of a grade seven card artisan, swept across half of West Delhi like a hurricane. Every time he thought of it, his heart filled with pride. As soon as the perception was released, the fear in the heart suddenly disappeared. As a good card artisan, he had to go through a lot of hardships to achieve every step of the way. Though he had lost his gist in the years of luxury and ease, but the moment he released his perception, that confidence from the past battles had once again swelled his chest.


    Across the sea of flowers, the procession suddenly stopped as if they sensed this wave of perception.


    Instead of reassuring the onlookers, however, it made them look even worse. It was as if a string pulling the heart suddenly tightened, causing a panic attack.


    "That madman! Is he crazy?" one of the chief among the other weaker forces who were watching in the dark could not help but curse.


    There were no great forces in West Delhi City, and the local forces were always self-awared and never tried to pick a fight with the greater forces. There were no special resources in the area and none from the great forces around the city coveted this barren land.


    The shock brought by this team outside the city was unprecedented. Although these small forces were not that powerful, they all are elites with toxic intentions. This team of unknown origin that brought this sense of oppression made them soberly aware of the gap between the two sides.


    The garrison chief was the biggest force in West Delhi City, and with the current situation where the federal government was completely powerless to control the situation, hence all hope was turned to a grade seven card artisan!


    Before the voice from the perception faded away, all the faces of the people changed!


    If it were to say that their faces were only slightly pale just now, then they have now turned to the shade of a piece of blank paper without any traces of blood. They looked at the procession in horror, their eyes were blank with fright.


    Perception waves! More than ten waves of perception stronger than the garrison chief!


    These powerful and oppressive waves of perception came together like a series of storms, wreaking havoc over and over again on these card artisans with fragile minds of defense!


    Grade seven card artisans!


    Unexpectedly, the opponent had so many grade seven card artisans!


    The garrison chief sat slumped on his back as he looked at the team opposite him in horror, his pale face covered with beads of sweat. The opponent actually had more than 12 card artisans of grade seven!


    Damn it! How could he be so stupid? Why would he challenge a team with more than twelve grade seven card artisans!


    Oh, my gosh! Was his heart blinded?


    He shivered and regretted. The self-confidence he had just now was just like fragile porcelain that would break into pieces easily in front of the powerful opponent.


    And when the ten or so waves from the horrifying grade seven perceptions were all emanated, everyone knew that the team could destroy the city very easily! Being aware of this, all the little forces of West Delhi City knew how they should mentally prepare themselves and face the fearsome monster in front of them!


    Chen Mu came out from the jungle shuttle. He was very sensitive to perception waves, and he dropped whatever he was doing once the perception waves were emitted. By the time he came out from the shuttle, the 15 grade seven card artisan had released their perceptions without hesitation.


    "What problem have we encounter?" Chen Mu asked Xiaobo.


    Xiaobo shook his head, "I don''t know." He was also puzzled by the situation.


    At this moment, Qiu Shanyu, who remained silent all this while, said, "The team uses a combat formation, which may arouse the vigilance of the opponent." She had more experience in this field than anyone else.


    Chen Mu''s eyes fell on San Hanshui.


    Sang Hanshui was sweating and hastily said, "We always do it in this formation!"


    "Isn''t that what the tactical rules say?" Xiaobo added.


    As Qiu Shanyu listened, she felt like rolling her eyes with these two outsiders. Running to the gates of other''s city in battle formation menacingly, everyone would definitely think that they were to attack the city! However, she was very smart. Xiaobo and San Hanshui were now the right-hand men of Chen Mu, she did not want to offend them because of this petty thing, her status was not appropriate to do so.


    "Oh, then do continue with this method." Chen Mu''s words almost let Qiu Shanyu choke.


    She felt a little short of brains now. Judging from Chen Mu''s performance these days, it was amazing. Wood Word Camp had been so much stronger than before. She was sure that, with a few more battles, Wood Word Camp would be one of the few fighting parties in the Heavenly Federation!


    In her mind, Chen Mu''s brilliant image of the tactical aspects had left an excellent impression deep in her heart, but such a retarded answer she received now had left her feeling strange. Fortunately, she was covered with a mask and others could not see it.


    Chen Mu''s thinking was actually simple. Although this would provoke some enemies, he was very clear of Sang Hanshui and Xiaobo''s abilities. They were both of his own kind, and it was hard to expect them to do anything spontaneously. It was better for them to do it by the book so the chances of making mistakes would be lower.


    "Let''s get to the town," Chen Mu looked up at the city in front of his eyes.


    The card artisans were flying soundlessly, portraying an illusion of a liquid flowing, as Wood Word Camp moved slowly and solemnly towards the city of West Delhi.

 524 Thorn Removal

    "Fatty, do you intend to promise the principal?" Nick had a rare serious expression on his face.


    "How could that be possible," Rossiji laid on his arms while looking at the sky.


    "That''s good." With a great relief, Nick laid down and laughed, "That old fox is ruthless and cruel. I''ll never buy it. His glory of Star Court is full of platitudes, damn it! I do not have parents, neither do I have any worries. You are the only brother I have, and I do not wish you to be used as cannon fodder."


    "I don''t like it either." the fatty said indifferently. "Others might not know about it, but don''t you know what I''ve been through all these years? People only see the glory on the surface, how could they know that in fact, I am not any different than being arrested? Hmph, an elite cultivated by the academy? I just want to eat and sleep, but all these were spelled with life. I am the only one who is still alive among those people who were with me. They were all geniuses, too bad, all of them died."


    The fatty''s words were full of resentment and sadness.


    In a sudden, Nick looked around with tense anxiety.


    "Don''t be nervous. How would they attack me at this moment?" The fatty sneered without hurry or haste, "Ever since I defeated the Staff of the Second Military Force, they won''t provoke me as long as I don''t escape from the Star Court. Moreover, they''ve estimated that you will never leave the Star Court provided that I don''t leave."


    There was a chill in Nick''s bright piercing eyes.


    Rossiji smiled gently, "How would I make things go as they wish? If I''m not mistaken, Tang Hanpei must have something up his sleeve! Others just thought that it was Tan Yumin who was colluding with him, but I guess he must have had aimed at those card appliance skills. His personality must be to plan before taking action. Chances are, before he went, most of the preparation works have been done. There might be no difference if these card appliance skills fall into the hands of others or with Faya, but if it falls into the hands of Tang Hanpei, heh heh. Most probably the principal has not thought about the consequences clearly."


    Nick got terrified, "Is Tang Hanpei that powerful?"


    Rossiji sat up, gazing deeply, "Twin Stars from the Desert Camp challenged the Moon Frost Island, but got defeated by Baiyue. On the way home, an attack caused one death and one injury, which directly led to the war between the Desert Camp and the Moon Frost Island. Heh heh, why did Twin Stars of the Desert Camp challenge the Moon Frost Island? Who was the person who attacked the two of them when they were on their way back?"


    Nick was not stupid, he was appalled and nearly lost his voice, "Are you suspicious of Tang Hanpei?"


    "Yes." The fatty looked solemn and nodded his head, "But there is still lacking of evidence. Following that, he killed Qiao Yuan in the battle of the Pomelo and caused Federation Comprehensive Academy, Central Repository of the Classics and Faya to start a mortal feud with each other. He did not defend himself at all after he got back, and thus, he got arrested. However, Federation Comprehensive Academy has already been imperiled. It has been placed in jeopardy after being under pressure from both sides. He finally took action at this time to seize power at one stroke. After that, he immediately appointed Song Chengyan, who managed to turn the tide, which also made his reputation prominent in no time. The series of these events might seem to happen incidentally, but somehow there was a hidden string in it linking them all together."


    Nick finally showed a horrified shock.


    "Now he is only lacking one condition to form the Tang Camp, and snatch the card appliance technology." the fatty said in a carefree and leisurely tone.


    "What condition?" Nick replied, subconsciously.


    The fatty opened his eyes, a cold light flashing across his eyes, "A great commander!"


    "A great commander?" murmured Nick, suddenly he looked up and asked, "Will he come to you?"


    The fatty broke into laughter, "How could that be possible? He was able to conceal the Central Repository of the Classics because it was not famous for its combat power. I believe that he is not that dumb to directly attack the Star Court." His voice suddenly became solemn, "I suspect that he might have already found a suitable candidate! Unless..."


    His face revealed an unusual hesitation.


    "Unless what?" Nick asked anxiously.


    "Unless, he is a great commander himself!" The fatty looked dazed.


    Nick''s face turned pale. He only managed to smile reluctantly after some time, "You started to talk nonsense again! If he is really that strong, why would he hide it for so long? He could have already started fighting ages ago."


    "Maybe there is some condition still not met yet, he has no confidence to gain the victory by a single blow." While talking about this, the fatty suddenly opened his eyes and his face became serious, "Now I understand! He is waiting for card appliance technology! Yes, he must be waiting for the card appliance technology! "


    He muttered to himself, "The other five academies are in danger now..."


    "It''s not that bad, is it?" Nick felt that he was so stiff in his smile. The fatty''s guess made him feel slightly flustered. All these years, most of the things said by the fatty had turned out to be true. As he thought of this, he couldn''t help but ask anxiously, "What should we do then?"


    "What has this got to do with us?" The fatty stretched and laid down again, "Let them fight amongst themselves. The more they fight, the safer we are."


    Nick felt refreshed. He secretly noticed the surroundings and lowering his voice, "Is it possible for us to take advantage of the confusion to escape?"


    "It is not a problem for you to do it alone." The fatty shook his head, "There is no way for me to run away. Not to say, my parents are in their hands."


    Nick was dispirited. "What is the purpose for me to escape without you! Just let Tang Hanpei break the Star Court into pieces for you to be free."


    The fatty laughed with unspeakable desolation, "For someone like me, no matter who wins, I will be dead anyway unless I give myself up to the winner."


    Nick was quiet. He knew that the fatty was telling the truth. In the eyes of those with authority, a talented person like this fatty would be the one they like the most and fear the most at the same time. After a while, he said with resentment, "Or else, we just do it ourselves! I don''t believe that with your intelligence you will still be under the thumb of that old fox! We will think of a way to rescue your parents. We can go to the common residential district if we can''t go to the flourishing districts. If there is no place for us in the common residential district, we can go to the House of a Hundred Depths, or to the Mohadi Domain! In any case, I will keep you company wherever you go! It''s better than to stay here, do nothing and wait for death!"


    The fatty said nothing, not revealing what was on his mind.


    Soon enough, West Delhi was under the control of the Wood Word Camp. All of the small forces had surrendered themselves and gave their cooperation. They all knew that basically, such a substantial troop would not stay too long in this out-of-the-way place.


    This was a strange troop.


    Wood Word Camp, they had never heard of this troop before. Up until now, their chief hasn''t shown his face yet, but the campsite was well disciplined. Other than some card artisans patrolling in the sky occasionally, the arrival of Wood Word Camp did not have any impact on the daily life in West Delhi at all. Instead, law and order of the city had reached a historically high level.


    These card artisans were those who kill people without blinking their eyes!


    They once witnessed how they turned uncooperative card artisans into corpses within a second. The strength of the card artisans of Wood Word Camp was so terrifying. Also, their fierce and awe-inspiring momentum made no one, especially those who were timid, dare to even go near them. However, the discipline of Wood Word Camp was rigorous. Other than the patrolling card artisans, the rest of the card artisans all stayed in the campsite, with no one stepping out.


    The small forces who were trembling with fear at the beginning had slowly got used to it after that. They had realized that as long as they don''t provoke these people, they would not care what they were doing at all. Moreover, this troop did not have any action other than cleaning-out some raw materials on the market once. Even they cleaned-out these materials, Wood Word Camp paid the bill in full, which caused the small forces to feel shocked as they had been mentally preparing themselves to sell at a loss.


    Every day, the logistics group of Wood Word Camp would take some precious materials to auction. These materials from deep inside the forest were all rare goods. They tried to purchase a batch of materials from this businessman, immediately followed by a change of hand to earn a huge profit. This place had become crowded after that. However, people could only use their Oudi to do the talking here. Whoever dared to take advantage of one''s power to bully others would be shot to death immediately.


    Other than the selling of scarce materials, Wood Word Camp would also purchase various kinds of materials in large quantities, including the components for card appliance, raw materials to make cards, and different types of medicine. The purchasing prices given by Wood Word Camp was very generous, thus the businessmen were also working harder.


    Slowly, the businessmen who got to profit increased. Law and order of the city had also turned great rapidly, along as the market started to become prosperous. People began to change from being fearful to hoping that Wood Word Camp could be stationed here longer.


    Every day, Chen Mu just stayed in his own experiment lab and paid no attention to everything else happening outside.


    The training of the ordinary card artisans was still very tough. Xiaobo and Sang Hanshui surprisingly agreed with each other on this matter. However, it was not like nobody had any complaints. They had been living in the jungle for so many days. They had to come all this way to enter a city, and to their surprise, they were still being grounded in the barracks. Many grade seven card artisans were complaining secretly in this regard.


    Luckily it was still acceptable for the majority although they were dissatisfied in their heart. Afterall, they could clearly feel that their strength was continually improving, plus they just had the legendary numerical series card in their hands. They only wished to immerse themselves in training.


    "Finally, everything is ready." Chen Mu mumbled to himself.


    "Woody, are these things useful?" Bu Mo asked in admiration. He felt that Woody was so amazing, things that were in terrible condition could turn into much outlandish stuff once they reached his hands.


    These days there were significant changes to his appearance. Not only that he had grown taller, but he had became stronger as well. Not sure if it was because of staying too long in the snow, his dark skin had turned fair and might seem slightly glittering if observed carefully. This had made his two black bushy eyebrows to be more visible, making people feel like it was painted in ink.


    The progress of his strength also stunned Chen Mu. Chen Mu was no longer the opponent of little Bu Mo if it was based purely on the cardless sects skill. Little Bu Mo could now easily cast airskill. His talent in this area was very outstanding. Other than inheriting Wei-ah''s simple, straightforward, yet lethal style, there were more transformations in his airskill. He was just like those beasts living in the snow with a sense of coldness when he performed.


    However, right now he seemed like a child full of curiosity.


    Chen Mu stroked the head of little Bu Mo and laughed, "We will never know until we try."


    "Yeah. We had been busy for such a long time, surely it has to be useful." little Bu Mo said confidently. His face was full of excitement and anticipation. He had been following Woody here and there these few days. Only that he did not know what they were busy with. Finally, the answer was going to be revealed.


    On that morning, Chen Mu personally gave instructions that everyone will take turn for a break for that day.


    In the morning, the 15 guards and the youth guards could have their free time, while the members of the five Military Groups could have their turn in the afternoon. However, everyone was only allowed to move around in West Delhi. They were not allowed to bring their meter out of the campsite. Also, external communication was prohibited. After this holiday, it would be close to one month of closed training.


    Everyone was cheering when the orders were announced.


    The 15 grade seven card artisans and 100 youth guards removed their meters from their hands and walked out from the campsite under the jealous glance of the other team members.


    The citizens of West Delhi were shocked to notice that for the first time the gate that had been tightly closed and heavily guarded was opened. Some card artisans in their battle suits were walking out from the inside while looking around curiously. In the beginning, some citizens were slightly worried, but soon they noticed that these card artisans were very keen on shopping. They bought almost anything they saw. Moreover, they were all very generous, they never bargained when buying things. The businessmen were all smiling broadly and passionately.


    Kuangshi looked around to confirm that no one was following her. There was a cold smile on her face. When they were required to hand in their meter before leaving the campsite, she already knew that Chen Mu was afraid to have information leaked. Thus, he used this method to avoid them from communicating with the outside world.


    Too bad, the law was strong, but the outlaws were ten times stronger.


    She did not take action immediately but pretended to shop. She had big and small bags in her hands. In her mind, she reflected on her usual behavior, thinking that she had not shown any flaw. She could not help but feel slightly happy when thinking about this.


    With some calculation, there were 115 people leaving the campsite this morning. There was no way for boss-man to track. Moreover, open-tracking would inevitably cause dissatisfaction among all the team members.


    The people who could be trusted by boss-man in Wood Word Camp was too little.


    Kuangshi''s mood became more pleasant. Nevertheless, she never reduced her vigilance and had been noticing her surroundings. However, when she did not notice anyone following at her back, she finally let her guard down. She didn''t believe that there was anyone who could get away from her eyes if she had been tracked. She had gone through professional tracking training.


    She shopped for a few rounds at the crowded places, and even changed her clothes half way. No one would ever associate her with the sweet-tempered lady card artisan she was.


    After taking a glance at the time, she felt that it''s about time. As she double confirmed that there was no one around, she naturally pushed open the doors of a business hall of a small long-distance communication company. Except for advanced communication cards, the communication distance for typical cards were very limited. Cards that allow long-distance communication were very pricey, it was not affordable for the ordinary people. Therefore, such business halls specialized in long-distance communication were springing up everywhere.


    It was due to being cautious that she did not repurchase the communication card. In a small city like this, sure enough, there won''t be many stalls selling such advanced communication cards. Moreover, purchasing such expensive high-tech communication card would definitely leave a deep impression on the seller. She would be easily exposed if someone interrogated on it after that.


    She sneered in her heart, this must be a trap set by the boss.


    She kept firmly in her heart the number of the connector.


    She began dialing the number.


    At the same time, in a strictly guarded room in the Wood Word Camp, the atmosphere was charged with tension. If Xiao Bo and Sang Hanshui were here, they would be surprised to notice that the members here were all card artisans from the Tai-shu house.


    A couple dozens of big and small screens had segregated the room into many partitions. Everyone was gazing at the screens in front of them as if facing a formidable enemy.


    Suddenly, the pupil of a card artisan dilated, "Abnormality detected! Location, North Main Street No. 97, Long Distance Communication Business Hall!"


    His sentence was like a blasting fuse, unfolding a silent battle secretly.

 525 Forest Pigeon

    "Sir, this is our test product," a man in his 40s told Tang Hanpei respectfully.


    Sunyuan, Dean of the Faculty of Card Appliance Research from Federal Comprehensive Academy, was undoubtedly a faithful person because he was a talent cultivated by the academy itself. Moreover, he was more understanding compared to the others.


    "Central Island Firm''s technology has been completely eaten up by us, and this is the first generation product that we have invented." Sunyuan proudly introduced to him."With this card appliance, calls within 100km in the jungles can be achieved. If a signal station can be built, the calling range can be extended to 700km. This function has certainly bypassed the Central Island Firm''s technology, thus it certainly has its practicality value."


    The card appliance placed on the table was half a palm size, its green signal light was blinking regularly. On its surface was a number keypad. When a call was going on, it would project a small screen in front of the caller.


    "Well done, well done!" Tang Hanpei took the card appliance and asked, "What is this called?"


    "We would like you to name it for us, Sir!" Sunyuan replied dutifully while trying to flatter Tang.


    Tang Hanpei pondered and then answered, "Let''s call it the Forest Pigeon."


    "Sir is indeed brilliant! It''s an excellent name! Forest Pigeon to send messages, easy to understand and remember too." Sunyuan replied while showing his admiration.


    Tang Hanpei smiled and said indifferently, "Enough of the flattery. What about all those card appliance experts that we hired? Were there any opposition?"


    "Right! How did you manage to gather this many capable experts? There all have really high standards!" Sunyuan couldn''t help but compliment them. He then hesitated and said, "It was inevitable for them to have different opinions, but we have done some work on them. Other than a few stubborn ones, the others are starting to adapt to the environment."


    "Oh, do you need other departments to collaborate with you?" Tang Hanpei frowned.


    Sunyuan immediately waved his hand. "No, no, it is normal for these experts to have some temperament, but we know how to deal with it. If we use extreme measures, some problems may be caused because of that, then our loss would be bigger." Sunyuan knew what it meant by having other departments to work with them.


    "Well, we need to speed up. The clock is ticking. How is the progress with the thing on the notebook?" Tang Hanpei asked another question.


    "Sir, the things written in the notebook were incredible! We cannot imagine how and why people in the early ages had already managed to research to such a deep extent! This guy must be a genius! In my opinion, his skills were on par with those of grandmasters, and these technologies..." Sunyuan''s spirit suddenly rose when he talked about the notebook.


    "My question is, how''s progress so far?" Tang interrupted Sunyuan.


    Sunyuan realised that the principal might not be interested in the details and replied, "We have just started research on the Power Gloves project. After discussing and repeatedly trading-off on our decisions, we think Power Gloves is the project that has the most potential to break through. The other projects might still be hard for us since our technical skills are not sufficient yet."


    Tang looked calmer than just now. "Hmm, what are the functions of these Power Gloves?"


    Sunyuan''s expression brightened. "Power Gloves are definitely a genius idea! It is a card appliance similar to a pair of gloves. After being triggered, the hands wearing the gloves will be surrounded with energy as thin as fish scales. Since our hands are the most flexible organ, its flexibility will definitely wow people after going through training. The Power Gloves'' function is to replace human''s senses by utilising human''s hands, which will then control the changes of the power structure. In other words, a person who is not gifted in senses training can definitely fight well after training the hands'' flexibility, which will replace his senses."


    Tang Hanpei was deeply shocked and impressed by this.


    He did not really understand the technical details, but if fighting were involved, Tang who was ranked No.1 in the Federation would definitely comprehend.


    The fact that senses training required talent had already been proven. Even if card artisans and card masters were the most typical occupations in the Five flourishing districts, only one eighth of the total population in the whole federation could be do both positions.


    For the first time in that day, Tang''s face turned serious, "How is its power?"


    "Really strong!" Sunyuan quickly added, "But of course, this is just the description since we haven''t cracked the codes yet. There are still too many formulas that we need to solve. However, the Faya''s Battle Shuttle Car will undeniably seem to be trash compared to it."


    Sunyuan looked proud while saying that.


    Unexpectedly, Tang shook his head and said, "We can''t see it this way. Although the power of the Battle Shuttle Car is not strong, it can be mass produced and even normal people can operate it. Power Gloves, on the other hand, might be great but certain requirements may need to be met for someone to operate it. Moreover, the key problem is that mass production is not possible."


    "You''re right, sir!" Sunyuan was convinced as Tang looked at problems deeper than he could.


    After thinking for a while, Tang said, "What you need to do now is to mass produce Forest Pigeons. I need to equip the team with them as soon as possible."


    "Yes, sir!" Sunyuan immediately bowed in response to his orders.


    "And also the Power Gloves project needs to be sped up. If you need anything, I will help you. All I want is the result!" Tang told him coldly.


    "Yes, sir!" Sunyuan answered promptly.


    Suddenly, Tang Hanpei thought about the teenager called Chen Mu. Back in Pomelo that year, other than Central Island Firm, there''s one more person who had the jungle telecommunication technology. What''s more was that he owned the more advanced version of the technology!


    It would be great if Chen Mu could work for Tang!


    Kuangshi tried her best to stay calm, but she couldn''t contain her excitement. There were too many secrets in the Wood Word Camp and every one of them were invaluable! She believed that if she spread the news, she would be granted a three-level upgrade for the achievement!


    Even now, she still couldn''t fathom the White Commander. Although he was quiet, always behind the mask and in his room, every time he came out he frightened people. At first she was shocked, but later she got numb to it. It felt like a dream to her.


    The Spinulosa Disk was an incredible metallic probe-craft that has high practical value. If one managed to equip the disk, the team''s scouting ability would be raised significantly. Along the journey, they fully utilised its function, even when they were collecting ingredients.


    The forest telecommunication technology was what the Central Island Firm, the first of the Big Six, has been competing with the others for. This was how important it was to the firm. As an informant, she knew well about the firm''s technology. The Central Island Firm was still on the lab experimenting stage, uncomparable to Wood Word Camp that had been fully utilising it. The technology was a generation behind Wood Word Camp''s.


    This was already shocking to her, but what she guessed about the White Commander made her soul shiver out of shock.


    ¡ª¡ª A machine that was able to mass produce cards!


    This was not only her own guess. Although the others just kept quiet, when she noticed the changes in their glances, she could tell that they also felt the change.


    And if this guess was accurate...


    While thinking about this, Kuangshi couldn''t help but shiver. Among all the data collected, this was by far the biggest one. If this were real, she was sure that it would be a contribution she couldn''t even imagine. She looked excited and happy, but if observed closely, her fear could be noticed!


    That''s right, it was fear!


    This was a huge opportunity which could lead to her success, but if she were not cautious, it would be able to kill her.


    On this day, all of the spies hiding in the Wood Word Camp would take action. The news was really scary to the extent that no one was brave enough to delay. Especially after the White Commander declared it a holiday today, it became a continuous period of closed training for many days.


    They all knew that today''s operation was full of risk, but no one hesitated.


    Because after today, there would be a new competition among all firms. If this news was not sent back, the result would be that the organization could not even qualify to compete.


    After gaining back her senses, she waited for the other end''s reply.


    Eh, why is it not picked up?


    After half a minute, it was still not picked up.


    Her expression changed when she could notice the danger in the atmosphere. She looked around and saw a man talking excitedly. She then felt better because it seemed like the problem was about her card.


    When she was just about to demand for a change of card, she saw a few card artisans staring at her coldly at the door.


    When she spotted the familiar Wood Word Camp war suit, her heart sank.


    "Miss Kuangshi." The leader of the card artisans called her with no expression on his face. A few of the artisans surrounded her skillfully.


    She suddenly realised that this was a trap by the White Commander. She tried to revolt as these artisans looked like they were weak. Only then, she noticed she did not have a meter with her!


    She now understood why she was asked to hand it in before leaving the camp!


    She was completely hopeless!


    But the only thing she did not understand was, how the White Command managed to find her out.


    The boss of the shop finally realised that the pretty girl was actually a card artisan from Wood Word Camp! Her acquaintances even kindheartedly paid for her. It seemed like she was really welcomed everywhere due to her good looks!


    This scene was commonplace in West Delhi City


    However, none of these people who got caught knew how did the White Commander manage to locate them.

 526 Unraveled the Mystery

    It was a great purge.


    There were 15 grade seven card artisans, but there were only eight left; it was a staggering proportion. Relatively speaking, the proportion of average card artisans who had problems was much smaller, yet 46 people were caught. The whole purge didn''t encounter any resistance, thanks to Chen Mu''s instructions; he instructed everyone to remove their meter when they were out of the barracks. A card artisan without his meter, even for a grade seven card artisan, would have no way to combat.


    But the purge had an inevitable impact on the morale of Wood Word Camp; everyone was jittery.


    Xiaobo and Sang Hanshui had a face as long as a fiddle, but they were more curious with how their boss accomplished that?


    Chen Mu said, "There were spies among us. I believe you two were aware of that?"


    "Of course," Xiaobo continued, "Boss made such a big hoo-ha about it. It would be abnormal if the rest didn''t have any reaction."


    Although Sang Hanshui didn''t speak, his face also showed approval. Those years weren''t the same as before. In the past, the scene was peaceful and there were far fewer spy exchanges. However, with the deterioration of the situation over the years, such incidents had run rampant; it was evident from the fact that many spies had been uncovered by Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu continued, "If such a thing was handled by Commander Bog or Commander Xi, they''ll have their own ways of dealing it. The three of us knew nothing about these things. There''re too many sensitive things in our hands. If we let them continued in the dark, the consequences will be too serious. I''m thinking that since it''s strategically difficult to achieve, we could only achieve it through technical means!"


    "I''ve developed a card appliance that can monitor the waves of communication. But the use of this card appliance is very demanding; it needs to be installed in advance. Three of us, Wei-ah, Little Bu Mo and I, had installed nearly 300 of these devices throughout West Delhi City; covering the whole of the city." Chen Mu finally unraveled the mystery, "This project started when we were in the jungle."


    "It''s that awesome?" Xiaobo was astonished.


    Chen Mu shook his head, "In fact, its function is still very weak. The degree of monitoring is relatively weak, and there are limitations in its use; it needs to be installed in advance. If there''s a change in venue and the card appliance isn''t installed beforehand, it''ll be totally useless."


    "That''s already very amazing! Boss!" Sang Hanshui gasped in admiration. He had never heard of such card appliance, and now he understood how those spies were caught. Who would have thought that their boss could invent such a powerful card appliance?


    "It should be clean this time round?" Xiaobo couldn''t help but asked.


    "I don''t know." Chen Mu shook his head, "There''re spies that we can''t take care of now. We don''t have much time. Get ready, we''re setting off soon. We need to launch a surprise attack on the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team immediately."


    Xiaobo and Sang Hanshui''s expressions suddenly turned funny. After a while, Sang Hanshui said, "Boss, we''re here to tell you about it."


    "What''s the matter?"


    "Blood-Red Card Artisan Team has been wiped out!"


    "Ah!" Chen Mu was confused for a moment but he immediately asked, "What''s going on?"


    "Let''s look at the news. It''s been on the news lately." Xiaobo opened the fantasy card receiver as he spoke.


    Heavenly Drum Village District had been broadcasting news about the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team. The Blood-Red Card Artisan Team was one of the most famous card artisan team in Heavenly Drum Village District. Its sudden demise had brought tremendous shock to everyone. An enormous and unmatched team collapsed in a short time was undoubtedly a major event.


    In the blink of an eye, the territories and resources once belonged to the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team was divided up by various giants. The Blood-Red Card Artisan Team had too many enemies. When they were at their weakest and lacking allies, they ended up being wiped out by their enemies.


    The sudden crumpled of Blood-Red Card Artisan Team had the residents from Heavenly Drum Village District remembered a name ¨C Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team!


    It was that unheard card artisan team who buried the giant, Blood-Red Card Artisan Team. And they smashed the giant''s most powerful weapon during their confrontation! At that time, people were shocked to discover that the mysterious card artisan team not only had mastered the extraction technology of purple fluorescent ore, but they also had powerful combat ability!


    They owned a dreadful card named Fiery Rain Card, and a fascinating number of Sniper Card Artisan! In addition, their commanders had unparalleled talent.


    That was just a point of view spreading among ordinary residents. In their eyes, the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team was a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. Among the big powers, a rumor about the commander of the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team was slowly spreading.


    That rumor enabled the people to suddenly realize; no wonder with the help of merely 2,000 card artisans, they could wipe out the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team. No one came out to confirm the rumor, nor did the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team ever made any statement about it. Those who previously coveted the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team''s cards and techniques vanished in an instant. In addition, wherever the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team went, the local forces would avoid them and keep a safe distance away from them.


    "That wolf¡­" Chen Mu thought.


    After watching the news, it had left Chen Mu totally flabbergasted.


    When he had recovered from his surprise, he felt extremely relaxed.


    "Bogner is awesome!" Chen Mu praised him as he felt pleasantly surprised.


    "He''s just an uncle." Xiaobo muttered. He had suffered terribly in Bogner''s hands; in that year when Bogner and Xi Ping joined hands and nearly scraped a layer of skin off him.


    Sang Hanshui had never seen Bogner, so he didn''t express any of his opinions. Nevertheless, he still admired and marveled at Bogner''s amazing achievements in wiping out Blood Hammer Unit. His boss was indeed a capable man! And all who followed him were capable people!


    He was reminded of Wei-ah, and then about Bogner; that idea was planted in Sang Hanshui''s head and was growing stronger!


    Xiaobo touched his chin. He didn''t even notice how similar his action was to Bogner.


    "What''s next? Blood-Red Card Artisan Team is gone. What''re we going to do next?"


    That question was Sang Hanshui''s too. After all, their goal was to attack the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team in order to alleviate Bogner''s pressure. Now, the demise of the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team meant that their primary target had been ironed out, and their next moves had to be reset by Chen Mu.


    "Let''s go to Qianhu City. Bogner could surely guess our whereabouts. They should be on their way to Qianhu City too. We''ll just find each other there." Chen Mu muttered.


    Xiaobo and Sang Hanshui had no differing opinion.


    Qiu Shanyu was very obedient for a few days. She knew that she was less likely to obtain Chen Mu''s trust as compared to others. Any dubious action of hers could lead to a bad consequence; that wasn''t what she wanted. As an onlooker, she could observe more clearly.


    However, a clearer view didn''t enable her to better fathomed The White Commander. On the contrary, The White Commander became more and more baffling to her. He had quietly undergone a great purge. She still didn''t know what methods The White Commander actually used. But those unexpected means, even she, had her heart in her mouth! If she was in his shoes, she wasn''t able to do as well as he did.


    The image of The White Commander in her heart was mightier and increasingly dreadful; under the surface of his ordinary, quiet and serious demeanor, he had an unfathomable strength. What made her muddled was that she couldn''t understand every step he took. However, it was those plans that she couldn''t understand achieved incredible outcomes time and again.


    She was prudent and cautious, spoke very little, and only observed from the side.


    Looking at the teenager, who was far from being handsome, in front of her, she was in a trance. When she looked back on her experience in Pomelo, Chen Mu didn''t even leave an impression on her. Even now, the vast majority of people weren''t aware of his deadliness. He was like a patient hunter, quietly ambushing and concealing himself.


    She couldn''t tell whether Chen Mu''s concealment was intentional or unintentional. If it was intentional, it would be too horrifying!


    She felt a little chilly.


    "I''ve watched the news." Chen Mu looked straight into Qiu Shanyu''s eyes, "Faya pressurizing the Blood-Red Card Artisan Team; you''ve accomplished it. As another part of our agreement, I''ll give you the tactical regulation today. But you need to wait till you''ve reach Qianhu City before you can return to Faya."


    Chen Mu''s eyes were unperturbed, his tone was certain, and there was no room for negotiation.


    Qiu Shanyu didn''t ask for the rationale, and simply nodded, "Sure".


    "Get ready to set off. We''re leaving here in a minute." Before Chen Mu left, he added, "I''m afraid it''s not a smooth ride."


    Qiu Shanyu was silent; she understood Chen Mu''s concern. Although Chen Mu was very thorough in his purge, but there were absolutely some he had missed out. Even if the average member couldn''t reach the crux of the team, but the tip of the iceberg was enough to arouse countless fantasies.


    The wages of avarice is death.


    The White Commander was notorious, but when benefits reached an astonishing level; there were many people who were desperate to take risks.


    Sensing that the morale of the Wood Word Camp was affected by the purge, Chen Mu decided to disclose the identity of those spies. It suddenly dawned on the members of those spies who had almost made them lost their jobs, and they collectively lashed out their frustration on them. It was a known fact that Wood Word Camp wasn''t recruiting new members, and the treatment they enjoyed were enough to make the people outside greedy.


    High salaries and good benefits were also available elsewhere.


    But there was no other place to secure the numbered series of cards except in Chen Mu''s team. Every member''s strength, as compared to the first time they came in, had improved tremendously after the trainings! Many of them, before they joined the team, even thought they would never improve further in their lifetime.


    Although the name of the Snow Pit Method was a bit mediocre, but its benefits were absolute. Such training methods were treasured by leaders from other card artisan team, and would only be available for card artisans of higher grades; those card artisans of lower grades had no chance to get hold of such training methods.


    Although the training of Chen Mu''s team was a little hard, it had serious military discipline and strong combat capacity. Those card artisans were well-experienced in life and knowledgeable. Everyone knew that Wood Word Camp would have a bright future.


    What was more important than that in such unruly times?


    With a bright future, even if they could only occupy a small territory in the future, their families would be able to live a stable life.


    At that time, any rotten apple spoiling the bunch was extremely abhorred by the members.


    Chen Mu hadn''t anticipated that his members would be so enthusiastic. Almost spontaneously, members of the team reported other card artisans who had something unusual about them. They rat out and exposed several spies who had hidden themselves well.


    But Chen Mu had no time to check those things; his time was running out.


    He had to rush to Qianhu City as quick as lightning.


    And he would never know that a legend was born when he left West Delhi City with his Wood Word Camp!

 527 An Earth-Shattering Breakthrough

    On the peak of the mountain there sat a thin middle-aged man dressed all in white. He was silently watching the clouds roiling among the mountains, and looking very enthralled.


    That was his homework, starting at dawn each day, always waiting until noon when the mist would disperse.


    Below the peak a city would appear and disappear, with a streak rapidly flashing by in the air from time to time. Those were all card artisans coming and going from the city, though none of them would dare to enter the realm of that mountain peak.


    That was in the North Facing Island, and apart from Moon Frost Island, it was the only place that would dare to use the designation "island." The Norh Facing Island occupied a huge area, and although it wasn''t like Moon Frost Island, it did include seventeen districts and thirteen hundred and fifty large cities. That had also allowed it to jump to being designated the biggest power apart from Moon Frost Island. Its helmsman was that man in white on the peak, who was the number two on the Black Line Star Listing, Cang Lan.


    As the second on the Black Line Star Listing, he was impressively well-known, and even Moon Frost Island of the Heavenly Drum Village District wouldn''t dare to casually provoke him. Who could forget that Yang Shanfei had given Moon Frost Island such grief as the ninth on the Black Line Star Listing?


    Cang Lan had earned his reputation before Yangshan Fei did, and unlike Fei''s solitary nature, Cang Lan had aces under him as thick as clouds, among countless card artisans. In particular, he formed the Cang Jiang Military Force which was known far and wide, and which hadn''t been defeated up until then. That being how he was, who would dare to provoke him? Even Jia Yingxia who was hosting the alliance sent someone to him with an invitation even though he wasn''t going to participate.


    The reputation of the Black Line Star Listing was all about killing. Before he was thirty, Cang Lan criss-crossed the Heavenly Drum Village District challenging everyone, even challenging Jia Yingxia to battle by himself. No one knows who won that battle, but Cang Lang was badly injured and remained in a coma for a month, while Jia Yingxia was also shut-in healing for a long time.


    By the time he was thirty-two, Cang Lan had started to establish the Cang Jiang Military Force, which then fought all over. And by the time he was forty, he had conquered the Northern Facing Island. In the early days he would ignore the orders of the Federation government in public opposition to it, which made him a big man of the underworld.


    After he snared Yan Yu, the tenth on the Black Line Star Listing, his reputation was at its peak, making him the king of the underworld. Seeing that, the other aces on the Black Line Star Listing all followed suit, establishing their own military forces. The big guys of the underworld kept rising, leaving the Federation government with the will but without the power; even the actual overlord of the Heavenly Drum Village District, Moon Frost Island, couldn''t do anything about it. Ever since Cang Lan established the North Facing Military Force, the region had really already left the grasp of Moon Frost Island.


    They didn''t want to collide with that newly trending cutting-edge big power, on top of which that region was were Moon Frost Island''s power was the weakest, and they simply got out. Cang Lan then became the true lord of that vast land!


    A very short man appeared behind Cang Lan. He was only a meter and half tall, with a doll-like face. On first sight, one would never imagine that the man who looked like a midget in front of them was actually the notorious Yan Yu.


    Although Cang Lan was listed as the number two on the Black Line Star Listing, that was because he had gone against the Federation government; he wasn''t evil in himself. On the contrary, he was self-disciplined, and the army under him was disciplined. Under his rule, the people''s lives were rather lavish. But Yan Yu wasn''t like that, and his temperament was hard to gauge. Before being taken in by Cang Lan, who knows how many card artisans died in his hands. What angered people the most was that the liked to kill sadistically!


    He was the most notorious card artisan at the time in the Heavenly Drum Village District.


    When Cang Lan took him on, those under him were all quite discouraged. But no one had imagined that after Yan Yu entered the Cang Jiang Military Force, he would actually be tamed. His own strength was without parallel in the Jiang Liang Military Force where no one apart from Cang Lan could beat him. He was also good at leading the soldiers with a sly style that gave people lots of headaches.


    The Cang Jiang Military Force became the first army to have two from the Black Line Star Listing top ten, from which they leapt to being the number one army of the underworld!


    "The news has already come out, big brother." Yan Yu bowed to the ground, speaking with lots of respect. He had a voice like a child''s, which was a little sharp.


    "What do they say?" Cang Lan''s voice was deep as though it had some special kind of magnetism.


    "Yu Jiaran, Shi, and Meng Chen all promised on the spot." Said Yan Yu.


    "Mmmm, that''s good. I''ll relax now with the four sides joining hands." Cang Lan said placidly.


    "Big brother." Yan Yu hesitated before saying, "I haven''t understood why you want to join forces with them. As long as the information from the front lines is reliable, that Wood Battalion is absolutely a gold mine. This time, Moon Frost Island is busy looking after itself, and wouldn''t dare to fight with us. Why should we carve out any of these things for those three houses?"


    Hearing that, Cang Lan said with a laugh, "You shouldn''t be too greedy. Do you think we''re the only ones who got that information?"


    "Humph, even if we aren''t, who would dare to fight with us?" A severe look flashed though Yan Yu''s eyes.


    "Ha-ha!" Cang Lan laughed aloud, "You''re still so greedy. Desperate risk takers are all over the place, and we don''t have to become their target. With the four of us joining forces, the others won''t have the will to fight. If it were us alone, it would be hard to say. Once the fighting starts the killing is hard to stop."


    He suddenly gave a slight sigh, as his gaze returned to the distance, "The current situation is very delicate, such as has never happened in a hundred years. If we''re the least bit careless, we might throw the whole game. And furthermore, we won''t be participating in the Heavenly Drum Village District alliance. Once they complete the alliance, we''ll be the weak power. It will be hard to turn things around by depending on only our own power!"


    As though he were thinking about something, Yan Yu said, "Big Brother wants to go through the things in the hands of the Wood Battalion and establish a new coalition?"


    Cang Lan showed his praise, "Not bad. Don''t forget that the White Commander still has Caesar behind him."


    "Caesar!" there was a hint of fear in Yan Yu''s eyes, along with some excitement and enthusiasm. After a moment he asked, "Which team should I take?"


    "The Cang Jiang Military Force."


    Yan Yu said, "Do we need to take the Cang Jiang Military Force? Wouldn''t that be like using a battle axe to kill a chicken?"


    That was the first time for Cang Lan to frown, "Do you think it''s going to be a matter of just showing up and capturing them this time?"


    "Why not?" Yan Yu''s voice was sharp, "They''ve only got two thousand new troops, and with our four great iron armies united, I don''t believe that they could make any kind of huge waves.


    The Cang Jiang Military Force, the Jinzhai Tribe and the Blued Steel Regiment were all old troops having gone through hundreds of battles. They had unparalleled strength, and were dubbed the ''four iron armies'' of the Heavenly Drum Village District. That was also the first time the four iron armies had joined forces.


    "Don''t forget that even Rossiji has praised him." Cang Lan reminded him.


    Yan Yu dawdled before snorting coldly, "Didn''t you also say big brother, that one person''s power isn''t enough to overturn the heavens by hand?"


    Cang Lan laughed, "If that''s the way it is, let''s make a bet.


    "What kind of bet?" Yan Yu''s competitive spirit was aroused.


    "West Delhi isn''t far from here. If you set out today, then you should catch up to them within three days. We''ll make fifteen days the limit, and if you can capture that White Commander within fifteen days, then I''ll give you that Snake Swell." Cang Lan said with a look of certainty.


    "Really?" It was hard for Yan Yu to hide his pleasure. That Snake Swell in Cang Lan''s hands was a six-star fantasy card, and a first-rate simulation card, and is the famous card that Cang Lan had used for the longest. Yan Yu had been coveting that card for a long time, though he immediately scowled, "Then what will Big Brother use?"


    "It''s as though I''ve realized something during this time, and I plan to change cards." Cang Lan said with a slight smile.


    "Ha-ha, then it''s decided. I''m leaving, big brother!" His voice spiraled off, and there was nothing more to be seen of Yan Yu.


    On that very day the leader of the North Facing Island, and the second on the Black Line Star Listing, Cang Lan, and the leader of the West Facing series of cities and the number four on the Black Line Star Listing, Yu Jiaran, and the tribal Chief of the Jinzhai and number seven on the Black Line Star Listing, Shi, and the leader of the Aspia District who was number eight on the Black Line Star Listing, Meng Chen, all made statements at the same time to give notice to the world. They claimed that the Wood Battalion in West Delhi had stolen important technologies from the four houses, and that any power providing assistance to the Wood Battalion would become their mortal enemy!


    That same day, the number two man in the North Facing Island, Yan Yu, set out to lead the Cang Jiang Military Force which was designated as the first army of the underworld!


    At the same time, Yu Jiaran was leading the Guard Battalion under him personally, while Shi led the Jinzhi tribe and Meng Chen led the Blued Steel Regiment. They all broke camp and set out at the same time!


    The four iron armies became four torrents and went straight toward West Delhi at stunning speed.


    Once the word got out, the Heavenly Drum Village District was shaken!


    Four among the top ten from the Black Line Star Listing had joined forces! The Cang Jiang Military Force, the Guard Battalion, the Jinzhai Tribe, the Blued Steel Regiment; the four big iron armies famous in the underworld all set out at the same time! That was the first time in the entire history of the Heavenly Drum Village District to have such a luxurious battle formation at such a large scale!


    Everyone was full of questions: Where did that Wood Battalion actually come from? How could they go so far as to provoke such a massive disaster!


    And among everyone''s doubts, a war challenge from the North Facing Island once again stirred the already chaotic Heavenly Drum Village District into still more chaos.


    It was a perfectly ordinary war challenge on the one hand, while the content on it made everyone feel crazy.


    ¨C They heard that the Killing God was getting severe and only wanted to fight!


    The one named was Cang Lan!


    Good lord, the Heavenly Drum Village District was suddenly a mess! Breaking news was coming out one after another by then! The Scarlet Card Artisan Team had just been wiped out, and then a series of big affairs burst out. How could the people not be excited?


    Cang Lan versus the killing god, Caesar!


    If that could be made into a show, it would absolutely be the show with the highest ratings! Countless reporters came flocking to North Facing Island like crazy, desperate to know all about the inside story.


    Why did Cang Lang publicly invite a war? Would Caesar take the challenge? What was behind crusading against the Wood Battalion after all? It was the first time the underworld had so clearly let their own voices come out. Were there some new big moves coming?


    Relative to the excitement of the people, each of the powers became still more careful. The activities of the big houses of the underworld made the already uncertain situation of the Heavenly Drum Village District still more chaotic. But there was no one who expressed any opinion about any of that, and apart from Moon Frost Island, there wasn''t any power which could respond by itself to those four houses which had joined forces. Those guys who came from the underworld,were all ruthless, and everyone was afraid of them.


    And those powers which had originally gotten some of the inside story of the Wood Battalion were whispering in the first moments, that the four iron armies of the underworld could only result in annihilation. Their whispering led to the outside world wondering about the Wood Battalion. People basically didn''t know about that strange army, and where it had popped out from after all.


    Chen Mu had just led the Wood Battalion away from West Delhi, and he didn''t know that there were already four teams with terrifying power behind him and coming straight at him.


    He was ignorant of the crisis coming his way.


    Because he had also run into some trouble of his own.

 528 Trouble

    It was certainly trouble. Still, there wasn''t anyone who would resent that trouble more.


    Chen Mu hadn''t imagined that the breakthrough with his perception would come so soon; so soon that he was entirely unprepared. The One Breath perceptual training method''s results far exceeded his expectations. The distance between level six and level seven perception was so far way for countless people.


    His perception had actually grown rather fast all along, especially after Caesar had helped him to adjust it. Now he could be said to have advanced a thousand miles in a day. The One Breath training method in the mysterious card had once again allowed the rate of increase soar. Adding to that was his continual card making. Where others had seen him bring out six hundred card within five days, they didn''t actually know that he was so tired every day that he would be about to pass out. The card making machine certainly didn''t need him to control it, but it still needed the constant input of perception.


    The machinery required constant input of perception right up until the perception was completely exhausted. In order to be able to increase the pace, he had to enter the state of deep serenity. He had never thought that he would combine the state of deep serenity with the One Breath training method, the effect of which was surprisingly good. But combining the two of them required the premise that he would have to practically exhaust his perception.


    It didn''t sound like that would be so difficult.


    But in reality, the pain was far more terrible than anyone could imagine. In general, once perception was lower than forty percent, a card artisan would feel weak. At twenty percent, a person would basically lose control of perception, and if it got as low as ten percent, it could lead to powerful physiological responses, such as whole body spasms, or severe pain in the brain. People often said that near exhaustion meant that there was only twenty percent of perception left.


    But the perceptual exhaustion that Chen Mu required was for nothing to be left; judging from the standard values, that would be as low as five percent. If it went lower, the result would be better. He could bear the extreme pain, but once perception went below twenty percent, it would become hard to control, and if he were to want to exhaust it, that would be extremely difficult.


    Chen Mu still found a way. What inspired him was his previous extreme training method. Essentially, there wasn''t so much difference between what he was then using and the extreme training method ¨C the extreme state would stimulate a person''s potential.


    He made some slight improvements to the card making machine, using continuity of perception to "draw out" the remaining twenty percent of his perception.


    That process was quite comparable to torture whose pain would nearly make a person collapse. Chen Mu didn''t only have to endure the pain, he also needed to force himself to enter deep serenity, and use the One Breath training method.


    But there is always payback on an investment, and the speed of increase to his perception became shocking.


    By that time, he had gotten to the gateway for breaking through level six to level seven.


    Ordinarily, that would be a matter that couldn''t be better, but by that point it was only trouble.


    If the trouble was only him that would have been fine, but no one had thought that the trouble would come at once to so many!


    Apart from Sang Hanshui and Xiaobo, there were finally thirty six people among the team who faintly showed signs of a breakthrough.


    By that time everyone was all becaming anxious. It was top priority for the Wood Battalion. If that breakthrough was smooth, then the Wood battalion''s power would undergo a true transformation; and if it were to fail, then the losses would be huge.


    The troops stopped their forward progress, and simply stationed themselves.


    There were dozens of snow pits distributed around the camp, each one having several troops to keep watch. Their eyes momentarily stared at the snow pits. Without exception, the card artisans at the impasse chose to use the snow pit method. The snow pit method invented by Chen Mu had already become the troops'' most trusted perceptual training method, and it was what had created the situation that day.


    The bustle of the of the past was gone from the encampment and raining had been suspended. Everyone''s expression was as nervous as could be, apart from Wei-ah. Wei-ah had no expresson on his face as he sat there gazing at the sky. Little Bu Mo was having a rare day without training, his little fists clenched.


    The atmosphere of the camp had become oppressive as never before, and serious. The team members were moving softly and quietly, lest they create more commotion and surprise the team members in the snow pits.


    The first to succeed was Sang Hanshui. He didn''t have outstanding talent, but so many years of bitter training had made his perception incredibly deep. Going through the stimulation of the snow pit method, he had broken through the threshold of the seventh level without any obstacle.


    Then one after another the rest of the team members broke through, though those card artisans were all forty-something middle-aged card artisans. Their pervious perception had reached the peak of the sixth level, and they were only a step from the seventh. Given the stimulation of the snow pit method on top of the endless hard training during that period along with the actual battles, they finally completed the transformation from the sixth level to the seventh.


    How far was it from the sixth to the seventh level?


    Every card artisan would give the same response; very very far! The transformation from the sixth to the seventh level didn''t only change the volume of perception upward. An essential transformation was more important. Of course, what was most important was that the card artisans'' understanding of perception would become more profound.


    On the surface, understanding of perception wouldn''t directly be expressed in any increase to battle power, but if you still wanted to progress a step, it was something essential.


    No matter what, seventh level card artisans would be considered aces anywhere!


    Still, if those middle-aged card artisans who had broken though still wanted to progress some more, that would basically be impossible. Their age had limited their steps forward, unless they could understand the rules of perception and energy more profoundly in a short period of time. That thing about comprehension was very difficult to explain. But time is calculable, which was why the young were better looked after. Since they had more time, they had more possibility for progress.


    There were people continually jumping out from the snow pits, though there had never been any commotion in Xiaobo''s snow pit and there was still Chen Mu.


    Among all of the people, Chen Mu was the only one who wasn''t in a snow pit.


    Wei-ah remained outside Chen Mu''s tent without the least bit of impatience or any look of anxiety.


    "Aren''t you worried, Wei-ah?" Little Bu Mo couldn''t help asking.


    "I''m not worried." Wei-ah calmly responded.


    "Why aren''t you worried? I''m very worried! What if Blockhead doesn''t succeed. What if something happens?" While little Bu Mo was talking, he was looking nervously at the curtain to the tent.


    Wei-ah''s expression didn''t change in the least, "If you can''t use it, don''t do it."


    Little Bu Mo thought for a long time before understanding what Wei-ah meant. Wei-ah was saying that worry wasn''t useful, so don''t do it.


    The time went by bit by bit, but the two of them still hadn''t moved in the least.


    * * *


    Dress lightly, and full speed ahead. Our objective is East Delhi!" The childish voice with a hint of sharpness was giving orders. Yan Yu was looking down coldly from midair.


    "Yes sir!" Without asking why, a card arisan wearing a battle suit simply saluted the order.


    The card artisans were silent, gliding forward like a silent torrent. If the garrison head from West Delhi were to see that scene, he would certainly be surprised to find that the team''s march was very similar to the Wood Battalion.


    In another of the marching ranks, Yu Jiaran looked like a ghost with his skinny form and haggard white face,. When he spoke it was breathy and without strength. He was a complete invalid. His flight through the air was like a ghost wafting.


    "Yan Yu is really impatient."


    "Indeed. I''ve heard that he and master Cang Lan made a bet, that he would nab the Wood Battalion within fifteen days." His aide said with some laughter.


    "Fifteen days? Is Cang Lan that anxious?


    "I don''t know the details." His aide shook his head, "Master Cang Lan invited Caesar to fight this time. Isn''t that a little risky?"


    Yu Jiaran still had a casual look, "What does that have to do with us? It must be some recent insight of Cang Lan''s, otherwise, he wouldn''t dare to challenge Caesar. Still, hell deserves our respect to have such guts."


    "That''s right! Someone who would challenge the killing god has never existed." The aide was showing his agreement, when he suddenly asked, "Master Yan Yu has already sped ahead. What about us?"


    "We can maintain this speed. That guy Yan Yu really hates others grabbing the prey with him, It won''t be worth our while to compete with that crazy." Yu Jiaran''s voice was wavering without strength.


    "Yes, sir!" the aide immediately reminded him, "You have to take your medicine, Master."


    The sofa made from the fluffy blood tree was as red as fresh blood. It was one of the most expensive textile materials. An extremely beautiful man was lying lazily on top of it, holding up his cheek with his hand. He was wearing a gold encrusted pendant on his forehead.


    That man who was as charming as a woman was Shi! While he was grand among the top ten on the Black Line Star Listing, among the greats of the underworld he was known for the unique style that he had established.


    A gorgeous beauty was kneading his legs.


    "Reporting! Master Yan Yu has suddenly left the team, advancing at top speed while lightly dressed." Another very thinly clad beauty reported.


    "It''s no use for us to pay attention to that nut. Hee hee, let''s just let him go and find out how awesome the Wood Battalion is." He covered his mouth to swallow his laugher, really looking like a woman.


    "How awesome could he be? Could he compare to our Jinzhai tribe?" The beauty spoke indifferently while kneading his legs.


    "Hee hee, don''t be so bold, you don''t want to look down on people. He''s a highly respected figure for Rossiji." He was once again swallowing his laughter.


    "Rossiji isn''t as awesome as Master!" Another beauty in revealing clothes came up tightly from behind.


    "Hee hee . . ."


    Meng Chen had also gotten the same report. With his tall and sturdy body and a full beard, he looked mremarkably like a local bandit.


    He gave out a cold groan, and said to himself, "If he wants to die that has nothing to do with me."


    After talking he minded his own business and drilled into the training room in his shuttle car. The shuttle car he was riding was huge, and there was a small scale training area inside. Meng Chen was a nut about training, and he would bring along that training shuttle car no matter where he went.


    Apart from Yan Yu being like a hurricane all the way, the rest of them tacitly maintained their speed.


    * * *


    The next day at noon.


    Bang, there was a huge sound, as the snow pit where Xaiobo was suddenly blew open without warning!


    Those few teammates who were staying beside the snow pit reacted very quickly and erected their energy cloaks. They only felt the transmission of a huge force. Although they had energy cloaks to protect them, they still were like a ball pumped up hard as they were blown backward.


    That huge sound had scared the entire camp.


    There hadn''t been anyone in a similar situation during those last few days. To break through from the sixth to the seventh level was really very fuzzy for those ordinary-born card artisans, no matter what the exact details were.


    Did he succeed or did he fail?


    Countless gazes were concentrated on the snow pit where Xiaobo was.


    All the snow in the pit was blown off, but there still wasn''t any movement in the mouth of the pit. Everyone looked at one another, though no one came forward. Sang Hanshui''s heart skipped a beat. Could something have happened? He was about to go over.


    Then there suddenly appeared a blackened hand on the edge of the pit. The left hand.


    Soon after, there appeared another similarly black hand. The right hand.


    A smoking and burning head then appeared. The previously soft and silvery long hair was now like a mop. And moreover, one that had just mopped the ground and was darkest black.


    He squirted out a mouthful of black breath from his nose. Xiaobo couldn''t help cursing abuse.


    "Damnit, is it all going to explode?"


    Everyone was petrified.

 529 Hunt and Kill!

    It had been two days and there was no news of Chen Mu. Everyone was nervous. However, they didn''t dare to barge in and could only wait. Wei-ah kept his silence, looked up at the sky, and vanished out of sight.


    The heavy rain was interwoven with lightning. The world was in complete darkness.


    It was impossible to fly under such conditions. The strongest power shield was no match for the energy hidden in the tyrannical lightning; this was the power of nature. The sky was pitch-black, and a sudden clap of thunder struck the sky. It felt like doomsday.


    "Damn it. Why did we have to run into this weather?" a card artisan from Cang Jiang Military Force grumbled.


    Another card artisan, still in a state of shock, looked at the thick clouds in the sky. A moment before, the night sky had been severely torn apart by the lightning. Despite being an experienced card artisan, he couldn''t help but fear the power of nature.


    "You''re right. What horrible weather. I''ve never encountered such horrid weather. Wood Word Camp is in luck. If it wasn''t for this, we could have caught up with them today."


    "Hmph. They''re at their last breath. Do you think they could travel under such weather? When the freezing rain starts to pour, all living things cease to exist and it''s difficult to move a single step. If we''re stuck, they''re no better off." replied the card artisan.


    Bean-sized raindrops dropped heavily onto their power shield-like stones. The rain that splattered off their power shield condensed into small crystals and fell to the ground, causing a series of crackling sounds.


    The two had no choice but to increase the temperature of their power shield to prevent the formation of ice from the rain drops. Otherwise, both of them would have turned into bricks of ice. However, they could feel the energy within their apparatus was being depleted faster than usual.


    "That''s true. With this freezing rain, if there was no power shield, one could only freeze to death. But this is advantageous to us. It would have been tough to guard against those people. We would be tired!"


    The other card artisan laughed and agreed, "Yes, we just need to look out for rays of light beaming off of any power shield."


    "There''s been no war in the past two years and no way to gain credits. Look, so many soldiers on the team remained stagnant in their positions. It''s such a rare opportunity to take up this mission. I thought it would be an easy task. Who would have expected such horrible weather?" This card artisan had despair written all over his face.


    "It''s all right. This freezing rain won''t last long," the other card artisan comforted him. Suddenly, he asked in a curious voice, "What is this Wood Word Camp? Which technology did they steal? Boss Yan looked murderous."


    "Who cares? Whoever Boss Yan asks us to kill, we''ll kill. Don''t ask so many questions."


    "You''re not curious at all? The aces of the Great Four Coalition Army of the Underworld were sent out. Tut-tut, not just anyone receives such extraordinary treatment."


    ¡­


    They didn''t notice that a dark shadow near them had quietly flashed past.


    The cold, icy rain hit Wei-ah, yet his expression remained unchanged, as though he felt nothing. He could hear the conversation between the two card artisans very clearly. Where was this team from? Which army was it? He was wary of the two card artisans but indifferent to the news they leaked.


    In times of danger, Wei-ah had an extraordinary intuition that was comparable to that of a wild beast. Inside Wei-ah''s indifferent eyes, the intent to kill flashed and vanished quickly.


    Wei-ah kept low to the ground, taking cover under the night sky. He moved quietly like a ghost towards the base camp of the Cang Jiang Military Force.


    The base camp of the Cang Jiang Military Force was spectacular, with thousands of people holding up their power shields. To save time, Yan Yu ordered the advancing army to carry lights, which was to say, they brought nothing else except food.


    The sudden encounter of such horrid weather left the unprepared Cang Jiang Military Force trapped. No one dared to fly in such weather. Anything in the sky could be struck by lightning. There was little chance of survival.


    Yan Yu''s gloomy expression was an exact replica of the horrid weather. He felt that the weather was a bad beginning of the chase, and he was frustrated. All the card artisans chose to stay far away from him. When Yan Yu was in bad mood, it was a rule of thumb to stay far away from him. Yan Yu was a capricious and ruthless man; all the men working under him were afraid of him.


    In the dark, Wei-ah snuck into the base camp of the Cang Jiang Military Force. The visibility was extremely low, and with their power shields covered with splattering rain, card artisans were basically blind to their surroundings. In addition, the card artisans didn''t imagine the possibility of someone walking through the bad weather without a power shield.


    Wei-ah''s movements were gentle and silent.


    In Chen Mu''s mind, the demonic woman was the number one killer and Wei-ah was the number one wild beast! The demonic woman was an expert in manipulating darkness and environments to her advantage. Her countless strange and foul strategies were fresh in Chen Mu''s mind. In contrast to Wei-ah''s attack style, his was simple and direct. Yet his attacks were filled with power and violence so that no one could avoid his barbaric attacks.


    If the demonic woman and Wei-ah were to duel, Chen Mu wouldn''t hesitate to announce Wei-ah''s victory. Wei-ah had incredible instincts during duels and could keep his composure throughout a fight. Basically, Chen Mu hadn''t ever seen Wei-ah''s eyes flicker, not even when facing Faya''s Bronze Masked Man. Even then, Wei-ah''s glare was more than serious.


    The number of card artisans in the base camp was a little too large. Wei-ah scanned the surroundings. The field was filled with power shields. If one looked from above, it would look like thousands of glowing eggs. Power shields could emit a dim light, but not one strong enough to light up its surroundings. On the contrary, card artisans who were inside their glowing power shields had difficulty seeing their dark surroundings.


    Beasts were always full of intrinsic intelligence.


    Chen Mu had a profound and unforgettable experience of this. It was someone else''s turn to experience it. It would be impractical and absurd for him to kill all the card artisans all by himself.


    Notify the rest? He looked at the clouds. Perhaps others couldn''t spot the difference, but he knew the clouds were thinner than before, and the sky was a little brighter. These minute changes were hard to spot, but Wei-ah detected them flawlessly. He abandoned the idea.


    Woody was clearing his stage; this was the first issue that jumped into his mind. He didn''t understand the craft of a card artisan, yet he clearly knew that Woody was at a serious stage and these people apparently were waiting for the moment, too.


    He wouldn''t let these people interrupt Woody.


    His movements were softer while he coldly gazed at and examined the camp from time to time. Wei-ah was searching for a victim, one that would cause sufficient damage to the Cang Jiang Military Force. From his understanding, these people were like a herd of animals, and all he would need to do was hunt the king of the herd! As long as the leader of the herd was killed, the rest would scatter!


    He remained hidden and stayed in place. Wei-ah was in the best location. The closest card artisans were fifteen feet away, and he was in a blind spot.


    Wei-ah searched patiently for his target. His expression was consistent though he was fully drenched in the rain. The rain on him froze into ice. Wei-ah laid on his stomach, looking like a puddle of water from far. He didn''t get rid of the ice on him; the sound of the ice breaking would attract unwanted attention.


    In a short span, the ice accumulated on his body became thicker and thicker. However, it was to his advantage for hiding out, as from the outside, he didn''t look the least bit like a human form. Only a pair of eyes weren''t covered in ice.


    Wei-ah''s gaze was fixed on a child-like man not far away.


    Nobody would recognize Yan Yu as the chief commander if they hadn''t known him in the first place. That baby face and short stature were the best cover-up. What chief commander would look like a child?


    But Wei-ah''s gaze never moved since he first fixed his eyes on him. Wei-ah had found the leader of the team!


    There was no one around this seemingly child-like card artisan. The other card artisans seemed very afraid of him.


    What attracted Wei-ah''s attention was this person''s murderous aura. Wei-ah''s was sensitiveto such a murderous aura. Even Chen Mu would candidly admit defeat. This card artisan looked like a child, yet giving off a murderous aura, along with his piercing gaze, proved that he wasn''t a simple man.


    Wei-ah didn''t attack immediately. He searched with his gaze once more, but there were no other suspicious targets. When his eyes were locked on Yan Yu again, he was ready to attack!


    Yan Yu looked at the thick clouds and felt less frustrated than before. The sky was filled with lightning and the sounds of thunder raged, but the weather was getting better. It wouldn''t be long before the weather became good enough to immediately catch up with the Wood Word Camp.


    In fact, when the White Commander had been recruiting card artisans, many different forces had planted spies. He had also intervened. It was unintentional, but it was unexpected that his unintended action had brought him such amazing benefits in return. He felt excited just thinking of the reported information from his spies.


    Yan Yu wasn''t interested in seeking hegemony. He only enjoyed fighting and killing! However, his brother wanted power and that was enough reason for him to do anything for him.


    Although he wasn''t interested in power, it didn''t mean he was foolish. Being able to enter the top ten of "The Black Line Star List," his talent was undoubtedly astonishing, and he was definitely clever. If the reported information was true, it would surely be enough to shock the Heavenly Federation.


    He didn''t care if it was going to be shocking. What he cared about was the White Commander! He was Caesar''s student, the student of Caesar, the God of Slaughter! What was more exciting than this?


    A cruel and fanatical smile lifted the corners of his mouth, and his whole body shuddered involuntarily. The surging intent to fight echoed in his chest. Any thought of the fight nearly made him howl with anticipation.


    All of a sudden, he stopped all his movements, and his expression darkened.


    It felt like someone had thrown a wet blanket over him. His outpouring will to fight faded in a moment. He began to tremble instinctively.


    A cold wind seized him and chilled his spine; he sensed a murderous aura. It was overwhelming!

 530 A Taste of Wei-ah’s Hell

    A murderous aura!


    Despite the freezing weather, Yan Yu''s back broke out in sweat and was drenched in an instant. It had never occurred to him that a murderous aura could be so intense. He felt as if he had sunk into a puddle of sticky liquid. The murderous aura made his hair stand on end and every pore contract. He was losing his mind!


    Every bone in his body was so rigid that he couldn''t move. He had an illusion that this all-pervasive murderous aura was like a wild animal; at the slightest movement of his, it would devour him.


    Yan Yu remained still, but a trace of panic flashed through his eyes. He was wearing a power shield and had to switch his card to fight. He knew that his opponent wouldn''t give him any chance to switch cards.


    He had killed innumerable people and had rich experience in battle. As nervous as he was, he was able to be decisive. Not holding back, the energy within his apparatus surged up to his power shield at an amazing speed. In the darkness, Yan Yu''s power shield gleamed all of a sudden and radiated like a small sun!


    The overwhelming murderous aura drew back at the same time. Wei-ah waited for this moment, then like a cheetah ambushing its prey, he leaped out abruptly.


    Under the push of the formidable force, the thick ice that had formed on Wei-ah''s body cracked into numerous pieces and shot out in all directions. A shadow, like black lightning, vanished from under the pieces of ice. Nothing could compare to Wei-ah''s speed. He appeared as if out of thin air in front of Yan Yu.


    The original light yellow power shield was switched into a rich gold colored power shield that was dazzling. The strong waves of energy emitted from the power shield were like a tsunami.


    Yan Yu''s ability to act according to circumstances was marvelous. In order to fight for time, he had sacrificed the power shield card that had accompanied him for ten years. Having charged his power shield to the maximum, he had stronger protection than usual. However, it would cause irreversible damage to the card, which meant that the card would be useless after its final use.


    Yan Yu''s plot was more complicated than that. The strong waves of energy would alarm all his team members. He was confident of his team members; every one of them was an experienced card artisan with strong fighting capabilities. Even if his brother was to fight his team, it would be hard to say if he could escape.


    The only pity was the card! It was a four-star card and had been a gift from his teacher. However, the card had saved his life and was worth the sacrifice!


    Facing life and death sparked the ferocity in Yan Yu. His eyes twinkled with brutality. This cursed attacker! I must cut him alive! he thought.


    However, just as the idea came into his mind, he saw an unforgettable scene.


    Bang! The sound of a heavy and massive crash made his blood boil. He was dumbstruck to see his power shield cracking. The crack was like a gigantic spider web, covering every part of his power shield. It looked like a cracked golden eggshell!


    How is that possible?! he thought.


    Yan Yu was bewildered by the cracked power shield in front of him. The power shield was fully powered and had been activated by his four-star card!


    Yan Yu didn''t think that the power shield was enough to protect his safety. His opponent had been able to sneak in and had a terrifyingly murderous aura. He had to be a real ace, even stronger than him. Such an ace naturally had a way of dealing with a four-star power shield.


    However, his power shield couldn''t withstand a blow from his opponent, let alone stall for time. This was far beyond his expectations!


    Just when he was seized by terror, a seemingly ordinary fist appeared in front of him. Following that, his golden power shield shattered into pieces and shot into the sky. His power shield was completely disintegrated!


    Fist? How could it have been a fist? He had imagined countless ways that his opponent would attack, through all kinds of energy forms. But he had never thought that it would be something as simple as a fist. That fist smashed the four-star power shield that he had powered up with all his might.


    All the ferocity, courage, and tactics dissolved into nothingness in front of that punch! The only thing left intact was his instinct to survive!


    Moving back in a flash, he didn''t care about the paralyzing driving force; he just increased the speed of his jet stream card to its maximum in an instant.


    Fear! For the first time in his life, he feared for his life. He felt death. It was so near that he could feel the breath of the grim reaper. Run! He had to distance himself from his opponent in order to survive!


    I have to survive! he thought. Yan Yu was screaming on the inside! All thoughts became simple in the face of death. His senses and thoughts were extremely clear, his perception control at an unprecedented level. At that moment, the manipulation of energy was easier than before.


    Breakthrough? Is this a breakthrough? he thought. There was a sudden burst of ecstasy in his heart. The joy didn''t stem from breaking through, but from the joy of being able to survive! Everything around him was clearer than ever before, and the feeling was fascinating.


    Suddenly, Yan Yu''s face showed signs of horror and dread. A palm, similar to any ordinary person''s palm, appeared less than two feet away from Yan Yu! This palm demanded Yan Yu''s full attention, as though it was under a spotlight.


    An uncontrollable fear suddenly surged in Yan Yu. It was this fist that had smashed his power shield, but he was a little relieved that this palm was a few feet away from him. He started to accelerate. As long as he could maintain a little distance between them, the distance between him and this palm would just grow further and further.


    He fixed his sights on the palm, extremely tense. He wondered if it was because of this tension that everything around him seemed to slow down.


    He saw the palm lift up gently and then lightly chop down in an odd manner. "Gently" was the first word that popped into his mind. The attacker''s movements were very soft and weak. "Odd" was another immediate feeling of his. He was unable to describe the attack. Everything seemed to undergo complicated changes.


    Every movement of this palm caused magnificent transformations in the surrounding jet stream. When the chopping movement was completed, a sword about eight inches long made from the jet stream was formed!


    An air skill!


    Yan Yu recovered from his shock. He thought of the skills that had been very popular not long ago.


    Whoosh! The sound of explosions hadn''t died away. He felt like his chest was struck directly by a sword. Losing his balance, Yan Yu looked blankly at his surroundings, which were sweeping back speedily. He saw blood ooze out and instantaneously froze at the sight of red as lightning struck across the dark sky¡­


    Bang! Yan Yu''s body flew far and fell onto the ground like a sandbag.


    A series of changes happened so abruptly that no one could react in time. Wei-ah didn''t stop; he merely went forward to the side of Yan Yu''s corpse. Yan Yu''s eyes were still blankly open and had lost their shine. His eyes were lifeless and looking straight into the sky. Wei-ah''s palm waved gently. An Air Wave Blade emerged and cut Yan Yu''s neck accurately. Yan Yu was beheaded, his head separated from its body.


    Wei-ah grabbed Yan Yu''s head, prepared to leave. He didn''t know who Yan Yu was or how to describe the team to Woody, so he had decided to bring his head over to Woody. Maybe Woody would recognize him.


    At that moment, the other team members were in for a rude awakening. When they saw Yan Yu lying lifelessly on the ground, they were deeply astounded. Almost subconsciously, everyone immediately jumped onto Wei-ah!


    Wei-ah glanced indifferently at the astounded card artisans. There wasn''t the slightest change in his expression. The darkness gave him the best cover. With his ghostly and fast moves, the card artisans were no match for him. The card artisans lost track of Wei-ah in an instant.


    An average card artisan''s perception was sensitive to waves of energy fluctuation, but slow to react when facing physical objects. Only perceptions similar to Chen Mu''s and Caesar''s would allow them to have a stronger perception of physical objects, rather than waves of energy fluctuation. However, under the circumstances, Chen Mu had difficulty detecting Wei-ah''s existence. This had been very confusing for Chen Mu; he didn''t know what technique Wei-ah had used. His chances of finding a hidden Wei-ah were pitifully low.


    In this chaotic and dark environment, the torrential rain and bitter cold were all Wei-ah''s comrades. Air Wave Blade could exert its maximum power under such circumstance. The power shields of these card artisans were often destroyed with one punch. Wei-ah wouldn''t stay long to fight. Even if he missed his target, he would leave at once.


    Power shields were shattering, and they looked like fireworks in the dark, accompanied with the rise and fall of endless screams. Card artisans from the Cang Jiang Military Force couldn''t detect their opponent. All they could see were their comrades'' power shields breaking with endless cries! Moreover, they couldn''t figure which part of their power shields were being attacked. Their opponent''s speed was simply as fast as lightning.


    They couldn''t find their opponent and were passive targets. Nothing was worse than this, for they were like lambs awaiting slaughter.


    "Attention everyone, remove your power shield and get ready for battle!" A prestigious card artisan in the military grit his teeth and yelled, "Everyone¡ª" His voice stopped abruptly.


    The army was in even greater panic! There was zero unity, and the card artisans had no idea what to do! They were live targets if they had their power shields on. If they removed their power shields, they would lose their last bit of self-protection.


    Wei-ah was like a grim reaper, harvesting card artisans'' lives in a systematic manner. With Yan Yu''s head in his left hand, his right hand attacked as sharply as ever. His speed hadn''t slowed.


    Ever since his attack, within three minutes, 211 card artisans had died by his hands. This was equivalent to killing one card artisan from the Cang Jiang Military Force in a second. From another perspective, the Cang Jiang Military Force had lost five percent of their total strength.


    The killing spree was ongoing, and there wasn''t a single crack in Wei-ah''s indifferent expression. He was efficient in his killing, like a lion entering a flock of sheep. He calmly hunted and killed.


    Time was passing, and the smell of blood in the air was so pungent that it clogged their noses. It was a living hell.


    The fear the Cang Jiang Military Force experienced didn''t alleviate in the slightest; it just grew stronger. They watched their comrades'' defeat, but they couldn''t even spot their enemy''s shadow. They didn''t even know the numbers of their enemies.


    Despair and panic spread rapidly. Between the thick dark clouds, lightning flashed and thunder roared; showcasing the potential damage that was about to happen.


    A number of card artisans couldn''t help but fly towards the sky. All they wanted was to escape from this hell! However, when they were only 65 feet high in the sky, they were mercilessly struck by lightning! Struck down by the white rays of lightning, their power shields couldn''t last for even a second. These card artisans didn''t even have time to let out cries. They were burnt black and fell to the ground.


    Even God was helping the enemy!


    If it had been an ordinary army, they would have completely collapsed. However, the Cang Jiang Military Force was the first army of the Underworld, and their tenacity surprised Wei-ah.


    Wei-ah had been attacking for the past seven minutes. Five hundred and forty-one card artisans had died at his hands. Within seven minutes, the Cang Jiang Military Force had lost their chief commander and ten percent of their total strength.


    Finally, one card artisan saved the army. He removed his power shield and endured the chill of the freezing rain. While shivering, he switched to an illumination card. When the light shone across their heads and lit up 30 feet of the open space, the other card artisans realized what they had to do!


    "First squad! Use your illumination cards!" The squad leader of the first squad exhausted all his strength to deliver his command.


    The leader of the second squad was quick to react, too. He yelled, "Second squad, prepare for battle! Attack any suspicious targets!"


    The other squad leaders gave the same instructions.


    Wei-ah knew it was time for him to retreat. Without a moment of hesitation, he left.


    Numerous light balls floated into the sky. A thousand illumination cards were in use, and the light emitted was sufficient to see the entire base camp clearly.


    The card artisans from the Cang Jiang Military Force saw one of the most unforgettable scenes of their lives.


    The base camp of the Cang Jiang Military Force was a mess. They had their eyes moving wildly, searching around, but they didn''t find any enemies. There were only corpses on the ground, and they had long frozen into ice. The scars on each corpse were uniform¡ªonly one tiny wound, like the one left by blade energy.


    All that was left of Yan Yu was a headless corpse!

 531 Copper’s Troubles

    "Do you think he has a chance?" Nick couldn''t help but ask.


    These days, the internal Star Court was in dispute due to this problem, and the top executives had unceasing headaches. The collusion between Tan Yumin and Tang Hanpei had not only caused the Star Court to lose the four card appliance notebooks, but also disrupted the balance of the Star Court. They hadn''t expected the declaration of war from the underworld bosses in the Heavenly Drum Village District towards the Wood Word Camp. The true identity of the White Commander was only known by them. They had long coveted what Chen Mu owned. They were going to deal with it in the dark and take the card from Chen Mu''s hands. Thus, the interference by these underworld bosses in Cang Lan caused the Star Court to suddenly have a dilemma.


    Moreover, Cang Lan acted decisively. He didn''t give others the opportunity, but moved in himself, experienced and vicious. The Star Court, which had been plotting for a long time, understood the true usage of the card. How could they give that up willingly? If Chen Mu''s card really fell into the hands of Cang Lan, the seventh largest group could emerge in the Heavenly Federation soon.


    The Star Court moved immediately. Unfortunately, the power of the Star Court in the Heavenly Drum Village District was lacking.


    "It''s hard to say." The fatty shook his head. He then somewhat uncertainly said, "The strength of these four families is much stronger than the Wood Word Camp. If we give Chen Mu time, I''ll bet on his victory. Unfortunately, what he lacks most right now is time."


    "Then, isn''t he dead for sure?"


    "It''s hard to say. People like Chen Mu are difficult to judge with common sense!"


    "What''s wrong with you?! ''This is hard to say, that''s hard to say.'' You''ve been speaking for half a day, and only said that many things are hard to say. You''ve literally said nothing!" As Nick complained, he broke into laughter.


    "Haha!" The fatty also couldn''t help but laugh. "What do you want me to say about this kind of thing? I''m not a celestial being!"


    "Well, don''t you claim to be the first tactical genius in the Heavenly Federation? You can''t even figure out small matters like this!" Nick said with a disdainful face.


    The fatty didn''t care and spread his hands. "I have never confirmed this. Don''t blame it on me."


    "Ha! Even you can''t understand it. Those old men up there would surely have a headache," Nick gloated.


    The fatty pondered and said, "The Star Court has little power in the Heavenly Drum Village District. If they were to directly confront these underworld bosses, they would have no chance. The only chance of winning is to get in contact with Qing Qing and let her find Chen Mu before the underworld bosses, then take that card! With her strength, there''s still a chance."


    Although Nick didn''t want to admit it, he pursed his lips and said, "That woman''s strength is indeed no weaker than mine."


    Mobley was satisfied that he was finally getting out. Looking at the fairy-like woman in the distance, his heart was filled with emotion.


    Although he knew Qing Qing''s strength from the past, he could rarely witness her in action. However, he had felt the immense power of Qing Qing after this closed training! This power was not only limited to strength, but also included profound knowledge. She had a profound understanding of perception and battle. It was hard to imagine a young woman with such a deep perception.


    He had once felt a huge gap between the two. It was only after this closed training that he truly felt how big the gap between them was! Perhaps she really was a fairy that had been relegated to the Earth!


    He hid his first-ever feelings of love deep in his heart. In his eyes, it was difficult to find the kind of love that could be seen frequently in the past.


    "Thank you, Lady Qing Qing. If Mobley is to win, it is all Lady''s work," Mobley said with feeling.


    Qing Qing said calmly, "Team Leader Mo, you are extraordinarily gifted yourself. Qing Qing only helped a little."


    While opening the door to the training room, Mobley saw Ah Zhe, who wore a ghastly expression. At the same time, Qing Qing had just activated her meter, which started beeping rapidly.


    Copper leisurely drank his Sapphire Cloud Running Water. This type of low concentration liquor was his favorite drink. This habit didn''t change throughout the years. The scenery of the Heavenly Drum Village District was boring. There was only ice aside from the snow, but he enjoyed it. Beside him, Lan Feng was leaning against him. They had just been married that year. Lan Feng was more mature than before, and her capable temperament made her look more charming than ever.


    The past embarrassments of Copper could no longer be seen. He had become poised, and even his posture when drinking the Sapphire Cloud Running Water seemed carefree. Lan Feng looked at her own husband in a daze and felt proud of her insight. It had been an unusually difficult journey for the two throughout the years, but they had never complained about anything.


    Now, Copper was a slightly famous negotiator, who was mainly responsible for the Xiong family''s foreign negotiations. Lan Feng, on the other hand, was responsible for collecting all the information needed to help Copper make accurate judgments. They were husband and wife, and also the best partners. It was their perfect coordination that caused their rapid promotion of position in the Xiong family over the years. Their reputation in the field had also gradually spread, and the two had received solicitations from many other families. The Xiong family had also promised that if they could do well this time, they would be accepted into the core family.


    To be able to enter the core circle of the Xiong family was a lifelong dream for many people. They were a rather ancient family and had a certain influence in the Heavenly Drum Village District. It could be considered a clan in its region, and it had also received an invitation from the Moon Frost Island. Copper had been the expert in charge of these negotiations. Copper and Lan Feng were accompanied by a number of expert card artisans from the Xiong family. These card artisans were necessary to ensure the safety of Copper and his wife, and also to manifest their strength when necessary.


    "Mr. Copper is having a leisurely time." A middle-aged card artisan sat down opposite the two. As his eyes skimmed over Lan Feng, they couldn''t help but reveal a scorching heat. He was Xiong Shen, the number one card artisan in the Xiong family. His cultivation was unfathomable. He lived in seclusion, would rarely appear in public, and was also the card artisan leading the team.


    The more mature Lan Feng was exuding a unique and seductive aura, and the trace of charm that was hidden under her capable exterior was inadvertently revealed every time, making him exhale rather roughly.


    As Lan Feng spotted Xiong Shen, a microscopic hint of displeasure flashed through her gaze. She hated Xiong Shen''s gaze very much. Women were extremely sensitive to men''s eyes. The lust in his eyes infuriated her, but due to his identity, she could only endure it.


    As a negotiator, Copper had excellent observation skills, and he was also annoyed by Xiong Shen''s rudeness, but just like Lan Feng, years of experience had taught him what was forbidden.


    "Is Commander Shen praising me?" Copper deliberately showed a hint of astonishment on his face.


    "Praise?" Xiong Shen was a little confused.


    "Yes, wasn''t Commander Shen praising me and my wife for remaining calm and composed before the war? Could Commander Shen perhaps be nervous?" Copper said lightly.


    Xiong Shen stared at Copper for half a day, and Copper remained composed, with a smile on his face. A moment later, Xiong Shen broke into a smile all of a sudden. "Mr. Copper has great eloquence, indeed! But in this world, everything ends with the fist, not the mouth."


    How could the couple not hear the sarcasm in Xiong Shen''s words? And that faint threat was even more obvious.


    Lan Feng''s eyes were abruptly filled with anger, and she was about to attack, but Copper pinched her palm slightly under the table. She then stoutly suppressed the raging fire of fury in her heart.


    The smile remained on Copper''s face, but his eyes suddenly became sharp. He smiled slightly and said, "Presumably, Commander Shen''s fist is big enough to easily acquire a vote. Our words could then be omitted." He was reminding Xiong Shen of the purpose of the trip.


    Xiong Shen''s eyes became ferocious, but he abruptly laughed after a moment. "Xiong Shen is a rough man and is used to acting rough. I beg your forgiveness if I was being offensive!"


    "Haha, Commander Shen is too modest." Copper smiled.


    "Then, I won''t disturb you and your wife anymore." Xiong Shen simply bowed to the two and left.


    Through the glass window of the shuttle car, Xiong Shen''s gloomy expression could be seen as he got out of the car. Lan Feng said with a worried face, "Our life will be difficult in the Xiong family because we offended him."


    Xiong Shen held a high position in the Xiong family, seeing as he was greatly appreciated by the master of the family. Even the ordinary core members in the Xiong family feared him, not to mention Copper and his wife, who weren''t even core members.


    "If it were any other problem, I would have endured it, but when it comes to you, how can I tolerate it?" Copper gently stroked Lan Feng''s face and said, "If we can''t stay in the Xiong family, we can just look for another place."


    Lan Feng''s heart was warmed, and she lay in Copper''s arms as she whispered, "Mmm, I''ll follow you wherever you go."


    Xiong Shen would probably never realize that he had caused the Xiong family to lose their biggest alliance on this trip due to his lust. This was also Copper''s mindfulness. He had grown up in a tough environment and was very knowledgeable about the world.


    Thinking back to what he had just experienced, Chen Mu pondered silently. The results from grinding had far exceeded his expectations. In fact, his perception had already exceeded grade seven the day before. However, the moment his perception broke through to grade seven, his mind suddenly entered a very calm and strange state. This state only lasted for a few seconds, but in those few seconds, he had observed many things that he couldn''t normally see.


    Previously ambiguous places became clear. In that short span of seconds, the interpretation of the complex connection between the perception structures left an unforgettable impression on Chen Mu.


    After that, he was immersed in a state of reflecting and thinking. He knew that it was an extremely rare opportunity, so he didn''t hurry to disengage from this state immediately. He hadn''t left this state until just then.


    He didn''t know how rare this state was. Among the more than 30 people who were grinding, only Xiaobo could understand like he did. Xiaobo''s explosion had happened because he understood, so he tried, but failed.


    This understanding couldn''t increase his strength immediately, but it gave him the possibility to improve further.


    Although there weren''t a majority of card artisans that broke through to grade seven, there were still a lot. However, those that understood were few. No one knew why, but in the six major books, it was called a gift. The incredible masters, such as Tang Hanpei and Caesar, had gone through this step.


    When Chen Mu walked out of the tent, the camp instantly broke into a thunderous roar!


    In the span of a few days, the strength of the Wood Word Camp had multiplied significantly. One couldn''t underestimate the growth of more than 30 grade-seven card artisans. One had to expect that even the aces, like the Blood Hammer Unit, only owned around than ten grade-seven card artisans, whereas the Wood Word Camp, combined with the remaining seven grade-seven card artisans, had reached a staggering number of forty-seven grade-seven card artisans.


    Forty-seven grade-seven card artisans. This amount was really frightening!


    Chen Mu suddenly noticed and questioned with his head slanted, "Who?"


    "Woody." Wei-ah came out of the shadows, carrying a head in his hand. His gaze at Chen Mu had a strange hint in it. In the past, Woody normally wouldn''t be able to sense it if someone was to lurk like this. It seemed like Woody had really improved! Wei-ah''s indifferent eyes glowed with a rare tinge of joy.


    Chen Mu saw that Wei-ah was holding a head in his hand and was startled. "Wei-ah, who is this?" It wasn''t just Chen Mu; everyone else was also startled. Although each of them had killed someone, it had just been killing. They had never seen anyone cut off someone''s head like Wei-ah.


    It was too barbaric and bloody! These card artisans subconsciously retreated, looking at Wei-ah with fear.


    But the expression of a few people, like Xiaobo and Sang Hanshi, suddenly became solemn. Instead of retreating, they took a few steps forward. This place wasn''t very populated, but Wei-ah had killed people. They immediately understood that they were in trouble!


    "I don''t know. There was a lot of people. He was the head." Wei-ah''s answer made everyone''s expression serious again.


    Sang Hanshui looked carefully at the head. He suddenly choked up and exclaimed, "Yan Yu! This is Yan Yu!"


    All eyes were gathered on him. Chen Mu and Xiaobo didn''t know who Yan Yu was or why Sang Hanshui was so alarmed.


    "Old Sang, who is Yan Yu?" Chen Mu asked.


    "Number ten on the Black Line Star List! He was in the top two of the Cang Jiang Military Force." Sang Hanshui only felt dryness in his mouth.


    Chen Mu was stunned. If Sang Hanshui had been to talk about other qualities, Chen Mu could have still come to the correct judgment, but if he had been part of the Black Line Star List for a while, he already had a rather intuitive impression.


    Tenth in the Black Line Star Listing! This ranking clearly indicated Yan Yu''s ability. And, according to the ranking of the Black Line Star Listing, being in the top ten was definitely a milestone. One had to know that a powerful character such as Wen, was only ranked fifteenth. How powerful must Yan Yu have been to rank tenth?!


    Wait, Sang Hanshui had mentioned the Cang Jiang Military Force just now!


    Chen Mu instantly went to the point and asked, "What kind of team is the Cang Jiang Military Force, and, if he was the second-best, who''s the first?"


    "The Cang Jiang Military Force is a team established by Cang Lan. Cang Lan is ranked second on the Black Line Star List. I don''t know about the number of people in the Cang Jiang Military Force, but it''s known to be the First Army of the Underworld!"


    Hiss!


    Everyone couldn''t help but gasp!


    Second on the Black Line Star List! This ranking was enough to shrink people''s hearts unconsciously. The boss was second on the Black Line Star List, whereas the second boss was the tenth. They even had the title of the First Army of the Underworld, and there was no one who wasn''t afraid of them. The power of this team was obvious.


    The appearance of the Cang Jiang Military Force was definitely not a coincidence! Chen Mu made such a judgment immediately.


    Why would the Cang Jiang Military Force make their own lives more difficult? Chen Mu could vaguely guess the reason behind this. From the words of Wei-ah, it was obvious that the Cang Jiang Military Force weren''t far from them.


    Chen Mu realized that the situation was critical to the extent of a life and death situation.


    At this moment, he wasn''t allowed to ponder. He took a deep breath and commanded, "Assemble everyone!"

 532 Offense Is the Best Defense

    A few captains of the Cang Jiang Military Force had gathered together. Their faces showed traces of fear and despair.


    The campsite was a mess. The Cang Jiang Military Force had suffered heavy casualties in the ambush the night before. Excluding the card artisans who had died at the hands of the enemy, there were many card artisans who had frozen to death and suffered from frostbite. The card artisans were extremely weak without their power shields in such weather. Not many card artisans had frozen to death, but majority of the card artisans had suffered from frostbite. Many card artisans were mourning, and morale had dropped to a low point.


    A few captains remained silent, as they had no idea what to say.


    After a long while, an older card artisan spoke up. "Let''s figure it out. What shall we do now?"


    The other captains looked at each other, but all they could see was the fear in everyone''s eyes. Yan Yu had died, and the military force was left leaderless.


    "Lord Yan Yu died, while the soldiers suffered heavy casualties. Let''s go back and let Lord Lan decide," stammered one of the captains.


    "Do you want all of us to die?" chided another captain. "Lord Yan Yu had his head cut off. Lord Lan won''t have mercy on us if we return."


    This statement made everyone''s blood run cold in terror. Cang Lan had strict control, and the Cang Jiang Military Force, being the first established military force, was definitely be familiar with his behavior. If they were to return right then, nothing would happen to the card artisans in the lower levels. However, the few of them definitely wouldn''t escape a punishment.


    "Then what should we do? Look at the soldiers. Can they still fight?!" The card artisan who gave the suggestion had his face flushed red while he raised his voice.


    The morale of the soldiers had fallen to its lowest point. Countless had suffered from frostbite the night before, so the number of soldiers had been reduced. They were definitely not suitable for battle.


    Suddenly, another captain spoke up. "We need to fight, even if we can''t." His voice was low, but there was no doubt about what he had said. "This is our biggest shame since the Cang Jiang Military Force was established. If we can''t move past this, we''ll die even if we go back." He looked around and continued, "If we had died fighting on the battlefield, our families would get a raise and our children could have better lives. If we go back defeated, but Lord Lan won''t let us off. Then, when we die, not only our families will feel ashamed, but the rights they enjoy will be taken away, too. Did you guys think about that?"


    Everyone''s hearts were conflicted after listening to what he said. The soldiers who had families went silent. However, they didn''t realise that a few plate-shaped card appliances floated silently somewhere above their heads.


    "Target found! Location has been relocated again. The enemy is at the A6 area. Each unit, pay attention!" In the shuttle car, the atmosphere was tense as the captains were listening to the parameters reported by one of the card artisans.


    Chen Mu came up with a strategy immediately. He indiscriminately took up the responsibility when Bogner and Jiang Liang weren''t there.


    "Report! Each unit, stay in your position!" the correspondent reported.


    There were six screens in front of Chen Mu, all showing different images. He had released six compasses, so that he could keep an eye on every movement the opponent made. It showed clearly that the card artisans were mourning on the ground. Each of them were gathered in groups of ten under a power shield supported by a card artisan who was in good condition. There, warmth and protection from the wind were provided.


    Some of the card artisans were gathered together, they seemed to be arguing about something. However, the compass could only capture images, not sound.


    "Attack according to the original plan!" Chen Mu ordered calmly. He was no longer new to the battlefield and commanding battles. He was steadier than before.


    "Yes!"


    About six miles away from the Cang Jiang Military Force, Xiaobo stood tall. His long silver hair whipped around in the snow. The daisy mask was shining brightly under the sun.


    "All right, enough talk. Do the same as we practiced! Let''s make this clear; whoever falters at the critical moment, heh heh!" The young card artisans shivered when they heard Xiaobo''s sneer.


    "Damn it! I only brought a group of child soldiers. This is very unlucky," Xiaobo mumbled. He was envious of Sang Hanshui, as he was the Chief Military Instructor in the camp, while Xiaobo himself was only responsible for leading these children, making him unable to fight directly. These youth had an average ages of only 14 years old, so they were just half grown boys from Xiaobo''s perspective. Their basics were poor, and he needed to act like their babysitter in order to fix lots of their fundamental issues.


    He had no choice, as this was an order from the boss. He had an unforgettable memory about how cunning his boss was. He would still tremble when he thought about the beating that he had suffered.


    The youth card artisan didn''t hear Xiaobo grumble. They were following the training requirements like usual, while being hung in mid-air at the same time. They formed a fan-shaped formation in the air.


    A young card artisan kept a straight face, and commanded with a strict expression, "Everyone pay attention! Target A6! Standby the One Wave Bomb!" His immature voice sounded a little funny.


    Xiaobo didn''t do anything. He had his arms crossed and watched the children that he had trained with his eyes squinted. These youths were young, but they looked serious when they fought. This made him quite proud. All of them were well chosen talents from their generation. Their strength was weak now, but they had boundless prospects.


    Humph! Birdeyes, later on this campsite would be full of aces.


    The youth who took the lead was nervous, but he tried to force himself to calm down.


    "Ready in five!" he shouted out loud. All the meters on the card artisans lit up on the fan-shaped attack line.


    "Five!


    "Four!


    "Three!


    "Two!


    "Fire!"


    Once he had shouted, "Fire," all the young card artisans fired their power bombs at the same time. Their target was the Cang Jiang Military Force campsite that was 30 feet away. One hundred power bombs attacked the enemies quietly, like a group of deadly sharks.


    Xiaobo couldn''t repress his sigh of admiration. His boss was a genius! One Wave Bomb seemed like nothing to other people, but it was able to release a horrible power when utilized by his boss. Using the strong scanning ability of the Spinulosa Disk, they could locate their targets from a long distance. Then, they used the One Wave Bomb card as a powerful single shot to attack the target from long range.


    One Wave Bomb was just a three-star card, its power fluctuation minimal. It was difficult to detect from a distance of over six miles, not to mention that the forest could interfere with the power fluctuation. The speed of One Wave Bomb wasn''t fast, but it only needed two seconds to attack at a range of six miles.


    Cang Jiang Military Force Camp.


    "What''s wrong with dying on the battlefield?! Being a card artisan, there''s no turning back." One captain tore off his shirt, his eyes red and his face grim. They were desperate. When provoked, they weren''t afraid of dying. There was no turning back, plus they still had their families to consider.


    "Heh heh! Exactly! We''ve gone through so much. Even if we die, it''s a trivial matter!" Another captain smiled broadly.


    The tension in the atmosphere had been diluted as everyone smiled ar each other. They had sworn to live or die together, so they weren''t afraid.


    "We''ll definitely fight for our lives, but we still have to regroup. Our attackers last night were probably a small elite force. The perimeter nearby is desolated, so the possibility of other military forces being around is small. I suspect that the army who attacked us last night was the Wood Word Camp!"


    "Yeah! It has to be them. This also proves that they''re nearby!"


    "It''s a nice day today. As revenge for Lord Yan Yu, we need to gather our able soldiers and get rid of the Wood Ward Camp once and for all."


    "Yes!"


    As they started to chat and discuss, they become more excited. Suddenly, a card artisan who had unintentionally looked up froze. What is that?


    He looked up at the sky blankly and shuddered violently. He shouted from the bottom of his lungs, "Enemy¡ª" Before he could manage to shout out the word "attack," something like shooting stars from the sky smashed into them, hard!


    Boom, boom, boom!


    The explosive power of a hundred One Wave Bombs was extremely terrifying. The bright shine of the explosion made them feel like they were in a white world. The explosion made their ears ring, while some card artisans'' ears were even bleeding! The explosion caused high temperatures that swept through the whole campsite. The surrounding snow was evaporated within seconds. The coniferous forest was also turned into ashes as a result.


    The power shield that was used to protect the injured soldiers seemed to be weakened due to the explosion.


    Sang Hanshui looked at the mushroom cloud. He squinted his eyes and scolded, "Hmph, well played, son of a b*tch!"


    One hundred One Wave Bombs hit in the A6 area, none of them missing. He had broken into a cold sweat when his boss had suggested this strategic plan earlier.


    Realising that the enemy didn''t have a hidden guard, his boss moved their hidden spot to a distance of fifteen feet away from the enemy''s campsite. Xiaobo launched the attack from just fifteen feet behind them. In the unfortunate chance that the young soldiers failed to target well, a One Wave Bomb might have smashed on them, too. Fortunately, this situation didn''t become a reality.


    Sang Hanshui''s eyes flashed with a cruel gaze. His battle mask seemed to emit homicidal intent, then he shouted, "Attack!"


    As soon as he gave the order, the card artisans of Wood Word Camp who were already eager to fight began to attack.


    The campsite of the Cang Jiang Military Force was violently plowed. However, many of the power shields still held on stubbornly. One Wave Bomb was a three-star card, after all. Although Chen Mu had tried his best to enhance its power, there was still a limit. These dimly light power shields were the works of card artisans who had barely pulled through. The dense power shields were magnificent. It could have been said that the card artisans of the Cang Jiang Military Force were of high quality.


    However, this sudden explosion had caught them by surprise. Even the powerful card artisans went blank for a moment. On the battlefield, sometimes all that was needed was a single moment!

 533 The Firepower of The Four Teams

    The enemy''s moment of distraction would be an extremely rare opportunity to engage for the Wooden Word Camp card artisans who were setting up ambush against them.


    After getting through the explosion, the remaining card artisans were still holding on to their energy shields, making them extremely eye-catching across the field. The fading light of the energy shields proved that they were still affected by the attack even though they did not suffer from any injuries. The ranged attack squad immediately launched their attack without any hesitation!


    The past battle experience had proven that the first wave of attack would generate the most effective outcome. The first wave of attack could kill or damage the enemies in a more effective way, especially through surprise attack.


    The screams of pain were all over the battlefield. The overwhelming energy forms in the sky were enough to cover up the sun.


    Team 3 was using Card numbered 032, [Tailless Shuttle Card], the card that Chen Mu used in the past. This card could release a high penetration energy force which allow them to have an insight into the energy shield of the same level. The four-starred card used by the third team was the advanced version of [Tailless Shuttle Card], which was called [Tailless Shuttle Card 2.0] by Chen Mu. The team members called it Card Number 2 for short. The three-starred [Tailless Shuttle Card] was called Card Number 1 for short.


    Card Number 2 had a greater power as compared to Card Number 1. The difference between their powers could be easily recognised by listening to their whistler. It sounded like Chen Mu''s [Patterned Shuttle] but its requirement towards perception lock-on was lower.


    A Tailless Shuttle was travelling in high speed and eventually crashed onto the enemy''s energy shield, causing a tremendous shake on it. The card artisan was shocked when he was about to dodge away from it, a second wave of energy form bursted onto his energy shield heavily out of nowhere.


    Bang!


    A third Tailless Shuttle violently drilled its way into his chest. WIth its powerful force, it blasted off to a distance 5 metres away with the enemy''s along.


    The Number 2 Card''s Tail Shuttle was longer and thicker than the normal one. A normal Tail Shuttle looked like an arrow while the enhanced version of Tail Shuttle was like a spear, longer and stronger. If a card artisan was to be hit by the Tail Shuttle, he would be shattered into pieces along with their energy shield at the same time.


    The card used Team 2 was cards numbered 031, called the [Burning Rain]. Its prototype was [Oudi Burner], but it no longer required 3 users to cast together. One single user would be able to use it. It inherited the [Oudi Burner]''s feature, which could absorb the enemy''s energy to maintain its burning feature. However, as it could only be used by one user, it could only manage to release 50 flames in every attack. After going through the optimization by the Computation Box, the [Burning Rain] would consume less energy and would be able to absorb the enemy''s energy much more faster!


    The disaster brought by the[Burning Rain]was like putting everyone in hell, where screams of pain were everywhere!


    Such terrifying flame could have the burning capacity which would make one''s blood boil.


    The level 4 [Burning Rain] would shift its form according to the perception control of the card artisan. This allowed it to be a versatile card which could be used in both wide range and close range situation! However, [Burning Rain] required a relatively higher level of perception control and therefore, any weaker card artisan would not be able to use it.


    The cards used by Team 4 were of category 033, which would be soundwave cards. Along Chen Mu''s journey, he had only seen few soundwave cards and he only owned one, which was the [Sound Beam] in Lu Xiaoru''s hand. He was deeply impressed by the effect of this card that came into play in Lu Xiaoru''s hand.


    033 was named [Crow]. Its prototype was the [Sound Beam] in Lu Xiaoru''s hand. He gave up on [Sound Beam]''s various forms of transformation decided to focus in enhancing its'' power. [Crow] could release only 5 types of soundwaves. However, each of the soundwaves was incredibly strong. Even him, as a creator of the soundwave card, was shocked by the power he had developed. In the meantime, the computation box had started to play a critical role because after using it as a power enhancement tool, eventually there appeared to be a structural differences between [Crow] and [Sound Beam].


    The level 4 [Crow] could only release 3 types of soundwaves, but all of them had gone through overlocking compression, which granted them the ability to crush even the air!


    The 3 squads launched their attacks with everything they got. Moreover, they were taking turns to engage. Team 4 was the first to take the shot. 400 underclocking compressed super soundwaves were casted and eventually crashed onto the energy shields. The energy shield was broke into pieces after the "bang" sound!


    At the moment of collision, the soundwave bomb exploded, releasing radiated soundwaves to the surroundings! The radiated soundwaves might not have be as strong as the collision, but it could be enough to make the enemies troops dizzy and became limb.


    Immediately after, an overwhelming amount of Tailless Shuttle and Flames suddenly fell from the sky, causing massive death and injuries to the distracted enemies.


    One site was well prepared for war, while the other side was unprepared for what was coming to them in the war. The victorious side was to be expected at a glance.


    The whole campsite had turned into a mess upon the explosion of [One-wave Bomb] in addition to the 400 compressed soundwave bombs.


    Every cards in the numbered series was extremely powerful. Not to mention the card which had gone through optimization! In a numbered card series research done by several scholars from the later generation, starting from card numbered 030, they had discovered that the mysterious card designer had gone through a substantive progress with his skills. However, they would had never expect it was all because of Chen Mu had managed to obtain the Computation Box!


    Moreover, Chen Mu did not switch away those over 30 card artisans that had manage to pass through level 7 from their original teams, instead he chose to let them stay.


    Of course, the card artisans who had achieved level 7 were strong! With the help of the enhanced numbered card series, these over 30 card artisans had possessed terrifying combat power although they were just broke through level 7.


    The Wooden Word Camp''s equipments level was at the top in the industry. Who else out there would be willing to fully-equipped their teams with extravagant numbered card series? Which team out there could own a scouting equipment like the Spinulosa Disk? Which team out there could own a convenient and fast forest telecommunication card ?


    The scene of all three squads setting off together was large in scale. With their overwhelming firepowers, it would be more than enough to raise a chaos to the enemies!


    However, although Chen Mu and his team was ahead of the fight, immediately after the first wave of attack, the Cang Jiang Military Force started to keep their feet grounded to the field, preparing to fight back!


    Sang Hanshui was whispering to himself. " This Cang Jiang Military Force would not be easy to deal with." He was assuming that he had acquired the absolute advantage, in terms of cards and the top fighters. Even their fighting spirits were way better than the Cang Jiang Military Force. Moreover, with the death of Yan Yu, the Cang Jiang Military Force had became a group of men in a common cause without a leader. However, they were still trying to fight against the enemy with such overwhelming firepower!


    They were truly the first army of the Underworld. Sang Hanshui started to get serious about the fight. Although the Wooden Word Camp''s fighters were equipped with advanced equipments and each of them was rich in experiences, however, they were only good as individual. In terms of a group, the two were not at the same level.


    The Cang Jiang Military Force immediately grouped themselves together to cover each other''s back, trying to fight back.


    The remaining leaders of the Cang Jiang Military Force that survived from the big explosion were mad and terrified at the same time!


    What a strong firepower!


    The overwhelming firepower by the enemy was beyond their expectation. Not just them, but every other card artisans from the Cang Jiang Military Force were showing a helpless look. Facing against such fierceful level of firepower, even themselves, the incredible Cang Jiang Military Force were still far from achieving it.


    "Damn it ! Is this really the Wooden Word Camp?"


    "What kind of shuttle was that? How could its penetration force be such powerful?" Soundwave card! So many soundwave cards! Damn it, how are these people so rich?


    Soundwave cards were extremely rare and therefore, their prices were high in the market. It would take a truckload of money to acquire such amount of soundwave card!


    The flames with the size of a thumb did not raise any attention from these card artisans at the very beginning. However, when someone had finally noticed there was something wrong with them, they shrieked, "Be careful everyone! There''s something wrong with this fire!"


    The other card artisans immediately found the problem within. Some of them who were quick-thinker instantly respond with a pale look, "Will-o''-the-wisp! It''s will-o''-the-wisp!"


    [Will-o''-the-wisp], a secret card used by the Snow Silks Worm Card Artisan Team. Its actual name was remained unclear but because of its particular characteristic, people called it [Will-o''-the-wisp]. The video from the Snow Worm Card Artisan Team was spreaded everywhere, and the terrifying and mysterious [Will-o''-the-wisp] had left a deep impression in everyone who watched it.


    Snow Silks Worm Card Artisan Team!


    Before the video was released, none of them would have any special response towards it. However, the Snow Silks Worm Card Artisan Team was in their prime currently and they had became a powerful force that could not be ignored!


    Could it be possible that there were beefs between the Wooden Word Camp and the Snow Silks Worm Card Artisan Team? These leaders looked at each other in shock. Everything that happened within these two days were beyond their expectation!


    A anonymous professional card artisan who could easily murder Yan Yu¡­..luxurious equipments¡­..incredible amount of level 7 card artisans¡­.. All of these was somehow related to the Snow Silks Worm Card Artisans Group¡­.


    Every card artisans had changed their perspectives towards the Wooden Word Camp!


    Just like a harmless toddler that turned into a giant, roaring while swinging its mane .


    "Things aren''t going to work out if we stayed this way! I will lead the team to break them apart!" One of the leaders said while gnashing his teeth. He immediately turned around and made a signal to the team upon ending his words.


    The other leaders were speechless because the enemy''s firepower was too powerful! With only 1,000 men, they managed to suppress the Cang Jiang Military Force and pushed them to the edge of the mountain.


    Several card artisans understood the situation very well. They then started to adjust their own position subtly.


    The captain shouted with his eyes full of anger, "GO!"


    Over 300 melee card artisans moved together towards the enemy''s army. Although all 300 of them flew up to the sky from different positions, they could still manage to complete the adjustment of their battle formation in the mid air!


    Melee card artisans were normally led by the card artisans which had outstanding performance in defense while others would follow closely behind to break the enemy''s formation.


    Once the melee card artisans had narrowed down the distance, it would be a disaster for the ranged card artisans! The frequency of attack and the flexibility of their evasion would make it easier for them to eliminate the enemy''s ranged card artisans.


    The leader of Team 5, Zheng Tie, was staring at the enemy''s camp closely. He had already discovered the upcoming plan when the enemies were making strange movements earlier.


    He was a man with a powerful frame and he was over 2 meters in height. His skin was dark and he looked like a mountain. He was over 30 years old and he had reached his prime year. Therefore, he was one of the card artisans that managed to achieve level 7. They had the worst results among the 4 squads. However, he was the first of the five leaders to reach level 7.


    And right behind him, there were over 300 card artisans floating in the air with neat formation. Unlike other card artisans, these card artisans were strong and each of them was putting up a fierceful and murderous look on their face.


    "Attention everyone! Get ready to fight!"


    Right at the moment when the opponent''s card artisans started to move, he shouted with his enlarged pupils, "Attack!"


    All 300 card artisans started to move at the same time! All of them charged towards the enemy like a bunch of shooting stars. They straightened their bodies and formed an arrow shape while charging into the enemy. Furthermore, they casted a cone-shaped energy shields on top of each of them to protect themselves.As they increased their charging speed, the cone-shaped energy shield became thicker.


    Their targets would clearly be the enemy''s melee card artisans!


    Two bunch of shooting stars clashed with each other violently in the mid air!


    Boom!


    Cang Jiang Military Force looked at this scene in shocked. "Are they insane?"


    With such incredible speed, both of them would be defeated in the sense that both would either injured or died upon clashing into each other. Our human bodies would not be able to take on such tremendous clash!


    The following scene had made the Cang Jiang Military Force stunned. They could not believe what they saw.


    Two teams with similar amount of card artisans clashed directly into each other. The card artisans from Cang Jiang Military Force were like eggs smashing onto the rocks. The next moment, a series of collision sound, bone cracking sound, and screams of pain were all over the sky!


    Cang Jiang Military Force had suffered great losses, with countless of death and injuries! However, the enemy''s card artisans were unhurt. They left the battlefield with their bodies rocking from side to side, as if they were drunk!


    There were only over 20 men left from Cang Jiang Military Force that survived from the collision in the sky. They stared at the unscathed enemies in dismay. At the moment, they had lost the last will to fight. "Are they demons? How could they manage to survive from such overwhelming collision?"


    These 20 card artisans were lucky that they did not clash with the enemies when they were criss crossing each other during the collision just now !


    However, right when they were astonished at the previous scene, countless of energy forms blasted onto them, turning them into sieves.


    Zheng Tie shook his dizzy head and shouted, "Fall back! Everyone! We have to retreat now!" He immediately rushed backwards to his base upon finishing his command.


    The collision this time had greatly impacted the fighting spirit of the Cang Jiang Military Force. High speed collision of a total of 600 card artisans was breathtaking and it had left a tremendous mentally impact to all of card artisans.


    The enemy did not lose a single man, but the Cang Jiang Military Force had almost lost every card artisans. This result had made each and every card artisans from the Cang Jiang Military Force felt despair and helpless. What terrified them the most was they had no idea how could the enemy card artisans survive from such collision.


    Cards numbered 034 in the numbered series was called [Crash of Dingbirds]! Chen Mu was inspired by the greek birds when he was designing the card. The card could form a cone-shaped energy shield above the head of the card artisans when he was travelling in high speed. This cone-shaped energy shield not only could protect the card artisan, but it could also act as a powerful weapon.


    The faster the travelling speed, the stronger the structure of the energy shield would become!


    Chen Mu had also invented a jet stream card, [Arrow], which could allow the user to travel in extreme speed for a short distance. Its speed would be faster than any of the jet stream card Chen Mu had ever seen.


    With the assistance by [Arrow], [Crash of Dingbirds] had turned into a sharp pointed cone-shape energy shield, which was much more harder. Moreover, they would also create an air cushion between the card artisan and the energy shield, which was able to absorb the shock released from the collision.


    Even so, [Crash of Dingbirds] could only be used by card artisans with extremely strong physique. Chen Mu had even provide Team Five a special additional physical training program.


    Even though the card artisans were as strong as Team Five, they could only charge once! Their bodies would not be able to undergo a second charge. Although they could only launch one single charge, however, none of them were ignoring the combat power of Team 5.


    "Boss. Is there any chance for us to attack?" One of the card artisans from the first team rubbed his hands anxiously while asking the question.


    Rafael showed a level of maturity which was not in par with her age in response to his question.


    She shook her head and said, "I don''t think we could do that this time."


    He looked at the battlefield with his full attention. Eventually, he realised that the enemy''s firepower went stronger all of a sudden and it had allowed him to notice the enemy''s dilemma. The enemy was already at their tipping point of accepting their failure. That was their final blow before the death!


    The insane firepower were causing continuous casualties in the Wooden Word Camp. However, all of them could understood that the results had been decided. Sang Hanshui immediately ordered some card artisans to engage from behind and to surround them all at once.


    Although they did arrange plenty of people for ambush, however, Sang Hanshui felt that it was not enough. If the enemies started to split up, we would not be able to stop them with that amount of manpower.

 534 The Stubborn Cang Jiang

    Yet, the unbreakable will of the Cang Jiang Military Force had highly surpassed Raphael''s expectation. The fight had lasted for 3 hours and it could be considered as an extremely long lasting fight for the card artisans.


    There were only 300 men left in the Cang Jiang Military Force. However, their fighting spirit was admirably tenacious.


    Sang Hanshui''s face went gloomy as the Wooden Word Camp had lost over 80 men ever since the war had started. Furthermore, the amount of casualties was over 150. Anyhow, the Wooden Word Camp had acquired the upper hand during the fight all the time. However, judging by the situation, the difference in combat powers between both teams was obvious.


    The equipments owned by Cang Jiang Military Force were above the average within the Heavenly Federation. Even regular card artisan''s equipment were built with 4 stars cards. However, in comparison to Wooden Word Camp, the equipment that Cang Jiang Military Force had were rather inferior. Before acquiring the Computation Box, Chen Mu''s 3 stars numbered series card was already enough to be on par with the 4 stars cards. After getting through the optimization by the Computation Box, those cards had become even stronger in overall performance.


    The cards'' power had greatly increased. Higher shooting rate and less energy consumption and they had even achieved lower energy fluctuation¡­


    However, the current Wooden Word Camp was like a child with a knife. Although they were equipped with the best weapons in the world, but unfortunately, they were unable to perform its best. As for Cang Jiang Military Force, they did not use 5 stars cards quite often but instead, they were using those regular 4 stars cards most of the time. However, their combat capabilities were extraordinary, especially the insane tenacity shown by Sang Hanshui, which allowed him to be highly respected by evevryone.


    It was terrifying to know that the Cang Jiang Military Force could still manage to hold their ground with 300 men left after losing over 3,000 of them throughout the fight!


    If both parties were to fight with one another face to face, Sang Hanshui could assure that his team would definitely lose the fight. Generally speaking, they were just mercenary soldiers. It would be difficult to expect loyalty from them unless they were granted with their own territories which would allow them to bring their families to live together. Only so, the mercenary soldiers would remain loyal.


    However, it was not the right time to think about it and it was not his concern after all.


    For now, his only concern was to end the fight as soon as possible.


    He looked at Raphael and started hesitating in his mind on whether he should arrange the team 1 into the battle. Team 1 was the strongest among the five in both combat power and equipment levels. Hence, he was not willing to place them into the battle. Raphael was following the boss all the way from Tai-shu family to where they were now. Therefore, none of them would doubt her loyalty.


    Raphael had realized that Sang Hanshui was staring at him. The horrible impression and the beaten experience left by those fighters in the minds of all these card artisans from Tai-shu family were unforgettable .


    "Sir. Let us join the fight!" Raphael asked. Card artisans in team 1 who stood beside her were feeling the urge to fight. It was a torture for them to watch the battle which had reached the climax but could not do anything at the side.


    Sang Hanshui did not speak a word.


    Back in the operation vehicle, Chen Mu Was looking at everything happening in the frontline. He was brainstorming while observing the situation in the battlefield. For him, he would still have a lot of things to learn. He had never been through any proper systematic learning progress before and instead, he learnt it all by himself. What he could recall was what Bogner had told him to do.


    However, the reality proved that " practice makes perfect". Without any help from Bogner and Jiang Liang, he could only count on himself. Although there were plenty of obstacles during the process, but eventually he still managed to build the Wooden Word Camp.


    He observed the image displayed carefully from the Spinulosa Disk as he quickly did some maths in his mind.


    From his perspective, Sang Hanshui obviously was not flexible enough. Chen Mu strategized several ideas that which would be able to destroy the enemy but Sang Hanshui had turned the battle into a prolonged state. However, Chen Mu did not stop him. Since he had given the Sang Hanshui the authority to take control of the battle, he would not interfere. He was a fighter without a solid foundation but what about Sang Hanshui and Xiaobo? They were not provided a solid foundation too.


    All of us required time and experience to grow.


    Other than them, the Wooden Word Camp soldiers were also lack of foundation. This battle had greatly impacted them. He had realized that the soldiers would learn from the enemy and their chemistry between one another had improved. They started to cover each other with their instincts and experience. These soldiers was slowly forcing themselves in adapting to the tough battle. Such improvement could be seen from the decreased casualties rate as compared to the previous fight.


    "Struggles develop strong and undefeatable fighting spirit." The tougher the fight, the greater the fighting spirit of a team would become!


    By witnessing the fallen of his card artisans, Chen Mu suddenly realized how calm he was. A quote popped out in his mind, "One who is lenient will never fit to lead an army! When have I become so cold-blooded?"


    He sighed and laughed sarcastically himself before turning his focus back to the battle once again.


    Chen Mu had finally realized the changes in himself. He used to chill most of the time when Bogner, Jiang Liang, and Xi Ping were still by his side as he would never have to worry about anything. He would only have to focus on his research. Unfortunately, once he left Bogner and others, he had to manage everything on his own and this had changed his personality and his attitude in doing stuff.


    On certain levels, he could be considered as a leader.


    The level 7 card artisans who stood beside Chen Mu were surprised. They were impressed by everything they saw on the screen.They were following Chen Mu''s orders most of the time just because they were afraid of the White Commander. Honestly, they were disappointed because even though the White Commander had managed to achieve level 7, his perception power was weaker than anyone of them.


    They would not be convinced that easily in the world that admired power and strength.


    Most of the people would not pay any attention to these arrogant level 7 card artisans from Wooden Word Camp.


    However, they had witnessed with their bare eyes on the fate of Cang Jiang Military Force, which was the First Army of the Underworld, had suffered from total annihilation by Wooden Word Camp!


    The Wooden Word Camp''s combat capability was far beyond everyone''s expectation!


    Nothing was more persuasive than power! Those level 7 card artisans had finally decided to pay their respects to this young man in mask, who had built such supreme army all by himself !


    Whatever Chen Mu had found out, Sang Hanshui who was present at the battle must have sensed too. Sang Hanshui was definitely much stone-hearted in comparison to Chen Mu. Xiaobo would share the same trait too. A true card artisan would have struggled to survive, while the lenient ones would have died long ago.


    He did realize the changes in his soldiers. Sang Hanshui declined Raphael''s battle invitation without any hesitation.


    He had a simple concept. Card artisans were supposed to fight with their lives at the frontline. Human lives would be valued the most in this crucial world! Among all the people in Wooden Word Camp, he did not care about anyone but his boss.


    For now, the Wooden Word Camp had lost over 150 card artisans! Furthermore, there were 300 wounded card artisans too!


    This was definitely the most disastrous record they had ever since the Wooden Word Camp was established.


    Yet, their efforts did not go to waste.The Wooden Word Camp soldiers were experienced card artisans. They had managed to obtain the rhythm and chemistry through this battle. They had fought in a more skillful and experienced way as he cooperation between each of them went better.


    "Damn it! They used us as a stepping stone!" Cang Jiang Military Force had only 2 captains left in the battle. One of them spoke with a gloomy face. As compared to the Wooden Word Camp''s inexperienced leadership, the captains from Cang Jiang Military Force were experienced in fights and they were pioneers. Hence, it was definitely a shame for Cang Jiang Military Force to become someone else''s stepping stone.


    Another captain spoke in a serious tone, "Alright. We can''t continue this way anymore. I''ll stall them while you go and bring the other half of the troop to breakthrough the battlefield."


    The captain shouted in madness, "What do you mean by that? If we were to die,we shall die together!"


    The other captain was calm as shook his head and said, "We have to deliver this news to Cang Lan. This way, we get to atone for our mistakes of losing the fight, so that our families could get a better compensation!"


    "Shall we deliver the message to the other 3 families?" The captain remained silence before he said the words. The option of staying alive was a temptation that he could not refuse as everyone was afraid to die.


    "Definitely not!" The captain quickly stopped him. "Our Cang Jiang Military Force had been completely defeated. If the 3 families were in a good state, then our North Facing District might be ended up as a servant to them. Hmph! How could we allow this to happen? You try your best to make your way out, and stay in the woods. Do not take the way you came to avoid from the 3 teams. They''ll definitely go head to head with the Wooden Word Camp and they will soon realize who benefits them most."


    He went silent for a moment before answering the question. " Please take good care of my family."


    "Alright!" This captain nodded solemnly with his eyes soaked in tears.


    They both were decisive men. Therefore, they both split their paths decisively afterwards and immediately started to make the formation adjustment.


    Sang Hanshui had noticed the changes in the enemy''s movement. He whispered the instruction to Raphael, who was standing beside him. Raphael nodded and started falling back with team 1 quietly.


    Sang Hanshui''s assumption was right. 5 minutes later, the enemy had greatly strengthen up their firepower to an intensive level!


    Although they had made an early preparation for this attack, several card artisans of Wooden Word Camp were injured in a blink of an eye. However, the well-prepared Wooden Word Camp card artisans had launched a counter attack in response, causing way more deaths and casualties on the enemy''s site.


    All of a sudden, over 100 card artisans turned back and started to charge out from the battlefield! They were like a bunch of rats running towards all directions.


    They did not activate the energy shield instead, they were doing all those dodging moves continuously, as if the Cang Jiang Military Force Camp went exploded.


    A partial of the card artisans went straight for Sang Hanshui!


    Within a short period of time, the leader of those card artisans had managed to slay 3 of the Wooden Word Camp''s card artisans without any mercy. He then took a glance at Sang Hanshui with his sharp eyes before tearing another card artisan apart right in front of him. He might have been using a 5 stars card, which could allow him to control the Seven-sided circular lightsaber the way he wanted. This lightsaber was extremely sharp and powerful that it could easily slice a man into half.


    Level 7 card artisan!


    Sang Hanshui grunted. He was pissed when the enemy tried to provoke him. He stared at the enemy ferociously and said,''''Are you trying to kill yourself?"


    Oncethe Wooden Word Camp''s card artisans knew that Sang Hanshui intended to have a solo battle with the enemy''s leader, they got excited and moved aside immediately just to make space for the fight.


    As for normal days, the Wooden Word Camp''s card artisans were suppressed by the hit man. Their rules were strict and therefore, none of them would dare to cross the line. The hit man was well-known for his insane attitude but whether or not he was a good fighter, none of them could ever knew. It was Sang Hanshui''s first time in achieving level 7 which tend to make all of them curious about his true strength.

 535 Luck and Victory

    The life of Sang Hanshui was full of hardship. He had became an ancient card expert during his journey of seeking for phenomenal cards.


    He was ruthless. He shadowed himself behind the scene, reigning over various small and middle scale organizations. Though he did everything he could, eventually he still failed to find a suitable card for himself, that was until Chen Mu created him the card, [Bomb].


    Though [Bomb] was extremely powerful, however, due to the lack of materials at that time, it was not the finest card as compared to the cards invented afterward. Chen Mu now was not short of precious materials, in fact, he could still able to produce higher rank cards.


    However, in a strange way, when Chen Mu proposed to create a new card for him previously, Sang Hanshui rejected his offer.


    Obviously, Sang Hanshui did not reject the offer out of courtesy, but because he could still remember what Chen Mu had said to him that day.


    Instead of searching for better cards, it might be better to exploit the potentials of the cards in their hands.


    In Chen Mu''s point of view, [Bomb] might not be an impressive card. However, in the eyes of Sang Hanshui, this would be the best card he had ever seen thus far.


    Ever since Chen Mu came out with the words, Sang Hanshui had been reflecting about the life he had led.


    It was from then that he became less ambitious. Right after he acquired [Bomb], his ambition seemed to have vanished completely. Thereafter, besides completing the training task that Chen Mu had assigned for him, he had spent hours studying [Bomb].


    During the fierce battle in the house of Tai-shu, the series of offensives strategies Chen Mu had created, such as [Graupel Bomb] and [Triple Snake Twister Bomb] had even managed to impress the greatest Faya card artisan, Fang Shi.


    It was after that night that his interest completely shifted. He started to pour his heart into researching the abilities of various cards.


    Of course, the boss''s offer was full of temptation. How could he not know the abilities of the cards created by the boss?


    Even the [Wheel] in Xiaobo''s hand was way more impressive than his [Bomb].


    Nevertheless, Sang Huishui still decided to reject his offer.


    He did not want to change his card even if there were better cards. By changing cards, it would mean that he had to create new abilities for the card all over again and that was not what he wanted. [Bomb] might not be extremely powerful, but to him, there was nothing more suitable.


    The Sang Hanshui now that had lost all his ambitions and what he had left was only one single thought. He wanted to see how far he could go with this card!


    Staring at the lightsabers that was coming directly towards him, a cold smile appeared behind his mask.


    He slightly shook his right hand and the next moment, five red missiles flew straight towards the incoming lightsabers.


    The speed of the five red missiles was not top notch. They formed a straight line and it appeared to be nothing more than a normal attack.


    However, right at the moment when all the card artisans went slightly disappointed, the last missile among the five suddenly exploded!


    Boom!


    Yet, when everyone was still in a daze, another loud explosion echoed.


    Boom!


    The second missile!


    Boom!


    At the same time, the third missile also blew up!


    The fourth one followed along too!


    Everyone went blank.


    What was that? What was the point of the missile exploding without reaching the enemy?


    The four missiles exploded and scattered throughout the sky like fireworks.


    Boom boom boom boom!


    Four blazing lights formed a straight line in the sky.


    However, only the first missile out of the five did not explode. Could it be¡­


    Several quick-witted card artisans in the crowd widened their eyes and stared at the sky. They were perplexed as they had realized what was going on.


    The combined impact force of the last four missiles which had exploded continuously was snowballed and it had created a tremendous force! This driving force was accumulated from the explosion of the 4 missiles and it had casted an additional effect onto the first missile at the front!


    It was like a brute force hammering down onto the first missiles.


    An overwhelming and smoldering collinear red light was embedded in the eyes of every spectator!


    A tremendous force had boosted the first missile to an terrifying speed! It was impossible for unaided eyes to see. The captain of the Cang Jiang Military Force was an experienced fighter in battles. He managed to stay calm and to utilize his perception to summon the nearest three lightsabers to form a light shield in front of him.


    The colourful light beam landed destructively onto the light shield!


    Boom!


    The intensive explosion and fiery white flame had immediately devoured the level 7 Cang Jiang Military Force card artisan.


    None of them could describe this attack!


    From the consecutive explosion by the last four missiles to the insane accelerated first missile, followed by the meteor-like impact force that crashed onto the opponent''s shield and ended with a detrimental blast! These visual effects had formed a shocking impact to everyone there.


    [Consecutive Pressure Bomb] !


    The entire battlefield was silence. Everyone was stunned by Sang Hanshui''s move. It was not just the audience, even the level 7 card artisans around Chen Mu was flabbergasted. They had never seen such intense attack in their life!


    The flame that was ignited by the explosion was still ablaze in the sky, taking the form of a cluster of flowers.


    The power of the accelerated missiles had baffled everyone.


    Xiaobo was floating in the air while gazing at the Light Beam Scattered Shadow at a distance that had yet to fade out.


    "Oh boy, that triangle eye is quite ferocious!" He murmured to himself.


    On the mask full of chrysanthemum drawings, a pair of starry eyes glimmered, burning bright with fighting spirit.


    With this hit, Sang Hanshui had completely shattered the will of all the card artisans of Cang Jiang Military Force.


    Sang Hanshui who was the cause of the commotion, stared blankly at his right hand. "Oh, how can it be so powerful?" His eyes had shown his disbelief as he muttered under his breath.


    Upon saying the words, he realized that he had already achieved level 7. However, the words he said had made the other card artisans around him to roll their eyes.


    The reason why Sang Hanshui could kill the enemy with one-hit was not because of the level. The opponent was too a level 7 card artisan too. There was not a huge difference between both of them. Nevertheless, the opponent had gone through three hours of exhausting battle and he was at his limit. Those powerful attacks previously was because of the strong equipments.


    Still, with this attack, Sang Hanshui had reconstructed his image in the hearts of the card artisans of Wooden Word Camp.


    After the breakthrough, the card artisans of Cang Jiang Military Force did not escape as a group but to scatter themselves to escape in various directions.


    To Wooden Word Camp, there were both advantages and disadvantages. The good being that the enemy''s force had been weakened, therefore Wooden Word Camp would only need to eliminate them one by one, the pressure would be lessen. The downside was that it was challenging to completely eliminate all the enemies.


    Countless people were hit and many fell down from the air. The survival rate was low in this situation. Without the use of jet steam cards and energy shield, falling from over ten meters would be fatal for all the card artisans.


    However, this had failed to slow down others. On the contrary, the card artisans of Cang Jiang Military Force were stimulated and started to show extraordinary strength. The card artisans of Wooden Word Camp who had been hovering there would not let the card artisans of Cang Jiang Military Force to escape that easily.


    It was a restless battle. The Cang Jiang Military Force got nearly wiped out and the Wooden Word Camp had a number of casualties too.


    The battle pattern had changed from a large-scale battle to scattered small battles. In order to fight, one would not need only courage but also luck. Rafael was speechless. It was obvious that their team was the typical team with not much decent luck. Previously, Sang Hanshui had noticed that these people were trying to escape and therefore, he had commanded Rafael to set up ambush to the enemy from behind. However, they had waited so long but none of the enemies had run towards their way. There were a few times when they had finally seen several enemy card artisans coming towards them, but they were eliminated by the card artisans from Wooden Word Camp before they could even reach to their ambush point.


    As compared with them, the Luck Fairy was on Little Bu Mo''s side.


    He had encountered the remaining sole leader of the Cang Jiang Military Force.


    Little Bu Mo was hiding on the tree while locking his eyes onto the card artisan who was flying in his direction.


    Cardless sects had no part in large-scale battles. In large-scale battles, the sky would always be the best battlefield. Card artisans would have enough space to dodge around in the sky.


    The previous child-like features were gone from Little Bu Mo''s face. He had turned into a real fighter, like an experienced hunter in a forest, calm and patient.


    He did not have to take orders from Sang Hanshui and was able to move on his own. All of the ambush points were picked by himself. Although he had been waiting there for 3 hours, he had shown no sign of impatient.


    Little Bu Mo''s capabilities was still remained unknown to Chen Mu. However, the obvious changes happened on Little Bu Mo had was to hard to be ignored.


    The enemy was flying this way!


    The target card artisan was a professional one. He kept on covering himself with the help of the forest. His expressions were alert. He did not even activate his energy shield. This had clearly violated the rule of the card artisan which had made Little Bu Mo to pay more attention to it. Usually, card artisans would set up energy shields all the time as it could provide them with a sense of security. However, only those experienced card artisan would choose not to activate it. Staying out of sight was crucial especially when you they were trying to escape from danger.


    Little Bu Mo held his breath, cautiously calculating the distance between both himself and the opponent.


    Even in the forest, this card artisan could still maintain his dodging movements, paying extra attention to his surroundings.


    Their distance had gradually closed in. Even though their distance had been narrowed down to 20 meters, Little Bu Mo was still waiting there stone-still. His eyes were half closed and he did not even make a blink. The opponent had entered his attack range. The effective attack range for his airskill was 20 meters.


    He was waiting for the perfect timing to attack.


    His opponent was very vigilant. He would escape right away if he was to realize any slight movement.


    If the battlefield was in the forest, the opponent definitely would not have the chance to escape from his clutch. However, if the opponent decided to fly into the sky, then he would have no chance at all but to watch him escape.


    However, if this card artisan failed to run away, he would attract the attention of the other card artisans from Wooden Word Camp.


    Yet, Little Bu Mo was hoping to get rid of the enemy himself.


    This card artisan suddenly charged into the air, seemingly attempting to fly up to the sky.


    Little Bu Mo was hiding behind the leaves. His eyelids flickered but his stance was solid.


    The opponent suddenly ducked down when he was at the verge of breaking through the tree crown. He had finally shown a sign of relief.


    It looked like there was no one around here!


    If anyone was setting up an ambush, they would have decided to attack when he made his move earlier.


    His thought had calmed himself down a little. If he flew forward for a short distance, he would be able to breakthrough the enemy''s blockade.


    He did not believe that the enemy would go through all the trouble just to hunt one person down.


    This nightmare would finally be over!


    He continued to flying forward. Right when he was about to heave a sigh of relief, a shadow suddenly charged at him from the tree beside him.


    What¡­?


    They crossed path with each other and with a snap, he fell from the sky.


    He sprained his neck after falling down. His eyes were wide open, lifelessly staring at the sky.


    An agile figure vanished between the trees.

 536 A Bold Plan

    Moon Frost Island.


    "We haven''t yet found any trace of Caesar, Master." A card artisan reported with a bow.


    Jia Yingxia gave out a cold groan, "That old guy is remaining surprisingly composed. Others are even calling him out by name for a challenge, and he''s paying them no mind. Humph, Cang Lan has a pretty big appetite, which is something that even I don''t quite get. What about the four troops from the underword? And have you found out where the Wood Brigade came from?"


    "It''s still not clear. It''s strange that those inside still haven''t delivered any valuable intelligence by this time." The card artisan hesitated before saying, "I wonder if they''ve already been found out by Cang Lan."


    Jia Yingxia pressed her hand to her forehead and sighed, "The situation is getting more complicated with this guy from the underworld not wanting to be left out. We have to speed up. How long before Ah Yue gets here."


    "Sister Yue should arrive in about three days."


    "There are powerfully enemies abroad, along with incessant internal issues." Jia Yingxia was a little distracted and was muttering to herself after a moment.


    * * *


    Compared to the previous stretch, the current situation of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm was so comfortable that it felt like paradise. As the most dazzling star of the time, they would get a warm reception from all sides no matter where they went, as with their current encampment, which was provided by a business association for free.


    Bogner was nearly about to rub his chin raw, his face so full of worry, "Where has the boss gotten to? We haven''t had the least bit of news until now."


    That was everyone''s most nettlesome issue recently; not being able to stay in touch with the boss. When Chen Mu was with the Tai-shu household, although they couldn''t keep in touch then either, at least they knew he was there. While now, it seemed that the boss had led off some troops and suddenly disappeared.


    Xi Ping said in a low voice, "Let''s first advance to Thousand Lakes. Doesn''t the boss want to go there?"


    Jiang Liang added, "Don''t we have a cooperative arrangement with the Luo''s of Thousand Lakes? Couldn''t we search for him through them?"


    "That won''t work!" Bogner and Xi Ping both answered at the same time.


    Bogner explained, "If our relationship to the boss is exposed now, it would be terribly dangerous! The Luo Family is still not worthy of our trust."


    "That''s right!" Xi Ping approved, "The situation with the boss''s identity is very delicate just now and we have to remain vigilant."


    The two of them looked at one another, and Bogner said in a low voice, "So let''s advance toward Thousand Lakes, and make some fanfare along the way. That way the boss would get some news of us. If we still don''t see the boss when we get to Thousand Lakes, then we''ll just set up camp there, and wait until the boss gets there!"


    After speaking, his gaze turned toward everyone.


    Xi Ping gave a strong nod, "I agree."


    Jiang Liang straightened up to say, "I agree."


    Sue Lochiro nodded as well, "I agree."


    Ru Qiu raised her hand and said sharply, "I agree."


    * * *


    The Wood Battalion was about to set up camp, with excitement from their huge victory still showing on everyone''s faces. That was of course apart from the first army being a little unhappy.


    Chen Mu was looking at the report in his hands and couldn''t help his bitter smile. The final accounting of casualties had come out, and there were a hundred and twenty card artisans who had died, with a hundred and ninety-one injured.


    That battle couldn''t be considered perfect. Most of the credit really belonged to Wei-ah.


    When they counted how many people Wei-ah had killed the night before, everyone freaked out.


    Over five hundred!


    Those five hundred people weren''t just civilians, but were seasoned card artisans averaging above grade six, who even had Yan Yu, the tenth on the Black Line Star Listing, among them.


    Whether they were ordinary card artisans or grade-seven card artisans, everyone in the Wood Brigade was gazing at Wei-ah as though they were looking at some prehistoric beast! The wooden mask on Wei-ah''s face gave out some bone piercing chill and murderousness in everyone''s eyes. And even if that pair of dull eyes didn''t look right at you but just swept over you, you could still hear your heart pound as it suddenly started to race.


    For a card artisan to achieve five hundred as a lifetime achievement was enough to be proud of. But to kill five hundred in a single evening . . .


    Where card artisans had never dared to get within five meters of Wei-ah, now there was nothing alive in the space within fifteen meters around Wei-ah. Of course, that was apart from Chen Mu and Little Bu Mo.


    Even little Bu Mo who remained by Wei-ah''s side and still wore the cute little monkey mask seemed to be exuding fierce violence.


    Still, along with the terror came a deep pride! What other team would have such a terrifying ace? Who among those card artisans famous in the Federation would have someone who could slaughter five hundred seasoned card artisans averaging over grade six in a single night?


    Chen Mu wasn''t concerning himself with all of that since he needed to consider too many other matters. As he saw it, that battle had been essential. The tactical code was done for, since to be able to memorize them was perfectly useful in training, but it didn''t make one a qualified soldier. Only the baptism of going through war could make those card artisans into true soldiers.


    That battle had been fought bitterly, with their opponent''s strength far beyond what they had imagined. But they were still able to grasp victory in the end. And to be able to defeat the first army of the underworld, the Cang Jiang Military , filled all the Wood Battalion with confidence. He remembered what Bogner had said, that a troop''s sense of honor was established on endless victories.


    He could clearly feel the transformation of the card artisans under him.


    Each brigade was now organized to discuss the gains and losses during that battle, and Chen Mu didn''t interfere. He just had each of the brigades pass along a final report of their discussions. Of course, as a matter of convention, the brigade with the best report would be rewarded.


    Once Chen Mu dropped that enticement, each of the brigades cheered! Ever since the matter of all the squads'' makeovers last time, everyone was full of anticipation about Chen Mu''s prizes. Anything from his hands was going to be something good!


    "We found out that it was the North Facing Island''s Cang Lan who gave the orders. We also found out who the spy was that was lying in wait among the troops." A hint of menace flashed through Sang Hanshui''s triangular eyes, "The ones coming this time aren''t just the Cang Jiang Military Force. There is also the Guard Battalion, the Jinzhai Tribe and the Blued Steel Regiment! The leader of the Guard Battalion is Yu Jiaran, number four on the Black Line Star Listing. The head of the Jinzhai, Shi, is number seven on the Black Line Star Listing. The leader of the Blued Steel Regiment is Meng Chen, the eighth on the Black Line Star Listing!"


    There was the sound of a concerted intake of cold air in the room.


    Chen Mu was also stunned, not having thought that the enemy would be so powerful. With such a luxuriant lineup, even the hegemon of the Heavenly Drum Village District, Moon Frost Island, wouldn''t want to casually go out to hit them.


    That shocking news made everyone fall silent.


    There was too much disparity in the power of the two sides!


    There were too many elements of luck for them to have been able to defeat the Cang Jiang Military Force. If it weren''t for the rain and lightening suddenly arriving, Wei-ah would absolutely not have had any way to create such losses for their adversary, and Yan Yu woudn''t have died. If they had faced the undamaged force of the Cang Jiang Military Force, the Wood Battalion would have had a lot larger probability of losing than winning.


    Unlike the lightly-equipped Cang Jiang Military Force, the other three troops were a lot better equipped. Moreover, the three troops were hand in hand, and once one of them became entangled, the other two would immediately close in. That would put the Wood Battalion into a state of eternal damnation.


    That news hit Chen Mu very hard! He drew in a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.


    By that time, being flustered wasn''t going to solve anything, other than to make him more passive. He closed his eyes and made a great effort to regulate his breathing. He needed to be calm.


    After half an hour, he opened his eyes back up, and only a deep chill remained in his eyes.


    He had long since discovered that if others were to find out about the things that he possessed, then trouble would surely ensue. But he had never imagined that the adversary would come on so quickly, and moreover once they did that they would deploy such power!


    "What is their current position?" Chen Mu''s voice was very steady.


    Hearing that calm voice, the panic in the rest of them also eased. It seemed that no matter when, the big guy would always have some way.


    Their trust in Chen Mu didn''t come out of nowhere but was established on a series of impressive military accomplishments.


    Previously, everyone had assumed that Chen Mu was dead for sure given the pursuit team from the Federation Comprehensive Academy, but none were left alive from that team. The Cang Jiang Military Force, the first army of the underworld, in addition to having Yan Yu, the number ten on the Black Line Star Listing, made it difficult to escape annihilation as the outcome.


    Those two battles which both seemed without any chance to win could even be called miracles, and established Chen Mu''s unparalleled authority in everyone''s eyes.


    Sang Hanshui rushed to say, "The four troops set out at the same time, though the Cang Jiang Military Force was the lightly equipped rapid advance troop, while the other three troops should be about two days behind them."


    Chen Mu opened the mapping fantasy card. The Spinulosa Disk could automatically turn its probes into a one-star fantasy card. There was a three dimensional very clear map in front of him, which gave Chen Mu an intuitive feeling.


    "Are the three troops now combined or separated?" Chen Mu asked.


    "Separated." Sang Hanshui''s interrogative work was perfectly in place, and he rushed to say, "The original four teams took four different directions to approach us. It''s said that Cang Lan and Yan Yu made a bet, and then Yan Yu went lightly equipped in advance hoping to be able to capture us within fifteen days."


    "Do you know the route that the Cang Jiang Military Force took?" Chen Mu continued on to ask.


    "Mmmm, they went along the route through the town of Yuhua, the city of Seven Stars, and the Dawn Canyon."


    "And the other three troops?"


    "I don''t know about that." Sang Hanshui shook his head.


    Chen Mu knew that intelligence like that wasn''t something that ordinary card artisans would know anything about. Too bad all the leaders of their adversary were already killed in battle.


    There was a strange flash in his calm eyes as Chen Mu slowly began to speak.


    "Our current advantage is that the adversary still doesn''t know that the Cang Jiang Military Force has already been wiped out by us. That is something that we can use! Our other advantage is that we have we have the most accurate maps of the area and the Spinulosa Disk."


    Everyone was quietly listening to Chen Mu''s analysis. His voice wasn''t loud, though it was perfectly strong.


    "The four troops would be locking us in from all directions. The adversary''s leadership ability shouldn''t be doubted, though the teams will be kept at an appropriate separation, and they won''t be likely to give us any space through which to break out. The Cang Jiang Military Force''s original light advance shouldn''t be considered flawed, since the adversary would absolutely never imagine that we could wipe out the Cang Jiang Military Force. But now with the Cang Jiang Military Force annihilated, their trap is showing its flaw. There is likely to be a gap among the three armies!"


    Chen Mu spoke coldly, "Therefore, we need only to follow the Cang Jiang Military Force''s original route in reverse, and we can then break out of the encirclement!"


    Everyone was stunned. That plan of Chen Mu''s was really too bold!


    Xiaobo hesitated a moment, and then said, "Could we enter the forest? After all, we have the Spinulosa Disk and the Communications card, and we could get away from them through the forest." Although no one else spoke up, they were clearly rather moved by that idea of Xiaobo''s.


    Chen Mu shook his head, "There isn''t any large-scale forest in this area, with so many towns and cities all over. That''s not good for us. If I haven''t guessed wrong, they will certainly have set a trap there! If they are really that powerful, then this area is certainly within their realm, and they don''t have any reason not to set out forces to block us to our front. Only toward their rear might they be careless with their guard. Since no one is likely to believe that we could break through four armies."


    "And so now. . ." Sang Hanshui said.


    Chen Mu''s expression became serious, "I''m ordering all of the troops to immediately begin to clean up the battlefield and bury all the corpses. But you''ll have to leave some sign of the battle, and in addition, you''ll have to place some tracks of our flight toward the northeast."


    "Yes, sir!" Sang Hanshui and Xiaobo took the orders strictly.


    Sang Hanshui and Xiaobo immediately organized all of the troops to begin the work of cleanup. Apart from the wounded, everyone went hard to work. Even those grade-seven card artisans beside Chen Mu went forward to help.


    Everyone knew that it was the crucial moment for the survival of the Wood Battalion.


    Having defeated such a famous and prominent army as the Cang Jiang Military Force, the Wood Battalion''s troops were full of drive. None of them planned to give up like that, even if the enemy was that much stronger than them. Having just created a miracle, their martial spirit had reached a peak.


    Only Chen Mu remained in the room, staring at the three-dimensional map as he analyzed the plans over and over in his mind.


    Had his judgements been correct? There wasn''t much basis for them in his mind, and the determined look just then had only been a put-on. He knew that was the only way that he could give the rest of them confidence, and calm them down. At that time, if he were to be flustered that would mean the true dead-end!


    Not having gone through any systematic education, he didn''t even know if his plans were basically correct or not. Moreover, among them there were too many indeterminate factors. Every variable could directly affect their situation.


    The huge pressure made him feel exhausted, both physically and mentally. He had a kind of urge to lay down in bed, and not think of anything or take care of anything.


    Standing up, he took off his mask, and kept splashing his face with ice water.


    The icy cold bone-penetrating chill made him abruptly a lot more clear-headed, and he couldn''t help smiling as he looked at the haggard young face reflected back from the water.


    He wiped away the water and put his mask back on, sitting back in front of the map.


    There was still a drop of water on his eyelashes, which also made his eyes look more cold and clear!


    He couldn''t just rely on calculation to conclude whether that plan was actually right or not. Only after implementation would he know the results. He didn''t question his judgements any further, but started to bury his head, having to prepare as many alternatives as possible.


    Since he couldn''t avoid them, then let them come!

 537 Some Talent!

    It was already the third day of high-speed stealth transit.


    Chen Mu''s prediction wasn''t off, and the other three establishments hadn''t filled in the gap left by the Cang Jiang Military Force, only sending a small number of card artisan scouts. The Spinulosa Disk''s outstanding reconnaissance capability gave the Wood Brigade the ability to discover those scouts from a long distance and thus avoid them. Judging from their expressions and movements, they lacked sufficient alertness, probably because they felt that there wouldn''t be any unexpected situations in that place.


    There were plenty of small towns in that area, so that it wasn''t really what would be meant by deep forest, and there also weren''t any ferocious wild beasts.


    That was doubtless a good thing for the Wood Brigade. Without any ferocious wild beasts, that also meant that they didn''t need to fight them, and that their likelihood of exposing themselves was a lot lower. Staying hidden had become the Wood Brigade''s most important current matter, and most of the credit for that was thanks to the Spinulosa Disk. Chen Mu hadn''t thought that the card appliance that he had made in his previous spare time would actually become so useful.


    During that time in the Snow Silkworm ravine, and especially after they had wiped out the Downstream Alliance, when the surrounding environment was perfectly peaceful, no one would dare to disturb them. The work of surveillance during that time mostly depended on surveillance card artisans. Of course, one important reason was that Chen Mu''s card appliance skills weren''t so capable then as now.


    Seeing how well the Spinulosa Disk was working, Chen Mu made six more of them. And furthermore, he made some advances with the communications shuttle car, which increased the scope of the Spinulosa Disk to double what it had been.


    Going through such a long period of high-speed marching was an utterly arduous affair. Apart from those grade-seven card artisans for whom it was pretty normal, the Wood Brigade card artisans were looking pretty exhausted. But each of them was gritting their teeth and holding out, all being quite clear about their current situation.


    "A city has shown up ahead, Boss!" Sang Hanshui couldn''t hide the excitement in his voice. His nerves were always on edge during those three days. He had never doubted the boss''s abilities, but there was basically no resolution to the situation at that time as he saw it. Still, although the situation was really awful, he wasn''t afraid. In any case, if they couldn''t do it and he lost his life, he would be rather relieved by that point.


    It wasn''t only him, but what everyone said of the boss was all skeptical. By not escaping far away, but on the contrary going in the direction of where the enemy was, how could they escape?


    During those three days, the expressions of all the card artisans were always uptight to the point of collapse, but all the troops constantly maintained their battle formation.


    When the city appeared, that also meant that they had already rushed to behind the united armies of the underworld. At the least, they were safe for the time being!


    The news of a city appearing in front of them immediately went through the troops, and they were abruptly jubilant.


    ¨C The boss really did it!


    The mayor of the town of Yuhua was in his manor basking in the sun, and contentedly humming a little tune. As the mayor of the little town with not quite three hundred thousand in population, he didn''t have that many governmental affairs to deal with. Still, he was normally quite diligent, and didn''t dare to slack off in the least. But he had given himself three days'' break that time; not only him but all of the civil servants in the town had gotten three days off.


    The Cang Jiang Military Force had been travelling through there for the previous while, making a disturbance that created the chaos of chickens flying and dogs jumping. That included everyone with him, all of whom were trembling in fear and being extremely cautious. They were in fear that they would perform one poor service, and then get torn apart by Master Yan Yu. For a mayor who was used to a slow-paced life, it made him feel that he had aged quite a few years. And just because of that, he had given all the civil servants three days off so that they could adjust.


    But then there was the sudden sound of rapid footsteps which broke his calm, and he heard his subordinate clawing at his throat and yelling, "Mayor, mayor! Things are bad!" His voice was thick with panic.


    The mayor felt rather furious, it being so hard to be able to relax. Won''t that gang let him stop for a while? Wasn''t it a vacation? What was that guy bothering him about?


    "Mayor . . . mayor . . ."


    "Why all that noise!" The mayor didn''t open his eyes, and directly rebuked him, "Didn''t I give you time off? Why aren''t you staying home. What are you doing running over to me? You people just go and look for work when there isn''t any. Isn''t there supposed to be nothing to do when you''re staying home? If you insist on messing things up, and then something happens and you can''t resolve it yourself. If you insist on bothering me . . ."


    "No! That''s not it! Mayor . . ." His subordinate rushed to explain.


    "So what is it?" The mayor very unceremoniously cut him off, "You people have a reputation for this kind of thing and I''m telling you, don''t consider me old, I''m not confused! The next time you want to mess things up . . ."


    "It''s really not us, mayor!" The subordinate had a great sense of grievance, as he rather stammered to say, "Out . . . there are people outside!"


    "Someone''s here? Who?" The mayor asked very leisurely, "You are scared off by someone coming? Now tell me what good are you!"


    The subordinate rushed to respond, "Card artisans!"


    The mayor kept his eyes closed, and said with a jeer, "Card artisans? I say have you lost your brain today? What are there more of these days than card artisans? You haven''t heard the saying that card artisans are as numerous as dogs except they walk on two feet?"


    The subordinate was in a big hurry, "No, that''s not it! Card artisans. Grade-seven card artisans!"


    "Oh!" Grade-seven card aritsans?" The mayor opened his eyes, and said a little skeptically, "You aren''t mistaken? Grade seven card artisans who are full and have nothing to do? So, they run to this place where birds don''t shit to do what??"


    The subordinate''s forehead was so anxious that he was sweating, and his two hands were gesticulating as he called out urgently, "A lot! A lot of grade seven card artisans!"


    The mayor was taken aback at first before immediately laughing out, "You''re being tricked, you idiot. If you were to say one or two grade-seven card artisans, I might believe it. Ha-ha, given your gesticulations, then aren''t there a dozen?"


    The subordinate''s head was bobbing like a chicken pecking rice, "More than that!"


    "Ha-ha! With a face full of contempt, the mayor said, "You are ignorant. Do you think that grade seven card artisans are just roadside goods? Card artisans are as numerous as dogs but walk on two feet, but once they rise to grade seven, they don''t have to worry a bone. They don''t have to worry about a bone!" He drew out that last phrase with an envious look.


    "Bone?"


    The mayor laid back down in a leisurely fashion, waving his hand, "OK, move aside, and slowly think about the essence of what I just said."


    The subordinate was urgent, but before the mayor had spoken the top of his head had gone suddenly dark.


    Forty or fifty card artisans suddenly appeared above his head, coldly watching him. He couldn''t help shivering and swallowed back his tongue with what he had been about to say. Those peoples'' eyes looked too fierce and scanning over them he felt a though he had been washed with ice water!


    Washed forty or fifty times . . .


    His face went white and his two legs shook, so that he slumped weakly to the side of the mayor''s rattan chair.


    The strength of grade-seven card artisans'' perception was vast and full of power and oppression. Forty or fifty grade-seven car artisans emitting perception at the same time brought along enough pressure that it could be described as filling the heavens and covering the earth.


    Just having been about to lie down, a gang of people suddenly appeared above his head, holding terrifying power. Everything lost its color, as dark clouds pressed on his head. The mayor''s weak mind was devastated in an instant until it was full of holes. His eyes then directly rolled up and he went unconscious and plopped onto his rattan chair.


    Xiaobo was the first to land, with the other card artisan landing behind him. In that small yard, the forty or fifty grade-seven card artisans didn''t say a thing and remained silent. The subordinate who had persisted in not passing out, finally couldn''t take it and his eyes rolled up and he simply passed out.


    "I detest trouble!" Xiaobo mumbled, as his silvery hair wafted in the air. His mask full of painted daisies was strangely evil. The Orderly Wave Wheel was as conspicuous as ever behind him.


    It was really hard to get the chance to lead some troops! Xiaobo was secretly feeling fine.


    The other card artisans very discreetly kept their mouths shut.


    They had seen the hit man''s power with their own eyes, and in the same way, as one of that pair of demons, no one would dare to question Chrysanthemum''s authority.


    There were forty or fifty grade-seven card artisans all with blank faces and icy gazes, not saying a thing. The degree of oppression created in the atmosphere immediately reached a terrifying place.


    As the mayor faintly awakened, he nearly fainted again.


    "Each . . . Each of you great people, I . . . I wonder how I might be of service?" The mayor stammered to ask. He responded very quickly, without asking about where they had come from, but rather directly asked how he might serve them. He knew that the two sides were too far apart in standing. His counterpart could pinch him dead as easily as killing an ant.


    There was no one who would dare, and there was no one who would complain about forty or fifty grade seven card artisans on behalf of the mayor of a small out of the way town.


    His counterpart''s tact made Xiaobo perfectly appreciative. Some talent!


    "Good good!" Xiaobo kept nodding and said with a pleasant expression, "We are the immediate guards of Master Cang Lan, and we''ve come here for some special matter, but since the matter is so urgent, we''ve nearly exhausted our power cards, and so we''re hoping that we could come to your fine town to resupply. Of course, we aren''t about to just grab them. Master Cang Lan has always taught us that we must pay attention to the local relations. We''ll buy. Oh, we plan to buy some energy cards, if it pleases the mayor to cooperate."


    "You are most welcome!" The mayor showed sudden understanding. No wonder there were so many grade-seven card artisans, being Master Cang Lan''s immediate guards! He didn''t have any doubts! On the contrary, he criticized himself for responding too slowly. Around there, apart from Master Cang Lan, what other troops could have so many grade-seven card artisans?


    That was a great opportunity to curry favor! The mayor''s mind was quietly moving, and moreover the great person in the lead had such a young sounding voice, that he had certainly earned the doting trust of Master Cang Lan!


    After he thought it through, he rushed to say, "I wonder how many the master might need?"


    "The more the better, of course." Xiaobo was casually picking his nails as he spoke without raising his head.


    It was some secret mission after all, and the mayor gritted his teeth to say with a flattering look, "Although this town has some stores, Master, there aren''t great numbers. Still, there is a local small business association which has a lot of inventory. Take a look Master . . ."


    That Chrysanthemum great man was a little hesitant, "But, we are carrying out a secret mission, and we have to keep our whereabouts secret . . ."


    "Don''t worry, master, I''ll take care of this matter. I only have to use the name of the town government for them to urgently transfer all of their power cards so that we don''t have to leak your eminence''s whereabouts!" The mayor was pleased to say.


    "Good, good! You didn''t look away from your seat. You are a real talent! If you do a good job with this, of course it would be good for you." Xiaobo then purposefully hesitated, "It''s just that, the price . . ."


    "How could I make the great one spend money! Although this town isn''t rich, a trifling few power cards would be a small favor for me, and your eminence must not decline by any means." The mayor said, very upbeat.


    Xiaobo looked at the mayor very appreciatively, saying, "That won''t do. Master Cang Lan has always taught us to conduct ourselves soberly with self-discipline!"


    Basking in the "great one''s" appreciative gaze, the mayor felt comfortable all over, and his brain became strangely quick-witted, "My humble thinking was too thoughtless, these power cards have been in storage for a long time, and, they would be worth ten Oudi by market price!"


    Xiaobo stoked on the praise to say, "If the officials in our North Facing Island were all as capable as your eminence, then the North Facing Island would have long since unified the Heavenly Drum Village District! For excellence such as your eminence''s to reside in such an out of the way little town is really a waste of talent. After we finish this mission, I must recommend your eminence to the official in charge of assessment, Mr. Xu."


    The mayor was overjoyed, and thanked him on the spot with a salute, "The favor of your support is utterly unforgettable to me!" As for some Mr. Xu, he thought it must be something like the minister of personnel or some figure with real power, which made the mayor feel very lucky.


    "Right, we also need some materials, might we thank your eminence the mayor for the trouble." Xiaobo said unceremoniously.


    The mayor took the list of materials, and was shocked. He could tell at a glance that so many materials would be for large troop to use. It looked like the guards'' mission that time was certainly no small matter!


    Then just at that time, Xiaobo looked at the mayor seeming to smile without smiling, "Such a talent as you eminence certainly knows the secrecy regulations of those of us in the North Facing Island." He feigned a sigh, "Our intelligence system has been seriously infiltrated recently. Your eminence must be on guard with those close to you. No matter who it is, if you leak our whereabouts . . ."


    Xiaobo''s drew his right hand lightly across his own throat, while his gaze remained every so amiable and gentle.


    The mayor''s back soaked through in that instant, as he swallowed with difficultly, and hurriedly nodded. "I understand! I understand! I''ve been basking in the sun all day, which can be quite comfortably cozy!" There were bean-sized beads of sweat on his face, with nothing comfortable to be seen.


    "Some talent!" Xiaobo once again praised him.


    When Xiaobo left the city leading the whole team, he had scared everyone in the camp stupid!


    That little town was quite rich! That was the first thing in everyone''s mind. It felt unimaginable for such a small town to actually be able to sell so many materials and power cards. And when the Wood Brigade card artisans found out that there were that many materials after spending only ten Oudi, everyone was collectively petrified.


    Xiaobo''s vile means immediately went very quickly through the entire Wood Brigade, and everyone''s gazes looked again at Xiaobo and made an abrupt substantive change.


    The hit-man made people afraid with that amazing but terrifying Bomb. Every time they thought about it, it made their hearts pound. But by comparison, people wanted to face the hit man''s bomb more than they did the great Chrysanthemum!


    Shady and ruthless, cunning, despicable . . .


    Those words weren''t sufficient to describe the great Chrysanthemum. Think about it. If even that little town the size of a sesame seed had been forcibly squeezed for so many materials by the great Chrysanthemum, even ''scraping the earth for three feet'' wouldn''t quite describe it. Offending the hit man would only cause pain to the flesh, but if you were to offend the Chrysanthemum, you''d be afraid that you could be sold at any time, and you might be foolishly helping him to count up his money.


    Even Chen Mu was flabbergasted. That guy Xaiobo was really just too shady and had too much imagination!


    He immediately decided that he would have to put those skills of Xiaobo to better use later on.


    The Wood Battalion sped way up after having been supplied. They now needed to hurry up before they were discovered by the united armies of the underworld. They needed to get out of the North Facing Island as quickly as possible.


    Chen Mu was very clear that what they needed then most desperately was speed! Any bit of time would be extremely valuable by then, and directly related to their life and death!

 538 The Fog of War

    "Maintain formation, everyone! Those on the edges be on guard!"


    "Fast! Faster! Don''t worry about the power cards!"


    "Keep up your spirits and don''t fall asleep!"


    "Don''t stop. Steady!"


    * * *


    Racing along day and night, and avoiding towns and cities along the way, the Wood Battalion went ahead toward Thousand Lakes at the fastest speed. Everyone in the entire Battalion only had three hours to sleep every day. The rest of time was all spent on the road. The forest shuttle cars were all used to load the injured, while Chen Mu used a jet-stream card along with the ordinary team members.


    What Chen Mu was then using was a completely new jet-stream card, the four-star Fire Mudfish. That jet-stream card incorporated the best parts of the Rocket and the Big Mudfish, having both enough explosive power and superior swerving performance. And after being optimized, its performance shot up by another level.


    His face was full of exhaustion, and his eyes were bloodshot. Not only him, but the entire Battalion from top to bottom was like that.


    His entire body already seemed numb, with their being in such a desperate rush and flying mechanically ahead!


    When the time to rest finally came, everyone landed from midair and set out the guards as fast as possible. The team members didn''t set up tents, but just chose someplace blocked from the wind and put their heads down to sleep on the snowy ground. Three hours meant that every second was precious. Once they were down, they would fall asleep in the shortest possible time.


    Chen Mu didn''t sleep, with a three-dimensional map in front of him. That map had been produced by them, and was made quite crudely, though it included a huge area. Lightly tracing the distance to Thousand Lakes, he fell into deep thought. They had already continuously rushed through five days of travel. The other three underworld troops would certainly have found something unusual.


    Still, up until then, they hadn''t discovered any signs of large-scale mobilizations along their way, which made him fell slightly safer.


    Given their current speed, they still needed about five days to fly out of the area controlled by the underworld.


    He understood that the following five days would doubtless be the most difficult five days!


    His gaze scanned back and forth across the map. He needed to find the place where the adversary would be most likely to block them.


    If they didn''t find the battlefield, then given the Wood Battalion''s exhausted state, it would be a nightmare to suddenly encounter the enemy.


    But, where would the enemy be most likely to stop them?


    * * *


    With the three troops combined, there were over ten thousand people, all completely silent.


    The three chiefs were looking at the just dug-out corpses in the mud beneath their feet, all of them shocked!


    "How could this be?" Shi whispered. After constant excavation, they counted the corpses, which were piled like a mountain. With the Cang Jiang Military Force battle suites on the bodies, it made them wonder if they were seeing an illusion.


    Yu Jiaran, who had been calm all along, couldn''t help showing his shock, "How did they do it? Could the Wood Battalion be so strong that even the Cang Jiang Military Force collapsed at the first blow?"


    Meng Chen''s gaze was captivated by the pile of corpses and he couldn''t say a thing.


    The Cang Jiang Military Force was the first team established by the underworld, which had fought all over the place countless times without ever being defeated. Yu Jiaran''s Guard Battalion, Shi''s Jinzhai Tribe and Meng Chen''s Blued Steel Regiment, had all been established on the model of the Cang Jiang Military Force. The four troops were called the four big iron armies of the underworld, but the three of them understood that those three troops were all a notch lower compared to the Cang Jiang Military Force.


    But the undefeated Cang Jiang Military Force had just quietly come to grief there, planted at the hands of some unknown bit player. After they found Yan Yu''s headless body, the three of them couldn''t help the panic they showed.


    It could be seen from the wounds on Yan Yu''s body that he wasn''t killed in a siege but was killed by another strongman!


    Their ranks on the listing were all higher than Yan Yu''s, but their actual strengths were at the same level. If their adversary could kill Yan Yu, then he could kill them! The top ten card artisans on the Black Line Star Listing were all sufficiently ranked in the entire Federation and could all be listed together. The only ones able to kill them would be the very top card artisans in the Federation.


    Like Tang Hanpei and like Caesar . . .


    Could Caesar have done it? That was the first thing the three of them thought! The more they thought about it, Caesar was the most likely. Cang Lan had made a challenge to Caesar, and Caesar and just simply killed Yan Yu in his rage.


    That was their most reasonable conjecture.


    A slight chill emerged from each of their hearts. The killing god Caesar''s reputation was really too big, and anyone who angered him would basically not survive.


    By himself, Caesar would have no way to destroy the entire Cang Jiang Military Force. So, there was only one possibility, that the Wood Battalion had joined forces with Caesar! Unlike Moon Frost Island, they were clear about what was at the bottom of the Wood Battalion. The White Commander was Caesar''s student, and it would be quite normal for the two of them to join forces.


    Having Caesar''s Wood Battalion as an enemy, the three of them couldn''t help a flash of timidity in their eyes.


    "Withdraw. We''ll give the news to Master Cang Lan. It''s up to him to decide." Unexpectedly, the one speaking was the taciturn Meng Chen.


    Yu Jiaran added, "Mmmm, I agree."


    The gazes of the two of them fell onto Shi, who sneered to say, "Can I disagree?"


    That self-deprecating comment by Shi made the pervasive atmosphere of agitation among the three of them lighten up. Shi was in a nightmare, "I had thought that by the time we got to this point, there wouldn''t be anyone who could kill us. We can''t help, but we can escape. I never imagined . . ."


    Looking at Yan Yu''s headless corpse, the three couldn''t avoid the feeling of putting themselves in his position.


    "If we go back now, then I''m going into seclusion." Meng Chen''s face showed resolve.


    Then Yu Jiaran said with a sneer, "It isn''t as it was any longer. If you want to seclude yourself safely away, that won''t be easy. This blow toward Master Can Lan is unprecedented, and I''m afraid those guys here also wanted to escape when they felt disturbed before."


    "Shi composed his look and nodded, "Right! And once Moon Frost Island completes its alliance, I reckon it won''t be long before they make a move against us. With the Cang Jiang Military Force all destroyed, we''ll disappear, and the enemy will endure, and that will only make them move more quickly."


    They were no idiots to have gotten that far, and the two others also knew that what Shi was saying wasn''t false.


    "What should we do?" Meng Chen asked in a cold voice.


    Yu Jiaran said in a somber voice, "Strike first to gain the initiative!"


    "And the Wood Battalion?" Shi asked hesitantly.


    "Of course, we can''t let them off so lightly. That would only make others feel that we''re nobody in the underworld." Yu Jiaran spoke with a chill, "We must immediately pull back with all haste. I believe that Master Cang Lan will certainly not sit and watch our adversary go unfettered. If Caesar is truly in the Wood Battalion, then there''s only Master Cang Lang on our side who can rival him. Humph, I don''t quite believe that they can escape our territory that quickly. We''ll go through the hub, and transmit the news, and lay out our defenses layer by layer, and strive to stall them!"


    Just then, a card artisan suddenly reported, "We''ve discovered the enemy!"


    The three of them were startled, "Who is it?"


    "I don''t know. There aren''t many of them, but they are very capable. We lost twenty people when we met them."


    Having just choked back a bellyful of anger for the Cang Jiang Military Force in front of them, their three faces all sank.


    * * *


    It was all desert in the Desert Camp, and the dense mass of card artisans and shuttle cars were all neatly arranged endlessly off into the distance.


    Su Heiming sat in his own car looking down on those troops that belonged only to him! He had grabbed the entire Desert Camp in his hands. In strict formation, they stood there silently with murderous ferocity like killing machines. Even the sky seemed to be affected by that powerful killing aura, where the dark clouds were massed.


    Su Heiming looked indifferent, when he suddenly knelt down and kowtowed hard toward the sky off in the distance, "Don''t worry, old man, with the Desert Camp in my hands, we will absolutely give the world a big surprise! We won''t fail your name."


    He stood up with a stern gaze.


    "All troops set off!"


    * * *


    The Star Academy


    "Everything is arranged." Nick said in a low voice.


    The dark night seemed not to have any effect on the Star Academy with lights all over, and the voices of students laughing and cheering audible from far off.


    Rossini watched silently at the place where he had lived since he was small. His expression was complex, and his eyes slightly red.


    "So long."


    Rossini waved at the Star Academy in the dark, and turned around to enter the shuttle car parked next to the two.


    Nick followed him in.


    After a moment, an especially high-class shuttle car departed from the Star Academy on a secret mission, on emergency orders from the President. At the same time, at some other well-hidden place in the Star Academy, the lights were lit and the sound of a fantasy card player could be heard from outside the door. But those on guard didn''t notice that there was no-one in the room.


    * * *


    Qing Qing''s pure white wrist lightly turned, and a bright green wavy blade accurately hit a card artisan. The green wavy blade had shocking power, and there wasn''t any energy cloak that could resist it''s blow. It penetrated a card artisan''s body, and then stuck into another card artisan''s chest. Altogether it penetrated three cards artisans before it was annihilated into thin air.


    The enemies all around seemed endless, but Qing Qing remained quick-witted and graceful, her face perpetually placid and mild. That made her look as though she were on an idle stroll in a courtyard and unspeakably relaxed. Beside her were corpses in disorder everywhere.


    They were all aces around her, all above grade seven, whose expressions were calm as they faced wave after wave of attack, without the least hint of being panicked.


    Elite! Those were the true elite!


    * * *


    Yu Jiaran and the three of them caught up. All had bad looks on their faces, having already paid with a hundred casualties while only seven of their adversary had been killed. That disproportionate number chilled the three of them! Especially that woman wearing the light blue suit, who was really too awesome! Surprisingly, none of those under them could block any of her blows. She was the most ferocious!


    Meng Chen''s gaze suddenly soared, "They are from the Star Academy!"


    "The Star Academy?" The two others'' hearts skipped a beat.


    "Mmmm, if I haven''t guessed wrong, the woman is that genius who was the first to come out from the Star Academy in fifteen years!" Meng Chen''s clenched fist was making a pounding sound.


    Yu Jiaran''s mind was reeling, "If they are the Star Academy, they must have come after the Wood Battalion!"


    Shi gave a cold grunt, "The Star Academy sure does have a long reach! They reached right into our bowl! They sure are willing to part with their hard-earned capital!"


    Yu Jiaran muttered, "That woman''s origins are certainly not simple. We''ll have to catch her alive."


    "Right!" Shi showed some joy, "If we can only catch her alive, then the Star Academy would certainly pay a high price to redeem her. Ha-ha!"


    The three of them agreed, and those below them got the order.


    Qing Qing''s moves weren''t any different from at the beginning, but the ease she had demonstrated wasn''t there. She had become a lot more anxious. Those fourteen beside her were nearly all of the core powers that the Star Academy had stationed in the Heavenly Drum Village District. Those fourteen people were all grade seven card artisans! For such power to be put into the headquarters of the Star Academy made a powerful force. Stationing those fourteen people there had cost the Star Academy several decades.


    But the time was too urgent, and the Star Academy had deployed all of its power in the Heavenly Drum Village District without hesitation.


    They had never imagined that they hadn''t caught the Wood Battalion but had encountered the united armies of the underworld instead.

 539 The Last Lap!

    Wood Word Camp stopped traveling and team members were asleep.


    They were all extremely fatigued. Everyone slept soundly, and their snoring sounds were all over the place. Chen Mu didn''t sleep; he was lost in his thoughts.


    "Boss, are you alright?" Xiaobo approached and asked worriedly. Chen Mu was in a very bad condition. His hair was messy and his bloodshot eyes looked frightening. For the past few days, ordinary team member only had at least three hours of rest but Chen Mu didn''t rest for even a second.


    Chen Mu''s imposing manner was frightening. He was tensed and looked like an overbearing and dangerous beast; someone who might break out and hurt people.


    Xiaobo had been with Chen Mu for quite a period, and he had never seen Chen Mu in such worrisome state. In his head, Chen Mu was always calm and composed, as if nothing in this world could affect him. In the past, Chen Mu didn''t like to talk, but nobody feared him. Yet the quiet Chen Mu in front of him made him fear deeply.


    "No worries." Chen Mu shook his head. His voice was a bit hoarse. His body was at its limit for not resting during the past few days. But he had no time to rest. Other than leading everyone forward at full speed, he had many other things to think about. He was the chief commander of Wood Word Camp and he had to shoulder all the responsibilities. It had been too quiet and smooth for the last few days, and he was puzzled and tense. However, these days of continuous expedition, enabled him to see the light of hope.


    The city not far away was Borman City and it was their last lap. They had to cross the city in order to get out of Cang Lan''s control. However, Borman City was the largest city, with the largest area and accommodated the greatest number of card artisans. If Wood Word Camp was to bypass the city, that meant they needed to travel a longer route, wasting more time and effort.


    Time, in Chen Mu''s plan, was a key factor.


    Chen Mu decided to cross through Borman City. Crossing Borman City would shorten their travel time by two days. Even if it was a risky act, Chen Mu chose it.


    Everyone had five hours to rest. Although Chen Mu was in a rush, he knew Wood Word Camp wouldn''t be able to retaliate if they were too jaded.


    Xiaobo was about to speak, but Chen Mu cut him off, "Go and rest. The last lap might not be a smooth ride."


    Xiaobo''s heart sank. During the entire journey, Chen Mu''s precise judgements deeply impressed everyone in Wood Word Camp and they were all convinced of his judgement.


    Watching Xiao Bo rest, Chen Mu then entered deep tranquility. Despite breaking through the seventh level, his perception was almost zero; a side effect of flying continuously without rest.


    In the tranquil world, time froze and all sounds were completely cut off. Chen Mu started his One-Breath Perception Training and he felt the vitality of life.


    It was five in the afternoon. The afterglow of the setting sun spread over the earth, giving the snow-white world an orange coat; it was extremely beautiful. The team members woke up from their rest. The five-hour break made them energetic, it was the longest break they had for a long time.


    No one made a single noise. Everyone rubbed their faces with snow to wake them up. When they were fully awake, they started changing the power card in their apparatus, checked if the apparatus was intact and tidied their attire. Nobody spoke a word during the process. They moved quickly, and the teams assembled in five minutes. Instead of being ordered to set off immediately, they gathered together.


    Chen Mu stood in front of his team and looked at these quiet faces. His heart was suddenly filled with pride. Wood Word Camp was founded by him, and after these days of sharpening, they had showed the form of a strong team.


    "What lies ahead is our last lap, Borman City! Make a breakthrough and we''ll win!" Chen Mu''s speech was simple yet powerful. Everyone was refreshed! Following his finger, they looked at the silhouetted Borman City. Nobody was afraid. On the contrary, they were excited and their gazed sparkled as though they had spotted a prey.


    "Follow my order!"


    Everyone in Wood Word Camp was silent. Everyone held their breath and waited for his command. The chilling wind didn''t make them feel cold. They felt very hot and their blood seemed to be boiling. Some of the card artisans couldn''t contain their excitement and their breathing became heavy. They only had to cross the city in front and they would be famous in the Heavenly Federation! Cross the city and they would create a miracle!


    In an age where people worshiped heroes, what could be more exciting than this?


    "Everyone! Combat formation! Full speed ahead!"


    Card artisans from Wood Word Camp flew into the sky. Under the glory of sunset, they looked like they were wearing a layer of golden armor. Contrary to the concealment in the past few days, they rose to the sky in an imposing manner. They flew towards Borman City.


    Those thrilled card artisans wished they had wings and increased their speed to the maximum! The extreme speed brought sonic booms. The collective noise created by around 1,800 people stirred up the air along the route. The overwhelming noises were heard all over, other card artisans inside the forest were startled by the loud roar.


    Just as the other card artisans were searching for the noise, they felt a hurricane sweep through the jungle. They nearly fell and broke out in panic. The loud roar continued to reach further out, and everyone in the region was affected by the air waves that was temporarily disordered.


    "Oh no. Which team is this?"


    "Is this Cang Jiang Military Force? Only they''d be so arrogant?"


    "Who knows? But, they''re so handsome!"


    ...


    Borman City was getting closer and more and more card artisans were seen on the ground. These people were either gasping with astonishment or plainly confused.


    Traveling at high speed, yet the formation of the team was in order. The distance between each member was neat. It was a manifestation of a strong army! The card artisans on the ground watched them until they were out of their sight. Although they had just a glimpse of Wood Word Camp, it shocked them tremendously.


    Such murderous aura, were they trying to attack Borman City? For no reason, that was the first idea that popped into their head. Attacking Borman City was an impossible goal. Although it was not the strongest city in North Facing District, it was ranked high up on the chart. Moreover, there were a considerable number of card artisans stationed in this city. Who would be so foolish to challenge such a titan? However, all the card artisans stopped what they were doing, flew up into the sky and headed for Borman City.


    Many people wanted to know, who were they?


    As they were closer to Borman City, the number of card artisans in the sky amplified. Chen Mu ordered the team to slow down and Wood Word Camp''s traveling speed dropped immediately. If they were traveling at lightning speed earlier, they were now gentler. And the switch between the two were so smooth. There was not a bit of chaos.


    Awesome!


    Card artisans who witnessed the transition were amazed. Changing the travel speed from high to low, for such a huge troop, the transition had always been a headache for any commanders. If any of the card artisans were slightly inconsistent, the one at the back will collide with the front.


    But there was not a bit of disorder for this team; the whole process was smooth and perfect! It was like a waterfall pouring down from high up suddenly becoming mercury flowing slowly on the table.


    The formation of a team changed from a combat formation to a defensive formation.


    All they could see was card artisans flying in alternate patterns, dazzling to the eyes. But in the blink of an eye, they had completed their formation. Those onlookers gave a gasp of astonishment.


    They had never seen such an efficient and unparalleled team.


    Everyone had a question in mind, where were they from?


    Combat formation and defense formation were just a general term. If divided into subcategories, there were many types. The greatest advantage of this defense formation, named number eight, was that it could be easily converted into a combat formation number six. The reason why Chen Mu changed his formation was that he found that card artisans in Borman City were much more than he had expected. He had to cross Borman City with the fastest speed; provoking them was his last resort.


    But in this world, not everything was agreeable.


    As Wood Word Camp was drawing nearer to the main area in Borman City, there were more and more card artisans watching. From a distance, the sky was filled with a dark mass of crowd.


    A troop of nearly 2,000 appeared in front of Wood Word Camp.


    Like a stimulated beast, Wood Word Camp spontaneously completed the formation without Chen Mu''s command. If Wood Word Camp was a turtle huddled in its shell before, then the Wood Word Camp had now revealed its tusks!


    Wood Word Camp''s transformation was out of the expectations of their opponents. There was quite a stir on the other side. Many card artisans went pale. The imposing manner of Wood Word Camp seemed to suggest their rich experience in war. This made their opponent nervous. Wood Word Camp''s opponent was merely an ordinary garrison. No matter where they went, any card artisan teams were submissive; they had never seen such formation.


    Chen Mu gazed at his opponent, coldly, without a word. Wood Word Camp was quiet. Every card artisan had a cold gaze, and they were leaning slightly forward, suggesting that they were ready to battle.


    The sense of oppression brought by a team without any hint was incomparable and simply suffocating.


    The card artisans on the opposite went pale and blood seemed to drain out from their faces. Murderous aura! Wood Word Camp kept silent and was giving out a murderous aura. Every other card artisan believed that they''d fight if they disagreed with each other.


    Wood Word Camp''s action caused the other card artisans to jump out of their skin. They had never thought anyone would treat Borman City''s garrison in such a way.


    Were they out of their minds?


    Silence. It was a deafening silence. Their hearts were in their mouths.


    Chen Mu''s gaze turned cold.

 540 Shoot to Kill

    The pressure accumulated from these days turned Chen Mu into another person. He wasn''t only composed like before, but also now had a fierce temperament. In other words, Chen Mu was a dangerous man; he was a real menace.


    It was worth noting that this dangerous man was the chief commander of a formidable army and it greatly increased his deadliness. In fact, Chen Mu had all the reasons to burn down Borman City and the reason was simple; this land belonged to Cang Lan. Chen Mu did not have deep enmity with Cang Lan, yet was pushed to his edge. It was impossible not to get enraged. For an average person without ability, they could only accept the unjust treatment and suck it up. However, for someone who had the power to retaliate but chose to tolerate the unjust treatment, he must be a masochistic.


    Cang Jiang Military Force was annihilated by Chen Mu. Even if the three of the Great Four Coalition Army of the Underworld managed to escape from the jungle, they would never catch up with his team. In other words, there was no worthy opponent like Cang Jiang Military Force in close proximity.


    If no one stopped them, Chen Mu would choose the most direct and fastest way to cross Borman City, then find a place to take a good rest and reorganize. He could finally have a good rest too. But the unexpected arrival of the army ignited the anger he had suppressed and contained for a significant period of time.


    Chen Mu was not a bad-tempered person. In contrast, in the eyes of the Bogner around him, he was a good-natured person. However, it would also be dreadful when such a man with good qualities was rubbed the wrong way.


    Inexplicable animosity was brimming within Chen Mu. It didn''t make him lose his head. On the contrary, he was as clear-headed as before. In contradistinction to his opponent, Chen Mu contemplated and decided to give Cang Lan a huge surprise.


    "Where¡­ where are you all from?" demanded the young leader of the group, he was turning pale. He was Cang Lan''s nephew. Otherwise, he had no way to be at such a crucial position. However, holding a high-ranked position at his young age made him unavoidably arrogant. Hence, when he heard report of Chen Mu and his army causing an uproar above Borman City, he immediately rushed forward to intercept them.


    But this young man regretted his decision. The troop he brought with him was outnumbered by Chen Mu''s Wood Word Camp. Under the attention and scrutiny of the public, it was hard for him to retreat. Losing his prestige was akin to killing him.


    No matter how he looked at it, Chen Mu''s troop was simply too suspicious-looking! As Cang Lan''s nephew, he was familiar with Cang Jiang Military Force. He had an army to make a comparison with, and he soon realized the army in front of him was on par with Cang Jiang Military Force; this urged him to be alert. Cang Jiang Military Force was the first army of the Underworld and the strongest armed forces in North Facing District.


    "Who are you?" Chen Mu asked coldly.


    Noting that his opponent didn''t attack him, the young man regained his courage and snorted. "I am Borman City''s chief commander, Cang Feng. Who are you? According to the procedure, you have to accept my inspection. If there''s any resistance, you''ll be North Facing District''s enemy!" He had been in this position for several years, and had no problem giving an authoritative speech.


    Card artisans in close proximity heard his command and started to scatter in all directions. It was fun to be an onlooker but not worth the price if that would threaten their lives. Those card artisans were smart and they knew Wood Word Camp wasn''t an easy target. They would be looking for trouble if they provoked them.


    "Cang Feng?" Chen Mu''s pupils shrank. "How are you related to Cang Lan?"


    "How dare you!" Cang Feng was furious. "Who gave you the audacity to call out our superior''s name! Humph! Let me tell you. I''m Cang Lan''s nephew!" In the corner of his eye, he saw a team of card artisans flying towards him thus, he reclaimed his composure. He cried out sharply, "Come down to the ground quickly and accept my inspection! If there is any resistance, shoot to kill!"


    "Shoot to kill?" Chen Mu laughed and involuntarily let out a chilling air which dissipated in all directions. His tone abruptly changed. "Everyone, shoot to kill!"


    Wood Word Camp was ready for battle. As soon as Chen Mu''s voice faded, Wood Word Camp started the attack. There weren''t too many thoughts going on in the other card artisans'' mind. They were pushed to their limits by Cang Lan for the past few days and were all brimming with anger. Thus, they were not holding back in their attacks.


    Tailless Shuttle Card''s sharp shriek ruptured the air. It darted towards card artisans in front like a tidal wave! The targets they chose were all vital parts of the body and under such close distance. Wood Word Camp''s third team was trained to shoot with less than a centimeter shooting error for all shootings within 3,000 meters. They could hit their targets even with eyes closed! They all chose the highest shooting frequency, shooting crazily!


    The card artisans on Cang Feng''s side were confused by the unexpected attack. They weren''t expecting any attacks! They really launched their attacks! they thought.


    Are they losing their mind? Aren''t they afraid of Cang Lan?" Questions were popping in their heads.


    Those card artisans were in great confusion till they realised their comrades had blood spurting out of their throat, eyebrow and heart. They nearly fainted from the blood and gore.


    Cang Feng was in the worst position; he was the nearest target and suffered the strongest blow. Moreover, Wood Word Camp transferred all their hatred for Cang Lan onto him. He had injuries all over his body, more than 100 holes with blood oozing out. Cang Feng stared hard at his opponents and was in disbelief.


    Everyone from the third team gave this guy a blow!


    The card artisans from Borman City abused their power and neglected their daily training. In addition, they hadn''t combat for a long period of time. They were confused and in disarray. Someone shouted, "Run!" and immediately, everyone turned their back and tried to escape. However, when they turned around, they were shocked to discover a whole patch of dense fire right in front of them. These red flames were only thumb-sized but in great quantity and densely packed into a thick patch, blocking their escape route.


    They were eager to escape and knew that their power shield could protect them. These thumb-sized flames were far less life-threatening than those lunatics behind them. They fled in all directions, and had only one intention in mind¡ªstay away from this place!


    There were about a thousand card artisans rushing over as reinforcement. Everyone was stunned by what was happening in front of them.


    Cang Feng was dead! Those were their enemies!


    The leader of the reinforcement team watched with a blank face and could not comprehend the situation, the fierce attack, and the gruesome killing spree. This fellow, who had always played it by ear, quickly got a grip of the situation and hollered, "Retreat! Quick! Get out!"


    The strength of the opponent was too strong. The two troops weren''t of the same level! There was no way to fight this battle!


    But before he could stop, a strange wave surged forward.


    Clink! The crisp sound of a thousand power shields shattering at the same time. IT rang in the ears of a card artisan. It was like the sound of death! His face turned pale in an instant. D*mn it! Soundwave cards!


    Those onlookers were astounded! Soundwave cards! So many soundwave cards! Those card artisans harbouring bad intentions immediately abandoned their ideas. This army of unknown origin was armed with dreadful weapons!


    The benefits of soundwave cards were well known, and the costliness was also well known. They had never heard of any team with hundreds of card artisans equipped with soundwave cards! Looking at the power of these soundwave cards, they were far more powerful than the usual ones they had seen.


    Leaders of other artisan team in the onlooker crowd were jealous. They knew that even if they sold everything in the team, they still wouldn''t be able to afford soundwave cards for the entire team! Though they were jealous, they dared not snatched it off them. They could see that Chen Mu and his team were not putting up their best fight. Anyone who dared to steal from them would be attacked by them too.


    Indeed, all they heard was a fierce roar. "Attack!"


    An Iron Titan with a group of titans were shielded with an oddly-shaped sharp cone power shield. They dropped from the sky like meteorites and cruelly smashed into the opponent''s team of card artisans.


    "Hildebrandt''s Starling Crush"!


    Boom! Bodies were blown to pieces. Severed limbs were flying around, and there was a deafening sound of collision and crash. The pain was felt just by listening! Card artisans in the garrison were screaming but their screams were swallowed by the endless crashing sound.


    It''s a real hell!


    There was a 20-meter-wide empty space between Cang Feng''s card artisans and the onlookers. All card artisans along this area were smashed into pieces, their bodies then smashed hard onto the onlookers.


    The awful sound of onlookers'' vomiting was ringing. They had no idea that there was such a terrible combat in this world! None of the card artisans'' bodies who were squashed by the titans were intact. The onlookers had various organs and flesh hanging onto them.


    This was a nightmare that countless people couldn''t erase in their lifetime!


    Sang Hanshui''s eyes spat venom. He wasn''t a benevolent person to begin with. When he was pushed to his edge like a drowned mouse, he had his anger contained and it was completely unleashed in this battle.


    Around him, hundreds of fist-sized bombs floated quietly, but anyone could feel the immense danger. He stretched out his hands, like a gigantic bird with wings!


    Out of a sudden, his gaze turned hollow, the dark red explosives that floated around him switched to white. He abruptly closed his hands that he had stretched out earlier and the incandescent explosive bombs were attracted to him. It quickly gathered half a meter to the front of his hands. In a moment, a translucent bomb appeared in front of his hands. If you looked closely, you could see that the inside of the bomb had a milky white core.


    "Dual Core Bomb"!


    Xiaobo was focused. If he removed his mask, you would discover that his face was covered in sweat. He had 36 orderly wave wheels surrounding him. His hands were skilfully manipulating all of them.


    In a moment, he had nine orderly wave wheels in front of him! This was his best attack! If he hadn''t been promoted to the seventh grade, he would not have been able to use this technique. This was also the first time that it had appeared before the world since the conception was completed.


    Nine orderly wave wheels formed a complete circle. The light flowing through each orderly wave wheels attracted people''s attention. When nine orderly wave wheels converged, the "pointer" on each orderly wave wheels circled crazily. Soon, a light flashed past, all nine "pointers" pointed in the same direction. Following which, all nine orderly wave wheels vanished, and a half-meter orderly wave wheel appeared in front of Xiaobo.


    "Nine orderly wave wheels annihilation."


    Two aces from Wood Word Camp completed their strongest attacks!

 541 The Harves

    A flash of light shone across the world!


    Surprisingly, it was extremely silent, as if a cruel giant monster was devouring everything in silence.


    It was an extremely contradictory feeling. A violent but quiet explosion. Wherever the light passed, everything turned into dust.


    Everyone was shocked. Before they could even respond to this situation, a powerful force started pushing towards them, causing them to no longer be able to stand still, just like falling leaves pushed a distance of over ten meters away by strong waves.


    The flash of light had gradually disappeared. The moment they opened their eyes and looked clearly at the site of explosion, they gasped at the same time, causing the temperature of the surroundings to drop a few degrees.


    There was nothing at the center of the explosion. There was not even a single piece of debris left.


    Every single thing within 150 meters from the center of explosion had disappeared! Almost half of the card artisans, who were standing over there, had disappeared along with the explosion. The rest of them were blown away. It was unknown if they were alive or dead.


    Such a violent explosion!


    This power would be comparable with that of war card.


    A transparent spherical region with a diameter of about 50 meters appeared in the area near the explosion site. The transparent spherical region formed right after the explosion was weird. It was like bubbles in the water. None of them had ever seen such scenery before, and some of them showed a confused look. However, there were card artisans all over the place. Apart from observing with their eyes, they also used their perception!


    Countless threads of perceptions crisscrossed with each other while scanning the entire space. Though there was nothing in this space. All of their faces went pale...


    "Watch out!" Almost all the card artisans, who were near the transparent sphere, turned away and ran desperately after they heard the warning from someone!


    Ping! It sounded like glass cracking. Followed by this ring, there was a sound like the triggering of a signal, indicating something dangerous was about to come. The transparent sphere blew up all of a sudden, causing the surrounding air to press wildly towards this region! A jet stream vortex, which could be seen by the naked eye, appeared right in front of them.


    Bang! A card artisan from Bomen city had failed to escape from the vortex and eventually got pulled into the spherical air space!


    Bang! The air pressure was strong enough to tear his energy shield up in just a second. The next second, his body was turned into blood and minced flesh!


    The jet stream vortex went on for a short while; however, it was still enough to shock everyone there!


    The card artisans, who had managed to escape from the air vortex, were looking at the minced flesh around them in terror, their faces pale. The card artisans from Bomen city and even the card artisans from Wooden Word Camp were stunned. No one could ever expect that two of them would be able to generate such terrifying power by working together!


    The transparent spherical region, which looked like an air bubble, was actually a vacuum ball created by the explosion. The vacuum ball was extremely unstable and upon blowing up, it would trigger the surrounding air to suck in wildly, creating an effect akin to a grinder, causing another wave of damage.


    The big battlefield was silent. Even the sound of a pin dropping could be heard. The noises were swept away by a single blow released from the joint forces of both Sang Hanshui and Xiaobo. Though both of them were not tall, they had suddenly become towering figures with a ferocious look in front of the crowd, showing fierce and deadly looks!


    The card artisans of Bomen city had collapsed. The last hope of those who managed to escape from the vortex just now was crushed by this terrifying hit. They did not have much battle experience, and in addition to their long-term stationing at a fixed location, they had become lazy and eventually lost their battle spirit. They had nothing left but only a mighty look. In their daily routines, they only had to shout and fake their posture to avoid from being attacked by others. However, when they met with the Wooden Word Camp, led by the dauntless Cang Lan, their "Strong Masks" were crushed into dust immediately.


    Surprisingly, the actions of all these card artisans from Bomen city were the same. Each and everyone of them landed on the ground slowly and steadily while removing the meters on their hands. Eventually, all of them held their hands high over their heads.


    They had decided to surrender themselves to the Wooden Word Camp.


    "Ugh, seems like we have lost the chance to showcase our skills," muttered the card artisan, who was standing beside Rafael while staring at the card artisans at the surroundings. He was hoping that someone would step out at this moment so that their troops could at least initiate the fight. However, any card artisans who were in his sight were trembling. They landed on the ground as fast as they could while removing the meters on their hands to show that they were not against him.


    He could only take back his sight.


    Rafael did not say anything. She looked at Sang Hanshui and Xiaobo, who were floating in mid-air. Under her terrified eyes, it reflected her adoration and admiration towards the two of them.


    Chen Mu was quite shocked to see this situation. A thought came into his mind while he was looking at the surrendering enemies. It was an undeniable fact that the normal card artisans would definitely be terrified by those with more strength and power. In early stage of battle, they thought they had acquired the absolute advantage, but they did not know the enemies were scattered. Soon, when Sang Hanshui and Xiaobo had decided to work together to release a dreadful strike, the card artisans would have nothing else to do but to give up the fight.


    The card artisans who got their meters confiscated looked disappointed and seemed to have lost their mind. However, they had shown a good demonstration to other card artisans, as all the other card artisans who were stationed along the way had decided to surrender.


    Happiness and excitement was shown on each and every Wooden Word Camp''s card artisans. They could finally put an end to their tough days. They raised their heads up high while feeling proud of themselves. They deserved the pride as they were able to perform well. Although the Wooden Word Camp was built not long ago, their performance was outstanding, and it could be considered a miracle!


    Upon stepping into this city, Chen Mu gave a regretful sigh. It was such a bustling city and it would be perfect if he could turn it into his base. However, he knew that this was an unrealistic thought. The geographical environment of Bomen city was very important to Cang Lan. The reason why they could take over this city easily was simply due to the sudden attack on the unprepared garrisons and poor defense system in the city.


    There was still a long way to go if they were to conquer the city. There were still a lot of card artisans in the card artisan base behind those closed gates. The amount of card artisans inside the base would be enough to take over the Wooden Word Camp. They were only sitting at the sidelines while observing the situation for now. However, if they felt threatened, the real battle would be initiated.


    However, Chen Mu was not interested in conquering this city.


    But he would definitely grab anything that was at his fingertips.


    The warehouse of stationed base, the financial treasury of Bomen city, and all the government institutions, were plundered by Wooden Word Camp. The card artisan group leaders of Bomen city were shocked to realize that this unknown card artisans group was like locusts, wiping out anything and everything that was in their sight. However, they did not take anything from the citizens and various organizations.


    All the shuttles in all of Bomen city were gathered up to used as transportation for the great number of resources, which could be piled up like a mountain.


    Every card artisan in Wooden Word Camp was extremely excited. There was nothing that could be more exciting than plundering. The scale and economic prosperity of Bomen city were better than in other cities. In addition to this, it was the border fortress which was rich in materials and resources. This would be more than enough to make Chen Mu, who was less exposed to the outside world, to be amazed.


    As for the power cards there, Chen Mu had arranged over ten shuttles to carry all of them with him!


    "A horse will never become stronger without eating grass at night!" Chen Mu became rich overnight. However, he was too exhausted. He could no longer feel any excitement about his wealth. When he had the situation under control, the first thing he did was get a nice sleep because he was too tired.


    He slept for 12 hours. When he finally woke up, the plundering had already started.


    After waking up from a good sleep, he felt energetic and relaxed. Now that they had taken the absolute advantage and they were at the border of Northern Facing District, they could leave anytime. Cang Lan had most probably received the news, but it would require some time for them to send their team here.


    Chen Mu was taking a walk at the street, however, the street was extremely quiet. It was as if he was in the street of Eastern Shang-Wei City. Little Bu Mo was obviously curious of everything there. He kept on looking around. Wei-ah, however, was still the same, while Qiu Shanyu was still being cautious of their surroundings. In addition to Fu Dong and several level seven card artisans as bodyguards, no one would dare take advantage of them with such great protective force.


    The card artisan of Wooden Word Camp would immediately stop their work to pay their respects to Chen Mu when they happened to meet him along the way. They respected the White Commander from the bottom of their hearts. He was the one who created the Wooden Word Camp and led them all the way up until today.


    Sang Hanshui and Xiaobo immediately came over. Their eyes were red, yet they were extremely excited.


    Sang Han Shui was excited but he felt regret at the same time. "Boss, there''s a lot of stuff here. We will not be able to carry it all."


    Chen Mu thought for a while and said, "Turn Oudi into a nameless money card. Apart from the items required for battle, focus on the materials. Try to see if there were any card experts here. Furthermore, try to bring more raw materials and processing equipment for the card appliance. Please do not forget that food is important for us too. Hurry up, we have to depart before 12 pm tomorrow."


    "Yes!" Sang Hanshui replied in a loud tone.


    Chen Mu looked at Xiaobo and said, "Let''s declare our true identity to the public!"


    Xiaobo laughed and said, "I''m eager to see the reactions of those people!"


    The plundering was still ongoing. However, there was still a lot of things that could not be carried away in a hurry.


    "Sir. What are we going to do with this stuff? Throw them away? It would be such a pity! What if we tried to look for more shuttles to carry these items?" Rafael looked at the items, which she would be unable to carry away, reluctantly.


    Sang Han Shui shook his head and said, "Our team is big enough. We do not have enough manpower to carry this stuff."


    "What a pity to leave all these items to them!"


    "Leave it all to them?" Sang Han Shui sneered. He then suddenly put on a fierce look and said, "Pass down my order! Burn and blow up everything that''s left! We shall not allow the badass Cang Lan to take any advantage of the stuff we left!"


    "Yes!" said Rafael energetically.


    A large-scale and bloated troop was floating in the sky at 12 pm the next day. The city in front of them did not go through many changes, however, Chen Mu knew that the communication facilities, the underground long-distance shuttle cars, and other transportation facilities in this city had been destroyed. The troops sent by Cang Lan to this city would be getting this awful mess. The card artisans who were hiding in their camps had accepted the behavior of Wooden Word Camp since they would not be greatly affected. However, everyone was relieved knowing that this troop was going to leave. They could never forget how powerful this team was.


    They could finally learn about the origins of the Wood Battalion.


    Wooden Word Camp¡­ What a strange name. No one had ever heard of the name in the past. However, its creator¡ªthe White Commander¡ªwas well-known by everyone.


    The Great Four Coalition Army of the Underworld had failed to eliminate the Wooden Word Troop, causing the Cang Jiang Military Force, which was the leader of the Great Four Coalition Army, to be completely wiped out by the Wooden Word Camp! Yan Yu, who ranked tenth in the Black Line Star Listing was killed! The enemy was able to break out from the encirclement set up by them, and had managed to raid Bomen city. The capabilities of the Wooden Wood Camp was beyond their expectations. The people then started to recall the review given by the greatest tactical genius in the Heavenly Federation, RossijI, a well-known card artisan who was in a mask all the time.


    The White Commander had became a tactical genius in the Heavenly Federation while the Wooden Word Camp had become one of the most popular teams in the Heavenly Federation, standing head to head with the Snow Silks Worm Card Artisans Group.


    Chen Mu drew back his sight and said, "Let''s go. Our next target is the Thousand Lakes!"

 542 Kirkley

    @@


    The ambush of Borman City was flawless from other people''s perspectives.


    In their eyes, from the moment Wood Word Camp showed up outside Borman City, they had already won the battle. The breathtaking performance of both card artisans from Wood Word Camp in that awe-striking battle had caught the attention of many. Other than that, the rumors of their luxurious equipment had also been spreading like wildfire around town. However, everyone could only look on in envy, as none other than the Great Six would have the ability to possess such luxurious equipment.


    This incident also seemed to have solidified the long-standing assumption that the White Commander was the creator of numerical series cards. Nevertheless, there were still those who found it suspicious as it had only been a short time since the White Commander first assembled the Wood Word Camp. Even if he was actually the creator of the numerical series cards, how could he possibly create that many cards by himself? @@

 543 Reunion

    @@


    It had been a week since the ambush on Borman City. The incident that had caused a major uproar in the Heavenly Drum Village District had since been gradually forgotten by the people. Not only those from the district, but the attention of everyone in the Heavenly Federation was also focused instead on another city in the Heavenly Drum Village District¡ªQianhu City.


    Qianhu was one of the oldest cities in the Heavenly Drum Village District. It had been tremendously prosperous since the age of the sects.


    "This place is really smack dab in the center of everyone''s attention!" exclaimed a reporter as he was jostled by his fellow reporters milling about everywhere.


    Due to the aggressive advertising made by the Heavenly Drum Village District Alliance, the gathering this time had attracted the attention of almost all mainstream media in the Heavenly Federation. In a short time, droves of reporters had flocked to Qianhu. Besides the reporters, the general assembly that would@@

 544 Confusion

    @@


    "Tang Hanpei and Bitter Solitude Temple are going to war with each other?" Jie Yanbai was shocked as he looked at the report in his hands.


    Cao Zhengqiu nodded and said, "This war was bound to happen between Tang Hanpei and Bitter Solitude Temple. Since Tang Hanpei robbed Bitter Solitude Temple and killed Xian Luo, they have hated each other. I''m not surprised at all." However, he soon furrowed his brows. "Nevertheless, Tang Hanpei has a habit of planning things way ahead. My gut tells me that he has a hidden purpose for beginning this war at this particular time."


    Jie Yanbai was shocked. "Hidden purpose? You think that he picked this particular time for a reason?"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    "Yes. Indeed, in a few days from now will be the alliance of the Heavenly Drum Village District. That woman Jia Yingxia is wise and powerful, and once this alliance is created, it will be invincible and will become the strongest weapon in her hands after internal rectification. Moon Frost Island will be o@@

 545 Reunion

    Chen Mu did not stumble into any trouble as he was entering the city.


    Qianhu was now flooded with foreign card artisans. Be it Moon Frost Island, or local influences like the House of Luo, none of them were able to carry out inspections on the foreign card artisans. Chen Mu predicted that approximately half of the elite card artisans from the Heavenly Drum Village District had gathered in this ancient city. It felt particularly odd as any card artisan one passes by could very well be a Grade Seven card artisan.


    The only person unfazed by the situation was Wei-ah.


    Chen Mu had noticed that Qiu Shanyu was somewhat agitated, but she tried to suppress her emotions. From what Qiu Shanyu had said last time, he knew that Qiu Shanyu and the Demonic Woman might have had a special kind of relationship. That being said, he was still unsure of the nature of their relationship. Qiu Shanyu had applied camouflage potion on her face so on the surface, she looked like an ordinary woman.


    Perhaps it was due to the countless changes that he had experienced, Chen Mu felt at peace, or in other words, calm. He was even interested to explore the buildings whose architecture bore the charms of the land.


    The streets were filled with people. It felt as if there was a grand festival being held here. Cultural performances showcasing the tradition of the land could be seen everywhere. Foreign card artisans huddled in groups and watched the performances with great interest. Everyone was aware of the tensions in Qianhu, thus, no one dared to act wilfully or arrogantly.


    "You mean she can perceive my presence?" asked Chen Mu softly as he scanned his surroundings.


    Qiu Shanyu replied coldly, "That is, if that person was being honest with me." Her gaze was ice-cold, but she looked rather conflicted.


    "That person¡­" Chen Mu realized the subtlety in Qiu Shanyu''s reply, but he did not point that out. Instead, he quipped, "Does that mean that we will have to loiter around Qianhu instead?"


    Qiu Shanyu contemplated and shook her head. "That is not a good idea. Qianhu is way too large, we need to let her know our location more clearly."


    "Then, what other better options do you have in mind?"


    "I think the Qianhu Elite Competition is about to start. Let''s see if we can still register. I believe she will not miss out on such a significant event." Qiu Shanyu came up with a rather brilliant idea.


    Chen Mu muttered to himself and agreed that it was a good idea. Since they did not have enough power to find the Demonic Woman, it might be better to put themselves in the spotlight.


    He did not have any camouflage on his face currently. His appearance was that of his original self, but he believed that no one would be able to recognize that he was the White Commander. The Demonic Woman, however, would certainly recognize him, and that was all they needed.


    When the trio arrived at the registration venue of the Qianhu Elite Competition, they were notified that the registration deadline had passed. Even the initial screening round had ended. The competition would formally begin tomorrow.


    However, the staff pointed out a possible solution for them. Every participant who passed the initial round would have a certificate as proof that they were eligible to join the competition. Moreover, one of the rules of the competition was that anyone could obtain the certificate by challenging the certificate holder. This was to encourage more capable participants to be able to take part in the competition. Of course, to prevent people from using this rule to harass the participants, the participants were given permission to kill their challengers in their attacks without any liability.


    It was said that there were already 15 participants who had their certificates snatched away in the past few days, but at least 50 card artisans were killed.


    An underlying force was moving within the walls of Qianhu.


    Qiu Shanyu, on the other hand, spent ten thousand Oudi to obtain a detailed name list from the staff. The list had names of card artisans who hold the certificates and the location of their lodgings. It was obvious that this was not the first time the staff had made money from such an exchange.


    "It seems like we would have to challenge someone then," said Chen Mu. He did not want to waste time. He knew about Moon Frost Island''s real intentions in organizing this competition from Tai-shu Yong a long time ago. However, it had nothing to do with him. He believed that even if he was standing right before Tai-Shu Yong right now, the cunning fox would not be able to recognize him. But, he was curious about Moon Frost Island instead. This rule which was set by Moon Frost Island would undoubtedly subject Qianhu to various underlying danger and turmoil. At this point in time, they should prioritize the stability and safety of Qianhu instead.


    Qiu Shanyu scanned the name list carefully and pointed at a name.


    "Let''s challenge him. Gong Liang, a Grade Seven card artisan with average ability. He specializes in cards called ''wings.'' His powers of evasions are his forte. He is agile and flexible. However, this does not mean that his powers are top-notch." Qiu Shanyu had a certain level of understanding about Gong Liang.


    Chen Mu asked, "Why don''t other card artisans challenge him?"


    Qiu Shanyu replied, "He has some strong supporters in the background. You know the insiders of this elite competition. Normal card artisans come here for the sake of achieving fame. No one would be silly enough to challenge a card artisan with strong supporters."


    "So we are challenging him? Would it not bring trouble on ourselves?" Chen Mu furrowed his brows.


    Qiu Shanyu said nonchalantly, "Ordinary card artisans will obviously be afraid of his supporters. But they are just the Xiong Family, there is no need for us to worry."


    "The Xiong Family?"


    "An ancient family lineage in the Heavenly Drum Village District." Qiu Shanyu spoke aloofly. "They are a group of overconfident people who are full of themselves, they had always thought they should be the ruler of this whole world."


    "And?"


    "Haha, they are dwindling in numbers by a great degree and their territories have been increasingly suppressed. However, they are stubbornly continuing their so-called glory from the bygone days, hiding behind fortress walls as they bask in their daydreams." Qiu Shanyu added a harsh remark, "In comparison to the old man,Tai-shu Yong, they are truly foolish, just like their family name."


    She glanced at Chen Mu. "Don''t worry, it is impossible for them to bring a large group of people here. This place is not within their territory. Moreover, they are enemies with Moon Frost Island. Moon Frost Island is the true ruler of this city. Attacking him would not bring us much trouble. To let her find you, the best way is to let the crowds publicize our presence." Her speeches revealed her confidence. The cautiousness which shrouded her these few days disappeared. This was the area that she was most familiar with.


    Chen Mu did not object. Even though he was suspicious of Qiu Shanyu''s idea to use him to scare the Xiong Family, he was not too bothered by it. To him, this was just a battle. By now, he had gained tons of battling experience and could look at battles indifferently. He was already strategizing on which cards he would use as different cards meant different modes of battle.


    Cards used in the past were obviously out of the question. Fortunately, he still had a number of cards at hand. In particular, he still owned a Six Star Card The Eternal Night.


    He had only briefly tested out the card but had never used it in a battle before. According to Qiu Shanyu, since the production of The Eternal Night, it had never been used in a battle before, thus, no one would be able to identify it. Besides, The Eternal Night was a rare imaginary card, spectators would have a hard time recognizing it.


    A Six Star Card. Chen Mu was beginning to get excited. He was not passionate about battling, but this was the first time he would be using a Six Star Card.


    The name list had the location of Gong Liang''s lodging. This was very convenient for them. Victoria Hotel was one of the high-end hotels in Qianhu. All 300 floors were fully booked with guests. The hotel was bustling with people.


    "Looks pretty good," Chen Mu commented as he lifted his head up. He squinted his eyes as he examined the tall building. At least in comparison to the hotel in the Eastern Shang-Wei City, this hotel was way grander. He had never stayed in a hotel; he was more comfortable camping in the wild.


    He quickly noticed a problem. "Which room is he staying in?"


    "It is not written here." Qiu Shanyu was annoyed. "To think that they would actually sell this trashy information for ten thousand Oudi!"


    "What do we do?" Chen Mu turned around.


    "Don''t ask me. This is not my area of expertise," Qiu Shanyu answered grouchily.


    After a slight contemplation, Chen Mu inserted a card into his meter; his feet brushed on the ground as he flew into the sky. He kept going upwards and stopped at about the 150th floor of the hotel. The hotel staff noticed this person who did not seem as if he came with friendly intentions.


    Stopping mid-air, Chen Mu took a deep breath.


    Inside Victoria Hotel, Room 113-076.


    Xiong Shen smiled. "It seems like everything is going smoothly. We shall await Mr. Gong''s exceptional performance tomorrow."


    In front of him sat a thin man. He was the guest of the Xiong Family, Gong Liang. Gong Liang gave an arrogant smile. "The Xiong Family is famed for its fighting prowess. Not even a single person came to challenge me these few days, what a pity." He had barely finished his sentence when a booming voice was heard from the loudspeakers.


    "Gong Liang! Hand over your certificate!" The sounds from the loudspeaker were like waves, spreading far and wide.


    Gong Liang''s face turned bright red, his eyes filled with fury. Xiong Shen''s face darkened instantly as well; he was exceptionally angry. He could not believe that there were people out there who did not fear the reputation of the Xiong Family! As the challenge was struck up in front of so many spectators, their names would be scorned if they did not accept the battle.


    In the room next door, Copper, who was sitting on the bed, laughed lightly. "Haha, someone actually came to challenge him, interesting." However, he suddenly knitted his brows. "Darling, don''t you think this voice sounds kind of familiar?"


    Lan Feng''s interest was long piqued. She walked quickly to the window and started giggling. "Familiar? Is it? Hey, lazybones, get up quickly! You will know once you see him."


    With some doubts in his mind, Copper got out of bed. He thought the voice sounded terribly familiar. He somewhat quickened his pace toward the window and looked at the card artisan who was floating in mid-air.


    "Woody!" Staring at the familiar face, Copper felt as if a shock bomb was set off in his head, he was stunned. After two seconds, he regained consciousness. The blood in his whole body rushed to his head, he was excited beyond reason and opened the window in a hurry!


    "Woody!" He cupped his mouth and shouted with all his strength towards the direction of Chen Mu.


    Lan Feng was shocked. Woody, that person is Woody? She did not know Chen Mu long enough, but Chen Mu gave her a lasting impression. The main reason she and Copper left Eastern Shang-Wei City was that Copper could not accept how the low-grade fantasy card club did not give Chen Mu enough protection.


    In mid-air, it was as if Chen Mu was struck by lightning!


    At that moment, Xiong Shen''s menacing voice rang out, "The Xiong Family has treated Mr. Copper very well, but Mr. Copper, you have allied with outsiders to the harm of the Xiong Family! Your intentions are suspicious! Hmph, catch him!"

 546 Gong Liang

    The two Xiong Family card artisans had hideous expressions as they turned toward Copper who was at the window!


    Copper abruptly sobered up and shouted angrily, "Xiong Shen, how dare you . . ."


    A murderous look flashed through Chen Mu''s eyes, and he lightly raised his hand from where two ripples that were invisible to the naked eye swiftly enshrouded the two Xiong Family card artisans.


    "Ow, my eyes! Why can''t I see anything!"


    "What place is this?"


    The two card artisans'' voices were full of fear. They were like headless houseflies as they spun about in midair.


    Xiong Shen''s heart plummeted, and his expression changed dramatically, "Stay calm, it''s an illusion card! It''s just an illusion card!"


    The two Xiong Family card artisans didn''t hear what he shouted. Their terrified voices gave the onlookers a chill.


    "Argh, I have to leave . . ." That card artisan shrieked hysterically, as he suddenly sped up and charged straight toward where Xiong Shen and the rest were. Xiong Shen unconsciously dodged, but just as he did so, he was suddenly surprised, "Careful . . ."


    "Argh . . ." The scream was unusually poignant. A very eye-catching splat of fresh blood spread on the outer wall of the Victoria Hotel.


    The other Xiong Family card artisan shouted crazily, "I''m going to kill you! I''m going to kill you!"


    He was desperately shooting off energy bodies in all directions and stirring up a hornets'' nest. The screams of the onlookers came one after the other. Card artisans with any strength at all rushed to raise their energy cloaks, but there were still quite a few accidental injuries.


    "Humph, Does the Xiong Family just go around recklessly injuring people?" A very cold voice sounded out.


    The already angry Xiong Shen become still more angry, and his expression darkened, "Which of our friends is displeased with our Xiong Family? Why don''t you show yourself and tell me about it?"


    "That idiot might do a better job killing, to avoid injuring others." The cold voice sounded out once again, as though he hadn''t understood Xiong Shen. Just as the voice fell, everyone saw a golden flash before their eyes, and that Xiong Family card artisan rubbed his throat as his eyes bugged out and he tried to call out in a broken voice.


    His body plunked from the air like a bag of sand. He was badly mangled when he hit.


    Xiong Shen''s face was steely grey, but he drew in a deep breath and restrained himself. His sightline returned to Chen Mu. Xiong Shen was someone who had some knowledge of things, and although that golden streak was only a flash that came and went, he was awed by the strength of the card artisan in the dark. If he didn''t handle things well under everyone''s gaze now, the Xiong Family face would hit bottom.


    To set up two enemies at the same time wouldn''t improve his situation.


    He signaled Gong Liang with a look as he said, "What is your big idea? You have stretched your reach too far into our Xiong Family internal affairs." Chen Mu was looking at Copper, feeling all sorts of pleasant surprise. Although he had always maintained the hope to see Copper again, most of the time he thought of it as an extravagant hope. But now Copper was right there alive in front of him. That sort of pleasant surprise was indescribable. He also very quickly recognized Lan Feng to Copper''s side.


    He didn''t hear what Xiong Shen was saying but flew straight to the window where Copper was.


    Gong Liang swung around to stop Chen Mu, laughing coldly, "What? Weren''t you going to challenge me?"


    "Out of my way!" Chen Mu''s gaze became abruptly colder.


    "Ha-ha, but you called me out by name for the challenge . . ."


    Before Gong Liang could finish speaking, Chen Mu made his move! He had no interest in wasting any words on that guy.


    With a slight lift to his hand, the formless ripples covered Gong Liang like a large net.


    The cold smile on Gong Liang''s face didn''t go away, as his body became suddenly blurred and he appeared to the right side of Chen Mu. He spread his right hand, where countless deep green wings appeared in front of him, each them about ten centimeters long and very sharp. They were so exquisite that their emerald green was like jade. The dense and dark green wings floated in front of him with their points aimed at Chen Mu.


    "Go!"


    Xiu, xiu, xiu!


    The concentrated whistle was as though a storm had kicked up, which didn''t only enter the ear, but was taken in by the soul.


    Chen Mu skillfully slid off as though he were standing on ice, as he made a criss-crossing slide in midair. Those dark green wings grazed Chen Mu''s body before disappearing behind him. Gong Liang didn''t look at all surprised, as though he knew that a blow like that had no way to injure that young card artisan in front of him. His attack continued uninterrupted, as the dark green wings endlessly shot toward Chen Mu like raindrops.


    That kind of straight shot was just too simple to dodge for Chen Mu as he was by then. He would only have to make a trivial shift sideways to be able to dodge most of the blows. His simple and agile movements drew the attention of quite a few of the card artisans looking on. It was especially his calm and ease which made the spectator card artisans secretly try to guess his identity. Up until then, although Chen Mu had never deployed any complex skills, in the eyes of quite a few people, that sort of seasoned performance would only ever be composed on those who had gone through a long period of battling.


    Some of them even conjectured whether Chen Mu was a card artisan cultivated in secret by some establishment, since only that sort of card artisan could ever be accomplished to such an extent.


    Chen Mu suddenly furrowed his brow and then without any warning shifted two meters to the side.


    Without any noise, three wings flitted past where he had just been stationed.


    Then there was immediately a ''weng'' sound!


    Everyone was aghast as they noticed that a huge green shadow appeared behind Chen Mu, with the dark green wing energy bodies that Gong Liang had just sent off amazingly returning back!


    The dark green wings which filled the sky and covered the earth came shooting from behind him like crazy, crisscrossing to become a green net without any place to escape through. The whistling sound of upwards of a thousand wings swallowed up all the surrounding sounds!


    Chen Mu seemed like he had nowhere to go in midair.


    "Blockhead!" Copper shouted aghast, his mind a blank, as Lan Feng''s beautiful face lost all color beside him.


    Chen Mu was like a magnet in midair, drawing in all the wings in the sky! Countless wings formed a deep green wave which came rolling toward him, giving the illusion that it could crush anything.


    To have been picked out by the Xiong Family, Gong Liang certainly had uncommon power. Chen Mu had long since expected him to have backers. Still, for him to kill so violently was a little unexpected for Chen Mu.


    But also unexpected was that he wasn''t even flustered.


    Everyone felt things becoming a blur as Chen Mu disappeared from where he was.


    The raging dense green waves abruptly stopped, though in the next second they once again broke out! It was though someone were commanding them, as they went roaring off in a different direction.


    Gong Liang maintained the smile he had been wearing, as he stood far apart with his arms crossed, saying languidly, "Is that all the skill you have? Do you mean to depend on that to get the entry certificate I have in my hands? Tsk tsk!"


    Chen Mu didn''t say a thing, with all of his energy constantly paying attention to dodging. His moves were as quick as lightning, to the point where there was no way to tell his position with the naked eye.


    Chen Mu executed a series of extremely difficult dodging maneuvers effortlessly: S-shaped snaking swerves, U-shaped swoops, half interlocking dodges . . .


    The onlooking card artisans all stared gape-mouthed when they saw those complex tactical maneuvers showing up so smoothly before their eyes. It was undoubtedly a huge treat for them. Especially when they found each time that the seeming youth dodged when it was impossible to dodge, always using some inconceivable move. He would lightly dodge like a ghost through a space not big enough for a hair, safe and sound.


    Up until then, although he looked rather miserable, no hair on his body had been harmed.


    "The Xiong Family won''t be so lucky this time." Among the crowd, a man with blue scars on his face looked at the youth in midair with appreciation, "He''s so young! I wonder whose student he is to be so accomplished?"


    He stood there as straight as a javelin, very easily distinguished from those around him. The man beside him was wearing a golden colored mask and a long hooded cape which concealed his entire body.


    That man didn''t say anything, only watching the sky.


    Chen Mu discovered that no matter how he dodged, there was no way to escape those wings that were like maggots on a bone. If he were to move a little slower, he would immediately be riddled with holes from those swarming wings.


    He glimpsed the smug Gong Liang with his arms crossed over his chest out of the corner of his eyes, floating apart as though he weren''t concerned about a thing.


    Gong Liang wasn''t controlling the wings!


    Chen Mu immediately made the determination while his feet never lagged and his body moved like lightening; his brain was swirling still faster.


    If Gong Liang wasn''t controlling them, and the wings could spontaneously find their target to attack, he would have to say that there certainly was something which gave those wings instructions. As a card master, Chen Mu was very clear that energy bodies absolutely couldn''t have any wisdom; they had no way to determine who the enemy was.


    The weak point of the illusion type of card was obvious. Although the formless ripples could make it hard for the enemy to resist, there was still no way to make any physical blows.


    But as a six-star card, the Eternal Night''s capabilities were naturally not comparable to any ordinary illusion card. The first time he had researched the Eternal Night, Chen Mu had discovered a strange thing about the card. That card, which would mainly make wave-like attacks, could simulate quite a few bands of electromagnetic waves. Not only that, but it could allow the user to perceive the surrounding electromagnetic waves to an astonishing degree of sensitivity.


    That was a world chock full of electromagnetic waves.


    The formless waves radiated to every corner of that world, and every material would emit its own peculiar waves. After he triggered the Endless Night, Chen Mu could very clearly perceive those waves which couldn''t be found by the naked eye.


    But in the same way, it was also a disorderly world, having all kinds of waves. There were orderly and discorded waves and scattered waves all mixed up together. Still, while that might have been an issue for other people, for someone who had already gotten used to the same sort of complexity in state-zero like Chen Mu, that wasn''t enough to bother him.


    Chen Mu conjectured that there would certainly be some kind of "signal" on his body that could attract those wings.


    Making a careful examination, he did actually find some inkling.


    His body was emitting some kinds of very fine and undetectable waves, and if it weren''t for the Eternal Night, they would have been extremely difficult to find.


    Could it be that those waves that were being so crafty?


    Chen Mu suddenly had an idea, and he abruptly changed direction, and went charging toward Gong Liang, who stood far off.


    It was a spectacular scene as he looked like a comet trailing a long deep green tail, while giving off a terrifying whistling sound.


    Gong Liang gave him a look of ridicule as he stood there unmoved, as though not at all concerned that those dark green wings would mistakenly injure him.


    The distance between the two sides kept closing and he gave Chen Mu a look, who was then unexpectedly diving headlong into that whistling deep green sea of wings.


    All of the onlooking card artisans were in an uproar.


    Was that guy looking to die? A satisfied smile floated onto the corner of Xiong Shen''s mouth.

 547 The Eternal Night!

    Like a fish in water, those glinting sharp-tipped dark-green wings that exuded a chill seemed to be growing beyond what anyone would expect. And they would automatically avoid Gong Liang. Gong Liang had a very easygoing look in the manner of a dignified ace. He looked at Chen Mu with utter disdain.


    The onlookers all realized that Chen Mu was in trouble, which wasn''t anything unexpected. As they saw it, that relatively unknown youth hadn''t had but a couple of weird killings and wouldn''t be considered that powerful himself. Gong Liang''s fame was known to quite a few people in the Heavenly Drum Village District, and moreover the ages of the two sides were rather far apart. That would largely determine the depth of their power.


    Quite of few of them felt inwardly rather sorry for Chen Mu, since by the rules, Gong Liang could absolutely kill that youth. He must have had terrific talent to be so young and able to deploy the power they were witnessing. Especially his superb dodging skills, which expanded people''s horizons. If he were fighting against any other card artisan, he might have been able to stand undefeated.


    Too bad that he had encountered Gong Liang; the Gong Liang who used the Wing!


    The peculiar attack style of Gong Liang''s Wing made quite a few of the card artisans looking on furrow their brows, especially those who would participate like him in the elite competition. They were all considering how they might crack Gong Liang''s tricks.


    And just then the situation on the field turn a sudden turn downward.


    Chen Mu had found the Wing''s secret! The reason Gong Liang''s wouldn''t be hit by the wing feathers was that he was also emitting a kind of fine wave. It was just that the waves from Gong Liang were at a different frequency than his, and those waves could make the bird feathers stay away from him, while the waves that he emitted would draw the wing feathers closer.


    In a spark of time, Chen Mu had carefully considered that he would nix the idea to use his state-zero that he had already prepared, since he had a better way.


    His ghostly figure seemed to appear and disappear, so fast that people couldn''t keep track of it.


    And then just when he was dodging, his right hand suddenly opened back up but that time he was pointing at himself!


    The dense wing feathers like raining arrows suddenly lost their vitality, and it was as though they had lost their lives. Although they kept emitting their soul-sucking shrill whistle, and although the were still sharp and glinting with their cold chill, those card artisans who had rich experience immediately realized that something had happened!


    Chen Mu stood like a javelin in midair not budging as he faced the bird feathers coming at him!


    The raging waves of deep green engulfed him in that instant, and the brutal smell made people believe that even if what it faced were a mountain, it would be able to completely destroy the adversary.


    When the last bird''s feathers disappeared over the distant horizon, Chen Mu, who had maintained his position, kept floating in midair, completely intact.


    He was coldly watching Gong Liang.


    Gong Liang''s expression turned instantly ashen!


    The onlooking card artisans all exploded. The were looking at that youth in midair with disbelief. And even those who knew that something was wrong in that first instant couldn''t help their looks of surprise.


    How did he do that?


    Not one of them knew!


    Chen Mu didn''t intend to let out that secret, as he disappeared from where he was.


    As though he were waking from a dream, Gong Liang''s face became ugly. He knew that he had lost any chance. Maybe someone else might known how Chen Mu had done that, but as the one who deployed the Wing, he knew that Chen Mu had already seen through its secrets. The comparative strength of the two sides was utterly overturned.


    He had already lost any hope of winning, now only hoping that he could survive. By the rules, the one challenged could kill the challenger, but in the same way there were no rules that the challenger couldn''t kill the one he had challenged! If he were killed by the challenger in public, there would be absolutely no sympathy for him.


    Damn!


    He glanced at where Xiong Shen was, his heart constantly plummeting. In the battle just then, he had already distanced himself from Xiong Shen and the rest unconsciously. The weird and unpredictable speed of that detached youth in front of him had made an incredibly deep impression on him. The jet-stream card that his adversary had was a higher level than the one he had, with much more outstanding capabilities!


    Before he could think carefully about it, that youth''s body had already gotten to within twenty meters, and he was abruptly scared out of his wits.


    And the thing that scared him even more out of his wits was that in the midst of that youth''s high speed flight he had actually raised his right hand.


    Those two Xiong Family card artisans'' miserable deaths suddenly floated in front of his eyes, and he felt immediately uptight! His adversary obviously had a super powerful illusion card. He had heard about how scary such a card could be.


    He could only feel everything in front of him go dark!


    His pupils suddenly expanded, as he looked all around in panic!


    It was dark. Utterly dark without a shred of light.


    In his deep fear and in the boundless and hopeless void, he was like a volcano that had been building up for a long time suddenly spewing forth. There were boundless negative emotions which effortlessly destroyed his weakened psychological defenses, The dark eroded his sprits like mad.


    "Ah!"


    There was a mournful shout which tore through the sky.


    There wasn''t a shred of life''s color left in Gong Liang''s ashen eyes in midair, and his face was all distorted, as he stood like a clay sculpture.


    Every one of the card artisans looking on were creeped out with their hair on end as they looked at Gong Liang. The scene in front of them just too weird and too scary! They didn''t know what sort of terrifying thing Gong Liang had finally seen, to have surprisingly made such a powerful card artisan let out such a poignant scream!


    Gong Liang stayed in position in a daze.


    A second later, some of the onlooking card artisan''s pupils suddenly contracted, and their gazes as sharp as swords were staring hard at Gong Liang in midair, a look of shocked disbelief floating onto their faces.


    ¨C Gong Liang was dead!


    He had stopped breathing and his heart had stopped beating. His perception had disappeared!


    There was only one physiological behavior which corresponded to those characteristics. That was death!


    If one were to say that those two Xiong Family card artisans had already allowed them to see how weird the illusion card was, the death of Gong Liang made them reassess the power of that illusion card that Chen Mu had in his hands! To be able to directly cause someone''s death, and for there to be no sign of any wounds on the dead person''s body, how could such an illusion card not cause fear to arise in someone''s heart with such a formless means of attack?


    The same sort of death would doubtless be still more terrifying when it was so unknown and invisible.


    The faces of the card artisans all changed, especially those who would be participating in the elite competition. Quite of few of those among them had made up their minds that if they were so unfortunate as to encounter the youth in front of them, they would choose to forfeit without the least hesitation.


    Gong Liang fell headlong from midair into a blur of flesh and blood.


    Hong! The onlooking card artisans drew back like the tide, as though there were a plague on Gong Liang''s body. While most of the card artisans drew back, those who stood their ground were like rocks revealed after the tide goes out.


    Qiu Shanyu and Wei-ah, a man wearing a golden mask and a man with blue scars on his face along with seven or eight other card artisans remained. Although their faces looked ugly, they still stood their ground.


    The one with blue scars on his face said with surprise in a low voice, "Gong Liang must have been directly killed by a shock to the nerves in his brain. The illusion card in the hands of that youth is quite awesome. However one practices, it would be hard to learn the nerves in the brain. There would be some trouble encountering that guy,."


    The dry hoarse voice of the one wearing the dark golden mask was hard to listen to, "He has a six-star illusion card."


    "Six-star?" The man with the blue scars was a little surprised, "I thought it would be seven-stars."


    "The seven-star illusion card is at the Star Academy." The man with the dark golden mask said simply.


    "Yikes." The man with the blue scars noticed Wei-ah and Qiu Shanyu, one male and one female, who were way too calm compared to everyone else''s shock.


    The gaze of the man with the dark golden mask followed his stunned gaze toward Wei-ah and Qiu Shanyu, and when his gaze swept over Qiu Shanyu it didn''t change. But when his gaze fell onto Wei-ah, his eyes suddenly blazed.


    "Don''t provoke them." The man with the dark golden mask narrowed his eyes to evade Wei-ah''s gaze, talking to his companion beside him in a low voice, while taking a step back.


    The man with the blue scar''s heart abruptly skipped a beat, nearly wondering if he had heard wrong. He swallowed with difficulty, not able to imagine that phrase would ever be uttered from the mouth of the one beside him.


    How powerful would someone have to be to make him utter such a phrase?


    The waves that had been stirred in his heart by that weird battle just then in midair, were nothing to that man with the blue scars compared to what the man with the dark golden mask had just said. And his companion taking the initiative to stand back made him feel still more jumpy, as though he were on tenterhooks. He wouldn''t dare let his gaze glance back onto that one man and one woman.


    "Who are they?" the man with the blue scars asked with some difficulty in a low voice.


    "I don''t know." The man with the dark golden mask said, "He''s very dangerous."


    The man with the blue scars got that seemingly conflicted answer instantly. But the answer made his heart beat still faster. He had always trusted the judgement of the comrade beside him implicitly. From the time the two of them met, the dark golden masked man''s judgement had never been wrong. But that was his first time to make such a judgement!


    And so, he thereupon very consciously added them to his list of dangerous figures, one man and one woman.


    Chen Mu cast his gaze toward Xiong Shen.


    Xiong Shen suddenly shuddered in fear, the power of his adversary having gone far beyond what he could imagine. The Xiong family having placed such high hopes on him, Gong Liang was finally killed on the spot in the blink of an eye. Moreover, that would mean that their entry card to the competition had been taken. Even as he looked on helplessly at the entry card being taken away, the Xiong Family had lost everything that time. Awaiting him when he returned would only be the cruel and ruthless family law.


    It wasn''t only him. That was what all of the Xiong Family card artisans were thinking. They wouldn''t be able to live, according to the harshness of the Xiong Family law. All of their looks were devoid of expression.


    Xiong Shen drew a line in his mind and put everything about the reputation of the Xiong Family to the back of it. What his mind was then full of was those terrifying family rules. How to avoid them became the only thing on his mind.


    A fierce look flashed through his eyes, and he suddenly shouted out powerfully, "Having so brazenly provoked our Xiong Family, you should die a thousand deaths for such a sin! Everyone rise up!"


    Copper was stunned to anger, "You are a nasty fellow, Xiong Shen . . ."


    His cursing came to an abrupt stop as he blankly watched Blockhead come charging directly into the middle of the Xing Family card artisans from midair!


    He lifted his head with a dazed expression to look to midair, muttering to himself, "when did Blockhead become so full of such courage . . . yikes, that''s not right. Isn''t he a card master . . . did he change profession?"


    Hearing what Copper had said, Lan Feng suddenly didn''t know whether to laugh or cry, as the terror she felt became confused.


    The air was full of criss-crossed murderousness!

 548 Copper’s Concerns

    The Eternal Night was really rather suited to a melee!


    Chen Mu had very quickly discovered something.


    The different bands created entirely different effects on a person''s body, and Chen Mu didn''t hold off in the least. When Xiong Shen had previously gotten ready to make a move against Copper, he had determined not to let the guy leave alive.


    At the same time that he drilled right into the Xiong Family card artisans, he launched the killer from the Eternal Night!


    The air all around his body made violent movements, which made his figure very fluctuating and indistinct.


    It was the Eternal Night''s Night Scene iteration!


    The Xiong Family card artisans all screamed in unison! They were like a gang of headless flies, desperately struggling as they circled around where they were . . .


    Chen Mu stretched out his body, and immediately looked down on them from above their heads.


    Xiong Shen''s attack style was in the category of an energy cannon, and he was like a nut, blasting it off in all directions.


    He couldn''t see a thing, with everything a sheet of darkness in front of his eye. All sound had been blocked. He knew that it was all an illusion, but he still was in a flustered panic. By that time, even a child could have killed him with a kitchen knife. He had never felt so helpless, or so scared. He felt that he would die very soon . . .


    The power of Xiong Shen''s energy cannon was pretty impressive, and it hit some card artisans who couldn''t dodge it, leaving only half their body.


    Chen Mu frowned. Those peoples living and dying didn''t have much to do with him. But he didn''t wish to stir up any trouble at that time. Having made his challenge and gotten the contest participation card, of course Moon Frost Island wasn''t going to stop him. But it would be stupid for him to provoke chaos during that sensitive time, or to challenge Moon Frost Island''s authority.


    Chen Mu wasn''t a stupid person, and he still remembered his reason for coming to Thousand Lakes.


    He didn''t make any moves, with all of his perception spent on adjusting the band of the Eternal Night.


    The hopeless sounds filling the air came to an abrupt halt.


    It was silent. As silent as death. And it was just in such suffocating silence that all of the Xiong Family card artisans fell at the same time!


    Qiu Shanyu had already started to search for the entry card on Yong Liang and Xiong Shen''s bodies. The act of an expressionless woman searching bloodied corpses, was enough to make any weak-nerved person feel tense. No one had any sympathy for the Xiong Family which had never been popular. Their final siege had been shameful.


    They looked into the sky at that youth with gazes full of fear.


    The youth in front of their eyes became immediately dangerous to them, with his great power, a powerful card and his cold-blooded and heartless character. It was hard to imagine that a youth who looked like he was only twenty could actually be so indifferent about death. Most card artisans at that age would still be in the academy obediently listening to the knowledge the teacher was passing down. The card artisans all around were all trembling in fear, all very clear about what such indifference represented. Only those who had experienced countless deaths and countless battles could be so indifferent.


    The situation had turned bad in a matter of only the past few years, when the numbers of battle card artisans had increased. But how many battles would you have to go through if you wanted to achieve what that youth in front of them had?


    The background of that youth who didn''t look like much became a little intriguing.


    As Chen Mu saw it, that sort of battle certainly didn''t amount to much. Having been through battle scenes involving thousands, such a battle could only be considered a small matter.


    He suddenly lifted his head and cast his gaze toward something wrong in the sky.


    There was someone flying in their direction!


    Very fast!


    In about the blink of an eye, someone appeared in front of Chen Mu. In the eyes of the rest of the card artisans, they seemed to have come out of nowhere.


    "What''s going on here?"


    The icy breath seemed to be coming from a snowy peak, devoid of any feeling. Bai Yue coldly scanned the chaotic scene, her gaze finally falling onto Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu was a little surprised to have actually run into Bai Yue. He had no animosity toward that icy woman, as one of the few card artisans from the Big Six that he wasn''t disgusted by. Still, when he came in contact with her icy gaze, he immediately realized that he wasn''t wearing the mask of the White Commander, and that Bai Yue didn''t even recognize him.


    "I challenged Gong Liang for the entry card."


    Bai Yue was unmoved, "Why are there so many corpses?"


    "When Gong Liang lost, the Xiong family was humiliated and enraged." Chen Mu was looking at Bai Yue rather interestedly. The feeling now had changed completely from the last time he saw her. That quality of looking down from on high that was in the bones of card artisans from the Big Six hadn''t changed, though Bai Yue was okay, and that part was inevitable. That made him sigh that in the end people are only respected once they have power. In his identity as the White Commander, Bai Yue had been so polite to him, while it was very different now.


    Bai Yue had been feeling she had seen that youth in front of her somewhere before. He was about the same age as she was. She tried hard to remember, without coming up with anything. It was especially that temperament which she didn''t know how to describe. She knew that it was unique.


    She had certainly seen him somewhere! It wouldn''t be said that Bai Yue was all that confident in herself so much as that she had confidence in that unique temperament. How could someone of that temperament be ordinary?


    Looking things over she saw that it was the Xiong Family who had died.


    She didn''t intend to put herself out for the Xiong Family, and in truth, Moon Frost Island was being very cautious then, being very careful about their every move. What was more, the Xiong Family had always been off on the wrong foot with Moon Frost Island.


    "I still haven''t asked your esteemed name!" Bai Yue took the initiative to salute politely. For one person alone to have killed so many card artisans with even Yong Liang and Xiong Shen among them, that youth in front of her must be powerful and probably not deficient to herself


    That was something of an issue. Bai Yue was the most outstanding Moon Frost Island card artisan of her generation, and Jia Yingxia had expended endless effort on her behalf, on top of which were all the resources of Moon Frost Island. It wasn''t so surprising that she had achieved what she had.


    But that man in front of her and about the same age as she was had the same kind of power. Unless he was also the core student of someone from the Big Six?


    "I am Chen Mu." Chen Mu returned the courtesy.


    Bai Yue had never heard that strange name. At that time, Moon Frost Island was very concerned about heavyweight aces. What they most didn''t welcome was a completely unknown ace card artisan like Chen Mu who could very possibly become some kind of unstable variable. Their unpredictability was giving them a headache.


    Bai Yue had been about to say something when someone suddenly shouted from the street, "Cang Lan has come to Thousand Lakes!"


    Bai Yue''s face shifted, and she said goodbye to Chen Mu in a hurry, "I''m sorry but there''s something I have to do." After that she flew off urgently.


    Cang Lan''s arrival made the already complicated situation in Thousand Lakes still more complicated.


    Chen Mu couldn''t pay attention to so much by then, and he flew into Copper''s room.


    "Copper!"


    "Blockhead!"


    The two of them had been best friends since they were street punks together when they were little, and now they finally met again. They both had excited expressions and hugged powerfully. Lan Feng was also quite excited, her eyes moist. It seemed like it had been only yesterday when those things had happened.


    Wei-ah and Qiu Shanyu came in, and, Qiu Shanyu was a little surprised to see Chen Mu that way. Chen Mu always looked so calm toward any matter or person in her impression. Many times, she would ignore his age. But when she saw Chen Mu and Copper talking so animatedly, she suddenly realized that Chen Mu wasn''t more than his early twenties.


    The two of them had both had an unusually bumpy road along their ways. It was a bumpy ride after Copper and Lan Feng left Eastern Shang-Wei City, and very hard to make a living.


    When Copper heard Chen Mu narrate his experience during those last few years, his eyes popped with amazement. Not only Copper, even Qiu Shanyu was stunned.


    "I had been wondering how you became a card artisan." Copper laughed, "I had always felt, ha-ha, that you had real talent making cards. I miss that year when I was your talent scout."


    He looked quite pleased.


    Thinking back on that happy and full time when they were making card plays, Chen Mu couldn''t help smiling either.


    When he found out that Chen Mu was actually the head of both the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm and the Wood Battalion, Copper was dumbfounded. Still, he very quickly adjusted, and said with a laugh, "Fantastic, Lan Feng and I had been thinking about where we would go next. Ha, we can just seek shelter with you, then."


    "When are we going to finish the Legend of Master Shi?" Chen Mu was smiling from the bottom of his heart.


    "Right, what are you doing chasing off to Thousand Lakes?" Copper couldn''t help asking.


    Chen Mu then told something about the green marker in his body. When he talked about when the demonic woman implanted the green marker in his body, Copper was enraged, "That damned woman, she should be beaten to death with a brickbat!"


    By the time that Chen Mu had finished telling everything, Copper looked cautious, "You have to be a little careful, Blockhead. I''ve always felt that there''s something fishy about this alliance." And then he immediately explained, "When Lan Feng and I were with the Xiong Family, I was in charge of negotiations and Lang Feng was in charge of intelligence gathering."


    Everyone looked to be listening attentively.


    "The rules that Moon Frost Island made requiring an entry card were actually to encourage everyone to kill each other off. The more they wore down those who weren''t Moon Frost Island''s powers, the happier they would be. Moon Frost Island wasn''t going to participate in the elite contest. I think the feasibility of your thinking is quite high." After hesitating, he continued on, "But there is one point I find strange. When Moon Frost Island announced the news of the alliance, the other establishments all obstructed it, especially Tang Hanpei and Desert Camp. But now, Desert Camp and Tang Hanpei both seem to show no interest in Thousand Lakes, which is really just too unusual."


    Qiu Shanyu''s expression turned serious, and she looked at Copper a little bit surprised. Big picture analysis like that wasn''t something that just anyone would be concerned with. During that time, she had always been at Chen Mu''s side, and had no source for news. She wasn''t clear about everything that was happening in the Federation.


    "At this time Tang Hanpei is about to go to battle against the Bitter Solitude Temple, while as for the Desert Camp, its been said that they are still doing some internal cleansing. It looks like there''s nothing suspicious, but I''ve always felt that there''s something fishy going on."


    Lan Feng added something in a timely fashion, "According to the intelligence I''ve gathered, it''s already been several days since the Desert Camp''s new Master, Su Heiming, has been seen. Moreover, I just heard that the Federation Comprehensive Academy hasn''t sent a single person here."


    Copper looked bitter, "I''m a little bit worried that those two have joined forces with some sort of action brewing. If that''s how it is, then it will be a little unsafe here in Thousand lakes." He muttered, "Thousand Lakes isn''t so far from the frontier."


    Qiu Shanyu''s face flushed snow-white!

 549 What Brought Her Here?

    In fact, Chen Mu wasn''t concerned over the situation in Qianhu City; he just wanted to locate the demonic woman.


    According to the plan, after obtaining the entry ticket to the competition, he just had to participate in the elite card artisan competition. Chen Mu and his group replaced Xiong family and stayed in their room in the Victoria Hotel. Nobody would reject such a powerful card artisan''s request to stay.


    Competition was on the following day, and it was undoubtedly the most intense period to fight for the entry ticket to the competition. Almost every half an hour, they would hear somebody being challenged. Chen Mu was ready for the challenge, but to his surprise, as time went by, there was no challenger.


    Qianhu City was full of noise and clamor. The fight for the entry ticket to the elite card artisan competition was increasingly fierce within the last few hours. The sudden arrival of Cang Lan threw Moon Frost Island into confusion. Although Cang Lan came alone, Moon Frost Island not only dared not attack him in secret, they had to ensure his safety. North Facing District''s Coalition Army of the Underworld was eyeing Cang Lan with hostility, and this put tremendous pressure on Moon Frost Island. On top of that there was an undercurrent of resentment and overt contention between different forces, and others who attempted to ransack from the chaos by stirring up trouble. Complete mayhem broke out.


    Even during the call between Chen Mu and Bogner, they mentioned shooting down three art artisans who attempted to come close.


    Qianhu City was, frankly, an erratic powder keg.


    In such instability, the elite card artisan competition officially started. Compared to the intricate relations between various forces, the public was more interested in the large-scale elite card artisan competition. They worshiped the strong and heroes. This was also the biggest event since the popularity of fantasy card receiver. Card artisans with the least bit of fame from Heavenly Drum Village District were all gathered in Qianhu City. The rules for obtaining the entry ticket to compete assured the high standard of the competitors. Those who could participate in the competition were the aces of Heavenly Drum Village District.


    The only regrettable thing was that Moon Frost Island didn''t send anyone to participate. Those who hoped to witness the beauty and grace of female card artisans were disappointed.


    The stadium for the competition was newly built in the outskirts of Qianhu City. It could accommodate 300,000 people for any major competitions. On the day of the competition, the stadium was overcrowded.


    "It''s all right. It''s all right." Copper had a lingering fear on his face. They were almost drowned in the crowd. Scanning the stadium, there was no empty seats but only a hubbub of laughter and shouting. If anyone were to watch the competition from their seats, they would soon find out that they couldn''t hear a thing.


    Fortunately, Qianhu City had prepared rooms for all competitors, and it cut off all noises from the crowd. Through the high-density protective glass, they could see the competition in the arena clearly.


    Lan Feng looked at the competition schedule in her hands, and said to Chen Mu, "Woody, you''re the third to compete. Your opponent is Si Qing and he''s a Grade Seven card artisan. He uses ''red leaf.'' His strength should be a little weaker than Gong Liang." She was holding a stack of information in her hands. The information of other players was originally intended for Gong Liang but came in handy for Chen Mu. She had done a lot of preparation.


    Through the glass window, Chen Mu was looking at the huge arena. His mind was wandering; he had no idea that he would ever be on this stage.


    The first pair of competitors had appeared on the scene. A man and a woman flew into the arena. The noise near the arena was immediately lowered. Everyone was attentive.


    Chen Mu looked at the arena. In an instant, his eyes widened. Lo and behold!


    He stared at the woman on the stage like a statue!


    Qing Qing!


    He would never forget this woman! She wasn''t as ugly as the demonic woman, but was always composed and calm, even when she met the demonic woman, who he deemed as invincible. That amazing glimpse was imprinted in his memory, and now that he had become stronger, he could better understand her strength.


    Why is she here? he thought? Isn''t she from Star Academy, why would she take part in this competition? he pondered.


    Countless doubts popped up in his head. With the pale green figure in the arena, Chen Mu couldn''t stop speculating about her intentions.


    Of course, Star Academy had enough reason to prevent the alliance of Moon Frost Island. But this kind of thing could only be done in the dark. If done publicly, it could only suggest an open break between the two forces.


    In another room, Cang Lan sat comfortably. Surprisingly, Jia Yingxia was on his side.


    "Mr. Cang, do you know this girl?" asked Jia Yingxia.


    "Oh, does she have any special background?" Cang Lan expressed his interest.


    Jia Yingxia laughed. "Yes, she has a strong background. She''s the only student in the youngest generation of Star Academy who trained in the Inner Academy. Her future is promising."


    Cang Lan was silent for a moment. "Looks like Star Academy is giving its all!"


    Jia Yingxia calmly said, "Star Academy coveted Heavenly Drum Village District for quite a period. Although she surprised me a little, Mr. Cang''s presence surprised me even more."


    "Don''t you, the Principal, welcome me?" Cang Lan replied, impervious to Jia Yingxia''s words.


    Jia Yingxia smiled and changed the subject, "As the only student able to walk out of the Inner Academy of Star Academy in the past 50 years, let''s see what surprises this legend could bring us."


    Bai Yue stood silently at the side, staring Qing Qing in the arena. A flicker of hostility flashed in her eyes. Qing Qing stood in the arena, and looked at her opponent indifferently. In front of her was a card artisan about 36 or 37 years old, looking at her warily.


    "Start!"


    Qing Qing didn''t seem to hear it and remained still. Her opponent didn''t know what was up her sleeve. He stared at her wide-eyed with great vigilance.


    In Chen Mu''s room, he shook his head and said, "Qing Qing won."


    Copper was baffled by his comment. He turned his head to him in surprise. "Woody, do you know her? Didn''t they just begin?"


    "Yes, her name is Qing Qing. She''s a student from Star Academy. Do you remember the exchange program between Star Academy and Eastern Wei Academy? She was in it." Chen Mu continued to explain, "She had started her attack. Among the Big Six, Star Academy''s imaginary card is the strongest. If I''m not wrong, she''s using a six-star imaginary card."


    Sure enough, right after Chen Mu''s words, the player opposite Qing Qing suddenly bled from his seven orifices and fell on his back.


    Boom! The spectators surrounding the arena were extremely bewildered and the cheers were loud. They didn''t see Qing Qing''s attack, and her opponent died all of a sudden. The crowd was confused!


    In Room One, Jia Yingxia was somewhat in awe of her performance, she commented, "The Star Academy''s imaginary card is indeed impressive and kills in a flash. Good!"


    "As long as they don''t run into card artisans from Bitter Solitude Temple." Cang Lan smiled too.


    Among the Big Six, card artisans from Bitter Solitude Temple weren''t famous for their effectiveness in fights. However, they were firm and tenacious, and good at cracking illusions. Their soundwave cards were great at interrupting imaginary cards.


    In the Principal''s office of Star Academy.


    The Principal, with snow-white hair, watched the elite card artisan competition from Heavenly Drum Village District being broadcasted by the fantasy card receiver. His eyes were cold. On his side, the dean of Star Academy was staring at the screen with astonishment and incredulity.


    "Qing Qing¡­ Isn''t that Qing Qing?" The dean of Star Academy pointed at the screen while stuttering, "She¡­ why is she up there?"


    The principal''s voice was as usual. "She should have been threatened by someone."


    The dean, as if his tail was being stepped on, was almost screaming, "How is it possible? How could she be threatened when she''s highly skilled?"


    "Nothing is impossible." The coldness in the principal''s eyes had faded. The expression on his face was as usual. "If they had met the Coalition Army of the Underworld, or if they were held hostage by Cang Lan, it would be possible."


    "What... what shall we do then?" The dean was discouraged and beaten down.


    Rossiji and Nick, who were regarded as aces, rebelled. The most outstanding student of the younger generation, Qing Qing, became a pawn for others. Even a fool was aware of all the power Star Academy had in Heavenly Drum Village District, and of its inevitable end. Tan Yumin''s notebook was in the hands of Tang Hanpei and Caesar, the God of Slaughter.


    "Why..." The dean''s eyes were losing its focus as he muttered.


    As an academy having the heaviest influence in Heavenly Federation, Star Academy was in a desperate situation, unannounced. The dean couldn''t figure out why Rossiji and Nick betrayed Star Academy. Did Star Academy mistreat them? If Star Academy hadn''t groomed their talent, they wouldn''t be what they were.


    ...


    In a remote town, Rossiji and Nick watched the screen leisurely.


    "Qing Qing is so pitiful!" Nick sighed heartlessly as he gloated over her misery.


    Fatty sighed softly and said, "Star Academy is in trouble."


    "It''s none of our business anyway." Nick continued their conversation. Suddenly, he turned his face towards Fatty. "Don''t tell me, you want to go back."


    The fat man sneered, "How is it possible? I don''t want to live like a prisoner again. Besides, the situation is not that bad."


    "Rest assured, Star Academy is extraordinary wealthy and has great influence. They wouldn''t lose everything so quickly," Nick replied, heartlessly.


    Fatty smiled and said nothing, but he knew that what he said was not the same as Nick.


    After winning, there wasn''t a smile on Qing Qing''s face. She walked down from the arena with an indifferent look. Several medical card artisans quickly entered the arena, checked the fallen card artisans, and soon announced the player''s death.


    The brutality of Qing Qing was beyond many people''s expectations, especially Nick and Fatty''s. They stared at the screen in shock.


    "She''s so cruel?" Her brutality sent shivers down Nick''s spine. He had fought with her before but never discovered her savagery.


    Fatty squinted.


    Instead, Chen Mu was nonchalant to Qing Qing''s brutality. Previous battles had taught him that only by killing his enemies earlier could he ensure his own safety. In large-scale battles, there was no time for hesitation.


    What worried him was another problem.


    He was sure that after the battle between Qing Qing and demonic woman, there was a high chance that she would investigate him. Did she know his real name and appearance? Chen Mu was uncertain, but if she knew, it was undoubtedly a thorny problem.


    He had a problem. He took part in this competition to attract the demonic woman''s attention, and there weren''t any alternative plans.


    Another round of competition ended. The battle was brilliant. But in the eyes of the masters, it was far less shocking than Qing Qing''s silent blow.


    And it was Chen Mu''s turn to compete.

 550 A Twist of Fate

    "I surrender."


    Si Qing candidly and resolutely raised his right hand, ignoring shouts from the spectators around him. The confused referee looked at him and asked, "Are you sure you''re giving up?"


    "Yes!" Si Qing replied without hesitation.


    The conversation between the two people was transmitted to every corner of the stadium through the system. The noises from the spectators grew even louder, but Si Qing kept a straight face.


    The referee couldn''t help but announce Chen Mu''s victory.


    From the start to the end, Chen Mu neither uttered a word nor moved a bit. He stepped out of the arena as soon as the referee announced the result. It was a baffling and disappointing match. Si Qing was surrounded by a crowd of reporters as soon as he left the arena.


    "Mr Si Qing, why did you give up?"


    "Mr Si Qing, were you threatened by anyone?"


    "Mr Si Qing, were you pressured by anyone to give up?"


    ...


    These reporters were hysterically thrilled. It was only the third match and a competitor had inexplicably surrendered. These journalists with a keen sense of detail were filling the gap with stories in their heads. If they could dig out the inside story, they would immediately become famous.


    Those questions gave Si Qing a jolt. He was at a loss and shrugged his shoulders. "Gentlemen, I''m afraid I''ll disappoint you. There is no inside story. I saw Mr. Chen Mu''s battle unintentionally. After careful consideration, I made this rational choice. There''s no pressure on me. I''m clearly aware of the difference between me and Mr Chen Mu."


    Those reporters were disappointed, but some reporters were not satisfied. "Mr. Si Qing, as far as I know, your opponent is Chen Mu, and we''ve never heard of this name. Are you exaggerating¡­"


    "That''s just your opinion," said Si Qing disapprovingly. "In fact, I believe that as long as anybody has seen the battle, they would have made the same choice as me. I love prestige, but I treasure my life more. As for the fact that you haven''t heard his name, I''m sure you''ll remember it soon. I''m sorry, ladies and gentlemen. I''d like to watch the next match. Would you please let me go?"


    Si Qing''s interview was broadcasted on various viewing platforms and aroused heated discussion.


    "Who is this man?" Jia Yingxia saw this scene in the room and asked Bai Yue about Chen Mu.


    Bai Yue bent forward and replied, "His background is still unclear. He got his entry card from Gong Liang yesterday evening. But when I arrived, both Gong Liang and Xiong family were killed. According to him, card artisans from Xiong family were angry at the loss of their entry ticket to the competition. They attacked Chen Mu in groups, but were killed. His explanation is similar to our investigation."


    "Oh, this fellow is interesting." Jia Yingxia was a little startled.


    Cang Lan unexpectedly replied, "This fellow is dangerous."


    Jia Yingxia was somewhat surprised. "Mr. Cang''s comment is very unique." He was not commenting on Chen Mu''s strength or fighting capacity, but merely labelled him as dangerous.


    "In the jungle of North Facing District, there are peculiar beasts living solitary lives. They are cruel and ruthless. This is a beast that anycard artisan wouldn''t want to encounter or hunt. Their ferocity is not only to their enemy but also to themselves. I witnessed a Snow Claw Tiger bite at the beast''s right leg, yet the beast didn''t hesitate to bite its right leg off along with the skull of the Snow Claw Tiger, crushing it into pieces."


    Cang Lan spoke slowly in a leisurely manner, as if he was saying something irrelevant.


    Nothing too terrible, and Cang Lan''s tone was casual, but Bai Yue felt a chill go down her spine.


    Qing Qing''s expression was consistent, but her heart was tumbling.


    Chen Mu! He''s Chen Mu! He''s what I''ve been looking for! she thought. However, she couldn''t do anything even when he was in front of her


    "Not bad, Miss Qing Qing is indeed extraordinary," a voice came out behind her.


    She kept silent.


    "Rest assured, after this incident, not only will Miss Qing Qing be safe and sound, but also your companion." The man behind him chuckled. It was the best feeling for him, to manipulate the pride of the academy that was high up on the pedestal. His eyes glanced greedily and fervently over to Qing Qing. Qing Qing''s appearance was a little above average, but it was her inviolable demeanor that attracted him.


    He felt it was pitiful that he couldn''t do what he wanted. He was a wise man who knew what to do and what not to do. If he really did something to Qing Qing, his superior would never let him off.


    In Star Academy''s principal office, the principal and the dean were dark with rage. They spent a lot of time looking for Chen Mu. When Chen Mu really appeared, they found that they could only look on with despair.


    It was like someone who was looking for a treasure. They had a tough time looking for it, and when they finally discovered it, they couldn''t retrieve it.


    Rossiji was shocked when he saw Chen Mu on the screen. He exclaimed and almost lost his voice, "What is he doing there?"


    Nick had a puzzled look. "Isn''t he the one you showed me earlier? That boy called Chen Mu? Ah!" He suddenly exclaimed, "He... he''s the White Commander!"


    "Such a pity." Fatty felt sorry for him. His expression was like an antique enthusiast about to witness the destruction of a beautiful antique.


    Mobley was petrified. He thought he was going crazy. He saw three acquaintances in the first three games. It was totally unexpected that Qing Qing participated in the competition. He noticed that Qing Qing was like a changed person. Her attacks were brutal. Chen Mu''s appearance surprised him too. Maybe people were unfamiliar with Chen Mu, but Mobley knew very well that this teenager, who looked only in his early twenties, was well-known in Heavenly Federation. He was the real leader of the famous Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team!


    Among the three of them, Mobley was more familiar with Si Qing. They had fought together, and he always admired Si Qing''s strength. Later, Mobley served as the leader of Snowflake Card Artisan Team, and his training time was greatly reduced. The gap between him and Si Qing became wider. He knew very well of Si Qing''s character. He always kept a low profile and hid his strength. His strength was far beyond what anyone expected.


    Mobley wanted to see Chen Mu''s real capability, and he wanted to see Si Qing''s progress over the years. However, to his great surprise, Si Qing didn''t hesitate to give up in the match. Then, he saw an interview with Si Qing. Mobley, who knew him well, realized immediately that Si Qing wasn''t kidding.


    Mobley was dumbfounded! If Si Qing didn''t see himself as an opponent for Chen Mu, then how frightening was the strength of this young man?


    Mobley was lost in various conjectures.


    When Chen Mu walked out of the arena, he was at a loss. He was hoping that a grand combat could draw out the demonic woman, but it was unexpected that his opponent simply surrendered. He wondered if the demonic woman saw him.


    As Chen Mu walked away, he thought to himself that his second round of the competition wouldn''t start until the next day.


    Along the long corridor, there were participants warming up before entering the arena. The card artisans stopped what they were doing upon seeing Chen Mu. Many card artisans took a glance at Chen Mu and fell back in shock, while others were trying his patience.


    Chen Mu turned a blind eye, and his mind wasn''t on those card artisans.


    Suddenly, Chen Mu stopped in his path. In the air, there was a faint murderous aura; it was familiar, and he was reliving his old memories in an instant.


    His eyes got serious all at once. Amid his seriousness, he couldn''t contain his excitement.


    In the dark corner of the ceiling ahead, a blurred shadow was hard to detect.


    He didn''t hesitate to yell at the top of his lungs, "Wei-ah!" At the same time, he exerted force at his feet. A jet stream card was operated to its maximum. He was like an arrow released from its bow, suddenly retreating!


    Chen Mu''s unusual behavior confused all card artisans, and they looked at Chen Mu shooting backwards, puzzled.


    A ghostly shadow was climbing along the ceiling, like a wisp of smoke. It chased Chen Mu swiftly. At the same time, the walls of Chen Mu''s room burst open, and a dark shadow shot out! Light entered Chen Mu''s eyes. He had flown out of the corridor! The loud noise from the spectator seats filled his ears.


    He was unprecedentedly focused and, without any hesitation, he flew to the arena. The shadow behind him was chasing him feverishly. His shadow was like a cloud of smoke; hard to distinguish with the naked eye, even under strong lighting.


    When Chen Mu flew to the center of the arena, he suddenly stopped and turned to face the unfathomable shadow. That unfathomable shadow stopped too. Her figure was finally revealed. The slim and astonishing waistline and the ugly face like a devil''s, emitting a breath of danger.


    Demonic woman!


    That ugly face would never be forgotten by Chen Mu. He was very excited, but his mind desperately told him to calm down!


    Wei-ah stopped in his path, an indifferent expression on his face. He surrounded the demonic woman in the middle with Chen Mu. This was Chen Mu''s plan. The demonic woman was good at hiding herself. They had to drive her to the place where they could take in everything with just a glance, so they could deal with her better.


    Three people made an abrupt appearance in the arena. One of them was Chen Mu, who just left the match. The abrupt change caused a heavy silence at the spectators'' seats.


    The ugly woman who badly hurt herself! Qing Qing thought.


    When Qing Qing saw the three of them, she felt like she could be knocked down with a feather. She stared at them in disbelief. Many matters came to her mind, and without any hesitation, she crashed towards the glass window.


    "You''re crazy!" the man behind her screamed angrily and anxiously.


    As if Qing Qing didn''t hear his screams, her hands gently waved in front of her chest, a few rays of light shot out, and the high density protective glass window shattered! Under the crisp shattering sound of glass, she drifted towards the arena like a pale blue smoke.


    In Room One, Jia Yingxia''s expression was extremely gloomy. She gave a cold hum and raised her left hand gently. The temperature of the room dropped sharply. The glass window, along with the wall, turned into a canopy of fine crystals. She flew towards the arena with a look of dismay. Bai Yue followed her closely.


    Cang Lan stared at Qing Qing in the arena, and when his eyes swept through Wei-ah and demonic woman, his expression changed. He didn''t speak but flew towards the arena in light speed.


    Chen Mu kept a close eye on demonic woman. The demonic woman looked at Chen Mu indifferently. Wei-ah''s was expressionless. None of the original three people looked at the other four people; Qing Qing, Jia Yingxia, Bai Yue and Cang Lan were left out the picture.


    No matter how silly a person was, one would know that something severe was bound to happen.

 551 Wei-ah’s One Step

    There was dead silence in the venue. Everyone held their breaths in anticipation. The reporters were close to hyperventilating from excitement. They knew this would be a big scoop. Indeed, it was already sensational news. The elite competition had just started, but already something surprising had happened, and Jia Yingxia had personally come forward.


    Things were not as simple as they seemed. The experts quickly realized that this was an unusual situation. If Chen Mu were merely a troublemaker, Jia Yingxia would not have to personally come forward. All these years, Jia Yingxia had never come forward but had always remained hidden backstage, and left the front stage work to her protege Baiyue.


    This time, however, she personally came forward, bringing Baiyue with her!


    Cang Lan, who ranked second in the Black Line Star Listing, came out with them. The three of them together was truly an imposing and intimidating force.


    The remaining four were unknown to the public. Chen Mu and Qing Qing were contestants, but there was also an ugly and sinister-looking lady, and an expressionless man, who were both unfamiliar to the public.


    The serious and silent atmosphere was stifling as if set for a showdown. The crowd tensed in anticipation.


    The seven of them remained at a stalemate. After three minutes, there was still no sign of change. Jia Yingxia was furious, but her expression remained placid as she asked, "Did Moon Frost Island treat you poorly? May I ask the reason for your dissatisfaction?"


    Qing Qing''s unusual behavior had put her on guard, making her decide to personally come forward.


    Nobody took notice of her, but the tense atmosphere relaxed slightly after her words.


    Chen Mu stared at the Demonic Woman and enunciated carefully, "I''ve been looking for you for a very long time."


    The Demonic Woman spoke more fluently than before, but her voice still sounded piercing to the ears. Looking at Chen Mu, she commented, "You''ve become more powerful."


    She stared at Mu Chen, and suddenly remarked coldly, "How did you know how to use the Green Mark?"


    As expected, the Green Mark was significant to the Demonic Woman.


    The usage method of the Green Mark? Chen Mu was caught off guard, but later barely managed to suppress his glee upon realizing that the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus was indeed the right way to absorb the Green Mark.


    As if she could read Chen Mu''s mind, the Demonic Lady smirked, "The gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus could indeed absorb the Green Mark, but unfortunately, you are missing an ingredient."


    "What is that?" Chen Mu burst out.


    The demonic woman refused to answer.


    Not having heard of the Green Mark before, Jia Yingxia, Cang Lan and Baiyue were puzzled. On the other hand, Qing Qing''s placid expression turned into one of shock.


    The Green Mark! She knew what that was! The Green Mark was planted into Chen Mu''s body? Her expression changed slightly.


    While the rest did not know what the Green Mark was, they realized from Qing Qing''s expression that it was something extraordinary. After all, they had all heard of the famous gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus


    Cang Lan suddenly asked, "Are you from the House of a Hundred Depths?"


    The Demonic Woman threw him a cold glance, then ignored him completely.


    Undeterred, he turned to Qing Qing with a smile, and asked, "Miss Qing Qing, may I ask your reason for coming here?"


    Cang Lan''s gentle smile seemed cruel and cold to Qing Qing. She suppressed her fury, and said neutrally, "There is nothing odd about me being here. After all, Mr. Chen Mu and I are old friends."


    "Old friends?" Chen Mu''s heart skipped a beat. This confirmed his suspicions that the Star Academy had investigated him on the sly.


    Cang Lan was clearly dissatisfied with this answer, but decided not to pursue the matter further, and subsided with a smile.


    Jia Yingxia looked coldly at Qing Qing, and said, the underlying warning clear, "Moon Frost Island has always had a good relationship with the Star Academy, and I would not wish to damage our relations over this matter. I would not be able to account for my old friends if the only student to graduate from the Star Academy in 50 years was injured in some way here. I would strongly suggest Miss Qing Qing leave."


    The rapt audience suddenly broke out into murmurs. They had not known that this placid girl was the legendary person who was the only one to graduate from the Star Academy in a mere 50 years.


    Mobley was struck dumb. He had guessed at Qing Qing''s position, but he never expected it to be so high. He looked at the light green figure, scared out of his wits.


    The reporters were in an uproar.


    Qing Qing''s position at the Star Academy was akin to Baiyue''s in Moon Frost Island. They were both dignified representatives of their respective organizations. The Star Academy''s star student attending a competition organized by Moon Frost Island was a public slight to the Moon Frost Island. The students of Moon Frost Island all bristled with anger.


    Some reporters had already thought of their headline: The Star Academy and Moon Frost Island''s Irreparable Split!


    Jia Yingxia''s underlying warning went unheeded. Qing Qing shook her head, "Thank you for your concern, but I cannot just leave Mr. Chen here."


    Cang Lan''s androgynous voice interrupted, "Oh? I''m surprised the Star Academy is interested in Mr. Chen." While speaking, his sinister gaze was fixed on Qing Qing''s eyes.


    He merely hazarded a guess, but somehow managed to hit the nail on the head. While Qing Qing tried valiantly to remain calm, Cang Lan and Jia Yingxia noticed her shift in expression.


    Chen Mu''s gaze never left the Demonic Woman, ignoring all that happened around him.


    Taking a deep breath, Chen Mu tried to clear his head so that he can think things through. The Green Mark''s importance to the Demonic Woman was evident, yet she did not seem alarmed or angry. He got to the point, "What do you need?"


    The Demonic Woman looked approving, but her voice remained cold, with a tinge of pity, "You have grown a lot these two years. But you are still not qualified enough."


    "What qualifications?"


    "I need power to help me complete a task," she said evenly. "Extreme power!"


    "Oh?" Cang Lan suddenly turned his head, and said gleefully, "Why don''t you cooperate with me then? While the North Facing District is not as strong as the Moon Frost Island, we still have a lot of resources."


    He had grasped the situation well. Jia Yingxia did not have enough resources to spare for anything but an alliance, so he did not have to worry about offending the Moon Frost Island.


    The demonic woman spared him a glance, and with a terrifying ripple of her facial muscles, pointed at Wei-ah, "He will kill you."


    From the beginning, Wei-ah had stood unmoving like a person made of stone.


    Cang Lan narrowed his eyes. Flint in his gaze, he said slowly, "Oh, I didn''t think there was someone present who could kill me." His tone was extremely arrogant, but the people listening found his words matter of fact.


    The surrounding debate grew.


    "What a preposterous idea! Who does he think he is to be able to kill Cang Lan?"


    "Hahaha. This is exciting. Lord Cang Lan is angry!"


    "Isn''t he embarrassed to be boasting at his age?"


    ...


    Chen Mu still stared silently at the demonic woman.


    The Demonic Woman''s icy gaze turned steely, and her sharp voice became harsh as she bemoaned, "You should not have absorbed it. Only the King Tribe can use the Green Mark. Now we can''t have it back. You deserve to die!"


    She curved her back, ready to pounce.


    At the same time, Wei-ah took one step forward.


    A strong murderous aura emanated from him as if there was a sudden change in the atmosphere. Jia Yingxia, Cang Lan, Baiyue, and Qing Qing''s expressions changed dramatically. They stared at the statue-like Wei-ah as if they had just seen a ghost. The bone-piercing murderous aura radiated past every inch of their flesh, giving rise to a strong sense of danger.


    That simple move was like unsheathing a sword to reveal its piercingly sharp edge, causing people to avert their gazes in fear.


    The smile on Cang Lan''s face froze and was immediately replaced with a battle glare.


    Jia Yingxia hid her dismay, and stood straight up, both hands raised halfway.


    Baiyue and Qing Qing''s faces paled, lingering dismay in their eyes.


    The Demonic Woman''s curved body froze.


    Wei-ah''s step created immediate silence.


    The audience in front of the fantasy card receiver was watching this unexpected scene with their mouths agape. Who would have thought so many top card artisans of the federation would be stunned by a complete stranger. The intelligence divisions of many corporations were madly gathering information on the "stone man."


    The live audience similarly stood agape.


    "Who¡­ who is this fellow?"


    Being his first target, the Demonic Woman almost reflexively counterattacked, but she forcefully suppressed her terror. The determination and dismay in her gaze strengthened, and her resoluteness was unmistakable.


    Chen Mu never would have thought the Demonic Woman would make this choice; it was totally out of his expectations. He had intended to join forces with Wei-Ah to restrain the Demonic Woman, then force the solution out of her. But her attitude made Chen Mu change his mind: her determination was clearly like steel. The situation was also extremely delicate. Qing Qing''s presence was outside his plan, and the public appearance of Jia Yingxia and Cang Lan was also surprising. While he had planned early on to use Wei-ah to stun the experts, he never expected the grade of experts to be so high.


    Wei-ah successfully stunned everybody present, but Chen Mu knew this was just momentary.


    In the event of a real conflict...


    Everybody present was immensely powerful. If a scuffle broke out, Chen Mu cannot predict who would survive.


    "You need power?" Chen Mu took a deep breath and spoke.


    "Yes," the Demonic Woman answered without hesitation.


    "For revenge?" Chen Mu asked again, hazarding a guess.


    "That''s right!" The Demonic Woman''s eyes turned red, her gaze filled with hatred.


    "If so, would you help me absorb The Green Mark? Didn''t you say those who use the Green Mark without being entitled to it must die?" Chen Mu asked seriously.


    The Demonic Woman said loftily, "I am of the King Tribe! I have the right to absorb the Green Mark!"


    He nodded and said calmly, "I understand."


    His attitude was puzzling; only Qing Qing looked contemplative.


    Chen Mu bowed his head, took out a mask from his pocket, put it on, and raised his head.


    On a pure white silver mask, two black lines curved downwards from its eyes.


    "Have you heard of The White Commander?"

 552 Capability

    His words, though said lightly, were like a typhoon blowing through everyone''s hearts.


    All noise ceased; the already quiet audience became dead silent. The silence was stifling, but the crowd paid no mind to that.


    The pure white mask made of silver, with its two curved black lines, revealed his cold and calm gaze. He simply stood there, without any pomp or ceremony, without any words or actions, yet it gave people the impression that he was calmly evaluating his team.


    "He¡­ he¡­ he said he is the White¡­ White Commander."


    Someone stuttered out, triggering an outburst.


    Boom!


    The commotion sounded like the crash after a massive ball of water freefell thousands of meters and spread in all directions. The sound waves rolled across the entire venue, and sensitive card artisans could even see the ripples in the air caused by the intense sound waves.


    He is the White Commander...


    He is the White Commander!


    This guy is the White Commander!


    That White Commander who was the student of Caesar, God of Slaughter; builder of the Wood Battalion; annihilator of the Cang Jiang Military Force; raider of Borman City!


    "God, spare me please, my heart cannot take it!"


    The reporters'' faces turned red, and they trembled with over-excitement, causing the frame to shake.


    Damn! Why would the frame shake now? White Commander, ah, White Commander, Chen Mu is the White Commander...


    They rambled incoherently, not even sure of what they were saying. After a whole two minutes, they finally managed to quieten down, though everybody''s faces were still unnaturally red. Without prompting, all the cameras were directed at this legendary influential figure.


    His battle prowess might not be comparable to his master Caesar who can look in disdain at the Heavenly Federation, but this did not stop people from madly worshipping him. He built the Wood Battalion singlehandedly, and to date has not lost a single battle. He is extraordinary, mysterious, with amazing capabilities, and is the new star of the Heavenly Federation. The cards he made, the numerical series cards, fetch astronomical prices.


    However, nobody expected the White Commander to be so young.


    Seeing the glassy stares of his subordinates, the agitated Jie Sen resorted to violence, kicking the guy who was in his way and pushing his way to the front with the camera.


    "Hello, dear viewers, I hope you are currently watching our program. If not, you are about to miss out on the story of the year, no, the story of the century! We do not know what the Green Mark is. We also do not know who the ugly lady is, nor do we know the capabilities of the guy who threatened Cang Lan. But we may find out soon, so stay tuned!


    This is Greenfield Broadcasting Station broadcasting to you live at the Elite Competition taking place at the Heavenly Drum Village District.


    Let''s turn our gazes, once again, to the venue. Wow, what an impressive line-up! But, without question, the most striking celebrity is Chen Mu. Yes, in terms of prestige, Baiyue, who is the student of Moon Frost Island''s current principal and the most likely candidate for the next head of Moon Frost Island, and Qing Qing, the genius who is the only person to have graduated from Star Academy in fifty years, were on par with the White Commander, or rather, Chen Mu.


    But, do not forget, apart from being an excellent card artisan, Chen Mu is also an extraordinary commander and a renowned card master.


    Also, just a reminder, Cang Lan''s Cang Jiang Military Force and Yan Yu, all perished at Chen Mu''s hand. We cannot help but exclaim at how destiny brought the two mortal enemies together today." Mobley''s face paled from the shock.


    He was well and truly shocked. Chen Mu was the White Commander! His legs felt weak, but looking at the excited crowd around him, he felt like he was doused with icy water.


    Conspiracy! This must be a conspiracy!


    He wanted to shout out loud that the fellow wearing the mask is the team leader of the Snow Worm Card Artisan Team.


    But he dared not. If it were only the Snow Worm Card Artisan Team, he would not be so afraid. But the fellow wearing the mask actually had another source of power up his sleeve. This fellow who previously had to kowtow to them for survival actually had such terrifying power. Mobley shuddered.


    The Snow Worm Card Artisan Team and Wood Battalion were collectively known as the ''Heavenly Drum''s Duo". Damn, what a joke!


    No, this is a conspiracy. Mobley firmly believed this was a conspiracy.


    He was seized with an impulse to tell his beloved Miss Qing Qing this information.


    But when his gaze fell on the mask, all his courage evaporated, his legs went limp, and he fell onto a chair.


    Cang Lan suddenly laughed.


    "Haha! This is a godsend! I''ve been trying so hard to find the White Commander, but who knew I''d meet him here." His tone suddenly turned cold, and he bit out, "You have guts, revealing your identity in front of me!"


    As if he did not hear those words, Chen Mu still stared at the Demonic Woman silently.


    The Demonic Woman stared at Chen Mu''s mask for a long time and suddenly stood up, "I''ve heard of him. Okay, deal."


    She suddenly reappeared at Chen Mu''s left, facing the other four.


    The Demonic Woman to his left, Wei-ah to his right, with Chen Mu in the middle.


    Qing Qing''s expression changed, and she arched her brow, stared directly at Cang Lan, and said, "I heard that Mr. Cang Lan is very learned, and I''ve always been at awe of Mr. Cang Lan. I''d like to take advantage of this fortuitous encounter to get some pointers from Mr. Cang Lan."


    The audience was in an uproar. Qing Qing can be said to be a representative of the Star Academy, so this move could possibly represent the Star Academy''s stance.


    Anger flashed across Cang Lan''s face, but he was extremely calculating, and he turned to Jia Yingxia with a smile, "Principal Jia, my guess was correct. This White Commander must have something valuable or based on the Star Academy''s style, they would not continue to protect him at this stage."


    Jia Yingxia''s bottomless eyes were fixed on Chen Mu.


    She had not forgotten that Tan Yumin''s four notebooks were still with Caesar. Who else could Caesar give them to? Of course, he must have given them to the White Commander. Even if the White Commander did not have the notebooks, if he were captured, Caesar would definitely not be able to stand by and do nothing.


    She raised her right hand and suddenly shouted, "The Heavenly Drum Village District Alliance''s pride will not be trampled on like this. These people have seriously disrupted the competition. Capture them!"


    Moon Frost Island''s card artisans seemed to awaken from their daze, and they simultaneously moved forward. Moon Frost Island had long anticipated that the Elite Competition would not proceed without a hitch, and they had prepared plenty of forces for any accidents.


    Three hundred over card artisans floated in the air, tightly surrounding the competition venue. These card artisans were the elite forces of Moon Frost Island, and each was highly trained. They braced themselves for a great battle, and on Jia Yingxia''s command, they would capture these people.


    The sudden turn of events stunned everybody.


    Nobody would have expected Jia Yingxia to turn hostile so suddenly.


    At that moment, a clear voice rang out, "Haha, Principal Jia, don''t be so hasty."


    A mighty figure arrived in a flash of fiery red.


    Jiao Si! Origins Academy''s Principal Jiao Si!


    "Mr. Chen, long time no see. How are you?" He greeted Chen Mu with a smile.


    Chen Mu greeted him back, "How do you do, Principal Jiao? Ru Qiu told me that if I was to meet Principal Jiao, I was to tell you and vice principal that she misses you both very much."


    The firm Jiao Si could not hold back his tears; Ru Qiu was always his favorite student.


    "That''s good, that''s good, that''s good," he said repeatedly.


    Witnessing this scene, Jia Yingxia furrowed her brows. Jiao Si was extremely powerful, and not to be messed with. She said coldly, "What is the meaning of this, Principal Jiao Si?"


    Jiao Si turned around and laughed. He proclaimed proudly, "Origins Academy has long had an alliance with Mr. Chen Mu. I am merely fulfilling my duties as his ally."


    Chen Mu looked at Jiao Si, astonished. Jiao Si was incredibly sly, and he did not understand why Jiao Si would publicly announce his stance right now. This would mean a permanent falling out between Origins Academy and Moon Frost Island.


    As if sensing Chen Mu''s bewilderment, Jiao Si winked, and said in a low voice, "I am betting all my cards on you."


    Jia Yingxia''s expression was grim.


    She suddenly realized that they were not at an advantage in terms of experts. Qing Qing and Baiyue were on par with each other, Cang Lan was Jiao Si''s match, but she would be the only one left on her side, while there were still two people left on the other side whose power was unpredictable. She calculated that White Commander should be on par with Baiyue.


    "Uncle, let''s go in," Qiu Shanyu said coldly, her gaze never leaving the Demonic Woman.


    "Yes, miss!" Fang Shi, who was wearing a bronze mask, carried Qiu Shanyu and flew into the venue. Ever since the advertising program spread to Faya, Fang Shi had been in hiding at Qianhu.


    The card artisans on guard were suddenly on the alert.


    "Who?""Stop him!"


    Beneath the impassive bronze mask, a quiet dream-like hum emerged, "Flower World!"


    Countless pink petals suddenly appeared, dancing in the air, like a mystical dream; a beautiful but deadly trap. The petals were very sharp, and they easily pierced through the power shields of the Moon Frost Island card artisans, penetrating the card artisans'' bodies. The warm red blood and peach pink petals forming a terrible and beautiful scene.


    As if taking a quiet stroll, Fang Shi carried Qiu Shanyu and walked nonchalantly to Chen Mu''s side.


    Chen Mu was not surprised. He did not overly restrict Qiu Shanyu, and it was not surprising that she managed to contact Fang Shi.


    Jia Yingxia''s expression soured. She thought with apprehension that the person who just arrived was very powerful.


    "You are?"


    Qiu Shanyu said arrogantly, "Madam Faya!"


    Jia Yingxia''s expression changed slightly. She did not expect Faya to also interfere. She immediately guessed the identity of the Bronze Masked Man, "Then you must be Mr. Fang Shi."


    The Bronze Masked Man said with a slight smile, "I didn''t think Principal Jia would know my name. Nice to meet you!"


    Then he ignored Jia Yingxia, and directly walked to Wei-ah and bowed earnestly. "Thank you for helping me break my shackles that day!"


    The audience''s heart stopped once more.


    Wei-ah was like a statue, expressionless and silent as if he had not heard those words.


    Fang Shi was not bothered, and he merely walked back to Qiu Shanyu''s side.


    "Faya also intends to become Moon Frost Island''s enemy?" Jia Yingxia said coldly.


    Qiu Shanyu smiled, "That would depend on the White Commander."


    The crowd was again in an uproar.


    Faya did not have a good reputation, but its power was indisputable. Fang Shi was so powerful, yet his position in Faya was merely Madam Faya''s guard, so Madam Faya''s status could clearly be guessed.


    Nobody doubted that she could represent Faya, but now she is saying that it is up to the White Commander!


    This was preposterous!


    At that moment, an incredibly violent murderous aura suddenly enveloped the entire venue. The undisguised murderous aura was thick like fresh blood and caused all everyone to shudder involuntarily.


    Everybody''s expression turned serious. Everybody knew who had come.


    A short figure stepped towards the venue.


    The card artisans along the way naturally made a path. None of them dared stand in his way.


    In the eyes of the public, this figure symbolized slaughter itself.


    The world lost all sound, and everybody''s gazes were locked on this normal-looking figure. Their gazes were filled with awe.


    This man is death incarnate!


    Caesar, the God of Slaughter!


    "It certainly is lively today!" Such a casual sentence, coming from Caesar''s mouth, became filled with murderous intent.


    He walked to Chen Mu''s side and casually tossed him a few notebooks, "Boy, this is for you."


    Cang Lan stared at the notebooks in Chen Mu''s lap, greed in his gaze. On the other hand, Jia Yingxia resumed her placid expression.


    At this moment, a few people suddenly flew towards them at high speed.


    The card artisans of Frost Moon Island were about to stop them, when Jia Yingxia said, "Let them in."


    These people were Qianhu''s representatives of the Central Repository of the Classics, and while they were not major players, there must have been some situation for them to rush over at this time.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    They had just landed when their leader bowed at Jia Yingxia, "Principal Jia!"


    "Who are you?" Jia Yingxia straightaway asked.


    Their leader said politely, "I just received directions from my principal that the Central Repository of the Classics is to protect Mr. Chen Mu at all costs! I hope Principal Jia would let them go." His words were polite, but his tone resolute.


    Everyone was stunned.


    While they had all been cautious, they suddenly realized that they had seriously underestimated the reach of the White Commander''s influence.


    Such a young card artisan, yet he had such terrifying might.


    The White Commander''s indifferent figure no longer seemed weak to the audience. He bowed his head in thought.


    When he raised his head again, everybody, including Jia Yingxia, unconsciously held their breaths.

 553 Further Happenings

    "Miss Baiyue once said that Wood Battalion and Moon Frost Island would be friends forever." Chen Mu said neutrally.


    Baiyue only said that she and the White Commander would be friends forever, but Chen Mu changed her words to Wood Battalion. This was to remind Jia Yingxia that he commanded the Wood Battalion and to give Moon Frost Island an out. After all, his intention was not to clash with Moon Frost Island but to find the Demonic Woman.


    Since his purpose has been accomplished, it would be irrational to clash with Moon Frost Island right now.


    Chen Mu also felt that Moon Frost Island would not clash with them. There were many masters on their side, not to mention Wood Battalion''s involvement. Jia Yingxia would not provoke a dispute at this crucial time of an alliance between them.


    His judgment was right!


    Jia Yingxia cracked a smile and said, "Of course Moon Frost Island and Wood Battalion are friends. It is Moon Frost Island''s honor to see so many masters gathered together on this rare occasion." Although she coveted Chen Mu''s notebooks, she knew it would be unwise to turn against him, so she took advantage of the out given.


    In her heart, she was amazed by Chen Mu''s tact despite his age.


    She looked at Cang Lan out of the corner of her eye, and chuckled, "Moreover, I am looking forward to witnessing the battle between Master Cang Lan and Master Caesar!"


    Cang Lan wore an ugly expression; he never expected Chen Mu to have so many cards up his sleeve. The sheer number of masters on his side was astonishing. Jia Yingxia''s nonchalant words, as if an afterthought, had diverted everyone''s attention to the enmity between him and Caesar, driving him into a corner. He thought resentfully that nothing was more wicked than a woman''s heart!


    "Haha! I also want to see what kind of fellow can challenge me." Caesar''s mad laughter was filled with murderous intent and without a shred of fear.


    On the other hand, Cang Lan calmed down and snickered, "Indeed, I thought you''d lost your drive since you didn''t take up the gauntlet even though I''d issued the challenge long ago. I was very disappointed!"


    Caesar smirked, "At this stage, do you think I have to respond to every Tom, Dick, and Harry who challenges me?"


    Cang Lan gradually became expressionless, and the fluctuations of energy in the air became stronger as if dark clouds were moving towards their direction. In the blink of an eye, the terrifying energy enveloped the entire hall, and there was no longer any sound coming from the audience.


    It was as if the world was coming to an end. The fluctuations continuously bashed against the fragile souls of the people. The ordinary people in the audience had difficulting breathing and felt as if they had suddenly fallen into a frightening nightmare.


    Jia Yingxia''s face turned pale. The effects of Cang Lan recklessly spreading his fluctuations on the ordinary people in the audience may be fatal.


    At that moment, wanton and furious laughter rang out like thunderbolts on the horizon.


    "That''s all you''ve got?"


    Before he finished speaking, a murderous aura suddenly exploded like a volcano. Everything in the crowd''s sight was dyed scarlet. The violent fluctuations contained horrifying energy, like an unstable bomb right by their noses.


    The feelings were chilling, pushing the crowd to the point of mental breakdown.


    All of them seemed insignificant in the face of the turbulence of the endless murderous aura. They were tiny like a dingey struggling amidst a bloody sea, about to be pounded and destroyed at any second.


    The expressions of Jiao Si, Fang Shi, Qing Qing, and Baiyue changed simultaneously, all of them looking at Caesar with fright. Even Jia Yingxia involuntarily blanched; Caesar was more powerful than she had thought. The Demonic Woman stared at Caesar in awe.


    Chen Mu''s face was pale. Caesar didn''t intend to take care of him. He only just realized that the strength Caesar showed him last time was far from his actual strength. Only Wei-ah remained expressionless, though his gaze changed.


    Cang Lan''s expression had also changed!


    He didn''t expect Caesar to be this powerful. Based on age, Caesar had passed the prime of a card artisan, and his power should be on the decline.


    Yet Caesar was like a lion in its prime, with no signs of decline. That was impossible! Cang Lan couldn''t believe this; how could an elderly card artisan maintain such a violent, murderous aura without any sign of decline?


    A card artisan''s power was based on their physiology. Due to his body weakening, all aspects of an elderly card artisan''s attributes would also diminish. This was a law set in stone.


    However, in front of him was someone who had violated this law!


    He could clearly feel how powerful Caesar''s life force was, and it seemed to be in flames.


    In flames?


    Cang Lan''s heart missed a beat, could it be¡­


    A huge number of card artisans suddenly flew out of a jungle four hundred kilometers from Qianhu.


    "Report, everything is normal, nothing suspicious was spotted."


    Surprise was written all over the face of the card artisan making the report. He strived to control his emotions, but the excitement was audible in his voice.


    While his dark brown eyes remained cold, Su Heiming could not hide his joy. He threw his head back and laughed, "Haha, indeed God has blessed me! Here, they wouldn''t be able to escape me! Haha!" He suddenly ducked his head, and his tone turned cold, and he said with a face full of murderous intention. "Tell the rest to follow the original plan; tell the departments to get into their formation. The remaining card artisans can rest and reorganize for five hours. After five hours, approach Qianhu without hiding the troop formation, and if you come across any troops along the way, kill them all!"


    "Yes!" The card artisan responded sternly.


    Card artisans flew out of the jungle like the tide, yet the forest seemed to contain countless card artisans. There was no end in sight to the swarm of card artisans. They looked quite tired, but their morale had not decreased. Upon finding out that they have almost reached Qianhu, all of the card artisans burst into cheers.


    Su Heiming felt satisfied at this sight, but the smile on his face was chilling, "Haha, Jia Yingxia, that old woman, surely would not expect me to bring my troops to her gates! Tsk tsk, it is said that all the masters from Heavenly Drum Village District have gathered here. That''s great. I can capture all of them at the same time!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    His personal Iron Guard, Zhu Heng stood beside him quietly, but could not hide his excitement.


    After this defeat, there wouldn''t be a Moon Frost Island anymore! This battle will be an earth-shaking war, and it would be a supreme honor to personally bring this about and to participate in it.


    Su Heiming said with a bleak smile, "This ''Jungle Dove'' is excellent as expected. We would have a lot of casualties if Tang Hanpei didn''t send us this batch of ''Jungle Dove.'' He is, indeed a formidable man!" At these words, the excitement on his face faded, giving way to a complicated gaze. He was grateful to have such a powerful ally, but at the same time, it made him uneasy.


    At this stage, they no longer had to hide their formation, nor was there any way to obscure their figures.


    Hundreds of units with the mission of killing any person in sight.


    The Snow Worm Card Artisan Team, Bogner and Xi Ping watched the screen fixedly, worried about their boss.


    Seeing Jiao Si, Ru Qiu was on the verge of crying. Sue Lochiro also looked nervous.


    Suddenly, the meter on Jiang Liang''s hand rang, and he opened the screen.


    "Report! There are a huge number of unknown card artisans four hundred kilometers away!" The team member making the report trembled in panic.


    Jia Liang had a feeling of foreboding. He knew the members of his team had great emotional fortitude, so the situation must be terrible for them to panic like this.


    When he looked at the view displayed on the screen, he was totally astonished!


    The Snow Worm Card Artisan Team immediately went into the highest state of alert. Meanwhile, in the tactics room, Bogner and Jiang Liang both had furrowed brows.


    "I haven''t figured out which party these powerful card artisans belong to." Jiang Liang pursed his lips tightly with a rare nervous look. He babbled, "According to our sources, there are over ten thousand people in the opposing party!" This figure made his heart tremble. This was the largest military operation since the establishment of the Heavenly Federation.


    "No need to check, I know who this is. Hmph, it is Su Heiming. Su Hanhao has such a great son!" He pointed at the three-dimensional map fantasy cards, and murmured, "Under the guise of a purge, he secretly gathered his forces. Moon Frost Island was careless. They probably stealthily crossed the Dobinida Desert, then went over Tianheng Mountain, and entered the snow forest of the Heavenly Drum Village District, and moved all the way here!"


    He snorted, "Su Heming''s trick was harsh, with great stakes. He has staked his life and reputation, and would not have the chance to rise again if he fails, but he was right in betting! Everyone was fooled by him!"


    Jiang Liang said disbelievingly, "That is impossible! The journey from Tianheng Mountain here is surely more than sixty thousand kilometers. Without a Spinulosa Disk, how could they¡­"


    "Don''t question their equipment! We have the Spinulosa Disk, so why can''t others?" Bogner interrupted Jiang Lian. He was unexpectedly calm, "We have to hurry. After crossing such a huge distance, they would surely have to take time to rest. This is our last chance. We have to charge before they finish encircling the gates! Or else, we will perish together with Moon Frost Island!"


    "Where should we charge to?" Influenced by Bogner, Jiang Liang also calmed down.


    Bogner scanned the three-dimensional map fantasy cards desperately and said, "It is not easy to charge. Based on Su Heiming''s strategy, he must have placed the troops on garrison duty at every major place. But time is of the essence! In such a short time, he surely would not be able to flawlessly encircle all the gates! What''s more, we have a secret weapon, Wood Battalion! If both teams, one from the inside and one from outside, attack one point simultaneously, we have a great chance of breaking through."


    His gaze locked on a point on the map.


    "Go and contact Xiaobo and the team, tell them to abandon their wagons and quickly move towards Snow Edge Valley! Hide at the outer side of the valley, and remember not to draw the attention of the other party."


    "Snow Edge Valley? The terrain of this place is unfavorable to us!"


    "That''s why Su Heiming would not put a large number of card artisans there, and others would not choose this direction as their breakthrough point. The bigger the size of the troops, the more easily it would draw the attention of Su Heiming and the faster we will die! Quickly inform Xiaobo and the team that their garrison should have a certain distance from the Snow Edge Valley, and they need to be there before the opposing party finishes resting. Once they have finished resting and reorganizing, they will start to surround the gates! Then we would only be left with the option of a match to the death." Bogner''s expression was grim, "I''ll contact the boss!"


    "Understood!" Jiang Liang answered clearly.


    Bogner successfully got through to Chen Mu''s telecommunication card!

 554 A Diversion

    Tap! Tap! Tap!


    The silence was broken by rapid footsteps.


    Tang Hanpei''s eyes did not move away from the notebook in his hand as he remained focused.


    "My lord!" Shao Xue was somewhat excited, and it showed in her voice.


    Tang Hanpei tore his gaze away from the notebook to her face and said gently, "What''s wrong?"


    Tang Hanpei''s eyes were like the sunshine of early winter, warm and soft. Shao Xue''s heart trembled, but she remained calm, "Please take a look at this video!"


    She cordially inserted a fantasy card into the meter and popped it on the screen to display the video of Chen Mu in the Heavenly Drum Village District''s Elite Competition.


    "I see." Tang Hanpei nodded and said with some regret, "It''s a pity."


    Shao Xue understood what he meant by saying it was a pity. She asked a probing question, "Can we trade with the Desert Camp? To switch him over?"


    After thinking about it, Tang Hanpei shook his head, "Not necessary." He raised his head and asked, "Where are we now?"


    "We are two days away from the border of the Vanasi district," Shao Xue replied.


    Tang Hanpei did not speak. He lowered his head again and stared straight at the black notebook. His slender white left hand suddenly turned to the title page of the notebook. There is a sentence written above: "To my younger brother: I hope you can become a hero!"


    He stared at the words for a long time, then suddenly snapped his notebook shut.


    He looked up. "Tell them to turn southeast and stay out of sight."


    Shao Xue cried out, "Are we not fighting the Bitter Solitude Temple? The southeast¡­ Oh..."Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    Tang Hanpei smiled, "Our goal is the Star Academy."


    "What about the Bitter Solitude Temple?"


    "They are just a cover."


    Tang Hanpei smiled as usual, but this time, it held traces of biting cold instead of the winter warmth and brimmed with hidden war intention!


    Qianhu City was a mess. News of the Desert Camp Card Artisan Team''s siege came, and although Moon Frost Island had been fortified, in the face of the full force of the camp, it was like pouring a cup of water on a burning cart of firewood. As for all the other forces, they have only brought personal bodyguards.


    Su Heiming firmly grasped the initiative!


    Looking at the pale Jia Yingxia, Chen Mu sighed, but this was not the time for regrets. The stadium was completely out of control, the screams lingered in everyone''s ears, and the crowds in the stands seemed crazy.


    "Let''s go." He whispered, " Wei-ah, bring Copper and Lan Feng here. Quick!"


    Without speaking, Wei-ah''s figure disappeared from everyone''s sight.


    Many people around him looked horrified.


    Soon, Wei-ah appeared in front of Chen Mu with Copper and Lan Feng.


    "Let''s get out of here first."


    Chen Mu was followed by a large group of people, including Caesar, Jiao Si, and others. Furthermore, a few shrewd card artisans also joined Chen Mu''s team in succession. They were all thinking that since the White Commander had created so many miracles, perhaps he could do another one this time. As for the Moon Frost Island''s card artisans, they were currently unable to take care of Chen Mu. Jia Yingxia was deathly pale. Now, she was in urgent need to discuss with the leaders of the other houses.


    "What about us?" asked the man with the green scar on his face.


    "Follow Chen Mu." The man with the dark gold mask said, "People like us don''t get protection from Moon Frost Island. We might as well follow him and increase our chances of survival."


    The two then joined the team behind Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu also noticed that the team behind him was getting larger, but this was not the time for him to reject others. Nonetheless, he increased his speed sharply.


    When the others saw this, they all sped up as well!


    Through this, the skill gap was apparent. Masters like Caesar were proceeding at a leisurely pace, but those with insufficient abilities dropped out. This depressed Chen Mu, but right now, benevolence would only reduce their last chances for survival. Along the way, people continued to join and drop from the team as people recognized Chen Mu,


    But Qianhu City had a lot of masters at this time! There were still more than 400 people who could keep up with Chen Mu''s speed, which made him secretly shocked and cheered him up slightly. These 400 people were all masters, and if they were utilized correctly, they could be a big help.


    Once outside the city, the number of card artisans decreased significantly. The card artisans that were originally stationed outside the city were desperately trying to enter the town at that time. There were no tenable defense positions outside the city, only dead ends. As such, Chen Mu''s team, which was rushing out was very conspicuous. Nonetheless, Chen Mu didn''t care and sped up as he rushed forward.


    Like a powerful gust of wind, Chen Mu dragged a long ''tail'' to the south corner of the city. A neat team formation appeared in the public''s line of sight.


    "The Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team!" Someone in the team exclaimed.


    The others all appeared joyous but soon changed into puzzled looks. Why did Chen Mu bring them to the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team? Could it be that he is friends with the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team?


    Chen Mu did not hesitate and took the lead to fly ahead. At the same time, Wei-ah appeared beside him with Copper and Lan Feng. This time, the card artisans were shocked! There were no mediocre people here, so it was natural to see the identity of Wei-ah as a cardless sect. But for a cardless sect to be able to carry another two along with him and still possess such horrifying speed, this was something they had never heard of before.


    "Boss!" Bogner, Xi Ping, and the others were relieved to see Chen Mu.


    The people who had just been shocked by Wei-ah once again stood blankly in the same place. They wondered if their ears had listened wrongly.


    Boss?


    Some people had recognized Bogner. But did he just call Chen Mu boss?


    Oh my God! Is the White Commander not the leader of the Wood Battalion? How did he become the leader of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team as well?


    Qing Qing was extremely shocked! Perhaps no one here recognized Bogner, but she knew that Bogner was the wolf from over ten years ago. She looked at Chen Mu, astonished. She simply could not imagine that a guy who sold level one energy cards for a living, could actually be that famous in the Federation, and have the service of this wolf which was desired by countless people!


    After a moment, she came to her senses. She couldn''t help but gaze at Chen Mu with a complicated look.


    To be honest, she was in a very awkward position. In Qianhu City, Jia Yingxia would not go easy on her. But she could not bear with just watching Chen Mu leave. Yet in reality, she had no power to fight against Chen Mu. Whether it was Caesar, Jiao Si, the Demonic Woman, or Fang Shi, she could not guarantee her victory against any of these people, let alone the cardless sect, which had unfathomable capabilities.


    "How''s it going?" Chen Mu asked.


    "Bad." Bogner said in a low voice, "The Desert Camp is well prepared this time. We don''t have many chances." His eyes fell on the 400 people who came with Chen Mu, and he asked in a low voice, "Who are these people?"


    "They came with me. They are rather capable," Chen Mu said.


    Bogner nodded, indicating that he understood. If he refused to go along with these people and cause disputes, he might lose his last chance.


    Chen Mu turned and stared at the 400 people, saying, "Everyone, you all know the situation. I feel honored to have all of you follow me here. But," His tone turned cold, "This is a dangerous situation, and you all know it. I can''t promise to get you out of danger, but if we all work together, there''s still a chance. But there is a condition: everyone has to obey my orders! If you can''t do that, please leave!"


    Qiu Shanyu was quick to see the opportunity. She said coldly, "From now on, Faya, including me, will obey the orders of Commander Chen Mu! Those who disobey will be killed!"


    "Yes!" The Faya card artisans who came with Fang Shi obeyed.


    At this moment, Jiao Si took a step forward, "Everyone in the Origins Academy Card Artisan Team including me is free for Commander Chen Mu to dispatch, if there is anyone who disobeys, kill them on sight!"


    They were all experienced people and knew how difficult the hurdle before them was at that moment. Chen Mu''s request was reasonable, so they quickly took action.


    When the other card artisans saw this, they all gradually began to express their loyalty. After learning that Chen Mu is the head of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan team, everyone had some hope in their hearts. Not only was Chen Mu a tactical genius in his own right, but there was also Bogner, one of the top tacticians within the Federation, taking charge. The battle strength of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team was pretty strong to begin with.


    Moreover, some people with active minds also thought of another trump card in Chen Mu''s hand, and that is the Wood Battalion!


    Chen Mu nodded and looked calm, "Good! But I''ll say the ugly words upfront: if someone disobeys the orders, he would be punished mercilessly by military law!"


    He didn''t mean to emphasize this, but everyone''s heart was shaken.


    Chen nodded and said to Bogner, "Let''s go."


    The Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team set out first. Everyone vigorously set forth to the Snow Edge Valley.


    In the crowd, the man with the green scar asked in a low voice, "What do you think of this Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team?"


    The dark gold mask man groaned, "True to its name! Look at their methodical marching; they are in perfect formation. Then look at their team members, all calm and fearless. These two points itself have exceeded the majority of Card Artisan Teams! As for their firepower, I still can''t tell just yet."


    The man with the green scar agreed, "After hearing what you said, I would think so as well. Do you think Qianhu City can be defended?"


    "I don''t think so." The man in the dark gold mask shook his head. "There is too much of a disparity between the strength of both sides. Although Qianhu City can be guarded, the Desert Camp had everything planned out so precisely. How could they not bring a war card?"


    At that time, a nearby artisan interrupted, "That is not necessarily true. As long as they can hold out for some time, the Desert Camp will be the one having a hard time. Hmph, nearly all the leaders of the Heavenly Drum Village District are in Qianhu, and I''m guessing there''s already a rush of card artisans coming this way."


    The dark golden masked man was silent, and the man with the green scar furrowed his brow, "If you say so, then why are you following us?"


    That card artisan immediately smiled, "Card artisans like us with no background, will definitely be the cannon fodder that will die first on the front line. I presume that the city has begun to do some mandatory transfers, hehe, and I definitely don''t want to be cannon fodder."


    The guy with the green scar had an odd look on his face. He said in astonishment, "You rascal! But aren''t you afraid that he''ll use you as cannon fodder as well?" He looked toward Chen Mu''s silhouette and pursed his lips in his direction.


    "Hehe, it''s not that different, either way, it''d be selling myself off. But this option would be better. With our conditions, if we are sold to Moon Frost Island, they might not even spare us a glance. But if we are sold to the White Commander, he might value us."


    The man with the green scar was stunned for a moment before laughing out loud, "That is true!"


    "Dude, who are you?" This card artisan asked curiously.


    "Me?" The man with the green scar answered in a carefree manner, "I am Yangshan Fei."

 555 The Battle Begins

    "Yang¡­.. Yangshan Fei¡­." The artisan stammered, staring blankly at the man with the green scar. He suddenly returned to his senses, " The old artisan is here!"


    Yangshan Fei grinned: "Am I old?"


    "Not at all!" The artisan was busy shaking his head.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    "Haha, I am just messing with you," Yangshan Fei flew back to the masked man.


    "Su. You see, there are a lot of clever people here!" Yang Shanfei smiled.


    The man called Su silently continued to fly at high speed with the rest of the group. The card artisan carefully peeped at Su, secretly guessing his identity.


    The team looked serious as this trip was dangerous. The chances of survival were slim. The card artisans of Desert Camp was ruthless and rarely accepted surrender. While their main army was recovering, hundreds of small hunting teams had already begun to clear off the remaining artisans in the area. They were all killed even before they managed to surrender.


    After flying for about half an hour, the team finally came to a halt.


    Ahead, a snow valley loomed.


    * * *


    Snow Edge Valley.


    The seventy-sixth squadron of Desert Camp was recovering.


    Chai Jun, the captain of the 76th squadron, looked around him with satisfaction and smiled, "Not bad, the intelligence corp''s terrain detection is very accurate. Keep your spirits up. Our mission is to guard this valley for five hours. When the main army arrives, we shall attack Qianhu City.


    His vice-captain also laughed and said, "With such a terrain, five hours is nothing, we can easily guard here for ten more days. Besides, there are still the hunting teams around, so don''t worry boss!"


    Chai Jun agreed with him but still cautioned again "Don''t be careless and let go of a mouse or two. You must take the boss''s military law seriously."


    The vice-captain trembled and nodded repeatedly. Su Heiming only commanded the Desert Camp for a short period, but he used cruel measures, making all the men fear him. He completed the internal cleaning and restructuring of the Desert Camp within a short period, and the Desert Camp now is very different from its previous generation.


    "What do you think, instructor? "Chai Jun respectfully asked another man who had been silent.


    Instructors were unique to the Desert Camp. Su Heiming is the whole Chief Military Instructor of the camp. However, Desert Camp instructors are different from the captain; they do not directly interfere in team affairs but have great power.


    "Very well," The man said simply with a cold expression, then stopped talking. His whole body exuded a chill, and the artisans around him involuntarily kept their distance. The most striking point was that his wrist did not have a meter. Behind him stood dozens of strong men who looked like they came from the same mold as him, their wrists similarly unmarked.


    Each artisan held fast to a vantage point, and there were artisans patrolling in the sky.


    Qianhu City.


    There was silence as the forces gathered. The faces of the leaders remained calm, but there was an involuntary look of alarm in their eyes.


    "Everyone!" Jia Yingxia knew that she needed to stand up at that time; she slowly scanned the leaders, "We all know the situation well. Artisans outside the city were all slaughtered by the Desert Camp!"


    The expressions of the people below turned grimmer as Jia Yingxia''s words broke their last remaining hope.


    "Why should we be afraid? As long as we can keep guard for a few days, the back-up artisans will arrive, then we can attack together. I don''t believe Su Heiming can go back alive!" shouted a leader.


    This sentence seemed to clear the haze from their minds. The atmosphere became more lively. Jia Yingxia looked at the leader approvingly.


    "Su Heiming looks down on us! Well, if we can hold the fort this time, we''ll see how he ends up!"


    "Qianhu City is an old city. Our defense system is perfect. The city is well equipped, and will not be easily breached!"


    The chatter of the crowd was to mock Su Heiming, and also encourage themselves.


    "Everyone!" Jia Yingxia''s voice rose again, and the other leaders'' voices immediately vanished, and everybody''s gazes again focused on her. Jia Yingxia was very satisfied with this effect. She paused a little, and said slowly, "Good news! Due to the Desert Camp''s crazy behavior, the military decided to directly intervene. The sixth and eleventh troops are heading our way as fast as they can! We only need to hold out a little longer, and the Desert Camp will be completely destroyed!"


    As soon as this was said, everyone was rejuvenated, their expressions showing their joy.


    Even Cang Lan was moved: "President Jia, is this true?"


    If what Jia Yingxia said was true, this would be the first time the military has intervened in a civil war. This would have a profound effect on the alliance, though it was feared that after this, the military would officially enter this era of chaos.


    "Army Chief Lord Zhi Tingman and Army Chief Lord Jiang Zhenyen have just declared their intent and just now, the five troops closest to us have all moved out, heading for Qianhu City!" Jia Yingxia smiled.


    Every leader''s face was filled with joy. As long as the military intervened, it would only be a matter of time before the Desert Camp was destroyed.


    "Will the eighth and tenth troops react?" Someone hesitated. Lu Ning, the commander of the eighth army corps, and Qiu Rong, the commander of the tenth army corps, are from the Desert Camp. If the sixth and eleventh are involved, the eighth and tenth are also likely to be involved.


    "Haha, you are worrying too much. The eighth and the tenth army corps are stationed in the north area, far away from us. It would be too late by the time they arrive."


    The crowd was appeased.


    Jia Yingxia smiled but said strictly, "Everyone, we should work together in the face of this sudden attack by the formidable Desert Camp. The Qianhu City guardian force is insufficient. I hope you can coordinate your defense with the card artisans of Moon Frost Island!"


    "Principal Jia''s words are reasonable, we can''t stand behind while your card artisans are fighting!"


    "Yes! Hand over the command of all the guards to the principal!"


    These leaders were sensible men. They knew that at this point they had no room to bargain with Moon Frost Island, so they might as well be generous.


    Jia Yingxia smiled at each leader as a show of respect.


    * * *


    At the snow forest outside of Snow Edge Valley, Chen Mu and his people were carefully lurking in ambush. Card artisans flew past from time to time. This hunting team''s combat power was strong. While individually their combat power was insignificant, their cooperation was incredible, and they were ruthless, leaving no survivors. Seeing this, the card artisans in the forest were appalled.


    "Xiaobo and the rest are heading in this direction. It will take about an hour and a half to get here. Rest for half an hour, then get ready to attack." Bogner murmured. "Our position right now is here, while the main force of the Desert Camp is there."


    Bogner pointed to the three-dimensional map fantasy card and continued, "The Snow Edge Valley is a little further forward. That is to say, we need to resolve the battle very quickly and cross the Snow Edge Valley. The situation will worsen if we catch the base camp''s attention."


    "Also, based on the patrolling rhythm of the hunting squad, there''s a five-minute gap in between patrols, which is our best chance to attack," Bogner behaved with the grace of a general which filled everyone''s heart with confidence.


    Qiu Shanyu hesitated, then said, "According to our sources, Su Heiming and Mohadi Domain have been friends for a long time, and they have a unique technology which could quickly develop cardless sects. I suspect they probably have these people in their team."


    In the corner, Wei-ah who had remained silent, suddenly said, "I will deal with them together with Blockhead and Bu Mo."


    Everyone was surprised, but no one objected. It would be better to leave cardless sects to cardless sects.


    "Well, then the rest of the plan need not change. Snow Worm Card Artisan Team will lead, with the rest as support. Go full force! We have to open this passage in the shortest time with the greatest firepower." Bogner said to Jiang Liang, "Organize the rest of the card artisans. I heard that Yangshan Fei is also within; get him to be your co-commander. Their cooperation is not good, but each of them individually is stronger than our card artisans."


    "Yes!" Jiang Liang accepted the order.


    Chen Mu was impressed by Bogner''s methodical delivery of orders. In the face of danger, he remained calm and naturally assumed his responsibilities without avoidance or retreat, and maintained a clear head, showing his progress.


    Jiang Liang walked to the front of the card artisan team and asked, "Excuse me, which one of you is Yangshan Fei?"


    The people who had been chattering were abruptly silent. The people in the know naturally would remain silent, whereas the people who did not know the situation were shocked, as Yangshan Fei was famous. Even Moon Frost Island was defeated by his hand.


    Yangshan Fei stood up and shouted, "I am! What do you want?"


    Jiang Liang saluted, "Hello Mr. Yang. I am Jiang Liang, the deputy director of Snow Worm Card Artisan Group."


    Yang Shanfei looked suspiciously at Jiang Liang. The strong military temperament in Jiang Liang shocked him, "Mr. Jiang, are you from the army?"


    "I was in the army for a few years." Jiang Liang replied succinctly.


    Everybody abruptly looked awestruck, thinking it was no wonder the Snow Worm Card Artisan Group was so powerful: they even recruited people from the military. Yang Shanfei praised him, "No wonder your bearing was different. Come, please sit."


    Jiang Liang sat on the snowy ground beside Yang Shanfei with his usual expression. Yangshan Fei''s eyes were full of appreciation. "How can I help you, Deputy Jiang?"


    "General Bogner ordered me to familiarise myself with everyone so that this would reflect on the battle later." Jiang Liang continued, "Bogner also hoped Mr. Yang will help me so that during the chaos later would not ruin our advantage."


    Yangshan Fei looked at Su, and seeing him nod, said, "No problem! They still have to respect me!" He thought about it and shook his head, "No, I have to tell them not to ruin it." Then he got up and walked to the other card artisans.


    Jiang Liang''s attention fell on Su. He bowed to Su and asked, "What may I call you?"


    "Su."

 556 An Acciden

    All the preparation work had completed, and now they just had to wait. The atmosphere seemed to be getting serious, and the experienced card artisans kept their mouth shut and they gradually quieted down. Everyone was tidying and checking their equipment repeatedly. No one had ever experienced such a grand battle; just by thinking of the massive number of card artisans already made their hair stand on its end.


    In the sky, several black spots gradually enlarged.


    It was a hunting squad!


    That hunting squad consisted of 20 card artisans patrolled around the area near Qianhu City. Once they discovered any card artisans, they would ruthlessly kill them! Chen Mu and the group had witnessed several card artisans'' teams trying to fly across the sky, but without exception, they were shot down.


    Chen Mu and the group carefully hid their bodies and concealed their Perception. With the use of a sleeping bag, one could easily bury his body under the snow. And those shuttles were all buried under the thick snow without any trace. When they look at it from afar, the snow forest was nothing unusual, and they had successfully avoided the patrols of several hunting squads.


    Suddenly, the hunting squad in the sky turned and flew in another direction. Then, there was a violent explosion in the sky.


    The continuous explosions suggested that the battle was extremely fierce. But the card artisans in the valley were confident of their hunting squads; although the battle in the sky was intense, card artisans within the Snow Edge Valley didn''t have the intention to help at all.


    The battle lasted about five to six minutes, and the sound of explosion was gradually softer. The hunting squad that was loitering in the vicinity was like a shark that smelled blood; they flocked over. In less than three minutes, four hunting squads had arrived to join the battle.


    That immediately changed the balance of the battle, and card artisans who were trying to break through were quickly defeated and scattered into various directions; it could be distinguished from the sporadic sound of explosions.


    Seeing that the problem was mostly solved, three of the hunting squads turned around and left, while the remaining two hunting squads began to pursue the scattered card artisans. Compared with those ferocious hunting squads, those scattered card artisans were too weak and frail; they had no room for resistance and could only flee in all directions.


    A card artisan fled over the jungle where Chen Mu and the rest were hiding, and the hunting squad was only about 400 meters away from him.


    At that moment, everyone had their hearts in their mouths.


    "Whoosh!"


    The hunting squad occupying the higher position didn''t hesitate to launch an attack!


    More than 20 energy forms interweaved into a web of attacks, and headed towards the only card artisan in sight; blocking all of his escape routes.


    Chen Mu''s expression darkened!


    Not only Chen Mu, but almost everyone''s expression had darkened. The web of attacks effortlessly wrenched that card artisan into several pieces. However, the excess energy of the web of attacks bolted towards Chen Mu and his group!


    Da*n it!


    Chen Mu immediately realized that their exposure was irreparable!


    "Go!"


    He hollered without hesitation! In such a battle, as a card artisan, his reaction was much faster than that of Bogner!


    Everyone was cursing that card artisan who had just died, but they had no hesitation. In that fight, everyone gave their best.


    Various energy forms shot out of the jungle and bolted towards the two hunting squads in the sky.


    Chen Mu didn''t check out the hunting squads in the sky; under such attack, none could survive. If the two hunting squads couldn''t be eliminated, then that would be a joke. He wasn''t worried about the two hunting squads, but worried that he would alarm the card artisans in the Snow Edge Valley.


    Xiaobo and the rest hadn''t reached the other end of the Snow Edge Valley, and it wasn''t the best time to launch an attack.


    However, at that time, they had no other choice!


    Chen Mu was sure that they had already alarmed the card artisans in the Snow Edge Valley! The sudden appearance of a massive number of card artisans must have caused the card artisans stationed in the Snow Edge Valley nervous.


    However, he knew what he should do now.


    The members of the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team quickly formed a battle formation, and more than 400 card artisans following the team gathered behind.


    Over the Snow Edge Valley, there had been a constant appearance of card artisans.


    "Attack!"


    The whole team darted forward like a torrent, heading for the Snow Edge Valley!


    Fiery rain filled the sky once more and those thumb-sized flames danced gently in the air. The expressions of those card artisans in the Snow Edge Valley opposite had darkened.


    Perhaps not many people knew of the name "Oudi Burner", but such a unique, lethal and terrible flame was famous among a vast majority of card artisans! There was no need reserve any forms of power, thus all the lethal weapons were used in the first round of attacks.


    The unique ear-piercing sound of the "Whorled Sniper Shuttle" set off endless sound waves; blanketing the whole atmosphere!


    And the 400 card artisans who were following the team put on their best fight. Among them, those that didn''t engage in the battle were either a master like Caesar, or melee card artisans.


    The battle seemed to have reached a climax right from the start.


    "Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team?" Chai Jun was surprised, but then he laughed. He was worried that he couldn''t get credit for staying in that place. He had no idea that God would send such a massive credit to him. Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team was one of the two most vigorous card artisan teams recently; the Chief Military Instructor would reward him if he could annihilate them, he could also gain enough prestige. He also knew that the Chief Military Instructor was very interested in the cards from the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team that emitted terrible flames.


    "That''s pretty fierce."


    Chai Jun watched leisurely at the throat-cutting battlefield; he turned a blind eye to those card artisans from the Desert Camp, who had been hit by "Oudi Burner", and were yelling in pain.


    Seeing that the card artisans were merely darting in, Chai Jun realized that the opponent''s tactic was pretty straightforward; he sneered uncontrollably. Nevertheless, it wasn''t easy to break out from his territory and formation.


    "Sealed the sky!"


    On the both sides of the cliffs in Snow Edge Valley, card artisans retreated like a tide, while card artisans behind them flew up one after another, forming an echelon of aggression. Looking from afar, it was like a massive volume of wasps gathered. If the opponent wanted to break through from the sky, the powerful squad wouldn''t hesitate to tear the opponent into pieces.


    Looking at the heavily guarded sky, Chen Mu couldn''t help but frowned. His opponent had engaged all card artisans into the sky. Seeing his opponent''s strong defense line, if they were to attack with brute force, the casualties would be absolutely high.


    He took a glance at the deep, bottomless and empty canyon; Chen Mu was a little puzzled.


    The number of card artisans on the opponent side could be roughly estimated. Now almost all of them were in the sky. Was their intention for Chen Mu and his team to enter the canyon?


    The canyon had limited space to accommodate that many card artisans who were in their battles. Moreover, the Snow Edge Valley had a very special terrain; it was different from other valleys in which the top was broader but the bottom was smaller, Snow Edge Valley had a narrow top but broader bottom. The outer look of the mountain was right-angled with a line of light shining through, but at the bottom of the valley, the space was unexpectedly large. The widest part of the valley bottom was more than ten kilometers. The light inside the valley was dimmed because the sky was sealed up.


    There must be something mysterious in the valley!


    But looking at the massive numbers of enemies in the sky, Chen Mu couldn''t help but hesitate. There were more people on the opponent side than his. Non-combatants were sitting in the shuttle, and Bogner was with them; he couldn''t command now. Chen Mu could only depend on his own judgment. Just then, Jiao Si lowered his voice as he said, "Walk along the bottom of the valley! We''re running out of time!"


    Chen Mu was startled; they had to break through at the fastest speed. If they were tied down with those card artisans, they had no chance of survival! No matter what ambush there was at the bottom of the valley, they had to brace themselves and rush in now!


    They had to dash in to survive!


    As soon as he gritted his teeth, he gave his orders; and some of the card artisans were adjusted to the front.


    All of the card artisans were speeding up at the same time!


    If they were like a torrent previously, they were like rapids now!


    The opponent''s attack hadn''t stopped and the energy forms pierced through the sky; even in daytime, the sky was mysteriously dazzling.


    Chen Mu accelerated as he carefully avoided. He stood firmly beside the Commander''s Shuttle, blocking the shuttle from all the energy forms from time to time. Jiao Si was defending on the other side. The attacks were ongoing and advancing rapidly. Along the way, from time to time, card artisans got hit and fell to the ground, but no one went for the rescue; everyone knew that if they were left behind, it was equivalent to death!


    In the sky, Chai Jun stood proudly. At that time, he couldn''t help but laugh, "The prey is walking into the trap!"


    Card artisans who were around him were expressing joy too.


    Finally, they made it to the entrance of the valley; the opponent''s attacks were visibly lesser than before. Chen Mu couldn''t help but worry; during that short path they took, it had caused a high casualty in the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team!


    At last, the weakness of the individual battle ability of the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team was revealed. Under such a dense attack, many members of the team failed to avoid the attacks and were hit one after another. But with the use of "Ring of Sluggishness", the situation was quickly stabilized.


    The "Ring of Sluggishness" was a card Chen Mu made by imitating the "the Field of Snowflakes". It could form an area with a diameter of 15 meters. Once the energy forms of their opponents entered that area, its activity would rapidly drop to a very low level; the flight speed would slow down and the power of the attacks would become very weak, which gave rise to an illusion that time was slowing down in that area. That set of cards required three people to operate at the same time. Since it was made, it was never used in actual combat.


    A dozens of card artisans were wrapped in each big bright white ring; like a bright bubble and moving forward at an amazing speed. Any energy forms shot on it were useless; there wasn''t any damage to the bubble.


    In the sky, Chai Jun was impressed, "This Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team really owns a lot of good things! I''ve never heard them used it before."


    The card artisan next to him came close to him instantly and said, "No matter how good the card is, it''ll be yours soon."


    Chai Jun laughed, "Ha-ha! You''re right!"


    As soon as they entered the valley, the light suddenly dimmed. And the card artisans at the very front had to hold up their power shields. The card artisans with protective qualities and melee card artisans were moved to the front.


    Within the deep and murky valley, it was like a beast opening its gigantic mouth; it was ghostly and bloodcurdling!


    Chapter 556 ¨C An Accident


    All the preparation work had completed, and now they just had to wait. The atmosphere seemed to be getting serious, and the experienced card artisans kept their mouth shut and they gradually quieted down. Everyone was tidying and checking their equipment repeatedly. No one had ever experienced such a grand battle; just by thinking of the massive number of card artisans already made their hair stand on its end.


    In the sky, several black spots gradually enlarged.


    It was a hunting squad!


    That hunting squad consisted of 20 card artisans patrolled around the area near Qianhu City. Once they discovered any card artisans, they would ruthlessly kill them! Chen Mu and the group had witnessed several card artisans'' teams trying to fly across the sky, but without exception, they were shot down.


    Chen Mu and the group carefully hid their bodies and concealed their Perception. With the use of a sleeping bag, one could easily bury his body under the snow. And those shuttles were all buried under the thick snow without any trace. When they look at it from afar, the snow forest was nothing unusual, and they had successfully avoided the patrols of several hunting squads.


    Suddenly, the hunting squad in the sky turned and flew in another direction. Then, there was a violent explosion in the sky.


    The continuous explosions suggested that the battle was extremely fierce. But the card artisans in the valley were confident of their hunting squads; although the battle in the sky was intense, card artisans within the Snow Edge Valley didn''t have the intention to help at all.


    The battle lasted about five to six minutes, and the sound of explosion was gradually softer. The hunting squad that was loitering in the vicinity was like a shark that smelled blood; they flocked over. In less than three minutes, four hunting squads had arrived to join the battle.


    That immediately changed the balance of the battle, and card artisans who were trying to break through were quickly defeated and scattered into various directions; it could be distinguished from the sporadic sound of explosions.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    Seeing that the problem was mostly solved, three of the hunting squads turned around and left, while the remaining two hunting squads began to pursue the scattered card artisans. Compared with those ferocious hunting squads, those scattered card artisans were too weak and frail; they had no room for resistance and could only flee in all directions.


    A card artisan fled over the jungle where Chen Mu and the rest were hiding, and the hunting squad was only about 400 meters away from him.


    At that moment, everyone had their hearts in their mouths.


    "Whoosh!"


    The hunting squad occupying the higher position didn''t hesitate to launch an attack!


    More than 20 energy forms interweaved into a web of attacks, and headed towards the only card artisan in sight; blocking all of his escape routes.


    Chen Mu''s expression darkened!


    Not only Chen Mu, but almost everyone''s expression had darkened. The web of attacks effortlessly wrenched that card artisan into several pieces. However, the excess energy of the web of attacks bolted towards Chen Mu and his group!


    Da*n it!


    Chen Mu immediately realized that their exposure was irreparable!


    "Go!"


    He hollered without hesitation! In such a battle, as a card artisan, his reaction was much faster than that of Bogner!


    Everyone was cursing that card artisan who had just died, but they had no hesitation. In that fight, everyone gave their best.


    Various energy forms shot out of the jungle and bolted towards the two hunting squads in the sky.


    Chen Mu didn''t check out the hunting squads in the sky; under such attack, none could survive. If the two hunting squads couldn''t be eliminated, then that would be a joke. He wasn''t worried about the two hunting squads, but worried that he would alarm the card artisans in the Snow Edge Valley.


    Xiaobo and the rest hadn''t reached the other end of the Snow Edge Valley, and it wasn''t the best time to launch an attack.


    However, at that time, they had no other choice!


    Chen Mu was sure that they had already alarmed the card artisans in the Snow Edge Valley! The sudden appearance of a massive number of card artisans must have caused the card artisans stationed in the Snow Edge Valley nervous.


    However, he knew what he should do now.


    The members of the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team quickly formed a battle formation, and more than 400 card artisans following the team gathered behind.


    Over the Snow Edge Valley, there had been a constant appearance of card artisans.


    "Attack!"


    The whole team darted forward like a torrent, heading for the Snow Edge Valley!


    Fiery rain filled the sky once more and those thumb-sized flames danced gently in the air. The expressions of those card artisans in the Snow Edge Valley opposite had darkened.


    Perhaps not many people knew of the name "Oudi Burner", but such a unique, lethal and terrible flame was famous among a vast majority of card artisans! There was no need reserve any forms of power, thus all the lethal weapons were used in the first round of attacks.


    The unique ear-piercing sound of the "Whorled Sniper Shuttle" set off endless sound waves; blanketing the whole atmosphere!


    And the 400 card artisans who were following the team put on their best fight. Among them, those that didn''t engage in the battle were either a master like Caesar, or melee card artisans.


    The battle seemed to have reached a climax right from the start.


    "Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team?" Chai Jun was surprised, but then he laughed. He was worried that he couldn''t get credit for staying in that place. He had no idea that God would send such a massive credit to him. Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team was one of the two most vigorous card artisan teams recently; the Chief Military Instructor would reward him if he could annihilate them, he could also gain enough prestige. He also knew that the Chief Military Instructor was very interested in the cards from the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team that emitted terrible flames.


    "That''s pretty fierce."


    Chai Jun watched leisurely at the throat-cutting battlefield; he turned a blind eye to those card artisans from the Desert Camp, who had been hit by "Oudi Burner", and were yelling in pain.


    Seeing that the card artisans were merely darting in, Chai Jun realized that the opponent''s tactic was pretty straightforward; he sneered uncontrollably. Nevertheless, it wasn''t easy to break out from his territory and formation.


    "Sealed the sky!"


    On the both sides of the cliffs in Snow Edge Valley, card artisans retreated like a tide, while card artisans behind them flew up one after another, forming an echelon of aggression. Looking from afar, it was like a massive volume of wasps gathered. If the opponent wanted to break through from the sky, the powerful squad wouldn''t hesitate to tear the opponent into pieces.


    Looking at the heavily guarded sky, Chen Mu couldn''t help but frowned. His opponent had engaged all card artisans into the sky. Seeing his opponent''s strong defense line, if they were to attack with brute force, the casualties would be absolutely high.


    He took a glance at the deep, bottomless and empty canyon; Chen Mu was a little puzzled.


    The number of card artisans on the opponent side could be roughly estimated. Now almost all of them were in the sky. Was their intention for Chen Mu and his team to enter the canyon?


    The canyon had limited space to accommodate that many card artisans who were in their battles. Moreover, the Snow Edge Valley had a very special terrain; it was different from other valleys in which the top was broader but the bottom was smaller, Snow Edge Valley had a narrow top but broader bottom. The outer look of the mountain was right-angled with a line of light shining through, but at the bottom of the valley, the space was unexpectedly large. The widest part of the valley bottom was more than ten kilometers. The light inside the valley was dimmed because the sky was sealed up.


    There must be something mysterious in the valley!


    But looking at the massive numbers of enemies in the sky, Chen Mu couldn''t help but hesitate. There were more people on the opponent side than his. Non-combatants were sitting in the shuttle, and Bogner was with them; he couldn''t command now. Chen Mu could only depend on his own judgment. Just then, Jiao Si lowered his voice as he said, "Walk along the bottom of the valley! We''re running out of time!"


    Chen Mu was startled; they had to break through at the fastest speed. If they were tied down with those card artisans, they had no chance of survival! No matter what ambush there was at the bottom of the valley, they had to brace themselves and rush in now!


    They had to dash in to survive!


    As soon as he gritted his teeth, he gave his orders; and some of the card artisans were adjusted to the front.


    All of the card artisans were speeding up at the same time!


    If they were like a torrent previously, they were like rapids now!


    The opponent''s attack hadn''t stopped and the energy forms pierced through the sky; even in daytime, the sky was mysteriously dazzling.


    Chen Mu accelerated as he carefully avoided. He stood firmly beside the Commander''s Shuttle, blocking the shuttle from all the energy forms from time to time. Jiao Si was defending on the other side. The attacks were ongoing and advancing rapidly. Along the way, from time to time, card artisans got hit and fell to the ground, but no one went for the rescue; everyone knew that if they were left behind, it was equivalent to death!


    In the sky, Chai Jun stood proudly. At that time, he couldn''t help but laugh, "The prey is walking into the trap!"


    Card artisans who were around him were expressing joy too.


    Finally, they made it to the entrance of the valley; the opponent''s attacks were visibly lesser than before. Chen Mu couldn''t help but worry; during that short path they took, it had caused a high casualty in the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team!


    At last, the weakness of the individual battle ability of the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team was revealed. Under such a dense attack, many members of the team failed to avoid the attacks and were hit one after another. But with the use of "Ring of Sluggishness", the situation was quickly stabilized.


    The "Ring of Sluggishness" was a card Chen Mu made by imitating the "the Field of Snowflakes". It could form an area with a diameter of 15 meters. Once the energy forms of their opponents entered that area, its activity would rapidly drop to a very low level; the flight speed would slow down and the power of the attacks would become very weak, which gave rise to an illusion that time was slowing down in that area. That set of cards required three people to operate at the same time. Since it was made, it was never used in actual combat.


    A dozens of card artisans were wrapped in each big bright white ring; like a bright bubble and moving forward at an amazing speed. Any energy forms shot on it were useless; there wasn''t any damage to the bubble.


    In the sky, Chai Jun was impressed, "This Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team really owns a lot of good things! I''ve never heard them used it before."


    The card artisan next to him came close to him instantly and said, "No matter how good the card is, it''ll be yours soon."


    Chai Jun laughed, "Ha-ha! You''re right!"


    As soon as they entered the valley, the light suddenly dimmed. And the card artisans at the very front had to hold up their power shields. The card artisans with protective qualities and melee card artisans were moved to the front.


    Within the deep and murky valley, it was like a beast opening its gigantic mouth; it was ghostly and bloodcurdling!

 557 Cardless Sect Artisans

    "Report! The 76th squadron responsible for sealing off Snow Edge Valley has met with enemies who have been identified as the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team after investigation. Squadron leader Chai Jun has forced them to retreat into the valley."


    "Oh." Su Heiming narrowed his bewitching brown eyes, smiling as he turned to the middle-aged man next to him and said, "This Chai Jun is quite opinionated."


    The middle-aged man smiled, "It''s fine. Young people need the experience anyways."


    The middle-aged man was of a large built and standing behind him was a group of about ten young men wearing the same clothes. The difference between their clothes and Su Heiming''s clothes were rather obvious, being that it was not in the style of the Heavenly Federation combat uniforms but were simple short-sleeved or sleeveless clothes. Their feet were either bare or clad in blackish-green sandals. Their build were all of a similar type and all of them looked strong and healthy as they emanated a steady and mature air naturally just by simply standing there.


    Even Su Heiming''s personal Iron Guard, Zhu Heng who stood to one side, would pause involuntarily every time his eyes scanned this group of people.


    Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team¡­


    Su Heiming suddenly thought of the image he had seen the other time, his interest peaking at the thought of that kind of Fiery Rain card. He paused, and then raising his voice, he said, "Tell Chai Jun that he is not to let any single one of them go free, especially their cards. Bring all of them to me with no exceptions."


    "Yes, sir!"


    "After this, you will be the first person to own two Districts, Lord Su." The middle-aged man''s voice radiated both marvel and revelation. "You have my admiration! The Heavenly Federation truly is the birthplace of heroes. The Mohadi Domain certainly cannot compare on this."


    Su Heiming shook his head as he smiled, "Now that''s not true. Your lord is one of the greatest man I have ever known and he is no less a hero than any one of them."


    Hearing his words, Benji nodded in agreement, "That''s right, only heroes are deserving of friendship. How could cowards ever have the right to be mentioned together with heroes? Every time my Lord mentions you, he is full of praises. Even when most of the Elders opposed to an alliance with you, my Lord went ahead with it anyway."


    "Don''t worry, the seed we''ve planted has already started to sprout. I believe nobody will ever doubt this decision your Lord has made soon enough," said Su Heiming with a faint smile.


    Benji smiled as he nodded in agreement.


    In the depths of the eerie and dark valley, a cluster of glowing orbs radiating warm light was followed closely by a squad of people.


    Chen Mu and his squad no longer had any other choice, not only did they have to get through the Snow Edge Valley, they had to get through it as fast as possible. Everyone was tense and cautious as they knew that the enemy must have laid a trap for them by allowing them to enter the valley.


    Yet they had not met with any attack ever since they started flying. This itself was a cause for suspicion.


    At this very moment, a shadow suddenly flashed past them, the sound of air being cut was constantly rushing by their ears.


    Chen Mu''s expression changed with shock!


    Airskill!


    This was the special sound of the Airskill! His mind buzzed with realization as he saw a mass amount of shadows crouching against the walls of the valley! The source of the constant sound of cutting air came exactly from these shadows.


    Yet how could there be so many cardless sects equipped with the Airskill? As the thought appeared in his mind, it was already too late to dwell on it as he finally realized what the enemy wanted to do to them.


    Ping! Ping! Ping!


    While they were unprepared and unready, the sounds of numerous power shields breaking echoed in the valley as many card artisans were hit with Air Wave Blades! The painful groans of card artisans could be heard constantly!


    Moreover, the valley was scattered with strange rocks on a complex terrain, making it extremely suitable for the cardless sects to shine.


    Without any time to waste, Chen Mu got behind Wei-ya and charged forward!


    Wei-ya''s quick movements were different from the usual unpredictability. Today he was like a streak of black lightning and an extremely violent one at that!


    Noticing something amiss with Wei-ya, it seemed to Chen Mu that Wei-ya was attacking with more ferocity than normal!


    In a flash, Wei-ya had moved close to his opponent, his right fist landing heavily on the opponent''s chest.


    Bang!


    The resounding thud the blow had created made Chen Mu''s heart skip a beat. If this person''s body was ever autopsied, they would probably have found that all the bones of this person had been entirely fractured by Wei-ya''s blow!


    With no time to think of the reason behind Wei-ya''s sudden ferocity, Chen Mu plunged into battle and Demonic Woman and Little Bu Mo did the same without any hesitation.


    In quick movements, Chen Mu managed to narrowly avoid an Air Wave Blade as the lethally sharp Air Wave Blade swept close to his face. Without turning to look back, he threw an Air Wave Blade behind him as well!


    Unexpecting of Chen Mu''s knowledge of the Airskill, his opponent, not being able to avoid, was struck by the Air Wave Blade and fell from the wall of the valley with a cry.


    Upon realizing the situation, the enemy came flying towards Chen Mu without a second thought.


    What!


    Wait, how would these cardless sects know how to fly?


    Chen Mu could hardly believe his eyes as these cardless sects flew towards him as if they were regular card artisans!


    Impossible!


    His eyes scanned the hands of these people and noticed meters! These people are card artisans!


    Card artisans with the ability to use Airskill? He was somewhat confused as he had never seen any card artisan who was able to use the Airskill except himself. If they were able to use the Airskill, this would mean that the body strength of these card artisans had reached an extremely high level, also implying that these card artisans were able to resist higher flight pressure and that they had a higher reaction speed¡­


    Such card artisans were strikingly similar to the current Chen Mu!


    However, as the fight went on, Chen Mu realized something new. The enemy were not entirely card artisans where despite the fact that a large part of them were card artisans, there was still a minor portion of them that did not wear any meters in their wrists, they were the real cardless sects! The Airskills used by both parties could also be differentiated as the Airskills used by the card artisans were considerably weaker than the cardless sects''.


    In fact, these cardless sects were the real masters! While they looked extremely young as if they were in their twenties, their skills were extremely good and only slightly behind Little Bu Mo''s skills. This came as a shock to Chen Mu as Little Bu Mo''s skills were already very polished to the point where even Chen Mu was not even sure he could beat Little Bu Mo without the aid of his meter.


    Such a difference in skill could mean either life or death in the battlefield.


    The Demonic Woman''s Black Vine that was deeply imprinted in Chen Mu''s head could only be described as phantomly. It was as if she was naturally born for the darkness, where the darkness did not stand as an obstacle to her but rather allowed her to unleash the full extent of her capabilities. The Black Vine which was as thick as a thumb could change to be both soft as a rope yet hard as a gun; in the dark, its lethality flashed in silence and in an unpredictable manner.


    It went without saying that such small scale battles favored individual combat skills and the sheer amount of highly-skilled elites on Chen Mu''s side had clearly been unexpected by the other side.


    Yangshan Fei''s entire figure became a blur as lightning crackled around him, shielding him completely as if it was an armor made of lightning. In the dark, his presence could not have been more noticeable as he appeared like a god descending from the heavens. His blows were dominating as lightning crackled with his movements. Sometimes, he would even bulldoze towards the enemy as if he was a canon. Undoubtedly, all of his opponents were left with bodies as dark as charcoal.


    In comparison, Sue''s strikes were seemingly gentler. The energy finger sleeves on her fingers radiated 10 different colors and as she waved them in combat, they formed an image of beauty filled with rhythm. Yet hidden beneath this beauty was fatal lethality as the card artisans surrounding her ended up paling and spitting out blood to their deaths!


    Sound Wave Card! Chen Mu gasped internally, knowing that Sue''s Sound Wave Card was definitely not lower that Level Six.


    Although Jiao Si''s heavy strikes looked easy, he was actually using a three star card Chen Mu had made long ago -- Folding Yanbo! However, if Chen Mu had not known earlier, he would not have believed that it was only a three star card. The blood red blade used was no longer the rough fold it was at first and instead looked more like a true Fire Swallow. These Fire Swallows no bigger than a clenched fist and had immense power with explosive properties that Chen Mu could not accurately judge. When they took flight, they left cinders behind them that was just as fatal. They were also able to spit out energy thorns unsuspectingly when flying in close proximity to the enemy.


    Dozens of Fire Swallows circled Jiao Si while they flew gracefully, stopping anyone who would even think to come near him!


    While Qing Qing''s blows were dealt nonchalantly, every time she struck, it would be a deadly blow.


    Meanwhile Fang Shi forcefully weaved an illusion that was both beautiful and haunting in the dark with petals of pink blades sharp enough to dice anyone''s body.


    Yet the most absurd one was Caesar.


    Everyone finally understood why he was called Caesar, the God of Slaughter!


    He was an actual God of Slaughter, carrying with him an immense crescent-shaped Light Chopper as red as blood and nothing could stand in his way! No matter if it was a card artisan or cardless sect, those who stood before him were severed at the waist with his Bloody Light Chopper which was longer than a human, sometimes even killing multiple people at the same time.


    Those who were cut in half did not die immediately and were left to wail and scream in pain. Even the faces of Caesar''s card artisan comrades who were beside him paled. Caesar''s expression was unbothered as he walked forward, sweeping all obstacles. Despite being equipped with the Airskill, these card artisans were simply no match for Caesar as they were as weak as paper paste.


    Every time the Bloody Light Chopper was raised, its lethality gave the illusion of being drowned in a sea of blood. Thus, no one dared to step within a 10 meter radius around him.


    Chai Jun had never thought that Chen Mu''s squad would have so many highly-skilled elites amongst them!


    Even with the strong capabilities of the Great Six, it was hard to match up to the sheer array in this squad, what more a mere squadron from the Desert Camp!


    In no time, almost all of the Desert Camp card artisans in the valley had been wiped out. All that were left were the real cardless sects!


    Even so, the cardless sects chose not to surrender and fought relentlessly albeit with grimaced faces. However, elites like Caesar and Jiao Si had already stopped fighting considering that their enemies were only left with such a small amount of fighters.


    At this moment, all eyes were on one person, Wei-ya.


    Wei-ya was still very much on a killing rampage!Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    The cardless sects who would have been able to face normal card artisans could not even stand one blow from Wei-ya. They were like a herd of helpless sheep in the face of Wei-ya.


    Suddenly, a young cardless sect pointed at Wei-ya and using a language Chen Mu had never heard before, started shouting in panic. The remaining cardless sects all turned to look at Wei-ya with fear, an expression that had never appeared on their faces until now.


    Wei-ya suddenly stopped fighting.

 558 Breakou

    The leader of the cardless sects kept on talking.


    Wei-ya however, remained silent and advanced towards them once again.


    The cardless sects seemed to be put into further panic as their expressions turned hopeless. Despite not understanding what they were saying, everyone was still capable of comprehending the underlying helplessness rampant in their voices.


    In everyone''s eyes, Wei-ya was a strange person. He was a quiet guy who hardly ever spoke and his expression never changed. He was like a shadow to Chen Mu, wherever Chen Mu went, he would go. The height of his capabilities were still unknown as of yet and nobody knew the extent of his abilities. Nobody even knew where he came from or where he had learned his cardless sect skills from.


    Regardless, his capabilities were too great to dismiss.


    His current behavior was strange as well but no one tried to stop him. Everyone around, except for Chen Mu, was wary towards Wei-ya. Even elites like Caesar and Jiao Si would keep their distance from him subconsciously.


    Nobody was willing to butt heads with him.


    The killer rampage began once again as Wei-ya''s expressionless face appeared even colder and his blows became even harder. These cardless sects seemed to know that resistance or escape was futile and hence, none of them resisted and none of them tried to escape.


    Just like that, everyone watched as Wei-ya slaughtered the remaining few people.


    Such slaughter was undoubtedly unbearable to watch and every card artisan grimaced at the sight of it. Qing Qing, who wanted to say something, chose to keep her mouth shut instead. As such, the risk Wei-ya posed rose once again in everyone''s hearts.


    "Wei-ya, are you okay?" Chen Mu looked at Wei-ya somewhat worriedly as he could tell that something was amiss with Wei-ya''s emotions.


    He knew Wei-ya well enough to know that he was not one to slaughter mindlessly, he was only merciless towards his enemies. For him to act like this could only mean one thing -- these cardless sects were all enemies! However Chen Mu also knew that Wei-ya had no enemies in the Heavenly Federation. Hence, these people were unquestionably Wei-ya''s old enemies!


    Thinking once again of their language that he did not understand, Chen Mu was even more convinced of his theory.


    "Blockhead, come over and look at this." Wei-ya walked towards one of the corpses on the ground.


    This was the body of a card artisan. Wei-ya''s behavior had attracted everyone else''s attention. They were all curious as to what Wei-ya was doing.


    Wei-ya turned the body to face downwards and ripped apart the back muscles of the corpse with brute strength.


    Chen Mu''s eyes shined with shock as he asked, "What''s this?"


    Embedded in the muscles of the corpse was a tiny card, and on this card, a growth of something akin to blood vessels spread like tentacles, reaching deep into all parts of the card artisan''s body.


    Everyone was shocked! They had never seen anything like this before! Even Demonic Woman''s eyes conveyed shock.


    "Card insertion?" Caesar said in slight surprise, "Aren''t these little things from the Mohadi Domain? When did that brat Su ally himself with the Mohadi Domain?"


    Chen Mu took out the card from the corpse, noticing that it was different from the cards he had seen in the past. The strange lines on it seemed to have no particular pattern.


    "Come on, there''s nothing much to this little thing." Caesar continued saying. "I wondered why these card artisans were able to use Airskill, looks like they were using this method. Hmph, I can''t wait to see how that brat Su will take care of this matter, being so eager to achieve success."


    Considering that it really was not ideal to investigate further into the issue at the moment, Chen Mu kept the card and everyone began their flight forward once again.


    Without the obstruction of their enemies and flying at top speed, they reached the end of the Snow Edge Valley swiftly. The frontline still being these elite card artisans, Caesar, Jiao Si, Yangshan Fei, Fang Shi, Sue, Qing Qing and even Chen Mu himself was arranged to charge at the front-most line.


    Everyone knew that the other party would definitely be waiting at the mouth of the valley. However this time, the situation of both parties were completely different.


    It was a whole different playing field in comparing a small-scale battle to a large-scale one. Using cards as an example, large-scale squads would normally be equipped with the type of cards that had energy spindles or light beams. Such cards had the advantage of a good shooting range and once a large amount of such cards were used at the same time to shoot, there would be no survivors. However in a small-scale squad, they would be equipped with a wider variety of cards, including long distance, short distance and even assistive types of cards.


    The two types of squads had different requirements of distance,


    Yet currently, the distance between both parties were getting closer. Regardless of whether it was a close proximity melee or fight, only elite card artisans like Caesar had the upper hand in unleashing their full combat capabilities.


    Chai Jun stood guard at the mouth of the valley.


    He was extremely pleased with his arrangements. The other party''s Fiery Rain and Sniper Card Artisans were a complete headache to him and it went without saying that any squad which met with such artisans head-on would feel the same way. Considering that the battle had only just started, he did not want to lose too many of his men, hence he used this method. In any event, that kind of Fiery Rain and the other party''s Sniper Card Artisan would be affected by the narrow and complex environment of the valley.


    Most importantly, he would not mourn the deaths of those cardless sects.


    Even if the other party had the ability to break out of the valley, they would not be able to do so without sustaining serious injuries. Would it not be easier if he just waited at the mouth of the valley, fully prepared for their attacks?


    Yet when he saw the enemies charge out of the Snow Edge Valley, he was stunned as their faces showed no trace whatsoever of the violent battle they had just been through.


    He might not have been an outstanding commander but he was still a qualified one. Thus, pushing the thoughts of this issue aside, he opened his mouth, wanting to give an order of attack.


    However, he would never have thought that these people would suddenly disappear out of sight!


    There was no mistake, they had indeed disappeared!Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    In all the education and training he had received on the different types of tactical regulations, there was none that could tell him how to react to such a situation.


    The blame could not be pinned on him or the people who had written the tactical regulations. No one would have expected an ordinary squadron like them to be able to defend themselves from the likes of enemies like Caesar or Jiao Si.


    The only reason that Chai Jun was able to reach such heights was because his own combat capabilities were not weak, in fact he was a Level Seven card artisan!


    Despite his fast reactions, he only realized what was happening when these people had already infiltrated his squadron.


    His face paled immediately!


    And another slaughter began!


    Chen Mu used the Bipolar card. Even though the Eternal Night was much more powerful, he was more familiar with the Bipolar card.


    Once he plunged into the crowd of card artisans, he used his full capabilities!


    Countless small black and white beads appeared. The color on the black beads were as pure and thick as the night and the color on the white beads were so pure that it was flawless. As the beads began to interchange and weave around each other, a black and white world similar to a chess board appeared.


    Go Cage of Thousand Cuts!


    Light beams as fine as hair intersected to form a giant and extravagant light cage. Subsequently, the bodies of the card artisans caught in the light cage began to suffer injuries as fine lines of blood appeared on their bodies!


    Under the control of Level Seven perception and the aid of State Zero, the power of the Go Cage of Thousand Cuts heightened immensely!


    As enemies surrounded him, Caesar let go of any qualms he might have had and with his giant crescent-shaped Bloody Light Chopper, he painted the sky red! The brutal nature of lethality was then followed by endless terror and the trembling of the deepest depths of the soul.


    Collapsing Moon!


    The crescent Light Chopper that was as red as blood began to crack bit by bit with spider web-like patterns. It was as if Caesar''s exclusive air of brutality was trying to break through the cracks!


    With Caesar at the heart of a hundred meter radius, the energy within the area suddenly became brutally violent!


    The expressions on each card artisan''s face changed drastically! They could clearly feel the intense incitement of the power-card within the meter on their arms.


    At this moment, the crescent-shaped Bloody Light Chopper in front of Caesar broke entirely!


    Boom!


    The meters on the hands of the card artisans within a hundred meter radius of him exploded! 10 fiery orbs glaring to the eye appeared in the sky as shock waves from the explosion extended towards all directions like a tsunami.


    Jiao Si too, did not hold back.


    How could he not kill when he had been holding the Folding Swallow Wave Card for the longest time?


    Break!


    Just like magic, the Fire Swallows flying around him suddenly split from one into two, two into four¡­


    In the blink of an eye, thousands of Fire Swallows appeared around him, gathering to become a sea of fire that flooded towards the enemies.


    Everyone had unleashed their murderous capabilities!


    Almost immediately, the 76th squadron suffered heavy injuries!


    More than the loss of men, the blow to the morale of the squadron was even worse and even their pattern of attack had been completely disrupted. Noting that Sue had aimed for Chai Jun from the start, the end was very much predictable as the 76th squadron became more chaotic without their commander.


    Taking advantage of the situation, the others who were already prepared immediately charged forward. At this point in time, the members of the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team had become the most relaxed. While artisans of the Whorled Sniper Shuttle department were still shooting, artisans of the Oudi Burner department could only watch from afar as their Fire was only suitable for close range attacks in situations where differentiation of enemy or ally did not matter and it was definitely not suited for the current situation.


    However, more than 400 card artisans within the squad unleashed the variety of their capabilities and fought with fervor.


    Bogner who had been watching the images from the light screen within the shuttle finally heaved a sigh of relief, "It''s settled."


    The number of the enemies were decreasing drastically and people began to break rank. Where one person escaped, he would become an example for others to follow. Those Desert Camp card artisans who realized the severity of the situation broke rank immediately.


    Chen Mu called back the card artisans who wanted to take advantage of their win and chase after those who escaped as they themselves had to escape! They had to run far, far away from the battle while Su Heiming had not given a reaction!


    Everyone raced off at full speed!


    They were only afraid that if they were any slower, the Desert Camp would catch up to them.


    After an hour, they met with the Wood Battalion that was rushing in the same direction.


    Xiaobo and Sang Hanshui breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Chen Mu safe and sound. Just like that, the escaping squad had expanded. Once Chen Mu and his squad rushed to where the Wood Battalion had made camp, even the transport shuttle that had been prepared earlier had joined the squad. Hence, a large escape army had been formed!


    As fate would have it, Bogner''s judgement was correct. Su Heiming did not send his men to chase after them because to him, Chen Mu was only of minor importance, but the people in Qianhu city were his real objective!


    However, this defeat still struck a blow to Su Heiming''s ego. Not only did he increase the defense strength of the Snow Edge Valley but he also re-scrutinized his plans, especially his attitude towards non-Moon Frost Island card artisans.


    He changed his plan of only killing those who did not surrender. Instead, he decided he would allow non-Moon Frost Island artisans to surrender and treat them with honor, which would then further widen the diversity within Qianhu.


    Unknowingly, the breakout by Chen Mu and his squad had caused the situation to worsen for the poor Moon Frost Island.

 559 Goodbyes

    Benji inspected the corpse on the ground with a grim expression."It''s him."Hearing that, everyone''s expressions darkened."What shall we do?" There was a tremor in the voice of the young man standing in the corner. "Pursue!" Benji didn''t hesitate to reply, "We can''t let him stay alive!"Others nodded their heads in agreement, but the fear in their eyes was evident.


    * * *


    Chen Mu and his group did not dare to stay a moment longer. They left the Heavenly Drum Village District immediately. The entire Heavenly Drum Village District was a battlefield. Since Moon Frost Island was surrounded by enemy forces, it had a profound impact on the Heavenly Drum Village District. The powers Moon Frost Island deployed in different cities were redirected to reinforce Qianhu City at the fastest speed. And their departure left many zones unguarded. These zones had become dangerous areas where local forces killed their enemies and struggle for power.


    But many forces remained hesitant. The result of that battle would determine the ownership of the Heavenly Drum Village District and the Northern Reaches District. The winner would gain the two major districts, and whoever loses would have nothing.


    During their escape, no one dared to attack Chen Mu''s team. The team was huge, and the reputation of the Wood Battalion and Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team were enough to deter potential attackers. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief when they finally left the Heavenly Drum Village District.


    The size of the team decreased as they departed. Many card artisans left the team; they were among the 400 card artisans following the team. Their potential and strength were not to be belittled. They were slightly reputable; hence, they were unwilling to work under others. Chen Mu never stopped anyone from leaving.


    The continual departure of card artisans brought down the morale of the team. In the base camp, everyone seemed to have lost their interest.


    * * *


    Qiu Shanyu walked over to Demonic Woman''s tent and went straight in. The disguise on Qiu Shanyu''s face had been washed away, revealing her bare face. The Demonic Woman saw a stranger entered her tent and asked coldly, "Who are you?"


    "Zara, do you recognize me?" Qiu Shanyu asked with a tinge of sadness. The demonic woman was aghast and stared at Qiu Shanyu. After a long time of careful inspection, she was shocked and said, "You... Are you Ah Yu?"


    "You do remember me!" Qiu Shanyu''s eyes were red with tears.


    "Is it really you? Ah Yu?" The demonic woman appeared beside Qiu Shanyu, thrilled.


    "Is Gu Te doing well?" Qiu Shanyu asked with some difficulty.


    "He''s dead." The demonic woman didn''t hold back her tears. "Brother and father died! Every one of them! The Dark Tribe! They killed father and brother..." Speaking of this, she was already sobbing.


    "Dead¡­"


    Qiu Shanyu looked a little lost. Although she had a bad premonition, she didn''t expect that things would come to this point! "Gu Te is dead! That man she was betrothed to when she was young, was dead!" she thought.


    She had a very blurred impression of Gu Te. There wasn''t much grief, but she felt lost. It was like she had placed an item in her heart for many years, and it suddenly disappeared; she felt empty. Qiu Shanyu didn''t know how she left Zara''s tent. She was confused and lost in her thoughts.


    * * *


    "We''re leaving." Jiao Si sighed at Chen Mu. Behind him, Ru Qiu leaned onto Sue Lochiro and cried miserably. Sue Lochiro was comforting her but ended up crying with her.


    Chen Mu didn''t know how to comfort them. He simply said: "Be careful."


    Jiao Si laughed brightly and said, "We''ll always have a chance to meet in the future. You are Ru Qiu''s teacher and forever a friend of Origins Academy. Have a stay in Origins Academy when you have the time. It''s a good place!"


    Chen Mu nodded strongly. "Yes!"


    Chen Mu was somewhat sorrowful as he watched the departures, especially that of Ru Qiu, who had followed them for several years. Xi Ping and Bogner were teary too.


    "I''m leaving too." Caesar threw a card to Chen Mu and groaned heavily. "Boy, work harder. Don''t forget what you''ve promised me." He flew away without a trace in the blink of an eye.


    Chen Mu stared blankly at the sky for quite some time. He picked up the card Caesar threw on the ground.


    Chen Mu smiled bitterly. Seven-star card, "The Fiend''s Eye"!


    Qiu Shanyu and Fang Shi came over to Chen Mu. Seeing Qiu Shanyu, Chen Mu remembered something and took out a one-star Fantasy Card and handed it to her. "This is the tactical regulations that I promised you. I hope we don''t become enemies in the future."


    Qiu Shanyu took the one-star Fantasy Card. "I don''t think we''re going to be enemies," she replied softly. "Her name is Zara, and we''re somewhat related. I hope you can take good care of her." She hesitated but continued, "Thank you!" She left with Fang Shi.


    As soon as they walked away, Fang Shi suddenly whispered, "Miss, aren''t we avenging Miss Zara?"


    Qiu Shanyu said expressionlessly, "Gu Te and I were in a political marriage. Since their family has been destroyed, they are of no value now. They''re not worth the hassle."


    Zara looked at Qiu Shanyu''s back as they left. There was no change on her ugly face, but her eyes sparkled with determination.


    "You two aren''t leaving?" Jiang Liang asked Yangshan Fei and Sue. He was suspicious of them.


    Yangshan Fei said indifferently, "We''ve nothing to take care of. We can go anywhere we want. You guys are good. We''ll go with the group for the time being."


    Jiang Liang was appalled.


    Sue continued, and under the dark golden mask, spoke a clear voice, "If I''m not mistaken, your team is going to the House of a Hundred Depths. We''re interested in visiting the House of a Hundred Depths to increase our knowledge. It would be fortunate if we could travel together."


    Jiang Liang didn''t believe their excuses. Their excuses were implausible. But he knew that he couldn''t make them talk. Although Yangshan Fei seemed like a musclehead, he was cunning on the inside. As for Sue, he couldn''t fathom.


    * * *


    Chen Mu found Qing Qing.


    "Miss Qing Qing, I think this is the right time for you to return to Star Academy," Chen Mu was blatantly asking her to leave.


    Chen Mu wasn''t Qing Qing''s match now, but it would be hard for her to kill or catch Chen Mu if they were fighting one-on-one. And if she made any moves, Chen Mu wouldn''t hesitate to kill her. He had no pity for Qing Qing.


    Qing Qing kept coming after him, and he was wary of her.


    Qing Qing gazed at Chen Mu for a long time before she began to speak leisurely. "The fate of human beings is so strange. When I met you, you were just an ordinary student at Eastern Wei Academy. But now, you''re a hero above many."


    Chen Mu shook his head disapprovingly. "I don''t understand you."


    "I know you have a Rosenberg card, it recorded Rosenberg''s lifelong efforts. From an obscure little man to a hero today; this card has the greatest role." Qing Qing suddenly changed her tone, "But what if everyone knows that you have this card, what would happen?"


    "Miss Qing Qing, are you telling me to kill you on the spot, to prevent you from spilling the beans?" Chen Mu''s eyes turned cold.


    "I''m only a weak woman. I dared not opposed the White Commander. It''s just that the world is unpredictable. What do you think?" Glancing at the increasingly cold eyes of Chen Mu, Qing Qing''s nerves were masked with a facade of indifference. "In search of this card, Lord Heine Van Sant killed almost all of Rosenberg''s descendants. But he didn''t find it. You''re a really lucky man. You may think that I can be killed on the spot. But if I struggled hard, even if Wei-ah joined forces with you, I''m sure I can inform the others I die. How could you guarantee that no one would be attracted to the card? Will Yangshan Fei want the card? What about Sue?"


    "I have no excessive requirements, but I hope that you can allow me to follow the team." She said lightly, "If my guess is right, there''s a transit window near Eastern Shang-Wei City. It is recorded in the ancient books from Star Academy that one of Rosenberg''s students built the laboratory not far from the transit window. The four notebooks handed to you by Caesar came from that lab. If you could allow me to accompany you, I might be able to help you find the lab."


    Chen Mu cursed at her sharpness; he dared not kill her now. He had reservations about letting her follow him: she was unpredictable and a ticking time bomb. "The lab she''s talking about, isn''t it in Lower City? All the more I shouldn''t bring her along. Otherwise, the Moqi Clan would be in danger." he thought.


    He had to think of a way to kill her to prevent further complications. Chen Mu was determined to get rid of her. However, it was not the right time.


    Chen Mu took a good look at Qing Qing and made a decision. "I hope Miss Qing Qing will cooperate with us all the way and don''t do anything unpleasant."


    Qing Qing smiled, looking a little sad, "I''ll not be a hindrance. What''s more, since Star Academy was unable to fend for itself, now, there are no plans I could scheme for."


    Initially, the team had more than 400 card artisans, but there were only 30 people left. These people were aware of the strength of Wood Battalion, the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team, and Chen Mu''s ability. They had no plans in life, so they simply stayed behind.


    But even so, Chen Mu''s team strength had increased dramatically. These 30 people were not only all Grade Seven or above card artisans but possessed extraordinary fighting capacity and some fame. Compared to the card artisans who were recently promoted to Grade Seven in Wood Battalion, they were more experienced and much stronger.


    That made up for the weakness of his team; the lack of aces. The two teams under Chen Mu, especially the Silkworms Card Artisan Team, had no ace at all.


    Chen Mu didn''t intend to break up Wood Battalion and Silkworms Card Artisan Team. He wanted to maintain the two teams. Silkworms Card Artisan Team was under the command of Bogner. Wood Battalion was under the supervision of Chen Mu, with Jiang Liang as the deputy. Twenty of the remaining 30 aces were assigned to the Silkworms Card Artisan Team, while ten were assigned to the Wood Battalion. For both Silkworms Card Artisan Team and Wood Battalion, the logistical responsibility was Xi Ping, and the medical service was Sue Lochiro''s responsibility.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    Bogner''s status and prestige were enough to allow him to command the Silkworms Card Artisan Team, and no one would object.


    Even Chen Mu had to study with Jiang Liang from Bogner every day.

 560 Stay in Touch

    "We''re returning to Eastern Shang-Wei City." Copper was nostalgic about the good old days.


    "Yes!" Chen Mu looked at Eastern Shang-Wei City, not far away, and had mixed feelings about his return. He grew up in the city, and once thought that he would never leave the place. He didn''t know where his real homeland was, but in his mind, Eastern Shang-Wei City was his homeland.


    Unfortunately, he had no relatives here.


    They didn''t declare who they were when they entered the city. Fortunately, no one dared to cross them. In Eastern Shang-Wei City, card artisans'' perception was no more than Grade Three or Four; card artisans of Grade Seven were tantamount to legends. To avoid unnecessary troubles, a few of their Grade Seven card artisans actively exhibited their strength; so they had an easy time entering the city.


    Eastern Shang-Wei City was like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered in front of their formidable powers. They could take over the city if they want.


    However, Eastern Shang-Wei City had a large organization: Elemental Fantasy Card Club. The club owned an Elemental Fantasy Platform which was second only to Heavenly Federation Official Platform in terms of viewership. Elemental Fantasy Platform''s headquarter was based in Eastern Shang-Wei City. The knowledgeable staff from Elemental Fantasy Platform immediately realized the strength and the imminent danger posed by the team. Almost instantly, all the forces in Eastern Shang-Wei City received notifications and warnings: do not provoke Chen Mu''s team.


    Even rogues loitering around were banned from going out. They assumed that card artisans of higher grades were all easily annoyed with strange tempers. Once they attacked, they could easily erase Eastern Shang-Wei City from the Heavenly Federation.


    Chen Mu and Copper returned to the house they used to live in, only to find that the house had been rebuilt. They were disappointed. Next, Chen Mu went to the store where Uncle Shu used to be, but there was a new owner. The new owner knew nothing about Uncle Shu. Chen Mu sighed.


    On the other hand, some of Lan Feng''s relatives were still there.


    Chen Mu also sent a Grade Seven card artisan to Eastern Row''s Ning family. He remembered that he owed Mark Victor a request. The Ning family, of course, were sensible and very cooperative. However, Mark Victor died two years ago in a mission, and he didn''t have any relatives. Chen Mu was once again dejected.


    He started to realize that all the people he knew were no longer where they were. He was saddened by his realization.


    Elemental Fantasy Card Club and Eastern Row''s Ning family were no longer a challenge for Chen Mu. He could wipe out both if he wanted to. But after so many years, the old grievances had faded, and Chen Mu didn''t want to get entangled in petty resentment.


    It suddenly occurred to Chen Mu that he wasn''t far from Lower City; it was within the communication range of ''thousand-kilometer card.'' The first ''thousand-kilometer card'' was made by him, and he remembered its frequency very well. There was no essential difference between the structure of ''thousand-kilometer card'' used by the Wood Battalion and the structure of the ''thousand-kilometer card'' he made in Lower City; the newer version of the card just had a series of optimizations. If the new card was tuned to the same frequency as the old card, communication should theoretically be possible.


    "I wonder how Li Duhong and the group are doing?" he thought.


    He was excited at the thought of it.


    "Wei-ah! Wei-ah!" Chen Mu found Wei-ah who was training Little Bu Mo.


    Wei-ah stopped what he was doing and looked at Chen Mu with a confused face.


    "Follow me." Chen Mu ran towards the communication van.


    Wei-ah appeared beside Chen Mu, and asked with an expressionless face, "What''s the matter?"


    Chen Mu and Wei-ah got onto the communication van. The staff inside were befuddled at their arrival. "There is no war right now, why are they here?" they thought.


    Chen Mu didn''t bother to explain but told the staff to get off the communication van. Wei-ah watched him in silence.


    They waited for everyone to leave the communication van. Chen Mu then explained, "It occurred to me, we can contact Li Duhong and his clan. We''re pretty near to Lower City, and it should be within the communication range."


    Wei-ah''s poker-face finally twitched a little when he heard Li Duhong''s name.


    Chen Mu started to work on the screen as he added, "Of course, if they didn''t change their frequency."


    * * *


    Lower City


    Alfonso was conducting his research. As the head of the research department of Moqi Clan, his daily work was extremely arduous since he was a research madman. Once he started his work, he abhorred any disturbance. Even if Li Duhong, the chief of the clan, came to him, he would be cursed out for disrupting his concentration.


    He was adjusting the mechanics of a card and showed great talent at the task. Although the knowledge Chen Mu imparted to him was very fundamental, he made a lot of achievements relying on this basic knowledge. And as he went deeper into his research, he was increasingly fascinated by the technologies in Lower City. Over the years, thanks to his continuous study, Moqi Clan had widened their sphere of activity in the jungle.


    "Teacher! Teacher!"


    Along with the shouting was the loud knocking sound on the door.


    Alfonso''s hand trembled, and a part of the card fell out. He was immediately annoyed, raised his head, and shouted, "Why are you shouting! Didn''t you know I''m busy?"


    "Knock-knock-knock!"


    The knocking sound grew louder and stronger, and the shouting was still on, "Teacher! Teacher!"


    "Shut up!" Alfonso ran to the door in a rage. He was determined to punish this fellow who dared to disturb his experiment.


    He opened up the door. An elated face appeared in front of him, slightly quelling Alfonso''s anger. It was his favorite student. He was usually smart and not so insensible. He must have discovered something important to come forward to notify him.


    "Teacher! Sir! Sir!" the student was thrilled to the point of incoherence.


    "Sir? Which student?" Alfonso had all sorts of doubts and conjectures, but out of a sudden, he stood in amazement. There was only one person in Moqi Clan who could be addressed as "Sir"!


    "Sir! Are you talking about Sir?" Alfonso was very worked up all of a sudden. He grabbed the student''s hand, "Where is he? Where is Sir?"


    "''Thousand-kilometer''! ''Thousand-kilometer''!"


    Alfonso let go of his hand and dashed out. His face was flushed, his feet fluttered, and his pace grew faster and faster.


    Li Duhong was training. The child in the past had grown into a young man. He looked no different from a boy of seventeen or eighteen because of his continuous training.


    With a determined expression, Li Duhong was sweating profusely on his training ground. He was no longer the naughty and mischievous boy.


    His training was extremely tough; the training program was left behind by Wei-ah. Although he had completed the training plan, he insisted on training daily. Li Duhong suffered severe calamity and hardship from a young age; it forged his persistence and his recognition of the significance of his role as the patriarch. He strived to be a role model for the clan. He was reminded of Wei-ah and Chen Mu whenever he trained.


    "Chief! Chief!" someone was frantically screaming outside of the training ground.


    Li Duhong stopped his training and grabbed a towel on his side. He walked towards the man while wiping away his sweat. He asked in a composed manner, "Yes? What''s going on?"


    "Sir! It''s Sir!"


    "Sir!" Li Duhong froze, but a short moment after, he was ravished with joy.


    Unconcerned with dressing, he jumped off the training ground barebacked. He asked anxiously, "Where is he?"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    "''Thousand-kilometer''! In ''thousand-kilometer''!"


    Soon, news of Chen Mu spread quickly in Moqi Clan. They stopped working immediately and rushed to the communication room.


    Their hearts were full of gratitude for Chen Mu, who saved their clan in times of danger. Over the years, Moqi Clan, which almost got wiped out, had recovered their vitality. They had become the real master of the area. Everyone was worried when Chen Mu suddenly disappeared. Over the years, the clan was motivated to work tremendously hard, partly because they wanted to leave the jungle and go search for Chen Mu.


    The communication room was maintained because they were hoping for the unlikely chance of locating Chen Mu.


    They knew the hope was slim, but it did come true.


    Benji was sitting in a shuttle car which he got from Su Heiming. Su Heiming had a long-faced when he knew of their sudden departure. But since the die had been cast and he was unwilling to offend his ally. He agreed to his departure.


    Su Heiming arranged shuttle cars for their use, and Benji brought back nearly all the elites with him. Su Heiming swore in his heart, but upon seeing Benji''s determined expression, he swallowed his words.


    At the same time, Benji''s serious attitude made Su Heiming curious of his arch-enemy. Benji was an outstanding card artisan; even the best card artisan from Desert Camp was no match for him. And the elites from cardless sect which he brought along with him were close to 500.


    According to Benji, these people were the cream of the crop in his city too.


    However, Benji spared no effort to use such force to deal with his arch-enemy. He made a decision to pursue his arch enemy even at the risk of destroying the alliance. That suggested the importance of this arch-enemy in Benji''s mind. It was enough to prove how fearful Benji was.


    Chen Mu was an obvious target. Even with the vast amount of transportation shuttle cars, Benji''s pursuit wasn''t too arduous.


    "They''ve stopped in Eastern Shang-Wei City, and haven''t moved elsewhere." A card artisan from Desert Camp reported to Benji, as he immediately warned him, "According to our investigation, they''re with Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team and Wood Battalion. They''re very formidable!"


    He emphasized their strength to remind Benji that relying on these people in his team wasn''t enough to launch a successful attack. Wood Battalion and Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team had impressive military successes.


    The expression on Benji''s face didn''t change. He replied lightly, "Time to attack."

 561 Unexpected Occurrence

    Eastern Shang-Wei City


    Jiang Liang looked at the report on his hand and raised his eyebrows. Out of safety concerns, the Wood Word Camp and the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team had taken control over Eastern Shang-Wei City. The remaining forces in the Eastern Shang-Wei City, surprisingly, paid full cooperation. They knew very clearly that these two teams were too strong for them to fight against.


    There were several injury cases related to the cardless occurring in Eastern Shang-Wei City lately. Those incidents had caught the attention of Jiang Liang. During the battle at Snow Edge Valley, they had encountered many cardless sects. He suspected that these cardless sects were chasing after them following the fight. Contemplating it, he decided to report this intel.


    * * *


    In a jungle outside Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    The shadows of people were seen darting away at an extremely high speed, and all of them were wearing plain clothes and barefooted. Their running speed was nothing less than a regular flying card artisan, with the agility of the beasts. Despite being hit by the dense tree branches, they all pretended as though they could not feel it.


    Moments later, they came to an open area with hundreds of people standing around. All these people were also wearing plain clothes and barefooted. Some were lying on the ground while some were hung upside down from the tree branches. Though at first look, they seemed at ease, in fact, a sense of vigilance could still be spotted on everyone''s eyes. The leader of these people was Benji.


    "How is the progress?" Benji asked in a grave tone.


    "It''s done. We randomly killed 10 people and left some obvious traces," One of the males answered quickly with some signs of anxiety. "Will this be able to lure him out?"


    Benji was very confident. "As long as he knows where we are, he will not let this opportunity go. Huh! The King thought he would die in the last pursuit, but he survived. We must not let him go this time no matter what."


    Immediately, he looked at the people around him and shouted. "Card artisans can not perform their best in the jungle. No matter how strong he is, he will die for sure if we concentrate our strengths to fight against him. If we can kill him this time, the King will reward us with ample prizes! I will make a promise here: Whoever can kill him will be rewarded with at least three giant mountains!"


    With this promise, everyone was suddenly in high spirits, and the tinge of fear they had previously was gone. Huge rewards gave courage to men!


    Benji looked at these people with a satisfying look on his face. This high morale was what he needed. That man was absolutely horrifying! Without these rewards, some people would not even have the courage to fight against him.


    Li Duhong led his team into the woods. Whenever he thought about getting to meet Sir and Wei-ah, he could not help but feel exhilarated. Those behind him were the top-notch warriors of the Moqi clan. Recently, with the young leader of the clan setting a good example, the rest of the clansmen were all fighting for a better life.


    Before encountering Chen Mu, the Moqi clan had all been living in the woods for ages. They were indeed the "King of the Forest." With the newly invented weapons from Alfonso, they were getting stronger over time in recent years.


    Everyone was equipped with a glove in a light blue color. This glove was made out of pure metal, and it covered everything from the fingers until the elbow. The surface of the glove was illuminating faint blue rays, which could be vaguely seen during the day.


    Their faces were covered with square masks, which made them looked eerie and stiff. The eyes on the masks were also emitting light blue rays. Looking from afar, it appeared like a pair of blue gems embedded in them. This stiff-looking mask, together with the blue gloves, were considered the two most important types of equipment in the Moqi clan. Suddenly, Li Duhong halted his pace as the whole team immediately fell silent. The blue eyes on the masks began shining brighter.


    "We have spotted 521 individuals around 5 kilometers away."


    The clansman beside Li Duhong reported the number with a soft voice. The whole team resembled a tightly stretched bow, ready to attack at any second.


    "How far is it from here to the Eastern Shang-Wei School?" Li-Du-Hong asked unexpectedly.


    "According to the map given by Sir, it''s less than 30km."


    A slight tinge of viciousness flashed in his eyes. The corner of his mouth lifted, forming a devilish smile. "Sir is controlling the Eastern Shang-Wei City right now. Huh, so these people ambushing nearby must mean us harm."


    "Could it be a mistake?" One of the clansmen questioned.


    Li Duhong slowly turned his face. The blue ray flickering from his square mask gave out a feeling of danger, silencing the clansman. He then looked away. He was like an emotionless beast in a forest.


    "It''s better to be mistaken than to let go of any opportunities."


    He raised his right hand after finishing his sentence and slashed gently in the air. Everyone in the team hid their fearfulness in the heart. Li Duhong''s pose could only mean one thing, that is to prepare for the fight and leave no survivors! However, no one was surprised about that as they were all prepared like a group of fierce beasts.


    The Lower City was located deep in the forest. They seldom had the chance to interact with other human beings. The enemies they encountered in the past were all fierce beasts. It was the first time they had seen other humans, and their opponents were evidently not weak as shown from their movement speed. They were all affected by the words of their clan leader. The Moqi Clan had always been living in the forest. They believed in the law of nature instead of the common law of human society. There were only the strong and the weak, the living and the dead in the forest, and no one in between in their society.


    They all started to proceed carefully toward this group of people as though they were hunting.


    "Is he really coming?" Someone asked impatiently.


    Benji frowned subconsciously and said in a low-pitched tone, "Rest assured! We have left traces for him to recognize. If he can detect them, he will come and look for us. I am sure he will because of the grudges between us," He looked at the people around him and said in a flat tone, "The 10 great mountains have been gifted to each of your clans. Is anyone planning to return them? Even if they do, can that undo what has been done? Can the dead be revived?"


    With these words, some of the expressions on their faces changed, having mixed feelings.


    "We are not dropping out. It''s just that he still hasn''t shown up yet. Can we think of another tactic? Or pick another time?" One of the people said defensively. Some people were starting to agree with him.


    Benji was looking at these people with contempt. Oh, these foolish fellows. Did they still think that they could get lucky? On the other hand, he was frightened by how intimidating Wei-ah was. All these years since the last pursuit, he never thought that Wei-ah would be this daunting to these people, and even when he was alone.


    He felt a slight tremble in his heart thinking of the number of casualties in the last pursuit. The terrifying number was still bothering him profoundly whenever he thought of it. He forced himself to calm down. Looking at the disturbance among the group, he was a little irritated.


    His voice became cold suddenly. "Everyone needs to think this through clearly. According to the temperament of His Majesty, if he finds anyone flees before the fight, I''m afraid that your clan would be¡­"


    With these words, nobody was making any more noise. Suddenly, Benji''s heart skipped a beat. "Be careful! He''s here!"


    The others also had sensed something. However, the noises came from was on the opposite side of the Eastern Shang-Wei City.


    Everyone stared at Benji.


    "Wait for it!" Benji said these three words softly.


    With the terrifying ability of Wei-ah, Benji was not confident to fight against him when they were in a mobile situation regardless of how many people were on his side. He made up his mind to use positional tactics to surround Wei-ah and then slowly torture him to death. Li Duhong and his people who were moving undetected soon found out how weird these people were.


    "Something is wrong with these people," Li Duhong squinted his eyes, saying in a flat tone. He then stretched out his hands to both sides gently. The clansmen behind him instantly formed two arc lines and moved horizontally to both sides. Li Duhong''s plan was straightforward. He wanted to surround them! He was very confident in the abilities of his clansmen. They had hunted down countless fierce beasts, and even herds of animals were extremely weak against this group of elites in his clan.


    Benji soon discovered that they were surrounded!


    The look on his face worsened as the number of opponents was more than what he could imagine. Also, the opponents were like expert hunters who were keeping a distance from them. The range was not in their favor. It was not too far from them but just far enough to keep the opponents out of their attack range.


    However, Benji was not upset because he knew Wei-ah could only seek help from the Wood Word Camp and the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team, and they were all only card artisans. After being in the Tianyou Federation for this long, he was familiar with the weaknesses of the card artisans. A complex terrain like this would be unfavorable to card artisans who relied on jet stream card to fly. These people around him were all exquisite elites chosen from each clan.


    He never thought that Wei-ah would seek help from others. This was unexpected because he never thought that this so-called undefeatable man would also feel less vulnerable at times. Benji decided to make some changes to his plan.


    Card artisans were not good at engaging fights in the forest. However, their strong firepower was what he was afraid of. He opened all ten of his fingers and waved them out. The people around them immediately understood. The crowd split into dozens of forces and rushed outward like an avalanche.


    They formed small groups and moved forward nimbly into the jungle. All the fear and doubt had vanished in the air. They were all excellent warriors, so they were in absolute focus once they got into combat mode. Although their speed was not much different from before, it gave out a totally different feeling.


    Some of them were light on their feet, some were plunging forward from branches to branches like a monkey. It was incredible how nimble they were. Some of them made explosions on the ground wherever they stepped as if they weighed tons. Others shot through the air like a speeding bullet.


    Benji, however, was completely different from the rest. He walked with both his hands behind his back, calm and composed. He appeared in and out of view as if he was teleporting!


    The blue eyes on Li Duhong''s square mask were flashing brightly. He lowered his head a little, and the blue metallic gloves on his hands came to life as if they were awakened from the depths of sleep!Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    Soon, both his hands were covered in blue rays!


    His bloodlust leaked along with the rays!

 562 Battle!

    Battle broke out in this moment of silence. Both parties were tough characters. Every strike resulted in someone''s death.


    Three men rushed towards Li Duhong at lightning speeds. Their formation resembled the shape of a Chinese character ''Æ·.'' Li Duhong was fearless. He stared at these three men coldly. The people from his clan who were with him, not only did not lend him a hand but were busy fleeing away to the other two sides.


    A ray of blue light spread over Li Duhong''s hands, looking both like fire and water, completely missing the original appearance of a metal. Blue eyes twinkled beneath the square mask. He moved his right leg half a step backward and bent slightly, confronting the three cardless sects who were coming straight to his face.


    In his eyes, these three men were no different from three beasts. He raised his hands slightly and crossed them in front of his chest. His square, stiff mask was expressionless, and his dark blue eyes coldly watched the rapidly incoming enemies. He could clearly see the grim and distorted expressions on these three faces. In the blue field of vision, there were circles of ripples, among which the movements of these people became extremely slow.


    The distance between the two parties was rapidly closing, but Li Duhong remained motionless. However, the blue light on his arm converged at an astonishing speed in his slightly open fingertips. The ten metal hooked fingers emitted brilliant blue light. All of which converged and compressed above these ten points.


    Distance: Fifteen meters!


    In the blue field of vision, the other party''s face was full of joy. At such a close distance, the cardless sects'' Air Slash could exert its greatest power. All three of them screeched in unison, slashing their arms in the air!


    The three transparent air slashes rushed towards Li Duhong from three different angles. The unique shrieking sound of Airskill was breathtaking yet terrifying. Li Duhong moved at last!


    The burning fingers which were too bright to look at directly moved lightly in the air. With a gentle move, ten blue energy filaments spewed out from his fingertips, like a jungle spider suddenly spitting out its deadly poisonous silk! Ten blue filaments of energy swept through the air, making a whining noise. Each energy filament was about 20 meters long and interwoven into a wire mesh. The branches and leaves in the wire mesh, once touched by these blue energy filaments would be cut into numerous pieces in the blink of an eye! Without any suspense, the three sharp Air Slashes plunged into the energy wire mesh at one end.


    Ping Ping Ping!


    It was so crisp that it sounded like a hard crash. The three transparent breaths of air burst like glass on the spot! It seemed to set off a small storm in a tiny area, shaking the energy filaments nearby.


    The expression of the three people changed slightly! These seemingly blue energy filaments which looked light and weak had such shocking power!Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    At this time, the distance between both parties was close to 10 meters. These three cardless sects could only see clearly that the seemingly tiny energy wires had been vibrating at an alarming speed and frequency. The high-frequency vibration of the blue filaments gave them a sense of danger. Any object touched by them would be cut in an instant!


    The three were dumbfounded! Sure enough, nothing was too strange for the Heavenly Federation! They had seen countless energy bodies these days, but it was the first time they had seen an energy filament that was constantly vibrating at high frequencies. All three of them were experienced warriors. They knew that once they were touched, they would be cut for sure! Their fate was still in the hands of the other party, since a flesh injury may be the least of their concerns. This energy silk thread could be rigid or soft, which was undoubtedly causing a headache to others. However, they were all elites of their tribes. Though this made them panic, it did not cause any chaos.


    Although the three air blades did not pose a threat to the enemy, they could still notice one detail. When the Air Slash broke, the turbulent airflow blew the energy filament aside! If the turbulent airflow were large enough, it would be enough to let the other party''s energy mesh revealed its flaws. In the electro-optical flint space, it allowed the observation of all the details that could be utilized. These people were the real masters of cardless sects.


    The three of them cooperated tacitly and screeched together! The right hands of the three vanished in the air.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Dense and endless streams of air cut through their hands, and crazily bombarded the net of blue energy filaments in front of Li Duhong.


    Ping Ping Ping Ping...


    A scalp numbing explosion occurred!


    Air Slash was like a moth fighting fire, shrieking toward the energy network, and then exploding in front of the energy network!


    The air of the energy network suddenly became violent. The broken air fragments ripped through the area, forming a small storm! The unbreakable energy filaments were ultimately soft that they could be blown up and down by the turbulent air.


    The three people''s eyes brightened up at the same time!


    A gap!


    Under the ripping of the strong airflow, the blue energy filaments on the right rib of Li Duhong was sweeping off to form a clear gap!


    This is our chance!


    All three of them moved the same arm lightly. The three Air Slashes were flying towards that gap with great precision.


    Suddenly, Li Duhong''s square steady mask looked rather peculiar.


    The blue filaments all over the sky suddenly pulled back at a surprising speed, wrapping up both arms, chest, back, and both legs like spiritual snakes rapidly and even the mask interlaced with the blue energy filaments. Nearly in the blink of an eye, Li Duhong wrapped himself up like a rice dumpling!


    The sudden change frightened the other three, and then they saw an unforgettable scene for life.


    Li Duhong gently stretched out his left hand, and five metal fingers grabbed the three Air Slashes. Pinching the five fingers enveloped in the metal gloves lightly; the sharp Air Slash snapped in a muffled thud.


    Pinched, crushed¡­


    The eyes of the three men widen up instantly, and they looked at Li Duhong, who was entangled by the blue energy filaments like a rice dumpling as though they saw a ghost.


    How is this possible...


    It was impossible to crush the Air Slash like this, even if it was for the cardless sects! They were so shocked that they didn''t even notice the distance between them and Li Duhong was only less than five meters!


    Li Duhong flicked his right pinky, and a blue energy filament like a serpent quietly popped up and swept toward the three of them. Meanwhile, he clenched his right fist and swung violently toward the enemy at the center.


    The warrior at the center, who had just recovered from his shock was surprised to see the fist swinging towards him.


    Fighting hand to hand with a cardless sect disciple? Wasn''t that looking for death?


    He shouted and waved his fist without hesitation.


    When the two men who had just regained their composure saw this scene, their surprised looks suddenly disappeared, and then they started smirking. They were full of confidence in their fists! Maybe in Mohadi Domain, his fist was not considered the best, but in the Heavenly Federation, besides that person, they did not believe anyone else could beat it!


    As for the gloves on the other party''s hands, they were quite a thing. However, metal was not a unique material in Mohadi Domain. Only junior warriors would use gloves that were made of metal. At their level, both their hands were harder than metal. The two fists collided coincidentally!


    Bang!


    Together with the sound of bone fracturing and a clump of blood fog, a twisted right hand was revealed!


    The warrior of the cardless sects in the middle gave out a pitiful cry. His right hand almost destroyed under a powerful impact. His jagged bone jutted out from his flesh and blood. The pain reached his brain, and his physiological function was severely damaged, causing him to faint immediately.


    The outcome was totally beyond the expectation of the other two people! They looked with both their eyes wide open and caught off guard for a moment. They could not imagine the scene in front of them. The bleeding arm in front of them was in distinct contrast with the solid metal fist tangled in blue.


    A thin line of energy swept quietly toward the two men, but the two in shock were not aware of it.


    Li Duhong''s pinky flicked again!


    Hiss! As if a cobra that was aiming at its prey suddenly spat out its poison, this thin line of energy shot out abruptly!


    They were shocked, but it was too late! A thin red line appeared on their neck. Two seconds later, the blood sprayed out, and they fell on their backs.


    The blue filaments did not linger, and it pierced precisely into the throat of the fainted warrior of the cardless sects. With a gentle shake of Li Duhong''s finger, the blue filament cut off the warrior''s skull with ease.


    Benji''s face looked placid, but he was shocked deep in his heart.


    Who the hell were these people?


    The sudden emergence of these people was bizarre, especially since their fighting techniques were completely different from the card artisans and cardless sects that he had seen before. They wore weird masks and metal gloves on their hands. Just now, he had a fight with one of them, and the strength of the other party surprised him. What astonished him was how the man was completely fine after punching him.


    Their blue filaments made his men more defensive.


    Benji''s vision was undoubtedly beyond those of ordinary cardless sects. He soon understood some mysteries. Although he did not know the specific role of the mask, it could make the enemy stronger. And the key to their metal gloves was the blue filaments, especially the blue filaments all over the body that could even hit him with a punch! He did not believe that someone''s physical strength could be stronger than the cardless sects!


    The main factor was the blue filaments around the body, which seemed to be able to equally distribute the received power to the whole body, not only that but also to concentrate the entire body''s power input, resulting in no injuries when getting hit by the opposite party.


    Speed was the limitation of the other party. But these people clearly understood this too, and they used the blue filaments to make up for the gap caused by their slow speed. Even he found it difficult to start when the blue filaments flew over.


    The other side was like a hedgehog, which made it impossible to attack. However, Benji''s strength was obviously superior to other cardless sects. Although he had yet to discover the weaknesses of these people, he remained calm. It was his unusual ease on the battlefield that was soon noticed by Li Duhong after he got rid of his three opponents.

 563 Sneak Attack

    Li Duhong aimed at Benji.


    As far as he was concerned, the Moqi Clan had gained the upper hand. Obviously, the other party was not very adapted to their battling methods, but for the Moqi Clan, they were quite familiar with the ways of the cardless sects. Back then, Wei-ah personally guided Li Duhong. Wei-Ah''s training methods had been popularized in the Moqi Clan for many years.


    Apart from the fact that they were somewhat surprised by the Airskill, there was nothing too unexpected. Some ferocious beasts in the jungle were not inferior in terms of speed and strength if compared to those cardless sects, but they were still being hunted by them.


    Benji''s calmness was so striking in the crowd, making Li Duhong noticed him effortlessly. Out of all in the Moqi Clan, only he had been personally instructed by Wei-ah, so his battling force was the strongest. Over the years, he trained hard and had also reached the level of self-abuse, achieving a level of a thousand miles per day. In his usual hunting activities, he also paid great attention to honing his skills. With the improvement in his level, he had difficulties finding rivals in his clan. Now a master was standing in front of him, causing his fighting spirit to increase dramatically.


    His right leg wrapped in blue filaments slightly stamped on the ground and he rushed toward Benji like an arrow off the string. With his body in the air, all the blue filaments fled from him and turned into a big net facing and covering the other party! High-frequency vibration of the blue filaments emitted a buzzing sound filling the surroundings with a sense of danger as though a battle would begin anytime.


    Benji''s face turned pale because the situation was getting out of control. These weird guys came out of nowhere were acting like ferocious beasts. To a large extent, these people were only relying on the benefit of equipment, but the spontaneous outpouring of their courage still shocked him. The point was that his own people did not seem to have the right coping strategies for the other party''s attacks. This was the most depressing thing for Benji. In such a terrain, even if they met card artisans, they would not be so confused.


    After a moment of contemplation, a warning came to mind. A glance at the corner of the eye made him realize that a large net of blue filaments almost covered the top part of his head.


    Benji snorted coldly, and without any movement, he suddenly disappeared in place.


    Suddenly losing the traces of the other party did not make Li Duhong felt panic. Without hesitation, those high-frequency oscillations of the blue filaments quickly pulled back, in the blink of an eye, as a thin blue energy cocoon protected his midsection.


    Benji, who appeared behind Li Duhong gave him a silent compliment for his quick response. Benji had no better way to deal with this kind of blue filaments, let alone the blue filaments used to shield this person tightly. However, Benji''s ability was beyond the other cardless sects. Soon he had a way to deal with it. Since there was no better way, so he thought of trying the method of breaking through. Standing still on his feet, shaking his arms, swaying his fists like whips, and soon after a tapered air bomb formed from his hand!


    Unlike the sharp piercing sound of any ordinary air slashes, the screeches of the tapered air bombs sounded lower and deeper, causing palpitations.


    Benji''s hands moved so quickly that no one could catch sight of them. The conical air bomb hit Li Duhong like a storm.


    Unlike the air slashes, air bombs sank vigorously, thicker and harder to cut off.


    Bang bang bang!


    Li Duhong felt like he was hammered by a sledgehammer, and his whole body was pushed backward step by step. Although the blue filaments still cut the powerful air bomb, the impact of the air bomb and the blue filaments made him feel like vomiting blood. He was smashed violently without the strength to fight back, putting him in an awkward condition.


    There was no sign of slowness in Benji''s movements, and the rainstorm of air bombs seemed endless. Unlike the calmness on his face, Benji was a little frustrated. Although dozens of air bombs went down and the other side could not lift his head, the other party was not damaged. Although the enemy in front of him was wearing a mask, the actual age should not exceed twenty years old. A teenager who was not more than twenty years old caused him a headache. That was quite embarrassing.


    The other side''s physical strength was alright but not exceptional. This level of physical fitness would only be considered moderate in the Mohadi Domain. As for the skills of cardless sects, it was even worse. From the methods of punching, he could observe that it was not an advanced skill, but only some basic movements. However, since his opponent was a teenager under the age of 20, the fact that he could cause him such a headache was making Benji felt troubled and annoyed.


    He also knew that the other party was only relying on the benefit of equipment, and the actual ability of both sides was far from the same. But thinking of the fact that he had no better way to deal with it, had resulted in his lack of contentment.


    Nevertheless, if one could take off the gloves off the opposite party...


    The idea suddenly came to his mind. As soon as it emerged, the idea took over his whole brain irresistibly. He had little interest in the flying blue filaments, yet the gloves that could concentrate all his strength, and diffuse enemy attacks were quite attractive.


    If he could take these gloves, then with a huge body like his, the impact of an instant energy explosion would be extremely strong. He believed that no one would be able to withstand his punch! Moreover, his defending power would improve tremendously. A simple blow on his body would not cause damage to him at all.


    Li Duhong was lost for words. Some of the blue filaments formed a protective shield on the outer part, while the remaining blue filaments wrapped around all parts of his body. Every time an air bomb hit the protective shield, the impact force instantaneously dispersed into dozens of portions and transmitted to all parts of his body. Thus, he was amazed that he felt numb by such a diffused force. He was shocked that this small force alone made him so miserable, revealing the strength of that person''s air bombs. He finally noticed the ability gap between himself and the middle-aged man in front of him.


    The ability of this middle-aged person might not be as good as Wei-ah but was not too far behind Wei-ah.


    Thinking of this, Li Duhong immediately understood how to progress from there. Wei-ah was invincible in his mind. Although he had made good progress in recent years, he knew that he was a long way from Wei-ah. He was not foolish enough to give up his life just to challenge a master. Feeling the waves power with care, he suddenly exerted his power under the feet, with the help of the impact of air bombs from the other party and swiftly moved backward!Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    So he wants to run? Benji could sense the real intention of Li Duhong on the spot! He sneered to himself with a straight face. Although he did not specifically know the true identity of this young man in front of him, Benji still perceived that his ability was stronger than that of the other enemies! Compared with the other enemies, this youngster had more traces of receiving training from the cardless sects, and he had gradually begun to have a better knowledge of his skills. In his mind, he predicted that the identity of this person should be relatively high! Such a person was valuable to him. He made up his mind to move and slanted behind the side of Li Duhong.


    Despite the help of the mask, the speed of the other party still frightened Li Duhong. The other party''s speed was faster than before; he did not know how many times, but the danger was beyond the extent that the mask could capture!


    D*mn it, Old man! How could he hide his real strength!


    Li Duhong cursed to himself, but at the same time, his hands responded swiftly. He flicked his fingers lightly, and the blue filaments connected to his fingertips turned steeply. Instantly, it interlaced into a protective net behind him.


    The smile on Benji''s face became widened as his figure vanished again.


    Li Duhong''s heart skipped a beat, his fingers flicked quickly, and the protective net was again in front of him. As expected, Benji appeared outside the protective net.


    Benji smiled faintly and disappeared again. He constantly shifted his position, disappearing as he became faster and faster!


    Li Duhong''s forehead began to ooze cold sweats. His opponent''s speed was getting faster and it took him more and more effort to capture. He felt powerless, but he dared not relax at all. For a middle-aged man with this high level of mastery, any weaknesses could bring death. But he dared not cover himself up like before, because he could fall into the previous situation. He was not confident that his shield could withstand the continuous rainstorm-like air bombs!


    In the dazzling blue filaments, Li Duhong could feel the cold sweat behind him, like a stream, slowly flowing down.


    The speed of the flying blue filaments was getting slower, and Li Duhong felt increasingly overwhelmed. He was under the illusion that the other person was like a tall mountain that he could hardly climb, all his effort was futile. Li Duhong bit his teeth and pushed himself harder. He was a diligent character by nature. His body was growing weaker, but the ferocious look in his eyes was only becoming stronger, as though a wolf was being forced to a dead end.


    The corner of Benji''s mouth twitched into a smirk. He had encountered many stubborn individuals before. What could an individual''s fighting spirit be perceived as when facing an absolute strength? If he owned these gloves, then even if it was Wei-ah, he could definitely win!


    Chance!


    His eyes burst with brilliance. The other party was weakened, and finally revealed a fatal weakness! Without any hesitation, he drifted lightly in the act of deception. At this moment, he felt the strongest danger from his intuition that he had ever felt!


    He was perplexed. What happened?


    Before he could respond, he suddenly fell into darkness. Somebody had ambushed him!


    Although Benji did not panicked, he could not take the other party''s life at this time, so he pulled himself out and excused himself quickly! He was trapped in absolute darkness with no light and sound as if he was suddenly being placed in a vacuum.


    Hng! Illusion card!


    Benji immediately predicted where he had been attacked, and at this point, he revealed his real strength as a top master. There was no sign of anxiety on his face, and he suddenly fixed his body position. With his hands slightly stretched out in the air, he closed his eyes and tried to feel any movement around him. Although the voice and sight were concealed, the sensibility of a master from the cardless sects like him was exceedingly surprising.


    Benji who closed his eyes, suddenly flickered gently to the right, nearly brushing his body with a dangerous blue filament.


    Li Duhong showed a frightening look on his face. He finally realized that the middle-aged man had such an incredibly high strength! Yet just when he was about to leave, he stopped all of a sudden. A hand that did not look special at all was gently holding the throat of this middle-aged man!

 564 Ask

    It was the sign of a battle''s turning point when Wei-ah, Chen Mu, and the Demonic Woman appeared on the battlefield.


    Even though the Moqi Clan had the upper hand, they were inferior to the cardless sects in the aspect of maneuvering skills. Hence, the battle seemed to have stalemated. However, Wei-ah''s arrival crushed the morale of the cardless sects'' immediately.


    Instead of killing Benji directly, Wei-ah hit him repeatedly before tossing him onto the ground. Benji''s stiff body was lying on the floor as though he was a corpse. After they were done dealing with Benji, Chen Mu and the two others commenced their massacre of the cardless sects.


    "The Eternal Night" that Chen Mu was holding was also a strong weapon. It did not carry any sound, scent, or light, and there was no way the enemy could detect or hide from it. Since they were at a stalemate, this card acted as the last straw that could break the camel''s back and ended the battle. The cardless sects had abruptly fallen into despair and began to move clumsily in panic. Chen Mu moved leisurely as if he was harvesting paddies, the enemies fell wherever he set foot on. As Chen Mu was not wearing a mask this time, the Moqi Clan recognized him immediately and their spirit was significantly boosted.


    Compared to Chen Mu, Wei-ah and Demonic Woman fought more straightforwardly. Wei-ah was direct and violent. He attacked to kill. The cardless sects were terrified when they were facing him, and many of them gave up entirely.


    For Demonic Woman, she lurked around in the darkness with her black vine quietly. The black vine attacked all directions and struck vital areas like the throat and the heart without any warnings. Unpredictably, one might be strangled or poked by the black vine. A single attack was fatal enough, and she would vanish into the darkness before the dead body even landed on the ground.


    Li Duhong was extremely excited to meet Chen Mu and Wei-ah in person, but he was more mature and calm than before. After he saw that they had gained the upper hand, he promptly switched their mode from attacking their enemies to trapping their enemies.


    The cardless sects who had intended to escape were now trapped within the protection net that was made up of uncountable blue filaments. They had no choice but to retreat. The Moqi Clan moved forward in unison and the circumference that trapped the enemies gradually shrank.


    The current situation was most beneficial for Wei-ah to attack. Wei-ah was like a lion within a herd of lambs. The enemies fell down one after another as blood splashed across them. The number of cardless sects plummeted at a shocking speed, yet, Wei-ah showed no sign of slowing down. Chen Mu noticed the difference in Wei-ah''s behavior. Carrying a frightening and ferocious aura, Wei-ah was acting like the day they attacked Snow Edge Valley. With no expression and a pair of slightly red eyes, he was harvesting the lives of the enemies like a machine.


    Chen Mu let out a faint sigh and paused his action. He waved his hand at Li Duhong, gesturing him not to interfere. Demonic Woman, too, returned to Chen Mu''s side as she could not perform her best in the current situation.


    Despite not knowing precisely what grudge Wei-ah held against the cardless sects, Chen Mu could vaguely guess it. There was a terrible resentment among the two parties. Chen Mu almost understood the situation when he recalled what Wei-ah told him before, as Wei-ah asked him for a favor.


    The cardless sect numbers continued to decrease. Some of them had lost their sanity and resorted to surrendering themselves. But, Wei-ah could not be bothered as he continued his massacre.


    Chen Mu had never seen any sorrow on Wei-ah''s face. However, he could feel the unspeakable anguish as he looked at Wei-ah, who resumed his slaughtering silently. He had to help Wei-ah no matter what happened! At that moment, Chen Mu''s objective was clear. Li Duhong noticed the change in Wei-ah too, and he carried a simpler thought as he looked at the cardless sects with his eyes filled with hatred. For him, Wei-ah was his closest kin! All he wanted to do was to kill every one of them! But, as he was stopped by Chen Mu, he acted rationally and stepped away. However, the cardless sects who intended to break the circumference and escape were all ''welcomed'' with open arms.


    The battle ended in the blink of an eye. There were bodies everywhere, and the scent of blood spread across the atmosphere. The redness in Wei-ah''s eyes gradually reduced, and he returned to his usual self. He walked towards Benji and slapped on his body multiple times until Benji regained his ability to move. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    Looking pale, Benji no longer appeared composed. He had just witnessed Wei-ah''s merciless slaughter. The minimal courage he had initially to fight with Wei-ah had now vanished entirely.


    "Just kill me," Benji stared right at Wei-ah as he spoke in agony, "It''ll leave no regret for me to die in the hands of the First Warrior within this domain.""Why do you all...?" Wei-ah asked unexpectedly.


    "Why?" Benji was bewildered. Shortly after, he understood the question. He looked at Wei-ah before bursting into abrupt laughter. "You own the three most beautiful mountains. Many people are jealous of you, even an arrogant person like the King is no exception. Haha! You carry the title of the First Warrior, yet, you do not want to bend your knees for the King. You are everyone''s ultimate target. If you die, we can share the three mountains amongst ourselves."


    Wei-ah was startled. "Haha. But, you''re also very pitiful. Although you are the First Warrior, you''re insensible, hence, a loner. Haha. What happened to the rest of your clan? You''re the sole survivor. Yes, you''re the First Warrior. However, you''re nothing but a slightly larger rock in front of the King. Anything that blocks the King''s way will be removed. Haha!" Benji laughed, almost hysterically.


    Wei-ah blurted out, "He''s not King." Benji''s laughter halted. After a long while, he asked in a slow and confused manner, "You''re saying¡­ He''s not a king? How is that possible?"


    "I''ve seen his face. He''s not the King," Wei-ah replied.


    "Impossible¡­ Impossible! That''s not possible!" Benji yelled in panic. The news had stunned him greatly! He stared at Wei-ah in shock. After a long pause, he asked, "Really?" Wei-ah did not answer. He stood up, turned, and left.


    "Explain to me! Explain to me clearly! He''s not the King? How is that possible¡­" Benji sprang from the ground and shrieked behind Wei-ah''s back. Wei-ah was not bothered. He walked toward Chen Mu and said, "Let''s go." Seeing Benji who had turned demented, Li Duhong was considering whether or not he should kill him. However, when he saw Wei-ah and Chen Mu who were walking further away, he quickly chased after them.


    Chen Mu gently patted Li Duhong''s head. He was pleased and slightly sentimental. Li Duhong removed his mask and giggled like a child. His usual quick-wittedness was nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, the members of the Moqi Clan were significantly energized as they were celebrating gleefully. They had conquered a disaster that almost destroyed the entire Moqi Clan. Thus, they were very grateful and respectful to Chen Mu, who had successfully led them to survival.


    Chen Mu asked about their lives in Lower City during the conversation. Knowing that they had recovered, Chen Mu felt glad for them. All of a sudden, he noticed the gloves Li Duhong was wearing, and as he recalled their powers during the fight. Slightly intrigued, he then asked. "Who made this pair of gloves? Alfonso?"


    Li Duhong promptly removed the gloves and handed it to Chen Mu, as if he was exhibiting a treasure. "Yes. Alfonso spent a lot of effort to finally invent this. He calls this the Power Gloves, but we call it the Blue Filament Gloves."


    "Power Gloves?" Chen Mu was baffled. Despite being able to vaguely guess its capabilities, Chen Mu had not foreseen the invention of this item. He had not expected that Alfonso could create the Power Gloves.


    He observed the Power Gloves closely after receiving it from Li Duhong. In terms of structure, the Power Gloves, that were made by Alfonso, were very different from the other Power Gloves he had seen before. However, generally, they were still quite similar to the normal ones. The only difference was that this pair of Power Gloves barely required any perception, but focused more on strength. Anyone who had minimal perception could maneuver it. It was very suitable for the Moqi Clan. Despite having trained their perception under Chen Mu, but their perception was considered rather elementary. On the contrary, Wei-ah''s training that was related to physical fitness was very famous among the Moqi Clan.


    In fact, the Power Gloves should be named as the Strength Gloves. It intertwined around the user''s body and formed a unique three-dimensional network. When the shock was applied to it, the power would be disintegrated and dispersed to the user''s entire body. Meanwhile, the user could make use of the blue filaments that were intertwined around the body to gather the strength from all the muscles on the body before one could attack the enemy with a final and fatal blow.


    This was a fairly advanced technique among the cardless sects. However, the Moqi Clan could easily achieve this with the help of the Power Gloves. After a thorough check, Chen Mu realized that the card design that was involved in the making of the gloves was not particularly advanced. But, Alfonso cleverly utilized Moqi Clan''s especially delicate metal technology to bypass the weakness. The exquisiteness of the parts of the gloves astonished Chen Mu profoundly.


    The square masks they were wearing on their faces were another card appliance in Lower City. It was recovered by Alfonso as well. Likewise, Alfonso was not particularly well-versed with card appliance, and he could only rely on trickery. With the help of the clan''s elaborated metal technology and his barely sufficient knowledge regarding the card appliance, he successfully created the mask in the end.


    However, Alfonso''s version of Square Face had many differences compared to the original Square Face. The original Square Face was made to aim at card artisans; hence, it focused on the perception waves and energy waves. On the other hand, Alfonso''s creation of Square Face worked way better for physical scouting. But, being limited by his minimal knowledge regarding card appliance, the scouting of perception waves and energy waves of the Square Face was almost nil.


    Being equipped with these two fatal weapons, the Moqi Clan was rarely challenged in the woods. The ferocious beasts had now turned into their daily hunting targets. Indeed, Alfonso was a genius! Chen Mu could not hide his amusement looking at the two card appliances.


    "When are you going back to Lower City, Sir? We''ve missed you a lot!" Li Duhong asked, slightly overzealous. Chen Mu replied with a grin, "I suppose I''m not going back now. I''ve another destination to visit, to handle some matters." The next second, disappointment painted across Li Duhong''s face.


    Chen Mu chuckled when he saw Li Duhong''s sad expression. Suddenly, he recalled Qing Qing''s words from before. If Qing Qing was right, Lower City was where the students of Rosenberg built their laboratory. According to Qing Qing, the reason the students of Rosenberg chose the location to develop their laboratory was to research about transit windows. That meant to say that the transit windows were not far away from the Lower City!

 565 Ready For Departure

    Indeed, Li Duhong knew about it. He came to an understanding after Chen Mu gave a brief description of the transit windows. He flashed a smile, "I know about the item you''re talking about, Sir. But, the beasts at that area are stronger, and we hardly visit that area," He then asked cautiously, "Sir, are you heading there? Let me tag along with you." Chen Mu smiled without saying a word.


    He had no intention of bringing Li Duhong along. Li Duhong was the leader of the Moqi Clan, and no one would doubt the significance of his presence in his clan. Furthermore, it was very dangerous for Li Duhong to visit the House of a Hundred Depths, although his ability had improved tremendously.


    Chen Mu had asked Zara, the Demonic Woman, about an incident in the House of a Hundred Depths. According to Zara, the House of a Hundred Depths was way more dangerous than the Heavenly Federation; and the living environment was terrible.


    The Moqi Clan who had returned to Eastern Shang-Wei City alongside Chen Mu had attracted much attention since their equipment was extremely peculiar. The metal gloves which extended all the way to the elbow were especially fascinating. A wise person could quickly tell that the gloves were one of the card appliances. Qing Qing''s expression changed when she saw the arrival of the Moqi Clan. She was well-versed with all the books and records in Star Academy, and she knew that the metal gloves significantly resembled a legendary card appliance - the Power Gloves.


    The creation method of the Power Gloves was supposedly jotted in the notebook that was lying in Chen Mu''s arms. It had not been long since Chen Mu acquired the notebook. He couldn''t recreate the item and equip the people with those gloves in such a short time. But a discerning person could tell that the Moqi Clan''s familiarity with the Power Gloves was not formed overnight. There was only one possibility: Chen Mu had been able to manufacture Power Gloves a long time ago.


    Qing Qing felt the sense of chilliness running down her spine. No one had foreseen that Chen Mu had quietly mastered the technique while everyone else was fought for those notebooks. She was sure that Chen Mu''s proficiency in card appliance had completely surpassed Faya''s. There was no end to his secretly accumulated energy.


    Qing Qing felt a hint of sorrow when she was reminded about this. Indeed, Star Academy had more resources than the rest of the Big Six. However, she never thought that Star Academy, which appeared to be so strong, would deteriorate in a blink of an eye. Star Academy did not obtain any particular benefit in any of the battles. Instead, they were defeated repeatedly. The two individuals who gained the most were Tang Hanpei and Chen Mu.


    Tang Hanpei was a blessed child and the acknowledged genius in the Heavenly Federation. Qing Qing accepted her defeat to Tang Hanpei. How about Chen Mu? His name was never heard before, and he was born lowly, but yet, he caused great trouble to Qing Qing and the Star Academy.


    Now, the Star Academy was in absolute despair and declining. Star Academy failed to hinder Tang Hanpei''s advancement, and, once again, Tang Hanpei proved his worthiness for the title of undefeatable genius. He, who had no experience in leading an army, was unstoppable. Star Academy was continued to lose since no one was able to slow Tang Hanpei down. Even the famous instructors were amazed by Tang Hanpei''s ability to lead his troops. For some reason, Bitter Solitude Temple which had initially planned to ambush Tang Hanpei stayed put without extending a hand. Everyone was witnessing the birth of a legend.


    The sophisticated people from all parts of the Heavenly Federation flooded the Federation Comprehensive Academy. They believed that Tang Hanpei would possibly be the true king who rules the Heavenly Federation! From what had happened, it was highly convincing as he was the number-one card artisan in the Heavenly Federation, and was responsible for a huge company, the Federation Comprehensive Academy. Besides, he was outstanding in military functions and had profound insights regarding politics. His charisma was overflowing. Su Heiming was comparable to him. However, most people thought that he was too ruthless. As Tang Hanpei''s capability expanded rapidly, the situation of Star Academy became critical. Rossiji''s betrayal was one of the most important reasons that led to this.


    Qing Qing understood that what Rossiji did was not exactly a rebellion. It was merely the statement released by Star Academy to the outsiders. Growing up in Star Academy System, she clearly understood Rossiji''s intention. Despite appearing gentle and lenient, there was no mercy when it came to Star Academy''s internal politics and competition. Rossiji had basically been put under house arrest during the past years. He could not even leave Star Academy. Although the fatty appeared to be indifferent, he held enormous grudges in his heart.


    She was different from the fatty. Even though she felt the hatred too, but she would not opt to leave. She did not know where she could go if she left Star Academy. Right now, she was supposed to return to Star Academy to help them with Tang Hanpei''s invasion. Yet, she did not. She knew that her presence would not be helpful. The only person who could save Star Academy now was Rossiji. However, the management of Star Academy had to put in a lot of effort to summon the cunning fatty, which included power shifting, internal reshuffling and cleaning, and much more. The only thing she could do was to wait till the silent war against Star Academy ended or the day the Star Academy was demolished! Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    There was actually another candidate, Chen Mu. Even though his capability was not strong enough to fight against Tang Hanpei, but he owned great technologies and commanded the elite warrior, Bogner. Her expression was complicated as she stared at Chen Mu while he entered the Eastern Shang-Wei City, leading the group of warriors who were wearing the Power Gloves.


    "What are those?" Yangshan Fei whispered to Sue. He was a smart person. He was confident that they were something incredible despite not being able to recognize the Power Gloves. With a slightly mesmerized gaze, Sue answered calmly, "Those are card appliances.""Card appliance? The White Commander has so many trickeries," Yangshan Fei muttered before he turned and left. For a long time, Sue stared at the group from afar before she left the scene.


    Chen Mu was forced to delay his schedule upon Li Duhong''s arrival. He was inspired by the Power Gloves. Undeniably, this type of card appliance was a mature work and was highly useful. However, it was also very user-sensitive. Besides requiring the user to have a certain degree of perception, the card appliance emphasized the strength of the user, almost resembled the combination of cardless sects and card artisans. Moreover, it was flexible in nature and able to focus on any aspect. For instance, it focused more on body strength when Li Duhong was using it.


    There was another thing that made Chen Mu deeply intrigued by the Power Gloves was the card insertion technology. According to Wei-ah, card insertion was able to spike the user''s strength for a brief period. It resembled a reduced version of the Green Mark, at the same time, caused fewer side effects. The card insertion would cause the perception of the user to remain stagnant. That was the reason Caesar thought card insertion led to a dead end.


    Indeed, this middle path provided less room for future development. But did it really matter? Not everyone on earth was Tang Hanpei. The card artisans who worked under Chen Mu, especially the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team, could only recruit card artisans with minimal perception at the moment. Chen Mu tried to equip the card artisans with card sets to make up for their lack of power, but that caused another issue. The card artisans were now powerful, yet also considerably weaker.


    The trip to House of a Hundred Depths was perilous, and Chen Mu could not proceed alone. While Bogner and Xi-Ping were occupied with the final preparations, the others agreed unanimously that Wood Word Camp and Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team would head to the House of a Hundred Depths alongside Chen Mu. As expected, they came up with various excuses; for example, some said that the Heavenly Federation was no longer suitable as a living habitat.


    Chen Mu was never a sentimental person. He knew that he could not accomplish this mission alone. He was touched as he understood that it required tremendous courage to make the decision to join this exceedingly dangerous trip. However, being pragmatic, he promptly shifted his attention to training the battling skills of the members of Wood Battalion and Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team. Their lives depended on this.


    He could easily recruit new card artisans with qualities way better than the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team with his current popularity. However, Chen Mu was unwilling to do that. Firstly, it was due to some sentimentality. Since the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team had followed him for a long time, he did not wish to dismiss them. Secondly, it would require a very long time to develop the combat skills of the new recruits.


    Nonetheless, the card insertion technology and the Power Gloves significantly inspired Chen Mu. Based on Wei-ah''s words, card insertion technology was rather simple. It was a widespread technology in Mohadi Domain. The crucial point was the compatibility of the inserted card and the user''s body. The higher the compatibility, the greater the effect.


    But a great number of beasts were required to make the cards. This weird requirement puzzled Chen Mu. Even though it was common to use animals'' blood during the card-making process, but, apparently, it was different from what Wei-ah had explained to him.


    However, it should be feasible if Wei-ah said it could be done. Regarding the location of hunting the beasts that matched Wei-ah''s criteria, Zara, the Demonic Woman, suggested the House of a Hundred Depths as the place was full of wild beasts.


    The only problem unsolved was the production of Power Gloves. There were a few thousand card artisans in Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team. They had to manufacture a few thousand pairs of Energy Gloves if all the card artisans were to be equipped. Chen Mu thought he couldn''t finish this big project on his own.


    Furthermore, he had to modify the Power Gloves that were made by Li Duhong and his counterparts. The perception of the card artisans in Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team was way stronger than Li Duhong and the others. That indicated that they were able to handle a more complex card appliance.


    As for the core item of the appliance- making the card was the simplest task for Chen Mu. He might be the only card master in Heavenly Federation who had the skill to manufacture cards in large scale as he could mass-produce the cards in a limited time. Moreover, since they were a large army, they owned a great variety of materials. There was also a group of experts in card appliance among Chen Mu''s team. They would also help Chen Mu to efficiently complete the ''rebranding'' of the organization.


    Thus, Chen Mu stayed in Easter Shang-Wei City temporarily. He either discussed the issues regarding Power Gloves with Alfonso every day via "Thousand-kilometer," or talked about the mass production of Power Gloves with the card appliance experts.


    Meanwhile, Li Duhong spent his days with Wei-ah and trained diligently with Little Bu Mo. The rest of the Moqi Clan, however, was not having an easy time like Li Duhong. They were occupied by coaching the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team. Once Bogner was informed about Chen Mu''s plan, he would start familiarizing the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team with the battle techniques. The members of Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team were inquisitive about the new and creative battle techniques.


    On the other hand, Sue Lochiro was busy preparing different types of medications. She was filled with excitement for the upcoming journey. Being a medical card artisan, she was born with a passion for a variety of unique medicinal properties. The other medical card artisans who worked together with her, too, were very excited. The experienced Xi Ping looked as though he had found the second love of his life. He was engrossed in preparing all sorts of necessities.


    Chen Mu was bewildered for a long time as none of the team seemed to show a sense of fearfulness towards the trip to the House of a Hundred Depths. Instead, they were all exhilarated. Later, he found out that although the Heavenly Federation had formed an alliance with the House of a Hundred Depths long ago, there were strict regulations for people who wished to visit the House of a Hundred Depths. There were only a small number of people who had been there. The transit window that was out of the governance of Heavenly Federation resembled a smuggling channel. It was everyone''s dream! Everyone saw this as a chance for adventurous exploration even though Chen Mu could not comprehend such feelings.

 566 The Cave

    Just as Chen Mu and the gang were getting prepared to enter the House of a Hundred Depths, the situation at the Heavenly Federation went through changes at alarming speeds.


    The military had begun to intervene with the federal affairs, and in the eyes of professionals, this marked the beginning of chaos to the Tianyou Federation.


    However, the military that Moon Frost Island had high hopes for could not provide the help that was anticipated. Su Heiming was a cunning man; he had foreseen that the two major military forces with connections to Moon Frost Island would get involved and had managed to persuade the two military forces that were close to the Desert Camp beforehand, cutting off every mean his opponent had to call for support.


    On the other hand, Star Academy had also been defeated repeatedly under the extreme pressure of Tang Hanpei. It seemed as though the oldest academy in the entire Heavenly Federation was about to go down and disappear without a trace. Finally, Rossiji, with his title as the first tactical genius of the Heavenly Federation, offered a helping hand. Nick and himself would officially enter the Academy.


    Following Fatty''s entry to the academy, the situation had instantly calmed down. He had brought together the Central Repository of the Classics and Bitter Solitude Temple, immediately forming an alliance amid three parties, forcing Tang Hanpei to put a halt to forward-moving plans.


    At this point, the Heavenly Federation welcomed a brand new era.


    Among the Big Six, apart from Bitter Solitude Temple and Moon Frost Island which were still led by the older generation, the other four, namely the Comprehensive Federation Academy in the Heavenly Federation, the Desert Camp, the Central Repository of the Classics and the Star Academy had younger people in charge.


    In the meantime, besides preparing for the journey to the House of a Hundred Depths, Chen Mu had also ordered the members of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team and the Wood Battalion to have their families brought over to Eastern Shang-Wei City. Despite the endless wars and the turmoil that followed, the family members did not encounter any difficulties en route because they had banners of the Wood Battalion and Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team in view. In fact, they received the protection of influential bodies, making their journey a smooth and unimpeded one.


    Chen Mu was already known as a person of importance throughout the Heavenly Federation. The power that he possessed had everyone deeply impressed. At this sensitive time, not a single soul was willing to get on his bad side. Every single camp and team under his wing held brilliant war records and great reputations, and these all had come from actual, true battles.


    The scoundrels of Eastern Shang-Wei City had also finally found out about the origin of these people in the city, but that simply caused them to stay low out of fear. To the commoners, however, this was terrific news. With Chen Mu by their sides, Eastern Shang-Wei City would become one of the safest places in the entire Heavenly Federation.


    Although anxious, Bai Zheyuan and his people, who previously had grievances with Chen Mu, upon realizing Chen Mu had no plans of taking revenge, quickly put on their best behavior. Copper and Lan Feng, as best partners, also took this chance to show off their superb skills.


    The alliance with the Elemental Fantasy Card Club granted them access to the latest news and the outside world. The Elemental Fantasy Platform had numerous sources in the entire Heavenly Federation, and the large-scale viewing platform was second only to the Heavenly Federation Official Platform.


    Chen Mu had decided to establish his own base amid the Eastern Shang-Wei City and "Lower City". The families of all members were expected to move into this place named Eastern Wei Base.


    This decision was unanimously supported by everyone, and morale was high. Given the situation, it was not surprising. Things were getting more and more chaotic without an improvement in sight, the members had long worried about the safety of their families. Now that they had a solution to this problem, how could they not rejoice?


    Bogner, Xi Ping, and the others agreed as well. They never had their very own base previously, but merely roaming around, ergo facing a lot of ordeals. Eastern Shang-Wei City was considered a common residential district and was far away from both the Five flourishing districts and the capital, and so was far from the war zone. Here, they would be able to develop with peace of mind, without worrying about opening the door to angry people who were ready to kill.


    Furthermore, there was even a transit window here! The presence of the transit window implicated that they had unlimited space for development.


    Once this order was put into place, the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team and the Wood Battalion used their utmost effort and strength to plow the land. Every single unfriendly force, big and small alike, was completely removed overnight. Following this, the lives of the people were not affected in any way. On the contrary, due to the presence of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team and the Wood Battalion and their strict discipline, the law and order had shown so much advancement that it was surprising.


    After the cleanup, came the construction. Borna, the chief Architecture Card Artisan, personally led the project, building all sorts of fortifications and setting off a wave of an overhaul. These strange projects tickled the people''s curiosity, nonetheless still brought upon them a stronger sense of security.


    Along with the continuous moving in of the families, Xi Ping''s workload encountered a sharp increase.


    The Moqi Clan of the "Lower City" also took part in the construction work. The use of the Card Appliances by the Moqi Clan was unique, and the integration of both parties had incredibly aided the progress on the technical strength of the base. The Eastern Wei Academy had also become the most important academy in the base. Similarly, its research level on Card Appliances grew to be the highest throughout the Heavenly Federation.


    "Chen Mu," Qing Qing called out.


    Confusion was clearly displayed in Chen Mu''s features. In recent days, Qing Qing had been very quiet and today she seemed to be acting weird. He stopped in his tracks and asked, "Is there anything I can help you with, Miss Qing Qing?"


    "I am here to bid farewell," Qing Qing said in a calm voice, a slight indifference laced in her tone.


    "Farewell?" Chen Mu felt a tinge of joy. To Chen Mu, Qing Qing had always been a handful. She was always around and had a thorough understanding of many matters. On top of that, her personal strength was not to be trifled with. Regardless, he asked, "Miss Qing Qing is leaving?"


    "Star Academy has been handed down to Rossiji, it''s time for me to return and help, although I may not be exactly welcomed," she said nonchalantly.


    "Oh," Chen Mu replied with a nod. He had a strong impression of Rossiji, "With Rossiji''s skills, he''s sure to be a man of success," he added, but not out of courtesy. Despite not meeting Rossiji before, he rather admired Rossiji''s ability.


    Qing Qing looked away, the emotion in her face was hard to read, "In a blink of an eye, the Eastern Shang-Wei City has turned over a new leaf, with its condition much better than before. Qing Qing truly admires Brother Chen''s ability. However, does Brother Chen have a plan for later?"


    Chen Mu stared intensely at Qing Qing, tongue-tied. This woman''s eyes are sharp indeed.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    It was difficult to tell whether they would end up dead or alive by the end of the expedition to the House of a Hundred Depths and he had been considerably prepared for it. The reason behind the establishment of the base was simple. He did not have plans to overtake the world or anything of the sort. Instead, he merely wanted to provide the most basic insurance for his long-time partners. In these troubled times, to have a peaceful land was not an easy task.


    Faintly, Qing Qing said, "This place is distant from gossip. With Brother Chen''s ability, you''ll have no match. Besides, Brother Chen has access to the transit window and technology on Card Appliances. With you having rich resources, the future is unpredictable."


    Chen Mu shook his head, "Miss Qing Qing is overanalyzing."


    Intensely, Qing Qing looked Chen Mu in his eyes. She continued to speak in an indifferent tone, "There''s no need for Brother Chen to be humble." She lifted her head and gazed into the distant sky, suddenly adding, "Even with all the heroes coming forth as of today, my hunch tells me that the sole person who is capable of stopping Tang Hanpei is most probably Brother Chen!"


    Nonchalantly, Chen Mu replied, "Miss Qing Qing must be joking."


    "I hope that when we meet again, we are no longer enemies," Qing Qing''s voice echoed down from the heavens as her figure disappeared into the horizon.


    Qing Qing''s words did not move Chen Mu at all. He was a busy man with plenty on his plate still.


    Even though the news of Eastern Wei Base being built was not shared explicitly, it was not long before the influential forces were informed. Although they did not understand why Chen Mu chose such a remote place to build his base, they nonetheless expressed their felicitations.


    The Origins Academy, which previously had been in contact with Chen Mu, promptly sent people to discuss the terms for cooperation.


    However, one thing that did not cross Chen Mu''s mind was that, although the base was built to be simplistic and humble, there were still large numbers of card artisans and card masters who came forward to invest. Given the chaotic state of the world, a safe haven was something everyone longed for. Be it the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team or the Wood Battalion, they were the cream of the crop in terms of discipline.


    The inception of the Eastern Wei Base had also resolved Chen Mu''s last worry.


    He handpicked a group of people from the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team and the Wood Battalion to join him on his expedition, not forgetting to leave a few card artisans behind to guard the base.


    Xi Ping was among the people left behind due to his old age, which made him less suitable for adventures. With his many years of experience, he was fit to take care of the affairs at the base. Jiang Liang was also stationed at the base. Alongside Li Duhong, he would be in charge of the military affairs. Jiang Liang would also be held responsible for the training of the newly recruited card artisans and get them familiarized with the new card sets that Chen Mu had created. Professionals in card appliance were all transferred to Alfonso, taking charge of all sorts of research and development projects. Lei Zi and Lan Feng were also left behind. They did not possess any battle powers and were assigned to communicate with the outside world.


    Chen Mu had originally planned to position Sue Lochiro back at the base as well, but she had expressed an unprecedented stubbornness. After further consideration, he acknowledged the irreplaceable roles that medical card artisans played and so agreed to let her tag along.


    After he had arranged everything accordingly, Chen Mu and his people finally embarked on their trip to the House of a Hundred Depths.


    Deep inside the vast jungle, laid a pitch-black hole.


    Li Duhong pointed into the emptiness before the gang, and said with a hint of sadness in his voice, "Sir, it''s inside." He was forced by Chen Mu to stay as a guard while some of his clan fellows were allowed to enter. Therefore, he felt rather upset.


    Outside the cave, weeds were rampant, dotting the entrance to the cave like a welcoming gesture. It took an awful lot of effort for the Moqi Clan people to completely uproot them. The opening of the cave was fairly wide and would allow no more than five people to enter together in a row. However, vines had grown around it, concealing the cave and making it hard to be discovered. That was why the Star Academy did not manage to find it although having heard the news of it.


    "Once I was chasing after a wild beast and the fella ran into the cave. That was how I discovered it," Li Duhong explained.


    After the cleanup, Chen Mu did actually find some markings by the cave. These markings were the exact ones used in the "Lower City", except they were rusty. They were probably left behind by Rosenberg''s apprentice who built the "Lower City".


    At this point, nervousness began to show on the demonic woman''s face. Even the usually stoic Wei-ah started to seem bothered. The fat dog that was trotting along by his feet appeared ferocious, with its hair standing on its end as if it was ready to attack at any moment.


    The tension in the atmosphere immediately began to disperse throughout the team. Everyone could not help but tread lightly. The metering device in the hands of the card artisans lit up one after another, and the Power Gloves worn by the Moqi people glowed with its unique blue light.


    Transit windows were a thing that one would only be able to see in books. Every single discovery involving the transit window was a big deal to everyone in the Heavenly Federation. However, the authorities in the Heavenly Federation had always been stringent on all the information regarding the transit windows. Due to this, although anyone would be familiar with the idea of a transit window, there was not a single soul who had witnessed the real deal.


    What exactly does it look like? Is it a source of danger? And what does the ash stratum look like¡­


    A series of questions clouded the crowd''s minds and hearts, roaming. With their hearts in their throats, the team silently marched toward the dark unknown.

 567 The Transit Windows

    The size and depth of the cave were way beyond their expectations.


    There was no sign of the cave''s terminus after 10 minutes of walking. Anxious, everyone was being exceptionally vigilant.


    Suddenly, Chen Mu''s footsteps came to a halt. Besides him, almost all of the level seven card artisans stopped in their tracks synchronously, looking astonished with a tinge of joy.


    There were waves of energy fluctuation! With no exception, all of them felt a distinctive waves of energy fluctuation!


    Nobody had ever witnessed a transit window. However, all the narrations regarding the transit windows shared a similar fact, that the transit windows were able to emit waves of energy fluctuations. Despite the fair strength of the waves of energy fluctuations, it was constantly radiating as long as the transit window existed.


    This was a rather strange wave of energy fluctuation, different from any other they had experienced before. Despite the fever amid the group, they were acting extra cautious. Intermittently, the members of the team could be heard breathing heavily out of anxiety.


    Chen Mu, too, was excited by this.


    The demonic woman was very familiar with the cave, but Chen Mu could still feel the excitement under her ghost-faced flower.


    However, Chen Mu was puzzled when he saw that Wei-ah appeared to be very familiar with this place. The fat dog, on the other hand, stayed closely beside Wei-ah''s feet, growling on and off. Following behind him was Little Bu Mo, who seemed to be more curious than frightened.


    As their exploration proceeded, the strength of the wave of energy fluctuation increased. Suddenly, realization struck Chen Mu. The reason that the transit window was not findable was because the wave of energy fluctuation was completely undetectable from outside of the cave.


    Out of nowhere, a dim light appeared ahead, elevating the morale of the group.


    The light glowed brighter and brighter as the group followed their track and made a turn. Suddenly, they were enlightened.


    A massive and irregular light ball came into their sights. The ball of light was constantly fluttering, as if it had a life of its own. Everyone could not help but fear the eerie scene.


    "This is it," said the demonic woman confidently.


    Slightly entranced, Wei-ah''s gaze was fixed at the ball of light.


    Bogner appeared as though he was mumbling. He stared at the ball of light blankly, with his mixed feelings shown on his face and his eyes misted by tears.


    A strange wave of energy fluctuation was emitted from the ball of light that seemed to be unceasingly wiggling.


    Is this the legendary transit window?


    The demonic woman was the first to squeeze herself into the light ball while Chen Mu and the others were yet hesitating. No one was able to identify the uncanny light ball. For a fraction of second when Chen Mu''s gaze unfocused, Wei-ah had entered into the light ball, bringing fat dog with him. Upon witnessing that, Chen Mu made a quick decision to promptly follow behind.


    The moment Chen Mu entered the light ball, his vision was blurred. The scenery before him went through an abrupt change.


    The sky above him was gray and murky and the ground beneath him was black. He was surrounded by depressing grey. Occasionally, eddies of air glided through the arid plain, leaving the grey dust whirling in the air. He was overwhelmed by grimness as he stepped on the borderless yet barren land.


    Ash stratum! The name flashed through Chen Mu''s mind.


    There were a few terms that were closely related to the transit windows, namely the ash stratum, wealth and danger. After going through the transit window, they would enter the ash stratum as the transit windows were connected by the ash stratum. The ash stratum was vast and majority of them were desolate and uninhabited. However, that did not imply scarceness. On the contrary, the ash stratum was believed to lead to wealth.


    The ash stratum produced a large amount of rare resources, including many materials that were used in card making, especially the precious minerals. However, wealth came alongside danger. Humans had explored some of the ash stratums. According to their studies and observations, even if the ash stratum was not beset by wild beasts, it was considerably difficult to develop the ash stratum. The harsh environment was the first and foremost challenge humans faced. Consequently, the humans felt vulnerable and minuscule as they confronted the weird and unique weathers in the ash stratum.


    One after another, their teammates exited the light ball.


    When Bogner came out of the light ball, he appeared to be exceptionally upset.


    "Boss!"


    Bogner called Chen Mu aside. Noticing Bogner''s upset expression, Chen Mu asked, concerned, "Bogner, what''s wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?"


    "Boss!" Bogner''s face was painted in hesitation, something that was rarely seen.


    "What happened?" Chen Mu was put on his guard. Bogner is an old and experienced man. Did he notice something unusual?


    "I think I''ve been here before," Bogner said in a low voice.


    Shocked, Chen Mu replied, "You''ve been here before?" Unable to believe, he pointed at the ground, indicating the place they were standing at, "This place?"


    "Yes," Bogner seemed to be very much bothered and agony could be seen in his eyes. "This place resembles the place we visited some 10 years ago," he continued.


    "About 10 years ago?" Chen Mu was reminded of Bogner''s another identity. Failing to suppress his emotions, Chen Mu asked, "You? The Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team?"


    "Yes." Apparently, Bogner was not keen to talk about his past. He collected himself, "The place we went to looked a lot like this place. Nonetheless, I am unsure about it."


    Bogner''s statement caught Chen Mu''s attention. He knew that Bogner, despite his lackadaisical attitude, was a reliable and adept veteran. He would not voice his opinion without a certain level of confidence.


    At this moment, the demonic woman looked at the sky. She then barged into their conversation and said, "We have to leave now."


    Chen Mu was undecided. In order to aid him, Bogner and company landed at this treacherous place. Therefore, he hated to see any of them getting hurt.


    "What''s the issue?" Chen Mu asked.


    He had little trust in the demonic woman due to her character. For him, their relationship was nothing more than a business one.


    The demonic woman threw a glimpse at Chen Mu and said, "Sandstorm is common in this area. We need to find a surface crack as soon as possible."


    While he was contemplating, Wei-ah interfered, "She''s right."


    The moment Bogner heard that there was going to be a sandstorm, fear was written all over his face, as though he had been traumatized before.


    Chen Mu shifted his attention to look at Wei-ah. Yet, Wei-ah remained expressionless. His gaze then returned to the demonic woman as he said, "Lead the way," and then ordered the card artisans beside him, "Remember to leave marks."


    Five Spinulosa Disks flew into the sky and scattered in all directions. They would make a sketch of the topography of the surrounding areas and reconnoitre their enemies. The vast expanse of the location left their whereabouts exposed during critical situations. Wei-ah''s acknowledgement, together with Bogner''s expression, had given some significant merits to the demonic woman''s words. Even though they could not visualize the power of the sandstorm, they could tell that the sandstorm was not something be treated frivolously as they looked at the reaction of Bogner and Wei-ah.


    The anxiety set in within the team.


    Curious, Yangshan Fei stamped his foot on the ground, "Why is the ground black? This is the ash stratum? What a bore!"


    Sue''s expression was hidden under the gold mask, completely disguising her feelings. However, their conversation had staggered her. The ash stratum of the transit windows were a highly confidential information guarded by the Heavenly Federation. It was impossible for any commoner to come across the information. But, after listening to the conversations, she could deduce that the demonic woman had been here. Besides, it seemed like both Wei-ah and Bogner had most probably visited this place too. She was terrified.


    Her gaze fell on Chen Mu, yet she realized that she failed decipher him. When he announced the journey to the House of a Hundred Depths, she believed that Chen Mu and his team to travel via the transit window the connected the House of a Hundred Depths and the Heavenly Federation. Never would she have expected to see a new transit window.


    A new transit window indicates infinite wealth! But Chen Mu wasn''t worried about bringing me and Yangshan Fei with him. Isn''t he afraid of leaking the secret?


    Chen Mu, a fairly young man, has such a great achievement. There''s no way that he is a fool. Does he simply not care? Or does he have other agendas in his mind?


    Sue could imagine the glory of Eastern Wei Base after today. With the transit window, they were able to get sufficient resources to trade with the House of a Hundred Depths on top of having a more advanced technology and powerful armor. Their future would be limitless. Even Tang Hanpei, the powerful man, was bogged down by the war, leaving no time for him to think about such a remote place.


    However, once he finishes his metamorphosis, there would be one more contender in the world!


    Awestruck, Sue stared at this exceptional young adult, her admiration toward him growing. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Little did she know that Chen Mu was not bothered at all. He carried too many secrets with him. The information regarding the transit windows was never a big deal to him. Furthermore, Qing Qing knew that it never feasible to expect her to keep a secret. In any case, as long as they maintained their strong military force, they did not have to worry about having people coveting.


    He left Jiang Liang a lot of cards, more than enough to build a powerful team. It was mostly Jiang Liang who trained the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team, and Chen Mu thought that he was irreplaceable. Together with the support from the Moqi Clan''s Card Appliance technology, Chen Mu believed that other than the Big Six, nobody could take advantage of the Eastern Wei Base. As for the Big Six, they were struggling with problems of their own and would not have enough attention to spare on the Eastern Wei Base, not to mention their force.


    Without any hesitation, the demonic woman led the way.


    Her pace was speedy. As though this was merely her everyday route, there was no pause of indecisiveness.


    The fleet was travelling at a high speed in the wasteland under the guidance of the demonic woman. Xi Ping prepared a large number of transport shuttles for the operation. These shuttles had all been modified and their performances had been greatly enhanced.


    The wasteland was quiet and dull without any sign of life, except for the periodical sound of the wind, nothing was happening. No vegetation could be seen on the horizon and it was as flat as a knife grinder. Without the demonic woman''s shepherding, Chen Mu and the others would be lost in their ways as every choice path seemed very alike.


    After flying for about two hours, they finally discovered a big surface crack.


    The surface crack was strangely wide, with an average width of some 20 kilometres. Both sides of the surface crack were connected to steep cliffs. A surface crack as big as this could fit the entire group.


    The demonic woman was the first to hop into the surface crack. Her move was nimble as she required no help from any tool. She landed on the uneven cliff face and leaped into the bottom of the surface crack.


    Everybody proceeded to lower their altitude. Once they entered the big crack, they were swamped by the humid air and was immediately awakened by it.


    There is water!


    There''s probably water at the bottom of the surface crack!


    Even if the fleet brought along a good supply of liquid along with card appliances that are used to collect water, they would still be helpless if there was completely no moisture in the air.


    Suddenly, the Spinulosa Disks beeped in alarm!


    The sandstorm had arrived!

 568 The Crack of Fortune

    Thanks to the Spinulosa Disk, they were alerted in advance. This allowed them more time for preparation, something which later proved to be extremely crucial to them. The Demonic Woman pivoted Chen Mu and his team towards the crack and swiftly arrived at the base of the crack. She threw a glimpse at them and demanded coldly. "All of them need to be hidden." Before she proceeded to find herself a chamber and huddled into it.


    Bogner ordered all of the card artisans to get to work without further ado. Immediately, the energy forms of many colors flickered, forming a mesmerizing sight. All of the card artisans were strong and powerful. Every punch of theirs was able to create a big hole. However, since this was the first time that they encountered this situation, it was inevitable for them to end up in a state of chaos.


    Thankfully, they were able to finish their tasks before the sandstorm arrived. All the card artisans activated their power shields which they were equipped before they took shelter in the hollow they created moments ago. They understood that in the ash stratum, there were chances for all sorts of strange and eerie things to happen. Therefore, every one of them was being exceptionally vigilant and cautious out of anxiety.


    The sandstorm had arrived! Resembling the wail of ghosts and the howls of wolves, the high-pitched sound of the wind was ear-piercing. The sky immediately darkened and swallowed everyone into the blackness. The sound of the howling wind outside the crack made them shudder in fear. Although they had made a deep dugout following the Demonic Woman''s words, they were still occasionally attacked by the swirling dust. Aided by the fierce wind, the minuscule sands were even stronger, causing the power shields to wobble.


    Chen Mu had no choice but to burrow into the hollow, afraid to make even a slight move. Chen Mu was astounded as the strength of the sandstorm was this terrifying when the distance from the earth''s surface and the base of the crack was more than 10 kilometers. Even a Level 7 card artisan may die if he or she happened to encounter the sandstorm on the earth''s surface.


    The menacing sandstorm lasted persistently for six hours! When the howl finally stopped, the group could not help but feel relieved to have narrowly escaped the catastrophe. One by one, they popped their heads out from the hollows like a mole-rat. When they noticed the ridiculousness of the scene, everyone exchanged gazes with each other and eventually burst out laughing. After they collected themselves, they realized that despite the precautions, they lost three shuttles. An earthy scent wafted in the air after the sandstorm left, and the greyish sky finally looked friendlier.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Bogner walked toward Chen Mu with a grim expression. "Boss, this is the place." There was no prelude to Bogner''s words, but Chen Mu immediately got the gist of it. "Do sandstorms frequently happen here?" Chen Mu was grateful to have found another person who was familiar with this place. The Demonic Woman was untrustworthy, and Wei-ah''s communication skills were giving Chen Mu a headache. He acted as stubborn as a rock for a vast majority of the time.


    "If there isn''t any unexpected change of weather, there shouldn''t be a sandstorm within the next six days." Suppressing an anguished expression that flashed on his face, he forced his calmness as he continued. "In addition to the sandstorms, there is a type of cold storm. I call it the Cold Crystal Storm. The Cold Crystal Storm is far more devastating than the sandstorm, but its frequency is much lower too."


    "The Cold Crystal Storm?" Chen Mu studied the name. However, knowing that they had six more days, he felt relieved. If the sandstorm happened without a fixed pattern or too frequently, they would be in deep trouble. After narrowly escaping from the sandstorm, they continued to move forward. The fleet proceeded with their journey cautiously and nervously at the base of the gigantic crack. Everyone was now well aware of the danger of the ash stratum after their first-hand experience amid the terrifying sandstorm.


    As if blessed, they kept finding mineral resources throughout their journey. "It''s a crystal stone! An abundance of them! Boss, there''s a crystal stone mine!" a seasoned card artisan reported to Chen Mu excitedly. "Oh my God! Purple fluorescent ore! This is a purple fluorescent ore!" Bogner was extremely thrilled. As he was very familiar with the purple fluorescent ore, he was able to identify it with a glance. He had never dealt directly with other mineral resources, but he was very clear about the commercial value of the purple fluorescent extract.


    Meicha Iron, Abidaxi Meteorite, Liquid Snow Iron, twinned titanium stone, black and white chrysanthemum rock, bird silk red thread¡­Many different mineral resources that Chen Mu had or had not heard of were continually being discovered. All the faces displayed a look of exhilaration. The fortune that was hidden within this big crack was astonishing, to the extent that it was horrifying!


    In fact, this was terrific! It was easier for Chen Mu to distinguish the materials that he had used before, for example, the Liquid Snow Iron and the twinned titanium stone. He could easily recognize the considerably high quality of these materials. After the joy, Chen Mu was slowly overwhelmed by disappointment. If all of the mineral resources in this crack were converted into Oudi, it would certainly be an astronomical figure!


    He finally understood why everyone would be fanatical whenever the transit windows and the ash stratum were mentioned. Fortune! This was a fortune beyond comparison! The big crack was very close to the transit window, making it a suitable place for mineral exploitation.


    If there were a steady flow of mineral resources transported to the Eastern Wei Base, that would largely benefit their development. Chen Mu paid no attention to information about transit windows before, but now, he knew the value of it. Even for the Big Six, they would not sit by and disregard this amount of wealth. Currently, they were trapped in war and had no time to care about the matter. But once they shift their attention back, they would never let go of an opportunity this juicy!


    Chen Mu had personally witnessed the Big Six''s zeal for wealth and their ruthlessness toward their enemies. He had to seize the moment to improve and strengthen himself. Once he left for the House of a Hundred Depths, his fate would be uncertain. For him, wealth was almost unachievable.


    But¡­He gazed upon Bogner and the others, feeling warm inside. If he left more capital for them, they would have a higher chance to survive this chaotic age. Being a leader, he was responsible for their safety and future. After a brief consideration, he firmly made a decision.


    "I''ve decided to build a base here, to exploit the crack. Who do you think should be in charge?" Chen Mu asked Bogner. "Hmm, who should be in charge?" Bogner shared Chen Mu''s idea with Chen Mu of building a base. He did not sound surprised as he asked, "How about Lu Xiaoru and flat eyebrows? They are considered as veterans and dependable. Besides, they are competent too. But we should tell Xi Ping to send more Spinulosa Disks. They are very useful here. As for manpower, tell him to send some of his people here too."


    Chen Mu nodded and summoned Lu Xiaoru. After years of training and experience, Lu Xiaoru was a completely different person from before. She was no longer as chubby as before, her figure was now fit and balanced. Lu Xiaoru had a lot of admirers among the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team, but unexpectedly, she chose to be with the "bar-browed" man, an average and quiet man.


    The flat eyebrows of the "bar-browed" man were still the same as before. He stood silently in front of Chen Mu, with gratitude occasionally flashed across his eyes. Some time ago, Chen Mu taught him the "breath control" that he had been yearning for. Nowadays his abilities had improved remarkably and were promoted to one of the highest-ranking within the Snow SIlkworm Card Artisan Team. Not only that, his worth continued to ascend significantly. His future potential seemed promising.


    The "breath control" that came along with many side effects when it was practiced by Chen Mu, however, brought way lesser aftereffects to the flat eyebrows. Although the "bar-browed" man, too, suffered from some of the side-effects, they were not lethal. That was very strange to Chen Mu. Indeed, the "Night of the Cross" had its peculiarity. After receiving Chen Mu''s orders, both of them promptly acted on it.


    Before long, the Architecture Card Artisans began their scouting, looking for a suitable place to build the base: mainly an area with a source of water. That was because the air in the ash stratum was dry, and the water collector was very inefficient in this environment. To build a base, if there weren''t a continuous source of water, it would cause a rather inconvenient situation. They needed the help of the Demonic Woman to find a water source. Even though the Demonic Woman, Zara, was not happy about Chen Mu''s decision to pause their journey, she agreed to work with him.


    On the other hand, Sue Lochiro was gleefully gathering the samples from many places. A unique geologic climate of an environment like this must carry something with unique qualities. To ensure their safety, Chen Mu personally ordered several Level 7 card artisans to escort them.


    Yangshan Fei clicked his tongue before he said. "Goodness gracious! There are so many precious things here! We''re going to be rich!" Even though he said it in admiration, his expression showed minimal interest in this matter. The swirling dust in the air did not dim Sue''s gold mask. She chuckled. "This has nothing to do with us. But, of course, if the Big Six finds out about this, they would spend their days and nights thinking about it."


    "Haha, Chen Mu is such a character! His luck is so good, to the extent that it attracts jealousy," Yangshan Fei said, musing. "Luck? It wasn''t all luck," Sue said in a soft voice. Yangshan Fei looked around and said excitedly, "It''s so fun here, the House of a Hundred Depths is really something to look forward to! It''ll be perfect if I can have a chance to fight with an opponent like the Demonic Woman!"


    "You can go ahead," Sue said nonchalantly.Yangshan Fei seemed to be embarrassed all of a sudden. "Forget it. I would be killed by her. If not for her feminine physique, I would have definitely questioned her gender," Yangshan Fei said, slightly exaggerating. However, everyone had witnessed the ruthlessness and ferocity of the Demonic Woman. In everyone''s mind, she was as dangerous as Wei-ah. When Wei-ah was triggered, he would tear his enemy into bits. However, if one offended the Demonic Woman, one would be in constant fear of the black vine, which can strike at any time from anywhere. The Demonic Woman and Wei-ah shared something similar: both of them were able to kill with no mercy and hesitation. Other than Chen Mu, no one dared to stay near the Demonic Woman.


    "Shan Fei, where are we headed after we arrive at the House of a Hundred Depths?" Sue asked in a slightly depressed and lonely tone. "We''ll decide when we''re there. Haha. We have to meet all of the elites of the House of a Hundred Depths! Make sure that our long journey doesn''t go in vain," Yangshan Fei gave a hearty and unreserved laugh. Sue stared at Yangshan Fei''s rough face. The eyes underneath the gold mask were glowing out of warmth.


    At another corner, Chen Mu and Bogner were having a conversation. "We need another few more days to build the base. We can only leave this place after the next sandstorm." Bogner explained. "That''s the only way." Chen Mu nodded before he suddenly asked, "Can you tell me the story of your past?"

 569 Their Irrevocable Pasts

    "That year?" Bogner bared a dreary expression but spoke in an unusually calm demeanor. "There were five of us that year. We were very close; the Black King, Knife Pull, Enticer Fox, Flying Knit and I. Do you remember the card you fixed? Celia was Flying Knit, she was my wife. We were the Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team, and had never failed to win a battle or to take down a city! Even the military lost to us."


    Bogner had an elated expression at the mentioned of their glory, but his elation disappeared in a flash; he suddenly sounded low-spirited."But then we found a transit window in the jungle by accident. Everyone was very excited and unanimously agreed to explore it." Bogner looked more bitter than ever before.


    "A transit window?" Chen Mu felt shaken up at the mention of a transit window, "Was it the one we walked through?""No." Bogner shook his head. "That transit window was located at Fanasi District. We discovered the transit window deep inside the forest during our mission. We were extremely strong at the time, even stronger than our team right now. We could easily get into the deep forest. That transit window was inside a small, obscure canyon. I''m afraid I can''t find it now."


    As he spoke of this, he couldn''t help but remind Chen Mu. "Boss, we need to explore this ash stratum as soon as possible to find any other transit windows. Otherwise, the security of this base can''t be guaranteed."


    Chen Mu nodded.They had a tremendous advantage in exploring the ash stratum. Other than the mighty exploration device Spinulosa Disk, they also had long-distance telecommunication cards like "thousand-kilometer card." The ash stratum was flat; hence, communication was possible even to extremely remote places.


    A look of nostalgia and sadness was on Bogner''s face. "It went well initially. We found shelters during the first few sandstorms. And we were beginning to figure out the frequency of the sandstorms; that made us feel at ease. Unexpectedly, shortly afterward, we fell into trouble."


    At the mention of that, Bogner couldn''t hold back himself and began crying."That storm came all of a sudden and without warning. Unlike previous sandstorms, the storm was a horrendous cold spell. And it was accompanied by an astounding load of sand and dust, engulfing the earth. Due to the low temperature, the surface of the sand and dust all condensed into ice. Some of them were as big as eggs, while others were as big as fists. The largest piece was the size of a shuttle. They smashed down like raindrops. The canyon we hid in was crushed into pieces."


    "In order not to be buried alive, we had to fly out. However, we underestimated the power of that Cold Crystal Storm. The wind was so strong that we were all blown away as soon as we got out. I was lucky enough to roll into a cave and survived. Only my leg was broken."


    Bogner was overwhelmed, and he looked like he had lost himself. He had a blank expression. "I had no medicine with me and stayed in the cave for three days. During these three days, I dialed their telecommunication cards every day, but there was no reply. Three days later, when my legs were slightly better, I went out of the cave. I was starving and wanted to find food. But as soon as I''m out of the cave, I found many corpses. They were badly mutilated from the massive hits. It was hard to tell who they were, but I knew they were my companions. Later, I found a shuttle with food, and I survived."


    Bogner''s voice was light, but the story made Chen Mu shiver. He could imagine the tragic scenes. "They were all dead, and I thought I was going to die too. I didn''t think I could get out of the sandstorms, so when the sandstorm came, I didn''t hide at all. I thought to myself that I was going to die anyway. I was swept into the sky by the sandstorm. I thought I was going to die, but when I opened my eyes, I saw a transit window. I thought it was absurd. I wanted to die, but God wanted me to survive."


    Chen Mu was at a loss for words, and he could only listen in silence."The Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team perished. It perished in silence." His sentence was overwhelmed with lament, sorrow, and emptiness. "Among us, the Black King had all our admiration. All four of us respected him, and the team members highly appreciated him. He was the most successful leader I''ve ever seen. Maybe only Tang Hanpei could be compared with him. Interestingly, the Black King had a younger brother, but we didn''t know who he was. Once, he said, he hoped that I can impart tactical knowledge to his brother. I wouldn''t do it if it were for anyone else. But since he requested it, as the savior of my life, I promised him. Later, it took me a long time to sort out a set of notes and gave them to the Black King. Unfortunately, I didn''t know who his younger brother was. Otherwise, I could go and find him."


    Bogner''s smiled as he was soaked in old memories. Chen Mu didn''t interrupt him. "Enticer Fox was a glutton, slept all day, lustful and stingy. Haha, but he was also the most interesting out of the five of us. He always had strange things on his hands. Whenever Celia was angry with me, I would get some funny things from him to coax her. But that fellow was a stingy man. It cost an arm and a leg to get something from him. His tracing skills in the forest was second to none in the Heavenly Federation. We really admired his abilities."


    "Knife Pull was a cantankerous man. All provocations would spark his anger; he was very hot-tempered. But he was afraid of Celia. He would only control his temper when Celia was angry with him. He was a madman and loved challenging others. In the words of the Black King, he was getting into trouble everywhere, and we were always cleaning up his mess for him. Do you remember Xiao Liqian''s Hughes Chamber of Commerce? Her uncle Huges fought with him too. They exchanged blows and befriended each other. They were pretty close after that."


    "If I were to say among the five of us, the person with the highest position was not the Black King, but my wife, Celia. Haha, she was our princess. Even the Black King adored her. No one in the team dared to offend her. If you offended her, Knife Pull would be the first to wage war. Celia..." Bogner was left dazed, with tears in his eyes and voice choked with emotion. Suddenly, he looked a lot older; bleak and agonized.Chen Mu still didn''t know how to comfort Bogner so he could only accompany him quietly.


    The construction of the base was in full swing. Bogner''s Cold Crystal Storm gained Chen Mu''s attention, and his demands for the base dramatically increased. At last, he decided to station the base on the crack of the cliff wall. For safety precautions, the base was built into a fully enclosed structure.


    Fortunately, the mineral resources here were plentiful, and all the materials needed could be obtained locally. They could even mix rare minerals into the metal to improve the quality of the alloy to an exaggerated level. Chen Mu wouldn''t be able to afford such a base if he was building it in Heavenly Federation. Even the Big Six couldn''t afford to use such high-quality and rare minerals for such a luxurious base.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Chen Mu was extremely busy. He wanted to make a card appliance, to be on the front line. Of course, he was less knowledgeable than Alfonso in metallurgy. But he was better than Heavenly Federation''s card appliance experts. Since he was pressed with time, he didn''t focus on his smelting but made a crude smelting card appliance. That card appliance wasn''t efficient in the utilization of ore, but he didn''t care; ore was abundant. Large cracks on the cliff were filled with rare ores everywhere.


    All card artisans other than those responsible for exploratory and vigilant missions were deployed as mining card artisans. No one objected. Even those Grade Seven card artisans, who were usually lofty, were doing their best. Everyone knew that as long as they could establish a stable footing in the ash stratum, they would basically have a hen that laid golden eggs.The more resources the team had, the more room they would have for future development, and the better the treatment their families would enjoy.These people either followed Chen Mu for a long time or were trained by Chen Mu. They were extremely loyal.


    The base area planned by the team''s construction card artisans was a small shelter. It could accommodate up to 3,000 people and storage for some resources. Other functions of the base were neglected. The base was built with the sole purpose of allowing them to wait for assistance from Eastern Wei Base.When the reinforcement force arrived, the base would serve as the main body for expansion.


    Because of its simple functions, the project was progressing fast. They only had to construct by welding thick metal alloy sheets together. With everyone working together, the progress was fast.Finally, they completed the construction of the base before the second sandstorm. The base was like a huge steel castle, most of which were hidden in the cracked cliffs, with only a few parts exposed. To increase its defensive capability, there were reinforced support structures everywhere, which made the base looked a little messy and ugly. But no one cared.


    During the second sandstorm, everyone retreated into the ugly steel castle. Through the surveillance probe, they could clearly see the terrible scenes of the sandstorm. The base was as warm as spring, and people drank all kinds of hot drinks leisurely and chatted in groups. It was in stark contrast to their bad situation previously. Everyone''s face was bright with excitement. They knew the purpose of constructing the base.The rare minerals that could be seen everywhere had become the most popular topic among them. Even the most experienced card artisans had never seen such exaggerated wealth.


    None of the Big Six from Heavenly Federation would know that a base was secretly built in the ash stratum. A young lion was about to enter its high growth stage. Perhaps some of the others had foreseen it, but none could stop its growth. All eyes were on one person; Tang Hanpei, who led Tang Team, he pressed on determinedly towards Star Academy.


    Inside the army, a fair, slender hand gently opened the black notebook in front of him.A line of words was written on the title page of the notebook.


    ¡ª¡ª"To my brother: I hope you can be a hero!"

 570 Cold Crystal Storm

    The Thousand Lakes fell into enemy hands! That news swept across Heavenly Federation like a hurricane. Except for a few card artisans who succeeded in breaking through the attacks, all other card artisans were sacrificed for the ancient city. The two legions that were highly regarded by Jia Yingxia were attacked by two legions from Desert Camp. The attack was a success for Su Heiming. The card artisans from Moon Frost Island were desperate as they launched a crazy counter-attack to defend the city. It brought severe casualties to the Desert Camp. That enraged Su Heiming which he ordered the massacre of all inhabitants after breaking through Thousand Lakes!


    The ancient city was reduced to ruins. All card artisans and ordinary inhabitants were killed. Everyone in Heavenly Federation was appalled! The bloody scenes were transmitted to every corner of Heavenly Federation through the Fantasy Platform. Su Heiming''s brutality immediately aroused fear and criticism throughout Heavenly Federation.


    It was only then that people remembered that there was another massacre not long before. Unlike Su Heiming, the bright image of Tang Hanpei was deeply rooted in everyone. His massacre was brought up, resulting in a negative impact on his image in the public''s heart. Even Tang Hanpei wasn''t expecting that. The momentum of his expansion was interrupted by the criticisms. Under various pressures, Tang Hanpei stopped his attacks to reorganize his army.


    Su Heiming swept through Heavenly Drum Village District as he continued his string of victories. No one could stop him. The core force in Moon Frost Island had been obliterated. The remaining troops in different parts of Moon Frost Island were directionless and adrift, so they crumpled in front of Su Heiming''s army. Su Heiming''s brutality was enough to annihilate the morale of the opposing force. The Desert Camp encountered little resistance. Wherever it went, all the forces surrendered to him.


    The cunning and ferocious Su Heiming was shrewd; all who surrendered must have their team''s card artisans joined his army.In this way, Su Heiming''s team accumulated and expanded his power; he was increasingly influential. The majority of the card artisans from Heavenly Drum Village District was under the leadership of Su Heiming. His power quickly surpassed Tang Hanpei and became the strongest in Heavenly Federation! He was ruthless and merciless. He would never hesitate before massacring entire cities if there was any form of resistance. Under this pressure, people were terrorized and dared not opposed him in the slightest.


    All the experts had spoken in unison; the two regions would usher in a brutal ruler! The question was, would Su Heiming stop after completing his conquest of Heavenly Drum Village District? Of course not! Then who would be his next target?


    In the base of ash stratum, Chen Mu and Bogner were looking at the summary of events sent from Eastern Wei Base. Lan Feng was responsible for collecting information at Eastern Wei Base. Periodically, she would summarize the major events in Heavenly Federation and forward them to Chen Mu through a special channel.


    The establishment of a base in ash stratum was well-known within the managerial level; they were all excited. Xi Ping was busy organizing people to enter ash stratum as soon as possible. All the required card appliances for the development of the crevices in the ash stratum were handled by Alfonso and Kirkley''s Department of Card Appliance. Chen Mu''s team was the only one known to be successful in breaking through the attacks. Their whereabouts were naturally an exciting topic. Coupled with the constant publication by Elemental Fantasy Platform in the past few days, Eastern Wei Base had become a paradise far away from the center of the wars.


    Every day, a large number of card artisans rushed into the base, hoping to get the right to stay. With the continuous increase in population, the development of the base encountered many problems. The most serious one was the lack of funds. A lot of defensive devices like Starfish fort were highly-priced, and recruiting new card artisans was costly¡­


    They had too many expenses. Even if they had abundant resources, Xi Ping felt the pinch. The establishment of Big Crack Base could help in obtaining fantastic wealth, and also enabling the development of base at breakneck speed. However, Chen Mu didn''t intend to wait until the second batch of card artisans to arrive. He left a group of card artisans for Lu Xiaoru and Flat Eyebrow. He led other card artisans and set off right after the sandstorm ended. Fortunately, he had a ''thousand-kilometer card.'' As long as there were no sandstorms, communication was convenient.


    The dull terrain and the dreary sky was quite repetitive, which made the march tedious and almost maddening. During the 30-day march, they didn''t encounter any danger except for one seven-day sandstorm. Everyone was sluggish. There were no living things, and there was no need to worry about attacks. Although due to disciplinary reasons, daily vigilance and scouting continued, it was evident that the team was slacking. The team was silent; it seemed like they were even too lazy to speak.


    Chen Mu didn''t have any good solutions to deal with this. But to stop their sluggishness, he began his field training with them. On the tenth day of Chen Mu''s departure from the Big Crack Base, the second batch of people had arrived. The development work was in full swing. This time, even Borna, the chief Architecture Card Artisan, came to the Big Crack Base in person. He was responsible for the expansion and improvement of the site.


    For the sake of safety, Chen Mu built communication towers along several water sources and left a garrison to guard the towers. This way, they could keep in touch with each other in this vast and desolate wilderness; communication was the first thing they needed to consider.


    "D*mn it. This is boring. When is this going to end!" a member of the team cursed. "Who knows?" The companion on one side felt weak and complained. "We train every day, I''m going crazy. Others often praised the ash stratum. I think this is just a boring place!""You''re right. After walking for so long, we didn''t even see any grass. We have eaten liquid nutrients every day for so long that I''m losing my sense of taste."


    Just then, the card artisan who was complaining, glanced at the distant horizon and was left dazed and confused. "This place is bizarre. Treasures are all over the place, but there''s not even a single human being. Now, I''m more excited to see a living creature than to see those valuable treasures. I dare say if there''s a Tashtagol lizard in front of us, half of the team will dash forward and kill it! And we''ll have a delicious meal." He smacked his lips and fantasized about the taste of meat without worrying about how scary the Tashtagol lizard was.


    "Hey, look, what''s that?" his companion didn''t reply, but pointed to the horizon. "What? That¡­ what''s that?" At the intersection of heaven and earth in the distance, there was a bright blue ray. The blue ray was like paint that dripped onto an absorbent paper. It spread through the sky at an alarming rate.


    That anomaly immediately attracted the attention of Chen Mu and his team. The Demonic Woman who was walking in front looked astonished. She obviously hadn''t encounter this before. "Cold¡­ Cold Crystal Storm!" Bogner was screaming behind Chen Mu, his voice was trembling with deep fear. Chen Mu heard him, and his face took on a ghastly expression, he turned back to look at Bogner. Bogner turned as pale as death; he stared at the blue ray sweeping fast across the horizon!


    For the first time in 30 days, the forlorn siren sound alarmed the team. Bogner recovered from his shock, his eyes wide open, he roared in his hoarse voice, "Hide! Quick! Everybody hide! Fortifications! Fortifications!" His roar woke the dazed members, and the team was in chaos. Bogner''s worried expression made everyone aware of the imminent danger. Everyone rushed over to the cliffs on both sides of the big crack. They were still in mid-air, with full power on!


    These days, to avoid sandstorms, they had become quite experienced in digging holes on the cliffs to accommodate their body shapes. The explosion sounds were as dense as frying beans, and the smoke and dust immediately spread around, covering the big cracks.


    Without saying a word, Chen Mu wore a glove on his right hand and pounded heavily on the cliff. "Dong!" With a dull crash, a cobweb-like crack appeared on the cliff. He swung to the side, tapped a few times besides the crack, and the crushed stone by the crack seemed to be squeezed forcefully as it spewed out from the cliff wall.


    In the blink of an eye, a deep cave was formed. Without saying a word, he pulled Bogner into the cave. The surrounding card artisans couldn''t help but glance enviously. Although they were equipped with Power Gloves, only Chen Mu could fully utilize its power. Since there were no wild animals, the Card Insertion technology that Wei-ah mentioned hadn''t been incorporated yet. They could only use some functions of the gloves.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Wei-ah had felt that the wild animals near Eastern Wei Base weren''t fierce enough to meet the requirements of Card Insertion. He didn''t know that there wasn''t any living thing in ash stratum. However, although they couldn''t maximize the power of Power Gloves, they were powerful card artisans so bombing a hole in the cliff was easy for them. The huge team from a moment ago disappeared in the blink of an eye. They were like moles drilling into the cave.


    Wei-ah watched the blueness spreading from the horizon, and his expressionless face showed a rare fluctuation. He only looked at it once, before redirecting his gaze as he saw Chen Mu carry Bogner into the cave. He didn''t hesitate as he took Little Bu Mo into the cave too. "No, boss, it''s not strong enough!" Bogner looked terrified. In a short time, his eyes were covered with blood. The Demonic Woman didn''t choose her hiding place but decided to follow Chen Mu into his cave.


    Seeing Bogner''s panic, Chen Mu sighed softly and said, "I know, but we don''t have time. The Spinulosa Disk has been destroyed. We couldn''t escape in time." Nor did he expect to encounter what Bogner called a Cold Crystal Storm. Since the last mention from Bogner, he had been anxious about it. Never did he expect that he was going to encounter what he feared most. Bogner''s face was drained of blood.


    Looking through the cave entrance, the initial grey air seemed to be dyed with a layer of blue. Chen Mu used his ''thousand-kilometer card'' to inform the Big Crack Base so that they could prepare early. Bogner''s face softened a lot as he watched Chen Mu calmly handled the disaster. Just then, the Cold Crystal Storm struck them!

 571 A Choice

    Thunder! Shriek! Their sight was completely covered in blue. The face of Chen Mu, who was taking shelter inside the cave, changed. From the cave''s entrance, he saw huge blue hailstones falling from the sky, one after another, hitting on the ground mercilessly like meteorites. He could feel quakes from the stones beneath him after every hit. Stone debris rained endlessly from the ceiling of the cave. Chen Mu could not hear anything besides the deafening sound of crashing.


    As a safety measure, they chose to hide at the lower part of the cliff wall. Those areas were safer as the thick, and massive rocks above them became their roof of protection. But, that raised another concern. Chen Mu was afraid that no one would be able to leave this place alive if the roof collapsed. Even the strongest Energy Shield would not be able to withstand tens of thousands of tonnes of a mountain. The continually falling debris worsened Chen Mu''s worry. However, to leave the cave now was an act of suicide.


    Crack! The cracking was almost inaudible amid the continuous thuds. Yet, for Chen Mu, it was like the call of the God of Thunder. His expression changed abruptly. As he lifted his head, he was surprised to see the cracks were gradually spreading into the shape of a spiderweb on the ceiling above Bogner!


    Damn it! It''s going to collapse! The cave they created hastily could barely accommodate three people. Bogner was at the innermost part of the cave, while Chen Mu was at the outermost of the cave, and they were separated by Zara, the Demonic Woman. The cracks grew bigger and bigger, and it would collapse at any time! Unfortunately, there was simply no more space for Bogner to move.


    Frightened, Bogner lifted his head to look at the ceiling above. His lips shivered as he stared at the fragmented rocks that were going to bury him soon. The fear he was feeling now was able to destroy anyone mentally! Surprisingly, Bogner regained his composure after a few seconds. He turned around, his face not looking too good. Then, he made a smile that was more miserable than a crying face. "Boss¡­. I''m going to meet up with Celia soon¡­"


    A flashback ran through Chen Mu''s mind like a lightning bolt. For a split second, all the events lingered in his mind simultaneously, causing him to lose his ability to think. He appeared startled and terrified, his mind completely blank. His eyes turned red abruptly, but he was unaware of it. Without any sign, he reached out his right hand to grab the demonic woman''s breast! The demonic woman was shocked and tried to block Chen Mu with her elbow. Her gaze was so fierce that it could kill.


    Chen Mu''s hands turned soft like an eel. His right hand went underneath Demonic Woman''s elbow, brushed under her rib and held Bogner''s collar tightly. Simultaneously, he blocked Demonic Woman''s sudden jerking right leg with his left arm while his right hand pulled Bogner''s collar with strenuous force! There was not much space between the three of them. Chen Mu''s move turned them into a sandwich. The Demonic Woman was pressed against Chen Mu''s chest as the three crammed together.


    Thud! The ground, where Bogner was at a minute ago, was now covered in broken pieces of rocks. The cave was now filled with dust and soil. But, Bogner was fortunate to be pulled by Chen Mu and narrowly escaped from being buried alive. Even so, he was bleeding from a hit on the head by a piece of fallen rock. Crack! Crack! Crack! The crack steadily expanded from the ceiling towards the exit of the cave! Their hearts pounded in fear every time they heard the sound of cracking. The demonic woman could not hide her frightened expression anymore.


    Crack! Crack! Crack! The fissure had once again arrived on top of Bogner, causing him to shut his eyes in despair. With his bloodshot eyes, Chen Mu let out a loud roar and pulled Bogner again with his utmost strength!


    Half of Chen Mu''s body was already outside the cave! With half of his body outside the cave, he was almost blown away by the strong wind! A loud bang echoed as he glued his back to the rock. He felt as though he was being pressed against the wall and could not move at all!


    This caused him to regain his consciousness suddenly, and the redness in his eyes subsided significantly. But in the next second, the tsunami of fear engulfed him and destroyed his all of his calmness. Despite not being as strong as Wei-ah, he was very much stronger than ordinary people. After consuming the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, the Green Mark in his body enhanced his body markedly. Only an extraordinary cardless sect could beat him in this aspect.


    He never expected that the wind would pin him till he could not move an inch. He felt suffocated after a while! The wind was too strong, to the extent that he could not open his eyes and could barely breathe! Crack! Crack! Crack! The sound of the rocks cracking was like the Grim Reaper''s summoning, ringing clearly in Chen Mu''s ears. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Swoosh! A giant hailstone scarily brushed across half of Chen Mu''s body that was exposed. Chen Mu''s cheek was scratched by debris that fell from the ice cube. Rip! Part of his clothes were torn as though cut by a pair of scissors into countless pieces! Chen Mu could feel the exposed half of his body freezing! He had never faced a situation as miserable as this! The rainstorm showed no sign of subsiding, and the cracking sound of the stone approached them like the footsteps of the Grim Reaper!


    Are we dying here today?


    The thought flashed across Chen Mu''s mind. He could not ignore it as the thought was so vivid. He strained to open his eyes and was staggered by the distressed expression on Bogner''s face. Bogner came here for me¡­ The thought was so intense that he forgot about the rainstorm despite being amongst the lightning and thunder. He is not supposed to die in front of me¡­ The times he had spent with Bogner before now played through his eyes like a film. He''s been a great help to me¡­


    A voice was speaking to him in his mind. All of a sudden, he grinned. With the speed of lightning, he grabbed the Demonic Woman''s waist with his left hand. The Demonic Woman was startled. But, before she could speak, Chen Mu exerted strength using the core of his body and jumped into the rainstorm with the Demonic Woman in his arms!


    Bogner, I hope you can survive¡­ The Demonic Woman''s desperate shriek faded off into the strong wind. In a blink of an eye, they vanished completely! Dumbfounded, Bogner stared at the empty cave before he regained his composure a few seconds later. ¡ª¡ª"Noooo!"


    Chen Mu was extremely dizzy as he got swallowed up by the storm. After experiencing the fear in the beginning, he was now surprisingly calm. However, he did not stop struggling. It was useless for him to defend himself against the might of nature. The only thing he could use was his final trump card.


    State Zero! Big Mud Fish was ready to be fired at anytime! He had no power to control where the wind would bring them to. He could only prevent them from being smashed by the hailstones. Under this circumstance, he was not able to fly even with the help of a jet stream card. He could scarcely dodge the hailstones.


    The Demonic Woman struggled to hold onto Chen Mu. She did not dare to let go! This was her instinct out of fear, just like how a drowning person would grab any straw within his reach. She was not an ordinary person, nonetheless. After she got over the initial fright and despair, she immediately realized the abnormality. Despite being blown away, they have not been injured in the slightest. Indeed, the hailstones that passed by her side occasionally scared her. But all the hailstones merely brushed through her. She quickly realized that this must be Chen Mu''s doing.


    Her hope for survival was reignited. She felt more comfortable being blanketed by the wind, compared to being blown by the wind with her feet on the ground. The wind showed no sign of subsiding, and that worried Chen Mu. They couldn''t escape from the storm if the wind did not subside. They had been drifting in the storm for more than 30 hours now.


    He had never maintained State Zero for such a long time. His survival instinct was keeping him going. He couldn''t help but smile bitterly, his face pale and his lips bruised. The temperature was too low in the storm, and their body temperature plummeted at a shocking speed. This time it was the deep tranquility that saved his life. He inadvertently combined deep tranquility and State Zero, consequently reducing his consumption of energy significantly. The Demonic Woman, who was lying in his embrace, was having a terrible time as well. She was shivering, but she continued to wrap around Chen Mu''s waist tightly.


    Chen Mu could only force another smile. He did not regret dragging the Demonic Woman into this. He was sure that the demonic woman would kill Bogner without hesitation if they were the only ones left in the cave. After so much effort, he did not want the Demonic Woman surviving instead of Bogner.


    Fortunately, he was too weary to think about petty things now. He had to remain focused. A hailstone with a diameter of 10 centimeters was sufficient to cost them their lives. Nevertheless, their capability definitely skyrocketed as they performed amazingly under the pressure of death. Chen Mu was freezing, hungry, thirsty, and lethargic at the same time. However, his mind was surprisingly tranquil, and his perception was unbelievably delicate. It was as though he could deeply sense and understand any slight move and perform better than he could ever imagine.


    Although his delicate perception was always his strength, he had never felt so sensitive. He felt as though he was hallucinating and was able to do anything with his perception. Chen Mu felt that the time was passing by slowly and continuously.


    50 hours had passed!


    Chen Mu was positive that they were very far away from the big crack as the speed of the wind was horrifying. The speed of the storm had profoundly exceeded any velocity he had ever experienced. He believed that even the card artisans in Heavenly Federation who were best at flying could never achieve such a shocking speed.


    60 hours!


    Every cell in Chen Mu''s body had worn out. He shut his eyes as he lost all his energy. His perception, too, was drained. The initially distinctive State Zero had faded off almost completely. Even his deep tranquility seemed to have lost its function. His perception showed no sign of recovering. The Demonic Woman had passed out five hours ago. But, both her hands were still grabbing Chen Mu''s waist tightly. Chen Mu could only bear with it. He did not have the strength to even move a finger, not to mention, to remove the Demonic Woman from his waist.


    70 hours¡­ Or even longer¡­


    Chen Mu was close to losing his consciousness. His brain was completely numb as he was surrounded by darkness. He had depleted his perception completely. Unsure, he felt as though he saw a blue light. But, it also seemed like there was nothing. After a long time, he felt that his body hit something. Am I finally not flying anymore¡­ Chen Mu finally let his guard down. His vision turned into complete darkness as he blacked out.

 572 The Blue Tantra

    "You''re awake." A faint and cold voice came from behind. Chen Mu knew it was the Demonic Woman, Zara, without even turning around. He did not turn back and looked ahead sluggishly instead.


    The endless ocean of sky-blue sparks came to sight in front of him. Countless of flowers that emitted sky-blue fluorescence formed this sparkly blue ocean. The light breeze stirred up the sky-blue waves from time to time. Occasionally, the glowing blue sparkles would be blown into the star-studded sky, like blue mist made by transpiration. The scenery was like a dream, filled with pure fluorescent blue. In the darkness, it was so dazzling and intoxicating!Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "Where is this?" Chen Mu''s voice was a little erratic as he stared at everything in front of him. "The Hundred Depths." The Demonic Woman''s answer was succinct. "The House of a Hundred Depths?""It''s the Hundred Depths!" the Demonic Woman raised her volume slightly to emphasize the difference between the two.


    Chen Mu finally snapped back to reality, and asked puzzledly, "What does it have to do with the House of a Hundred Depths?" The Demonic Woman fixed her gaze on Chen Mu, and calmly said, "The Hundred Depths is the most ferocious place in the House of a Hundred Depths.""Ferocious?" Chen Mu looked in disbelief at the beautiful fluorescent blue ocean in front of him, unable to relate it with the word ''ferocious.''


    "This is the Blue Tantra. It is not poisonous, but they frantically plunder the living spaces of other creatures. A place that was once inhabited by the Blue Tantra can only grow Blue Tantra. Moreover, no discovered creature has been able to consume it." The Demonic Woman lightly described the terrible nature of this beautiful plant.Chen Mu''s heart froze. Never did he imagine that such a cruel fact was hidden under its beautiful appearance.


    "We need to get out of this blue ocean. Otherwise, we are just going to die here." The Demonic Woman glanced at Chen Mu, then went on saying. "There is no hope in finding anything to eat in the Ocean of Blue Tantra." This time, Chen Mu got a little scared for real. The Ocean of Blue Tantra was endless in front of him, and no edges could be seen. He couldn''t help feeling a little small in this piece of the blue ocean.


    The Demonic Woman ignored Chen Mu and took the lead running forward. Chen Mu followed hurriedly. As he made a move, he immediately discovered something strange. As soon as he triggered his mind, his whole body glided forward silently. It was unprecedentedly convenient, and no effort was needed. This discovery made Chen Mu overjoyed, and he hurriedly checked his perception.


    After this examination, he got even happier. The perception in his body, whether it was the accuracy or strength, had greatly improved. He could now easily use the moves that required his full effort previously. The most wonderful thing was that with State Zero, his perception was like a big net, covering every inch of his surrounding space. He could even sense the slight changes in the airflow several kilometers away! Even the State Zero had a breakthrough!


    The discovery made him ecstatic. In the State Zero, he would be much more powerful regardless of how he fought. At his level, insight would be more important than anything else. Did he break through his limits in the storm? Suppressing the ecstasy in his heart, he began to attempt some basic training to adapt to the new changes. Before his breakthrough, he was like a Card Appliance that was well-tuned in all aspects. Now that a specific part was suddenly strengthened, and the balance was broken. What Chen Mu needed to do was to re-establish a new equilibrium that would be stronger than before.


    Chen Mu trained on his own as he followed behind the Demonic Woman. All he did was some basic exercises, such as controlling himself to abruptly do a ten-centimeter lateral shift and using the Bipolar Card to discharge a black and a white energy bead. He used the energy line between the two beads to precisely cut off a petal from a Blue Tantra as if he was using a pair of Power Gloves to do some fine manipulation. Aside from following the Demonic Woman, all of his attention was devoted to these exercises.After practicing for a long time, he felt that his proficiency had gotten stronger and stronger. He could even easily do some high difficulty tactical actions.


    Chen Mu stopped training as he felt a little tired. This fatigue was not caused by excessive consumption but was from his physical body. That was unusual because he used to think that his body was much stronger than his perceptions. Since the first time that Wei-ah saw him, Wei-ah had hoped to teach Chen Mu to acquire a physique like himself. Since then, he rarely encountered a situation where his physical strength couldn''t keep up. On the contrary, his perception was often depleted.


    It was only then that he remembered that he had not eaten or drunk anything for a long time. No wonder his body was so weak! Chen Mu smiled wryly. He had been so happy about his breakthrough that he did not notice that his body had reached the brink of danger. Realizing this, his eyes fell on the Demonic Woman as she didn''t eat or drink either. With a closer look, he found that the Demonic Woman was indeed far weaker than usual. Although her speed of running wasn''t slow, she was obviously tired, giving off a sense of vulnerability.


    Chen Mu suddenly accelerated to the back of the Demonic Woman and hoisted her up swiftly. The Demonic Woman''s strength had reached the brink of collapse, and her response became very slow. She reacted only when Chen Mu carried her into his arms. She subconsciously tried to struggle, but her limbs were weak.


    "Where can we find a water source?" Chen Mu ignored her struggles, and he felt that his throat was on fire. Compared to not consuming any food, it was deadlier to not drink water. A water collector was usually placed in the transport shuttle, so he didn''t have it on him. Even if he did have it, it would be useless as the clothes on his upper body had long been ripped apart. Fortunately, the card wallet was tied tightly to his waist.


    The Demonic Woman stopped struggling. She didn''t have the strength to. She also knew that it was the best option to be flown by Chen Mu now. She gritted her teeth and pointed to a direction. "There should be water in that direction, I can smell it."


    Chen Mu accelerated without hesitation in the direction that the Demonic Woman pointed to. Although the phrase "smelling the water" seemed ridiculous to him, the Demonic Woman was a mystery herself, so another mystery would be normal. Besides, they were at the Hundred Depths that the Demonic Woman was familiar with. The jet stream card shot by at full speed. Chen Mu carried the Demonic Woman and flew across the Ocean of Blue Tantra at low altitude! The agitated airflow stirred up a fluorescent blue fuzz. Beneath the two, the V-shaped blue waves rippled on both sides. The Demonic Woman shut her eyes, perhaps to save physical strength, or to think about something.


    After flying for about 20 minutes, the Demonic Woman suddenly opened her eyes. "We are here!" Chen Mu halted to a stop. He froze in mid-air. He saw a puddle of water that was not too deep. It was about half a meter, and it was crystal clear. By controlling the jet stream card, Chen Mu slowly landed beside the puddle of water with the Demonic Woman. As soon as they touched the ground, the Demonic Woman broke free from the arms of Chen Mu, rolled and crawled to the side of the puddle, drinking big gulps of water.


    Chen Mu wasn''t any better than her. He buried his entire face in the water. The cooling water moisturized his dry throat, and a strong sense of pleasure filled his whole body. Chen Mu could feel that his physical strength was recovering. The two gulped down the water, and only stopped when they got full. They slumped beside the puddle, gasping for air.


    "How did we get here?" Chen Mu asked the Demonic Woman. "I don''t know." The Demonic Woman had slightly recovered, and her voice was a lot steadier. The answer didn''t disappoint Chen Mu because he didn''t expect her to give an answer. It was a fluke to fall into the Cold Crystal Storm and survive. Looking at the lush Blue Tantra around him, he asked, "Does walking out from the Ocean of Blue Tantra means getting out of the Hundred Depths?"


    The Demonic Woman looked at Chen Mu with a hint of pity and ridicule in her gaze, but it was more of a hopeless emptiness. "No one can get out of the Hundred Depths.""No one?" Chen Mu was a little dismissive of this statement. The Demonic Woman ignored him, and said to herself, "The Hundred Depths is the lowest province of the House of a Hundred Depths. The entire House of a Hundred Depths is above our heads.""Heads?" Chen Mu''s jaw fell as he tilted his head upwards at the sky. But nothing could be seen other than darkness.


    "The entire House of a Hundred Depths is underground. No one has reached the earth''s surface before. The closer it is to the surface, the colder it is. Humans can only survive where there is geothermal energy underground. All the plants in the House of a Hundred Depths grow from geothermal energy instead of solar energy. Our limited understanding of the Hundred Depths is from the outermost area, which is equivalent to your jungle periphery. From there, we would hone our skills, look for weapons, materials, and medicines."


    Chen Mu was stunned yet again after listening to the words of the Demonic Woman. He couldn''t help but gasp at how many strange things there were in this vast world. "When I was very young, I honed my skills on the periphery of the Hundred Depths. I know that place very well, and I have never seen such a large area of Ocean of Blue Tantra there." The Demonic Woman said flatly.


    "Do you mean that this is the depth of the Hundred Depths?" Chen Mu asked. He realized that the Demonic Woman was much more talkative here than when she was in the Heavenly Federation. She was also not as indifferent as to how she used to be. At one point, he suspected that the Demonic Woman and Wei-ah were siblings. Their detached tones were identical.


    "We''ll know when we get out of the Ocean of Blue Tantra." With this, the Demonic Woman turned to leave. Chen Mu hurriedly kept up. If he didn''t have the Demonic Woman, he would definitely be lost in this vast Ocean of Blue Tantra. This time, however, he followed the Demonic Woman instead of carrying her, and he continued his practice. There was no use of asking more now, and for him, it was a completely unfamiliar environment. It would be better to focus on improving his strength, which was much more practical.


    He was greatly immersed in his practice, and only a part of his attention was on the back of the Demonic Woman. He hadn''t practiced so sincerely for a long time. Ordinarily, there were too many things that he would need to ponder on. Leading the team, directing a battle, making cards and card appliances¡­


    Now that he could leave everything behind, he seemed to be back to when he had just gotten the mystery card. He only needed to earnestly train, and that alone was enough. The Demonic Woman that had restored a part of her physical strength was like a leopardess. She ran agilely in the blue Ocean of Blue Tantra, leaving a trail of fluttering fluorescent blue fuzz behind her.

 573 The Painted Graphistemma

    "We''ve finally escaped." Chen Mu gazed at the towering cliff in front of him emotionally, the endless Ocean of Blue Tantra stretching out behind him. After three consecutive days of trekking, the pair had finally escaped the sea of death. Looking back at the Ocean of Blue Tantra, it seemed that its beauty had long faded, exposing its underlying ferocity and cruelty. These three days, they had not seen any other living organisms. However, scattered about the perimeter were heaps upon heaps of animal skeletons. These bone remnants revealed the danger underneath this ethereal beauty.


    Originally, with the Demonic Woman''s speed -or lack thereof - it would be impossible to traverse the Ocean of Blue Tantra so quickly. Chen Mu became frustrated with their sluggish progress; hence, he re-enacted the same trick that he had used before. He carried the Demonic Woman and sprinted as fast as he can. Now that his power had considerably surged, his movement speed was even more superb.


    After several days without food, they could not endure the gnawing hunger. If they couldn''t find any food as soon as possible, then they would be finished. The Demonic Woman protested halfheartedly before submitting to the embrace. Chen Mu''s clothes were torn to shreds in the Cold Crystal Storm, and even though her clothes were not damaged, they were made out of a paper-thin material. With them being pressed so close together, it naturally felt a little strange.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Chen Mu repeated countless times in his heart - she is just a monkey.


    But this time, the monkey method didn''t seem to work very well. He still often found it hard to focus. In contrast, Chen Mu felt that the Demonic Woman in his arms seemed to be calmer than him, remaining quiet and cooperative.


    Nevertheless, he was relieved to finally get out of the Ocean of Blue Tantra. It was like a burden was lifted off of his shoulders. Looking around, towering, jagged cliffs could be seen which surrounded the ocean. The cliffs here were extremely high. As far as they can see, the top of the cliffs still remained out of sight.


    Chen Mu gritted his teeth and replaced his power-card. He then tightened his hold on the Demonic Woman and started to scale the uneven surface of the cliff. He flew for ten minutes up the cliff, but the cold surface still remained in front of his face. Their altitude was now terrifyingly high. The good thing was that the airflow here was rather stable. Otherwise, a single misstep could lead him to his death.


    Even though their climbing speed wasn''t exceptionally fast, they had traveled at least dozens of kilometers up the steep cliff after ten minutes. Being so far up and away from the ground, Chen Mu realized that he had never flown so high before, which made him feel slightly unnerved. The Demonic Woman didn''t feel any better. She didn''t dare to move an inch in Chen Mu''s arms.


    Chen Mu had the jet stream card with him, so the possibility of him dying from a fall wasn''t that high. She didn''t, so if she fell from such a high place¡­Peering down from here, a strong sense of vertigo struck. By now, they had no other choices. Thus they could only muster their courage and continue ascending. After flying for about another twenty minutes, they finally had a new discovery.


    At the position where they had come to a halt, there was a crevice that was less than 2 meters wide. The crack was immeasurably deep with powerful gusts of cold wind that blew out from inside, raising their goosebumps. The crevice was definitely an air vent since the force of the wind was strong. When Chen Mu flew past just now, he was unexpectedly blown off-course, and this was how they found this unremarkable crack.


    Both of them couldn''t suppress their joy. The presence of wind indicated that the crack might be a connection to the outside world! Above them, the top of the cliff still couldn''t be seen. They exchanged a look and decided to go in to check it out. The closer they were to the crack, the stronger the wind force. Chen Mu had to use all of his might to force the jet stream card to approach. The wind assaulted the pair relentlessly, causing them to wobble as they failed to make any progress.


    Just as Chen Mu was at a loss, the Demonic Woman suddenly extended a black vine from her hand to a piece of protruding rock. Relying on the black vine, they managed to climb into the crack after much struggling. The wind whipped across their faces, like thousands of cutting knives. They advanced against the wind, going towards the cliff.


    Barely a couple of steps into the crevice, the Demonic Woman suddenly exclaimed. "A Painted Graphistemma!" It was as if she had discovered a treasure. She knelt on the ground and clutched onto a vine in her hand. Chen Mu couldn''t tell the color of the vine due to the darkness in the cave. This vine that the Demonic Woman called a Painted Graphistemma was only of a thumb''s thickness, and its body was bare with nothing on it. It was like a hair that grew on the rock, which sounded absurd when described in such a way. Strangely enough, the vine was motionless despite the force of the wind that blew through the air vent.


    However, seeing that the Demonic Woman act like she had discovered an immeasurable treasure, Chen Mu could infer that this unremarkable vine was not an ordinary object. "Help me," The Demonic Woman raised her head and looked at Chen Mu for help. "I just need about fifteen meters."


    Chen Mu crouched down and reached for the Painted Graphistemma. He asked: "What is this?""It''s Painted Graphistemma." The Demonic Woman''s tone was overjoyed. The usual coldness in the Demonic Woman had disappeared. Without her frosty demeanor, she seemed like an ordinary girl. As soon as the vine was in his hand, Chen Mu immediately sensed the difference.


    Heavy! The weight of the vine was far more than what he had expected. His hand sank from its weight. No wonder the Painted Graphistemma was motionless in the air vent. It was so heavy. It was much heavier than other metal wires of the same diameter. He tried to yank it out, but there was no hint of movement.


    What a tough plant! It was far tougher than any plant that Chen Mu had ever seen. The Demonic Woman then said: "The Painted Graphistemma can''t be ripped out with bare hands. It is one of the toughest and most stubborn plants in existence. You have to use a card!"


    Chen Mu gladly abided and extended his index finger. A black and a white energy bead appeared at his fingertips, followed by a bright, thin beam of light generated between the energy beads. Both energy beads flexibly alternated their positions along with the bright beam. This is the most simplified form of the Go Cage of Thousand Cuts. In the past, he had been unable to demonstrate such delicate control.


    The tiny beam of light and the Painted Graphistemma came into contact. Sizzle! Sparks flew everywhere. Such a scene could only be seen when that beam of light was used to cut metal. Chen Mu secretly marveled in wonder. He moved the beam of light aside and brought the Painted Graphistemma to his eyes. He found that there was no substantial damage to it apart from a subtle mark on its surface.


    Impressive! The curiosity in Chen Mu''s heart increased as he increased his energy input. The beam of light became brighter, and the sparks reappeared with a vengeance. He did not need the Demonic Woman to extol the virtues of the vine. He was already quite interested in this magical plant. The beam of light was so bright that the blaze was blinding. The initial sparks had long since abated by then. Only Chen Mu knew that the damage of the beam of light had already reached an alarming point. It could even easily cut through the majority of power shields.


    But even with such an intense beam of light, it took Chen Mu a full ten minutes to slice through the Painted Graphistemma. Right as that part of the Painted Graphistemma got sawed off, the Demonic Woman snatched it away and could scarcely part with it. "What is this thing used for?" Chen Mu cut off his energy input and dissipated the perception that was used to control the light beam.


    "As a weapon," The Demonic Woman declared proudly. "It would be the most powerful weapon!" Weapon? Chen Mu looked at the smooth Painted Graphistemma and remembered the Demonic Woman''s black vine that could come and go like a shadow. He was stunned by that revelation.


    "Let''s go." The feeling of being in the air vent was not pleasant. They walked against the wind for about fifty meters, and they were finally greeted by a widening of the narrow space, which was a sight for sore eyes. The wind force had suddenly weakened.


    Growing sparsely over the ground were several species of plants that Chen Mu couldn''t name. These plants were completely different from those that could be found in the Heavenly Federation. These were either black or dark brown in color, none of them were green.


    When the Demonic Woman''s gaze fell on a plant, the Painted Graphistemma that she had just acquired trembled gently, before accurately entangling itself around that plant like a nimble snake. This plant was also rather strange. It only had bare twigs, and the tip of the branches was abnormally sharp, just like thorns. Clinging to the twigs were a couple of black colored fruits. She pulled at the base of the plant gently, and it was easily uprooted from the soil.


    The Demonic Woman plucked the dark fruits off the plant and passed a few to Chen Mu. "They''re edible," she explained. Then, she gobbled up the remaining herself. Chen Mu accepted her offering and took a bite without hesitation. It was a type of berry bursting with juice. Although it wasn''t too sweet, he ate it up instantly. After finishing them up, he wiped his mouth, yearning for more. "Are there more?"


    After eating that few fruits, the feeling of fullness in his belly was bliss to Chen Mu. Both of their bodies were outrageously strong, and their ability of nutrient absorption was also abnormally efficient. Soon, their stamina was practically fully recovered. They stood up at the same time and began to search for more food.


    The terrain here was very different from the Ocean of Blue Tantra. It was uneven and rough, and the plants were sparse, unlike the spectacular sight of the large patches of flora in the Ocean of Blue Tantra. The plants here were all bizarre in appearance, with next to no leaves. These low shrubs, if you could even call them shrubs, looked like fake trees made out of intertwined wires.


    This place and the Heavenly Federation were like two contrasting worlds. There were black and grey colors in abundance, while other colors could barely be seen. It was far less colorful than the jungles in the Heavenly Federation. However, the tenacity of these plants left an impression on Chen Mu, since he could not even pick many of them with his bare hands. They grew tenaciously in this place that never saw the sun.


    The Demonic Woman found several other edible things to fill their bellies, and their hunger was finally semi-satisfied. The unlikely pair had gradually regained their strength, and proportionately their courage as well. They continued to move forward. Despite their recovery and a semblance of safety here, the Demonic Woman''s eyes had maintained a high degree of vigilance, which caused Chen Mu to realize that this was still a place overflowing with danger.


    They trudged forward cautiously for about half an hour without many changes in the vegetation along the way. Chen Mu stopped walking all of a sudden, startling the Demonic Woman. She approached Chen Mu unobtrusively and murmured. "What''s wrong?"


    "There''s a little flying thing approaching this way," Chen Mu whispered back. "How big is it?""It''s about this big." Chen Mu gestured in the air with his hands, showing that it was about half as big as his fist. His facial expression suddenly changed, "It seemed to have discovered us, it''s speeding up! It''s too fast!"


    Almost as soon as he said that the Demonic Woman''s pupils suddenly contracted. They were tightly focused on the rapidly growing black spot in front. It suddenly sprang in front of the two, and halted without any sign! The move was reminiscent of Chen Mu''s emergency stop in mid-air before this.


    The ridiculous speed made Chen Mu''s jaw drop, and he stared closely at the tiny organism. The Demonic Woman''s expression darkened dramatically, and there was a paralyzing fear in her voice when she finally spoke. "It''s a Shadow Bee!"

 574 Shadow Bee

    Chen Mu did not know the Shadow Bee mentioned by the Demonic Woman, but now he clearly witnessed the little fella''s terrifying attack power. Moreover, it was so strong, it could make the Demonic Woman anxious. Its lightning speed alone was enough to strain Chen Mu''s nerves.


    Suddenly, his vision was a blur, and the creature disappeared from his sight again, shocking Chen Mu. He subconsciously moved his body. Almost at the same time, a flash of light struck at the position he stood a moment ago.


    So fast! A chill ran through Chen Mu''s heart. If it weren''t for his breakthrough just now, being alerted by State Zero, he would definitely have been beheaded by that flash of light! Before entering the Federation, it was quite rare for him to be threatened by a wild creature, even deep in the jungle.


    He would never have thought that the first creature he''d meet in Hundred Depths would be so dreadful! He was now compelled to believe what the Demonic Woman said, that no one would be able to get out from Hundred Depths. The Shadow Bee was several times faster than the Wavy Snow Bat, which was well-known for its high speed.


    It was too fast! Another flash of murderous light struck just short of Chen Mu''s chest. The chilling killing intent made his hair stand on their end. Then, the creature disappeared from his vision once again.


    Ding! The Demonic Woman finally attempted to attack the Shadow Bee. She rolled the black vines on her hand into a ball to block its attacks. Chen Mu had just recovered from his shock. At this very moment, he felt that he was only one step away from death as if he literally rubbed shoulders with the reaper.


    Ding Ding Ding! The Demonic Woman was thrown into panic as her black vines were unable to keep up with the Shadow Bee''s terrific speed. Her life was at risk many times. Chen Mu was concentrated as all of his random thoughts and fears disappeared. The only thing that left in his vision was the afterimage of the Shadow Bee, which could hardly be seen.


    Perhaps due to his attentiveness, Chen Mu realized that he was able to keep up with the Shadow Bee''s speed under State Zero! But its speed was still incredibly fast! Although he could keep up with its pace, he was still unable to attack it. Energy forms are usually known for their speed; however, he was still inferior to this creature born for speed.


    He no longer hesitated, or rather, he had no leeway for hesitation anymore. This scary creature could attack him numerous times every second. He had never seen such a high frequency of attack before.


    Go Cage of Thousand Cuts! At that moment, the black and white energy beads appeared floating around the air. At the same time, blazing light and numerous light beams crossed perpendicularly, forming a fine cage of light! The cage of light was so tight that there was very little distance between each light beam. Chen Mu had created a record-breaking number of light beams! The more light beams he created, the finer the cuts were. His killing intent was boiling!


    Chen Mu had given his all! He didn''t dare to hold back any of his power! The cage of light was floating in the air, as if it was weaved using many fine gold wires, just like an exquisite artwork. There was a creature the size of half an adult''s fist being trapped inside the cage of light. Its body was penetrated by numerous light beams. Only now did Chen Mu saw the Shadow Bee''s full body. It was larger than the common bees. Its whole body was coated in a shiny black metallic surface. What most threatening was the weapon at the end of its body! Different from the stingers of other bees, its stinger was dark and thin, approximately seven to eight centimeters, which made it look unusually threatening and ferocious.


    Slap! There was a slight noise, and the Shadow Bee was sliced into several parts, falling to the ground. Both of them looked at each other in relief from avoiding death. "Are there many creatures like this inside?" Chen Mu was trying to sound as calm as possible. The Demonic Woman was gasping. Though the battle just now only lasted for a short time, her stamina and mental strength were greatly exhausted. After bringing her breath back to normal, she explained slowly. "Shadow Bee ranked 17th most dangerous in the Hundred Depths'' Bestiary of discovered beasts."


    "17th¡­" Chen Mu swallowed hard. The Demonic Woman looked at Chen Mu, "What''s worse is that they live in groups." Then, she added quickly, "No one had visited the interior of the Hundred Depths before, so no one knows what exactly is here."


    Chen Mu was speechless. This terrifyingly fast killer lived in groups! And it was only ranked 17th in the Bestiary? Gosh, doesn''t that mean that there would be at least 16 creatures that are more difficult to deal with waiting for them? The Demonic Woman was still emphasizing the fact that they were still inside the Hundred Depths, which had numerous unknown and scary creatures that were not yet listed in the Bestiary!


    In other words, they could face 16 types of even more powerful creatures! Chen Mu looked even more ghastly than before. "What a scary place!" Chen Mu released his frustration with a shout as he could no longer stay calm.


    * * *


    Seven days later.


    Chen Mu was tending to the wounds on his body carefully. There were approximately seven to eight cuts on his chest and back. Some of the cuts had started to scar while some were still dark red with blood. However, his face was stone cold as he became used to getting injuries across the several battles in these few days.


    "Were all the materials collected?" asked Chen Mu to the Demonic Woman while he applied medicine to his wounds. This was their temporary camp. Chen Mu put all his belongings here as he didn''t worry about losing these items.


    "Yes, everything is here," said the Demonic Woman, pleased. Chen Mu revealed a relieved face. He got some of the wounds on his body while he was helping the Demonic Woman to collect the materials. Since they were trapped in the Hundred Depths together, they have no choice but to help each other to survive. This had made their relationship better as the Demonic Woman was willing to help tend to Chen Mu''s wounds. Yet, it was limited only to his back, which he couldn''t do by himself.


    The reason he helped her to collect the materials was to use the Painted Graphistemma that he collected in the wind rift. The Demonic Woman''s black wine was comparatively weak while facing the wild creatures here. She needed stronger weapons urgently. The Painted Graphistemma would be able to meet her needs. However, they needed more materials to make it into a card. Fortunately, though there were many ferocious creatures in Hundred Depths, precious materials were readily found.


    The Demonic Woman used her perception whenever she used her black vine. Chen Mu knew about this when they first met. He still remembered when she converted a card into a thin filament. It seemed like magic to him then. Now only he realized that it was actually just a different type of card.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    The earliest card technology used in the House of Hundred Depths actually originated from the Federation. Throughout the years, the wise people among them had successfully developed a unique card system. Now, their card system was far better than the Van Sant System, which was popular in the Federation. This was most likely due to the unique environment of the Hundred Depths.


    Although Chen Mu was here only for a few days, he had keenly noticed the difference between the two systems. Especially in terms of materials, the Hundred Depths were blessed with rare materials. Since they were dependent on geothermal energy instead of light energy, the depths consisted of numerous fine channels similar to a grid of veins. It was the presence of such channels that made them easily affected by perception.


    The perception of the Demonic Woman was not too strong. In the Federation, she would only be regarded as a lower-grade card artisan. However, she was able to fully control the black vine on her hand, as if an extension from her body. She could not only control its power, but she knew how to use perception to support her control. To a certain extent, her vine was like Chen Mu''s Power Gloves. What made them different was that the former occurred naturally while the latter was artificial.


    Combining her exceptional technical skill and excellent speed, as well as her talent in utilizing the dark element, she was an absolute terror. What amazed Chen Mu the most was the Demonic Woman''s incredible skills. It was totally different from Wei-ah''s style of the cardless sects, hers was even more versatile and unpredictable, and it did not focus on power. One similarity between them was that these skills were accumulated over the generations to compiled into a complete system.


    The Demonic Woman was in deep concentration. She soaked the Painted Graphistemma in different types of liquids patiently. It seemed like a traditional method, but in Chen Mu''s eyes, there was not much difference between this method with his way of treating the materials in card-making. It was a process that required a lot of patience. A total of 15 days was spent on treating the materials and included 31 treatment methods in the process.


    When Chen Mu carefully observed the Painted Graphistemma, he was shocked to realize that the Painted Graphistemma had a naturally patterned structure. In other words, it was a natural card appliance! The procedures applied to it were only to enhance its performance. Chen Mu was amazed by his discovery.


    To him, the Hundred Depths was really a utopia. However, the existence of these natural card appliance had left the card system in the Hundred Depths relatively primitive. They didn''t need to study better patterns as they were already blessed with natural resources. They only needed to utilize the resources well.


    The only thing that stunned Chen Mu was the ability of the Demonic Woman to convert it into a card. It seemed like a magical conversion, and it amazed Chen Mu. It was regretful to say that the conversion was beyond his knowledge. When he asked the Demonic Woman, she also didn''t know the methodology behind the conversion. It was passed down to her from generation to generation. Chen Mu was suddenly amazed by the unique wisdom of the previous generations. He daren''t underestimate them any longer.


    With the Painted Graphistemma, the Demonic Woman was like a tiger with wings, she became much stronger. Both of them carefully attempted to explore the outside of the Hundred Depths. During the journey, they were involved in many battles. However, they had no choice but to fight to get out of this place unless they wanted to stay in this place for their entire life.


    Neither the Demonic Woman nor Chen Mu was willing to do so! Killing was the only option for them to survive here. They had to keep battling so that they could survive and get out of the place. By day 30, they had moved forward by a lot. There were many new injuries on Chen Mu''s body, but he has gotten used to this. Now, he looked fiercer and more murderous, as if a gleaming sword out of its sheath revealing its sharpness.The Demonic Woman stood beside Chen Mu quietly, the Painted Graphistemma curled on her body like a snake.

 575 Sapphire Crystal

    They had killed hundreds of creatures in these 30 days, including more than 20 Shadow Bees. Even the Black Python which ranked 15th and the Spur Rhino which ranked 14th were killed by them. They had killed many unknown creatures as well.


    30 days was not long, but it was like centuries for both of them, who had experienced a lot of gory battles over this period. They had become stronger than before, especially Chen Mu. He showed rapid improvements in every aspect. In the Federation, there were only a few battles that would require him to get involved personally. However, he had fought hard battles in the Hundred Depths every day. The days were filled with killing and life or death experiences. These 30 days of hardship had refined Chen Mu as if he had been reborn into a new person.


    "I don''t have many power cards left," said Chen Mu while frowning. He had used up a lot of power cards in his battles over this period. It was fortunate that he was used to carrying a large number of power cards with him. Otherwise, he wouldn''t be able to cope with the battles. His combat power would be lower if his power cards had exhausted. His talent as a cardless sect was only enough against a typical card artisan, not against these ferocious creatures.


    The Demonic Woman paused her actions for a second and immediately resumed. She asked. "Then what should we do?" Chen Mu was running out of clues and taking out everything from his pockets. He had with him a pen with weak ink, several cards, money card and etc., as well as some pieces of mud. The money card had no value in this place. As for the other cards, they were like waste papers if they were without power cards.


    He gazed at the pieces of black mud for a while. He was suddenly overjoyed. How could I have forgotten about these little things? He picked up a piece of black mud and carefully open its outer layer. A strong power fluctuation hit Chen Mu''s perception.


    A strong energy wave charged towards him! Chen Mu was looking at the sapphire-like crystal. He had more experience now, so, although he still didn''t know what the crystal actually was, he could judge its nature. It was a crystal with considerably high energy content. Its energy density was much higher than the other energy-containing ores that he had seen before. For example, the energy within a Moon Stone, which was commonly used for power card making, could not compare to even a single percent of the energy contained this crystal.


    Yet, he did not have enough materials right now. First of all, he needed a blank card. Most importantly, tanning a blank card actually required multiple procedures. He obviously couldn''t do that right now. Moreover, he required many supplementary materials to process the crystal.


    Luckily, Chen Mu wasn''t an inflexible person, and he was able to adapt to changes. He had never thrown away any of his used power cards, so now he only needed to clean and treat the cards. The other useless cards in his pocket could also be recycled and repurposed.


    As for the problem regarding other materials, he could only face them head-on. Hence, he started to search in the areas that he had explored in these 30 days. He would investigate every living being and ore. Without any probing equipment, processing tools, or any useful cards, he could only use the most primitive way¡ªhis perception!


    He diligently utilized his perception to scan all the unknown materials. He was trying to determine their nature by observing their microstructure. Chen Mu didn''t know that no one had used perception in this way before. Caesar would be appalled if he knew Chen Mu was applying his Oblivion Mode for such a purpose!


    He maximized his perception to distinguish the microstructure of materials, especially in terms of accuracy. Though the total area explored in these 30 days wasn''t big, they had discovered a significant amount of unknown materials. Plants, ores, organisms...


    All of these were in his scope of investigation. No one would be willing to start from the base as what Chen Mu was doing because it was such an extreme task. However, without hesitation, Chen Mu chose the method that seemed to be most tedious. No one knew how long they had to stay in this place. These tasks seemed complicated, but with every extra effort, their probability of survival in the Hundred Depths would increase.


    Over these 30 days, he had forgotten the number of battles he had fought. He almost died in some of the battles if it weren''t for his luck. However, he couldn''t depend only on luck. He knew how hard it was to survive in this place. He thought he should set up preparations for the long term. These preparations were the foundation for their long term battles.


    They had no choice but to slow down their pace. Every day, Chen Mu tried his best to utilize his perception to investigate materials. He did not know if it was because of his frequent utilization of perception, but his perception accuracy had rapidly improved. He was getting used to this material classification method which had not been taught in any of the teaching materials.


    After a few close calls with death, there was a quality change in his Oblivion Mode. He could activate Oblivion Mode anytime without feeling uncomfortable. There was also a change in the white lines, where they had become paler in color and almost invisible. However, he was able to clearly and easily perceive these hardly seen lines even if they were in a colored vision. When there was danger approaching, he could perceive it earlier and hence avoid it.


    The combination of One Breath Perception Training Method and deep tranquility was able to unleash a high attack power under the stress of being killed. His perception was experiencing change almost every day.


    It was a dull life, as they were battling and investigating the materials every day. The Demonic Woman seemed to be getting used to this lifestyle. They usually didn''t talk, but they had built an understanding with each other through the battles. Moreover, they had stronger attack power when combining forces to fight off their opponents.


    Chen Mu was carefully collecting the poisonous powder from the Poisonous Colorful Moth. The Poisonous Colorful Moth was big in size, and its body length was more than 25 centimeters with its wings spread out. It had a brightly colored body, especially its wings which were like two rainbows. Its flight speed was not fast, but it would create a colorful but poisonous region surrounding itself. Any creature that intruded its territory would be poisoned.


    This was an extremely dangerous creature. However, Chen Mu didn''t find it troublesome as he could quickly kill it by using the Bipolar Card. According to the Demonic Woman, the colorful powder from this creature was a useful material that was usually bought by many tribes with a high price to make weapons.


    This had triggered Chen Mu''s interest in it. Hence he collected the poisonous powder purposely. Almost all of the creatures in this area had been killed by the two of them. Even the Spur Rhino, which the Demonic Woman didn''t dare to mess with previously, had been killed by them as well. Now, the Shadow Bees fled as soon as they saw them. Chen Mu was amazed by the intelligence of these creatures.


    "Hah! This poisonous powder is such a great thing!" Chen Mu shouted in surprise. He had all the materials and only lacked a catalyst right now, but this poisonous powder was actually a catalyst in nature. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    The Demonic Woman felt a little strange when she looked at Chen Mu, who was very happy. He had such a rapid progression over this period. When he first arrived at this place, he was weaker than her. However, he had improved after each battle. After a dozen battles, he was already on par with her. Moreover, his improvement rate hadn''t faltered at all, and he had become the main attacker in every battle.


    She had never met such a powerful person before! Was he super talented? Or did he have more potential than anyone else? She was improving at an impressive pace, but her progression was slower than his, which was a little depressing. Moreover, her improvement was from obtaining the Painted Graphistemma.


    After killing the Black Python, which was ranked 15th and the Spur Rhino which ranked 14th, she suddenly thought that they could really get out of the Hundred Depths. Chen Mu couldn''t wait to return to the camp with the Demonic Woman after he was done collecting the poisonous powder.


    Their camp was quite simple, it was just a concave-shaped land that served as a shelter from the wind. They poured the urine and hairs of some strong creatures around their camp to prevent other animals from entering their camp. The fire pit warmed the camp. However, they were burning pale red-colored stones instead of wood in the fire pit. Chen Mu had never seen such rocks before, but he knew that the stones were incomplete power stones. It was a pity when he realized about this as such stones couldn''t be used to make power cards due to their low power content. Later, he had a sudden idea to burn the stones in the fire pit.


    Surprisingly, it was an excellent combustion material. It released no smoke, consistently generated heat, and burned for quite a long time. This shocked the Demonic Woman. According to her, the stone was quite common. It was known as Red Meteorite Stone in the House of a Hundred Depths, but nobody thought of using the stone as combustion material.


    The burning Red Meteorite stones in the fire pit were emitting heat energy and warming the place. It was flickering, making the light reflected on Chen Mu''s face also shine unsteadily. He was looking unusually attentive. There were many strange items in front of him, including different types of stones, plant tubers, unknown fruits, animal blood...


    He started to work on the materials without hesitation as he had already planned what to do. The Demonic Woman looked at Chen Mu curiously. She had never seen the card-making process of a card master. She had been in the Federation for quite some time; hence, she gained an understanding of many things. She definitely knew how much a power card meant to them. She couldn''t get out from Hundred Depths without Chen Mu as the main attacker. This made her a little nervous.


    Chen Mu looked calm and attentive with his quick and controlled actions. It was hard to imagine that he was actually using unfamiliar materials to make the cards. Those who didn''t know about this would think that he had been through the process many times before.


    The materials on his hand kept changing, which amazed the Demonic Woman. The whole process took around four hours. For those four hours, Chen Mu did not move his eyes away from the primitive container in front of him. The final products were the three cards that were just finished in front of him!

 576 Eastern Wei

    The power-cards they produced were beyond Chen Mu''s imagination, making it difficult for Chen Mu to identify the number of the stars on the power-cards. However, he was able to quickly set aside this technical question as there was no use to spend his time here pondering on these questions.


    It was a better option for him to spend his time on the training.


    The power of the power-cards had exceeded his expectations. He probably would not need to worry about finishing the power-card for a long period of time. Meanwhile, he could focus on returning to his normal training routines. Previously, he had to forego his regular training because of the lack of power-card, as training required the consumption of the energy form. He could only do the practices of the careless sect. However, Wei-ah was not around, yet the demonic woman''s training method was not suitable for his physique.


    His Airskill, which standard was only slightly above average, was barely sufficient to stun the card artisans. Worse, if he were to apply his Airskill on the feral and ferocious beasts, it would scarcely give them a tickle. Chen Mu had once tried to attack the Thorny Rhino with his sharp Air Slash. That did not even leave a white mark on the body of the Thorny Rhino. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    The demonic woman was being very blunt as she told Chen Mu that his performance was lacklustre. If this happened on Wei-ah, she believed that there would not be much issue. This remark was very hurtful, but it had not deflated Chen Mu''s morale. In his mind, Wei-ah had long been an invincible figure. Moreover, by relying on his intellect, both of them had managed to grind the Prickly Bone Rhino to death. That incident had kept him pumped for a very long time.


    As their group was small, they were less flexible in terms of their tactics. Despite that, Chen Mu managed to discover the value of their tactics.


    If one had never applied his or her knowledge practically, one would most probably fail to recall the knowledge during crucial and dangerous times.


    The demonic woman was never a pretentious woman. Knowing that this was not her forte, she made a wise choice to leave the leader''s role to Chen Mu and acted as his assistant most of the time.


    Completing the power-card had put Chen Mu in good mood as the main problem had now been solved. At the House of a Hundred Depths, one had to fight in order to survive. Resources here were extremely limited, hence, all the living things struggled to survive. The fight for survival amongst them were exceptionally brutal.


    A thought flashed across his head. He said to the demonic woman, "Show me your Painted Graphistemma."


    Confused, the demonic woman looked at him, but nevertheless passed the Painted Graphistemma to Chen Mu. After several days of comradeship, an unspoken trust had developed between the two of them.


    After Chen Mu took over the Painted Graphistemma, he began to study it using his perception. Over the past few days, he had gradually grown familiar with his perception and was able to use it more smoothly. This time, his perception had provided him with many new discoveries. There were innumerable tiny little veins within the Painted Graphistemma. Coupled with the demonic woman''s previous enhancement, the closely packed veins had become more apparent.


    Indeed, it was a natural Card Appliance!


    Those intricate network of veins formed a natural pattern on the Painted Graphistemma. It contained a peculiar and strange source of energy that probably fueled by its own power, just the role of a power-card to Card Appliance. The way the demonic woman used the Painted Graphistemma consumed minimal energy, which subsequently expanded its lifespan.


    As for natural Card Appliances like the Painted Graphistemma, it was difficult for Chen Mu to modify its structure. He was unable to rectify the intricate web of veins within it. Maybe he would come up with a solution in the future, but currently he had no choice but to let it slide.


    He returned the Painted Graphistemma to the demonic woman.


    Ten days later.


    "We need to leave now," said Chen Mu.


    The demonic woman agreed. They had already consumed every edible thing for the past few days. They were only left with the Shadow Bee that were impossible and had little meat. Furthermore, these creatures, out of their fear toward the both of them, were being exceptionally vigilant.


    Both of them were very cautious with their actions. They prepared a sheer volume of clear water, together with all the materials that Chen Mu thought might come in handy. They made especially slow advances, thinking that it was better to be safe than sorry in a place full of danger.


    They continued to search for a new base camp, worked hard to survive and stole food from other living creatures. Their lives were boring and monotonous. Each and everyday day they had to face the crudest and most primitive of battle and slaughter. They saw no fruit to their hard work.


    The extended plains were overwhelmed by eternal gray. There was no way one could see the border of it.


    Bogner''s pupils were unfocused. He spent his days stared blankly at the unfruitful horizon through the window, which had later turned into his habit.


    Being the main person in charge of Eastern Wei Base, he was supposed to return to the Eastern Wei Base to manage all kinds of affairs. However, he refused to leave the Big Crack Base regardlessly and opted to stay at the ash stratum. His mind was so firm that Xi Ping and the others were not able to persuade him. Due to his personal supervision at the Big Crack Base, their infrastructure development had progressed rapidly. Today the Big Crack Base had become an inseparable part of the Eastern Wei Base, as it had been continuously supplying the latter with various rare materials. This greatly promoted development of the Eastern Wei Base over the years.


    Moreover, the Big Crack Base was also the most important training ground for the Eastern Wei Base. In the future, the training of the team members would be conducted here.


    After two years of development, the Eastern Wei Base had become a new rising force. People normally regarded them as the "Eastern Wei". For years, the Eastern Wei had been keeping a low profile, but no one had the audacity to doubt its power. The Hunters that were formed by the members of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team had especially acquired a reputation. Compared to the newly founded Tang Camp under Tang Hanpei''s leadership which used the same Power Gloves as their main weapon, the Hunters were more influential.


    The situation at the Heavenly Federation had not improved over the past two years. Instead, the chaos had got more immense. The two tyrants, namely Tang Hanpei and Su Heiming, were still powerful and ruthless as ever. However, the alliance of the four of the Big Six with Faya perfectly stopped the two of them. The battle between military forces had grown increasingly intense. The two great Military Force from the Desert Camp and the First Military Force of Wei Yueqing were combinedly blitz by an alliance of other military forces. The blood shed during the war was way more than everyone''s expectations.


    According to unofficial data, about 75 cities were eliminated from the map within two years, including six large cities, not to mention the high death toll.


    The Five flourishing districts, which everyone once hankered after, had now turned into a slaughterhouse. Citizens that were terrified and ridden with despair had quickly fled from the flourishing districts and formed a beeline towards the common residential district. There were also card artisan team among those who escaped. There was no way for the card artisans, who came from the flourishing districts, to succumb to the countrymen whom they used to despise.


    Their arrival intensified the tension at the common residential district.


    Compared to other places, the Eastern Wei Base could well be deemed as a safe haven. Today, many people had visited the base out of admiration. However, the base was not able to accommodate the sheer amount of residential applications despite the size of their territory had grown 25 fold. Therefore, the superior powers of Eastern Wei had decided to deploy the Wood Battalion to clean up their city''s adjacent areas to a larger no-man''s zone.


    Those who did not manage to secure a residential right had voluntarily settled at the no-man''s zone. The Eastern Wei never interfered with their daily lives, leaving the people to manage and organize their own place. But administratively, that region was subordinated to the Eastern Wei Base. The organic emergence of such cities and townships had since been known as the Satellite City.


    Due to the city''s reputation for their good safety, the Eastern Shang-Wei City moved forward to becoming the Heavenly Federation''s busiest city, to which its surface area had increased ten-fold. The city owned the biggest trading market in the entire Heavenly Federation, making it a heaven for card masters and Card Appliance Specialists. In this place, the stature of the Card Appliance Specialists was not second to the card masters. This attracted the arrival of many Card Appliance Specialists.


    The Eastern Wei Base had flourished tremendously. It was only normal for it to be overwhelmed by jealousy from the outsiders.


    But the Eastern Wei Base proved their abilities by their actions. The Wood Battalion and the Hunters went through some 20 rounds of battle within these two years with zero defeat, menacing those who were coveting.


    A few black dots entered Bogner''s field of vision. These dots moved at extremely high speed. In the blink of an eye, they appeared before the base''s entrance. Without the need to guess, Bogner knew it was Wei-ah and his company. For the past two years, Wei-ah often left the base, bringing along Little Bu Mo, Sue, Yangshan Fei. It was normal for them to disappear for a good few days and Wei-ah would always return with hauls, such as a Card Insertion. Nobody ever knew where they went, neither had Wei-ah ever revealed their whereabouts. The credit to the successful transformation of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Team went to Wei-ah''s efforts of bringing in the Card Insertion from every trip.


    Although no one knew the origin of the Card Insertion, everyone was very used to Wei-ah''s frequent disappearance.


    "We''re finally back," Yangshan Fei moaned out of satisfaction the moment he arrived at his room, relieved.


    Sue dusted her head. Her dark golden mask was also tainted with a thin layer of dust. She smiled half-heartedly and said, "I can finally take a shower. The past few days were torturing."


    "Shower?" Yangshan Fei muttered, "I only want to sleep soundly. Wei-ah is such a sicko! Great. Now, Little Bu Mo has also turned into a freak. They do not seem to feel tired at all even after such a long trip!"


    "Wei-ah, that sicko..." Even Sue who was always well mannered to everybody could not help but curse as well.


    "Haha!" Yangshan Fei blanked out for a second before he stared at Sue as if she was an alien. Abruptly, he burst out laughing, "Haha! Who would''ve thought that you would curse too!"


    Sue froze the movement on her hand and proceeded to laugh along.


    The volume of their laughter gradually decreased. After a while, it finally ceased.


    "Sue, when do you think we can leave this place?" Yangshan Fei suddenly lifted his head and asked.


    Sue heaved a faint sigh and answered, "Unless Chen Mu comes back, otherwise Wei-ah will never allow us to leave this place."


    "Godd*mn Wei-ah!" Yangshan Fei grunted. Ever since Chen Mu vanished within the storm, Wei-ah would make it a point to bring two companions when he was going for a long trip. Every time they met his apathetic gaze, they felt a chill down their spines. There was once where Yangshan Fei was driven up the wall and refused to follow. Consequently, he almost got himself killed by Wei-ah. Ever since then, they would submit to any of his requests.


    In actual fact, as Chen Mu was not around, they understood that their presence at the Big Crack Base was a significant security risk for the base. That was why Wei-ah made sure to bring them along during all his trips, to ensure that the both of them would not create any emergency situations when he was away.


    However, going out with Wei-ah was not a happy sport. Wei-ah resembled a robot, never feeling tired. He was able to travel days and nights without resting. In fact, this seemed but an everyday routine for him. Even if they were merely flying behind him, both of them had suffered tremendously. Back then, Wei-ah would slow down his pace out of worry for Little Bu Mo''s unremarkable stamina. However, now that Little Bu Mo had picked up and was able to slowly adapt to Wei-ah''s fanatic mode. Little Bu Mo''s unstoppable energy had caused Sue and Yangshan Fei''s situation to deteriorate sharply.


    Both of them fell into silence again.

 577 Comprehensive Concerns from the Four

    Su Heiming was listening intently to his subordinate''s report.


    "There are news coming from the Mohadi Domain. People other than Mr Benji were all knocked down and he seems to be having a nervous breakdown because upon returning to his tribe, he hasn''t been seen in public for once. No one has any idea about what they had been through, not even their King as Mr Benji refuses to answer the King''s call-in by pretending to be sick. They sent a new team to fulfil our mutual agreement but two of the new members had disappeared since entering Heavenly Federation. We tailed the two suspects once we realized it and it has been confirmed that their target will most probably be Tang Hanpei."


    "Tang Hanpei?" Su Heiming narrowed his eyes, his expression dark and tension arose. The subordinate who was reporting his findings held his breath as he was afraid to step on Su Heiming''s mine.


    "Yes sir! I dare not make any decision on this matter. Please convey me your instructions!"


    "What''s the purpose for them to see Tang Hanpei?" Su Heiming was thinking hard.


    "I have no idea yet, sir," the subordinate replied reverently.


    "Are they trying to benefit themselves from both sides?" Su Heiming snorted while mumbling to himself. "However, that''s not going to happen."


    He let out a deep groan before he continued, "Tang Hanpei is my greatest enemy, if the people of the Mohadi Domain are going to side themselves with him, hmph! Take both of them down and listen to what they have to say. People of the Mohadi Domain aren''t that simple."


    "Yes sir!" His subordinate obeyed his instructions immediately.


    "How about the others? Are they under control?" Su Heiming''s mood lightened up after resolving one of the problems.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "Most of them are under our control. However, there are a few of them who seem to be conspiring a plan among themselves. Our people who lurked after them have grasped a hold of the situation and we will get them once the evidence comes in positive," the subordinate replied humbly. He knew from his heart that everything he owned, including his power, were all granted by the man sitting in front of him.


    "Well, make sure you act mercilessly. But, before that, the evidence must be conclusive. It''s time for you to perform," Su Heiming said casually.


    "Yes sir." The subordinate remembered something but was hesitant to tell. "Sir, I heard something but I''m not sure whether I should tell you."


    "Say it," Su Heiming replied dryly.


    The subordinate organized his thoughts before speaking, "Have you heard about the Eastern Wei Base, sir?"


    "The Eastern Wei Base? Oh, I remember. It is a base created by Caesar''s student. He is great but he refused to work with me," Su Heiming said regretfully. He raised his head suddenly, "Oh yeah, Benji was defeated by him, wasn''t it?"


    "You are right, sir!" The subordinate praised Su Heiming. "Eastern Wei Base was expanding fast for the past two years. Even though their base is still small, they''re in common residential district. Their potential is huge, not far behind when compared to Faya."


    Su Heiming straightened his body, clearly intrigued by the topic. "Oh, they''ve achieved a status this high in only two years time? Caesar has found an outstanding apprentice."


    "The rise of the Eastern Wei Base was much like a shock. Although they have Snow Worm Card Artisan Team and Wood Battalion, their expansion was above normal rate and it all happened without them being the initiative ones. Besides, according to our investigation, Chen Mu wasn''t backed by any forces or consortiums."


    "Oh, what''s the reason then?" Su Heiming asked with a smile.


    "I was suspicious so I carried out some in-depth investigation about the Eastern Wei Base. I found that the reason for their massive and rapid expansion was due to their formidable economic appeal. However, Eastern Shang-Wei City is merely an ordinary city. Its commercial base shouldn''t be this powerful. We conducted a search on Eastern Wei Base''s trading and some shocking revelation was uncovered." The subordinate stole a glance at Su Heiming and saw an intrigued face staring back at himself. He was relieved and continued.


    "Based on the search, we found that the largest sales from the city were from the sales of different rare and precious materials! These materials formed a huge part of its trade and the suppliers of these Materials were Eastern Wei Base itself! There are more or less 20 types of Rare and Precious Materials involved and they seem to appear out of nowhere in the city."


    Su Heiming was reminded about something suddenly. The smile on his face faded away slowly.


    "There was a rumour being spread in the city. They said that it is possible to have transit windows in the Eastern Wei Base itself. I am doubtful about this too. It''s only possible to produce this much of rare and precious materials all at the same time in an ash stratum," the subordinate revealed the information gathered all at once to Su Heiming.


    "Transit windows!" Su Heiming''s eyes brightened up all of a sudden. He was clearly provoked by the mention of these two words.


    After a moment of silence, Su Heiming gave his instruction suddenly, "Widen the search and find out what''s going on there! Right now!"


    "Yes sir!"


    The transit window to the Mohadi Domain was under Su Heiming''s control and he knew exactly how valuable that transit window is, or should he say, how valuable the ash stratum is. The only flaw for this transit window which connected Mohadi Domain and the ash stratum was that it had been long developed, and that had caused those areas which were under-developed previously be exposed to over expansion. The areas which were still unaffected were either dangerous in nature, or its value did not live up to expectations.


    Su Heiming knew for sure that the Eastern Wei Base must have found a new transit window and ash stratum that connected areas which were way easier to be developed because the Eastern Wei Base wasn''t that much of an advanced place. It was unmistakably a huge benefit for Desert Camp.


    The Eastern Wei Base¡­


    A sudden worry flew across Su Heiming''s eyes. He turned to ask the Head of Iron Guards, Zhu Heng, who was standing beside him, "Star Academy held a social event a few years ago, do you remember what was it about and where it was held?"


    Zhu Heng was flustered but he still tried his best to remember. He answered hesitantly, "If I''m not mistaken, it was held at a place called the Eastern Shang-Wei City."


    "Eastern Shang-Wei City!" Su Heiming mumbled to himself, "So Star Academy knew from the start?"


    Inside the Comprehensive Federation Academy in the Heavenly Federation, Tang Hanpei was reading the report. He looked as refined as he was, but wearing trench coat which was the colour of tobacco ash made him looked like an ordinary academic. He narrowed his brows and muttered, "So there is really a transit window over there?"


    He fell into deep thought, looking puzzled.


    There was a black notebook placed in front of him.


    Jie Yanbai had gotten the same message and he was currently discussing it with Cao Zhengqiu.


    "Old Cao, how reliable do you think this is?"


    "Very."


    "Very¡­" Uncertainty was heard in Jie Yanbai''s voice. Transit windows were vital to all of them! Central Repository of the Classics was merely holding itself up. If they could get a hold of the transit window, their power would be massively improved in a short period of time.


    Cao Zhengqiu raised his gaunt face and looked at Jie Yanbai. He became steady after becoming Chief Officer for tactics room. He shook his head and said, "I think the others have noticed it too since we''ve noticed it. Besides, I don''t know if you''ve realised, but I suspect that Star Academy had known about it long ago and that was why it sent its people to Eastern Shang-Wei City since few years ago. I think they have not found the exact location because after all, no actions have been taken by them."


    "So you''re proposing that¡­" Jie Yanbai turned around and asked hesitantly.


    "That we keep our mutual respect!" Cao Zhengqiu said confidently. "The amount of materials we have gotten from Eastern Wei Base has been increasing steadily over all these years and I''m certain that Su Heiming and Tang Hanpei wouldn''t sit still and see the precious transit windows fall into others'' hands. If their target is the Eastern Wei Base, things will be much easier for us."


    He paused before continuing, "And let''s not forget that their boss is also a very powerful person. He must have turned even more powerful by now."


    Jie Yanbai''s hesitation was cleared, he then smiled, "You''re right. He is someone full of surprises, he even owns a wolf! Tang Hanpei and Su Heiming should get a taste of the wolf''s ability."


    They looked at each other and smiled.


    Star Academy.


    Rossiji was still huge like a mountain. He sat on the principal''s seat and looked utterly unfit for the role, but none of the people in the room were bothered by it.


    Wielding the report, Nick''s eyes were bright, "Fatty! Look, it''s a transit window, it''s really a transit window!"


    Fatty glared at him. "Why are you shouting? Your info is so outdated. What is there to shout about?"


    "Outdated?" Nick was surprised. "So, you have seen it? That can''t be it. I just received the news."


    "Transit windows are present in the Eastern Wei Base, am I right?" Fatty snickered.


    "Hey! You really knew about it!" Nick looked dumbfounded.


    Fatty scoffed and said, "I was told by Qing Qing just now."


    "How can I not know?"


    Fatty rolled his eyes. "She is like a ghost to you, and how would I know where''ve you been to steal some sleep?"


    Nick looked upset but turned bright in a blink of an eye, "Are we going to do nothing and see the guy named Bai be expelled so that they can seize his so-called land?"


    "His name is Chen Mu, not a guy named Bai," Fatty corrected him. He grinned, "we should be the audience."


    Nick was agitated, "Fatty, this is a transit window! Do you know how much it costs?"


    Fatty drank his water slowly, but his grin hadn''t fade. "So do you want it? You have to snatch it. How are you going to snatch it from them?"


    Nick hadn''t thought about that.


    "Our enemy now is Tang Hanpei. Chen Mu is nobody to us, and don''t forget, he owns that wolf! Tang Hanpei''s commanding ability was out of my expectations in a good way but if he is to fight that wolf, he would be doomed." Fatty sneered. "I''ve always found Tang Hanpei''s tactics similar to one I''ve witnessed and now I know, it''s actually quite similar to that wolf. Wow, how would the encounter of the real and fake be? I think I''m worried that Su Heiming will try to interfere. After all, he is cunning. He has taken control of Moon Frost Island, he should be paying the price now."


    Worry flashed past Fatty''s eyes.


    The Big Crack Base.


    Bogner was reading the report in his hands. It was an urgent message coming from Eastern Wei Base. They achieved full control in terms of Elemental Fantasy Platform''s shareholding over the past few years and those journalists all over Heavenly Federation had became their most faithful informers. They would report new findings to him as soon as they had gotten a hang of what the situation was about.


    "It''s finally here." Bogner''s expression was calm.

 578 Plan B 1

    The Eastern Wei Base was thoroughly secured. Its biggest meeting room was full of people. If anyone was to notice, they would be shocked to find out that aside from Chen Mu, almost all of the base''s high-level personnel were present.


    Bogner arrived just moments ago and sat at the uppermost position. This was his second time leaving the Big Crack Base in two years.


    The meeting room was silent after everyone had found their respective seats. Their expressions were dense even though some of them did not know what was happening. However, they came to realise that the matter was indeed serious since Bogner was present.


    Bogner and Xi Ping were seated together at the top row. Since Chen Mu wasn''t present, they were the base''s highest decision-makers.


    Below the two of them, Li Duhong, Jiang Liang and Alfonso sat on the right whilst Sue Lochiro, Copper and his wife sat on the left. Li Duhong was the leader of Moqi Clan, while Jiang Liang was second-in-line, and also the head of the military''s General Staff Unit which was introduced recently. Alfonso was the person-in-charge for the Department of Card Appliance and Sue Lochiro takes charge of the Medical Department. Copper was the head for the Department of Foreign Affairs, while Lan Feng takes the lead for the Intelligence Department. Aside from them, the captain of each Wood Battalion and the Hunters''s teams were also present in the meeting. Although Snow Worm Card Artisan Team had been reinforced into the Hunters, their original system was kept untouched.


    The atmosphere of the meeting room was solemn.


    This was the second time where a meeting like this was held in two years. The first time was the emergency meeting which was convened after the Cold Crystal Storm.


    "Shall we begin?"


    Bogner and Xi Ping took a glance at each other and they nodded in agreement simultaneously. Bogner then announced that meeting started.


    "I believe that there are still people who are unaware of the situation. Can we please have Madam Lan to guide us with a simple introduction of the situation?" Xi Ping requested.


    "It''ll be my pleasure." Lan Feng rose from her seat and bowed to the crowd. She thought for a moment and began her structured explanation, "Our intelligence have found something new recently. First of all, hidden enemies were found lurking their way around in our base. Through our intelligence from each of the business associations, we have confirmed that they''re looking for the source of where our rare and precious materials come from. There were up to 62 reported cases and among them, 17 of them were cleared. The hidden enemies mostly belong to the Comprehensive Federation Academy in the Heavenly Federation and Desert Camp. Judging from our findings, we can conclude that a threat is coming our way."


    "To pose it more boldly, we assume that the fact of us owning transit windows might have been leaked."


    The meeting room''s silence was broken. Everyone was discussing wildly with each other when they heard about Lan Feng''s assumption.


    "Silence," Bogner ordered. Although his voice wasn''t loud, the meeting room fell silent in an instant. Bogner hadn''t been in the Eastern Wei Base for two years but his prestige was still alive throughout.


    He turned around to face Lan Feng and welcomed her to continue her speech. "Please continue."


    "Yes, Sir." Lan Feng bowed to Bogner and glanced around the meeting room before she continued, "We had since adjusted our search after making such a daring assumption. With the help of Elemental Fantasy Platform, we had conducted a search on the six greatest group''s market share of goods circulation and the result was not much of a surprise. The prices for Comprehensive Federation Academy in the Heavenly Federation''s power-card in the market is 30% higher than the previous month, while those in Northern Reaches District and Heavenly Drum Village District of Desert Camp have also increased by 41.6%. We are assuming a huge move by the two parties based on what we have gotten. At the same time, the reports from flourishing districts showed that a large amount of unknown men with high combat ability have entered their areas. The influx of these card artisans have posed a serious threat to the cities."


    The people of the meeting room were surprised by the revelation.


    Lan Feng took a deep breath and raised her voice, "Based on all these information, I believe that the people of Comprehensive Federation Academy in the Heavenly Federation and Desert Camp are plotting an attack on us." She added another remark right after her previous statement, "There is no one who can resist the temptation of owning transit windows."


    Lan Feng took her seat.


    The meeting room was silent again because the new information was too shocking. The base had been expanding rapidly for the past two years but they were in no place to compete with any one of the Big Six, moreover to fight two together if the assumed situation was to happen.


    Bogner who was up there suddenly thought of Chen Mu.


    If only boss is here¡­


    Among the high-level personnels, Chen Mu wasn''t the most prominent one. Bogner would be better in leading a war whilst Xi Ping would be better in planning and preparation. As for individual combat abilities, Wei-ah was the stronger one, while in terms of medical, Sue Lochiro was the better one. Copper was the master in the art of negotiation and Lan Feng was the prime for intelligence collection.


    However, all of them were willing to listen to Chen Mu''s orders like he was a piece of magnet who was attracting their attention.


    I wonder how Chen Mu is now? Many had assumed that he was in trouble but Bogner had a gut feeling that he was still alive.


    Because of his gut feeling, he rejected the idea to restructure the base''s high-level board. He held himself onto the Big Crack Base, sending troops after troops of searchers in the past two years to look for Chen Mu from the ash stratum. The search had not stopped even for a second and they had even built more than 10 supplementary base to support the process. They had searched for a huge area but still couldn''t find any trace of Chen Mu.


    The departments'' heads of the base seemed to be in sync about this matter as they were safeguarding the current system without any objection.


    His attention wandered¡­


    When he calmed his thoughts, he found that the eyes of the participants were all fixed on him simultaneously. He saw anticipation, excitement and even worry from their eyes.


    "Jiang Liang, please talk us through the plan made by the General Staff Unit."


    Jiang Liang straightened his uniform after rising from his seat and greeted the crowd with a military salute. He was the military''s role model, as his character fulfilled the image of a soldier and the expectations of the base''s residents. In fact, he even became the idol of the base, with teenage girls showing the most interest in him.


    He spoke in a slow but firm pace that could calm people''s fearful hearts.


    "Our department had anticipated a situation like this to happen after discovering the transit windows. With that, we made a counter-attack proposal."


    People let out their hold-up breaths unknowingly as they were relieved to hear his announcement.


    "We have set up 37 branches on selected areas in the past two years. The areas selected are all located at the borders with flourishing districts and the reason we have done so is to prevent a situation like this to happen."


    "As all of us know, the history for common residential districts were far shorter than those of flourishing districts and the differential factor of the two districts was on commuting. The two districts were connected by long shuttle car passage. If someone would like to enter common residential district, he could only do so through the long shuttle car. Otherwise, the second option would be through the forest. Among those passages, 17 of them are our focus and the first step of our plan is to blow these passages up!"


    Li Chuan City was a busy and thriving city. It was an important city because it connected both the Asai District and Heavenly Drum Village District. Over the past two years, Heavenly Drum Village District had fallen rapidly in the hands of Su Heiming who was a barbarous ruler and that was why the district''s residents often flee their home and enter Li Chuan City. However, as the situation in Heavenly Drum Village District had been stabilized, the fleeing phenomenon had decreased.


    As the population climbed, a lopsided economic prosper was observed in Li Chuan City while its public order had declined tremendously. Li Chuan City wasn''t able to control card artisans who fled from Heavenly Drum Village District therefore no control was induced on them. The locals had in turn utilized their familiarity and knowledge to carry out investments which would profit them enormously. Black market was running wild and strong. The city was an utter mess.


    As the sky turned dark, the music from the bar near the stop of the long shuttle bus sounded like the cries of dying women. Everything seemed like a dream in this troubled time, no one could be certain whether they would be able to live through the night. The paralysed pleasure invoked by alcohol was able to provide temporary neglection about what was happening.


    The whole world was shaking all of a sudden!


    The hanging light on the ceiling was about to fall, lime powder started falling at the same time.


    There was total silence in the bar!


    The pleasure seekers halted their moves and became motionless.


    A woman''s terrified scream broke the silence in the bar and it turned chaotic immediately with everyone screaming their lungs out. Red wine which was red like blood spilled everywhere, panic-stricken guests were escaping from the hotel.


    Those who ran out from the inside were shocked to witness what was in front of them.


    "What... What is... What is happening?"


    In the dark, the long shuttle bus stop was covered in dust which obscured the sky like a monster which was flexing its terrifying claws. Stones of different sizes were sitting next to people''s feet.


    Li Chuan Station turned into history tonight.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    The meeting in the Eastern Wei Base was still going on.


    The voice of Jiang Liang was hovering over the meeting room but it was enthusiastically stimulating.


    "We''ve been planning for this since two years ago, from setting up branches to planting explosives. About nine months ago, we''ve completed the arrangements in all of the long shuttle bus passages which connect flourishing districts and common residential districts. They''re ready to go anytime and I would like to express my gratitude to Mr Alfonso and his crew from the Department of Card Appliance for their support throughout our mission."


    The apparatus on his hand lit up suddenly and after he took a glance at it, he spoke with a calm expression, "Good news, everyone. We''ve completed the mission, the selected passages are all blown up as planned."


    Everyone was in daze but a round of applause broke out afterwards. The fear on their faces disappeared and were replaced with joy and anticipation!


    "From now on, no matter who they are, if they want to enter the common residential district, they can only crawl their way through the forest. The forest will be a complicated territory without a guide and in order to prevent the enemies from finding one, we have recruited veteran card artisan to ourselves through different missions. As for those who are reluctant to do so, we have initiated coercive procedure on them. In other words, if any one of our enemies is to utilize the forest, it will be extremely hard for them to find a guide who is familiar with the place."


    Admirations were seen on the people''s faces. They were in awe of how strict and detailed the work of the Department of General Staff was, their work was out of their expectations. They started to pay full attention, not wanting to miss even a single word.

 579 Plan B II

    "Besides, we''ve incorporated some supplementary measures in last year''s April. These measures are managed by Captain Lucky Xi."


    The former Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team was reorganized into the Hunters, and some minor internal adjustments were made. Since Lu Xiaoru was responsible for the affairs in the Big Crack Base, the guarding team of the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team was now led by Lucky Xi. Hertha served as the deputy. Crow Feather and Happy Padding were also under their team. They were the first batch of card artisans under Chen Mu, and also the first to train with the Snow Pit Method; their strength had long been unprecedented. Even in Eastern Wei Base, their strength could rank in the top 100. Crow Feather and Happy Padding were both physically strong and were even more impressive after Card Insertion. And with their Power Gloves, their combat power was incredible.


    Li Duhong loved finding the two to practice with and was highly satisfied after every practice. Lucky Xi wasn''t visibly different after his Card Insertion. He was still wearing his thin-rimmed glasses and looked like a well-mannered man. He was like a civilian without any fighting capabilities. But nobody here would be deceived by this man''s appearance. Lucky Xi outperformed the others and earned his rank as a captain; besides being brainy, his fighting skills were robust too. Unlike Crow Feather and Happy Padding''s tough style, his battle style was sinister and diabolic; he was the most unpopular choice to train with.


    Lucky Xi stood up, habitually pushing his glasses. He cleared his throat. "Last September, when the Hunters were out for training, they met some interesting creatures, and it caused us some trouble. Miss Sue Lochiro once told us to bring back some specimens for future research when we saw these interesting creatures. We caught some and brought them back."


    Everyone glanced over to Sue Lochiro. In this team, Sue Lochiro had a unique position. As the head of the Medical Department, she was a core member, and her opinions were valued by everyone. Of course, there seemed to be a delicate relationship between her and her boss; everyone understood it without being told. As to whether the relationship really existed, no one knew. Nevertheless, she was a combination of beauty, wisdom, and kindness, and was loved by many people because of the countless card artisans she saved.


    Knowing that everyone''s attention was on her, Sue Lochiro took the initiative to explain. "This is a special insect. They have amazing reproductive capacity. The reproductive cycle is two weeks. When they are in symbiosis with a vine plant, their reproductive capacity will increase by about 20 times. And the enzymes they secrete can effectively promote the growth of this vine."


    After a brief pause, she added. "The leaves of this vine can release complex neurotoxic gases, which are lethal." Everyone in the conference room gasped. Lucky Xi pushed up his glasses again and said softly. "This insect, which we named it as Sang''s Sheath Worm, is not more than 30 centimeters long. It moves very fast, and its teeth bite with amazing force. They are aggressive and move in groups. Our experiment found that when their numbers exceeded 200, they could easily kill a twin hook beast. They''re not picky eaters, they eat human flesh too."


    Many in the conference room were spotted with a face of disgust. As if he hadn''t seen their faces, Lucky Xi gave a gentle smile. "Given the nature of Sang''s Sheath Worm, we immediately dropped Sang''s Sheath Worm and the seeds of its symbiotic vines in the jungles bordering between the flourishing districts and the common residential district."


    Lucky Xi sat down with a smile across his face, but in the eyes of many people, the smile on his face was cold. Jiang Liang looked around and continued with a straight face, "Three months ago, we conducted a special survey of these sites. So far, both the Sang''s Sheath Worm and its symbiotic vine have grown well. Although it''s impossible to form a permanent isolation zone without time, if the enemy tries to move between the residential districts, they''ll pay the corresponding price."


    On the wall of the conference room, a map of Heavenly Federation appeared. "So far, we''ve successfully implemented the measures; successfully cutting off the communications between the flourishing districts and the common residential district." Jiang Liang was poised, and his voice was forceful. "The highly explosive card appliance developed by the Department of Card Appliance can destroy the long shuttle car passage. The damaged passageway can''t be repaired, so it can only be rebuilt. Mr. Borna''s calculations say that the shortest car passage requires at least two years to rebuild.


    "We have set up a large number of observation posts in the jungle near the borders. If the opposing party breaks in through the jungle, we''ll be alerted immediately.""As a result of corresponding expectations, the expansion of the Wood Battalion and the Hunters went smoothly, and we''ve achieved all our objectives."Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "These are the plans formulated by the General Staff Unit." Jiang Liang saluted the crowd and sat down. Warm applause echoed in the conference room. Those measures soothed their nerves. The fact that these plans were formulated two years ago was enough to show how much effort the General Staff Unit had spent. Bogner and Xi Ping looked at each other, both of them stood up with a solemn look, and the rest followed suit. "From now on, Eastern Wei Base is in a state of war!"


    How was it possible for Eastern Wei Base to cover up its series of actions? The cut off between the flourishing districts and the common residential district caused immediate panic in Heavenly Federation. Nobody thought that Eastern Wei Base would dare to do so!


    Such measures from Eastern Wei Base were quite extreme. The separation of the flourishing districts from the common residential district had different effects. Five flourishing districts were already in chaos, and when the connection with the common residential district had been cut off, the five flourishing districts were isolated, as if trapped in cages. There were several wild animals in the cage; only those who survived could get out of it. However, the common residential districts were much larger than the flourishing districts. Although they weren''t as developed as the flourishing districts, there were no powerful forces within. All the twelve Army Corps was stationed within the flourishing districts. With the gentle push from Eastern Wei Base, everyone in the flourishing districts was pushed into the abyss of war.


    Faya was the only likely enemy of Eastern Wei Base. However, Faya played a considerable part in the battles in flourishing districts. Most of its powers were in the flourishing districts. Now that the passageway had been cut off suddenly, their remaining strength in the common residential districts wasn''t enough to fight against the Eastern Wei.


    Eastern Wei''s intention was clear.Sure enough, the following day, the two main forces of Eastern Wei began to take action efficiently. The Eastern Wei first announced that it would take over the whole Eastern Row District and it went smoothly. They had been operating in the Eastern Row District for two years, all opposition forces had long been eradicated by them.


    Soon, all the forces in the five areas bordering Eastern Row District immediately announced their submission to the management of Eastern Wei. They voluntarily asked Eastern Wei to send someone to take over. The whole Heavenly Federation was attracted by a series of actions from Eastern Wei. Sanchez yelled at the top of his lungs, "Check your bags, check your meters, and assemble in three minutes!"


    No one expected that Sanchez, who had studied nursing for a living, would one day become a team leader. Sanchez was limited by his aptitude and age, and his combat effectiveness was only average in Wood Battalion. However, his diligence and composed personality won him the title of a team leader. After the expansion of the Wood Battalion, there were twenty brigades; each brigade had 500 people, led by Sang Hanshui and commander Xiaobo.


    Before Chen Mu entered the transit window, he left the card-making card appliance at the base. With enough cards, the expansion of the Wood Battalion was much easier and faster than that of the Hunters. In the past two years, the number of card artisans who joined Eastern Wei Base was astonishing, and only the strongest were selected into Wood Battalion.


    Eastern Wei Base could financially support more professional fighters, but under the pressure of Bogner, the numbers of Wood Battalion was only 10,000. In addition, there were 2,000 young card artisans.


    Ten thousand people were pitifully little in that chaotic era. Looking at the hundreds of thousands of troops in Desert Camp; 10,000 card artisans in Chen Mu''s team were just a fraction of theirs. But no one would underestimate these 10,000 people. Neither Tang Hanpei nor Su Heiming!


    The barrier to entry for Eastern Wei Base was quite high; those who were selected were the best among the experts. The most extraordinary team was the first team led by Rafael. It was said that among the 500 members of the first team, there were 122 card artisans in Grade Seven. The rest of the members were in Grade Six and were about to break through into Grade Seven.


    One of the most important reasons was the publicity of the Snow Pit Method. The Snow Pit Method was created by Chen Mu. Many forces had been eyeing it for years. But the complete Snow Pit Method included a complete set of medical protection technology besides the skills created by Chen Mu. Medical protection technology was regularly updated and perfected by Sue Lochiro. Snow Pit Method was renowned for its power; one of the reasons why many were joining Chen Mu''s team.


    Sanchez was the captain of the fifteenth team. There weren''t many Grade Seven card artisans in his team, but there were still 76 among them. In Wood Battalion, only Grade Seven card artisans could choose their cards freely. Nevertheless, there were still many card artisans who wanted Wood Battalion''s cards. Wood Battalion''s cards had excellent performance and were loved by their members.


    Sanchez looked calm. He had been a captain for some time and was no longer timid. When the two leaders announced that the base was in a state of war, he knew that the order would come down soon. His family was the first group of residents to move into the base. Now the whole family was leading a very good life. As a simple person, he was devoted to the base.


    He was confident of his team and the General Staff Unit. One of the most important reasons why he could be a captain was because of his excellent ability in tactical command. He was specially selected to serve and train in General Staff Unit for a period. He knew very well how powerful those in General Staff Unit led by Jiang Liang were.


    Within a minute, the team had assembled. Their daily training was extremely strict and arduous and often practiced in actual combat. They were even ordered to wipe out violent organizations in remote places. The card artisans selected for the job had rich combat experience. In the past two years, they had matured into a tougher team after rigorous training and actual battles!


    Five hundred people lined up in a neat squad. It was as silent as the grave; an indescribable murderous aura filled the air. Sanchez was extremely pleased.

 580 His Appearance

    "What a crowd." Gallup was marveled at the crowd. Kathleen, who was beside him, replied to him disapprovingly. "Apparently someone recently found a Spikeless Black Bamboo here. Everyone was insane when the news came out. I heard that many people are heading over, even from faraway places."


    "Spikeless Black Bamboo! That guy is so lucky!" Gallup said enviously. Spikeless Black Bamboo was a very rare plant. It was usually about three meters tall, slightly thicker than a baby''s wrist and had no branches. The durability of Spikeless Black Bamboo wasn''t very high, but it had excellent flexibility. A long gun made from Spikeless Black Bamboo was the weapon that all flexsters using Technical Flow Gun were longing for. It was priceless in the market.


    Kathleen pouted her lips. "Most of them were just trying their luck." There was some jealousy in her words. She was a gun-using flexster, but she never had a satisfying weapon. The soft gun she used now was made of Tangled Wood; it was sufficiently soft but lacked that bit of flexibility.


    Gallup was worse off than her, and he didn''t even own a fixed weapon. Over the years, Hundred Depths'' outer rim had been plowed by numerous people over time. Those useful plants were swept away long ago. It took great luck to be able to find good materials such as Spikeless Black Bamboo.


    The importance of weapons was unquestionable for flexsters, which explained why so many people rushed over to Hundred Depths. House of a Hundred Depths wasn''t the only place in Hundred Depths which produced materials, but the best materials could be found in Hundred Depths.


    However, they could merely linger around the outer rim of Hundred Depths. If they were to go in a little deeper, it would be full of danger. Gallup and Kathleen didn''t dare to risk it, so they stayed outside. But they were cautious and careful on the lookout for any precious materials. On the other hand, they needed to be vigilant against the evil things lurking in the dark.


    Suddenly, there was a burst of fighting noise in front of them. Gallup looked at Kathleen, who was the decision-maker between them. Kathleen hesitated a little. They had reached the furthest part they had ever been, and it was dangerous for them to move on. She paused for a moment but nodded her head to signal for their continuation.


    Once they had decided, the indecisive expression disappeared on both faces. The two bent over and quietly snuck over to where the fight was. When they saw the fight, both were greatly surprised at once. Those who were encircled by the opponents were holding a pale stick in their hands.


    Elder Flower! They didn''t expect someone to be so lucky! Elder Flower was rarer than Spikeless Black Bamboo and was the first-rate material for making long guns. Kathleen stared at the pale stick in that person''s hand, and the desire in her eyes couldn''t be concealed. Gallup was surprised too, but he was more worried.


    Both parties were silently engaged in a fierce battle. Among those who were encircled was a man holding a blowdart in his hand; always ready to attack. Blowgunner was extremely rare, and the black blowdart in his hand was an extraordinary one.


    None saw how the black blowdart appeared beside his mouth, but three continuous screams were heard almost at the same time. Gallup, who was hiding in the dark, suddenly had chills down his spine. He clearly saw the man shot out black blowdarts. These black blowdarts were so fast that escape was impossible. With a single move, he killed three people. They were hit in their throat or heart; absolutely no possibility of survival.


    The morale of those encircled was increased, but the opposing party was in a flurry. "Don''t panic, there are only five blowdarts in Spiritual Blow darts. He has two blowdarts left!" the leader of the opposing party reassured.


    Before his voice died away, there was a flash of black light, the leader of the opposing party covered his throat with his hand, and he couldn''t utter a word. Under his fingertips were black blood gushing out, a few seconds later, he fell on his back, dead. The opposing party was in chaos and escaped in all directions. The winning party didn''t pursue, everyone was catching their breaths.


    "Be careful. There are ambushes nearby." The man holding onto his Spiritual Blowdarts was pale, and his tiredness was hard to hide, but his hand was still stable.


    Gallup and Kathleen dared not make a single noise. They weren''t silly; any slightest movement attracting unwanted attention would cost their lives. That was the first time that they had seen a blowdart flexster. Their hearts were shaken at its atrocious power.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    The man who was holding Spiritual Blowdarts was afraid to move. He felt that there was more than one ambush in the vicinity. Those people all coveted the Elder Flower in their hands. He was very unwilling to hand over the Elder Flower to anyone.


    The situation was deadlocked. The ones lurking in the dark were all experienced flexsters. They were calm but fearful of the powerful blowdart; nobody dared to make the first move. As time went by, the blowdart flexster was increasingly worried. The longer this continued on, the more unfavorable it would be for him. The Elder Flower on their hands was too attractive; attracting more and more vultures.


    Suddenly, there was a tiny sound behind him. Without hesitation, he turned sharply and fired the last blowdart towards the source. A black ray flashed in front of everyone in a speed of light; like a bolt of black lightning. "What!" A man appeared in front of everyone. He lifted his left arm gently. On his arm, there was a gray round shield.


    The blow gunner smiled coldly. In his eyes, the opponent was a piece of dead meat. From the first time he got his Spiritual Blowdarts, he found that nothing could resist the black arrow-bolt launched by his blowdart; it could easily penetrate rocks several meters thick. In his opinion, his opponent''s behavior was a ridiculous response to death.


    Those ambushed nearby were elated; the last arrow was fired through the Spiritual Blowdarts, and the threat hanging over their heads disappeared. They didn''t care who died under the blowdart. Just as they were about to launch an attack, an astounding scene happened.


    "Snap!" They heard a soft sound. Under everyone''s witness, the black arrow-bolt that symbolized death hit the man''s shield accurately and got blown into numerous pieces. The ugly shield, however, hadn''t changed at all.


    "How¡­how is that possible¡­" Gallup and Kathleen, who were dashing out, immediately put their brakes on. They looked at the man in awe as they almost bit off their tongues in shock.


    That man, who was under attack, turned around to face them. It was a strange and ugly face; like a clown in a circus. Ghost-faced flower! Those with more experience couldn''t help exclaimed in their hearts. The seeds of the ghost-faced flower were an extremely expensive natural mask. It could automatically generate all kinds of weird faces without any discomfort to users, and could also protect the face to a certain extent.


    However, when their attention focused on the man, they discovered even more surprises! Holding a dark blue spear in his hand, the unique pattern of Golden Ring Wood aroused a cry of surprise. Although no one knew how the black gold-lined Golden Ring Wood became all-blue, as a top-grade material, many people could identify the Golden Ring Wood. The rings of delicate golden circles were salient on the all-blue spear.


    Such a spear placed in any city could definitely become the treasure of the city. But that alone wasn''t enough to create confusion. The gray round shield in his hand had sharp edges that were as flat as lotus leaves. One couldn''t help but exclaim. "Lotus Leaf Shield!"


    Lotus Leaf Shield, the legendary weapon, was now the traditional weapon of Sword and Shield Sect. It is said to be the weapon used by the pioneer of Sword and Shield Sect. He founded Sword and Shield Sect using the Lotus Leaf Shield. That weapon was made from Lotus Leaf, and it had one of the strongest defenses. Of course, flexsters from Sword and Shield Sect thought it was one of the strongest weapons. Its inherently sharp edges were lethal.


    However, when they saw not only the Lotus Leaf Shield tied to his left arm, but also miniature versions of Lotus Leaf Shield tied onto his left and right leg; they were dumbfounded.They wondered if the flexsters from Sword and Shield Sect would go crazy if they saw that¡­


    The purse he wore on his waist seemed to be sewn from a whole piece of Thorny Rhino''s skin, but the craft was somewhat horrible. The most striking thing was the three armbands on his right arm. Each armband had six triangular black woodblocks hanging on it. In the middle of each triangle, a bright red line divided the black woodblocks into two parts. It looks like a bloody red eye, which was terrifying.


    "Blood Eyed Dart!" Their expressions became ashen! If the Lotus Leaf Shield was shocking, then the Blood Eyed Dart made everyone terror-stricken. That notorious weapon also appeared in history. Once there was a cold-blooded and powerful flexster. He and his Blood Eyed Dart were unstoppable in House of a Hundred Depths, and countless flexsters died in his hands.


    But¡­ Why did he have 18 darts¡­ Flexsters who were present felt dazzled by what he had. He wore a peculiar crown in rare jade green color, giving out a strange fragrance.


    "Serenity Incense!" spoke a flexster who was slightly older; he was in a state of listlessness. A small piece of Serenity Incense was hard to find. It could calm the mind and deter mosquitoes and insects. When worn for a long time, it had an excellent effect on the body. Those nobles, who bought a small piece at a high price, regarded it as a treasure. No one had ever heard that there was such a big crown made from Serenity Incense in this world.


    Flexsters who could see the man''s back view were startled as well. Five ivory-white javelins were randomly carried on his back. With their capabilities, it would only take a little effort to throw over 100 meters. That was made from the third most dangerous animal, White Midges, in the "Bestiary!" That White Midges Bone was a natural top-grade javelin, also known as "white lightning." After all the chaos, the field quieted down.

 581 Unsheathing

    The reason for the silence was simple. Another person had appeared. Physically, she was a woman. But no one cared about that. All of their pupils constricted at that moment for a different reason. They stared at the vine in the woman''s hand.


    A flexster could use a variety of weapons, but soft vines were one of the most difficult weapons to master. A vine-using flexter would be enough to make everyone feel the danger. And if this flexster held a Painted Graphistemma, no one would dare to get within 20 meters of them. Painted Graphistemma was the most famous and powerful vine.


    The vine techniques are different from all other weapons and only circulated in very few tribes. "A flexster who uses a vine is the most dangerous flexter," was a proverb that had been circulating in the House of a Hundred Depths for hundreds of years.


    She was no less well equipped than the man. Each of her fingers was covered with a filament of a different color from the tail of the Spotted Peacock. Her wrists were covered with soft vines of dark gold. On her waist was a black vine, which was the Black Silk Vine. She had two unknown vines bounded to her legs, but the texture and luster showed their quality.


    Unfortunately, no flexster specialized in vine weapons here. Otherwise, they would be mesmerized seeing the various vines wrapped around the female flexster. Every vine on her body was a precious treasure that countless people dream of. But on her body, they looked like ordinary ornaments.


    Chen Mu was ecstatic to see someone else for the first time in two years. Although he was just attacked by the other party, Chen Mu understood what was going on generally. He glanced with some surprise at the blowdart in the hand of the blowgunner who had just attacked him.


    Others may not know what the black arrow that attacked him was, but he knew it was an energy form. This is the first weapon in the Hundred Depths he had ever seen that could fire an energy form. He and the Demonic Woman had spent two years in the Hundred Depths. They saw countless plants, but never a plant that could emit energy beams. Seeing Chen Mu attacked, the Demonic Woman glared with a murderous aura at the offender.


    The mutual support and dependence in the Hundred Depths for two years had made the relationship between the two far beyond ordinary partners. Coupled with two years of relentless killing, fighting had become her instinct.


    Suddenly, the man who attacked Chen Mu screamed! On his chest, a segment of Painted Graphistemma pierced through! The Demonic Woman launched a sneak attack before the eyes of the public, and no one noticed at all. The Painted Graphistemma eerily and deftly disappeared from the man''s chest. Like a living thing, it curled around the Spiritual Blowdarts and flew back into the Demonic Woman''s hand. She handed the weapon to Chen Mu. They worked together so long that they had an unspoken understanding of each other. Using that tacit understanding, she saw that Chen Mu was interested in the blowdarts.


    After picking up the blowdarts, Chen Mu put them on his botched bag near his waist. "Let''s go." Chen Mu said to the Demonic Woman without looking at them. Clearly, this was nothing but trouble. He could only suppress the joy in his heart. Fortunately, he had already stepped out of the Hundred Depths and finally could say goodbye to the primitive life.


    "Fine." The Demonic Woman gently sighed and shook her right hand. "Ah!" Kathleen let out a scream, and her body rose into the air with a jolt from her ankle. At some point, the Painted Graphistemma has wrapped around her ankle, and she didn''t notice. The sudden move scared her out of her wits. In front of these two mysterious, powerful and merciless flexsters, she''s done for this time!


    Before these people could react, the three of them had already disappeared. "No!" Gallup''s eyes immediately reddened and got up toward the direction of the three who disappeared in. Kathleen closed her eyes in horror, blinded by the whirling wind.


    "Why did you bring her?""Guide." At this, the stone in Kathleen''s heart finally fell. As a guide? She began to wonder about the pair. The two were a little too scary, and in addition to their ornate weaponry, their strength is tremendous. Kathleen kept comparing the powerful aces she had seen with the two in her mind but came up with the depressing answer: no one could''ve matched them.


    And she noticed, too, that the direction in which the two men appeared, and in which they went further inward, was the Realms of Hundred Depths. Did the two come out of the Deep? That''s impossible!


    Almost subconsciously, she dismissed the speculation. That was outrageous! No one could walk out from the Deep, which was something that everyone in the House of Hundred Depths knew!


    But then, thinking of their valuable equipment, she could not imagine anywhere else with that much rare materials except in that mysterious place. Considering their absolutely frightening strength, her seemingly ridiculous speculation might actually be true.


    Chen Mu and the Demonic Woman stopped. Without any movements, the Painted Graphistemma automatically released Kathleen''s body and returned to the Demonic Woman''s hand. Kathleen opened her eyes in horror, she struggled to maintain composure on her face.


    "What''s your name?" The Demonic Woman asked coldly. "Kathleen." She replied carefully. She felt that the woman was far more dangerous and colder than the man. She also noticed that the woman''s tone became soft only when she was facing the man. They must be husband and wife, she thought to herself.


    "Where is the nearest city from here?""It''s Fort Mendelssohn.""You lead the way," The Demonic Woman said without allowing any discussion. Kathleen was glad she knew where to go, or she was sure that this cold woman would not hesitate to turn her into a corpse.


    "Yes." Kathleen nodded in agreement. Kathleen soon found that the speed she was proud of was as slow as a tortoise compared to the two. Most of the time, the cold woman carried her to save time. At last, she knew what lighting speed was! As the hours passed, the pair showed no sign of slowing down.


    What scary physical strength! Kathleen thought in her heart. But due to their eye-catching outfits, they met several foolish and greedy people along the way. Kathleen could think of no other word to describe it than stupidity and covetousness. She witnessed once more the strength of the pair.


    Most of the time, the man and the woman didn''t even pause. The Blood Eyed Dart on the man''s arm was incredibly powerful! So far, no one has been able to defend against it. It appeared out of nowhere in front of the enemy''s throat and then gently cut their throats.


    People died for wealth pitifully like livestock slaughtered for food. Soon, a variety of rumors about this mysterious and powerful pair circulated through the entire outskirts of the Depths. There were many versions of the rumor, but a few points in each version were surprisingly consistent. One, they had luxurious equipment that was rare and powerful, and two, they were overwhelmingly strong.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    However, many people saw the first point and automatically chose to ignore the second. The Golden Ring Woodspear, Lotus Leaf Shield, Blood Eyed Dart, Serenity Incense, White Midges Bone and Painted Graphistemma...


    Any of the treasures was enough to start a war over. With so many treasures put together, even if the wearer were a mythical dragon, countless people would still want to kill the dragon! What''s more, so many priceless treasures were on two mere human beings.


    Rumors spread at an alarming rate, and countless people began to search for this man and woman! The atmosphere of Hundred Depths seemed to have heated up. Chen Mu and the Demonic Woman stopped, and in front of them, a large group of people was greedily staring at the two, even their heavy snorts were clearly audible.


    This group of people also just heard this rumor, but they did not expect to meet Chen Mu and the Demonic Woman who were in a hurry. "Hand it over! And we''ll spare you!" One of them couldn''t help shouting, and the words were like pouring a ladle of water over a boiling oil, the crowd burst into figurative flames.


    "You pair of dogs! Are you even worthy of such a treasure? Hand it over quietly¡­""Why are we talking to them! Just cut ''em down and grab ''em!""What if we break the treasure? You wanna take responsibility for that? Boy, how much is it? We''re rich now!"


    "It''s raining fortune! Oh, that woman has a nice figure¡­ Hey hey..." Hundreds of people gathered around the three with impunity. Kathleen, her face ashen, recognized them. The Nine-tails Bandits, a vicious notorious bandit group, made up entirely of ferocious extremely strong flexsters. They killed so many people that every one of them had blood on their hands. Countless forces tried to destroy them, but none succeeded. Every member of this group was extremely strong! Especially their leader, who had a fierce reputation and was feared by everyone.


    The news about the Spikeless Black Bamboo compelled the bandits to rush to the outskirts of the Hundred Depths. They did not expect their luck to actually meet the rumored pair! If a woman were to fall into their hands¡­ Kathleen trembled in spite of herself as the blood drained from her face!


    Chen Mu looked at the hundreds of people in front of him and smiled, "I didn''t think we''d encounter such a big battle right after coming out.""Yeah." The Demonic Woman gently responded. Chen Mu then stretched his hand to touch his back. When the White Midges Bone entered his hand, his aura suddenly changed! The overwhelming killing intent, without warning, filled every inch of space.


    Chen Mu, who was just standing casually, was like a changed person. The grimacing face covered in flowers twisted in the murderous atmosphere. He seemed to have just emerged from a bloody sea, dripping with bright red blood all over. The sword which had experienced countless times of hard battles in the past two years, the sword that carried the souls and wailing of the beasts in the Depths, was finally unsheathed!

 582 Kill!

    The two of them had created a bloody road from the Hundred Depths. It was a literal road paved with blood. In addition to the blood of countless beasts, there was their blood! Chen Mu had forgotten the number of times he was injured and sprinkled with blood.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    With the continuous fighting and killing, the two honed themselves into real killing machines. No hesitation and nonsense. As soon as they decided to fight, they would enter battle mode. Cold precision and high concentration for killing the enemy as soon as possible!


    Feeling the unique threaded pattern of the White Midges Bone in the palm of his hands, Chen Mu''s elbow bent outwards, and his body stretched back like a bow. "Ha!"


    The robbers were horrified to find that Chen Mu''s arm had suddenly disappeared!


    Poof! Puff! Poof! In the air, flowers of blood sprinkled in a series like lit firecrackers! The series of blood flowers blasted out of thin air, forming a perfect line. Whoosh! After half a second, a weird whistling sound occurred like a monster biting everyone''s eardrums. Eight people who were in a straight line had each received a wound the size of a bowl. Their faces were stiff. They had not understood what had happened yet!


    Poof! Puff! Poof! Poof! Puff! Poof! In less than a second, Chen Mu threw all the White Midges Bone! The sound was so condensed that is sounded like it was only a poof, and then five straight rows of blood burst out at the same time. The White Midges Bone had indeed lived up to its fierce reputation. After it left the palm of Chen Mu, the bone spun rapidly in a natural spiral pattern! The energy contained in the bone had also been stimulated, and its speed had increased dramatically! The rapid rotation ensured its stability with the amazing speed guaranteed its impact. The combination of the two resulted in an unparalleled penetration force. Five White Midges Bones easily penetrated the bandits and blood spurted everywhere the Bones passed.


    These two years of fighting had taught Chen Mu a fundamental principle: no mercy for any enemy. Killing the enemy at the fastest speed was always the safest way. He did not hold back his power against the bandits, for, in his eyes, they were beasts! His pupils were indifferent and devoid of feeling. Chen Mu, who survived countless killings and battles, now possessed not only formidable fighting skills but also an unbeatable will to fight.


    Perceiving a movement, the 18 Blood Eyed Darts on his arm become 18 beams of lights that shot at the bandits. His world of perception is always in State Zero. In these two years, State Zero had been the most important weapon. Now he could easily keep his mind in State Zero. Not only that, but the state is very different now. Before, the thin lines in the State Zero were constantly changing. But now in State Zero, they''re always constant.


    The transformation of State Zero happened in the middle of a perilous battle. He almost died at the mouth of an unknown beast, and while he hung by a thread between life and death, his State Zero had mutated. He did not know whether this change was the evolution of the State Zero in other directions or a breakthrough in the State Zero itself.


    There is a lot of differences between the State Zero after the change and the previous one. The old State Zero improved his five senses, sort of like his sixth sense. However, after the transformation of State Zero, it seemed to calculate all the factors together and obtain the best result. This feeling became stronger with each fight. Many times, Chen Mu felt like a computer. However, it turned out that the modified State Zero was safer and sharper! The constant fighting also made him more and more adept at the new State Zero. In every battle, he would learn about further details in the process, as he made adjustments and modifications, continually perfecting the new State Zero.


    Sometimes he wondered if his form of State Zero could still be called State Zero. But he soon put the question aside since it was effective in battle. Challenging Tang Hanpei was a distant objective. Survival was his only goal at that time. The new State Zero completed the analysis of the target in a few seconds. The five White Midges Bones perfectly achieved the expected objective.


    The 18 Blood Eyed Darts were no less impressive, with the 18 blood flowers it created. Compared with the exploding blood flowers from the Darts, the White Midges Bones was less visually impactful. If 18 blood flowers all bloomed at the same place ¡ª the throat, it would provoke the most instinctual fears that human beings have.


    The Blood Eyed Dart, which required a will to control, was a bit like an improved card. For the flexsters of the House of Hundred Depths, it was difficult for them to control the darts. But for Chen Mu, who was a grade seven in perception, it was simple as eating and drinking. In the past two years, his perception had also become stronger.


    When he first discovered the Blood Eyed Darts, Chen Mu was amazed at the magic of nature. In principle, the darts were like a card. But in the Federation, it was impossible to make such a delicate card in a short time. The power of the Blood Eyed Darts was as powerful as the powerful cards in the hands of the artisans!


    But, the darts were far rarer than the powerful cards. Chen Mu waddled in the Realms of the Hundred Depth for two years, and only collected 18 of them. The 18 Blood Eyed Darts, like 18 poisonous snakes, flew between the bandits. Wherever they passed, a group of beautiful blood flowers bloomed in the air.


    There was nothing peculiar about the Demonic Woman''s Painted Graphistemma, but the weapons the robbers wielded were as flimsy as papier-mache in front of it. Chen Mu knew clearly that the seemingly gently fluttering vine could land hefty blows. The Painted Graphistemma was soft, hard, heavy, and sharp at the same time. The changes between the four characteristics need to be controlled by perception. And Zara''s incredible skills controlled the vine as if performing a simple magic trick.


    To increase its characteristics, Chen Mu also specially enhanced this weapon for Zara. The Painted Graphistemma which had been enhanced by Chen Mu was sneakier and more powerful. The bandits were all stunned.


    70 or 80 people of their members had fallen. Internal organs leaked out of the bowl-sized wounds left by the Bone. Even these battle-hardened bandits could feel some heaving in their chests! The Blood Eyed Darts''s cut was less shocking but enough to chill a person''s heart. And the Painted Graphistemma was like a heavy hammer, rendering all resistance futile before it. It was like a terrible soft worm, convolutedly and dexterously drilling into the human body, taking away the enemy''s life.


    The violent attacks were suffocating! This magnitude of attack was launched by just two people! The leader of Nine-tails Bandits was stunned and regretful. How could he be so blinded by the wealth that he was tempted into fighting these two monsters! But the situation was critical, and it was too late to surrender. He shouted. "Get close to him and kill him!"


    The people, trembling with fear, suddenly understood! They''re both long-range attackers! As long as they get closer, the two people would be doomed! The bandit flexsters growled to give themselves courage and rushed towards Chen Mu and Zara.


    The strong smell of blood stirred up the bandits, who rushed toward Chen Mu and Zara with abandon! They resembled a turbulent tide. The Blood Eyed Darts were like 18 dancing swallows, and blood flowers would burst all over. But that did not prevent the bandits'' rush toward the two people before them.


    Below the ugly masked face, Chen Mu''s eyes were like a dark sea. Taking the Golden Ring Woodspear from the left hand and he pressed the spear tip down. The Golden Ring Woodspear''s unique pattern was delicate and neat, it looked elegant and noble with its blue radiant tip that looked like a sapphire. The luster and color of the spear itself were not blue. But Chen Mu''s treatment with a blue crystal formed the unique blue glow.


    The bandits who came near were all ferocious in appearance, showing bloodlust and cruelty. Any timid soul would be scared to death. Chen Mu still did not move, and the hands holding the spear did not tremble. He slightly squatted, and suddenly exerted a force on his foot, and his person suddenly disappeared! At about the same time, he appeared out of nowhere among the bandits.


    At first, the leader of the bandits was shocked, but he then burst into joy, shouting. "Brothers! Kill him, and it''s all ours!" Since time immemorial, wealth has been fascinating. After his words sounded, the bandits seemed to be hit by a stimulant, all shouting and rushed to attack Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu''s eyes were static. He had been in countless battles over the past two years, and the current situation would not move his heart. The wrist turned sharply, and the body of the spear drew a gentle stroke.


    Psst! A blue arc of light appeared in the air stunningly! "Ah!" Three shrill screams halted the movements of the excited bandits. Three robbers were cut in half by this arc of light. Blood and all kinds of internal organs were scattered all over the floor. But they were still alive: the three people screamed and struggled with their upper bodies. It was like a horror film, even for the cruelest bandits.


    The few people closest to Chen Mu subconsciously stepped back. A blue arc of light like a moon arc hanging in the night, stunningly beautiful, appeared all of a sudden!

 583 Supervillains

    The bandits were horrified to discover that the tip of the Golden Ring Woodspear had transformed into a half-meter long azure blade. This peculiar man would carve a sharp azure crescent in the air with every swing of his Golden Ring Woodspear. One after another, the azure crescent waves struck with a deadly ice-cold sensation. They were so unbelievably sharp that anything that touches the crescents was divided into two.


    The dexterous and sly azure intertwined with the intense red, forming an abstract painting of death. Chen Mu''s eyes remained cold and indifferent, with no fluctuations. His mechanical movements were lethally accurate. State Zero''s in-depth, formulaic analysis gave him significant advantages for every attack.


    He had never learned any weapon techniques before discovering the Golden Ring Woodspear. Zara also only knew a few basic spear skills. Hence, this spear remained solely an auxiliary weapon for a very long time. That was until Chen Mu strengthened it with blue crystals, thereby creating the blue energy blade, which subsequently led to a massive increase in its power. From there onwards, he began to gradually explore its uses.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Practice experience was the best way to learn. Not to mention the frequent battles that hung between life and death only made him learn faster. The Golden Ring Woodspear was agile, precise, and dexterous in Chen Mu''s hand. The body of the spear seemed to be alive and could bend at any angle. The azure blade''s energy also could alter its length unpredictably. The Golden Ring Woodspear was the king among spears. It was powerful to begin with. After its strength was reinforced, its performance was enigmatically formidable in the eyes of these bandits.


    Combining the explosive power of his own body with Big Mud Fish, Chen Mu''s movement was incredibly erratic. He was like a light puff of smoke floating between the crowds, noticeable yet uncatchable.


    The demonic Zara was like an apparition lurking in the dark. Nobody could figure out where she was. The Painted Graphistemma always appeared out of nowhere from obscure angles. It created scenes of carnage before disappearing as suddenly as it came. In the past two years, her improvement has not been exponential like Chen Mu, but she still improved dramatically.


    She was insanely strong to begin with. Coupled with her fighting style of ruthless ferocity, she could have everything in control with just a gentle nudge. Her killing efficiency also increased beyond estimation.


    The two killing machines were running at high speed, and the number of people standing was going down drastically. In the blink of an eye, there were only a dozen people left. They all expressed despair and a deep fear on their faces.


    If what they had only seen the glamor and wealth of Chen Mu''s luxury items before. Now they were smelling the thick blood on the very same weapons. Chen Mu upgraded himself from being just a display rack of these weapons to a peerless murderer unleashing his arsenal!


    "Ah! Spare me, sir..." A bandit, ashen-faced, prostrated on the ground and kowtowed for mercy from Chen Mu. He was scared to the point that he had lost the courage to put up all resistance.


    His voice stopped short. An azure blue crescent passed through his throat accurately, and a spray of warm, scarlet blood emerged. Without even looking at the corpse under his feet, Chen Mu proceeded indifferently to his next target.


    "Run!" The rest of the bandits broke down completely and turned to flee as fast as they could. Chen Mu did not chase them, but his 18 Bloody Eyed Darts were like vultures attracted by the smell of blood, rushing toward the robbers who were fleeing.


    Blood spluttered here and there, like raindrops falling on a lake, forming countless ripples. Screams could be heard incessantly. How could they outrun the flying Bloody Eyed Darts?


    The more blood they spilled, the shinier the blood streaks resembling red eyes on the triangular darts appeared. Suddenly, the bandit who ran at the forefront screamed. The companions behind him witnessed a bizarre scene. His legs were suddenly separated from his body in the air! It was as if he was cut from the thigh by an unknown weapon, and his upper body was still moving forward due to inertia. The screams echoed right after his upper body fell on the grassland.


    A translucent filament, covertly connected between the two trees, revealed a sharp edge with an incomparable luster. The screams came one after another. Zara had completed the ambush. Like a spider, she excelled trapping her prey in the middle of her silk webs silently. The quietly flying Bloody Eyed Darts made another round while their prey was briefly stunned. In the blink of an eye, only the infamous bandit leader was left standing!


    He looked at the corpses scattered around him, and his brain was blank. He never thought that the Bandits that he had established himself would be destroyed in mere seconds! Not to mention only by two people!


    "I won''t yield..." His eyes were red shot, green veins showing on his forehead. He gave out one last shriek, but it stopped all of a sudden! An azure blade of light emerged between his eyebrows, ignoring the defiance swirling in his eyes.


    Kathleen stared blankly at the dead bodies on the ground. All¡­ all gone¡­ The floor was a total mess. The bodies, the blood, the colorful internal organs, and the bandits still struggling on the ground, barely alive. Kathleen''s face was pale, and she could not help it anymore. She knelt down and threw up desperately. She had never seen such a horrifying scene! Ever!


    The bloody smell was suffocating, and it made her stomach tumble again. She had killed people before and was an experienced flexster. However, even she had never seen such a hell. However, the man and the woman were so indifferent. They were looking for bandits who were not dead yet and to finish them off. Afterward, they began taking away the bandits'' weapons. This was beyond Kathleen''s imagination. Even the strongest flexster she knew would not do that.


    Do they realize that hundreds of people were killed by their hands just now? Chen Mu picked the White Midges Bone and inserted it behind his back. The 18 Bloody Eyed Darts returned to the tri-circled armband on his right arm like swallows returning to their nests. The azure blade of the Golden Ring Woodspear had also disappeared.


    "Please take care of it." Chen Mu told Zara. "Ok," Zara, who had just collected all the filaments replied gently, then began to search the bodies. Compared to Chen Mu, she knew what was worth something and what was not. And in the past two years, she had become accustomed to the role of an assistant.


    "Who are they?" Chen Yu retired from battle mode and asked casually. The many bodies on the ground did not bother him at all. In the past two years, he had experienced far too many bloodier scenarios. "I don''t know," Zara replied as she flipped a body without lifting her head.


    "Look out for money. We may be able to use it," Chen Mu reminded her that now they were out of the Hundred Depths and returned to civilization again. Now they needed money to get to places again. "Noted," replied Zara succinctly.


    "I... I know who they are..." Kathleen, who had just throw up, was pale but she mustered her courage. "Oh?" Chen Mu turned his face and looked at Kathleen. Chen Mu''s eyes made Kathleen shiver involuntarily. She forced herself to remain calm, "They are the Nine-tails Bandits, an extremely wicked and fierce bunch..." The fear in her heart reduced as she went along, and her tone smoothened. She narrated some of the evils of the Nine-tails Bandits.


    "Have you heard of them before?" Chen Mu asked Zara. "No," Zara shook her head. It seemed that either these guys were not too infamous, or they appeared after Zara left the House of a Hundred Depths.


    "What''s the level of their strength?" Chen Mu was more concerned about this issue. Whether these people were considered aces or common goods in the House of a would allow him to get a general understanding of the power level here.


    "Unqualified," answered Zara simply. Chen Mu nodded. "No, wonder, I thought they were weak." Hearing the two talk, Kathleen opened her mouth and wanted to say something. But she quickly closed her mouth wisely.


    In her heart, there was such an emotional upheaval which she could not help but started to guess the identity of the man and the woman. Who could use this understated tone to evaluate the Nine-tails Bandits? Unqualified! When she thought of the word, she smiled wryly.


    Even the Nine-tails Bandits were unqualified. How about me then? Although she could not figure out the background of this pair, their strength made an unprecedentedly powerful impression in her heart. With the power of the two people, the entire Nine-tails Bandits was wiped out. One could no longer use "powerful" to describe them. The correct word should be "monster!''''


    Kathleen even suspected that the two would be qualified to join the top ten in the House of a Hundred Depths. Only legendary figures were likely to possess such disastrous strength. However, her palpitation was not only due to their strength, but also their indifference to the lives of others. This attitude could only be possessed by supervillains who have experienced countless killings.


    Supervillains! Looking at the corpses everywhere, Kathleen felt that the word she thought of was too apt. Compared with the two men, the Nine-tails Bandits were as fragile as a harmless baby. Tomorrow, no, maybe today, the news that the Nine-tails Bandits were destroyed would spread throughout every corner of the region. She could foresee that an unprecedented earthquake would be ushered into this region.


    Zara''s harvest was bountiful, as seen from the five large travel bags on her hands. It was strange to see a slender woman relaxedly carrying five hill-like travel bags. "Let''s go," Chen Mu carried Kathleen, and the three disappeared instantly.


    Just ten minutes after they left, several teams of flexters discovered this appalling battlefield. The news that the Nine-tails Bandits was completely annihilated spread immediately and the tragic scene was exaggerated by the eyewitnesses as if the Nine-tails Bandits were humiliated countless times before their death. The scars of the vine-like weapons on the bodies and the grotesque bowl-shaped wounds left by the White Midges Bones allowed them to determine the culprits immediately.


    Even the hottest outer layers of the House of a Hundred Depths, the temperature dropped to a freezing point with the arrival of this bone-chilling news. Massacred! Even the infamous Nine-tails Bandits were massacred! Now no one would stupidly shout their intentions to steal the treasures and the anyone who declared it would be abandoned by their companion right away.


    Evil will always be subdued by greater evil! Affected by this incident, many flexters who originally wanted the treasure retreated. The same flexters spread the news of how the Nine-tails Bandits were murdered by the infamous pair. Soon, all the cities around the Hundred Depths circulated the same shocking news. ¡ª Two supervillains that might be seen only once a hundred years have emerged!

 584 In the Name of the Murderer 1

    Andre patrolled the streets with his men. "Sir, do you think that the rumor is true?" one of his men approached and asked softly. The topic immediately sparked the other member''s interest. Everyone gathered over and started gossiping.


    "The rumor is too strange. I think that it''s fake.""I don''t think so. Many described it vividly. I don''t think it can be faked." With a fit of annoyance, Andre couldn''t help scolding his men, "Shut up, all of you!" Finishing his sentence, he moved on with a grim expression. Realizing their leader''s rage, the others went silent and followed him quickly. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Andre had a sturdy build. At almost 1.9 meters tall, he was like a small hill. The muscles on his body were strong like iron. From his physique, nobody would''ve thought that he was from the Sword and Shield Sect. His maroon hair was messy like weeds, and his eyes were sharp and intimidating, forcing others to avert their gaze.


    He was a peace officer in Fort Mendelssohn, mainly in charge of daily patrols. Fort Mendelssohn was not a big city, but it was nearest to the outskirts of the Hundred Depths. Those entering the outskirts of Hundred Depths would pass by. Though it wasn''t large, but many complicated characters ventured here, and the public safety was terrible before he took the post as a peace officer. After he took up the role though, security improved drastically. His iron fist policies intimidated warriors from everywhere.


    Recently, the rumor about a murderous man and woman duo caused an uproar. The rumor that the entire Nine-tails Bandits had been wiped out, spread fear among the people. Andre knew that this was not just a rumor. A friend of his witnessed the events on the spot and verified it with him.


    This worried him a lot. He knew the strength of the Nine-tails Bandits. If two people could defeat all of them, they must be terrifyingly strong! Furthermore, based on how the corpses of the Nine-tails Bandits, they were clearly merciless.


    Fort Mendelssohn was the nearest town to the outskirts of the Hundred Depths, and it was also the place with the highest possibility where the duo would go. Without realizing it, the troubled Andre walked outside the city door with his men.


    An Acacia flower floated over out of nowhere and flew across his eyes. His pupils contracted instantly. Two shadows were moving toward him at a shocking speed from afar. "Retreat! Close the gate!" Andre yelled abruptly. Then, his figure retreated into the town at the same time. His men were stunned for a moment before their faces changed in horror. They retreated into the town, almost on all fours.


    Creak! The city gate closed slowly, and sirens shrieked within Fort Mendelssohn. Inside the fort, regardless of what they were doing, the people were stunned when they heard the sirens. Although there were various complicated forces in Fort Mendelssohn, they had never faced an external threat. The siren had not been sounded in the past 20 years.


    The whole town turned chaotic in an instance. "Andre! You owe me an explanation!" Sir Elmo rushed to the city gate menacingly. He frowned while looking at the terrified crowd unhappily. He was, in fact, the true ruler of the Fort Mendelssohn. Andre''s act of activating the siren and closing the city gate without asking for his permission annoyed him. God damn it! This brat even maneuvered the city army. Does he really think that he has authority here?


    All these years, as Andre''s influence in Fort Mendelssohn grew, he heavily threatened Sir Elmo''s position. Behind Sir Elmo was a bunch of influential locals who came over after hearing the sirens. Alerted by the sudden sirens, they came to find out what happened. Facing Sir Elmo who looked unfriendly, Andre didn''t explain. He pointed towards the outskirts and said. "Sir, look." Everyone followed Andre''s finger and looked outside the fort.


    "So, this is the Fort Mendelssohn?" Chen Mu raised his head and looked at the small town in front of him, seemingly slightly disappointed. Compared to the federation, which easily had over ten million people, Fort Mendelssohn was like a small base in the woods. The low city walls were all worn-out. Some people stood on the city walls; they seemed to be discussing something.


    "Yup," Zara replied, "I came here a few times before." Nostalgia flashed in her eyes while she was finishing her sentence. "What are they doing?" Chen Mu realized that the people upon the city walls seemed to be quite nervous about them.


    On the city wall, Sir Elmo laughed loudly with a sneer on his face, "My beloved Andre, just because of these three people, you closed the city gates, rang the sirens and maneuvered the city army?" Andre''s face was expressionless, yet on the inside, he decided that after this incident, he will leave this place. He couldn''t take any more from this idiotic fool!


    "Sir, I think that you need to look a little more carefully," He reminded. "There''s no need to look anymore! Andre! I''m telling you in all seriousness, due to your foolish acts, you are now fired!" Sir Elmo raised his voice and yelled. He wanted to prove that he''s the true ruler at Fort Mendelssohn with actions! However, to his surprise, Andre displayed a relieved expression.


    "Gladly!" Andre smiled and took a bow with a relaxed expression. He then turned around and left quickly. Sir Elmo''s sight dimmed. Andre''s actions in front of the crowd caused him to rage! "Guards! Kill the three down there! Any enemy of our Fort Mendelssohn will only have one ending!" Sir Elmo roared. Andre had connections in Fort Mendelssohn, and he couldn''t kill him personally in front of so many people. "Yes, Sir! " The flexster bodyguards beside Sir Elmo didn''t hesitate to respond to his order and moved towards the outskirts in an instance. Andre''s face changed drastically.


    Zara''s glance was cold; the intention of murder flashed in her eyes. "We''re not welcomed by them."


    "We''re not welcomed?" Chen Mu was confused, "Why? We haven''t even talked yet."


    "I don''t know." Zara shook her head. "How far is the nearest city from this place?" Chen Mu asked.


    "Quite far."


    "Then let''s just break in," Chen Mu said with a faint expression. "Okay."


    Behind the two, Kathleen''s face was pale. She roughly knew why the people in Fort Mendelssohn were nervous, but she couldn''t break it to them. Her heart jerked when she heard Chen Mu suggested to break in.


    On the city wall, Andre was burning with rage, his face red. Disregarding his image, he rushed in front of Sir Elmo, grabbed his collar and roared, "You pig! Do you want to kill everyone here? Open up your pig eyes and look at who the f*ck they are!"


    Sir Elmo was deeply terrified. He didn''t think that Andre would lose his mind completely like that. "Andre, who are those three?" The question was posed by a middle-aged man with a calm expression. He was the head of a local commerce chamber, so he was respected by the people. Andre let go of Sir Elmo and went a step back, then he said coldly. "I''m sure everyone heard how the Nine-tails Bandits perished."


    "You mean¡­" The face of the man that questioned Andre changed drastically. The faces of the people beside the man have also turned pale. As if attracted by some kind of magnet, the crowd couldn''t help throwing their sights on the three as the four flexsters jumped down the city walls and rushed towards the three murderously.


    "Oh, no! Sir! Stop them!" Someone in the crowd shouted in panic. "Too late." Andre''s seemed to be teasing Sir Elmo, yet hints of terror seeped through his words.


    Chen Mu looked at the four people jumping over the city walls and ran towards their position. The unfriendliness in the opposing party''s expressions was clear in his eyes. If he was younger, he would''ve asked the opponents about their motive, but he gave up on that. He made it a habit in the past two years: strike first at any opponent who might be a threat to him. Whoever strikes first gains the advantage. In the cruel world of the Hundred Depths, the difference between seconds could mean life or death. Chen Mu entered his battle status in an instance. Without any hesitation, he reached for the White Midges Bone at his back.


    Zara stood beside him in silence. Behind them, Kathleen seemed like she wanted to say something, but she didn''t. He bent his elbow outwards, arched his body to the back, and exerted a force all of a sudden! The White Midges Bone in his hands disappeared in thin air!


    Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Four frightening puffs of blood mist exploded in the air! Wounds the size of a bowl appeared on the four menacing flexsters'' bodies from a distance. The considerable impact knocked them back as if an asteroid hit them. They were so hit so hard they flew backward!


    Swoosh! A few seconds later, a strange swishing sound brushed past the city wall like a late hurricane. Dead silence filled the city walls. Although they heard rumors about the man and the woman before this, witnessing with their own eyes was many times more shocking. The four flexsters were Sir Elmo''s personal bodyguards, and they were the absolute strongest in the entire Fort Mendelssohn. However, they didn''t manage to tackle the opponents, and they were slaughtered with ease.


    Aside from their relaxed look, the man and woman''s indifference made a deep impression on the others. They didn''t say a word throughout the whole thing, had no hesitation before they make their move as if they were doing something so ordinary. When the four bodyguards died, they didn''t even blink or expressed a tinge of joy, as if it was just something common.


    Their indifference towards death, as if it is an everyday occurrence, broke the mental defense of the leaders, just like a sharp knife puncturing through their walls effortlessly. Not one person on-site would''ve suspected the legitimacy of the rumors anymore as killing didn''t seem like a big thing for the pair. They must be ruthless murderers! On the city walls, everyone was terrified, their faces filled with fear and despair.


    Chen Mu and the demonic woman started approaching Fort Mendelssohn slowly. Chaos erupted from the crowd on the city walls. Chen Mu and Zara picked up their pace. The terror and despair on the faces of the crowd on the city walls got heavier. Many of them started to shudder. Everything was happening in front of them so quickly, but also so slowly. They could see every detail; clearly, their fragile minds were being wrecked gradually.


    While running with high speed, Chen Mu held the Lotus Leaf Shield in front of him while holding the Golden Ring Woodspear in his left hand. The Blood Eyed Dart on his arm, slowly hovered beside him. Zara maintained a calm expression. Following beside Chen Mu closely, she started releasing various silk ropes of various colors off her body. Thump! Thump! Thump! The two of them heavily stomped once, and it echoed a cruel thump on the hearts of the people. It was almost suffocating!

 585 In the Name of the Murderer 2

    "Kill them!" the triggered Sir Elmo looked utterly pale. He broke down mentally under the immense fear and shouted hysterically.


    Military orders could not be disobeyed. The city army initiated their attack immediately despite their fears.


    The reason Fort Mendelssohn could keep their independent stance was because of Sir Elmo''s well-trained city army. Since the fort was placed on the outskirts of the Hundred Depths, every flexster recruited into the city army was extraordinary and skilled.


    The archers and the sling shooters were the first attackers. As bows and slingshots were the flexters'' primary ranged weapon, many majored in these two weapons. Rondoch and Hofn were the most prominent ones among them. Rondoch was the leader of the archers while Hofn led the sling shooters.


    Chen Mu, who was running with high speed, lifted his head suddenly. He sensed many streams of perceptions that were trying to lock onto him. Two of them had the strongest perception of the people he had met in Hundred Depths; they were even stronger than Zara''s. Calculating using the Federation''s grading system, these two perceptions reflected a perception strength of grade six.


    This astonished him. With his understanding of flexsters, they normally don''t require much perception as they depended more on their body strengths. Therefore, perception was usually their weakness. He couldn''t believe that he actually met flexsters with grade six perception. This prompted him to be more cautious. His figure became erratic and uncanny as he kept changing his pace.


    "Cover fire!" Rondoch''s deputy shouted in rage. He took over command for the moment.


    Rondoch had a robust body and a sturdy build. His face tensed while he stared at Chen Mu, who seemed like a shadow. In his left arm, he held a gigantic bow that almost reached his shoulder while he clasped three blood-red arrows in his right hand and set it onto the bow. Beside him, the short-statured Hofn stared at Zara the demonic woman coldly. He held a small silver slingshot on his left, while his right hand was resting in the bag at his waist.


    Aside from these two, the other archers released their attacks at the same time.


    Swish! Swish! Swish! The sharp and terrifying swooshing noises poured toward the two like rainfall. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Such absurd speed! Chen Mu was a little shocked. The speed of these arrows was comparable to energy forms released by card artisans. If they were hit, their bodies would no doubt be penetrated. With his sharp eyesight, he could see clearly that the arrow tips were bluish, clearly dipped in poison.


    Today, he finally faced the power of the flexsters of the House of a Hundred Depths. No wonder this House could resist the Federation for so long. Compared to the Nine-tailed Bandits, these flexsters were a cut above.


    He rolled his body into a ball while holding the Lotus Leaf Shield in front of him with his right arm. Although the archer flexsters couldn''t lock their target on Chen Mu''s body, some of the arrows still hit his shield due to the dense hail of arrows.


    Thump!


    Five arrows hit the shield at the same time, and a clang echoed from the knocking. The five arrows combined their impact to form a stronger and more terrifying attack. The force coming from the shield caused Chen Mu''s figure to fall back uncontrollably.


    That was intense!


    He maintained the indifference on his face, yet he was speechless. The force from one arrow was enough to penetrate through common 3-stars power shields. Five arrows together could definitely affect someone even as strong as Chen Mu. Another thing that awed him was the uniformity of the archer flexsters. Five arrows actually hit him at the same time. How scary is that?


    Andre stared at the Lotus Leaf Shield in Chen Mu''s arms from the city wall. As someone who came from the Sword and Shield Sect, it was strange to see an outsider possessing a treasure of his sect.


    Right when Chen Mu was stunned, two bright rays were suddenly emitted from Rondoch from the city wall. Nobody could clearly see how he pulled the gigantic bow in his arms.


    Thump!


    The noises of bowstrings were like thunder. Three bright red rays remained in the crowd''s vision.


    Chen Mu, who was in State Zero, could sense Rondoch''s perception locking onto him. The combat skills he honed from countless battles in the past two years enabled him to respond immediately. His 18 Blood Eyed Darts were activated in an instant. As if waking up from a deep sleep, they opened their bloody eyes, which resembled death.


    Clink! Clink! Clink! A clear of crisp colliding noises echoed like the chimes of wind bells.


    The Blood Eyed Darts spun eerily with high speed, drawing one strange arc after another nonstop. The three sharp and unblockable arrows released by Rondoch slowed down as if they were in water.


    When they almost reached Chen Mu, they were as slow as paper planes. Chen Mu reached out lightly and grabbed the three arrows firmly!


    It was as if time stopped at that moment. All noises disappeared, everyone stopped what they were doing, all eyes were assembled on Chen Mu''s hands with his Power Gloves on.


    On the city wall, Rondoch''s face was pale as ash as his body trembled. He spent all his energy on the three arrows he shot! He was so spent that he couldn''t even pull the string of the most common bow.


    "How is this possible¡­ How is this possible¡­" he mumbled while his lips trembled. He couldn''t believe what was happening in front of his eyes. He wasn''t surprised that he couldn''t kill the opponent. What hit him the most was the fact that he didn''t even faze his enemy.


    That was all of his strength!


    He purchased the gigantic bow in his arms with huge amounts of gold. The bow was made with valuable black cedarwood while the bowstring was made from rare silk rattan. He never missed a target ever since he got this bow. The three arrows were made from Blood Frogs Spikes, very poisonous. The bow''s strength was 17 times more magnified than usual under his full force of perception. Moreover, Blood Frog Arrows that were assisted with perception could hit a strand of hair from a thousand meters away accurately! However, his powerful hit didn''t even delay the opponent!


    Like a lioness, Zara had the speed of lightning. The downpour of arrows didn''t cause her any trouble at all. Compared to Chen Mu, she was familiar with the skills of the flexsters in the House of Hundred Depths. The powerful yet heavy arrows were like gentle raindrops, pelted away by her Painted Graphistemma in a single swipe. She didn''t stop her pace at all, even when Chen Mu was stunned. She had absolute confidence in him!


    Nobody would understand his power as well as she did, after all the fighting they did side by side. Both of them approached the city walls of Fort Mendelssohn speedily.


    The people on the city walls became disordered immediately. As if they were suddenly awakened from their dreams, the archers started attacking madly under the pressure of death.


    Although the downpour of arrows had gotten more intense than before, Chen Mu and Zara acted more calmly instead, especially Chen Mu. Even though he was disadvantaged because he wasn''t familiar with the flexsters of the House of Hundred Depths, their attacks didn''t threaten him anymore.


    He didn''t even need to block them as he already completed analyzing the attacking modes via State Zero. Like a fish, he swam effortlessly in the downpour of arrows.


    Hofn''s face was purple with rage, but he didn''t have time to think any further. The two enemies already entered the slingshot''s range of fire!


    Compared to bows, a slingshot''s range of fire was a lot shorter as it somewhere between melee weapons and ranged weapons, similar to javelins. Of course, the White Midges Bone was not included as it''s scary enough to outrange many excellent bows.


    "Attack!" Hofn shouted.


    This time, he was aiming towards Zara as he lost his confidence in attacking Chen Mu. Although Zara''s perception wasn''t strong, she still had ways to escape detection by perception. It should be noted that she was tied with Qing Qing in the Federation, where card artisans were everywhere. Therefore it is a given that she had her own unique skills.


    Hofn''s expression changed as he realized that he couldn''t lock on this woman.


    Damn it!


    Being able to sit in this position, he obviously had some skills. He reacted immediately, and several brown pellets appeared on his palm.


    The pellets missed the demonic woman and hit the ground not too far away from her. Hofn''s face was cold, showing no signs of defeat.


    Boom!


    The pellets exploded the moment they hit the ground! Orange flames rose and crept towards Zara.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Several pellets exploded in the middle of the air. A few orange flames engulfed Zara like greedy beasts. Hofn''s icy face finally showed a smile. This was his ultimate skill. The pellets were all custom-made; each pellet was extremely pricey. He shot all his pellets in one go just now. The hardest part of this skill lies in exploding the pellets by perception when they are near to the enemy. He would''ve never used this ultimate skill he invented unless it was a crucial time. However, on this day, the pair has given him uncomparable pressure. This is why he and Rondoch both chose to use their ultimate skill from the beginning.


    The crowd on the city walls finally had a relieved expression. The temperature of the orange flames was terrifying. No one could escape from it.


    Hofn''s expression froze suddenly.


    Zara walked out of the flames calmly. At that moment, she flaunted an intimidating aura, like a devil walking out from hellfire. The Painted Graphistemma was flipping beside her, forming air curtains that separated the burning flames away with ease. She was completely unhurt.


    "Aah!" Hofn shrieked suddenly, his eyes protruding outwards. He covered his throat while blood oozed out between his fingers.


    Thump!


    His head fell to the ground while his lower body maintained a standing posture. Blood sprayed from the clean-cut on his neck all over the people around him. A yellow filament disappeared in the fog of blood.


    At the same moment Zara initiated her attack, with an unspoken consensus, Chen Mu also launched his attack. He cast the last White Midges Bone!


    In a buzz, the bone penetrated Rondoch''s tired body effortlessly like a strike of lightning, leaving a bloodied hole with the size of a bowl.


    "Aah!"


    "Oh my god!"


    The crowd on the city walls had never faced this kind of situation before. The sudden death of their two leaders sucked away all their courage at once. Those who were weaker mentally limped on the floor.


    Andre, who was uncertain before, seemed to have steeled his mind. While the crowd was quaking internally, he snuck inside and grabbed Sir Elmo''s neck suddenly.


    "I don''t want to die because of this idiotic fool! This is an order! Everyone drop your weapons! Yield immediately!"

 586 The Comparison

    As usual, Andre patrolled the streets. Behind him, all the men held their heads up high, looking around, with a satisfied look on their faces. Andre was composed, and there was no sign of joy on his hardened face¡ªas if nothing had happened.


    Pedestrians along the road looked at Andre with more fear than ever before. The streets of Fort Mendelssohn were more barren and deserted than it used to be, many stores were closed.


    In the past few days, the news about that day spread like wildfire.


    Andre''s betrayal ended the battle with a single blow. Many people scolded him for being ungrateful, but more people thanked him. So far, there had been no massacre that people were most worried about.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    None sympathized with Sir Elmo''s death. He almost brought the entire city down to hell with him because of his stupidity.


    The houses of all the local aristocrats were shut tight, and the notorious man and woman duo had taken over Fort Mendelssohn. No one had any objection; even the city guards chose to surrender in the first instant. It wasn''t a disgrace to surrender to the strong. The two commanders died on the spot, the city guards without leaders lost their will to put up a fight.


    The battle was short, but the horrifying conduct and presence of Chen Mu and Zara were deeply rooted in the hearts of those people; they didn''t have any intention to defy them. In that way, Chen Mu and Zara became the rulers of the city in an instant.


    For those who lived in Fort Mendelssohn, they didn''t really care who the ruler was. But the new ruler was infamous for their brutality. Those working for them were trembling in fear and afraid that any slight inadvertent action would provoke those two demons. However, after two days, their tensed nerves loosened up a little.


    Andre was quite indifferent to the public''s panic. He made many discoveries in his contacts with that man and woman for the past few days. In his opinion, the two leaders weren''t as brutal as rumored. On the contrary, they were clear-minded and quick-witted. He thought they had outstanding temperaments, although he had never seen their faces.


    Among the two, the man was the decision-maker. Looking at his confidence and composed demeanor during his command, Andre couldn''t connect him with those vicious villains. Instead, the man felt like a prince in a large clan. And it was clear that the new owner of Fort Mendelssohn had considerable experience in management, much more than Sir Elmo, who only indulged in sensual pleasures.


    Andre was somewhat confused, and suddenly lost his directions in life.


    In the room, Chen Mu and Zara were in a discussion.


    "You want to deal with The Dark Tribe? Tell me about them," Chen Mu calmly replied. He had long anticipated that when they were out of Hundred Depths, Zara would choose to revenge.


    Zara''s eyes turned teary when she talked about The Dark Tribe. But she tried to keep herself calm, "The Dark Tribe used to live in Black Abyss, where the environment was dangerous, and the resources were poor. Most importantly, there was no geothermal heat, and it was always cold and dark. The population of The Dark Tribe had been very scarce, and we hadn''t paid much attention to it. Unexpectedly, that generation of The Dark Tribe had a great master, Hedrat!"


    "Hedrat!" Chen Mu repeated his name.


    "My brother died by his hands. My brother was the ace in our tribe. In the whole of Hundred Depths, he could rank in the top ten." Zara was all teary and choked in her emotions.


    Chen Mu gasped. If he could rank in the top ten of one city, he was undoubtedly an ace. Judging from Zara''s words, his brother was stronger than her then. Zara and Qing Qing were top-notch in Heavenly Federation. Under careful calculation, her brother should be at least on par with Jiao Si or Jia Yingxia. And if Hedrat could kill her brother; his strength should be on par with Caesar or Tang Hanpei.


    Thinking of that, Chen Mu asked, "Comparing your strength now with your brother''s then, what''s the difference?"


    With a bit of hesitation, Zara answered, "Should be similar."


    She took a look at Chen Mu. "I can''t handle him by myself. But if we were to attack him together, it''s possible."


    Chen Mu didn''t answer her. He pondered and asked, "How many of them do they have? How many aces do they have?"


    "The number of their entire tribe is about 200,000, but their number of flexster wasn''t much, only about 2,000. These 2,000 people are elite, and the average standard of their flexster is on par with the two commanders we killed that day. In addition, there are five commanders under Hedrat who can pose a threat to us. They are also aces who can enter the top 50 in House of a Hundred Depths."


    Chen Mu was shocked! He now somewhat understood how Zara''s tribe was wiped out. From his comparison, the two commanders whom they killed that day were equivalent to Grade Seven card artisans. Imagine a team of 2,000 people consisting entirely of Grade Seven card artisans, plus five commanders ranked top 50 in Heavenly Federation, all under the command of Tang Hanpei, the strongest in Heavenly Federation. Such a luxurious lineup, wherever they went, they were invincible!


    Are they going to deal with such a powerful force with just the two of them?


    * * *


    Sanchez was the first to fly out of the door. He took a look upwards; Hupa City, like any other border city, was prosperous. There were tall buildings everywhere. From time to time, card artisans were seen flying in the sky. None of these card artisans passing by had a second look at this small convoy, which could be seen everywhere in Hupa City.


    In every carriage, the captain repeatedly emphasized,


    "Check your meters and your card wallet carefully!"


    "Keep your spirits up and get ready to assemble!"


    "Keep a close distance later. Whoever dares to create troubles, I won''t spare them when I go back!"


    Outside the car, Sanchez''s expression was cold but full of fanaticism deep in his eyes. He took a deep breath, calmed his excitement a little, and gestured with his right hand.


    Flushed!


    Doors of twenty transport shuttle opened up in an instant. The loud voice of each team captain resonated at the same time.


    "Quick, quick, quick! Move faster!"


    "Continue! Do not stop!"


    "Find your appointed location and get ready to assemble!"


    Card artisans from the shuttle came out in an orderly fashion. Their movements were neat and agile; well-trained.


    Sanchez watched the team gathered with a cold gaze; there wasn''t any of his usual generosity.


    Thirty seconds later, all members assembled. A few scattered outposts were in battle mode. Other card artisans passing by upon seeing these card artisans with a murderous aura became shocked and ran away immediately.


    "Do you remember your mission?" Sanchez wore a serious expression.


    Seeing their boss''s serious attitude, every team captain didn''t dare to hesitate a second, and they replied in unison, "Yes!"


    "Good!" A spark of coldness flared in his eyes. "Act according to plan."


    "Yes!"


    As soon as his voice fell, the card artisans gathering in the sky quickly divided into three groups and flew in all directions.


    The General Staff Unit formulated the ambush plan; it was very detailed. Every captain became familiar with the three-dimensional sketch of Hupa City. They would never lose their direction no matter where they were in the city.


    Hupa City''s long-distance shuttle train was destroyed, which also threw Hupa City into chaos. Various forces fought continuously. Sanchez flew toward his target as planned, and several fights could be seen along the way.


    Those card artisans, who were in their fights, were very nervous when they noticed someone approaching. Their faces revealed vigilance. But when they saw Sanchez and his group merely flew past them, they were relieved.


    Those fellows in the General Staff Unit were awesome! Sanchez truly admired them. The chaotic situation allowed those local forces to engage in their own battles and availed themselves of the chance to seize power.


    The plan formulated by General Staff Unit was simple. It was to throw Hupa City into greater chaos with the least effort, forcing the inhabitants of these border cities to migrate outwards, and creating an empty zone on the borders.


    Sanchez''s team was targeting Municipal Warehouse. According to the investigation of the Intelligence Department, Municipal Warehouse was controlled by one of the biggest forces in the area; it had a surprising volume of goods and materials. If they could obtain that warehouse, their supply problem wouldn''t only be resolved, but also forced the opposing party into a problematic situation. That greatest force was also the main enemy of Sanchez''s brigade in this battle. However, there was a strong protective barrier for that warehouse. Hence, Sanchez brought the strongest team of 300 members.


    The Municipal warehouse was far away but within sight. The protection of the warehouse was under strict scrutiny, and some card artisans were patrolling in the sky, to keep a lookout for dangers. The Intelligence Department spent a lot of energy coming with a detailed map of the distribution of the warehouse''s hidden guards; the map was imprinted in Sanchez''s mind.


    Three hundred people were divided into five groups, quietly hiding in different locations.


    Sanchez didn''t attack straight away but waited patiently. Beside him, two card artisans started using their telecommunication cards. Strangely, both were using ordinary telecommunication cards. Surprisingly, the screen in front of them was merely each other''s faces. They stared nervously at the telecommunication screen in front of them, without a bit of laxity.


    All of a sudden, the telecommunication screen on their hands suddenly fluctuated, and the image on the screen became blurry. Buzz, Buzz, Buzz. A series of static sound rang, and the human figures on their screen were getting vague. After more than ten seconds, there was nothing on their screens.


    "Report, Captain! The interference device was put into operation successfully!"


    The two men were excited. The goal of the other team had been accomplished. The interference device was a kind of card appliance which could interfere with the telecommunication card. It was an enhanced version of a card appliance made by Chen Mu. Chen Mu used this card to exterminate spies in Wood Battalion. For their operation, the General Staff Unit specially asked the Department of Card Appliance for help, and finally obtained that card appliance.


    They had experimented with the card appliance. It interfered with most of the telecommunication cards on the market, but their "thousand-kilometer card" wasn''t affected at all. The importance of communication on the battlefield was self-evident, especially in a surprise attack; to paralyze the enemy''s communication was equivalent to half the battle won. The rest of the team was in high spirits.


    "Attack!" Sanchez had no hesitation whatsoever as he commanded through his "thousand-kilometer card".

 587 Eye-catching

    Five forces launched attacks simultaneously.


    The vigilant enemy sounded the alarm. The Municipal Warehouse was in a state of chaos. They were the strongest local power, and coupled with the expansions of many card artisans from the flourishing districts; they became even more powerful. Although the long shuttle car passage was blown up and the situation in Hupa City was chaotic, no one dared to stroke the tiger''s whiskers.


    "Burning Rain" A unique drizzling of fiery rain ascended from the ground, overshadowing the sky and sun. The sky was instantly dyed red. "Burning Rain" was a kind of improvement card from "Oudi Burner". It not only had better performance but needed only one card artisan to operate; it was a popular choice among the members.


    "Da*n it! It''s the Eastern Wei!"


    No one knew who screamed, but the card artisans on defense panicked. Everyone knew that the shuttle car passage was blown up by the Eastern Wei, but no one expected them to send a large troop to attack and occupy Hupa City. The number one force in the common residential district was a mystery to everyone.


    They couldn''t differentiate the difference between "Burning Rain" and "Oudi Burner". But the sinister and terrifying fiery rain was infamous.


    "Burning Rain" was like hell!


    Dong!


    A dreary thunderous whistle shook everyone''s hearts. At a hidden outpost, a bloody hole appeared on the forehead of an exposed card artisan. The excellent accuracy of "Tailless Shuttle Card-2" was demonstrated.


    Dong! Dong! Dong!


    The continuous dreary thunderous noise sounded as if a giant were beating on drums. It caused the enemy''s hearts trembled violently.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    The card artisans guarding the warehouse was perturbed by the fierce attacks, especially when Grade Seven card artisans were launching their attacks. For these local forces, they were deemed powerful if they have two or three Grade Seven card artisans in their team. Now, they had to face the bombardment of dozens of Grade Seven card artisans.


    Yes, it was a crazy bombardment! In the hands of the Grade Seven card artisans, those ordinary cards were lethal weapons. What''s more, the cards they used were of excellent performance, designed by Chen Mu!


    In order to end the battle quickly, Sanchez grouped the majority of Grade Seven card artisans in his team. Now it seemed that his decision was definitely correct!


    "No, Head, we can''t keep up! The opponent''s attacks are too fierce!"


    "Da*n it. Where did they get so many Grade Seven card artisans from!" the card artisan leading the attack couldn''t help but complain about the situation. He was covered with smoke and dust from the wave of explosions earlier. It made him gasp for breath. He huddled behind the shelter and didn''t even head out, though he was a Grade Seven card artisans himself.


    He turned to his side and shouted to his adjutant, "Support! I need support! Da*n it! Call for support!"


    The adjutant was so anxious that he nearly burst out crying. "I can''t get in touch with them! Head, all our telecommunication cards are useless!"


    "Da*n it!" The leader exclaimed and slumped to the ground.


    Bombs, fiery rain and precise sniping intertwined into a vast net. Suddenly, he felt like he was a prey trapped under the net; unable to move, let alone resist. The strength of both sides was not on par. A person of his rank was naturally not a fool. The attack by Eastern Wei has obviously been planned long ago; they knew the various locations of the warehouse''s hidden outposts. Their strikes were so precise that many of their card artisans were buried directly in the ruins of the collapsed building before they could join the battle.


    "Head, what should we do? There aren''t many of our people still alive." He swallowed his saliva and asked with great difficulty and anxiety.


    "Let''s surrender!" When their boss said this, all the card artisans around him breathed a sigh of relief. They didn''t want to die!


    The battle in the Municipal Warehouse ended in a very short time. Sanchez had taken over the Municipal Warehouse. While checking out the warehouse, he became shocked by the precious resources found. Then, before the rest in the city had time to respond, the team''s Architecture Card Artisan quickly built a protective fortification.


    In the future, the Municipal Warehouse would become their temporary base. The other two teams also completed their missions, and their return boosted the protection of the Municipal Warehouse. Rumors had spread far, and panic was rising rapidly in Hupa City.


    "That''s impossible," recovering from his shock, Chen Mu calmly rebutted. "Even if we take over Fort Mendelssohn now," said Chen Mu, "It''s just a small town, and its strength is negligible. And the two of us have zero chance of winning against them."


    "We can assassinate him. If we join forces, the odds are good." Although Zara''s face was unseen, her eyes were full of stubbornness.


    "Assassination?" Chen Mu looked at her calmly and asked, "Do you know where he lives? Do you know their defense layout? Do you know how to get close to him? Do you know how to escape from their encirclement successfully? We know nothing about them. Without enough information, we can''t formulate plans."


    Zara was silent. She knew Chen Mu was right. During the years which she left the House of a Hundred Depths, she knew nothing about the changes there. But her mournful eyes turned teary at the thought of her loved ones'' tragic death.


    Chen Mu took a second look at Zara and suddenly said, "Let''s proceed in that direction first. Stay hidden outside the sphere of influence of The Dark Tribe. We can search for information and wait for opportunities slowly."


    Zara was shocked. She raised her head, but only saw Chen Mu''s back view.


    "Let''s go," Chen Mu spoke without turning his head.


    They had intended to take leave without notice but didn''t expect Andre to come in time to hand in his resignation.


    "Are you going to leave?" Chen Mu asked. In his opinion, Andre was a capable man. He was competent and was sufficiently worldly-wise to understand and judge a situation.


    "Yes, Sir," Andre answered carefully.


    Chen Mu thought about it and suddenly said, "We''re also planning to leave, let''s go together."


    Andre was startled; his face twitched a little, and he had a premonition of imminent disaster. God! If he were to journey with these two demons, and angered them at any time, he would be dead. He raised his head carefully and glanced at Chen Mu from the corner of his eye. He wanted to see if Chen Mu was serious or joking when he said that. His eyes happened to bump into Zara''s unsympathetic gaze who was beside Chen Mu, and Andre''s heart gave a sudden leap.


    "Why? Are you unwilling?" Chen Mu asked.


    As soon as Chen Mu ended his question, Andre caught a glimpse of Zara''s intention to kill! His heart was as if gripped by a hand, and a strong feeling of suffocation arose. He wondered what would be the consequence if he provoked that inhumane fellow¡­


    A cold shiver went down his spine, and he shook his head promptly. "No, it''s not! It''s a great honor. It''s a great honor!"


    Chen Mu nodded satisfactorily. "Well, that''s good. I don''t like to force someone to do things against their will."


    Andre felt like crying. "If that isn''t coercion, what is?" he thought. He wanted to kick himself now. Why did he choose to bid farewell? When he thought about serving two villains who kill without batting an eye with great care, he felt that his life was dark and gloomy.


    Zara stood quietly beside Chen Mu. She hardly spoke or objected. People who didn''t know her would think of her as a meek cat. But in Andre''s eyes, that woman with a charming figure was the number one devil in hell!


    The three left Fort Mendelssohn quietly, and none realized their departure.


    Chen Mu discovered a strange phenomenon. All the people who saw them on the road looked devastated, screamed, and fled. There was a group of merchants who threw away all their goods and fled in all directions. It was jaw-dropping for Chen Mu.


    "What''re they doing?" Chen Mu asked Andre, pointing to the piles of goods in front of him.


    Andre replied, "They must have fled in fear of your prestige." But he rolled his eyes, "Why did they flee? They treasured their lives." he thought. Reflecting on his circumstances, he was suddenly depressed; those guys could run away, but he couldn''t afford to escape.


    "Prestige?" Chen Mu frowned, "Do they know us?" He was skeptical about his explanation. Chen Mu and Zara had just got out from a Hundred Depths. How could these people know themselves?


    "Pretend? Pretend all you want!" Andre scorned in his heart, but replied earnestly, "Sir, you''ve risen to fame after the annihilation of Nine-tails Bandits. They naturally recognize you."


    "Oh." Chen Mu nodded. It was that event. But he soon frowned again; fame wasn''t a good thing for him and Zara.


    Suddenly it occurred to him, and he asked, "How did they recognize me?"


    "It''s easy to identify from both of your attire."


    "Attire?" Chen Mu looked at himself, slightly puzzled, "Is there anything especially eye-catching?" What he wore was just ordinary attire of a flexster, nothing special.


    "Many," Andre answered honestly.


    Chen Mu looked at Zara. Zara commented coldly, "I''ve been wearing this all the time."


    Andre didn''t even have the strength to roll his eyes. Well, he had to admit that the logic of a master was different from his. But when he noticed that Chen Mu''s attention was on him, and Zara''s gaze was flaring ill-intentions, he immediately pulled himself together.


    "The weapons that both of you carried are too sophisticated." He thought for a moment and said, "All of the weapons you have, they''re invaluable. The ability to possess many priceless treasures at the same time, other than the two of you, there are no others." Looking at the weapons on Chen Mu, Andre was envious. Especially those Lotus Leaf Shields, they were the ultimate weapon for a flexster from Sword and Shield Sect like him.


    "Priceless treasure?" Chen Mu pointed at these weapons, slightly amused. These things were made of materials he found in The Deep. They were only makeshift weapons if his power-card was inadequate. He kept them because he found that they were still relatively handy.


    Zara never told him that those were priceless treasures. He looked at Zara again.


    "They''re good weapons," Zara calmly explained, and then she added, "My brother had them too."


    Andre was awe-inspired and suddenly convinced that Zara might be from an extraordinary background. With those two replies alone, he deduced that Zara might have a very noble origin. Only those of noble origin would have an unconcerned attitude towards these treasures.

 588 Aguda City

    Given Andre''s advice, Chen Mu gathered up everything that was eye-catching from his body. Since Zara didn''t want to remove her weaponry, she just put on a large fighting cape to hide her body. That way, they wouldn''t be bothered along the way as they had been.


    The population of the House of a Hundred Depths was far lower than the Federation, and its level of technology was similarly lacking. In terms of comprehensive strength, the House of a Hundred Depths many times weaker than the Federation. However, living in such a brutal environment, inhabitants from House of a Hundred Depths were much more ruthless and fiercer than those from the Federation. Battles were the most common thing there, and they would often encounter great struggles along their way.


    The result of defeat was death in the House of a Hundred Depths. It was a lot more ruthless than the Federation, where people had more encounters where they wouldn''t be so easily wounded.


    Given the two utterly different mechanisms, the soldiers cultivated were also completely different. The card artisans of the Federation were quite a bit more advanced in their skills and equipment, while they were far less willful and determined than the flexsters of the House of a Hundred Depths. Being curled up in a dark place without moving, eating, or drinking for several days was routine for those flexsters. Most card artisans in the Federation were pampered gentlemen playing with dazzling gizmos. They never went through hardships like that. Even among the Wood Brigade and the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm, which had been honed under Chen Mu''s training, there was only a handful who could do that.


    Chen Mu assumed that was why even though the Federation had discovered transit windows, to get through to the House of a Hundred Depths, they still had no success in infiltrating the House of a Hundred Depths.


    The food in the House of a Hundred Depths was awful, mostly dry and flavorless fruits. Those fruits were starchy, and bland even after baking. But after a while, it was no longer noticeable. This was just the sort of food Zara and Andre would slowly chew and devour. It was a huge sin to waste food in the House of a Hundred Depths.


    "That''s Aguda City up ahead. We can recuperate there." Andre was pointing to the brilliantly lit city off in the distance, with a somewhat complicated expression.


    It was dark everywhere in the House of a Hundred Depths, with lights only visible where people were living. Following where Andre was pointing, Chen Mu and Zara''s gaze was directed to the city in front of them. Compared to Fort Mendelssohn, that city was a lot more magnificent with its steep geography and only one road winding down from it. There were sentry stations at intervals along the path, where flexster archers could watch the flow of people coming and going from on high. Their steady expressions adequately showed how elite those flexsters were.


    "It''s a really large city." Chen Mu made his simple evaluation.


    Andre had gotten used to their temperaments during those past few days. Between the two of them, Chen Mu''s was a little better and more willing to communicate. Zara really shouldn''t be provoked, and it was better when she wasn''t around.


    "Mmmm, Aguda is the biggest city in this region, with about five million residents. The mayor, Mo Sang, is a competent and imposing figure, with countless elites under him. If Hedrat hadn''t appeared out of the blue some years earlier, Mo Sang would be recognized by everyone as the most qualified to contend with the West Mountain King Tribe. He never thought that Hedrat would bring along people from the Dark Tribe to completely wipe out the Western Mountain King Tribe." Andre couldn''t help a sigh after saying that.


    Chen Mu could sense that Zara was lagging a little.


    "What sort of battle record has Hedrat had these last couple of years? And the Dark Tribe? Are they likely to be honest residents?" Chen Mu acted curious, knowing that Zara was listening.


    "I don''t know. Hedrat remained shut-in after that battle with the West Mountain King Tribe. Some people say that he was wounded. The special strength of the ancients is unfathomable in the end. Moreover, there are clouds of aces in the West Mountain King Tribe, and no matter how capable the Dark Tribe was, I imagine it took a blow. In any case, it''s been a long time since there''s been any movement from Hedrat or the Dark Tribe," Andre said as though he were indifferent.


    Chen Mu and Zara gave each other a look.


    They didn''t encounter any trouble as they entered the city where the gate was streaming with people. Once there, Chen Mu sensed that everything was a sheet of dark red. Dark red roads and houses were all over.


    "Aguda was established in a huge area of red shale, and this is that sort of red stone. All of the buildings are made of that red shale, and so some people call it the red city. There are an awful lot of flexsters here who are rather powerful, along with some very powerful teams. But given the ruthlessness of Mo Sang, and his people who are mostly the same, no one would dare to stir up trouble here."


    After Andre finished what he had to say, he suddenly felt that something wasn''t quite right. Was there truly no one who dared to stir up trouble there? Weren''t the two characters beside him stirring up trouble? And they weren''t any ordinary troublemakers! Thinking of that, he felt a chill sweat flowing down. He inwardly prayed that he hadn''t provoked those two, who were unafraid of anything, with what he had said.


    It was a good thing that Chen Mu found nothing wrong with what he said. He was sizing up the surrounding shops with interest. It would be very hard to see such primitive shops in the Federation.


    Then just at that time, someone gave out a cold laugh. "Yo, isn''t that Andre? What''s up? You''ve come charging back from that Fort Mendelssohn where the birds don''t shit? Come and let your big brother take a look at how you''ve advanced these past two years."


    Andre slowed his pace as his face darkened. "Do you dare to be so arrogant in front of me, Kunya?" A shield half the height of a man appeared in his hands as he stared his adversary down.


    There was a similarly tough brute in front of him looking at him mockingly. Kunya''s two triangular eyes, and his smashed nose and thin lips gave out a sense of lurking danger. "Yeah, could it be that our little Andre has advanced a bit these past two years to be speaking out like that?" A shield similarly appeared in Kunya''s hands.


    Chen Mu was looking at the two in some surprise. Nearly the same sort of shields and the same kind of attack posture. Were the two "cut from the same cloth"? A family feud?


    The five-sided shields with sharp edges looked a lot like his lotus leaf shield, though the materials weren''t nearly as good. Having wandered the House of a Hundred Depths these past two years, he had come to know even more materials than Zara. His accomplishment with card mastery and knowledge gave him a deep understanding of materials, and his research into the local materials during those two years had provided him with quite a few surprising discoveries.


    That sort of lotus leaf was something he''d discovered by himself. The unnamed lotus leaf had terrifying power and shocking defensive capabilities. He''d spent a lot of thought to process it into his current lotus leaf shield. His attention was quickly drawn by the two of them facing off.


    "You''ll find out when you try me," Andre said in a deep voice.


    Kunya squinted as some hesitancy floated into his contracted eyes. The unflinching Andre in front of him was entirely different from the cowardly Andre of his impression. Could he have had some fortuitous encounters those past two years? His gaze fell involuntarily onto the two beside him.


    There didn''t look to be anything special about Chen Mu apart from there being a few overly large arrows on his back. Zara''s whole body was shrunken beneath a broad battle cape, and he wasn''t able to see her face, though her entire being exuded a breath of danger, which made him flinch.


    "What has gotten into you to be so bold today when you depend on aces to help you?" Kunya laughed as he turned to salute Chen Mu. "Let me introduce myself. I am Kunya from the Sword and Shield Sect. You two are?"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "Um, you don''t need to know who I am," Chen Mu said blandly. He did not have any good feelings toward such overly arrogant people. Zara was looking at Kunya without seeming to.


    By identifying himself, Kunya was trying to probe the mettle of the people in front of him. Whereas the Sword and Shield Sect wasn''t the biggest in the House of a Hundred Depths, it was the most well-known sect in Aguda. The topmost flexsters in the House of a Hundred Depths came from the Sword and Shield Sect, and since the influx and outflow of those coming to learn the art was endless, they had become powerful across a few hundred years of build-up.


    Chen Mu''s response made Kunya immediately realize that his adversary was not someone who held the Sword and Shield Sect in his sights. There had never been someone so bold toward the Sect in Aguda. As the most prominent sect in the area, quite a few of the Sword and Shield sect flexsters were tightly tied to the mayor of Agoda, Mo Sang, and quite a few of them worked for him. That had given them shocking local influence.


    Kunya''s expression returned to normal as he smiled coldly to himself. As a snake not moved by a dragon¡ªa local gangster above the law. What should he do as a strong man? The power of the Sword and shield Sect had long since permeated every corner of Aguda, and they could even mobilize the army in all kinds of ways. Even the strongest are toast when facing the army!


    The more an adversary has contempt for the Sword and Shield Sect, the more advantageous for him, as far as he was concerned. No matter how one might talk about it, he was in an invincible spot just then. Andre''s collusion with others and pushing around the followers of the sect has always been the worst sin among the ever-defended Sword and Shield Sect.


    With his thoughts spinning like lightning he turned around and spoke provocatively to Andre to his face, "It''s been so long since I''ve seen you, little Andre, why don''t we catch up a little. My young disciple has been wandering afar, and I don''t know if you''ve forgotten the sect''s teachings."


    Even though Andre''s temperament had steadied quite a bit these last few years, in the face of that sort of provocation, he couldn''t help but glower. Suddenly, a voice intruded, "If you can win, Andre, I''ll give you a Lotus Leaf Shield."


    The ever-silent Zara had suddenly opened her mouth. There was a look of joy in Andre''s eyes, and he didn''t say anything, only turning his gaze toward Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu smiled and said, "She''s saying what I would say." He looked quite mild and harmless. By that time, he had found out what kind of booming name his own Lotus Leaf Shield had gotten, though he was still more surprised that Zara had opened her mouth. It looks like Zara detests that Kunya, Chen Mu thought to himself with some evil delight.


    The Lotus Leaf Shield!


    Kunya was utterly shocked! That name wouldn''t feel even a little strange for any flexster of the Sword and Shield Sect! It was the ultimate weapon of the Sect. For the Sword and Shield sect, the ultimate weapon was its sacred weapon which only the lord had the right to use! Those two could actually use the sacred weapon of the Sect? Impossible! But when his gaze connected with the look of joy in Andre''s gaze. Could it be that it was true...?


    He was in something of a trance.


    "Let''s go to the trials arena, Kunya." Andre hadn''t gotten carried away and had remained calm. "Ah, I can''t take the responsibility of disturbing the peace."

 589 Fayes

    The trials arena wasn''t a gathering spot for many places.


    In the House of a Hundred Depths, killing wasn''t something anyone paid much attention to. There were only a few large cities where they would promulgate any regulation to maintain order. Aguda was among the small number of cities to have such rules, and it was just because of that that it was rather lively.


    Once a dispute arose between the two sides, it would be decided on the arena. It wasn''t against the law to kill someone inside, where one could compete freely in battle or even murder. For the ordinary people, the trials arena was a scary place to be avoided, but it was heaven for some of the flexsters, to the extent that some of them would keep watch long-term over the trials arena to hone their skills. Those flexsters were among the most dangerous, since only by killing one''s opponent could one survive. After having lived through one life-or-death battle after another, they would be quite dominant in each of their powers.


    Some of the flexsters under the mayor Mo Sang would often come there as well, to use fresh blood and lives to hone their skills. The trials arena was the most chaotic place in Aguda; once one entered the large gate, your life would no longer belong to yourself.


    The hemispherical sealed up arena was in the corner of Aguda. Chen Mu had thought that the dangerous place would be completely deserted. He hadn''t considered that the trials area would be surrounded by so many shops bustling with noise and excitement.


    * * *


    "High-class crutches made of indestructible diamond wood. There''s suppleness inside the hardness, making it light and textured. Once you touch it, you''ll love it!"


    "Would you like to be a god in the trials arena? The spiraled spear is your best companion, with its naturally spiraled body coupling strength with suppleness. Its tempered snail head can destroy any hardness. The purchaser will be gifted a bottle of this shop''s secret formula poison which kills on contact, and if you buy two, you may enjoy a twenty percent discount. ''A spear in my hands and the world is mine!''" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "Have you been vexed by wounds in the trials arena? Come to our shop! We sell all sorts of ointments. So long as you still have breath in your body, you''ll be able to draw another one."


    "Keep away from running naked if you cherish your life! We''re having a big sale on protective gear, and those who buy three or more will get a pair of elastic shoes for free."


    * * *


    Every shop''s touts were shouting themselves hoarse in the overheated scene, which made Chen Mu stare with his mouth open. He was used to high-class shops with their elegant and considerate service, and it was his first time seeing such a market. He could not understand what was happening in front of his eyes. Wasn''t that a trials arena where killings were rampant? He suddenly heard someone haggling not far from where he was.


    "How much is this spear?"


    "Sixteen crystals."


    "That expensive? It sells for thirteen everywhere else."


    "Expensive? Is it more expensive than your life, my friend? Even at three crystals, if you were to win, then what would a piddling three crystals mean?"


    "It''s not certain that I''ll win..."


    "Well, then you''d be dead, and those three crystals left on your body wouldn''t be yours anymore."


    "That''s for sure."


    That person very readily paid the money to buy the spear.


    Having heard the dialog of the two, Chen Mu had a little flash. Those who came to this place were all gambling with their lives. For them, money wasn''t the most important thing. If they won, then everything on their opponent would be their spoils, and if they lost, they wouldn''t even have their lives, so they naturally wouldn''t need to worry about money. No one knows when they are going to die, but once they have money, they are likely to spend it all in a second. Under such stimulation, the economy of that area was unusually booming.


    Among the flow of people entering the trials arena, there would occasionally be some flexsters with gloomy spirits and fierce gazes. They gave off an extremely dangerous aura, and no ordinary person would dare to approach them.


    "What are you doing here, Kunya?"


    Having just entered the trials arena, everyone stopped. The one talking was some guy that Chen Mu had just noticed. He could tell this man wasn''t a kind person from first glance, his gaze unwittingly revealing his incredibly cold ferocity. Compared to the others in the trials arena, the murderous aura on him was the most intense. Chen Mu, who was very sensitive to killing intent, could easily notice him among the crowd. He seemed to get on pretty well with Kunya. When his gaze flitted over to Andre, he suddenly concentrated. "Andre!"


    Andre''s expression shifted. "This is my grudge match with Kunya, Fayes."


    Fayes wasn''t very tall, and he had a lean body. Even just standing there casually, it was as though he were a sharp dagger.


    "I''m telling you, Andre, don''t set foot in Aguda again." Fayes'' eyes contracted as he spoke coldly.


    "My affairs have nothing to do with you, Fayes!" Andre calmed down while his expression turned darker.


    Andre''s harsh tone took Fayes by surprise, and his tone became worse. "You''re not qualified to talk to me like that as a loser."


    Kunya then interrupted, saying with a mocking tone, "Little Andre has really progressed this past couple of years, my friend. He''s found a good backer. Tsk tsk, his master spoke out that if he wins, then he''ll enjoy one of his lotus leaf shields." With Fayes there, the pressure on Kunya disappeared, and his speech became more unrestrained.


    "Kunya . . ." Andre''s face suddenly flushed read as he turned anxious and angry!


    "A Lotus Leaf Shield?" Fayes gaze sharpened, contracting like a needle. His objective this time was Chen Mu and Zara behind Andre.


    A demonic aura shot forth.


    Chen Mu and Zara seemed oblivious, not saying anything.


    "And you two fine people are?" Fayes indifferently asked while remaining utterly careful in his mind. His adversary had acted as though he hadn''t felt his aura, and that alone was not something that any ordinary person might have. He had been in the trials arena for rather a long time and was very clear about such people, who was best not provoked. But the Lotus Leaf Shield was an irresistible temptation for any disciple of the Sword and Shield Sect.


    Fayes was the number one ace of the current generation of the Sword and Shield Sect, but even then he wasn''t qualified to use the Lotus Leaf Shield. Although the Water Core Shield in his hands was quite rare, he didn''t know how many grades lower it was, compared to that shield. To have suddenly heard that someone had the Lotus Leaf Shield, Fayes, who was always firm, couldn''t help the jolt to his spirits. The burning desire in his chilly eyes was not hidden in the least.


    Chen Mu analyzed Fayes without looking directly at him and turned toward Andre to say. "Loser? What did you lose?"


    A look of pain flashed through Andre''s eyes, "Some years ago, I represented our sect in a contest with another sect and lost."


    "And then?"


    "And then I was driven out of the sect." Andre was red-faced and pale, but that sort of anger from deep in his heart was something Chen Mu could feel.


    Chen Mu was a little surprised. "They drove you out of the sect for losing a contest?" As he saw it, since it was a contest, losing or winning would be something ordinary.


    "Mmmm." Andre was staring hard at Kunya grinding his teeth and grimacing, while his voice was strangely calm. "That''s right. I hadn''t thought that I would be drugged by my own mentor before the contest either. Oh, I nearly died tragically in the contest and then was driven out afterward."


    Kunya''s face shifted, as he unconsciously took a glance at Fayes, retorting, "Are you really going to fabricate a lie like that, Little Andre..."


    "And you two fine people are?" Fayes cut off Kunya, as his gaze stared firmly at Chen Mu.


    Andre didn''t care at all whether or not he had been drugged. There was now only one thing on his mind ¡ªthe Lotus Leaf Shield! Having been cut off, Kunya quickly shut his mouth, and couldn''t help showing an expression of satisfaction on his face.


    Still not paying him any attention, Zara suddenly said to Andre in a cold voice, "Kill him." In the eyes of the two of them, Fayes was akin to air.


    Fayes'' gaze contracted. It had been quite a few years since anyone dared to be so rude to him. Even his own master would talk to him very politely. His identity in the sect was highly respected, and he was the revered invincible lord of the trials arena.


    "You''re all dead!"


    Fayes'' chilly voice was like a knife, and then without any warning, a white glare appeared less than half a meter away from Chen Mu''s eyes. A shield blade that was shaped a little bit like a water drop was raised flat on his hand, and at raised tip of the shield flashed a glowing white knife.


    Boom!


    There was a thud, and that wisp of blade scattered into a fire burst. Chen Mu''s vision went blank, and he didn''t move at all. The water core shield in Fayes'' hands seemed to have been smashed head-on by a heavy hammer, as Zara''s fierce blow gave him a surprise.


    Now that Zara had made her move, she didn''t intend to give her adversary any opportunity. As far as she was concerned, given her position as the chief of the Western Mountain Royalty, her identity was distinguished beyond compare. Never mind the number one ace of the younger generation of the Sword and Shield Sect. Even the master of the Sect was no different from a common plebian in front of her.


    The painted graphistemma star vine in her hand followed her like a shadow, and her ghostly body went straight for Fayes. Chen Mu lost his smile in his surprise, discovering that Zara seemed to be still protecting Andre, which was something rare in his opinion.


    With Zara''s support, Andre roared out with bloodshot eyes and went pouncing toward Kunya.


    The trials arena when abruptly chaotic, though after they screamed a couple of times, they stopped and watched from a distance with excitement.


    Fayes was an undefeated legend in the trials arena of Aguda, and up until then, there hadn''t been anyone who could defeat him in battle. His natural disposition was grim, and he had never shown any mercy to the enemy. Countless flexsters had died by his hands.


    They never thought that anyone would dare look for trouble with Fayes. Why wouldn''t they excited?


    "It looks like that woman has a star vine in her hands. . ." someone said hesitantly from the crowd.


    "Star vine? Are you out of your mind? Who would come to the trials arena with the star vine?" there was immediately someone unconsciously retorting.


    "It looks like the actual thing." Most of the flexsters in the trials arena had some discernment. Suddenly, more and more people felt that the long vine in Zara''s hands was the star vine.


    There was a sudden commotion among the crowd with quite a few of their gazes turning quite heated, as they stared closely at the star vine in Zara''s hand.


    That was a priceless treasure! A true priceless treasure. It was the ultimate weapon of the flexsters who specialized in vines!


    The temperature of the atmosphere soared, and quite a few people couldn''t help loosening their collars to let the heat out. Their excitement had made their breathing heavy. What type of person would linger around the trials arena? Who there hadn''t been stained with blood and hadn''t killed someone for treasure?

 590 Kill!

    Such coarse breathing was ear piercing for those flexsters who had such outstanding hearing. Still, no one was paying them any attention, as everyone was drawn in by the battle on the field. The coarse breathing which was like panting disappeared gradually as a calm¡ªan extraordinary calm¡ªstarted to settle on the trials arena.


    Horror could be seen in the eyes of the surrounding crowd. None of them able to believe the scene in front of their eyes.


    That woman completely overpowered the undefeated Fayes! There was no mistaking his situation of being utterly overpowered!


    Fayes was in imminent danger in the middle of all the vines that filled the sky! Each time the vine crossed his shield, it would emit an extremely oppressive boom! The terrifying power caused people to mistaken the vine for a heavy hammer. A ripple resulted from where the vine and shield clashed, which made the crowd''s heart palpitate and spirit shake uncontrollably.


    Fayes, who was as powerful as a god in his own mind, was utterly stuck in a defensive state and didn''t have any strength to hit back. All of the greed vanished without any trace against that breathtaking power.


    "Who, who is that woman?"


    There was no reply from the dead silent crowd after that dull thunderous sound.


    Chen Mu was rather engrossed in watching those two amid their battle. It needn''t be said that the Sword and Shield Sect would undoubtedly have plenty of luck with the unique aspects of shields. For Fayes to hold out until then in Zara''s hands, was enough to make Chen Mu have a whole new level of respect for him. The style of Zara''s blows was strangely flighty and hard to fathom, though Fayes'' defense was airtight.


    Fayes was using the Water Core Shield to its extreme; his entire body enshrouded in its shadow. Under the blows of the star vine, that sturdy shield seemed on the verge of collapsing every time, though it stubbornly held out.


    Fayes was extremely lively and could make some unbelievable moves as he controlled its center superbly. Some of his techniques were things that Chen Mu had never imagined, which expanded his horizons quite a bit. Although he had the Lotus Leaf Shield in his own hands, he couldn''t accomplish such subtle skills. Watching those outstanding shield skills, he truly felt that the Lotus Leaf Shield was wasted in his hands.


    The battle between Andre and Kunya was another scene altogether.


    The two of them were fighting like madmen, their eyes blazing with hatred and unnaturally red. When it came to skill, Kunya was far from Fayes. There where many techniques he couldn''t quite pull off, though he was still quite a bit beyond Andre. Andre''s skills weren''t so fancy, just unadorned and straightforward, though he was the more desperate. There were quite a few times where they were both at a loss, with Andre''s incautious attitude putting Kunya under extreme pressure.


    Although Andre was at a disadvantage, Chen Mu was rather impressed by him. Andre''s skills had gone through the hardening of battle, and his style had become more and more functional. He looked a lot less dazzling than Kunya, with some aspects looking quite crude. But if Chen Mu had to choose the winner, he would select Andre without any hesitation.


    He was quite optimistic about Andre''s future. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    There were many places where Andre''s skills were not yet mature, but it was clear that he was gradually approaching a different path from the Sword and Shield Sect. Or to say it another way, he had started to establish his own style. Although it was still crude, his calm and aplomb in the midst of his flailing lit up Chen Mu''s eyes.


    And moreover, Chen Mu was paying attention that from the beginning of the battle until then, Andre had been continuously adjusting, and his crude aspects were becoming better-rounded.


    Dong, Dong, Dong!


    There were thuds as dense as rain which took one''s breath away.


    Fayes had never thought that he would be so miserable one day. As the most outstanding disciple of the Sword and Shield Sect, his strength had long since been unrivaled in the Sect. He felt that there was no further to go with his training in the Sect. With his naturally persevering spirit, he had firmly chosen to come to the trials arena to hone his skills. He had very quickly discarded any immature aspects concerning his body, immersing himself readily in the life and death of the trials arena, where he had become more ruthless than ever, as his strength soared.


    Up until then, apart from the occasional foreign flexster or those who rarely come to the trials arena, everyone maintained their distance. Even those killing machines under mayor Mo Sang didn''t dare to provoke him.


    Ever since he was a small child, he had never imagined he could be so desperate, as he was that day! And even that sort of hopelessness would only flash through his mind before passing. He wasn''t distracted in the least, but his adversary''s blows were coming on like howling wind and torrential rain such that he didn''t even have a chance to breathe. If it hadn''t been for his transformation during those last two years of practical battle in the trials arena, he wouldn''t have been able to hold out for ten seconds under the power of such blows.


    But he couldn''t allow the least bit of satisfaction now. All of his strength focused on defense, and there was no chance for any thought of striking back. Each time he would concentrate on the shield''s glowing layer, his adversary would easily smash it.


    Dong Dong Dong Dong Dong!


    The blows from his adversary were coming faster and faster without pause.


    That brought him near to collapse! It was clear that his adversary hadn''t exhausted her strength, and that she hadn''t lost control of her blows. Then suddenly he had the illusion that the one he was facing wasn''t a woman but a towering giant, making him like a tiny ant under its feet.


    This frustration, from acknowledging his lost, suddenly flooded his mind.


    How could that be...how could that be? Could I have fallen into the ranks of losers?


    Although he was still brandishing his moves with the Water Core Shield, his spirits waned in that instant. It was a scary thing for one to lose concentration during a battle, even more so when his adversary was Zara. At just about the moment when Fayes spirits fell, Zara grabbed him!


    The star vine in her hands looked like it softly shook.


    Hiss!


    It sounded like a poisonous snake, almost too soft to detect amidst the sudden clap of thunder. At the same time, several expressions shifted among the onlookers!


    The star vine which had just been like a heavy hammer suddenly became a narrow and sharp awl!


    It swiftly drilled into Fayes'' shield through a minuscule gap.


    Plop!


    A mist of blood suddenly spewed from behind Fayes'' left shoulder as the star vine shot through with its needlepoint.


    All of this happened as a crowd suddenly poured through the entrance to the trials arena.


    "Elder brother!"


    "Fayes!"


    That gang''s eyes reddened. Aguda was their realm. When had anyone from the Sword and Shield Sect been killed by someone else there?


    "Let''s go, everyone! Kill them!"


    Without any hesitation, those flexsters from the Sword and Shield Sect roused to action.


    Chen Mu furrowed his brow, as his lightning-fast hand reached toward his back.


    There were cheers!


    He ripped off a big chunk of his backpack as though it were papier-mache, and before anyone could see what was in it, Chen Mu was already grasping his weapon with his hands. He first grabbed the white midge bone spurs, with their distinctive spiral texture. He felt incredibly cozy the instant he held them. Without any adjustment, his right hand suddenly disappeared into thin air.


    Pa!


    There was a sudden clear sound a little bit like the cracking of a whip as blood and flesh flew and as a series of screams arose in succession.


    Once he made his move, Chen Mu''s perfectly ordinary-looking eyes were devoid of any emotion, and became as cold and indifferent as ice! Without any pause, as though he were in any dull battle, he had tossed off his five white midge bone spurs within less than half a second.


    Maneuvering the white midge bone spurs in such a narrow space showed their full penetration. The five white midge bone spurs didn''t waste the least bit of effort to penetrate through a crowd, before sticking firmly in the wall leaving out their small rear half.


    That sudden blow left them all stunned.


    Chen Mu then rapidly picked up his Golden Ring Woodspear and sent it headlong into the gang of Sword and Shield sect flexsters.


    Arc after arc stunningly burst forth like ghosts in the night. The sight of which was so strange that some had trouble discerning what happened. They came on continuously like a tide, wave after wave.


    The clear and icy blue reflected the blood''s mournful color and despair.


    The Golden Ring Woodspear easily penetrated the shields in the Sword and Shield Sect''s hands and then his adversary''s hearts without any obstruction. Under the gaze of his adversary''s disbelieving eyes, Chen Mu drew out indefinite bands of warm spraying fresh blood. In his lithe wrist, the Golden Ring Woodspear accurately aimed at one of the Sword and Shield Sect''s flexster''s neck and shot forth. When his adversary fell with a crash, that azure golden wood spear had already penetrated three more defensive shields.


    In front of that azure Golden Ring Woodspear, those hard defensive shields were as weak as papier-mache.


    Chen Mu suddenly put out his left hand which had been hanging, where the energy glove shot out five intricate energy threads. Those five tiny energy threads were like cuts from a bowstring as they shot violently off.


    Two flexsters only felt their throats go numb, as their feet went helplessly sluggish. Before they could react, they looked at each other''s throats in terror, where a fine thread of blood was gradually surfacing. Then the drops of blood kept on increasing.


    Plop, plop!


    The spurting bloody foam was spattering all over their bodies like a fountain. By the time their throats were bursting in pain, everything had already went dark for the two of them.


    Another three flexsters plopped down, as their faces drained of blood stared in horror at their own remaining half a leg!


    Ah, Ah, Ah!


    The sounds of screaming penetrated the entire trials arena after a second. They were writhing in pain on the ground like beasts on the brink of death, giving out unbearable desperate and mournful screams.


    Once Chen Mu made his move, it scared everyone stiff!


    Everyone''s expression in the trials arena was ashen. They were looking at Chen Mu in terror, as they unconsciously retreated. A ping sounded, as the crowd suddenly found that, unknowingly, they had escaped beyond the wall.


    In the blink of an eye, there was no-one left standing around Chen Mu. Blood flowed like a river, with corpses, severed limbs, injured flesh, and blood all spreading out into a living hell.


    His expression remained unchanged, as he stood in that hell.


    As he strolled along, energy threads would flit past the throats of those flexsters, who hadn''t stopped breathing, from time to time. Those energy threads as fine as hair had nothing cute about them in the eyes of the crowd, seeming only like a scythe in the hands of the lord of death as he harvested lives.


    Bunge looked at the scene in front of his eyes with his whole body trembling. He was a flexster from the black team under mayor Mo Sang, and even he couldn''t help shaking, and he was an expert in assassination and massacre. Bunge had never imagined that he would ever be so afraid of anyone. He had undergone the most severe and ruthless training, killing people like harvesting wheat... His body was trembling uncontrollably, and every time his gaze landed on that calm man standing there in hell, his eyes burned, and he instinctively averted his head.


    After a while, the surrounding became extremely calm without any screaming, as if those alive had been frozen.


    It was that calm which made the desperately breathing Bunge approach collapse!


    He resisted breaking down there and then as he quietly slipped away.

 591 Sword and Shield Sec

    Andre''s breathing was deep and ragged. His breath was coming in gasps. His shirt was drenched in blood, torn, and tattered.


    Looking at Kunya, who he had hacked, dying on the ground, his heart filled with the pleasure of vengeance. The old grudge that had lingered in him finally dissipated. He had never felt so relaxed. Even the many injuries on him could not halt this pleasure. He wanted to yell but did not have the strength. His shield was thrown aside, and he sat on the floor, gasping for air.


    Kunya was stronger than him. He could only tie with Kunya with all of his efforts. Had Kunya not made that fatal mistake all of a sudden, he would not have won. Kunya''s final blow injured him, even after he exploited that mistake of Kunya.


    The three wounds on his chest were so deep that his bones were showing. The blood flowing out from his injuries dyed his clothes red. However, he did not seem to care at all. The loss of blood and exhaustion made him a little dizzy.


    It''s so quiet! Why is it so quiet? He opened his eyes stubbornly, and his body froze instantly.


    Looking at the corpses lying everywhere, he was stunned, and his mind was blank. When he was fighting Kunya, he was focused and did not realize what was happening around him. But he could vaguely hear some shoutings of the Sword and Shield Sect. He did not think about it when he was focusing on the combat, but now he realized what had happened.


    After some time, he snapped out of it. He closed his eyes in pain. Although the Sword and Shield Sect had long banished him, he did have feelings for the people. The people who drenched in pools of blood in front of him were all his brothers!


    "This is for you." Chen Mu threw the Lotus Leaf Shield to Andre.


    Andre looked at the Lotus Leaf Shield in front of him, startled and still, he did not pick it up. The people around him all had their eyes focused on the Lotus Leaf Shield in front of him. Their scorching and greedy looks had raised the air temperature again. However, nobody dared to make a move this time. Chen Mu''s insidious act had scarred them.


    "Let''s go, leave this place and build your own sect in the future." Chen Mu understood what Andre was thinking.


    "Thinking of running?" A raging voice suddenly came from outside the door, "After killing so many of our Sword and Shield Sect members, you still think that you could walk away?"


    An old man with white hair and beard, holding a Lotus Leaf Shield in his hand, entered slowly with steady steps. Behind him were other flexsters with different kinds of shields steadily entering as well. The Sword and Shield Sect flexsters of Aguda City had all been deployed.


    The old man showed a slight sadness upon looking at the corpses of Sword and Shield Sect flexters all over the place. He quickly regained his calmness, but his murderous aura thickened.


    Chen Mu was startled. The old man was still able to keep his calm upon seeing so many of his students dead. His composure alone showed everyone that he above the average elites. Veins were visible in his eyes under his white hair, and his expression was monstrous.


    Zara said nothing. Her body shifted and appeared beside Chen Mu. She lowered her head and focused on untying all the different colored ribbons on her wrist as though no one was there.


    Chen Mu inserted the Golden Ring Woodspear into the ground. Half of the Golden Ring Woodspear was inserted into the solid floor, as if it was tofu.


    All the Sword and Shield Sect flexsters were startled. The Golden Ring Woodspear was far sharper than they imagined. Even the lightest brush of a weapon this sharp could severely injure someone, if not outright killing them. However, their expressions immediately displayed their suspicions. Is he not planning on using a weapon this powerful?


    The old man squinted his eyes. The young man in front of him was exerting on him a pressure he had never felt before¡ªa fierce, stone-cold, and potent murderous aura. He had encountered such a unique aura when he was young. Once, he was faced with a strong animal while training in the deep part of the Hundred Depths. He was severely wounded, but he managed to escape from that beast. The feeling he got from the man was identical to that horrifying beast.


    If he did not see him with his own eyes, he would not have believed such a person existed in the world! Fear was engraved in his heart!


    * * *


    At the residence of the City Master.


    Mose, the City Master, and a man with eagle eyes were sitting across a table. Behind Mose stood several silent flexsters.


    Mose was podgy, and he sat there like a hill made out of flesh. The smile he drew on his face seemed friendly. He raised the cup in his hand, with the broadest smile in the world on his face, and said, "I am a loyal worshipper of Master Hedrat myself. Back in those years, the royalties of the Xishan Clan was so arrogant that, even I was mistreated by them many times. However, in the presence of Master Hedrat, ha, they were like dust! A single blow and they were gone. That was something respectable!"


    The man with eagle eyes sat straight. Even with the smile drawn on his face, his eyes behind the cups were still as sharp as they were keen. "Lord Mose is quite a hero yourself. Just look at how prosperous Aguda City is, one would know that the City Master must be a genius himself."


    "Thank you for your kind compliment, Commander Hazak, but my work shies in comparison to what Master Hedrat had accomplished." Mose cracked up.


    "Oh, Lord Mose, you are such a humble man." the smile on Hazak''s face grew wider. But his eyes were not smiling; instead, they were still as sharp as a blade. "Taking control of seven cities before anyone in the world was aware. Whenever Master Hedrat talked about your ruthless act, he is always full of praise."


    Mose''s expression changed slightly, and he forced a smile. "Oh? It''s such an honor to be praised by Master Hedrat. I''m afraid that I won''t sleep tonight because of how excited I am." He changed the topic, his face full of worry. "Is Master Hedrat doing well recently? Lately, it has been full of the rumor that Master Hedrat has not recovered from his injury, yet, and this makes me anxious. Not long ago, I purchased some gold-mottled liquid-soft fungi. They are very effective in treating old wounds. If it is required, please let me know."


    Hazak smiled calmly. "Thank you for your kindness. It''s just that Master Hedrat prefers to be undisturbed and, hence, he seldom goes out. Some fools must''ve spread such a rumor, Haha!"


    "Oh, excellent, excellent." Relief appeared on Mose''s face, and he raised his cup. "Let''s have a toast for Master Hedrat''s health."


    "Cheers!" Hazak emptied his cup at one go.


    At that moment, someone walked into them abruptly. It was Bunge, who had just returned from the arena. He whispered to Mose''s ear. Hazak glimpsed at Bunge and returned to drinking the wine in his cup nonchalantly without saying anything.


    "Oh! This person can kill Fayes?" It was heart-rending for Mose.


    "Yes." there was still a slight fear left in on Bunge''s face.


    "Even Gammick has moved out?" Mose expression turned heavy.


    "Yes! On the way returning here, I''ve seen Sect Leader Gamick himself leading hundreds of people rushing towards the direction of the arena," Bunge answered gravely.


    Mose raised his eyebrows. "Do we know where these two people come from?"


    "I suspect that these two are very likely to be the rumored culprits that came from the Hundred Depths."


    "Is it the man and woman that slew the Nine-tails, the pair that possessed many ultimate weapons?" Hazak interjected abruptly.


    Bunge took a look at Mose. He only replied after seeing Mose nodded, "They are similar."


    Hazak, feeling competitive, stood up suddenly. "It would be a shame to pass the chance to compete with these elites. Is Lord Mose interested in having a look together? Just to look at how powerful these legendary supervillains are!"


    Mose hesitated for a while. Then, he immediately laughed and stood up. "If the Commander insists so, can I even decline?"


    The air in the arena was so heavy that it was almost frozen. The spectating flexsters were both excited and afraid. Though people died every day in the arena, no one had seen such a spectacle before. Chen Mu and Zara stood there calmly. Facing such a colossal sect by the two of them alone, they have impressed everyone in there.


    The spectating flexsters were not showing a sign of sympathy on any of their faces towards the Sword and Shield Sect flexsters lying in pools of blood. That was the difference between the House of a Hundred Depths and the Federation.


    There were legal limitations in the Federation. Although the law of the Federation became nothing more than a piece of paper when the Big Six started the chaotic war, the longtime peace kept the moral compass in everyone''s heart somewhat intact.


    The House of a Hundred Depths, however, was always in a state of a chaotic war. They only worshiped power, exceptional power. Moral was seldom within their consideration. In the eyes of the people from the House of a Hundred Depths, there was no sympathy for the death of weaklings. The House of a Hundred Depths was a place where only the strong could live.


    All of these had nothing much to do with Chen Mu. He was staring at the old man with full focus. In the last two years, the combat instinct that he formed under the most savage environment could not compare to anything in the Federation. Fighting and death were ordinary in his eyes.


    Chen Mu did not decide to become apathetic himself. It also had nothing to do with his likes and dislikes. His strong combat instinct allowed him to clear out his thoughts and focus. He threw all the stuff on him onto the ground. He ignored all these priceless items. He needed to treat this fight seriously. He naturally lowered both of his hands that were wearing metallic power gloves. He looked like a completely relaxed bow.


    "Throw your shields!" a flexster behind the old man shouted abruptly.


    Countless shrill piercing cries filled the air even before he could finish his words!Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Hundreds of small bladed shields flew towards Chen Mu and Zara from all directions in astonishingly high speeds! A small bladed-shield had a diameter of around 10 centimeters and a very sharp edge. The method that these Sword and Shield Sect flexsters threw them was unique. They drew power from both their waists and abdomens and tilted their bodies. Their right arms swung like ropes with surprising elasticity and threw out the small bladed shields on their right arms violently!


    All the small bladed shields were thrown spinning at high speeds. Their speed was shockingly fast. Every single one of the small bladed-shield was shining with a red light on its edge!


    With hundreds of people throwing the small bladed shields at the same time, the red lights were blinking on all the edges of the shields. It was like magma that had erupted from a volcano!


    One would think that the sect leader of the shield blade sect would fight the pair in a duel. However, he had no intention in doing so; he just wanted to kill them!


    Andre''s face was pale from the shock!


    As someone from the Sword and Shield Sect, he was very familiar with this move. The Single Arm Throw was a technique that every Sword and Shield Sect flexster had to learn. It was also one of the very few long-range attacks that the Sword and Shield Sect had. But if 20 people used it at one, the power of this move would be increased exponentially. The more people throwing together, the more variations this attack would have. Hence, the more powerful it''ll be!


    Having been in the sect for so many years, he had never seen over 300 people using this attack in unison! Andre''s heart suddenly sank into its deepest depths. He closed his eyes desperately.

 592 Gammick

    The flexsters, who had just been looking on, were long gone. To remain here at this time would be courting death. Those found around the arena would not have survived to this day if they did not have this much vision.


    In the empty arena, numerous low whistles interweaved like countless crying grievances; it was breathtaking. The blade of a sword was like the rain, and could not be avoided.


    There was no eye contact, no gestures, no openings, yet Chen Mu and Zara tacitly attacked at the same time.


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    The cracked air sounded like a high-pitched whistle¡ªas if a wire had been oscillating at high speed. The 10 energy threads controlled by Chen Mu''s pair of power gloves suddenly bounced, and the lightly drifting energy threads made a series of breathtaking tremors.


    Chen Mu''s ten fingers fluttered at a dazzling speed, and the power gloves virtually transformed into a shadow. In the blink of an eye, an intricate mesh shield consisting of thin lines of energy appeared in front of Chen Mu. Dozens of small bladed-shields hit the seemingly soft "mesh shield" fiercely.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    All the small bladed-shield burst in midair, causing debris to shoot in all directions. However, no small bladed-shield managed to break through this "mesh shield"!


    The old man''s pupils suddenly shrank! With his strength, he could capture every detail! The energy threads that vibrates at high speed were like sharp blades that could easily cut the small bladed-shield into pieces. The small bladed-shield, which was rotating at high speed, would then explode from its own force.


    While Chen Mu opened his mesh shield, Zara''s figure disappeared from her original spot! Half a second later she appeared on the ceiling! With her body still in a squatting position, she stuck her right hand and feet against the ceiling and kept her head down. Before someone could see her clearly, her right hand and legs suddenly exerted energy, and just like an extremely compressed spring, they suddenly released!


    Like an arrow released from the bow, she suddenly plunged into the middle of the sword and shield sect of the flexsters! In midair, a few inconspicuous, fine-haired lights flashed through the throats of several flexsters. Some of these flexsters'' bodies suddenly went stiff, but they could not make any sound.


    Everyone''s attention gathered on them, and nobody noticed anything unusual except the older man. But the leader of a sect was naturally strong. The old man remained calm and fixed his eyes on Chen Mu, without any intention of turning around. He did not think this move would be able to hurt the two men, but he was surprised by the relief shown by the other.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Even Andre, seeing the opportunity arise, hastily picked up the Lotus Leaf Shield in front of him and crouched behind it, afraid to emerge. A few small bladed-shields hit the Lotus Leaf Shield in his hands, and the enormous power the shield''s body withstood was so strong, he could not help but cough another few mouthfuls of blood.


    Each small bladed-shield had a layer of red energy blades. Although these energy blades were not very strong, they were dangerous due to the high-speed rotations. Every time a thin line of energy intersected with a small bladed-shield, it will suffer some damage.


    A series of highly dense impacts quickly loosened the originally compact energy threads. The taut thin energy line provided power, hence once it loosened, it could no longer vibrate with high frequency, and would also lose its sharp characteristic.


    This was the first time Chen Mu had ever encountered such a situation. Before this, he had never blocked such a large number of high-intensity attacks in such a short period with the thin energy lines! But he did not have to worry about it, because he rushed to the elder.


    "Hmph!" The old man snorted heavily, and the air seemed to thicken in an instant.


    What a strong aura! When the flexters saw the demonstration by their sect leader, all the flexsters from the sword and shield sect became energetic.


    Chen Mu showed an expression of slight surprise. According to the other''s age, the elder had already passed his prime. It was not easy to still have such an aura! But the surprise disappeared in less than a second.


    Whether in the Federation, House of a Hundred Depths, or Mohadi Domain, the use of auras was standard for all masters. But of all the skills, it was probably Chen Mu''s least feared one.


    Within the whole Federation, the person who was best in this field had to be Caesar, the God of Slaughter. Caesar''s methods had reached such a level that it was utterly unimaginable, and Chen Mu, who was known as Caesar''s disciple, was also extremely adept at these techniques. Additionally, these two years of struggle in the House of a Hundred Depths, going through bloody and cruel battles, trampling on the corpses of countless beasts and killing his way out, made his spirit and will very firm. As for the murderous aura surrounding him, it was not inferior to those powerful, frightening beasts in the House of a Hundred Depths.


    He was the most powerful beast in the House of a Hundred Depths! When he released his murderous aura without scruple, the older man''s expression changed!


    A furious and completely naked aura of murder, like the maddened cries of countless beasts, filled every inch of space in the arena. Everyone could only see scarlet in their vision, and the depths of their souls involuntary trembled under that breath of destruction!


    No one could imagine that someone could have such a terrible, powerful, and inexplicable murderous aura! Invincible! Such a person was invincible!


    Andre looked on blankly. He was shivering all over, and his eyes were glassy. From the aura and image involuntarily formed in his mind! Chen Mu was like a giant of hundreds of meters tall, and he was like a small ant in front of the giant. The other party only needed to do a little pinch, and he will become a powder!


    It was not just him who had this thought. He was behind Chen Mu, so the murderous aura was not aimed at him. The flexters which were facing Chen Mu were not so lucky. The violent and oppressive killing aura was like a huge wave swept up by a hurricane, which easily broke down their weak psychological defenses! These flexsters were shaken to their core; some of the more timid sat on the ground weakly.


    At the entrance of the arena, Hazak who had just arrived had a change in his expression!


    "There actually exists such a person in the world!" Hazak did not know if this was praise or surprise.


    The flexsters around Mose changed their expressions drastically. With a whoosh, they rushed up and firmly guarded Mose in the middle. They were nervous, acting as if they were facing a great enemy.


    Mose''s face changed slightly, but soon he regained his composure, "No wonder he dared to find trouble with the sword and shield sect."


    The two looked at each other. They wanted to know the appearance of this person who was able to exude such a horrifyingly murderous aura! The two tacitly moved inward at the same time. At that moment, they heard a roar coming from within.


    "It''s Gammick!" Mose''s expression changed slightly. The party could not help but quicken their pace.


    When Chen Mu released his murderous aura, Gammick knew they had underestimated their opponent this time. But now, he has no way to retreat, as retreat would also lead to death.


    Interestingly, it was only when there are no options left that people could concentrate. He concentrated all his strength, roared, and went up in a brisk and nimble manner!


    As expected, a master''s move is extraordinary! Gammick was much stronger and more skilled than Fayes. He was enveloped in the shadow of the Lotus Leaf Shield, which covered him with a solid dark green light! This was the first time Chen Mu saw such a solid energy body in the House of a Hundred Depths, which also displayed how Gammick''s strength was anything but ordinary. The power was like a thunderstorm!


    The moment Gammick made his move, he would not hold back. If he had some hope in his heart before, then the last hope would have been completely shattered at this moment as well! He knew that his opponent''s strength was far better than his own, and his success rate was so little that it was pitiful. Every chance was precious to him.


    The Lotus Leaf Shield seemed to come alive in his hand, and it was amazing how skillful it was. The connection between the shield and body was natural and smooth as if they came from the same source!


    Chen Mu admired in his heart that, in terms of shield skills alone, the elder was more of an expert than himself. The intense wind pressure of the Lotus Leaf Shield stung everyone. It rolled outward, wave after wave. Each attack was seamless and gave people a sense of continuity. In the whirring of the Lotus Leaf Shield, there was a buzzing sound, as if dozens of bees were dancing.


    Chen Mu had the heart to experience the skill of the sword and shield sect, so instead of retreating, he charged head-on into it. His ten fingers barely scratched the air, and the thin lines flew around like a group of snakes dancing!


    Clank! Clank! Clank! One could see the force contained in the thin lines by the light tapping of the steel-string!


    Ding! Ding! Ding! Sparks burst out like dotted stars!


    High-speed flying thin energy lines collided with the Lotus Leaf Shield. Chen Mu only felt a strong force coming from the shield as 10 filaments violently bounced off as if they were struck by lightning! Amazing!


    With the Lotus Leaf Shield in the older man''s hand, it not only maintained a high speed of rotation but also retained an astonishing vibrational frequency. The constant high-frequency oscillation of the shield body steadily accumulated its strength. It was like a powder keg that never ceased to fill up with gunpowder. Probably only the best shields, such as the Lotus Leaf Shield, could survive oscillations at such a high speed. If it was an ordinary shield, even one of those alloy shields would fall apart in this sort of scenario. And when the thin energy line hit the body of the shield, it immediately ignited this gunpowder barrel! The strength of this force even caused Chen Mu to lose control of the thin energy lines for a very short time.


    There was a flush on the elder''s face. Although he repelled his first attack, the power of the 10 energy threads was beyond his expectations. If he had not experienced it personally, he would never have imagined that 10 thin energy lines could have launched such a powerful attack. If he did not see it himself, he would have mistaken it for a hammer.


    The blood in his chest was boiling, but he sighed in his heart. It was a pity that he was old. Otherwise, if he was still young, there would be no response to this blow. But the old but forthright Gammick was so experienced that he knew it was an opportunity! The only chance!


    He forcibly stopped the blood rushing in his chest, snorted in a low tone, and tried again! There was a slight expression of pain on his solemn face. The shield body of the Lotus Leaf Shield was suddenly more powerful, and the shield body was shrouded entirely in the green awns¡ªeven his right hand. The green awns, like the highest quality jade, glittered and was translucent.


    Another look of caution appeared on the face of Chen Mu who had failed to launch his attack. He could not help but show some respect for the flexter who founded the sword and shield sect. These shield skills were self-contained and painstaking. If there were more fighting skills before, then the current tactic was enough to show that the predecessors who created this tactic¡ªin addition to wisdom and abundant practical experience¡ªmust have had a robust perception when they were alive!


    This was undoubtedly something remarkably different in the House of a Hundred Depths. The energy contained in the Lotus Leaf Shield was not much. It was almost necessary to trigger all the energy contained in the shield to form such strength and intensity.


    He knew how difficult it was to accomplish all this in such a short time! He also knew how amazing the energy was in that seemingly pleasant green awn. What made him more awe-inspired was the danger hidden in the green awn that he had not yet seen through!

 593 The Ultimate Shield Skill

    Zara smoothly moved between the flexters like a swimming fish!


    As compared to Chen Mu, she was more familiar with the various skills of the flexters. Even back then, the flexters from sword and shield sect did not cause much trouble for her. Not to mention that ability-wise, she had now improved significantly.


    After experiencing Chen Mu''s ruthless bloodthirstiness, the flexters of the sword and shield sect were still dwelling in their shock. Their plummeted morale resulted in a discounted performance. In no time, they panicked when they realized that all their usual combinations were utterly useless against this woman. She seemed to be able to figure out the loopholes of their combinations at a single glance.


    The Painted Graphistemma seemed to have turned into the most devious creature in her hand, and harvested the life of its peers mercilessly!


    Many members of the sword and shield sect held a military position in the city. The apprentices brought the tactical combinations back to the sect. Their initial intention was merely to help their juniors to earn some merit. Unexpectedly, the flexters of the sword and shield sect quickly realized the usefulness of the tactics. They could utilize the tactical combinations to gain an edge over similarly numbered enemies.


    Subsequently, it grew into the trump card of the sword and shield sect. It was a requirement for all the newly recruited flexters to learn the basic tactical combinations. After a few years of training, they would achieve tacit coordination with the other members, enabling them to defeat their enemies with similar headcounts. This was a crucial factor for the rapid growth of the sword and shield sect.


    Due to the strength of their current enemy, the flexters of the sword and shield sect showcased their most mastered skill without much deliberation. However, they did not foresee that their trump card seemed to have entirely lost its effectiveness. They fell into despair! They could not comprehend all this.


    Little did they know that Zara had survived at the menacing Hundred Depths alongside Chen Mu. They had tried all the formulae to survival, which inevitably included, tactics, the most efficient way to overcome the strong by the weak! Coincidentally, this was part of Chen Mu''s expertise. As time went by, Zara too had grown familiar with various tactics. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    For Zara, the combinations that the sword and shield sect performed did not appear to be considerably praiseworthy.


    She toyed with the mysterious vine in her hands. Its accuracy and efficiency were outrageous. In a blink of an eye, many of the flexters of the sword and shield sect were knocked out. There was only a small number of them amongst the supine flexters that were killed by the Painted Graphistemma. The rest of them were eliminated by the thin dark golden vine that was initially tied around her wrist.


    The four Soft Golden Vines, which were glistening dark gold, were merely as thick as a bracelet and approximately seven or eight centimeters long. They traveled in between of the flexters eerily and rapidly like four tiny dark golden snakes. The next second, rays of golden light erupted together with a shower of fresh blood!


    According to Chen Mu''s observation, the internal structure of the Soft Golden Vine possessed a pattern that would allow it to fly naturally. Never in his life had he seen this pattern before. The efficiency of the pattern towards the usage of energy was far better than any pattern found in the cards of the Heavenly Federation. It was able to generate a propulsive force for flying and acted much better than jet stream cards. By far, this was the most advanced pattern Chen Mu had ever seen in the flying field.


    The Soft Golden Vine was the best remote weapon for flexters who majored in vine weapons. Aside from the four Soft Golden Vines, there were eight other thinner vines of different distinctive colors. More precisely, they should be called as silk instead of vines. The colored silk was obtained from the tail of the Spotted Peacock and was extremely thin. Typically, Zara would tie them around the knuckles of all her fingers except for her thumb.


    The Spotted Peacock was a dangerous creature that required strenuous effort to deal with. Chen Mu and Zara were both simultaneously injured when they tried to hunt the Spotted Peacock. Its most fatal weapon was the colorful thin silk that grew on its tail. Every color represented a different natural pattern and caused the silk to carry different characteristics.


    The red silk could form an energy layer with extremely high temperatures. It could even pierce through a four-star Power Shield easily.


    Green colored silk, on the other hand, contained uncountable and tiny poison glands that were arranged tightly. The poison glands were able to release a highly condensed poisonous gas.


    The white colored silk resembled a thin but strong electric eel. Even Chen Mu was astounded by the powerful electricity that was generated.


    With four Soft Golden Vines, eight silk from the tail of Spotted Peacock, with an additional Painted Graphistemma, the battlefield had turned into a highly efficient slaughterhouse!


    Mose and Hazak entered the arena, leading a group of guards. However, no one noticed Zara. All their gazes were attracted and fixed intently on Chen Mu and the old man. The widened eyes of the old man were beaming with ferocity, and his hair was spiked. But his hands were moving incredibly slow. It was as though the Lotus Leaf Shield in his hand weighed a thousand tonnes and would take all his efforts to budge it!


    He let out a loud and frightening cry, "Charge!"


    The Lotus Leaf Shield, which was coated in a jade green awn, flew towards Chen Mu at a steady speed.


    It was moving exceptionally slow as if it was a crawling tortoise. An intense sense of danger flashed across Chen Mu''s mind. Zara, who was engaged in the fight, detected the sudden surge of danger and could not help but to throw a glimpse towards Chen Mu.


    State Zero was activated. Every single detail was being analyzed as a profusion of faint thin lines were drawn across them. The sense of danger showed no sign of subsiding. Instead, it grew more and more intense! As never before, Chen Mu wore a grave expression!


    He was involved in a variety of battles almost every day for the past two years. Sometimes he was triumphant, sometimes he was left with no choice but to run away, and sometimes, he didn''t even have the chance to escape. Having strived through multiple disastrous events and survived, Chen Mu''s sensitivity towards danger had achieved a new high. Being irritated by the intense sense of danger, his mind was focused, and his analysis skill was raised to the utmost under State Zero.


    Chen Mu stared at the Lotus Leaf Shield that was slowly getting closer to him and did not budge at all.


    A faint noise slowly wafted through the atmosphere. The noise increased significantly, and the buzzing noise was bothering everyone''s ears. The noise rang louder, and within a few seconds, the buzzing sound echoed clearly throughout the whole arena. This was the sound of the Lotus Leaf Shield, and the volume was still increasing!


    The dust and gravel on the ground were gradually elevated as if an unknown force attracted them. Zara, who was standing under the ghost-faced flower, changed her expression conspicuously! Everything on the arena quaked along with the frequency that was released by the Lotus Leaf Shield.


    Zara was no exception. Her muscle and blood were trembling out of her will! She was not the only one who experienced the quake. The face of the sword and shield sect flexters were painted with fright as they stood still like clay statues. From a closer look, it was apparent that all the muscles and bones on their bodies were quivering unwillingly. They had completely lost control of their bodies!


    The expression of all the guards beside Mose changed abruptly. One of them took out a black stick that was strapped on his back. The moment the black stick fell into his hand, it extended and revealed a black cattail. The rest of the guards followed suit and took out their respective weapons to protect Mose.


    Hazak''s face was solemn. He remained still while he studied the two of them scrupulously.


    "Hmph!" Zara snorted out of frustration. The Painted Graphistemma returned to her as it wrapped around her arms, waist, and legs! The uncontrollable trembling had finally subsided, and she heaved a sigh of relief. But the next second, her gaze could not help but fall on Chen Mu.


    The Lotus Leaf Shield continued to fly around the atmosphere, but this time, with no one underestimated it. It acted as the source of the quake, triggering everything around it to tremble along!


    Chen Mu could significantly feel the quake even when he was far from the Lotus Leaf Shield. That explained how terrifying the oscillating frequency released was! He was certain that anything that came in contact with the slow-moving green blaze would be annihilated in a blink of an eye. Any part of his body that contacted the green blaze would be completely destroyed, and the tissues would be split into atoms!


    But...


    All of a sudden, Chen Mu''s eyes glistened! He lowered his head and removed the Power Glove on his right hand in a composed manner.


    Clank! The Power Glove with the golden tail fell on the floor. At this moment, the buzzing noise was tearing the atmosphere of the arena apart like a storm. Aside from the old man, no one noticed the clunking from the dropping of the Power Glove.


    Gammick''s face turned pale as he had exerted all his energy! If the Lotus Leaf Shield did not hit Chen Mu, then its oscillating frequency would continue to intensify. Eventually, it would turn the arena into a graveyard. All present life, including himself, would not be able to escape!


    Why did he remove the glove? He was extremely puzzled. Is he surrendering?


    He looked into Chen Mu''s eyes, and his heart skipped a beat. No! His eyes focused as he stared intently at the square box on Chen Mu''s wrist!


    Just like everyone else, Chen Mu''s body was trembling out of his will. He felt slight discomfort, but he had yet to lose control of his own body completely. After inserting the Green Mark, his body had achieved its extremely shocking level of durability. More importantly, he needed to utilize the perception that came with it!


    He took a deep breath and gently raised his right hand! An enormous amount of black and white energy beads appeared from nowhere and were slowly elevated into the air. The whole arena was filled with beads!


    At this moment, everyone was nervous. Mose and his guards acted as though they were facing the world''s strongest enemy. No one had any knowledge about the power of destruction that came with these tiny beads. Hazak, who appeared calm initially, had turned defensive too. With the black and white energy beads floating in the air, the arena now resembled a world filled with a peaceful game of chess.


    As the quake intensified, the energy beads were subsequently affected and showed a sign of instability. The power secretly amused Chen Mu. Without further ado, he made his counterattack without any indication of holding back!


    All the energy beads flared up synchronously. While everyone was in their defensive mode, they were abruptly startled by the bright flare.


    Go! Cage of Thousand Cuts!


    Like a cage, the rays that were messily intersecting with each other, covered the bright green blaze from the Lotus Leaf Shield!Despite being very thin, the rays were shockingly sharp. There had not been anything that it failed to cut through! However, when the blinding rays approached the Lotus Leaf Shield, they rebounded! Hundreds of intersecting light rays recoiled in a synchronized manner. Aside from the constant increase of the oscillating frequency, which faced a brief and sudden pause, it did not cause any damage to the Lotus Leaf Shield.


    The Lotus Leaf Shield continued to travel steadily and firmly towards Chen Mu. After a brief pause, the oscillating frequency resumed skyrocketing. Sparks could be seen in the air around the shield. Gammick felt relieved as he realized that the energy beads could not beat the Lotus Leaf Shield!


    Despite being slightly shocked, Chen Mu did not panic. For the past two years, how could it be that there was no improvement in his proficiency in the Bipolar Card?

 594 Bipolar - The Black and White Boundary

    Chen Mu raised his right hand lethargically. Five long and thin fingers were tapping in the air, playing a strange melody. He played the rhythm so smoothly there was no pause of hesitation. The melody was neither fascinating nor beautiful, yet, it attracted everybody''s attention. Chen Mu''s expression remained solemn. His gaze was cold and emotionless.


    The energy beads that were floating in the middle of the air were reforming. Brighter and brighter, the white energy beads started to glow as though they suddenly caught on fire. No one was able to stare directly at the blinding flare. On the other hand, the black energy beads grew dimmer. They turned dark to the extent that they appeared like an abyss. They were not bothered by the brightness of the white energy beads in any way and continued to devour the light rays like mini black holes.


    The Black and White Boundary formed a striking contrast, mesmerizing everyone with the scene before them. The impactful energy wave resembled the breath of an ancient giant. Every wave would make people feel that the strength could destroy the whole universe! At this moment, Chen Mu opened his right hand. His five fingers were laid out like a blossoming flower!


    A beam gradually emerged from the bottom of those deep cold eyes. Abruptly, he clenched his fist.


    Bipolar-The Black and White Boundary!


    The white energy beads flared up like burning meteorites. Meanwhile, the black energy beads turned into a ball of shapeless misty darkness. One could hardly stare at the complete and terrifying darkness that was located at the center of it. Like the revolution of the stars in the universe, the white energy beads and blurry darkness began to travel at a slow speed.


    All of a sudden, the arena was shrouded by a silent pressure. With no exception, everyone in the arena was covered by it. The expression of the guards beside Mose changed. They exchanged a look and got ready to attack! The almost surreal pressure indicated that they were also within the enemy''s range of attack, which also meant that the enemy could attack them at any time.


    Hazak stared curiously at the man in the arena who was wearing a ghost-faced flower mask. This skill belonged to Tianyou Federation. Being one of the top five captains under Hedrat, Hazak was very experienced and knowledgeable. He had encountered many card artisans from the Heavenly Federation. However, never had he witnessed any card artisan who could perform such a powerful skill with such a strong aura. In fact, he had only witnessed it once. But that was from Lord Hedrat himself...


    The revolving black and white beads slowly came to a pause. The white energy beads stopped sporadically and formed an illusion as though they were the stars in the night sky. In the meantime, the black energy beads combined into a black curtain that acted as the beautiful night sky for the stars.


    Everyone shockingly realized that the pressure that acted upon them disappeared abruptly.


    What happened?


    Puzzled, they stared at the starry night sky that was formed by energy. Until now, it had not done any harm to them.


    Gammick''s face was ghastly pale. Unknowingly, the green flare from the Lotus Leaf Shield had diminished. It appeared just like an ordinary shield and was no longer half as frightening as it was before.


    Clank. The deafening sound echoed across the quiet arena as the shield fell and hit the ground.


    Everybody felt as though they had woken up from a dream. The flexters, who had initially lost complete control of their bodies due to the power of the Lotus Leaf Shield, suddenly realized that they were able to move again! The oscillation that was affecting them had disappeared entirely.


    Amid relief and confusion, Hazak was the first person to grasp the situation. He deepened his gaze as he was overwhelmed by fear and shock!


    Immobile! The pure energy was held immobile under this beautiful night sky!


    That also meant that no one could fire any energy attacks under this night sky! Even the strong energy from the Lotus Leaf Shield could not escape from it and was extinguished from this area! The Lotus Leaf Shield was nothing but a useless item without its oscillating power.


    The method is inconceivable. Who is he? Is he a legend? A hint of confusion flashed across Hazak''s eagle-like eyes as he stared at Chen Mu. It was also at this time that everyone else came to realize what had happened too!


    Gammick was experienced nonetheless. He realized the specialty of the Black and White Boundary as soon as Hazak did. Better yet, he was sensitive enough to figure out the opportunity within it!


    Indeed, pure energy would not be able to function in the Black and White Boundary. But, his body movement was not at all restricted. The situation was, in fact, more favorable for him. Aren''t the card artisans of Heavenly Federation only good at using pure energy?


    He swiftly dashed towards the Lotus Leaf Shield that was left on the ground and intended to pick it up. Despite not being able to utilize pure energy, the Lotus Leaf Shield was a rare and precious weapon! As compared to battles, how could the card artisans of the Heavenly Federation be the match of the flexters from the House of a Hundred Depths?


    He was excited when his hand barely touched the Lotus Leaf Shield. But abruptly, he halted his motion. He widened his eyes as he stared at the thin golden vines that penetrated through his chest in disbelief. The Soft Golden Vines was unexpectedly strong like a golden arrow at this moment and easily pierced through his heart.


    Chen Mu could not help but throw Zara a gaze of approval. To be able to fire a fatal shot at the most suitable moment, this was definitely the character of an elite assassin! Although this was not the first time Chen Mu witnessed this, yet, he was impressed. Shyness was seen in Zara''s eyes as she noticed Chen Mu''s gaze that was on her.


    The flexters of the sword and shield sect were terrified as all their faces turned pale. The moment Hazak''s gaze landed on the Soft Golden Vine, and his expression changed significantly. He removed the bag from his shoulder and walked towards the arena at a steady pace.


    "Miss, can you remove the ghost-faced flower on your face?" He did not take big steps, yet, each step thudded on the floor heavily, like the sound of a hit on the drum. With merely a few steps, his aura had greatly intensified.


    Zara''s eyes turned red the moment she heard the thud! Chen Mu could see that each and every vein around Zara''s eyeballs were filled with blood in no time. Zara slowly turned around. Surprisingly, she appeared to be very composed.


    "Hazak?" Her tone remained calm, yet contained within was a trace of ruthlessness.


    Hazak removed the weapon on his back as he glared at Zara. He said with a devious smile, "The vines of West Mountain King Tribe are indeed undefeatable. If I did not witness this amazing vine trick today with my own eyes, I would never have discovered Princess Zara''s true identity." As though they were facing a great enemy, his guards gasped as he finished his words.


    Mose was taken aback. He did not expect that such a skillful flexter would actually be Princess Zara from the West Mountain King Tribe. His guards, who were surrounding him, turned to look at him as they anticipated an order from him. Meanwhile, he gently shook his head to signal the guards to hold their position.


    The West Mountain King Tribe and the people of the Black Abyss held an enormous grudge against each other! An incomprehensible smile was painted across his face.


    "How is Hedrat doing? Unless you can obtain the Green Mark, the wound from Imprinting Vine will never recover," Zara said emotionlessly.


    Mose''s eyes glistened. Anger could be vaguely seen in Hazak''s eyes, but the smile on his face remained, "How can a mere Imprinting Vine challenge Lord Hedrat? I would suggest Your Highness to give up and not waste your effort anymore. I promise I''ll treat you like the most honorable guest and keep you safe. Isn''t this a more comfortable choice than loitering outside the city?"


    "I''ll kill each, and every one of you," Zara''s tone remained calm, but she had no intention to conceal her cruelty.


    "What a waste!" Hazak shrugged. The next second, his expression turned merciless as he cried, "Capture them alive!" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    The guards beside him, promptly charged forward. A brief excitement flashed across Mose''s eyes. Chen Mu did not expect to be able to meet the leader of the people of the Black Abyss.


    "Go and take care of him," Hazak ordered while he gradually approached Zara!


    Zara''s ability left an impactful impression on him when he encountered her a few years ago. He was sure that Zara must have grown even stronger in the past few years. However, he was still confident in his ability. He reckoned that his guards were capable enough to deal with the other card artisan from Tianyou Federation.


    Hazak''s weapon was a maroon-colored spear. The blade of the spear was flat yet sharp. They locked eyes in the middle of the air and did not try to contain their bloodthirstiness. Zara took the initiative to attack. She made a quick move and vanished into thin air.


    "Is this all you got?" Hazak snorted. He gently drew across the air with the maroon spear in his hand.


    Tsk!


    It sounded as though the cloth was being slit apart. An Air Wave Blade of a crescent shape narrowly blocked the tip of the Painted Graphistemma! They collided, and a clear "Ding" rang out. The tip of the vine was raised high. Hazak made an abrupt move and poked into thin air with the flat spear blade!


    Swoosh!


    A sharp noise echoed as another wave of Air Wave Blade pierced through the air! Floating, Zara swiftly dodged the attack. The Air Wave Blade hit the ground and left a thin yet deep hole.


    Airskill?


    Chen Mu was astonished. Hazak was well-known for being proficient in Airskill. However, this was the first time Chen Mu witnessed an Airskill that was generated by a weapon. Indeed, the attack skills of the flexters from the House of a Hundred Depths were unpredictable. Chen Mu was very impressed.


    Seeing the flexters who were approaching him, Chen Mu displayed no fear, Contrary to Hazak''s expectation. The Black and White Boundary did not restrict the usage of pure energy within its range. Instead, it could control the usage of pure energy within its range! Those two were fundamentally different.


    Once again, he gently raised his right hand while his fingers moved softly like water weeds. The "starry night sky" above the arena suddenly exploded and turned into mesmerizing fireworks and sparkles. Countless light rays dived towards the ground in straight lines and formed a curtain of light beams.


    "Ahhhhh!"


    Crying and yelling echoed throughout the whole arena. They couldn''t dodge as the attack was directed from above.


    Splash! Splash! Splash!


    One by one, the flower of blood blossomed in the midst of the light curtain. The scene was haunting. The light curtain seemed to be soft and gentle, yet, no one could withstand the power of it.


    The sudden attack caught the guards off guard. Meanwhile, the ruthlessness of the people of the Black Abyss was showcased perfectly in this situation. The penetrating force of the light ray was shockingly powerful. However, it was not fatal unless one was attacked at their crucial body parts.


    The guards of the people of the Black Abyss threw themselves at Chen Mu like bloodthirsty wolves. They could not be bothered by the light beams that were piercing through their bodies! They were confident that they would be triumphant once they can approach the enemy!


    Splash! Splash! Splash!


    Chen Mu was astonished by the determination of the people of the Black Abyss. For the first time, he sensed their fierceness. It was as though they were immune to pain when they threw themselves at their enemy recklessly. The enemy would easily be scared off by their attack if the enemy did not have a strong mind. Unfortunately, Chen Mu''s mind had never been weak!


    Despite being impressed, he understood that they were on different sides in the current situation! He would never show mercy to his opponents. Again, he raised his right hand!

 595 Boundary Kill

    Boundary Kill!


    All that could be seen were those tiny light beams falling from the sky without any boost. They were like sharks that caught the scent of blood, as they dashed wildly toward these guards! The light beams which were as thin as musical strings had become a chilly weapon at this moment!


    Puff! Puff! Puff!


    The light beams quickly passed through the body and caused blood to bloom like flowers. They came in all directions and without missing an inch. Any resistance against this attack was for naught. In the blink of an eye, light beams flooded these guards and riddled them with thousands of wounds. Among these seemingly jumbled light beams, there was murderous intent hidden. Some of them acted like hunters lurking in wolf packs, dealing a precise deathblow when the chance arises! The throat, heart, and head were their main aims to attack.


    These guards were seasoned masters, but in the presence of these layers of light curtains, they could not strike back!


    They roared and rushed towards Chen Mu, but the reality was cruel. A guard let out his unwillingness by yelling and tossed the wooden spear in his hand as hard as he could! The wooden spear penetrated the layers of light curtains with an astonishing might. It seemed as if it was about to shoot through Chen Mu!


    All that could be seen was Chen Mu slightly lifting his left hand, which was wearing the Power Glove, before flicking his five fingers¡ªstopping the sudden attack with five thin energy lines!


    Crack!


    The wooden spear splintered after being hit by the five thin energy lines of the Power Gloves, scattering into wood chips all around. Other guards witnessed this and roared before tossing out the weapons in their hands!


    Chen Mu''s brow furrowed, and with an extremely rapid hand movement, he flicked the fingers in his right hand continuously. Then, there was a sudden increase in the illumination of the starry sky. The light beams were thicker than an arm as they oscillated at high speed and garotted!


    In this Black and White Boundary, everything was ruthlessly triturated except for Chen Mu! All the weapons had been grounded into dust and all of the enemies into tiny cubes of meat!


    The light beams dissipated gradually and serenity returned to the night. Yet, the grated human flesh and stumps all around reminded people of what had happened here just now!


    Chen Mu sighed. When meeting with an enemy that was difficult to deal with, it was more convenient for him to use cards. His eyes somehow cast themselves onto Hazak and Zara. Both of them were engaged in a fierce battle.


    Hazak remained exceptionally calm regardless of whether he was scratching, picking, or stabbing. The mahogany wooden spear in his hand would let out AirWave Blades! His movements were not fast, and every motion was distinct, yet, it was this precise movement that blocked Zara''s boisterous attacks!


    The frequency of Zara''s attacks was extremely high; the Painted Graphistemma in her hand was like an extension of her body. Her speed was as fast as lightning, and a virtual shadow could only be seen revolving around Hazak.


    Every time the grave Painted Graphistemma intersected with the dense AirWave Blade, an explosion sound would be produced! Both of them were especially careful as they knew that if such an intense attack hit them, they would be dead!


    Chen Mu felt slightly relieved. Although Zara''s speed increased, she was still behaving methodically. On the contrary, Hazak felt stress under the situation where Zara increased the vigor of her attack unceasingly. The calmness on his face had gradually disappeared and turned into one that was grave and alert.


    The Soft Golden Vine wandered around Hazak like four golden-colored lightning, bringing him a tremendous sense of pressure. Although the colorful tail feather silk of the Spotted Peacock was not fast, it was light and even carried with it a slow and relaxed feeling. Hazak dare not even slightly neglect it. For someone with ample battle experience, he naturally understood that the more beautiful things were, the more dangerous they would be! He inadvertently took a glimpse at the ground flesh lying all over the floor in front of Chen Mu, and his expression couldn''t help but change for the worse!


    The frequency of Zara''s attack was getting faster and faster, and the energy was getting stronger and stronger. These had pressed him to the point that he almost suffocated! He never expected that the man who came along with Zara would be so powerful! He knew the strength of his guards well and had initially planned to slow down Zara himself. Afterward, when the guards have finished off that man, they would act together to seize Zara. But things have developed entirely beyond his expectations! He was also a decisive man and knew that his plan had failed. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    The wooden spear shook!


    Sizzle!


    The endless whistling sound, the countless air awls shot towards Zara like raindrops. As for him, his figure moved back without the slightest hesitation!


    This caught Chen Mu''s eyes as with just a tremble of the wooden spear it released such an intense and vast amount of air awls. Hazak indeed had profound attainments in the aspect of Airskills! However, Chen Mu didn''t have any intention to take action. As he had battled by Zara''s side for two years, he was clear about her strength. In terms of dealing with sudden crafty tricks, no one could beat her!


    As expected, Hazak let out a suffocated sound followed by a stagger!


    Chen Mu could see it distinctly. One blue tail feather silk of the Spotted Peacock was lurking at the ground behind Hazak quietly. The eight tail feather silks of the Spotted Peacock and four soft Golden Vine dazzled everyone. It was also due to this that Hazak did not notice that one tail feather silk of the Spotted Peacock had disappeared. Chen Mu knew that Hazak was finished!


    Other than physical attacks, that blue tail feather silk of the Spotted Peacock could produce frigid temperatures. Thus, Hazak''s feet were probably completely frozen! Hazak''s complexion changed dramatically, and as he suddenly screamed, "Why has the lord of the city not taken any action yet!" He could now only place his hopes on Mose! This time, he came with the task of allying, so how could Mose let himself die at Aguda City?


    Indeed, Mose''s gaze raised sharply before he outrageously gave out an order, "Do it!"


    The murderous intention in Chen Mu''s eyes could be faintly seen. Just as he wanted to make a move, he suddenly stopped his hand''s movement.


    "How dare you, Mose!" Hazak glared at him, and Mose''s subordinates pounced on those surviving flexters from the sword and shield sect! He instantly realized Mose''s intention, that Mose wanted to murder them to prevent them from divulging his secret!


    It was precisely due to this short period of absent-mindedness that he didn''t notice that the wandering golden lightning beside him had suddenly snapped and bored into the back of his neck! Hazak''s pupils suddenly expanded right before he glared at Mose!


    The staring had made Mose feel scared. Just as he wanted to say something, Hazak collapsed!


    The enemy had been executed, but Zara didn''t feel joyous at all. The murderous aura had faded, and there was deep sorrow in her eyes. Chen Mu sighed in his heart, walked towards Zara, and patted her shoulder gently. Zara cried out as she couldn''t hold it in anymore. She was hugging Chen Mu while she bawled. Chen Mu had no idea how to comfort her, so he just pat her back gently.


    Those flexters from the sword and shield sect didn''t have any power to resist against Mose''s guards, and a moment later, they had all been slaughtered. The battlefield permeated with a strong smell of blood. Although Chen Mu had gotten used to massacres over the past few years, he didn''t like it. Also, he didn''t want to have any interaction with this fatty at all. He could discern that this fatty Lord of the city had some aggressive ambitions.


    Zara was sobbing with grief. No matter how strong she was, she was only a twenty-year-old girl. The rage and sorrow for the extermination of her whole family had long been pent-up in her heart. Now that she had a place to let it all out, she was suddenly uncontrollable. Chen Mu held Zara up gently, lifted his foot, and was about to leave.


    The moment he held Zara up, her body went stiff, and the sobbing sound became a little weak. Chen Mu had not expected that she wouldn''t struggle but had instead curled up in his arms while sobbing like a kitten.


    "Wait a minute, both of you!" Mose spoke in an eager tone.


    * * *


    Benji had been living in deep seclusion and had rarely been out since returning to the Mohadi Domain. Not only did he not take part in feasts, but he also was not the least concerned with any of those important meetings. There was a rumor out there saying Lord Benji''s mind had not recovered from his last defeat. But this couldn''t be seen on Benji''s face.


    "My lord!" A voice came out from a shaded place.


    "Yes?" Benji merely said this without raising his head. It seemed like he was not surprised that there was someone there.


    "The precise news has been obtained. The king has found the transit windows that Wei-ah used to escape back then."


    Benji''s hand''s movement stagnated briefly. His expression remained as usual. "Alright. Did the king take any action?"


    "The king has dispatched some people to examine the transit windows. It is estimated that news will return in a short while. We can''t enter the ash stratum as the king has assigned people to guard the transit windows, and so we have no idea of the situation inside."


    "Well done," Benji praised.


    "It is my duty!" The voice coming from the shadows showed no signs of change because of praise. "Also, I have gone to the area around the transit windows, and I have made some discoveries."


    "Oh, what did you find out?" Benji was interested.


    "I discovered some skeletal remains of a beast."


    "Skeletons?"


    "Yes. From the distribution of regions of the skeletons, it can be assumed that someone once came from the transit windows to this region to hunt beasts. We have discovered many skeletons that belong to the fierce beasts, and we estimate that they were hunted within the last two years."


    The voice coming out from the shaded place remained calm like still water, but Benji listened to it attentively.


    "And, according to the analysis of these skeletons'' species, it is possible that these people came here because of Card Insertion. Also, the amount is at least one thousand."


    "Card Insertion?" Benji murmured.


    Card Insertion was the technique of the Mohadi Domain. As such, the people who came via the transit windows could be the people from the Mohadi Domain. Based on the amount, the number of people on that side was not a small amount, and it was most likely that it was a small tribe.


    Also, people who could be named by ''him'' as a powerful person was not many¡­


    Could it be...


    Benji suddenly showed a strange facial expression.


    The sinister gaze of Su Heiming had made the surrounding guards not dare to breathe heavily. Everyone knew that the Lord was not in a good mood. So whoever comes to grief at this moment would be courting death.


    Qin Ke lied on the ground, shedding tears. His family was ordered to enter the jungle to find a way that could lead to the path of the Common Residential District. However, unexpectedly, the whole army was defeated. Now there were only three people left in his entire family, including him.


    "Be on your way. I won''t forget the contribution of the Qin family. Star City will now be handed over to you. Please guard it well for me. I permit you to recruit card artisans yourself." After saying this, he turned around and spoke to Zhu Heng, "Pick 20 five star cards and 500 four-star cards for him."


    Qin Ke kowtowed with all his might, "Thank you, my Lord! I will use my life to repay my Lord''s kind favors!" He thought that the Qin family would end in his hands, but unexpectedly, the Lord had given such a big reward. The cards were not a big deal, but a city had been given to him. He only needed a few years, and the prosperity of the Qin family would be just around the corner!


    Su Heiming encouraged warmly, "Do your job well, and don''t let me down."


    Qin Ke stated his position on this matter again before leaving. Su Heiming''s face became sullen once Qin Ke had left. Since Eastern Wei had isolated the Five Flourishing Districts from the Common Residential District, he unceasingly assigned people to attempt opening up a path to the Common Residential District from Moon Forest Island and the Northern Reaches District. However, he underwent heavy losses every time and had gained nothing to this day.


    To get people to like him, not only did he not kick away those subordinates who had suffered heavy losses; instead, he helped them to recover their vitality. Subsequently, this had made him obtain the approval of a majority of these subordinates.


    "Is there anyone making trouble recently?" His tone was full of tyranny.


    A slight hint of worry appeared in Zhu Heng''s eyes, "It is said that some families under the governance of the Moon Frost Island have held a secret meeting, but they found no evidence. Also, there are a few bad rumors recently."


    "What rumors?" Su Heiming asked in a deep voice.


    "People are saying that the Lord occupies two major districts, is greedy, and has not attempted to make progress. Not as good as¡­" Zhu Heng paused.


    "Not as good as?" Su Heiming''s voice was unusually calm.


    Zhu Heng was stunned as he had been following Su Heiming for a long time and knew that he had triggered Su Heiming''s murderous intentions. At that moment, he could only brace himself and said, "Not as good as Tang Hanpei who was bold and had great talent."


    Su Heiming''s complexion was so dark that it seemed as if water could be squeezed out of it. He said calmly, "Find the ones spreading this rumor and eradicate those that are indecisive. Otherwise, they could be potentially damaging."


    Zhu Heng wanted to say something, but when he saw how firm Su Heiming was, he swallowed his words that were at the corner of his mouth, "Yes!"


    Only after Zhu Heng had left did Su Heiming show signs of a headache. It wasn''t as if he hadn''t expected the situation at present. But what he didn''t expect was for this to happen so quickly. This was all because of the damn Eastern Wei! They had completely messed up his plan!


    At that time, for the purpose of sweeping across Heavenly Drum Village District, as long as the opponents surrendered, he would take them under his command. This had laid a foreshadowing for the hidden dangers of this day.


    As such, the various people under his control, each with different abilities, had their own intentions. Initially, according to his plan, the main forces would have been taken down the Heavenly Drum Village District. Then, with the advantage given by thunders, the Common Residential District would be eliminated. In this process, those unloyal dangers could also be slowly weeded out.


    He didn''t want to incorporate himself in the battle between the other three families and Tang Hanpei. That was a to-and-fro tussle. The more intense and more prolonged their battle, the better it was to him. But he did not expect Eastern Wei''s sudden action to completely isolate the route he needed to enter the Common Residential District!


    Their interior situation would become unstable very quickly when there isn''t any external battle to attract the subordinates. The distribution of the abilities of his subordinates was excessively complex. Just like a gunpowder barrel that could explode at any time, any trigger could cause this gunpowder barrel to explode. No matter how mighty he was, this problem was extremely troubling to him.


    Also, the sudden emergence of Eastern Wei made him feel worried. Eastern Wei seemed to be inconspicuous, but they had begun planning all these a few years ago. In his opinion, what they want is definitely not something small. As soon as Dong Wei had finished taking control of the Common Residential District he would do a quick check on it. Although it might be challenging to check and balance it.


    In the Common Residential District, the only thing that could bring trouble to Eastern Wei was Faya. But it was just a hassle. Su Heiming could see that the biggest mistake of Faya was the blurry battle strategies. They didn''t choose the Common Residential District, which was more favorable to them. Instead, they put most of their power into the war between the flourishing districts. Eastern Wei isolated the flourishing regions from the Common Residential District and launched a fatal attack against Faya, causing them to be unable to take care of both their front and back simultaneously!


    Now, Su Heiming was a little regretful that he had let go of these people. Indeed, to indulge one''s enemy is to ask for trouble!

 596 Hustling Wind

    The area in which The Dark Tribe inhabited was the area with the most abundant resources in House of a Hundred Depths; for the past few centuries, it had been the West Mountain King Tribe''s territory. The Dark Tribe had occupied that place ever since they wiped out the West Mountain King Tribe.


    But the managerial skill of The Dark Tribe was worse than the West Mountain King Tribe. When compared to the past, resources were dwindling and the environment was deteriorating. But no one in The Dark Tribe cared. It was a paradise compared to where they used to live. And since they had slaughtered the West Mountain King Tribe, the different forces from House of a Hundred Depths were extremely fearful of them and didn''t dare to offend them. But that peace was finally broken.


    Leaders of The Dark Tribe gathered and looked at the report with a long face.


    Hazak died! He died in Aguda City!


    "It''s Zara; she''s the sole survivor." Deschamps solemnly commented. As the head of the five commanders, Deschamps had always been calm and seasoned. He had a square-faced with broad brows, his lips were thick, and his blonde hair was like a blaze of fire.


    Wesley whistled lightly in a frivolous manner, "Hazak was too careless and got killed by a woman. Tut-tut, Zara''s figure is really hot and memorable." His black complexion gave him a seductive charm, which attracted people''s attention like a magnet. He was lean and tall, wearing a long windbreaker, he rested his chin upon his hand, always wearing a light smile.


    Sol frowned and chided him, "Wesley, we''re talking business."


    Sol didn''t have the typical appearance of The Dark Tribe; he had fair skin and a babyface. People who were unfamiliar with him would regard him as a teenager of fifteen or sixteen years old. But in The Dark Tribe, they were terrified of their fourth commander.


    Wesley wasn''t angry; he laughed and replied, "Alright, let''s talk. Come on, let''s go on."


    Deschamps ignored him and continued, "Mose has suffered heavy losses, and he has been seriously injured. Sword and shield sect were annihilated. Zara has an ace with her. It is said that Zara was able to kill Hazak was largely due to this ace. From our investigation, Zara and this fellow first appeared in Hundred Depths. They massacred the Nine-tails Bandits and are said to have many top-notch weapons with them."


    Deschamps glanced over to Wesley; he was listening attentively with a pair of sparkling eyes. That fellow was a mania for weapons! Sol and Deschamps looked at each other and readily understood each other.


    "We''ve confirmed that they have Golden Ring Woodspear, White Midges Bone, Lotus Leaf Shield, Blood Eyed Dart, Serenity Incense Crown, Painted Graphistemma, Soft Golden Vine, tail feather silk of the Spotted Peacock, and Black Silk Vine!"


    Wesley was staring wide-eyed, "That, that... Where did they get so many good things?"


    Deschamps snickered in his heart, but didn''t bat an eyelid; he turned to Sol and inquired, "What do you think?"


    Sol murmured, "Zara alone isn''t worthy of our attention. Mose is our greatest enemy. Now that Mose is seriously injured and has suffered heavy losses, this is his weakest time now. Why don''t we attack him in the name of revenge for Hazak?"


    Wesley applauded and laughed, "This is a great idea! Hazak died for a good purpose!"


    Deschamps was in deep thought. Sol''s proposal struck him as well. He sighed in his heart that if Hazark wasn''t dead, he would have the most devious ideas. After pondering for a moment, he hesitated and said, "Shall we ask for Sir''s opinion?" As soon as this was said, everyone stopped talking; the silence was deafening.


    After a while, Sol smiled bitterly and said, "Sir has been suppressing his injuries. Who''ll be responsible for the unexpected, if he is distracted by this?"


    The atmosphere was oppressive. Hedrat led everyone to where they were today and was the spiritual leader of The Dark Tribe. Everyone was agitated and distraught that he wasn''t taking part in any decision-making process.


    "If we had known, we wouldn''t have wiped out the West Mountain King Tribe. We should have left out a few for interrogation purposes. We''ve been searching for so long, and there isn''t even a shadow of Green Mark!" Wesley was frustrated.


    Sol coldly replied, "All we have to do is capture Zara. We''ll ask her then."


    When this was said, everyone''s spirit was in full swing. Wesley said, "Three out of the four could go. We still have to keep a guard in our area so that we don''t get attacked from our backs."


    Deschamps nodded, "I''ll stay."


    Sol and Wesley didn''t have any objections. Among the few of them, Deschamps was the most seasoned and composed. Sol turned to an empty space and asked, "Yuan Di, what about you?"


    "Agree." An erratic voice sounded in the room, followed by silence.


    In the main palace of Aguda City, the tumbling ground fires flickered, illuminating Mose''s face. Ground fires from the earth''s core were the most common energy source of House of a Hundred Depths and the necessary condition for the formation of a city.


    "They have already set out." Mose''s henchman, Sorren, reported. Sorren had been with Mose since he was fifteen years old and was his most trusted aid.


    Mose sighed heavily, straightened his waist, and swept away the hesitation on his face. At that moment, he wasn''t in his usual self; the fat man who was excessively indulging in alcohol and delicacy. His fierce and ferocious eyes made even a master like Sorren avoid eye contact.


    "Go as planned, don''t make any mistakes." Mose murmured, "This battle determines our success or failure."


    He turned to see the hesitation on Sorren''s face and smiled, "What''s wrong? Do you lack confidence?"


    "Isn''t it risky to bet on these two people?" Sorren thought about it and decided to clear the doubt in his heart.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Mose wasn''t angry, he laughed, "I''m not betting on them. We can''t avoid this battle with The Dark Tribe. Sooner or later, there''ll be war. I ask you, is it better for us to fight when Hedrat is injured, or when he is in good condition?"


    "But the news of Hedrat''s injury hasn''t been confirmed..."


    "Ha-ha, I was dubious at first. Zara said that Hedrat was suffering from ''Imprinting Vine'', and Hazak didn''t deny so that should be true. I was still unsure then¡ªuntil a moment ago¡ªnow I firmly believe that Hedrat was injured!"


    Seeing that Sorren was confused, Mose patiently explained, "Hazak was one of the five commanders who died in another country. This time, the other three commanders came for the battle. There was no news from Hedrat, and at that moment I knew. I''m sure that Hedrat is injured. And he''s certainly in bad shape."


    Immediately his expression turned cold, "I''ve been worried about our lack of aces for the battle. These two people are the best opportunities that God has ever given me. Whether we win or lose in this battle, if we could kill one or two commanders, it would be a victory for us!"


    "A tiger without its claws and teeth would have a harder resurgence and slowly lose its power."


    * * *


    In the vast ash stratum, several shadows were running, and there was a dog beside them. Two people were running on the ground, while the other two were flying in mid-air. The most peculiar thing was the dog; it ran like a piece of lard rolling, but its speed wasn''t in the least inferior to the rest of the group.


    This was Wei-ah''s group. They came out almost every few days.


    Four people and a dog stopped to rest. Little Bu Mo pampered the fat dog who, half-squinting like a grandfather, enjoyed itself. After running for so long, the overweight dog wasn''t panting at all, which surprised Sue and Yangshan Fei.


    Little Bu Mo was much taller than before. As a successor of Wei-ah, his strength was much stronger. He had great determination and handled stress well. Wei-ah never discounted his training plans for Little Bu Mo. Little Bu Mo''s temperament was increasingly similar to Wei-ah; both were stoic and adored their fat dog. The fat dog, with squinting eyes, suddenly raised his head. Before Little Bu Mo could respond, the fat dog gave a low roar and shot out like an arrow.


    Yangshan Fei muttered, "Is this fat dog hungry?"


    The eyes under Sue''s dark gold mask revealed a tinge of surprise, "Something''s going on."


    Wei-ah and Little Bu Mo had followed the fat dog closely, Sue and Yangshan Fei looked at each other, and the two hurried to catch up. That direction was towards the transit window to Mohadi. They had been to Mohadi many times; it was a familiar route. The unusual behavior of the fat dog made Sue thought of a possibility.


    Did someone dive through the transit window into the ash stratum? Thinking of this, Sue and Yangshan Fei were startled.


    If that window was no longer a secret, it would be a terrible thing for them. In the vast ash stratum, there was no tenable defense position; their enemy could attack them from any directions.


    Sue regretted that she hadn''t suggested Bogner send someone to guard the transit window to Mohadi, or they wouldn''t be so passive now. In fact, except for the four of them, no one else knew about that window.


    Nobody knew where Wei-ah and the group went every time. Although Bogner had a rough guess in his mind, Wei-ah didn''t take the initiative to say, and they didn''t ask. Wei-ah had a unique position in their hearts.


    The closer to the transit window, the more vigilant they were. The fat dog was extremely intelligent; his movements suddenly became very light, as if quietly approaching its prey. At the same time, Wei-ah and Little Bu Mo suddenly revealed their killing aura.


    Someone was there!


    Sue and Yangshan Fei looked at each other; they found the enemy too. A team of fifteen people was following a rift, approaching them. Not needing any action, four people and a dog lie in ambush quietly. Sue sighed softly in her heart, worried that the base would face more troubles in the future.


    * * *


    House of a Hundred Depths had been in the spotlight. The most popular were the two supervillains; Chen Mu and Zara! When they slaughtered Nine-tails Bandits, they earned their name as supervillains. The annihilation of sword and shield sect followed by the death of Hazak, the commander of The Dark Tribe. Lastly, Mose was seriously injured; all pushed them to the cusp of public opinion.


    They were indeed the supervillain!


    Powerful¡ªthey had a series of top-notch equipment which made one''s hair stand on end. Some estimated that if their weapons were all discounted, it was still enough to exchange for a few cities! They had numerous top-notch equipment, but those who were jealous dared not snatched it from them.


    Fearless¡ªthere was no one they didn''t dare to kill. The Dark Tribe which all feared for and the savage Hazak were all butchered by them.


    Fierce and malicious¡ªthe annihilation of Nine-tails Bandits and sword and shield sect were examples of their brutality.


    People were discussing these two villains everywhere. Some were excited, worried, or jealous of their top-notch equipment; there were all forms of commentaries.


    When the two figures appeared at the entrance of Huoyun City, the flexsters guarding the city gate looked ashen and were trembling as they approached. No one dared to say a word. The unprecedented suffocation nearly made them faint. Panic, like a plague, spread throughout the city within an hour!

 597 The Third Commander

    Zara stared at Chen Mu; her eyes were wandering. There was no one in the pub, only the two of them. The waiter was shivering in fear behind the counter, and the pub became the most dangerous place in Huoyun City. They stayed in Huoyun City for more than ten days, sitting quietly every day. No one knew what they wanted to do, but the whole city was praying that the two supervillains would leave as soon as possible, the further, the better.


    "What?" Noticing Zara''s expression wasn''t right, Chen Mu softly asked as he felt a little uncertainty.


    Zara didn''t reply. After a while, she suddenly spoke, "Let''s get out of here. Mose harbors ill-intentions. If they know you have a Green Mark on your body, you will be in danger."


    Chen Mu looked surprised at the words coming out from Zara''s mouth; it was beyond his expectation.


    "There''s no problem with the Green Mark on your body." Zara said lightly, "After using gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, it''ll take about two years for the Green Mark to stabilize."


    "I know." Chen Mu''s answer also surprised Zara. Chen Mu welcomed Zara''s astonished gaze, and he laughed, "I have known it since I came to Hundred Depths. I do routine checks on my body."


    "All the more reason for you to not take risks with me." Zara''s eyes were fixed on Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu shook his head. "It''s not even a risk. What''s more dangerous than Hundred Depths?"


    Zara looked at Chen Mu in a daze.


    "Mose harbors ill-intentions, and I know he wants to use us as bait. But it is still unknown who the real hunter is." Chen Mu smiled, showing his snow-white teeth, "Take a guess, what would they do if we suddenly disappeared right now?"


    * * *


    Fifty kilometers outside Huoyun City.


    "Disappear?" Wesley stared wide-eyed and perplexed.


    Sol''s face was grave. "Well, they stayed in Huoyun City all this time, but today they suddenly disappeared."


    "What''re we going to do now? Send someone to search? This is not our territory!" Wesley forewarned them.


    Sol''s baby face looked harmless, but the sparkle in his eyes produced fear in others. He shook his head. "Let''s wait for a while. Wait for Yuan Di to return, maybe he''ll have some information."


    "That''s all we could do." Wesley muttered, "It''s alright for them to disappear. They can leave the weapons behind. Humph, he has wasted so much of my energy. I must break his leg and see where he could go in the future."


    Sol couldn''t be bothered with him and sat on the floor.


    The Dark Tribe turned up in nearly full strength; they had more than 2,000 fighters, and they brought 1,500 with them, leaving only 500 to guard their territory. The considerable bet was worrisome even for a bold man like Sol. But they couldn''t resist the temptation. Their most crucial agenda wasn''t to annex Mose''s forces, nor to avenge Hazak, but to find the Green Mark! For The Dark Tribe, this was an irresistible temptation. It was all for Sir Hedrat!


    Sir Hedrat was their pillar of strength, their spiritual leader, and their God! Anyone could die but Sir Hedrat! No one in The Dark Tribe could imagine what it would be like without him. Thus, when they knew that Zara was still alive, the steady and seasoned Deschamps was tempted, the cunning Sol was tempted, the cynical Wesley who disdained worldly affairs was tempted, and the cold and heartless Yuan Di was also tempted! However, just a step before they reached Huoyun City, the two disappeared.


    How could The Dark Tribe not get anxious?


    "They''re nowhere to be found." A voice appeared out of thin air. It was Yuan Di. Even Yuan Di couldn''t find them. The other two were distressed. But before they could think of what to do, Yuan Di threw out another bloodcurdling message, "Ambushes were found in three directions."


    "What?" Sol straightened himself, wearing a gloomy expression.


    "Ha-ha! We''ve fallen into his trap. Sol, did you also drink the foot-washing water of Mose, that old fellow!" Looking at Sol''s forlorn face, Wesley laughed heartlessly without a bit of fear.


    Wesley''s mockery made Sol''s face darker. His eyes were ready to burst into flames. Sol''s baby face was grim and twisted, and he sneered, "Hey, what a Mose! He has such a big appetite, isn''t he afraid of stuffing himself to death!"


    He shot up and shouted in anger, "Everyone, get ready to fight! We need to teach this greedy fellow a good lesson. How dare he set us, The Dark Tribe, up? He''s looking for death!"


    Not far from The Dark Tribe, Mose''s face turned livid with rage. "What, they''re gone?"


    "Yes! They suddenly disappeared. Our people couldn''t keep up." Sorren was anxious too.


    In their plans, Chen Mu and Zara were needed to lure The Dark Tribe into the ambush zone. In that way, the ambush from three forces could complete the encirclement of The Dark Tribe! Now, however, the two people suddenly disappeared, and the people of The Dark Tribe were a step away from the ambush set up for them; they hadn''t wholly entered the ambush zone.


    "Da*n it! I was tricked!" Mose thought.


    Mose was upset, but there was no time to hesitate. He was always a decisive man. It was a critical moment, and there was no turning back for him; he had to continue his plan to attack!


    Mose had always hoped to avoid a direct battle with The Dark Tribe; their combat power, especially those commanders, was immeasurable. Unfortunately, his elaborate ambush was only half completed. He focused all his attention on The Dark Tribe but neglected the two who he used as bait. It was only then that he discovered he had underestimated the two people.


    These two people didn''t only have brawn; they had brains too! Suddenly, those indifferent and calm eyes appeared in his mind; the man beside Zara had left him with a profound impression. Out of an abundance of caution, Mose mobilized almost all the troops he could. Unexpectedly, that decision will save his life.


    The Dark Tribe''s strong combat power was their edge, while Mose''s advantage was his preemptive strikes and his larger troop; altogether both sides were about even.


    What a precise calculation! Mose was bitter but awe-inspiring; such a twist was definitely not something a simple flexster could plot. At that moment, Mose had several questions in mind. What should I do next if the two took such a brilliant step? Would he really leave like this?


    Both sides knew that this was the battle of life and death! The defeated had death awaiting them.


    From the beginning, the battle approached its climax without suspense. The battle situation was disastrous; the war was unprecedented!


    The average strength of The Dark Tribe was indeed superior, and bravery engraved within them; they were all fearless soldiers. They always had two or three people dive into the opponent''s defense, disregarding life and death, to disrupt the opponent''s formation! On the whole battlefield, three commanders stood out!


    Wesley held a dark red rose in his hand. The rose receptacle was like a viper''s opening its mouth biting the corolla, and the stem was covered with dense spikes. With a gentle shake, the rose petals of the Viper Rose slightly detached, they flew like dark red butterflies, light and agile. The rose petals surrounded Wesley with their unparalleled beauty. Wesley''s peculiar and spooky smile could be spotted among the fluttering dark red elves. His figure and shadow were indistinct.


    Each petal was a lethal weapon. It could easily penetrate the protective barrier of a flexster and harvest their life. Wherever Wesley went, those around would be killed, and the straight stems of Viper Rose easily blocked any flexster who managed to reach in front of him. Stem receptacles without petals retracted like a viper closing its mouth, forming a triangular tip.


    The solidity of the flower stem was astonishing strong, like a sharp sword. Wesley''s swordsmanship was superb, swift, and precise. He had it easy when facing his opponent''s powerful and heavy attacks; often with a gentle push, he deflected his opponent''s attacks to other directions. Moreover, the dense spikes on the flower stalks threatened to burst and hurt people at any moment; it was impossible to guard against!


    Sol looked even weirder! He was carrying a piece of wood on his back¡ªa piece of wood that seemed almost rotten!


    On this piece of wood, there were mushrooms of different colors. He calmly headed towards the opposing team, alone. Even the people from his tribe standing around him had fearful expressions, and didn''t dare to approach!


    Thump, thump!


    As soon as anyone got close to Sol, they would suddenly fall to the ground and never stand up again. A moment later, their whole body would turn black and blue; it was intimidating and eerie.


    "Poison! Be careful!"


    "Archers! Fire!" A commander ordered with a gruff voice. For such an opponent, the best way to attack was to shoot and eliminate the opponent from afar.


    Schhwaff, schhwaff, schhwaff!


    An overwhelming amount of arrows shot towards Sol like a dark cloud. The Dark Tribe who was around him couldn''t care about anything else, and instantly scattered away! There was no way to avoid such an intense blow!


    The calm and indifferent baby face wasn''t half as sweet and lovable as usual. His expression was profoundly haunting and cold. Instead of looking up, he picked a square gray-white mushroom from the rotten wood on his back and gently threw it out. At the same time, there was a flicker in his eyes! In mid-air, the gray mushroom exploded, forming a gray curtain; covering and protecting Sol. Then the most bizarre scene appeared!


    Those powerful arrows froze when they hit the thin gray-white curtain¡ªas if their power had been sucked out. The arrows were adhering lightly to the gray-white curtain. They did not seem like arrows that could pierce through iron, rather a feather that was soft and feeble!


    Sol didn''t lift his eyelids within this layer of the grayish curtain. He headed straight to the opponent''s camp without hesitation.


    Mose looked at the two commanders with a pale face. So far, his side''s casualties were higher. The two commanders were invincible, and no one could stop them. Under the leadership of the two commanders, The Dark Tribe stood imposingly. On the contrary, Mose''s troop had low morale, and his flexsters were fearful; he could see where this was going.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    But where was the last commander? It was mentioned in the report that there were three commanders!


    Suddenly, an inexplicable chill appeared behind his neck! The chill came so suddenly; he didn''t notice it at all, let alone the heaps of guards around him! The chill wasn''t overwhelming, only a stream, but it was enough to make his blood run cold. Mose''s heart missed a beat and stopped beating. He couldn''t even move an inch of a finger; it scared the wits out of him.


    Is this the end for him? He thought as he stared wide-eyed in despair!

 598 Wesley

    "Ding!"


    The shrill sound of the impact hurt Mose''s ear drums, but at that moment it was like the most heavenly sound in the world.


    A soft golden vine blocked the chill!


    The guards next to Mose suddenly reacted, and their expressions changed drastically, desperate to protect Mose.


    "Be careful!""Protect the Lord!"


    Suddenly a guard squinted, and yelled while pointing towards the air, "Look out!"


    Before he could finish speaking, the empty space rippled, and the surrounding landscape suddenly looked imaginary.


    Mose''s bodyguards were experienced soldiers, so they did not hesitate to attack despite their fear. They immediately attacked.


    Boom!


    Dirt flew up from the force of the attacks from so many bodyguards, leaving a huge hole in the ground!


    The guards surrounded Mose, their expressions tense. They didn''t manage to hit anything just now. Their nervousness was understandable; an invisible assassin, even if not the most powerful one, was undoubtedly the scariest! These guards were all fearsome on the battlefield, but dealing with such an eerie attack was clearly not their expertise.


    Mose''s legs were still trembling from his lucky escape, but he looked very calm, and ordered strictly, "Don''t panic!"


    Mose''s composure quickly helped the guards focus on their mission, and they began searching for the assassin. There was nothing remarkable about their method; they merely attacked every inch of empty space, and if any movement was detected, the guards waiting by the side would immediately open fire.


    The method was primitive but undoubtedly effective.


    Mose''s heart settled slightly, his gaze trained on the battlefield involuntarily, but soon his expression darkened.


    Even under the joint attack of the three armies he took much pains to form, The Dark Tribe had the advantage! There were not many people in the Dark Tribe, but the intensity of their attacks was overwhelming. In particular, Sol and Wesley were like two sharp arrows which plunged deep into Mose''s army with unstoppable force!


    If the two of them were allowed to finish their attack, failure would await him!


    Mose broke out in cold sweat. He could only pray that his prediction was correct! If he was wrong, he would be defeated, and everything he owned, including his life, would be forfeited.


    As the wind blew, he felt the cold seep into his bones.


    Just then, Sorren pointed to the battlefield and shouted out joyfully, "Look, my Lord!"


    Mose shivered, but his face lit up after looking in the direction Sorren was pointing towards.


    Looking at his opponent, Wesley''s smile became even more devilish, but he was grim on the inside.


    "You''re Zara''s man? Hey, you are good!"


    Wesley had just been blocked by the man wearing the ghost-faced flower. It was the first time he had been blocked so far in the battle today!


    Despite the chaos of the battlefield, Wesley did not flinch, and calmly sized up his opponent.


    Indifference was the only word Wesley could use to describe his opponent, or rather that was the only trait he could find. He was neither severe, nor ostentatious, even when blocking Wesley''s way, he just stood there quietly.


    Suddenly, he lost sight of his opponent.


    His heart jumped, and he immediately reacted, shouting out, "Hey, hey, hey, are you not going to greet me first? What a rude guy!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    A strong force came from the rose stem in his hand. He managed to let go of it in time, but his right arm felt numb.


    "How strong! Hey, hey, where are your weapons? I''m here for your precious weapons, don''t make me come in vain¡­"


    Wesley''s chatter did not affect Chen Mu at all. His movements were quick as lightning; after making a move, there would be a series of follow-up attacks! He was stronger and faster than before!


    He did not bring those weapons. He understood that he could not use the weapons as well as the flexters of the House of a Hundred Depths, who have been immersing themselves in such arts for decades. The important thing was that his own weapons were strong enough.


    Ten strands of energy shot out from the Power Gloves, so tiny they could not be seen by the naked eye. The sound of the strands of energy whistling through the air was sharp, wreaking havoc in this small space.


    Wesley soon ran out of energy to continue his chatter. He was exhausted.


    He never expected the thin energy strings to be so powerful. Caught off guard, he immediately was at a disadvantage. A feeling of numbness in the right hand caused him to be slower. Chen Mu grabbed at the opportunity, and shot his left shoulder.


    Blood and flesh splattered everywhere!


    The slender energy string''s attack was bold and powerful. Wesley''s left shoulder was a bloody mess.


    Wesley pulled away from Chen Mu, panting. As if he could not feel that his shoulder was seriously injured, he still wore a smile on his face, "You are strong indeed, but you won''t be able to walk out of here alive with just these skills. Well, before you die, will you first tell me where you hid those weapons?"


    The sweat on his forehead, the smile on the corner of the mouth, and the bloody mess on his left shoulder, formed a very strange picture.


    Chen Mu was indifferent.


    So far, the opposition had not shown sufficient power to excite him. Maybe he had become accustomed to fighting with the mighty beasts at the Hundred Depths, so he found the battle boring.


    "It seems you won''t tell me. How disappointing." Wesley shrugged, but his smile suddenly disappeared, and with a low voice, he said, "Then die!"


    As soon as he said this, the crimson rose petals floating beside him suddenly became colourless, instantly lost their moisture, withered with visible speed, and fell feebly from midair. Almost at the same time, a delicate crimson rose appeared on Wesley''s forehead, his skin turned an eerily dark red, and spots which looked like rose petals appeared all over his body.


    The rose stem in his hands became pitch black, and shone like a metal.


    Wesley suddenly disappeared.


    Chen Mu was shocked to find that his speed became faster! He reacted quickly, joining his fingers together so that the ten thin strings at his fingertips joined, forming an energy net in front of him.


    Ding, ding, ding!


    A quick succession of strikes caused the energy net to shatter into an explosion of light rays!


    Chen Mu snorted and withdrew quickly, but he was amazed. The speed of the attacks was astonishing, and the strength of each strike also surpassed his expectations. The energy net could not support the successive strong blows and was shattered by brute force.


    This was the first time the strong strands of energy produced by the power gloves were shattered like this! What struck him most was the sudden surge in speed and power.


    The opponent was like a different person. A strong sense of danger arose in Chen Mu''s heart.


    He stared warily at the man whose aura was strange and dangerous. His opponent''s gaze was empty and his dark red skin made him look like a monster.


    The rose stem in Wesley''s hand gave a slight quiver, and without chattering, Wesley rushed toward Chen Mu.


    Chen Mu was blinded. A little bit of cold pierced through his eyebrows. The dark breath of death pierced his mind like a sword. All his muscles involuntarily stiffened!


    Beneath the ghost-faced flower, Chen Mu''s expression changed drastically. His stiff muscles would make him pause momentarily. He was certain that this pause would lead to the hard rose stem piercing his eyebrows as if it was tofu!


    Between life and death, the meter on Chen Mu''s hand suddenly activated.


    An invisible wave enveloped Chen Mu.


    The Six Star Card, Eternal Night, was deployed!


    As if Wesley knew the power of the card, he withdrew the stem, and quickly teleported to the space behind Chen Mu.


    He moved very quickly. His original plan was to circle behind Chen Mu, and his previous movements were only fakes.


    But for Chen Mu, even a fraction of a second was enough! His body only lost control briefly after a sudden stimulus. But after absorbing the Green Mark, Chen Mu''s ability to control his body became so strong that a very short buffer allowed him to regain control of his body.


    A chill prickled the back of his neck, and Chen Mu suddenly rushed forward in full force!


    He needed to distance himself from his opponent!


    Chen Mu very rarely faced opponents who could match him in both speed and power. Even in the dangerous Hundred Depths, the powerful beasts rarely beat him in both aspects. The explosive surge in his power and speed made Wesley''s brilliant skills even more dangerous and deadly.


    The coldness at the back of his neck haunted him like maggots attached to the bone.


    Without looking back, Chen Mu knew that the opponent was chasing him. With a burst of energy, he accelerated.


    Two bolts of lightning flashed through the chaotic battlefield with dizzying speed. The flexsters from both sides were stunned.


    Without Wesley, the Dark Tribe''s attack suddenly eased. The appearance of Chen Mu also boosted Mose''s army''s spirits, and the battle quickly entered a stalemate! The fighting between the two sides became fiercer. All of them knew that retreat was not an option.


    Even among the man eat man world of the House of Hundred Depths, the bloodthirstiness of the Dark Tribe''s attacks was unusual.


    With only the tips of his toes touching the ground, and changing directions with dizzying speed, Chen Mu weaved through the Dark Tribe like a loach. State Zero meant he had a head start every step of the way, and he didn''t touch anybody despite weaving through the crowd. To his surprise, Wesley followed him closely.


    In such a complex environment, it was hard not to lose his tail. Furthermore, Chen Mu was constantly changing directions, but still he could not lose his tail.


    It seemed Wesley had a skill similar to his State Zero.


    Chen Mu frowned. The opponent was harder to lose than he thought. At the same time, he felt a strange excitement.


    His whole body felt feverish. A spark lit up his indifferent eyes, like a hunter meeting the awaited prey.


    His mind was locked on a card in the meter he was wearing.


    The Eternal Night - a Six Star Card!

 599 Foggy Gauze

    ''The Eternal Night'' ranked third among all the cards in Chen Mu''s hand.


    The top card was the mysterious card from Master Rosenberg. Although this card was still an enigma, its importance to Chen Mu was self-evident. It could be said that without this card, Chen Mu wouldn''t be the person he is today.


    Card making, perceptual exercise, body building skills...


    The importance of each step could not be underestimated.


    Rosenberg''s disciples disguised the card as a one-star power-card in order to escape Heiner Van Sant''s search. These disciples have long become ancient legends, disappearing into the river of time. Nobody knew their original intention, but they probably did not expect that the card they took great pains to pass down miraculously created a legend.


    This card''s top position among all of Chen Mu''s cards was unshakeable.


    In second place was the seven-star card ''The Fiend''s Eye'' that Caesar gave him. This was the famous card of Su Haoze, the former leader of Desert Camp, and the only seven-star card of Desert Camp. It is incredibly powerful, and as the greatest among light beam cards, it ranked second among all of Chen Mu''s cards.


    ''The Eternal Night'' ranked third. Although it could not stand at the top of a class of cards like the ''The Fiend''s Eye'', its Six Stars meant it was second only to the legendary seven star cards. And it is an illusion card, which is very rare and can catch opponents off guard.


    Mystery cards are not combat cards, so these two cards have become Chen Mu''s most powerful weapons, even more powerful than power gloves! Thus, he spent a lot of effort to master these two cards in the past two years.


    The current situation proved that his efforts were not in vain.


    The incredible speed, strength, skill and inspiration of his opponent was shocking, almost impenetrable! The moment he revealed a weakness, the shining black, pencil-straight rose stem would immediately pierce through his body.


    This would have been a rather tricky situation in the past. But the him now could respond accordingly.


    Chen Mu''s expression became focused.


    He used his senses like a dexterous hand to gently touch the point in the meter where energy was concentrated.


    ''The Eternal Night: Foggy Gauze''!


    Centered on Chen Mu, the invisible fluctuations were like a dense mist, twisting and transforming.


    Wesley who had been following closely behind Chen Mu stopped, his grim and demonic face looking a little confused.


    His confusion was quick to fade, lasting less than a second before he regained his sobriety! His eyes recovered their ferocity, and he did not hesitate to continue rushing towards Chen Mu!


    If a card artisan was present, they would surely have detected the oddness around Chen Mu. Distorted and constantly changing invisible fluctuations formed an area around Chen Mu invisible to the naked eye.


    ''Foggy Gauze''!


    Self-Creating Skills.


    Chen Mu found that although the wave bands emitted by ''The Eternal Night'' can affect the human brain and cause hallucinations, they are not as lethal to those with great determination. In actual combat, he found it difficult to kill the very powerful beasts with ''The Eternal Night''.


    As for the top among the powerful masters, their spirit was rock-solid and hard to shake.


    So he simply used ''The Eternal Night'' as an auxiliary card. The wave bands released were not lethal, but sufficient to interfere with the enemy. He was not a card artisan who could only rely on cards. His airskills were equally lethal.


    That was how the name ''Foggy Gauze'' came about, as the wave bands were like gauze worn on his body.


    Countless beasts were defeated by this trick. To Chen Mu, any tiny flaw was the perfect opportunity for him to kill his opponent.


    Chen Mu turned back, prepared to kill him, and stopped dodging. Ten thin threads shot out of the power glove like ten poisonous snakes coming out of their holes, aimed at the opponent.


    Ding Ding Ding!


    A series of intense and sharp sounds of impact rang out like a storm, and countless sparks flew between them like raindrops! The flickering sparks illuminated their faces. The surrounding flexsters, whether from the Dark Tribe or Mose''s army, looked at them fearfully, and kept a safe distance.


    Since coming out of the Hundred Depths, this was the first time someone pushed him to this stage of unprecedented concentration. He used his State Zero to the fullest, complicated calculations flying through his mind quickly like snowflakes'' debris and energy lines whirring past around him.


    The frequency of Wesley''s attacks was unpredictable. The shining black rose stalk on his hand was like a part of his body, and could attack from any angle.


    That tiny flower stalk was like the fiercest, toughest weapon in the world, and was the perfect combination of strength and skill!


    A grin reappeared on Wesley''s lips.


    He could clearly sense that the other party had fallen into his fighting rhythm. He attacked more and more quickly, and the pleasure of mastering the rhythm made every cell of his body tremble until he felt like screaming!


    His opponent was going to die!


    At that moment, however, his pupils suddenly enlarged, and with a stricken expression, his movements slowed down without giving a sign.


    Bang!


    The clear sound of an explosion rang out. Chen Mu struck his chest, and instantly his chest opened, and flesh and blood splattered everywhere! The strength of this blow was so great that the white bones of his ribs could be seen.


    But as if nothing had happened, and without a trace of pain in his expression, Wesley rushed towards Chen Mu after a mere slight pause.


    Chen Mu was shocked. Such an injury was such that even the strong cardless sects would be immobile, yet it was nothing to Wesley. It was also odd that such a big wound ought to have blood spurting out of it, yet his wound was not.


    In the depths of the Hundred Depths, injuries were a common occurrence. Sometimes, winning came at the cost of injury. Thus Chen Mu was very familiar with all kinds of wounds. Somehow, the wound on Wesley''s chest began to knit itself back together!


    An indescribable chill crept up silently within him.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Not long after, Wesley left a gap, and three energy threads, like poisonous snakes which have been lying in wait, burrowed into it.


    Plop!


    Three energy lines pierced Wesley''s chest in an instant. Chen Mu''s heart settled. Nobody could survive such a wound. The combination of ''Foggy Gauze'' and power gloves was one of his most common tactics. In order to catch the other party off guard, the strength of ''Foggy Gauze'' was very low, which made the attack more covert.


    Wesley''s eyes widened, and he opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn''t make a sound.


    The people of the Dark Tribe stared at the immobile Wesley in disbelief, their minds blank. They had always thought the five lead commanders were invincible.


    Just when everyone was shocked, Wesley''s drooping black rose stalk suddenly straightened and shot forwards.


    There was no way to describe this attack!


    A bright black light lit up Chen Mu''s field of vision, so piercingly bright he closed his eyes subconsciously!


    His hair standing on end, Chen Mu shouted violently before he could think about it. He spread his ten fingers and slashed wildly.


    Clang!


    Ten energy lines shattered into hundreds of pieces which shot quickly towards Wesley.


    Ping!


    With a dull thud, as if hit head-on by a car, Wesley''s body rose up and flew backwards.


    Chen Mu watched with trepidation as Wesley fell to the ground, motionless. It was fortunate that he had not lost his vigilance just now, otherwise he would be the one on the ground now. Wesley was very eerie, even his last struggle before death was so powerful and shocking.


    The crimson roses on Wesley''s forehead faded away. The rose spots on his body also slowly faded away, and the wounds began to bleed wildly. In a moment, there was a big pool of blood underneath him.


    In terms of attacking power, the card artisans of the Heavenly Federation were stronger, but the attack of the flexsters of the House of a Hundred Depths were weirder and more changeable. All the strange abilities made even Chen Mu afraid. On the other hand, in terms of physical strength, the Mohadi Domain, which produced Wei-Ah that non-human, would win. Chen Mu was looking forward to it.


    The death of Wesley was the battle''s dividing line.


    Seeing Sol''s endless sequence of strange tactics, Chen Mu felt that close combat would not be a good choice, so he used ''The Fiend''s Eye''.


    A bright red eye appeared in the sky.


    A beam of red light shot down from the sky, shooting Sol with great precision!


    The white pulp beside Sol blocked the red light for only a second. It was unfortunate that Sol was much less athletic than Wesley, or this second would have been enough for him to escape.


    The death of the two lead commanders caused the morale of the people of the Dark Tribe to drop sharply. But the fact that they still have not given up in this situation amazed Chen Mu. While the flexsters under Mose were dying at a faster rate than the people of the Dark Tribe, victory was still getting further and further away from the people of the Dark Tribe.


    Under the awestruck gazes of the flexsters, Chen Mu floated high into the sky, searching for Zara.


    Zara''s arch nemesis was Shang Yuan Di, the leader whose expertise was assassination, but Chen Mu had absolute faith in her. Zara had been training intensely these past two years, and was no longer comparable to her previous self.


    Indeed it did not take long before Chen Mu found Zara. She looked worse for wear, but she was not hurt.


    Zara stood on a hill, looking down at the chaotic battlefield. Chen Mu flew to her side and landed.


    "Solved?"


    "Yes," Zara responded with a quiet hum. After a while, she suddenly said, "Once this is over, let''s go back to the Heavenly Federation."


    "Back to the Heavenly Federation?" Chen Mu was surprised. "Do you know the way?"


    Zara replied, "I know its general direction."


    "Well, okay!" Chen Mu responded. He suddenly missed them: Copper, Bagner, Xi Ping, Sue Lochiro...


    The Big Crack Base was heavily guarded, and everyone in the conference room looked sombre.


    The transit window leading to the Mohadi Domain had been conquered. According to the information they got from the prisoners, it was the king of the Mohadi Domain who had taken the transit window.


    This was clearly terrible news for them. It also meant that they had to fight against the forces of a domain!


    Fortunately, the base was very far away from the Mohadi Domain''s base, leaving them plenty of time to prepare. But once this buffer period had passed, both sides would no longer have any time to rest.


    "Get ready." Bagner was calm and cold. They would never give up the ash stratum, even if the other party was the king of the Mohadi Domain.


    "Tell them they only have three months!" His voice turned cold, "Three months, we must completely control the common residential district within three months!"


    No one objected!


    This was the only way for them to just barely hold their own against the king of a domain, and this was the only way they would not be faced with the situation of being surrounded on all sides by enemies.


    They have to conquer the common residential district in three months!

 600 Hedrat’s Death

    The ghost-faced flower shrouding Zara''s face hid her expression, but tears welled up in her eyes. The land before her was familiar to her. The West Mountain King Tribe had lived here for generations. This was her home.


    She gazed blankly at the land, turning a deaf ear to the killing sounds around her. Without saying a single word, she pursed her lips tightly as her eyes turned misty. Eventually, she could not hold back her tears. Chen Mu sighed, not knowing how to console her.


    Mose''s troops attacked them like a tidal wave. It was almost as if they were doped. Nearby, Mose was surrounded by guards and gloating over his victory. From now onward, the House of a Hundred Depths would be his. He even defeated the Dark Tribe, so who else could stop him?


    Nobody could believe that he stormed the territory of the Dark Tribe. Even to him, it felt surreal.


    The Dark Tribe was left with 500 flexsters while Mose''s troops expanded greatly in a short period of time due to his victory. Mose was devious. The unintegrated forces were sent to the frontline. The joined flexsters had never experienced the fearsome courage of the Dark Tribe, so they swiftly suffered great casualties. Just as they were about to fall apart, Mose would send elite flexsters to help them out. When the situation had stabilized, those elites would be asked to retreat while another group of newly joined flexsters would take over.


    After a couple of rounds, the newly joined flexsters suffered heavy losses. But, there also weren''t many Dark Tribe flexsters left.


    Mose did not even look at the dead bodies littering the ground. His face was unnaturally red due to him being overly excited. With a swing of his arm, he commanded at the top of his voice, "Kill!"


    Suddenly, a silhouette flew out from the back of the Dark Tribe. Mose''s elite flexsters responded immediately by launching an attack to block the silhouette.


    Arrows rained down, and light beams flashed past. The sound of arrows whistling through air was endless.


    The silhouette moved at the speed of lightning. Arrows bounced off the silhouette with great speed. He was not affected by them at all.


    Chen Mu''s pupils constricted as he realized that he was the silhouette''s target. So quick!


    In the blink of an eye, the silhouette had gotten in front of Chen Mu. Without time for hesitation, he moved his hands. Ten energy lines shot out from the Power Gloves.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Ping!


    With a loud piercing sound, blood roiled in Chen Mu''s chest. Since he was struck by lightning, he almost couldn''t recover his breath. Surprised, he immediately pulled back.


    Ten indestructible thin energy lines were shattered by a single blow.


    "Hedrat!" Chen Mu blurted out even though he did not get to see his appearance clearly.


    A sudden thought crossed his mind. This was the strength of the King of the World?


    The thin energy lines did not hinder Hedrat at all. He swayed but continued attacking Chen Mu like an unstoppable force.


    Ding!


    An explosive sound rang out that pierced into Chen Mu''s heart like a hammer. From the corner of his eyes, a vine flew past and crashed into Hedrat. It was Zara''s Painted Graphistemma. He knew who had blocked the attack for him without even having to think about it.


    Chen Mu was surprisingly calm. Without prompting, under unprecedented stimulation, State Zero achieved unprecedented apex. Everything around him seemed to slow down. Within his field of vision, countless thin lines were morphing at an astounding pace. The cold, mechanic but meticulous world was now showing tremendous change.


    Finally, he could capture Hedrat''s movements. Hedrat was no longer an indistinguishable silhouette. This was the first time Chen Mu looked clearly at the invincible powerhouse feared by the entire House of a Hundred Depths.


    He was small, short, and had a hunchback. He looked like he had suffered a lot of hardships. No one would have thought that that slight old man was the greatest flexster of Hundred Depths who had led the Dark Tribe in the massacre of the West Mountain King Tribe. Only his stone cold eyes and overwhelming murderous aura gave away his true identity.


    Hedrat''s scrawny hands held a black spear. His moves were not fancy. Compared to Wesley, his technique was plain and dull. However, his every move was speedy and powerful. His speed was beyond comparison.


    Chen Mu barely managed to capture his movements even though State Zero was used to its full capacity. With such terrifying speeds, every movement contained an apocalyptic force. With a strike, Chen Mu''s indestructible thin energy lines were crushed while Zara was severely injured.


    Chen Mu felt as if he was meeting another Wei-ah. The combat instincts gained from countless battles were very useful at that moment.


    He was calm. There was no fear. Hedrat''s speed meant Chen Mu had no time to be scared, so he immediately entered into battle mode. Everything around him was so clear that he could even capture the rebounding trail of the Painted Graphistemma. In addition, his eyes captured Zara''s pale face and the instant her muscles were struck by the recoil of the Painted Graphistemma. Zara was injured, severely injured.


    Activating State Zero frantically, Chen Mu made a precise judgment. A decision that normally would have made him go berserk surprisingly did not affect his emotions. He was still calm and indifferent like a robot. At that moment, nothing could affect his battle.


    Zara had struck with all her might. Hedrat paused for the first time. It was an incredibly brief pause. For Chen Mu, this pause, even less than 0.1 seconds, was enough.


    He started to organize a counterattack. "The Fiend''s Eye!"


    Out of the void, a monstrous red eye suddenly emerged eerily between him and Hedrat. The blood-red eye suddenly opened and shot out a red light beam as thick as a thumb. Apart from its creepy blood red color, there was nothing remarkable about it. However, this unremarkable red light beam caused Hedrat to pause for the second time.


    Hedrat turned his body eerily in a manner that went against the law of physics. In a split second, he appeared next to Chen Mu. He raised his black spear.


    In a blur, the lusterless spear suddenly appeared before Chen Mu. His eyes stung. He could barely open due to the blast pressure caused by the high speed travel of the spear.


    He was facing a crisis, but he did not panic. He was indifferent. It was as if the person who faced imminent death was not him.


    Just as Hedrat dodged, without anybody noticing, the red eye, which had been emitting a red light beam closed silently. The eye reopened when the tip of the spear was about to touch Chen Mu''s eyelashes. A mini golden eye emerged inside the pupil of the blood red eye.


    Suddenly, the mini golden eye emitted numerous hairlike light beams. Even more surprisingly, these light beams intertwined and formed a shield of golden threads that enveloped the other party.


    "The Fiend''s Eye: Wavering Golden Eye!"


    It was Chen Mu''s first time using this in an actual battle. Being the pinnacle among light beam cards, The Fiend''s Eye was extremely powerful. He did not have many opportunities to use it, so this masterstroke had never been used.


    Hedrat''s eyes widened. He swiftly withdrew his spear. His black spear was now shining brightly like a metal spear that had been burnt to a bright red. He stood there sternly, looking like the God of Heaven had descended to the mortal world.


    Chen Mu had sensed Hedrat''s rising aura. He instantly knew Hedrat wanted to defeat him with this move. He lost control over his emotions, which could no longer be repressed.


    The most primitive and naked battle auras of the two powerhouses collided. Something exploded within Chen Mu''s barren and icy cold eyes. His repressed battle aura erupted like a volcano. Even the sky was burning.


    The blood-red eye expanded rapidly, standing in front of Chen Mu like a massive shield. The golden eye in its pupil only reflected Hedrat.


    The bright red spear collided brutally against the interwoven golden light beam. The frontal collision between the two greatest powerhouses was out of everyone''s expectations.


    Heaven and earth was an endless white. Time seemed to have suddenly stopped.


    Nobody knew what had happened. Combatting flexsters were completely bewildered. They ceased fire since they could not see a thing except whiteness. They stood there stupidly like their spirits were removed. Some of them still maintained their battle posture. The whole thing looked bizarre.


    After some time, they came back to their senses. A loud booming sound reverberated. The impact swept across the war zone like a tornado. It was as if they had been dropped into the middle of a hurricane and spun and pulled by the wild air currents. This collision completely disrupted the war zone.


    Chen Mu''s clothes were torn, leaving only the meter on his wrist unharmed. Despite the blood at the corner of his mouth, he disregarded the pain covering his body and gazed into the distance with a complicated expression.


    Mose was penetrated by a broken spear. His eyes were wide open like he was unwilling to believe everything that happened. Next to him, Hedrat was lying in a pool of blood. Fresh blood was slowly seeping into the ground. The guards surrounding them were stupefied.


    Looking at the chaotic battlefield, Chen Mu sighed. Terrifying Hedrat! He had sacrificed his life to save the Dark Tribe.


    Mose''s troops were at a great advantage. Merely killing Mose would not change the destiny of the Dark Tribe. That was why he was included as part of Hedrat''s plan. The collision between their forces created a terrifying power. Hedrat seized the momentum to increase his speed to an unimaginable level. With such shocking speed, he could break through Mose''s defensive circle.


    Chen Mu''s masterstroke had destroyed Hedrat''s spirit. He was holding onto his last breath.


    Mose''s death and the destruction of the entire battlefield from the impact meant that while the Dark Tribe could not turn the tables, they could escape. This would ensure the survival of their tribe.


    Clearly, Hedrat had not recovered from his previous injury. While there was such a rumor before, now Chen Mu was certain. If he had recovered from his injury, Hedrat probably would have been able to turn the tables. He only chose this strategy of sacrificing himself because he was injured.


    If Hedrat was so powerful even when injured, how powerful would he be at his best? Aside from shock, Chen Mu held the highest respect for the scrawny old man.

 601 The Gif

    "Are you staying?"


    "Mmm..." Zara muttered. She didn''t dare lift her head. After hesitating for a moment, she softly replied, "The Xishan clan is large, although it suffered a serious defeat, there must be some people who survived. I am the last royalty of my clan, I..."


    She looked up without avoiding Chen Mu''s direct eye contact.


    "There is no one strong in the clan. If you stay here, you will only be bullied."


    She explained, "I am royalty."


    Chen Mu noticed her stubbornness through her pale face; which was the result of the injuries underneath her mask. Even so, her face was full of pride and determination.


    Chen Mu didn''t know what to say; it was as if the emotions bottled up in his heart had overflowed, tangling all his feelings. He didn''t know what to say, and could only look at her in silence. Over the past two years, they had relied on each other, as they fought through the crisis-ridden abyss of the Hundred Depths. They rested together, fought together, and were never separated.


    Although he had never seen her face, he trusted her implicitly. In the battle with Hedrat, she fought hard even though she was seriously injured, just to open a path for him to strike back. Chen Mu looked to be in a daze as his thoughts wandered far away.


    The encounter with her had changed his fate. He had to endure unbearable pain because of her, and he saw her as an enemy in the past. However, fate works in mysterious ways, and eventually, she had become one of the people he trusted most.


    Her decision was right, Chen Mu told himself in his heart. Similar to her decision, he would eventually go back to the Heavenly Federation no matter how dangerous it may be. But why did he feel sad? Chen Mu heard that his voice was very stable, no different from usual.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "Well, I will give you a parting gift."


    The top executives of the army under Mose have all gathered. They looked in fear at the man wearing the ghost-faced flower in front of them. The death of Mose had changed the entire situation on the battlefield. No one pursued the people of the Black Abyss anymore. They just stood there in silence, their minds blank.


    This army that recently expanded had long been corrupted, but there was no problem when Mose was around. However, who would have thought that, at such a critical time, Mose had died! Those who were insightful would understand the kind of consequence the army would be facing next. However, before they could respond, all the top executives were gathered together by this man. No one dared to defy his orders.


    Before this, the mysterious man was nothing but a powerful person! However, they viewed Chen Mu differently after they witnessed him killing Hedrat. The explosion from that battle shook heaven and earth. This man was the most influential person in the House of a Hundred Depths!


    Chen Mu''s timing was perfect. These officers that had just taken the blow didn''t even have time to group up. Compared to Zara, he had the upper hand in this area. He had experience in managing a force.


    In a blink of an eye, he captured the headless army. He personally took over, disrupted the formation of the military, and reorganized it. At first, he was going to kill a few leaders, but to his surprise, no one dared to act up as his terrorizing power deterred them.


    In a very short time, the entire army changed, inside and out. Zara might not have enough power to command such a tremendous force, but her distinguished status as the direct descendant of the Xishan royalty could still gain a lot of respect from the vast majority of people. Moreover, the direct descendants of Mose have long been split apart by Chen Mu.


    News of the Black Abyss''s defeat spread; the death of Hedrat and the five chiefs; the death of Mose; the re-emergence of the Xishan royalty have soon spread throughout the entire House of a Hundred Depths.


    No one dared to act recklessly. The Xishan royalty used to dominate the House of a Hundred Depths. Although the Black Abyss defeated it, the former would still be stronger than an amateur. According to what they knew, Hedrat was not beaten by a group but was instead killed by one man. No one could possibly do such a thing when such a powerful man was in control, not to mention the situation was still unclear. This also gave Zara a chance.


    Zara''s eyes were a little tired, but even the fatigue could not hide the high spirit of its owner. To Chen Mu''s surprise, Zara continued to wear the ghost-faced flower on her face. However, the remaining Xishan royalties, who have gathered from all sides, cried at the sight of her. They did not doubt her identity. Chen Mu saw with his own eyes how Zara''s busy schedule kept her from having even one moment to sit down to take a break.


    "I''m leaving." Chen Mu whispered. A few days ago, he was still a little concerned about whether Zara could control such a massive force, but he was finally rest assured now. Compared to him, Zara was a real royalty. She was educated from a young age, and now that the number of her natives was increasing, there was no worry about the lack of people.


    Zara''s body trembled slightly. The ghost-faced flower-covered her face, making her expressions unreadable, her clear pupils couldn''t help but reveal a deep sorrow.


    "That place is dangerous, and I only know the approximate location," Zara bit her lip and said.


    "The approximate location is enough. I can find it in a short time," Chen Mu said confidently. As if he noticed that the atmosphere was a little somber, he smiled slightly. "You need to manage it well. I''m excited to address you as the queen when I come to the House of a Hundred Depths next time."


    Zara did not speak but just stared at Chen Mu. The stubbornness in her eyes had vanished, and there was only gentleness and sadness. Seeing that she did not reply, Chen Mu didn''t know what to say. They just stared at each other silently.


    After a long time, Zara suddenly asked, "Will you really challenge Tan Hanpei after you go back to the Heavenly Federation?


    Inexplicably, Chen Mu was suddenly filled with a heroic spirit, as he stretched and said, "What''s meant to come will come."


    The battle with Hedrat just lasted for a short moment, which finished after only a few rounds. Hedrat even fought with injuries. There were many regrets, but this battle had a significant impact on Chen Mu. There were great benefits, especially for his state of mind. When Chen Mu came out from the abyss of the Hundred Depths, he was like an unsheathed sword, cold and chilly. He was also like a bloodthirsty behemoth with intense killing intent. However, this faded away after the battle with Hedrat, and he became more peaceful and harmonious.


    It was only now that he understood the reason Caesar admitted that he wasn''t as good as Tang Hanpei. He also finally had the confidence to fight Tang Hanpei.


    Looking at the man in front of her, Zara felt complicated. After spending days and nights together for more than two years, she used to think that she knew him very well, but now, she suddenly felt that he was so distant. There was a time when she was determined to follow Chen Mu for life if he helped her get revenge, but...


    She felt as if a knife was being twisted in her heart. Only then did she realize that she had underestimated the long-anticipated pain. She lifted her head. Her face was as pale as a sheet under the ghost-faced flower. Two patches of peachy red appeared on her pale face suddenly, and her eyes revealed a little shyness as she approached daringly to the side of Chen Mu''s ears.


    "Come to my room tonight."


    There was not much difference between the nights and days in the House of a Hundred Depths, but the temperature would drop sharply. It could be very dangerous at night in the wild¡ªif one was not careful, one could become a popsicle by dawn.


    * * *


    Night descended.


    The exaggerated grayish face had a few drops of blood from the erythema on his cheeks. In the night, he looked like an ugly demonic clown. He was motionless like a statue, staring at the house in the distance.


    His body started to move after God knows how long, but his face remained unreadable. He turned around without hesitation, in spite of the loneliness written all over his eyes. He ran forward and didn''t turn back. Behind him, behind the window of the house, the barefaced Zara covered her mouth. Tears instantly blurred her vision, and she could no longer see the familiar figure.


    Why didn''t he come?


    She seemed to have understood, but why did her heart ache so badly for a moment?


    Chen Mu ran, and he didn''t use the jet stream card. He just sprinted with his legs. He ran faster by the second, a ball of fire burning in his chest, so smoldering that he wanted to scream out loud. However, he didn''t make any sound, and instead tightly pursed his lips. The only way to vent was to use that energy to sprint. The wind was whistling in his ears, and the scenery on both sides of him was rapidly moving backward.


    Bogner sat at the table as he looked at the reports sent. The expansion of Eastern Wei in the Heavenly Federation ran into some minor troubles. The three-month period was getting closer, leaving them with little time. Although many had urged him to return to the Heavenly Federation to preside over the situation, he continued to guard the Big Crack Base. This decision was not strategically the best, but he persisted. He could feel that the other party was approaching.


    Every day, he would send a large number of scouting card artisans to determine the other party''s location. It was confirmed that the other person''s military strength had far exceeded the military force of the Big Crack Base. However, they would not give up on the transit windows in any case. Giving up on the transit windows would signify the surrender of the initiative to the other party. The only thing that he could do now was to hold his position until the Eastern Wei sends support to clean up the common residential district. As one of the best commanders in the Heavenly Federation, how could Bogner await his doom?


    While the vast ash stratum greatly enhanced their defensive strength, it also gave them more time for activities. Bogner strengthened the defense of the base, and he also sent a large number of teams to harass the Mohadi Domain coalition army at the same time.


    This would stall for more time, as the other party wouldn''t be able to figure out the exact location of their base in such a short time. It would be perfect if the other party was led around in circles by their small teams. However, the opposition''s commander was not an ordinary person. He saw right through their tricks and sent a large number of scouts to cast a huge net, hoping to find the enemy''s main force.


    The vast ash stratum was like a giant millstone. The small teams from both sides began to garotte brutally. So far, Bogner''s side had the upper hand.


    This was thanks to the convenient communication and precise positioning. Once the small team found the enemy, they would quietly gather the other around it, and set up an ambush somewhere nearby. Then, this team of card artisans would then lure the other party into the trap, executing the plan. But the opposition''s strength was too strong. The casualties were like nothing to them; instead, they dispatched even more teams.


    After significant losses, the opposition became a lot more cautious, and they were no longer easily fooled. They began to play it steadily, one step at a time. There were bases established in each constant interval of distance. Although the opposition slowed down, it still gave Bogner a headache.

 602 Encountering the Enemy at the Ash Stratum

    Mohadi Domain.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Benji was casually watering the flowers in the backyard. His murderous aura had faded, and he was just like any other ordinary person.


    "My Lord." A voice came from the shadows in the corner, "There is news from the ash stratum. The army is suffering from the attack by an unknown card artisan, and there are a lot of casualties. The House of Suiwei and the House of Xiu had the most losses.


    "Oh." Benji put down the kettle in his hand and took his time to ask, "Card artisan? Then, the Heavenly Federation is a step ahead. That''s interesting. How about the king? Is there anything strange lately?"


    "The king doesn''t seem to be in a hurry, but very laid-back. He even has the time to instruct the chef in making a dish called Qin Xiang noodles. The king seemed to be very interested in the matter of the Heavenly Federation. He would personally examine the materials seized from the enemy."


    "Qin Xiang noodles?" Benji''s eyes twitched and quickly replied in a flat tone, "Very well, you are excused."


    Benji''s face was unreadable as he stood in the yard. A gust of wind blew by him, sending a chill down his back. Unconsciously, his back had become thoroughly drenched. He had always doubted what Wei-ah had said to him. So when he came back, he stayed behind closed doors and was secretly investigating the matter. There was little progress, but today, he was finally certain that Wei-ah was telling the truth.


    The king had been impersonated.


    Perhaps others may not know about the Qin Xiang noodles, but Benji had tried it at the Heavenly Federation, and it left a deep impression on him. The king had never been to the Heavenly Federation, and the messenger of the Desert Camp was under his reception. The king couldn''t know about the Qin Xiang noodles, let alone its recipe. After zoning out for a while, he raised his head and started to walk out as if he had made up his mind.


    Under the gray sky, Chen Mu walked along the cracks carefully. He had a huge parcel on his back, which made him look like a snail, but he was much faster than a snail. The surrounding scenery had the unique features of the ash stratum, and it was a dead silence without vitality. There were only gray skies, arid air, and the crisscrossing cracks!


    This was the ash stratum!


    He was so excited when he first entered the ash stratum. Every once in a while, he would use thousand-kilometer to try to contact the Big Crack Base. However, there was no reply so far. Without much thinking, he knew that he was still a great distance away from the Big Crack Base. He just hoped that the direction he was heading to was not wrong, as there was no way to distinguish directions in the ash stratum since it was vast and boundless. The numerous cracks were like an underground maze. The forks were abundant, and there were large and small cracks crisscrossing to form cobwebs shapes.


    All he carried on his back was the dry food he bought at the House of a Hundred Depths. It was a type of plant tubers containing very high calories. It was storable and was small in size. Aside from the slightly bad taste, it had all the qualities of good dry food. He didn''t know how long it would take to locate Bogner, so he carried enough rations to last him for three months.


    As for water, he need not worry about it, as a condensate card could easily fix his problems. In spite of the arid air in the ash stratum and the card''s low efficiency, it was viable, because his need for water was not high either.


    He stopped in his tracks and activated the thousand-kilometer card, but there was still no response which left him feeling slightly disappointed.


    Could it be that he went in the wrong direction?


    This was a genuine possibility, and could be potentially fatal!


    A gust of wind blew across. His ears responded; his face suddenly looked surprised.


    There was someone! He heard voices! Unable to oppress his ecstasy, he ran without hesitation in the direction where the sound had come from.


    At the thought of meeting Bogner right there, his mood could no longer remain calm. His heart started beating faster, and excitement surged through every cell in his body. The noises became closer and closer, and the anticipation in his heart grew even stronger.


    It was right in front!


    The incoming sound was now crystal clear, right at the junction of the crack in front. He couldn''t help but speed up, like a bolt of lightning, heading towards the junction.


    "I''m here..." He was about to shout, but his pupil contracted all of a sudden, the words stuck in his throat.


    There were five of them, walking along the cracks with vigilance. When they spotted Chen Mu, all of their expressions changed. They cried and sprang towards Chen Mu at the same time!


    The cardless sects!


    As the five moved, Chen Mu took a glance at them. His face sank. Besides Wei-ah and Little Bu Mo, there wouldn''t be any pure cardless sects in the Big Crack Base. Not to mention he couldn''t understand a word they said when they talked, obviously it wasn''t a language widely spoken in the Heavenly Federation.


    Unless...


    He immediately had a bad feeling, and the intent to kill arose in his heart. He was extremely familiar with the skills of the cardless sects as the one who taught him was one of the best¡ªWei-ah. Even until now, Chen Mu believed that Wei-ah was the strongest of the cardless sect in the world; there was no other like him. Together with the skills from years of continuous killing and training in the abyss of the Hundred Depths, he was very different from the other cardless sects.


    He gave all the weapons he had acquired from the abyss of Hundred Depths to Zara and didn''t keep anything for himself. He rarely took any action either; his figure was still ghostly like smoke.


    The faces of the five people opposite him were horrified. Chen Mu wore the demonic ghost-faced flower on his face, coupled with devilish movements and his murderous aura; he was like a deadly blade.


    One of the five people retreated without hesitation, while the other four pounced on Chen Mu! They were fierce with a tenacious will, and even Chen Mu couldn''t help but showed a little admiration.


    The five people had already judged that they were no match for Chen Mu and quickly made a decision. The man that ran off should be going back to notify his leader, while the other four men were responsible for intercepting him, creating an opportunity for that one companion. The expressions of these four people were surprisingly unified - desperation!


    Elite, these were absolutely elites! The counter-response was clean, and they had a will that did not fear death. Only elite teams could have such an execution.


    He admired them in his heart, but his murderous aura grew stronger. Being in the same ash stratum, Chen Mu could naturally sniff out danger from the group of men that appeared. Although he didn''t know how Bognor was doing, the presence of these people would undoubtedly pose a threat to them. He did not choose The Eternal Night due to his intent to kill. Foggy Gauze opened silently.


    The training of cardless sects was arduous, and their wills were incredibly strong. However, how could the Foggy Gauze that could even defeat Wesley lose to the few cardless sects who were a few levels lower?


    With Chen Mu at the center, it was as if a small stone was thrown into the calm water; ripples that were invisible to the naked eye spread outwards.


    The four people who pounced on him instantly slowed down, and their ferocious expressions changed into one of confusion. The pale light gently sped through the four men.


    Choke!


    The bodies of the four men went out of control. They were like four sandbags gliding seven to eight feet in the air before slowly falling to the ground; Their breathing stopped. Their heads were elongated, and their necks were strangely twisted with the middle part caved in. The weirdest thing was the expressions on their faces. They were all dazed as if they had died without feeling any pain.


    Chen Mu looked cold. Without stopping, his figure drifted to the back of the enemy who had turned back to notify his leader. He wanted to see who it was.


    His expression gradually turned grimmer. He regularly encountered new teams along the way. In four hours, he encountered as many as two hundred enemies! All these enemies that he had met all ran in the direction of where the five people appeared. It was evident that their goal was to reinforce the others. These support forces were all cut off midway by Chen Mu.


    He didn''t hold back his power at all; the tactics he used were all fatal! No one could withstand his methods! If the Foggy Gauze existed in physical form, it would already have been soaked in blood. If he were to kill these enemies by relying on pure cardless skills, he would have needed much more strength. However, he had unleashed the full potential of the invisible and gentle Foggy Gauze. His look was getting colder, and his intent to kill became stronger.


    The strength of these cardless sects was nothing to him, but they were not any weaker than his subordinates when he had left the Big Crack Base. He started to worry about Bogner. In such a small area, he had met two hundred people in four hours. The number of enemies he estimated to was frightening! However, he did not panic. In the consecutive years of killing in the Hundred Depths, his mind toughened to an unimaginable extent.


    The teams who Chen Mu encountered halfway were soon startled by his ferocious tactics. He was like a killing machine that was tireless and had incomparable precision¡ªharvesting lives indifferently. He gradually advanced, the bodies left behind by him laid around in strange positions.


    Some people ran off to report back to their leader. At first, only those who were responsible for sending back the information left the battlefield. However, these enemies soon realized that as long as they turned and fled, Chen Mu would not kill them. This discovery immediately sent the other party''s morale plummeting. The number of people who turned around and fled for their lives soared. The team that ran was increasing in size, and the scenario of hundreds of people fleeing was extremely vivid.


    Thus, a bizarre scene formed among the cracks. A large group of people ran for their lives up ahead and was followed by a few individuals behind. It looked like a lion casually chasing after a flock of sheep. There was a team of about 200 people ahead, and it was bigger than any other group. The leader was tall and burly, with a bald head and fierce eyebrows. He stood there like a giant tower.


    "All of you stand still! What are you panicking for?"


    The bald man frowned, his face was ferocious as he screamed at them. His voice was thunderous and exploded in their ears. The crowd was shaken, stopping in their tracks consciously. These exhausted cardless sects were all happy when they saw who it was, as they all rushed to give their reports noisily.


    After listening to a couple of sentences, the bald man immediately understood what was going on. He snorted fiercely, "One man actually scared you bunch of useless creatures to this extent. Go back and wait for your punishment." With that, he went straight pass the team and stood there to wait for the enemy. The subordinated saw this and hurriedly followed him. Those of cardless sects who fled didn''t dare to escape anymore, but they were terrified of Chen Mu after the massacre. They huddled fearfully behind the bald man.


    Chen Mu soon discovered the gigantic bald man that was awaiting him.

 603 Powerful Andrew

    The bald man was squinting.


    This enemy had the face of a demon and the movements of a ghost. He was scared because he knew by heart, the strength of these people who perished¡ªthey were clan warriors. Normally, if they were defeated, he wouldn''t have been shocked. However, these remarkable warriors were butchered mercilessly by the enemy.


    He hadn''t seen anything like this before. The enemy stood there alone. But somehow, this was enough to send chills down Baldie''s spine. However frightening the enemy was, the bald man still managed to look calm. He was strong, too; the confidence gained from countless battles wouldn''t be taken away so easily. The two of them were confronting each other, surrounded by a deadly silence.


    "Andrew!" He said his name out loud while extending his right arm in front of his chest, bowing a little.


    Chen Mu stared coldly at the bulky bald man. This opponent was giving out a murderous aura that could only be emitted by someone who had been through a considerable amount of battles. Other than that, Chen Mu''s experience battling against the cardless sects, especially his fight with Wei-ah, allowed him to make a definite conclusion¡ªthe baldy was an elite!


    Moreover, he could be sure that this bald man was a famous elite in Mohadi Domain because the confident looks on the surrounding soldiers proved his intuition right. However, Chen Mu didn''t have the habit of giving his name before battling opponents. To him, a battle was about survival, not about winning or losing, and it was definitely not about glory.


    Chen Mu''s speculation was accurate. Andrew wasn''t just an elite; he was also the strongest and the most loyal warrior under the King of the Mohadi Domain. His mission was to be the King''s bodyguard, but he was taking a day off. Coincidentally, Andrew heard about the appearance of another elite, so he decided to see it for himself. Today he was here to test his skills.


    Chen Mu had kept his silence, so Andrew decided not to waste any more time and proudly shouted, "Bring it on!" Before he finished his sentence, he had disappeared from where he was standing. At the same time, Chen Mu vanished as well. The two shadows reappeared suddenly, clashing together fist against fist.


    Boom!


    The tremendous strength emitted pressed the air until it finally exploded, with the two of them at the center. The shockwave spread outwards crazily. The pain elicited from Chen Mu''s arm made him frown. What immense strength!


    Chen Mu was tyrannical. After practicing body strengthening gymnastics using the mystery card, training under Wei-ah''s ways, and quenching the power of the Green Mark¡ªthe strength of his body had improved by leaps and bounds. Even the mischievous little Bu Mo wouldn''t stand a chance against him, the only exception being Wei-ah. However, today, he met another anomaly.


    Both of them were quick, and they exchanged a dozen blows in a blink of an eye. The terrifying force of his opponent made him experience pain every encounter of the fight.


    So enjoyable! Andrew was thrilled, the muscles of his body started to pop while his eyes turned fiery, and the veins on his forehead rose like earthworms. It was the first time he had fought with someone who shared the same level of expertise as him, and it made him more excited with each punch.


    "Ahhh!" The lively feeling made Andrew roar like a beast. His physical strength was increasing continuously!


    Chen Mu was starting to feel numb on his arms and what''s strange was Foggy Gauze did not affect Andrew at all. So far, the undefeatable Foggy Gauze had never failed him, but right now, it didn''t put this man in a trance for even a second. A sliver of fear appeared. Is it possible that baldy has achieved conciseness of mind?


    He changed his tactics on the spot without a second thought. He switched to the combination of State Zero with cardless sects. State Zero is the exclusive technique introduced by Caesar, this newly born technique of Materials Refinement Code had its exquisiteness lay in sensory skills, whereby the level of material sensing was unprecedented. Though Caesar designed it, Chen Mu had his own insights for the technique.


    Caesar''s State Zero focused on instinct and intuition. An elite was someone who could turn a dangerous situation advantageous by focusing on sharp intuition, and making the right counterattack using the shortest amount of time¡ªthis was the fundamental idea of State Zero.


    Chen Mu''s understanding of State Zero was utterly different. Before entering Hundred Depths, though Chen Mu participated in countless battles, Chen Mu''s level of instinct and intuition weren''t comparable even to a speck of the mad warrior''s, Caesar''s, results. This made State Zeros less terrifying after it had now fallen into his hands. However, there was something he was talented at¡ªhis calculation!


    His outstanding calculating skills were never seen before in card artisans, and he owes this to his other identity of being a card master. When he realized he couldn''t bring out the power of State Zero, he started searching for a method that was suitable for him. That was when Chen Mu''s State Zero begun to take shape.


    Amid the intense fight, Chen Mu closed his eyes suddenly. With clamoring world fading away, uncountable tiny white threads were coming together, forming the finest world that could ever be seen. Chen Mu could see the slightest fluctuation in the current, distance, angle, etc. Every change turned itself into a meticulously and dynamically structured world; this was Chen Mu''s State Zero.


    The attacks weren''t fast, the routes were apparent, and the strength even weakened a little. However, Andrew felt stress he had never felt before. His opponent closed his eyes, but he felt extremely threatened. If the battle before this moment made him excited and lively, the situation right now made him feel as if he had a bucket of ice water poured over him. It felt as though he was being preyed on by a venomous snake. He could smell death.


    No one would ever be happy when facing death, not even him. He felt uneasy with every attack. Although his opponent did not have the same level of strength as him, their difference wasn''t vast because his opponent was able to attack him at the most vulnerable parts of his body. It seemed like his opponent knew him very well and expected his every counterattack, fighting calmly, plotting calmly.


    Right, it was the tactics¡ªnot an intense fight but more like a chess game.


    This was ridiculous, but the feeling was so strong! The attacks weren''t fierce, but they were coming relentlessly, like casting a net in the ocean where he was a fish. The more he fought, the tighter it got. Andrew had experienced a lot of battles, and he knew, if he didn''t make a change now, he would become the fish. He roared. The muscles on his body puffed up while the speed of his hands slowed down. The palms were like a heavy ax, ready to fight back.


    Zap!


    He swiped the air with his hands, and to everyone''s surprise, the result sounded like thunder!


    Chen Mu''s expression changed! Airskill! It was Airskill! He knew this from State Zero because the baldy''s arms were spinning at an astonishing rhythm. For every spin of his arms, these vibrating muscles combined with its own flow.


    It was different from the sharp Air Slash of Wei-ah. Andrew''s Air Slash was like an ax, with the front being the blade and the back made up of tiny air current. The slash looked like an electrical snake dancing. The sound of the slash came from the tearing of the air.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    It was the first time Chen Mu had seen an Air Slash as stunning as this! Even though he only used one hand, its momentum was comparable with Pointed Cloud Burst!


    Wei-ah''s Airskills were never the same. It could be Air Awl, Air Slash, or even Air Pellet. Every joint of his could perform Airskill from any angle, catching his opponents off guard.


    However, the opponent in front of Chen Mu had a different style. His Airskill was limited to his two big hands, but the threat elicited seemed like something that couldn''t be defended against.


    Chen Mu didn''t dare to resist, because the heavy ax was indeed "heavy"! Inside the Air Axe were countless tiny and disorderly currents. They were like a time bomb, any collision among them, even the smallest one, would cause Air Axe to explode immediately. He could only dodge, but Andrew didn''t care. He raised both of his arms and swiped down as if throwing the axes! It was difficult to imagine someone so large could exercise such graceful Airskill. Chen Mu was in awe.


    Air Axe looked like a coarse technique, but in fact, its inner structure was carefully crafted. Hundreds of air currents were wrapped inside, combined with precise balance. To achieve this was extremely difficult. Besides, the blade of the Air Axe was very concisely-structured, and would even make people associate its quality with crystals.


    Chen Mu retreated! His demonic face was concealed behind the shadows of ghostly attacks.


    Bald Andrew snorted and then powered his legs to launch himself. His body was like a fired bullet, as cracks formed beneath his legs like a spider web. While he was midair, his arms were spinning, and a pair of Air Axes formed with a sizzling sound. The axes were chasing after their opponents like bloodthirsty sharks in the ocean. His was quick, the terrifying amount of power from his legs propelled him like a spring.


    However, Chen Mu owned the jet stream card, Big Mud Fish, which was famous for its capability in rapidly changing directions. With the help of both his legs, he was able to move like a ghost and maneuver unpredictably.


    If one would describe the two parties, then Andrew was as powerful as an arrow at its full speed, while Chen Mu was as unpredictable as ever-changing smoke.


    Andrew quickly realized that if the situation were to go on like this, he would never be able to get to Chen Mu. That was why he decided to stop, limiting Chen Mu''s moves by halting his actions. From what he observed, he couldn''t do anything to turn the tables, but the same was true for Chen Mu. Their distance widened immediately.


    Chen Mu noticed the bald man had kept his arms in front of his chest, with the muscles on them vibrating slowly, waiting to be commanded. If he were to get any nearer, he would be greeted with his Air Axes.


    Staring at Andrew, who was as calm as the sea after the storm, from a distance, Chen Mu felt impressed. He was the best of the cardless sect he had seen after Wei-ah and Hedrat. This was a cardless sect user who was able to bring out the full potential of the technique. Anyone who dared to enter his battlefield would be treated with the pure and perfect crushing blow. However, Chen Mu was a card artisan!


    Chen Mu looked at his opponent from afar with a devilish grin. With his right hand, Chen Mu inserted a card into his meter!

 604 King

    Card artisans had the upper hand against those from cardless sects. Levitation and long-range attacks were, needless to say, the most obvious of all. Especially when the two were combined, the advantage would be even greater. This aspect was apparent in this battle. By pulling away, Chen Mu could even calmly exchange cards, which was unthinkable in battles among card artisans. This also meant that he upheld his position of initiator throughout the battle.


    The Fiend''s Eye. The only seven-star card that Chen Mu had at hand. It was also the strongest among laser type cards.


    The Fiend''s Eye: Wavering Golden Eye!


    The small golden eye that was lurking inside the blood-red eye stirred. The icy cold gaze glowed in a golden hue, eyeing Baldie Andrew apathetically.


    Andrew''s hair stood on its end without warning. A chill came running from the depth of his heart and flooded down his spine like a sudden tsunami. He had never felt such mortifying danger coming from his opponents in all of his previous battles. He gave a deep growl and tensed up with his legs, slightly bent his knees and firmly stood his ground.


    Countless golden strings flared out like rain drizzling from the golden eye and headed toward Andrew.


    "Ha!" Andrew exhaled.


    His eyes went wide and round like a coin. In a blink of an eye, his bald head was covered with tiny speckles of sweat. He seemed to be having a tough time as he raised his hands together, gradually moving them above his head. To the spectators, his movements were slow, but he managed to hold his hands together high above his head before the rain of golden strings could reach him.


    "Ha!"


    The air circling Andrew surged and diverged like that of an incoming disaster. That pair of folded hands hacked down like a giant ax!


    Rumble! It sounded as if a large boulder had struck the ground.


    The spectators went pale, they could barely stand, and the ground was shaking. An air ax the size of Baldie appeared. The end of the lucent ax was vague like mist. The ax resembled a furious titan, fearlessly charging at the golden strings. In the thundering rumble, explosions crackled continuously. It was as if a 10 million-volt thunderbolt had penetrated the water. It sounded like countless dried logs that abruptly cracked into shredded wood collectively. The golden strings and giant ax directly collided.


    Ding!


    Unexpectedly, there was no roaring eruption but only a tiny clink of a shattered wine glass. The twisted face of Baldie was flushed red as if he was drunk.


    The crisp cracking sound rang in everyone''s ears. The shocking impact broke away without warning, replaced by the dead silence of the night.


    0.5 seconds!The tranquillity only continued for 0.5 seconds.


    Boom!


    The vicious energy produced was like a ferocious beast trapped in a cage. It was restlessly tearing the cage apart with its claws and struggling to break free from its prison with a roaring crash. The shockwave of the explosion was like a hurricane, sweeping across the big rift.


    Rumble!


    The edge of the rift began to crumble into pieces, dirt and dust shrouded the rift. Another perpendicular golden light shot through the curtain of smoke!


    In the dust, Baldie, whose face was bright red, growled again. The giant, howling, Air Axe was like a hot knife cutting through butter, effortlessly slicing through the curtain of dust and dirt.


    Boom!


    There was another loud bang! The energy had gone through collision, suppression, collapse, and explosion. Then it madly dispersed to the surrounding.


    Baldie groaned. His body swayed, and he withdrew a step back. The redness on his face had rapidly turned white.


    Yet another perpendicular golden light appeared, glowing brighter and denser than before! Baldie Andrew''s eyes bulged from his sockets.


    He roared and held out both hands again!


    Boom! In the monstrous explosion, Andrew could no longer maintain his stance.


    Thump, thump, thump...


    He retreated a dozen steps before he managed to stabilize himself.


    His face was now as pale as sheets. Blood was ticking down the corner of his lips, and both of his arms were dyed in crimson. He could not stop himself from shivering. His eyes widened as he gazed unblinkingly at Chen Mu who was standing at the far side of the sky.


    A ray of golden light suddenly flickered. At that moment, the world stood still. A vertical golden ray of light shot through Andrew''s forehead, burying itself deep in the ground behind him.


    Everyone stopped moving. They stared at Andrew blankly, witnessing the golden ray of light that blew a hole through Andrew and pinned him to the ground.


    The roaring rumble seemed to have faded in the background. All the sounds in their surroundings had seemingly vanished. They were wide-eyed.


    They could not believe it.


    Their minds had gone blank!


    Under the grey sky, that bewitching face and the striking golden eye were engraved in everyone''s mind. It would be an eternal nightmare that would haunt them for the rest of their lives.


    "Argh!" Out of nowhere, someone screamed hysterically, breaking the silence. The fear that was buried in the depths of their hearts was no longer containable. Terror broke loose like water charging out from a dam, immediately drowning the last of their reason and courage.


    Deep inside their hearts, they only had one thought. Stay away from that monster!


    Yes! A monster!


    A monster killed Andrew! Oh god! Andrew was killed!


    Everyone had the same reaction. They turned and scrambled forwards. These people did not realize that they were screaming; most of their minds were still blank. As Chen Mu watched the enemy retreat, he heaved a sigh of relief. His gaze fell on the bold stout man.


    There was a thumb-sized hole in the forehead of Baldie. His eyes were wide, seemingly staring at the sky, but there was no sign of life in his eyes.


    Chen Mu respected this cardless sect from the bottom of his heart. From his perspective, Baldie had not lost. The one who had lost was merely the cardless sects. His ability to skillfully manipulate his powers had left Chen Mu in awe.


    Chen Mu could not help but wonder, Wei-ah may not be on par with Baldie in this aspect. However, at their level, merely being powerful would not be enough, especially when the opponent was the initiator of the battle; unless they were like Wei-ah, who was crazily powerful in every aspect.


    Even if they were as powerful as Wei-ah, in a fight against Tang Hanpei, the one who would be in control over the battle would still be Tang Hanpei. Of course, that''s assuming Tang Hanpei attacks first. Giving it a bit more thought, even if Tang Hanpei was the aggressor, the most likely outcome would be that he could not do anything against Wei-ah. However, Wei-ah was a special case. Baldie was not Wei-ah, so he could not ignore the disadvantages that all cardless sect members have. He was dead.


    All in all, Chen Mu still admired Baldie from the bottom of his heart. No matter what field it was, someone who could achieve this level of skill was worthy of respect. He sat down beside the corpse of Baldie. The battle just now had not lasted long, but his perception was almost completely depleted. He had never consecutively used three full-force attacks of the Fiend''s Eye. If the enemy had charged at him, he could only resort to running away. Thankfully, fear had ruled them, and they had escaped.


    Deep tranquillity played an exceptional role in replenishing perception. About an hour later, Chen Mu''s perception was restored. Entering deep tranquillity quickly and effectively had become part of Chen Mu''s instinct. This was due to the days when he engaged in endless battles in the depths of the Hundred Depths.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Chen Mu stood up and glanced at Baldie''s dead body. With an effortless flick of his hand, he blasted a big hole in the ground and buried Baldie''s body. He could not bear the thought of leaving an expert this powerful to die out in the wild unattended.


    His emotions gradually settle in calmness, and he continued to fly towards the direction where the cardless sects had escaped. The cardless sects had left him with various clues so he could easily trace their escape route.


    Controlling emotions held the utmost importance in a battle. He had profoundly experienced this in the depths of the Hundred Depths when countless vicious beast climbed out from the mountains of corpses and the blood-dyed sea.


    Sometimes, staying calm was beneficial to one''s judgment. Other times, the excitement was required to let the adrenaline rush through the veins. This would allow one to outperform himself or herself. Whereas, fear would be necessary to avoid danger, especially when the threat was far greater than what could be handled.


    "Andrew was killed? The opponent was only a single person?" King asked grimly. The golden mask symbolizing royalty was cold as usual. However, everyone could hear the burning fury concealed in the King''s calm voice that was coming from under the mask.


    Andrew was King''s right-hand man, King''s most faithful servant, King''s sharpest sword at hand, King''s protector, and the most reliable line of defense! As long as he existed, no one dared to defy King''s command. As long as he lived, King could sleep in peace no matter where he was. As for the reason, ever since the disappearance of that person, Andrew had become the strongest man in Mohadi Domain! Yet, he still died. All the ministers below sincerely admired King as he was still able to maintain his composure.


    "Who did it?" King had calmed down swiftly.


    "A card artisan. He was able to summon a blood-red eye, which was able to fire golden rays. The golden rays killed Andrew," the subordinate reported shakily. He was suddenly overcome with shame. He had ran away because he was afraid.


    "A card artisan?" King crooked his head as he asked. His voice seemed to relax a little. Just like him, slight relief spread to the hearts of many of the subordinates below as well.


    "Blood-red eye?" King was lost in his thoughts as he muttered under his breath without warning, "Mo..."


    He paused sharply as his thoughts escaped his lips. He turned around, settling on his throne once more. King had regained his somberness once again.


    "I feel ashamed," slight sarcasm came from under the mask, stinging the hearts of the subordinates.


    "Oh well, he could defeat Andrew, that''s impressive. Still, he was alone. We had so many in numbers but feared one single opponent. This had happened once before, but I did not think that it would happen again. Such a shame!"


    The subordinates below had flushed in an instant. King''s sarcasm was like a big slap to their faces. A village representative stood up and shouted, "Your majesty, please let the matter go. I will sacrifice my life to kill this thief for your majesty!"


    Everyone stood up at once, bowed their heads and shouted in unison, "We swear to kill this thief for your majesty!"


    An icy cold gaze scanned through everyone from behind the mask. King chuckled lightly, "Not for me, but for yourselves. Go and gain back the dignity that you lost."


    He finished his words and stood up from the throne. With a wave of his sleeves, he gave out a command coated with malice.


    "Go!"

 605 Feast Before Meeting

    Two men moved stealthily along the shadows of the crevice. They were swift, yet they excelled in hiding their bodies by staying under the shield of the shadows throughout their operation. They moved agilely and silently, like phantoms. Two more figures were behind them, one of them with a dark golden mask on while the other was a boorish man.


    There was a teen, seventeen or eighteen years old, with a petite round face and thick snow-white eyebrows that were especially outstanding. His small eyes were constantly alert as he concealed himself within the shadows. Next to him was a man with an expressionless face who stood still like a rock within the shadows. Little Bu Mo frowned as he showed a sign of confusion. Beside him, Wei-ah remained expressionless.


    Behind the two of them, Sue and Yangshan Fei were flying steadily. They were used to working alongside Wei-ah and Little Bu Mo; it had become the norm in recent years. In the beginning, Sue and Yangshan Fei were against such cooperation, but they quickly realized that although the intensive fights were very tiring, it greatly benefited them by improving their skills significantly. Since then, they became more enthusiastic.


    Four of them were divided into two groups, Wei-ah with Little Bu Mo, Sue with Yangshan Fei.


    "Boring, boring, boring!" Yangshan Fei sang off and on; his vocals were off-putting.


    Sue''s eyes, exposed through the silver mask, unexpectedly opened as she exclaimed, "This isn''t right!"


    Yangshan Fei''s singing abruptly stopped as he asked innocently, "Not right? What isn''t right?"


    With caution in her eyes, Sue said, "We have been traveling for so long today, but we have yet to encounter even one enemy. This isn''t right!"


    "What is wrong with this? Ha! They must be afraid of getting beaten by us!" Yangshan Fei grinned.


    Sue remained serious, as she shook her head and refuted, "No. They had mobilized their troops."


    Yangshan Fei got excited and chuckled. "Hah! I just happened to be restless these days. Those two blockheads ahead were mental, and we didn''t even get to warm up. Haha, I can finally fight my best today!"


    Su looked afar and murmured, "I''m afraid that a fight will be inevitable today."


    Wei-ah''s gaze was wandering when all of a sudden, he dashed forward. Little Bu Mo quickly followed after him, as well as the two behind him.


    * * *


    In another crevice.


    A sloppy, silver-haired man shouted while his hands were on his hips, "Pull yourselves together! I will be bringing up the rear, so whoever dishonors me will¡ªheh heh!"


    Everyone in front of him was aged eighteen or nineteen. These youths were sitting lazily on the floor, just like the silver-haired man. They looked like a mob as their outfits were random and disorderly. However, someone observant enough would have noticed that although they seemed lazy and casual, they were all in a position that would allow them to battle at any time. The pickets, sentries, and ambush spots were faintly visible.


    The scale of the Youth Guards was much more extensive compared to how it was before Chen Mu left. These youths were filtered and selected from Eastern Wei. Each of them was extremely skillful and talented. Additionally, they had been training earnestly under the influence of the persevering atmosphere within the Eastern Wei, resulting in rapid improvement in their skills.


    According to the evaluation conducted by several prominent organizations, among existing forces, the Eastern Wei was taking the lead on the development of its second echelon, leaving the others far behind. Many people doubted such a result. The other five in the Big Six were a long way ahead in terms of their history of establishment and the number of facilities. However, they never would have expected a rising force, such as Eastern Wei''s second echelon of Youth Guards, to appear and even precede them.


    However, these evaluations were not made based on capability. In terms of skill on average, the Comprehensive Federation Academy in the Heavenly Federation would be ranked first, whereas the Youth Guards could only place third. Nevertheless, when determination, something that had always been neglected in the past, was factored in. The Youth Guards were all evaluated to possess a determination level of "Steel". To be assessed as steel was the pride of the Youth Guards, as well as the most outstanding trait of Eastern Wei.


    Even with the most outstanding General Staff Unit of the Federation, the Eastern Wei had been through failures during the expansion in recent years. However, no matter the difficulties faced, Eastern Wei never faltered. It was even pretty common for them to turn the tides when at a disadvantage. Those who seek to join Eastern Wei would have a more reliable experience on this.


    The Youth Guard has then become the most sought-after career for the youngsters. However, it was not easy to be qualified as part of the team. To become one of them, one must first experience being part of the different echelons within the Youth Guard. Nonetheless, countless outstanding teenagers compete fiercely to secure themselves a spot in the Youth Guard annually.


    The silver-haired man seemed to be dissatisfied with the youths in front of him. He sneered. "Hmph! Last week''s outcomes were embarrassing! It was worse than the Birdeyes! Back in the day, when I battled against the Federation alongside the boss, that Birdeyes did not even exist. He was too lousy to be mentioned in the same sentence as me. You might not care about your dignity, but I do!"


    The youth card artisans trembled as they learned that they would all be doomed if their commander were to get mad. They boosted their morale and shouted things like, "Boss-man, this time around, we will show them some of our true strength!"


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    "How dare these fellas try to compete with us? Hmph! We will punch their shiny teeth through the back of their skull!" The sounds were disorderly, like the shouting of ruffians.


    The silver-haired man was not bothered. Instead, he seemed pleased. His waist-length hair swayed by the breeze, and his unbridled words spread far far away. "F*ck, get rid of ''em!"


    Everyone shouted with a murderous spirit like packs of wolves, "Get rid of ''em!"


    * * *


    At an extremely narrow crevice 250km away from them.


    Sang Hanshui''s iconic bird eyes flickered. As the previous deputy of Chen Mu, he had a very high reputation in the Eastern Wei. He gazed attentively at the movements of the silhouettes afar, lost in his thoughts.


    "Maneuvering troops?" Sang softly murmured. Ever since being reorganized into Wooden Battalion and the Hunters, Xiaobo and himself voluntarily requested to be transferred to the Youth Guards after the captains got familiar with their respective teams. Then, the Youth Guards were divided into two groups, one led by Sang and the other by Xiaobo.


    Behind him, 1000 youth card artisans stood solemnly. The first team gave a completely different impression than all the other Youth Guards. They were strictly disciplined and could be said to be the model of the card artisans. Every one of them was serious and reserved, with a neat set of battlesuit on each of them. They acted efficiently, without any hesitation. They were in perfect formation, even just sitting.


    There must have been some unforeseen events! Sang pondered in his mind. He had been through countless battles as one of the two great commanders of the Youth Guards and was very sensitive towards the changes on the battlefield. After making his decision, he turned over and clapped.


    All card artisans who were resting stood up immediately in unison.


    Sang nodded satisfyingly, and gently said, "Everyone did great last week. However, Second Team will definitely try their best to retaliate after last week''s total loss. Despite not having good discipline, that was only a result of them being misled by a certain malicious person. Their overall performance is not to be underestimated. Hence, this week, we have to pull ourselves together so they can''t take advantage of us."


    "Yes, sir!" all card artisans answered in unison.


    "Good." Sang nodded. His bird eyes shone coldly, then he waved his hand, "Let us begin."


    The youth card artisans advanced towards the crevice silently, like a torrent.


    At a broad crevice, there had just been a fierce battle as corpses were everywhere. A group of people was resting while acting as if the dead bodies around them didn''t exist.


    "Heh, they are all cardless sects. Unfortunately, they are nowhere close to Wei-ah''s skills." said a curvy card artisan whose breasts almost burst from her battle suit. The card artisans around her were all drooling, but no one dared to fix their eyes on those assets.


    Lu Xiaoru had a bad temper. She had the right to say what she said. There weren''t many people who trained under Wei-ah at that time. Although the flat eyebrows who was standing beside her didn''t speak, the rock-like face showed a rare sign of approval.


    The guarding team was reorganized into the Guard Camp. They had initially been attached to the Hunters, but they were now assigned back to the Big Crack Base. Lu regained her post as the commander, while flat eyebrows acted as a deputy commander. The calm and intelligent Lucky Xi was the third most important person, acting as a strategy adviser whereas barbarians like Crow Feather and Zhu Heng could only be the muscle of the group.


    Nevertheless, the current Guard Camp was much more active than it was back in the days. This could be seen from the number of Grade Seven card artisans there. Other than the pioneers, everyone else was Grade Seven. The pioneers were still powerful as they possessed perceptions of level six, plus the custom-made cards and Card Insertions given by Chen Mu to them. Flat eyebrows, on the other hand, topped the army with the technique of Cross coupled with Breath Control. Other than Wei-ah, no one had succeeded in defeating him till now. Although Lu Xiaoru was less capable than flat eyebrows in terms of combat ability, there was a unanimous agreement for her to take up the position as a commander.


    "Something''s fishy," said Lucky Xi while adjusting the golden-framed glasses on the bridge of his nose. He added, "This is the third team we''ve met, looking at the directions that they were heading towards, all of them were returning."


    "What is the problem?" Lu asked. Amongst everyone in the camp, Xi''s judgment was always the most accurate.


    Lucky Xi showed a note of contemplation on his face, "If it was only one or two teams, it could be a coincidence. However, it is impossible to meet three teams that were returning consecutively within such a short period by coincidence."


    Lu seemed discontented and said, "Just say what you want and stop beating around the bush!"


    Lucky Xi, helplessly, said, "The enemy may be gathering their troops,"


    "Gathering troops? Gathering troops for what?" Lu questioned in confusion. Suddenly, her expression changed, "Could it be that they''ve found out the location of our base camp?"


    "Impossible!" Xi shook his head and denied. "The location of their base camp is very far away from where we are, plus there aren''t traces of the enemy near our base camp recently. It is impossible for them to get through all of the hidden guards silently."


    "Then, why are they gathering troops?"


    "I don''t know either," Xi shook his head, but said with an assuring tone, "Maybe there were some unknown changes. That is why they couldn''t help but gather their forces."


    Lu Xiaoru''s eyes lit up and said with excitement, "Isn''t this our chance then?"


    Lucky Xi grinned, "It is still too early to tell, but we can go and take a look."


    The others then got up from their seats with an excited expression. The violent Crow Feather and Zhu Heng even clenched their fists and clenched their jaws. They could not wait to be in a fight.


    Flat eyebrows had long disappeared from where he was. Lu was not at all impressed since she was used to it. She waved her fair arms as she commanded, "Go!"

 606 The Clarion!

    Which batch was that? Was it the twelfth or thirteenth?


    Chen Mu killed callously; beneath his feet lay corpses all over! Chen Mu was floating in the air; those from the cardless sects had no way to take him down. But what Chen Mu couldn''t understand was that his opponents seemed to have deep enmity with; as if they had vowed to kill him. Those cardless sects couldn''t fly, but no matter where he flew, they would follow Chen Mu closely below.


    Chen Mu started to go soft on his enemies, but his opponents were infuriated and stuck to him tightly; they wouldn''t retreat even a little! Even Chen Mu, who was a callous killer, started to go soft on his enemies.


    Those fellows had gone crazy!


    Chen Mu couldn''t stay in the sky forever, in the ash stratum, only the big cracks were safe. Storms might strike any moment, and he had to land onto the big cracks then. Looking at those red-eyed members of the cardless sects below, he could imagine what kind of crazy attacks he would face once he landed!


    Without the advantage of the distance between them, those endless numbers of cardless sects members would gnaw at him like locusts¡ªleaving no remains. It seemed that he had stirred up a hornet''s nest, Chen Mu thought, but he wasn''t panicking. His nerves had long been trained to be as tough as iron in the Hundred Depths. Even if he had to engage in close combat, he was fearless.


    There were many aces below, but fortunately, there wasn''t someone as scary as Baldie. If Baldie was there, Chen Mu would absolutely be dead. Baldie''s Airskill had attained a ghastly level; Chen Mu would not be on par with Baldie if they were to engage in close combat.


    Among the masters Chen Mu had met, Baldie ranked at the top. Of course, that was directly related to his experience; the perfect combination of near-destructive, violent, and delicate skills in Baldie''s arsenal was amazing. However, his situation wasn''t that much better. No matter how strong he was, he was one man left on his own to defend himself. Once he lost his advantage by being in the air, it would only a matter of time before he was killed. Suddenly, the sky darkened, and Chen Mu was startled! A sandstorm was coming! According to his experience, a sandstorm would arrive in no more than two hours.


    Two hours!


    The bunch of crazy cardless sects below him also noticed the change in weather. They had their eyes opened wide with excitement; it looked like they were thrilled to have a chance to tear a chunk of meat out of Chen Mu.


    "There seems to be something going on over there!" Xiaobo was still as cool as a cucumber. Suddenly, he was stunned by the scene, "Card artisans?"


    In the distant skyline, only a small black spot can be seen, continuously releasing red light, and bombarding the enemy below from a higher position.


    "Boss, we''re in luck!" his subordinate was whooping with delight and pointed to the infinite numbers of cardless sects in the distance. Not only was he without fear, but his voice contained a hint of excitement. Others rubbed their hands and wished they could jump on them immediately. Last week, they were unlucky and encountered fewer enemies; they lagged far behind the first group in terms of performance level.


    "Bravo!""Awesome!""God! Who is that master?"


    Xiaobo''s card artisans were dazzled; Eastern Wei had all the aces in the world, but they had never seen an attack of such horrible intensity unleashed by only one man''s ability!


    Red beams filled the sky like rain!


    They turned their heads and found that their Boss was staring at the man in the sky motionlessly; only his silver hair swayed in silence.


    Sang Hanshui led the first team of Youth Guards. They were like lava flowing quietly along the crack. He was very cautious; the strength of the Youth Guards was still lacking when compared with the Hunters and card artisans from Wood Battalion. At the same time of letting them engage in real combat, he had to protect them as much as possible; those were his duties.


    For that reason, the elite of the first team was thrown over for Jiang Liang''s training. Every procedure of their training was in strict accordance with the code of conduct, and they dared not loosen up a little.


    They had engaged in various forms of reconnaissance, effectively hiding each other''s presence as they moved forward in their battle. The enemies along the way were often killed before they could respond. On their way, Sang Hanshui''s team ambushed five groups of enemies and wiped all of them out!


    The whole team was functioning as a delicate instrument; closely connected and inseparable while moving forward with high accuracy. Suddenly, the team in front stopped moving forward. Without relaying any orders, everyone stopped in sync immediately and prepared for battle.


    Sang Hanshui''s expression changed a little, and his triangular-shaped eyes glistened coldly.


    In the distant horizon, there were countless numbers of dense light beams akin to rain. Those red beams were unusually striking when contrasted with the gray sky.


    All the Youth Guards in the first team gasped at the scene and were flabbergasted! Their strict discipline had trained them to maintain their silence, but the expressions on their faces, their horrified eyes had exposed their bewilderment, and they were taken aback!


    The beam was bright and dazzling red. Other than that, there weren''t any unique elements that drew attention. But the red light was in horribly dense and accompanied by the dreadful continuity, stability, and accuracy...


    The first team of Youth Guards was generally silent, but at that moment they had become truly speechless! The heartbeats of many involuntarily skipped a beat in that second!


    But those above-average Youth Guards were aware of the other issue. Their expressions took a turn for the worst; no card artisan in Eastern Wei had that kind of light beam card!


    Did another card artisan enter the ash stratum?


    That disastrous guess made them jumped out of their skin. They were about to inform their commander of their observations. When they turned around, however, they were stunned to discover their commander, who was always composed and ruthless, looking confused and overwhelmed!


    The Guard Camp was advancing at breakneck speed. Compared to the Youth Guards, their formation was more at their discretion. But if observed carefully, their teamwork and cooperation were more flexible and diversified than the Youth Guards. At high speeds, the formation seemed to be scattered, but in fact, everyone''s position could at least be covered by three peers.


    Lu Xiaoru had a long-faced. Flat Eyebrows had been away for too long and without any news; such a situation was rare, and she was worried. Not only was she, but everyone in the camp looked serious. Flat Eyebrows was ranked first in terms of strength in the whole Guard Camp; he was the expert of reconnaissance and concealment.


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    At that moment, the meter which Lu Xiaoru was holding lit up. Lu Xiaoru breathed a sigh of relief and activated "thousand-kilometer". A screen popped up in front of her, and Flat Eyebrows appeared on the screen.


    "What''s happening on your side?" She asked in a hurry, her voice full of concern. Others rushed over and surrounded her.


    "Look."


    It seemed like he was influenced by Wei-ah; Flat Eyebrows who was usually quiet, now spoke even less. However, in his one-word answer, the rest could feel that his mood was fluctuating violently.


    On the screen, a thin figure floated among countless straight red beams!


    Lu Xiaoru could feel her heart stop beating for that instant. Behind her, Lucky Xi was transfixed. The ferocity on Crow Feather and Zhu Heng suddenly vanished from sight!


    On the crack of a rocky top, Wei-ah gawked at the familiar figure in the sky. His deadpan face finally moved, and revealed a rarely seen rich and delicate change!


    Little Bu Mo looked up at the sky silently; a lump formed in his throat, and his tears uncontrollably crashed down.


    Behind them, Yangshan Fei''s mouth was wide open; he stared at the sky incredulously.


    The dark gold mask reflected the red light of the sky. Sue stared at Chen Mu in the air and murmured, "He''s back!"


    Bogner was drinking tea in the command room of the Big Crack Base. The situation wasn''t good recently, and he was under a lot of pressure. The opponent was the leader of a domain and could utilize all the power within his domain for battle. In contrast, although Eastern Wei had made considerable progress, its power was still a far cry from the leader of the domain. Nevertheless, they had the upper hand, and their situation hadn''t deteriorated to an irreparable extent.


    Strange to say, he felt that the measures used by the opponent were familiar. He laughed and mocked at himself, "Am I already old?"


    The series of measures employed by Tang Hanpei previously gave him a familiar feeling. The current battle and circumstance made him feel somewhat familiar too.


    Am I too full of myself? He mocked himself again. Tang Hanpei, such a proud man, would never have any interaction with an old man like him. As for Mohadi Domain, that was another world in which he had no connections!


    He sipped a mouthful of tea and waited for the news. Youth Guards and Guard Camp were deployed for a typical provocation from their enemy. At the base, the Hunters and Wood Battalion were reorganizing themselves. The red light on the table flickered. He was alerted and pressed the red light. Immediately a screen popped up in front of him. On the screen, there was only one person and countless red beams!


    Bang! The teacup dropped to the floor and smashed into pieces.


    The card artisan who was stationed outside the door, dashed in after he heard the noise. He saw the chief commander, Bogner, stand there like a statue while staring blankly at the screen.


    The enemies relentlessly attacked; they weren''t afraid to die. They launched wave after wave of attacks! The most problematic issue for Chen Mu was the weapons used by those strength-based cardless sects. Their attacks were full of power, and the slightest brush against those weapons would cut bone and flesh.


    As time went by, the sky turned darker and gloomier, which also meant that the sandstorm was closing in!


    He was a little exhausted. His perception was depleting, and he had no choice but to slow down his attack. The enemy below him was thrilled. That was a sign that the enemy was exhausted and at his wits end! They were like bloodthirsty beasts who knew their prey was merely a step away from them. But they didn''t know it was also a clarion call!


    A clarion call that many people had waited three years for!


    "Forward!" After saying this single word, Wei-ah jumped down!


    His figure blurred abruptly, and his speed increased to the extreme. There was no hesitation in Little Bu Mo as he followed Wei-ah tightly. There were tears on his face, but those two thick eyebrows were charged with a murderous aura!


    Sue chuckled, "This is so exhilarating!"


    "Wa-ha-ha!" Yangshan Fei leaned back and laughed. All of a sudden, his laughers stopped, and his command with a voice full of brutality, "Kill!"


    Both of them ran fleet-footed at maximum speed¡ªheading towards their enemy!


    The man in the air slowed down. Xiaobo came to a realization, his pupils shrank, and his long silver hair unnaturally stopped moving in the wind. His impassive face disappeared without a trace, and a ferocious and hideous expression instantly lit up his face. He raised his hand and pointed ahead.


    "Listen to my command carefully! The goal is right ahead!" His voice sounded as if it was from the abyss; filled with coldness, "Get rid of them! Fight to the end!"


    The second team of card artisans felt a cold shiver run down their spine, but they were immediately excited. In their previous battles, their Boss had never given such a fierce and resolute order to attack!


    "Get rid of them!" Thousands of them howled like wolves!


    Without concealment, without any fear or hesitation, Xiaobo went to the front of the team like a proud silver wolf!


    "Get rid of them!"


    Xiaobo''s action stimulated and unleashed the anger in those card artisans; they were on the warpath. They couldn''t help but braced their arms and roared!


    "Forward!"


    Xiaobo hollered and charged forward.


    "Forward! Forward! Forward!"


    The card artisans could no longer curb their frenzied will to fight, and let their rage run rampant. They were like a pack of wolves, following the alpha, and bolted towards their enemy!


    Sang Hanshui''s triangular-shaped eyes almost narrowed into slits. He noticed that the attack from the figure in the air slowed down, the corners of his eyes frowned, and his expression sank. His subordinates were surprised; it was rare for the commander to have such an expression.


    "Everyone, the target is cardless sects!" Squeezing out wickedness mixed with unprecedented determination, Sang Hanshui commanded, "Fight to the death!"


    "Fight to the death!" Everyone was surprised, but they roared in unison nonetheless!


    The first group immediately changed into an attack formation. Instead of staying in the middle, as usual, Sang Hanshui moved slowly to the front position. He did not speak, but instead, lowered his head to check his meter. His silent action, however, brought a resolute will to fight, that determination spread among the troop, and youth card artisans were determined to battle!


    No one spoke, but their determination was growing, almost spilling over! They held onto their positions like nails. Heads down, they seriously began to check their equipment. After completing their checks, the team was ready to kill!


    Without a word to waste, Sang Hanshui pointed to the front and commanded, "Forward!"


    The troop moved silently, but they were like a silent steel torrent, moving along the cracks to the enemy''s position!


    When Lu Xiaoru regained her clarity, she could feel her heart at her mouth. She bit her lips tightly, while her vision was slightly blurred. She opened her eyes wide to stop her tears from falling.


    "Kill!" She spat out one word. She was afraid that saying an extra word would cause her to tear up.


    "Kill!" Lucky Xi pushed his glasses, and his lenses flickered with coldness.


    "Kill! Kill! Kill!" Crow Feather and Zhu Heng thumped their chests. They were like two angry beasts, howling like crazy!


    "Kill! Kill! Kill!" Everyone in the team was in a state of madness!


    Suddenly an ear-piercing combat alarm sounded off at the Big Crack Base. The Big Crack Base was in a mess, and all card artisans left what they were doing and quickly returned to their combat positions in their teams.


    Was the enemy going to attack? Every card artisans had an unsettled look on their faces.


    "What''s the matter?" Rafael coincidentally bumped into Sanchez, who was in a hurry and asked.


    Sanchez shook his head. "I don''t know, but Boss ordered the combat alarm. There must be a serious problem." The ''Boss'' he mentioned was Bogner.


    By the time they arrived, crowds were already surging on the platform. They couldn''t help but gasped and stared at each other. Almost all the card artisans in the base were assembled.


    Were they attacking in full strength? What was happening?


    The situation was unexpectedly critical, and they were in a bundle of nerves. The Hunters and Wood Battalion assembled swiftly. Bogner appeared among the crowd. His neat combat attire startled everyone at once.


    Surely it didn''t mean that Boss was going into battle himself? Was the situation so serious?


    Without any mobilization or speech, Bogner gave a short command, "Set off!"


    All card artisans flew up into the sky; they were densely packed in the air, like a gigantic dark cloud, the scene was spectacular.

 607 I Am Back!

    Wei-ah was like a gust of wind. It was hard to spot him with the naked eye. Wherever he went, the sound of bones cracking can be heard like chords in a symphony. The cardless sects who were blocking his way reacted as if they were hit by a shuttle; they flung out in succession!


    It was entirely appropriate to use the word "rampage" to describe Wei-ah. If one looked down from the sky, one could see that Wei-ah was advancing in a straight line!


    From where he started to where Chen Mu was, it was the shortest and straightest route. He didn''t need to consider the number of enemies, he didn''t need to consider the steep terrain, he didn''t need to consider being flanked, and he didn''t need to make a feint, because he was Wei-ah!


    He was the strongest of the cardless sect disciples in the world; no one was on par with him. Even top aces like Sue and Yangshan Fei could only yearn for his strength.


    Yangshan Fei, a battle mania, had ignited a new excitement in him. His eyes were red, and his whole body was shrouded in an electric net. He was like the legendary God of thunder! The violent thunder and lightning were obedient in his hands; he could knead them into any shape at will. Any cardless sect disciples hit by him was electrocuted and turned into a burnt corpse.


    Even in such a melee, Sue was graceful and calm. Ten fingers flickered with 10 different colors of light. Her slender fingers moved dexterously as if under the fingers, there were transparent piano keys. Unlike Wei-ah''s blunt violence and Yangshan Fei godly control over lightning, she was simply graceful. The enemies she killed looked like they had fallen asleep; there were no visible wounds.


    Little Bu Mo''s fighting style was handed down from Wei-ah; his style was neat and on point, as sharp as a knife, paying attention to efficiency, and had absolutely no excess strength. The baby faced Bu Mo regained his composure. Little Bu Mo''s strength was much less than that of Wei-ah''s superhuman power. Therefore, in order to remedy that shortcoming, he accelerated his attack frequency. That made his attacks look more illusory.


    All four were top-notch masters. Although they were the minority, their sudden outburst of combat power was extremely intimidating. For quite some time, no one could stop them.


    Chen Mu, who had survived from countless bloody battles, discovered the subtle changes of the fight immediately. He saw Wei-ah, who was dashing over to him!


    It was as if time had stopped at that moment.


    Suddenly joy exploded out from the deepest part of his body, like an electric current passing through his whole body. Every pore seemed to open at the same time. All of his tiredness and pressure disappeared.


    "I''m back!"


    Floating in the sky, Chen Mu with his arms opened, shouted willfully, "I''m back! I''m back! I''m back!¡­"


    In the vast ash stratum, his voice traveled into the distance. The king of the jungle had announced his return, and his pack hollered in response.


    "Kill!" Xiaobo yelled with his hoarse voice. With his uniquely cold and murderous spirit, the long silver hair behind him was like a brandished silver blade! His tall figure and charming face, like a deeply submerged thousand-year-old ice, exuded a piercing coldness.


    "Kill!" Sang Hanshui''s growl seemingly burst out from the depths of hell; he completely abandoned his usual calmness and restraint at that moment. He had an unprecedented insane will to fight, like a tenacious beast without restriction¡ªwith the most primitive and instinctive killing intent!


    Flat Eyebrows was shuttling around the battlefield in a ghostly manner. Compared to the past, the style of "Night of the Cross" he recreated in that battle was no longer stiff and choppy. He was like a king walking in the dark, calmly harvesting his enemy''s lives.


    When Lu Xiaoru heard Chen Mu''s voice, she surpassed the limits of holding back her emotions; she finally broke out in tears. A fair and plump arm raised high up in the air.


    "Kill!" The word she uttered revealed her unyielding faith! She would fight tooth and nail to win the battle! She took the lead in entering the battlefield.


    "Kill!" Lucky Xi''s emotions stirred, and he couldn''t help but follow suit and spit out the word!


    "Kill! Kill! Kill!" The two with their usual ferocity, Crow Feather and Zhu Heng, bolted into the enemy''s formation with their sinister expression.


    The sudden entry of those teams threw the battlefield into greater chaos. The large-scale bombardments by card artisans were a dreadful thing. Just based on what one sees, their attacks were far more destructive than the cardless sects.


    The reason why the cardless sects could battle with card artisans was because of the unique environment in the ash stratum. If card artisans weren''t afraid of the incoming storms, the sky would become their best fortress. The overwhelming attacks from the air gave the cardless sects on the ground nowhere to hide. If the cardless sects chose to escape at that instant, the outcome of their battle would be hard to tell. Cracks were not a suitable environment for card artisans to battle but were the most advantageous terrain for cardless sects. Too bad, they didn''t retreat.


    Billions of ear-piercing sounds from Airskills filled the air and increased the fear and uneasiness in others. The cardless sects wanted to use that approach to resist power-card attacks. When the two powers collided, the shock wave produced moved like a hurricane; it took off in all directions.


    Chen Mu floated quietly in the sky. He had never seen so many cardless sects using Airskill at the same time, and the scene was breathtaking.


    While in the sky, he looked at everyone quietly. Suddenly, he felt conflicted, and all sorts of feelings welled up in his mind. He didn''t even know what he was feeling; there was joy, loss, relief, but also confusion. But soon, he cleared his head. The cruel battlefield below reminded him of where he was.


    Airskill and small-scale combat capability had always been the most potent weapon against card artisans for cardless sects. However, it was on the condition that they had the right environment. At that point, however, even as the storm was approaching, all the card artisans in the air were frantically attacking! It was a landslide victory.


    Combinations of Airskill blocked almost all of their initial attacks. But soon, the cardless sects from Mohadi Domain began to suffer from massive casualties.


    For card artisans from Eastern Wei, group attack was a compulsory course for them, and they were extremely familiar with it. But for the cardless sects from Mohadi Domain, they never had any precedent of using Airskill for group attack. They relied on themselves, and most were struggling.


    Collaboration triumphed over a lack of collaboration, and excellent collaboration triumphed over inadequate collaboration; this was the core belief behind group attacks.


    Cardless sects from Mohadi Domain were showing signs of defeat. An attack from the masses could overcome individual aggression. But if one had the advantage in terms of scale and formation, it would often make the opposing side lose their courage to fight.


    In terms of commanding, Chen Mu wasn''t as good as Bogner, and even Jiang Liang was better than him. But after all those years of battle, the basic principles became apparent for him.


    When he discovered their signs of defeat, he commanded without the least bit of hesitation, "Kill!"


    He took the lead in attacking the enemy! When the others saw him, they immediately followed him and killed more enemies under his cover.


    "King, bad news... bad news..." his subordinate''s voice was filled with fear.


    "What''s wrong?" King unpleasantly replied.


    "They''ve failed¡­"


    "Failed?" King was in extreme exasperation but laughed instead, "Ha, those bunch of idiots. They can''t even take down a person?"


    "We were attacked by a large number of card artisans all of a sudden. We couldn''t resist their attacks. They were retreating..." the subordinate looked pale.


    "Card artisans?" King suddenly came around; he knew that it must be that group of card artisans that they had been looking for.


    The criticality of the situation finally dawned on him. A strong man, no matter how strong he was, he was only a person. If there were a team of card artisans, that would be dreadful. Their defeat might be pervasive once the group reaches his base...


    King had an epiphany. He had a fiery glare as he commanded, "Inform all tribes to get ready to defend and warn the defeated soldiers to retreat along both ends. For those who dare cross our defensive lines, shoot to kill!"


    "This¡­" the subordinate''s expression twitched a little.


    "What are you waiting for?" King shouted. The tribes that received the orders dared not delay a moment and immediately entered an alert state.


    The Royal Court built their base on a large flat open fissure with seven tribes scattered around in heavily guarded layers defense. All of the soldiers in this defensive perimeter entered their combat position.


    Boom, Boom, Boom!


    The earth shook as if countless wild horses were galloping. The faces of those experienced soldiers changed slightly. They knew that it was the sound of many people running.


    "They''re here! Prepare for battle!" The captain on the forefront was pale, but he tried to calm down and issued orders.


    Who could have imagined that their layers of defense couldn''t block their enemy''s pace at the different bases!


    More and more soldiers fled, and the enemy was like a wolf pack, desperately chasing after the panicked sheep. They had received information that the enemy didn''t attack the majority of their bases, but rather their people¡ªwho had completely lost their senses¡ªdid. The rumble grew louder and denser.


    The captain on the forefront had a face drained of blood. He stared at the corner of the crack in front of him without blinking. When the first deserter appeared, his pupils contracted sharply and commanded, "Prepare for battle!"


    At the same time, hundreds of soldiers in front shouted at the top of their lungs, "King''s orders, those who dare to cross the defensive line, shoot to kill!"


    Another group shouted desperately, "Retreat from the sides! Retreat the both sides!"


    The deserters in front were fearful, and they could only shout, "Help! Help!"


    The captain desperately restrained his fear and acted against his conscience. He closed his eyes, raised his hand, and ordered violently, "Those who dare to cross the defensive line; kill!"


    The soldiers who were ready for battle threw their javelins at the same time. In order to resist card artisan''s attack, the soldiers at the forefront were elites.


    The 500 elites threw out 500 javelins with extraordinary strength. The sharp shrill covered all the other sounds and plunged into the rout.


    Sharp javelins splattered blood all over, many javelins pierced through several bodies in succession. They blocked the routed troops from entering; there were 50 meters of no-man''s-land between them. The routed troop stopped moving forward, and they looked at the countless bodies falling into pools of blood in disbelief.


    "King''s orders, those who dare cross the defensive line, shoot to kill!" That shout was without emotions, and those deserters finally sobered up.


    "King''s order! Retreat from both flanks!"


    Those deserters regained their sanity but hesitated for a moment. Soon, like a flood hitting on a reef, they escaped in two groups and ran along both sides.


    At that point, no one noticed that Bogner had arrived quietly with his team on the flank of the base in Mohadi Domain.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.

 608 Fatalism

    Bogner suppressed his impulse of joining Chen Mu and his team. Instead, he led his troops and quietly hid behind the enemy''s flank.


    It had to be said that Bogner''s tactical attainment was a few ranks higher than the others''. When he led his troops quietly to the enemy''s flanks, the enemy hadn''t detected them at all. Instead of launching their attacks immediately, he waited patiently for the best opportunity.


    Although his opponent''s front line was defeated, it didn''t hurt their main forces; he was clear of that when he saw more of them stood in combat readiness in their base. If he started the attack, the enemy might have some initial stage of chaos, but the battle might still end up in a stalemate; it would be the worst scenario for him.


    He felt apprehensive, but he kept his emotions hidden. He raised his head and looked at the distant sky. The dusk sky was gradually darkening, and a sandstorm overshadowing the sky was in sight. Time was running out¡­


    If there was a chance, he would rather wait till the next time. In today''s battle, his opponent had many casualties. The battle was short, but it made him mindful of his previous oversight. His opponent was an expert in attacking and killing with smaller teams, while large-scale combat requiring formation was their weakness. His previous mistake was due to his unfamiliarity with Mohadi Domain and lack of information. But the current battle made him recognize this oversight, and he figured out a lot.


    For a commander of his rank, just one weakness of his opponent was enough for him to find a road to victory. He was confident enough to defeat the cardless sects from Mohadi Domain. Even if he couldn''t win it all in that battle, there was no regret, because Chen Mu was back!


    It was good to be back!


    That was what he had in mind for most of the time. Was it because of his age? Bogner sometimes thought so.


    That year, Chen Mu chose to save Bogner and was blown away by the storm; Bogner felt responsible for his disappearance. All along, he stubbornly insisted that his boss would return, even when his rationality knew the possibility was almost zero. It was his stubbornness that he refused to return to Heavenly Federation and chose to stay put in the Big Crack Base, which was tough and demanding to reside.


    Unexpectedly, his boss returned! His heart filled with joy, and along with that, his murderous aura faded a lot.


    The return of their boss was crucial to them. They got together because of their boss and built their growth hand-in-hand. Except for their boss, no one had enough prestige to lead everybody. In recent years, the joint resolution adopted by Eastern Wei hadn''t caused any major problems but was, in fact, their last feasible move. However, as they aged, especially Xi Ping and him, there was a great possibility that the situation would get out of control. But their boss had returned!


    The worries that had been pressuring him finally disappeared, even his steps seemed lighter; he felt more light-hearted. When he saw his boss was in great danger, his first reaction was anger, but as a top commander, he quickly calmed down. Other than Wei-ah, he spent the longest time with his boss, and he understood his boss much more in-depth than others.


    Moreover, upon knowing how various units operated in the opponent''s base, he wasn''t worried at all. Even if there were only four of them, including Wei-ah, his boss would never be in a life-threatening situation. In addition, they had the Youth Guards led by Sang Hanshui and Xiaobo, and the Guard Camp led by Lu Xiaoru and Flat Eyebrows!


    Quick at seizing opportunity was one of the essential qualities a commander should possess. What''s more, Bogner? His current ambush position had established enough advantages. Even if they couldn''t defeat the enemy in the ongoing battle, they could still launch an attack to increase their casualty significantly. In other words, he was in an invincible position.


    At last, Chen Mu and his team who were chasing the defeated soldiers finally appeared in their enemy''s sight. Chen Mu had a broader view in the sky; he first discovered Bogner, who was quietly ambushing. In his heart, he was in awe of Bogner''s ability, and he immediately understood his role in the battle.


    Behind him, Sang Hanshui, Xiaobo and the rest were extremely excited. They not only saw the return of their boss but also fought side by side with him. The happiness they felt was indescribable! The morale of the card artisans who just earned their new victory was strong. The card artisans'' excitement upon seeing Chen Mu allowed the newly joined card artisans to quickly understand who the mysterious and powerful man was!


    They had never seen Chen Mu before. But in those good old days, he was under the spotlight, the phrase "The White Commander, have you heard of him," his famous and infamous battles, and the legend of that unknown man; how could anyone who joined Eastern Wei not know?


    There were rumors of Chen Mu''s disappearance in Eastern Wei and the outside world. All along, that was the biggest factor affecting people''s confidence in Eastern Wei. Everyone knew that the man, The White Commander, was the real leader of Eastern Wei.


    But who would have thought that man, The White Commander, had returned!


    Not only did he return, but he also led them in their battles! Glancing at the enemy who was waiting for him, he remained unmoved.


    King slowly stepped out of the tent and saw his opponents in the sky. He was unhappy, "We have so many soldiers out there, and that small group of enemies defeated them? How could we have been defeated so overwhelmingly?"


    The subordinates surrounding King was ashamed. Indeed, there were less than 3,000 enemies in the sky; it was indeed a smaller group.


    "Maybe they have more masters." A tribal leader mumbled, but his voice was getting softer.


    "Humph!" Under the golden mask came a sneer, "Where are the elite warriors? All I see is a disorderly crowd! Are these descendants of famous heroes from various tribes? Hey, if their ancestors in heaven saw their descendants acting like a bunch of cowards, I wonder how would they feel?"


    All the tribal chiefs around were ashamed. There were nine tribes in total, and the largest tribe had more than 3,000 soldiers. They were beaten down by less than 3,000 people; it was an embarrassing situation. King was right behind them, and all the soldiers in the front line tried to keep their spirits up.


    The captain in the forefront estimated the distance between the two sides, suddenly he shouted, "Enemy in the sky, wide-winged javelin! Fire!"


    Wide-winged javelin was a javelin with two extra wings to increase the flying stability and flying distance.


    "Fire!"


    Five hundred soldiers roared thunderously in unison. Their faces were flushed red while they threw out their wide-winged javelins with all their might. The flying sound of the wide-winged javelin was unique, just like the hissing sound of snakes.


    Those 500 soldiers were cardless sects that went through specialized training. They were powerful and experts at throwing. Those black wide-winged javelins, when used by them, could reach an unbelievable throwing range.


    The 500 wide-winged javelins flew and looking like black rain towards everyone.


    The opponent''s attack surprised Chen Mu, but he immediately felt at ease. Cardless sects couldn''t fly, but in terms of power and the control of power, they were a few grades stronger than card artisans. Ordinary card artisans might be in a spin if it was their first encounter with cardless sects. But for card artisans who had fought long with cardless sects from Mohadi Domain, they were not taken aback by their attacks.


    "Attack!" Xiaobo hollered in great aggression.


    "Cover!" Sang Hanshui commanded without an expression.


    Countless orange-red colored high explosive bombs rose up slowly like tiny suns. At the same time, a colossal silver-colored electric net appeared in front of everyone. Wide-winged javelins slammed hard onto the huge silver-colored electric net. The buzzing sound of electricity accompanied the crackling explosions. Wide-winged javelins bounced off the electric net one after another, and some were even blown up into pieces.


    The captain''s expression turned slightly anxious, and he shouted angrily, "Wide-winged javelin. Fire!"


    At that moment, the other teams couldn''t hold back anymore. Their angry roars rose one after another.


    That moment, javelins were shooting out like a meteor shower!


    The electric net could no longer resist the attack; it was smashed and shattered into countless electric awns, vanishing in the air.


    Sang Hanshui''s expression twitched a little, and he yelled in frustration, "Cover!"


    Another electric net!


    Two seconds later, it shattered again!


    "Cover!"


    It was the third electric net. The first team of Youth Guard had their faces washed out, such a large-scale electrical net for protection purposes was depleting a lot of their energy.


    All of a sudden, Xiaobo roared in a frenzied voice, "Kill them!"


    More than 1,000 orange-red colored high explosive bombs, bearing a resemblance to meteors covering the sky, suddenly came crashing down!


    It was the opponent''s turn to turn pale with fright. The captain at the forefront was aghast, even his intonation changed, and he yelled at the top of his lungs, "Stop them!"


    In the previous waves of firing, they exerted full power every round; the 500 soldiers were running out of strength. Fortunately, the soldiers of other troops saw their struggle and began to join forces with them!


    The sound of javelin piercing through the air, the tearing sound of Air Slash, and the whistling sound of Air Awl were lingering in one''s ears.


    Boom, Boom, Boom!


    Explosions were covering up every corner of the sky, and the intercepted, super explosive bomb exploded before it reached its target!


    The orange-red flame dyed the sky red.


    But some bombs weren''t blocked and landed right in the middle of their base.


    That was the beginning of their nightmare.


    Cardless sects were good at offense but bad at defense. Especially, when they were facing such an energy attack. Every super explosive bomb that dropped onto the base blew countless people up into flesh and blood. Those cardless sects had seen deaths, but they had never seen such a horrible massacre with no place to hide!


    How insignificant was the power of an individual in that instant?


    They didn''t know how to protect themselves from the explosion. These people belonged to different tribes. They had no cooperation, protection, nor teamwork.


    Just when they were held up and stunned by the super explosive bombs, Bogner launched his attack!


    ''Oudi Burner'' released an eerie and sinister fire; it was the first wave of his attack.


    With the cover-up from the explosion, those small flames weren''t apparent until they were right in front of the base. Whoever saw the Fiery Rain in the sky couldn''t help but feel depressed and powerless.


    In their despair, they frantically unleashed Airskill in the hopes of eliminating those peculiar flames.


    Even in Heavenly Federation, the notorious ''Oudi Burner'' was a fearful thing. What was the possibility of extinguishing it?


    Flames could be cut into two or smashed into smaller sparks, but they were a challenge to extinguish. Even a tiny flame, when stuck onto the body, would start to burn unceasingly.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Many soldiers had never seen anything so nasty and peculiar. When they saw their companions burning in front of themselves, turning into balls of fire, rolling on the ground, screaming and howling, their willpower finally crumbled.


    Those flames were moving slowly, as long as they turned around and ran away, the fire would never catch up with them.


    They chose to escape!


    One part of the base had succumbed; the situation was a landslide victory.


    Thump! Thump! Thump!


    The dull thunderous explosion was like a string of dense drum beats. It was clear and audible in the noisy and chaotic battlefield. The sound incessantly lingered on!


    Pop! At the front line, the captain who was always angrily staring at the battle had a blood red flower bloom from his temple. His movements stagnated, and he fell straight down.


    The commander on the lower ground mowed down enemies as if they were wheat amid those dense explosions. Enemies fell by the dozens.


    "Whorled Sniper Shuttle"!


    In the sky, when Chen Mu saw those attacks, he knew victory was his! He was amazed by Bogner''s calculated attack. Indeed, you couldn''t catch old birds with chaff; the older, the wiser. Bogner had wholly taken the active role to attack and had the absolute advantage. If he could not win, then he would not be the ''wolf'' Chen Mu knew!


    Suddenly he caught a glimpse of a figure; it was Wei-ah!


    Wei-ah was advancing towards the base. Chen Mu had some doubts in his mind. In his eyes, Wei-ah was filled with resolution as he advanced, and he even kept Little Bu Mo and the rest away from him.


    Chen Mu figured out his intention when he remembered what Wei-ah had told him. Looking in the direction of Wei-ah, the golden mask entered Chen Mu''s sight.


    Could it be¡­


    Before he could finish his thoughts, Chen Mu, like a falcon, started to dive down!


    The Fiend''s Eye!


    Hundreds of red beams burst out from his hands, enveloping the space ahead of Wei-ah.


    Screams could be heard endlessly and blood splashing everywhere as the red beams acted like a comb, combing the road ahead of Wei-ah all at once!


    Wei-ah took a glance at Chen Mu. There was no need for any explanation between the two men. His speed didn''t decrease at all.


    Wei-ah took back his glance and had his glare fixed on the man wearing a golden mask!


    "Wei-ah!"


    "He''s Wei-ah!"


    "He''s still alive!"


    The terrified voices of the tribal chiefs fell on Wei-ah''s deaf ears; he only had the man in the golden mask in his eyes.


    "Protect King!" the guards shouted hoarsely; their voices were filled with despair!


    "Wei-ah. Wei-ah is still alive!"


    The sound of panic spread like a plague among the base and was the straw that broke the camel''s back. It was not a secret that King slaughtered Wei-ah''s family and hunted him down in Mohadi Domain. Ordinary soldiers didn''t know Wei-ah, but the image of Wei-ah, who took the spot as Mohadi Domain''s strongest man for ten years, was deeply rooted in every veteran''s heart. So when the tribal chiefs shouted Wei-ah''s name, the soldiers had only one idea in their minds¡ªrun!


    Chen Mu saw anger for the very first time on Wei-ah''s expressionless face!


    There was also anguish; Chen Mu felt an emotion that he thought wasn''t possible for Wei-ah.


    Wei-ah looked like a mad devil. Chen Mu stopped and looked at him quietly. Somehow, he felt that Wei-ah didn''t need any help at that moment. He just needed to be left alone.


    Crack! Crack!


    The sound of bone cracking can be heard constantly. Wei-ah didn''t use his Airskill, just his fist. He closed in, eyes on no one else but the man in the golden mask.


    No guard could resist a single attack from him! The guards who were fighting back in despair and madness didn''t stop him from moving forward.


    That was how he approached the King, step by step, inch by inch!


    There was no one around King, but he didn''t retreat. On the contrary, there was a tinge of ridicule in his eyes.


    "I had guessed you weren''t dead." King smiled and said, "It has always been my wish to die by your hands."


    He looked at Chen Mu in the distant, a little regretful, and a little desolate, "It''s just a pity that I didn''t make it to the Heavenly Federation before I die."


    "Who are you?" Wei-ah stared at King, and he hollered at him. His roar seemed to come from the throat of a wild animal.


    "Ha-ha," King chuckled; he stretched out his hand and took down his mask. Beneath was a middle-aged man with a scholarly look, he had a faint sneer on his face. There was no sign of panic; he looked relaxed as if he was meeting his friends. Chen Mu was inadvertently impressed by that person.


    "Is my identity that important?" The scorn on King''s face became heavier.


    "Why?" Wei-ah seemed to regain his calm, he asked coldly.


    "Ha, you''re a good knife, but not mine. You pricked my hands." King looked at Wei-ah with a spurious smile.


    Wei-ah clenched his fist tighter.


    King let out a laugh again, and suddenly he turned around and waved at Chen Mu. Chen Mu admired him in his heart; for someone to be so calm before his death, he was a formidable character. When Chen Mu saw him waving to him, he wasn''t afraid and directly flew down.


    "You''re from the Heavenly Federation. Let me ask you about a man." King had a polite smile on his face, which made it hard to refuse his request.


    "Who?" Chen Mu asked out of curiosity.


    "His name is Tang Hanpei."


    That sentence was different from any of his previous ones. In the sentences he spoke previously, there was indifference, mockery, politeness, and calmness; but there wasn''t any emotion. However, in that sentence Chen Mu could hear the feelings contained in them.


    It suddenly dawned on Chen Mu that the man in front of him was somewhat similar to Tang Hanpei, could he be¡­


    "Are you related to him?" Chen Mu asked.


    "I''m his elder brother." King proudly replied. He was proud of his relationship with his youngest brother.


    "He''s doing very well. He''s the president of Comprehensive Federation Academy in the Heavenly Federation." Although Chen Mu had guessed it, he was still somewhat surprised.


    King nodded; those titles didn''t mean anything to him in anyway.


    Chen Mu added, "He''s my enemy."


    King''s eyes sparkled instantaneously, "Very good!"


    He turned around and looked at Wei-ah with a grin, "Are you going to do it, or should I do it myself?"


    Wei-ah punched him!


    Without looking at the fallen body, he turned away with tears streaming down his face.


    In the distance, Bogner, who saw that scene, stood there with a dull and absent look on his face, he was motionless and pale.


    A drop of tear fell off.

 609 Letter of Challenge!

    Chen Mu has returned!


    As if the news had wings, it spread across the Heavenly Federation in a flash. Forces who were eyeing the Eastern Wei transit window reacted quickly, immediately calling back their troops at the border. The lead personnel from each group even sent words welcoming Chen Mu back.


    Where had Chen Mu been all these years?


    This had become the hottest topic on all platforms, but Eastern Wei had not published an official statement.


    Ever since his first public appearance, Chen Mu had always been an exceptionally mysterious character. He was involved in countless mysteries, and people could never stop talking about him.


    On the same day, the public''s confidence in Eastern Wei instantly rose to its highest in recent years. Every domain in Eastern Wei spontaneously held an event to celebrate Chen Mu''s arrival. Chen Mu was the founder of Eastern Wei. His return meant a stronger ruler for Eastern Wei and was advantageous towards the stability of the academy. Since they were now a part of Eastern Wei, they naturally wished for Eastern Wei to grow stronger. The return of Chen Mu solved their biggest concern.


    Chen Mu opened his eyes. The morning sunlight shone through the window, making the room warm and cozy.


    Such a peaceful morning!


    After experiencing the bloody massacre in the Hundred Depths, he came to cherish warm and serene mornings like these even more. He lay in bed, silently enjoying the serenity and warmth. Just then, a knock on the door was heard.


    He opened the door. Sue Lochiro was standing outside, holding a set of breakfast. "Time to eat," she said with a soft voice and a gentle smile.


    Something soft stirred Chen Mu''s heart as he saw the smile on her face. He could not help staring at Sue Lochiro in her plain pink dress. She was wearing minimal accessories, her lengthy hair was tied up loosely, and her smile was mesmerizing.


    Sue Lochiro instinctively noticed Chen Mu''s stare and started blushing furiously.


    Suddenly aware of his rude behavior, Chen Mu became mortified and quickly received breakfast from Sue Lochiro. "Thank you!"


    Chen Mu sat on the table and started eating his breakfast earnestly. Treating food with great earnestness was a habit formed during his time in the Hundred Depths.


    Whenever he looked up, he would see Sue Lochiro sitting across from him, holding her chin, wearing a contented smile, and looking at him quietly. An inexplicable feeling of warmth rose inside his heart. Chen Mu suddenly felt that things were pretty great.


    In the warm and contented atmosphere, Chen Mu finished his breakfast, and Sue Lochiro cleared the table. Both of them then got busy.


    Chen Mu had been gone for many years, and he had to readjust to many things. Meanwhile, Sue Lochiro was also the head of a unit, and her routine tasks were similarly involved.


    "Boss, I am planning to retire." Bogner was gradually recovering his energy. Apart from occasionally showing a sense of desolation, he was slowly reverting to his old self.


    Bogner personally buried the king. It was only then that Chen Mu found out that the enigmatic man was Bogner''s old boss: The Black King, the chief of the Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team! That man was likewise a mysterious figure.


    Chen Mu lamented that life was especially unfair to Bogner.


    The king''s death was a massive blow to Bogner. He was already overwhelmed with longing for his earlier days back in the Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team, so his world almost collapsed when he had to watch his previous boss die in front of him. After realizing that Tang Hanpei was King''s brother, Bogner recalled that King had once requested the black notebook from him, and putting the pieces together, finally understood why Tang Hanpei''s style was so familiar.


    Bogner did not resent Wei-ah. Anybody else would have done the same. A veteran like him understood that everyone held their own gratitude and grudges. However, he also did not want to fight with Tang Hanpei, his previous boss''s brother, and one of his disciples. Hence, he started to think of retirement.


    Chen Mu did not know how to console Bogner. Bogner had always valued his relationships, or he would not have helped Chen Mu this much over the years without resentment. Chen Mu could not bear to let him battle Tang Hanpei.


    "Don''t overthink, rest well. All these years, you haven''t been resting well." Even though he knew letting Bogner retire would be a huge loss for the Eastern Wei, somehow, at that moment, Chen Mu was able to let go, and suddenly the world seemed brighter.


    Chen Mu''s agreement put Bogner at ease, and both of them started to chat.


    "Hm, after retiring, what do you want to do?"


    "I''ve not thought about that yet. I just wanted to stop fighting and killing. Ha, it seems like I''ve truly become old! Plant flowers? Gardening?"


    "Shall I give you a manor as a gift?"


    "Haha, come on, even though you are the boss, you are also an old-school bumpkin. I don''t think you even know what a manor looks like!"


    "Ehem¡­"


    After leaving Bogner, rather than feeling heavy-hearted, Chen Mu felt relieved. If there was such a thing as karma, while we could not change that, we could at least change our mentality regarding it. All of a sudden, he thought that Bogner''s way of thinking was pretty good.


    Chen Mu and Wei-ah were both sitting on the platform. Inside the training grounds, Li Duhong and Little Bu Mo were training hard and sweating heavily.


    "How do you feel?" Chen Mu asked Wei-ah carefully. Many people lose their minds after getting their revenge. Wei-ah never showed his feelings to others, making it extremely hard for people to guess his thoughts.


    Wei-ah replied without an expression. "Great."


    "Really? Great?" Chen Mu got closer, asking him even more carefully.


    Wei-ah turned his head to look at Chen Mu without uttering a single word. His gaze made Chen Mu feel a little nervous.


    "Let''s do paired exercises."


    Wei-ah jumped into the training grounds right after saying those words.


    Chen Mu frowned before following, but he internally sighed in relief. He did not want to lose Wei-ah, who had supported him unconditionally from the start. He was like his teacher and his brother.


    It was only suffering of the flesh...


    The bitter smile on his face became even more forced.


    * * *


    In Copper''s house, Lan Feng was tidying up the mess, shaking her head at the two people who got drunk.


    To get drunk by drinking low-alcoholic Sapphire Cloud Running Water, their alcohol tolerance must be¡­


    "Block¡­blockhead, ha, still remember the time when we used to do card play?" Copper stuttered, his tongue doubled in size, struggling to hold his bleary eyes open.


    Chen Mu''s face was red, and his actions were like those of a puppet, particularly clumsy. He muttered, "Re...remember! We even...got into a fight...with other people in the academy¡­"


    "Haha, yea¡­ yeah!" Copper opened his bleary eyes and mumbled, "Now I don''t hate the executive director anymore..."


    "Hate¡­" Chen Mu gazed off into space, then shook his head with charming naivety. "I don''t hate anyone¡­"


    "Blockhead!"


    "Mmm¡­"


    "We should find...find a time and finish the card play, we only did half¡­"


    "Okay¡­"


    Their voices became softer. Soon, they were snoring.


    * * *


    A month passed peacefully. Surprisingly, Eastern Wei had not taken action. The situation in the Heavenly Federation was also unexpectedly calm. The fighting between the forces had reached its least in recent years.


    "I don''t agree!" Jiang Liang''s face turned red from anger. The rest were also wearing disapproving expressions, shaking their heads simultaneously.


    "This is the best way," Chen Mu explained with a smile on his face. "The news of Bogner''s retirement has not spread, and the enemy is still in the dark. The possibility of success is very high."


    "It is too dangerous for you. With all due respect, I will not agree to your plan!" Jiang Liang shook his head decisively.


    Chen Mu looked at Jiang Liang and said calmly, "Bogner has retired. You are the most skilled commander among us. Are you confident enough to compete against Tang Hanpei?"


    Jiang Liang was taken aback. He had improved a lot these past few years, but he still had to admit that he was inferior compared to Tang Hanpei, the gifted one. Furthermore, since Bogner has retired, he had to safeguard the Big Crack Base.


    "You are still young. You would be able to compete with him in a few years, but now, you are still not good enough." Chen Mu sighed. "The problem is, we do not have time. Once the news of Bogner''s retirement goes out, we will be in a terrible situation."


    Everybody was silent. They knew very well that what Chen Mu said was right. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    The one that made all the forces afraid of Eastern Wei was Bogner, the strongest commander! Be it Tang Hanpei who was born in the air, or Su Heiming who was cunning and cold-blooded, or Rossini the greatest commander in the Federation, all of them were afraid of this ''wolf''.


    Once the word of Bogner''s retirement got out, Eastern Wei would be put in a dangerous position. Chen Mu has also documented success in battles, but he was still far from Bogner''s ability.


    "You don''t have to worry so much about the Desert Camp. The power of the Desert Camp will weaken with time. Their power makeup is too complicated. If they fail to expand, there will surely be an internal fight. The other families have more than enough on their plates, protecting themselves. They will not have the power to expand in the short term. Tang Hanpei is our biggest threat."


    "He might not agree," said Copper. He disagreed with Chen Mu''s plan.


    "He will surely agree!" Chen Mu smiled, but his tone was resolute.


    During this period, the Heavenly Federation could be said to be raging like a storm, and there was a constant stream of news. All of these were related to one person, Eastern Wei''s Chen Mu.


    His sudden return a month ago was a shock to the Federation. Today, the Eastern Wei held a press conference, and he tossed a major bomb in front of numerous media.


    A letter of challenge!


    A letter of challenge for Tang Hanpei!


    Chen Mu has challenged Tang Hanpei!


    This news spread across the whole Heavenly Federation in just 30 minutes! Such incredible efficiency has never before been observed in the Federation.


    The contents of the letter of challenge were not complicated. Chen Mu invited Tang Hanpei to a battle. Both of them will fight the final battle half a year later at a location chosen by Tang Hanpei.


    In today''s Federation where multiple heroes have risen, the strongest between the two largest forces were the traditionally dominant Comprehensive Federation Academy, and the sudden uprising Eastern Wei. The two of them have a similar status in their respective groups. Tang Hanpei was the ruler and spiritual leader of the Comprehensive Federation Academy. Likewise, Chen Mu founded Eastern Wei and was no doubt the spiritual leader of this academy.


    Now, these two were going to have an ultimate battle!


    There was much that was interesting about this.


    Chen Mu was Caesar''s disciple. Everybody knew the grudge between Caesar and the Comprehensive Federation Academy. In addition, the results of the battle would directly influence the future direction of the Heavenly Federation! Tang Hanpei once personally challenged the governor of the Central Repository of the Classics and made vigorous efforts to turn the tide, thereby reaching the pinnacle of his prestige and obtaining the title of the Heavenly Federation''s greatest card artisan.


    Most people''s initial reaction was that Chen Mu or Eastern Wei had gone mad, or that it was fake news.


    However, just an hour later, the Comprehensive Federation Academy in the Heavenly Federation held a press conference, and Tang Hanpei personally accepted the letter of challenge!


    Half a year later, in the ruins of Pomelo!

 610 Prelude

    Xi Ping was leading in front while Chen Mu looked around curiously. During the time he left, Eastern Wei had changed a lot; many places were newly built.


    A huge alloy door was opened, and there was a tunnel that led underneath.


    "Underground?" Chen Mu asked curiously.


    Xi Ping laughed and said with empathy, "Yup, this is an underground storeroom, used to store some precious and rare materials. Besides me, only Alfonso knows this place. Last time... didn''t boss complain about insufficient material? Our Eastern Wei still has some energy. I have been collecting this energy for the past few years. I thought of keeping this forever¡­ Now, it has finally come in handy. This makes me so happy!"


    Chen Mu didn''t know what to say, but he felt warm and touched. After walking for around 10 minutes, the depth of this facility shocked Chen Mu.


    "We''re here." Xi Ping keyed in the password into the lock in front of the warehouse door.


    The door slid open silently, and Chen Mu followed Xi Ping as they entered the warehouse. Uncountable metal racks were arranged in one line. On the shelves, there was a variety of containers that seemed endless.


    Chen Mu was utterly stunned.


    In front of the Eastern Wei Academy, Alfonso brought a group of people, and they were waiting anxiously. Beside him, his students whispered to each other.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "Wow, who are these people? Such a big group of people?"


    "I don''t know. The principal volunteered to lead the group. This has never happened before."


    "Right, see, Lady Ru Qiu and Master Ryan are all here."


    "You all try to guess, could it be¡­"


    At that moment, the student beside them reminded them, "Stop talking, here they come!"


    All the students shut their mouths and looked up curiously.


    "Mister!" Alfonso sped out from the crowd. Ru Qiu followed behind him. With tears in her eyes, she whimpered, "Mister!"


    All the students below were in an uproar! Mister!


    In Eastern Wei, there was only one person who Alfonso would call mister. In Eastern Wei, there was only one person that Ru Qiu would call mister.


    They looked at Chen Mu curiously, but they were also admiring him. He was not tall, not handsome, and looked like any average person. Most of them could not help but be secretly disappointed. This ordinary guy was the legend of the whole Eastern Wei?


    "You are finally back! You are finally back!" The middle-aged Alfonso was like a child, crying non-stop.


    Ru Qiu cried uncontrollably as well.


    Chen Mu was about to cry, but he held it back and said with a smile, "Okay, okay. Why do you all cry once you see me? Are you guys trying to chase me away!"


    Only then did Alfonso feel slightly embarrassed. He wiped away the tears and tried to regain his composure. Suddenly, he slapped his head and dragged Chen Mu before running to the front of an old man and introduced, "This is Master Ryan, mister, the Eternal Night''s card master!"


    "I am not a master." Lance Ryan smiled humbly. "I will call you mister just as the others do. For all these years, I have been researching the Computation Box that you have left behind. I admire it so much!"


    Chen Mu was surprised. He had never thought that this older man was actually a grand card master. The Eternal Night was in his hands. He respected the maker so much, but he never thought Ryan would be in Eastern Wei. He responded quickly, "You flatter me. As compared to your standards, I still need to improve a lot."


    Ryan laughed heartily. "The one who discovers the truth should be the teacher. Pay no mind to the age." Then, he gestured with his hands. "Let us have some tea inside. I have so many questions to ask you. I could not find people to ask before this. Now, I will not let you go until I have the answer to all my questions!"


    "Haha!" Everyone laughed simultaneously and walked back.


    Alfonso leaned near Chen Mu''s ear and whispered, "We brought here him from Faya."


    Chen Mu gave a thumbs up silently. Alfonso continued to smile, and he looked proud. Following behind them, Ru Qiu smiled happily.


    Alfonso turned to back, and his face became serious as he said, "Mister, as for our current card making level, at the Heavenly Federation, they consider us quite good. We have recruited a lot of excellent card masters, especially card masters from Moon Frost Island. We were also reached out by the card makers from Faya. Besides the Central Repository of the Classics, they consider us the top in making cards. While in the aspect of Card Appliance, no one can compete with us."


    "Mister''s Computation Box has never stopped working in all these years. We obtained a lot of detailed energy structure. In this aspect, we are way ahead of everyone."


    "Mister, no matter what, we want to help you win this fight!" Alfonso exclaimed.


    In one day, all the executive card masters and card appliance professionals in Eastern Wei gathered in Eastern Wei Academy. Eastern Wei''s supreme joint meeting issued a transfer order.


    In Eastern Wei, a colossal-scale advanced research project officially started to operate!


    * * *


    In the Central Repository of the Classics, Jie Yanbai and Cao Zhengqiu were drinking alcohol while eating peanuts. Both of them were born from poor families. So, this kind of dish was both of their favorites.


    "Eastern Wei is so ambitious." Cao Zhengqiu drank a small mouthful of alcohol and said, "From my observation, they plan to use up all their strength to help Chen Mu build a card."


    "This is very much normal." Jie Yanbai focused on finishing the peanuts on the plate and did not even look up. "Without Chen Mu, Eastern Wei will quickly lead itself to its death. You look at Tang Hanpei. He did not even bother to attack Eastern Wei and just allowed it to develop. He calculated that if Chen Mu were not there, the more Eastern Wei developed, the nearer they were to disintegration."


    "Yup, where else in this world can you find a monster like Tang Hanpei?" Cao Zhengqiu shook his head, overwhelmed with mixed emotions.


    "Monster? Ha! You are right. However, if we talk about monsters, I would think that Chen Mu is more of one!" Jie Yanbai put down his chopsticks and recalled, "When I first met Chen Mu, he and his team were weak. Hehe, later on, he surprised the whole Federation. Tang Hanpei is a monster, and I think that is quite normal. This kind of monster only appears once every few hundred years. Principals and students from the Comprehensive Federation Academy in the Heavenly Federation are all born royal and raised properly, so it was not surprising to see him become extraordinary. But look at Chen Mu, where did he come from? An orphan from a common residential district who has never been to school and depended on one-star power cards to survive. He had no resources or connections, except for an inheritance card from Rosenberg. There was truly nothing else, but he built up Eastern Wei, and Jia Qiuxia lost to him. Even the devilish Su Heiming could do nothing to him. Is he a monster or not?"


    "Monster! He is definitely a monster!" Cao Zhengqiu pouted: "Hey. I think, whoever wins should be declared as the No.1 monster in this world."


    "Haha!" Jie Yanbai laughed happily. After a while, he asked, "Whom do you expect to win in this fight?"


    "It''s tough to say." Cao Zhengqiu put down the glass, and he looked a bit worried. "I never understood the reason why Chen Mu dared to challenge Tang Hanpei. A few years ago, although Chen Mu was not that weak, he was not even at Tang Hanpei''s level. Would his strength have greatly improved in recent years? Even if it did, this is still impossible, as Tang Hanpei has been No.1 for so long. No one dares question it. Furthermore, Eastern Wei is developing well, and they have an excellent army. There was truly no need to challenge Tang Hanpei."


    "I am also curious about this." Jie Yanbai looked serious. "According to Chen Mu''s personality, he would not act without thinking twice."


    The two stayed silent for a while.


    * * *


    At the Star Academy, Rossiji was shirtless. A metal pot filled with boiling soup was placed in front of him. He enjoyed eating the fish''s head as no one was beside him. At his side, Nick was wearing his little bear pajamas and looked sleepy.


    Qing Qing, who was wearing plain clothes, sat quietly across Rossiji.


    "Something has happened in Eastern Wei," Rossiji nonchalantly said while making a loud sucking sound.


    "Something has happened?" Qing Qing perfectly showed a confused expression.


    Rossiji finished the fish head and threw it aside. He wiped his oily hands with an old cloth and said, "Eastern Wei is strong, but which aspects of it are truly strong? There are a few features: card appliance, a powerful commander like Bogner, and good economic development. The card appliance is a cornerstone built by Chen Mu. In this short period, no one can shake it. On the aspect of the economy, according to our sources, Eastern Wei''s economy has never had a problem, and their development is even better than us. Now that leaves Bogner, Bogner is likely to be a problem." It appeared as if Rossiji had suddenly thought of something scary. He widened his small eyes, which were so tiny it seemed as if he couldn''t see anything, and said dramatically, "Could it be that Chen Mu owes Bogner salary?"


    Qing Qing sat calmly, but her eyelids twitched. She resisted the urge to punch this damn fat guy and asked, "If it was so, surely Tang Hanpei knows the reason?"


    Rossiji laughed and answered lazily, "For sure, Tang Hanpei knows. But don''t forget that in Eastern Wei, besides Bogner, they still have Jiang Liang. This guy has a high potential, and I have big expectations for him. Chen Mu has his own style of command. If they have a conflict, even if Tang Hanpei were to take command personally, it would be impossible for the Comprehensive Federation Academy in the Heavenly Federation to escape unscathed. If you bite the hard bone that is Eastern Wei, it would be difficult for you not to sacrifice a few teeth."


    Qing Qing showed a thoughtful expression.


    "Tang Hanpei is naturally willing to fight a duel. Tsk, who is he? World No.1, so how could he not have confidence in himself? He wants to kill Chen Mu and cause chaos in Eastern Wei. Then, dense bones will become loose bones, and when you take a bite, crunch. It will be as easy as munching biscuits. Also, don''t forget how Tang Hanpei became the principal? If he avoids the fight, hehe!"


    Rossiji words were as lazy as it was before, but it was accurate.


    Qing Qing looked to the distance, and the gears in her mind started to spin.


    * * *


    In the garden, an older man was with a young man who was around 30 years old.


    Even though it was a cool resting chair, the young man still sat on it with his back straight. He had a neat uniform and heroic spirit, but he looked worried and uneasy.


    The older man squatted on the ground, a hand holding a small shovel to plow the soil. He looked up and glanced at the unhappy Jiang Liang. Bogner then laughed.


    He stood up and sat beside Jiang Liang.


    "Why? Is Life too tough in the Big Crack Base? Can''t bear it any longer?"


    Jiang Liang shook his head. "I disagree with the boss''s plan. It is too dangerous. Also, the success rate of boss winning is too low."


    "Hehe, what else?" Bogner raised his eyebrow. "Do you think you are useless? That if you were better, the boss would not take this risk?"


    Jiang Liang kept quiet. Bogner was right.


    "Growth requires time." Bogner sighed and said, "You have to be patient. And trust the boss."


    "But¡­"


    Bogner stopped Jiang Liang, "You probably don''t know how boss survived through these years. Boss said he seemed to be at war almost every day, and he did not even dare to sleep soundly. I saw the wounds on Boss'' body, and I can roughly imagine how he survived."


    Jiang Liang was shocked. Evidently, he didn''t know about these things.


    "If the battle were about winning or losing, I would bet on Tang Hanpei''s. However, if it were a battle of survival, I would support the boss." Bogner said calmly. "Tang Hanpei is a child of good fortune, and he''s No.1 in the world. However, he is powerful to the point that no one can become his rival! The Comprehensive Federation Academy in the Heavenly Federation is behind him, so he does not have to go to the battlefront. His battle experience almost non-existent."


    Bogner changed his topic and talked about seemingly irrelevant things. "During the glory days of the cardless generation, many academies taught skills and produced students. The masters from these academies were incredibly powerful, especially those from the historical academy. Some of their masters practiced since they were young, they persevered for decades, training non-stop. They never stepped out from the academy, and they were never distracted by anything else. With their talents, they came up with many skillful techniques. However, later on, when the war came, all these skillful masters still died."


    "Competition and survival are two different matters." Bogner said lightly, "This time, there is only life and death, no more victory or defeat."


    Jiang Liang was stunned.


    Looking at his favorite student, Bogner educated him wholeheartedly. "Boss''s choice is correct; he has used all his advantages. On the other hand, this is not something Tang Hanpei is familiar with. As one falls, another rises. Isn''t this the most basic and most important concept when we are utilizing soldiers? Moreover, if the boss wins, no one can shake his position as the overlord."


    After he had finished talking, he turned around. "If you know you are not strong enough, then practice harder. Do not be afraid of losing; this is how a commander is born. Alright, it would be best if you continue your work. Do not disturb me about all these fighting problems anymore."


    Jiang Liang''s eyesight recovered its clarity. He bowed to Bogner and turned to leave.


    After Jiang Liang walked far away from him, Bogner stopped the movement of his hand and sighed. Old age could be seen from his appearance.


    "I am old, really old." Even when he was looking at the garden which was filled with flowers, he felt empty. He grabbed the fantasy card hanging on his neck and mumbled, "Celia, you said before that you wanted to grow old with me and take good care of this big garden¡­"


    A turbid teardrop rolled down his cheek silently.

 611 The Grand Finale End of Book

    Half a year later, at the Pomelo ruins.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    All that was left of the once flourishing and prosperous city were ruins. In a few years, this place has been overtaken by weeds and became a haven for wild animals. Except for a few survivors who came back to reminisce, no one ever set foot in the city anymore.


    A few years ago, Pomelo was bombarded by Tang Hanpei, and this incident tarnished his honorable reputation. As time passed by, people started to forget about it. Nevertheless, six months ago, Tang Hanpei announced that Pomelo would serve as the location for the final battle. This place has once again attracted the attention of the whole Heavenly Federation.


    It was as though the Federation had returned to its olden days in these six months. There was no war, and all the forces were careful, restraining themselves and keeping calm.


    Everyone anxiously waited with mixed emotions, anticipating this battle that has drawn the attention of the world.


    That day, has finally come.


    Tang Hanpei was the world''s greatest card artisan, while Chen Mu was the disciple of Caesar. This was the ultimate fight of the Heavenly Federation, but the significance behind the battle was not merely to determine the strongest card artisan.


    This match would decide the future direction of the whole Federation; it would determine the life and death of countless people; it would direct the lives of the people in the days to come.


    Today, the whole city took time off, everyone stayed at home, waiting in front of their fantasy card receiver.


    There was only one show airing on all channels, broadcasting the live battle.


    Card artisans who came from all over the world gathered outside the ruins; even news anchors were not allowed to enter. The teams from Eastern Wei and the Comprehensive Federation Academy had utterly surrounded the ruins. There was not too much hostility between both groups of people.


    Their leaders would resolve the conflict between the two dominant forces.


    What they needed to face were external troubles. Who knew if there were hidden killers among the miscellaneous card artisans surrounding the ruins? Hence, a strange scene was seen outside the Pomelo''s ruins. Two forces that were supposed to be incompatible like water and fire were cooperating, in perfect harmony. They were not like enemies but brothers instead.


    Chen Mu and Tang Hanpei were high in the air. Only two of them were present in the enormous city ruins.


    Looking at the ruins below his feet, Chen Mu felt nostalgic as he recalled the time he was in Pomelo.


    "This day has finally come." Tang Hanpei was slow to speak, looking calm as usual and wearing a smile on his face. The years seemed to leave no trace on his face; he still looked the same from the last time Chen Mu saw him.


    "Yeah," Chen Mu stretched, sounding relaxed.


    Tang Hanpei looked at Chen Mu with admiration, leisurely. "Since the first time I saw you, I knew you would be exceptional. However, I still underestimated the potential in you. At that time, I thought you would only be a grandmaster."


    Chen Mu laughed as well. "You overestimated me, I could never become a grandmaster."


    "To establish Eastern Wei puts you far beyond a grandmaster." Tang Hanpei shook his head.


    "This is not entirely true. I could not establish Eastern Wei without Master Rosenberg," said Chen Mu honestly.


    Tang Hanpei shook his head once again. "That is because it was you. Other people would not have been able to create Eastern Wei even if they had the legacy of Rosenberg. The Star Academy actually had the bloodline of Heiner Van Sant."


    Chen Mu did not want to argue; he laughed. "Let''s stop on this topic."


    Tang Hanpei laughed too, he stared at Chen Mu and asked, "Did Caesar pick you to be his disciple so that you can challenge me?"


    "Yeah, he took it to the heart that you are the greatest," Chen Mu laughed.


    Surprisingly, he did not show any nervousness or timidity when facing the world''s greatest, Tang Hanpei. His body was at ease. Both of them were like friends, talking to each other affably.


    "Such a pity and a blessing," Tang Hanpei lamented.


    "What do you mean?" Chen Mu asked curiously.


    There was a distant look in Tang Hanpei''s eye, and his voice followed the wind. "It was a pity that I could not fight against Caesar in this lifetime. It was a blessing that Caesar had you as his disciple."


    Chen Mu pondered carefully over that statement. All of a sudden, he felt pride filling his heart, and he could not help but smile. "So let''s not waste any more time!"


    Tang Hanpei showed some reluctance. "I just thought of having a good chat with you. It was hard to find someone to talk to."


    He stopped for a while, his facial expression turned cold suddenly and indifferent. He said, "But you are right, let''s battle!"


    A sudden murderous air erupted as the two were having a standoff in the air.


    Inside a small, dark and moldy house, an old man sat in front of a display screen. His hair was gray, his face looked haggard, his eyes were blurry, and he coughed from time to time. Every time he coughed, blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. He was not bothered by it at all, only focusing on the two men displayed on the screen.


    "Yes! Yes! Yes!" he mumbled, relief and pride filled his words.


    His cough became intense, blood from the corner of his mouth spilled onto his body, it was a ghastly sight.


    There was no hint of suffering on the older man''s face. He continued to stare at the two men on the screen even when he was coughing.


    His cough became weaker, his pupils dilated, and his breath faded away.


    Caesar, whose body had been badly damaged for a long time, passed away. The legendary God of Slaughter in the Heavenly Federation chose to leave the world in a way like this. Faint traces of the youth, who had blatantly left the Federation years ago in denial of becoming a pawn, could be seen.


    On top of the Pomelo''s ruins.


    "This is Wang Ge," Tang Hanpei said with a gentle tone, beside him, a porcelain-like child was floating in the air, sucking his chubby thumb, sizing up Chen Mu curiously with his big and innocent eyes.


    "Energy war puppet?" Chen Mu was shocked.


    Tang Hanpei smiled lightly. "Seven stars card¡ªWang Ge!"


    The energy war puppet was not unexpected because it was the most crucial strength of the Comprehensive Federation Academy. However, he was still astonished when he saw the kid, not because he had such a human-like body.


    But intelligence! To his surprise, this energy war puppet had intelligence!


    He had never expected this.


    An energy war puppet equipped with intelligence, if he did not witness this with his own eyes, who would believe that the research on energy war puppets of the Comprehensive Federation Academy had already reached this profound stage?


    The pupils of Wang Ge were moving like two black diamonds. Chen Mu felt a deep chill rising from his heart.


    "Wang Ge, play with this brother for a while," Tang Hanpei spoke with such a gentle tone as if he was nursing his son.


    "Yi, yi, yi!" Wang Ge clapped his little hands happily and suddenly vanished.


    Chen Mu''s hair stood on end suddenly. Instinctively, he slid towards the side!


    Zi la la!


    Three streams of lightning struck his previous position. The adorable silhouette of Wang Ge could be seen indistinctly in the air; he seemed to be even happier that his attack missed.


    That was quick!


    Even though he had fought a hundred battles, this still made Chen Mu break out in a cold sweat.


    Fortunately, he remained in State Zero all along. Otherwise, it would have been tough for him to avoid the previous attack.


    Inside the Zero World, a white line showed a subtle hint of leaping. Chen Mu''s heart dropped a beat, he moved his jet stream card, and a scorching red light brushed past Chen Mu, missing by a hair''s breadth.


    Tang Hanpei, who was at a distance, seemed to be very comfortable. He calmly clapped, his tone accompanied with admiration. "Bravo! He is an energy form, familiar with all modes of power attack."


    While he was talking, Chen Mu helplessly avoided soundwaves, light blades, electric nets¡­


    This energy form had indeed familiarized himself with all sorts of power attacks. They were at his fingertips, and the speed was incredible. This was far beyond the limit of human card artisans!


    No, it cannot go on like this!


    Once again, Chen Mu alarmingly dodged Wang Ge''s attack and threw out a square metal box.


    At the moment when Chen Mu decided to dodge, the attack stopped. To his surprise, Wang Ge appeared next to the metal box and gazed at it curiously.


    "Oh, what is this?" Tang Hanpei was also curious.


    A chance!


    Chen Mu''s eyes brightened. Tang Hanpei was now close to him, and Wang Ge was still looking at the metal box.


    The energy war puppet card was a type of powerful war card. It could release energy war puppets with high battle strength to help the card artisan defeat his enemy. Energy war puppets usually have potent abilities and were hard to knock down, but card artisans who specialized in energy war puppets were not without their weaknesses. Compared to the active energy war puppets, the card artisans themselves were much weaker.


    Killing the card artisan himself is the most common way of dealing with energy-war-puppet card artisans, it is also the most effective way.


    Chen Mu''s figure flashed past, rushing towards Tang Hanpei.


    His vision blurred abruptly. Then, Wang Ge appeared in front of him unexpectedly. He could not help but sigh, forcibly dodging to the side.


    An energy cage appeared at the position he was in, anger filled the adorable face of little Wang Ge, Chen Mu''s earlier action had provoked him.


    "Ya, ya, ya!" he waved his little hands while shouting with his baby voice.


    However, his attack, in comparison, was nothing near adorable! If Chen Mu were to describe it with a term, it would be "a furious storm"!


    The overwhelming energy rained down heavily!


    Chen Mu changed his expression slightly and made a cold hum. His silhouette dimmed. Then, just like a fish swimming against the current, he soared upward.


    The Fiend''s Eye!


    A blood-red eye appeared in front of him. He did not wait for Wang Ge''s reaction before activating his supreme skill¡ªWavering Golden Eye!


    The golden pupil inside the blood-eyes was apathetic and callous. Countless tiny golden light beam spiraled towards little Wang Ge, like a bundle of soft golden silk.


    Little Wang Ge seemed to be very curious about these golden light beams. He stopped in the air, taking measures against these golden lights with curiosity. It appeared as if he was unaware of how deadly these light beams were!


    The golden lights penetrated little Wang Ge''s body like needles!


    There was no reaction!


    As if a stone was thrown into the lake, the surface quickly returned to its calmness.


    "Yi, yi, yi!" Little Wang Ge exclaimed with pleasure. His black, bright eyes were wide open, as though he saw something fun.


    A chill permeated Chen Mu''s heart.


    Looking at this adorable and innocent little Wang Ge, he felt an increased horror!


    "Hehe, I forgot to mention that any power attack will be useless on little Wang Ge. Also, he can analyze the attacks he has received and duplicates it. So how about it, Master Chen, as a card master, give me your opinion on this card." Tang Hanpei sounded a little sarcastic, looking at the battle between Wang Ge and Chen Mu with satisfaction.


    His voice had hardly faded away before little Wang Ge cast a bloody giant eye in front of him. A golden pupil resided inside the giant eye.


    In Chen Mu''s sight was the flickering of golden lights. He did not have enough time to dodge; in desperation, he activated the Wavering Golden Eye again!


    Boom!


    Two beams of Wavering Golden Eye collided with each other wildly!


    A scorching bright golden mass of light gathered and shone in the air. Like a piercing, bright sun, the golden lights illuminated the whole sky.


    A low cry arose from the card artisans who were watching from afar. The dazzling golden lights and intense waves of energy fluctuation made many people subconsciously hold their breath at this moment. The level of explosion coming from the head-on collision between the two strongest people was sufficient to destroy half of Pomelo city.


    Everyone could not help but estimate the current power of Chen Mu. The battle between Tang Hanpei and Qiao Yuan in Pomelo years ago did not produce such a mighty force. Otherwise, it would have been unnecessary for Tang Hanpei to use the war card to turn the Pomelo city into ruins.


    In mid-air, Chen Mu was flustered. There was only a small piece remaining from the top part of his battle suit.


    Not far away, little Wang Ge was looking over with his huge eyes, holding a proud smile on his face. In front of Tang Hanpei, a transparent power shield blocked all the attacks.


    A terrifying guy, indeed!


    Chen Mu looked at the innocent and pure little Wang Ge. Compared to the tight spot he was in, the battle seemed as simple as drinking water for little Wang Ge. He could even provide Tang Hanpei with an energy shield. Sure enough, it was an energy war puppet. The utilization of power was undoubtedly their basic instinct.


    "You must not be familiar with Breakthrough; otherwise, you would still have battle strength. The Fiend''s Eye was the strongest light beam card, so how could it be such a mess when played against my Wang Ge? Sadly, even Su Hanhao was incapable of using this move," Tang Hanpei stood proud.


    Breakthrough? Chen Mu laughed involuntarily. It was hard enough for him to grasp the Wavering Golden Eye.


    Tang Hanpei saw the crisscrossing wound on Chen Mu''s body, he was astonished, "No wonder you dared to challenge me, you had something to rely on. You do not have to hold back. Come on! How could Caesar''s disciple be equipped with only these tricks?"


    With a flash, Chen Mu''s figure vanished, and he appeared right beside little Wang Ge.


    Little Wang Ge was sucking his little finger. His absentminded look would make people smile. He looked as if he did not know about the danger that was approaching.


    The right arm of Chen Mu suddenly moved in a strange motion; every muscle of his arms trembled all of a sudden. Phew! An Air Slash slipped out of his hand.


    The Air Slash was almost transparent, its material was like a clear crystal, breaking the air with a light moan instead of the previous sharp thrush, only a soft hissing sound was heard. In this half a year, his Airskill has gone up to a higher level.


    The transparent crystal-like Air Slash swept through countless remnant shadows, shooting towards little Wang Ge at a speed hard to catch with the naked eye.


    Chen Mu was gasping. He used enough strength for that strike to make sure he could hit little Wang Ge. This could be seen from the terrifying speed of the Air Slash.


    Got it!


    The Air Slash was like a hot metal blade slashing through butter, effortlessly chopping little Wang Ge into half.


    Chen Mu was just starting to relax, when all of a sudden, his pupils contracted! The waist of little Wang Ge that was chopped into two was transforming mystically, recovering to his original form in the speed of light.


    How could it be?


    Tang Hanpei laughed, "Little Wang Ge is an energy form; this kind of attack is useless on him. Why are you covering up? I do not even have to guess. You are buying time. Your ultimate weapon is this box, right!"


    His long and fair finger pointed towards the quietly floating metal box.


    Chen Mu''s expression changed slightly.


    "It was not damaged at all by the power attack just now, even its position remained the same," Tang Hanpei said calmly, "I know the Eastern Wei are experts in card appliances, the outcome of your research with all the forces in Eastern Wei must not be a common item."


    "I guess you have bought enough time. I am looking forward to it." Tang Hanpei laid out one finger, his tone was serious. "Do you know why I admire you?"


    He continued to talk, "You always broke the old stuff, and made something new. This applies to the cards you make, even to your founding of the Eastern Wei; all of them are new. Breaking through the old rules, I like it."


    "Come on!" Tang Hanpei straightened his back. He was like an unsheathed sword, remarkably sharp!


    However, Chen Mu turned his body around, suddenly rushing toward the ground.


    "Hehe, running away?" Tang Hanpei raised his brows. He was overflowing with a murderous aura. "That''s enough! If you have nothing else up your sleeve, then die!"


    Little Wang Ge raised his tender hands in the air, shocking waves of energy fluctuated like the surging seawater.


    The waves of energy fluctuated as if doomsday was here, rippling away like waves.


    The clouds started to gather on top of little Wang Ge. In a blink of an eye, dark clouds were all over the sky of Pomelo city, the lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled!


    All card artisans who were watching from afar were dumbstruck; their face turned ashen.


    This power¡­ was it really something achievable by a card artisan?


    Although Tang Hanpei had the title of the world''s greatest, everybody still underestimated him. His strength was far beyond the limit of all imagination! Under such powerful energy, you would feel as if you are as tiny as an ant. It was almost impossible for anyone to have the desire to oppose him!


    Chen Mu did not turn around. He did not need to. The destructive waves of energy fluctuation in the sky above his head made every cell in his body tremble involuntarily.


    He did not slow down but accelerated. The wind blew across his ears. He was like a meteor falling from the sky, about to crash ferociously to the ground.


    "Can you escape?" Tang Hanpei sounded indifferent with a hint of disdain. Chen Mu''s attempt at escape worsened Tang Hanpei''s impression of him.


    At this exact moment, something unforeseen happened!


    Ding!


    A crisp sound even the roaring thunder and lightning could not block!


    Tang Hanpei felt an irresistible impulse to turn his head around.


    The metal box has disappeared. There was only a ball of black mass!


    Absolute darkness, it was as if that block of space had collapsed, vanished.


    Little Wang Ge''s face showed an expression of pain and suffering.


    Hiss, hiss, hiss!


    The lights in the rolling layer of clouds flushed towards the ball; the scene of dense lights swarming into darkness was frightening.


    This sphere was like an avaricious monster that would never have its belly filled, for it continuously swallowed the electric awns.


    The hint of suffering on little Wang Ge''s face became stronger and stronger, as his form became blurry. He turned around and tried to run away, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not move an inch. After a few seconds, he became a mass of colored light rays. Just like those other lights, it slowly approached its doom. The closer it got to the black ball, the stronger the suction force.


    Tang Hanpei''s expression changed for the first time. He turned pale!


    Almost in the blink of an eye, he understood the function of this mass of darkness?¡ªengulfing energy! It could consume all forms of energy!


    He could feel that he was losing control over the power of the energy card inside his meter, as it was itching for action!


    He had a sudden realization; Chen Mu was not running away¡ªhe didn''t want to fall to his death!


    Tang Hanpei did not hesitate. Using all his perceptions, he managed to control the power in his meter, turned around and flew towards the ground.


    Chen Mu could not care about anything else. That thing, it knew nothing about differentiating between enemy or ally!


    The power in the meter became more and more disordered and out of control! Fortunately, he got closer and closer to the ground. It was just a matter of speed¡­


    D*mn it!


    The power in his meter lost all control. Sizz, sizz, sizz. It was broken down into a series of rays, shooting towards the black ball.


    Chen Mu was shocked. He had no energy, and the jet stream card had lost its function, he had no way to slow down!


    D*mn it!


    He could not help but break out into curses. He was only 50 meters away from the ground!


    This time, he couldn''t care less about others; he clenched his fists and shoved them into a downward motion. Air Pellet!


    He could only borrow some energy from the reflected shock!


    Between life and death, he went into a rampage. With his eyes red, he growled and raged while his fists punched like shadows. Countless Air Pellets rumbled down in desperation. The ruins below were bombarded into a mud pit, the strikes scattered even the mud¡­


    Boom!


    Chen Mu fell heavily onto the mud pit. His head felt heavy!


    After a long time, he crawled up with much difficulty. It was as though his whole body was no longer in one piece, and it was almost impossible to raise both of his arms due to the aftereffect of using the Airskill crazily! He looked around as if he were off in another world.


    I survived at last!


    That scene just now, it was so close!


    Swiftly, his gaze fixed on Tang Hanpei! Not far away, Tang Hanpei was walking with difficulty. It was unexpected that he could land safely! The perception control of this guy was terrifying!


    But now¡­


    Tang Hanpei also caught sight of Chen Mu and stopped, knowing that it was useless to run away. The energy in his meter was all gone, and although Chen Mu looked way more flustered than him, Chen Mu''s ability as a cardless sect member became the last straw that crushed the camel to its death.


    "You have won!" Tang Hanpei looked calm. "I only have one question, what is that box?"


    After taking a deep glance at Tang Hanpei, Chen Mu attacked without hesitation!


    Only after the body of Tang Hanpei fell to the ground did he spit out three words unhurriedly, "Energy Black Hole!"


    It was chaotic outside Pomelo City. Card artisans were surprised as they suddenly realized that they had lost control of all their powers from the power-card inside their meters. The power-cards had all disappeared!


    In this period, countless card artisans fell from the sky to their deaths!


    The other card artisans also lost their battle strength. However, the card artisans from Eastern Wei were well prepared. The cardless sects were their foundations, to begin with, giving them the upper hand in a situation like this.


    When Chen Mu walked out of the ruins, Eastern Wei burst into cheers!


    It was clear to everyone that the outcome was a foregone conclusion!


    (The End)